( i light a fire in your new shoes )

[atoned]

If Zuko were to ask Mother Nature how he got into this mess, he'd find the answer whispered against the shell of his ear in some language he doesn't understand. Become one with nature, he can hear Uncle say, and bring me back a prized leaf for my tea.

He rolls his eyes at that, even now. It's all he can remember — Uncle encouraging him to accept Toph's offer, one he owes her, apparently. Written in his schedule is A Life-Changing Trip With Toph Where Fire Lord Zuko Doesn't Disappoint This Time, with fine print beneath involving him being buried alive if he happens to so much as scowl while on this excursion. Considering Toph's no longer a short girl who he can easily jump over, he takes her threat seriously. Her Earthbending is an ability he admires, her fingers working as steady and as confidently as she creates her caves and breathes life into the flowers around her with a hard stomp of her foot.

Zuko remains close to Toph, shadowing her, almost on her heels as she walks within the woods. His boots snap twigs with a heavy footfall, his exhales turning into billows of smoke as the sun begins to set in the sky. The canopy isn't thick, but Zuko still finds the rays of the sun have difficulty breaking through its barrier. He doesn't like it, being so far away from any source of light. Toph's own footfalls are confident and steady, but his own faith within her is beginning to wane.

"Do you even know where you're going?" His tone of voice suggests otherwise. He points toward a thin, wiry tree, the branches twisted rather ugly within one another. It's as though it wants to hug itself, turning in on its own trunk to avoid touching the leaves of its brothers and sisters. "That's the third time we've passed that tree!"

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[metalhead]

On the other side of things, Toph doesn't even ask anymore. Weird things have happened to her since she grouped up with everyone, that finding herself shuffled off to some strange place with kingdoms and little spirit things that people other than Aang can see... well, it could be worse. At the very least Zuko's here, too, and that's a comfort she'll never, ever (ever, ever, ever, ever) admit to.

Except right now she's starting to reconsider that thought. Taking to the lands surrounding the castle had seemed like the best idea at the time. They needed to know what they were up against. Or, rather, Toph wanted to feel everything and know what she could and couldn't use in a pinch. And she's quite glad there's enough earth around her as that pinch is coming up pretty quickly.

She can feel Zuko too close behind her and it's starting to grate on her nerves. Heavily. If she could bend that stupid heated breath she feels on the back of her neck to turn around on Zuko she would. But, instead she tries to mind herself, but her shoulders become more and more tense. When his accusatory tone curls around her ears: that's it.

Toph stops abruptly, uncaring if he runs into her (at this point she wouldn't know how that could be avoided), she's got her feet planted firmly on the ground to prevent falling. "Do you know where you're going?" A childish retort, but she's hardly changed in the time they've been apart. Even if Zuko doesn't know anything about that yet. "Why are you so close to me, anyway? What? Are you scared?"

[atoned]

Zuko barrels into her. One hand curls around her upper arm while the other presses against her shoulder blade. Immediately, his hands drop to his sides. Toph had once been a pillar of strength, one he had leeched from at her own insistence of extending her hand as a gesture of friendship. It's a habit that's difficult to break, even though it had been one frozen in a thick block of ice during the years they had spent apart.

"No!" It's an immediate response, his voice almost a shrill in itself. Zuko is afraid of many things — a copious list of situations, things, and people Toph has even been privy to — and being in the middle of a forest is one of them. Zuko has been lost for far too long, he fears revisiting a path of solitude — one he will never be prepared to travel along again within his lifetime. "I'm not scared of anything!" he says, conviction evident in his tone. Unfortunately, both of them know it to be a lie.

Conveniently, he ignores her second question, accidentally answering her first along with her third. No, he doesn't know where he's going. Zuko walks with his eyes closed. Even when he opens them to take in the sights, he still doesn't see. It's jealousy he feels when he thinks of Toph's own connection to her bending, using it as a substitute for where life has failed her with her eyes. She connects to her element in a way he never will, always fearing it, on some level, bearing the damage the anger of fire can cause. It breathes life into him, renewing him with his new sense of purpose, but Zuko will always be envious of her flawless command over her element. It will never harm her, always protecting her, almost like that of a mother's warm and secure embrace.

