I wasn't sure whether or not I was going to Mai and Suki, but I thought they deserved a moment with our dear Toph. I mean, they're on Team Avatar too. Anyway, since Mai, Suki, and Toph have barely ever interacted,I decided to write their chapter on the one thing the three of them do have in common:

Fighting.

Just some random stuff, but some connection between the three of them, because I think they deserve it.

Next chapter's Aang. Then Toph goes back to Oma and Shu. And then one last surprise chapter, and then this fic will be complete.

Thanks for the follows, favorites, and reviews! :D

DISCLAIMER - I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender, and give all rights to the amazing people who do.

Toph had never realized how beautiful the ocean was.

Then again, she'd never know what anything looked like. The Gaang had packed up again and flown to a new spot – a spot by the ocean. It reminded Toph of Ember Island – the sand in her feet, the sea breeze blowing in her face, the sound of seagulls flying from above. She never realized how vast and stunning the ocean was. She almost wanted to dive in and go for a swim.

Almost.

Everybody was having a great time. Aang and Katara were swimming, surfing the waves on slabs of ice, laughing and trying to shove each other off. Sokka and Zuko were fighting – broadsword VS space sword. Even though Zuko had accidentally gotten a slice of Sokka's chin last time, Sokka was ready for a rematch. Mai and Suki were playing volleyball. Toph was laying the sand, staring up at the sky. The sky was a bright, harsh blue. There wasn't a cloud in sight.

"Hey, Toph." It was Suki's voice. "Want to play?"

Toph lifted her head. Volleyball was a game Toph hated, considering she could never see the ball in the air. Soccer – football, it was formally called – was something more her style.

"I don't know," Toph said dubiously. "I've never played before."

"We'll teach you," Suki said, her smile bright and her eyes twinkling. "You and me against Mai. That'll be evenly matched."

Toph stared at the two girls. Both of them were a couple of years older than her, and she had nothing in common with either of them. Still, they were her friends, even if they weren't close.

"I suppose I'll try."

Toph joined sides with Suki, while she and Mai explained the game. It seemed easy enough. Suki served the ball into the air. Mai hit it back. It was coming straight for Toph.

Toph heard it coming before she saw it. She jumped into the air and struck the ball across the other side, straight down into the earth.

"Is that how you spike?" Toph asked.

Suki's jaw dropped. Even Mai looked impressed.

"That's exactly how," Suki responded, smiling.

So it turned out volleyball was pretty easy for Toph. Usually she sucked at dealing with things at the air, but Toph had been trying to train herself to sense things. She combined all of her senses – plus her newfound sight – to play the game. And she was rocking.

Pretty soon it was Suki and Mai against Toph. Even then, Toph was still winning. She kicked and punched and spiked and everything else in-between. When she'd finally won, Mai and Suki were exhausted. They lay on the ground, panting, staring up at the sky, and then at her.

Toph smiled. "I think I like volleyball," she decided.

Mai sighed. "Remind me to put you on our team next time we play at Ember Island."

"Wow, they're really getting into it."

Suki pointed to Sokka and Zuko, who were still engaged in furious combat. Zuko swung his broadswords rapidly, using their combined effort to fend Sokka off. Sokka was defending exceedingly well, and pretty soon he had his boomerang out, and was attacking Zuko from behind. Zuko was at a sideways stance, blocking the sword from the front, and the boomerang from behind.

"Hey, Toph," Suki said. "Want to learn to fight like us non-benders?"

Toph looked at the two of them. "Do you really want to put a sword into my hands?"

The idea seemed scary enough. An overly-aggressive, new-to-seeing, ex-earthbender swinging a sword around.

"Please," Mai said, rolling her eyes. "Big old swords? We're talking small, and deadly."

Suki slipped her fans from her belt. Mai pulled out her throwing daggers. Toph grinned.

"Count me in."

Turns out learning how to throw knives was much more complicated than learning how to play volleyball.

The three girls hiked up into the jungle by the beach, and stopped at one of the largest trees they could find. Suki and Mai demonstrated their knife throwing. Both of them threw with deadly accuracy – hitting the same mark on the tree each time.

Toph tried Suki's fans, but they were a bit bulky. She threw them awkwardly and they didn't even reach the tree. She could throw pretty far with Mai's knives, but she had a hard time hitting her mark. Toph was getting frustrated.

"Try these," Suki suggested.

