A Kiss in Ba Sing Se

[A/N: This is an A/U story. Toph is a competent young lady unless Katara is involved. From the moment she realized her true feelings, she has felt as though she has to compete for Aang's affections. A kiss between Katara and Aang now prompts her to pull out all the stops if her feelings are to be reciprocated..

Disclaimer: I do not own any rights or titles to the characters of Avatar: The Last Airbender. Wholly owned by NICK!]

Chapter 1

(TAANG Story)

My love was asleep.

The slumber of ages

Until you came and awoken it!

It spoke of what was... and what was to be

As it soared with joy above the clouds!

Yet, another had your eye.

Was she more to you than I?

No, I must not despair,

For ours is the Love of Destiny!

And from your slumber, a Kiss will awaken All.

Thoughts

The GAang had all gathered at Uncle Iroh's re-opened teashop, the Jasmine Dragon, to relax after the fierce battles they had endured to defeat Fire Lord Ozai and the evil Azula.

Toph's thoughts seemed to drift along with the melody of the Tsuki horn that Iroh softly played.

Her most recent brush with death crept once more into her mind as she laid on the table just above the Avatar. Maybe it was the fact that her feet were off the ground her thoughts returned to that moment. Whatever the case, Toph was grateful for the strong hand of Sokka, that held up even though he had suffered a broken leg.

Peculiarly, the petite earthbender now wondered if anyone would have missed her if she had indeed fallen. "Perhaps a few tears," she sighed to herself. "But life would go on... and I'd be a distance, dirty, memory." She shook her head at her morbidity. "Sheesh, I'm depressing myself!"

Still, the thought of her dangling above the abyss, between heaven and earth, shook her to the core. For Toph, something felt weirdly familiar and almost nostalgic about her predicament. She reflected on the fact that the most skilled earthbender ever, almost plummetted to her doom. The possibility that she could have been burnt to a crisp by a bunch of murderous, comet-enhanced firebenders didn't escape her thoughts either.

"Stupid me, about to become Toph flambé, and all I thought about was that skinny, pussyfoot, bald monk... monkey! What's wrong with me," she admonished herself.

The thought so infuriated her; she had to steady her breathing.

A while back, something had blossomed in her when Aang went on that spirit journey on Roku's Island. Toph felt it in her heart as if somehow she was linked to him. No visions, no words, only these strange, strong, intensely personal feelings.

When the journey ended, the feelings did not. Strangely, it seemed as though Toph had known Aang her whole life. When he took hold of her hand that day, the airbender had most assuredly captured her heart, all in one fell swoop.

But just like the other idiot Toph had crushed on, this one didn't realize the depths of the earthbender's feelings either.

The corner of Toph's mouth lifted, "If the others hadn't been there, I'd a planted a big wet one right on his lips for sure! Yep, I'd been on him like a canyon crawler on a cured hippo ham!" she imagined.

Toph had to restrain a giggle that threatened to betray her thoughts. Again she let out a long sigh.

Aang was dominating her thoughts as well as her dreams. There were not your typical, average dreams either. Instead, these were passionate and very vivid, wet ones. This was particularly disturbing, especially for a blind girl. Toph could only imagine this is what color looked like when these flashes occurred. The hardest thing she had to deal with was the mess they left.

Within them, sometimes the touches felt so real; Toph would wake up in a panic, only to find that she was still alone in her rock shelter or room. As it faded, a sense of disappointment followed.

She started to 'touch' herself, in all those intimate places, so naturally, taking longer and more frequent baths, became a necessity.

Toph hoped and prayed that no one was around to hear her call out his name in those times of mindnumbing heated bliss. Especially not the center of her desires.

"Hey Toph, you doing okay up there?" Aang unexpectedly whispered. "I thought you didn't like it when your feet weren't on the floor."

Toph cut him an irritated glance. "I'll have you know, this is like a little vacation away from all of you dimwits," she lied. "This is the only way I can get some, 'me time,' with all of you stomping around. like a herd of elephant-bison!"

Aang's light chuckle was like music to her delicate ears as it pierced Toph's heart and added a pinkish tint to her pale cheeks. The lovesick teen thought to throw caution to the dirt and roll right over onto him! The idea brought a lift to the corners of her lips.

