Tikaani's POV:
"Isn't this when we meet Toph?" Red whispered as Sokka examined a green bag that was on display at a shop.
"Yeah." I nodded.
"It's pricy, but I really do like it." Sokka rubbed his chin as he examined it.
"Then you should get it, you deserve something nice." Katara agreed.
"I do, don't I?" Sokka changed his mind instantly. "But, no it's too expensive. I shouldn't." Sokka shook his head.
"Good, because it didn't match your belt anyway." Red piped up.
"Do you think it matches my belt?" I asked. My belt was white, just like Sokka's. Red nodded.
"Yes, it totally does!" She nodded vigorously. "You should get that purse!" She said, pointing towards the bag that Sokka had wanted to buy.
"You're right, I should." I swiped it right out from under Sokka's nose. Sokka gaped at me with a super depressed look as if he really had wanted to buy it. Red and I laughed.
"Who knows? This Master Yu could be the earthbending teacher you've been looking for." Katara was telling Aang just as Red, Sokka and I joined them. We waited outside until Aang's lesson was over. He came out still trying to knock dirt out of his ears.
"Eh, he's not the one." Aang sighed.
"I think The Boulder is going to win back the belt at Earth Rumble VI." An earthbending student said smugly to his buddy as they walked away.
"He's gonna have to fight his way through the best earthbenders in the world to even get a shot at the champ." The other student replied.
"Excuse me, but where is this earthbending tournament exactly?" Aang asked as they walked by. They both sneered.
"It's on the island of None'ya. None'ya business!" They laughed as they walked away. Sokka laughed.
"Oh, I gotta remember that one!" He chuckled.
"Come on Red. Let's show those guys." I snickered. Red and I ran after the guys as they walked into an empty alleyway. "Hey, strong guys, wait up!" We walked around the corner and they raised their eyebrows at us.
"We're not telling you, so you can forget it." One of them snapped.
"Oh really?" I prepared to freeze them in ice. Red put her hand up to stop me.
"I can take care of these guys." She whistled. Almost instantly a wolf bat jumped down from one of the roofs and bared its fangs at the boys. They leaped backwards in fright. Walnut was as big as they were.
"Are you ready to tell us now?" Red asked. They sung like a couple of canaries. We raced back to the others. "Are you ready to go to Earth Rumble IV?"
"How'd you get them to tell you?" Aang asked. Red smiled smugly. She let out a shrill whistle and Walnut dropped down beside her.
"Walt has a way with words." She snickered.
"Hey, front row seats! I wonder why no one else is sitting here." Aang mused, taking a seat. Suddenly a giant boulder flew out of the arena and landed right next to Sokka.
"I guess that's why." Sokka inferred.
"Welcome to Earth Rumble VI! I am your host Xin Fu!" A voice cheered from the center of the arena.
"This is going to be a bunch of guys chucking rocks at each other, isn't it?" Katara jeered. Sokka smiled.
"That's what I paid for!" He stated smugly.
"Boys." Red and I grumbled and rolled our eyes at the same time. We sat in boredom all night as The Boulder beat up a bunch of guys. Sokka cheered like a wild man. I was surprised he didn't have a sore throat yet.
"Now, the moment you've all been waiting for… The Boulder verses your champion The Blind Bandit!" Xin Fu announced. Red and I both leaped out of our seats. We were huge fans of Toph. I mean seriously, that girl kicks butt!
"She can't really be blind. Its just part of her character, right?" Katara asked skeptically. Red and I glared at her.
"Oh, she's blind all right. But she's the best earthbender in the world!" Red accidentally blurted out. Luckily, Sokka's cheering made it impossible for anyone to hear her.
"The Boulder feels conflicted about fighting a young, blind, girl." The Boulder really annoyed me when he continued to talk in the third person.
"Sounds to me like you're scared Boulder!" Toph snickered. Red and I burst into laughter.
"The Boulder is over his conflicted feelings and now he's ready to bury you in a rockalanche!" The Boulder shouted angrily.
"Whenever you're ready 'The Pebble.'" Toph laughed maniacally. Red and I mimicked her laughter. It took about two seconds for Toph to knock the Boulder out of the ring. It was the kind of moment that someone would miss if they blinked.
