This was originally supposed to be a oneshot, but I decided to divide it into chapters because it was getting too long.

(Eventual) Pairings are: Taang, Zutara, Sukka. There may be more. Rated T for Potty-Mouthing and References to Adult Activities.

Disclaimer for the Rest of the Story: I don't own Avatar. This may come as a great surprise to you all.

Toph's nickname is from Stormbenders. Which is an awesome story. If you haven't read it yet, go do it. Cavedweller.

Day 75

"... And so, you take the third theorem and apply it to the situation. Since the measure is already given to us, you simply have to prove it. Do you understand what I'm saying, Toph? ... Toph? Toph?"

Toph jerked out of her daydream and back to attention.

"Huh? Sorry, Sweetness, I was imagining I was someplace else. What were you saying?"

Katara sighed, dropping the pencil.

"Toph, you have to pay attention to what I'm saying! Your exam is coming up in three days. You won't be able to pass if you don't prepare!"

Toph huffed and reclined in her chair, putting her feet up on the desk beside her.

"Come on, Sweetness. I'll study later. Can we just take a break for now? I wanna walk around and actually see, instead of sitting on my ass like this and learning how to calculate... stuff."

Katara rolled her eyes, but packed up her things anyway. Toph heard her bag zip open, and perked up.

"I really get a break? Sweet! Thanks, Katara, I was about to pass out from the lack of sunlight in this dingy classroom."

"How can you-"

"It's a joke, Sweetness, lighten up."


(flashback plz)

Day One:

Toph had transferred to the school today, and her arrival had been highly anticipated by the entire student body. The Academy was a prestigious school, and transfers in the middle of the semester were highly irregular. A student whose mother worked as one of the school receptionists had received a few tidbits of information about this new student- that she was from the incredibly wealthy Bei Fong family, that she was homeschooled since she was young, and that (this was the subject of gossip for months) she was disabled. She, however, had apparently been extremely successful in getting over said disability (some said that essays were written about her)- so much that she had been allowed to go to a regular school instead of one for "people like her."

With these rumors, the students came to expect a tall, graceful and shy young woman in a wheelchair to come sweeping into their classroom at any given moment. Instead, they got short, boyish and confident Toph. The teacher had just ushered her into the classroom one day- there was no spotlight, no breeze causing her hair to wave, nothing. She was short (at first glance, she looked like a freshman), almost tiny, but the way she stood and held herself made her seem bigger than the rest of them. She held a walking stick that would have been extraordinarily elegant did it not appear as though it had been run over by a truck multiple times. She stood at the front of the classroom, hand on her hip, and looking straight ahead at nothing at all. She was blind.

It soon became very apparent that Toph was not someone to underestimate. During lunch, she had sat outside alone in the courtyard to eat. Most students avoided her, except for the school's resident asshole, Tomo, who had decided to pester her. He walked up to her with a smug grin on his face, while other students watched, wondering what would happen. What he had actually said was unclear, but the next thing anyone knew, Toph had stood up, grabbed her walking stick, and had swung it around and hit the side of Tomo's face. An enormous CRACK! resonated throughout the entire courtyard, and everyone went silent. Toph had time to laugh at Tomo's high pitched screams before the teachers came running out.


Fact: Toph received a week's worth of detention on her second day of school (were her parents less influential she would have been expelled).

Fact: Tomo received a concussion, and was hospitalized for a week. He was hospitalized for another three days after purportedly asking Toph for a rematch after his release.

Fact: Katara befriended Toph on her fourth day of school, saying something about Toph being one of the most respectable and toughest girls in school (she too had been a victim of Tomo's immaturity).

Fact: Toph tried very hard to pretend as though she wasn't touched by those words. Katara understood.


Day Six:

"OOF! Geez... That hurt... Oh crud- I'm sorry! I'm sorry, are you okay? I didn't mean to knock you over, I'm so so sorry, I wasn't looking I-"

"Shut it, Twinkletoes. I'm fine. Get off me so that I can actually get up."

"I'm really really sorry, though. I... Hey wait a minute... Aren't you the new student? Toph, right?"

"Yes, I'm the blind kid. You're going to be the crippled kid if you don't get off and fast."

"Oh, right, right, sorry. Nice to meet you! Hope you like the school! Hey, what do you have this period? I have P.E., and it's one of my most favorite subjects. Do you play sports? I like sports! Especially track. Do you like track? What is it like being blind? Crud, sorry, that was really rude of me, I'm really sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"What's your name, Twinkletoes?"

"Uh, Aang."

"Aang, you talk too much."

"Oh, sorr-"

"You apologize too much, too. Do you even have a backbone?"

"S- Oh yeah, right. No more apologies."

"..."

"..."

"P.E."

"Huh?"

"I have P.E. right now."

"Really? That's so awesome! We have a whole class together! This is gonna be great, I gotta introduce you to my friends, especially Sokka, he'd love to see you, because he heard a lot about you and stuff but he never even got to see you and he was really disappointed but now he's going to be really excited that you're in his class..."


Day Eleven:

"Hey! You the teacher around here?"

"Hello, you must be Toph. Katara told me you'd be coming. My name is Suki, and yes, I teach at this dojo."

"The Kyoshi style, right? I wanna join!"

"Err..."

"Why, is there a problem? I'm blind, not stupid."

"No, no, it's just... that was rather straightforward."

"You gonna teach me or not, Fangirl?"

"How did you know I was holding a-"

"Ahem."

"A-alright. Have you any experience with martial arts?"

"You bet. Learned Hung Gar Kung Fu from an expert! I know it's not the style you guys use here, but I like to think of myself as a master."

"Sigh. Well, why don't you give me a quick demonstration of what you know?"

Toph grinned in a way that gave Suki shivers.


Fact: Toph began teaching kids Mantis Kung Fu at the same dojo as Suki starting that Wednesday.

Fact: She is both the most and the least popular teacher at the dojo. She was the most popular because she knew what to teach and how to teach it, and least popular due to the sheer number of injuries occurring per lesson.

Fact: Suki invited Katara and Toph over on Thursday. Toph reluctantly agreed, but only because Katara demanded so. Even she didn't want to get on Katara's bad side. She was considerably touched when she found out that the slumber parties had been between Katara and Suki for years until now.


Day 13:

As per Slumber Party Tradition (created by Suki and Katara years ago), the girls sat on the soft, carpeted floor of Suki's room, eating mint chocolate chip ice cream out of the carton and played Truth or Dare Extreme (which is much more radically awesome and ridiculously convoluted than the typical game of Truth or Dare).

"Truth. I can take anything you pansies throw at me."

Suki and Katara grinned (Toph did not notice).

"Is or was there any guy you've ever been really, really close to?" Katara asked.

Toph was silent for a bit while Katara and Suki giggled.

"There is this one guy..." Toph said, and the seriousness of her tone silenced the two girls.

"Don't get me wrong, I don't like-like him or anything, but he's been there for me for a really long time. We both had nancy-families. You know, high-class and all that crap. Neither of us really liked the wishy washy lifestyle, but we both had to stick to it. I guess that's why we're so close. Whenever something went wrong, we'd depend on each other. He's my Big Bro. But while my parents are total... I dunno... they're kinda soft, I guess you could say. But his parents, or at least, his dad... Man... His dad was a monster. My life stayed the same, while his just kept going worse. We promised we'd always help each other out and all, but I can't really do anything to help him. His asshole dad makes his life a living hell, and all I can do is watch..."

For a moment, sadness appeared in Toph's gray eyes. She looked smaller, and more vulnerable... which was terrifying, considering how tough she always was. Katara scooted closer and hugged her, while Suki patted her back. Toph looked a bit uncomfortable at the sudden contact, but a ghost of a smile traced her lips.

"Thanks guys." she said softly, before straightening up. "Alright, I thought this was a slumber party, not a funeral! Suki, truth or dare! You better hurry up!"

"Umm, uh, err..."

"Your ten seconds is running out! Katara, quickly, prepare the scotch tape!"

"Stop it and let me think!"

"Four... Three... Two... One!"

"Dare! Wait, dare!"

"Hahahaha, too late! Your ten seconds is up! This is Strike Two, and you know what that means!"

"Oh dear God, Toph, please, no!"

"I'll hold her down, Sweetness! Didja get the scotch tape?"

"Here you go!"

"Kat, you traitor!"

"Sorry, Suki!"

"Sugar Queen, quickly, she's getting up! Get the lightbulb and the post it notes!"

More squeals and giggles filled the room, as the night slowly progressed.


