Avatar TLA Fic: A Name To Share (Toph/Ohev)
She wanted him to be the one to ask.
She had considered doing it herself, of course (to whom could traditional roles matter less or feminine timidity be more of a stranger?), but no matter how many different scenarios she imagined, it was always more satisfying to picture him being brave and confident enough to tell her how much she meant to him, how he longed for her to share his life with him, and, most importantly, that he knew she felt the same.
Only if he asked her would she know that he believed she loved him wholeheartedly, not in spite of who he was or where he came from but because of who he was, that what history and society saw as impassable gulfs were as insignificant to him as they were to her. Only if he asked her could she know that his frequent doubts were gone forever. If he asked, it meant he expected her to answer, Yes; it meant he finally understood that, as far as she was concerned, he was the only one worthy of her.
He didn’t let her down.
He didn’t put it as a direct question but as a simple confession. They were strolling arm in arm one night through the woods behind the newly-constructed Air Temple off the coast of Republic City, eventually lying down to rest in a clearing with their backs against a big rock, in no hurry to get back to the crowded celebration. Whether it was due to the festiveness of the occasion, the sight of their friends’ new baby boy, her inviting him to join her on Ember Island next month for the Fire Lord’s wedding anniversary, or just the combination of a starry sky, chirping ant-crickets, and a spring breeze, she didn’t know, but he was in the mood for a sentimental stroll down memory lane...
The day they first met (when they first recognized and spoke to each other, she corrected him) twelve years ago. The recognition of a kindred spirit who longed for freedom and adventure. Her first dance and her first kiss all in one day.
The day nine years later when their separate paths finally led to the same place. They argued over who was more stunned that day - he, when he realized she remembered him, or she, when he ran her fingers over the heart-shaped rock over and over again until she finally had to admit it was the same one she had given him. She had given him her heart without hesitation or regret, and a day never went by that he hadn’t treasured it.
The day he leaned on her shoulder as they knelt before his parents newly marked graves and she granted him the rarest honor of seeing her cry.
The night she Earthbended two Earth Kingdom society queens out of a window (and into a fountain) after they snickered at the commoner who had the nerve to come to the Earth King’s party with a Bei Fong.
Her birthday when they both had... more-than-a-little-too-much to drink. She was more embarrassed the next morning by what she had said than by what they had done. Perhaps he had been trying to relieve her anxiety when he told her that he knew she didn’t mean it, that he was grown up and didn’t expect a woman so powerful and wealthy and famous to feel for someone like him what the young, inexperienced girl had felt for him as a boy. She didn’t tell him that he only succeeded in breaking her heart; that would have been shamefully weak.
They remained constant companions. They never bothered to so much as try to hide their feelings from each other, but neither did they make the slightest allusion to the future or suggest where their naturally exclusive commitment should lead. All the encouragement was on her side, all the doubt on his. She grew frustrated, she even fumed and raged sometimes, but she never scared him away. She admired him for that, and she told him so now.
He laughed and confessed that this wasn’t a result of courage but of weakness. He couldn’t bear to think of life without her. He wished he could lie with her by his side forever. He had always dreamed, always hoped, even when he mercilessly scolded himself for hoping. He couldn’t help wondering if she would give him her heart again - for real, and forever - if he asked her for it this time.
She gave him her best evil grin as she told him there was only one way to find out.
He grinned back and said in a tone of the utmost smugness and superiority that if she told him how big a dowry he would get, he would take pity on her and might consider thinking of possibly marrying her.
She continued the joke and asked what was in it for her?
He suddenly seemed to turn serious again and said he had nothing to give her but himself and his heart… but she had to admit, she couldn’t do better.
She paused as if pondering a very delicate matter before shrugging her shoulders, nonchalantly saying, “Why not?”, and flinging herself on top of him. Too bad the uncontainable shrieks and laughter of sheer joy made kissing so awkward.
Their engagement brought on another kind of happiness from an entirely unexpected quarter. To her surprise, for the first time in her life, she found herself feeling glad she was born rich. Because he was such a wonderful person and had made her so happy, he deserved anything he wanted, anything in the world, and she could give it all to him. She told him so and threatened to hit him over the head with a mountain if he made the slightest hint of protest.
She had never been able to reconcile with her parents (a dinner on a special occasion here and there, a letter every so often), never been able to respect them, never been able to make them respect her for who she was. Things were indifferent between them, at best. They had nothing in common, no ability to understand or tolerate each other’s values. She had never touched her family’s money since she ran away, but now she would finally make her parents happy, as well, by embracing her heritage and legacy. That was what she would give to him.
The delusion was short-lived.
She hadn’t expected them to be thrilled to hear that she was marrying one of their former servants. She hadn’t expected them to care much at all, they cared so little about her otherwise. She pictured herself bringing him for a visit one day, introducing him as her husband, and her father saying, “Oh, that’s right, you’re married - slipped my mind.” She was prepared for their typical apathy; what she got was a declaration of war.
The disgrace, the degradation, the insult, the insanity of the idea... they would not allow it! To have the noble name of Bei Fong united to a nobody with not even a name to call his own...
She mumbled sardonically that one name was all a married couple needed.
Even she couldn’t be inconsiderate or mad enough to shame them so! It was a cruel joke to play on them; they knew she couldn’t be serious.
She assured them that she was and scoffed at the idea of anyone trying to stop her. Her mother went into convulsions of tears and called for the servants, who carried her swooning from the room. Her father whispered icily that they had been patient and forgiving of her insolence and foolishness up to now, but if she went through with this ludicrous plan, she could expect nothing from them ever again; she would never see another single yuan of their wealth.
Her father told her to think of some distant cousins she never met enjoying her money and estate. He threatened her with disinheritance as if he expected his words to crush and devastate her, as if, regardless of how furious she made him, he was still reluctant to cause inflict such cruel pain on her. At least they had equally misjudged each other today. It was this thought that made her chuckle lightly to herself as she turned and left the house, without a word, for the last time.
He didn’t take the news as indifferently as she did. She insisted she didn’t care, and he believed her, but he cared that she was losing so much for his sake when he had nothing to give her to make up for it. She was only sorry she had nothing to give him now. Oh, the leader of the world’s only Metalbending Academy could raise a family comfortably enough, but she had promised him so much more. She wanted to shower him with gold and expensive presents like she had her first love all those years ago - and she wouldn’t even have needed to scam people this time…
That doubt she hated so much reared its ugly head again again as he said that he had no right to expect anything from her anyway; he didn’t even have a family name to pass onto their children.
She shook the building as she slammed her fist into the table. “Then take my name!” she snapped. “Take my name and give that to our children! It’s all I have left to give you!”
With the calm only he was able to maintain in the face of her outbursts, he took her hand and asked sincerely if that would make her happy. She realized, yes, it would; it would really make her feel like they were one, united by ties that no differences of class or rank or wealth were strong enough to sever.
Was he ashamed to take his wife’s name? she asked with the grin he loved so much.
Was she ashamed to take a husband too poor and lowly to have a family name of his own, was his reply.
Six weeks later, after she walked down the aisle of the temple on the arm of the Fire Lord, she proudly gave him her gift, and he proudly accepted. They vowed today to share a life, love, and children; it was only natural they should share a name.
A year later, when all their friends invaded Republic City to celebrate the birth of their new daughter, the first question everyone asked was, “What’s her name?”
They were equally proud to answer, “Lin Bei Fong.”