"Gooood morning, earthbending student!"
The abrupt sound of Toph's voice in his ears caused Aang to jump out of his sleeping bag and shoot up several feet into the air.
"Are you ready to start your first day of training?" Toph asked as he floated back to the ground.
He yawned groggily, blinking his dry, tired eyes as he saw that the sun had only just risen.
They had spent the majority of the previous night flying, primarily at Zuko's behest. Both he and Toph had been eager to get as far away from Gaoling as possible, and Aang didn't blame them.
He wasn't oblivious. He knew that Toph likely hadn't been telling the truth when she'd claimed that her father had changed his mind. But what Zuko had said last night… It simply didn't feel right to force her return to the Beifong Estate, where she would be kept under lock and key for the rest of her life.
Despite this, he still couldn't help but feel somewhat guilty. If his hunch was correct, and Toph had run away without her father's permission... Wouldn't that make him a kidnapper?
"Hello?" Toph questioned with a frown, hands on her hips. "Anybody home, Twinkle Toes?"
Aang blinked his eyes several times before quickly straightening his posture. There was no use worrying about any of that now. The important thing was he'd finally found his earthbending teacher. This was what he'd been waiting for. He should be excited. He was excited.
But he was also still feeling the aftereffects of not having gotten a full night's sleep…
"Yes, of course, Sifu Toph," he replied with a curt nod, shaking his head again to try and wake himself up. He needed to take this seriously.
"Hey," Katara mumbled, rubbing her eyes as she sat up in her sleeping bag. "You never call me Sifu Katara…"
"Would you guys mind keeping it down over there?" an annoyed Sokka shouted from his sleeping bag on the other side of the campsite. "I would like to catch up on some sleep."
"You're not the only one," Aang couldn't help but grumble out of the corner of his mouth.
"What was that, Twinkle Toes?" Toph asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Nothing," Aang replied nervously.
"Good," Toph replied with a satisfied smile. "Well then, let's get started. First—"
"Toph… Do you really think right now is the best time for you two to start training?"
Aang looked up to see Zuko sitting up in his own sleeping bag. The Fire Prince's hair was messy, there were visible bags under his eyes, and his expression appeared rather crabby.
"Of course it is, Grumps," Toph replied simply. "Why wouldn't it be?"
"Oh, I dunno," Zuko said sarcastically. "Maybe because we just had a very late night of flying, and the sun has barely risen?"
"I think what Zuko's trying to say," Katara interjected. "Is that I know you're both eager to start training, but I'm sure it won't hurt to rest for just a bit longer."
Toph frowned. "You guys wanted me to teach the Avatar earthbending, so I'm teaching him. Now you suddenly don't want me to?"
"Nobody's saying that," Zuko sighed, pinching his nose bridge. "I just think that it wouldn't kill you guys to wait a bit before jumping right into training."
Katara nodded in agreement. "Toph, I know this is your first time away from home," she said sympathetically. "It can be difficult to adjust to at first, and it's okay to take some time to—"
"Look, I appreciate your concern," Toph interrupted, sounded slightly irritated. "But I'm not a helpless little kid. I don't need you guys to tell me how to take care of myself."
Before the waterbender could reply, Toph whipped around to face Aang, causing him to flinch backwards.
"What do you have to say about all of this, Twinkle Toes?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. "You're the Avatar."
"Oh," Aang replied, rubbing the back of his neck. "Well... I..."
At that moment, a loud growl rumbled from his stomach.
"...I wouldn't mind some breakfast, first," he admitted.
"Well, since I'm already awake, I can cook you guys up something," Katara sighed as she pushed herself to her feet and stretched her arms over her head. "Toph, do you like—?"
"I've already got my own food," Toph interrupted again, turning around to head back towards the earth tent she had made for herself the previous night. "I'll be in my tent when you're ready, Twinkle Toes."
Katara's brow furrowed as they watched the small girl walk away. "...Alright, then."
Aang was glad he'd decided not to skip breakfast—after having eaten a proper meal, his energy levels had increased, and he was now beginning to feel giddy with excitement at the idea of finally being able to start earthbending.
"So, what move are you going to teach me first?" he asked Toph excitedly as she led him over to a cluster of boulders at the base of the cliff they had set up their campsite next to. "Rock-a-lanche? The Trembler? Oh, maybe I could learn to make a whirlpool out of land!"
