This War of Ours: Year Two
SUMMARY: Harsh realities of war slowly seep through the Academy's walls. Old allies disappear and new ones take their place. As Katara starts her second year in the school, she is faced with secrets that are ripe to be uncovered. [Zutara AU, inspired by Harry Potter. Book Two of This War of Ours series]
A/N: Special shoutout to Tamara_vonB on AO3, who commented on every chapter of Book One. I'm so glad you're enjoying this and I hope you stick around for more!
Anyway, chapter title is from the poem "Word Gifts for an Australian Critic" by Merlinda Carullo Bobis.
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender or Harry Potter.
CHAPTER 3
a wave in the throat
Rain pelted down furiously on the pebbly shore. Zuko coughed and heaved, seawater burning its way up his nose and stinging his eyes. He dragged himself away from the choppy waves, his clothes clinging heavily to his body. What remained of his rowing boat washed up beside him, the splintered wood serving as another reminder of his long list of failures.
Needless to say, things had not gone according to plan.
Zuko gritted his teeth at the memory. It stung more than the scratches and bruises that he was bound to have.
It had all been going smoothly— well, as smoothly as things had ever done for Zuko. He had gone quite a ways away from the Academy, the mountains already obscuring the large building from his view. He continued west, keeping the curved edges of the island in sight, checking his map constantly to make sure that he didn't stray too far from the gulf that would eventually lead to the Great Gates of Azulon. It was good progress; for someone who hadn't truly struck out on his own before, he had gone leaps and bounds beyond what he'd known his whole life.
And then the rains started.
Zuko wasn't a stranger to the Fire Nation's summer rains. They came heavy and they came swift, with lightning and thunder accompanying them every few seconds. The first bout passed without any incident, other than the fact that his map got reduced to a useless pile of mush because of the sudden downpour. He'd barely gotten his bearings and steamed himself dry with his firebending before the second round of rains began.
It had lasted longer than Zuko thought it would. The torrential rainfall blurred what little land he could see in the horizon and the turbulent waves threw him and his tiny boat up and down and who knows where else. It took all his willpower to hold onto his bag and his swords— which would probably be rusted through if he didn't clean them soon— and he'd hung on instinctively to one of his oars in order to float as the waves threw him overboard.
Zuko didn't know how he had survived, given what luck he had, but he wasn't about to look a gift ostrich horse in the beak. The weather was slightly calmer now, the rain letting up just enough for him to take stock of his predicament.
He was definitely far from the Academy now, although he wasn't sure if he had somehow ended up on the mainland or in one of the island villages that surrounded the Academy. Up ahead of him, he could see that the beach led to a sparse woodland, and beyond that was the hazy outline of a small village.
Zuko sighed and ran a hand over his face. He wrung his phoenix tail dry before tugging his cloak from his sodden bag and slinging it over his dripping clothes as best as he could— he couldn't be too careful; wherever he was, whatever his father might have thought of him, he was still the prince of the Fire Nation, and there were still some groups in the colonies that would love to send him piece by piece to the Fire Lord.
He stumbled into the woods as best as he could in the rain, but what little movement he made seemed to aggravate the lungfuls of seawater he had inhaled, and soon he found himself doubled over and retching all over his boots.
"Oh, you poor dear," said a voice behind him, and Zuko jumped right into his puddle of sick. He turned to see an elderly woman, hunched and wrinkled and only slightly older than his uncle, smiling at him from underneath an umbrella and carrying an empty wicker basket. Her tone was kind, but there was something in her rheumy eyes and her gap-toothed smile that made Zuko tremble.
"We don't get many travelers like you around here," the old woman continued, and he reflexively hunched in on himself, trying to hide his scar. "Did the storm throw you off course?"
"I'm just passing through," he said, trying to edge away, but she took a step forward for every step backwards he made. "Ah, where— could you tell me—"
"This is the village of Sayuri," the woman said, gesturing towards the direction of the settlement. "My name is Hama; I run the inn here. You're welcome to stay for a night or two— it is incredibly dangerous out here, all on your own."
"I can handle myself," said Zuko defensively, but Hama just smiled thinly at him.
"I'm sure you can, sonny, but there have been quite a few mysterious disappearances in our town," she said, and the chill that Zuko felt seeped right into his bones. "You're lucky you 'passed through' on a new moon, but it's always best to sleep with a shelter above your head."
