XXI. First Task, Wit.
Toph was dreaming again. She was back in the Fire Nation, and she could feel the silk of the majestic robe she was wearing. She was in a huge room, bending furniture out of the marble floors, and rearranging the elegant layout in a capricious melee of towers, benches and ugly sculptures in the shape of koi fishes. Suddenly, a knock on her door.
"Fireguy!" She called to a nondescript fire soldier, that felt like a cross between Chin, Lee and El Tuerto. "Let's gamble some fire shots!"
"I'm sorry Fire Lady Toph, but the Royal Fire Mistress Katara gave specific orders that you're not allowed to gamble or drink until you clean your room and do your Fire Lady chores."
"What nonsense are you talking about, man? I'm the Fire Lady!"
"Yes, but the Royal Fire Mistress was specific. You haven't cut any ribbons or kiss any babies since like forever. She said that her and the Fire Lord will be stopping later to see if you did what you were told to do."
Toph woke up with a start.
"No way I'm marrying those two. It's going to be worse that moving back with my parents." She mumbled in a low voice.
She then tried to move her hand and found out that she couldn't because she was utterly entangled with the monk. Like a kanji. She remembered the day Sparky taught her how to draw the kanji of her name. At that time she had thought all the lines so enmeshed that she wondered how people could make any sense of them. But now, she did make sense of the lines. Of her and the monk and the explorations from the night before. There has been a lot of investigation within the limits, but the problem with not crossing a line was that the desire to run it over was overwhelming. Another night like the one before and they wouldn't be stopping. She made a quick recounting of the things she knew about Twinkle Toes. One of them was that, if they were to seal the dainty deal, the odds of her needing Suki's tea were really high. He had mentioned it almost in passing, that day he told her about his festivals. And the last thing she needed, if she managed to survive La, was explaining to either the Earth Kingdom or the Fire Nation why the heir of the throne could fly.
She frowned her brow in distaste. That was the thing. She did not want to be Fire Lady or Earth Queen. Being Twinkle Toe's dirty little secret felt ten times better, ten times righter than being royalty. And somewhere between elation and realization, it hit her. She was falling in love with the monk.
"Fate." She mumbled angrily raising her blind face to the ceiling. "I'll get you for this!"
"You'll get Fate for what?" He asked, half sleep, against her neck.
"Nothing. Hey, we're going to miss breakfast. The first task is today. We better show up." He did not move, and she didn't either. His hand was nestled on her breast and it felt right. She caressed his hip. Her mind was on Suki. "Twinkle Toes, do you know what I really want?"
"What?"
"Tea."
"Right now?"
"Yes. Suki has a Special Blend that I really like. You should drink it too." She had no idea if the tea would have any effect on the monk and his super-duper fertility rates, but she reasoned that it couldn't hurt. He held her tighter.
"Right now?" He repeated, trying to get her to relax again. He started caressing her feet with his. She considered that.
"Five minutes." She conceded.
0o0o0o0o0o0o
When she finally managed to wake him up, it happened that she was not in her room, and did not have a change of clothes. Lately, she had been getting used to Suki or Katara pampering her. Truth be told, even tough she was a fearsome soldier, the last year at Ba Sing Se had soften her more than she care to accept. Kuei had put some women ('her staff') at her disposal to help her with stuff like her toiletries. To be accurate, it had been fun for her to scare those women out of their wits and ignore their attempts at making her look like a lady. But they had been helpful for small things like helping her tame her hair, or letting her know when she was hopelessly mismatched. Now, she was having the surreal experience of waking up in someone else's room, without a toothbrush or any notion where to find anything. He seemed amused.
"You can use my toothbrush, and I can comb your hair." He said, when she complained.
"Don't even think about using Appa's brushes in me. I'm not a pet." He laughed.
"I won't. I have some brand new hair brushes that I can use." When he was carefully brushing her hair back from her face, he added. "I don't need brushes. I don't have hair."
She did not ask for whom the new brushes were. She knew.
"I can pin your hair with a brooch." He added, looking at his work, and reaching for something. A comb, for the feel of it. "There. You look … beautiful. You always do."
She blushed and wished that she could see herself. But she couldn't, so that ended the discussion.
"You're really in touch with your artistic side." She said, euphemistically. She felt his smile, because he had grabbed one of her hands and put it against his face.
"You're the masterpiece. I'm just the guy holding the frame." Toph did not do what someone else would have done in her place. She did not mope about the fact that those unused brushes and combs were intended for someone else. Losers' weepers and Finder's keepers for all she knew.
"I need to dress." She said matter of factly, starting with her bindings when he stopped her.
"Let me do it." He said and proceeded to wrap her chest bindings with the same care he had put in undoing them. Her heart was racing, and she couldn't help it but caress his head and ears while he dressed her with care. When he was done, she realized that he had done a very good job.
"Where did you learn?" She asked, before stopping herself, and then realizing that she did not want to hear the answer.
"By watching you last night. I noticed how it was done." She liked the answer. He then proceeded to finish dressing her, down to lacing her boots. When he was done with her, she heard him putting clothes on himself. Before he covered himself with robes and parkas, he grabbed her hand and put it on top of his chest. "This is what I feel like without clothes." He informed her, like she didn't know. After the making out of the previous night, this was totally 'been there, done that'.
"I know how you feel like. Hey, I even know what you look like."
"Not like this." He insisted placing her two hands on top of his heartbeat. "Like this."
Her chest expanded with the desire of kissing him senseless. Which she did. Or attempted to. He seemed delighted with her hanging from his neck, kissing him.
"Let's go." He told her when she seemed to wind down, patting her rear-end. That was it. Toph didn't remember this kind of happy feeling in a lifetime. Well, maybe that day she re-built an entire cave with badgers moles. Or better still, that day when she buried five Dai Li's alive in a metal cell, who still couldn't be found after three days. When she brought them to the surface they were crying and everything. Those were the days. Not that today was not the day. A rear-end slap? Wicked!
She had been so busy either hiding or misbehaving since she got to the South Pole that she hadn't eaten breakfast on a single occasion. She didn't know what to expect. He escorted her to what it felt like the entrance to a big room, where she could hear people, voices and smell food. Food. That was like a foreign concept for her lately.
"I hate the food here." He confided in a very low voice.
"Totally." She accepted. "These Water Tribes, they drag moving things from the bottom of the ocean and then boil them. With nothing else."
"Yes. The main ingredient in the Earth Kingdom is sesame oil. Here is boiling water."
