"Kataaraaaaa!" Toph yelled angrily, dragging a struggling Aang by his collar. "You broke my student, and you better fix him!"
"Just let it go, Toph!" begged Aang, "I promise I'll try harder."
"Trying doesn't cut it, Twinkletoes!" Toph pulled Aang close to her face before shoving him aside and earthbending Aang into an earthy prison.
Katara, Sokka, Suki and Zuko glanced at each other, confused.
"What are you talking about, Toph?" Katara stood up and looked at a frustrated Toph now lying on the ground, then at Aang who looked slightly guilty but refused to look her in the eye. "Just calm down. What's wrong?"
"What's wrong, Sugarqueen," Toph clenched her fists as she stood up, "is that Twinklestoes can no longer earthbend!"
It took Katara a few moments to realize what Toph was accusing her of, but then it hit her. Katara's eyes widened, "What do you mean?" She stepped backwards slightly, immediately remembering how she rejected Aang's romantic advances a few days before. Had Aang told Toph what happened? Could she have really caused this? Katara felt overwhelmed and blushed as she felt everyone's eyes on her.
"That's not true!" retorted Aang as he sensed Katara's distress, "I can still earthbend." He attempted to reassure Katara with a faint grin.
"Yeah, a pebble." Scoffed Toph, as Aang blushed angrily and then, his face twisted into concentration. At that moment, a tiny pebble flew and hit Toph in the head.
"Ha!" Laughed Aang in triumph.
"Ow!" She shouted, rubbing her head. "You'll pay for that, Twinkletoes." She released Aang from his prison but grabbed him again by the collar, preparing to punch him.
"Toph, Aang! Stop being so childish! We have to fix this!" Shouted Katara, as Toph's fist nearly reached Aaang's face.
"I already told you, Sugar Queen, whatever you did to him is your problem. You fix him!" Toph shoved Aang to the side. She then crossed her arms and reclined against a rock.
"What makes you think this is my problem?" Katara defensively shot back at Toph.
"Ever since you talked to Aang that day, I could feel a change in his heartbeat, okay? Something changed, and I can feel it!" Said Toph.
"It might not be-" started Aang, guiltily. He never intended to make Katara feel badly about the way things happened.
"Shut it, Twinkletoes! Don't make me throw this rock at you. I'm never wrong." Spat Toph.
"Whatever happened, we need to work together to solve this thing. Let's just keep trying for now." said Katara, as she looked away. "Look, I'll try to help and encourage Aang during his earthbending lessons, but he's going to need his earthbending teacher to get better." Katara said gently as she placed her arm on Toph's.
"Fine. I guess you're right." Aang almost opened his mouth to comment that Toph was wrong after all, but Katara shot him a glare and Toph's hand hovered suspiciously near the earth. Toph smirked and then continued, "But if it doesn't work, we do things my way."
A week passed and Aang wasn't doing much better.
"C'mon Twinkletoes! Hit me like a real man!" Screamed Toph as she chucked tons of boulders at Aang. He nimbly dodged each one, occasionally attempting to earthbend. But, whenever he tried to earthbend, the boulder didn't budge and came too close. He ended up dodging again.
"You can do it, Aang! Just concentrate!" Katara gently encouraged him from the sidelines. Aang was panting and sweating, and he attempted to lie down on the ground for just a second. But he screamed and rolled over to dodge yet another boulder from Toph.
Toph disappeared underground. "Uh oh." thought Aang as he searched around the earth, trying to feel for Toph's location in vain.
She emerged from the ground on his left and finally hit him with a Katara-sized boulder.
"Aang!" Katara ran towards the battlefield, worried. "Toph, don't be so rough with him." She scolded as she helped Aang up and healed his wounds. He shortly regained consciousness and exclaimed in horror when he saw Toph's face inches from his own.
"Look here, Twinkles. Either you hit the boulder or the boulder hits you! There isn't going to be any running away! Face it like an earthbender!" She shouted proudly with her arms in the air. Aang looked dejected. He sighed and hugged his knees looking into space. Finally he snapped out of it and looked at Katara and Toph.
"What if I can never do it again?" whispered Aang, "What if this is it?" He stood up and bowed to Toph, "Thanks for everything, Sifu Toph" and then he walked away.
"Don't you walk away from me, Twinkletoes! We've got training to do!" Shouted Toph. She even threw a few boulders his way, but he ignored it and kept walking. After a while, Katara broke the silence.
"Oh no...What have I done?" Sighed Katara, watching Aang walk away in the distance.
"Yeah Sugarqueen, what did you do?" asked Toph somehow able to lock eyes with Katara.
"It's complicated, Toph- it's just that-" She blushed but was interrupted by Toph.
"Broke his heart, didn't you?" Toph said casually as she picked her toes.
"How did you-" Katara looked surprised.
"Umm-hello? Greatest earthbender ever, walking lie-detector? I could practically feel his heart break in two" Said Toph as Katara cringed.
"I didn't mean to hurt him-" Katara played with her hair and looked crushed.
"But you did." Said Toph. "Aaand you crushed him."
Katara looked angry now and her head snapped towards Toph. "What about you? You knew and didn't even do anything!"
"Well what do you expect me to do? Kiss him?" Toph laughed hard at the ridiculous idea. She held her stomach as she laughed, but strangely, she felt some heat rise to her face as what she said dawned on her. After all, wasn't it why she felt like she had to push Aang to Katara?
