Welcome to everyone who will be reading my first ever Avatar: The Last Airbender fanfiction, Seeing. Seeing will contain fighting, a tad bit of rude humor, Sukka, Tokka, Kataang, and Toph being awesome. Who can't love it. Reviews are loved, even constructive!
Seeing
The early morning air was rather nice, but Toph wished it could be a bit warmer. She rubbed her arms as she got out of bed and felt her feet touch the earthen floor. Suddenly, she was able to see an outline of everything around her in her mind's eye. The bed, the dresser, the open doorway leading into the main room of her house. Everything was familiar to her. This was all she had. Home.
Standing up and stretching, Toph yawned loudly and patted her hair absently. It probably looked like some type of bird's nest. That's what Katara always said it looked like, back when she traveled the world with Katara…and Aang…and Sokka.
No thinking about Sokka, Toph. Damn it. Toph scolded herself for a moment, walking towards her dresser than throwing it open. He's married to Suki. Taken. Move on with your life, Toph, move on…
Feeling around in her dresser, Toph pulled out some type of clothes. From the way it felt, it was probably green. Not that she knew what green looked like…but apparently the world around her was filled with color. Whatever that was. Sokka told her long ago that color was different shades of things.
"Like, your hair is black, and your eyes are green, get it?" Sokka asked, and Toph remembered hearing Sokka's laugh. Slightly goofy. "Anyways, color is just something that makes everything look different."
"Sounds pointless to me," she had retorted back.
"It's not pointless!"
"Yeah, yeah, whatever."
Her thoughts were thrust back into the present, and she pushed the green dress back into the dresser, and then pulled out her teaching outfit.
It was rather funny to think herself as a teacher. Ever since she taught Aang, though, Toph thought maybe that was what she could do with her life. Teach other people how to earthbend. Of course, many people thought her way of earthbending wasn't in the traditional style, but hey…times changed.
Pulling off her nightshirt and throwing it into the dresser, Toph then slipped on her teaching outfit. Apparently it was green and yellow. Her students always told her she wore a lot of green and yellow.
"Well, nice to know," she always told them. "Not get back to bending."
After putting her teaching outfit back on, Toph felt around her dresser a bit more and reached for some pins to put her hair up. It was always easy to put her hair up; it only took a few seconds after years of putting up her hair by herself rather than having one of the servants at home do it. Her students always thought it was funny whenever her hair got out of her bun and then she'd redo it in mere seconds. Everyone timed it when she did. Her current record was seven seconds.
Finishing up her hair, Toph wandered out of her room and into the main room of her house. She didn't feel like eating anything currently, and the dinging clock off in the house next door told her it was eight am. Her first lesson was at eight fifteen, so it wasn't like she had any time to make anything to eat or anything.
She headed out the door of her house in an instant, slamming the wooden door shut behind and hurrying at a quick pace. Toph didn't like her students to be in the classroom before her. When they were, she felt like calling her students nerds. But then the whimpy students would complain to their parents, and their parents would come storming into their classroom saying their child was a little angel…
And she was controversial enough as it was.
"Cactus Juice! The finest Cactus Juice in the Earth Kingdom, right here!" a nearby street seller yelled, and Toph stopped for a moment and grinned. She remembered the desert, years ago, when Sokka tried some Cactus Juice…
No thinking about Sokka, damn it!
Beginning to walk down the street again, Toph sensed the other people's footsteps around her and could tell who they were right away. The limping old woman was Bai, who sold flowers declaring that buying a flower would lead to full love. Toph bought one when she first came back to her parent's house over the hill, when the Fire Nation was finally defeated, but she never got true love. It had been years and she had still haven't found 'True Love'…
The kid skipping along by himself was Kun. Kun's parents were formidable earthbenders, and Kun would be her student in a couple years.
"Good morning, Sifu Toph!" the person that spoke to her was a full head taller than her, and the voice sounded like a boy who was turning into a man. Of course, his voice was cracking.
"Good morning, Huan. Stand up straight, it's not good for your posture."
"Oh, okay."
Toph instantly sensed Huan straighten up his posture.
"Good, good," Toph started walking again and Huan was right on her heels. He was like an obedient puppy. Slightly amusing, but annoying. "So how are you this morning, Huan?"
"Uhm…okay, I suppose," Huan shrugged. "How are you?"
"Tired," Toph told him the truth flatly. "Did you practice the technique I taught you yesterday?"
"Of course." He shuffled himself oddly.
"You're lying," Toph told him.
"Yeah…you're right," Huan slumped for a moment, but then straightened up again. "I always forget you can tell when anyone is lying."
