Major thanks for SaoirseParisa for reviewing both previous chapters. She also gave me some interesting views on how to proceed with this story. Things are still a bit slow, but will pick up this chapter. I want to emphasize the background and motivations of the characters before getting into the conflicts. You should see more of that here, so get ready to dive in.

Michael DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko own Avatar.

It didn't take a genius to tell that Toph was in a sour mood today. Kori could see how Toph's body tightened and her fists clenched with every move. There was no doubt that Toph was here for another music session with Kori, and luckily the latter did make some progress with editing the song. But with how Toph acted today, Kori could only hope that whatever she had would meet the blind earth bender's expectations.

Oddly enough, Haru and Teo did not join them today. Instead, Toph asked Kori to invite Sneers. This was somewhat odd, as Sneers did not have a musical background. He did not take part in writing the song or singing any verse of it. It made the older earth bender wonder why her boyfriend was here. "So, what's on the agenda?" she queried, rubbing the back of her neck.

Toph exhaled again, letting her breath blow at her bangs. She was seated on the couch while Kori was on the piano bench. The latter's back was to the keys, facing her shorter friend. Sneers pulled a kitchen stool over and placed it next to the piano, plopping down on it and eyeing both earth benders nervously. "And why exactly am I called today?" he inquired as well.

Toph slapped her hands on her thighs. "Well, let's just say my dear old father decided to up the ante," she explained, sitting up a bit straighter, "He now wants us to add a music video to it. That means we'll have to get this song done, and then do it to video."

Kori and Sneers glanced at each other nervously, completely caught off guard by this news. While they were eager to keep the progress moving, they knew next to nothing about doing a music video. "Have you thought about any themes to the video?" Kori asked, "I mean, worst case scenario is we record ourselves doing the song at Chong's studio."

"The less we say about Chong, the better," Toph retorted, jabbing a finger in Kori's direction, "I really doubt his input into our song, and the last thing we want is him adding all sorts of weird stuff in our video. This will make things go from bad to worse in a hurry."

"I don't know. Kori told me that Chong knows interpretive dance. Maybe that can come in handy for our video," Sneers suggested, rubbing his chin in thought, "Besides, with the project now expanding, shouldn't we include more ideas from different sources?"

Toph turned her finger at the chubby young man, waving it dismissively in his face. "I will allow it if it has something to do with disabilities, and up to this point Chong still hasn't shown he knows about disabilities," the blind earth bender lectured, "Besides, we already have Aang, Katara, Ty Lee, and Suki learning some dance moves. I'm leaving that in their hands, and let them incorporate whatever they learn at the dance studio into the music video."

Kori and Sneers glanced at each other again. Even though they were used to Toph's irascible nature, she really seemed more irritable than usual. They weren't sure if it was the expanded project that got to her, but they hoped this would not affect the end product or their friendship. "So how do you want us to proceed?" Kori wondered aloud.

"We will focus completely on the melody today," Toph decided, standing up from the couch and marching closer to the piano, "We are really close to getting it done, but I still feel like there are bits and pieces missing. So I want us to go over the whole thing right now, even with the lyrics incomplete, and see where we're heading from here."

Kori pursed her lips, a feeling of discomfort washing over her body. After all, the verses Haru and Teo had to do were rap, and her background music really couldn't fit without the words. Moreover, it still didn't explain why Sneers was here, as he still had no defined role so far. There were talks earlier that Sneers would represent learning disabilities, but it remained to be seen how that would fit into the grand scheme.

Stretching her arms, Kori turned her body around to face the piano. She wiggled her fingers a few times just to loosen them before placing them on the keys. She had rehearsed this song multiple times, to the point where even her busy parents could memorize the notes and chorus. Kori played the notes again, letting Toph sing the first chorus alone. Kori wasn't supposed to enter the song until the second time the chorus was played. That meant she had an entire verse of pure music with no rap lyrics to play through before she got to sing.

But before Kori could play through the entire first verse, Toph tapped her on the shoulder. "I recall the lyrics for this part, and I have the initial recording from Haru and Teo performing that," she pointed out, trotting back to the couch to retrieve her laptop. She gave some voice commands to open the audio file, and before long the rap lyrics filled the air. "I don't know about you, but I feel like the piano keys are just too plain."

Kori stared incredulously at Toph, as this was not brought up before. They had always felt the piano background was fine, but was Toph now suggesting in adding another instrument? "You realize nobody other than Aang can play an instrument, right?" Kori stated.

Toph nodded. "But we don't have to hold the notes as long in this verse. We can even repeat a few notes, just to make them shorter," the younger earth bender articulated, "And yes, I do think an extra instrument or two may work here. We don't have to use it in the first verse, but for the second chorus when you start singing, we should definitely add something."

"What type of instruments do you want to add to the second chorus? I don't know if anyone knows how to play anything fancy," Sneers responded, rubbing his hands anxiously on his round face, "Unless you want Chong's band to get involved or something. Chong plays the guitar and one of the members, Moku I believe, can play drums."

