Another oneshot that I did 2 years ago. Basically a rewrite of what could have happened in S2E06 The Blind Bandit. Spoilers for 'The Swamp' ahead, avoid if you haven't watched it yet.
Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar.
"Okay, Toph, why don't you try that again?" Master Yu said in a falsely sweet voice. Toph rolled her eyes.
"We've been doing this for hours, why can't we do something else?" She asked in an irritated voice. Why is that loser teaching ME earthbending? I could kick his ass with both hands behind my back.
"Your father wants you learning only the basics, Toph, he doesn't want you to try anything too dangerous." Master Yu replied in his honeyed voice. She hated that voice. It made her want to hit something really bad.
"Moving a rock doesn't seem too dangerous." She offered. Master Yu shook his head.
"He says no actual earthbending is allowed, since it could injure you Toph," Master Yu continued, as Toph clenched her fists. "Only basic forms and breathing exercises."
Toph rolled her eyes. When was she gonna be given some freedom? Ever since she was announced to be blind, her parents never let her near anything fun. Even a walk had to be accompanied by guards. It made her feel too weak. That was why she relished her time in Earth Rumble 6, beating all the best earthbenders in the world.
And so far nobody had tracked the Blind Bandit to the Bei Fong family. They had to be psychic to even think she was the Blind did she think that that someone was already trying to find her.
XxX
"Just who was that girl you were chasing?" Sokka asked again. Aang groaned.
"I told you I don't know. The swamp is just...weird." he said, annoyed at Sokka's constant questioning.
"There is NOTHING supernatural about the swamp." Sokka argued. "Avatar stuff doesn't count. Besides, unless you clear this up, Katara's gonna be jealous you were off looking for some girl instead of her." He grinned at the embarrassed looks on his companions' faces.
"Just give it a rest Sokka," Katara said. "Aang has enough worries trying to find an earthbending teacher, don't add on to it."
Sokka was about to retort, before he spotted something in the distance.
"Guys! What's that?" He pointed to a large blemish in the scenic landscape. A dark mass appeared before them, and they squinted to see hundreds of Fire Nation tanks and troops positioned there. They gasped at the intensity of the Fire Nation army there.
"What's the army doing here?" Katara asked thoughtfully.
"That's why." Aang pointed to a small city in the distance, and they all looked at it. The Fire Nation troops were indeed proceeding to the small town, clearly continuing its conquest of the Earth Kingdom.
"We can't let the Fire Nation continue taking over Earth Kingdom territory." Aang said determinedly. "We have to stop them."
Katara and Sokka nodded, as Aang leapt down onto Appa's head to steer him to the town to help.
"Appa, Yip yip!"
XxX
Meanwhile, Toph was still playing mind games with Master Yu.
"So..Master Yu, have you heard of the Blind Bandit?" Toph asked, a smirk on her face. "I heard that she's a pretty good bender, the champion of Earth Rumble 6, right?"
Master Yu looked away haughtily. "I assure you Toph, I am the best earthbender in the region."
"Right...I'm sure you are." Toph said, her voice dripping with sarcasm, not that she bothered to hide it.
Before Master Yu could figure out her intended statement, Toph felt something in the earth. Being blind, she was trained to sense vibrations in the ground. She was a part of the earth, and it was part of her. Every little disturbance, she could sense.
Except this time, it wasn't little. She knew about the war with the Fire Nation, but she had never felt anything like this. Tens, hundreds even, of Fire Nation tanks coming for Gaoling, full steam ahead, with ground troops following behind. She instantly straightened up, instinctively turning her head to the source of the intense vibrations.
"Uh...back to your training, Toph." Master Yu said, finally catching on to her comment. He was distracted, as Toph continued to look at the wall of her giant estate. "Toph?"
"Master Yu!" Toph's father came down to the training ground. He bowed.
"Mr Bei Fong."
"Master Yu, the troops have spotted Fire Nation troops approaching Gaoling. There are many of them, and I fear that we may be taken under siege, or worse, taken over." He said worriedly. "I would ask you to please protect Toph throughout the fighting." Master Yu nodded, and several more guards came behind, securing the training area.
This is not gonna be good. Toph thought to herself.
XxX
The city was easily overwhelmed by the numerous troops and although the Earth Kingdom troops and fighters put up a brave fight, the Fire Nation had easily broken through to the main city. People were being called on to assist in the battle, and Toph wanted to go. Is it the right time to let them know?
XxX
"Woah, the Fire Nation sure is fast!" Sokka remarked, seeing the troops invade the city. Aang wasn't listening. He had already run off to help in the fighting, with Katara closely following him.
"Hey! Wait for me!" Sokka ran after them.
XxX
"There are rumors that the Avatar had come to help us with our struggle." Mr Bei Fong said to Master Yu. "Let's hope he can help us."
The Avatar? This should be nice. Toph thought. She decided. There was no way, no way she was going to let these Fire Nation bastards continue their crap here. She stepped forward.
"Dad?" She started, and she sensed him turning his head to face her. "I...wanna help fight too."
"Breathing exercises are useless in combat, Toph." Master Yu said, while her father shook his head in disagreement. "There's no way you can fight Toph."