"Wh-what happens if it's not a new moon?" he asked, already regretting his own question. This old lady was giving him the creeps, and the sooner he finds a boat to the mainland, the better.
"Oh, nothing to worry yourself about, dear," said Hama with a dismissive wave of his hand. She held up her empty basket and gave Zuko a shrewd look. "Now, why don't you accompany me to the market? I assume you'll also be looking to restock your supplies, hm?"
"Oh, I think, uh, I'm good on the supplies," Zuko said, not wanting to get roped into shopping with this stranger. "Actually, I— I might not stay the night. Are there any boats here that I could hire, or—"
"Nonsense!" exclaimed Hama, latching onto his arm with a surprisingly strong grip. "This storm will last through the night; no one will sail in this weather."
"How do you know it will last through the night?" asked Zuko suspiciously, trying to tug himself from her grasp. "It's summer! This will all clear up in a few hours!"
"I can smell it in the air, my dear," Hama said, her clouded eyes glinting with something like glee. Sweat broke on Zuko's brow and he swallowed down the bile rising in his throat. He hoped his fear didn't show on his face— why was he so afraid of a frail old woman?
She released her grip on him and deftly handed him her umbrella and basket. She turned slightly and beckoned him to follow with a veiny, claw-like hand.
"Now, come along. You have to tell me what you want for dinner."
Zuko sighed in frustration and hurried to her side, wondering how im Agni's name he was going to get out of this mess.
The Southern Water Tribe was less impressive than Pakku thought, and he'd already thought so little of it in the first place.
It was small, its walls woefully lacking the reinforcements that his tribe had, and their warriors seemed too undisciplined, what with the way they stood, their stances unprepared. He could tell just by looking at them that they relied merely on brute force rather than strategy.
"Honored delegates," said the man at the forefront, and Pakku assumed this was Chief Hakoda— he hadn't been a sifu during the chief's time in the Academy, so he wouldn't know the man, but Pakku would be lying if he said he wasn't intrigued by him.
Hakoda was, after all, Kanna's son.
"Chief Hakoda," Pakku stepped forward and inclined his head ever so slightly. He heard his fellow Northern tribesmen disembark onto the measly port. The captain of his ship, Nanook, lumbered beside him, grasping the chief's proffered forearm in greeting.
"It seems the winds have favored your travels," Hakoda commented, nodding at the other Northern warriors as they stepped up behind Pakku.
"Travel is easier with our skilled waterbenders on board," said another captain, Aput, leading his men forward. Pakku did not miss the grim look that passed over Hakoda's face.
"Ah, yes, I suppose it is," the chief said, before turning to the man beside him. "Bato, why don't you and Dakkel show our guests to the longhouse? I'm sure they will want to rest before the feast."
Bato nodded at the group before waving for them to follow. Pakku frowned at the lack of warmth in the gesture— were the Southerners simply distrusting of foreigners, or was this wariness borne of their history with the North?
No matter. Diplomacy was Pakku's job here, and his job was what he would do, no matter how inhospitable the Southerners act.
"Sifu Pakku!"
A young girl came rushing toward him, a thin boy armed with a boomerang on her heels. They both skidded to a stop before him, and in his mind, Pakku tried to place how he knew these two children— until the torchlight of a passing Fire Nation soldier illuminated the necklace on the girl's throat.
"Girl," he greeted, because honestly, it was nearly impossible to keep track of his students' names after a decade or so of teaching. "So, this is the fearsome tribe you were blathering on about?"
The girl bristled, but held her chin high. Her sibling scowled and tensed beside her, twirling his weapon in what seemed to be a vaguely threatening manner.
"Yes, it is," his student replied, back straight, feet firmly planted on the snow. In spite of himself, Pakku felt proud— this was how a trained warrior looked like, whatever gender they may be: grounded and fiery, ready to adapt to whatever circumstance thrown at them.
"What a charming little village," he commented dryly, striding past her. He eyed his surroundings disdainfully. "Now, why don't you show me around, that I may see what makes the South so preferable over the North, hm?"
The girl narrowed her eyes at him, and once again Pakku was struck by how much she acted like Kanna back in the day— so fueled by the need to prove herself to the world, to show that she was so much more than what others thought of her. He folded his hands into his sleeves and looked at her critically, testing if his lessons on controlling her emotional bending bore fruit.
