"See? That's not so bad, is it?"

"Are you kidding?! These really hurt!" Aang exclaimed to his mother as he popped two more pain-killers into his mouth and swallowed a huge gulp of water. It was the evening after Aang had gotten what every young person dreads: braces. Aang's mouth was now covered in tiny metal brackets connected by a wire that was attached with orange rubber bands. He looked in the mirror of the bathroom he was currently in. "My teeth weren't that bad. Let's go back and get 'em taken off."

"Aang – you won't regret this later," his mother told him. "It's only a year and a half. By High School, you'll have beautiful teeth."

"I don't think it's worth it…" Aang grumbled. It wasn't like he'd be the odd man out. Half the kids in Junior High had braces – it wasn't a rare occurrence. But Aang had never actually seen how ugly braces could be until he himself had them on. They were hideous. Why hadn't he seen it before? "Mom, I'm feeling sick."

"Sick? Do you not want to go to school tomorrow?"

"How about not going to school for a year and a half?"

"Aang!"

"Just kidding…"

Aang tried to go through the entire next day with his mouth closed. While his friends laughed and joke, Aang kept his mouth firmly shut. Usually, Aang would be the first one to jump in on the joke, making it even funnier with his own goofy anecdote – but today Aang was silent. He had firmly decided that he wasn't going to open his mouth for a year and half.

"This bites…" Aang sighed, shaking his head. Not only did his teeth really hurt, but they were so sore that all over that he had been reduced to eating nothing but apple sauce for lunch. Due to his embarrassing sudden "every single food except apple sauce and milkshakes allergy" he had decided to eat lunch alone behind the gym. "At least no one can bother me here."

"Hey there Twinkle-Toes. Didn't know anyone else ate at this spot." Aang looked up – surprised – to see none other than Toph standing over him, her lunch bag in her hand, her eyes staring glassily at him.

Aang smiled for the first time that day. Toph – being blind – couldn't see that Aang had braces! Finally, he could open his mouth! Toph sat down, and Aang was eager to see her.

"Hey there Toph! Yeah, I'm just sitting here because it felt like a "sit behind the gym" day today for me!"

"Why is your talking different?"

Aang gulped. Shoot. He had forgotten: Toph's super hearing probably could pick up even the slightest slurs in Aang's speech. "Uhh…no reason."

"You're lying."

Shoot! He had also forgotten that Toph could tell if a person was lying just by feeling their heartbeat against the concrete. "Look, there's nothing wrong with my mouth—aah!! Hey!"

Before he could stop her, Toph had stuck her hand in Aang's mouth and was feeling around his teeth. Aang was struggling – but Toph held his shoulder. "Keep still!" she muttered. After she was satisfied with her rather uninvited visit to Aang's oral cavity, she pulled her hand out and wiped it on her sleeve. Aang grimaced a little and massaged her sore teeth.

"You got braces?" she asked and Aang sighed.

"Yeah."

"So that's why you're eating back here," she said, and Aang gave an affirmative sigh. She looked at him, perplexed. "You're really dumb Twinkle Toes. What are you – afraid that no one will like you just cause you've got braces?"

"N-No…" Aang said. "They're just…not all that good looking. They're really ugly actually."

"So?" Toph said, shrugging. "Who really cares what they look like?"

Toph was being really insensitive, and it was starting to irritate Aang. "I know that you don't much care what people look like Toph—"

"Well that's a given—"

"But I'm a little self-conscious! Okay?" Aang crossed his arms and turned away from Toph, a little upset that she was being so nonchalant about his problem. What he needed right now was sympathy – not Toph telling him to suck it up because it was no big deal.

Toph looked at him, and her eyes narrowed. "You know, braces aren't that big of a problem."

"Oh yeah? You've never had braces! Your teeth are naturally straight!"

"You're right. I'm really lucky when it comes to the physical features department," she remarked, and Aang winced. Bad move.

"…I'm sorry Toph," Aang said, and he began to trace a symbol with his finger. He couldn't look Toph in the eye. "You're right, I'm just being a baby."

Toph smiled at him. "You know – from what I felt in there, your teeth aren't all that bad. I bet those things will come off soon."

Aang smiled at her. "My orthodontist said a year and a half."

"That's it?" Toph asked. "You're kidding right? You know that Teo has already had them for four years?"

"What a nightmare!"

"Tell me about it."

Aang smiled at Toph, and Toph smiled back. Aang took a sip of his milkshake, thankful that Toph had cheered him up. He thought that talking with a blind person would make him less self-conscious about his braces. But it turned out that talking with Toph had made him less self-conscious.

"Hey Twinkle Toes…I got a favor to ask you."

"A favor?" Aang asked. "Sure. What is it?"

"Well…in a year and half…"

One year and seven months later…

"Aang! You got your braces off! Awesome!"

"I know – it feels great! I feel like I could fly!" Aang exclaimed to his friends that had gathered around, admiring his perfectly straight teeth.

"You're so lucky," Teo said, rubbing his teeth. "This'll be my sixth year!"

"Ouch!" "Sucks to be you!" a bunch of people laughed, and Teo joined in. Aang laughed too, but half-heartedly. He was secretly looking for someone in the crowd, but he didn't catch sight of her.

"Hey Twinkle Toes!"

Aang smiled and turned to see Toph running towards him full speed, a wide grin on her face. "You owe me something!"

Aang opened his mouth wide just as Toph rushed up to him and stuck her hand in his mouth. Many people grimaced as they saw Toph's hand rustling around in Aang's open mouth. "Ewww…" one girl remarked. But Aang didn't mind. He was smiling through it all.

"So you're not lying!" Toph smiled, pulling her hand out. "You really got 'em off!"

"Yep!" Aang nodded. "I really got 'em off."

"Did you have to stick your hand in his mouth to prove it?" one kid laughed, and the rest joined in. Aang and Toph smiled too.

"Nah – but he owed me," she said. "He promised me that I'd be the first one to stick my hand in his mouth when he got his braces off."

"So?" Aang asked her, smiling widely. "How do I look?" He only wanted one person's approval now – only one person's opinion mattered to him. And that was the blind girl standing right in front of him.

"Those are some nice teeth. You look great Twinkle Toes."

Fin.