Scarring and Brotherhood

A random little oneshot I wrote as a Christmas present for my big brother. Set slightly AU after the episode The Western Air Temple. Zuko goes to apologize to Toph for burning her feet and some unexpended bonding happens. Sibling!Toko.

Really short and pretty crappy with a lot of artistic liberty taken. But I thought since it's written I might as well upload it. I've posted Zutara oneshots on deviantART but haven't (and probably won't) post em here, so I need to give some of my love.

Disclaimer: Avatar isn't mine at all.

Guilt was heavy in his heart as he walked towards the room. He used all the stealth he had ever acquired as he slipped along, not wanting to meet anybody at that moment. But no matter how silently he managed to walk, she would always hear him.

"So now the great prince is sneaking over to my room, huh?"

Zuko stuck his head round the door to find Toph seated on the floor, staring in his general direction.

"I… I came to see if you're alright," he mumbled.

"Katara healed me properly," she replied shortly.

Zuko winced slightly at her harshness. How could he have been so stupid? She was the only one who had trusted him and now… He shook his head and turned to go.

"Great, then."

"You came after me when I crawled away," she said softly, making him stop in his tracks.

"I didn't mean to attack you," he said in utter sincerity. "It was a reflex action… Another mistake," he added bitterly.

"Wow, Sparky, you have some weird reflex actions."

"I've lived rough long enough for them to become a necessity." He frowned and turned back to her. "Sparky?"

"Everybody gets a nickname," Toph shrugged. She patted the floor next to her. "Sit down."

He obeyed without knowing exactly why.

"Thanks," he said finally, breaking the silence.

"For?" She looked at him with sightless eyes.

"For trusting me the first time I came. And For not kicking my butt for burning you."

Toph grinned at him.

"I could have, you know."

"I do know; I've seen you fight before, remember? You could have whipped me good and proper."

"Maybe not that well," she amended a little grudgingly. "You're a good bender yourself."

"Even so, you still would have whipped me; I wouldn't have fought back."

There was silence for a long while as she tried to listen to his heartbeat. It was steady with an undercurrent of something that felt suspiciously like inner power.

"Why? That doesn't sound like you- you never stop fighting."

Zuko's fingers stroked his dagger for a moment- never give up without a fight- before they again rested at his side.

"Because in that instance the fight would have either happened after Katara had healed you or just after I attacked you; before you were healed. If it happened after you were healed I wouldn't have fought back because I deserved the onslaught. If it happened before you were healed I wouldn't have fought back because-"

"Because I was weak?" Toph demanded.

"Because if you don't get burns treated soon they scar." He shut his eyes. "I didn't want you to scar."

Toph's face changed from hard to puzzled as she read his heartbeat change then.

"Why…?" She seemed to be probing him as she tried to find the words to phrase her question. "Your heartbeat went erratic when you spoke about scarring," she said lamely.

Zuko stared at her in weary confusion for a while and Toph began to squirm, not understanding the silence. Then, suddenly, Zuko clicked. His gaze softened and he slowly crawled- he always seemed to be on his knees around her- until he was seated right in front of her.

"What are you-?" Toph asked in alarm as he took her little hand in his and started lifting it towards him.

He said nothing, but closed his eyes and placed her hand on the left side of his face. He flinched when she gasped, but made himself not pull away. Her fingers gently ran the expanse of his scar, from his ruined ear all along to his eye and down his cheek. As she pressed harder he flinched again- the sensation was so foreign. She dropped her hand as though the mar on his face had burned her. Zuko opened his eyes slowly, cautiously, to find to his relief that her face was expressionless.

"How?" Toph demanded suddenly, taking him by surprise.

He opened his mouth but no sound came out.

"Come on, Sparky. I may be blind, but that makes me more perceptive to other things. That was no accident. So how?"

"My f… Ozai." Zuko hated his voice for cracking. "I challenged his authority and then refused to fight him in the Agni Kai. I begged"- his voice was gall bitter- "and he said I had dishonoured myself by refusing to fight. He banished me, told me I could come back if I captured the Avatar, and then gave me that as a parting gift."

Her seafoam eyes were wide as he spoke.

"Geesh, Sparky, your family is really screwed up," she said in a small voice, trying and failing to infuse some joking into her tone.

A tiny ghost of a smile pulled at the corners of Zuko's mouth.

"I know," he said.

" My family is too," she went on, still in that small, unlike Toph voice.

"Your father is a power-hungry tyrant who banished your mother for protecting you and your sister is a psychopath?" Zuko asked flatly.

"I wouldn't know what my father's like 'cause he's never around me. He thinks I'm nothing more than a death waiting to happen. He sees my blindness as a weakness, something that makes me wrong. My mother would never stand up to my father to protect me, so he'll never have cause to banish her. And after they messed me up they never wanted any more children. So I have no sister."

Very hesitantly, unsure of every move he made, Zuko brushed some of her hair out of her face. She blinked at him and he dropped his hand.

"They didn't mess you up. Quite the contrary… You're strong, you're independent, you're loyal… Compared to Azula…" A dark chuckle left him. "Even compared to me you're amazing."

"I stole a lot of things," she said blandly.

"So did I," Zuko replied. "Just because I wanted the things. Just because I wanted to frighten the people. Just because."

They sat, a hair's breath from each other, very still. They were almost too scared to move, too scared to break the illusion; to find out it was only a dream.

"You and I are pretty alike, Sparky," Toph said eventually, before punching him squarely on the shoulder.

"What was that for?" Zuko gaped at her, completely taken off guard.

"It's how I show affection; I don't like the hugs so much. Not that the rest pay that little fact any attention; they hug me anyway." She tipped her head to the side as a thought struck. "I guess that's how normal families show affection, huh?"

"I guess… My mom and Uncle are the only two who ever hugged me…"

Toph snorted.

"What, Azula doesn't like hugs?"

Zuko snorted back.

"She's more the… pinch-till-you-bleed, smother-with-pillow-type." He looked at her. "You consider the rest of them your family?" he asked quietly.

She nodded. "Wasn't my idea, trust me. But… We all kinda fill in for each other… Katara's the mother, obviously; she's the only one annoying enough to fill that role. And the rest of us… are kinda siblings… That's the only reason I let them hug me."

"It sounds like a lot of hugging happens."

"Quite a lot… Which is why you gotta learn…"

Without warning, her arms were around him. Zuko blenched, shock causing his muscles to lock together. When she didn't let go, he slowly relaxed and awkwardly slung his arm around her.

"You'll have to get better at this." Toph's head was against his chest.

"I doubt they'll be hugging me," he chuckled humorously. "And I thought you only hugged family?"

"I do only hug family. You joined us, so you're part of our family now. They might still be resisting that fact now, but they'll warm to you. And by then you gotta know how to hug."

"You…" He was staring at her, with a muddle of emotions soaring through him. "I'm part of your family?"

"Yeah. You're my… slightly strange, moody, irate older brother." He was silent. "I promise I'll be a better sister than Azula," she grinned, trying to relax him.

"You really mean that? Not that you'll be better than Azula; that's obvious. But the whole… other thing…"

"Welcome to the family, big brother." She snuggled deeper into him.