Author Notes: While the progression of the story roughly follows that of the show, many events are changed, arranged in a different order or omitted. This is fan fiction, after all.
"I'll miss you," Sokka looked Suki straight into her heavily mascara-ed eyes.
"I have to get back to the other Kyoshi Island Warriors to get more people to the city. But I'll miss you too, sleeveless guy." The two leaned in for a brief kiss that turned passionate, much to Katara's annoyance and Toph's apathy.
Sokka looked on as Suki boarded the now-empty ferry going the other way. Mitsu had earlier assured the captain the Serpent had learnt its lesson and was now on the other side of the pass harassing Fire Navy ships, but that its memory was very short and they would have to leave very soon.
"I'm happy for you, big brother," Katara joined her brother.
"I'll never let anyone take away the people I love. Not her, not dad, not you," Sokka sternly faced his sister, a hardened fist on his side. "I don't care if I have to strap her to my back, if that's what it takes."
Toph said nothing, but blushed and turned away, walking towards Aang and Mitsu.
"What's up, guys?" she punched Mitsu on the arm.
"Something is disturbing here about that cloud headed towards the wall. Do refugees usually travel on the ground in such large numbers?"
"How should I know? This is my first time outside Gaoling on my own, though my parents took me inside the city once. The only thing I remember is that I didn't really like it at all."
"The Fire Nation has tried many times to bash through the wall. They don't rule out anything. They've tried their airships only to be shot down by boulders; they've tried tunneling only to be reminded that this is Earthbender territory. The last time was five years ago, when Lord Iroh besieged the place. The place was covered in rocks, big stones, dead bodies… Aang, whatever that thing is, it won't get to the city in a week. You have to practice your Earthbending and Water bending before you go into the city. That, and Appa needs a rest."
The Sky Bison was asleep in a pen that seemed to be a hastily converted dock. Aang hung his shoulders down and shrugged.
"Can you teach me about this 'bending between bending' that you do?"
"I don't think you can learn it until we meet the Guru in the ruins of the Eastern Air Temple."
"Who's the Guru?"
"Guru Pathik is a very, very old man. According to our history, he has known no less than three Avatars in his lifetime."
"Three?" Aang gasped, "How old is this Guru?"
"You can ask him when you see him. I've never met him myself but when Monk Gyatso came to the library, it was recorded that he mentioned the Guru. Avatar Roku, who was the Avatar who reached out to us, knew him. But for now, you have to continue training with Sifu Toph."
"Okay…I'm still interested though."
"Like I said, bending between bending, you have to bend in order to see how I bend," Mitsu made some Air Bending movements, " It doesn't matter what kind of style is used, Force Bending, Cloth Bending, Hair Bending…." Mitsu listed them off.
"There's hair bending?" Toph looked up at Mitsu.
"Mari Kahan of the Northern Water Tribe found a way to manipulate fibers and hairs. Those chauvinist snobs told her to get lost and she wandered the northern parts of the world until she settled in the Earth Kingdom. That was a long time ago; maybe it was Avatar Kuruk's time."
"They're not chauvinist snobs anymore, at least the last time I was there," Aang wondered about the strange names for bending just mentioned, "but I want you to be there as well, to help me learn Earthbending more."
"Toph is enough. I haven't read anything from my mini library in a while," Mitsu pulled out a small book and levitated onto a nearby rock outcropping.
"Sometimes I have no idea what he is thinking," Aang turned to his teacher.
"He's not an Earthbender, therefore he is naturally confusing. Like you. Come on, student, onto the rocks and off this ferry dock."
Katara and Sokka had gone into the port town for supplies, leaving the other three on the nearby rock formations. Mitsu was still reading a book as Toph made some stances for Aang to follow, punching him on the shoulder when he couldn't do them. Toph knew all the basic forms, although she herself didn't use them due to her blindness.
"Straight legs, spine downwards," Toph made a frog squat. Aang strained downwards, fighting the urge to go up, as was the norm for Air benders. Roku told him once learning their opposite element was 'bitter work' although in the end he was the premier master of all elements including water, which had forced him to spend three extra years in the freezing North pole. Aang lifted a leg into a stomp, sending a small wave into the side of the mesa they were practicing on.
