Dedicated to Chakram Solider. She gave me the idea. : p

White Belt

"Students! Take your stances." Sensei Yu demanded. On command, each student raised their fists, obeying their teacher. "Now, strike as if you punching through your opponent's head."

Each student launched their fists forwards, then continued to perform the Kata their Sensei had taught them.

Disciplined, strong, tall…each young person (most of them male) was fit and lean, perfect for the martial arts. However, one sore thumb continuously stuck out amongst the group. Short, small, rebellious…the girl who had just recently joined had barely enough strength to do more than five push-ups.

As each experienced student trained hard, moving fluently and gracefully, Toph struggled to copy just the basic movements. Her body was not used to rigorous exercise or stances that the other students had memorized.

She struggled to keep up every class, finding something new to blame for her poor performance each time she messed up. One week it was because her Gi was too long, then too short, then it was because she was too hungry to concentrate, then she (silently) blamed the Sensei for being a bad teacher.

And it went on like that, three times a week, three weeks in a row.

"Toph!" Sensei Yu yelled when he saw the little girl fall down while attempting to perform a roundhouse kick. "Come here for a minute." Toph huffed, pulled herself off the ground and ran to her sensei. "A-hem." Yu tried to remind her to bow, but Toph didn't realize that he wanted her to and didn't move. Yu sighed.

"What?" Toph asked as she wiped the sweat off her head.

"Everyone, please practice with each other for a few minutes." Yu yelled at his other students.

"Yes Sensei!" Everyone replied in unison.

"Toph. Come see me in my study please." Yu walked passed her and Toph groaned.

"Have a seat young lady." Yu waved his hand to the chair in front of his desk. Toph slammed herself down on the leather cushion. "Toph…I wanted to talk to you about your performance here."

"Okay." Toph tried to remain calm. She knew that she wasn't improving but still didn't want some one to tell her that.

"I know that you are interested in taking this course, but…honestly…I don't think that it is for you."

Toph sat forward. "Are you kicking me out of the dojo?"

"No, no. I would never force an honest student to leave, especially one who is as…willing to learn as you. But…I am very worried about you. This class is designed for people of great physical strength and endurance. For…"

"Boys?" Toph got a little angry at him.

"Well…yes actually. I can honestly say that I have many more male students than female."

"What? A girl can't learn how to defend herself?"

"I didn't say that Toph. Please do not try to put words in my mouth." Toph could tell that Yu was getting slightly upset with her, so she backed off. "Look…maybe you should talk to your parents about staying. I'm sure that they…"

"I told you! My parents don't know I'm taking this class!"

"That's another thing that concerns me. You are of Asian decent...obviously. I can't imagine why your parents wouldn't be proud of you for taking this class. And paying for it all by yourself…well, that must not be easy for a young girl."

"I get by. Trust me, my parents wouldn't understand." Toph didn't tell her Sensei that her parents were rich, worried that he'd increase the price of her classes.

"It is not just those things either." Yu looked down at his desk and sighed. "Young lady…you are a very…passionate girl. I have noticed that you very often let your emotions control your actions. Martial Arts are about disciple. You cannot achieve success unless your body and your mind are committed to change."

"I know, I know, I know!" Toph was getting worried. "I know I'm not doing a good job but…" She put on her puppy-dog eyes and clasped her hands together. "…please Sensei Yu. Just let me keep trying, please. I don't want you to think that I'm not good enough. I want to learn. And I don't want to give up."

Yu inhaled deeply, absorbing Toph's rebuttal.

"Alright. Like I said, I won't make you leave the dojo. I will not give up on you, so long as you are not willing to give up on yourself."

"Thanks Sensei. You won't regret…"

"But…" Yu interrupted. Toph got nervous again. "…before we go back to the class, I have to know. If you are not here for the exercise, for pride, or your parents approval, then why are you taking this class?

Toph looked at her knuckles. They were starting to swell.

"I…have my reasons Sensei."

"I'm hungry!" Aang complained. "And it's hot out!"

"Will you stop whining already? It's really getting' on my nerves." Toph warned him.

"Come on. Let's go get something to eat. There's an ice cream shop over…" Aang suddenly froze in his tracks.

"What's wrong?" Toph asked. Aang turned around and tried to walk the other way. "Hey. Where are you going?"

"Don't look over there." Aang nodded towards the other side of the street. Toph turned around anyway. "I told you not to look!"

In front of the ice cream shop, sitting on the chairs outside, were the three bullies who beat up Aang the first day he and Toph met. Aang hadn't seen them since he left middle school.

"Those jerks." Toph said, getting angry instead of scared.

"Let's just go somewhere else."

"I though you were hungry?"

"I'm not anymore. Let's just go." Aang said. Toph looked back over at the three boys.

"What flavor do you want?" She asked.

"Just forget it Toph."

"I'll buy you a cone. I'm gonna get one for both of us."

"Toph…please just stop." Aang felt a child-like cowardice creep back into his heart.

"Be right back." Toph took off across the street. Aang covered his face with his baseball cap as she jogged over to the shop. He prayed that they wouldn't recognize her.

"Hey! Look who it is?" The leader saw Toph coming towards them and immediately knew who she was. "How you doing naughty girl."

CHOP!

"Ow!" Just like that, the board-shouldered, six-foot punk was on the ground, holding his sore neck and squinting his eyes closed.

"Hey tough guy. Nice to see you again." Toph smiled and stepped right over him.

Aang was as awestruck as the other two punks.

A few minutes later, Toph walked out with two cones in her hands. By then, the 'tough guy' had gotten back up and was ready for a fight.

"You little…oof!" Toph kicked him in his stomach, then ducked just as he threw a sloppy punch at her. She spun and (successfully) roundhouse kicked him in his jaw. He went down twice as hard as before.

"You want some too?" Toph asked the others, who quickly shook their heads. "Okay. But if you want a good ass-whooping, you know where to find me."

Toph looked back at Aang, who was still safely across the street, and nodded towards him.

"Oh, and you see him over there."

"Yeah?" One of the boys asked nervously.

"He's with me. Leave him alone. Got it?" Toph threatened.

"Yes Ma'am." They nodded obediently.

Toph turned around and, without looking, kicked backwards, hitting their leader (who had gotten back up once more) in his jaw again. She didn't see him fall; she just heard a loud SMACK.

"Here ya go." Toph handed Aang his cone. "I didn't know what kind you liked. So I just got you Vanilla."

"Toph…that…what…you…wow!"

"What?" Toph played it cool.

"That! That was amazing!"

"Pfff, come on. One out of every three Asians knows Kung Fu. You know that, you've seen the movies." Toph licked her ice cream. "I got Rocky Road."

"Toph! You're not taking this seriously. That was…really, really cool!"

"Thanks." Toph smiled at him. "Let's go." She pulled Aang by his shirt and he followed.

After three months at the dojo, Sensei Yu had not just taught Toph how to fight. He also taught her to be calm and to not show off if she ever displayed her martial arts skills. Toph restrained herself on the outside, but in her head Toph's ego screamed "OMG! I lyk totally pwn n00bs!" and she couldn't have been more proud of herself.

But her pride aside, all the sweat, the sore muscles, the pain and the hardship was worth it to see the look on Aang's face. After all he did for her, she was finally able to pay him back a little.