Written for a challenge on FictionNET (link in my profile).

Set during the episode "The Chase".

Not beta-ed.

Barefoot

Avatar: The Last Airbender One-Shot

"Watch where you're going! If you slip off Appa we'll never get any sleep!"

I really hate it when people shout at me. I really do. They must think that I'm stupid for some obvious reasons that I'm not aware of. Personally, I think that I've come to adapt pretty well. I mean, I am a helpless little girl after all.

"Well, it's not my fault that I'm blind and I can't feel anything in the air," I shouted back as the wind muffled my speech.

I really hated the flying. And Appa, the flying bison, made it worse; his fur was always brushed evenly so I couldn't tell where I was standing.

"If you were me, your pathetic water bending wouldn't get you anywhere and you'd be dead by now!" I added. This is what insomnia does to me. Not pretty, may I add.

"Well if I was in your shoes then I would at least be more polite to your elders and gain some respect! Aang has taken so much trouble to bring you along and all that you can do is complain! You don't even help the rest of us carry the burden! We're supposed to be part of a team and…," the other girl's shouting seemed to fade away as she realized that I wasn't rebuking.

Her Waterbender eyes shot a glare at me. "What are you—" she stopped dead in her question.

I didn't cry. Well, maybe I did but the harsh East wind blew my tears away. A perfect camouflage. I should have cried though. Then at least, Katara would think that I'm a girl. My fists tightened on my green Earthbender robes and I felt my ears heat up in rage. The soft but dirty fur tickled against my bare feet. My bare feet. I retracted my legs silently, hiding my naked feet and shutting my eyelids. I wanted to sleep so badly. We've been chased by the Fire nation all night and our stupid little arguments never ceased.

"Unless you haven't noticed," I breathed out, barely loud enough for Katara to hear. "I'm blind. I'm barefoot. I'm a runaway. I'm a desperate little girl. I'm scared of heights. I'm an Earthbender far away from home. And I'm lonely."

I couldn't tell what she was doing but the only things that I could hear were the blasting wind and Sokka's stupid snoring. She must have looked at me with her pitiful eyes because that's what everyone does when silence hits.

The only way that I could escape those pitiful stares on my back was in the arena—the fighting arena. There I felt at home, with the rocks, dirt and smell of soil. I could feel those fat pigs sweating like crazy, not believing that a little girl like me could even move a rock. But they were dead wrong. I could do much more than move a rock. I could create earthquakes, landslides, rockbombs; I could even turn hard concrete into quicksand. I could do everything. I could even see, with my feet, sensing every arc of the vibrations of their hairy feet touching the ground. Even if they tried to tiptoe, I could sense their weight pressing on the precious earth.

"Hey, I'm sorry." Her voice was soft.

"No, you're not."

"What are you saying? I apologized! You should accept it like a normal person would."

"If you haven't noticed yet—I'm not normal, dear Katara," maybe it was the way that I spoke that provoked her. I never spoke like that at home; my parents caged me like the desperate blind girl that I am, keeping me pure in every way. I felt her shift in her osition. "I'm the Blind Bandit."

"I never understood that name. Do you actually steal things?" She tried to change the subject. Clever.

I pulled my legs to my chest. The wind was as cold as ever and I could tell that Appa was nearly asleep as we kept floating up and down, never keeping balance. Aang must have fallen asleep too; his tired voice never echoed to our ears. It was just Katara and me, arguing away and wasting precious time.

"I steal others' pride," I muttered. "I win what they want, like that belt that's in my bag. I steal people's trust," I admitted, unashamed.

"Really?"

"Adult's trust, at least," I added.

"What about mine?"

"What is there to steal from you?" I asked, yawning, uninterested.

"What do you mean?" I could hear anger rising in her voice.

"You don't even trust me yet."

She quieted down; I must have hit a spot. So she didn't trust me. I'm not the least surprised.