Fact: The Slumber Party was a great success, and Toph became a core member of the group ever since.

Fact: Toph would not be the last addition to the group.

Fact: Truth or Dare Extreme was rewritten into a slightly less complex game after the blackout that occurred in Suki's entire apartment.


"... And it was SO much fun! But then the power went out because of all the extension cords we had to use, so we decided to stop playing and play Monopoly Extreme instead. It's like Monopoly, only you get to rob the bank, hold hostages and break out of jail and stuff."

Zuko chuckled softly, holding the phone to his ear as he played with a lighter.

"It sounds like you had a lot of fun, Champ."

"Yup! We even talked about you, Sparky!"

"Really? A bunch of good looking girls at a slumber party talking about me. I hope you mentioned how unbelievably attractive I am." Zuko said sarcastically.

"Oh stop it, Sparky, you're hotter than you think you are."

"Of course you'd know, right, Champ?"

"Duh. Nothing escapes these eyes of mine. But seriously, don't you wanna know what I said about you?"

"No way! You probably mentioned something embarrassing. Like the Snowcone Incident."

"I'd never!" Toph said sweetly.

Zuko's eyes narrowed, and he straightened up a bit in his seat.

"Toph..." he said dangerously.

"Relax, I didn't. Although you have to admit it was pretty funny."

"I'll admit."

"Crud, Mom's coming. Probably going to try to get me to be more girly, again. But I won't let her evil ways corrupt me!"

"Careful, Agent Blind Bandit. The ways of the Mistress are cunning. It will take every bit of intelligence to defeat her."

"Won't let the Rebellion down, Blue Spirit, sir. Blind Bandit over and out!"

With that, she hung up, and Zuko put down his phone with a sigh. No more distractions. He looked at the picture of his family in front of him. The only family picture he hadn't gotten rid of, because it was the only picture left of his mother. She was smiling, young, beautiful. He stared at the harsh face of his father, and then the slightly softer eyes of his sister. Finally, he looked at his face in the picture. Both eyes were normal; the left side of his face untarnished. He flicked on his lighter and kept it on until his thumb began to burn.


Day 15:

"Hey Toph! Can I talk to you for a sec?"

"Don't really see how I'm going to stop you, Twinkletoes."

"It's Aang!"

"I like Twinkletoes."

Aang smiled anyway and sat in front of her. Toph was a bit alarmed at how... open he was.

"I was just wondering, you're blind, right?"

Toph wondered how she could answer this. There was the sarcastic way ("No, Aang, I'm not."), the clueless way ("Blind? Really?") or she could just stare at him blankly until he realized his own blunder. She opted for method number three.

"Okay, okay, my bad. But the thing is, even though you're blind, you can kinda 'see,' right? How do you do it?"

Aang grinned and stared at her, waiting for an answer. Truthfully, Toph was surprised; most people didn't ask questions like that so abruptly. They preferred to ignore her blindness altogether.

"Did I offend you?" Aang asked, the grin faltering.

"... No, I was just... surprised. I can feel the vibrations from the ground. When people move, I can feel it."

"Cooool." said Aang, who began raving about how she should be a superhero or something. Toph tuned out for most of the speech.

Cool? No one had ever referred to that ability as cool, before. When her parents had found out about her "sight," they'd immediately called the doctor, who took tests, who then told other doctors, who took more tests. "Impressive," "Breakthrough," "Curious," they'd called it. Never "cool." Toph vaguely realized that Aang was waiting for her to answer a question once more.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"I said, how do you feel it? The vibrations, I mean."

"I... I dunno. I just can. It's mostly from my feet, though. That's why I don't like wearing thick shoes. I can see better with sandals and stuff, when I can feel the vibrations better."

"Wicked! So why do you carry around a cane?"

"It's 'walking stick.' 'Cane' makes me feel old. And my parents think it'd help me see better. It doesn't really, since everything is sensed by my feet. But they thought they were helping, so... I guess it's okay."

Wow. "I guess it's okay"? Toph- Master of Eloquence. Oh wait, Twinkletoes is talking again.

"... so why don't you just tell them you don't need a cane? I mean, walking stick?"

Toph shrugged. "Don't want them to feel bad. They usually shower me with gifts and stuff to make me feel better, but they never gave me anything that was directly related to my sight. I think it's because they didn't know what to do. They were really excited that they'd finally found some way to help, so I decided to keep it."

Why was she telling him this?

"Plus," Toph continued with a small smile, feeling more like the real Toph, the tough, confident one, "It makes for a really good weapon in times of need."

She swung it around a bit, and was pleased to hear Aang laugh. Huh. Maybe this guy wasn't so bad after all.


Day 23:

The doorbell rang downstairs, and Katara rushed to prepare.

"Hey, Katara! Your friend is here!" yelled Sokka from the living room. Katara rolled her eyes.

"I never would have guessed! Hurry up and let her in!" Katara shouted.

Today she'd be shopping with Suki and Toph (who only agreed to go because they promised to stop at stores she liked), but due to a slight mishap involving her brother's stupid boomerang and the alarm clock, she'd woken up late. She checked her reflection one more time in the mirror. Her clothes were clean, her hair was tied back and clean, her things were in her purse, and her mother's necklace was fastened securely around her neck. Nothing was out of place, but what if she'd forgotten something?

"Sugar Queen!" It was Toph this time. "Get your sweet ass down here! We're in trouble!"

She rolled her eyes and ran out of her bedroom with her purse in hand. She almost crashed into Suki and Sokka, were screaming at each other at the top of their lungs.

"You immature sexist pig! How dare you speak to me like that! Do you know who I am?" Suki screamed, arms reaching towards his throat. She was held back by Toph, who was trying very hard not to look amused by the situation.

"'Tara! Your friend is PMSing and disturbing the peace!" Sokka yelled angrily, speaking more to Suki than Katara.

Katara glared at her brother before helping Toph drag a writhing Suki out the door and into her car.

"Katara, I love you, but your brother is a dick." Suki said, gripping the wheel and glaring at nothing in particular.

"I agree with you."

Toph simply smiled (oh, how she relished conflict) and made faces at other cars through the window.


Katara stepped into the elevator, unable to keep the smile off her face. Today had been so much fun; Suki had promised to carry around the bags if Katara bought her new shoes, and Toph had even convinced Katara to listen to her favorite CD's at the music store (they were rather loud). She decided to buy Toph a CD as a surprise gift, and told them to go to the food court in the lower floors without her.

She put the CD in her purse and smiled, waiting for the elevator to reach the bottom floor. It stopped on the fifth, and a boy older than her stepped in. He looked like the kind of guy Katara tried to avoid in school- one of the guys who broke every rule, disrespected the teachers, and was arrested every month. But the one feature that stood out was his face- most of the left side of his face was covered in a huge red scar. She held back a gasp as she unknowingly stared. How did that guy get a scar like that? Did it hurt a lot? Could he see with that eye? Maybe there was a way to get rid of scars like that. Unless it was really serious... Suddenly he turned towards her with a scowl.

"The fuck are you looking at?"

Katara did gasp this time, and was too shocked and offended to be angry. She turned away instead, mumbling an apology. It was met with a silence that grew more and more awkward as the seconds passed by. How rude was that? She almost slapped herself for feeling sorry for him. Katara considered leaving at the next floor just to get away from the tensioned atmosphere when there was a loud creaking noise that seemed to come from all around them. The lights flickered, and there was a huge crashing jerk- both of them fell to the floor- and the lights went out. There was a brief silence, and then-

"W-what just happened?" asked Katara, panic creeping into her voice.

The boy did not answer, but instead let out a muffled groan.

"D-did we... Did we stop? Is the elevator broken?"

"Mmmmph..."

"Oh God... This can't be happening to me..."

Katara stood up, shaking a bit. She must have been really nervous... The floor of the elevator seemed uneven and shaky...

"What do we do? We need to call someone, we need... Where's the emergency button?"

"Mmmmph!"

"Will you stop with the monosyllabic answers?"

She felt a hand grip her thigh- she squeaked and kicked it away.

"You perverted-!" she exclaimed angrily.

She jumped up and moved aside from where she'd been sitting and almost collapsed again; the floor was bumpy here too... Suddenly from beneath her, someone began gasping for air.

"Gasp! Gasp! You- You stupid... idiotic... Gasp..."

"What?"

"You were sitting on the back of my head."

"... Oh! Oh, sorry."

"And now your heels are digging into my spine. Get the hell off."

Katara fumbled around in the dark before finally finding a solid area to stand on.

"Sorry. I couldn't see."

