Backwards

By xannychan

Short A/N: A look at an interesting pairing. No spoilers.

---

Toph knows hearts. It's why she doesn't hate him.

This, however, is a little-known fact; no one could tell if one were to merely graze the surface of her relationships. She is bold and abrasive, cunning and sharp, hard as the metal she bends.

Beside him, she maintains what some see as steely silence, the exception being an occasional sneer at his blunders. She laughs only when he feels dark, expresses happiness in his gloom. She constantly challenges his ego, and leaves him no room for excuses for his pampering as royalty.

This is, of course, not the way it really is, because who else is better matched with the blind in sight than the blind in mind?

She keeps him sane, in a backwards way—none of what she does is to insult, but to encourage. She is silent because she trusts his step, makes light of his faults because she recognizes that he is human because of them. She jokes at his turmoil because she knows darkness herself; she celebrates his troubles because she understands that it is the very essence of his soul. She peels away his layers of pride and immaturity. She offers him the safety and stability of earth.

No one knows her tender touch but him; she is his earth, his footing and assurance against the flickers of fire and heartache.

Toph knows hearts, and she knows Zuko's best.