Im not shipping Toph and Zuko. Thats to much of an age difference for me to be comfortable with, but I do fangirl squee over the POSSIBILITY of a brother sister relationship.
DISCLAIMER- I don't own avatar...>
um lets see this is 20 thoughts of a brother-sister relationship between Toph and Zuko that MIGHT happen should Zuko ever decide to join the light side.
I had never done a 20 facts story before and I won't lie...I thought it would be easy.
BUT OMG IT WAS SO F'N HARD. I had to use my space wisely so I was trying to think up good points...
1. The first time Zuko met Toph he refused to attack her. He had to many morals and to much of a conscience to.
2. The first time Toph met Zuko she sent him flying into a convenient boulder 10 feet away.
3. Zuko didn't feel so bad about fighting her after that.
4. When he joined her group it was an unwritten agreement between them that Aang, Sokka and Katara were more than just friends. They were family; and no matter how much Aang trusted them or how much Katara genuinely seemed to care for them. Zuko and Toph both knew their places in the group.
5. Zuko was surprised (and slightly appalled) to learn that despite her behavior Toph came from a very prestigious back round. When he told her so she snorted and questioned whether he had the right to talk. Zuko chose to ignore the comment although it did make him pause and think.
6. Toph found Zukos' behavior towards her embracing and strange at the same time. He didn't act surprised when he realized she was both blind and a master bender. The lack of response was new although not unwelcome.
7. Once when she was trying to annoy him she asked Zuko if he ever felt ashamed of being beaten by a little girl. Zuko merely said that he was use to people like her. His voice was quiet and layered in bitterness.
8. Toph rarely teased him after that.
9. They treated each other differently from how others treated them and for both it was a strange feeling.
10. Unlike Sokka or even Katara Zuko never felt guilty about being a fire bender around Toph. She didn't seem to care and only brought it up when they were sparring. However he quickly discovered that answering her endless questions about fire bending could at times be as trying as defending fire bending.
11. Zuko never bothered to ask Toph if she needed help or even tried to. So of course she was surprised when he offered to give her a piggy back ride back to the campsite. She was even more surprised when she found herself saying yes.
12. By the time they reached the others Toph was fast asleep on his back. The extra weight and pressure made him feel oddly stronger and more responsible.
13. Zuko is fully aware of the budding relationship between Aang and Toph. He doesn't really care (despite what Katara and the loud mouth say) but he did make a mental note to have a "talk" with Aang when/if he finally grows out of that dopey smile of his.
14. Toph has only ever cried once in front of Zuko. It was when he had demonstrated his newly acquired lightning technique for her. She doesn't know what had happened but she remembered hearing a sky shattering noise and feeling the earth tremble beneath her feet. It was unnerving. Hearing the noise in one direction yet feeling the after affects in a completely different spot. She never even knew she was scared of thunder and lightening until that incident but nevertheless Zuko had promised he would never use the technique in front of her.
15. Everything wasn't always peachy keen between them and the other group members. The Aang Gang, as Toph fondly calls them (she had originally wanted them to be the SKATZ but the she felt the heat grow around Zuko and changed it.) Despite their differences both Toph and Zuko agreed that 1.Sokka was a complete idiot. 2. Katara's healing abilities came in handy once in a while, and 3. That if Aang was humanities last hope they were all pretty much screwed.
16. The others weren't sure whether Toph and Zuko getting along so well was a good thing but Aang and Katara knew that the pair would most definitely cause Sokka to have an early death.
17. Once Zuko and Toph overheard a group of men arguing about the efforts being made in Ba Sing Sei to stop the fire nation troops. Toph had turned to Zuko and asked in confusion if there was a war going on.
18. Their relationship changed after that.
19. Toph didn't need Zuko's protection since she was more than capable of protecting herself, but she allowed him to because he had said it was more for his benefit than hers. Usually she rebelled against comments like that, but for some reason when Zuko said it she got a tingly feeling in her stomach.
20. Sometimes when the weather was hot the Aang Gang would sleep out side together on one large blanket. Aang would lay in the middle with Katara and Toph on either side of him. Sokka and Zuko would sleep at each end of the blanket because god forbid they touch.
It was another unwritten agreement between Toph and Zuko that those nights were the best.