-A childhood love-a toko story

-A childhood love-

~ A Zuko/Toph Fanfiction

Rain was pouring on the young prince’s cloak as he walked down the trail deep inside the forest.  He quickly found shelter under a large cave that seemed to well made to be natural.  Zuko removed his hood and felt the scar on his face.  It still hurt although it had already been a month since he has gotten it.

Streams of tears flowed from his eyes as he shouted into the night sky.

“Augh! I want my throne, my honor, everything, I want it all back..”

He sat at the cave’s mouth, crawled into a ball with his head in his arms.
Then, he heard a sound deep in the cave.  He immediately shot a wave into the cave’s darkness and yelled

“Who’s there?”

Reluctantly, he ventured deeper into the cave to see a little girl crying inside the cave.  He was surprised to see such a young girl so deep inside such a dark cave.  He approached the girl and asked her.

“Hey, why are you here?”

The sobbing stopped immediately and the little girl’s eyes met with Zuko’s.  To much of his surprise he saw that the girl was blind, but Zuko saw the most beautiful colors in this little girl’s eyes.

“Hic.. I ran away from home… hic.. And now I don’t know where I am..”

The little girl began to cry again.  Zuko asked what her name was.

“My name is Toph.. Hic”

“Hey Toph, I’m Zuko.”

The young prince felt sorry for the little girl and offered his assistance.  Toph rubbed the tears off her eyes and took Zuko’s hand.  When they reached the mouth of the cave the storm cleared and morning broke.

“Ok Toph, so what’s your last name?  It should be easier to find your parents that way.”

“It’s Bei Fong”

“Alright. Well lets start searching.”

As they were looking around Toph asked about Zuko and his family.  Of course Zuko couldn’t say he’s the banished prince of the fire nation so he answered her question while avoiding giving any names.

“Well, I have a sister and a father.  My mother went away long time ago.  She was the only real family I had.”

Toph could feel the trembling of Zuko’s hand.  He hugged his arm and said

“Don’t worry your mommy will come back one day I’m sure of it”

Zuko faced the smiling young girl and gently patted her on the head.

“Thanks Toph.  I feel all better now.”

An hour later, Zuko was finally able to find Toph’s home.  The crying Mrs. Bei Fong embraced her daughter and thanked Zuko several times.  Mr. Bei Fong asked Zuko if he would like to join them for dinner.  He grabbed his rumbling stomach and happily accepted his offer.

After the dinner Zuko took his left of the kind family and headed for the road once again, but before he could leave the house he saw Toph running towards him.  He stopped and let her catch up with him.

Toph was trying to catch her breath while Zuko asked

“Thank you for the dinner Toph”

Toph finally caught her breath and handed Zuko a necklace made of pearl that had the engraving of a lotus flower that looked similar to that of the while lotus tile in Pai Sho.

“Hey Zuko, promise me when we got older that your going to find me and make sure you keep you promise when we do meet.” Toph said with a large smile.  He accepted the necklace and gave her a hug.

“Sure Toph, I promise.”

Toph signaled Zuko for him to come closer and gave him a small kiss on the cheek.

“Toph! Where are you? It’s time for bed!”

Toph ran back into the house and waved good bye to Zuko.

The blushing prince stood at the gate with the necklace firm in his grip and his other hand on the spot on his cheek where Toph kissed him.

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“Nyahh!!”

Zuko woke up with a startle.

“ mm… That dream again. It‘s been three years since that happened..”

He placed his hand on hand on the pearl necklace that was tied around his wrist.  He let out a mellow smile and sat up.

He felt a large rumble in the distance.  He stood up and rustle through the trees and bushes to see that a small young girl was earthbending.  All of a sudden a pillar to stone rammed his butt and he was pushed right in front of the girl.

“Hey freak, you a stalker or something?”

Zuko dusted his clothing and stood up. He went face to face with the little girl

“The name’s Zuko and I ain’t a stalker much less a freak and what the hell’s the deal earthbending me”

“Listen up Jerk-o, I do what I wanna do and I ain’t gunna let some stupid stalker tell me otherwise”

They both began growling at each other until a voice broke up the conversation.