At this point, the wall nearby rocked, and suddenly a hole was blown through it, and a Fire Nation commander walked in, with his troops. As Master Yu turned to face the man, he was thrown backward with an intense blast of flame from the leader's hand. The guards were also taken out before they could help.
"You're right Dad." Toph said in a rebellious tone. "Toph can't help, but maybe the Blind Bandit can."
Seeing her father's stunned face, she quickly smiled, before, quickly turning around to face the man.
"If you think you can beat me little girl, then think again." The man smirked, before unleashing a blast of fire from his fists. Toph grinned, and a wall of earth came up to block the blast, and before the man could react, the wall went flying into him, destroying quite a few tanks behind him, and effectively blowing him into the next house. The Fire Nation troops looked on, stunned.
"So much for breathing exercises." Toph smirked at Master Yu's shocked face, before she ran out to confront the rest of the troops.
XxX
Katara had just finished putting her final touch to her ice pillar of tanks, when she felt a giant vibration in the ground.
"Guys." She turned to Aang, as the latter just looked confused. As she looked back, she saw to her amazement, huge pillars of earth rising from the ground, sending the Fire Nation tanks skywards and crashing back down in a heap.
"Wow..." Sokka said.
They quickly ran to the area where the attack happened, and saw a little girl surrounded by Fire Nation soldiers. She didn't seem to be scared. Quite the opposite in fact. Aang saw her wait for the soldiers to make the first move, and saw her grin before swiftly bending a huge whirlpool of land, causing the soldiers to be sucked in, stuck in the earth.
"How did- There's no way that little girl did that." Sokka said in amazement. Katara was impressed as well.
"How did she do that?"
"She waited," Aang said in excitement. "and listened!"
The girl walked over to Sokka, before punching him on the shouder, causing him to fall backwards.
"'little girl' huh?" She smirked, before leaving.
"How did she-? I said it from so far away!" Sokka gasped in shock.
"I have to talk to her!' Aang chased after the girl. Sokka turned to Katara.
"Now there, don't be jealous." Sokka teased. Katara turned red, before facing Sokka angrily.
"I am NOT jealous! Just go find Aang!" Katara ran after him.
XxX
Aang was really amazed at what this girl could do with her earthbending, as he saw her take down tank after tank after tank. She was really skilled at it, seeing that nobody had managed to touch her yet, despite her age. With her help, the army was defeated in no time, and they remainder of the troops had chosen to retreat rather than continue fighting.
"Who are you?" Aang asked her, once the battle was over. She seemed annoyed at him for asking.
"Why?" She asked in an irritated tone.
"Because I'm the Avatar, and I need an earthbending teacher!" Aang said bluntly. "I was wondering if you could teach me."
"I can't." With that, she left, leaving a stunned Avatar behind.
XxX
When Toph got back home, she 'saw' that the place was trashed, and there was a part of the estate that was destroyed. She looked around for her father, before finding him in his room.
"Dad?"
"Toph!" Her parents ran to her, and hugged her. Clearly, they had been worried.
"I'm fine." She shrugged it off. As her parents got up, she realized that they were angry at her.
"How could you learn earthbending by yourself? You could've got hurt!" Her father said, before he calmed down. "You have had far too much freedom by yourself. I'm banning all earthbending within the grounds, Toph, its for your own good. No more earthbending!"
Toph was shocked. She thought her parents would be happy that she had helped saved the town, and proud that they had such an earthbending prodigy in their family.
"But Dad-!"
"No arguments, Toph!"
She hung her head, as tears ran down her face.
"You can't go in!" She heard her family's butler say , and she turned her head to the source of the commotion.
"Who are you?" She heard her father demand. A familiar voice replied, and she recognized it as the guy who had talked to her just now.
"Sorry sir, but I'm the Avatar, and I need an earthbending teacher, and I think its supposed to be your daughter!" Aang explained.
"Toph is now forbidden from earthbending, so she won't leave with you." Mr Bei Fong said angrily. "Now leave!"
"But-"
"Leave!"
She felt him look down in disappointment, and she couldn't help but feel sorry for him. Anyone who got her father's bad side normally got yelled at quite badly.
As she felt him leave, she thought about the guy's offer for her to join him. She thought about it. What had been the one thing holding her back from leaving?
It was her family. She didn't want t leave her parents. But now...
XxX
"Don't worry. We'll find you a teacher. There are plenty of amazing earthbenders out there." Katara tried to comfort Aang.
"Not like her." Aang said sadly.
As they started to walk towards Appa, they heard heavy panting, and saw Toph run up to them.
"Toph! What are you doing here ?" Aang asked, astonished.
"My dad changed his mind. He said I was free to travel the world." She replied.
"Well, we'd better get out of here," Sokka said. "Before your dad changes his mind again."
"Good idea." Toph said.
"You're gonna be a great teacher, Toph." Aang said, looking at her from Appa's head.
"Um Aang, right?" Aang nodded. "You better stop looking at me. Your girlfriend's getting jealous."
Katara stared at Toph in wonder, while Aang blushed.
"How did you kn– I mean, I'm not jealous!" Katara quickly amended.
"Oh, she got you Katara!" Sokka laughed, as Katara glared at Sokka.
Toph smiled. She liked this group. Seems like running away wasn't a bad thing after all.
R & R!
P.S This story is fictional and does NOT promote running away from home. :)