Oof, this one was a doozy to write, but no less fun. The first chapter was pretty short compared to this and future chapters, so I'm posting this one a bit early. As usual, I don't own Avatar the Last Airbender or Boku No Hero Academia. Hope ya'll enjoy!
The First Steps
"It's too hot for her, please blow on it." Lao Beifong snipped at the servant, having sensed it with his own quirk: Infra-red. With a bow, Toph's tea was taken to be cooled as Toph silently chewed her Udon. Little tasks like that being done for her irritated her to no end, but she couldn't afford to make a fuss right now. She had a mission.
The plan was simple. Convince her parents to let her take the General Studies Exam, then sneak into the Hero Course Exam, crush it, then get accepted. If that didn't convince them that she's more capable then they think, nothing will.
"Mother, Father," she started. This had to be done carefully. "I've been thinking about where I would like to go for high school."
The patriarch looked up from his food, surprised. As far as he was concerned, Toph was scarcely interested in her studies. On the contrary, she had done everything she could to evade her studies; preferring to play in the mud or hide from the servants and scare them. Anything but studies. Not that she wasn't educated; every test she'd taken she has passed with top marks (when she wanted to), but this was unlike her.
He'd humor her for now. "Really? Well, you know it's not safe to go to any public high schools with your disability." She sniffed at that, but listened. For now. "Furthermore," her mother continued. "your father and I were simply planning on having you learn here under our protection."
Ok, now they were starting to piss her off. 'Keep it cool, just propose the idea.' "Father, I want to go to U.A. High."
Lao froze. For a solid minute, he just stared at her. His child? Going to a school for heroics? After what seemed to be an eternity, "No."
"Dad-"
"Absolutely not. Heroics is not the place for a young lady such as yourself."
"Father please listen-"
"You're blind! Helpless! Who knows what could happen! Heaven forbid-"
'Ok, screw it. Time to make them listen.'
"DAD!" she shouted. The dining room went silent. The Beifongs were shocked beyond words. Their little girl? Yelling? Toph seized her chance to speak. "I'm fourteen years old and I've never had a friend before last weekend! I can't live my entire childhood in this house! And besides, there are other courses besides the Hero Course at U.A! Please!" She found herself standing, yelling right at their faces. "Stop hiding me from the world! My quirk helps me get around! I can do it!"
"Toph, you're too-" her mother tried to interject.
"NO! I'm not 'too' anything! I'll never be able to take care of myself properly if you keep hiding me away like this!" She took a moment to breathe and moved from the table. She tried again, softer this time. "Just think about it ok? It doesn't even need to be the Hero Course. Please." With that, she excused herself and walked out, leaving her Udon cold.
It was still silence. Not to her knowledge, Toph had dared to say what most everyone was thinking anyway, including her mother for that matter. Lao, on the other hand, was having none of it.
'She's blind! She's tiny and helpless and fragile! She can't!' He ran that mantra in his head daily, hourly on occasion.
"Lao," Poppy got his attention. He wasn't going to like this, but it had to be said. "I think she may be right."
He whipped his head around. "What?"
"I said, I think she may be right." She probably had one chance to explain this. "We can't protect her forever, as much as I want to. She's actually interested in where she's going and this could help her grow into a capable young woman."
"This is too much! It isn't proper for a young lady-"
"Lao, have you met her?" That took him by surprise. Way too many surprises today. "She's far too stubborn and far too much of a wild child. She has no interest in being a proper young lady. If we try to keep her here, especially now, she'll just leave on her own; without any support."
"She wouldn't dare-"
"She would. If we keep her cooped up, she'll just leave as soon as she can. We can't lose her Lao; I can't lose her!"
He glared at her. Then at the staff, who quite suddenly decided that doing their jobs was more important than listening to the family drama. He looked down at his own Udon, not hungry anymore. "I think I know what brought this on." He muttered. Poppy was confused. "What was that?"
He straightened, clearing his throat. "I have a call to make." He rose and proceeded to the home phone. He stopped at the door. "Thank you, but I need some time to think." And with that, he left.
Poppy smiled and stood to leave as well. 'At least he's thinking about it.' As the cleaning staff picked up dinner, she thanked them and strode to her daughter's room. She knocked twice, but with no answer. She waited for a bit, then entered to find she wasn't there.