"Again," Toph sent a bigger wave into the wall. Aang did accordingly, hurling his knee sideways sending a rock wave forward.
"One more time with a rock this time," Toph raised a rock and lobbed it over the outcrop where Mitsu was sprawled on his back, reading his book. The ball hurtled way over the Force Bender and landed with a giant thud on the other side.
"My turn," Aang lifted his own rock and it took off high over the mesa, although the angle was strange. Toph's slap on the back of his neck was not a good sign.
"That rock isn't something you push with wind! Stop cheating and use proper Earthbending! Mitsu, LOOK OUT!"
The rock was pushed more vertically than horizontally and was now hurtling downwards. Aang and Toph were helpless to see it plummet but amazed that the rock hung inches from Mitsu. His finger barely touched the boulder before he casually flipped it aside, turning on his back and shielding his face from the sun with the book.
"Did you see that?" Aang got another punch in the arm after forgetting the obvious.
"Of course, not, try again!" Toph lobbed another rock at the mesa wall. Aang managed it this time, huffing and puffing at the effort. Toph barely broke a sweat- unlike Katara, she was already a great master of her element when Aang met her and it showed. Toph casually raised an Earth platform, motioning for Aang to do the same. He raised both his arms and yanked the Earth up, arriving at Toph's altitude easily enough.
"You're learning faster than I thought," Toph swung her hands sideways and disappeared down a hole in her platform, the earth easily parting for her. Aang twirled and did the same, undaunted by the darkness that ensued. Toph taught him to see with his entire body and the rock was 'visible' through his nervous system. The sensation of sunlight on his skin washed over him as he popped up onto the ground right next to Toph, landing nimbly on his toes.
"Not bad, now we go to the next level of training."
"Who taught you all this? Master Yu?" Aang lifted a rock platform again.
"I taught myself everything after learning from the Badger Moles," Toph waved her arms towards the mesa, "now race me up this hill!"
Aang swung his arms from side to side as Toph showed him and found himself emulating Roku racing Sud up the hill in his vision. He was catching up to his sifu on the vertical ride, feeling the resistance of gravity as they clambered up the rock. It was the total opposite of Air bending, where there was no resistance at all to movement. Earthbending was harsh, rigid and very deeply rooted, although he could feel the Earth flowing underneath him as he raised his platform higher and higher. With air you simply made it move, with earth you had to yank it out of its place and force it to do what you wanted- unless you knew the way the earth was structured and moved with the flow.
"He's caught up?" Toph felt Aang's rock on her left. She widened her arc and boosted herself up further.
"Almost there," he also widened his arc as the lip of the mesa came closer.
All of a sudden, Mitsu's metal rod fell on him, its incredible weight nearly dislodging the rock platform and slowing him to a near crawl-speed. Toph hurtled over the top and cheered for herself, giving a knowing glance at Mitsu, who smiled and went back to his book.
"You can't Earthbend without expecting resistance," Toph peered over the mesa's tip as Aang grunted his way up inch by inch. The rod must have weighed the amount a small mountain would, but with enough effort Aang managed to use the rock as leverage to help him lift it up the wall.
"That's right," Mitsu muttered to himself,"Don't take it all on yourself, use the earth to help you," he flipped a page.
"Come on, Aang!" Toph called out just a few feet above him.
"The Earth is your platform, Avatar. It will support you in all your endeavors and give you balance in all your other elements," Aang remembered what Monk Gyatso told him long ago. As he clambered over the mesa's tip the staff lifted off him and landed near its master, who balanced it on the tip of his pinky finger.
"Good," Toph put her hand on Aang's back.
"That staff of yours is really heavy!" Aang said between heavy breaths.
"You think? I don't know about that."
"So where's this bending between bending? All I saw was you lifting a rock, that's standard Earthbending to me."
"I'm not an Earthbender," Mitsu got up and lifted his staff. "But you have to be! So focus on that and be patient. Besides, you shouldn't delve too much into our arts. You have a lot to learn about your own." Mitsu got up and put the book into his pack.
"You want to train some more?" Toph put her arms to her sides.