They both shuddered in unison, and she felt his pinky lacing hers briefly before letting her go. He then hesitated, like doubtful about advancing and crossing the entrance. She felt, and at the same time understood, his vacillation.
"You're concerned about Katara, aren't you?" She couldn't hear his answer.
"I'm nodding." He clarified after a brief second. "It's … it's not right." She didn't know what to respond.
"Are you going to do something about it?" She asked after a moment, knowing perfectly well that she wouldn't like the answer, but no one could ever accused her of being a coward. A masochist maybe, but not a coward.
"I have to." And, sounding like a little kid, he added. "I'm torn." And she felt sad again for herself, for him, and for any fissures his confusion may cause if not careful. She tugged at his sleeve, indicating that she wanted him to follow her and walked away from the entrance.
"You don't need to make a decision about anything right now." She told him, but something was gnawing inside. Irritation that he just wouldn't drop everything for her. But well, she was dealing with the only energy bender in a millennia, and you have to be pretty unbendable to bend a fellow like Sparky's dad. So, she was willing to give him some room. "You can step back for a little while and try to make sense of things in your head," 'and your heart' the hag added unhelpfully, "and take it from there."
"I don't want to hurt anyone." He mumbled. She nodded. At least, he hadn't say 'I don't want to hurt you.' That was something.
"Just try not to hurt yourself. Guilt usually translates into anger against oneself. I should know, I'm pretty good at both, being angry and not feeling guilty." Somehow, her incongruous confession stirred something inside him, because she felt his fingers in her cheek, heard a small chuckle, and felt that the weight of seconds before lifted from his body. His back suddenly erect, highlighting the fact that he was now almost a head taller than her. He tugged at her sleeve, and they walked back into the room. No one commented or seemed surprised by the fact that (1) she showed up for breakfast and (2) with Kuei's champion nonetheless. The South Pole was getting jaded for all she knew.
Her other suitors were there, and then Zuko and Katara, whom the hag had gotten to call her 'teamed-fiancés' in her head. They came over. Katara started to talk to Aang about the weather. Aang seemed uncomfortable, shifting all over the place. Right. That was a modern engaged couple for you. Toph, on the other hand, took Sparky aside, whispering.
"I'm not marrying you two." She warned him. "I had a mystical vision of my future with you two. Not good. Not fun."
Zuko seemed amused.
"You're wearing the same clothes than yesterday." He commented casually.
"What? Are you the local arbiter elegantiarum now?"
"No. Not manly." He grabbed a lock of her hair. "Good job with your hair. Who took care of your hair today?"
"What's with the sissiness?" She shot back, before he started commenting about how good her chest wraps looked.
"Nothing, just saying." She knew Sparky. He was a straight fellow with the natural instincts of a cat. What happened to him was a mother bringing out the good and a father fighting with teeth and nails for wickedness. In conclusion, a cat. That was Sparky.
"Don't go there. Whatever is nestling in your brain, the answer is no. And just to remind you, I know all your secrets. I have leverage and won't hesitate to use it." Her final threat was just that, final. He chuckled.
"I knew it! It was more than one kiss. Katara is like 'no, he's not interested' but I know you."
"Leave me alone. Oh, look, over there, a closet! It's calling your name." She tried to walk away.
"That's a pretty comb." He said knowingly, and she stopped. She didn't ask, she knew what was coming. She had served with him and, technically, was still part of his army. "I chose it myself." He said lowering his voice. "It was supposed to be a gift for someone else's hair. It looks good on yours." She wanted to kick his regal butt royally.
"You should be on your knees thanking me that it's not in someone else's hair." He suddenly grabbed her hand and kissed it.
"I am."
"Zuko?"
Katara's voice had a question mark.
"Oh, look!" Toph said "Sparky is Publicly Showing me Affection! Isn't he nice?" She walked away before whispering to him. "You asked for it."
She tried to place herself in the hall or whatever it was she found herself at the moment. She was trying to place Suki. Aang had been dragged away by someone, for all she knew. She then thought that if she wanted to find Suki, she needed to find Sokka, and that meant, finding the food. She followed the stench, ooops, sorry, the smell of the food. When she reached the table, she followed the sounds of the food. No one could chew louder than Sokka.
"Hi!" Toph said when she got next to him. Sokka turned to her.
"Good morning, fellow team member and Obscure Object of Desire of Kings and Laymen alike. Try this, it's good." Toph smelled the food. A rice cake. She could do rice cakes.
"Where's Suki?" She asked, chewing. He shrugged.
"In her morning tea ceremony or something with her warriors. Seems like the girls have been getting to bed very late at night, or something, because it has been harder to get them up in time. Some of them are still missing."
"Is Captain Yin looking for his men too?"
"Yep, he was exchanging notes with Suki this morning. Some problems with the morale of the troops. They need to lift the morale or something."
"I don't think lifting the morale is what they need to do. Maybe elevating the morals will help. So, where do I need to go to find Suki?"
"I can take you there." She felt him looking at the food. "Hey, do you think we can get some of the merchants to provide kukus? Aang says that everybody likes that fruit, that it's delicious or something. Some fruit is always good for breakfast."
"Those are an acquired taste. I would start with Haruberries if I were you."
"Haruberries, where do I get those?"
"In the Earth Kingdom. They export them to the South Pole now. Oh, look here, plums. Eat these. I think my work here is done."
She started walking away, with a couple of rice cakes in each hand, when Aang caught up to them.
"The heads of State will be reconvening on the hall to give the guidelines of the Contest and the First Task. Have you eaten Sifu T.? Did you have some tea?"
"On my way. Here, I got this one for you. It's edible and meatless."
They reached a haggard Suki. Fighting (or upholding, Toph wasn't sure which) the Kyoshi Code was hard work.
"Hi guys!" The warrior said when she saw them. "I'm in the middle of our morning tea ceremony. Do you need anything?" Toph wondered if Sokka knew the purpose of the ceremony, but soon realized that he didn't. He was smelling the tea.
"This smells awful, Suki." He said. "You can ask Fire Lord Iroh for some tea brewing tips."
"I don't need Fire Lord Ir … Toph, what are you doing?"
"Drinking tea." Toph tried to hid a grimace. "Wow. This is delicious. Here, T.T., try some."
"Nooo!!" Suki was a second too late. Toph had shoved the tea down the monk's throat. He swallowed some, sputtered most.