They both envisioned the sight of Aang and Toph kissing. Careful not to let Katara see this outburst of unexpected embarassment, she focused her earthbending on Katara now. Nervous heartbeat... Was Katara jealous? Toph decided to put it to the test.
"Wait a minute..."she smiled at Katara, "You jealous there, Sugarqueen? I'm picking up something interesting in there..." Katara's face convulsed in anger and she humphed at Toph.
"Of course not. That's ridiculous. I don't even know if I like Aang that way, and there's no way you two would ever ki-sss?"She looked at Toph who smiled all too innocently.
Katara then said cunningly, "What about you?"
"What about me?" said Toph.
"Well, I'm pretty sure I saw a blush there. What, do you- I don't know- like Aang?" Katara looked for anything she could see in Toph's face, which convulsed in surprise and anger.
"Of course not! That's ridiculous! Me? Like Twinkletoes? Trust me, I'm not that desperate yet..." Toph responded defensively. Toph only crossed her arms and walked away from a suspicious Katara.
"Well it's time..." said Toph when she reached the cave.
"Time for what?" asked Sokka as he ate voraciously.
"My plan!" yelled Toph. "Twinkletoes, it's time for stage 2! And Katara, you're coming with!" Toph didn't want to left alone with Twinkletoes. Other than the time she spent training with Aang, she more often felt...distracted by his presence, weakened by her emotions. All that hand-holding made her more...ugh...sympathetic.
"I don't like the sound of this." said Aang and Katara together.
"Well too bad. Unless you've got a better idea?" Aang and Katara glanced at each other. "Guess not! Let's go. We'll be back in a week, maybe two, and we're taking Appa. Stay here. We'll be dressed as fire nation aristocrats in Ba Sing Se."
Everyone gaped at Toph. "Are you crazy?" They all shouted.
"Isn't Azula in control of that city? You three stick out like a sore thumb! He'll be captured and killed in no time!" Yelled Zuko.
"It's too dangerous," said Suki. "What are you even planning to do there?"
"Don't worry. Getting captured isn't part of the plan," Toph read Aang and Katara's minds and reassured them. "We'll have to be unrecognizable. But this is important...really important. There's this place there that ...well, you just have to see it. When I'm there, my earthbending feels ten times more powerful."
For once Toph sounded serious. "So i need you guys to be okay with this." Said Toph.
"Sure, sounds good,"Said Sokka as he kept eating. Suki frowned at him and groaned. No one said anything for a few minutes. Besides a few sideways glances, and stares at Toph, there was barely any movement.
"I can feel you staring at me." said Toph. Finally, Suki stood up.
"Be careful." Suki went up to them and hugged them. It was Zuko's turn now.
"Toph...you're blind-" said Zuko.
"Gee I wasn't aware, Sparky."
"No, I meant, the guards might be suspicious. They know that avatar is traveling with a blind girl." Zuko frowned.
"Got that covered." Said Toph.
"Wha-? How?" Toph then pulled out what seemed to be two solid half-bubbles of water.
"I bought these from a water-bender merchant awhile ago. He's a great inventor, and his things are pretty popular. He calls these 'eye-pieces.' They're supposed to help people with bad vision see better. See, he manipulates the water in a protective layer of very thin ice to magnify parts of the eye that look cloudy. He made these for me." Toph pointed to her pair. "He even made the eye color brown, so that they'd think we're part of fire nation."
"Obviously, they're not going to help me see, but if I aim my eyes right, I could make it look like i can see. The ice melts away in a few days, but don't worry, I've got a few extra pairs." explained Toph. Their mouths dropped as they watched Toph put them on.
"Well, someone talk to me!" said Toph excitedly.
"Hi Toph...How's it going?" said Katara, unsure about the plan, but Toph looked right into her eyes and replied,
"I'm doing great Sugarqueen. Please hand me that rock-" said Toph politely as she then pointed and looked at the rock, "-so I can throw it at Aang. Nevermind I'll get it myself." Now her eyes pierced Aang, and Aang, too startled by Toph's eyes, was unable to dodge the rock Toph earth bent at him. "Convincing enough?" Asked Toph laughing.
Everyone nodded, while Sokka finally stopped eating to say, "That's seriously creepy..."
"Fine," sighed Zuko, "But I don't think Katara should go. You can pass off as fire nation if you have black hair and brown eyes, but Katara's too obviously water nation to pass through such a high-security place..."
Toph almost froze, but she regained herself and after a while, agreed with Zuko. It was dangerous after all.
Later that night, while everyone was asleep, Aang sat next to Toph at the edge of the cave.
"What do you want Twinkletoes?"
"I-uh-i just wanted to say thanks."
"Thanks for what? I'm about to get you killed" said Toph.
"Thanks for not giving up on me. Thanks for- for believing in me" Smiled Aang, and he reached over to hug her.
"Aww, don't get all mushy on me, Twinkles" Scoffed Toph, but she returned the hug.
"Also, thanks for not telling Katara that I told you what happened with her. She'd think too much of it." Yes she would, thought Toph.
"Eh, what are friends for? Besides, she'd murder you and me. What could I possibly get out of that?" They laughed together while Toph punched him in the arm.
"Love shouldn't be so complicated..." murmured Aang as he yawned.
Right, Toph thought about Sokka, but then about her surprising feelings for Aang... It shouldn't be, and they fell asleep at the cave entrance.
"Okay, first we'll have to stop somewhere before going to Ba Sing Se to change how we look. City's probably the best bet." Said Toph.