Toph shook her head and waved a finger at Sneers again. "Those guys are only coming in as a last resort. I want to avoid them as much as I can," Toph exclaimed, "I'll leave that to you guys to come up with an answer, but definitely add a bass guitar or drums in the chorus. I don't think the current sound will go well at the live performance."

Kori pursed her lips again. She should be used to Toph's bossiness by now, given how blunt and direct she tended to be. Kori had a fiery streak herself, especially when Sneers was still hanging out with Jet's gang. It took her immense efforts before she convinced Sneers to cut those guys loose. But she also knew part of that was due to Sneers having little confidence in himself, mainly due to his learning disability causing him to struggle academically. Kori encouraged Sneers as much as she could, but right now she wasn't sure if Toph was interested in the same.

Shaking her head, Kori focused on the second chorus. This time, she sang the lyrics with Toph, figuring out what places to add in some new instruments. Despite Toph's harsh tone, Kori did see potential in adding some new sounds in here. Unlike Toph, Kori was still willing to give Chong's band the benefit of the doubt. Suki did try her best in establishing that connection, and the least Kori could do was let them give suggestions. "We don't have to use everything they propose, but at least give them a chance," Kori murmured to herself.

"Anyway, let's keep this moving. I have to visit Haru and Teo later today," Toph's voice interjected Kori's train of thought, "I want to see their updates on the rap parts, and also what proposed role the Duke will have in our show. In the meantime, you and Sneers should look more into those other instruments that we can include in the song, okay?"

Toph could not blame Haru and Teo entirely for wanting to meet outdoors. In an early spring day like this, with the weather getting warmer and sunnier, it was hard to resist being outside. And this was where she found herself, sitting at a picnic table at Republic City Park. Haru was seated across from her, and Teo was at one end of the table in his wheelchair. "And I'm guessing your guest is running late?" Toph dryly remarked.

Both Haru and Teo checked their phones, trying to find the text where the Duke told them when he would arrive. This was someone who they got along with in the past, but didn't always visit or see. While the Duke didn't purposely set himself apart and away from their group, it was just that they grew apart. Haru and Teo were the only two who kept in touch with the Duke on a regular basis, as everyone else had only sporadic communication. "He still remembers most of us, including you," Teo pointed out.

Toph blew at the bangs dangling before her forehead again. "I know, and that's because I'm one of the few who had contacted him sporadically," the blind earth bender retorted, feeling her irritation return, "You two maintained more consistent contact with him, so I'm relying totally on you guys. Are you sure he wants to get involved in this project?"

Haru pursed his lips and sent another text. He understood the original goal of getting the Duke involved, but it seemed like Toph was really overboard for this. "I'm sure he's sincere about it," the older earth bender replied, "Don't forget how shy Duke can be. Just getting him to commit to this is already a huge step for him."

Teo nodded. "When Jet and his gang picked on him, part of it was because he used to speak with a stutter when he was younger," the paraplegic explained, rubbing his hands on the handlebars of his wheelchair again, "Duke said until around second or third grade, his stutter was so pronounced that he could barely string three words together. He really worked on it and by the time we met him, he could speak a lot better. He's really come a long way, you know."

Toph raised a finger at the two friends. "There's a difference between someone lacking confidence and someone being a snivelling flunky," she asserted, stabbing her digit in the air, "Before I picked up earth bending, I had no confidence. I was seen as a weak and fragile little girl who had to adhere to Mom and Dad all the time. But one thing I didn't do was give up, and now I'm the greatest earth bender of all time. It means making an effort and taking that first step, which I'm starting to doubt about your friend if he's still not here. So will he show, or not?"

Fortunately, the temperature dropped when the Duke finally appeared. He looked a lot different than when they first met him years ago. Back then, the Duke had a round and chubby face and wore a ball cap religiously. Now he was much taller with much more defined facial features. He no longer wore a hat, revealing short black hair trimmed close to his scalp. He had a beige button down shirt with a green fleece vest, and brown cargo pants. He was the youngest of the bunch, only in his first year of high school, but his growth was prominent here. "Hey, Toph," he greeted the blind earth bender, "It's good to see you again."

"I wish I can say the same, but you all know I can't see," Toph muttered, waving her hands before her eyes. Feeling the vibrations from her sandaled feet, Toph could tell that the Duke sat himself next to Haru, on the opposite side of Teo. Turning to face the newcomer, she asked, "Did Haru and Teo tell you what's going on? What are your thoughts about the project?"

The Duke glanced nervously at Haru, who updated everyone on the discussions. "Duke knows that this is a project about those with disabilities, and that includes learning disabilities," he described, "We want this to be representative of everybody who may have these issues, but showcase this as a way to look beyond them. It's about see the true person underneath, sort of like Toph when you go past her blindness. That's why she's taken the lead on this project."

The Duke lipped his lips nervously. While he did admire Toph for all the things she did, it showed him how pale his life was compared to hers. "So how do you want me to contribute?" the Duke asked, clasping and unclasping his hands, "I'm not exactly musical, so…"

"And none of us are either, except for Aang and Kori," Toph retorted, cutting off the Duke midway, "But you don't see any of us making excuses. If anything, it's because this is about disabilities that we should work even harder to make this good. So are you in or out?"

