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The Price of Peace	By : Looneyluna Category: Avatar - The Last Airbender > Het - Male/Female > Katara/Zuko Views: 19166 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
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Summary – The wedding guests meander through a nearby garden.

Warning! Character death ahead!

Interlude Eleven –

Strolling through the garden, Meng gave a contented sigh.

“You sound happy,” Aunt Wu said with a smirk.

A slight breeze moved through the bushes and trees and nipped at their robes.

The young girl smiled in remembrance of the ceremonies earlier that evening. Aang had been very attentive, showing his interest in her now that the floozy had gotten married. “I am,” replied Meng as she looked up at the stars.

“It is too bad the Avatar could not come with us,” the old woman fished for her companion’s feelings. “Perhaps there will be another wedding in the near future…a wedding in the gardens of the Southern Air Temple.”

Meng blushed furiously. “Aunt Wu!”

The fortuneteller grinned. “Oh, come now! Have you seen how big the Avatar’s ears are? It’s destiny, I tell you.”

“Aunt Wu!” the girl protested, even though she was secretly pleased.

They giggled like children, winding the old woman and tiring her out. Aunt Wu sat on a nearby bench with Meng next to her, neither of them admitting their sudden fatigue. The laughter died between them and they could hear two people bickering behind them.

--

“All I’m telling you is that our wedding ceremony is much simpler than all the primping and posturing of a Fire Nation or Earth Kingdom marriage,” Sokka’s voice boomed through the tranquil summer night.

“Sounds fascinating,” Toph replied with a yawn.

Sokka snorted and continued babbling. “It is! But Katara kept insisting on wearing our mother’s betrothal necklace. That’s why none of the warriors in our village would approach her.”

Toph made a noncommittal sound and listened to the crickets. She dug her toes into the earth as she stepped through the garden. Carrying her shoes, she contemplated tossing them in the Koi pond. It wasn’t like she was going to wear them again. She hated shoes.

Sokka stopped near the edge of the pond and took her hands in his.

She tried to pull away. “What the –”

“You are my wife. My feet shall run because of you. My feet dance because of you. My heart shall beat because of you. My eyes see because of you. My mind thinks because of you. And I shall love because of you.” He spoke the words handed down through his father.

Toph twisted his arm and shoved him away, confused over the heat that she felt in her neck and face. “Very funny!”

Sokka fell on his ass and glared at her. “What did you do that for? I was only reciting the marriage vows of my people! Once the woman repeats the vows they go into the man’s home and…well… you know. And would it kill you to be a little nicer?”

“Yes.” She blew her hair out of her eyes. “It would!”

Climbing to his feet, Sokka adjusted his boomerang on his back, and stared at Toph as the light from the nearby lamppost illuminated her face. It was as though he saw her for the first time. She was dressed in a simple, but elegant dress with most of her hair pulled out of her eyes.

When had she grown up? How come he hadn’t noticed her before? Those questions went unanswered in his head as he noticed the blush that enflamed her cheeks. “Are you sick?” He touched the backside of his hand to her face and she slapped it away.

“Yes!” she retorted. “I’m sick of you!” With the insulting barb delivered, she stomped off.

Scratching his chin, Sokka grinned. “Yeah, she likes me.”

“Sokka!” Toph cried out, her voice holding a quality he had rarely heard from her – fear.

He ran toward her voice, knowing that whatever awaited him was not good. As he approached the curve of the garden’s path, he stopped. Toph was leaning over Aunt Wu and Meng.

Whereas Aunt Wu was lying on the ground unmoving and unresponsive, Meng was groaning and holding her midsection.

Kneeling next to Aunt Wu, Sokka reached for the fortuneteller.

“It’s too late for her,” Toph yelled. “She’s gone. I need help with Aang’s friend!”

As he drew closer, he could see that Meng was sitting in blood.

“What is it?” the young girl cried. “Aunt Wu?”

The Earthbender did her best to comfort the girl to no avail. Putting her hand to the ground, Toph growled. Yes, she was a master Earthbender, but she had never learned to heal with her craft. Like the Waterbenders, Earthbenders could seek various elements in the body and heal certain diseases.

“It’ll be okay, Meng,” Sokka tried to comfort the girl.

Toph’s frustration grew. The old woman was dead. She knew that because she felt no vibrations coming from her body. Even breathing, people created vibrations.

There was yelling in the distance and people ran toward the royal palace. There was confusion all around them and no one to help. Panic and fear were not things she was familiar with, but as she felt the vibration of the flutter of Meng’s heart, Toph knew it was not a good sign.

Bowing her head, Toph closed her eyes. That’s when she saw them – the two figures standing nearby, hardly breathing and barely moving. Rooting herself to her element, she summoned two earthen spears and hurled them in the direction of the two men.

She heard the crunch of sinew and bone and a curse and knew she’d hit at least one of them.

Weak, Meng tried to sit up.

“No, no, Meng! Stay down. I’ll get Katara.” Sokka said as he tried to decide whether he should leave her side or go for help. An eerie haze covered the half-moon, blocking out what little light there was in the garden.

“Fire!” somebody shouted in the distance.

As Toph stalked through the vegetation she heard the labored breathing and curses of the attacker. With each step she got a better picture of the effectiveness of her attack. She had managed to pin one of the attackers to a nearby tree, the earth spear piercing him through one of his shoulders.

She was so focused on her prey that she almost didn’t see the lump of earth hurtling toward her. Flattening against the ground, she kicked the ground and sent a rumble across the courtyard toward her assailant.

“You won’t be able to defeat me so easily this time, pest,” Mongi’s familiar voice rang across the garden as he dodged the column of earth that smashed past him.

At first, she was taken aback as his treachery and deceit became known to her. But then she was pissed. “I buried you before and I can do it again!” she shouted into the darkness – a darkness she could not see.

Vibrations assailed her senses as various guards ran nearby. She sniffed the air as it became thick with smoke. Filtering through the background vibrations, Toph “saw” Mongi shift his weight and she hurled a chunk of the ground in his direction.

She smirked as she heard a muffled groan. “Told you so, asshole!”

Toph approached the downed bender cautiously, waiting for him to strike back. As she got closer she could see that he wouldn’t be striking back. She could hear him wheezing as the boulder crushed him.

“You know,” she said, standing over him. “I could move this off you.”

“Fuck you!” he rasped, struggling to breathe.

“You wish,” Toph retorted, shoving his head to one side with her dirty foot. “Why did you try to kill Katara? And what did that girl ever do to you?” She pointed in the direction of Meng.

Mongi closed his eyes and wheezed.

Realizing he wasn’t going to answer her, Toph started to walk toward the other man who was pinned to the tree. “That’s okay. If you won’t talk, I’m sure your buddy will.”

He reached for her with a broken arm, silently pleading for her to return to him.

Unable to stand the asshole’s suffering any longer, she used her bending abilities to knock the boulder off the broken man. Rooting her stance in the event that Mongi could actually attack her, she stepped closer.

Black, malevolent eyes glared at her, not that she could see the expression on his face. “You…” his voice gurgled as if he were drowning. He coughed and gagged. “You just signed…your…father’s death warrant.”

--

TBC
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The Price of Peace