"Easy, Twinkle Toes," Toph replied with a slightly amused smirk. "First of all, I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I'm not teaching you any Earth Rumble moves. Not only are they way too advanced for you, but they're dumb moves anyway."
"Aww man…" Aang mumbled, slumping his shoulders. "But The Boulder was able to win the championship belt with Rock-a-lanche…"
"That was the coolest thing I've ever seen in my life…" Sokka sighed wistfully from where he sat nearby, sharpening his machete.
"He tried to kidnap Aang!" Katara snapped, shooting her brother a glare from where she sat next to Iroh, cleaning the pot and bowls they'd used to make breakfast.
"He may have won the championship with that move, but with my earthbending techniques, I was able to beat him in less than a minute," Toph replied proudly. "If that dunderhead Xin Fu had actually let me compete, I'd be the Earth Rumble champion right now."
"Fair point," Aang said with a nod. "So, what are we starting with?"
"Let's start with… move a rock ," Toph replied, mimicking a pushing motion with her hands.
Aang nodded again. "Sounds good, sounds good!"
"The key to earthbending is your stance," Toph instructed. "You've got to be steady and strong. Rock is a stubborn element. If you're gonna move it, you've got to be like a rock yourself."
"Like a rock. Got it," Aang replied, mimicking Toph's horse stance.
"Good. Now the actual motion of this one is pretty simple."
With a slam of her foot and a punch of her fist, the giant boulder in front of her rose from the ground and smashed into the side of the cliff.
Aang gaped in awe as he watched this, still astonished at how such a small person could move such a large object.
"Okay. You ready to give it a try?" Toph asked, brushing her palms together as she led him to another boulder.
"I'm ready," Aang nodded, hunkering down into a horse stance.
He mimicked the move Toph had just shown him as accurately as he could, but instead of moving the boulder, he was thrown backwards by an accidental air blast with a grunt, tumbling to the ground.
"Rock beats airbender," Sokka snorted, causing Aang to turn around and shoot him a glare.
"I don't understand what I did wrong," Aang muttered as he pushed himself off the ground and made his way back over to the boulder, putting a hand on his chin as he circled it. "I did it the exact same way you did… Maybe if I came at it from a different angle?"
"No," Toph replied, shaking her head. "That's the problem. You've got to stop thinking like an airbender. There's no different angle, no clever solution, no trickety-trick that's going to move that rock. You've got to face it head on. And when I say head on, I mean like this."
With a grunt, the earthbender jumped into the air and smashed herself into the boulder, turning it to rubble.
Aang bit his lip nervously as he watched. He knew earthbending was going to be difficult… He'd always known. But facing things head on… smashing into them… That was the antithesis of everything he'd been taught when learning airbending.
"Okay…" he muttered to himself, moving to a new rock and taking a deep breath as he moved into horse stance again. "Face it head on. I can do that."
He punched forward with a grunt again, only for the exact same result to occur. This time, however, as he flew backwards, he crashed directly into Zuko, who had been sitting under a nearby tree, sketching in his journal.
"Oof! "
"Zuko, I'm so sorry!" Aang exclaimed, hopping up and pulling the Fire Prince to his feet. He spotted the journal laying face-down in the grass and moved to pick it up. "Are you—"
"It's fine!" Zuko replied quickly, scooping up the journal before Aang could get it and holding it tightly to his chest. "I'm fine."
"Hey, no time for chit-chat, Twinkle Toes!" Toph called out from behind him.
"Sorry!" Aang replied, spinning back around and darting back over to the girl. "I'll try it again—"
"Hold it," Toph interrupted, holding up her palm without looking at him. "It seems like even this move is too advanced for you. So we're gonna start smaller. Baby stuff. Come with me."
Aang's brow furrowed with curiosity as he followed the girl into the woods.
To Aang's displeasure, the "baby stuff" that Toph had been referring to had ended up leaving him feeling more beat up than he had ever felt in his entire life.
"Is… is it supposed to bruise this much?" Aang groaned as he followed the blind girl back towards camp that evening, turning his palm over to survey his scratched up knuckles.
"Well, it wouldn't if you'd have just bent the earth into sand on impact like I showed you," Toph replied, folding her arms.
Aang slumped his shoulders. She was right. Despite all of the different techniques he'd attempted, he hadn't managed to move a single rock—not even the tiniest pebble or grain of sand.
"I'm trying," Aang replied. "But it's just… so hard."