The Duke bit his lower lip, not quite sure how to react. He knew about Toph's mean streak, but it seemed meaner than usual. Even Haru and Teo were surprised at how Toph took to the Duke. Sensing tension, Haru decided to intervene. "Duke, why don't we go over the most important thing first, which is the lyrics?" the male earth bender suggested, pulling out his papers, "I have a rap verse, and so does Teo. Maybe you can get involved in editing?"

Before long, the Duke got into the lyrics of the song. Luckily, both Teo and Toph brought laptop computers, meaning they could play the original versions and the updated revisions. While the Duke did not provide much input, he still commented whenever he could. One thing that helped was that the Duke intentionally slowed down his speech. The Duke's teachers taught him to read aloud, even when alone, just to improve his speech fluency and overcome his stutter.

Turning back to the lyrics, the Duke's slower reading and pronunciation style allowed Haru and Teo to pick up certain things in their rap lyrics. Whether it was an issue with words that didn't flow well, or changing certain syllables to make the song smoother, the Duke's experience in coping with stuttering as a child really helped. In an afternoon, Haru and Teo cleaned up the lyrics significantly, leading to more polished verses. "What did we tell you?" Teo pointed out, "You can contribute even without any musical background!"

The Duke gave a weak smile, his confidence returning once more. He took a glance at Toph, who only sat with her sandaled feet perched on the table. The blind earth bender tapped a finger on her lips, not saying a word about any of this. It made the Duke wonder if this meant Toph just wasn't sure, or if she was displeased about this. With how blunt Toph was earlier, he hoped she wouldn't erupt on him again. He wasn't an earth bender, let alone a lava bender!

Finally, Toph turned to the Duke's direction. Taking her feet off the table, Toph sat upright again, clasping her hands before her on the table. It was a drastic change from her usual nonchalant style, as Toph now looked and sounded all business. "I'm glad we got all that done, and the finished product is definitely more polished than before," she stated, her voice curt and direct, "But we still have to combine this with Kori's product. She is still editing the music, and she said she might go back to Chong and his merry gang for advice."

Haru and Teo glanced at each other apprehensively. They knew how Toph reacted to Chong last time, when she nearly levelled the recording studio. They didn't know what magic Kori pulled to convince Toph to give Chong another chance, but at least something was done. They made a mental note to contact Kori later on, but something about Toph still made them believe that she was unsatisfied with something. Rarely did Toph go from nonchalant to totally business-like this quickly, so something must be grating on her.

But the group didn't have time to find out, as Toph closed her laptop and stuffed it into her bag. "I think that's all we'll deal with today. I have to talk to a bunch of others first," the blind earth bender declared, pushing herself off the table. Turning one last time to the Duke, she leaned her head dangerously close to him. "And next time, I want you to contribute without acting like a snivelling flunky. You do that again, there will be hell to pay, you hear?"

"You realize that I have no idea what their dance sequence is like, right? Other than feeling the vibrations on the ground, I don't know what they're doing and what it looks like," Toph stated, crossing her arms while pressing her sandaled feet hard into the ground. She barely had enough sleep the night before, juggling her schoolwork and dealing with this project. While Kori, Haru, and Teo, along with their guests, cooperated well, Toph still felt something was missing. Maybe it was the lack of cohesion within the group, as everybody just did their own thing without communicating with others. Whatever it was, she hoped that would change today.

Yet here she was, attending a demonstration of the dance sequence being worked on by Aang, Katara, Suki, and Ty Lee. Toph was thankful that they chose to do the dance outdoors on an asphalt surface. Had it been indoors on a wooden floor, Toph might as well just give up. "So you'll have to describe everything for me, okay?" she asked the person seated next to her.

"Not a problem," Sokka replied. Both Sokka and Toph were on a bench at a picnic table adjacent to the asphalt ground. While Toph reached her feet over to the asphalt, Sokka merely stretched out his legs and reclined his back onto the edge of the table. "Katara did tell me what each movement means, so I should be able to work it out."

"Just make sure you explain each move properly. We incorporated some aspects of sign language into the dance, so improper description will render the move meaningless," Katara warned her brother. Like the rest of the group, she stretched out her arms and legs, even rotating her head on her neck a few times. However, she didn't take her eyes off of Sokka, making sure he did his job right. "We'll have to combine this to music too, even though it's only one verse."

"Actually, we have a choice of dancing this to either the first chorus or the second verse," Aang pointed out, stepping up to Katara. Before long, their fingers laced together and their eyes stared lovingly into each other. "I thought it made more sense to do the chorus, since this is the only completed part of the song right now. When will we hear the final version of the verse?"

Toph exhaled hard, agitated by the mention of another block in their project. While the chorus was as close to perfection as she liked, Haru and Teo had to keep working on the verses. The Duke's presence helped a bit, but they were far from combing the lyrics to music. "You should hear it soon, but let's focus on the dance first," the blind earth bender decided, clicking a couple of files on the laptop sitting on her thighs, "Do we want to play the chorus only?"