"This tea is disgusting." He said. Toph seemed astounded.
"I think is the best tea ever." She announced while bravely knocking down another cup, like if it were a fire shot. "'Here, T.T., more for you." She shoved more tea down the monk, almost drowning him. He fought her.
"Toph, stop! I don't like it!" For a moment there she considered to spill the tea in the fertile area of his body, just in case, but caught herself on time. Scalding the guy might not work, after all.
Suki was hiding her teapot from them.
"Guys, this is a serious ceremony! You're interrupting my traditions!"
"'We're leaving." Toph announced, when she heard someone coming closer. Chin.
"Avatar." She heard the soldier bow. "Great Master. Master Sokka. Avatar, I have those scrolls you asked me for the other day."
Aang was fast.
"Thank you Chin." He put the scrolls away. "Any news about what I asked you yesterday?" She heard the fire soldier getting closer and walking away with Aang.
"I reviewed the Covenant, Avatar." Chin was saying. "You are bound to help the King, yes, but it only requires you to exercise reasonable efforts while helping."
"As opposed to?"
"Best efforts or commercially reasonable efforts." Toph was confused. Was ever an end to the amount of legal nonsense those attorneys could come up with? "Reasonable efforts means that you would do only what an ordinary person would consider reasonable. If it would have been 'best efforts' it would have meant for you having to go out of your way for the King."
Toph came closer.
"What he means Twinkle Toes is that you don't have to win the task if you are being reasonable. You're only forced to win if you have to be the best." She shrugged. "You can lose and still honor the covenant."
He seemed to perk up for a second there, and then deflate.
"But, if I lose, someone else will win. Like Zuko."
"That's the idea." She reminded him. "You winning equals Kuei wins. Get it? Don't get confused here, OK? And anyway, it's ten times better to be Fire Lady than to be Earth Queen." That seemed to have been the wrong thing to say, somehow, because she could feel him getting upset.
"I thought that no one was winning you through this Contest." He retorted bitterly. Toph breathed deeply and tilted her head to Chin.
"Chin, do you mind giving me a minute here with the Avatar?" Chin bowed and walked away. She got closer to him and whispered. "I'll say this once and only once. Being your dirty little secret is thirty times better than being Fire Lady, OK? Now, snap out of it, and move. And don't forget, 'Reasonable' means that you don't have to throw yourself in the river to save a smelly cat. You just need to throw the cat a branch and pray hard. Get that?"
"But then, the cat may die! How am I going to save the cat if I don't jump in the river?"
"Because that will be a best effort! This is a hypothetical. The life of the cat is irrelevant in this example."
"The life of a cat is never irrelevant. I don't approve of random acts of cruelty against animals or people."
She crossed her arms.
"Twinkle Toes, I don't think you have the right attitude to lose this Contest." She heard him crossing his arms too.
"And what do you mean by thirty times better? Why not fifty?"
"If you lose this one for me, a thousand times better multiplied by infinity." That seemed to do the trick, as she felt him immediately perking up. She turned to leave and felt a light slap on her rear-end. He didn't even wait for her to react, he just walked to where Sokka and Chin were. She shook her head, wondering how to get more of Suki's tea for herself and the monk.
0o0o0o0o0o
The Hall, refurbished after the Wrath of La, as Sokka had decided to call the Fish incident that almost destroyed his masterpiece, was again the place where announcements where being made. Bato the Herald started, expecting to be interrupted, because he would do long pauses in between reading the text. Toph was sitting apart of everybody, in the middle of the hall, as the Object of the stupid Contest. Everything about the Contest irked her, but especially the fact that she was referred to as the object of the Contest. Even changing it to subject of the Contest was not good.
She had ran into Kuei just before entering the hall. She heard his little cough and smelled Bosco, and felt bristling from the inside. She couldn't tell him everything she thought about him right there, because that would have given away the fact that she knew about his plans and that his hawk had been intercepted. And as far as she understood from Chin and Yin, now they were counter-intelligencing every message. She knew how enthusiastic the fireguys could get, so she wondered with what else were they tampering in the Earth Kingdom. This was the core of counter-intelligence, eat the bile today and win the war tomorrow. So, she was coldly civil when she said good morning to Kuei, to his surprise and delight and the unending suspicion of his attorney.
"Chief Hakoda of the Now Unified Southern Water Tribes opens the Seventh Session of the General Assembly of the First Official Peace Summit since the End of the One Hundred Year Old War Started by the Fire Nation. The First Order of Things is the Announcement of the Guidelines of the Contest of the Frosts and the Announcement of the First Task. Being the suitors for the hand of Great Master Extraordinaire Toph Bei Fong, First Daughter of the Bei Fong Vassals from the Earth Kingdom Vassal State of Gaoling, henceforth referred to as GM, the following: Kuei, the 52nd Earth King, henceforth referred to as the Earth King, Challenger, hereby represented by his Champion Avatar Aang, the Last Airbender." Someone snorted in the hall. It took her a second to realize that she was the one snorting. "Zuko, Crown Prince of the Fire Nation and his team, Team Avatar minus the Avatar but including the Object of the Contest, GM." Even Bato composure had limits, he had to stop. She felt him turning, probably trying to make eye contact with Chief Hakoda. "Hakoda." She heard him say. "I cannot do this. This is ridiculous."
"Bato." It was King Bumi. "This is very serious. We are not trying to mock Water Tribe traditions, but there are no clear rules here." She heard the dignified warrior sigh and continue.
"Jeong-Jeong, Great Firebending Master and High Master of the Order of the White Lotus. June, Bounty-Hunter with not known address or qualifications, with her shirshiu Nyla. Colonel Mongke, FireNation Army Veteran and his horde, the musical group the Rough Rhinos. Foam Guy, with no name and/or clear profession ..." Bato kept reading the list. She was bored before he reached the end. When Bato stopped talking, Chief Hakoda stepped forward.
"I would like to beseech all suitors to this Contest to consider three things before I go forward with the Guidelines and the First Task. Number one, the Earth King is being Championed by Avatar Aang, the most powerful bender in the world, who single handedly defeated Phoenix King Ozai and put an end to one hundred years of war. Number Two, there are no clear rules in the Contest, except that at the end, only one suitor must be left standing. In the past, that meant a fight to the death. Frankly, we don't know what it means anymore, but we are willing to accept that 'there can be only one', as our tradition requires, means casualties. Number Three, and finally, Great Master Bei Fong wants me to inform all of you that she really doesn't have any money. Her inheritance is controlled in trust by her stingy father and she won't see a copper piece until she's twenty five. She is a couple seasons shy of seventeen, which means long, long, long seasons in the future with her, without money. So, if any of you have seconds thoughts about this, please come forward and scratch your name from the list."