The boy mumbled something that sounded like "stupid bitch" before pulling himself up. Katara glared at him (or at least, where she thought he was).

"I apologized. You don't have to be so rude. And stop swearing, you jerk."

"Whatever."

His voice came from somewhere to the left of her, and she quickly turned, blushing at having been facing the wrong way (thank God it was dark).

"Did you lose your watch?" he asked (pft, as if he cared if she lost anything).

"No... ?"

"I think there's a watch in my pocket. Whatever. It's mine now."

There was a fumbling noise, as if he was looking through his pocket. Katara began pacing nervously. The fumbling noises continued. After a while-

"Will you stop digging around your pockets or whatever it is you're doing and help?"

The noises didn't cease.

"Help you with what, exactly?"

"I... I don't know! Think of a way to get out of this mess!"

Finally the noises stopped. There was a small clicking noise and a small flame appeared to her right; he was holding a lighter.

"Where's the panel?" he asked. He looked almost menacing in the small, wavering orange light of the lighter.

"What?"

He scowled and roughly pushed her aside ("Hey!"). She'd been standing in front of the buttons. He pushed the emergency button impatiently. Nothing happened. He pushed it a few more times. Nothing. He pushed it furiously, as if he wanted to have it break under his finger. Still nothing. He growled and turned the lighter off. There was a banging noise (did he just punch the wall?) and he spoke again.

"You. You don't like 'improper language,' right?"

"I have a name. And no, I don't."

"I have a name, too. Small world, isn't it. Cover your ears."

"What? Why?"

There was a deep inhale, and before Katara had a chance to ask what the boy what he was doing, he was screaming out a very long list of profanities that made her want to crawl up into a ball and cry. He continued to curse every single deity known to mankind (along with a few political parties and African mammals) at the top of his lungs for another minute before he stopped (panting ever so slightly). Katara wondered if she should be afraid (she'd never even heard of half of those).

"... That was... new." said Katara, feeling a bit unsafe.

"Told you to cover your ears if you can't take it."

"I can take it! I just don't like it."

"You keep telling yourself that."

"You don't have to be so rude!"

"You don't have to be so obnoxious."

There was a longer silence. Her feet started to hurt (why oh why did she wear heels today), so she sat down. She heard him mirror her actions. The seconds stretched into minutes, and her panic ebbed away into boredom. Maybe she'd brought something to entertain herself wi- Her purse! Her phone! How could she have been so stupid? She made a motion to grab it before realizing it wasn't anywhere. She groaned; she must have dropped it when the elevator stopped. Well, the boy had a lighter, she could find it easily.

"What's your name?" she asked the boy.

"Why would I tell you?"

Katara frowned and glared at the origin of the voice.

"Why are you such a prick?" she exclaimed.

"I thought you didn't like 'bad language.'"

"I don't like when people fling it around like it's nothing; that doesn't mean I don't use it when I'm angry."

"Ever hear of hypocrisy?"

He sounded... amused! She glared at... the general area of wherever he was. Instead of answering, she just scowled (she wouldn't stoop to his level, she wouldn't). She wouldn't even ask him for favors, the complete ass he was.

"Do you have your phone? We could call someone for help."

"Left it at home. This was supposed to be a brief trip. Where's yours?"

"It's in my purse. It's somewhere in here. And I'm not feeling around the corners for it."

"Do you need a light?"

Katara let out a sigh of relief. He wasn't such a jerk after all.

"Thank you so much, I-"

"Say please."

Never mind.

"What?"

She was seething.

"Don't you have any manners? Say please."

"Who are you to tell me about manners? Don't you realize that if I can get my phone, we can both get out of here and never see each other again?"

"We can't see each other right now. And I dunno about you, but I don't really have any place I've got to be anytime soon." (He was telling a white lie, but anything to piss her off).

Katara decided that attacking him wasn't the best of ideas... at this current situation.

"Please." she grumbled.

"Please what?" he replied. She could almost see the condescending smirk on his face!

"Please can you turn the lighter on." she said, grinding her teeth.

He flicked it on- an inch away from her face. She let out a shout in surprise and jerked backwards; the boy chuckled. She tried to kick his leg, but he moved it aside before she could hit it.

"Asshole." she spat.

"Aww, did the little flame scare you?"

She glared at him. She found herself hating him more than she'd ever really hated anyone. She hated his stupid, arrogant smirk. She hated his stupid, messy hair that almost hid his stupid yellow eyes (contacts, most likely). She hated the stupid lighter in his hand, and his stupid hand covered in burns and small scars. And she especially hated that stupid, stupid scar. How could she have ever felt sorry for this prick?

Turning away, she found the purse by his (stupid) arm. She snatched it away and dug through it. She pulled out her phone hopefully, only to realize it was out of batteries. She'd been so concerned with her totaled alarm clock that she'd forgotten to recharge it. She groaned as hope drained away, and she slumped against the wall of the elevator. Life was just laughing at her today.

The boy across from her pulled out a cigarette and lit it.

No, life wasn't laughing at her. Life was flicking her off and laughing at her offended expression.

"Can you not smoke in here?" she asked (it was more of a command).

His response was to take a long drag and blow out the smoke in her face. She sputtered and coughed for several (long and embarrassing) seconds as he watched (undoubtedly amused).

"Why are you so mean?" she asked angrily (it was so frustrating she thought she would murder him-).

"'Cuz you're a total snow queen."

"A what?"

"You heard me. Snow queen. Uptight, prudish, naive, living in her own pure world, sheltered from anything less than perfect. Snow queen."

"Not only is that completely inaccurate, that can't be an actual term."

"Did I mention naive and sheltered?"

Katara turned away and sighed, the only source of light coming from the cigarette. She was surprised when he put it out after a few moments (how did he do it?) but didn't say anything. She imagined her friends waiting for her, and wondered what they were doing now. She imagined that they were trying to rescue her even as she sat there in the dark.


"That's weird, Kat's twenty minutes late. She won't pick up, either. Wonder what she's doing?"

"Don't worry about it, Fangirl. She's probably trying on a new shirt or something and got stuck in line or something."

"Yeah, you're probably right."


"How long do you think we've been in here?"

"You're talking to me now, Snow Queen?"

"I have a name, you know. And I'm bored. I might as well talk to someone."

"I have a name, too. Small world. And I'm assuming around half an hour."

"Don't you have a watch?"

"Yeah. Don't feel like checking, though?"

"Why not?"

"I don't want to know what time it is, you do."

"You're a bastard."

"I gathered."


Toph and Suki, meanwhile, were trying out different flavors of ice cream while arguing which flavor was the best.

"Banana was infinitely creamier than strawberry. That's a fourteen, so far."

"But strawberry has chunks of actual strawberries, thus increasing its healthiness by two."

"True, and strawberry was sweeter. So strawberry's ahead by nine points!"

"Let's try chocolate and vanilla, now."

"Ooh, the ultimate battle!"

"We'll look for Katara afterwards. I'm sure she's having fun."


Katara gave up trying to make him quit- instead, she watched in (reluctant) fascination as the boy played with the lighter- making the flames grow dangerously large to making sparks fly everywhere in a miniature show of fireworks.

"How do you do that?"

"I play with lighters a lot."

He flicked it on and off; she decided it was a habit.

"Are you a pyromaniac or something?"

"I've been accused of such. Several times, in fact."

"... Well? Are you?"

"Maybe."


"Katara's been gone for an hour, now. Maybe we should look for her." said Toph, looking (feeling) through different mp3 players and wondering which would be the easiest to use.

"After I'm done kicking this kid's ass in Guitar Hero." ("Hey!")

"Sure. She's probably fine, anyway."


Katara stared at the boy's hand, part of which was currently on fire.

"Doesn't that hurt?"

"Not really. It's just hot. The fire's burning the gas, not me. I'll know when it's burnt through the gas."

"It doesn't hurt... at all?"

"I have a lot of burns on my hands. In some places I could put it over a fire for twenty seconds and won't feel a thing."

"Huh."

"Aren't you scared of fire?"

"No."

He suddenly pushed his hand towards her, and she flinched backwards. She angrily kicked him again. Or tried to; he blocked her foot with his (non-flaming) arm. He shook his hand and clenched it into a fist, killing the small fire.

"Will you stop trying to bruise me?"

"How are you doing that?"

"What? Deflecting your incredibly obvious attempts at assaulting me? Maybe if you were more of a fighter, you'd be able to hit me."

"Hmph."

"Do you have any water?"

"Yeah, I always carry a bottle with me."

"I'm kinda thirsty."

"Why should I give it to you?"

