-Chapter 6: Metal and Balloons-

Toph twirled her meteor bracelet between her fingers as she lied on the grass near the turtle-duck pond. To anyone who didn't know her, she would have just seemed like a daydreaming girl staring up into the sky. Actually, considering that her friends constantly forgot that she was blind, she might have to reword that statement...

Hmm, the sky. She had been taught that Air was the opposite element to Earth. Having been forced to travel into that terrifying void one too many times, she could see why. There was nothing up there for her to bend or sense. At least in water she could still feel the presence of the earth even if it was muffled and frustratingly out of her reach.

She had been told many times that one of the greatest things about flying was being able to see the magnificent views. Then the speaker would remember who they were talking to and lapse into an embarrassed silence. That irritated her a little bit. She didn't mind that her friends kept forgetting that she couldn't see. That was much better than being treated like a helpless little girl. But the silent implications that she was missing something awesome by not being able to see colors or read grated on her.

She didn't go around feeling sorry for her friends because they couldn't sense what she could. She didn't tell them that she thought their 'amazing views' were nothing compared to what she could 'see' when she was on solid ground. Even now, she could feel the vibrations of tiger-ants streaming to and from their mounds just thirty feet away from her. She could 'see' the drops from the morning's rain sliding down the side of the stone wall surrounding the Royal Garden. She could feel the roots of the trees around her slowly but inexorably digging deeper into the earth.

To her, the Earth contained a euphony of sounds and vibrations that were so different from the near silence of Air. Toph couldn't imagine how her friends dealt with being so limited that they could only see what was directly in front of them. The world was much more beautiful than could be seen in a narrow slot of sight, if she understood how seeing worked correctly.

Spirits, she was bored! She only got this deep and philosophical when she was forced to be by herself for extended periods of time. Which, during her childhood, was nearly all the time. If she hadn't figured out how to sneak out of her home to go to earthbending tournaments, she probably would have gone insane by now.

There was nothing to fight and nothing to do. Aside from her earthbending lessons with Aang and her verbal showdowns with her friends during meals, Toph had a lot of free time on her hands. But she had just recently came up with a project that she could invest her time in. Something important that only she could do.

The sound of approaching footsteps caught her attention. Female, judging from the foot size and the length of the stride. Quick, stealthy movements of a warrior but there was a slight heaviness in the left foot that indicated an unequal distribution of weight. Probably because she hadn't fully recovered from her involuntary commitment.

"What's up, Platypus Bear?" Toph asked. She opened her eyelids, not because it was necessary but because people thought she was being rude when she didn't.

"I've been told that we have similar teaching styles," Azula replied. "I thought it would be beneficial to take advantage of your greater experience. Not that I need it, of course."

Toph grinned. "Aang drives you up the wall too?"

"He's talented. There's no point in denying that. It's just that he's..."

"Lazy? Flighty? Prefers to jump around like a hyperactive grasshopper instead of facing an obstacle head-on?" Toph asked.

Toph could feel Azula relax as some of the tension left her body. The older girl said, "He was always a formidable opponent, but as a person... he's not quite what I expected."

"Yeah, I couldn't believe that he was the Avatar either when I first met him," Toph said. "But don't let the goofy, easy-going look fool you. That kid's tougher than you'd expect."

"So I'm discovering," Azula muttered.

Toph tilted her head in response to the odd tone in Azula's voice, but she decided to let it pass. She said, "The thing about teaching Aang is that you shouldn't go easy on him. Katara would disagree, but I'm not the one Aang's in love with so I have to do things differently."

Sounding frustrated, Azula said, "I haven't been going easy on him. I've been trying to get him to be more aggressive and he keeps resisting me."

"Ah, rookie mistake. Don't feel bad. I did that too. It's good to push Aang, but if you push him hard enough, he'll push back. You can't force him to be something he's not. It took a moose-lion for me to realize that I had to work with the strengths that Aang already had."

"You mean let him firebend with his airbender attitude," Azula said sounding displeased. "But then he's not really firebending."