It was not the stampede she was expecting, but the last bit of information did get a lively response. Between the possibility of facing Aang, and the fact that there was no immediate money after all, all suitors with no emotional investment in the enterprise scratched their names from the list. The really surprising fact was the impression that most people out there had about Aang. Somehow everyone assumed that he had spared Ozai's life out of friendship with Zuko, and rumor had it that he was really fearsome and forbidding. The reality that Ozai's life was never in danger, that Aang was incapable of scolding even his own pets, and that he believed firmly in non-violence, hadn't somehow reached the masses. Toph suspected that if not reined in closely, any day now Aang was capable of announcing his own religious movement, and start preaching about the evilness of hurting flies while dressed as a half naked guru. She wondered if that was what was fueling their chemistry. She could come up with a thousand different reasons to declare a war, and he could come up with a thousand counter-reasons why not.
At the end, the suitors were reduced to Kuei, Zuko, Jeong-Jeong, June, and Mongke. Sokka personally convinced foam guy to scratch his name from the list, with the promise of autographs from both Aang and Zuko. The three that stayed did so, as they informed Hakoda and she overheard, because they had no problem hanging out with her until she inherited her vast fortune. She shuddered at the thought.
Chief Hakoda then reassumed the Guidelines.
"The Contest of the Frosts is usually comprised of Three Tasks that measure Wit, Bravery and Strength. Whomever is first in completing a Task successfully, wins that round. Because in this case we have more than two suitors, points will be granted depending on the level of success. After each Task, the suitor with less points will be eliminated. If a suitor does not finish a task, he or she will be out of the Contest. Only the two with the highest points participate in the final task. The Elders of the Water Tribes, together with the help of the White Lotus Order (except of course Master Jeong-Jeong due to a conflict of interests) have designed the tasks. The First Task is Wit. The Contestants are to face a Riddle. To answer the riddle, they will need to show dexterity. Remember, in this Contest is each Contestant for him or herself. Following Water Tribe tradition, the Elders are the judges. Please follow me, the location of the First Task is not far away from here."
Chief Hakoda stepped down. Toph stood up, wondering what was she supposed to do next, when someone approached her. Sokka.
"Come on, obscure object of desire and absurd contests, we need to face the first task." They started walking together. Zuko, Katara and Suki joined them.
"Stop it with the 'obscure object of desire', what about 'exquisite subject of wants'?" She was saying, before noticing that they were leaving the Hall. "Where are we going?"
"I heard dad talking with uncle Iroh about it. I think the task is going to be held in the Caves of Sorrow."
'That's an auspicious name." Zuko said with a sigh. "Please, inform us, Why are those caves called that?"
Toph heard light feet rushing and catching up to them. Aang.
"Hey, you're supposed to be part of the other team!" Sokka reminded him. "What's with the enemy fraternization?"
"I'm the competition only when the Task starts. Right now I'm still part of this team."
"I guess you're right." Sokka said. "After all, you're my sister's fiancé. You should at least be allowed to hang out with her." The silence among the friends was boisterous, Sokka was the only one oblivious to it. The freezing air outside hit them on the faces. She could hear people around.
"Hey, Toph, here, let's use the sleigh I got for you. You can feel vibrations on the metal. It will let you rest from the ice."
While Sokka harnessed a couple of South Pole dog seals to the sleigh, ignoring her proposal to find the Boulder and the Hippo to use them as beasts of burden (those two were hanging out at the local South Pole bars for all she knew, as she hadn't seen them, or heard from them, in days), Suki approached Toph cautiously.
"Toph," she said in a low voice, taking her aside "the ceremony tea, er ..., is not what you think."
"Is not tea?" She asked innocently.
"Well, yeah, is tea. But there's a purpose to the tea." Toph knew the value of deniability. Technically, if you didn't know something you couldn't be accused of anything.
"Tea is tea. By the way, Suki, are you dressed for the task?" She asked in return, changing the topic drastically.
"Sorry?"
"I mean, last time we went to take on the world you show up to the battle to end all battles grossly underdressed. Not that the bikini with no weapons detracted you from saving the day, my butt and Sokka's, but frankly woman, you overdress with your Kyoshi apparel all the time, for any occasion, except of course the day of the Comet. That day you were fully dressed in good intentions I hope."
Suki was deeply offended.
"Hey, I know hand to hand combat!" She retorted.
"Yep, precisely what was needed to take on a fleet of gliders. Don't get upset, it's just that that tiny detail have been bothering me for the last three years, it needed to be addressed."
"Bikini? Who said it was a bikini?"
"Katara did. She is the one who described your outfit to me. Hey, she said that she also had the red bikini but sacrificed it for a more appropriate Water Tribe warrior dress. Like me, Sokka, you know. Everyone. But you."
Suki was fuming and went to yell at Katara, all thoughts of the tea completely forgotten. Toph put her hands behind her head, happy.
Finally, the sleds were ready. Toph accommodated herself on one of the sleighs.
"Where are the caves?" Aang asked, as she heard him adjusting his glider. "You know guys, we can use Appa for this. You don't need to hassle with sleds."
Sokka sounded hurt when he mumbled something on the lines of "After all the effort I put on transportation!."
"It's OK, Aang." Katara said, sounding a little bristled after the interaction with Suki. "The more you hang out with us publicly, the more you give reasons to Kuei to doubt your intentions regarding winning this thing. I don't think that you can lose on purpose."
"I know." He said ill-humored. "That's not reasonable." Sokka was talking.
"The Caves are a ride away, bordering the shore line. The entrance of the Caves is half sunk in water. They are this natural maze of stalagmites and stalactites, that goes way underground. Our ancestors used to consider them sacred." Sokka helped Suki on the sleigh, and Toph felt him covering them with thick and heavy furs. "Katara, you ride on that other sled. Guys, Zuko and I will be standing behind you, driving. This is called running for your information. Your only job is to cover your faces against the wind, not to lose your balance and make no comments regarding directions. Are we OK?"
"Yep"
"Yeah"
Sokka did the equivalent of a yip-yip to the seal dogs, which sounded like a 'tut-tut', and the animals started racing. The wind was freezing and uncomfortable on their faces. Toph assumed that Aang was gliding above them, but she couldn't really figure that out because the whoosh of the wind was deafening. When they reached the caves, she was wishing for Appa with all her heart.