"That's literally what earthbending is Twinkle Toes," Toph emphasized with a sigh. "Rocks are hard. You have to harden up too, or you'll never get it."
But how? Aang thought, biting his lip as they pushed through the bushes that surrounded the edge of their campsite, where Iroh sat next to a warm campfire, stoking its embers. I'm doing everything I can…
"Oh great, you're back!" Katara greeted happily, hopping down from Appa's saddle. "How did the training go?"
"Oh, um…" Aang began, hiding his hands behind his back so the waterbender wouldn't see the bruising.
"It went great," Toph interjected sarcastically, plopping down on the ground next to her bag. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go take a nap."
"Actually, we were just about to get dinner started," Katara replied. "I was wondering if you guys could help us?"
Toph yawned widely, putting her arms behind her head. "Hey, don't worry about me. I'm good to go."
Katara's brow furrowed slightly. "Well, actually what I'm trying to say is, some of us might fetch water," she gestured to Sokka, who was carrying a large jar of water from the nearby river. "While someone else might set up the fire pit," she gestured to Iroh. "Or gather extra firewood." She gestured to Zuko, who had just emerged from the forest, a bundle of logs and sticks in his arms.
"Katara, I'm fine," Toph replied, sitting up. "I can carry my own weight. I don't need a fire, and I already told you I've got my own food."
"Well, that's great for you," Katara replied, narrowing her eyes slightly. "But we still need to finish—"
"I don't understand," Toph interrupted with a frown. "What's the problem here? It sounds like you've all got that stuff you listed covered. Do you really want the blind girl to help cook dinner?" she questioned with a snort. "I'm sure that'll turn out great."
"Well..." Katara replied, blinking awkwardly. "I mean, it's just that…"
The waterbender looked to Aang with a pleading expression, clearly wanting him to back her up. However, Toph did have somewhat of a point. He couldn't really think of a task that she could realistically do right now, seeing as all the other major ones had been taken care of by the rest of their companions. Not knowing what to say, he shrugged his shoulders apologetically.
"Never mind," Katara grumbled, folding her arms as she turned around and went back to the fire. Aang glanced down at Toph, who was currently twirling her pinky finger in her ear, and decided that her silence indicated that he should probably leave her alone.
Instead, he made his way over to Appa, where he used a gust of airbending to lift and remove the saddle from the bison's back. He winced as he did so, rubbing his sore arm muscles through his shirt.
"Hey, are you okay?"
He turned to see a concerned-looking Zuko standing behind him.
Guess that wince was louder than I thought, Aang sighed internally.
"Oh, I'm just a little sore from the training today, that's all," Aang replied quickly, waving his hand with a chuckle. "Just haven't really gotten used to the whole earthbending thing yet. You know. Throwin' rocks. Smashing things."
The Fire Prince's eyes narrowed in suspicion. As his gaze moved downwards, however, they widened.
"You're hurt," Zuko said quietly, taking Aang's hand in his own. As the firebender held it up and leaned in close to study his scraped and bruised knuckles, Aang felt himself flush.
"I-it's not that bad," Aang replied, pulling his hand away and turning to the side.
"Is Toph going too hard on you? Do you need me to go talk to her?"
"No," Aang replied quickly. Somehow, he felt like that would not make things any better. "It's not her fault. It's mine. I…"
He sighed heavily.
"I still wasn't able to bend any earth today, no matter how hard I tried…"
"...Oh," Zuko replied somewhat awkwardly.
After a moment, however, Aang felt a gentle hand rest on his back.
"...It's alright. You're not gonna get it on the first day."
"But it doesn't make sense." Aang shook his head irritably. "I finally have a teacher now. And she's showing and telling me exactly how to do it. It shouldn't be this difficult."
"You'll get it eventually," Zuko replied. "I know you will."
As he tried to repress the shiver he felt at the sensation of Zuko's thumb brushing back and forth between his shoulder blades, Aang turned to look at the Fire Prince, who smiled kindly at him, his amber eyes almost seeming to glow in the light of the evening sun. Aang smiled in return, his heart pounding in his chest.
"Dinner's ready!" Iroh called out from behind them, causing Aang to flinch away with an awkward chuckle.
"Come on, hotman," he said quickly, gesturing towards the fire pit. "I don't know about you, but I'm starving!"
As they both made their way over and sat down, Iroh peered over Aang's shoulder towards the general direction of Toph's earth tent.
