For the Love of Doph:

Author Note: this is a belated birthday gift for inaligrimalkin in DeviantArt.

When asked what she would like for me to write for her as a birthday present, she told me that she would like a fanfic for The Duke and Toph from Avatar: The Last Airbender.

Well, first, let me just say that I do not ship these two, and I asked her to give me some other ideas.

However, I know how much she's been talking about wanting some good fics to read about them. ((I'm not saying my fic is good... I'm just repeating what she told me)) So I decided just to write it anyway. Figured it would be a pleasant surprise for her.

Well, unfortunately it has taken so long to write because I really had a hard time with it.

After the latest news about Legend of Korra and the information given about Toph's daughter and the metal bending police force (or whatever it's called) I thought it would be a nice idea to place the fic in Republic City

and... even though I don't ship this pairing... the ending of ATLA you do see them together... so, I guess it might borderline on being canon...

Oh, and the bridge they are building, I thought could be the one that Korra is standing on in her debut picture.

Disclaimer: The Duke, Toph, Republic city, and all other people or places mentioned in this fic are all property of Mike and Bryan, creaters of Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Last Airbender: Legend of Korra.

The Duke stood on the deck of the ship, watching out across the water as the city under construction came into view. Even from where he stood, he could tell that it was going to be a magnificent city. He and Pipsqueek had been called upon to assist in demolitions – or rather, anything that needed a good explosion to make way for the city's construction. Apparently even with all of the earthbenders in the crew, they couldn't move mountains fast enough.

The nineteen-year-old gripped the side rail of the ship in anticipation as they came closer to the harbor. He had been told that she was here. It had been three years since he had seen her last. He doubted that she changed much. She had always been the same tomboyish, stubborn, strong, independent girl that he met eleven years ago. At first he had merely looked up to her, but eventually that admiration turned into more.

At the end of the war, the world had become pretty chaotic in the mess of uniting the 3 nations. After finding Smellerbee and Longshot, he and pipsqueek helped them to gather the former members of the Freedom Fighters. Not wanting to return home, Toph had a strong desire to continue traveling and had joined the group for a couple of years. Her skills proved to be a great asset in hunting down and taking out rebel groups.

However, the time came when her parents put their foot down about her wandering ways. They were in Ba Sing Se at the time, having tea at the Jasmine Dragon while awaiting a meeting with the Earth King about recent rebel activity. He remembered the shocked expression on her face moments before her parents walked in – it always amazed him how she did that. It was the old man who owned the tea shop - what was his name, Iroh - who convinced Mr. and Mrs. Bei Fong to allow Toph to attend the University of Ba Sing Se under his guardianship.

It was a few years before he saw her again. He was twelve and traveling through Ba Sing Se. The word was that she taught metalbending at the University. Though she had an apartment of her own in the city, when she wasn't teaching she was most often at the Jasmine Dragon. That was where he met up with her on and off for a couple of years when he and the group were in the area. Mostly, at that point, they were all travelling around helping with odds and ends jobs. It had been four years since the end of the war and most of the rebel activity seemed to have ceased.

When he was fourteen, a new revolt broke out in the great Earth Kingdom capitol with surviving members of and those who supported the Dai Li. They argued that, as the largest nation in the world, the Earth Kingdom should rule above the others. For a couple of years Toph worked together with the rest of the group, including the Avatar, Fire Lord, Water Tribe siblings, and Kyoshi Warriors to calm the rebellion before it turned into another full blown war. It was during that time when he started to look at her as more than a friend, but she was always aloof towards the concept of romance. Before he had the chance to tell her how he felt she left with the avatar to help with the continued development of a new city - Republic City - where he had just arrived.

"You call yourself earthbenders? Come on, I could do this blindfolded, and in case you hadn't noticed, I'm blind!" Toph wasn't having a good day. This was the third area that she was checking. Each one had to be ready to start construction by tomorrow, but by the looks of things, it would be a miracle if they were ready within the week.

From the distance, she felt a couple of people approaching. iGreat… recruits…/i she grumbled inwardly. The large one might have some potential, provided that he could use that muscle of his, but she doubted the skinny one would be of much help. "Hey, bean pole! Unless you're an earthbender, I don't have need for you!" She whirled around on him when he came to a stop a few feet away from her.

"It's good to see you too, Toph," came the "bean pole's" response with a chuckle of amusement.

"What about me? You have need for me?" came the big guys voice; it was deep and sounded a bit slow.

Toph stared blindly at a spot between them as her mind registered where and how she knew them. After a brief moment her signature grin spread wide across her face. "Finally!" She exclaimed, loud enough for everyone in the vicinity to hear. "They've sent me people who know what they're doing!" If anyone could get the job done, a couple experts in explosive demolitions would. She first gave Pipsqueek a hug before moving on to The Duke. "Spirits, you've grown! I hardly recognize you!" she laughed as she pulled away to give him a good slug in the arm.

In spite of the pain, The Duke couldn't help but to grin. She hadn't changed a bit, personality wise. She had become even more beautiful then he remembered, though. "How've ya been, Toph?"

"Better…" Her answer came out rather blunt as she turned back around to face the workers under her supervision. Evidently they thought so long as her back was turned, they could slack off. "Back to work! I may be blind but don't think I can't see you!" she barked before heaving a great sigh and bringing her hand up to rub her temples.

"What do you need us to do?" Pipsqueek's deep, booming voice broke through her thoughts.