"Can we let go of the pride and the concept of competing teams and just call the bison for the trip back?" She pleaded when finally off the sled.
They walked on the ice to what was described to her as the entrance to the caves. Some of the elders, the suitors and assorted people who was supposed to be there, including the challenger Kuei who, as Katara described it, was traveling very snuggled and warm in a huge sleigh with Bosco, had not arrived yet. So they decided to wait.
"Sokka, while we wait, regale me again with the reason of the name of these caves?" Zuko insisted.
"The Caves of Sorrow were often the place where Water Tribe fishermen or hunters would take refuge if a blizzard happened to surprise them. There is this feeling about them, almost spiritual, but our ancestors noticed that after spending a couple of days hiding from storms in these caves people would tend to go a bit funny in the head."
"More religion and Gods?" Toph asked distrustful.
"No, not really. Just this notion of questioning things in your life, of trying to make peace with past and present decisions. It's like a pervading feeling of 'what if' in those caves. They are called Sorrow because those not at peace with their decisions will come out of those caves feeling sorrowful."
"It's like the ideal place for me to hang out, then." Zuko said with a grunt.
"Actually, you may be OK in there. You already questioned all your life actions, and keep doing so. The caves affect those who do not."
"Are they still considered sacred?"
"Well, not actively. I mean, we tend to avoid hanging in there. It's not a comfortable place if you think you don't have issues with your life, and then have to face them all."
"Like Guru Pathik." Aang said, thoughtfully.
"Again, not really. There is no actively seeking enlightenment on those caves, is just …"
"Is just useless regret about things that you cannot change and second guessing your decisions when there's nothing you can do about them." Toph finished for him. "In total, the caves make you feel guilty, which is the most useless feeling in this universe."
"I see you're going to do just fine inside the caves." Sokka concluded.
They heard the rest of the people arriving. Soon Chief Hakoda had lined the suitors and their teams, if any, and gave the instructions.
"Each suitor will enter the caves and take a path. There are several caves and several paths. Each suitor will be assigned one color. Follow the path with your color. From there you need to continue until you find the riddle and answer it. You can only leave the cave if you answer the riddle. We will be measuring the time each suitor takes in answering the riddle with candle marks. One more thing, each path leads to a different riddle. So, each suitor will face a different question."
Zuko was assigned the color, oh irony, red. The friends said goodbye to Aang who was assigned the color, imagination please stay still, orange. Toph didn't care about the colors of the other suitors and she just cared about theirs because Sokka was commenting on the lack of subtlety of the Elders. The suitors entered the caves one by one. Zuko spot was third, after Aang and the Rough Rhinos. They would have had to jump in the freezing water if it wasn't for Katara who bended the water away, giving them dry access to the entrance of the cave. Toph then bended them over the rock formations and they found themselves inside a cave. The entrance was freezing cold, like the entire Pole.
"I surely hope I'm worth all this aggravation." Toph muttered. "While Kuei is toasty out there, drinking hot mulled wine and kissing Bosco."
They took the red path. The caves, interestingly, became warmer than she had expected as they advanced. She couldn't see that well because she was still wearing her winter boots, but she could see more than on ice. She could see the interesting shapes of the columns rising from the bottom, stalagmites carved by time, water and minerals instead of earthbenders. She could also feel the stalactites coming down from above, in capricious forms, almost touching but at the last minute, retreating from the floor. Toph stopped and removed her boots.
"This place is beautiful." She said.
"It is." Suki accepted. "I wish you could see it under Zuko's fire."
"You're mistaken, I can see it better than you. It's astounding."
They kept walking for what it felt like forever, going down, deeper into the earth. They finally reached an open space, a lake, where the path ended. Toph could see with her feet that the water was still and shallow. She imagined it looking like the breathing mirror from the Spirit World.
"It's like crystal." Katara said and then they heard a rumble behind them.
"Toph!" Zuko called "Check that!" A huge rock formation had closed the path from where they had come from. She approached the gigantic boulder and touched it. She smiled.
"Bumi just closed the exit. It's OK, I can blast this thing if necessary."
"I think the idea is to answer the riddle to get out, not to force our way out. We may get disqualified that way." Katara said.
Suki was sitting on the ground, facing the lake. Toph could see her hugging her knees, and even though she couldn't see her face, she could feel the warrior mesmerized by the water.
"You know?" Suki said, wistfully. "I always wanted to be a ballerina. But my mom, who is a fearsome Kyoshi warrior, thought it was too girly. Did I ever tell you that my favorite color is pink? I used to own this beautiful tutu, all pink, but my mom took it away the day she gave me the fans and told me that I was about to start Kyoshi training. It was raining that day. She took away my tutu, my scrolls with stories of princesses, and ordered my room to be painted green instead of pink. I remember my tutu under the rain."
It was starting. Sorrow was starting. Toph tried to figure out if Sorrow would reach her and how. So far, she felt nothing.
Sokka had approached Suki and passed an arm around her shoulders.
"I always wanted to be a chef." He confided, kissing his girlfriend hair. "I used to sneak in Gran-Gran's kitchen and play at putting things in the pot, like spices and bits of lichen for flavor, but Gran-Gran would kick me out saying that the kitchen was not a place for boys." Sokka was looking at the lake too, his head was leaning that way. "I could have been great." His voice full of longing. "I could have been a contender in the kitchen."
Zuko, who was keeping his composure, called on them.
"Hey guys! You need to fight this. Now. Look, there is something on the other side of the lake."
Toph could see with her feet what the lake ended in what it seemed like a deep crevice, but she couldn't hear a waterfall. Something was containing the water. Katara, who was standing, engrossed on the lake, did not move. Zuko put a hand on her back.
"Katara, across the lake. I need you to focus and bend an ice bridge." Toph saw her moving her face towards him.
"I thought that I wanted to be needed." She told him. "But I want to need." Her hand was touching his face. He grabbed the hand.
"Katara, focus on the water. Water cures all your sorrows. Focus. I need you, now." He kissed her hand, completely disregarding the fact that Sokka was present. Sokka, actually, was too entangled in his kitchen dreams to care. The last phrase shook Katara out of her trance. She assented, and turning towards the lake moved her body in the sinuous movements of her craft. She jumped on the ice with Zuko and approached the end of the lake.