She pulled out two small, sharp daggers from her beach bag. Why she had them in her beach bag, Toph had no idea, but then again – this was team Avatar. The knives were about the size of Toph's hand, and they balanced with her perfectly.

"Keep your eye on the target," Mai said in her monotonic voice.

"Make everything around it disappear," Suki continued. "Just focus on the tree. And don't bring your elbow so far back. It throws off your aim."

Toph took the girl's advice, and threw the knife as hard as she could. It swiveled in the air, and grazed the edge of the tree – the closest she'd ever gotten.

"Not bad," Mai said, doing an anti-climactic clap. "You're doing better than Zuko when I taught him."

"Maybe get into a stance," Suki suggested. "I mean, we all have different stances. Mai does it like a firebender. I do it the way like the Kyoshi warriors were taught.

Earthbending moves, Toph realized. Duh, why didn't I think of that before?

Toph steadied in her "horse stance," the stance she'd taught herself when she first learned to earthbend. She drew the knife back and took a strong step forward. Instead of punching a rock, like she usually did, Toph threw the knife. It swirled in the air, and then lodged itself right in its mark – right where Mai and Suki had been hitting.

Suki's jaw dropped. Even Mai looked surprised.

"That was incredible!" Suki said, clapping her hands. "I've never seen someone pick knife-throwing up so easily. How did you do that?"

"Earthbending," Toph said, grinning. "Pretty much the way I got through life."

The girls gathered their weapons and continued to practice. Suki showed Toph how to throw it like a Frisbee. Mai showed her a firebender's stance. The three of them threw knives for about an hour, when Mai suggested that they teach her how to fight with them.

"I don't know about that," Toph said. "I'm still new to seeing, and I usually fight with earthbending."

"This will be your only chance to learn," Suki said quietly. "Why don't you give it a try?"

So she did.

Mai and Suki taught her the basics, how to swipe and duck and block. Toph picked it up quite easily, but she knew the others were going easy on here. Mai and Suki had a weird way of fighting. They seemed to be tiptoeing around her, flipping and sliding, avoiding and evading. Toph was finding it extremely difficult to do their stances and moves.

Toph stopped for a moment, holding up her knives. "You guys aren't fighting like earthbenders. Or firebenders. What…what in the world are you doing?"

Mai sighed gloomily. "Even though you can conjoin bending martial arts with knife fighting…"

"Knife fighting is completely different than bending fighting," Suki said. "The idea is to be quick and agile. Light on your feet. Slip around your opponent, and strike when he's least expecting it."

"Kind of like the way Twinkletoes fights," Toph said, wiping the sweat off her forehead. "He's light on his feet. He always avoids and evades. You guys almost fight like airbenders."

Suki shrugged. "Kyoshi was the Avatar. Maybe she mixed in some airbending moves with it."

"That's why it's difficult," Toph said, shaking her head. "My way of fighting is to be strong and steady, rooted to the ground. Rock-like. This light-on-your-feet Twinkletoes nonsense is…weird."

Mai did a dull chuckle. "Combine them both, like I did. I stay light on your feet, but use move like a firebender, the way I was taught."

Toph finally put it together. She stayed strong and rooted to the round, but she was low and quick. She moved decisively, slipping around her opponents, and throwing moves at them as she did. Mai and Suki fought back, and pretty soon the three of them were exhausted. They collapsed on the ground.

Toph panted, wiping the sweat off her face again. "Thanks you guys," she said after a moment of silence.

"For what?" Mai grumbled.

"For teaching me volleyball, and how to fight. It's hard to do some things when you only see with your feet. I know I'll never get the chance to do this again. I appreciate it."

Suki smiled. "No problem, Toph."

A sneaky idea crept into Toph's mind. "Now, how about I show you guys something?"

"What?" Mai asked.

Toph took off her belt, and tied it around Suki like a blindfold. "Let's fight my way, this time."

Mai and Suki were dubious, but Toph managed to coax the two of them into it. She taught them how to enhance their other sense – sight, smell, feel. While they were learning, Toph snuck up behind them and attacked. At first she clobbered them. But after a while, they seemed to pick it up. They dodged her attacks, and soon were fighting back – even with a blindfold on.

Even though they didn't have much in common, Toph felt so comfortable with Suki and Mai. When they realized it was getting late, the three of them headed back to the others. They laughed as they walked back, cracking jokes about things and making bets on who won – Sokka or Zuko.

Three girls.

Three fighters.

Three friends.