Chap 7- More Bitter Work

The grey clouds above were dispersing quickly and the hot sun was beginning to warm the sand beneath their feet. The clear ocean water glittered off to the west of the small island and tall trees littered the area to the east. However, Aang was oblivious to it all. He was focused on - and rather impressed with - the tiny girl standing a few feet away.

He laughed as he dodged another attack. If it was possible, Toph was better now than she had ever been before. Where he believed that once they had been pretty evenly matched - earthbender to earthbender, that is (Toph would deny this because clearly she'd always been better) - now he had to call on his other bending abilities to be able to withstand the onslaught. And that was despite the fact they were on sand and not solid earth. Still, he was having a whole lot of fun trying to keep his body intact and injury free.

"Sifu Toph," he began. He sounded a little winded, but she didn't care and didn't let him finish whatever excuse he was about to come up with.

"Shut it, O' Mighty Avatar!" she mocked.

He laughed again and though he didn't counter her sand attack directly, he did send a small wave of water her way in an attempt to cool her down. Followed by a larger wave. Toph inhaled sharply when the cold water hit her. For a second she simply stood there, annoyingly soaking wet once more after her clothes had finally begun to dry.

It was well known that Toph hated being wet, but this time even the water Aang drenched her with couldn't dampen her mood. The anger reserved for him for getting her into this mess had dissipated and all because she was fully enjoying the impromptu sparring match. She'd probably remember all about it later and she would make him pay.

More than an hour had passed since Toph first attacked (not her usual m.o.) and Aang avoided (his usual m.o.), but both were having so much fun they didn't notice. Neither had plans on stopping anytime soon either.

"Had enough?" Aang teased, wondering why he hadn't thought of waterbending sooner.

"Ha! You wish! Think a little water's gonna scare me?" she grinned. Steadying herself, she began to send sand pillar after sand pillar his way.

Aang smiled as he dodged and flipped and spun out of the way. One of those sand pillars make contact with half of his body, and though not as hard as rock, it sent him flying back. In midair, Aang happened to look up to see Appa heading towards the island. He airbended himself to the highest tree to make sure it was indeed his flying bison.

The airbender couldn't stop smiling when he realized it was.

"Hey, Toph? Look-"

"Nope," she yelled at him, "Not listening!" She'd been waiting for him to make a move in order to find him and the sound of his voice was a dead giveaway. After sending a small sand whirlwind his way, she waited for his next move.

Aang knew she wasn't going to stop and listen to him no matter what he said, the huge smile on her face told him she was having way too much fun. His only other option was to take her by surprise. Knowing she was susceptible to aerial attacks, Aang moved carefully and silently above the tress and waited for the right moment to airbend himself closer to Toph. He would make sure to stand right behind her to make his move.

On the ground, Toph held her horse stance and waited.

Aang had to be quick, and he was. One minute he was very still and the next, he was standing behind her, his arms going around her small frame to secure her in place and keep her from continuing the fight. That was his plan anyway, but the moment his feet touched down, the sand beneath him opened and swallowed him waistdeep.

"Gotta be faster than that," Toph informed him, a smug smile on her face.

"Fine, you got me this time." He airbended himself out of the sand.

"This time?" she crossed her arms over her chest, "There hasn't been a time I didn't win."

"How about Earth Rumble VI?"

She shook her head. "That didn't count. You cheated."

He thought back to their time together... There must be... He must have... No, she was right. Of all their earthbending-only battles, Toph had always won.

"Fine," he admitted, "But I want a rematch."

She laughed, surprised that he wasn't just waving the white flag like usual. "You got it, Baldy."

"By the way, I can see Appa coming. That's what I was trying to tell you earlier." She shrugged and he continued, "He should reach us in a few minutes."

"Good thinking, Twinkletoes."

"What do you mean?"

"Using your bison whistle."

Yeah, he probably should have done that. If he could see the Fire Nation port, maybe Appa could have heard the whistle. Oh well, his bison was here now.

"There you two are! What are you doing here?" Sokka asked, jumping down. "Besides scaring the fishermen, of course."

"How'd you find us?" Toph asked. Now that she stopped moving, her arm and leg were starting to throb again.

Suki slid down Appa's side, then replied, "A fisherman saw the bending battle and told the Navy border guards who told the Palace guards who informed Zuko. He sent us to get you."

"Well, that was nice of him," Aang said. "We'll be sure to thank him when we get back."

"So, what happened?" Sokka asked.

"This dunderhead happened," Toph replied. Aang chuckled awkwardly. She narrowed her eyes. "Which reminds me..."