"It's like a bottomless pit" Zuko called to Toph. "And there's a natural dam. You know what's on the wall on the other side of the chasm? A Spinning wheel! A wooden spinning wheel going fast. Wait, there's something written at the center of the wheel, is a riddle." Zuko read aloud:
"I never was, am always to be,
No one ever saw me, nor ever will
And yet I am the confidence of all
To live and breathe on this terrestrial ball."
"The spinning wheel has kanjis around. There are holes in the kanjis." Zuko kept explaining. "Once we solve the riddle, we probably need to press the kanjis of the right answer or something, because I don't see any other way to announce that we have the answer."
Toph yelled from the shore of the lake.
"What kind of holes are we talking about? Buttons?"
"No, not buttons. Holes."
Toph looked with her feet, and found them. There were little pebbles piled up on one side of the cave, but they were not rocks. Toph touched one of them and realized that they were made of wood.
"Darn, Zuko, I think I know what we are supposed to do." She yelled. Katara waved herself and Zuko back to the shore of the underground lake. "We are supposed to solve the riddle and then get these wood bits in the right holes. Katara can bend us to the wheel in the water. Maybe I can create a bridge closer to the wheel to put these in. The entire thing it's actually really easy if you are a bender, can solve riddles, snap from the sorrowful funk, and if you are not blind and can read."
"Ok, so how good are you at riddles?" He asked. Toph shrugged.
"I'm terrible. I hate to think too long about one single thing, and I only do straight talk. I hate riddles. They beat around the bush. Can't do them." And with that, Toph threw herself in the soil and put her hands behind her back.
Zuko turned to Sokka and Suki, who were still looking at the lake, yearning.
"I used to have this doll," Suki was confiding, "that I would hide from my mom. And I would dress it in pink and play that she lived in a palace and married a handsome prince and had tons of babies. Mom didn't like it a bit. She kept saying that Kyoshis don't need men to complete them, that we don't do princes or tons of babies. That we are independent career warriors. Did I ever tell you that my mom left my dad for the island's midwife?"
"I know, Gran-Gran would tell me that the Water Tribes don't do fancy in the kitchen, that culinary arts are not manly."
Zuko turned to Katara. She was again, distracted, looking at the lake.
"What if I don't want children?" She was saying aloud. "Does that makes me a bad person? I don't want to take care of people always, is too draining."
Zuko turned to Toph.
"Why do you think we're not being affected, Champ?" He asked. Toph shrugged.
"Maybe the what if is not about guilt but about what you wanted to be or do with your life and never had the guts to do."
"I never wanted to be anything else than the Fire Prince and eventually, become Fire Lord with my honor intact."
"I never wanted to be anything else than me. I'm happy being blind, and after my trip to the Spirit World, I'm happier than ever. I don't want to be anything else that the best earth-metal bender ever. I know who I am."
Zuko sat on the soil tugging at Katara's hand until she sat next to him. She was still pondering aloud about the fact that family and kids may not be the only destiny a Water Tribe girl was supposed to have.
"That's our answer, then." Zuko said. "The what if is about the inner dreams that we deny ourselves. Well, now we need to solve the riddle. You need to help me."
"Seriously, I'm lousy at riddles. Can't we just look at the kanjis in the wheel for the answer and match it to the riddle?"
"The kanjis are not words. These are old ideograms, each can have ten different meanings, I only know what they mean when I see them in context, like in a phrase."
"Good thing about being blind, I don't have to deal with the written word."
"Stop it and think!"
"OK!"
She tried to think, but couldn't focus on the riddle. She hated riddles. All mystery and no substance, for all she knew. Riddles required reflection, and she was not big on reflection. Mainly because most of the time she had a hag in her head self-reflecting her actions as they happened. And on top of the usual ones, she seemed to have acquired two more squatters with her recent trip to the Spirit World, so there is no space for contemplation when you are in permanent conversational therapy inside your own head. And anyway, better than riddles, she preferred to focus on the formations of rock around her and the memories of the night before with Twinkle Toes.
Zuko was trying to figure the phrases out.
"'I never was, am always to be, No one ever saw me, nor ever will' It's something that is not tangible, Champ, something abstract."
She was not listening. She was laying on the ground, her eyes closed, immersed in the memories of the previous night, lost.
"What are you doing?" He had said.
"I'm tracing your tattoos with my fingers. Your chi paths."
He let her do it. She traced as she remembered, his arms, his legs and his back, all the way to the round shape of his head until her fingers stopped at his forehead. She leaned forward to kiss him. He returned the kiss while grabbing her hand firmly, guiding her fingers to trace another chi path.
"What's this?" She had asked in surprise.
"The tattoo you didn't get to see. This is my sixth arrow."
"Toph!" Zuko's voice brought her out of her reverie. "Why are you so distracted? I need your help with this riddle. The others are useless. What were you thinking about?"
"Archery." She said.
"Then get your facts rights. Archers usually carry 24 arrows on their quivers, not six." Did she said that aloud? "Again, listen: And yet I am the confidence of all, To live and breathe on this terrestrial ball. What do you think it means?"
"I don't know. You spoiled a very good daydream, I'm not helping."
He said a single word.
"Kuei."
And she was on her toes, paying attention.
"OK, Sparky, repeat the riddle." Zuko repeated the first two phrases. She said the first thing that came to her mind.
"It never comes."
"What?"
"It's something that never happens. I never was, am always to be, No one ever saw me, nor ever will." Zuko thought about it.
"I am the confidence of all, To live and breathe on this terrestrial ball." He repeated and then slapped his forehead. "Tomorrow! We all have the hope of being alive tomorrow, but tomorrow never comes. It always turns into today."
"See? That's waaaay to deep for me. I don't like riddles."
Zuko stood up.
"OK, we need to put these stones in the holes. Let me see, where is the kanji for tomorrow? Katara, I need you to bend me to the end of the lake again."
But by now Katara was laying on the ground, next to Sokka and Suki, all of them daydreaming of a world that was pink, full of cooking recipes and with no family ties wearing you down. Zuko tried to get her to react, but the Sorrow was everywhere, paralyzing them.
"I wonder how the hunters and fishermen made it out alive, taking into account how these three are." Toph wondered, nudging them with her foot.
