Title: The Social Contract

Author: overlithe

Fandom: Avatar: the Last Airbender

Summary: Set several years post-War. Toph receives a letter from home. Azula provides commentary. Friendship fic, though "frenemies fic" is probably more accurate. ;)

Characters/Pairings: Toph, Azula, references to Poppy Bei Fong and Ursa; gen

Prompt: avatar_500 prompt 029. Travel; fanfic100 prompt 026. Teammates.

Word Count: 500

Rating: K+

Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and concepts created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, and owned by Nickelodeon and various other corporations/people. I'm not making any money and do not intend any copyright or trademark infringement.

The Social Contract

Azula was waiting for her as Toph made her way to the courtyard. 'He's lying,' Toph said.

'What gave it away? Confessing to every single unsolved crime in Han Tui?' Azula drawled, voice sweet with mockery. 'Maybe I can find a way to have him arrested for having offensive hair.'

Toph shrugged and stepped a little closer. 'Hey, you're the one who decided to come here, Princess,' she said, but without real malice.

Two years before, after a brief and bracing throwdown, she and Princess Chuckles had had a conversation. And buried in all the stuff about jurisdiction—Toph had to hand it to her; it wasn't just anybody who managed to use words like that while up to their chest in solid stone—there had been something important and unsaid: she needed Toph's help.

Aang was right about the world being full of surprises.

'Professional courtesy, mudbender,' Azula said. In the skin of her toes, Toph felt the minute motion of the other woman's body as she twitched, once. She sighed in Azula's general direction.

'You should really leave the insulting nicknames to me.'

Instead of a reply, there was a whisper of cloth, then the sharper rustle of unfolding paper. 'You've got a letter,' Azula said, finally. 'Your mother is ill.'

'What?' Toph reached forward and snatched the letter from Azula's hands, as though the paper held some secret knowledge for her fingertips. 'How ill?'

'Ill enough for your father to write.' A pause. 'He wants you to go home. I'd offer to help you pack, but I don't really want to.'

Toph crumpled the paper in her hands, said nothing. An awkward hand touched her shoulder. 'Look, I'm… sorry,' Azula said. She was probably lying, but Toph couldn't really tell. 'Go. I'll handle this. Oh, and the fee.'

The hand lifted. Something heavy dropped to the pit of Toph's stomach, like a chunk of rock she couldn't bend away. 'What do I tell her?' she blurted out before she could stop herself.

'"Get better soon?"' Then, to Toph's surprise, Azula's tone softened. 'I don't really know your mother.'

'I don't either.' She swallowed. The weight inside her bobbed up and down. 'She always wanted me to be someone I'm not. And I—How about your mother?'

'She doesn't know your mother either.'

Toph punched her arm. Azula let out a snort of displeasure. 'You know what I meant.'

'She wanted me to be someone she was not,' Azula said, voice still smooth like polished stone. 'It turns out you can't will your past away.'

'But you get along now, right? So my mother and I…' she trailed off.

A pause. 'Yes. And the answer to your second question is "probably not".'

Toph's feet stiffened. 'Are you lying?'

'Brutal honesty is the best policy—also, punch me again and the retribution will be unimaginable.'

'Whatever,' Toph said, and the weight inside her was, somehow, a little lighter. 'Come on. You can read me the letter while I pack.'

++The End++

Notes/Disclaimer: The arresting someone for having offensive hair thing comes from one of Terry Pratchett's Discworld books, though if I recall correctly, it was "an offensive haircut" in the original. And yeah, I think Toph prefers brutal honesty to comforting lies, which apparently is just the way to get Azula to always tell the truth… ;)