She sighed. 'I wasn't planning on getting my shoes dirty.' she thought dryly. Why Toph loved dirt so much was beyond her. 'Her quirk may work through the earth, but there are much cleaner sources of earth to choose from! Like clean tile! Concrete!' She'll never quite understand.
As Poppy Beifong strode across the grounds of the estate, she easily spotted her daughter; who was sitting barefoot next to a large tree. 'Her favorite spot' she recalled. She remembered how even when she was an infant, she absolutely loved playing in the dirt and mud by this tree. Lao had fired every caretaker who let her do it, but it's still a nice memory.
Her back was turned as she worked. Poppy took the time to admire her sculptures of earth. While she absolutely despised being dirty in any way, she couldn't help but be fond of her little statues. They were small, only a foot high, but had a surprising amount of detail. One of the more notable ones was a figure of a woman, a rather mature one at that. The facial features were so detailed, she could've been fooled into thinking Toph could see. 'She must have felt that Yoayorozu girl's face' she thought. She was glad to see her little girl was making friends.
Maybe attending a school with other kids wouldn't be so bad?
"If you're here to talk me out of it, forget it Mother."
She shook herself out of thought. "I was just admiring your work. Although, you might consider giving Momo-san some clothes."
"You and clothes, they aren't that important. Besides, I don't know what they look like." Poppy frowned. 'That was…fair.'
"May I join you?"
Toph tilted her head. After a moment, she conceded. "Sure." With a wave of her hand, she erected a smooth seat of rock. "Thank you." She said gratefully. She was mentally preparing herself to sit in the dirt with her daughter, but the stone chair works quite nicely.
"So…U.A." Toph had never mentioned it before today. It was clear she put thought into it, based on her rather rehearsed speech at lunch. But she had to be sure. "Do you want to be a hero?"
"I never said that, it doesn't have to be the hero course…"
"You could do General Studies anywhere, Toph. Do you want to be a hero?"
"Look I know you think it's dumb, and it probably is, but I could do so much and-"
"That's not what I asked dear." She interjected. She tried again. "Do you want to be a hero?"
Toph stopped molding (a lumpy version of her math tutor) and looked in her general direction. Her mother tried to look through her long bangs at her eyes. It still pained Poppy to this day that her daughter was handicapped like this. But if there's a chance for Toph to be satisfied with her life, she'll pursue it. Whatever it takes.
"I-…I don't know. Maybe?" She seemed to be still pondering the idea. "Would they take someone who's blind in the first place?"
"Only one way to find out." She responded with an unseen smile. She would only do this if Toph really wanted it.
The blind earthbender pondered her words. 'Maybe I won't have to sneak anywhere. Maybe I'll just be able to take it outright?' It seemed too good to be true.
Toph took a breath, closed her sightless eyes, then responded with certainty. 'I'm done hiding.'
"Yes. I want to be the greatest hero."
Poppy smiled warmly. 'That's the spirit.'
xXx
"Hello, this is the Yaoyorozu residence."
"Hello, Yaoyorozu-san. It's Lao Beifong."
"Ah, Beifong-san! How are you these days? Those developers ok with the deal?"
"Oh yes, they're fine. But I'm not calling you about business today. It's a more, shall we say, personal matter."
"I see. I wouldn't suppose this has anything to do with U.A. Academy does it?"
Lao froze for a moment. 'So, I was right.'
"Yes, as a matter of fact. You should know by now that my daughter is blind and has no place attempting to be a hero with her disability."
"I was and am aware of that fact. Actually, it was my daughter, Momo, who brought it up."
"Really? Whatever for?"
"You see, Momo has been accepted to U.A. through special recommendation for the Hero Course. The two must have discussed it during their garden escapade." Yaoyorozu laughed a bit at that.
Lao wasn't laughing. "I'll have you know that I have no intention of enrolling or recommending my daughter to U.A, much less the Hero Course."
"Well, you should know by now that the security there is top-notch. I even designed some of it myself. You doubting my abilities, old friend?"
"Of course not. But how could a blind little girl train to be a hero?"
"Not everything a hero does has to do with combat, you know. And I'm sure the faculty wouldn't give her more than she could handle. If she's not cut own for hero work, they'll just transfer her to the General or Support Course within a day."
"I suppose that's true. She probably won't even make it through the Entrance Exam. What do they use to test the students there?"
