The fire war renaissance

Chapter 41: You put your hand here...

Sorry about the delay guys and girls, but my laptop is really being stupid.

Anyways, relationships are on steroids and the heat is seriously on in this chapter so if you're a Toexi fan and, yes, a Kataang fan, rejoice! It's one of those chapters that reminds you why this story is rated T, so you've been warned.

Disclaimer: I think I've done enough of these don't you think?

Chapter Forty-One: You Put Your Hand Here

All and all, Toph's birthday was turning out to be pretty good.

Her and Yuexi went out to dinner that night—being mindful not to go to Hai Shin Dining—and then took a careful stroll around the city. Though Yuexi knew that Toph being in the city probably wasn't her favorite thing to do, so instead he took her home early, grabbing her hand softly and leading her into a cab to go home.

"Um, Toph…?" Yuexi said, turning towards her.

"Yeah?"

"Did you, uh…did you have fun today?"

"Of course I did," Toph answered almost immediately, blushing in the low light of the cab.

"Good." He looked around suddenly, and tugged in his pocket. He felt Toph's birthday present at the bottom. Rubbing his thumb over the carved stone pendant and smiled fondly as he pulled it out.

Yuexi had been trying to give his present to Toph all that day. Of course, Toph had slept in until noon that day, so a breakfast gift giving was out of the question, and then Katara said that Toph promised they'd go out to find a dress for Toph to wear on her date with Yuexi. He figured now was a better time than any.

An odd thought crossed his mind just before he pulled the present out and wondered if he should give her the present in such low light. But, after just a second, he laughed to himself and realized that it didn't matter what light he gave it to her in.

"I have something for you," He told her and grabbed her hand.

"I-I thought this day out was my present?" Toph asked, seemingly surprised.

"Well, yeah, but there's a part two, too." He told her with a smirk and placed the pendent in her hand. "Happy birthday."

He wasn't sure how Toph was going to handle the present he gave her, but when he saw her run her thumb across the pendant and a smile spread across her face he smiled as well.

Since Aang offered to help him with a present for Toph, Yuexi decided to use Aang's ability to earth and slightly metal bend to his advantage. He picked out a special stone that had a red and greenish tone to it if found at the right time of year. The minerals growing inside the stone made it flourish with a lovely hue of reds and greens. Aang was able to flatten it, and mold it into a thin square light enough to hang on a necklace chain. The stone was rough and cool, and had little bits of the shimmering red-green minerals and gems still visible in to grey stone.

"Yuexi…this is amazing." Toph told him, sounding as if her breath were taken away. He rarely got that reaction from Toph so he felt slightly smug about it. He knew since she was blind giving her a pretty piece of gold wasn't going to be that much of a joy to her, sure it would look good on her but she'd never know. So instead he chose to make a stone pendant, and Aang told him that the particular stone he picked had plenty of other stones meshed within it, which would be interesting for Toph, at least, to a have a necklace with something to feel.