When she didn't sigh anything but a puff of air (and he had seen her freeze a classmate with her breath), Pakku nodded to himself. The girl was a talented bender, to say the least. He had been right to take her under his tutelage.
"We could show you to the longhouse, where the rest of the Northerners are," her sibling cut in, his voice cracking from false cheerfulness. Pakku pursed his lips.
"That won't be necessary," he replied, gesturing towards the building in the distance. "I can quite clearly see where it is."
"Wow, his crankiness doesn't let up even when school's out of session, huh?" he heard the boy mutter to his sister, who tried to muffle her laughter with her hand. Pakku rolled his eyes exasperatedly as he made his way to the longhouse, following the trail his fellow tribesmen left.
He had barely reached the building when another young man caught up to him, kicking up a flurry of snow in his wake.
"The tribal elders are in the lodge, waiting to welcome you," said the young man, panting as he bowed. Pakku appraised him with a sharp eye— he was old enough to have been at the Academy during the Southern Revolt. His frown deepened. It was a shame that the Southern Water Tribe warriors were sent home during that particular stand-off; this young man needed to be whipped into shape.
"Very well. Lead me to them."
"Uh, however—" the young man stuttered, still deep in his bow, "I had been asked by one of the matriarchs to… um, 'hold you off for a bit.'"
"Matriarch?" The word was unfamiliar on Pakku's tongue.
The young man didn't seem to realize. He just nodded and finally stood straight.
"She mentioned 'having words' with you, sir," he shrugged uneasily before glancing behind Pakku and nodding. "That's my cue to leave."
Pakku scowled— were the Southerners really this mannerless? He had expected a cold reception from his student, but this— no proper etiquette in dealing with foreigners, no manners when talking to visiting dignitaries—
"Pakku, there you are, you dour old coot."
Pakku whipped around at the voice. It was ancient, gravelly with age, but he would know that voice anywhere.
"Kanna?"
She smiled wryly at him— the same way she smiled at him years and years ago, and he was surprised at how young his heart felt again, beating hard and fast in his chest.
"You look like you've seen a ghost and not an old friend," she commented, approaching slowly. "I am no ghost, Pakku."
"Could have fooled me, with the way you disappeared," croaked out Pakku.
Kanna snorted in the most unladylike manner.
"Come now," she chided. "When I heard you were with the Northern delegation, I had hoped you'd let the past stay as such. We have very little future left, with our age; I suggest we look ahead, hm?"
"And yet you stayed the same, Kanna." Her words seemed to thaw him out of his shock. "How do you propose to 'look ahead' when you are still who you once were?"
Kanna drew herself up as much as her age would let her, and the look she gave Pakku was one of a warrior's, not a woman's.
"You confuse foresight with stagnation, Pakku," she said, flint in her eyes. "Who I am at my core has not changed, and I suggest you remember that, if you are so bent on remembering the past."
Pakku bowed deeply in what he hoped was a dry mimicry of respect.
"Well then. Why don't you show me where your foresight brought you, matriarch?"
"It has brought me peace and respect, old man," Kanna said, waving him toward the communal lodge. "Don't pretend you have either of those for me; my eyes are old, but I can see the difference between sincerity and mockery."
"Allow me to be candid, then, Kanna," he said, a hint of bitterness in his voice, "Was this—" he gestured at her small, nondescript village, in all its bleakness and modesty— "Was all of this worth it?"
Kanna chuckled, and in her eyes he could clearly see that they were not looking at the same village; she saw value and significance where he could not, and had that not been the reason why he loved her, all those years ago?
"Oh, the families we choose for ourselves are worth more than you'll ever know, Pakku," she said, before tucking her hand into the crook of his arm and ducking into the entryway of the lodge.
"Yi-kai, that katana is not a toy," warned Suki dangerously, and the younger Kyoshi Warrior straightened up and sheathed her weapon guiltily. Suki nodded in approval. "Get your forms down first before waving that around; we don't need you or anyone else getting wounded, you hear me?"
"Oh, ease up on her, Suki," Jia piped up reproachfully from her left side. "She passed the Academy's exam; she knows how to handle her sword."
"Fine," exhaled Suki, snapping her own fans closed. She mustered a smile at the other warriors. "I think we've had enough training for today, anyway. Good job, girls!"
The noise of fans and swords being sheathed followed her words, and the rest of the Kyoshi Warriors filed out of the dojo, chatting amongst themselves. Suki hung up her own katana on the racks, preparing to follow them, but Jia's hand on her shoulder stopped her in her tracks.