"Uhhh…"
"Don't tell me."
"Robots. Big ones. Designed by yours truly."
"For God's sake, Teo."
"They have failsafes. No one is actually in danger during the exams."
"Failsafes fail sometimes!"
"The failsafes also have failsafes."
"Do the failsafes' failsafes have failsafes?"
"Old friend, you have nothing to worry about. She can try if she wants, but if she can't destroy them, she has no chance of passing."
"Alright, alright. Thank you, friend. Talk to you soon." Lao hung up the phone and sighed. Teo was right. 'It's not as if she can throw boulders or anything.'
He turned from the phone to be face-to-face with his wife.
"Poppy? What is it?"
"I need to use the phone, but not after I'm done talking to you." She spoke with an air of determination. Lao considered. "Alright, what is it?"
"I just spoke with Toph. She wants to become a hero after all."
He sighed. 'Of course, she does.' "The General Studies thing was faked, I see."
"Yes, but her wanting to be a hero isn't. I would like to call U.A. to set up a meeting and possibly enroll her."
"Alright then."
"Now I know what you're going to say, you…what?"
"I said alright. We'll enroll her. Just not through recommendation, she can't go if she can't pass with everyone else."
Poppy seemed a little put off. Mostly because she had just spent about 10 minutes preparing her well thought-out argument and then he just agrees? "Well, yes… I must be honest; I was expecting to argue more."
"Would you like to?"
"A little." She laughed. There was her husband. Not the business man, just her husband. "I'll call the right people. You should talk to your daughter, let her know you're behind her on this."
He seemed to hesitate for a second. "Fine, do you have his number still?"
xXx
Toph had never been so happy to be in a car. She and her mother were on their way back to the Yaoyorozu residence to prepare a training plan for the Entrance Exam. Momo wasn't taking it, but was delighted to hear that Toph was and offered to help her train. Toph accepted with ease; better Momo than those crusty tutors or the like.
She was surprised that her father had caved so quickly at the time. After talking with her mom, he came out of left field and said she could take the Hero Course exam as long as she took the General Studies Exam as well. She was planning on doing just that anyway, so that didn't bother her. What did bother her is that he lied, just not about the exam.
"I'm sure you'll do great, Toph."
So, he didn't believe she could do it. Was he letting her do it under the impression she'll fail?
'Eh, his loss. I'll show him. I'll show everyone' she thought. She was on the path to be a hero. When she passes, it won't matter what he thinks. She's got real support now; through Momo and even her Mom.
And this apparent principal whom she was still yet to meet. Father seemed a little nervous about him based on his heartbeat. Who made Father nervous?
Mrs. Yaoyorozu greeted them at the gate and let them in. From there, Momo took over, leading the Beifongs to the new training yard.
"We had it built as soon as we could. Only the best, after all." She chirped.
And the best it was. As soon as she removed her shoes (much to her mother's chagrin), she immediately scanned the gigantic training field. It was made of sandstone, which was easy to manipulate, with much denser stone underneath. Littered on the surface were boulders, rocks, and minerals of all types. Even iron ore was there, although metal was still yet to bend to her will. Sand was tough too, just for different reasons.
"The first thing we're going to do is test your control of different minerals and how they compare in difficulty." Momo explained. "We'll start with the igneous rocks over here. Try lifting this andesite."
Toph sensed the andesite easily. She had no trouble with any normal rocks and lifted it about 10 feet in the air. Her parents didn't know this, but she often practiced for a couple hours every night with controlling and manipulating the earth, taking on greater and greater amounts at once. She also had to clear the field of the mess she made every night, which was just more practice. She found it was easier in what she called her "horse stance". Bent knees, low to the ground, solid and balanced stance. She only needed it when she got to the heaviest and densest of rocks. She couldn't move the iron ore yet, but Momo assured her she'll get it in time. It is a mineral after all, and she can sense and feel through it; though to a limited extent.
Poppy gaped at her daughter's abilities. She knew she could control earth, but to this extent? Naturally? There were many times she told Toph to be careful or to watch her step, but every time she did, it was clearer and clearer she didn't need the warnings.
Not that she stopped. She was her mother after all.