“Toph! Where are you?”

That voice was all too familiar for Zuko cause he has been chasing it for days on end.

Aang and Sokka came through the trees and with their eyes wide and jaws on the floor they stared at Zuko.

“ZUKO!” they yelled in unison.

“The Avatarr…” Zuko collapsed in front of them and everything became black.

Zuko’s vision became blurry as he was able to open his eye’s little by little.

“Hey he came to!”

He saw blurs run into his line of sight and when he opened his eyes fully he saw the Avatar and his friends he was traveling with.

He retreated from the group quickly and backed into a rock.

“What the-? Where the heck am I?

“Well angry jerk, when you saw us you collapsed and we had to carry you back to our campsite.” Sokka took his pouch of water and handed it to Zuko.

“Well it was Toph’s idea to carry you to our campsite.” said Katara.

“Hey I helped too!”

“Yea sure you did Sokka.  Apparently shaving him bald and tying him naked to a tree is helping him” said Katara while she readied her sleeping bag

Sokka groaned and went back to his tent.

“Wait. Why did you- aghh.”

Zuko grabbed his chest in sharp pain.  It was bandaged.

“You should take it easy Zuko.  Two of your ribs broke plus your body is pretty malnourished so you need to rest.”

Zuko laid down and faced the sky.

“Why did you save me? I have been chasing you for a long time and I tried to capture Aang so you could’ve left me there.”

“Hey just be grateful we saved your butt there”

“O yeah? Well you- unghh.”

“Zuko! I said to take it easy.”

“And Toph, stop yelling at Zuko. I’m going to bed.”

Toph was facing the fire.  Zuko sat up facing the fire as well.

“Hey Zuko.”

“Yeah?”

“Where did you-.. never mind.”

Zuko looked at Toph with a puzzled face, but immediately went back to facing the fire.

After awhile Toph began to shiver uncontrollably.

“Toph. Come here your going to catch a cold.”

“No thanks Princey. I don’t need another person trying to take care of me.”

Zuko let out an angry smile.

“Your stubbornness isn’t going to get you anywhere so get over here.”

He forcefully jerked Toph in front of him and wrapped them both with a blanket.  Toph became flustered when she felt the prince’s half naked body.

“Wha- What do you think your doing?!”

“Shut up. It’s better than catching a cold!”

They sat cuddled in Zuko’s blanket, staring at the campfire.
A long period of time passed by.

“Hey Zuko. Are you awake?”

There was no response.  Toph felt for Zuko’s face.  She felt his eyes closed, but as she traced her hand she felt a scar. In that instant, Zuko woke up, but Toph didn’t realize.

“My father gave it to me.”

Toph was surprised, but regained her composure.

“How did you get it?”

“It’s none of your concern.”

Zuko laid awake in his bed, staring at the sky.  Toph cuddled beside him placing her hand on the necklace tied on his wrist. Zuko turned his body and faced towards Toph. Together, they fell asleep as the sparks of flame fade into the sky..

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“Hey Zuko.”

“Yeah Toph?”

“Let’s play a game.”

“We should concentrate on getting you home though.”

“Come on Zuko. Please.”

Zuko let out a small chuckle.

“Fine, but only for a little while.”

“Hey Zuko. One condition. If I win, you have to um… be my servant.”

“Heh, okay.”

***After playing their game***

“Okay Toph, I lost.”

Zuko bows down before her.

“What is your wish, my mistress?”

“Hmm.. let’s see.. Oh! I know. I get to be your bride.” said Toph with a mischievous grin.

“Well you got to be a little older to get married Toph.”

Toph began to pout with her arms crossed.  Zuko went head to head with Toph.

“Okay, how about this then. When you get older, I promise to marry you.”

Toph gave a skeptical look towards Zuko.

“You promise.”

“Yeah. I promise.