Having grown tired of listening to all the nobles' daughters tell her how great she is (even praise could get old when people didn't know when to stop talking), Azula broke away from their little pack and stepped out onto the school grounds. This was where most girls in the academy gathered for recess - or so she'd heard, at least. This was actually her first time venturing out onto the grounds for anything other than their daily class training exercises. The value of this "recess" concept was lost on Azula. She hadn't come to the Royal Fire Academy for Girls to play or socialize or participate in any other frivolous activity; she was here to become an elite warrior of the Fire Nation - something that no amount of hopscotch or childish gossip could help her accomplish.

It didn't take Azula long to notice the school's newest student - an arrogant little brat from the Earth Kingdom - sitting barefoot in the grass without a care in the world. She wasn't difficult to spot; the girl stuck out of a crowd like a burnt thumb. There she was, lounging around, picking at her toes (Azula couldn't help but gag at that) as if nothing else around her existed. Her first day was an auspicious one (seemed like just yesterday - in fact, it was yesterday...huh, how about that): the Headmistress introduced her as a young earthbender from the colonies, much to everyone's chagrin. To allow an earthbender of all people into the academy was unheard of - an absolute mockery of everything the school stood for! But somehow, the girl's acceptance was announced by decree of the Fire Lord himself, and no one dared question her father's will.

Nevertheless, some of her classmates had made it their mission to make life miserable for the little savage, but the girl put a quick end to that after what she did to Ty Lee's sister, Ty Lin. Poor skank might never be the same. Not that Azula cared; the snobby bitch had it coming to her. 'Oh, I'm so pretty, and popular, and one day my daddy is going to marry me off to some handsome, wealthy nobleman, and I'll be the perfect housewife and have lots of babies and blah blah blah, etcetra.' Azula was glad somebody finally shut that girl up. But Azula digressed. For some reason, this girl intrigued her - which was more than she could say for most of the mindless drones at this school. Against her better judgment, Azula approached the young earthbending prodigy, hoping (if nothing else) to find out what made the girl tick.

"Explain to me exactly how an uncivilized savage such as yourself gains enough favor with the Fire Lord to be accepted into one of the finest schools in the entire nation."

If the girl noticed Azula's presence at all, she didn't show it - opting to focus on her toes as if they were more fascinating than a one-sided Agni Kai.

"My, you're a blunt one, aren't ya?"

Azula frowned at the girl's response. "Yes, well, I've been told that subtlety isn't one of my strong points."

The girl actually cracked a smile at that - the only other time Azula had seen her do that had been at the expense of someone else's pain and suffering. But since the girl hadn't earthbent her into the nearest wall yet, Azula took the smile as a good sign.

"No kidding. Anyways, to answer your question... I dunno. My dad set this whole thing up. Said it'd be a "character building experience" or whatever. Screw that, I'd rather be cracking heads at this year's Earth Rumble than mingling with a bunch of uppity Fire Nation cheerleaders."

Earth Rumble? Azula made a face as she crossed her arms over her chest. This girl would rather be in some filthy Earth Kingdom arena, engaging in some pathetic excuse for a competition in the name of entertainment, than to be here at one of the most prestigious and respected training academies in the world? Do these people have no standards? By Agni, it's no wonder the Fire Nation was trying to take them over.

"Just who is your father, anyway?"

Satisfied that her toes were now thoroughly...picked...the girl lay back onto the grass, leisurely resting the back of her head on her palms. "Only the wealthiest man in the Earth Kingdom. Probably the world. Koh, I bet he could buy this school if he wanted to."

"You can't be serious...You are the daughter of Lao Bei Fong?"

"The one and only."

"Hmm...didn't even know the Bei Fongs had a daughter."

"Yeah, he doesn't talk about me much. At least, he didn't until he found out I'm such an awesome earthbender. Apparently I'm already better than any teacher my dad can find, so I guess he sent me here to learn something I don't already know."

"Like manners, perhaps?"

"Pfft, I know all that fancy pants stuff already; just don't care for it."

"I can tell."

The girl laughed at that. And not one of those fake little 'Oh Princess Azula, how very funny you are, he he he' laughs, either. This one actually sounded genuine. Like Ty Lee's except less bubbly and annoying. Most people she talked to regularly would've gotten all huffy and offended over a comment like that; this girl just honestly didn't seem to care. It was...different. It wasn't until then that Azula noticed the girl's eyes - particularly the glassy look in them.

"Are you...blind?"

"As a badgermole."

"But how do you -"

"See? Easy, I can sense stuff through vibrations from the ground."

"And how effective could that possibly be?"

"Effective enough to see that ant crawling onto Miss Stretchy-Pants' hand over there."

Azula looked over to where the girl was pointing to see Ty Lee doing a handstand almost all the way across the schoolyard. Before she could say anything, Ty Lee yelps out in pain and flops down onto her back, clutching her hand after being bitten by a fire ant.

"Ow! Stupid ant."

"Impressive."

"Thanks."

Yes, this girl was very interesting indeed, Azula decided. Someone with her skills could come in handy one day. And the fact that she'd somehow managed to have a decent conversation with the girl without either of them getting completely irritated was a plus.

"Say, girl. What is your name?"

The girl picked herself up off the ground, dusting herself off as she did so.

"The name's Toph."

She then gave a customary Earth Kingdom bow to Azula - Azula frowned slightly, but accepted that the girl would just have to learn the proper way to bow later on - when all of a sudden, the earthbender gave her a punch on the shoulder.

"Nice to meet ya, Princess."

Stunned by the fact that the brash, young blind girl had just hit her, Azula could do nothing but stare as the 'lady' known as Toph Bei Fong casually strolled back into the school.

"Did...you just punch me? How dare you?! Come back here and face me this instant, you little brat!"

With that, the world's greatest firebending prodigy stormed into the school in pursuit of the world's greatest earthbending prodigy, leaving the rest of their classmates staring in confusion, unaware of the sheer magnitude of the meeting that had just transpired. They didn't know it yet, but all hell was about to break loose...and was likely to remain loose for a long, long time.