'Reason – Chapter 1'
Opening Theme – 'Closer' by Inoue Joe
The last of the Fire Nation splinter groups had been brought to heel! After the war ended it had taken months for the last of the resistance to be mopped up. Many Fire Nation loyalists had been unwilling to accept the defeat of the Phoenix Emperor and fought fiercely against the occupation force, but they had been put to rest at last. Now was a time for celebration.
A huge festival covered most of the Fire Nation capital, and Aang and all of his companions were enjoying it heartily. They had been instrumental in the anti-resistance efforts and now it was finally time for them to relax and let the prayers and peaceful wishes of the people to wash away their weariness. It seemed they had been fighting and negotiating for years, though it had only been a few months.
Among the vendor stalls, bright lanterns and tantalizing smells, Toph was the only one who felt more stressed by the end of the war, rather than less. She let the loud beats of the taiko drums drown out everything else until she almost couldn't 'see' where she was going with her vibration-sense.
Toph, you've been of infinite value to this army, but now it's time for you to put all this violence behind you and enjoy your childhood. It's up to us adults now to pay for our past mistakes and protect the peace you children have sacrificed so much for. Thank you, and have a peaceful respite.
That's what they had told her. The heads of the various factions that had come together during the assault had been so terribly polite and respectful even as they took it away from her. Her purpose. Every day since she had joined up with Aang and the others had been a fight, and fighting was what she was good at. A kid? She had been a brawler for as long as she could remember. What good was her mastery of earthbending now? Did they expect her to go become a sculptor or something?
Frustrated, she kicked a rock out of her path. Aang wanted to get back to his tour of the world's most interesting animals, and of course Katara would go too. Sokka wanted to learn how to forge swords and was going to set up a school for warriors, though he had declared that he would teach only those who would protect the peace with their blades. Zuko was going to pick up the pieces of his broken kingdom and unite them again under the banner of international brotherhood. Everyone had some new goal to chase after, except Toph. She just wanted to fight someone, but now she was revered as a hero and one of the greatest benders of the age. She would probably be an old woman before someone would face her seriously again.
"Aaaagh!" Toph mussed with her own hair as her frustration boiled over. "What the heck do they mean, put violence behind me?"
She ran over to one of the towers where a taiko drum was set up and shook on the ladder.
"Hey! Can I have a turn at that?" she called up to the drummer.
"Can you keep the beat?" he called back.
"Yeah, I think I can manage," Toph said, ironically. She climbed up and took the two long sticks the drummer had been using and immediately began to vent her frustrations on the drum. Well, despite her anger she still stuck to the beat the other taiko drums were following, but she hit with all her might. The vibrations from the drum passed through her and sent vibrations out in every direction. Listening to them, she could 'see' almost the whole festival.
It felt good. Pummeling the drum was almost soothing, and for a while she let herself slip into the cadence of the rhythm, opening her ears to hear the vibrations from every corner of the festival. It was a vision unlike any she had seen recently. Sometimes, when it was raining, she could 'see' this far, but it was interesting controlling her vision with the up-down beats of the sticks on the taiko drum. She put more and more strength into it, trying to see out beyond the city and into the surrounding country.
Crack!
As she brought down one of the sticks it slammed so hard that it broke, one half flying off into the night. Toph realized she was panting hard from all the beating, and the drummer was calling for her to calm down and take it easy. Toph gripped the remaining stick until her knuckles were white, then suddenly turned and threw it out into the crowd.
"AhhhhHHHH! DAMMIT!" she yelled.
Her thrown stick struck an unfortunate party-goer who immediately collapsed, foaming at the mouth and twitching.
* * *
Suki was surprised to see Toph already back at the inn when she arrived to rest for a while. Everyone else was still partying, except Sokka who had come back with Suki to talk about things in private. Mostly about the future. As she stopped suddenly, looking at Toph curiously, Sokka bumped into the back of her.
"Ow, hey! What's wrong Suki?" Sokka asked, peering over her shoulder.
"Hey Toph, you're back early. Feeling alright?" Suki asked, a little concerned.
Toph was laying on one of the beds with her arm flung over her face. When Sokka and Suki entered she sat up and brushed the hair out of her face.
"Hey Suki, actually I wanted to talk to you. Good timing," Toph said, her voice strangely weary.
"...?" Suki tilted her head.
"Can you teach me how to fight like a Kyoshi Warrior? I know we're supposed to be relaxing but..." Toph said, kicking lightly at the floor with one foot.
