A few days later, a black dragon and a white bison landed in the courtyard of the palace.  Kouji was the first to disembark, eager to let everyone know that he was back.  He did, however, wait for Toph and Aang to join him.

Mito was the first to greet them. “Hi!”

“Hey, kid!” said Kouji cheerfully, hugging him and then tousling his hair.  “How’ve you been?”

“I’ve been good. Hello, Aunt Toph, Uncle Aang, it’s good to see you two again, too.” The young prince bowed.

“Is Zuko in a meeting?” Kouji asked.  Please say yes please say yes please say yes…

Mito nodded. “Yeah.”

Kouji hid his relief.  “I guess we’ll go see your mother and sisters, then.  Want to come with?”

“Sure!”

He grinned at the younger boy and gestured for him to lead the way, falling back to walk next to Toph.  Mito led the way, followed closely by Aang, who asked constant questions about Katara and the girls.  “He’s grown,” said Kouji softly.  “It’s amazing.”

“It’s been a few years since I’ve seen him, so… yeah, I guess he has.”

“He’s already taller than I was at his age.”

“I wouldn’t know,” Toph pointed out.

“Sure you would,” he told her.  “You’d notice when you hugged him or messed with his hair like you did mine.”

“Well, I haven’t done that, have I?”

“Yet.”  He put a hand on her shoulder.

She grinned. “Yet.”

 

My lady also asked me to assure you that nothing inappropriate happened last night. She seemed rather disappointed…

 

The way you look at her, and act around her, the expression on your face when you get an excuse to touch her…

 

Kouji moved his hand.  “We’re almost there.”

She frowned, slightly. Why did he move his hand?  “Good.  You know you can’t avoid Sparky forever, right?”

“I’m not trying to avoid him,” Kouji replied.  “I just… I don’t want to…”

“Give him that letter?”

“…yeah.”

“Well, like Twinkletoes said, do it somewhere where there’s people. Maybe he won’t yell.”

“Maybe,” said Kouji doubtfully, looking ahead at Mito.

“It could be worse,” Toph said, philosophically. “Someone could be putting forward their son for one of the twins.”

“That would be why I didn’t go to the North Pole.”

“…Oh, that’s right, there’s a princeling about their age up there, isn’t there.”

“Yeah.  I was gonna visit — I’ve never been that far North — but after the Dai Li caught me, I changed my mind.”

She nodded.

And then two blurs attacked Kouji. “UNCLEKOUJI!”

The fact that he kept his feet was sheer testament to Toph’s skill as a teacher.  “Hello, girls!” he said, grinning.

The two of them were talking so rapidly now that it was impossible to make any coherent sense of what they were trying to say.

“Aiko, Yuki, one at a time!”

Finally, they calmed down enough to be understood, then dragged him into their playroom.

Thank the spirits.  I don’t have to give Zuko the letter yet.

However, he couldn’t dodge forever, and finally ran into Zuko in the hallway two hours later — Aang and Toph were catching up with Katara in the meantime.

“Hey, Zuko,” he said, managing a smile for the Firelord.

“‘Lo, Kouji,” the older man said, managing a faint smile in return. He’d definitely lost weight over the last several months. “How was your trip?”

“Vastly interesting.  Picked up a pair of strays along the way and brought ‘em back with me.  Hope you don’t mind.”

“Who’d you bring?”

“Toph and Aang.  Granted, Aang was already on his way here.”

Zuko sighed. “All right. Anything else interesting happening?”

“…yeah.”

“…What is it?”

“I was outed in Ba Sing Se.”

He sighed. “What did they want?”

Kouji handed him the letter.

“…I’m not going to like this, am I,” he said, staring at the letter, not opening it. “Otherwise, you’d give this to me in my study and not in the middle of a crowded hallway.”

“…no, you’re probably not.”  Kouji tried to sneak off.

He opened the letter. “…WHAT MADE YOU THINK I WOULDN’T YELL WHERE THERE WERE PEOPLE?”

Everyone in the hallway stopped and stared.

“…My study,” he snapped at Kouji. “Now.”

The younger man flinched and followed Zuko.

Fury and adrenaline gave the Firelord strength to walk straighter than he had in months. He slammed the door behind Kouji when they got to the study. “What the hell are they thinking? Mito’s twelve. And An Wei’s even younger.”

“I-I don’t know,” said Kouji quickly.  “I’m sorry, I couldn’t think of a creative way to lose it—”

“It’s not your fault,” the older man said, dropping into his chair and reading over the letter again. “Dammit, now I have to find a polite way to tell them where they can shove their proposal.”