"How about there?" Suggested Katara. The gaang walked by a city bright with lights. There were all sorts of aristocrats going to the day spa, or the theater, or a fancy-looking restaurant.
"Looks good enough to me." Said Aang.
"Just keep out of sight and wait here."
"Fancy Lady Day Spa?" Smiled Katara as she nudged Toph.
Toph made herself look as unbearably awkward as possible. Toph's hair was lopsided, some of it coming out of her neat bun, and her pants were turned into a makeshift skirt. Everything about her was mismatched.
"How do I look?" asked Toph. Katara looked at Toph, then at herself and grimaced,
"Horrible."
"Perfect." Toph smiled. She went up to a stylish store where noblewomen were doing hair and makeup and picking out aristocratic clothes. The noblewomen snickered as Toph approached.
All of sudden, Toph started crying to the noblewomen and the shopkeeper and bawled, "I just wanted to look beautiful! But I'm blind, so I have no idea what I look like."
The women in the store gushed with sympathy at her story. They gathered around Toph who asked the store manager what they could do for 10 copper pieces.
"Poor little blind girl," One woman cooed, "But I'm so charitable, I'll pay 5 gold pieces!"
"I love kids! I'll help!"
"Me too!" Said another, and more continued to contribute.
Toph took her seats and gratefully thanked the women for their help.
Finally, it was over and Toph was able to leave without making too much of a scene. Toph was sweating severely to keep up her façade and she sighed in relief as the women waved her goodbye. Toph went to meet with Aang and the others. Aang grew out his hair but no longer wore his headband; his tattoos were completely painted over.
Toph sat next to them at the fountain for about 10 minutes, until she heard Sokka ask, "What's taking her so long? Toph's not even really a girl, so she shouldn't be taking so looonng." Everyone gaped at Sokka and simultaneously smacked their palms into their faces.
What seemed to be a dainty-looking fire nation girl, who was sitting next to the at the fountain, responded smiling, "Oh, I'm sure she's just busy beating up idiots right now..." And with that, she earthbent Sokka into the sky screaming.
"Toph?" They yelped. The tough earthbender was completely transformed.
Aang blushed and his mouth fell open when he saw Toph. "Wow you look ...be- erghhh, different." I can't believe I didn't realize Toph was a girl before this, thought Aang.
Toph's hair was let down. Long black waves splashed against her ivory skin, while her bangs were pulled back with a traditional Fire nation headband. Toph wore two pieces. Her top was cropped like much of Fire Nation clothing, and fire-like jewelry hung around her neck. Around her shoulders wrapped a light pink shawl. Her skirt wrapped around her like an explosion of roses. With her dainty features accentuated, Toph looked like a high-class fire nation citizen.
"Bye, remember, we'll see you in a week, maybe two!" Shouted Aang. "If anything goes wrong, we'll send Sokka's messenger hawk!"
Everyone waved goodbye while Sokka did a cheer, yelling happily, "I knew it'd come in handy!"
"Be careful!" Yelled Katara as she faded into the distance.
Aang sighed, and his head rested on his hands as he propped his elbows up against Appa.
"Still thinking about Sugarqueen?" Asked Toph casually.
Aang didn't respond.
"Well, trust me this will help," Toph cackled darkly.
"Uhh- what exactly are we doing?" Aang squeaked.
"You'll see, Twinkletoes, you'll see. But look, it already terrified you into forgetting about Katara." Said Toph.
Aang paused to think and then smiled. "I guess you're right." He stared and Toph and thought that he was glad to have a friend like her, even if she beat him up all the time.
They arrived a safe distance from Ba Sing Se, in the mountains. There, they left Appa and Momo. Aang brought his bison whistle in case they needed to escape.
When they finally reached Ba Sing Se, Toph felt them approaching the guards and grabbed onto Aang's arm.
"Uhh...Sifu Toph, what are you doing?" Aang didn't pull away but was frozen with blushes. Ever since Toph's transformation, he didn't know why but he felt like he had to keep his distance from her.
"Don't be such a priss, Twinkletoes. I'm holding your hand, okay? We're a couple. My name is Ummi and yours is uh-Kuzon, okay? We're sort of marriage-age for aristocrats, so you've decided to take me to Ba Sing Se to win me over. -But you lost our ID's cuz you're an idiot. See? We're not even completely lying!"
Aang was shocked into panic at the name, "Ummi", and he grabbed Toph by the shoulders, "Wait! Where'd you hear that name, Ummi?"
Toph backed up and lied, "Relax, Twinkletoes. I'm not some psychic relic of your past if that's what you're asking. Sometimes when you sleep, you get all panicky and you say her name." Toph was pretty sure that Ummi was in her own dreams...the name felt so familiar.
"Oh." Said Aang, and he let it drop.
When they reached the Dai Li guarding the wall of Ba Sing Se, Toph put on a dazzling smile of gentle aristocracy that Aang had never seen. He looked at her in awe.
"Purpose?" The agent asked tonelessly.
"Leisure." Answered Toph carelessly.
"Names?"
"Ummi and Kuzon."
"ID?" He asked tonelessly again.
"Well?" Toph asked Aang. She was a magnificent actress. Aang reached into his pocket and burned a hole.
"It looks like we've lost them!" Aang looked to Toph and then to the Dai Li.
"Well, that shouldn't be a problem anyways-" Said Toph nonchalantly.
"Afraid we can't let you do that. No one comes without an ID."