"Because my face is utter eye candy. Weren't you admiring my eye earlier?"

"... Is this why you're so mean? Because I was looking at your scar? Well, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done it, I won't ever do it again. Now will you please be civil?"

"Chill, Snow Queen. As much as you eyeing my face pissed me off, I didn't mean that. You should give me water because I spent the last hour entertaining you with my vast array of pyromania-related tricks."

"Oh."

"If the whole thing about making you feel guilty about my scar will get me water, though, I'm all for it."

Katara threw the bottle at him, hoping it would hit him and cause him some sort of pain.

It didn't.


"We've been putting this off for two hours, now. Katara doesn't take two hours to try on clothes. We've got to look for her."

"Alright. Ugh, looks like the elevator's out of order, again. When will they just replace it? Guess we're taking the stairs. You go that way, I'll keep heading this way, alright?"

"Alright, Fangirl, leave the searching to the blind girl."

"Wh-Wha... I thought you could see! I mean... To an extent..."

"Geez, you people cannot take a joke! Don't worry, I can see better than anyone else in this place can. Bet I'll find her first."


"Asshole."

"Bitch."

"Bastard."

"Slut."

"How can you be calling me a slut? You don't know anything about me. I never showed slutty behavior once in this elevator. I've never had slutty tendencies in my entire life."

"How can you be calling me a bastard? You don't know anything about me. I assure you that I'm a legitimate child. My mother and father were legally married and everything."

"That's a completely different term. The term I'm talking about is-"

There was a huge clanging sound that reverberated throughout the elevator. There was a shaky movement (was it the elevator or an earthquake?) and a sudden flash of light- both teens winced and covered their eyes as the power came back on.

There was a ding! and the doors opened- two security guards and a guy with a toolbox were standing there. Katara suddenly realized how odd they looked- Both of them sitting across from each other, an empty plastic bottle and a cigarette butt lying on the ground and the faint smell of smoke in the air.

"Are you kids okay? Sorry we couldn't come earlier- no one reported the problem until a few minutes ago..."

Katara stood up and began thanking them profusely, stepping out of the elevator quickly. The boy got up, put his hands in his pockets and walked out after her.

"Well, that was an educational experience." he said loudly. He turned to Katara. "Hope I never have to see your face again."

He turned around and began walking away before this last bit of rudeness settled in.

"Excuse me, young man, I'm going to have to ask you to stay and fill out a-"

He flicked them all off before turning the corner.

"I-I'm so sorry! I don't know that person, I'm unaffiliated with him, I swear," she babbled on and on, embarrassed and furious at the same time.

"Don't worry about it. I'm used to delinquents like him." said the officer, although he looked offended regardless of his words. "Now, I need you to answer a few questions of what happened..."


"Champ! Is that you?"

Toph turned around to the source of the voice.

"Sparky!"

She ran and jumped; Zuko caught her and began choking as Toph hugged him a bit too tightly.

"What are you doing here?" she exclaimed excitedly.

"Mmmmph!"

"Oh. Sorry, Sparks." she loosened her hold.

"Ouch... That's the second time today I've nearly suffocated to death."

"Second? What happened? Was... Was it your...?"

"No, no. It had nothing to do with them. I got stuck in the elevator with some stupid bitch."

Toph began laughing.

"You got stuck in an elevator with someone? Oh man, what happened? I've gotta hear this."

"Well, I was getting on the elevator, right? First thing I see is this girl, looks totally normal, but she's staring at my scar as if she's looking at some kind of dead animal, which pisses me off, and I can already tell she's the type of condescending chick I hate the most..."


"Katara!"

"Suki! Where were you?"

"I was looking all over for you!" Suki exclaimed, not mentioning the two hours of goofing off with Toph. "Where were you? You look like you just got run over by a bus."

Katara had spent the last ten minutes answering minute details about the event (No, she was not claustrophobic, no, he did not rape her or sexually abuse her, no, she wasn't diabetic, she wasn't sure how that factored into the whole elevator thing, no he did not rape her or sexually abuse her, she'd answered this multiple times already...)

"Ugh. Long lines. Eventually I decided a shirt just wasn't worth the wait."


Toph's eyes were brimming over with tears, she was laughing so hard. Zuko chuckled along with Toph, but to a lesser degree.

"Oh man... I wish... I was there... She sounds like such a bitch..." she said with a sigh after the giggles subsided. "I woulda pounded the blue blood out of her."

"Heh, you would have. Who'd you come with, anyway?"

"Oh yeah! Katara and Suki! You should meet them!"

"Oh yeah, your friends. I gotta go in a few minutes- promised a friend I would hang out with him today."

"That's too bad... Suki's awesome! She teaches at the dojo I'm working at now! She's really girly sometimes, but she's tough at the same time, and she's so cool about everything, too! She also has good taste in music. And Katara, oh man, you'd love her! She's really nice. She wouldn't hurt a fly. She bought me new shoes, and she's smart, too. She's trying to teach me math, even though I keep telling her I'm impossible to teach."

"I want to meet Katara. She was your first friend here, right? She just walked up to you and ate lunch with you one day?"

"Yeah, she didn't care I was blind or anything. She wasn't acting awkward at all! She just started talking about how awesome it was that I beat up that Tomo kid, and how she's wished that someone would teach her to do that and stuff. I call her Sweetness."

"She sounds sweet. Too bad I was stuck in that elevator with that bitch- I would have loved to meet her."

"Nice job ignoring Suki."

"I'm not ignoring her! We already- wait, is that your phone?"

"Oh, she must have found Sweetness! I gotta go, see you later!"


"Hey, Toph, where were you?"

"Sweetness! Fangirl found you! Damn, looks like I lost the race. Sorry guys, I met Zuko on the way here."

"Who's that?"

"My big bro! I told you guys about him, remember?"

"Yeah, but you didn't really give us any details." said Katara.

"Man, pity he had to go- you guys would have loved him! He's really tough- he taught me everything I know about kicking people's asses. He's protective, too, and he never hesitates to protect innocent people from people who're being unnecessarily hard on them and stuff. But he's also super nice, and really, really kind to people."

Katara giggled. "Sounds like you guys are really close! Wish I could meet him."

"Now that you mention it, yeah! You'd love him, Sweetness. Tall, dark and handsome type. I would know, I've felt his face before. He's really sensitive about it though. Thinks he's hideous. Humble and badass. Completely up your alley. He's a total gentleman, too."

Katara pushed her.

"Oh, stop. I said I wanted to meet him, not ambush him at night."

"I wasn't saying anything of the sort, although if that's what you're thinking of..."

"The vision of a sex-crazed Katara tackling people in public places just made my day." sang Suki, grinning.

"I hate you both so much."


"Zuko! You're finally here! Sokka and Jet are already setting up the table." Aang exclaimed, ushering the boy into his apartment. Appa barked excitedly while Momo simply yawned.

"What took you so long?" asked Sokka, shuffling the cards. "Poker night isn't poker night without Emo King."

"Funny. I got stuck in an elevator with some annoying chick."

"You lucky bastard." said Jet with a grin, toothpick in his mouth. "I'd rather get stuck in an elevator with a girl than play these guys."

"That's because you don't have a very good poker face," said Aang with a broad grin, passing out drinks.

Jet glared at him while the others laughed.

"Nice one, 'Avatar.'" he said sarcastically. "Don't you have anything that isn't soda?"

"You know I'm underage, Jet."

"Zuko and I aren't. Why don't you be more hospitable?"

"No amount of alcohol will improve your playing, Jet."

"Haru? How long were you standing here?" Jet asked, turning around to face the boy behind him.

"About ten minutes. Hey, Zuko."

"Hey."

Sokka was having a heated conversation with Aang.

"You sure you're not pining after my sister anymore?"

"I never pined for Katara! I just, you know, liked her!"

"Are you positive? I'm not lifting the restraining order until I'm sure."

"What restraining order?"

"The Second Clause of the Official Elder Sibling Charter clearly states that if a mutual party of-"

"Wait, your sister's name is Katara?" asked Zuko before Sokka could get into the fine legal details of the Big Brother Code.

"Yeah. How do you know her?" asked Sokka, his eyes narrowing suspiciously.

Zuko held up his hands defensively.

"Relax, we have a mutual friend. She mentioned her."

Sokka stood up quickly, Aang forgotten (he used this opportunity to scooch closer to Jet and further from Sokka).

"I swear, flame boy, if I find out you're making eyes at my baby sister..."

"I'm not making eyes at anyone. I've never seen her before. I was just wondering."

