Chapter 8: The First

When I woke early the next day after winning against Toph, I got up and took a bath.

Lately I've been doing this to avoid the maids, because I'm going through puberty.

Most of them are in their mid 20s, but they still look good, so it's gonna be embarrassing if they see me naked.

Anyways, after coming back from the baths, I allow some maids to help me change and I eat breakfast with my parents.

Everything is the usual boring routine, at least until I visit the Beifong residence and see Toph.

I spent my time skimming through some story book before standing up and heading to Toph's house.

Tonight, Earth Rumble VI will begin.

That means Aang and the Gaang are in the city.

Exiting the gate and making my way slowly to my destination, I walked past by a few old passerbys.

"Did you hear? The Avatar won a major battle with the Fire Nation in the North Pole a few weeks ago!

"Really!? If that's true, then that means great news for the war, right? That the Avatar will stop it for sure?"

"I sure hope so! I want to see my son again, and not in a coffin!"

I smile. I wish I could've seen that battle in person. It would've been better than seeing it through any 4K or even 8K resolution TV.

It's unfortunate, but it's much more fortunate to be reincarnated as Toph's fiancé.

Arriving at Toph's home, a familiar guard smiles at me and let's me through without a word.

Toph is already outside, sitting on a bench in the front garden.

She must've felt I was coming a mile away.

"Hi, Toph."

"Hey, Lu."

Toph comes up and greets me with a tight hug.

Oh, that's new. She never hugged me while we hung out in the garden.

Did she want to deepen our relationship?

"Toph? What's with the sudden hug?"

Toph quickly steps back, embarrassed.

"Oh, well... I was curious about... love. I kinda told my Mom about it... and she read me some love stories."

I've never seen Toph this embarrassed without hitting me. It's cuter without all the violence.

We start walking to a secluded part of the garden.

"Oh, Did you get the idea to hug me from the book?"

Toph silently nods.

"That and... that lovers... kiss each other. And n-not on the cheek, like we've done before..."

Now I'M the one getting embarrassed. The way she's explaining this is just too cute.

"Y-you mean on the lips... right?"

"Y-yeah..."

We both just stand there silently, too embarrassed to say anything more.

I'll just ask straight up, like the earthbender I am.

"""...You wanna try it?"""

I blink in surprise, and see Toph's shocked face.

"Pfft...!"

"Ku-...!"

"""Hahahah!!"""

We both start laughing at the fact that we both said the same thing.

After calming down, I take Toph's soft, but calloused hands in mine.

Toph just looks up in my direction, as if she can actually see, and smiles.

We're in a deserted part of the garden with high bushes covering us, so I'm not worried about Toph's parents embarrassing us and ruining the mood.

I bend down and bring my face closer to hers, and she does the same, getting on her toes.

We press our lips together and share our first kiss.

Despite us always fighting with sand and rock, she taste sweet and not at all like earth.

We separate our lips and look at each other.

Toph has a wide smile on her face. I'm probably the same.

I can't tell, my whole face is numb from happiness.

"That... felt better than I expected, Lu."

Toph comes closer and embraces me again, putting her head to my chest.

"Yeah... It was."

"Hehe, your hearts beating like crazy, Lu. You nervous?"

She looks up from my chest and gives me a teasing grin.

I respond by quickly kissing her again.

"Mhm! Ah! No fair! I try teasing you, and you come back with a counter!"

"Haha! I'm just better at teasing is all! Call me the teasebender!"

That sounds weird.

"Pwhahaha! Teasebender! Good one, Lu!"

I see Toph's sense of humour is still as simple as in the show.

We both make out way to the bench and sit down, Toph hugging my arm and leaning her head on my shoulder.

"You excited for Earth Rumble VI tonight, Toph?"

"Eh, not really. I'll just win the tournament in a landslide again. This time I won't even have to fight through a bracket. They'll just have me defend my title from the last person standing."

Yep, this time's rumble will go the way the tv show depicted. The Boulder continues to win against his opponents until he faces the champion, The Blind Bandit.

"Well, this year The Boulder will participate after missing the last one, so maybe it'll get interesting."

"Eh, what's one extra pebble gonna do? I'm untouchable in the ring."

"Me being the exception to that rule, right?"

"Yeah, yeah."

We stay sitting on the bench in a comfortable silence while cuddling.

There's no practice with Master Yu, since Toph asked for a break after I beat her.

----------

Just when I started to leave for home, Poppy, Toph's mom, stopped me and asked if I wanted to stay for dinner, as they wanted to know me better now that Toph formally accepted the marriage.

The reason it took this long to tell her parents; she was too embarrassed, and maybe a little prideful, to admit to her Dad that it was a good idea.

"I've already received permission from your Father. I would really appreciate if you ate with us."

It's a noble's formality to 'ask', but I really have no choice. Declining would make the other party 'lose face' as the wuxia novels would put it.

"Yes, I would be honored to share a meal with the Beifong Family."

"Fufufu~. No need to be so polite with your future mother-in-law! Come the food is almost ready."

(A/N: Sorry for putting the very anime Fufufu as a laugh. I wanted to diversify laughs, as I've only put ho, ha, or heh. None of those fit a grown, noble woman. I won't put them in too often. Toph laughs with 'Ha', cuz she's a tomboy.)

I spend the later part of the day eating with Toph's family, almost letting the fact that we kissed slip. Toph saved my mistake by bending a small rock to hit my shin.

She looked at me with a scary smile.

She saved herself from extreme embarrassment, and me from her wrath.

After finishing the food early, Toph walked with me outside.

Oh, I forgot that I got to do some personal training that requires full focus.

"Toph, I forget to tell you, I gotta go home early to settle some private stuff. I'll meet you in the usual spot tonight."

I don't want to lie to her, but since I wouldn't be able to focus if I trained here, I'll just tell her a half truth.

Toph looks at me with mild disappointment, and shrugs her shoulders.

"Got it. It'll be a boring few hours, but I'll be alright. I'll see you tonight."

Probably not sensing her parents nearby, Toph pulls me down to a quick kiss on the lips.

She then quickly turns around and head back inside.

Isn't she just the cutest ever?