A/N: I'm sorry, I keep lying about the field trip. I genuinely, genuinely thought that this was gonna be the one but then the group scene completely took over. What can I say, I am clearly not in control of this story.

TW: Nil genuine aside from the usual occasional language (maybe a wee bit more than usual because, you know, Toph). Sokka's mad imagination. Sad Toph using aggression and sarcasm as defence mechanisms. A touch of Momtara and Dadko.

Unearthed

It becomes a game, of sorts. A totally inappropriate, definitely ill-advised, futile game which, despite what they've agreed, despite the unquestionable pain that it brings and can only keep bringing, neither of them seems to be able to stop. Every moment in Zuko's presence is bated – a held breath, a caught glance, a touch that lingers just a little too long to be entirely casual, entirely friendly.

And she knows. Katara knows that it can't go anywhere real, that it can't mean anything. The thought sits like a bitter reminder on the back of her tongue, something that she tries to both heed and ignore in equal measure.

But stars, it's like she's completely powerless, as prone to dissipating as sea spray under the heat of his gaze. He's the sun, and what can she do but be drawn helplessly into his orbit?

It's all pretty pathetic, really.

Because they're both adults, aren't they? They're both smart, accomplished people; surely they have more self-control than this? This is juvenile, this is –

'We need to talk.'

This is not going to go away.

Shit.

She looks up from her scroll to eye Zuko cautiously where he stands in the doorway

'Talk?'

Didn't we already do that? What else are we meant to say?

'About Toph.'

That throws her. She straightens, frowning.

'Oh. Why? What about her?'

It's a strange contrast that he strikes, leaning against the frame of the door in a way that seems far too informal for the official robes that he still has on after yet another early-morning meeting. His face pinches in uncertainty, mind clearly working through something as a hand comes up to rub absentmindedly at the back of his neck.

'It might be nothing. But before you arrived, Jun let slip that Toph hadn't been back to Gaoling since she left with you guys during the war and-'

'Wait, what? That's- I mean, that's insane.' She's half-laughing at the thought of it. 'Of course she went home. Jun was probably just trying to get you to doubt your team. Sow distrust, you know?'

'Toph was there. She didn't deny it. Besides, he was trying to get under her skin, and it worked. I don't think he had any reason to lie.'

Katara falls silent for a moment, working through Zuko's words, the laughter fading slowly from her face.

'But that-...' It doesn't compute, and her voice comes haltingly as she tries to speak before knowing what she wants to say. 'She wouldn't... 'Cause she's so... It doesn't make sense.'

Zuko lets out a sharp exhale, his face screwing up further as if pained.

'I know, that's what I thought too. That's why I think we need to figure this out.'

She doesn't miss the 'we' of it all, the automatic assumption that they're in this together, but her mind is so busy working on the new problem laid before her that she manages to adopt the partnership that he's extended without stumbling.

Well, much. She's still human.

'Yeah, I- of course we do. We should talk to her about it.'

'She and Aang went to go and tour the metalworking factory. I figured we could see what we can piece together and then talk to her when they get back.'

She rises slowly to her feet, head whirring. Her fingers move automatically to thread through the ends of her hair, and she has a moment of surprise at finding it shorter than expected before she remembers the chunk that was burned off during the ambush a couple of nights ago.

'Okay, well, Suki's probably the one who's spent the most time with her over the last few years – she might be able to help make sense of it all?'

It comes out as a question, because honestly she's not even a bit convinced that they're going to get to the bottom of this without talking to Toph herself, but she can't deny that she's confused and worried and, yes, not just a little intrigued by how strange the whole thing sounds. Plus it's kind of nice to be focussing on someone else's issues for a while.

So before long, they've pulled Suki and Sokka in from where they were sparring in the courtyard, and the four of them have gathered around one of the low tables in the front room.

'I just don't understand why she never told us. I mean, we all thought that she was back with her parents, right?'

A ripple of acknowledgement runs around the table at Katara's question, and Sokka leans back on an elbow, studying the ceiling thoughtfully as he thinks out loud.