“Well, Queen Song didn’t exactly look thrilled with the situation…”

Zuko sighed, and rubbed at his temples. “I’ll just tell them I won’t consider negotiating for a childhood betrothal. That buys me however many years until Princess An Wei comes of age, at least. Or it should. Dammit!”

Kouji watched him, concerned.

Zuko reached over to his desk to find a blank sheet of paper to draft the letter. One of the clerks would make it pretty and official-looking later. Then he sagged back in the chair, rubbing at his temples again.

“…Aang will want to see you.  Want me to tell him you’re in a meeting?”

“Sorry? What?” He looked up. His outburst had taken more out of him than he was willing to admit straight-out.

Kouji stared at him, then repeated himself.

“Oh. Yes, please.” He sighed again, and sank back, closing his eyes. “He’s going to know, isn’t he.”

“Yes.  Yes he is.  May I suggest you sleep early tonight?”

“Can’t, my last meeting’s probably gonna run over.”

Kouji felt like ramming his head into a wall.  “When is your next meeting?”

“Two hours.”

“You should probably take a nap, then.”

Zuko considered a moment. He’d been planning to use those two hours to catch up on paperwork — he kept falling asleep at his desk, and so was falling behind. “I’m behind on paperwork…”

“I can do that.  What else do you have me for?”

“…It’s stuff I have to read and sign. You’re not allowed to forge my signature. … Are you?”

“No, but I can read it and summarise it for you, and then you can sign it.”

“Sometimes there’s details I don’t like.”

“By ‘summarise’ I mean ‘translate into normal talk’.”

He considered again. “…’Kay, fine.” He settled back in his chair.

“I’ll wake you up in time for your meeting,” Kouji promised.

“Thanks…” He drifted off a few minutes later.

True to his word, Kouji read over the papers and worked on translating them into understandable language; when the time came, he woke the Firelord up and sent him to his meeting.  Realising that Zuko likely would miss dinner — or had already missed it — he made arrangements for snacks to be delivered during the meeting, then went back to his translating.

Sure enough, Zuko limped back into his study about a half hour after he was scheduled to be done. “What’ve you got for me?” he asked, sinking wearily into his chair.

“I’m almost done with this last one.  Here are the rest,” Kouji replied, passing the papers to Zuko.”

“Thanks.” He read through the translations, signed most of the documents, and set two aside for further consideration and rewording.   By the time he was finished, so was Kouji; the younger noble wordlessly handed the last few papers to Zuko.  All of these he signed, then sagged back again, closing his eyes.

“Come on, Zuko,” said Kouji gently.  “Let’s get you to bed.”

“Don’t s’pose I can just sleep here? Much more convenient when I wake up to start the day.”

“No, Zuko, I’d rather your wife not kill me.  Especially when I just got back.”

“…Why would she kill you for letting me sleep here?”

“Because she told me not to let you do it again.”

“…Oh. Okay, fine.” He levered himself up.

Patiently Kouji led the Firelord to the suite he shared with his wife.  By the time they got there, he was practically asleep on his feet.  The earthbender passed Zuko off to his wife, then went to check on Toph and Aang.

The two of them had been settled in guest rooms. Toph had ditched hers to go find a place to practice, but Aang was in there. “Is Zuko done with his meeting yet?” the Avatar asked as soon as Kouji came in.

“…actually, he went to bed, Aang,” Kouji said.  “He had a really busy day today.  And I think Iroh might have dosed his tea.  He did say he’d see you tomorrow, though.”

“Oh, okay.” The older man looked a little disappointed, but not surprised or unduly worried — he probably assumed that Zuko had gone on another of his many-day-long adventures of Life with as Little Sleep as Possible.

“Did you have fun with Katara and the kids?”

“Yeah. They’re great kids, really.”

Kouji grinned.  “Mai tells me that Mito looks a lot like Zuko did at that age.”

“I believe it,” Aang said.

“And the twins are gonna be heartbreakers.”

“Yeah, they really are.”

“…so how’re things for you?”

“Pretty good. Last month, I was in this city in the southeastern Earth Kingdom, and they have this amazing custom where they…” And he was off.

Kouji grinned and listened, glad to have distracted Aang successfully.  But he couldn’t do so forever, and, the next day, as promised, Aang went to meet with Zuko.  The earthbender spent the entire trip dreading the Avatar’s reaction. When they tapped on the door, Zuko called out, “It’s open.”

“Here you go,” Kouji said, opening the door.

Zuko looked up, then rose. “It’s good to see you again.”

Aang stared for a minute, then slowly stepped into the study.

It was cowardly.  But Kouji fled to his own room.

 

Aang found him there an hour later. “How did… when did… Kouji?”