"I know we're walking in circles," he says, in hopes of filling the silence and deterring her from challenging him on his own lie. It's to save face, but he's never had to build himself falsely into someone else before Toph. She's always been able to see him, even when he had been too blind to see the man staring in the mirror back at him.

[metalhead]

All she can do is exhale a disbelieving laugh out of her nose, not unlike a pig-bull. (She's just as hardheaded as one, so it's not so far off the mark.) If he's trying to be convincing while telling her lies, he's going about it all the wrong ways. Had Zuko been more like his crazy sister, then maybe his lie would've had a little trouble getting past her and taking root. But not like this. Especially not in that shrill tone.

Really. Who is he kidding??

"You're joking right?" She turns then, facing him but not really looking at him even though she knows exactly where he is. Toph's finger jabs against his chest. "You're lying."

But, that's all she says. The rest is brushed off like it doesn't even matter. She's not... particularly sure just why he's scared or what of, since there seems to be no immediate danger. Unless it's in the sky and then, well, she wouldn't know unless Zuko said anything. So, she just sighs—huffs—and folds her arms tightly across her torso for several seconds and then she drops them to her sides, one pausing on the way down to gesture in an arbitrary direction.

"Why don't you lead the way then, Sparky?"

[atoned]

Steam shoots from his ears. Sparky. It's not necessarily a nickname he has come to adore, but it's one of the only few he's been granted. Don't call me that! sits on the very tip of his tongue, but, for once, Zuko swallows it down. It's the lesser of two evils. Lying to Toph has always been difficult — a feat no one but Azula has ever been able to succeed in. He's uncertain as to why he wishes to lie to her — she's seen him at his worst, sensing what the others had been blind to when he'd been tearing his own skin off in a fit of anger when his own fire had dispersed after his recruitment onto Team Avatar.

"I don't —" He doesn't know where he's going. He'd have better luck navigating the inside of a volcano than of a forest — even one he's been in many times before, which, unfortunately, he hasn't. Forests were for Earth Kingdom kids. The lack of trees in the gardens he used to play with were beneficial for kids born of fire. The trees wouldn't close in on him, manipulated by the will of an Earthbender like Toph.

But it's a challenge Zuko doesn't particularly wish to concede to. He glares at her, hard — she may not be able to see it, but he knows she can feel it.

Brushing by her, he wraps his long fingers around her wrist to turn her around. He'll continue in the direction she had been going in. Perhaps he'll find whatever it is she's keeping an eye out for, sensing it humming beneath within the earth beneath her feet. "Fine. We won't be walking by the same tree with me in the lead."

With Zuko in the lead, there's a good chance they'll either fall into a pit or walk into a tree.

[metalhead]

He can argue the nickname, but he should know better. That just gives Toph incentive to keep doing it. Which, she will. There's a spike in his pulse that she can feel and that gives her some sort of satisfaction knowing she's irritating him just as much as he's irritating her. That's a nice power to have. And she is going to use it. If they're going to be stuck in this weird (stupid) place, someone's going to pay for it. And those irritating (stupid) fairy things that flit around her too quick to catch won't get the brunt of her annoyance.

Zuko can.

He should feel lucky she doesn't know how to bend trees. If she did, she definitely would. (Truth of it was, she'd tried it before, but it never worked out. Trees may be born of the earth, but it's the water inside that can be manipulated. Sort of.) Especially right now. Just to screw with him. Toph can feel that look he's giving her and all it does is cause a grin to slice across her lips. Though... it does disappear when she feels Zuko's hand close around her wrist.

"Hey!" It's harsh, a little loud and indignant. She pulls it free from his grasp. "You won't be walking by any trees if you do that again. I can walk just fine on my own, Zuko."