'That's the weird part of it all, really, isn't it? Her not telling us, I mean. Toph's into the meet problems head-on thing – you know, be like a rock and all that. Hiding stuff isn't really her deal.'

He jerks upright, limbs flailing in a sudden fit of excitement.

'Oh, OH, what if – and hear me out, here – what if Kuei hired her for some, some kind of like undercover spy work, and she's been using her crazy mega-senses to listen in on enemy conversations and stuff, so she had to lie about where she was because otherwise her cover might be compromised? Eh? Eh?'

There's a pause as he stares at them all expectantly. When no reaction comes other than a few raised eyebrows, he throws his hands in the air and flops back down onto the floor with an exasperated scoff.

'Okay, so maybe she isn't a super-secret Earth Kingdom spy. But I stand by what I said – holding back isn't like her.'

'No, it's not,' Katara agrees slowly. 'Except... When's the only other time she's really lied to us?'

She's met with a blank stare from her brother, the slight shake of his head saying he doesn't know what she's talking about, and she presses a reminder towards him from the other side of the table.

'Back when she first joined us, when she ran away from home? She said that her parents had changed their minds and let her go, but they hadn't.'

'Huh, you're right.'

'From the start she's been way more guarded about the way her family treats her than she's ever been about anything else.'

Suki leans forwards, eyes distant in thought, elbow coming up to rest on the table. Her middle finger snaps repetitively against her thumb as she seems to mull things over, and the clicking sound of it echoes softly off the tiled walls until Sokka rests a hand lightly over hers. She blinks, winding her fingers into his and shooting a quick smile in his direction before focussing back on Katara.

'What I don't understand is-... Katara, weren't you going to go and stay with her at her parents' house? Why would she have agreed to that if there were still issues with that relationship? And you must've been sending letters to her in Gaoling around that time, right?'

A grimace creases Katara's face, and she shakes her head.

'No, actually, I wasn't. Every letter she sent was from Ba Sing Se, and she always said she was spending so much time in the capital that I should just write to her there rather than at home. Looking back I guess it sounds kind of weird, but at the time... I mean, Gaoling is a relatively small, southern city – it wasn't too badly damaged by the war. It made sense that Toph was working in the places where she'd be most helpful. That's why I didn't really question the letters or her cancelling my visit. Didn't she say similar things to you about writing to her?'

Her question is met with a wordless hum of denial before Suki clarifies:

'I was seeing her pretty regularly with work anyway – we didn't really need letters. And I took messages back and forth for her and Sokka, so they didn't need to write either.'

The Kyoshi warrior makes a sound that's somewhere in between a grumble and a sigh.

'It's funny, when I was working with her in Ba Sing Se, she always spoke as if she was only there for whatever job we were doing at the time. We'd finish up, say goodbye, and it always seemed like she was getting ready to head off home.'

'It was the same in her letters – she'd write about going back to her parents in between jobs and I-...'

'Oh, shit.'

The curse is quiet, a muttered dawning of insight rather than a true exclamation, but it's enough to turn the two women out of their dialogue and look to Zuko for explanation. He stays frustratingly quiet for a couple of seconds, and that's all it takes for Suki, ever-measured but clearly curious to the point of impatience, to prompt him.

'You've just figured something out, haven't you?'

'Not really, no. I still don't have any idea why she's been lying to all of us, but...' Zuko lets out a breath that isn't quite a sigh. 'What if in between those jobs she never even left Ba Sing Se? What if she was staying with someone in the city who'd be more than happy to give her a room for as long as she needed it?'

With his words, another shred of the fragmented story that they've been able to piece together so far slips into place; Katara can see the edges starting to take shape, the fringes taking on some colour under the meagre light they're managing to shed. But all the bits in the middle, all the bits that make up the body of the picture, remain maddeningly shadowed.

Sokka seems to find no such sense of ambiguity in it all, as he rises up to a sit again with scandal scrawled across his face.