"Clearly, peasant, you don't understand our positions and your position. Now let us through, or we'll contact Azula...and you know what she does to people who slight her." She saw the Dai Li agent cringe and then sigh.
"One second." He lifted a wanted poster of the gaang and compared the pictures to Aang and Toph. "Well, we'll make an exception but just this once. You're lucky you two look nothing like the avatar and his friends...or you'd be sent -somewhere- with the rest of the suspects." With that, the guard let them through.
Once through and safely past the guards, Aang whooped and hugged Toph," You were amazing!"
"You weren't bad yourself Kuzon" whispered Toph as Aang excitedly ran off.
"Okay, so what are we doing here?" asked Aang.
"I'm taking you to the center of earthbending power: the Li Shi mountain caves."
"What's so special about it?"
"The rock there feels ...different. There's some legend about a woman who turned to stone, waiting for her lover to return from the war. I think the woman was Oma and the man was Shu...He died in the war."
"Wow that's so romantic!" Sighed Aang practically with hearts in his eyes.
"Stupid if you ask me..." Mumbled Toph, as Aang shot an offended glance in her direction. "This woman was a master earthbender. Why didn't she just go with him? She could have fought alongside him or protected him or something. So stupid."
Toph sat down, with a hurt look in her eyes. She sighed and the silence settled between them. Aang was startled at her sudden pain and empathy. Taking just a moment to glance at her, his eyes lingered a second too long, and he found himself staring at her again.
After a while, a rock hit Aang in the stomach, and he cried out, "Ummphhh!"
"I can feel you staring at me." said Toph nonchalantly.
"Heh heh...well, to be fair, I've never seen you actually feel emotions. What do you expect?" Aang half-lied.
"Gee, thanks for the faith, Twinkletoes..." Toph said sarcastically, "Well, let's get down to earthbending!"
"Aww...Already?"
After a few sad attempts at earthbending and several different injuries in places he'd never been injured, Aang exploded and bent the 3 other elements at once in his attempt at earthbending.
Aang groaned and sat down. "I don't understand what's happening. I'm trying to earthbend exactly like I used to..."
"Maybe that's your problem, Twinkletoes...you know, besides losing what little backbone you had beforehand." Toph picked her toes casually and sighed at Aang's angst. Zuko's dramatic musings were definitely rubbing off on Aang...
Trying to ignore the insult, Aang asked slightly annoyed, "What do you mean?"
"You haven't been able to earthbend since Katara broke your heart. You haven't dealt with the situation at all, but ignoring what happened won't change it. New experiences mean new changes, and you haven't been responding. You're so desperate to hold on to the past, to Katara, that you haven't had time to rediscover yourself. Whether you like it or not, you're a different person...You've changed, and obviously, you can't earthbend, because you can't acknowledge that!" Toph was yelling now, for some reason angry that Aang still wasn't over Katara.
Aang recoiled and shot back sharply, "Yeah, well at least I loved someone! At least, I've kissed someone at some point in my life! Even Sokka-"
"What about Sokka?" Toph cracked at Aang's insensitive but not intentional mention of Sokka. He had no idea about her previous crush, but she didn't care. She turned around slowly and glared at him, green flames dancing in her eyes. Aang became quiet at the strangely intense glare from his blind teacher, realizing that he'd hit a sensitive topic. Then, she slapped him. No earthbending: this time it was personal.
Really? Sokka? thought Aang, afraid to say it aloud. "Wait, Toph-"
"You know what? You're right. Maybe it's time for me to find someone. Maybe it's time I had friends who aren't as completely idiotic as you, Aang...You know, you've said a lot of stupid things, and I put up with it, because I can...but I never pegged you as cruel." The pain lingered visibly in her eyes for a moment. Then she left.
Aang sat feeling guilty as ever that he'd said that to her. When it came to Toph, it was just so easy to blow up at her, to show him what he was really feeling. Aang always felt like he had to tiptoe around everyone else's feelings, but he had always felt like he could say anything to Toph and that she could take it. He needed to find her, that much he knew. Sighing once more, he started his search for Toph to ask for her forgiveness. Just as he hit the cave entrance, he looked back at the beautiful stone figure of Oma and mumbled, "Too bad you can't help me with either earthbending or crazy girls. First Katara, now Toph..." He set out to look for Toph, but he could have sworn that the statue's eyes glinted mysteriously.
Toph sat at the firelight fountain of Ba Sing Se, crying. Why did she feel so hurt? She was Toph Beifong. She was earth. She was invincible. But here she sat crying over two boys, a crush who didn't return her affections and the other a stupid friend.
None of that mattered, she decided. It was crucial for Aang to master earthbending before Sozin's comet arrived, and if she couldn't be there as his friend for now, if she couldn't forgive him yet, then she would at least have to be there as his teacher.
She exhaled slowly and deeply to regain control. "Come on, Toph. Crying's for wusses...You're fine. You're okay." She relaxed more now, and stopped trembling. The tears slowly vanished, and by the time she realized it, it was nighttime. She had been gone the entire day, and they had no time to waste. She sighed, knowing she should probably get back to the caves, and she stood up. Suddenly her eyes narrowed and she immediately sensed that she was surrounded.
"What do you want from me?" Toph spat at the Earth Kingdom boys who surrounded her, closing in on her.
"You're Fire Nation, Princess..." One sneered, rock in his hand.