"Yes and no. What he's doing is being the Avatar. The one person in the world who can combine different bending styles. You have to remember that you're not training him to be a firebender. You're training him to be an airbender who can also bend fire, water, and earth."

It had taken Toph awhile to learn that lesson for herself. Aang was always commenting about how she could do things that he couldn't yet, but he could do things that she would never be able to do. His earthbending style was very different from hers, and that was because he came into it with a very different mindframe that enabled him to come up with some very creative techniques. But Toph couldn't argue with results.

Toph could tell that Azula was still unhappy with her answer. She said, "Look, I know you're into the whole 'firebenders are superior' schtick, but if something's not working then you change it. But that's just my opinion. Do whatever you want."

Sensing that Azula was turning to leave, Toph found that she didn't want the princess to leave yet. She had been keeping track of the girl's movements within the palace for weeks now and she had never had a real conversation with her before today. Toph asked, "I'm surprised you're asking me for advice. I got the sense that you hated our guts."

Azula turned back around. Then she said in an amused tone, "You're awfully frank."

Toph shrugged. She said, "Not what you'd expect of the daughter of a noble family, right? Well, I can do that whole subtle secret conversation hidden inside a talk about weather and flowers and all that other rich people junk but why bother? Life's short so get to the point."

"Since we're being honest, I've also been wondering why you don't seem to hate me. Even the Avatar doesn't like me very much, but he tries to hide it. He's... strange."

Toph snorted. "That's an understatement. So you want to know why I don't glare daggers at you every time you enter a room like Katara does."

"Besides the fact that you can't?" Azula asked dryly.

Toph grinned then said, "You catch on quick. I like people with smart mouths, people who aren't afraid to tell it like it is. And I don't take what you did to us during the war personally. We were on opposite sides. Of course you were going to try to stop us. I'm a tournament fighter. You either learn how to get along with the guys who just tried to crush you with a boulder a minute ago or you go nuts."

"That's an interesting attitude."

"We don't really have a history, so I don't care about you one way or another. Don't get me wrong. If I find out that you're even thinking of hurting my friends then I'm putting you down hard. But right now I'm going to throw your question back at you. I'm one of the people who helped make those shiny decorations you're wearing. You should be wanting to wear my intestines as a belt."

"Who says I don't?" Azula asked in a deadpan manner.

"I imagine that you're smirking evilly at me, but I really can't tell," Toph said with a smirk of her own.

"I suppose my reasons are similar to yours. I don't know you well enough to be more than generally indifferent to your existence."

"Thanks. I think."

"I don't like these restraints, but I am intelligent enough to understand where I would be without them. And it's rather refreshing to be around someone who doesn't hold ridiculous expectations about me."

"What do you mean?"

"The waterbender seems to think that I'll try to slaughter you all in your sleep if given half the chance. But that's preferable to the crazy notions that my brother and the Avatar have about changing me."

"So what is it that you want to do?" Toph asked.

"When I figure that out, you'll be the first to know," Azula said sarcastically, but Toph could tell that this question bothered the older girl more than she was willing to admit.

"I've been thinking about that about myself lately," Toph said. "I want to have a goal of my own. I like helping Aang with his earthbending, but that's helping with his goals, not mine. And it suddenly occurred to me that I had invented a new form of bending. That makes it my responsibility to turn it into a fighting style that can be taught to others like all the other bending arts."

"How does it work?" Azula asked.

The older girl didn't sound particularly interested in the subject, but Toph decided to answer anyway. She said, "Metal is just refined earth, and I am the world's greatest earthbender. Now, I can't bend metal directly just like I can't bend plants that grow out of soil, but I can bend the bits of earth contained in the metal."

"That sounds like it would take a lot of concentration," Azula said.

"It does," Toph replied. "Right now, it's hard for me to sense the earth bits unless I'm directly touching the metal or am really close to it. I'm working on it though."

"Are you close to mastering remote metalbending?" Azula asked curiously.

Toph shrugged. "Not even close. I'm trying to come up with some new forms that might help me get to the point where I can levitate metal just like I can with earth."

"I'm sure that won't be a problem for you," Azula said.