'Oh my gods, Toph's in a secret relationship!'

As much as she loves him, as much as he can be astute and considered and even bordering on wise at times, Katara's not sure her eyes ever roll quite so frequently as when she's in her brother's presence.

'Or she's been staying with Iroh, which is what I assume Zuko actually meant.'

'Well, excuse me for trying to lighten the mood.'

As he settles back onto his cushion again, the sarcastic twist of his face morphs into something more troubled, and his hand comes up to rub at his jaw in thought.

'It is weird, though, isn't it? Three years, all of us in pretty regular contact with her, and none of us ever even suspected that she wasn't based in Gaoling.'

'Don't beat yourself up over it, Snoozles. I'm pretty good at covering my tracks.'

The table they're sitting around judders a couple of inches across the floor as all four of them jolt at the sound of Toph's voice. Katara twists towards the entryway to find the earthbender standing with her arms crossed and a stubbornly unreadable expression on her face, Aang rigid with discomfort a couple of feet behind her.

'Toph, hi! We were just-'

'Talking about me, yeah, I heard.'

'I don't suppose there's any point in us denying it?'

Toph's eyebrow lifts, unimpressed, at Sokka's attempt at humour, but at the same time a tremor of something that almost looks like amusement flickers across her lips.

'Sure, give it a shot. That'll go down real well.'

On the floor, the four of them shoot uncertain looks across the table at each other. Toph gives them no leeway, no lifeline, standing silent before them as she waits for someone to speak. As much as she knows it isn't physically possible, Katara has the distinct sense that Toph's staring them down far more effectively than any sighted person ever could.

A few more painful moments pass, each feeling longer than the last, before Suki shifts where she sits and offers up a halting suggestion to the quiet. Her fingers start snapping again, and Katara wonders if the other woman is even aware of it, this physical echo of her mind at work.

'So you heard what we were saying. Do you... Would you like to talk about it?'

'Glad you asked. Not really.'

Silence again, save for Aang puffing out a flustered breath, eyes wide as they dart back and forth between Toph and the rest of them. This time, though, they aren't left to stew for long before Toph sighs melodramatically, cracking her neck in a way that makes Katara wince.

'But since you guys have clearly started already, I guess I'd rather set things straight than have to put up with all of you trying and failing to stay out of earshot as you whisper about it for the next week and a half. Weird, gossip is way less fun when it's about you.'

Her expression turns serious, verging on solemn, her arms tightening across her chest.

'The truth is...' She takes a slow, deep breath, as if steadying herself. 'The truth is, I'm in a secret relationship.'

An incredulous kind of triumph flashes briefly across Sokka's face, but it disappears as quickly as it came, collapsing to a disgruntled glower as Toph's façade cracks and she breaks into a graceless bout of sniggers.

'Don't do that. Why do you always have to do that?'

'Oh man, you just make it so easy. I don't have the kind of self-control to let that slide – I'm not a frigging angel.'

With that, the tension in the room seems to dissipate. Katara feels the breath release in her chest as Toph swaggers, still laughing, to the table and drops inelegantly to the floor beside Sokka.

'So, you finally started trying to figure it all out, huh? I've gotta say, I'm surprised no one's brought it up already.'

Sokka yelps as she elbows him none-too-gently in the ribs, the two of them breaking into a trifling tussle which culminates in Toph landing an effortless but seemingly devastating flick to Sokka's nose just as Katara and Zuko choose the same moment to intervene.

'Come on, are you guys still-'

'Seriously, cut it out-'

They both stall, their gazes flickering in concert towards each other in a way that's started to feel increasingly familiar over recent days. Friendly, Katara. His eyes are far too amused for comfort, and the laughter in them probes with quite alarming precision at the thin walls of logic, the flimsy constructs lined with reminders of the promise of heartache that she keeps having to rebuild around herself every time he catches against them. Just friendly. That's it. A smile twitches at her mouth for a split-second, before she buries it back down under a heavy layer of sense and exasperation, and returns her attention to the rest of the group.