"It's quite normal," I lifted my head and opened my eyes, only to see nothing but a web of pitch black. I wish that I could see the stars shining or the clouds that resembled the white smoke. My white eyes must have scared the Waterbender; she gasped quickly and kicked Appa's fur quietly. "You're a Waterbender. You live in your tribes. You know everyone around you and no one there will ever betray you. Your brother knows all your secrets and your neighbors know where your money is hiding but none of them will steal it. All of you live in harmony and there's nothing to worry about except for invaders."

I drew a quick breath in, my lungs drying out.

"But it's not the same where I live. I can't even trust my own parents. I keep my secrets to myself. Money gets exchanged between so many hands that it has become too dirty to touch. People are sly; they steal things. They look at your rich house, your flying boar, your family heritage and smirk evilly, scheming. Mom and dad kept me away from them because they knew that I wouldn't survive in the real world. I don't know how to bargain or speak to adults without losing my temper. I don't see the good or bad of people's souls; I only see their actions. Sometime I act vulnerable to complete my role as the forgotten girl, the one who isn't even marked on her family records because her parents are too ashamed of having a blind baby. But…."

The transparent tears flooded my eyes but luckily the wind dried them all. Before Katara could recognize the salty liquid blinding me even more, I cleared my throat and continued my story-telling.

"But I'm proud of myself. I may not be able to see like you do but people began to respect me. I could hear them applaud when I stepped on the Earthbending arena. 'Blind Bandit!' they would scream into the air. And I would always smile at them before facing my challenge. I developed my personality at the arena. Actually, I built my entire life there. It was my sanctuary, even though people were easily killed there. I felt safe there, even though dangerous and uncontrolled boulders could roll over you at any second."

"Toph…"

"Yeah?" I faced towards her voice

"Were you always blind?"

"No," I yawned deliberately. Katara sure had mood swings. One minute she was yelling at me as if I killed humanity but the next she's sitting next to me, listening to my typical-desperate-little-girl-rants. "I could see until I was four. I know what the sky looks like. I know what color the earth is and I know my parents' faces. I know what a smile and a frown look like. I know the differences between water lilies and dragonsnaps."

"Do you miss it?"

"No. I think that I'm better off this way. Even though people like you look at me with pitiful eyes," she shifted, surprised that I could read her expression. I laughed. "The only reason that I agreed to teach Aang Earthbending was because he looked up to me; he didn't regard me as this immature little blind girl who always got herself into trouble."

"Oh…"

She was lying on her back, ready to sleep. I can't blame her. It's not like my life's that interesting. Although, I'm pretty sure that it'd be better than stepping in her shoes. Or even Sokka's.

My back fell straight into the pile of fur, as cold as icicles. Mhm, poor Appa.

I closed my eyes, as if that changed anything. I couldn't tell daylight from nighttime anyway. Sokka's snoring became more evident in the half-silence. I could feel Appa slowly descending, finally giving up. Even though this machine was chasing us, even though we could be killed if we landed, my naked feet yearned to touch the ground, the good ol' earth.

I stretched my legs, letting them hang from the platform of fur. I imagined the wet cool grass tickling my feet. The wings of the wild dandelions softly spread over the earth as I kicked the grass in pure joy. I could imagine myself smile as I swung my luggage to my back. Katara would still be complaining but it didn't bother me. I would one with the earth again, just like Waterbenders were united with Tui and La at the full moon.

If you stepped into my shoes, you would even see the world in a perfect state, just like any other little blind optimistic girl did. And the bland whiteness of my eyes would glimmer with hope.

But that was just a fantasy because I can feel nothing but the ruthless East wind crunching at my frozen toes.

Author's Notes: The challenge was to pick your favorite female character from a fandom other than Harry Potter and write something longer than 1500 words to describe her feelings/thoughts/personalities/etc. I chose Toph not just because I like her but because she's really interesting.

Okay, so it's not that brilliant and all but I'm glad that I wrote another one-shot.

A review would be appreciated.