"It's easy enough," Toph replied. "You get the hang of it."
They had reached the school. No one was milling around outside, and Toph put her hand on the metal door. She felt the pulleys and rivets turn inside, and then the door pushed itself open on its own accord.
"That's always cool," Huan told Toph.
"Don't be a suck up."
"Sorry, Sifu."
"Yeah, whatever," stepping inside, Toph sensed that everything was how she liked it. "Go take a seat…let's see if anyone shows up today."
"You sure gave everyone a beating yesterday…"
"I meant to. If you're weak, you never become a good earthbender."
"Yeah, definitely."
Does he even have his own thoughts? Toph thought to herself, walking over to the front of the class as she sensed Huan take a seat in the front row, center.
The clock on the wall rang. Eight fifteen.
Slowly, other students ambled in. There was a mumbling among everyone about sore joints. Finally, after waiting a few more minutes the door was closed by the last student walking inside and everyone sat down at their tables.
"Morning, class."
"Good Morning, Sifu Toph."
"Everyone practice their techniques last night?"
"Yes."
She paused for a moment. No one was lying. Good.
"Okay then…let's see here. I think today we will try doing some blindfolded bending again."
There was a moan from the class.
"If you don't want to do it, walk out."
No one dared to stand up.
"Thought so," Toph found herself pleased. Usually a couple students would walk out right there. "Anyways, you will find blindfolds in your desk. Put them on. I will put a rock in front of you."
Feeling behind her, Toph found the Rock Bin. The Rock Bin was filled with different sizes of rocks her students used when they practiced earthbending. It was useful, and the rocks were different minerals and such. Quickly she spread out the rocks in front of them and then clapped her hands together.
"Everyone's blindfolds on?"
"Yes."
"Good. Now, try to bend the rock."
Silence.
"Well! Go on! Or are you to idiotic?"
There were mumbles and Toph sensed everyone adjusting himself or herself trying to bend the rock in front of them. Walking around, Toph guided some of the students who actually respected her and listened to how to bend their rocks better. The ones that were usually disrespectful were ignored, even when they asked for help. They could learn it themselves.
Toph stopped in front of one particular struggling student, Chyou. Chyou came from a particularly rich family, and she was the first one in the family in centuries, apparently, that could earthbend. She had moderate talent, and if worked hard she could become a great earthbender, Toph sensed. However, the troubling part was that Chyou seemed to not want to be an earthbender.
"Having some trouble, Chyou?"
"Yeah…"
"Are you concentrating?"
"Of course."
"I don't think you are concentrating, Chyou, you clearly have something else on your mind," Toph told Chyou faltly.
"I guess so."
"Sit out for the rest of the lesson."
"Yes, Sifu."
"Good."
She walked around a bit more.
"Sifu Toph! I need help!"
Wincing, Toph turned around to focus her attention on a rather arrogant, annoying student, Jin. Jin was incredibly arrogant and never listened, but he was sometimes fun to mess with if she was in a bad mood.
"What seems to be the problem, Jin?"
"I can't move the rock."
"Clearly. Are you concentrating?"
"Yes, Sifu."
"No. I think you are not concentrating. You're thinking about what An looks like without any clothes on."
An, the girl in front of Jin, yelped and jumped up, and then scurried to a seat in the front of the class. Toph moved the rock for Jin to her new seat.
"You're lying," Jin told Toph.
"You're lying," Toph told Jin calmly, crossing her arms. "Now, how about moving that rock?"
"How do I do it?" Jin asked.
"Push your hands towards you," Toph said.
It was fascinating on how stupid some of her students were sometimes. Jin pushed his hands towards him, and Toph heard Jin scream as the rock hit him in the chest. The whole class burst out with laughter, and Toph began to laugh along as well. Jin was now on the ground, groaning, clutching his stomach.
After he stopped groaning, he got himself up and tore off his blindfold. "How dare you!"
"What have I always told you, class?"
"Never push your hands towards you while bending, unless you want to lose your head!" the class chimed, and then the kids feel into a fit of giggles.
"Exactly," Toph grinned. "Now, Jin, I recommend heading home. Tell your father what happened. I'm sure he'd get a kick out of it."
Jin was searing under his breath now, and he walked over to the door, opened it and stomped away. Laughing, Toph went back to the front of the class and watched the class struggle with the bending of the rock. Finally, after awhile a few students had managed to bend the rock but most hadn't. The clock chimed nine, and Toph moved the rocks back to the Rock Bin.
"That's good, kids, all for today," Toph told them. "Homework: Tell your parents about Jin's idiocy."
The class laughed again.
"Now get out of here."