Sokka is rubbing at his nose and eyeing Toph sulkily, but he can't keep the interest from bleeding into his voice.

'So what, you were expecting this? You're not, you know, mad?'

'Are you kidding? You guys can't keep your noses out of anything, it's predictable as hell. Being mad at you would be like being mad at Appa for shedding or something stupid like that. I knew as soon as that asshat snitched on me that it was only a matter of time.'

Toph reclines back on her elbows, fingers tapping rhythmically against the tiles.

'Come on, then – what've you got so far?'

Katara glances sidelong at the others.

'Pretty much what you heard. We guessed that you've been staying with Iroh in Ba Sing Se, and Sokka came up with some... colourful suggestions as to why you might not have gone back to Gaoling, but other than that...'

She tails off, offering up the empty space that she leaves behind to Toph in the hopes that they might finally get some answers.

'So jack shit, basically. For being insanely nosy you guys are really bad at this.'

'Well, any time you fancy filling in the blanks for us I'm sure we'd all be very gratefu- Hey!'

This time, Toph sends Sokka sprawling sideways across the floor with a well-placed shove before carrying on the conversation as though nothing's happened, Sokka's objections left wholly unheeded.

'Things were alright at first. I sent a letter along to my parents a couple of days after the war ended, and they wrote back saying they were proud of what I'd done and sorry for the way they'd behaved and all that and... It just sounded like things might be better, you know? Like they were finally accepting that I wasn't the daughter they'd expected to have, and that might be okay.'

By slow, shallow degrees, her face starts to collapse, growing darker as the nonchalance fades from her voice, and her feet wander from where they've been propped against the table to seek out the cool smoothness of the marbled floor.

'I'd said that I was helping out in the Fire Nation, and that I might need to stop by Ba Sing Se for a while before coming home, and at first that didn't seem to be a problem, but after a couple of months they started getting more...'

There's a pause, and Zuko's the first to fill it.

'Impatient?'

'I was gonna say 'crap', but sure, that works. They made it pretty clear that with the war over they expected me to head home and settle back into the life they'd had planned for me before – you know, the good little noble girl who marries some pretentious noble boy and makes a bunch of bratty noble babies and never does anything exciting or has any kind of opinion about anything other than table manners for the rest of her life.'

The pressure behind her words rises higher and higher, so by the time she finally pulls in a breath it takes her a moment to calm, and even with that the sharpness hasn't left her voice when she speaks again.

'So instead of going back to Gaoling from Ba Sing Se, I just... didn't. I stayed and I helped Iroh at the tea shop and pretended that things would just magically straighten themselves out. Call me crazy, but I wasn't exactly itching to go and deal with all that.'

'Why not?' Sokka is sitting up again, his earlier grievances forgotten. 'You're usually so confrontational- not that that's a bad thing or anyth-'

'They're my parents. They suck, but they're... I don't know if you've noticed, but hitting things head-on tends to break them.'

Even though it's said more as a gripe than a confession, even though it's accompanied by a determinedly neutral tilt of the head, Katara thinks it might be one of the most openly vulnerable things she's ever heard the earthbender say. She's not the only one who seems to feel it, either, because a sad kind of stillness seems to fall over the table, each of them processing the unexpected poignancy of Toph's words.

Which is clearly more solemnity than Toph herself is comfortable with.

'Huh. Downer.'

If she'd been closer, Katara might've prodded Sokka in reprimand for the muffled snort of laughter that escapes him. But as it is, her position across the table has her well-placed to catch the smirk that pulls at Toph's face in response, and she's struck by the thought that, if their friend is going to use humour as a defence mechanism, perhaps it's a good thing they have someone around who's quick to laugh.

With the silence growing just that bit more comfortable, Aang seems encouraged to venture into the conversation for the first time since sitting down.

'What about Iroh? Didn't he ever suggest that you talk to your parents?'

