Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender. :)
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Chapter 2: Faded Thoughts and Feelings
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Leiko was dismissed and for the next couple of weeks everything went by smoothly. The relationship between Jiro and Lotus was growing, and Toph felt a bit privileged to be able to witness it. They were cute together, she had to admit. Always messing with one another, fighting, arguing, talking, exchanging glances. They were always communicating.
One afternoon Lotus's mother came to watch her daughter show off what she was learning. Lotus was at the head of the class. Toph had already taught her students to feel vibrations, to close their eyes and use their other senses in fighting. She'd taught them not to be dependent on sight. She'd also advanced her class quite reasonably in earthbending itself; they stood their ground, knew how to direct rocks and they often submerged one another in earth, usually resulting in one of Toph's modernized punishments. And they were beginning to become very defiant, much to her amusement. Lotus, of course, complied with her every direction, and was very disciplined. Toph was impressed by her advancements, and she held a fondness for the child's innocence and raw potential.
Toph addressed Lotus's mother as Miss Kaori. Toph had nothing but the utmost respect for her, and the feeling was mutual. Unlike the impudent Lady Rei Li, Kaori appreciated Toph's teachings.
"Good afternoon, Sifu Toph," Kaori greeted.
"Good afternoon yourself," Toph replied pleasantly.
"Mom!" Lotus cried. She rushed over and grabbed her mother's hand excitedly. "Sifu Toph, may Jiro and I do a demonstration of what we've learned?" she asked politely.
Toph nodded. "I think your mother would love that."
Lotus hurried off in Jiro's direction. After discussing it in hurried whispers, they got into position... that is to say, they stood facing each other. "Watch this, mom!" Lotus urged.
Lotus and Jiro proceeded to give a spectacular performance, part of it blindfolded- Toph's favorite part. A 'stunning display of earthbending mastery,' as Toph described it afterward. Kaori was certainly proud of her daughter, but she also feared for her. She expressed her feelings to Toph in the most concerned way possible so that Toph would seriously consider them instead of brushing them off.
"Sifu Toph, you're doing a wonderful job of teaching my daughter. Unfortunately... I think I'm going to withdraw her from your class."
"Why? It certainly can't be financial," Toph said, utterly confused and terribly dismayed.
"No, of course not. There've been a few, er, social problems, though."
"Has Jiro's mother confronted you?" Toph demanded. She would give that woman a piece of her mind...
Kaori was too stunned to respond right away. After a moment, however, she gasped, "You know that Lady Rei Li isn't happy with this arrangement?"
"Of course. Her son is my second best student. It will be a shame he'll have to lose his chance to learn earthbending from a real master because of his mother's actions," Toph replied irritably.
"No, no! Please! Lady Rei Li is very elite. It would be terrible if she caused us even more social discomfort! Oh, Sifu Toph... she threatened me. She told me that if I didn't withdraw my daughter from your class, she would have us put out of the city. And we have nowhere to go!" Kaori was sobbing now. Lotus came up and put her arms around her mother.
"What's wrong, mom?" she questioned.
"Sweetheart... I'm afraid that you won't be allowed these classes anymore," her mother replied as quietly as she could. Tears were rolling down her face. She was obviously distraught. Toph saw teardrop vibrations hitting the ground and knew they were falling thick and fast. Tears filled Lotus's eyes as well...
Toph shook her head, clearing it as best she could. "Please excuse me. I've got some business I desperately need to take care of," she growled. Jiro approached Lotus cautiously, knowing something was seriously wrong. Toph heard Lotus quietly explain it to him as she slipped away.
Toph sensed her dainty, pampered footsteps. She could have sensed them a mile away on the busiest day in Ba Sing Se. But the streets weren't crowded, and she was much, much closer. That made things even less complicated.
Toph tensed up. Lady Rei Li was approaching. She was close. Fifteen feet, maybe. And, with every second that passed, she came a foot closer. Her gait was steady, fixated. Toph knew that Lady Rei Li was coming directly toward her. She had undoubtedly been spotted, so she assumed her position- hard face, threatening stance, fierce blank eyes. She knew Jiro's mother could tell she was angry. This, to Toph, was good. She wanted Leiko to know that she was angry. It might intimidate her. Or amuse her, but Toph sincerely hoped not. She didn't really think it would help her situation if she buried the woman in raw earth.
"Are you okay, Sifu Toph?" Lady Rei Li questioned, venom lacing her voice.
