Zuko pulled the blue mask down on his face as another wagon appeared on the road; its contours black against the bright morning sunlight. He hoped that this would be the right one. Most of the folks out at the crack of dawn were poor farmers headed for the fields; with their meager food portions for the day hanging in their mostly empty satchels. They were not the right target, no matter how hungry he was.

A fat merchant with a soft belly would be an entirely different matter - those could afford to lose a couple of food sacks or a purse filled with coins. The war put many people through suffering and hunger, but there were quite a few who made their fortune on the misfortune of others; those who overcharged the army for supplies while the soldiers went hungry, who gave predatory loans to farmers whose fields were destroyed. There were plenty of dishonorable fatcats in the Earth Kingdom. He hoped for one of them to come down on this dusty road.

Zuko held his breath as the wagon approached the section of the road where he was lying in wait, hidden behind a large boulder. The man sitting in front was whistling a merry tune; Zuko recognized it as one of the songs his crew used to play on the music nights of the ship. Back in the days when he had thought that things couldn't get worse than being a disgraced, banished prince, with nothing but a rusty little ship to his name. Spirits, was he wrong . Never in his worst nightmares did he imagine that one day he would end up being a common thief.

Still, the blind girl was back in the camp, sleeping. She would wake up soon, hungry and alone. People did all kinds of stupid things when they were hungry. Even Uncle. Zuko almost lost Uncle because of stupid tea-flower poisoning. He wondered guiltily if Uncle would try to eat something dangerous again now that he didn't have Zuko to bring him food.

The wheels of the cart squeaked. Zuko's heart sank when he realized that it was packed with cabbages. He had officially the most rotten luck in the entire world. What in Agni's name do people even do with those stinky green things? Maybe Toph knew. She was an Earth Kingdom peasant after all. Cabbage was better than nothing. Even if it tasted like something an ostrich-horse puked up, at least it wouldn't give them poisonous rashes. He would only take one or two and let the man go, he decided. He crept forward silently, getting ready to jump.

"Daddy, are we nearly there yet?" a small, sleepy voice called from the back of the cart.

"We still have a ways to go. Go back to sleep, sweetheart," the man replied warmly and resumed his whistling.

Komodo-rhino-balls! Zuko didn't realize there was a kid with the merchant. She would be scared out of his mind from a ruffian attacking their cart. Zuko quickly ducked back behind the boulder waiting for the wagon to go by. When he couldn't hear the squeaking of the wheels anymore, he crawled out again scanning the road for a possible new target. He was about to give up and try his luck at fishing, when he heard boisterous laughter.

Another cart appeared at the curve. Zuko's heart started to pound faster when he recognized the unmistakable red uniforms - Fire Nation soldiers. His mouth went dry as he tried to think what to do. How could he attack his own people? Then again, the army could replace anything he would steal. And wasn't he their prince? If things weren't as they were, he could just walk up to them and order them to give up whatever he needed. It wasn't really stealing if it rightfully belonged to him, was it? Maybe this was exactly the right target.

As the cart came closer, Zuko counted the men - there were four of them. They behaved carelessly too - instead of watching the road, three were playing cards at the back of the wagon - their weapons thrown haphazardly to the side. Maybe it was time to teach them a lesson on the reason for regulations.

Zuko jumped and landed right next to the man driving the cart. With a single hit of the hilt of his sword, he knocked out the driver. The others clamoured for their weapons, but Zuko was faster. He leapt onto the box in the middle, pointing his drawn swords at the soldiers.

"The Blue Spirit!" they exclaimed in fear, raising their hands.

Zuko kicked their weapons off the cart, hoping none of them would be firebenders. Keeping his eyes fixed on the men, he picked up the food bags with one of his blades and threw them across his shoulders.

He glanced around the cart until his eyes settled on a wooden chest.

"I'll take that too," he said.

One of the soldiers, a young man visibly scared out of his mind lifted the box with shaking hands and handed it over to Zuko. "Please don't hurt us," he pleaded.

