Toph stood outside her father's study and reflected on the last time she had visited it. Throwing the door open was not planned last time, so this time she would try a different approach. Besides, the more respectable she was, the better his mood would be. She rapped her knuckles gently on the door and waited for his voice.
"Come in."
"It's me, Dad," Toph announced.
"This is a pleasant surprise," Lao said without lifting his head from his documents. "You don't usually knock. What is it?"
Toph paused for a moment and thought how best to bring it up. Direct was always the easiest way, so straight to the point it was.
"I wanna have a Christmas party," she said.
"Oh," Lao said, continuing his writing. "And who would be coming to this party?"
"Katara, Zuko, their families, and Aang."
No answer. Lao merely continued to write and glance over his papers. Toph's started tapping her foot absently as she always did when faced with something aggravating.
"You wouldn't have to do anything," she told him. "Mom either. We'd take care of everything. We'll get the food, the decorations, the whole shebang."
"Is that so?" her father finally responded.
"Yeah, so you guys wouldn't have to lift a finger."
"Mm."
Mm? That was it? That was all he was going to say? How was she supposed to interpret that? She could feel his pen still scratching across the papers on his desk. Couldn't he put that stupid thing down for one second and talk to her?
"So?" she finally asked.
"So what?"
"So, can I have the party?"
The pen finally stopped. Lao set the papers to the side and regarded his daughter with a confused smile.
"You're asking me for permission?"
"Duh," Toph replied. "It's your house."
Lao laughed at the response. He had simply assumed Toph was going to hold the party with or without his consent. When his laughter subsided, he smiled to his daughter.
"I don't see why not," he answered. "I suppose it would be nice to see Hakoda and Sokka again. And I would like to meet Zuko's family."
"Seriously?" Toph could not believe her ears.
"Seriously," Lao confirmed as he resumed his paperwork.
"Sweet!" Toph exclaimed as she turned for the door. She stopped as a thought came to her and she rushed to her father's desk. Reaching over it to his arm, she gave him a quick jab. "Thanks, Pops!"
Lao rubbed his tenderized shoulder as he watched Toph sprint out the door and down the hallway.
"Pops?"
Toph ran excitedly down the halls of the estate all the way to the eastern garden where Ty Lee eagerly awaited the results of the conversation.
"What'd he say? What'd he say?"
"The party is good to go!"
The shopping district of the city was abuzz with Christmas deals and shoppers. The number of people walking the sidewalks and carrying bags was ridiculously higher than those in the mall just a few days ago. Toph did not know if she was glad or annoyed that Ty Lee and Katara were leading her and Aang through the crowds. Probably a little of both. Katara was the leader of course. She was the decorator, cook, party organizer and she just sort of took charge when Kuzon picked her up from her house. Aang was along for the ride simply because Ty Lee insisted that he come. She said that Toph and Aang did not get enough quality couple time together.
"We spend a lot of time together, don't we, Twinkle Toes?" Toph argued.
"Sure," Aang replied. "By I'm not complaining if we get a little more!"
Toph jabbed him in the arm with a grin. Ty Lee's giggles could be heard from ahead of the couple as walked through the crowds carrying Katara's bags. They had long given up trying to go back to the car and drop off the bags for fear of losing Katara in the crowd. She was on a mission and she was not stopping for anything.
"Still haven't found anything for Zuko?" Toph asked as they entered another store.
"I think it's cute how hard she's trying," Ty Lee said.
"You have no idea how hard he is to shop for!" Katara said. "The only thing he really likes is swords and martial arts. And I am not giving him anything sharp with his sister in the same room."
"I'm sure Zuko'll like anything you get him," Aang told her confidently.
"I know, but I want it to be something special."
Aang took a moment to look around the shop that they had entered. There were oil paintings hanging on the wall, fans adorned with decorative calligraphy, and many small antique statues. From what he knew of Zuko, this was not a very likely place to find anything he would like.
"Ooh! Look at this pretty kitty statue!" Ty Lee squealed. "Aang, come and get it down for me!" She grabbed Aang by the hand and dragged him down one of the many aisles giggling merrily. Toph made to follow after them, but Katara took hold of her hand and pulled her in the opposite direction.
"Katara, let me go," she ordered.
"Did you find anything for Aang yet?" she asked.
"No," she answered. "But you heard what he said. Anything a five year old would like."
"Yeah, but you don't really want to get him a toy for Christmas, do you?"
Toph had been thinking about that lately. She didn't really want to get him a toy, but the more she thought about it, the more it seemed like the perfect gift for him. That and she couldn't really think of anything else to get for him.
"When you can tell me what you're gonna get for Zuko, then I'll tell you what I wanna get Twinkle Toes," Toph told Katara.
Toph also realized that if Katara was asking her about this, then Aang was probably going through the same thing with Ty Lee right now. Poor guy.
"Is this the one?" Aang asked as he pulled a ceramic cat down off the shelf.
"So cute!" Ty Lee squealed when he handed it to her. "Isn't it precious?"
"I guess," Aang answered.
"You should so get this for Tophy!" Ty Lee said. "Or did you already get her something? Is it cute? Or fluffy? Or both?"