"If you two are done mentally tearing each other apart, can we play now?" asked Jet impatiently.

Zuko rolled his eyes and dug around his pockets for a cigarette. Instead, he felt the watch he'd found from the elevator. He pulled it out. It wasn't a watch- though it had felt like it in the dark. It was instead a necklace- his eyes were drawn to the stone. It was blue and had wave-like carvings. It was pretty, in a simple way. But he had no use for a necklace like this. He put it back in his pocket. Maybe he could give it away or something.


Katara stepped into her room, tired from the walking and the events that had happened that day. She hesitated before the mirror but decided not to bother looking at her reflection- sleep first. Then care about appearance. She slumped face first onto the bed and fell into a deep sleep almost immediately.


Day 24:

"Hi Toph!"

"Hey, Twinkletoes."

"You know, I was wondering; why do you call me Twinkletoes?"

"You move around a lot. You don't sit still often. Everytime the wind picks up you're moving somewhere else. Thus, Twinkletoes."

"Oooh, that makes sense! What's your favorite sport?"

"That was... awfully random. And I dunno about sport... I've never played one before."

"Really? But you're so fit... Do you work out or something?"

"... Are you coming on to me or are you naturally this shameless?"

"... Wha?"

"Never mind. I guess I do work out. I mean, I teach martial arts."

"Really? I do martial arts too!"

"... Seriously?"

"Yeah! Why, you don't believe me? I'm actually pretty good!"

He thrust out his chest proudly.

"Although, I don't really like hurting anybody. So I only fight when I reeeeally have to."

Toph couldn't help but giggle at his tone.

"You know, maybe we could spar one day!"

Toph stopped laughing.

"You're not afraid of beating up a blind girl?"

"You'd probably beat me up! I heard what you did to Tomo! And why do you keep saying that? Talk about you being blind, I mean. You're capable of 'seeing,' and you know you're strong. If it doesn't bother you, why should it bother me? Not to mention you're super tough."

"... Sorry, Aang. I'm used to people underestimating me because I'm blind. I had to deal with it for the greater half of my life. Especially by guys. I'm sorry I threw you in the same category as the rest of them."

"..."

"What's the deal? You look like I just slapped you. Never heard an apology before?"

"N-no! It's just, this is the first time you've called me Aang."

"Don't get too cozy with it, Twinkletoes. That's a mistake I won't make again."


"'Tara, shouldn't you be asleep by... Katara? Katara? What's wrong, why are you crying? Are you okay? What happened?"

"I-It's g-gone..."

"What's gone? What? Katara, damn it all, talk to me!"

"M-m-mom's n-necklace... I th-think I lost it at the m-mall... S-suki and Toph d-don't have it, and, and, oh God I'm s-such an idiot"

"Ssh... Calm down, 'Tara, it's alright. It's just a necklace."

"No! I-it's not! I-it w-was Mom's necklace! It w-was the only th-thing we had left... I promised I-I'd take good c-care of it..."

"It's okay, Katara, it's okay... We have each other, right? We don't need a necklace to remember Mom."


Day 25:

"We meet again, Katara's asshole brother."

"What are you doing here? My baby sister's not home yet."

"She left her keys in my car today. I came by to drop it off real quick."

"Hurry up and go home, then. You should be making dinner or something."

"... What... did you say!"

"Sorry, ironing, then. Go home and do the ironing."


Fact: Katara came home from the swim meet to find her best friend and her brother attacking each other and wrecking the house.

Fact: Suki was winning.

Fact: Sokka began lessons in Kyoshi style fighting with Suki a few days later. He refused to speak of these lessons, but they were decidedly embarrassing.

Fact: Remembering the Elevator Incident, Katara began private Tai Chi Chuan lessons with her grandfather Pakku. She did not want to bother Toph or Suki, and she had threatened to tell her Gran-Gran if he refused to teach her.

Fact: Katara is surprisingly talented. Although why she insists on learning how to hit fast targets was beyond him.

Fact: The absence of the necklace was not forgotten.


Day 34:

BlindBandit: Sugarqueen? Fangirl? You there?

KyoshiGrl: Toph? How are you... typing?

WtrBend2: Toph? You're typing...

BlindBandit: Actually, I'm making Zuko type while I dictate.

BlindBandit: Say hi, Zuko!

BlindBandit: Hi.

BlindBandit: Isn't he just the wittiest thing?

KyoshiGrl: Hey, Zuko! We've heard a lot about you!

WtrBend2: Hey Zuko! Nice to finally meet you.

BlindBandit: Hey! Does the screenname say "Zuko," or "BlueSpirit" or "Sparky?"

BlindBandit: No, it says "BlindBandit," which is ancient Cherokee for "Toph." Talk to me, you guys. I'm lonely here.

BlindBandit: This is Zuko. You must be Katara and Suki. I've heard a lot about you guys.

BlindBandit: Toph would like for me to apologize for trying to "get in your pants," please tell her I'm not coming onto you, she's hitting me very hard right now and I'm starting to lose feeling in my left arm;ekmf3985hmf;kd

WtrBend2: Toph, Zuko is not coming onto us.

KyoshiGrl: Pity.

WtrBend2: Suki!

KyoshiGrl: It's a joke, Kat, calm down! No Toph, he is not coming on to us.

BlindBandit: He better not be. IT'S TIME I DID SOME PROPER INTRODUCTIONS. Zuko, this is Suki. Suki, this is Zuko.

KyoshiGrl: It's kind of odd considering Zuko's the one typing.

BlindBandit: Shut it.

BlindBandit: That was Toph, typing, I'd like to make that clear...

KyoshiGrl: lol no prob. Nice to "meet" you, Zuko.

BlindBandit: The presence of those quotation marks confuse me. Explain yourself, Fangirl.

KyoshiGrl: He goes to my school. We worked on a project together in eighth grade, once.

BlindBandit: We bonded over the intricacies of gene therapy. We exchanged about four words, but we got an A on the project.

BlindBandit: Imma smack you both for not telling me you guys were buddy buddy.

WtrBend2: Yeah, how come you never mentioned you knew him?

KyoshiGrl: I didn't say I didn't. You both automatically assumed I didn't. I simply chose not to encourage or discourage your ideas. We're not really "buddy buddy" either. We are "lightly acquainted."

BlindBandit: Shut it, lawyergirl. Oh right; Katara, this is Zuko. Zuko, Katara. You two would make lovely babies.

BlindBandit: Toph I'm not typing for you anymore.

WtrBend2: Hi Zuko. Tell Toph that I'm not going to make her anymore cream puffs if she keeps making jokes like that.

BlindBandit: After careful deliberation and about thirty seconds of Toph punching my face in, I've decided to continue typing for her. Coincidentally, she is the greatest person in this side of the globe and is also incredibly hot looking.

BlindBandit: Katara, you know you love making me cream puffs. Don't deny it. Why is your screenname WtrBend2?

WtrBend2: Sokka's idea. When we were kids he said I was so good at swimming it looked like the water was "bending" out of the way. He's been calling me "waterbender" ever since. It sounds kiddy, doesn't it? :P

BlindBandit: I think it's sweet. No wonder Toph calls you Sugar Queen.

BlindBandit: I'm sorry for trying to "get in your pants again", please forgive me before I become left-handed for the rest of my life.

WtrBend2: Toph, stop attacking Zuko. You're the one making off-color jokes about us getting together.

KyoshiGrl: Toph, you're ruining my entertainment. I want to see them hook up.

WtrBend2: Toph, stop attacking Zuko. Go attack Suki instead.

BlindBandit: Wow, with all these girls cheering my name, I feel so popular! I can sense Zuko's jealousy. Don't you deny it, mister.

BlindBandit: And Sweetness, it's okay if I make jokes about you two eventually dating. It's not okay if he tries to get in your pants on his own steam.

BlindBandit: Anyway, I wanted to tell you guys that you are invited to my seventeenth birthday party. Thrown by my nancy parents. Exact date is unknown, but I'll tell you guys later.

KyoshiGrl: Sweet! We're gonna party at Toph's mansion!

WtrBend2: Thank you, Toph! This is gonna be so much fun! What do you want for your birthday?

BlindBandit: No need to thank me (especially you, Suki, you grateful friend). My parents are gonna end up inviting a bunch of their friends anyway. It won't be so much of a birthday as it is the annual "Our Daughter is Older" party. And Sweetness, you already gave me a CD last week. Showing up is good enough.

KyoshiGrl: Ooh! I have an awesome idea for a party gift! Muahahaha, the utter ingenuity of the idea makes me rub my hands together in excitement. You can't tell, but I'm doing it right now.

