I'll Be Your Family

A Parent's Love

It took Toph a second to get over her shock.

She wasn't used to people touching her hair. Her parent's always treated her like she was made of glass. All of the servants were terrified of laying a hand on her in case they hurt her. Scruffy ruffling her hair was a new sensation to her.

I don't hate it. She thought to herself as she tried to wrap her head around the fact that someone was willing to treat her like a person.

He even said thank you. When was the last time someone's said thank you to me? I don't think my parents have ever done it. They always say they love me but they've never thanked me for anything. They always just say that it's expected of me to go through etiquette lessons since I'm a Beifong. They've never thanked me for suffering through 'Master' Yu and his sloppy Earthbending either. Why can Scruffy treat me like a normal person but my parents can't?

She didn't even realize she was crying until Scruffy started panicking.

"Shit Toph, are you okay? Did I say something wrong? I'm not used to thanking people. I've always been told that everything rightfully 'belonged' to the Fire Nation. Should I leave, I'm sorry if I -" He grunted as Toph tackled him in a hug, crying into his shirt. He didn't know what to do so he just patted her head awkwardly.

What do I do in this situation?

He thought about how his mother used to comfort him after a bad training session. She used to stroke his head and hum tunes from her favorite plays to him. It always helped him calm down when he was younger.

He started stroking Toph's head, humming his mother's songs just like she used to do for him.

After a couple of minutes, Toph let go and stood across from him, rubbing snot from her nose and trying to go back to her usual 'tough guy' persona.

"Thanks, Scruffy, I just got a little emotional, that's all. I'm not used to getting thanked, that's why I reacted that way. You didn't say anything wrong... You don't have to leave." The last part was said in a whisper as she sniffled and avoided looking at Scruffy.

She was used to faking weakness in front of people, but this was the first time she had truly been weak in front of someone else. She didn't know what to do.

Zuko relaxed as he realized he wasn't responsible for making Toph, who was usually the embodiment of strength and stubbornness, burst into tears.

He sighed in relief, "Thank Agni. I'm glad I wasn't the reason you started crying." He looked at her and saw she wasn't looking at him.

She probably isn't used to breaking down in front of people. Understandable, I haven't been weak in front of anyone else since my mother disappeared. Even Uncle hasn't seen me break down and he practically raised me.

He rubbed his neck he realized he didn't know a whole lot about comforting people. He didn't know a lot about people in general to be honest, so he just decided to ask about the part of her explanation that he was curious about.

"What do you mean you aren't used to people thanking you?"

She has to have been thanked by someone. Even I've been thanked by people and I might have tried to capture the best chance at ending the war. Might... I'll make sure to ask Uncle about it later.

Toph took a second to compose herself before deciding to tell him the truth. She figured if she was never going to see him again, she should at least be able to dump her emotional baggage on him. It might make it easier to go back home.

"My parents have never let me do anything on my own because of my blindness. I have servants that do everything for me, so I've never had the chance to do anything for someone else. When I'm stuck in the estate there's nothing I can do for anyone, and when I leave the estate it's usually as the Blind Bandit. I don't talk to people as the Blind Bandit unless I'm about to flatten them. Most of the people I flatten don't feel like thanking me." She shrugged and waited to see how'd he respond.