Toph broke into a genuine sweat during Momo's next test. The idea was to gather as much stone and rock and lift it high into the air for as long as she could. She wasn't placed under it, which would have given her more control and better results, but her mother was already at her wit's end. So, she stayed out of the drop zone. Good thing too, she lifted about one and a half tons' worth of earth before dropping it at sixteen minutes. She collapsed to the ground immediately after letting go.
"BABY!" Poppy ran towards Toph, instantly in protect-mode. "Are you alright? Somebody get some water! Honey, talk to me! Toph?" Her worry halted at the sound of laughter. Toph was exhausted, more tired and spent than she'd ever been. And it felt great.
"Are you alright Toph?"
"Never better!" She laughed with a grin. She gratefully accepted some water. "I think I need a break."
"That would be best." Momo agreed. "We'll take a breather and go over your training plan."
"Got it!" She hopped up, as if she never fell down.
"Woah, slow down Toph!" Her mother protested. "You may be ok, but you should still take it slow. Exhaustion is not a joke."
"I know, I know…"
Her mother was torn. On one hand she was terrified at the idea of Toph overworking herself. On the other hand?
She hadn't seen her child smile like that in years.
xXx
After a quick rest and a steamy shower, Toph was ready to go over her training plan.
"Alright! Let's get started!" Momo had made reading glasses right off her nose and began. "Your biggest strength right now is your level of control over shaping earth. Nice sculptures by the way." Toph smiled at that. Her bubbliness was infectious. "Your power level and general strength are not bad either, but putting both strength and control together is going to be the goal until the exam. Also gaining better control over sand and possibly metal one day are good long-term goals."
Toph listened with interest. She never thought about stuff like that. She practiced sure, but she never put too much thought into it. She just did what felt natural when she trained. Momo also talked about new techniques to try that can be done with the right balance of power and control.
"A suit of armor made of rocks? I can't believe I didn't think of that!"
"It would work with your style too, maintaining a solid defense to use as a hand-to-hand offense."
"Genius, sugar queen."
Mrs. Beifong was bearing witness to a whole other side of Toph that had remained hidden for so long. Or rather, that she and Lao had suppressed for so long. Toph was not the proper young lady they had been trying to mold her into for so many years. She was messy, muddy, wild, and unbidden in every way. Anytime she acted differently was nothing more than a façade to keep her parents happy. To keep her happy.
Poppy held the tears for now. It wasn't the time and Toph and Momo were having the time of their lives. She'll address some things with her daughter in due time.
As they said their goodbyes and headed back to the limo for home, Toph had a spring in her normally sturdy step. Her mother had tried many times to teach her how to walk like a lady and not so heavy footed.
She never thought she'd see the day.
xXx
The Beifong Estate was always spotless and immaculate. Servants worked around the clock to maintain a cleanly appearance at all times. Anything less was inexcusable for Lao and Poppy Beifong (Toph not so much). But today, the house had to be its absolute best.
Mr. Beifong was of course familiar with the Principle of U.A. and quite frankly was unnerved by him. He likely wouldn't pay much mind to the occasional speck of dirt if it was any old business owner or contractor, but this was about his daughter's future at U.A. U.A! His little girl was smart and could pass any exam on paper if she wanted to, but under no circumstances could his daughter pass the practical. This meeting was a formality. Surely the Principle will see that she is blind and therefore incapable of heroism.
The three of them were looking their best as they waited for the Principle's arrival. Toph was clearly uncomfortable in her dress and shoes, with her hair tied back. She almost always tried to have it in her face. "What's the point if I can't even see?" she would always ask. But there were no complaints here today. Toph didn't show it, but she was slightly nervous too. If the Principle himself says she can't go at all, that's it for her dreams.
Ding-dong
Usually his butler would answer it, but Lao waved him away. Toph couldn't really feel outside the house with her blindfold-shoes and held a breath. Lao answered the door. "Hello!" someone said cheerfully. Toph exhaled. Whomever that was, they sounded extremely friendly. Almost annoyingly so. She felt a slightly higher heartbeat than everyone else's, was he nervous too? No, that's his resting heartrate. He was also short, less than half her height. Go figure. There were two other figures next to him. "I hope we aren't late, Mr. Beifong. These are my associates, Pro Hero Ectoplasm and Ms. Kayama Nemuri. Both are teachers at U.A. High."