BlindBandit: Hand-rubbing mixed with evil chuckles, eh? That sounds intriguing. I think I'll try it sometime.

WtrBend2: Please don't trap Toph in a closet.

KyoshiGrl: Heeheehee, that was only for you, my dear.

BlindBandit: What? You trapped Sweetness in a closet?

WtrBend2: I swear, Suki, if you tell, I will never ever forgive you.

KyoshiGrl: Weeell... It was her fifteenth birthday party...

WtrBend2: Suki, I'm going to tell them about your scrapbook.

KyoshiGrl: Never mind. I forget what we're talking about.

BlindBandit: Is this because Zuko's here? Because I could easily remove him or erase his memory.

BlindBandit: This is Zuko speaking. Please don't say anything that will lead to my hospitalization.

WtrBend2: Yeah, let's change the subject. What do you want for your birthday, Toph? It won't feel right if I barge in without giving you anything.

BlindBandit: You won't be barging, Sugar Queen. And fine; you have to owe me three favors.

WtrBend2: What do you mean by favors?

BlindBandit: Like, you have to do whatever I tell you to. No matter what.

WtrBend2: Within reason, of course. Right?

BlindBandit: Describe "within reason."

WtrBend2: I mean, nothing ridiculous like streaking down the hallways at school or something.

BlindBandit: Damn. There goes my number one dream. I kid, I kid. Sure, within reason. But you have to do it, okay?

WtrBend2: I promise.

BlindBandit: Muahahahaha! Wow, Suki, you were right! These ingenious ideas are making me rub my hands together in delight! Zuko, aren't I rubbing my hands in delight? Tell them about my hand-rubbing shenanigans.

BlindBandit: I vouch for the authenticity of her hand-rubbing, and her facial expression does indeed seem to be that of delight.

WtrBend2: I'm starting to regret this.

KyoshiGrl: Toph, dear, we must join together and plot.

BlindBandit: Yes, we must!

WtrBend2: What have I ever done to you guys?

WtrBend2: If you guys plot, I won't make you anymore cookies. I mean it.

KyoshiGrl: You wouldn't.

BlindBandit: I don't want to waste my favors begging for cookies. But I can't live without them. You are a cruel, manipulative person, Sweetness. I've taught you well.

WtrBend2: No seriously, no plotting. I will burn my recipes.

KyoshiGrl: Toph, dear, we must join together and lightly discuss subjects that may or may not be related to Katara (or similar persons) and hypothetical scenarios that could apply to her if certain conditions were met! Without any sort of intention to actually execute or bring about the completion of said scenarios, of course. Simple musings, is all. No plotting in the slightest.

BlindBandit: Yes, we must! Suki, you should be a lawyer.

WtrBend2: Sighhh.

BlindBandit: Zuko: I know how you feel, Katara.

BlindBandit: Katara I apologize for trying to "get with you," please stop this madwoman before she shatters my ribcage into nothingness.

WtrBend2: Toph!


Day 35:

"Hey Toph!"

"'Sup, Twinkletoes."

"So, I was thinking, you did really great in soccer today!"

"... I kicked the ball. Four times."

"Yeah, and one of them went in the goal! And two of them hit Mister Zhao. That was really funny!"

"It was, wasn't it?"

"Sometimes it's hard to believe you're blind, I mean, you do all these things that people don't expect you to be able to do, and you're so nonchalant about it, it's really cool!"

"... Huh. Thanks."

"No problem! It's nothing! Hey, you have Advanced English third period, right? Did you understand the poem at all? I didn't get it, at first, because I was thinking of everything figuratively, but then I realized that it was funny because while figuratively it meant nothing at all whereas literally it was making fun of the figurative meaning, which is ironic because-"

"Hey Twinkletoes."

"Yeah?"

"You free this Saturday?"

"U-uh... Y-yeah... W-why?"

"My parents are throwing a birthday party for me. Wanna come?"

"... Oh! S-sure! That'd be great! Thanks so much! What do you want for your birthday? What time is it at? Should I wear something nice? Who else is gonna be there?"

"What's your number?"

"Wha- my- my n-number?"

"Yeah. So I can call you and tell you about the party."

"... Oh! Okay! Sure! Here, gimme your phone, I'll put it in. Thanks for inviting me!"

"No problem, Twinkletoes. You might want to work on that stutter, though."


Day 38:

"Dare!"

"Umm... I dare you... To ask out my brother!"

"What! Sokka? The sexist pighead I'm teaching?"

Toph shoveled more mint chocolate chip ice cream into her mouth and tried not to laugh.

"Yup! And if you refuse, it's Toph's turn to think of a punishment."

Suki looked over at Toph. She was sitting on the floor with green silk pajamas, her hair in a ponytail and her cheeks bulging with ice cream; yet somehow the girl could still manage to intimidate her as she grinned evilly at the prospect of making up punishments.

"Argh! You really are secretly evil, Katara!" Suki exclaimed angrily. She grabbed her phone and went into the closet. "Fine. I'll do it. I'll explain to him that this whole thing is part of a Truth or Dare game. And when I finish clearing things up, your ass is grass."

"I don't hear you dialing!" Katara said in a singsong voice, taking a spoonful of ice cream.

There was a few minutes of muffled speaking from the closet. Katara and Toph's giggles subsided, and they began to wonder what was taking so long.

"Maybe Sokka's too busy laughing?" asked Toph.

"Or maybe they got in a fight?"

"Or..." Toph gasped. Her eyes widened. "Do you think...?"

Katara stared before gasping as well.

"You... You don't think...?"

The closet door suddenly opened, and both girls whipped their heads around. Suki was blushing furiously. She put the phone down and sat down, staring into space. There was a long silence, and then-

"Looks like I just got a date."


Fact: Toph was quite amused by this entire situation. She thinks playing matchmaker is almost as entertaining as beating people up (almost). This will be important later.

Fact: Both Suki and Sokka began pestering Katara about the other. Her eagerness to help soon gave way to irritation ("How am I supposed to know if she likes you better with your hair down?" "No, Suki, I don't know about what kind of underwear Sokka wears, nor do I care to find out").

Fact: The two had an awkward lunch, a somewhat awkward movie, and a fairly good talk at the park.

Fact: The two began dating afterwards. Sokka made sure everyone was aware of this.


Day 40:

Suki marveled at the enormous room where Toph's party was being held. It was four times as big as her apartment... And it was only one room.

"I thought you said you didn't live in a big house!" she exclaimed, faking anger. She slapped Toph's arm with her fan.

"I don't! This is not a big house. It is a manor." Toph retorted in her Formal Voice. Today was going to suck. Although she couldn't see what she looked like, her hair was down and she was wearing a dress and she was sure she looked like a total snob and these shoes hurt like a bitch and it was kinda hard to see...

"Pft. And you say I'm the lawyer." Suki said. She scanned the crowd- half of them were adults (probably Toph's parents' friends), and only a few of them were their age (and they didn't look as though they knew who Toph was). "Isn't Kat here yet?"

"Oh, Sweetness probably overslept again. You know how she is. She basically rises with the moon."

"I know what you mean. I remember the first time she slept over. I woke up and started freaking out, I thought she was comatose or something..."


Zuko heard the raucous laughter he'd learned to recognize and smiled. Toph. He walked towards the punch table where she and another girl were cracking up.

"Champ!"

Toph spun around. "Sparky!"

She began to run towards him but almost fell over.

"Fuck! These things fucking hurt!" she exclaimed angrily, clutching the end of the table, glaring at her feet. Zuko decided now was not the best time to laugh.

"The hell are you lookin' at?" Toph spat at a boy who was staring at her. "Never heard a damsel in distress scream in pain?"

The boy quickly walked away.

"You alright, Champ?" asked Zuko, waiting for the hate speech against heeled shoes to begin.

"Are you kidding me? Who invented shoes with heels anyway? I'll beat the shit out of him! Unless he's dead. Then I'll carve nasty things into his gravestone! One way or another, I will have my revenge, and nothing will stop me or get in my way-"

"Hello, Zuko."

"Hi, Suki."

Toph forgot her anger for a moment.

"Oh yeah! You guys are friends! Come on, you two stand next to each other and drink punch. I'm going to go wait for people I actually know to come in. You guys can muse recent developments in gene therapy together."

With that Toph began walking (waddling painfully) towards the entrance, getting people out of the way by smacking their shins with her walking stick.


"... So."

"... Yeah."

"You... Know Toph for long?"

"Yeah. Guess she's like my little sister."

