My Superman - Santogold

"Toph's going to help me with my earth bending!" Keito announced excitedly as the two returned to camp. Toph followed more slowly, pushing a huge bundle of logs in front of her in a sort of wheelbarrow of earth.

"That's great!" Sokka replied sarcastically. "Now I can experience more earthquakes a day!"

"Oh. I hadn't thought of that," Keito said.

Toph walked past Keito and dumped the logs by Sokka, shaking her head at him. "Don't mind Sokka," she told Keito. "He just likes to complain."

Sokka nodded. "That is true." He set about starting a fire, glancing at Toph and Keito from the corner of his eye. Toph installed herself on the ground and scratched her belly lazily, ignoring Keito. For his part, Keito seemed a little surprised by her behavior, but he didn't say anything, and he didn't stop looking at her, Sokka noticed. He shrugged and started on supper.

"I hope you're a sucker for punishment," Sokka said.

"Me?" Keito asked, pointing to himself.

Sokka nodded. "If Toph is as nice to you as she was to Aang when she was his teacher, she'll try to have you in tears by the end of the first day."

Toph snorted. "I never made Twinkletoes cry," she said. She turned towards Keito and smiled, though Sokka wasn't convinced by that smile. "I'm much nicer now; I've mellowed out in my old age," she told him. "Besides, I'm sure you'll understand me better; after all you're already an earthbender."

Sokka twitched when he heard this. Toph tilted her head when she noticed this. Was he still worried about his lack of bending? She thought about telling him not to worry about it, but she thought if she tried that, it would only make it worse. If she was right about him that is. Well, she was never any good at comforting people anyway. She let it pass. Sokka could take care of himself.

She decided they might as well start lessons right after supper. Give Sokka time to work on his diary. "Come on then, let's see what you can do."

Keito nodded and followed Toph to a clearing nearby. "Show me," she said, and he took up his stance. She frowned before he even started – his feet were still too close together – but she didn't say anything. Maybe that was just his way of doing things. Of all people, she could understand bending in a different style.

Keito went through a basic routine for her, which she watched silently until he finished. He was nervous, but that wasn't a good excuse for how bad he was.

"Is that it?" she asked, once he had stopped jumping around and kicking up dust. Keito's heart jumped in his chest and he nodded.

Toph shook her head. "Well, I'm just glad that you're not the best in your family," she said. "That would be terrible."

Keito laughed feebly. "I know I'm no good," he said apologetically.

"That doesn't matter," Toph replied. "Aang couldn't even do anything when we first met. Do your sisters earthbend too?" she asked, thinking of her own childhood.

"Yes, and they're all much better than me," Keito replied.

"Ah well, that's good. Now, first things first – your stance is awful," she said. She walked up to Keito and told him to take his stance. Once he had taken up his stance she kicked his feet out so that he was standing with them further apart. "The closer to the ground the better. You have to be stronger than the earth; your stance has to be strong."

Keito nodded. "Right. I see."

"Bend your knees, ok… Now stay like that until I tell you to stop," Toph said. Keito nodded and she went back to the fire.

"Sokka, have you made tea yet?" she asked when she got there. Keito called after her, but she turned and repeated her instructions and he was quiet.

Sokka had been lying on his side, but he sat up and squinted at her. "You're not teaching Keito?" he asked.

"I am. Are you going to make tea or should I?"

"I will. What would you like?"

"Ginseng please," she said. Sokka took the tea tins out of his bag and stared at them in dismay – the labels had rubbed off in his bag. He opened them and tried to figure out which tea was which, but he couldn't tell.

"It's the one on the right," Toph said at last, noticing his confusion.

Sokka peered at Toph. "Your sense of smell too?"

Toph tilted her head to the side. She hadn't noticed her sense of smell being so good, but now that he mentioned it, it was strange that she had been able to tell which tin was ginseng, just from smelling it, and across the fire. She held out her hand for the tin to double check. She was right.

"It must be from spending so much time in Iroh's teashop. I guess I really am a superhero," she said.

Sokka looked past her to where he could make out Keito's form, squatting and staring at the sky, trying not to fall over. "More like a super villain I think," he said.