Zuko grimaced under the mask. The cowardice of these men was a dishonor to the Fire Nation, to the army uniform. Then again, he was not in a position to teach anyone about honor, considering he had lost his a long time ago. Uncle Iroh used to say that not every man was meant to live a life of a soldier. Maybe these men were just some of those under-trained, incompetent farmboys the generals conscripted these days to feed the war effort. He had heard Iroh and Jee grumble about it enough times.

With a quick back-flip, Zuko jumped to the front of the cart, and with the flat of his sword he smacked the ostrich-horse's rump before leaping onto the ground. The frightened beast took off at neck-breaking speed. The sudden movement jolted the cart, throwing the soldiers off balance. Zuko watched the cart disappear in a dust-cloud. It was time to go back to the campsite, and wake up the girl.

Suddenly, there was slow clapping behind him. Zuko spun around, raising his swords. He lowered them immediately when he saw Toph leaning against a rock with an inscrutable expression. She would have looked menacing if not for her face being framed by the wildest head of hair sticking in every direction. Zuko tried to hold back his laughter, which came out as a strange snort instead.

"Well, well… I knew you were hiding something," she crossed her arms over her chest.

Zuko felt mortified that she witnessed him behaving like a common criminal. He debated whether he should try to make a run for it before the girl thought of turning him in, but he decided against it. He surely could explain to Toph that they didn't have a choice, she would understand. Robbing the soldiers was the least evil of the many bad options.

"Toph, I know this looks bad…" he started hesitantly.

She waved his explanation away and burst into an enthusiastic grin. "Are you kidding me? This looked way too much fun, Blue, but next time just wake me up, won't you?"

Well, this was unexpected. Also, it was wrong on so many levels.

-0-

Toph woke up to the rays of the sun warming her bare feet. Stretching out her arms to the side, she sunk the sides of her stone tent into the ground. Her stomach growled loudly. She hoped not-Lee already made breakfast. Sugar Queen may have been bossy and annoying, but Toph had to admit that she always kept the mealtimes on schedule.

The campsite was eerily empty, with no sight of the guy. As much as Toph had wanted him to get lost the day before when he meddled in her fight, now she felt mostly disappointment and quite a bit of irritation that he vanished. She was hungry, and she had decided to take him up on his offer to ride with him to the next village. But clearly, he was a liar and an unreliable numbskull and Toph was better off without him. Well, good riddance!

She stomped down onto the road. She could carry her own weight and find a different ride easily. She was the famous Blind Bandit after all. People would gather around to watch her fight. Or maybe, she could find the Avatar's group. They did need her, and those guys were never out of food, and even if Appa was stinking furball, at least it was faster than walking.

Her gloomy thoughts were interrupted by the unmistakable noise of a fight. Thump, clank, smash, bang.

"The Blue Spirit!" fearful voices yelled. Toph stopped in her tracks. Toes curled into the ground, her back propped against a rock, she observed the fight.

When she heard a familiar rasp, she blinked in surprise. Well, who would have thought? Not only was Lee not-Lee, he was also not a do-gooder. Nope. In fact, he was a proper trouble-maker of legendary status, rumored to single-handed break the Avatar out of an impenetrable Fire Nation hold. Her mysterious companion was the Blue Spirit. Toph smiled to herself. Sweet.

She waited while he made short work of the soldiers - he was a decent fighter for a non-bender - landing on the ground softly.

She started clapping.

"Well, well, I knew you were hiding something," she said evenly. His heartbeat quickened as he launched himself into an unnecessary apology which Toph waved away impatiently. "Are you kidding me? This looked way too much fun, Blue, but next time just wake me up, won't you?"

"Blue?" he echoed.

"It suits you better than Lee," she needled him a little, hoping that he'd spill out the truth about who he really was.

Instead, the reply came as a grumpy mutter. "Whatever."

Toph shrugged. She was an earthbender - she knew how to bide her time and wait for the perfect moment. She would learn the truth eventually. Her stomach growled loudly, reminding her that there were more pressing issues that figuring out Blue's real identity. Like her overdue morning meal. "I'm kind of hungry. When are we having breakfast?"