"Welcome to our home, Principal Nezu. Please make yourselves comfortable." 'Father is nervous about him. But why? This is probably the least threatening Principal I've ever met! Of course, I've never met any others, but still. The others though, the woman seemed normal enough, but the other had two peg legs? I guess the Pros do manage with disabilities.' She felt relieved at the thought.
Ms. Kayama strode in and took a look around. "Quite the place, I must say."
"Indeed." Ectoplasm agreed. While he was in full hero gear, Nezu elected to have Midnight arrive in more, shall we say, civil attire. Ectoplasm agreed with his assessment, though Nemuri did pout about it.
Nezu took notice of Toph instantly. "And you must be Ms. Toph Beifong! It is a pleasure to be of your acquaintance!" 'Far too cheerful. No lies though.' "It's nice to meet you too" she responded. 'Time to test him a bit.' She smiled and extended her hand in a friendly manner.
Two feet to his right.
Ectoplasm gave a small snort while Poppy blanched. 'Her quirk! She heard him! She must know where he is! What is she doing!?'
Nezu only laughed. "Over here, Ms. Beifong." He gently took her hand and shook it.
'Paws?' Her eyes widened in surprise. She just shook hands with an animal paw, though it was quite dexterous. Is he messing with her just as much as she was messing with him?
Lao cleared his throat. "Shall we move to the lounge? We have important things to discuss."
"Ah! But of course!" Nezu clapped his paws together. Toph followed silently. 'Just who is this guy?'
"Please, sit" Lao invited once they arrived at the lounge. "Would you care for some tea, Principle?"
"Ah, you remembered! Yes please! Jasmine if you have it, as of late I've acquired quite the taste for it." He went on as he climbed up and onto the couch. "An old friend of mine reintroduced it to my palate some time ago and I couldn't get enough of it! A very kind and well-travelled man at that."
Toph internally deadpanned. 'So, he's a talker.'
"Last I checked, he was travelling the Philippines, searching for enlightenment and good food with his nephew. Bit of a temper on that one, but you know how the young are. Oh, thank you, miss." He kindly addressed the servant. He immediately sipped at his tea. "Ahh, heartbreakingly delicious. Thank you!" The servant left with a quickened heartrate. 'A charmer, too.'
Ectoplasm gave a small cough. Nezu glanced from his rambling. "Hmm? Ah, of course of course. My apologies, I do tend to prattle on, don't I? Shall we get down to business? I understand young Beifong wishes to join the Hero Course, yes?"
"Yes," Lao responded. "Though we're are concerned about her eligibility, as it were." Nezu listened intently as he sipped. He had a good idea what was going to happen and in what order, but he liked to watch things play out anyway.
"As you can see," he continued "my daughter is blind and has been her entire life. With her disability in mind, I personally do not think this is the right path for her, but she has insisted to at least try the entrance exam."
"I see. I suppose that does explain the lack of recommendation." Nezu noted. "You certainly could go that route, you know."
"I understand that, but my daughter's absolute safety is my utmost concern. And a career as a hero is far from safe."
"I'm well aware of that, Mr. Beifong." Nezu stated with a slightly foreboding, yet friendly tone, still smiling. Toph smiled a bit. 'Gonna make him squirm huh?'
"We-well yes, Principal Nezu. But give me your honest opinion. Do you think Toph is eligible to be in the Hero Course with her clear disability?"
Nezu knew this negotiation tactic well. Lao Beifong wasn't trying to convince Nezu, he was subtly trying to talk young Toph out of it. All the easier if Nezu agreed with him in the first place. But Nezu already had a decent read on little miss Toph Beifong. Her eyes were sightless, but held a determination few pros held today. Not to mention, he had requested the video files of Toph's training at the Yaoyorozu Residence beforehand. He already knew his answer, but Lao Beifong wasn't going to like it.
Nezu took a long sip, savoring both the tea and the rapt attention. If an apparently quirkless successor has a shot, why not a blind earth-user? Still, might as well have some fun with them.
xXx
8 Months Later…
Lao Beifong was not ready for what he had been seeing in the last few months. Toph walked barefoot nearly everywhere she went, at the insistence of his own wife and a talking mouse! Or dog. Or a small bear? Whatever. Not only that, but his little girl wasn't so little anymore. With heavy workouts in mind, Poppy had adjusted her meal plans to accommodate Toph's training at the Yaoyorozu's numerous estates. As such, she had gained some spry bulk. Not a lot, and it wasn't very visible under loose clothing, but she wasn't weak anymore. Still on the shorter side, though. And apparently, as he learned in time, she very well could throw boulders to destroy those blasted robots at the exam with her Seismic Sense, not that she knew about them yet.
