Katara looked at Toph in utter amazement. "Seriously?! You were able to pull metal from the mountain. How?"

"It's not such a shock," Toph said, downplaying her accomplishments. She didn't like attention being drawn to her when she wasn't in disguise. The Blind Bandit could get recognition, and it didn't embarrass her because her alternate persona was only known for fighting, and it didn't follow her in her real life. "Metal is mined from mountains all the time. True?!"

"And as metal ore, you made an actual metal cage out of it," Katara lowered her voice by the end of her sentence.

They were walking through the main palace hall by the throne room, and they were nearing a small group of people. Toph was dressed in Fire Nation clothing; if she knew how much more feminine she looked in their clothes, she would have refused the disguise. She was holding onto Katara's arm as if she couldn't find her way around to maintain her role. The image it gave off played into Ozai's prejudices regarding Katara, and they wanted to make full use of them. No matter how smart and quick-minded she had proven herself to be, Ozai refused even to see it.

So, bringing a blind Fire Nation girl back from Ba Sing Se didn't surprise Ozai. After all, in his mind, it was a move that showed her weakness. He would never have tolerated having a disability near himself. He could never have imagined that very girl was far from disadvantaged. She didn't fit his picture of strength, but in reality, she was an incredibly powerful bender, and she was less than ten years from being one of the most powerful benders in the world. Toph took full advantage of others' perceptions of her, always to her own benefit.

Which was why the two women were walking together down the hall. Katara didn't have Kyo with her, and she didn't need a bodyguard when she had Toph with her. Her own bending abilities needed to stay hidden still, but Toph was willing to risk detection.

Katara whispered, "so, the whole time you were off training in the mountains, you were working on Metalbending?"

"Yup, Sweetness —and it was awesome. I caught so many animals —strictly catch and release, of course. I don't mind bashing people on the heads, but I dare the line with animals. Not that I'm a vegetarian, but I'm not into the killing."

Katara got a thoughtful look on her face. "You were worried you couldn't kill them quickly."

"Yeah," Toph admitted. "It's one thing with a bow and arrow like some do from a distance. Wringing their necks feels —gross to me."

"I get it," and Katara did. She understood that while Toph was strong and a powerful bender, she never had to kill for food. As the daughter of an Earth Kingdom noble, she would have never had to forage for food. Something Katara couldn't say for herself. Even as the Chief's daughter, the Southern Water Tribe was poor, and men were scarce. She had hunted from a young age and had to kill animals to eat. To her, it highlighted their different childhoods.

Katara tried not to blink as one of the councilmen, still inextricably loyal to Ozai, rounded the corner and laid his lecherous eyes on her. She was the bait, and Toph was the trap. He smirked, realizing Katara was alone with a blind woman. That pleased him deeply.

Katara didn't even resist when she was slammed up against the wall, and he breathed hotly into her ear, pinning her. "I'm going to fuck your tight little cunt and love telling Ozai I had you. You dirty little slut, you'll find out you like my cock better than Zuko's prick!"

While Katara shoved him enough to get him to stumble back, Toph went into action. She pulled the metal from every sconce and decoration on the walls and trapped him in a cage without a door. It was a formidable prison cell. He screamed, "You're a Metalbender!"

Toph wiggled her fingers at him and said, "bye-bye!" She then opened up the floor beneath her that went directly to the hidden cave. As she sealed her escape, she brought the cave floor up to meet her gently and landed easily on her own two feet.

Katara was still in the main hall, hearing the councilman yell about Toph being a Metalbender. "Oh, shut up already!" She admonished him. "You're giving me a headache." She then walked away and signaled to Kyo, who was stationed a few hundred feet away down the next hall. "Time to take out the trash," she informed him.

Kyo and the other guards he had helping him were annoyed with how heavy Toph's cage was and voiced that to her loudly later.