"Yeah, go back to your precious little Fire Nation where you can practice bending evil all you want. We don't take too kindly to intruders in our home..."
"What are you, huh? Fire-bender? Non-bender? The Fire Nation's evil, so so are you!"
"Well, lucky me, you caught me in a bad mood, and I feel like beating something up. Thanks for offering yourself up to that, dunderhead." Toph sarcastically rebutted. She meant every word she said, and couldn't wait to take out her rage on someone.
The last speaker chucked a rock at Toph, which might have been the hugest regret of his life, if the rock hadn't been stopped before Toph got to it.
"Wait!" one of the earthbenders cried, "That's not what we came for! This isn't right. She's just a Fire Nation citizen, not a soldier. Besides, it isn't right to hit a girl."
"Excuuseee me?" Toph growled, "What, you think I can't handle it? Think I can't handle myself, because I'm a girl?!"
The boy did a doubletake at Toph, confused, surprised and impressed by her. It took a moment, but then he smiled at her and laughed, "No that's not it at all. I wouldn't beat you up if you were a boy either!" He annoyingly reminded Toph of Twinkletoes, who unfortunately for this stranger, was not on good terms with Toph as of now.
"Correction. You wouldn't be able to. In fact, I bet I can take you all on right now! Let's go!" Toph snapped fiercely, swiftly changing into a fighting stance. Startled, the guys around her reacted and also took their stances.
"Wait, wait! Guys, Let me handle this. Our friend was recently captured, but we heard he'd escaped! Have you seen this man anywhere? Please, it's important." The boy took out a sheet of paper, showing it to Toph.
Toph pretended to examine the sheet of paper and responded bit too quickly, "Uh- huh...well, I haven't seen him. Good luck finding your friend. Well, gotta go. See you around or something." When she tried to leave, she found herself surrounded by the boys who had now closed in on her.
"Shen, She's obviously lying! Let's get her now!" Several others mumbled in agreement and prepared to attack, but Shen noticed that Toph hadn't even been looking at the picture of his brother. She missed and ended up staring at the empty bottom of the of the page. Confused at first into silence, Shen finally realized...
"That's it!" he cried, turning everyone's attention to him. "You're blind!" Toph was startled. Hadn't she played her part perfectly? That damn poster, she thought to herself. She was sure of it, and now her cover was basically blown.
"What? That's completely ridiculous. I'm not blind! Where'd you get that idea- Hey! Stop waving your hand in front of my face!" Toph frowned and put her hands on her hips.
"You're not even blinking! You're just staring right through it! You're blind!" Damn, she thought, she forgot to blink.
"Erghh- I just have really good concentration." she blurted stupidly.
"Uh-huh. Sure" Said Shen and as he laughed lightly at her poor excuse, Toph was reminded all the more of Twinkletoes, and how alike the two sounded when they laughed. It only made her more annoyed. "What color is my shirt then?"
"Green."
"Uh- huh, yeah, that's what I thought. It's yellow, by the way."
"So what? I'm blind. You caught me...that a crime or something?" Shen smiled and found himself staring at the beautiful girl, the light of the firelight fountain hitting her perfectly. She was beautiful...and he was falling for someone from the Fire Nation.
"Just explains a lot. Why do you hide your blindness?" He asked, curious.
So I can successfully parade as a Fire Nation aristocrat in Ba Sing Se, thought Toph. "I don't like when people pity me." She shrugged simply, which was also true, "Don't ask how I get around. Blah blah, it's a long story. "
"Well, I'm sorry we ambushed you. How about we make it up to you? You hungry? You should come over and have dinner with us, the whole group!" Shen grinned eagerly, wanting to know more about the mysterious girl. The rest of his friends look suspicious and disgusted at Toph, and she could feel their hostile vibrations in the earth, but she didn't care. Toph was hungry...
"Well, I suppose I'll allow you to forgive me on one condition...Don't tell anyone I'm blind." Toph pleaded now serious, creases forming between her eyebrows with worry.
"Alright! Well, what's your name?"
Toph was about to answer Ummi, when Aang came crashing into her, practically crying with relief. "Toph, you're okay! You've been gone all day. I was so worried! Please, pretty pretty please, forgive meeee! I didn't mean to- "
She clasped her hand over his mouth and said coldly, "Well, I can handle myself, Kuzon. I don't need you."
"Ouch! Fire Nation burn!" laughed one of Shen's friends. Aang, realizing he'd blown her cover, blushed and waved hi at SHen's mistrustful friends.
"Oh, is this your friend? He can come for dinner too." Shen looked at Toph, then at Aang and introduced himself, "Hi, I'm Shen!"
"I'm Kuzon, and this is Toph. She's my fiançé." Squinting his eyes at Shen Aang emphasized the last word and put his arm around Toph. He felt skeptical about Shen...He and Toph were supposedly fire nation, and Shen and his friends should be their enemies. Shen's kindness and attraction to Toph might as well have been traps. Mad as Toph was at Aang, Aang couldn't let her get hurt. He would never forgive himself.
Shen appeared truly disheartened that Toph was supposedly engaged and found himself uncomfortably awkward near Aang, even so far as shifting his feet and keeping his distance from Toph.
Oh, this is ridiculous, thought Toph, if I could roll my eyes I would... She felt bad for this guy. She knew firsthand how awful unreciprocated crushes felt and frankly was pissed that Aang wouldn't recognize it too, since he went through the same thing with Katara. She sighed and mentally slapped herself, but if she could act the helpless blind girl for her parents for 12 years, surely, she could feign interest to spare his feelings for a night. Damn, all that crying made me all emotional and sensitive to peoples' feelings...Duly noted: must cry less, thought Toph.
