His pounding heartbeat echoed against the ground; Toph felt the rising panic in the quickening of its pace. It fluttered against her footsteps like a trapped bird's wings in a cage. She didn't turn back. Not then, not yet. It wasn't until the vibrations faded and silence set in that Toph started to reconsider. She was in this mess because she had walked away from the group in her first anger. Was there something she missed?
She lined up the facts. He was a firebender. He was the Blue Spirit. He lied. He saved lives. Her life. He was trying to capture Aang, but also freed him from captivity. It didn't make sense. Then again, she had never met a firebender before; well, not really. Which was an important detail. How was she supposed to teach Aang to fight the Fire Lord if she herself didn't know? And now that she got offered an opportunity on a silver platter, it did seem foolish to just walk away. So she turned back.
He was right where she left her. Firebenders couldn't get out of holes if they were pinned down by rock pillars was already a useful information. Toph stashed it away in her mind as she swatted away the saber-tooth moose lion and her curious cub.
So what other weak points did they have? She had to find out.
"So here are the terms," she lifted a finger. "Number one: You will fight me."
"Why would I want to do that?" came the confused reply.
"Because you are in a hole and I can set whatever terms I want. And I never fought a firebender before."
"You want me as a sparring partner?" he asked a bit incredulously.
"More like a practice dummy," Toph said confidently. She hadn't seen him bend yet, but she did not doubt her own abilities. Nobody ever bested her.
"Toph, this isn't funny. I will not fight you."
He sounded exactly like those clueless adults who tried to tell her she was unreasonable.
Toph was furious. "Why? Because I am a helpless little blind girl?"
Everyone was so touchy about fighting her. She sometimes wished she was a big, muscly guy, who could go around, pick fights and be taken seriously.
"No. That's not why," he protested. At least he did mean that.
His voice took on an edge of desperation. "Look - fire is different... You can get ...hurt."
Hm, a firebender who worried about burning people. Interesting. But also very annoying.
"Let me worry about that," she dismissed his concern. She was willing to take the risk to learn something new.
"Number two: you will be my valet," Toph raised a second finger. He would have to do all the chores if he wanted to get out of the hole. It's not like he ever asked for help, but it was better to make it crystal-clear from the start.
"Your valet?" He spat out the word like it was disgusting, overcooked cabbage.
"It's a kind of servant..." Toph explained in case he wasn't familiar with the term.
"I know what a valet is," he interrupted. The irritation in his voice made Toph smile. She managed to poke a sore spot. She would have to remember to dig around some more.
"Three: when we find the Avatar, you will surrender yourself."
He would be her gift to them, like an owl-cat bringing home a meadow vole. A sign of goodwill towards the group, to show that she was ready to put the disagreements behind her.
Silence. "I can't do that."
"I guess you prefer to die in this hole," Toph shrugged, putting on her bluff-face.
"Maybe," he replied without conviction.
Toph tapped her foot impatiently. "I'm waiting… but my patience is thin."
He sighed in defeat. "I...I accept your terms."
Toph smirked. She expected as much. Thrusting her arms upwards, she yanked him out of the hole - carefully so as not to injure him, but not too gently.
"Let's start then," she cracked her knuckles. This was going to be fun. There was nothing like a good fight to clear her mind.
"Right here and now?"
"Yeah, I want to stretch my muscles."
"Just as soon as I get some feeling back into my legs," he grumbled, sitting on the ground.
"Here, let me help," Tohp raised her fingers, poking his legs with tiny stone-needles.
"Ouch…" he yelped.
"I hear that acupuncture can help," she clarified with a wicked grin.
"You don't exactly have a light touch of a healer," he growled.
Toph shrugged. She could be gentle when she wanted to, but right now, she was not in a gentle mood. There was a rustling of materials as kept rubbing his legs.
"It does feel better," he admitted after a pause.
"You are welcome." Toph got into her starting stance. "Come on, Firebug. I'm waiting."
She wiggled her toes, strengthening the vibrations so she could observe better. His stance was wider than an earthbender's, but similarly rooted to the ground. He made a series of fast jabs with his fist. Toph could feel a swoosh of warmth that landed harmlessly at a safe distance from her foot and fizzled out.
"What was that? A butterfly fart?" she asked angrily. This was unacceptable. "Again, like you mean it."
The vibrations became sharper as his chi flared up. He repeated the movement, this time with more force. It swooshed hotter and faster. Toph blocked the fireball with a rock-barrier. It was too easy.
"Try again," she told him. This time instead of blocking the fire, she pulled the ground from under his feet. The flame snuffed out as he fell on his butt gracelessly. Toph puffed out in frustration. Boring.
"Show me a different move."
Zuko kicked in front, producing a larger stream of flame. It travelled in a predictable straight line, licking the stone barrier she made to block it.