"Where is Miss Beifong?" he asked, brow furrowing as he stirred the pot of boiling tofu stew. "Did she already go to sleep?"
Aang's gaze moved to Katara, whose expression appeared slightly guilty. "We had a bit of an argument earlier. Maybe I should go and apologize."
With that, she pushed herself to her feet and walked over to the earth tent.
"Hey Toph? I wanted to apologize for earlier," she said. "I think we're all just a little tired and getting on each other's nerves. The stew is ready, if you'd like some."
"...Yeah," Aang heard Toph reply. "You do seem pretty tired."
Almost immediately, Aang and Sokka shared a glance, both cringing slightly. This interaction was probably not going to go well.
"...I meant all of us," Katara muttered.
"Well, anyway," Toph replied. "I already ate, so I'm going to sleep. Goodnight."
"...Fine," Katara replied with a slight frown. "Goodnight."
With that, Katara strode back over to the fire and sat back down, her brow twitching with annoyance.
"...I'll save a bowl for her, just in case," Iroh said after a brief moment of silence.
"Zuko, wake up!"
Zuko sat up abruptly in his sleeping bag upon hearing Toph's whisper, and blinked eyes several times until he could just barely make out the small girl's form crouched next to him.
"What is it?" he whispered back, holding back a yawn.
"There's someone coming," she replied, and he could see that her palm was pressed flat to the ground. "Or… something ."
Zuko's brow furrowed. "I don't hear anything."
Toph shook her head. "It's coming directly towards us."
He quickly realized that somehow, the girl must be feeling the minute vibrations through the earth, and his eyes slowly began to widen. "What does it sound like?"
"Like… like an avalanche, but not an avalanche…"
"Huh?" Zuko replied confusedly.
"It just stopped."
"Well, where is it?"
"Not far."
"Sounds like we need to get out of here," Zuko whispered, quickly getting to his feet. "Can you let me know if you notice anything else? I'm gonna wake everyone up."
Toph nodded, expression serious as she kept her hand pressed to the earth.
As Zuko quickly folded up his sleeping back, he turned to see that the fire, while low, was still burning, releasing a small but steady plume of smoke into the moonlit sky.
Oh no, he thought. That's probably what's leading them straight to us!
He quickly made his way over to the Water Tribe siblings, pressing his index finger to his mouth as he gently roused them, and then his uncle.
"Toph says there's something nearby," he whispered. "It sounds dangerous. We need to get out of here, now."
As his uncle and companions quickly began to pack up their belongings, he made his way over to Aang, who was sleeping on Appa's tail. He gently shook the airbender's shoulder, and he sat up slowly. "Zuko?" he murmured. "What—?"
"We need to get out of here. There's something—"
"It's running now!" Toph hissed, scrambling over to the bison with her pack over her shoulder. "And there's more than one of them! If we're gonna leave, we need to do it soon!"
"Running?" Aang repeated confusedly.
"More than one?" Zuko questioned. "What—?"
Toph stomped her foot, cutting him off, and a large, tall barrier of earth shot up from the ground, blocking a blast of blue flames.
Blue flames.
"How did she find us?" Zuko murmured, a spike of fear piercing his stomach.
"Hello again, Zuzu," Azula greeted as she gracefully somersaulted up onto the top of the barrier, a delighted grin on her face. "What a coincidence, running into you here! Mai's missed you so much."
From out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a glint of metal, and quickly unsheathed his broadswords to deflect the darts that had come hurtling from the side, almost striking Toph.
"And of course, I see you're still keeping company with the Avatar," Azula added, cocking her head to the side as her cold amber gaze moved to Aang, who was holding his staff in a defensive position. "Have you found yourself an earthbending teacher?"
"He has!" Toph shouted. "And if you don't wanna get crushed, you'd better take your avalanche machine and get outta here!"
"Cute," Azula replied sarcastically, rolling her eyes. "You've adopted a mangy little stray."
Mai raised an eyebrow as she brandished another shuriken. "Avalanche machine?" she questioned confusedly, though her snowy expression remained neutral, as it always did.
Before Mai could throw the star, however, it was knocked out her hand by Sokka's boomerang, causing her expression to actually change, this time to one of irritation as she clutched her wrist.
"Oh, I get it! It does sound like an avalanche!"
"Sokka, watch out!" Katara shouted.