When nobody objected, Toph called everyone into position. From the vibrations felt through her sandals, Toph could approximately locate where everyone was. They stood in a near perfect square, with each person taking one corner each. Their stances were a bit looser than the usual earth bending stances that Toph normally used. But then again, with how dynamic this group was, Toph wasn't surprised at the change. Even Suki, the lone earth representative, had some high-flying moves of her own. Maybe this approach could be a good thing?

Toph clicked on the play button on the laptop, letting the music of the chorus play. She could hear someone count the beat in, and before long vibrations could be felt from the asphalt. She could feel each person lift one leg, but the lifted leg didn't go down until a second or two later. That leg was placed in a position slightly behind the front one, making a staggered pose of sort. The front leg was then lifted and quickly placed down, lining up both legs before weight was shifted from one to another. Toph figured the dancers were doing a circle with their bodies, hence the strange movements. But other than that, she had no idea what their upper bodies did.

Unfortunately, Sokka didn't do as good a job with his play-by-play commentary. He kept stuttering while the group did the moves, causing Toph trouble in imagining the actual moves. "Now they look like they're shooting a bow and arrow, and they're grabbing two poles on either side," Sokka described, his voice getting more frantic, "Then they're pulling to poles up, or are they trying to put on a jacket? Anyway, next move looks like they're doing the front crawl…"

Toph gritted her teeth hard, her frustration level rising at Sokka's overly creative but not very helpful remarks. She pressed her feet even harder to the asphalt, tightening her calves and knees. There was some shuffling of feet, but they went faster than Toph had hoped. But in the last line of the chorus, the feet were still, leading Toph to believe they just moved with their hands. Perhaps this was the sign language interpretation that they wanted to include, but with no actual description of the motions, Toph was at a loss how to approach this.

But the time the chorus ended, Toph mashed her finger on her laptop and terminated the song. "Hey, why did you shut it down? I'm not finished yet," Sokka insisted, "I still have to tell you about the last part. Were they reaching for a piece of candy being dangled in front of them, or were they hanging off a cliff and grasping to the last piece of rope?"

"Are you serious, Sokka? How did you see people falling off a cliff in that last move?" Katara asked incredulously, planting her balled fists on her hips, "That last bit was our attempt to include sign language in our dance. Did you even pay attention when you learned it?"

Sokka was about to retort, but Suki cut him off. "When we were waving our hands in the air vertically, it is similar to the sign for fire," she explained, "Since the chorus mentions fire in the rain, we thought this would be an appropriate gesture."

"Unfortunately, I have no idea what it looks like," Toph snapped, sarcastically waving her hands in front of her eyes, "And Snoozles here did nothing to clarify the situation." With that, Toph swung a fist and slugged Sokka right in the shoulder.

While Sokka howled in pain, Aang tried to diffuse the situation. "Maybe we went a bit too fast with our moves, or we didn't explain our moves better," the air bender stammered, rubbing his bald head with a free hand, "I mean, the whole point is to combine this with the song, which will look fantastic on stage. And even though the music video is a last minute change, I still think we can do something with it. We just have to use the right angles and…"

"Therein lies the problem," Toph exclaimed, jabbing a finger at Aang, "All this talk about approaching it from this angle or that angle just doesn't work. We have to just deal with this matter head-on, no matter what anyone thinks. Right now, the fact is that progress is just too slow, and I'm not getting enough from the group. While I can sort of figure out what your dance is like through vibrations, I'm not totally sure what elements are included to represent our song."

"Chill out, Toph," Ty Lee interrupted, her vibrations suggesting that she just moved closer to Toph, "There's no point getting all stressed out about the progress. Stress gives you bad aura and negative energy, which in turn gives you bad skin."

Suki gave Ty Lee a sceptical look. "I don't know much about auras, and I'm not as worried about my skin as Ty Lee, but I can see her point," Suki expressed in a matter-of-fact tone, "There should be a way for us to express the dance, even though you can't see it. Why don't we have someone with dance experience lead us? We can always go back to that deaf dance group for advice. If not, then we can reach out to Chong again, with his interpretive…"

Toph stomped her foot hard on the ground. "No, there is no way Chong is getting involved. If I have to hear his incessant mumbling and incoherent explanations one more time, his recording studio will be rubble!" the blind earth bender exclaimed, silencing the entire group, "I'll do what I can to figure out your dance without his help, so let's run this through again!"

"Is it just me, or have you gotten a lot more irascible lately?" Sokka asked Toph as they headed towards the Jasmine Dragon. After a lengthy dance session with Toph feeling the moves through the asphalt on the ground, they decided to take a break at Iroh's restaurant. Ty Lee led the way, given she contacted Mai and Zuko to meet them there. Aang, Suki, and Katara followed closely behind, but Sokka and Toph brought up the rear. "It can't be because your seismic sense is failing, right? I thought all earth benders have that."

Toph fumed. Exhaling deeply, she tilted her head slightly but sharply towards Sokka. "First off, you're right. All earth benders have some type of seismic sense. It's just a matter of how strong and weak it is. Last time I checked, I can still feel them through my sandals, so I think I should be fine," Toph snapped, the prickliness in her tone still present, "But my concern is not with my seismic sense. My concern is with the dance and how it'll affect the end product."