After an hour of practice, she had a solid grasp of all the basic attacks he used. There were fast jabs of fireballs, more powerful kicks and he could make a fire-shield. She also noticed that frustration and anger made his flame burn hotter, but his movements became sloppier. Blocking wasn't too hard, but breaking his root mid-movement was her best offence.
It was not much of a fight; whenever he attacked, Toph simply pulled the ground from under his feet or even better, knocked him over with a stone-column. There was only so much entertainment value in making him fly in different angles. In other words, it was incredibly dull. Worse than the Earth Rumble opponents.
"This is pathetic," Toph hissed in frustration, hoping he would rise to her bait with some real fire.
Instead of provoking his anger, she could feel his chi recoil, and his inner fire dim, like he just gave up. What was his problem? Something was really messed-up with this guy.
"I'm sorry to disappoint," he croaked. His voice was raw like an open wound.
Toph crossed her arms over her chest. "You know what is your problem?"
"You mean other than all the bruises?" He panted, out of breath.
"You play by other people's rules," Toph observed. "But I also know that you can do better, because I've seen it."
"Aren't you blind?"
Toph laughed. Even as beaten down as he was, he still had the guts to make blind jokes. She could respect that.
She also had an idea.
"I want the other guy, not whatever this mess is."
"What other guy?" he asked confused. "There is only me."
"I want Blue. Put on the mask." Toph ordered.
"I have no idea what you want to achieve," he protested.
"I said put it on." She stomped her foot for emphasis, making the ground shake around them.
"Fine," he said in a voice that made it clear he disagreed.
She heard him shuffle around the bag, the clinking of metal as he grabbed his weapons. One moment she could feel the vibrations of him kneeling, the next, he disappeared. Toph tried to widen her field of sensation with bending. Nothing. He vanished.
She listened to the rustling of the leaves, the creaking of the branches. He was up there, on the trees where she couldn't feel him. A twig snapped to her left. Toph sent a huge boulder in the direction of the sound, but didn't hit anything. Instead, a blade appeared out of nowhere, hovering close to her neck. Blue was right behind her.
Toph grinned. "Now we are in business. I knew you had it in you, Firebug."
When, he lowered his blades, she knocked him over with a fast stomp. Just a friendly reminder to make sure he remembered who the boss was.
-0-
Zuko clutched his side, breathing raggedly. His ribs were going to be purple-bruised without a doubt. He had fought earthbenders before, but nobody like her. Toph had amazing precision and control - her punches were never too small or too big. They hurt just enough to knock the air out of Zuko, depriving him of much-needed fuel for his fire.
In any case, he kept his fire subdued, he didn't want to risk hurting her, because how low would you have to sink to burn a kid, even accidentally? Yes, she was an annoying brat, a walking natural disaster and packed a punch like an angry komodo rhino, but she was just a child.
He wasn't trying hard enough, true, but he also knew without doubt that he could never defeat her even if he tried. It was like those humiliating sparring sessions with Azula all over again. He was pathetic, just like she said. Putting on a blue mask would not change the failure he was.
He slid on the mask anyway, because this was what his life came to - he was taking orders from 12-year olds. He grabbed his swords and watched her through the slits of the mask, flexing her toes against the ground, bending her arms at her elbows, getting ready to chuck another rock at him.
You play by other people's rules. Well, Zuko followed the rules as best he could, but the Blue Spirit was free to make up his own. After all, the Blue Spirit did surprise her before.
Toph could only sense him as long as he was connected with the ground, so he jumped on the closest tree and disappeared among the branches. He observed silently as she tried to locate him flexing her soles against the ground, shifting them around. He tied a long rope on a branch, and silently crept over to the next tree, until he was right above her.
When she gave up on her bending and started listening instead, Zuko pulled on the rope, snapping a twig, and using her distraction to land behind her, blades pointed at her throat.
She grinned pleased. "Now we are in business. I knew you had it in you, Firebug."
Her praise felt ridiculously good. Zuko lowered his blades with a pleased smile. Maybe he wasn't completely useless. His momentary lack of concentration landed him on his backside again.
"Ouch, what was that for?" he complained half-heartedly.
"To knock some sense into your thick skull. Even I can see that it is a big mess in there and I'm blind."
Zuko scowled at her, but she was of course impervious to his scowls.
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"It's simple. Let Blue bend."
No. The Blue Spirit was not a firebender. He was a prankster, a rascal, a mean spirit. He was everything the Crown Prince of the Fire Nation was not supposed to be.
But you are not the Crown Prince, are you, Zuzu? You are just an outlaw.
"I can't."
"Well, why not?" she asked.
The Blue Spirit was dangerous.
"I don't want to hurt you," he said truthfully.
Toph scoffed and crossed her arms over her chest.
"Tell me, Firebug, which one of us spent most of the past hour rolling on the ground?"