"You can stop acting. That's just a cover for our parents, you know..." Toph blurted out hastily, surprising Aang and Shen.
"What are you doing?" whispered Aang, "You can't trust this guy..."
"Well, just trust me then," Toph whispered back, annoyed, and walked away from Aang, "Well? Come on Twinkletoes, let's get some dinner."
"Ouch! Fire Nation burn!" laughed Shen's friend again as he passed Aang who pouted in silence and crossed his arms.
As they walked, Toph fabricated a seamless story in her mind, preparing to answer questions that Shen repeatedly fired towards her.
"Well, I'm actually from the Fire Nation colonies, but my dad is some political figure, so we travel a lot between the Fire Nation and the Earth Kingdom colonies..." Smiled Toph, pleased with her lie...then she thought to herself, I have to say I'm an earthbender. It's going to come out sooner or later. "Actually, my dad's a firebender and my mom's an earthbender, so I'm actually an earthbender. We both hide it though, for safety reasons..."
Shen's friends dropped their mouths wide open and gaped at Toph. Shen cheered and whooped, "I knew I could trust you! I had a pretty good feeling about you!" He laughed again carelessly, unaware of his words.
"Uh, you did?" Toph and Shen both blushed. In the background, Aang bristled in silence, muttering to himself. Suddenly, Shen's friends encompassed Toph, identifying with their newfound fellow earthbender.
"Wait, so you grew up in the colonies then? You're practically Earth Kingdom! At least more Earth Kingdom than Fire Nation...I have plenty of friends in the colonies who are technically Fire Nation.
"Why didn't you say so in the first place?"
"Let's have an earthbending battle later!"
"You're on!" Laughed Toph, who felt more at home than she had ever felt before. Suddenly, Toph was walking on wood and gasped. Her vision was gone, and now she nearly tripped on her own feet, "Hey Twinkles, some assistance. This is wood! I can't see."
Toph nearly fell off the pier, and Aang rushed forward to steady her, but Shen cut him off and grabbed hold of Toph, who wrapped her arm around Shen's. Toph sighed, "That was a close one. Thanks Twinkletoes." She thanked him indifferently.
"Actually, it's me." Grinned Shen, as Toph patted his arm in thanks.
"Oh...thaanks. Why does this always happen to me?" Mumbled Toph as she blushed. They walked along the pier a little longer, Toph holding onto Shen's arm when she finally broke the silence and said, "I ergh can't see when I'm walking on wood, because I use my earthbending to see. My feet are kind of like my eyes..."
"Wow, that's so cool," Shen exclaimed, "You grow more interesting by the second...wanna duel later?"
"Definitely, that is, if you're ready to go down," challenged Toph, smirking sideways at Shen, "...but I kind of need to leave. I need to teach Aa-I mean- Kuzon how to earthbend...it's kind of urgent. We're on a tight schedule." Aang smiled and straightened up at that.
"Wait, he can't earthbend?" Shen raised his eyebrows confused as Aang now blushed in embarassment and looked down at his feet.
"No, he could...and then he couldn't?" Toph herself was confused the situation and had no idea how to explain. "He lost his earthbending..."
"Oh!" Shen's eyes widened in realization, "I know what you're talking about! Gravel syndrome!"
"Gravel what?" Toph laughed. It sounded ridiculous to her.
"The strength of earth comes from determination and hope...Once you lose hope, when you're at your vulnerable, you lose the inspiration that earthbending requires. Mostly though, people get it from heartbreak...They mope around for a while, but the bending eventually comes back."
"So, who broke his heart?" Shen smirked and looked sideways at Toph, nudging her lightly.
She blushed and protested at the same time as Aang, "Ha! Yeah, no...I'm offended you would even suggest that."
"Ew, no way! Toph's too...Toph" Aang argued. They each crossed their arms and turned their heads from each other, while Shen looked mildly confused.
"Wait a minute, if that's what causes Gravel Syndrome, why don't you have it, Toph?" Aang stared at her, as did Shen piqued by this new information.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Toph said resentfully and earthbent a rock wall into Aang.
"You know, because of-" He obliviously continued.
"Well, even if all that lovey-dovey stuff is the cause of 'Gravel Syndrome,'" Toph mockingly air-quoted, "I'm just too awesome to ever get it. Earthbending is my soulmate... Besides, I'm not a wimp like you." Aang rolled his eyes and kept walking.
"Okay, we're here!" said one of Shen's friends.
"Uh-where exactly is that?" Aang asked puzzled at sight of only water at the end of the pier.
"Relax," Shen grinned at Aang, "This is our hideout. You can only get here by earthbending." With that, Shen flicked his arm upward and a hollowed out boulder rose from the end of the pier. They all climbed in and closed the opening of the boulder, which then sunk back into the water and hit the floor. "Okay, now we're really here."
Shen reopened the boulder and both Toph and Aang were amazed at the beautiful underground city.
"Whoa." they both said, admiring the view.
"How many underground cities can Ba Sing Se have?" cried Aang.
"This is amazing," whispered Toph as she crouched down and felt the landscape, putting her palm to the floor. "So, you bring all the girls you meet here to impress them?" Toph teased Shen, while he laughed nervously.