"Cool. You... live near here?"

"You could say that."

"Cool. Cool."

"Yeah."

"..."

"..."

"You... uh... you do the Physics homework yet?"

"No. I gotta do that. Later. Yeah."

"Me too."

"Yup."

"Mmhm."

"..."

"..."

"Want to help me conspire against Toph?"

Zuko smiled in a way that gave Suki shivers. They really were siblings.


"Is that you, Twinkletoes?"

"Hey To...ph..."

"... Twinkletoes?"

"..."

"Twinkletoes."

"..."

Toph hit him with her walking stick (the constant abuse explained how battered it looked).

"Ow! Sorry, sorry, I was spacing out for a second."

"I know, I know, I have a big house, try not to give yourself an aneurism."

"No, it's not that, although you do have a big house. I mean, you look really pretty."

"... Are you making fun of me?"

"What? No! I would never! For one thing, you'd probably kill me, and-"

"I'm going to pretend you never said anything about how much of a pansy I look right now. Come on, I've got people to introduce you to."


"Sparky, Fangirl! I would like you to meet Twinkletoes, my newest friend. He followed me home one day and I decided to keep him."

"Zuko? What are you doing here?"

"Hi, Aang."

Toph stared incredulously.

"You know him, Sparky?" she exclaimed, pointing (slightly to the left) at Aang. He moved over a bit so that her finger was actually directed at him.

"Yeah! I go to his house often."

"Argh!" Toph tried to hit Zuko (he caught the stick). "Are there any other friends of mine that you're already friends with? Sokka? Kuei?"

"I know Sokka!" exclaimed Aang. "And so does Zuko!"

Toph tried to hit Aang, but he jumped out of the way.

"Hold still, Twinkletoes. I'm a bit miffed, since I've never been able to introduce anyone new to Sparky here. Here I was hoping I could show him that I was able to make new friends."

"Oh, relax, Toph." said Suki, who kinda wanted to see some male abuse. "You can still introduce-"

"You! That's right! Twinkletoes, this is Suki. Fangirl, this is Aang."

"Hi Suki! Nice to meet you! You must be Sokka's girlfriend! He told me a lot about you."

"Hello, Aang. Sokka talks about me, huh? What does he say?"

"Oh man, where to begin..."

Toph turned to Zuko, ignoring their conversation.

"How did you meet Aang anyway?"

He turned red and was thankful she couldn't see him.

"Oh. Um... Stuff... happened."

"Zuko used to beat me up." quipped Aang from behind Toph.

"You did?" Toph glared at him.

"Well... yeah. But things were different back then! You remember. I was more... angry. But I apologized like crazy, and he forgave me for being a dick."

"Really. And what brought about this change?"

"I'll... I'll tell you later."

"Oh. Is it one of those things?"

"Kind of. Yeah."

"Fine." Toph straightened herself up.

"I forgive you, young man!" she said loudly, slapping Zuko's back. Hard. "Now if you'll excuse me, I've got guests to ignore and friends to wait for. If you'd kindly turn me towards the doors."

Zuko turned her so that she was facing the entrance. She began walking towards it, swinging her walking stick haphazardly. Everyone knew by then to jump out of the way.


"Sweetness! You're here!" Toph exclaimed. "It's about damn time, too. I was standing here for ten minutes now, dealing with guests I don't know. I love your dress!"

"Really? Thanks, I thought it was a bit too formal- Oh. Right. Hahaha, Toph, you're hilarious."

"Of course. I'm the master of wit. Now come on! Suki's here already, I just introduced her to my friends Aang and Zuko. It was kind of annoying how everyone already knew each other, and I was just the new kid that stepped into the circle-"

"Aang's here? How do you know him? I used to tutor him!"

Aang heard Toph roar his name and decided that his name sounded much nicer when she wasn't screaming bloody murder.


"Enough talking to Twinkles and Suki, I've got someone to introduce you to. Big sis Sugar Queen, meet Big bro Sparky." Toph announced, pulling Katara towards the figure by the table. He turned around, and their eyes widened.

"You!" Katara screamed, pointing.

"You!" Zuko growled, his grip crushing an innocent Dixie cup full of punch.

"You're that- that complete JERK from the mall!"

"You're that annoying kid from the elevator!"

Toph was momentarily shocked at the exchange, but her surprise was soon replaced by a very wicked looking grin.

"You two are acquainted with each other, I see." she said sweetly, but the two people in front of her were too busy glaring at each other to notice.

For a brief moment, Toph wished she wasn't blind, if only for a moment, so that she could see the expressions on their faces.

"This is Zuko?" she exclaimed indignantly.

"This is Katara?" he yelled angrily.

Toph smiled in a way that reminded both of them of the Grinch.

"It appears that there was a major error in communication. So, Katara, you were in an elevator with Zuko, eh?"

"Yes, and he was a total dick to me."

"Only because you were being an irritating bitch." he retorted.

"I didn't do anything to you!"

"You were staring at my scar like you wanted to run away or something."

"I'll admit to staring, but it wasn't in disgust!"

"Sparky," Toph cut in. "What's my birthday present?"

Zuko momentarily stopped glaring and turned to the blind girl.

"What? You told me that if I brought a gift you'd kick my ass out the front door. Along with other threats."

"Yeah. No gifts. But I do want a present!"

"I'm not following."

"You have to do me three favors."

"Isn't that her present?" he asked, turning back to Katara angrily. "I still can't believe that you of all people... Why in hell she calls you 'Sweetness' is beyond-"

"Well, Zuko?" Toph asked. Nicely (which is Toph for 'while sending mental death threats').

"Fine. Three favors."

"Good! I now have two little genies. Sweet! For my first favor from the both of you, you guys have to be civil towards each other."

"What?"

"Fine. It's not like I have to actually go near her."

"... While linking arms."

"Toph!"

"You evil son of a-"

Toph grinned and rubbed her hands together while chuckling. Oh man, she had to thank Suki for that; this hand-rubbing deal is awesome.

"Toph, I refuse. Do you have any idea what this guy said to me?"

"Toph, did you listen to a single thing I told you about what happened in that elevator?"

"Toph, this falls outside of the category 'within reason.'"

"I actually agree with Snow Queen here. I'm not doing this."


"Hey, Suki?"

"Yeah, Aang?"

"Why are Katara and Zuko linking arms and looking like they want to hurt each other?"

"I'm... I'm not sure."


"Will you stop digging your nails into my arm?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, did I hurt you?"

"Not really, but it's incredibly irritating."

"My sincere apologies."

"Why is it that she calls you 'Sweetness' if everytime I see you, you're trying to cause me physical pain? Can you stop before you draw blood?"

"You didn't say please. That's not very 'civil,' Zuko. Don't you remember what Toph said?"

"Oh, so you want to play that way?"

"Bring it."


Toph looked around the crowded room. Suki and Aang were having a discussion about... Lord knows what. Zuko and Katara were nowhere in sight. The room was filled with people she didn't even know- her parents' guests. This wasn't a birthday party. It was her parents' "daughter" party. After they'd toasted her, her mother and father had gone around greeting people and having light conversations here and there. The food consisted of finger sandwiches and other small, light snacks. The only drinks here were punch and tea. No ice cream. No cakes. She had a quick mental image of her climbing onto the snack bar, throwing the punch bowl into the crowd and screaming her head off that the party sucked. She snickered to herself, causing a few people to inch away from her.


"... And you don't look half as ugly as you did the other day!"

"Ooh, thank you so much, you gentleman. You look twice as presentable as you did then! Must be the elegant clothing."

He was wearing jeans and a hoodie.

"But of course. The finest material available in this hemisphere. The hoodie was handmade by Napoleon, who did crafts as a secret hobby."

"Oops! I appear to have spilled punch on it! My apologies."

"No problem at all, miss. After all, the hoodie is red, and easy to wash."

"Damn-"

"Oh dear! I too, have accidentally spilled punch on your outfit! This won't do at all. The red shows up very clearly on your yellow shirt."

"You-! You!"

"Careful, miss. Wouldn't want to say anything uncivil."

"I swear, the moment I go home, I-" Katara gasped. "Home! I forgot!"

She began sprinting to where (she thought) Toph was, forgetting she was still linking arms with Zuko.

"Hurry up!"

"Where are you going?" he asked, not bothering to speed up.

"I remembered something!" she said, pulling at his arm.

"I don't know. I don't feel like rushing. Why don't you tell me?"

"Ugh. My brother Sokka and I knew she wouldn't like it here. So we decided to throw her a small party. Between friends. I called her parents and told her it was for school, and they said they didn't mind. Sokka's waiting now, so we need to hurry."