"Me," Zuko admitted reluctantly.
"So worry about yourself. I can handle it. Let Blue bend." She said firmly. "What would he do?"
Zuko took a deep breath under the mask. The Blue Spirit wouldn't attack harder, he'd attack smarter. He would use the terrain to confuse her. He would bend in ways that would make the imperial bending masters gasp in outrage. He would throw fireballs as distraction, he would twist around the forms and make his flame curve, he'd target the rocks under Toph's feet to put her off balance. The Blue Spirit would not want to overpower, when he could outsmart. He would see it as a game. Maybe it wasn't such a bad idea to let him bend.
Zuko smiled. "He'd tell you to stop talking so much."
Without warning, he did a fast, circular kick.
Prince Zuko, that's not a regular move. - But it works. -It's most aberrant. An abomination. The Fire Lord would never approve.
The fire made the rock she was standing on explode. She let out a startled cry, and for the first time since they started the practice, she landed on her back. She retaliated with a quick succession of rock balls.
The fight was back on.
After a few - much more enjoyable rounds - Toph decided to call it a day. She stretched out on the ground with a satisfied grin, and reminded Zuko of the terms of their deal. Zuko refrained from pointing out that it did not in any way change the former chore distribution between them.
He made fire, fetched water and divided up the rest of the smoked meat.
Staring into the flames he asked the question that was on his mind the whole day,
"Where did you learn to bend? I've never seen anyone earthbend the way you do."
Toph let out a small chuckle.
"When you are born a little blind girl, people make a lot of assumptions what your limits are. My parents got me a teacher hoping that I could learn enough earthbending to help me move around. He taught me only a few basic moves, assuming I could never learn anything more advanced. So I learnt from the badger-moles."
Was she joking? She had to be joking.
"Badger-moles?"
"They are the original earth-benders. And they are blind like me, so we understood each other perfectly. When you are blind, you don't see the limits. And that's a good thing. Where did you learn firebending?"
Her unseeing eyes unnerved him. Lying was not an option, so he decided to tell the truth or as close as he could without revealing the last of his secrets.
"Back home. Everyone in my family are exceptional firebenders. My uncle, my father, my sister are all prodigies. It came so easy for them, and I couldn't even make a spark until I was seven. So it was expected from me to pick it up fast, but…"
His insides twisted thinking of the crushing expectations, the almost unbearable stress of those lessons.
"You couldn't do it the way they wanted you to," Toph guessed.
Firebending was a source of constant anxiety and shame. No matter how hard he tried, it never was good enough.
"Yeah, I struggled a lot. They said I was doing it all wrong. My form was sloppy, I screwed up all the sequences."
A part of him expected her to mock his inadequacy, like everyone always did - well except Uncle - but she just nodded with a neutral expression.
"You were a turtle-duck and they tried to teach you fly instead of swimming."
Being compared to a turtle-duck was maybe not the most flattering metaphor, but it was a strangely fitting description.
"Something like that," he agreed drily.
"So how come Blue can fight different?"
Use your surroundings, Prince Zuko. Know your opponent. You don't fight a serpent or a tigerdillo the same way. A swordmaster knows when to evade and when to strike. - Yes, Master Piandao
"He was taught to adapt."
"You are fine, Blue. As long as you remember who you are."
"A turtle-duck?" he asked sarcastically.
"You said it." Toph grinned "Not me."
"I don't think a family of sea-hawks will ever want a turtle-duck."
"Then you need to find a family who appreciates turtle-ducks."
If only it was so simple.
"Don't you wish you family accepted you?"
"Of course, I do," Toph admitted. Suddenly she looked so young, so vulnerable. "I miss them. I want them to love me. But the real me, not some picture I paint for them."
He wished he knew what that meant anymore. The real him was becoming more blurry with each day.
Silence settled between them. She picked her toes quietly, he stared into the flames.
"I'm turning in," she said with a big yawn once all the dirt was gone. "Back or stomach?"
"What?"
"Do you sleep on your back or your stomach? So I can shackle you," Toph clarified.
Zuko's heart sank. He had hoped that they were done with this whole prisoner charade.
"Is that really necessary?"
"For now." Her response was short, but not unfriendly.
He had no more fight in him, so he simply laid on the ground, and curled up on his left side.
"Side then."
Toph bent stone shackles around his wrists and ankles.
"Good night," she said before she disappeared in her stone tent.
"Good night," he muttered.
Zuko stared into the starry night. He jiggled his arms and legs. The shackles weren't exactly tight. He could have gotten out of them easily if he wanted to. But he didn't want to. His captivity was an opportunity. Toph wasn't the only one learning from it; he was too. He already had more breakthroughs in one day, than for the last year, since his bending plateaued. And maybe even more extraordinarily, for the first time in his life, firebending was fun.