"Look, Suki…" the younger warrior looked hesitant, but she forged on. "I know you're worried about being the captain after Minh, but you're gonna do great. You don't have to be so tough on the new recruits."
"I know, I know," Suki said, abashed. She tucked her hair behind her ear and sighed wearily. "I'm just worried, y'know? We haven't heard from Minh and her tour of duty's been done for over a year now. She and the other girls should've been back home before we even left the Academy this summer."
"I'm sure they're fine," Jia assured her, but there was an underlying note of anxiety in her voice as well. "They're a tough bunch, and they won't leave anyone behind."
"That's why I'm so worried!" Suki exclaimed, throwing her hands up. "What if something went wrong and they had to stay longer in General Fong's base because someone got hurt?"
"Then we must take comfort in the fact that they're all together," said Ling's unmistakable reedy voice from the entrance. She leaned against the door frame and crossed her arms. "C'mon, Suki. You can't think like this. You know that."
"Easier said than done," Suki replied, slumping against the wooden wall of the dojo. "Maybe I'm just not cut out for this. Remind me again why you turned down Oyaji when he asked you to be captain?"
"Are you kidding?" The older girl shrugged her thin shoulders and smirked. "Who wants to take on such a big responsibility?"
Suki groaned and Jia tried to hide her smile behind her hand. She patted her captain's back comfortingly.
"You know what would cheer you up?" said Jia, without waiting for an answer, "Wuqing went to the hawkery earlier and some of them are back! You can finally send your letters to Katara!"
Suki perked up at that.
"Oh, finally!" She pushed off the wall and rummaged excitedly through one of the drawers of the table situated in her corner of the dojo. She tossed out bits and pieces of clutter in her search for her rolled and bound letter. "I've been meaning to send this for ages; they don't really keep any messenger hawks in the South, so I had to be the first one to write her."
Jia and Ling exchanged sly glances behind her back.
"Are you only writing to her?" asked Jia teasingly. "'Cause, y'know, it might be weird if you didn't write a letter to her brother, too."
Suki started and accidentally pricked her index finger on something sharp inside the drawer. She sucked on her finger and turned back to her friends, narrowing her eyes at them and blushing furiously.
Jia and Ling grinned unabashedly.
"I am not writing to Sokka," Suki said fiercely.
"Oh, why?" asked Ling with a smirk. "Are you too scared he won't write back?"
"Oh, please, I don't even know if he could write," said Suki, rolling her eyes and continuing her search. "He can be really stupid sometimes, y'know?"
"Uh-huh, right," nodded Jia, popping up beside her and poking her in the ribs. "Isn't it kinda cute, though, when boys are stupid in an endearing kind of way?"
Suki stopped her rummaging long enough to remember Sokka tripping over nothing during their late night training sessions with Katara— he always tried to cover up his awkward fall with an even awkwarder gesture and explanation. The memory made her want to both smile and slap a hand to her forehead.
"Yeah, I guess he could be kinda cute," she mused absently, unaware of the twin smiles on her friends' faces. "He's really clumsy and says the weirdest things, but yeah, it's kinda really cute when he does that."
"He's really funny, too," added Ling, exchanging a glance with Jia.
"Oh, definitely," agreed Suki, peering into the recesses of the near-empty drawer. "Some of his jokes annoy Katara, but I think it's part of his charm. He's really good at cheering up people, and he's not down for very long, you know?"
"Plus, he's a good warrior, right?" Jia said, bouncing on the balls of her feet.
"Of course he is," Suki replied, extracting her scroll from where it was wedged in the far end of the drawer. "I really enjoy our spars; his boomerang is a lot similar to our fans. I actually learn a lot just by training with him. I kinda miss it, actually."
"Do you miss it, or do you miss him?" Jia squeals giddily, making Suki redden to the roots of her hair.
"Jia!" she gasped, affronted. On her other side, Ling snorted and threw one arm around her shoulders.
"If you have so much to say about him," the older girl said dryly, "Why don't you tell him all of it in a letter?"
"It's—" Suki's mouth twisted into a bitter frown, "It's complicated, you guys. He doesn't like me that way, okay? He'll probably never like me that way. I'm just not his type."