Toph's thoughts quickly turned back to her chief concern. "I have to tell that numbskull how I feel soon, or I'll just go crazy!" she admitted to herself. "I hesitated with Snoozles and what happened? Miss Fans just blew in and swept him away! Now they're playing Lock and Key every chance they get, and I get to hear all their love play! It's a wonder she is not brewing up a li'l doofuses in that belly," Toph joked to herself as she sat up. "Maybe I should be more direct like she was?"

Toph chewed her bottom lip as she recalled how Sokka had kissed Suki that day with no consideration for her being there. Yeah, it hurt, but at least it showed her where they stood, she reflected. He would never feel for her like he did for the fan-wielding Avatar groupie.

She could accept that; had accepted that. Toph was even grateful for the lesson and realized that Sokka wasn't who she was looking for, but a reflection of her real heart's desire.

Now, what she was going through with Aang was entirely different. What Toph felt for the airbender, was more than a just a 'crush' as it coursed through her veins and took control her mind every day. She knew it had developed a life all its own and she ached to be with Aang. For her, just to talk or share a joke or two were moments to treasure. Toph even worried about him when he wasn't with her.

"Why can't I get you out of my mind... you, stupid Twinkle Toes!" she groaned inwardly in frustration.

Toph reflected that time before that final battle when Aang went missing. She recalled how she was worried sick over the selfish young man. "Doesn't he realize what he's doing to us? To me?" she had cried into her pillow.

Still, Toph was determined to be there when he did need her, no matter the circumstances or the cost.

That fateful leap, as that last ship rose into the air, was the result of her commitment and determination as Toph carried her companions in a superhuman feat that even surprised her.

Toph was so desperate to aid Aang so that he would notice her; she threw caution to the wind that day. Her thought was being there for him, just being with him. She couldn't let him down, not after all they've been through over the years. She was determined to protect Aang with all her strength.

She laid back on the table once more. Toph let loose a long sigh, pondering how she should approach the whimsical airbender.

"I'm just above him, but it feels like we're so far apart," Toph thought, listening to Aang seated on the floor beside her. "He's probably thinking about her, the waterbending bimbo! Who am I kidding, he's always thinking about her," she groaned once more.

The 'her' was, of course, Toph's chief rival in all things. Toph knew she was older by two full years and imagined she had to be much prettier, with all the attention she attracted. "She's even bossier than I am," the metalbender mused as she rolled the woman's name around in her mind. "KATARA!" Just the name made Toph's teeth grind.

She thought of how the waterbender dominated everything in Aang's world. Katara was always smothering him from morning till night, just like a mother robin-cuckoo.

Katara had a habit of making her life miserable on a daily basis! Toph huffed, knowing that the waterbender delighted in finding new ways to annoy her on a day-by-day basis.

"Just because you save someone's life, doesn't mean you own them Sugar Queen!" she growled under her breath. "Stupid waterbender... stupid healer! You think you're so smart, always first sitting next to him and giving him hugs... what a floozy you are! Letting him feel those flabby water jugs of yours," she thought angrily, biting her lip. Toph started to feel her usual frustration, but with no boulders to break nearby, this was dangerous. "Just control yourself Toph girl, wouldn't want to ruin Uncle's place on its first day… now would you?" she thought as she took in a deep calming breath.

She heard the other girls talking about some nonsense and Katara seemed to be leading the pack, as usual.

"So what, Miss Fussy Britches, if you're as pretty as a sunset over the southern seas? Big whooping deal! No one cares that you have all the right bulges in all the right places, well maybe except for Zuko. He's always checking out that huge ass of yours!" Toph snicker to herself.

The earthbender took a moment to listen in on the general conversations near her. There was just the usual drab background noise she came to expect at these get-togethers.

Toph returned to her inner-personal reflections. In a little while, I'll make her look as flat as the walls of this city," she mused, trying to shut out the waterbender's voice. "I don't know how I compare yet, Sweetness, but I have a fine set of girls growing!" She flexed her chest. "I think they're pretty good for a sixteen-year-old, not that I could tell."