Zuko whipped around to see that Ty Lee had appeared. She made several jabs at the warrior's arms, which immediately dropped at his sides, paralyzed. Katara attempted to use her water whip to grab hold of the acrobat's leg, but was too slow, and she flipped over Sokka's head and landed next to Iroh.
"Sorry about this, General Iroh," Ty Lee said, sounding genuinely apologetic as she made another series of jabs, causing the old man to wince.
"Ty Lee, you don't have to apologize to my uncle," Azula said with a frown, jumping to avoid an airbending blast from Aang before landing on the ground next to Mai. "He's a traitor."
Aang attempted to whip another blast towards Ty Lee, but was again, unsuccessful, and the acrobat twirled her way over to her friends.
We're all too tired, Zuko realized with a feeling of dread as he quickly blocked several darts from Mai. It was clearly affecting their combat performance, and as a result, they were now down two team members. They needed to escape.
"Still relying on your swords, Zuzu?" Azula taunted, opening her palm, where a blue flame appeared. "No firebending? Have your skills really deteriorated that much since we met last?" Her gaze moved to Iroh, who blinked in surprise. "Or is uncle just a terrible teacher?"
"I admit I have been… slacking a bit," Iroh replied sheepishly, rubbing his arm from where Ty Lee had chi-blocked him. "But your brother is quite adept with his broadswords, Azula. Bending isn't the only way to fight."
"True," Azula agreed with a shrug. "But it is the superior way."
Zuko's frown deepened. She was correct that his firebending skills were quite lackluster these days, though Iroh wasn't completely to blame for that. He had simply… stopped asking him for them. And if his uncle had brought it up, he'd almost always brush it off…
With a grunt, he used his broadswords to whip a fire blast towards the girls, and Azula easily blocked his attack. However, just as she was about to shoot another fire blast towards them, Toph made a series of quick movements, and several slabs of earth shot up from the ground on four sides, trapping the three girls inside a large earth tent.
"Let's go, Grumps!" Toph shouted, grabbing him by the wrist. "Something tells me that won't hold them for long!"
Zuko shook his head rapidly and sheathed his broadswords as he followed the blind girl over to Appa, where Katara and Aang were helping Iroh and Sokka into the saddle.
Zuko hoisted Toph up, and Katara grabbed her under her arms to pull her into the saddle, while Aang took his own hand and pulled him up as well.
"Yip yip!" Aang shouted, Momo chattering anxiously as the earth barrier that was holding Azula and her companions began to crack.
With a roar, Appa whipped his tail, and they took off into the night.
"Iroh, Sokka," Katara said as they sailed through the sky by the light of the moon, motioning for them to come over to her. "You both need healing."
"I'm fine, Katara," Sokka said, rotating his arm and flexing his fingers. "The feeling's already starting to come back. I can just wait it out."
"If you say so," Katara sighed as Iroh laid down flat on the floor of the saddle.
"Who were those people?" Toph asked.
Katara and Sokka both glanced up at Zuko for a moment, and he squeezed his eyes closed with a sigh.
"My younger sister and her friends," he grumbled in reply.
"Ah," Toph replied simply. "I figured you were related to the mean one somehow."
Zuko's brow furrowed in confusion. "Really?"
"Well, she did call Iroh 'uncle'. I put two and two together," the earthbender replied with a shrug. "So what are they doing all the way out here?"
"I don't know," Zuko replied, rubbing his unscarred eye. "They must have tracked us somehow."
"I can't believe they followed us all the way from Omashu," Katara murmured as she began to activate her healing abilities on Iroh's left arm. "The blue fire and flying daggers were bad enough, but that acrobat girl… She's a chi-blocker. I didn't even know anyone was aware of the technique outside of Thod and his villagers…"
Toph's brow furrowed. "Chi-blocker?" she asked confusedly.
"They hit certain pressure points on your body," Zuko explained. "It can paralyze you, block your bending, or both."
"Block your bending?" Toph repeated, her eyes widened with clear anxiety. "Is... Iroh gonna be okay?"
"Don't worry, Miss Beifong," Iroh said, wincing slightly as Katara moved her bending water around his shoulder. "It's only temporary."
Toph bit her lip, still looking uncertain, and did not ask any further questions on the subject.
