the earth has a molten heart

toph shifted under the weight, her feet rubbing on the marble floor in a smooth, frictionless manner. “i don’t know how you can bear the heat,” she griped. “it’s like a million degrees outside.”

he shrugged, then snaked his arms around her waist. “it’s nothing like the heat of caldera was when my father was fire lord.”

a silence hung between them, the mutual understanding between the children ot neglectful, yet overbearing parents. toph ran her fingers over the slopes of zuko’s face, tucking hair behind his ear, tracing the charred flesh of his scar. she silently cursed the spirits for making her blind, or for never giving her the temporary gift of sight, because she could tell that zuko’s beauty was worth seeing.

he melted into her touch. “you’re amazing,” he said quietly, his good eye focused on toph’s gentle face.

“i know,” toph said as nonchalantly as she could manage, but her heart pounded in her chest.

zuko shifted, his hair falling away from his face, giving toph better access to his skin. “you know, i’m blind too.”

she scoffed, “yeah, right. it’s not nice to lie to a blind girl, sparky.”

he laughed lightly. “no, really.” zuko guided toph’s hand to his left eye, which was permanently squinted. “when my father challenged me to an agni kai and scarred my face, he damaged my eye.”

“can you see at all?” toph asked, feeling around his eye.

“i can make out shapes, but i can’t see anything more than that,” he said. “it’s a shame, because i’d love to see you with both eyes, to take in all your beauty.”

a blush crept across toph’s cheeks. “don’t say that, you dunderhead.” she swatted at his face, hitting his wrist as he reached up to touch her face.

zuko smirked, his hand getting lost in toph’s long black hair, which she hadn’t bothered to style that morning. “what would you like me to say instead?”

“tell me about colors.”

he twirled her hair around his fingers as he thought. “well, red is the color we have the most of in the fire nation. it’s hot, like fire, but it’s also sweet like fire lilies,” he explained. “blue is the color of the ocean and the sky during the day. katara and sokka wear blue. i think it would smell like salt.”

toph snickered. “colors can have smells?”

“well, it’s more like a smell is associated with a color,” zuko offered. “like panda lilies smell like my mother’s perfume, and red smells like panda lilies.”

he took in toph’s features. she was enthralled by what he was saying. she’d never known colors to be this versatile or important. toph had never even known colors.

as she caressed the side of zuko’s face, she leaned back against the sofa and closed her eyes, propping her head up with her free hand. “what else?”

“pink is the color of blush, when that heat settles on your cheeks. it would smell like cherry blossoms,” he said. “and brown smells like soil. a lot of the earth you bend is brown. your tunics are mostly green, they smell like sage and earth. and yellow, yellow is my favorite color. it’s like the sun, all warm and happy.”

toph imagined what all of the colors he described might look like, but she had no frame of reference. she hadn’t seen the fire nation robes, or the sun, or fire lilies. toph, frustrated, took her hand away from his face.

“did you mean it?” she asked abruptly.

he sat up, turning around to fully face her. his hand still tangled in her hair, cupping the back of her skull. “what do you mean?”

toph sighed and brushed her bangs away from her face. “nevermind, it’s stupid.”

“tell me,” zuko said in earnest. he unwound his hand from toph’s hair and tracing her jaw. “i want to know.”

she pouted. it felt stupid to say out loud, to ask if she was pretty. of course he thought she was pretty, or else she probably wouldn’t have been sitting on the sofa in his ember island house with a healthy coating of sand covering her body. she had never cared about being pretty before, she had always shrugged it away when katara told her she was pretty, but now, sitting in front of zuko, toph was unsure.

he leaned forward and pressed a kiss to toph’s lips. “tell me,” he said again.

toph sighed, head now swimming with a distinct lack of inhibition. “do you…” she trailed off. zuko kissed her again, then looked at her expectantly. “gah! do you think i’m pretty?”

zuko’s hand cupped the side of toph’s face, his eyes bore into her skin with the heat of a thousand suns, and he thanked the spirits for putting toph beifong on his couch, at this time, so he could tell her what he thought.

“toph,” zuko started. his voice carried that same earnest tone. “i don’t think pretty is the right word. no, you’re something more than pretty. you’re… you’re breathtaking. there’s no prettier sight than you, toph.”

she let out a sigh, and leaned into his touch, softening entirely. “will you tell me what i look like?” she asked, her voice barely above a whisper. “

toph suddenly felt exposed, sitting in front of zuko in her fire nation maroon swim clothes; a tight bandeau and a pair of short shorts.

“you’re pretty short. you only come up to my elbow,” he started, “you have long black hair, like me, but yours is usually up in a bun with a headband that matches your tunic. your skin is pale, but when you blush it gets all pink. your eyes should be green, but they’re glazed over because, well, you know. you are very muscular, which is probably why you win every time we spar.”

toph laughed. “or maybe i win every time because you suck.”

he couldn’t help but laugh. “way to ruin a tender moment,” he teased. “but, toph. you’re really, really beautiful.”

she leaned forward and pecked him on the lips. “thanks, sparky. now tell me what you look like.”

“i’m so much taller than you,” zuko said with a laugh. “i have long hair, like yours. mine is black, too. i usually wear half of my hair in a bun, with a fire nation emblem pinned in it.”

toph reached back out toward his face. “what does your scar look like?”

zuko took her hand and placed it against his face. “it’s red, lighter on the outside and darker on the inside. my eye is squinted, like it’s half shut.”

“and i know you’re muscular,” toph said, moving her hand down his arm and giving his bare bicep a squeeze. “otherwise, i might not be sitting here listening to you yap about how gorgeous you are,” she teased.

he leaned forward and kissed her softly. “you know, you’re prettier than i am.”

“i should be so lucky,” she managed between kisses.

Zuko turned to Toph.

He closed the space between them, his breath growing shallow with every step.

Toph was blushing with the same intensity of her outfit.

She stood still as Zuko stopped in front of her.

His eyes wandered over her again. He wished she would lift her face so he could see her properly.

He hesitated. “Can I have this dance?”

Toph’s head snapped in agreement, but her body did not move.

“Can I have your hand?” he asked.

She jolted, then held her hand out in wait. He paused for only a moment, before taking it in his. Their fingers closed around each other, the vibration of his heart shooting through her.

He was surprised. The usually steady Toph was trembling slightly in his grasp.

He squeezed her hand tighter.

“I don’t do the twirling thing,” Toph said seriously.

He smiled as a small huff escaped him. “Don’t worry. No twirling,” he whispered, leaning closer.

...

The rest and everything that happened before (so much drama) and after (even more drama!), can be found here!!!

:･ﾟ✧:･.☽˚｡･ﾟ✧:･.:

(Gushing time: oh my spirits, look at how gorgeous and buff Toph is! And Zuko so handsome! The height difference! Aaaaahhh their outfits literally looked like that in my mind! Aaaaahhhh! I am so overjoyed, I can't stop staring at them! This is magic! Its magic!)