There was that kicked-puppy voice (and face) that Toph had warned him about.

Kouji winced as he let the other man into his room.  “Less than a year ago.”

“H-he wouldn’t tell me much… h-how bad is he… ?”

“He’s going to die sometime in the next ten years.”

Aang went several shades paler, his eyes got much wider, and he let out a little cry of dismay.

“We’re doing everything we can to extend the time he has left,” Kouji said quietly.

He nodded, still not saying anything, and shock and kicked-puppy mingling on his face.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you,” the younger bender added.  “But Zuko asked me not to.”

“Okay.”

Kouji bit his lip, looking at the Avatar.  “Aang…”

“Yeah?”

His mind went blank.  “…never mind.”

“Okay.”

Kouji needed a drink, but he didn’t have any, and he didn’t want to leave Aang alone.  Toph joined them a few minutes later, with a few bottles of liquor. “I think we could all use a drink,” she said quietly.

“Bless you, Toph,” he said, letting her in.

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Aang asked a minute or two later, staring dubiously at his drink. He’d had even less experience with such things than Kouji.

“Nope.”  Kouji tossed back his drink.  “But a wise woman once told me it’s better to do this with friends than alone.”

“Okay…”

Two or three hours later, the Avatar passed out.

“Aang jusht fell over,” Toph reported, sipping at her own drink.

Kouji blinked.  “Sho he did.  Huh.”  He wobbled over and struggled to drag the unconscious monk into bed.

Toph helped him out.

“Thanksh.  You’re pretty strong.”

“Yeah. I am.” Soft blind eyes stared at him. “…You thinking what I’m thinking?”

He blinked.  “Uh.  I dunno.  What’re ya thinkin’?”

“That you’re a man. And I’m… not. And your heartsh beatin’ reaaaaaaal fast.”

On cue, Kouji flushed.  “Is it?”

“Yeah. So’sh mine.” And then she kissed him. She kissed him a lot.

Startled but happy, Kouji kissed her back, ignoring Sokka’s smug voice in the back of his mind. 

 

They woke up the next morning naked on the floor together.

Kouji was the first to wake, curled up close beside her with his arms wrapped around her.  The arm underneath her sleeping form was completely numb.

She drifted awake not long after. “Morning, Sunshine.”

“G’morning, Toph,” he replied, gently kissing her again.  “How d’you feel?”

“Bit nauseous. Bit headachy. Bit cold. Where’re my clothes?”

“Uh.”  He sat up and looked.  “Ah, here they are.”  He passed them to her.

“Thanks.” She pulled them on. “Good thing Twinkletoes is still asleep.”

Silver eyes went wide.  “Oh, man.”  He quickly found and dragged on his own clothes.

“We should maybe think about waking him up?” she suggested.

“Yeah, prolly.”

He spotted blood on the floor, winced, and dragged a rug over the stains so Aang wouldn’t know what had gone on the night before.

Toph poked at Aang, who groaned and pulled a pillow over his head. “C’mon, Twinkletoes, it’s morning.”

“Closer to afternoon, really,” agreed Kouji.

The Avatar groaned again and poked one bleary eye out at them. “I’m never drinking again.”

“Good for you. It’s still time to get up.”

“Come on, we can all get hangover tea from the infirmary.”

“Fine…” Aang dragged himself out of bed and followed the others to the infirmary.

Possibly luckily for all three of them, neither Katara nor Leilani were present; Kouji got the tea and then headed off for a dark, quiet room before one of the twins could find them and be noisy in their general direction.

Aang went back to his own bedroom to try and go back to sleep. Toph joined Kouji.  “Hey,” he said, smiling at her.

“Hey.” She sat crosslegged next to him. “So I figured you’d want to talk about last night. And before you say anything, if you want that to happen again, I’m all for it. But if you don’t… well, we were both really drunk. It happens. Doesn’t change anything.”

“Um, actually…”  Kouji bit his lip.  “I was kinda thinking about that.”

“And?”

“I… I really don’t think I’m the kinda guy who can do it casually.  I’m not like Shang, not like Yui.  I… I can only really do it with someone I… care about…”

“So, it’s commitment, or nothing.”

“…yeah.”  Kouji looked into her eyes — even if she couldn’t see, she’d know where he was looking.  “And… well, I really do care about you, Toph.”

“I’d have to move here, probably.”

“Yeah… is that a problem?”

She shook her head. “We could try this.”

The younger bender brightened.  “I’d like that.”

She smiled a little. “Great.”

Hesitantly, Kouji hugged her.

She hugged back.

“…Sokka is going to be smug at me.”

She snorted. “So let him be smug.”

Kouji laughed and kissed her.

She kissed back.