"Oh, how could you say that!" Jia exclaimed, grasping her hand and looking up at her with huge green eyes. "Of course he'll like you! You're a really awesome person, and he already spends a lot of time with you!"
"Look, it's not that big a deal!" Suki laughed, prying her hands from her friend. "But, fine, if you think it's weird that I don't write him, too, then I'll add something to my letter to Katara, okay?"
She picked up one of the bamboo quills that had rolled onto the floor when she was searching for her letter, and Jia excitedly unscrewed a pot of ink and set it carefully on the table. She and Ling peered over Suki's shoulder as the girl hunched over the parchment, the former lightly jumping from one foot to another. Suki chewed at the end of her quill before finally scratching out a postscript.
"'P.S. Say hi to Sokka for me, hope he's not eating all your seal jerky,'" read Ling over her shoulder. She scowled in dismay. "That sucks, Suki!"
"What? He really does eat a lot of seal jerky! And egg custards! Have you seen him at lunch? He eats like a hibernating platypus bear!" Suki exclaimed. Ling raised an eyebrow at her and folded her arms over her chest.
"I've never seen you this awkward with a guy you like," she pointed out. "You're usually really upfront about these kinds of things. What's the big hold-up?"
"He has a thing with the Northern Water Tribe princess!" Suki burst out, nearly crushing the pen in her hand. She sighed despondently and gently laid down the quill on the table. "I can't really be forward with him; he's still sad about her getting married and stuff. Besides, she's a princess, you guys— how am I supposed to compete with that?"
Ling and Jia briefly looked at each other before they both engulfed Suki in a hug. Suki laughed ruefully.
"Thanks, guys," she said, patting their backs. "Let's just go to the hawkery and send this, okay?"
The three of them walked out of the dojo arm in arm, heading for the steeple-roofed structure across their village's small plaza. It was getting quite late; the merchants that had set up their stalls in the market were already packing up their wares, and the lone tavern in the corner was steadily getting fuller. Children waved at the Kyoshi Warriors as their parents ushered them into their houses, and Jia giggled as some of the boys their age winked as they passed.
Suki just rolled her eyes with a sm-ile and entered the hawkery, blinking a few times as her eyes adjusted to the light.
"Cao?" she called as she stepped up to the counter, the screeches and flapping of wings competing with her voice. "Hey, Cao!"
A thin, gangly boy ducked from behind the heavy, dark curtain behind the counter, and he beamed toothily at the three girls as soon as he saw them.
"Well, 'ello there, Ling, Suki, Jia," he greeted warmly. "What can I do fer ya today?"
"I'd like to send a letter to the South Pole," said Suki, sliding her scroll and three yuans onto the counter.
"South Pole, eh? Heard it's mighty cold there," commented Cao, tucking the scroll into a bamboo tube and closing it tightly. "What'cha doin' sendin' letters to the South Pole, Suki?"
"Oh, y'know, made some friends at the Academy," replied Suki with a smirk. "Don't you worry, Cao, your hawk's gonna come back in no time, I promise."
"It better," drawled Cao, "Have ya seen how many hawks Gov'nor Oyaji's been sendin'? Me birds must've had Ba Sing Se memorized by now."
"Ba Sing Se?" Ling interjected. "Who's in Ba Sing Se?"
Cao's brows furrowed in confusion.
"Whaddaya mean, who's in Ba Sing Se? Minh and Chun and Yulo and all them other girls!"
Suki and her companions exchanged shocked looks before they took off for the governor's house, leaving Cao yelling behind them, "'Ey, ya forgot yer change! Ah, well, guess I'm just gonna keep 'em."
Cheers, calls, and claps from the excited crowd shook the underground arena, reaching a fever pitch as the unmistakable rumble of earthbending thundered over the audience's applause.
"Welcome to Earth Rumble Six!" Xin Fu roared. "I am your host, Xin Fu!"
"Ya ready to be blasted again by some sissy, Takke?" Toph called out over the noise that filtered backstage. The rotund man, dressed in nothing but a red cape and red pants, laughed heartily.
"Ah, please, The Boulder ain't no sissy," He picked up his prop— a Fire Nation flag— and twirled it around experimentally. "All the kids are bettin' on him."
"If they think The Boulder could beat me, then they're a bunch of stupid lil pansies like him," Toph snorted, propping her feet up on the stone seat she erected in front of her, and purposefully raising some earth to trip The Hippo, who scowled at her and muttered, "Hippo mad," before skulking to join his friends.