Toph could hear the envy in the older girl's voice, and she could sympathize with it. She knew what it was like to have her abilities restrained (though never literally like Azula) and to have her life under someone else's control. She had spent most of her life not being allowed to show off more than the most basic of earthbending techniques.

She had tried many times to show her parents what she could really do only to be scolded for attempting such 'dangerous' stunts. She had eventually given up and allowed herself to be cast in the role of the dutiful daughter that they had always wanted. Things between her and her parents were much better now, but she still remembered her painful realization that her parents didn't even want her to try being less helpless.

"Hey, are you busy right now?" Toph suddenly asked.

"My social calender isn't as full as it once was," Azula replied wryly. "I think that I can fit you in."

"I don't know if you know this, but Sokka and Suki are supposed to be back tomorrow. At least that's what Hawky says."

"I saw Zuzu organizing a banquet for tomorrow earlier today. He said that he wanted to celebrate all his friends getting together for once," Azula said. "What's your point? Did you want me to help you select an appropriate gift?"

Toph grinned at the distaste in Azula's voice. Then she replied, "Nothing like that. What I wanted to know was if you were willing to help me pull a prank on Sokka?"

"Let me get this straight," Azula said slowly. "You want me to help you make your friend feel foolish and victimized so that we may laugh at him?"

"Yes!"

"Where do we start?"

Zuko's eyes tried to adjust to the glare of the setting sun as he watched the airship head toward the landing pad. He would never admit it, but he was happy to be able to see the Water Tribe warrior again. It hadn't always been that way. In the past, he had regarded the boy as an idiot.

The problem was that idiot was always able to keep the Avatar and his friends one step ahead of him. It had been incredibly infuriating to be outwitted by someone he regarded as having more testosterone than brains. What type of fool tried to defend his village armed with only a boomerang and a spear?

A brave one. Watching him in action as the Boiling Rock had forced Zuko to admit that there was good reason for Sokka to be considered the strategist of the Avatar's group. Zuko smiled slightly at the memory of what happened after they had returned triumphant with Suki and Chief Hadooka. Katara had been overjoyed but had also spent the next two hours berating him and Sokka for not taking the rest of the group along with them on their rescue mission.

Zuko watched the war balloon land gently on the ground. He supposed that he should stop thinking of the flying machines as war balloons. Sokka had advocated for calling them 'zeppelins' (a word he made up by combining sounds that he liked), but Zuko thought that was a silly idea. Airship was probably a fine substitute.

"Sokka!" Katara cried as the boy in question stepped off the transport. He barely had a chance to spread his arms before he was literally tackled by his sister.

"Sokka, it's good to see you and Suki again," Zuko said trying to repress a grin and sound Fire Lord-like. He didn't think he was succeeding though.

"What, no hug for me?" Suki asked as she came up behind the siblings. To Zuko's surprise, the girl wasn't wearing her Kyoshi warrior garb but a normal green Earth Kingdom robe.

"Trust me, you don't want Sweetness hugging you," Toph said. "She leaves bruises. Isn't that right, Twinkletoes?"

"Rig- Wrong! I don't know what you're talking about!" Aang cried, looking left and right in a panic.

Katara released Sokka and looked at Aang with a concerned expression. She asked, "Am I hurting you with my hugs? Why didn't you say anything?"

"Bruising is an exaggeration. It's not a big deal. And, well, sometimes I like it..."

Sokka started making gagging noises. He waved his arms wildly as he yelled, "Ew! Stop it! I don't want to hear about this! I must bleach my brain!"

Suki put an arm on Sokka's shoulder and said, "Sokka, I don't think anything remotely dirty has been said here."

"Aren't you listening? Aang's a masochist!"

Zuko was about to step in to stop the unfolding chaos, but Azula beat him to it. She said, "You were right, Zuzu. He really is quite amusing."

Sokka turned toward the older girl with a frown. "Oh, hey, Azula."

Azula turned to Zuko with an amused expression. "Why are people never happy to see me?"

"It's quite a mystery," Zuko replied dryly.