"Maybe is worse the deeper you get in the cave. They probably stayed closer to the exit. Anyway, you need to bend us a bridge from the bottom of the lake and to get us as closer to the wheel as possible. I'll guide you." They filled their pockets with the pieces of wood and Toph did the necessary bending. When they reached the crevice, Zuko said "There! That's tomorrow's kanji." Toph tried to bend a bridge from the rock as close to the wooden wheel as possible. The bridge was slippery because of the nature of the rock.
"Remind me not to put limestone floors in my house." She said seriously, while bending handrails. They couldn't reach the wheel exactly, which was moving too fast for them to hook the end of the bridge to it. "How did they come up with this? These water tribes don't have the guile for this."
"Teo. Teo and Haru." Zuko said knowingly. "Firebenders may burn the wood, earthbenders can't bend the wood."
"Airbenders can airbend the wood into the holes." She said suddenly. "If that flying ethical monk wins this I'm going to kill him."
Zuko tried throwing the wood pieces into the wheel with no luck.
"This is what they meant by dexterity." He grumbled.
She suddenly pick up a fistful of pieces.
"Throw a bunch. One may fit in the hole by mistake." He turned to her.
"You can't be serious. We can lose all the pieces that way, and then what are we going to do?"
"Trust me. I'm a gambler. I know about odds. Throw a bunch to the hole when it's approaching and one piece may make it."
Zuko did what she said. He succeeded the third time he threw a fistful of pieces to the wheel. The wheel stopped and then the boulder blocking the exit moved with a rumble.
"This was easy" Toph said while bending the limestone bridge back. "If all the tasks are going to be this easy, these Water Tribes are giving me away for free."
"I disagree." Zuko said. "We're just lucky not to be affected by the Sorrow and that you're an earthbender. If you were alone with these three, you'll be lost because you're blind and wouldn't have been able to figure out the riddles or kanjis." He stopped. "Imagine doing this by yourself. Like Jeong-Jeong."
"Or Aang. Knowing him, he probably did it in five minutes."
"I wonder if he's OK, actually. I think he sees his role in the world as a burden."
They reached the rest of the useless team Avatar. The laying friends didn't want to move. Sokka was singing an eerie tune that sounded like "Que será, será, whatever will be, will be". Toph wanted to kick them out of the caves, but Zuko forbade it. So Toph had to bend them away, in a makeshift gurney made of rock and regret. When they made it to the entrance, the charitable thing to do, she decided, was to dump them in the freezing water. Which she did. That solved the sorrow problem, as they immediately snapped out of all trances to curse her and her ancestors going back five generations. Katara suddenly alert again, bended them outside the freezing water and sent a retaliatory wave Toph's way, but she deflected it easily with a rock tent. They would have ended in a fight if Zuko doesn't intervene. Evetually, Katara bended the water away from their soaking selves and Zuko breathed hot steam over them to make them toasty, while Toph put on her boots.
When they finally resurfaced, Toph heard cheers and claps, and people, Kyoshis for the feel of them, running and covering them with warm blankets and putting cups full of hot tea on their hands. Sokka, Suki and Katara seemed to be fighting still the effects of the caves. Toph raised her clasped hands over her head, signaling their victory, when she heard Zuko:
"No way!"
"No way what?" She asked in alarm, knowing what the answer was about to be.
"Aang is sitting on a sled, reading!!"
She felt her face turning livid.
'I'm going to strangl…"
"Nephew!" The bombastic voice of Fire Lord Pops could be heard approaching. "You guys are the second team to finish the task. The Avatar finished first." He informed, needlessly.
"I can't believe you guys made it so easy!" Toph was fuming. "He's an airbender, he flies and stuff!" She didn't wait for Iroh's answer. "Where is he? I can't see in the snow. Sparky, point me to him."
"Keep walking straight, you will bump into him."
She did just that.
"Twinkle Toes!" She screamed at him, she could hear him jumping several feet in the air. "You finished first! That was a BEST EFFORT!!"
"Toph!" He exclaimed back, and she heard him hurriedly putting away the scroll he was reading. "What do you mean? I waited as long as I could, but I needed to get out of those caves. I was starting to feel really weird. And anyway, with the hint you guys should have solved that riddle in a minute!"
"What hint? What are you talking about?"
"The hint in the wall of the cave. The hint to the riddle."
She stopped on her tracks, and then turned and yelled.
"SPARKY!! YOU MISSED THE HINT, YOU MORON!"
The Crown Prince and Fire Lord-to-be did not take kindly to affronts to his dignity, especially in public.
"I DID NOT MISS ANY HINTS, YOU INGRATE!! THERE WERE NO HINTS!!" He yelled back.
She was confused.
"POPS! WERE THERE ANY HINTS?"
She heard people approaching. Not only Fire Lord Pops, but Chief Hakoda, Master Pakku, Sokka's master, even the smell of Bosco, which told her that Kuei was approaching too.
"What are you saying, Master Bei Fong?" Master Pakku sounded stern.
"The Avatar says that there was a hint in the wall for his riddle. There were no hints in our cave." She said assuredly. Zuko, now next to her, assented.
"It's true. We did not see a hint."
"Avatar, is that true?" Master Pakku asked Aang.
"Yes. There was a hint in one of the walls of my cave."
"What did the hint say?" Hakoda inquired, grimly.
"Well, my riddle was 'At night they come without being fetched, and by day they are lost without being stolen'. I couldn't figure out what it was, with the weird feeling I was getting in that cave, when I saw that in one of the walls there was something written. It said 'They belong to the night' and then I knew what the answer was. The Stars. I thought you guys left the hint for me."
"No, we did not." Said Hakoda, in a very bad mood. "And knowing Bumi, who designed this task with his heir and his companion Teo, I don't think he left you the hint either."
She heard Zuko crossing his arms.
"That's an advantage that we didn't have. This entire task should be annulled." He said firmly.
"Oh no!" She heard Kuei and then,
"The task cannot be annulled for something that was not the fault of the Earth King or the Avatar's" Lu Shi. Atrocious, ghastly, Lu Shi. "That is an unjust and cruel punishment for a situation that was not created, or sought by, my clients. Annulling the task is a defiance of the covenant with the Spirit of the Ocean."
She heard Pakku, Hakoda, Iroh and Piandao whispering furiously. Then Hakoda said.
"We won't annul the task, but the Avatar cannot be deemed the winner. He did have an unfair advantage over the other contestants, so we are declaring a draw, between the Earth King and the Crowned Fire Prince."
Lu Shi bristled.
"I oppose this proposal! Declaring a draw opens the possibility that no one will win the Contest, as there are only two tasks left."