"I don't mind, since I practice every day anyway, but why do you want to learn?" Suki asked, even more curious now.
"It's something to do, and suddenly I feel like I'm gonna be pretty bored from here on out. They told me not to come with the patrols anymore and that I should just 'relax and enjoy the peace'," Toph said, trying not to sound bitter.
Sokka and Suki exchanged a glance and Sokka shrugged. Suki turned back to Toph and nodded, smiling.
"Alright, I'll teach you. I guess you really like fighting, huh?" Suki said.
"You have no idea," Toph replied, slumping over on the bed and grabbing a pillow.
* * *
"I have two questions, dear brother," Katara said, eye twitching.
"Shoot," Sokka said, not looking at her.
"One: What are they doing? Two: Why are you watching?" Katara asked.
Suki and Toph were dressed in practice robes and at the moment they were... well the closest word to it would be 'dancing' since that was the image that came to Katara's mind as she watched them. Toph was going through various motions with Suki quickly adjusting her arms, hips and legs at every movement. It looked strange, to say the least, but both girls were concentrating so much that they didn't notice the awkwardness.
"Suki's teaching Toph how to fight Kyoshi style," Sokka said, as if it was perfectly natural.
"Uh... right..." Katara said, watching them.
"At first I thought it would be hard since she didn't have any patience for my verbal instructions, but once I figured out that she has excellent control of her body and she remembers stances super easy this turned out to be the best way. She's a really quick learner," Suki said, having heard Katara from the beginning. She stepped back a bit from Toph and dusted herself off. "Wanna spar a little? Show Katara that we're not making this up?"
"Heh, Sokka'll whine if I bruise you too much," Toph said, stomping down. Two long rods, just like the taiko drum sticks she had used the night of the festival, popped up and she caught them.
"Oh? Just for that I won't hold back this time!" Suki said, pulling out her fans as she did.
"Huh? What's with the sticks?" Katara asked, looking at the rods Toph had created.
"She likes them better than fans, and it sorta fits her style better I guess," Sokka said, shrugging.
After that they couldn't speak. Their breath was stolen away by the sight of the masterful dance of the two girls.
Toph and Suki twisted and flowed from stance to stance. Toph was more aggressive, and she tended toward more solid stances so she could strike with her rods. Suki was almost exactly opposite, avoiding Toph's heavy attacks or deflecting them with her fans. They made almost no sound as each turned aside the blows of the other. Now they truly seemed to dance as their bare feet lightly slid over the dusty ground from stance to stance.
The rods were like blurs in Toph's hands as she spun them between thrusts or sweeps. Sokka, who had learned the Kyoshi style long before, was impressed by how well she had adapted the fan fighting style to her own personal use. Just as Suki had said, Toph was a very quick learner when it came to fighting.
"Finish!" Suki called, as both girls suddenly found an opening. They froze with Toph's right-hand rod pointing at Suki's throat and Suki's closed fan lightly touching Toph's forehead. They were both sweating and panting a little as they stepped back.
"Wow... I take it all back. You guys are amazing," Katara said, wide-eyed and impressed. Sokka nodded his agreement.
"Well, I've never been too good with close-range fighting so I have to do stupid stuff like my iron armor trick," Toph said, as she took some water. "I wanted to learn how to fight like the old earthbenders used to. It's a little more airy than my usual style, but it still feels right down in my bones."
"You're a natural, kid," Suki said, grinning.
"Oh, there she is!" Aang's voice suddenly floated over to them, and they all turned to see him coming up the path to the clearing where they all were. With him was Iroh.
"Hey twinkle-toes," Toph said, sitting down and stretching a little. "You just missed the attraction."
"Huh?" Aang looked cluelessly at them.
"Never mind. Were you looking for us?" Katara asked, looking at Iroh.
"Oh, yeah! Iroh said the White Lotus guys wanted to talk to Toph," Aang explained. Everyone looked surprised, most of all Toph.
"Huh? Me? White Lotus? Weird," Toph said, standing up. "But, hey, whatever. I'm done practicing for today so why not?"
* * *
"So, what did you want me for?" Toph asked, as she and Iroh walked back toward the city.
"Well, it's not necessary for us to go all the way back and meet with everyone. If it's alright, I'd just like to talk to you for a while," Iroh said, turning aside and heading for a hill overlooking the town.
"Sure, nothing else to do," Toph said, tagging along.
When they reached the hill they both sat down on the grass and some moments passed without either of them speaking. Toph idly created a taiko stick from the earth and spun it around in one hand.