"Actually, I think I'm going to try something knew. I'm going to calmly use words to solve my problems." Toph blinked harshly. "Lady Rei Li, it has come to my attention that you have had a very unpleasant encounter with one of my clients."
"I see you've heard. Has the... er... child withdrawn?" Jiro's mother asked, almost anxiously.
"Unfortunately, she has. This deems a problem." Toph didn't sound happy in the least. She was working her voice to try to adopt the deadly sense that Lady Rei Li's voice had, but she didn't think it was humanly possible.
"A problem?"
"Quite. See, you have caused my favorite charge to withdraw from my class. It is your fault that I no longer have the privilege of teaching such a gifted student." Toph's words were strained, and she carefully enunciated every syllable. She used as fancy a vocabulary as possible, knowing that her companion would hardly understand anything less. It felt unnatural, but she thought it gave her voice a raw, angry edge. It sounded like her wrath was just about to burst forth, like rage was welling up inside of her and would explode at a moment's notice.
"My son could not learn from the same teacher as a mere peasant," she replied smoothly. "And he must learn from the best."
"I'm flattered, really, but it's certainly not helping your situation," Toph smiled sweetly. "The problem is, your son is no longer welcome to my lessons. I must apologize to him later. He's only suffering from the actions of his pompous mother." A throbbing anger welled inside of her. She couldn't believe how much hurt and fury this woman brought her.
Lady Rei Li laughed. A cold, heartless, empty laugh. Toph knew that this woman didn't love her son. She only loved herself and her status. And Toph had a dangerously wicked idea of what to say next.
"And he likes her, you know."
Jiro's mother's chilling laugh died in echoes. Once all was quiet, a very soft, murderous voice uttered, "Excuse me?"
"Your high-society son has uh, taken a fancy to a lower class young girl." Toph stumbled over her words. Her mind was no longer speaking. It was another force, more binding and commanding. It was telling her to taunt the woman with her son's young love. She didn't want to anymore; she knew it would bring him punishment later. But she couldn't stop.
"I bet he'll love her. You take them apart, and it will only grow stronger. You wouldn't understand it. You wouldn't understand any concept of love, an obviously foreign emotion to your heartless soul." Toph grinned with satisfaction. She was winning. She could tell. And she wasn't even using her bending.
Lady Rei Li stepped back. "My son would never have affection for a peasant. For a commoner."
"He would. And he does." After this comment, Toph was sent spiraling into an old memory. Well, a thought, rather. She had, not too long ago, imagined the very same conversation occurring between she and her own mother.
Was this why she was so fond of Jiro and Lotus's affection for each other? Because it reminded her of her past relationship with Sokka?
Lady Rei Li was obviously fuming now. "Look, you little blind girl. I knew something was wrong from the start. I had a feeling that you teaching my son was a bad idea-"
"Shut up!" Toph's rage was at its peak. She was solid red. The city street beneath their feet was shaking uncontrollably.
Little blind girl. Little blind girl? "Is that what I am? Just a little helpless blind girl who isn't capable of anything? Never mind that I traveled with the Avatar. Never mind that I can bend metal. Never mind that I am a Bei Fong, from one of the wealthiest families in the kingdom. Never mind that I have loved and lost. Never mind that I'm a very real, very strong sixteen-year-old, and never mind that without me, saving the world may have been a little more difficult and may have taken just a little bit longer. I'm just a little, helpless, horrid blind girl unfit to do anything because I am limited by my age, disability, and lack of mannerly attitude. Is that it?" She had slowly stopped shouting. Her voice had come down to soft words, words that she wished she could have yelled at the madwoman before her, but words that refused to come out louder because of the growing lump in her throat. The ground had already ceased shaking. This was exactly how she had pictured the fight with her mother. It was too much.
She held back tears. She was Toph Bei Fong, the Greatest Earthbender in the world. She didn't cry. She wouldn't allow herself. She never cried... crying was weakness. Crying was showing vulnerability. Crying was unacceptable by all means for one who was considered the Greatest Earthbender in the world.
In the end, though, she was still just that helpless little blind girl. In the end. She'd always heard that it wasn't where you started but where you finished that counts. In her case, oddly enough, she'd always started and finished in the exact same place.
The greatest earthbender in the world wouldn't have cried. But a helpless little blind girl would have.
Toph felt a lone tear slide effortlessly down her cheek.
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