Once Katara had fully reopened Iroh's chi paths and Sokka had confirmed that no "avalanche machines" were following them, they flew for about half an hour more before Aang at last decided on a spot for them to land. Zuko found himself feeling quite relieved when Appa touched the ground; his eyes were getting extremely heavy, and he didn't know how much longer he'd be able to stay awake.
"Ahh, land, sweet land!" Toph sighed as they dismounted, smiling toothily as she put her hands on her hips. "See you guys in the morning!"
"Actually, can you help us unpack?" Katara asked, causing Toph to stop in her tracks.
"Really? " Toph replied sarcastically, turning back around. "You need me to help unload Sokka's funky-smelling sleeping bag?"
As if to test her claim, Sokka took a whiff of the sleeping bag, and made a disgusted expression. Zuko grimaced as well; there was a reason he never slept too close to the Water Tribe boy.
"Well, yeah," Katara replied curtly. "That, and everything else. You're a part of our team now, and—"
"Look! I didn't ask you to help unload my stuff!" Toph snapped, pointing her finger at the waterbender. "I'm carrying my own weight."
"That's not the point!" Katara fumed, marching up to the girl. "Ever since you joined us, you've been nothing but selfish and unhelpful!"
"What?" Toph replied, sounding offended. "Look here, Sugar Queen, " she muttered, pointing her finger directly into Katara's chest. "I gave up everything I had so that I could teach Aang earthbending. So don't you talk to me about being selfish!"
Before an irate Katara could reply, Toph sat down and created another earth tent.
"'Sugar Queen' ?!" Katara repeated incredulously, marching up to the tent door, which Toph closed off abruptly with another slab of earth. "D-did you just slam the door in my face?! How can you be so infuriating?!"
Zuko squinted as he watched Katara continue to shout at the earthbender, kicking the earth tent and raising her arms into the air as she grew angrier by the minute. He was already exhausted, and now it seemed he was going to have a headache.
Aang sighed audibly from next to him. "Let me go try and talk to them."
"Let's see how well this goes," Sokka muttered out of the corner of his mouth.
"Okay, okay, you both need to calm down," Aang stated carefully as he slowly approached the fuming Katara.
"Both?! " Katara replied, her fists shaking at her sides. Suddenly, she whipped around, and the expression on her face made even Zuko jump back. "I'M COMPLETELY CALM!"
"...I can see that," Aang replied awkwardly, shuffling back over to Zuko and Sokka.
"Maybe uncle can talk to them?" Zuko suggested, turning around. However, the old man was already fast asleep on the ground, snoring softly. It seemed he hadn't even had the time to get out his sleeping bag, and was instead using it as a pillow.
Zuko sighed and shook his head. "Let's just try to get some rest. We can worry about unpacking everything else tomorrow."
As he laid out his sleeping bag and sat down, Katara marched back over to them, grumbling as she snatched her own sleeping bag from next to Appa.
Just when he had finally laid down to close his eyes, however, the waterbender spoke again.
"The stars sure are beautiful tonight," she said, loudly and mockingly. "Too bad you can't see them, Toph. "
Zuko immediately sat up with a frown, and shot the Water Tribe girl a look. "Katara! "
Katara's eyes immediately widened, indicating that she hadn't realized what she'd said. "N-not because she's blind! I meant because of her– the tent– I wasn't- WAAAH!"
The ground below them rumbled, and Katara was sent into the air momentarily before crashing onto Sokka, startling Momo, who'd curled up next to his head.
"Hey!" Sokka snapped, shoving his sister off of him. "How's a guy supposed to sleep with all this yelling and earthquaking? "
"Can everyone just be quiet?! " Zuko interjected irritably. "You're all worse than a group of chattering hog monkeys!"
Thankfully, after this remark, things remained quiet, and after several minutes, Zuko finally felt himself drifting back to sleep.
However, despite the quiet, there was one noise that could faintly be heard, coming from the direction of Toph's earth tent.
It sounded like crying.
Zuko awoke early the next morning hoping he might be able to find Toph and talk to her. He was almost certain that it had been her he'd heard crying the previous night.
It had been less than two days since she'd left home, and with the high tensions in camp and Azula's ambush on top of that, the girl was likely not coping well mentally or emotionally. He certainly knew he was struggling.
However, when he sat up and surveyed the campsite, he quickly noticed that Aang was gone, and as he made his way over to Toph's earth tent, he saw that it, too, was empty.
Zuko's brow furrowed. Did they leave to go to practice again already? The sun's still so low in the sky...