"No," Aang said as he waved his hands in front of himself. "I haven't really gotten any good ideas yet. I mean it's harder to shop for her than I thought. Everything I think of has to do with being able to see the present. The only thing I keep coming back to is a CD or something."
"You could always make her one," Ty Lee suggested. She eyed the kitty statue and noticed the tail was pointing almost straight down. When she lifted the tail to a vertical position, she felt gears turning inside. "Oooh! It's a music box!"
Aang lowered his head in defeat. Either this girl was intentionally making him worry about Toph's present, or she was more easily distracted than he was. The cat played a quiet, peaceful melody as its tail spun slowly in circles.
"Y'know, Aang," Ty Lee said. "You don't have to get her something normal. You could always just make her something yourself. Like a teddy bear or something. If you give a girl something you personally made, she'll keep it and love it forever."
"Maybe," Aang replied. "But I'm not really all that talented in that area."
Aang's eyes focused on the small cat figurine as he spoke. The tail continued to spin and spin and the beautiful melody played on and on. Ty Lee started to hum along with the serene melody as Aang's head began to drift side to side as well.
"Has she ever said she liked something to you?" Ty Lee asked. "Or maybe asked you for something?"
"No. She's never specifically pointed anything out," Aang answered. "And she never-"
Wait! She did ask me for something once. I think. What was it? We were just sitting and talking and then she asked me . . . that's it!
Aang dashed from the aisle back towards the entrance of the store. He spotted Katara, Toph, and Kuzon walking along a wall covered with decorative indoor fountains. Without slowing his pace, he charged after them. Toph was the first to notice him as always.
"Hey, Twinkle Toes, what's-"
Before Toph could finish, she was cut off by Aang's lips quickly pressing against hers in a soft and painfully short kiss.
"Something came up, I gotta go, see you later!"
Then he was gone.
"What was that all about?" Katara asked.
Toph just shook her head. She had been caught off guard by the kiss, but she was still aware enough to hear the excited happiness in Aang's voice when he left. He was planning something.
"Ty Lee, what'd you do to Twinkle Toes?" she asked when Ty Lee joined them.
"I don't know," the girl answered. "I was just listening to the kitty and he ran off."
"I don't wanna know," Toph said at the mentioning of listening to a cat.
"Hey, what do you think of this, Ty Lee?" Katara asked. She pointed out a large oil painting of an elderly man sitting solemnly in a chair with an air of nobility and dignity about him.
"He's an old man," Ty Lee said, pointing out the obvious. "Most guys would want pictures of pretty young girls, wouldn't they?"
"I know, I'm just running out of ideas," Katara replied.
"This is an easy problem, Sugar Queen," Toph said. "All you gotta do is go back to the beginning. What is Hot Head like? Who is he?"
"For an easy problem, that's a really hard solution," Katara answered. "I don't think he even knows who he is."
"Just take everything you do know about him and go from there," Ty Lee suggested.
"That's not a bad idea," Toph agreed.
Katara's mood was considerably brighter after that. Toph couldn't tell if she had gotten an idea or not, but she was sure Katara would think of something by the time Christmas arrived.
The ride home was cramped beyond reason with all of the decorations that Katara and Ty Lee had picked out. It was a relief that Aang had opted not to stay with the group or they might not all have fit into the car. Katara did, however, promise that once the house was decorated that it would all be worth it.
First on the list was hanging the lights and multi colored garland along the ceiling. After nearly an hour of arguing with the tangled cords, Ty Lee successfully placed them where Katara instructed. Then the wall hangings of wreaths, wooden gingerbread men, and other festive items. All along the floor, Katara laid down package after package of cotton balls. This would be the snow, and it was comfy and soft enough for Toph to go barefoot on and still be able to "see."
"Nice touch, Sugar Queen," Toph said as she curled her toes on the fluffy cotton.
"And last but not least, the tree!" Katara announced.
After Katara carefully assembling the fake tree limbs and Ty Lee placed the stand in the back corner of the room, Toph put the eight foot, faux pine tree into its place.
"Next up is lights and ornaments," Katara said as Toph flopped to the ground.
"Not more lights," Ty Lee whined. "I am not untangling these ones."
The end result was a sight to behold. The room had a definite winter wonderland Christmas feel to it with all of the lights twinkling merrily and the warm "snow" covering the ground. For added affect Katara had also lit some scented candles that teased Toph's nose.
"I like it," Toph said with a smile. "All that's left is filling up the space under the tree."
"And between all of us, that'll be no problem!" Ty Lee laughed.
"It's going to be great having everyone together on Christmas," Katara said. "We should make sure to thank your father for letting us do this at your house."
Aang's breath was heavy and ragged by the time he had gotten back to his dorm. He should have let Kuzon drive him, but he didn't know how much longer the girls were going to take shopping. Without a moment's hesitation he began to rummage through all of his belongings. The irony made him laugh when he remembered that Gyatso had actually given him what he was looking for to help him learn to control his breathing. Finally, he found it buried under a mass of things near the very back of his closet.
"This is gonna be so great," he said to himself as he held it in his hands. "Time to get to work."