In the blink of an eye, Aang was neck deep in sand. And unlike before, this time the sand didn't give way as easily.

"Why do you keep doing that!" Sokka cried. He shuddered remembering how he felt being encased in complete darkness deep underground. Sure, it was only a few seconds, but it felt a whole lot longer than that.

Toph ignored Sokka and yelled at Aang, "That's for flying me over all the stinkin' water!"

Try as he might, Aang could not airbend himself out. The sand seemed to have hardened and prevented him from moving at all. Toph turned on her heel and headed towards Appa. "Alright, Snoozles, I'm ready to go."

"Hey, uh, Toph?" Sokka called after her, "Aren't you forgetting something?"

She shook her head. "Nope."

"Aw, come on, Toph," Aang yelled, "I said I was sorry."

"You didn't, actually," came the reply. "But that's not why you're still stuck there."

"Toph, we can't just leave him," Suki pleaded. "He's our friend! Plus, he's the Avatar!" And there was practically a line of people back in the palace waiting to talk to him.

"Exactly, he's the Avatar, he'll be fine," Toph waved away the Kyoshi Warrior's concern, then leaned on Appa, comfortably burying herself against his fur while making sure to keep her feet rooted in the sand. "Besides, if he can't get out, he doesn't deserve to."

Sokka walked over to Aang. "You need a hand there, buddy?"

"Are you okay?" Suki asked at the same time. She knew by now how Toph was, but couldn't help feeling that sometimes the young girl went too far.

Toph rolled her eyes. It was a little bit of sand. Dry sand! He flew her - FLEW HER! - through rain and thunder high above the OCEAN! This was nothing and they were overreacting. She was hungry though, so Aang better not take too long getting out.

Aang nodded, "I'm fine, but can one of you check on Toph. Her arm and her leg got injured when we landed."

Two pairs of blue eyes glanced at Toph. She was soaking wet with sand covering every part of her. She was a mess! Because of the sand they hadn't noticed her injuries when they first arrived.

"Toph!" Sokka yelled, "Why didn't you say anything! That doesn't look good."

"Sokka's right," Suki said.

"Well, that's a first," Toph smirked.

"Come on, let's get you cleaned up."

"I wish Katara was here," Sokka muttered. His sister always knew exactly what to do.

Fifteen minutes later, Toph's leg and arm were cleaned and dressed, but Aang had yet to move. Sokka walked over to his friend.

"Seriously, Aang, we can dig you out or something."

"No," he replied, "Toph's right. I need to do this on my own."

"Why?" Suki asked. The war was over. Ozai had been defeated. She thought he was done.

"I...still...have to...master...all..." he continued struggling to get out when Toph called from next to Appa, "You guys bring any snacks?"

Sokka sighed. "We're never going to leave this island, are we?" He sat where he stood and mumbled incoherently to himself until Momo scurried by. "Hey, what you got there, Momo?" Sokka asked him. "Are those bananas! Thank Yue, we're not going to starve!"

...

After explaining to the nobles that the Avatar was occupied with something of the utmost importance and promising that he would be available for them in the evening, Zuko returned to his study. He collapsed in his chair and massaged his temples. The headache that had been forming earlier was pounding in his head now. He didn't usually get much sleep, but he'd gotten none the previous night worrying about Aang and Toph. In the silence of his study, and knowing Sokka and Suki were going to bring the Avatar and the troublesome earthbender back, Zuko found his eyes growing heavy. Perhaps he could rest a little before continuing with his very busy day.

That is, until someone knocked at his door. He was tempted not to answer.

"What is it?"

Mai opened the door. "This a bad time?" she asked.

"You're back!"

He walked around his desk and hugged her. She was just what he needed. She'd been gone two weeks visiting relatives in other parts of the Fire Nation.

"I take it you missed me?"

"Something like that," he admitted before kissing her. Neither of them was too big on public displays of affection, but since they were alone in his study and he hadn't seen in her in many days, he felt it was perfectly acceptable.

But then, there was another knock at the door.

"What is it!"

"Pardon me, Fire Lord," came a muffled voice through the door, "A letter has arrived for you. It's marked with the personal seal of the Earth King."

Mai sighed.

"You better get that," she said, pulling away from him. "Could be important."

...

"Aang, come on!" Sokka pleaded, tossing one more banana peel on the growing pile at his side. He was lying on the sand next to Aang. "Can we go now? I didn't eat breakfast! My stomach's going to start eating itself pretty soon!"

"You just ate all those bananas!" Toph exclaimed, walking over to them, "I haven't eaten since before dinner!Yesterday!"

"Well, we can all go have brunch if you let Aang out," Suki said, trying to tempt the earthbender.

