Chapter 52.1- And so the Dragons Danced

TOJI- xx

Was that a slight baby bump he saw beneath the swell of her robes, he wondered with a light smile as he accepted Zhufu’s hug.

“I was worried once Natsu told me” She said, and he nodded against her shoulder. Good. So he had been to see her. Toji had the feeling he had from the way his shoulders seemed freer and he had less weight on his shoulders, but it was good to have his hunches confirmed. He did so enjoy being right. Not as much as he enjoyed being able to stand on his own two feet though, and days without that power had put him in a bad state.

“Thank you. I’m fine now. Better than ever now that you’re back with us, even”

“Lee is the only one missing now” She said.

“I have it on good authority that he has been reassigned to the Imperial Guard as of last week, so we should be seeing him sometime soon”

“We’re all going to be together again?” Zhufu sounded so hopeful that it made his heart ached. She probably had thoughts of it being just like it had been when they summered in Natsu’s home and spent their days swimming, relaxing, and reading. Those days were gone, though, and wouldn’t be coming back, but that didn’t matter— they’d do the best with what they had.

“We will. But for now we need to work on the role given to us” He said, turning his head to Toph, the other person in the room. She looked bored, but he also noticed that her head hadn’t snapped away from his direction since he walked in. He walked over and ruffled her hair, accepting the hug she enclosed him in.

“Don’t go blocking explosions with your face again, Uncle” She said.

“Noted. One time is more than enough. So what do we have to go on?” He asked.

“The Baki man owned a bar in the Capital here, and the guards were able to arrest the man running it. We haven’t interrogated him yet, but I was able to find a hidden room in their bar that had far too much gold for that kind of business”

“You’re certain? I wouldn’t take you for the best at counting, on account of the obvious, you know?”

“I am a Beifong” She said, like that was the end of it.

“For someone who left her family so easily, you’ve got no small amount of familial pride” He commented. Zhufu gasped, like she was shocked at his words, or maybe their rudeness. Oh, he had forgotten what it was like to be around Fire Nation nobility all the time. Toph was blunt like Earth Kingdom folk tended to be, Maki had peasant blood, and Natsu…Well, Natsu was Natsu. He cared about few things and manners were not lucky enough to make that list.

“I am proud of my family’s history. We go back just as long as the Wus. Even longer than you guys” She said, pointing to her.

“Fair. My family is fairly new. We were mere merchants only five generations ago, after all. Natsu has been teaching you well” He conceded with a smile while Zhufu gaped.

“So when are we going to interrogate our prisoner”

“I thought you’d never ask” She said, and walked straight through the wall, the stone folding out of her way as she did so.

“Is she really, you know?” Zhufu whispered in his ear. He just laughed and followed after her, making sure to use the door. She’d locked him in a wall before when he’d tried following her and it had taken Natsu looking for him for him to make his way out of the tight confines. He still needed to pay her back for that one, he thought to himself.

A/N: Team Toji-Zhufu-Toph investigates the assassination attempts while Natsu does what he does best