A flicker passes over Toph's face – a shrug that doesn't quite make it all the way down to her shoulders. Despite her attempts to make light, to loosen the hold that the story clearly has on her, there's still a brittleness to her voice that makes her sound liable to cracking.

'Sometimes. Most of the time we'd just work. Sit and have tea. Talk about you guys and the state of the world and meaningful shit like that. I think he knew there wasn't really any point in pushing the subject.'

'Why not?'

'Dunno. Knew I wasn't ready, I guess. You get it, right Sparky?'

Zuko nods, and Katara can't help but notice the way his eyes have warmed with the discussion turning to his uncle.

'Yeah, I can imagine. Attempting to move the mountain is useless unless the mountain wishes to be moved. Or something like that.'

Not for the first time, Katara wonders if Toph might be capable of having entire conversations via snorts alone. But on this occasion, the younger woman opts to follow up with actual words, and her voice stretches out into a lazy drawl that goes some way to returning it to its normal state of sounding too big for her frame.

'Wow, it's like he's really here.'

'You get what I mean. Uncle never really tries to get you to take any particular path. He just kind of nudges you with deep, open-ended questions until you come to a conclusion on your own.'

Toph sniggers, perhaps the only snigger Katara's ever heard that manages to sound fond.

'That crusty old genius.'

Sokka leans into the conversation again, elbow propped too-casually against the table, the tilt of his voice exaggeratedly rounded with all the inflections of someone trying and failing to be subtle.

'So like, that's nice and all, but... have you? Come to a conclusion, I mean. You, uh... You think you might be ready now?'

Subtle as a harpoon.

'What, to go get married off to some high society dickwad? Can't wait, just try and hold me back.'

And as much as Katara agrees that her brother's complete lack of social dexterity probably warrants the sarcasm... maybe just a gentle nudge towards something a bit more sincere could be helpful.

'Toph, you know that's not what he meant.'

The table quietens again. Toph takes a sharp breath in as if about to retort, but then something seems to snag in her, and the air held in her chest releases in a quiet stream that sounds something like surrender. She pulls in on herself, all her limbs drawing up close to her body until she's perched atop her floor cushion, her contact with the marble lost entirely.

A few seconds pass, and no one speaks, and Sokka shoots a comically exaggerated shrug across the table at Katara but she responds with gritted teeth and a pointed widening of her eyes which she hopes tells him to shut up.

'Alright, yeah, sure, why not?'

The words come all at once and too loudly, almost forced out, a kernel of hope buried deep beneath layers of cynicism and fear and adorned with a bright sheen of false confidence. But Toph's back is straight again and her fists are held tight and ready, and now it's time to get to work.

'Right, okay. Brilliant! So, we'll need to get Appa saddled up – so long as Aang's okay with that – and packing, Toph should probably take enough things to last a few days in case she wants to stay, although I guess it's not like she ever really has more than that with her anyway, and we'll probably arrive late evening and then we'll-'

'Katara.'

She blinks at the sound of her name, the gentle but insistent hand that's suddenly alighted at the crook of her elbow, and phases out of her thoughts to find Zuko beside her. They're practically through the doors which lead out to the courtyard, standing a good ten yards away from the table where the rest of the group still sits. She hadn't even realised she was moving, really, carried on the stream of her thoughts as they kicked into high gear.

'What? What is it?'

Zuko seems almost uncomfortable, his face screwed up as if caught mid-wince. The pull of knowing there's a job to be done is still running keen and loud through Katara's mind, and she feels her brow lift, prompting him to say what he needs to say so that she can get on with sorting things out for Toph's trip.

'Look... I'm sorry, but I don't know if you're the best person to deal with this.'

That throws her. She recoils a little, frowning up at him, not sure whether she feels more confused or insulted.

'What? Why wouldn't I be? I'm trying to help.'

'I know. I just think that you might not have had the same kind of experience with your family that Toph has had with hers. I know you want to help her fix it, but the way that things are with families like that... There are different expectations. Different values. I don't know, maybe I'm wrong. I hope I'm wrong. But this might not be something that can be fixed.'

