Disclaimer: Avatar: The Last Airbender belongs toMichael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko. This is a non-profit and strictly fan-made written piece.
Hope you enjoy it!
.:xXx:.
It was just another day.
Another day in the city of Ba Sing Se. Another day to wait to see the Earth King. Another day with idle hours to pass.
But with each day, the threat of the Fire Nation was stronger. The day of the Solar Eclipse was sooner. They were running out of time but they could do nothing. Not without the king's help.
And so, another day will pass.
However, instead of burying themselves in their anger, impatience and anxiety, the four friends agreed to enjoy their waiting days. After all, Ba Sing Se was the capital of the Earth Kingdom. Even if it wasn't the most comfortable place, it was safe.
For now.
In the morning, Aang went out with Momo to explore the city, and though the others suspected he would be searching for Appa, they didn't say anything. Sokka readily set out to taste the city's cuisine, and Katara was the one left waiting for Toph to wake.
The girl slept in until after midday.
Toph felt Katara's annoyance while they ate lunch. After finding out that Katara had to stay behind for her, Toph promised she would make it up to her. She felt Katara's mood lighten up after that.
After the meal, Toph led Katara to the garden. Serene plants lined the garden wall, tended to by city's best gardeners. Flowers blossomed on the stems, filling the air with a sweet fragrance. A pebble path led up to and encircled a small pond at the far corner of the garden. The sun reflected on the surface which rippled as its fish inhabitants swam past the water plants.
"It's beautiful," Katara sighed.
"Yeah, a real eye-pleaser," grumbled Toph. Katara apologized. "But that's not why we're here." The blind girl stepped into the middle of the garden, feeling the soft grass beneath her toes.
"So why are we here, Toph?" asked her confused friend.
"Well, the other day, we went to the spa for fun because it was what you wanted to do," Toph explained while stretching. "So now we're going to have fun doing what I want to do."
Katara shrugged. "I guess that makes sense. So what do you want to do?"
"Simple."
A few pebbles from the path levitated in front of Toph. She formed a fist and the pebbles turned to sand.
"Time to get dirty."
A firm motion and the sand flew towards Katara, hitting her square in the face. She started spitting out dirt. Toph howled with laughter.
"What was that for?!" Katara exploded, furiously scrubbing her face.
"You'd think with all the fights against the Fire Nation, you'd know how to duck!" teased Toph. Katara did not look as happy.
"Okay, Katara, let's try that again." Once again, pebbles were crushed into sand and fired at Katara. This time, she dodged. The sand hit the wall – then turned and rushed at her again.
More hits came with more sand that Toph made. Katara hopelessly waved her arms at the sand, coughing and rubbing her eyes.
"Toph, stop that! I thought you couldn't bend sand!" she cried out.
"You'd like it better if I threw rocks at you?" Toph snickered. "Aang's not the only one who's learning new tricks!" she told her, experimenting with the sand attacks. Sand was not the strongest weapon, but it was amusing to use. Katara was sending wild vibrations from everywhere! Toph circled the sand around the legs. She chuckled when she felt the heavy thump.
Katara spit out a lump of grass. She stood up, ignored the sand, and glared at the smug girl.
"That's it! You've crossed the line!"
A swift movement brought water from the pond to knock over the earthbender.
Toph smiled.
"Now you get the idea."
She leapt to her feet and resumed her sand assault. Katara managed to dissolve Toph's sand in her water. She took water again from the pond and dumped it on Toph. Katara laughed as a fish flopped out of the drenched girl's mouth.
A pebble to the head cut off the laughter.
Rubbing the sore spot, Katara bended the water to carry the fish back into the pond. Toph gathered more pebbles. Katara's eyes widened.
"Hard rocks? You're not going to…?"
Toph shoved the pebbles forward.
Just before contact, the pebbles turned to sand that hit Katara's water shield. The impact was strong and caused the two elements to splatter everywhere.
"No, I wasn't going to." Toph smiled through her newly formed mud mask. She wiped some off before saying, "But this sure adds a great twist to the game."
The two elements, earth and water, were joined together to form a new 'element' that both benders could control: mud.
Using the traces of their own elements, they carried the other's to attack. The brown substance was tossed back and forth across the garden.
Laughter filled the air as the girls covered each other in mud. Katara grew comfortable with the dirt. At the end of their battle, she lay beside Toph on the muck with a smile on her face. She finally understood Toph's attachment to earth. It wasn't just because she was an earthbender, or the fact that it helped her 'see'. Toph had the traits of earth in her personality. Toph was just as part of the earth, as it was part of her. Katara wondered if she herself was like water, too.
"I guess this wasn't too bad, Toph," said Katara. Toph nodded in agreement.
"Better than the spa?" she asked. There was a slight pause before Katara replied.
"Yes, Toph. Better than the spa." Both girls smiled.
After a few more moments, Katara sat up and wiped some dried mud from her arms.
"But you know, Toph, we still have to take a nice, hot bath!" She giggled when the mud-caked girl groaned.
The two friends stood and made their way back into the house, closing the doors to a mess that would leave the gardeners as devastated as the cabbage man.
END
Moral: Don't trust the Gaang with your beloved possessions.
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