Sokka winced. Nodding in gratitude to Ty Lee, who held the door open for everyone, he stretched his arms before marching to the table Mai and Zuko were at. "You don't really mean that, do you?" he asked, "I saw their dance and I thought it was okay."

"But you're forgetting something, which is that I can't see!" Toph exclaimed, waving her hands in front of her eyes again. She grabbed a chair at Zuko's table and roughly pulled it out. She plopped herself down on it and crossed her arms, her pout never leaving her face. "I know you're trying hard to describe the dance for me, and everyone else helped too, but I'm still missing that feel. Without it, I can't possibly judge the final product."

"Well, it isn't all bad," Katara chimed in. Like Sokka, she chose to sit next to Toph. The water bender was to Toph's right, while her brother was to Toph's left. "I think the rest of us did a good job filling you in on the details Sokka missed. Besides, you can't deny that we really worked hard on all this. When we do perform, we should give that dance troupe a lot of credit."

"And I agree wholeheartedly, but it's missing the details of what the actual dance looks like that I'm frustrated with," Toph insisted, lifting her hand and pinching her fingers to the width of a napkin, "Normally I won't complain about my lack of sight, given my feet can help me out. But when the project itself is visual, it really puts me at a disadvantage. And with my father wanting a video to go along with it, that really complicates things."

"Personally, I feel proud of that dance," Aang stated diplomatically. He was on Katara's other side, and it was no secret they were holding hands under the table. "I think we did the sign language parts justice, and we even had the dance troupe review it. We can definitely refine some aspects, but overall I think we're on the right track."

Toph pursed her lips again. It was the same comment Kori made a while back, when she claimed they felt proud about the lyrics. While Toph didn't object at that time, now she had some other thoughts. What if they took too loose an approach towards this, leading to no coherency in the project? Everybody did their own things, but rarely did they talk to each other. What if that was how they presented, making the song and performance patchy? Everything should look, sound, and feel like it was cut from the same cloth, and Toph just didn't get that here.

Meanwhile, Katara glanced over at Toph's face. The earth bender's expression caused her some concern as well, given how unsatisfied Toph seemed to be with their progress so far. The Toph she knew could be grouchy, but had a very hands-off approach towards anything. Part of that stemmed from Toph despising her parents treating her like a porcelain doll, always controlling and restricting her. That was why Toph wanted as much freedom as possible, and never placed any of these things on her friends. But now, it felt like Toph took the exact opposite track, making demands here and there and never feeling satisfied. While Katara tried not to show it, this new attitude from Toph really grated on her the past few days.

Just then, Zuko's comments interrupted Katara's train of thought. "I still think we can put both our parts together in an interesting visual," the fire bender proposed, "Don't forget that I have some experience with theatre and visual dramatic arts. My aunt Noriko married a man named Ikem, who works in a theatrical group. We can always ask him for help on the visuals."

"Yeah, and it'll help Sokka, Zuko, and I incorporate our sign language part of the chorus into the performance," Mai chimed in, placing a napkin on her lap, "The three of us did rehearse on our own, but not with anyone else. Now is a good chance to talk about this part."

Sokka rubbed his chin. "We can ask Ikem and Noriko to help us choreograph the whole thing. This includes the dance I described for you, and how my group will appear with sign language," he explained, "I know you don't like Chong's group, and I think they're kind of annoying myself, but at least we know Zuko's family well enough to trust them."

"Let's not write off Chong's group yet. They may have some things in their arsenal that we haven't fully considered," Suki pointed out, pouring herself and Sokka some tea, "Chong can work together with Ikem or something. If we put two great minds in performance arts together, we may get something special out of it."

Toph fumed again. "I don't share your enthusiasm for that idea, Suki," she hissed, struggling to spit out the words, "I don't mind letting Zuko's aunt and her husband get involved though. I still have doubts about the actual choreography because I can't see it. And unless they do a better job explaining the choreography than Snoozles, I'm out of luck."

"But is it a must that we keep Chong's group out? I personally think it's important to look at different views on the matter," Aang proposed, making a similar comment as before when he asked everyone to look at the matter from a different angle, "Are we sure that we want no involvement from them, or are we just keeping them on the sidelines for now?"

Katara alternated her glance between Aang and Toph. The latter's body clenched as Chong was mentioned. The water bender wasn't sure why Toph had such an adverse reaction to Chong. Even though the hippie-like singer was somewhat eccentric, part of Katara did find him refreshing. Granted, she had never met Chong in person, only hearing conflicting stories about him from Sokka and Suki. She made a mental note to talk to Toph about this later on, but for now she wanted to focus on actually putting the finished product together.

Turning to the rest of the group, the water bender inquired about the end goal. "If we do make a video of this, where do we want to film it?" she queried, "And will Ikem and Noriko have the equipment for doing that? And what theme are we using for the video itself?"