"Your winner, and still the champion, The Blind Bandit!" Xin Fu called. The crowd cheered. Red and I screamed. Sokka mourned for the Boulder's loss.
"How did she do that?" Katara inquired.
"She waited and listened." Aang mused in awe. Yes, Toph is the most amazing person ever.
"To make things a little more interesting, I'm offering up this sack of gold pieces to anyone who can defeat the blind bandit." Xin Fu challenged. Not one person stepped out of the crowd. "What? No one dares to face her?" Xin Fu jeered.
"I will!" Aang called. He walked into the ring.
"Go, Aang! Avenge The Boulder!" Sokka cheered.
"Do people really want to see two little girls fighting out here?" Toph jeered.
"I don't really want to fight you. I want to talk to you." Aang confessed.
"Boo, no talking!" Sokka booed lousily. Katara slapped his arm, Red punched his shoulder and I elbowed him in the gut.
"Somebody's a little light on his feet. What's your fighting name, The Fancy Dancer?" Toph jested. Aang smiled and shrugged. Toph pushed him into the air with another earthbending move. He used his airbending to land safely on the other side of the ring.
"Please, wait!" Aang tried.
"There you are!" Toph exclaimed. She shot a huge boulder at him. He airbended it aside and accidentally blasted Toph out of the ring. The crowd cheered in disbelief. Aang raced after Toph.
"Please, wait! I need an earthbending teacher and I think it's supposed to be you!" Aang begged.
"Whoever you are, just leave me alone!" Toph snapped. She earthbended herself an exit before walking out.
"Wait!" Aang called, but he couldn't earthbend yet. He sadly walked back to the ring and accepted the belt, along with his sack of money. We walked away from Earth Rumble VI and made our way back to the campsite. On the way there, Red and I plotted. We both snickered at one another.
"So he's a little bit of a fixer upper…" Red whispered.
"But this we're certain of…" I replied in another whisper.
"You can fix this fixer upper with a little bit of love!" We both whispered it at the same time. I snickered.
"Time to make Taang a reality." I plotted. Red and I were both Taangers. We ship Toph and Aang all the way!
"Too bad we can't make Zutara happen." Red mumbled.
"No way. Zuko's mine." I defended. "How would you like it if I made your boy fall in love with Katara?"
"I know, I know, but if Zuko isn't going to end up with Katara and Aang isn't going to end up with Katara, then who is?" Red scratched her chin. Suddenly, her eyes widened.
"What is it?" I asked. I couldn't think of a single person who could end up with Katara. I tried to read Red's mind, but not even RWBFFATs could do that.
"Riker!" Red shouted. I covered her mouth and looked at the others. They didn't seem to have heard her. I let go of Red's mouth. "Sorry… I mean Ryuu. It will be just like Zutara, too! Let's call it Rytara!" Red beamed.
"So you think my carefree brother is going to end up with bossy Katara?" I raised an eyebrow. "You're crazy. I asked him who his favorite female character was one time. His answer was 'definitely not Katara.'"
"Its just an idea." Red reasoned. "Think about it, okay?"
"Hey, Aang, wake up!" Red yelled loudly. Aang shot out of bed.
"But I don't want any penguins!" Aang exclaimed, gripping his head tightly. I raised an eyebrow and he tried to pretend that nothing happened. "I mean… good morning, guys!" Aang stretched.
"Okay, we'll talk about the penguin dream later…" I muttered uneasily. I shook my head to clear it. "Red and I got up early and asked around. We know where The Blind Bandit lives."
"You do?" Aang asked, sitting up.
"True shaz." Red nodded slowly.
"That's great!" He jumped out of bed and blasted Sokka and Katara with air to wake them up. "Come on guys, get up! Red and Tikaani found out where the Blind Bandit lives!"
After Sokka and Katara woke up, we led Aang to the house with the flying boar symbol by the entrance. We hid out in the bushes and snuck over to the wall of the estate. Aang easily airbended into the garden, Red climbed over the wall faster than a spider monkey. I had to have Sokka and Katara boost me up because of my poor climbing skills. We lurked around the garden, but suddenly the earth under us shifted upwards, sending us flying through the air. We all landed in bushes except for Sokka who hit the ground hard.