"Huh. That's..."

"Stupid, something a Snow Queen would do, whatever. Just hurry up so I can stop being civil."

"I was going to say that was thoughtful. But whatever floats your boat."

"Oh. Thanks. But- Just hurry up!" She suddenly stopped. "Wait! My shirt! I can't be seen like this!"

She turned towards him.

"Give me your hoodie!"

"What? No."

"Why not? This is humiliating! I can't be seen like this!"

"And it's your fault."

"Walk in front of me then! But walk fast!"

Zuko, still linking arms with Katara, pushed her in front of him.

"Stop it!"

Zuko only smirked. Katara's eyes narrowed. Then she got an idea.

"Fine. Whatever."

She began marching away, but fell.

"OW!" she grabbed her ankle, wincing in pain.

"You're so clumsy."

Hmph. Well, let's see if you can handle this.

Katara began crying. The confident expression on his face began to waver.

"Crap, th-this hurts... I think I sprained it..."

"Uh... Are you... Okay?"

"N-no... It r-really hurts..." she lowered her head and continued "sobbing," trying not to laugh.

"U-uh, I'll go get someone to help."

Crap.

"No! I-I mean, it'd be easier if you carried me."

Zuko raised an eyebrow.

"I need to tell Toph! And it just hurts so much..." More sobs.

"... Fine." He began to pick her up bridal style, but she stopped him.

"N-no! You're going to drop me!"

"I'm not going to drop you, you spazz."

"I don't believe you. Piggyback."

"... Seriously?"

"My ankle feels like it was chopped off!" Katara added a few sniffles here, to improve the effect.

"Fine." He crouched down, and she pulled herself up, adding winces of pain here and there.

I should become an actress, she thought to herself. Zuko stood up, and Katara wrapped her arms around him. No escape.

"You okay?"

"I'm better than okay. It's like nothing happened to my ankle in the first place."

Zuko paused.

"Come on, Sparky. Don't have all day."

"Y-you..."

"Yes?"

Zuko tried to pry her off, but Katara was stubborn. She wrapped her legs around him as well. After a few minutes of struggling (and choking Zuko), he gave up and settled for threatening her instead.

"I'm going to pour punch on you."

"Then I'll bite you."

"And if I don't care?"

"I'm chewing gum. I'm going to spit it in your hair."

"Are you always this immature?"

"Only to people who deserve it. Come on, we need to surprise Toph."

"Fine. But only if you let me come."

"What?"

"I don't believe I stuttered. I said, only if you let me come. To the party. I already know Sokka and Aang. I'm 'lightly acquainted' with Suki. Toph is my little sister. I think I deserve to come."

"... Fine. Now giddyup."

"You're the devil. I don't see why she calls you Sweetness."

He began walking around, trying to find Toph. He was careful to bump Katara into tables and other hard objects.


Toph sat underneath the snack bar table, hidden by the long tablecloth. She saw that Tomo kid around here, and she really didn't want to have to deal with him now (she would have to find out about his family- he was a lot wealthier than she'd thought if he was able to weasel his way here). No doubt that he was trying to find some way to humiliate her. She could still remember his words on the first day of school.

(frashback)

"Hey. Hey new girl!"

She heard, but didn't say anything.

"Hellooo. I'm talking to you."

She could feel him waving his hand in her face. As if she couldn't tell.

"I thought you were blind, not deaf."

He flicked her off.

"Come on, I'm trying to be nice." he snickered, still waving his middle finger in her face.

Oh, he thinks he's so fucking funny.

Well, there was only one logical thing to do in a situation like this. She stood up, took aim, and swung at his head. The CRACK! noise it made was satisfying (the sound of a homerun), and she laughed at his high pitched squeals.

"For a minute there I thought you were a tough guy."


"What are we hiding from?"

"Hey, Twinkletoes. How'd you find me?"

"Your cane- I mean- walking stick was sticking out a bit from under the table."

"Oh."

She pulled it closer to her.

"So what are we hiding from?"

"I'm not hiding!" she exclaimed indignantly.

"My bad! Then what are you doing?"

"I'm... I'm avoiding someone."

"Who?"

"Tomo. The guy I concussed."

"Oh. Is he bothering you?"

"No, but I know he will, eventually. Assaulting him in front of all my parents' friends will look bad."

"Oh, I see. I'll stay here with you! Umm... do you want a drink?"

"... Sure, why not."

"Okay!"

"Actually, I'm a lot thirstier than I thought. Why don't you bring the whole thing down?"

"... The entire bowl of punch?"

"Yeah. All the adults are sticking with tea, anyway."

"But it's... It's enormous."

"No one will miss it, I'm sure of it."

"Well, alright, be right back!"

Aang crawled out from under the table.

"Pssst! What are we hiding from?"

"Hi, Fangirl! We're not hiding, per se. We're avoiding Tomo, the guy I concussed."

"Oh, okay. This place is cozy!"

"How did you find us?"

"I saw Aang crawl out from under here."

"I brought the punch! Hi Suki!"

"Won't someone notice if you took the punch?"

"Nah. Like Toph said, all the adults are drinking tea."


Katara and Zuko were still searching.

"Why is this place so huge?" Katara exclaimed. "We passed that snack table three times, already."

"Relax. You're the one getting the free ride, anyway. We just need to find the table with the huge bowl of punch. They're bound to be there."

"I can't see any tables with punch."

"It's somewhere here!"


Suki and Toph sang "L'Chaim" together while Aang served them all punch.

"Thank you, waiter!" exclaimed Toph. "I'd tip you, but I have no money on me right now."

"A toast to the birthday girl!" said Suki. She and Aang held up their plastic Dixie cups and drank.

"Aww. You guys are makin' me blush." Toph said, rolling her eyes with a smile.


"I'm sure we passed this place already."

"How can you tell, Miss Navigator?"

"That huge guy. He's been eating those finger sandwiches for ten minutes, now."

"Finger sandwiches... Weren't the finger sandwiches next to the punch?"

He hurried towards the table. The fat man glared at them before waddling away.

"I think so. But there's no punch. The bowl had to be a foot and a half across, and it's not here." said Katara tiredly. This guy was really warm. Did he have a fever? He doesn't look like he's sick, though...

"There's a few drops here. It has to be the punch."

"Well where could it be? They can't have put it away, we were the only ones drinking it!"

"I want to say something about it being right under our noses, but I'm afraid I'll be right."


"Yo, I'll tell you what you want, what I really really want!"

"So tell me whatcha want, what you really really want!"

"I'll tell you what I want, what I really really want!"

"So tell me what you want, what you really really want!"

"I wanna, I wanna, I wanna, I wanna, I wanna really really really wanna zig-a-zig ah!"

Toph and Suki stopped singing and collapsed into laughter. Suki mimed holding a mike.

"Thank you, ladies and gentleman! Let's give it up for my partner, Toph!"

Toph cupped her mouth and breathed loudly, imitating a crowd.

"And a big applause for Aang and his amazing beatboxing accompaniment!"

"Where'd you learn to do that anyway, Twinkletoes? That was pretty impressive."

He laughed and shrugged.

"Honestly, I didn't even know I could do that until now."


"... Are you sick?"

"What?"

"Are you sick. You're really, really warm. I was wondering if you had a fever."

"If I had a fever, would you get off of me?"

"No."

Zuko sighed.

"No, I don't have a fever. But I do have a raging migraine from dealing with you and-"

"... What? And what?"

"Do you hear... singing?"

"... I think so..."


"Sparky! Sweetness! You found us!" Toph exclaimed.

"Hi Kat! Zuko!"

"Heeey, Katara! Sifu Hotman!"

Katara and Zuko stared at the three teenagers under the table, huddled around an enormous half-empty bowl of punch. They wisely decided not to ask.

"Toph, do you consider this party to be a lot of fun?" asked Katara mischievously.

"The party itself or us chilling under the snack bar?"

"This party."

"Hell no! If you guys weren't here, I'd probably have tried to drown myself in the fruit punch."

"Good! Come on, let's get out of here."

"What?"

"Sokka and I are throwing a party for you at our house. Just between friends. We have ice cream, cake, ice cream cake, and enough helium balloons to send an iceberg to space. We weren't sure what you wanted, but we doubted it was finger sandwiches and tea. So we got you a little bit of everything..."

Toph didn't say anything, but hugged her tightly. Katara understood. It was a very touching moment until she knocked over the fruit punch, drenching all five of them.

"Let's go?"

"Let's."