"Let's get off the road first, before this place gets swarmed by soldiers," he replied and ushered Toph towards the trees.

He helped Toph onto the ostrich-horse, sitting her in front of him. Losing the ground from under her feet was disorienting, but not as bad as being on Appa's back. Even if there was no solid ground under her, she could at least feel the vibrations under the ostrich-horse's legs. Clutching onto the rough fur of the animal, she kept talking partially to distract herself and partially because her companion was not the chatty type. She kind of missed Sokka; he was never out of funny stories and stupid jokes, which somehow made travelling less dull.

"We could have taken them. I'm a great earthbender if you haven't noticed. And you are not too shabby yourself - it's a pity you are not a bender."

There was a long pause before his terse reply came. "Yeah."

Toph nodded in sympathy. It must have sucked to be a non-bender. Like being deaf or blind for real.

"Otherwise, we could make a really good tag team at Earth Rumble." The crowd loved teams. They made for fun fights. Sometimes Toph thought it could be fun to have a partner, but nobody was good enough to keep up with her.

"What's Earth Rumble?" he asked.

Toph was taken aback. "Which rock did you crawl out of under? Earth Rumble is the most epic fighting arena in all of Earth Kingdom. Everyone knows about it."

Blue didn't reply. Instead, he stopped the ostrich-horse, helping Toph to the ground. "Let's stop here. We'll make food."

She stomped her feet, just to feel the ground in her bones. "Seriously, you never heard of Earth Rumble championships?" She asked incredulously. "Where do you come from?"

"I lived on a ship for the last years, ok?" He was telling the truth.

Toph shuddered. She couldn't imagine anything worse than being stuck on a piece of wood floating on endless water. A prison. She would be totally blind and helpless. "That sounds horrible."

"I like the sea," he said earnestly. There was almost longing in his voice.

"You are a strange guy, Blue."

Instead of replying, he fumbled with the bag he stole from the soldiers.

"So, looks like we have dried meat and rice," he announced after examining its content.

Sounded like a proper balanced meal. "Good. I'll take it in that order," Toph replied. She was really hungry. It was an annoying feeling she was not at all used to.

"I'll make fire. Can you prepare the rice?" he asked.

"Nope," Toph shook her head firmly and occupied herself with picking the dirt from between her toes. Clean feet were the secret of perfect vision. Dust and mud could make the picture blurry.

"What do you mean?" Blue sounded annoyed. Not as annoyed as Katara, but definitely more than a bit peeved.

Toph decided it was time to pull out her best card. "I'm blind, if you haven't noticed." She waved her hand in front of her eyes. It was a move that never failed to produce the required effect of shutting people up in embarrassment.

Except Blue, apparently. "So? It doesn't stop you from fighting."

Toph shrugged. "Well. I guess I was not quite as invested in rice-cooking."

"So you have no idea how to make rice?" he asked.

"Nope, never have, never will," she admitted proudly. "Do you?"

"Of course," he lied. That did not bode well for breakfast at all.

-0-

Zuko sighed. Toph seemed pretty useless when it came to cooking. Which meant he had to do it himself.

"Of course. Of course I do. Everyone does. It's simple." At least Uncle made it look simple. Not that Zuko ever paid attention to it. Not properly anyways. But how hard could it really be to cook some rice? "You take the rice, mix it with water. Put it on the fire and wait."

"Great! You see? You don't need me at all! So what do you think of my plan?" she chatted eagerly while picking her toes. It was a revolting sight.

Zuko was not aware that she had any kind of plans, other than waiting around doing nothing while he slaved away making breakfast.

"Me and you. The Blind Bandit and the Blue Spirit," she said with a big grin.

"The Blind Bandit?" he asked in confusion.

"That's what they called me back in Gaoling," she boasted. Well, at least that was useful information.

"Is that where you are from?" he asked. "I can help you get go home." Maybe even the next village he could get rid of her. He had some coins now, he could pay someone to escort her back, so he could resume his search for the Avatar in peace. He had been searching the road for chunks of white fur, but it looked like the trail went cold. Again.