That got a more positive tone echoing throughout the table, and ideas were soon exchanged. They continued even as Iroh brought out some food, with the older fire bender chiming in as well. So far, the ideas from Toph were adhered to, with sea and shore being the main theme. With Republic City located on a coast, and several beaches were available, there were more than enough options for everyone. "All we have to do is show up in our brightest auras, and we will have our video!" Ty Lee exclaimed.

Everybody, Toph included, chuckled at the remark. Even though it had been a tense few days with Toph, it sounded like things were back on track. Still, they had lots more work to do to ensure things stayed on track. That meant working out the actual video itself, and how much of that would go towards the live performance. In any event, Toph was not about to let up on the project, especially when she was supervising so many people with so many different ideas.

Even though the afternoon tea and meeting with her team was over, Toph didn't really feel like leaving the Jasmine Dragon yet. There were still a lot of thoughts on her mind, thoughts that she would like to resolve on her own. While the meeting was productive in its own way, the earth bender really wanted some peace and quiet to gather her own ideas. So as the members of her group marched out the doors, she stayed glued to her seat at the table.

"Are you waiting for dessert?" a gentle voice cut into Toph's concentration. Toph tilted her head to the direction of the sound, and she soon felt a heavyset man approach her. "It won't be fair to serve just you and not them. Should I call them all back in?" Iroh asked.

Toph smirked at the older fire bender's joke. "If extra dessert is what will get me through this project, then I don't mind," she responded. Gesturing at the seat next to her, she invited Iroh in for a quick chat. "But really, I could use a different opinion. Even though I'm all for doing things on my own, some words of wisdom from a different source will help here."

Iroh took a seat next to Toph. He didn't even clean up the dirty dishes on the table yet, opting instead to listen to his younger friend. "There is nothing wrong with letting people who love you help you," Iroh stated, leaning an elbow on the tabletop, "Maybe you're going through some changes right now and you wish to have some time away from your usual group. Not that you hate them or anything, but you just want to go away to figure some things out on your own."

Toph reached out and patted Iroh's shoulder. Usually she would punch the shoulder of her friends, but Iroh deserved a different type of respect. His sage-like nature and incredible patience and understanding of others was unmatched, and Toph truly held him in high regard. "You got everything right, except the part where I want to go away to figure it out on my own," Toph described, stretching out her legs and leaning back on her chair, "If anything, I hope you can figure this out with me, if you have time."

When Iroh didn't object, Toph began her explanation. From talking about the reasons she took on this project, to dealing with all the moving pieces and changes to expectation, and even with picking people to do certain roles, Toph went through her entire project with Iroh. While she didn't exactly complain about anything, it was clear that she wasn't satisfied with the whole thing. Meanwhile, Iroh stayed silent and listened to every word, not judgmental or dismissive of Toph. Even when Toph finished, Iroh kept his focus directly on her.

"Well, what do you think?" Toph asked Iroh, reaching for her teacup again. She rolled the ceramic cup between her digits before taking a long sip. "Did I get myself into a big mess, or do you think this is worth it? Or maybe you have thoughts about this that I never considered?"

Iroh exhaled gently and rubbed his beard. "Well, I can't say you didn't have your heart in the right place," he remarked, his tone neutral and even, "I'm sure you appreciate the troubles a disabled person may have in everyday life. But somehow, I'm guessing that raising awareness on disabilities is not the only goal for you in the project. Am I correct?"

Toph nodded. "Part of the reason I took this project on is because I felt like I could use a challenge," the blind earth bender explained, "Ever since that incident when I tried swimming on my own, I've gotten a lot more freedoms than I ever received. Some of that was due to you, of course, and I'll always be grateful for that. So to see my father give me such an important task, I really think this can be my chance to shine."

"Even though I appreciate you recognizing my efforts to help, I don't think I deserve all of it," Iroh responded with a chuckle, "It takes courage for you to speak to your parents about your freedom, and I'm merely the one who raised the issue to them. In the end, it was up to you to come to an agreement with them, and I'm glad that this agreement is still going well today."

"But see, that's the problem," Toph articulated, shifting her body so she could face Iroh. Even though she could not see, she had an idea where Iroh was seated. While Toph was never one for worrying about eye contact, she had enough respect for the older fire bender to face his direction when she spoke to him. "Everything is perfect, to the point where it's too perfect. I don't feel like I'm being challenged anymore, I feel like I do the same thing day after day, and I feel so bored just going through the same routine."

Iroh tapped his chin while tilting his head slightly downward. He understood where Toph was coming from, with that youthful energy and ambition. However, he knew ambition alone should not be the sole driver for one's motivations. "I think it's best to think about how you reach your goal more than actually reaching it," Iroh suggested, "Life happens wherever you are, whether you make it or not. You should think about how to make the best of something, because whether you want something to happen or not doesn't affect how life goes on."

"Believe me, I do think about that every day," Toph responded, a sly smile crawling across her face. Just the fact that she had all these blessings around her was enough for her to be grateful. However, it still didn't satiate her appetite for something more. "So what will you say to someone who just wants some excitement in their life? Or maybe they want something new?"