Xin Fu called for Fire Nation Man on stage, and Takke stretched and held his flag aloft.
"Here I go," he said. "See ya in two minutes!"
Toph yawned and tucked her hands behind her head, picking at her toes once in a while as Xin Fu announced rival after rival. Toph didn't mind waiting for her turn, though— it gave her plenty of time to get a read on her opponents, even though she'd been facing the same lot since Earth Rumble III.
"The Boulder's rocking it tonight," commented Gecko as he slunk into the room, clutching his stomach. He peeled off his bright green mask with a pained hiss. "Gopher, gimme somethin' for the pain, will ya?"
The Gopher took a swig from his flask before handing it to Gecko, who slumped down with a sigh beside Toph. The former turned to the blind girl with a smirk.
"With the rate The Boulder's going, you'll have to say goodbye to your favorite toy," he said, nodding to the Earth Rumble belt that laid on Toph's lap. "Too bad you can't drink away your pain yet, kid."
"'S okay, Baldie, it already cheers me up when I hear you cry for your mommy every time I beat your ass," Toph drawled lazily, getting to her feet at the sound of rocks smashing against the wall just outside.
As she stepped onto the platform, a hush fell over the anticipating crowd. She held up her prized belt over her head, smirking to herself. All of these dorks were just kidding themselves. No one would get this from her.
"Now, the moment you've all been waiting for…" Xin Fu announced, "The Boulder versus… The Blind Bandit!"
Cheers erupted from the audience, some of them chanting The Boulder's name over the din, but Toph wasn't hearing any of that. She handed off her championship belt to one of the girls that Xin Fu hired.
"Don't you dare get a scratch on that, ya hear me?" Toph commanded. "'Cause I'll know if you did!"
The girl sighed as she stalked off. Toph turned back to her opponent, who was going through his usual spiel.
"The Boulder feels conflicted about fighting a young blind girl," he said, and the crowd roared in agreement, calling for The Blind Bandit's disqualification.
"Ha!" Toph called out, pointing in his direction mockingly. "Sounds to me you're scared, Boulder!"
She didn't need sight to know that he was incensed now.
"The Boulder," he announced, "is over his conflicted feelings, and now he's ready to bury you in a rockalanche!"
"Whenever you're ready," Toph cackled, planting her feet on the arena, "The Pebble!"
"It's on!" The Boulder yelled, and Toph smirked at his bravado— there was a tremor in his hands as he held them up, his heart rate was faster than usual, and he was quickly losing the energy in his legs from all the fights he'd gone through.
This is gonna be so easy.
The Boulder shouted as he strode forward— she shifted her foot and raised her hands to her waist, anticipating his attack— he still hadn't noticed she was making her move, still hadn't veered away from the trajectory of her strike— she grinned and slammed her foot into the ground, churning up the floor and forcing The Bandit's legs into a wide split.
After that, it was just a matter of pushing stalagmites from the arena and sending her opponent crashing into the wall beneath the stands. The crowd whistled and jeered, and Toph smiled in satisfaction.
"Your winner, and still the champion—"
"FIRE NATION!" yelled Takke from backstage, and Xin Fu shot him a glare.
"We're not declaring you champion, you imbecile!" he hissed. Takke made panicked moves with his hands.
"No! Xin Fu, there are Fire Nation soldiers outside!"
"What?" Xin Fu moved from the spotlight and stomped angrily towards Takke. "Who told those bastards about our hideout?"
The crowd started murmuring anxiously, a couple of people here and there hollering questions at Xin Fu. Takke glanced nervously at Toph and lowered his voice.
"The— the Beifongs are accompanying them," he whispered, but Toph already heard.
"What the hell?" she exclaimed, rushing to Takke's side in a wave of earth. "What are they doing here?"
Xin Fu made a sound of frustration before coming back onstage and coaxing everyone out of the cave. Toph stood still for a moment, trying to calm her racing heart, before blowing her hair out of her face and making a rockslide leading directly towards Xin Fu's office.
It was an open secret amongst the professional Earth Rumble fighters that Toph was not just a waif from the streets who stumbled upon their arena and pummelled every single one of them to the ground. It was actually Headhunter who found out first after a particularly nasty battle where he lost all his prize money to The Bandit— on his way trailing the tiny girl home, Toph had encased him in earth and threatened to bury him alive if he so much as breathed around her parents. Naturally, everyone else heard of the warning the very next night.
