Toph didn't realize she had actually fallen asleep until a knock on the door woke her up. Her eyes opened lazily and she rubbed the sleep out of them. She felt a pang of emotion when all she saw was darkness. What did you expect? A belated miracle? she thought bitterly to herself.

She muttered incoherently at the door, hoping whoever was on the other side would leave her alone. She had a headache, probably from all the crying she had done earlier. Oh, and she'd just been through the world's biggest disappointment. That may have had something to do with it as well.

Then, to her surprise, the door actually opened. Toph rolled over to face away from the door so that whoever was there wouldn't see the possible evidence of tears on her face or in her eyes. "I'm not really up to entertaining guests at the moment," she said darkly, waiting for the person to identify themselves.

She heard the door close and thought for a moment that the person had left until the sound of nearing footsteps indicated otherwise. There was silence for a moment before the person finally spoke. "Katara seems to think that you're in here having some sort of pity-party," came the voice of the almighty Fire Lord.

"I was asleep," she replied truthfully. She failed to mention that the pity-party had come before the sleep. Toph was just surprised that it was Zuko who was in her room. Why was he in here? He must have drawn the short straw in the 'someone needs to talk to her' game.

"Sorry I woke you, then," he answered, not really sounding very sorry. There was a pause. "She also thinks you're upset with her."

Toph snorted and shook her head. "Well you can go and reassure the poor Sugar Queen that I'm not mad at her," she said. She couldn't stop herself from bitterly adding, "Because we all know her feelings are the most important."

She heard a rustle of fabric as Zuko adjusted his stance slightly. Crossing his arms, maybe? She didn't know; she couldn't see.

"That's kind of what I wanted to talk to you about," he replied, keeping his voice cool and even.

"You came to talk about Katara's feelings?" mocked Toph.

"No, I came to talk about yours," he said bluntly.

Toph frowned and narrowed her brows, which he couldn't see because she still wasn't facing him. "I don't want to talk about my feelings, least of all with you," she spat. Not that he wasn't a good guy or anything. She just didn't 'talk about her feelings' with anyone. And if she did, the Fire Lord would be the last person on the list of people she would even talk to.

Zuko didn't seem to take offense to the statement; he'd probably been expecting a bit of verbal abuse. "I understand," he said calmly. "Toph, I know how you're feeling…"

At that, Toph rolled over and sat up, staring straight ahead at Zuko (gaze focused somewhere just above his navel). Her face was angry and she jabbed a finger at him as she spoke. "You have no idea how I am feeling," she stated venomously. "You want me to tell you? I'm jolly as a sparrowkeet," she said, her voice oozing with rude sarcasm. She couldn't understand the nerve of him! How could he possibly understand anything that she was feeling? The fact that he was trying to relate was maddening!

He remained unfazed through her anger. "No you're not," he stated simply. "You're hurt. And I didn't say that I understand what you are going through, only that I have been in similar situations that have had similar outcomes."

"What could you have possibly…"

"Would you just listen for a minute, Toph?" he said, interrupting her. Toph's anger swelled even more. She wanted nothing more at this moment than to have a boulder around so she could smash. him. flat. She could feel the anger in her face and had half a mind to just stomp from the room. But she decided to let Zuko have his say. Then she would find some way to smash him.

Once he had decided that she was going to cooperate, he continued. "Don't you think that I know what it's like to want something only for it to be taken away at the last moment? To have the one thing you really want dangling right in front of you but just out of reach? I spent three years of my life like that, Toph. Always trying to get that one thing, that one thing that would make life better. And then when it finally seemed possible, when it seemed like all the pieces had finally fallen into place, it all shattered." Zuko paused, letting that all sink in.

After a moment he continued again. "And all that time I was trying to deny how badly it hurt when everything failed. If I told myself enough times that it didn't matter, that it had no effect on me, then it would eventually be true. But it never was. It still hurt. It would hurt so badly that I would spend hours and hours sparring with the men on my ship, trying to make them hurt as much as I was. But it was never enough. It took me a long time… a really long time… to realize I had been doing it wrong. That it was okay to be feel that pain, it was okay to be upset when things didn't go as planned. No one can just shrug off failure, especially when success would have been life-changing. The trick is being strong enough to let others in so they can help with the pain."

As Toph listened, her anger slowly ebbed away. She realized that Zuko, of all people, would understand… in a way. The way he explained everything made sense and gave her a new respect for the firebender. She blinked rapidly and felt a tear slide down her cheek. She hastily rubbed it off, embarrassed to be seen in such a weak state. If Zuko had noticed (and she was sure he had), he made no mention of it.