Toph continued her mental discourse. "Let's practice our splashing, uh, waterbending... Aang," Toph mockingly imagined Katara saying. "You'd make up any excuse to strip down to those rags that pass for underwear! And what's getting them wet supposed to do? You just love teasing him, don't you, you hussy? Sweetness, you may think you have him fooled, but girl, I see right through your tactics, just like he does those wet gutchies!"

Toph shook her head recalling just before the city fell, "Gosh, why didn't the almighty Avatar go and save the King of Ba Sing Se with the whole world on the line? Seriously, Twinkle Toes, didn't it make more sense for you to do that? Uncle and I could've saved the Flasher and his Hotness! This city may have never fallen then! Well, who knows!" she scowled. Toph sighed deeply. "Well, no sense in dwelling on the past or stupid, boneheaded decisions."

She shook her head in frustration, "Shit, he's driving me crazy just knowing that he is in the same room, right beside my table! Why do you have to smell so good Twinkle Toes? Sitting there playing with Momo! I want you to pay me some attention instead!"

The earthbender touched her forehead in shame. "Oh, now that's sad Toph! Jealous of the monkey!" she scolded herself feeling her mouth go dry.

"Hey, you, royal tea boy... is it ready yet?" Toph yelled Zuko's way, waving a hand.

Zuko smiled and shook his head at her request. Being Fire Lord meant nothing to Toph, and he wouldn't have it any other way.

"At least she's not calling me Twinkle Toes," he laughed to himself. "Give me a sec Toph," he replied, putting another dollop of honey in her ginger milk tea, "…extra sweet right?"

Toph gave him a thumbs up. "Yep, you know how I like it, spicy and sweet!" Toph answered with a toothy grin.

The king now turned waiter, started to pass out everyone's order, starting with the rambunctious earthbender first.

"Sit up now Toph and hold it steady," he warned. "This stuff is very hot, and that honey can leave a nasty burn."

She smiled cynically at his advice but followed it anyway. "Yeah, yeah, just like a certain hotman I know," she snorted back, steadying the cup, unable to see his cheeks flare red.

Zuko had to recover his composure after that comment and the double meaning. "Still, be careful, and I hope you enjoy," he replied with a bow and smile.

Toph smiled reflexively, noting his playful tone. "When did 'Flames for Brains' and I get so friendly?" she thought as she took a cautious sip from her cup. "It must be the tea. Damn, this is good!"

Toph's attention was drawn to a light conversation between Aang and Zuko, who were standing close by.

"Let me have a little of what Toph's drinking Zuko?" Aang asked. "It smells delicious."

His words caused her to shake inside with just the mention of her name.

"Oh boy, you got it so bad girl," Toph told herself. "It's just like in one of those stupid romance tomes, no getting out of this one!"

Toph already knew this. As she was flapping in the wind from that airship, her one regret was not telling Aang how she truly felt. Between Sokka and Suki's heroics and selfless actions that saved her life, she realized this was a second chance. Toph was determined to tell him when the time was right.

Toph recalled her tears in that terrifying moment. It wasn't like she hadn't cried, but these just felt different. The tears that fell weren't from the fear of dying but of her heartbreaking. It was sadness on a scale Toph had never known.

Before Toph could sink any further into her memory, a small commotion ensued. She heard the others talking about a picture. Something Sokka was drawing, or had drawn that piqued their interests, not that she could see it. But messing with Snoozels was better than pining away the moments.

She decided to join in the fun.

Toph hung back until Aang started to move towards the table. Unexpectedly, he veered towards the porch. Toph was about to follow him, but her shyness kicked in. She paused at the overwhelming fear and uncertainty that gripped her heart. It was just too much for her to pursue him right now.

As she approached the table, Toph felt everybody around it, except for the airbender. The mood was light as different people critiqued the group portrait Sokka had crafted. Even though the comments were funny, Toph felt tense inside as she focused on Aang, standing by himself out on the porch. She second-guessed her decision not to follow him. But she was here, and there will be time to speak to him alone, she thought with a grin.

"I think you all look perfect!" Toph proclaimed as she added to the levity. Her laughter quickly faded as Katara headed towards the balcony.

Toph swallowed hard as her worse fears became a reality.