Iroh shrugged. "There's nothing wrong with that, but with something different or new always comes consequences. Those consequences may be good or bad, depending on your point of view," the older fire bender elaborated, "But what I'm saying is, regardless of how you view the consequences, think about if they match with what you truly want in your life."

Toph shrugged. To an extent, this project was what she wanted in her life. She wanted a challenge, doing something she had never done before. She also wanted to bond with her father, especially after a distant relationship due to him and Poppy treating her like a fragile snowflake. Finally, she wanted to do something to show that any with a disability could make it in this world. If a blind girl like her could succeed, why couldn't someone with a different disability?

At the same time, Toph wondered if the stress of this project was worth it. She found herself forcing those around her to do more things her way, putting excessive pressure on her teammates. Moreover, it reminded her of all the times she was pressured by her parents to do things a certain way. All in all, it led to a situation where the pressure was just being passed from one person to another. While she still sort of enjoyed bossing people around, Toph realized how it could rub some the wrong way, and that couldn't be more prevalent right now.

Turning back to Iroh, Toph exhaled hard again. "I guess I'm also afraid of what will happen if this project doesn't work out," the earth bender pointed out. She went on to explain the lack of cohesion within the group, with each assigned task being done independently. They still had not put everyone together to combine their end products, and with continually moving pieces, Toph was nowhere closer to getting the project done. "Is there anything I can do to avoid this whole thing falling apart? What can I do to get everybody moving in the same direction?"

Iroh smiled again. While he understood Toph's frustration that each group wasn't moving fast enough, and even those moving quickly weren't going in the direction Toph wanted, there was an easy solution to this conundrum. "Just remember that failure is the opportunity to begin again," Iroh remarked, clasping his hands on the table, "And you can begin your opportunity to solve the problem you stated by helping others solve their problems. Never forget that wisdom can come from different sources, so in helping others you may learn more about yourself."

"Are you sure this is the wisest idea?" Aang asked, rubbing his bald head the entire way. It was already well into the evening, with the sun dipping near the horizon. But instead of being at home, Aang and certain members of their group decided to visit Rocky Bay. "I know we want to scout out locations for the video and all, but shouldn't Toph be here with us?"

From beside Aang, his girlfriend shook her head. "I think this way is fine," Katara insisted, leading the way down the sand. The water bender looked more determined than ever, taking the group closer and closer to the coastline. "Besides, Toph is always complaining that nothing gets done. By doing this, I think we're taking it further than she ever can."

"Are you sure you're not just doing this because of what Toph said earlier today?" Sokka chimed in, his hands in his pants pockets while he trudged along. The wind really yanked at his clothing, and Sokka could not help but shiver. "I know she had concerns about the dance and all, and we know Toph can be blunt sometimes. But I feel like you're taking this more personally than usual. Are you just doing this to stick it to Toph or something?"

Katara whipped her head back, her blue eyes narrowing at her brother. "It's not so much her reaction to the dance that I'm upset with. I'm upset at the way she's going about this whole project," the water bender pointed out, "I can usually stand Toph's bossiness, but this time it just feels like she isn't satisfied with anything."

"Toph is under a lot of pressure, and maybe it's the pressure talking instead of her," Suki described, trying to keep up with the group, "I didn't like how she absolutely cut Chong out of the act, even though she can't explain why she hated him so much. But you can't deny that Toph is doing something big and meaningful, and this is her first chance to take a lead on such a big project. Maybe we can just be patient and let her work it all out."

Katara shook her head. By now, the group was only metres from the seashore. The waves lapping the coast echoed off the rocky cliffs. The winds pushing the waves in were steady but in no way peaceful. And with the sun dipping lower into the horizon, an ominous sense descended upon the group. If this was what Katara wanted for the music video, then it couldn't end well for a project meant to support the disabled. What message was she sending here?

Emitting another sigh, Katara elaborated on her earlier point. "Toph is complaining that everyone has their roles assigned to them, but none of us are moving fast enough. But then she doesn't let us meet as a group often enough, meaning we can't track the progress of the others either," Katara explained, her hands wringing in worry and frustration, "But I've seen Toph say absolutely nothing on how to address this, nor has she given us any pointers. I get that she has a hands-off approach and all, but at this rate, nothing will ever get done."

Aang, Sokka, and Suki glanced at each other nervously. While Katara could be observant and analytical, she was also an emotional person. The last thing they wanted was for her to make a decision based on emotion that would derail them all. "So how will coming to the beach in the evening to scout for video locations help when Toph isn't here?" Sokka demanded.

Aang placed a hand on Katara's shoulder and stared at his girlfriend with patient grey eyes. "I think we can get Toph to work with us on this," the air bender insisted, "But at the same time, I trust your judgment on this. Why don't we go through the walkthrough at the beach and your ideas for the video first? That way, we at least have something to propose to Toph."

Katara relaxed a bit, the storm inside her blue eyes now calmer. "Sweetie, I'm glad we trust each other enough on this," she stated. With that, she leaned in and caught Aang's lips in a fierce kiss. The air bender reciprocated the gesture, much to the displeasure of Sokka. Ignoring his comments about oogies, they held their pose for a while before releasing again.

