Current AU: Taang
They begin travelling together again around 104 AG. After the war is over, the Gaang scatters in this AU (I’m assuming they do so in canon, too, but I really don’t know). Zuko stays in the Fire Nation as Crown Prince, Sokka and Katara go home, as do Toph and Suki. Aang goes to live with Guru Pathik at the Eastern Air Temple, who is one of the few people, I reckon, who can help him properly work through his loss, and the fact that I have him kill Ozai. But, Aang needs to travel, as the Avatar and an Air Nomad, and after some time with her parents, I think Toph would enjoy travelling with him again.
They discover Air Nomads living hidden in the Earth Kingdom. This is a few years later, and around the time Zuko becomes a father (and widower). They’d probably have been killed on sight by them, had Aang not demonstrated to be an airbender himself. (The bison, lemur and tattoos were not enough, Fire Nation could’ve had those hidden away somewhere and tattooed one of their soldiers.) This is insofar important that it takes away some of the urgency of … reproduction for Aang and any given partner he may choose, because I don’t want to deal with that too. Not in this AU. I also just love the thought of how happy Aang would be meeting them.
They start dating in their early twenties. Each other, that is. Around twenty-one, twenty-two or so, after Toph breaks up with Teo (because that’s also a thing), and Aang confesses a crush he’s harboured for a little while longer than he’d like to admit. They keep this from their friends for a while (because it’s important news and those are better delivered in person), but rumours travel fast, so they have to write some letters sooner rather than later.
They love very differently. And they express that love very differently, too. Aang – in my eyes, anyway – is somebody who falls in love fast and hard, and he loves very deeply and very loudly. He’s not afraid to shout his love from the mountain tops, climb a volcano (this word looks stupid, there’s supposed to be a ‘u’) to pick a flower, and tell his loved ones that he does, in fact, love them, every second of every day. Toph loves much quieter. Sure, she’ll punch her friends’ arms, and they know that’s a sign of affection, she’ll hold hands with them during a vulnerable moment, but over all, she’s not somebody for grand gestures and bold declarations of love. I don’t really see her “growing out of” that, because … well, there’s not really a need to grow out of it. This causes some tension in their relationship, especially early on, because they both expect the other to just … understand, and they’re both stubborn in different ways, so they don’t talk about it until they fight about it. They work through this, obviously, otherwise there would be no Taang in this AU, but it takes a moment or two, and quite a bit of sage advice. They were friends for so long; being a couple is different from being just friends, and it takes them some time to adjust to that new reality.
Their first child is an accident. A mostly happy one, but an accident nonetheless. They name him Bumi, after Aang’s oldest living friend of course, partly because Aang lost a bet to Bumi when they were still boys. He is the only one of their children named after someone. Aang’s learned to roll with the punches at this point (and I also think he’d really, really want to be a dad, though maybe not quite so soon), so he’s excited about the pregnancy almost from the start while Toph (who hasn’t ruled out children, either, but is much less sure about having them at this point in time) needs a while to get used to the idea of actually becoming a mom. They’re both ultimately happy with their hoppala child, and they love him very much, but … yeah. No immediate joy.
They are nomadic. For a very long time. The places they visit most are the various Air Temples, the capitols of the wolrd and Kyoshi Island, as well as the biggest settlement of Air Nomads (in the Earth Kingdom mountains) and Gaoling. I haven’t decided where they ultimately settle (somewhere around Omashu, maybe, because Aang’s got a connection to the place and badgermoles live in the Cave of Two Lovers), but I do know that they will, at which point Toph will open a bending school. Probably. (I also haven’t decided yet how they support themselves before that, but … the Beifongs are rich, so at least I have an easy out.)
They ultimately have five kids. Bumi (112 AG), Norbu (116 AG), Tenzin (116 AG), Asha (117 AG) and Kavi (124 AG). Do I have a proper explanation as to why there are so many of them? Not really, no. It’s something I noticed in my writing a lot, actually: The couple’s planned to have two kids (by me) and ends up with … four, five. I also can’t write a mother abandon her child or just be objectively horrible, while I have no trouble doing that with fathers. I have some stuff to work through, obviously. Anyway, if you’re wondering if anybody else was an accident: Norbu and Tenzin weren’t (they’re twins), Asha was (she’s born only a year and a half after the boys), and Kavi was kinda … well, if it happens, it happens, it’s not like we’re not outnumbered already, and another airbender wouldn’t hurt the world, either … (and then it happened). They love them all very much.