'Doesn't matter' he reminded himself 'she's blind. There's no way she'd be accepted into the Hero Program, even if she did earn some points.'
But progress was progress. She could now lift two tons of earth for twice the amount of time she could before and had mastered several techniques over the last few months. She had even decided to help with the gardening of all things, planting seeds faster than the Pro Hero Ingenium could run.
The thing was, despite all the non-lady-like behavior going on, she was, dare he think, well behaved? With her unbidden, brash attitude, he didn't dare bring her to any business dinners other than with the Yaoyorozus. He made that mistake only once. Nevertheless, she was cheerful, hard-working, and studious. The U.A. Exam isn't just the practical, after all. And he had little issue with her attending the General Studies Course. So, she studied harder than ever, shocking her tutors and pleasing Principle Nezu, who had occasionally visited from time to time to check on her academic progress.
'The results of false hope, unfortunately. She'll be devastated when she doesn't make the cut. After all, how can she?'
Regardless, things were getting out of hand. He had to stop this somehow before she got hurt, beyond the physical.
As he was thinking, he stepped into the library, where Toph and Momo were reading together. Toph never did have an interest in books (for obvious reasons), but Momo did. He watched as Momo, despite her height, couldn't reach her targeted book on the shelf. Toph then did then unthinkable, yet again. She lifted her on her shoulders. 'She's 149 centimeters! Yaoyorozu is at least 170! Yet there she was, doing it like it was nothing at all!' He thought with angst. Toph put her down with a grin on her face, Momo flushed with embarrassment. 'Did this happen often? Is she able to lift me now?'
He moved on to the lounge, he needed a drink. 'If I break my promise and don't give her the chance, she'll lose whatever happiness she's found for certain. But she'll lose it anyway if she fails the exam.' Grabbing a beer from the minifridge, he pondered more. 'But if she succeeds, can I in good faith remove her without losing her trust?' Should I even worry about what she thinks? I'm her father! I know best here!'
If we try to keep her here, especially now, she'll just leave on her own; without any support.
He groaned as he recalled his wife's words. 'She's right. Toph will find her own way with or without us. The only question is, am I going to support her? Really support her?'
…
'Maybe…just maybe…this won't be so bad after all…'
xXx
1 ½ months later…
"Come on, Toph! Keep it up!" Momo called. Toph was in the middle of a mobility exercise, and boy was it a challenge. Making the stone slab to propel herself on was easy. Propelling the slab with her quirk was easy. But keeping track of where she was going while simultaneously directing the slab she was standing on? Without hitting anything? Kinda tough. The first attempt, she had crashed headlong into a brick wall, which she elected to smash through as soon as she sensed it. But the idea was to not crash or hit anything while maintaining control of her improvised vehicle. Gritting her teeth, she dodged multiple pillars, cones, and other obstacles she and Momo had created. This technique could be extremely useful for rescuing and evacuating civilians, but that didn't make it any easier. If it was up to her, she'd just smash headlong through whatever stood in her path to get to her destination. Momo raised two points. One: if you're carrying civilians, they could get hurt if you just smash through whatever's in the way. Two: You can't smash through something you can't bend, like metal or ice. Toph was frustrated, but in the end, she knew Yaomomo was right. She had to recognize her actual limits and, more importantly, the limits of whoever she's saving. That being said…
SKKKrrrrrIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIICHH
"And your end time is 10:23! Twenty seconds better!" Toph panted at the news and looked back at the course. She'd bumped into 3 different obstacles this time. That meant 30 push-ups and 30 extra seconds to her score. 'Twenty seconds is still twenty seconds though.' She thought as she did the push-ups.
For the last twenty minutes or so, she could feel her dad in the estate, waiting for her to come in by the sound of his foot tapping. When Momo called a break, she took a moment to lay in the grass. "You're doing great, just two more weeks and we're in." Momo encouraged.
"Thanks, Sugar Queen." She said heavily. After a gulp of water, she stood up. "I think my dad's waiting for me, I'll be back."