'If there is no winner at the end of the Third task we will announce a bonus task to break the draw. Until then, this task is considered and declared a draw." Hakoda's voice was final, and Toph understood why Sparky's mom liked the guy. He was a natural leader, all purpose and justice, with the pull of someone who is at peace with himself.
Toph shivered, still irritated.
"Best efforts!" She mumbled, and grabbed Sparky's arm to walk away. He was still offended.
"Moron?" He asked.
"Ingrate?" She answered. They both breathed deeply. She spoke first. "OK, I may have been carried away a little, you know? With the possibility of the wooden cell?" He knew her and her apologies.
"Draw?" He said.
"OK." They started to walk together towards the rest of their team. Aang stayed behind and she felt a pang of remorse for screaming at him. She stopped. "Are you coming, Twinkle Toes?"
"No." He said. "There's something that I need to do. I'll wait for the other contestants in case someone needs my help."
Toph did not want to wait for anyone, so she walked away. They returned to the outer village in the sleds, and she was shivering when they reached the building.
"I need a really hot bath." She said aloud. Suki, next to her was also shivering.
"Me too."
"Ok, let's go to the bath house." Zuko proposed. "I'll heat the water for all of you."
They girls first got clean clothes, and then met at the bath house. Katara bended water in the tub and Zuko heated it almost to a boiling point. The young men took their leave . She heard Zuko's voice trailing. "So, Chef?" "Shut up."
The girls undressed and stepped in the water. After a minute of silence Toph asked:
"Pink tutu?"
"Shut up."
"I didn't say it was a bikini." Katara said after another minute. "I said it was a two piece outfit with no pockets for weapons and a lot of bare flesh, considering we were about to face firebenders under the steroidal effects of a comet."
"Shut up."
They stayed silent and eventually fell asleep in the hot water.
Toph woke up when Katara shook her awake.
"Hey, we're leaving. Are you coming.?" She shook her head. The water was still warm enough to enjoy. "OK, I'm leaving your clothes and drying linens on the chair next to the door. Here's the soap. Don't fall asleep again."
"I won't." She said lathering soap on her arms. She heard Katara and Suki leaving the bath house. She washed herself and after a couple of minutes closed her eyes and fell asleep again.
Toph woke up to cold water with a somersault. Someone was in the room.
"Want me to heat the water for you? It must be cold by now." Aang asked, but his voice was distant. She turned her head to where his voice was coming from.
"How long have you been here?"
"A while."
"Yes, would you please heat this for me?" She heard him approach, plunged his fist in the water and after a couple of moments the warmth extended to all the water in the tub, until it was steamy and relaxing again. She heard him retreating to where he was before, probably in the chair. "What are you doing?" She asked, curiously.
"Reading."
Silence.
"Did everyone finished the tasks?"
"June didn't."
"Why?"
"Sorrow."
"About what?"
"She wanted to be a librarian, but her mother opposed scrolls and reading on principle."
Silence.
"Jeong-Jeong?"
"Third."
"What was his sorrow?"
"Wanted to be a waterbender."
Silence.
"And the Rough Rhinos?"
"Fourth."
"How come?"
"Thanks to one of them that never wanted to be anything else in his life but member of a horde. He carried the entire task to completion."
Silence.
"Anyone else got hints?"
"No."
Silence.
"WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU?"
She heard him jump.
"Nothing?" He said, doubt creeping in his voice.
"Why are you talking in monosyllables?"
"I'm not!"
"Yes you are. You sound like Sparky. Why are you ignoring me?"
"I'm not ignoring you." He vacillated and then added. "I'm being detached and mysterious."
"You're being stupid, that's what you're doing."
"I thought you like mysterious!"
"Whatever gave you that idea? And anyway, why do you want to be mysterious now?"
"I … I don't know." He sounded deflated. "I'm going crazy. I need to do this contest, try not to do my best, and … and I can't stand the idea of Kuei taking you."
"What do you mean, taking me?"
"You know, taking you."
Realization hit her like a rock.
"Oh, by earth I know what's happening!! You're reading romance scrolls!!"
"I thought you wanted me to read these scrolls!"
"Forget whatever I said! Those romance scrolls are going to be the bane of my existence! No badly written foot massage scene is worth this! And for your information, no one will be taking me, claiming me or winning me, OK? Stupid Chin, doesn't he know what kind of damage bad literature is going to do to you?"
She stood up resolutely, and stepped out of the tub, fuming. She heard him gasp and realized a second too late that she was naked. Completely naked, which was a first for him because the night before one single piece of clothing had remained between them as both, physical and psychological barrier. Such barrier was now gone. She stood there, feeling the cold, not knowing what to do. Being blind she hadn't really developed a sense of shame but knew of the concept of decorum thanks to her expensive education.
"I'm cold." She said. "Can you pass me my things?" He wrapped her with one of the drying linens. She shivered and he blew hot air on her.
"Can I help you get dressed?" He asked. Her old self came back.
"I don't need help getting dressed, you know that."
"That's not the reason why I offered." He answered.
-Thank you onesky-onedestiny at deviantart (aka fantasyrider-kh) for the Haruberries. The joke was too good to let it pass.
-Thank you Burning Ice for agreeing with me about Suki's insane outfit in the finale.
-Source of the Riddles: Some obscure website about ancient riddles that I can't find anymore.
-Arbiter elegantiarum: Latin, literally, arbiter of refinements. During Imperial Rome, this was the guy telling everybody how tacky their outfit was.
-"Que será, será" A very old song that Doris Day sang in a very old movie, but that I heard the other day by a band called Pink Martini. Can't go wrong with classics. Check it in You Tube.
-FANART!! YAI!! (click in my profile for the links)
1. Fate and Tatli, by beautiful Luna
http : / / luna-wannabe dot deviantart dot com / art / Thatli-and-Fate-97935680
2. Aang warming Toph by inkstar147 (He looks soo sweet!)
http : / / inkstar147 dot deviantart dot com / art / aMoH-Taang-98052001
3. La (who looks like Yue, but really is Tui, and then becomes La, and anyway she's a Goddess so she doesn't need to make sense to us lowly mortals) by Luna.
http : / / luna-wannabe dot deviantart dot com / art / La-98085561
Recommendation: Also by Luna, a promising comic with charming drawings: 'Double Blind or How Toph became the Blind Bandit'. A work in progress.
http : / / luna-wannabe dot deviantart dot com / art / Double-Blind-Intro-98172434