Alternate universe wherein Toph and Mai meet first. (I was thinking that it was a way to gain favor and hopefully not be attacked by the fire nation on the part of the Bei Fong parents and a business and supplies deal on the part of Mai’s parents.) Whether this becomes ToMai, Maiko, or ToMaiKo, I’ll leave up to you. Five Headcannons?

attackfish:

1. Mai’s father has been angling for a position in the colonial government for most of his career. It’s the best place for an old blood noble, with next to no money left to his name to make a fortune. While Mai is in school, his wife stays with her in the Fire Nation capital, and Mai usually spends her breaks with the Princess. But this time is different. Her father has just been appointed governor of Omashu, and on the way, he wants to bring her with him to negotiate with the family of a wealthy collaborator.

2. The Bei Fong estate is beautiful, and immense, and Mai can see her father actually vibrating with envy. She can see the glint in her mother’s eye as she schemes to find a way to wrest everything she sees out of the hands of an Earth Kingdom family. It’s hard for Mai to summon up any emotion other than vague disgust and boredom.

3. At dinner, her father speaks openly of her friendship with the princess, and their family’s old Fire Nation lineage, hinting that he might be willing to marry her to a wealthy Earth Kingdom man after the conquest. So long as he isn’t a bender of course. Mai decides she can’t deal with him anymore and slips away from the table, and out to the garden. That’s where she meets a little girl in the silks and finery of an Earth Kingdom noble.

4. “You’re wearing a lot of knives,” the girl says. “Are you an assassin?” “How did you know about my knives?” Mai shoots back. They talk about shitty families and being bored, and running away, and when she has to go back inside, she ignores her father’s lecture, thinking.

5. In less than a month, she and the girl will face off against each other, and she will spend many a silent night after Azula and Ty Lee have gone to sleep, pondering their conversation.