She didn't even want to think about what her parents would do if they found out she'd been sneaking out to fight competitively in an illegal bending tournament.
Toph barged into Xin Fu's office under the cover of the milling crowd. She blasted a hole into the wall and crept in, slamming her foot once to find the spot where Xin Fu had earthbent his money box for safekeeping. She quickly slid apart the stone and tucked the wooden box under her arm, but before she could take another step, she heard the unmistakable click of the lock turning. Toph jumped into the box's crevice, leaving just a sliver of a gap in the stone so she could hear what's happening.
"...you're mistaken!" came Xin Fu's voice. "There is nothing illegal about a bunch of friends drinking out here in the middle of the night! Curfew is for minors only!"
There was a snort and a thud, followed by a pained grunt. Metallic boots clinked across the floor.
"Give it up, earthbender, we've already caught you red-handed," a gruff voice said as the sounds of more people in heavy metal armor flooded into the room. "You're running a betting ring on Fire Nation territory!"
"No, no, I swear, it's not a betting ring!" cried Xin Fu desperately. "Al-although, I have some gold pieces saved up— if you and your boys—"
"Enough!" cut in the soldier. "We'll see what the warden has to say about this."
"What about our daughter?" a woman asked piteously. Toph's breath caught in her throat and she huddled in on herself. Mom. "You said you'd help us find her if we led you here!"
"If your little rugrat is seen with these hooligans, ma'am, there's nothing we can do to protect her," answered the soldier sharply.
"You can't be serious!" she gasped. "She's just a child!"
"No one has seen her in the area yet, Poppy," interjected another male voice. Toph closed her eyes with a muffled groan. Of course her father was here, too. "Maybe those children we asked were wrong, after all."
"Search the room," the Fire Nation soldier commanded. "See if you can find the money that this one—" another thud and another pained yelp from Xin Fu— "scrounged up."
"I-I can show you where it is!" Xin Fu panted. "If— if you lower my charges—"
"It is for evidence, you blathering old fool," said the soldier scathingly. There was a blast of what sounded like flames and Xin Fu screamed. "Get him out of my sight. Make sure he and the other clowns don't get away."
Toph waited until Xin Fu's whimpers faded before stealthily constructing a tunnel out of the place. Thank the spirits the ringleader's office was near the entrance— she only had to crawl a couple of paces before she arrived at a relatively isolated place beyond the Earth Rumble cave.
A couple of footsteps up ahead alerted her that she wasn't as alone as she'd thought. She sunk into the earth again, straining her ears. If these were soldiers, she could easily incapacitate them the minute they stepped over her hiding place—
"How could she even get mixed up in all of this, Lao?" she heard her mother say. "Surely those horrible posters have got it all wrong! Master Yu's been keeping her private lessons to the basics! She's just a blind, helpless little girl!"
Toph scowled at the words and clutched her prize money tighter. She wished she had the chance to grab her championship belt along the way, too. That'll show them.
"We've let her have far too much freedom," her father replied gravely. Toph snorted. Too much freedom? Her father's idea of "too much freedom" was locking her up in her bedroom and letting the servants feed her! She stuck her tongue out distastefully as her father spoke again. "Once we find her, she'll be cared for and guarded twenty-four seven. It will be for her own good, especially now that the Fire Nation is also after her."
Toph's jaw dropped at that.
"No! No way!" she screamed, hurling a hunk of stone from the ground and into the tunnel she made. Her breath came in harsh pants. She was fine pretending to be the fragile girl they thought she was because before, she still had the Earth Rumble— but now? No fights, no earthbending, and she'll basically be treated like a prisoner every single hour for the rest of her life?
"I've gotta get outta here," she muttered to herself, wrenching a hefty boulder out of her way and feeling through the earth around her.
If her parents sensed anything amiss underground, she didn't care. She heaved a huge breath and pushed at the earth in front of her with all her might, producing a long, winding tunnel that led to the Gaoling port.
A/N: I love the Earth Rumble episode! Toph is such a delight to write. Anyway, on another note, I don't actually know the name of Hama's village, so I named it Sayuri, after orange lilies, which are the closest I could get to fire lilies. Or at least, that's what the internet has told me lol. Tell me what you guys think of this chapter! And I promise, there will be so much more Zutara soon! Cheers!