Suki looked over at Azula and said flatly, "Long time no see, Princess. You seem to be doing well."

"Likewise."

Zuko found himself holding his breath. He wasn't worried about Suki. She was too mature and experienced a warrior to make a scene or let her emotions overcome her. He wasn't even worried about Azula. Even his egotistical sister could recognize that she wasn't in any condition to be provoking her former captive.

Sokka, on the other hand...

Crossing his arms, the young fighter gazed at Azula with a critical eye. He said, "I don't know, Suki. She doesn't look that well to me. Unless the starving refugee look is the new fad these days."

Azula smiled thinly. "The food at the institute didn't agree with me."

"Really? I wonder if it's anything like prison food. Suki, you wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?"

"Sokka..." Suki groaned, putting a hand to her face.

"I'm sensing some hostility here," Azula said to Zuko in a loud stage whisper.

"I see that your snide remarks are as clever as usual," Sokka said mockingly. Then his gaze sharpened. He said abruptly, "I think you owe Suki and me an apology."

Azula raised an eyebrow and replied, "For what? For defeating your girlfriend because I was better than her? For imprisoning an enemy of the Fire Nation? Or for making you think that I've mistreated her? Should I should also apologize for not allowing you to kill my father?"

Sokka regarded her with a stony expression. Then he said, "No, that would be childish. Being angry at you for acting like the enemy when that's exactly what you were would be absurd."

"Then what would the apology be for?" Azula asked.

"What I really want an apology for is..."

Zuko and the others leaned forward.

"...for you being a less than stellar hostess so far! Not only have you failed to greet us properly you haven't taken us to the banquet yet! I'm hungry!"

His stomach grumbled loudly as if on cue.

The tension in the air instantly dissipated. Zuko was aware that he was staring at Sokka slackjawed, but he couldn't help it.

Katara looked flabbergasted. "What was that...?"

Sokka was grinning widely. He said, "What? You thought I was going to get all 'murderously overprotective boyfriend'? Yeah, at first, I was upset when I got word that Zuko really went through with his crazy plan, but we've been traveling for weeks! Nobody can hold a grudge for that long!"

Toph jerked a thumb toward Zuko.

"He doesn't count."

Bowing to Sokka's insistence, the group started making their way toward the dining hall of the palace. Azula followed along with a thoughtful and slightly bemused expression.

Zuko hung back at the end and grabbed Sokka's arm as he passed by. He said in a low voice, "Thanks for not really blowing up back there."

Sokka looked at him seriously then he replied, "I've had some time to think about it. I don't like that your sister put Suki in prison, but then again I don't like what you did to her village."

Zuko winced. He realized with a guilty start that he had never apologized to the Kyoshi warrior for his actions. Nor had he ever apologized to Sokka for terrorizing the Southern Water Tribe's village.

"Sokka, I'm sorry. It never occurred to me-"

Sokka cut him off with a shake of his head. He said, "That's not the point I'm trying to make. Actions speak louder than words, Zuko. You've proven yourself to be a different person than who you were then. But you were only able to prove yourself after we gave you a chance. So I'm going to give Azula a chance to become the type of person who could apologize even if she never actually does."

Zuko was reminded once again why it wasn't a good idea to underestimate this young man.

"The worst thing Suki suffered at the Boiling Rock was terminal boredom," Sokka said, stretching his arms out. "It's lucky for Azula that she pretty much forgot about Suki and her girls after locking them up. Otherwise..."

Zuko was briefly chilled by the stark expression on Sokka's face, but then the boy grinned and ran off toward the palace after slapping Zuko on the back.

Rubbing the forming bruise on his back and shaking his head ruefully, Zuko followed in Sokka's wake. He was right. Underestimating Sokka was definitely a bad idea.

Please remember to review. Your feedback gives me motivation to write!

Author's Note: The good news is that I have finally found a job in this rough economy. The bad news is that this may put a delay in the production and updating of this story. But it also gives me an opportunity to take a breather and really consider where I want this story to go. Whatever happens, this story will continue and I hope you will continue to read along when it does.