"No, just you." He said to himself quietly so that no one would hear him...but Toph did hear him, and she smiled softly to herself as she walked away to admire the underground city.
Toph sat down at the table, warmly greeted by refugees and anti-war supporters from the colonies. Tonight might have been the happiest and the nicest she had ever been in her life. She laughed and smiled and even let Shen help pull her chair out and open the door for her.
At first she protested, stubbornly claiming that she didn't need help, but Shen diffused her tense rejection by lightheartedly saying, "I didn't help you because you needed it, but because I wanted to." She blinked surprised by his words and remembered the last person who respected her enough as an individual to say them...So she nodded gruffly in response and pouted at first, but eventually, she let go and joined in their small community's laughter.
Aang was already seated and saved a seat for Toph. He grinned and waved wildly at Toph, despite her blindness, but she headed for the chair two spaces over, placing Shen awkwardly between Toph and Aang. Aang knew that Toph was avoiding him, refusing him the chance to even apologize...Yet Toph still attempted to act as if there was nothing wrong at all.
After dinner, Shen sat down with Toph alone at the Badgermole compounds. After exchanging a few words and petting the Badgermoles, Toph asked, "So is there a faster way to fix Gravel syndrome?"
Surprised by the question, Shen smiled sadly in realization and answered, "Yes, or at least according to legend...I don't anyone's actually tried it though. It's just a myth, and honestly, that cave is kind of creepy. They say to follow the dance ritual at the Li Shi Mountain Caves. The instructions are engraved on the statue of Oma."
He paused shortly before continuing, "You care a lot about him."
"What exactly are you suggesting?" Toph humphed and looked away.
"Aaand, you don't like me..." He said softly, with that broken air about him.
"No, I do, reeally..."Toph persisted, placing an arm tenderly on his.
"But not like that. Come on, Toph. I'm an earthbender, I'll be okay." He lifted a hand and gingerly tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. "But I am curious..."
"What do you mean?" Toph asked puzzled.
"That guy Kuzon was talking about?"
"Oh...that." Toph blushed and looked down, "It's not a big deal." She sighed and walked around, Shen trailing closely behind her, "I like him and he's with someone else. It's just a stupid crush."
"Hmm...and how do you feel about Kuzon? For two people who aren't romantically involved, you two are close..."
"Eh, we're just good friends." She shrugged indifferently.
Shen laughed and teased, "Suuure, Toph...At least I know your cover is safe...You two act enough like lovers and fight enough like them to convince anyone." She glared at him. "Just promise me that you'll stay in touch with me. Oh, and if you're ever free, you know where to find me." He winked at her as she affectionately punched his arm. Then, Shen pulled her in close for a hug and kissed her cheek, "This is goodbye..."
"Goodbye, Shen..." Aang hid in secret, sitting on his airscooting and listening to the conversation between Toph and Shen. He nearly laughed in triumph and fell off his air scooter.
Back in the caves...
"This is it," Toph ran her hand across the inscription on the back of Oma's statue. "These are the instructions to the cure for Gravel Syndrome...It's a dance for two people, one who earthbends and the other with Gravel syndrome who mimicks the moves...Ready Twinkletoes? This is it."
"Wait, Toph-" Aang cut her off hurriedly and grabbed her wrist as she tried to walk away. He mumbled quickly and stuttered as he searched for a way to apologize. "You, you- uh haven't, you know...about the- what happened before...feels weird, you know, and we-you've been kind of quiet,and -uh and, I'm sorry!- I think you were right...about Katara. I was just so convinced that we were meant to be, that she was the one and she'd feel the same way-and"
"Aang, I know. I feel the same way about Sokka." She smiled at him and put a hand on his shoulder. "I'm not really mad anymore, just thinking..."
"Why didn't you ever tell me?" Aang asked.
"You had enough of your own heartbreak. Didn't need to add mine on top. But you know, earthbending is the perfect lesson for heartbreak. It reminds you that no matter what happens, you can endure it, and you can stand your ground...I believe in you Aang. Now let's stop our pity party and get down to business" Toph pulled Aang into a warm hug. They stayed like that frozen for a long moment before Toph spoke again, "Uh- am I doing this comforting thing right? Normally, I'd just punch you, but I thought I'd mix it up."
Aang laughed, "I think I prefer your hugs."
"Well don't get used to it Twinkletoes" Toph smirked and then punched him in the gut as he doubled over in pain.
They walked to opposite ends of the statue of Oma and began their dance. Starting with the horsestance, Toph moved gracefully to the right, while Aang moved to the left. Circling the statue until they reached the other's end, they made an upheaving motion and Toph raised up a pedestal from under the statue. Then they repeated until reaching their original positions, where Toph raised another pedestal from under the first she raised. Each time they circled one another, they moved closer and and closer to the statue, until finally reaching the statue, Toph and Aang walked up the steps of the raised pedestals. Toph now faced the front of Oma's statue and raised a rock between them. Aang mimicked the motion from the back, and they both pushed their hands out, palms facing the statue.
Toph heard it, a heartbeat other than Aang's emanating from the statue. It was faint but also strong and determined. Then she felt her own heartbeat, dancing in sync with the new, mysterious one. She froze there, trapped, hypnotized, enraptured with the sound of her heartbeat; and time seemed to stop for her, but not before she heard Aang cry out. Wishing she could do something but feeling all of a sudden tired, Toph's consciousness slipped away from her and she slept there peacefully.