"Toph. You were chosen for a great destiny, along with your friends. You understand that, right?" Iroh suddenly began, looking at her.
"Uh-huh. Help the Avatar do his thing. Done and done," Toph replied casually.
"Do you think that's all there is to your destiny?" Iroh asked curiously.
"..." Toph didn't answer, but suddenly she was serious. She hunched forward a little and rested her arms on her knees.
"Those who are chosen to do great things are never chosen to do just one thing and then retire, don't you think? Destiny does not waste its heroes, and you are a part of the greatest group of heroes this world has known for some time," Iroh said, looking back at the city.
"I wish destiny would let me know what's next. Everyone else seems to know..." Toph murmured. Something about Iroh's manner made it easy for her to admit these things to him.
"I thought so," Iroh said, nodding a little. "Right now, you feel like you have nowhere to go since you've accomplished your goals. Everyone else now has their own personal goals to chase after. Have you thought about that? Since leaving your home you've been fulfilling the wishes of this planet, helping the Avatar... now perhaps it's time for you to think of your own wishes?"
"..." Again Toph was silent. She had never thought of it that way. What were her wishes? She was amazed at how easily the old man could understand everything. Not even her own parents had understood her this much, and she and Iroh weren't exactly close. These old men of the White Lotus... just how wise were they?
"What do you wish for, Toph?" Iroh asked, looking at her steadily.
"To fight against really strong enemies? No... I guess I've had my fill of that. After taking on the Fire Nation I don't think there will be anyone strong enough to get me excited anymore. Other than that..." she mused, digging deep into her thoughts. "Maybe... being able to see? That would be fun. I mean, it doesn't bother me or anything, but I guess if I had a free wish to burn I'd choose that. Got any great ideas for pulling that off?"
She said it jokingly, knowing that it was just a silly wish. She was surprised when Iroh remained silent for a moment, and she wondered if she had offended him by making light of his suggestion. She heard the scratch-scratch of him stroking his beard.
Then she was even more surprised when he finally answered:
"Well, little Toph, maybe I do. Maybe I do."
Ending Theme: 'Find the Way' by Mika Nakashima
* * *
Anjin's notes: Short, I know. I plan on making the chapters of this story very bite-sized. That'll make it easier both to read and write. Mostly I'm just trying to get the ideas down on paper and so things like amazing descriptions etc. go out the window in exchange for a more streamlined story.
I don't know the ultimate end of this story yet. I've got the first 'arc' planned out but after that I don't know if I'll end or keep going. I really feel that Toph is the character with the most unrealized potential out of everyone at the end of the series. I'd say she's the only one who doesn't have something to look forward to. Possible next would be Tylee but she could always just go back to the circus or become Zuko's bodyguard etc. I want to explore a lot of Toph's potential with this story.
I know everyone loved the Toph x Suki scene, didn'tcha? So awkward. Heh. Also, I equipped Toph. Hope no one wants to gnash canon with me on that one. I'm gonna be changing her image bit by bit through the story to make her into more of a main-character type so get used to me introducing new things that she does. I'll keep her personality intact though, so don't get too wired.
I'll try to get the next chapter out soon since I already have it mostly planned, but after that I may settle down to one chapter per week. I have other, important fics to work on (which I encourage you to read as well... actually there's only one right now, but if you're a Cardcaptor Sakura fan feel free to check out my profile and look up my other fic) but I'll make sure to keep up with this one too.
Oh, and about the Opening and Ending themes... I'm an anime fan. A big one. Like... we're talking over 100 anime series watched to completion. So I just don't feel right if a series doesn't have an opening or ending (which says something about how awesome Avatar is. It doesn't have an OP and it's not Japanese and yet I love it to death. Wow.) I am -not- a Narutard even though I used a Naruto song for the OP, I just felt that it fits Toph better than any Japanese song I know. The ED was a little easier. If you want to see these songs just go to Youtube and search for 'Naruto Shipuuden Closer' and choose the 2nd one; it'll be the music video for the 'opening theme' for this story. For the ending search for 'gundam seed find the way' and scroll down 'til you see a video that's 1:02 long and watch that one. Remember to search for exactly the same phrases (yes even the mis-spelled 'shipuuden') to get the same results. I'd drop direct links if I could. If you have trouble put it in a review and I'll tell you how to find them.
Anyway, enough rambling. If there's anything specific you'd like me to talk about after each chapter please bring that up in a review. I really don't know what to put in here.
Read and review. Thanks.