"This terrain is horribly uneven." It was a mixture of being both hilly and rocky, and that was the understatement. She could feel just how rocky it was and though for the many earthbenders she had, not including herself, moving the heavy amount beneath them would create a disastrous collapse into the ground without others holding the rest of the earth at bay. Not to mention that this had been a painstakingly slow process. Best she had the large sections of rock go out at once, relying on the benders around her to hold the earth steady, keeping everyone on their feet and safely away from the spirit world.

A week had passed since The Duke and Pipsqueek had joined Toph's demolitions and removal team. They had successfully, with the help of blasting jelly, managed to help clear the three areas that had needed to be ready for construction the day after their arrival and had just finished with the last of two additional areas that had been added to the work queue at last minutes notice – much to Toph's annoyance. Speaking of the blind earthbender – or rather thinking about her – he could see her in the distance. She had just finished thanking and releasing the other earthbenders form a long, hard day's work and was walking in his direction. Whether or not she intentionally meant to approach him, he couldn't tell. She was rubbing her temples with her face angled down towards the ground. "You doing alright there, Boss?" he called out to her when she had gotten within hearing distance.

"Just a headache," she shook her head and looked in his general direction. "It's been a crazy week."

When she stopped a few feet away from him, he gave a slight laugh. "Just be glad it's over."

"Oh, I am!"

Now, he realized, was the time he'd been waiting for. They were finally alone. He swallowed, suddenly unsure of what to say. He had practiced this moment in his head a million times before – what he would say… what he would do, but he found that all of that had escaped him.

"Spirits, what's up? Your heart rate just jumped to a million beats a second."

The Duke startled out of his thoughts, but wasn't surprised by her observation. "Well… uh…" He raised a hand to the back of his neck. "How'd you like to go out for a drink, my treat?" There… he had said it.

Toph raised an eyebrow at him and grinned. "Sure thing, Kiddo," she used the nickname she'd given him years ago. Though he obviously wasn't a kid any longer, he'd always be younger than her. "If you're offering to buy."

With a laugh and shake of his head, he turned to walk beside her as she continued forward. They chit-chat a bit along the way until they came to a section of the new city where an Inn, teashop, restaurant, and a few other small businesses had already been built. At the teashop, they shared a pot of strong black dragon spirits tea – a blend of black tea with dragon spirits, a prominent alcohol from the fire nation. Of course, the mixture wasn't enough to get them drunk. It was just enough to help them both relax; Toph found her muscles loosen while The Duke's nerves began to ease.

"Hey, Toph… there's something I've been meaning to tell you… for awhile now…"

"Well, by all means tell me already, then. Don't go soft on me now."

The Duke nodded and swallowed a knot that tried to form in his throat. "Well sure, it's easier said than done."

Toph raised an eyebrow, uncannily seeming to look right at him. "There goes your heart rate again. Spirits, you'd think you were trying to make a confession or something," she joked, unknowing.

"Yeeaahh… imagine that," he gave an anxious laugh.

"Or are you…," she narrowed her eyes, confused by his actions and unwilling to believe her senses. Sure, between her parents and Iroh, she had a few suitors in the past, but they had all been the same. She found that there were two types of men in the world; those who pitied her for her blindness and those who desired her for her bending. The former were usually the ones picked by her parents while the latter were usually introduced to her by Iroh – with good intensions. The Duke, she had always considered to be a good friend. He was fully accepting of her and had never treated her like she was handicapped.

The Duke reached across the table for her hands, taking them into his. For the first time he was faced with the reality of just how dainty she was - such small hands that crushed boulders and bent metal. "Toph, I…"

"For the love of the Avatar, don't get all mushy on me now…" Toph found her own heart rate increase uncharacteristically, and spirits, what was going on with her stomach? "Just spit it out already…" His hands held hers firmly, and though she knew she could easily pull away, she didn't.

The Duke let out a whole-hearted laugh at her reaction. He knew her well enough to recognize that she had been thrown out of her comfort zone. What had he expected? Toph had always been the direct, straightforward type. "Alright, Toph, of course," he nodded, despite knowing she couldn't see it, and squeezed her hands a little as if trying to draw upon her strength. "I like you… a lot. I have for years. More than friends."

For once, she found herself speechless. Her mouth opened, as if to say something, but no sound came.

"Do I have to do everything around here? You all call yourself men? We'll see just how manly you are when you're all shown up by a blind girl!" Toph snapped at the horde of men under her command. It was two months later and she was now in charge of constructing a large iconic metal bridge. At this point only a few of the earthbenders training under her had mastered the basics of metalbending. The rest of the crew – benders and nonbenders -were transporting or securing the large metal beams.

The Duke was sitting up high on one of the support columns welding one of the rows that would create the arch. He was finishing up his work when the whistle for the end of the work shift blew. Strapping his equipment to his back, he slid down his safety rope to the scaffold, climbing down it to the ground.

Once there, he followed the other workers putting tools away in the storage shed. On his way out, he saw her, still up on the bridge, triple checking the work that had been done – he recalled that she had double checked it not too long ago. "Come on you overachiever," he called up to her. "Let's go get some hot Black Dragon Spirits tea!"

Toph looked down into the direction that his voice was coming. "Better to check for and correct mistakes now rather than later."

"What mistakes? This is the third time you've checked. If you missed it the first time, you would have caught it the second. Come on, Toph. Don't make me come up there."

"Or what?" she smirked, but she was already on her way down.

"Or I won't do this," he answered when she came to a stop in front of him. Placing his hands on her hips, he drew her closer, slowly wrapping his arms tighter around her waist and bent to capture her lips in a kiss.