Meanwhile, Aang felt it surge through him, life. All of his determination, hope and resolve empowered him and weirdly enough, he felt that warm, gooey feeling that he usually got whenever he saw Katara: love. He was confused as to the random emotion, and even more strangely, he didn't feel heartbroken when he felt it; but it was a magic love cave, so why question it? From the moment he felt that feeling take hold of him, Aang knew that he could earthbend, and he grinned triumphantly.
"Toph, it worked!" He cheered, but looked over at his friend who seemed stuck in some sort of trance, eyes locked with the statue of Oma. Come to think of it, Aang hadn't noticed that the statue was glowing dimly, rocks crumbling around it.
Toph's palms were up against the statue's and they rotated in a circle until Toph was now glowing in Oma's position. The statue of Oma, unlocked from its position, came to life and earthbent itself to all sides of the cave until the entire statue was undone. Toph now was frozen, while the rocks crept up from under her feet and engulfed her entire body and face in rock. It pressed itself tightly against her, until now all that was left was an impeccable statue of Toph, as alive and accurate as Oma's, so painfully similar that anyone who knew Toph might have joked that Toph actually transformed into a rock...except that now she had.
"Toph!" Aang yelled and grabbed her hand, futilely trying to stop the creeping rocks from engulfing her. I will stand my ground, Aang clenched his teeth, I won't let go, Toph... His grip on her hand was strong, but he felt her fingertips getting colder and colder, and the creeping rocks pounding against his hand, trying to separate the two. Then, he felt her hand move, and shift against his. The prospect made him ecstatic at first, but then her hand reached out and pushed him, earthbent him away.
He fell with a yelp, but he could have sworn that the ground beneath him rumbled with Toph's laughter...
Aang sat, miserably guilty for hours on, staring at the statue of Toph.
"What do I do now?" Aang whispered to himself. "It's my fault Toph's like this...though I doubt she minds being a rock very much..."
It was Shen's idea, Aang thought irritated, Knew we shouldn't have trusted him...but, he didn't know.
Aang growled, "None of this is helping! What would Toph do?"
Aang mused for a few seconds then brightened, "I know!" Aang grinned devilishly and got into his horsestance. Facing Toph, he attacked the statue and earthbent multiple rocks at the statue as he shouted, "I'll break her out!" Suddenly, all rocks he aimed at Toph turned around and aimed themselves at Aang.
With his eyes popping out of his head, Aang screamed and ducked, protecting himself with a shield of air. "Toph, that's not funny!"
"Are you awake in there? Bet you're enjoying this." Aang mumbled to himself but was met with no response.
"Maybe I should try removing the rock from Toph's body..."Aang thought to himself and earthbent the statue apart, but he was surprised to see that there was no body within the myriad of rocks he had taken apart. Toph disappeared. As soon as he took them apart, the rocks vibrated with life and rearranged themselves into the Toph statue.
Aang tried different variations of "Toph, wake up!", "Toph, I have food!", "Toph, Sokka's here!", the last of which he was met with an earthspike to the rear.
He even used the messenger hawk to ask everyone at the camp for help:
Hi everyone, having a crisis! Toph turned into a rock. -Aang
...until he realized that waiting for a response would take too long.
Aang sighed and stood across from Toph's statue, staring into her face. Her expression was so calm and peaceful...and her eyes were filled with life, playfully dancing with mischief. Contentment: this is what she looks like earthbending, Aang thought as he stared into her face. His hand absent-mindedly reached up to brush the side of her face as his heart jumped at the contact.
Magic love cave...it's the one thing I haven't tried yet, thought Aang as he slowly leaned in to kiss the statue of Toph. He embraced her as they kissed and lost himself. He felt his own heartbeat but suddenly heard another, pulsing against his chest, dancing in harmony with his own. Suddenly, the lips he was kissing turned warm, and Toph's unconscious body collapsed into his hold.
It worked! thought Aang, hugging his friend fiercely. "Whew! Lucky she wasn't awake when I did that..." Aang laughed nervously to himself. Aang felt anxious about what the kiss meant... I did it to save her life, and she won't remember it, he thought...I love Katara, and she loves Sokka.
When Toph finally regained consciousness, she felt confused, "Twinkletoes?" she called out weakly. Aang was soon kneeling at her side and hugging her.
"You're awake!"
"What happened? I don't remember anything after the dance ritual." She sat up abruptly and putting one hand to her head, tried to remember what exactly happened. There was a dream...but no, it had to have only been a dream. Aang loved Katara, and she loved Sokka...even if the kiss felt real.
"Ergh...nothing much. It's a long story." Aang blushed, "I'll explain to you later or something..."
"Can you earthbend?" Toph demanded. In response, Aang smirked and tried to sneak an earthbending attack on Toph from behind. Toph countered the move and stomped on the ground, attacking Aang with an earthspike.
"Yeah, that's never gonna happen," Toph snorted.
Aang laughed and embraced her again. "Uh, Aang, you've hugged me like five times..."
"Well, I might have, you know, kind-of, missed you." Aang confessed.
Toph laughed and teased, "Well, I " she said dramatically, as if similaraly confessing to Aang, continued anticlimactically, "didn't care." She punched Aang in the arm.
"You did. I can tell. You're getting soft, Sifu Toph." Aang smiled smugly.
"Hey, who's the lie-detector over here?"
They walked out the caves unaware that they were holding hands, but mysteriously, the statue of Oma reappeared with the same mischievious glint in its eyes and now with a slight upward curve at the tips of her lips.