"What are you doing here twinkle toes?" Toph asked with a sneer.
"Aw, you sound so adorable!" Red cooed. Toph pointed at Red with narrowed eyes, but she didn't turn her head away from Aang.
"Who are you calling adorable, canyon crawler?" Toph snapped. I looked at Red. Such an insult would usually offend her. I could tell by the look on her face that she just seemed excited that Toph had given her a nickname. "How did you find me?" Toph asked Aang when Red didn't reply.
"Well a crazy king told me I had to find an earthbender who listens to the earth. And then I had a vision in a magic swamp and-" Aang blurted out. Red facepalmed and I shared her aggravated feelings.
"What Aang is trying to say is he's the avatar and if he doesn't master earthbending soon, he won't be able to defeat the Fire Lord." Katara explained.
"Not my problem!" Toph snapped. "Get out of here before I call the guards!"
"It will be, eventually." I argued. "The Fire Nation army is going to keep spreading throughout the Earth Kingdom."
"Exactly. We all have to do our part to end this war." Sokka added. "And yours is to teach Aang earthbending."
"Guards! Guards, help!" Toph cried. The three of us ran to hide. As soon as we were over the wall and out of sight, three guards ran around the corner of the bush.
"Toph, what happened?" The first guard asked as he ran over to make sure she was all right.
"I thought I heard someone." She whispered innocently. "I got scared."
"You know your father doesn't want you wandering outside without supervision, Toph." The second guard scolded lightly. They walked off. We all looked at each other.
"Let's try a more direct approach." Red suggested. "Let's just walk up to the front gates and ask to talk with her parents."
The Beifong's invited us in for dinner. Afterwards, we were lounging around our room. Aang had just caused a huge mess at the dinner table by sneezing and he'd gotten into an argument with Toph.
"Goodnight buddy." Aang whispered as he scratched Appa's head. He looked at the doorway to see Toph standing there and he screamed before entering a fighting stance.
"Relax. Look, I'm sorry about dinner. Let's call a truce, okay?" Toph suggested with a hint of boredom in her voice. Aang left his fighting stance. He nodded and walked towards Toph. The two of them left the room. Red nudged me with her elbow.
"Ready to go play matchmaker?" Red whispered. I nodded. "We have to go spy on- I mean use the bathroom." Red told Katara and Sokka in a way that didn't sound suspicious at all. We left the room and followed the two lovebirds. Red found a pipa in a closet on the way there. We hid under the garden bridge as the lovebirds walked by. "Play something!" Red ordered. I snickered.
"POUR SOME SUGAR ON-" I began to screech. Red snatched the pipa out of my hands and banged me on the head with it. "Ow!" I complained.
"Seriously? Something soft!" Red ordered. I peered out to see if Toph and Aang had noticed. Aang was looking around with wide eyes; Toph was snickering and almost laughing. "Never mind, I'll play something." Red grumbled. She strummed the pipa in a light, humble note. "Wasn't really thinking, wasn't looking, wasn't searching, for an answer in the moonlight, when I saw your face…"
The date in the moonlight was actually going pretty well. Until Xin Fu and those other crazy earthbenders showed up. They kidnapped Aang and Toph. We ran for help and all that. When we brought everyone back, we showed them the note that Xin Fu and The Boulder left there. Katara read it aloud, as neither Red nor I could read Japanese.
"If you want to see your daughter again, bring five hundred gold pieces to the arena." Katara read. "It's signed Xin Fu and The Boulder.
"I can't believe it…" Sokka whispered in disbelief. He swiped the letter out of Katara's hands. "I have The Boulder's autograph!" He cried excitedly.
"Seriously, Sokka? Aang just got kidnapped and you are excited about The Boulder's autograph?" Red criticized. "Fie on thee!"
"Here's your stupid money!" I dropped the sack of gold on the ground and Master Yu pushed it towards Xin Fu with his earthbending. "Now let Aang and Toph go!" I demanded. He motioned for them to lower Toph's cage after counting the money. Toph ran over to her father and hugged him.