"You don't understand. I can never go home," she shook her head dejectedly. There was bitterness in her voice.

"Why not?" he asked.

She pulled her knees to her chest. "Because my parents don't want me." Zuko for the first time wondered if she's been kicked out of her home because of her blindness. Toph continued, "They want a helpless little girl, they want someone who exists only in their head, but not the real me. Do you know what it is like?"

Her question twisted something inside him. That nagging doubt that was always there. Was he ever wanted? Fathers didn't burn their sons on purpose. They didn't send them on hopeless quests.

"Yeah," he said very quietly as if he was afraid to hear himself say it.

Toph seemed to be lost in her own misery. "So I have to find my own way."

"And what do you want to do?" Zuko wondered. He felt for the girl, but couldn't babysit her forever.

"I want to earthbend. I'm really, really good at it," she said full of conviction. From what Zuko had seen, her confidence was well-earned. "Maybe in the next village they can tell me where the biggest championship is."

"Maybe." Oh, Agni, he hoped so.

"And if not, remember my plan. I bet we could make a ruckus," she said cheerfully.

Zuko frowned. He shouldn't indulge her flight of fancy. "This is not a game. Stealing and robbing is bad and I wouldn't have done it if I had a choice. Anyways, I have somewhere to be."

"Come on. It's a win-win. And I know you have done crazier things…" she trailed off.

Zuko was not sure he liked the idea that people from Earth Kingdom backwaters heard about the Blue Spirit. In his situation, any attention was bad. "What have you heard?"

"Rumour has it, you freed the Avatar from Pohuai Stronghold all by yourself." Oh. That. Zuko had been trying very hard to forget about it. About how he committed high treason and about the big, round, grey eyes of a child looking at him full of trust and innocence, asking if they could have been friends in a different lifetime. It was all too messed up, all too tangled.

"Well, he helped too," Zuko croaked. Destiny may have made them enemies, but honor required that he give credit where credit was due. The kid did more than his fair share of the escape. "He's a good fighter."

Toph chuckled. "Twinkletoes? It's hard to believe."

It was a strangely fitting nickname. "You know the Avatar?" Zuko looked at her surprised.

"He asked me to teach him earthbending," nodded Toph proudly, clearly trying to impress the Blue Spirit.

Maybe after all it wasn't such a bad thing that she had discovered Zuko's secret identity. Maybe, it was meant to be. Zuko felt it in his heart again that the Avatar was his destiny. There was no other explanation for crossing paths with his runaway earthbending teacher. This was his shot.

"So why aren't you with him now?" he asked, trying not to sound too eager.

"We had a difference of opinion with him and this annoying, bossy Water Tribe girl he's with," Toph huffed. Zuko couldn't help but like her just a little more for being irked with that exasperating waterbender who was the bane of Zuko's existence. "She did nothing but complain about how I was not doing enough to help out. Well, I was carrying my own weight."

"Clearly." muttered Zuko. Toph was most certainly too self-absorbed to carry anything else. Before he could say it aloud, somewhere in the back of his mind, Iroh started muttering about a teapot and a kettle, whatever that meant. Uncle was always muttering about tea. But thinking of Uncle made Zuko think of the food. The water in the rice-pot was bubbling furiously. "I think the rice is ready."

"Good. I'm starving," Toph rubbed her belly in anticipation.

Zuko scooped some rice into a bowl and tore pieces of smoked meat on top. Toph dug into her food eagerly, without waiting for him to finish putting together his own dish. She had truly despicable table manners.

The smile on her face turned into disgust. "Blue. This is the absolutely worst rice I've ever had."

"Well, then next time, make it for yourself," he retorted. It couldn't be that bad, could it?

Zuko took a bite. Spirits. She was right. It was terrible; tough and hard. There were burnt pieces all around. And he forgot to put salt in it too. This was a disaster. Zuko missed Uncle and the talent he had for cooking that Zuko had up until now clearly not appreciated enough.

He took big gulps of water to wash down the revolting meal, as he weighed his options.