'Sure, but-'

'Katara.'

Somehow, he manages to fit sentences – a whole debate – into that one word. Since the last time he said it no more than a minute ago, it's as if he's changed the meaning in her name entirely. She stills, works through the weight of each syllable, finds the intention and reason he's put into the shape of each consonant... and she understands.

She struggles, there's no point denying that.

She's not thrilled that this is a problem that she's maybe, perhaps not best equipped to handle.

But she understands.

And there's a small chance that this sort of situation might just be a good learning point in her whole 'you don't have to be what everyone else needs you to be' journey.

'Okay. Okay, you're right.'

His lips don't move, but something like the essence of a smile seems to lift his face, creasing at the corners of his eyes. He nods, just a slight dip of his head, and with that it's as if all of a sudden Katara becomes acutely aware of how close he's standing – her thoughts have stopped buzzing with plans for Gaoling, and the present has come sweeping back in, and now here they are again in that indistinct space between friendly and dangerous where breaths come shorter and the warm pressure of his hand against her arm is abruptly, patently substantial.

Her eyes are drawn down to the place where his hand makes contact with her skin just as his hold is released. For a moment – an extremely misguided moment – a swell of disappointment rises in her. But instead of dropping to his side, his hand comes up, fingers brushing fleetingly through the loose ends of her hair where it spills down over her shoulders before he seems to catch himself.

'Right.' He withdraws bodily, taking a full step back from her and nodding again, blunter this time. 'So if Toph's okay with it then I'll go with her to Gaoling. I'll take the rest of the day to make sure everything's set up to keep running here and we'll travel overnight. That way whatever happens I should be back in Yu Dao tomorrow evening and- Yeah.'

'Yeah. Good.'

'Okay.'

'Okay.'

Katara suspects they're both aiming for collected, unruffled, but the attempt is feeble at best and they end up landing somewhere around stilted. He turns to make his way back to the rest of the group, and she takes the opportunity to cringe silently behind him before following. As they take their places back at the table, they're met by a raised brow from Toph.

'I don't know why you even bother lowering your voices. You know I can still hear everything you're saying.'

The grin on her face is brutal, relishing – 'like a tiger shark', as Gran-Gran would say. And it's every bit the face she pulled at Kuei's party:

I know I can't see googly eyes, but I can sure as hell hear them.

Even from ten yards away.

Get your shit together, Sugar Queen, this is just fucking tragic.

'Great, so you heard the plan. If it's alright with you, Zuko's going to go with you to Gaoling tonight.'

A decent imitation of composure. Thank the gods.

Aang jumps in, nudging Toph enthusiastically.

'Hey, hey, you know what that means, right?'

A smile – different, somewhat more muted than before, but a smile nonetheless – makes its way slowly across Toph's face.

'Time for a life-changing field trip with Zuko.'

Next to Katara, Zuko groans. His head drops back dramatically, shoulders slumping.

'Oh gods, are we still on that?'

A/N: Writing a more emotionally exposed Toph is definitely a challenge. As I've been writing, her voice has kind of swung back and forth between vulnerable and sarcastically defensive, so that's what's ended up on the page and I hope that it feels true to her character - let me know your thoughts!

And okay, I swear to God, her field trip is honestly, definitely, undoubtedly coming up next. Pinky promise. Stay tuned.

BUT ALSO, for those who are new to the fandom and particularly to the Zutara ship, y'all may not be aware that ZUTARA WEEK is right around the corner. Prompts this year look like fun, and since it's my first year being active in the fandom I'm going to do my best to actually participate. I will absolutely try to be strict with myself and limit my writing for ZW to the actual week itself, and not let it get in the way of updating here (hilarious, since I'm shoddy at best with this), but the road to hell is paved with good intentions and like I think I've proven that I'm entirely unreliable when it comes to scheduling. No matter what, I hope everyone enjoys the absolute slew of Zutara content that's going to be coming our way shortly!