"That might've worked on Sokka," Toph replied, now standing over Aang in a menacing fashion, "But this is me we're talking about."

Sokka ignored Toph and sat up. "What's brunch?" Of course, he would only hear the least important part of the conversation, Suki thought. And with that wild look in his eye, she was regretting bringing it up at all.

"It's a meal between breakfast and lunch," Toph replied. She had sensed Suki's reluctance to answer, so she couldn't help doing so herself.

"Toph, quit making stuff up. You did just make that up, didn't you?"

"Oh, it's real."

"Really?" Toph could imagine Sokka's whole face lighting up at the endless possibilities that the idea of brunch brought him. "Wow, so now we get to eat between breakfast and lunch? Toph, you just made my day!" he was practically jumping as he hugged the tiny girl.

Time was that would have made her day, but now Toph just shook her head in annoyance. "Put me down!"

Once he was able to contain his glee, he did.

"Brunch, huh? So we get breakfast, then brunch, then lunch!" he clapped, "Hey, is there also something between lunch and dinner? Maybe linner? Or dunch?" Sokka asked hopefully.

Toph ignored him and plopped down just short of where Aang was still stuck.

"Can you hurry it up, Twinkletoes?"

"I'm trying!"

"Not hard enough, obviously," she replied. "I'm just gonna sit hear and flick sand at your head until you get out. Sound good to you?"

"No! That doesn't sound good to me!" Aang cried.

"Too bad."

And the sand flicking began. At first it was just annoying and Aang could feel the irritation build until he was ready to scream at Toph to stop it. But he had been stuck there long enough already, he wasn't going to give up now. Closing his eyes to concentrate, he ignored Sokka (who was still talking about the wonders of brunch), Suki (who had finally heard enough of Sokka's enthusiasm for brunch and walked away), Appa (who had fallen asleep under the warm sun), Momo (who was scurrying along the sand looking for more food no doubt), and Toph (who was still flicking sand at the back of his head).

"Remember what I said about earth?"

"Yes," Aang nodded, "I have to be rock-like."

"Correct," Toph replied, "But to move sand, you must forget all that."

"What? Why?"

"Stop talking and listen! Now, close your eyes and focus."

"Can you stop flicking sand at me then?" Aang asked, annoyed.

"Nope."

He groaned, but closed his eyes and focused, taking deep breathes to clear his mind. That's when he realized something. If he paid very close attention, he could feel every individual grain of salt that hit his scalp. It was like a million tiny rocks hitting him all at once, but also one right after the other making it feel like a wave of water or a gust of air. Though sandbending was a form of earthbending, sand wasn't like earth at all. Toph had called it shifty, it's why it was hard for her to see any vibrations, but because of his eyesight, that wasn't such a big deal for him and he didn't give it much thought. And, there lay the problem, he was still trying to move sand like he would earth.

However, the more he thought about it, the more it made sense. In order to get out, he had to see sand in it's true form, as an individual grain of salt that was a part of the whole. Sandbending was almost more like airbending or waterbending than anything else. Slowly, he began to move his hand through the sand, or rather, he bended the sand around his arm to give him space to move. When he did that, Toph stopped flicking sand at the back of his head and he smiled in triumph. He wasn't out yet, but that was only because he was testing his new found ability.

"I did it!"

"Well, woopty doo," Toph said, sounding bored. "Now, hurry it up."

"Yes, Sifu Toph," he replied. She got up and walked towards Appa again. In a matter of seconds, he was out and running to catch up to his Sifu. "Thank you!" he said, wrapping her up in a big hug.

"Lemme go!" she complained.

He laughed and his laughter reverberated through her whole being making her blush.

Suki nudged Sokka to take a look at the two young benders.

"Aw, you two are adorable," Sokka said, walking past them.

Toph finally shoved Aang off and with a stomp of her foot, Sokka was suddenly neckdeep in sand! Before he could even complain, Aang popped him right out.

"I shouldn't have taught you how to do that," Toph grumbled, but she was grinning when she sent Sokka back into the sand.

"But you did," Aang smiled at her before helping Sokka get back out.

"I won't teach you anything else!" Toph yelled, sending Sokka back in.

"You're my Sifu, you have to!" Aang replied with an even bigger smile before helping Sokka back out.

"Hey! Quit it!" the Water Tribe warrior yelped as he spit sand out of his mouth. Toph and Aang laughed, and Sokka cursed both under his breath.

"Are you okay?" Suki asked. "You're not hurt, are you?"

"No," Sokka replied, "I just have sand where sand has no business being!"

Hope everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving! ^_^