"Sounds good, be back in 10. We'll be doing hand-to-hand sparring next."
Toph grinned like a madwoman. Fighting was her favorite part of training, easily.
As she walked towards the house, Lao came out to meet her at the porch. "I hope I'm not interrupting."
"No, I'm on my break. Something on your mind?"
"Actually yes. Sit with me for a moment."
Toph looked back to see Momo rearranging the obstacles. That could take a while.
"Alright."
They both sat down at the porch table, glad for the shade from the spring heat. Lao took a moment to put together his words while Toph waited.
"I feel that I must apologize."
Toph raised her eyebrows. 'He feels that he what?' "Go on."
"I must apologize because when I agreed for you to take the Hero Course Exam, I did so with the expectation that you would fail. Then you would be able to leave it behind."
She gave a slight glare at that. Not that she was surprised, but it still stung. "So, what, you're telling me I can't do it? After all the work I've put in?"
"No."
At that point, her brow disappeared completely behind her long bangs. She detected no lies, but it was still unbelievable.
At her silence, he continued. "I see now that you won't stop for as long as this is your dream. And that what you need more than anything, is support." His words shook at that, but he was still honest. "Therefore, from here on out, I'm here to give it my all to support you. Can you forgive me?"
Toph sat there, stunned. Her parents didn't know about her ability to detect lies, so there was no way he was faking it.
Lao shifted. "If you don't forgive me that's fine, but I just-oof" he lost his breath at the bone-crushing hug he was in. Toph had, for the first time in years, hugged her father. "I forgive you." She whispered.
They cried together for a bit. Toph ended up overstaying her break, but Momo didn't mind much. She was too busy crying at the scene herself from behind the bush. She didn't escape Toph's senses, though.
'I guess that's ok. I'll kick her ass later.'
…
Ok, so there was a small amount of sap in this particular chapter and I hope that's fine with ya'll. If you've read the comic series for Avatar (if not, skip to the xXx), then you'd know that Toph and Lao end up on good terms after a few fights and some conversation. So, it isn't too illogical or out there. I don't know much about Toph's mom per se, but I get the feeling she'd be quicker to accept who Toph is. Moms just be like that.
xXx
So anyway, Toph is just about set for the entrance exam. Lots of new people to introduce, so I'm excited to see how she interacts with some of the big personalities and not-so-big personalities out there.
The training was necessary. There's not exactly an Earth Rumble VI to practice combat in and while she hasn't been sitting on her thumbs, some practice had to be put in to bring her up to speed. If she was as nasty in a fight as in canon right at the beginning, she'd body anyone and everyone in her class. Let's be real.
I love Nezu. Sadistic little bastard. If he sees potential, you'd better believe he'll do what it takes to help it grow. Besides, Toph is good, amazing even. But U.A. security is better. Good luck trying to sneak anywhere on that campus.
Before anyone asks, no. There's no TophxMomo going on here. Momo is pretty much Toph's only friend and Momo doesn't have much of a social circle either, so they're just close friends. Besides, Toph is canonically straight. Not there can't be any gay ships period, but the story won't revolve around them and they won't be overdone, just like any other ship I might feel like referencing throughout the story.
Be sure to send your reviews/critiques/comments/concerns, I'll respond as I'm able. Art submissions are welcome as always. Thank you for all the follows, till next time!
And now for the reviews:
To Sebbeca
Thank you! I hope I don't suffer writer's block either lol. So far, the story is writing itself, but we'll see how it goes.
To AnimeLuver1492
To answer your main question, yes. She does and will have all of her earthbending abilities, but she lacks finesse for now. U.A. will help her perfect her skill. But her parents never really gave her much opportunity to practice her quirk openly, so it's natural they only really saw it as a radar and minor sculpting abilities before Momo's test.
I don't know who will be Sparky. How about Sparky number 1 and Sparky number 2? Nicknames are still in the works; suggestions are welcome as always. Bakugo could be Sparky #2, just to piss him off.
It's usually frowned upon in modern society to hire earthbending bounty hunters to track down and detain your 12-year-old daughter in a big metal crate. So yeah.
The "good little angel" thing is pretty common and I'm glad you caught that. She just needed a push in the right direction, whether it be the Gaang or a good friend. Momo has major Katara vibes going for her at times, so it's going to be fun to write for sure.