Somebody to Love

Chapter 2: Earth Sight

I'm sorry it took a little while to update. I just started cheerleading practice, and my schedule has been a little crazy. But, enough of my babbling; on with the story!

"Nice to see you here on time" Toph greeted, Dimitri proved himself reliable. He approached his teacher with his hands up in an 'I surrender' gesture.

"I was thinking about coming sooner so we could watch the sunrise together, but I figured I'd get yelled at for that too." He flirted, invading her space, yet again. A small smile tugged at one side of her lips. She was sorry for getting frustrated with him. But she was not going to apologize for it and make the head he already had on him bigger. So she turned silently and headed in the direction of the training cave. "So uhm, what are we going to do at this 'training cave'?" the flirty tone coated each word. If she could see she could have sworn she would have 'saw' him looking hungrily at her. She shook her head at how perverted his mind was.

"Teaching you something you're going to need to know if you want to metal bend. But it sounds to me like your mind is somewhere else so we can just stop training now. I don't really have to teach you anything." She told him as she stopped to wait for his apology, and to make her point. She really didn't have to teach him. Secretly she really wanted to though; she kind of liked this boy, and she honestly enjoyed teaching him. She blushed as her mind ran through these thoughts, and he noticed.

"I didn't mean for it to offend you, but I guess that's how any girl would take it. Sorry." She knew he was being honest; he actually was sorry. She was a little surprised at his honesty. They reached the cave in awkward silence. He looked inside the cavity, and tilted his head to one side; staring into the black backdrop of it. Then he turned to look at Toph. "Uhm, were training in there?" he asked pointing inside. She smiled.

"Yes. Why is there something wrong with it?" He shifted his weight from one foot to the other nervously.

"Well yeah. I can't exactly see in there."

"Yes captain obvious; that's the point." He bit his bottom lip thinking of the best explanation for the question that was being asked in his mind.

"Well how am I supposed to bend if I cannot see?" he asked after he'd lost the patience to think of an answer himself.

"You don't need to use your eyes to bend. That's what I'm going to teach you, how to see using your bending." See using his bending? He'd never heard anything like that before. He looked at her questioningly and a half smile appeared on her face with his look of wonder. She could actually see him; couldn't she? She walked into the cave and the darkness enclosed around her. "Come on." Her voice commanded from the black emptiness. He took a deep breath and entered the cave wide eyed straining to find light in the depth of the blackness surrounding him. Then he heard a rock moving behind him. He turned to face the sound and the rock was closing the last bit of light from the outside world. "Calm down Dimitri its only darkness." Yeah it was but he was a little scared of the dark, but he was not going to let anyone know that. He took another deep breath and let his lids close so his eyes would forgive him for neglecting to do so for such a long time. He eventually became completely calm and reopened his eyes to see nothing.

"Okay I'm calm now." He told Toph who was waiting very patiently for him.

"Now listen. Try to feel the Earth around you." He closed his eyes once again and concentrated best he could. 'Feel the Earth around you' eventually his eyebrows tightened with all of his concentration. Then he felt a small vibration. His ears became more aware and strained to hear if it was something big; if something was coming. Then he felt confused he couldn't hear anything. 'Hmm' he put his foot out in front of him and let it fall as silently as it could against the ground. He saw it then, the everything. The vibrations pulsating throughout the room he saw his vibrations gliding over every object. It was a lot to take in. It wasn't actually seeing, it was feeling. He could feel everything.

"Wow" he gasped sudden realization setting in with everything he was starting to notice, every last detail of every little thing. "Your way of seeing is pretty extraordinary." He told her a smile playing on his lips. She smiled and picked up a small pebble to toss at him. You couldn't actually 'see' the object if it was in the air. But if he felt if coming towards him with his bending she knew he'd be ready. He caught on quick and readied his hands in a catching position. She smiled and threw the rock and it landed between his eyes. She giggled.

"Apology accepted." She said when she was finished giggling. He smiled too, glad he was forgiven. She took another small rock between her fingers and told him again, "remember to feel the earth around you. Ready?" she asked after a few seconds he nodded. She tossed the rock lightly into his chest he still wasn't getting it, but it might take some time.

"Darn." He said to himself. She readied a bit of a larger rock in her hand. Maybe he needed a little more motivation. She threw this one more swiftly and he turned to dodge the blow.

"You're not aloud to move out of the way. You have to either catch it or stop it." The silence lasted a few seconds until he finally nodded. She picked up an even larger rock than the last one. She waited a few more seconds until he nodded again. It was about to touch him when he caught it, and it hovered above the ground he smiled and clenched his fist to crush the rock into dust with his bending. He was proud of himself.

"I did it." He told her rejoicing. She folded her arms across he chest and leaned against the cave wall tiredly.

"Well go on; have some fun." She told him she knew he would want to experiment with his newly found abilities, "that's all I have to teach you today. I actually thought it was going to take much longer." His lips moved upward with her comment.

"Thanks for believing in me" He said as he joined her against the wall. She sighed and turned to face him.

"Would you quit that?" she asked when she finally got the nerve.

"Quit what?" he asked completely dumbfounded.

"Flirting with me! You don't have to pretend that you like me just because I'm blind." She told him again blankly.

"Well from what you've taught me today you're not blind. And; I'm not pretending anything." She smiled. While he struggled to keep the redness from his cheeks.

"Dimitri you don't even know me." She told him pushing herself off the wall to open the cave. She eased it open gently until someone tugged it back into place.

"I wasn't finished," he said when she turned to look at him accusingly, "Well why don't we change that? And from what I do know about you I like you…a lot." She blushed and thought of how she could get out of this. They sat in silence for a few moments. "I'm not letting you out until I get an answer" She knew she could outsmart him, but he was stronger than her.

"So I can get out with either answer?" she questioned.

"No. Only the right one." She sighed again. Oh how stubborn this boy was. She did like him. Sure, why not give him what he wants. The little voice in the back of her head nagged. She crossed her arms again.

"You know it's not really a date if it's by force" She mused and then let him she let him think about that for a minute. "Sure" she said letting the smile invade her lips. He let the rock slide open again, only to reveal the harsh light of the outside world. He squinted at the sudden sight. "Only after you've learned how to metal bend though"

Yeah that probably wasn't worth the wait was it? Sorry. Hit that green and grey button please.