By the time Katara and Aang turned to face the ocean, Suki interjected with her thoughts. "Let's start with Toph's first idea, which is sea and shore," she recalled, standing near the coastline and planting her hands on her hips, "This is where the waves lap the sand, so we should use this part of the beach. What thoughts do you have on this?"

Katara inhaled deeply and rubbed the lower half of her face. She got into a squat and stared at the waters. The low sun meant a lot of light reflection from the waters. It made for both an interesting but also challenging shot. If Toph was prepared to stand at the water's edge for part of the video, it would really hammer home the message and create an amazing visual.

While Aang stayed standing, Sokka marched up to Katara and crouched down as well. "Are you thinking the same thing I'm thinking?" Sokka asked his sister, "We keep the camera angle low and use the setting sun as lighting. We also keep our bodies low, preventing our shadows from interfering while capturing the sunlight from that angle."

"Right, and we can also use various parts of the beach for the other parts of the video," Katara added, lifting herself off the ground. She took several steps backwards, getting a wider view of the ocean. While she was sceptical about it, something might be done for Haru and Teo, and even Kori. "Do you think Haru and Teo can do their rap parts on the sand? Also, do you think it's hard to bring a piano down to the sand for Kori to play?"

"That looks like something for more advanced earth benders," Suki responded, stepping back with the Kuruk siblings. She knew Toph had trouble in the past with sand bending, and Toph made friends with three metal benders, forming a metal bending club of their own. Could she handle using sand bending to transport a piano onto the beach? "What about doing some effects to highlight the chorus of the song, which is fire in the rain?"

Sokka rubbed his chin while turning his body a full circle. He did not doubt that the beach would be crowded in the day, but there were few visitors at this current time. With the large open space, he wondered if a bonfire would work. "I wonder if we can use that flying machine that Teo and I created for our high school science fair?" he proposed, "We can use that to sprinkle water down onto a large bonfire, hence fire in the rain."

"And there should be a way to keep a fire going in the rain, right?" Aang chimed in, rubbing his bald head in recollection. He recalled camping with Gyatso and even his parents before, and there were a few times where a drizzle occurred. "Gyatso said we have to keep the fire pit dry. That allows the fire to keep burning, with the rising heat then drying the firewood."

"So we plan on having a grand piano, a bonfire with a slight drizzle, and Toph potentially diving headfirst into the waves," Suki counted off, her eyes wandering around for more sources of inspiration. It still left their group somewhat open, as there were no assigned roles for any of them in the video. "How much do you think we should get the deaf dance crew involved? Maybe we should even let them appear in a scene or two in the video."

Katara rubbed her chin as well. She didn't think much about this part, but she certainly wasn't eliminating that possibility. Not only did the deaf dance crew teach them a lot, this was also a performance dedicated to their disabilities. What better way to honour the group than to let them appear in some way? "Maybe we should take up Zuko's offer and let his aunt's family help out? What will Ikem think from a performance standpoint, if we do film a video?" Katara stated.

That got the entire group thinking, wondering how big their project could get. While they were happy that progress was made, now the same concern Toph had about being unfocused returned. Was this why Toph was so frustrated to begin with?

And here is my list of inspirations for this chapter:

1.) The Duke speaking with a stutter isn't from canon, but it's something I thought that should be explored. Out of the Freedom Fighters, the Duke is one of the least developed ones, and I figure to give him some more screen time. The therapy that I included for his stutter is pretty standard for those treating stutters, and speaking slower can eliminate some of those issues. More serious stutters require something more intensive, such as what happened with King George VI with his speech problems. Either way, I thought it's an interesting way to build the Duke's character and also use his stutter therapy to advise Toph on the song.

2.) There are several referrals to Toph's lack of sight and having to use her seismic sense. The main part is at the dance, where she can't see the dance and Sokka has to explain it to her. Of course, I can't have a scene like that without Sokka getting overly creative in his descriptions, leading to more confusion. This is part of Toph's problem with the project, as constantly there are factors reminding her of her blindness, despite her taking steps to address it. More on this as the story goes on.

3.) What Katara and the rest of Team Avatar referred to with the sunlight dipping below the horizon is the types of twilight one can experience. Pending on how low the sun dips below the horizon, the amount of light that shines through can be affected. The 3 types of twilight are civil, nautical, and astronomical, and while I won't go into details of those in this story, they will play a factor as the video is filmed.

4.) Sokka's overly creative description of the dance is from "Sozin's Comet: Avatar Aang" where he drew pictures of Team Avatar's members in ways that bear no resemblance to their real selves. Ty Lee mentioning auras and bad skin is from "the Beach" where she said the same thing to Zuko after they were thrown out of a party. Toph and Iroh having tea by themselves and sharing their thoughts is from "the Chase" when they did the same thing and formed a strong bond as a result. And Toph struggling with sand bending is from "the Library" where she could not save Appa from being abducted by sand benders.

Thanks for dropping by this chapter. I appreciate whatever feedback you may have for me. Please stay tuned for the posting of the next chapter of this story.