"Earthbending is exhausting! I need a drink; I'm going back to Appa. Judging by that thing going over to the Outer Wall, we might have two or three days before it's close enough."
"Then go to Appa, I need to speak to your sifu here. Go find Sokka and Katara as well, by your estimation we will need to set out tomorrow," Mitsu sat back down and took a swig from his water tube. Aang lifted an Earth platform and slid downwards towards the port town, soon disappearing out of sight.
"Twinkle Toes has no stamina at all," Toph kicked at a stone.
"I think he's close to mastery," Mitsu opened his portable umbrella. Toph could feel the sun's heat diminish slightly and knew what it was.
"Close doesn't cut it, especially when the Fire Nation is knocking on the doors of Ba Sing Se itself. Hey, you know what that is, don't you?" she pointed to the grinding sound coming from the north.
"I don't know what it is, but I have a good idea who is piloting it. Do you hear the smaller sounds beside it?"
"Sounds like a herd of animals, I'm not that good." Toph shrugged. "So what do you want to talk about?"
"Have you finished reading what your father wrote? After the Serpent's attack you couldn't be dislodged from the book."
"Yes…but it doesn't change anything, I'm not going back until Aang succeeds," she sat on the barren earth.
"That's what I wanted to hear. Nothing's changed at all," he smiled to himself.
"What is that supposed to mean?" she turned to him.
"You're the only one of us with both parents, in a well protected town. Not many people here at the port or even in Ba Sing Se are so lucky."
Toph heard his heartbeat skip twice, but it was hardly a lie he was telling. Ba Sing Se was full of refugees, despite the strict enforcement of order within the walls.
"Listen, Lady Bei Fong. After you all arrive in Ba Sing Se I suggest we split up temporarily. That place can cause tensions between people, and I need to see some old friends."
"I've been there before, I didn't like it much. At last at home poor people could come to our house and do odd jobs for cash. That place is weird, and if it wasn't for Aang's mission I'd rather be elsewhere! You're a big boy, I'm sure you can take care of yourself."
"I'm not disagreeing with you. The others will probably not be, at least in the beginning. That's why I need you to take charge of the team when we get there. You're one of the most mature people your age I've met, plus you're from a prestigious family. I expect you to teach them Earth Kingdom mannerisms; otherwise they'll never get to meet the Earth King."
"That's a bit hard, since most gestures have to be demonstrated," Toph waved her hand in front of her blank eyes. "Besides, why can't you do it? You seem to be in the know about this stuff."
"I told you; as soon as we get there I have to leave for a while. The Dai Li don't take kindly to people from the Desert, they think we're all thieving scum." Mitsu looked ruefully at the wall. "What's more, you're the only native among us."
"Wow, that's a lot of responsibility," Toph huffed.
"By leading the Avatar through his challenges, we all have a lot of responsibilities. Oh, I have to train a bit myself! How do I forget…"
"Hah, you didn't want Aang to see but you don't mind me being here?"
"Exactly," he leapt onto his feet after feigning a fall. Toph started to chuckle but then flat out laughed as Mitsu practiced.
"That's a good one, Mitsu!" she rolled around. Sure, he promised to show the technique- but to the blind person in the party!
"Tell me what you sense?" he said between moves.
Toph put her ears up, feeling a lot of vibrations in the ground as well as sudden air movements and minute sounds like screeching. There was a notable hum in the air, but Mitsu was remarkably light of foot, with only one foot on the ground each time a new move could be heard.
"Shut your ears," he sounded. Toph rammed her hands onto her ears as the hum swelled to a giant boom, preceded by a giant whooshing sound that resembled a falling tree. She wished she could have seen it, as the air seemed to move in total harmony along with the earth that was carried along with it.
"What was that? And what is that trail on the ground?"
"The result of force being built up and directed in one direction; it might get stronger if proper Bending is used in conjunction. I'm still trying to find a better form for this motion."
"Looks alright to me," Toph grinned.
"I'm not Sokka, you know. That means I have to work harder. You're cute, you know," he pinched her on the cheek. She pulled away but blushed slightly.
"Stop it," she was now blushing on both cheeks. When she regained her composure Mitsu was already waking down the sheer walls of the mesa, headed back to town. For some strange reason, he was whistling.