"What about Aang?" Katara asked. Xin Fu smiled.
"I think the Fire Nation will pay a hefty price for the avatar." Xin Fu reasoned, showing us a wanted poster of Aang. "Now get out of my ring!" He ordered, his eyes narrowing in anger. Immediately afterwards, six earthbenders- including Hippo and The Boulder- leaped into the ring.
"Go, I'll be okay." Aang urged. Sokka and Katara backed out of the ring. Red and I exchanged a glance before sighing and deciding to follow. Katara walked over to the exit and called in after Toph.
"Toph, there's too many of them. We need an earthbender. We need you!" She urged. Lao, Toph and Master Yu stopped and turned around.
"My daughter is blind." Lao spat. "She is blind and tiny and helpless and fragile! She cannot help you!" Toph pulled her hand out of her father's and turned to face us.
"Yes. I can." She argued, walking towards us. We followed her back into the arena. Lao and Master Yu nervously took their seats. "Let him go! I beat you all before and I'll do it again!"
"The Boulder takes issue with that comment!" The Boulder growled. Hippo dropped Aang's cage. All the earthbenders began to race towards us. Katara, Red, Sokka and I all rushed forward, but Toph held out her arms to stop us.
"Wait! They're mine." Toph smiled maliciously. We stepped back and let her handle the earthbenders while we tried to help Aang escape. Katara and I sliced the bottom of the crate open with waterbending. Then we all sat and watched as Toph knocked out three more earthbenders. Toph cleared the dust. The only earthbender left was Xin Fu. Xin Fu entered a fighting stance. Toph spat onto the ground and I saw her father wince from his place in the stands.
The two earthbenders circled one another. Xin Fu started by firing five Toph-sized boulders at the young girl. She created a triangular wall of earth to reflect the boulders. She sent half of her earth wall forward. Xin Fu leaped sideways. He shoved his hand into the floor of the arena to break his fall before sending another boulder her way. Toph swerved just in time to avert a boulder to her… everywhere. As soon as the danger had passed, Toph shoved Xin Fu out of the ring with a powerful earthbending move.
"She's the greatest earthbender I've ever seen!" Master Yu exclaimed in awe.
"Dad, I know it's probably hard for you to see me this way, but the obedient little helpless blind girl that you think I am just isn't me. I love fighting. And I love being an earthbender. And I'm really, really good at it!" Toph explained to her parents. "I know I've kept my life secret from you, but you were keeping me secret from the whole world. You were doing it to protect me. But I'm twelve years old and I've never had a real friend. So now that you see who I really am, I hope it doesn't change how you feel about me." She finished.
"Of course it doesn't change the way I feel about you, Toph. It's made me realize something." Lao admitted.
"It has?" Toph seemed excited.
"Yes." Lao shook his head slowly. "I've let you have far too much freedom. From now one you will be cared for and guarded twenty four hours a day."
"But dad-" Toph protested. Poppy interrupted her.
"We are doing this for your own good, Toph." She convinced.
"Please escort the avatar and his friends out. They are no longer welcome here."
"I'm sorry, Toph…" Aang apologized as we began to leave.
"I'm sorry too." She whispered. "Goodbye Aang…" Red and I looked at each other sadly. We looked back at Toph to see tears slowly trickling down her cheeks. None of us said a word until we reached the campsite. We began to pack everything onto Appa.
"Don't worry. We'll find you a teacher." Katara coaxed. "There are plenty of amazing earthbenders out there."
"Not like her." Aang sighed.
"She's the greatest earthbender in the world." I agreed. Red nodded slowly.
"Ain't that the truth…" She agreed. We climbed into Appa's saddle. Sokka didn't even seem to care. We were about to fly away when I heard someone coming. Aang must have heard it too, because he turned his head to look in the direction that the noise was coming from. Toph ran up over the hill.
"Toph! What are you doing here?" Aang wondered.
"My dad changed his mind. He said I was free to travel the world." She informed.
"Well we better get out of here. Before your dad changes his mind again." Sokka smiled.
"Good idea." Toph agreed.
"You're going to be a great teacher Toph." Aang complimented. Toph hopped onto Appa's saddle and we rode into the sunset night.