Toph was quiet for a moment, letting his words sink in. She understood what he was trying to say. But it was hard. Toph Bei Fong didn't just 'let people in'; it was against her entire nature. But these people were her friends. They had been through so much together. She remembered the rare occasions when she had opened up to her companions. They had never been upset. They had never looked down on her afterwards. In fact, it had only seemed to make their friendships stronger. She could try it, maybe. She could let her friends help. That's what they were supposed to do, right?

Mind set, she asked Zuko the most important question she could think of. "So did you write that speech or did Iroh do it?"

Zuko chuckled. "It was mostly me. I elaborated on a few things he's told me throughout the years, though."

"I knew it," said Toph, grinning in quiet triumph. "And Zuko?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks. For that." She had never been much of a 'thank-you' person, so Toph hoped he was appreciating what she was giving him right now.

"Of course," he replied kindly, a small smile evident in his voice. "Dinner is on the table whenever you are ready to come out," he told her. And then he was out the door.

She waited a few minutes, regaining any composure she had lost during Zuko's talk. People could tell when someone else had been crying (apparently their eyes and face looked a bit different) so she wanted to wait until the evidence, whatever it was, was gone from her own face. Toph wiped her eyes, ensuring there was no wetness there.

She could hear the quiet chatter of her friends in the other room as they enjoyed their dinner. Toph's stomach growled and it was at that moment that she decided it would be a good time to rejoin them. She took a deep breath, preparing herself for the awkwardness that was surely about to follow, and then opened her bedroom door.

Conversation seemed to mostly stop as she walked out. She heard Aang pause in whatever he seemed to be saying to Sokka and then forced himself to continue speaking. She was grateful for his thoughtfulness at not completely halting all conversation.

"How'd you sleep?" asked Katara cautiously as Toph sat down.

"Alright, I suppose," she answered with a shrug. "Wish it had lasted longer, though," she commented.

"If you had kept sleeping, you wouldn't have been able to sleep at all tonight," replied Zuko offhandedly. "Besides, dinner was ready and we didn't want you to miss a meal." Toph got the impression that Zuko hadn't told the others the real reason he had gone in to speak with her.

I have great friends, she thought, the sudden realization hitting her like a rampaging badgermole. They were so thoughtful (most of the time), especially recently when she had been so dependent on their help. Even though they had their differences and argued every now and then (yesterday's events were still fresh in her mind), they always came back together. Like a family. Not her family, of course, but a perfect, ideal, real family.

"You know," she started, "you guys are great. I mean, really great," she told them genuinely.

"Gee, Toph, I never knew you were so sentimental about dinnertime," commented Sokka, his blundering confusion painfully obvious.

Katara, however, understood perfectly. "So you aren't mad?"

Toph shook her head. "Nah. I think I was at first, but I'm over it now." She heard Sokka whispering to Aang ("Why would she be mad about being invited to dinner? I don't get it." "I don't think she's talking about dinner, Sokka." "So she's mad Zuko woke her up?") She ignored the two boys as Aang tried to quietly explain what was really going on. "And it wasn't fair for me to lock myself up like that just because something didn't go the way I expected it to," she added. She wanted to get this all out before she changed her mind about being 'open' to her friends.

"You're allowed to be upset, Toph," said Katara in her usual motherly tone.

Toph nodded. "I know that. I guess I just figured out that it's okay for you guys to know that I was upset. I shouldn't try to hide that stuff from you."

"What, you think we're going to abandon you if we know you're sad or something?" asked Sokka through a mouthful of food, finally on the same page as everyone else. "Why would you think that? That's ridiculous. You're stuck with us whether you like it or not."

"That's what friends are for, after all," chimed in Aang.

Toph allowed herself a smile. Not her usual smirk, but an actual, heartfelt smile. She could tell everyone else was smiling as well. "And you can wipe that smug look off your face, Sparky, I know it's there," she commented.

"I don't know what you're talking about," he replied smugly, his voice coming from the other side of Katara. The others in the room laughed, though they didn't seem to understand what was going on between the Fire Lord and the earthbender. Toph then realized with a laugh that she had finally had her life-changing field trip with Zuko. It had been entirely unexpected and not so much of an actual field trip, but his little speech to her earlier really put things in a different perspective for her.

It seemed like something good came out of this trip after all.

A/N: And that's it, folks! I hope you all enjoyed the story! I know I had a good time writing it. It would mean a lot to me if you'd let me know what you thought about the whole thing; I'll even allow anonymous reviews just because I want to see what everyone thought.

I'd like to say thanks to everyone who has reviewed, commented, and added this story to their favorites and alerts. This was my first fic and it was really encouraging to have such a good response from you guys. I have a few more fics in the works (including one that could be seen as an alternate ending to this one). Hopefully my writing will only improve the more I write. I look forward to (hopefully) seeing some of you again in the future! Thanks again, everyone!