Maybe she's a little more irritated than normal because of that one meaningless gesture. She knows he didn't mean anything by it, it's just something people do. But, a gesture like that, to a girl who's blind, just makes her feel as if she's helpless. Like she can't tell which way to go if someone doesn't point her in the right direction. Had they not been on solid ground, maybe it would've been fine. Had they been on a war balloon getting ready to careen into others, maybe it would've been fine then, too. But this? Walking directly on dirt and rocks? No. She doesn't need help.

[atoned]

"What?" he grits out. He looks back at her, indignant. The source of her outburst remains unseen by him, his own arm swinging back to his side like a broken branch. "I wasn't doing anything!"

Not anything he had wanted to do.

Zuko isn't a tactile creature, per se. Ursa used to be the only person within the Fire Nation who could touch him — brushing his hair back or wiping dirt from the corner of his nose — without him flinching and propelling himself away. He's always touching Mai when she's around, pressing his shoulder against hers, or placing a hand absently on her hip. Toph isn't either of those women, but he reaches out toward her as an unthinking gesture because she's like them. Comfortable. Her hands never reach out to press the pads of her fingers against his scar, just to see what it feels like, if she can somehow taste the loss and humiliation he had faced for three long years all due to him losing an Agni Kai against the alleged one true Fire Lord. He's never quite been a scar with Toph, just as she's never been her blindness to him.

Belatedly, Zuko cards his fingers through his hair. It almost calms him, the turbulent sea rocking itself into smoothness. He takes a breath in. "I know you can, Toph," he says, his words spoken slightly slowly. It's not done to imply she's stupid. It's to keep the anger associated with his short-temper out of what he knows is to be true.

Still, her recoiling and acting sharply out toward him is lost on him. He stays ahead of her, hands to himself, but his steps are slower, not as purposeful as hers had been. Blasting imps and fairies from where they skip and flutter is what Zuko does — and knows — best. Navigating a forest is one of his weaker points — among many.

[metalhead]

Well, if he hadn't wanted to do it, he shouldn't have. It's not like Toph had asked him to guide her. She's perfectly capable all on her own! She conquered sandbending and metalbending all by herself for crying out loud! Toph Beifong doesn't need help! Not like this.

A deep from pulls her lips down—she'd thought Zuko understood that by now. Though, to be fair, she does keep forgetting she's got three more years under her belt and he's still just freshly Fire Lord. He might not be able to reconcile that she's older just yet.

She sighs, not really wanting to be mad at him. They're all they've got in this weird place, so they should stick together and make the best out of this situation. It's not his fault he's kinda dumb. And Toph knows enough by now that people's first reactions with her are kneejerk and they forget she's blind. Which is fine! She doesn't mind that. It's just when she gets treated like a child—like Zuko just did—that make her a little more than upset.

The only special treatment she wants is because of how great she is. That's it. She doesn't feel like that's asking for too much.

"Look, I just don't like that, okay?" This time, when she speaks, her voice is lower and less harsh, less accusatory. "I don't need to be lead around like some helpless little girl. I can see fine out here on my own."

And to prove that point, she gives just a subtle jerk of her foot into the ground beneath her feet which slightly raises the earth a bit in front of Zuko. Not enough to cause him to fall, but enough to trip him a little most likely. She's already shifting to the side to miss the reeling should it come; the grin on her face, however, isn't subtle at all.

[atoned]

Three years may not seem like a long time to most, but Zuko knows how three lonely years can change a person. He still doesn't understand the manner in which the earth has spun, him being Fire Lord — and one who, maybe, is as well-respected as Toph spins — and her being the Earth Queen, something Zuko doesn't quite question, thinking it to be a good move on behalf of the Earth Kingdom. It's not really something he had questioned while at the feast, either. Toph being queen seemed fitting, almost like Azula being the master over blue fire — the cold-blooded fire. She understood the earth better than any other earthbender. She saw things not even he could see, with his gaze sharp and his ears intent on listening for the dragging of a foot against stone. He tries to see the girl he remembers within this Toph, and he can see her there, lingering behind the height she's gained. The only thing that has changed about Toph is how tall she is. He remembers he could almost rest his arm on the top of her head.

