Chapter Five

--

Loud thunderous applause greets the viewers for the fifth installment of this interview series. The camera has difficulty focusing due to all the lights in the large arena where Earth Rumble Seven is being held. Finally able to focus, the camera zooms above the crowd and closes in on two figures in the middle of the arena.

The interviewer grins as the twelve-year-old runs around the arena, pumping her arms in the air. Laughter and applause are the order of the day as Toph Bei Fong plays to the crowd of her hometown.

"Yeah! Best Earthbender ever!" she screams, skipping up to the high chairs and climbing into the one opposite the interviewer. She laughs and wipes her nose on the sleeve of her tunic.

She is breathless. Her grin widens as the crowd settles down.

"Blind Bandit! Blind Bandit! Blind Bandit!" parts of the crowd continue to chant.

Toph turns her head. "Shut up, already!"

More laughter echoes against the walls, this time softer.

The interviewer clears his throat and starts the interviewer. "Toph, I am going to start with the question that is on everybody's mind. How do you do it? How do you bend metal?"

"Well," Toph clears her throat. "I don't actually bend the metal. I force the impurities of the pieces of unprocessed metal to expand…kind of like blowing rocks up."

"I'm not too sure I understand." The man scratches his chin thoughtfully.

"All I know is that I was in a metal box. Those clowns weren't going to let me out and I really did have to go to the bathroom. I knew Twinkletoes wasn't going to swoop in and save me, not that I needed any saving. He was too busy hooking up with the Guru at the Eastern Air Temple. So, I took a lesson out of Aang's book and meditated. You'd be surprised how much you can 'see' when you're actually looking."

"Now that you've unlocked the secret to metal bending, do you think other Earthbenders will be able to do it?"

Sighing, Toph blew her hair out of her eyes shrugged her shoulders. "I have no idea. It might be a little difficult for them to 'see' the bits and pieces of earth in the metal."

"Ask her about Sokka!" a male voice shouts from the crowd.

A blush creeps into her cheeks and she bows her head.

"When you crossed the Serpent's Path you kissed Suki, the Kyoshi warrior."

"Please, don't remind me," Toph mumbles under her breath.

"You kissed her thinking that she was Sokka," the interviewer says, setting up the question. "Ever since then, the shippers in the fandom have been talking about your relationship with the Water Tribe warrior – dubbing it Tokka. Would you care to respond to this?"

The young Earthbender scoffs. "I was drowning. I would have kissed the giant serpent at that point."

"But your affinity for Sokka has seemed to grow through the other episodes."

"What? Just because I was holding on to his arm when we were flying on Appa?"

"Yes."

"Have you ever flown bareback on an Air Bison?"

"Uh, no."

"Trust me. It's not fun. Even with a saddle, I don't care for flying. I prefer to have my feet firmly planted on the ground…where I can kick Xin Fu and Master Yu's –"

"Bring it on, loud mouth brat!" Xin Fu shouts behind the camera.

The crowd is whipped into a frenzied mob as they smell the proverbial blood in the water.

Jumping out of her chair, Toph knocks it over and shifts her small stature forward. With a flick of her wrist and a subtle stomp of her foot, Xin Fu rose into the air, the look on his face one of surprised embarrassment.

Toph's satisfied smirk turns into a wide grin as she listens to the fading shout of Xin Fu's curse as he flies through the air and into the stands. She cocks her head to the side. "Thank you for flying AirToph! You want a piece of this, Master Fraud?"

His hands tucked into the sleeves of his robe, Master Yu shakes his head and shrinks into the shadows.

Unperturbed by the interruption, the interviewer smiles and asks another question. "What do you want to see happen with your character in season three?"

Toph sets her chair to rights and hops into it. "Two things – I'm getting a pedicure and I'm freeing my buddy, Iroh, from the pokey. Not necessarily in that order."

The interviewer and crowd laughs. The camera focuses on the interviewer, who looks directly into the camera. "Toph Bei Fong, ladies and gentlemen! Next up is Avatar's resident ladies man, Sokka!"

Fade to commercial…

--

TBC

A/N –

Thanks to all who reviewed!