And like the Toph he remembers, she misunderstands what he hadn't even realised he was doing. It had merely been a thoughtless gesture, one he did when around those he was comfortable with. It hadn't meant to be condescending — if Zuko was within a blind cave, he knows he'd reach for her hand for her to guide him. But she doesn't see that, does she?

"I'm not —" Zuko's never had to watch where he places his feet. The earth melts away from him, always keeping his stride steady and confident, but with Toph beside him, the earth is no longer a smooth path, but is rocky and jagged. His eyes aren't on the ground beneath him, nor are they ever — not in the same manner as Toph's always are — and he trips over the little bit of earth she raises in front of him. He stumbles, one of his toes in his boot hurts, and his skin burns at the minor humiliation he's suffered — yet again — at the hands of Toph.

Once he's gained his earth legs once again, he spins on his foot and glares at her. "Why would you do that!?"

[metalhead]

Three years is also a lot of time to make up a lot of stories. She'd only been kidding when she told Zuko a bunch of falsehoods. But, he'd believed her without question (he's sort of an idiot), so she figured why not just keep it up. If he believes for one second that Toph Beifong, Greatest Earthbender Ever, would accept a position such as queen, he deserves to be shamed for it, to be honest. One day she'll set the record straight, but, today is not that day.

Especially not now when she can feel his temper start to rise—he's always been so quick to anger, even when he claims to not want to rely on hate and anger anymore—and she finds it a little funny. She shouldn't prod, but there's no one around here to tell her to stop doing things she feels like doing so...

So, she's going to keep doing them until something happens to make her stop.

When she feels him stumble, she starts to laugh. It's low, slow building until he turns around and snaps at her. Only then does it reach its crescendo. Laughter shakes her entire frame, her arms wrapping around her stomach as she slightly doubles over. It's not that funny, but, in a tense moment (longer that just a moment—they've basically been on the border of a vicious argument since they started this stupid trip), this brief foray into levity was something they needed. At least, that's her story and she's sticking do it.

"Don't know," she quips, the laughter still in her tone as one shoulder is shrugged. "Felt like it, I guess. Gonna get mad about it, Sparky?"

You mad, bro????

[atoned]

Zuko's hands ball into tight, angry fists. His knuckles turn as white as the snow in the North Pole, but his hands feel as hot as the sun. He glares at her. Despite any attempts to try and reel in his anger, he tosses it to the side as quickly as he feels the rage boiling within his chest. "Don't call me that!" His palms feel hot. If he were to open them, he thinks she'd be engulfed in flame.

Being Fire Lord meant he had to attain a certain persona — or so he thinks, anyway, believing himself to need to be someone he's not for the good of his own nation, regardless of what Iroh tells him — and that, in turn, meant he had to maintain a cool head. But unlike his own father, Zuko runs on anger (or passion, if he were to ever look at himself properly when he stood in the mirror, seeing how his own actions had been determined by that one flare of passion, not anger, within his chest), it always exploding in his face like his attempts at summoning lightning.

He stands before her, glaring hard down at her, as he seethes. She challenges him to an Agni Kai he knows he'll lose, but he throws his own gauntlet down to match her. "I'm not mad!" He practically yells it at her. Any attempts he makes to harness his voice is all for nought. Like trying to manoeuvre Appa in a direction the great Bison doesn't wish to go, he finds himself incapable of controlling even his own vocal chords.

Turning on his foot, he begins to walk. She'll either follow or remain doubled over, laughing — either way, she'll remain in the dark while Zuko continues to walk with his eyes open, pressed hard on the ground to see any of it shifting unnaturally beneath his feet, and unable to see.