He recalled Aang's bruised and scraped knuckles from the day prior. With all of the commotion the past few hours, had he even had a healing session with Katara yet? And on top of that, had either he or Toph even gotten any sleep?
He sighed heavily, running his hand through his hair in frustration. None of this seemed healthy.
When he turned back around, he saw that while Appa, Momo, and the Water Tribe siblings were still fast asleep, surprisingly, Iroh was awake, and he appeared to be rummaging through their belongings in the saddle.
The sight of his uncle brought back the memories of their encounter with Azula the night prior, and what she'd said about his poor firebending skills.
"Uncle?" Zuko called up quietly as he approached the bison.
Iroh stopped what he was doing and looked down at his nephew. "Good morning, Prince Zuko," he replied with a smile. "Need something from your bag?"
"No," Zuko replied, rubbing his arm. "Are… you feeling okay after the chi-blocking from last night?"
Iroh nodded. "I feel fine this morning, thanks to Katara."
Zuko nodded in return, glad that Ty Lee hadn't done more damage. He opened his mouth to speak again, but then closed it. He bit his lip for a moment, clenching his fists at his side.
Why did he feel… embarrassed to bring this up?
"Um. Speaking of last night… I wanted to talk to you about what Azula said… About my firebending…" he began, trailing off.
"Don't let her get to you, nephew," Iroh replied, shaking his head slowly. "Ozai's instilled a great sense of superiority in your sister, rivaling even his own."
"I know," Zuko replied. "But she was right, uncle. I haven't practiced firebending for weeks now."
Iroh was silent for a moment before he closed the sack he'd been searching through.
"If you'd like to start training again, I would be happy to continue," he replied. "But if this is about what your sister said, there is nothing wrong with using melee weapons instead of bending. You're really quite skilled with your broadswords."
"This isn't about her," Zuko muttered, folding his arms. "She just… reminded me that I've been neglecting that part of myself."
The part of himself that he was the least fond of.
The part of him that had the capacity to cause immense pain and damage with even the slightest mistake.
His own personal feelings about firebending aside, however—it could also be a useful tool, something he could use to protect the people he cared about.
Iroh had practically said so himself, back in Wolf Cove before the Raider attack. And back then, his flames had been much stronger.
"It made me realize that I need to start training again if I want to stand a chance against Azula in the future."
Iroh continued studying him for a moment, brow furrowed. Eventually, he sighed, and climbed down from the saddle.
"Alright, then," he said as he landed in the dirt. "We can begin this afternoon."
"Remember, firebending comes from the breath, not the muscle," Iroh instructed as Zuko punched yet another small fire blast into the air with a grunt for what felt like the hundredth time.
No matter how many times he'd tried, his firebending was noticeably weaker than it had ever been before.
"I don't get it!" Zuko snarled in frustration, looking at his palms with disgust. "I remember all the basic forms. I'm trying to breathe. I shouldn't be this horrible…"
He felt like he was a child all over again, recalling how Azula would outmatch him in every form during their lessons with Master Kunyo time and time again.
"Don't let yourself get too worked up, Zuko," Iroh stated calmly. "Do not let your emotions overwhelm you."
"I'm not!" Zuko snapped, his hands balling into fists at his side before realizing that he had just proved himself wrong. "I'm... not," he repeated more calmly, taking a deep breath through his nose.
An amused smile appeared on Iroh's face, and he shook his head. "It's alright. Maybe we should stop for the day."
Zuko frowned. "Why? We're just getting started. I can do better, I know it!"
"Your problem isn't one that can be solved by brute force, nephew," Iroh replied, pushing himself up from the rock he was sitting on. "It may be a good idea to return to basics and focus on meditation training for your next session."
"Meditation training isn't gonna help me fight Azula!" Zuko argued.
"Neither is pushing yourself too hard," Iroh replied seriously. "Today was a good warm-up to get you refreshed on your basic moves. It will take time to get back to where you were before we stopped training regularly."
Zuko pressed his lips into a thin line and grunted frustratedly in reply.
Aang collapsed onto Appa's soft tail with a groan that evening. He didn't think it would have been possible, but somehow, he felt worse than he had yesterday.
For some strange reason, Toph had decided to wake him up at dawn again this morning, despite yet another late night. Now, not only were his muscles throbbing, but his head was pounding, and his eyes stung with fatigue.
It had been a relatively quiet walk back to camp. At first, Aang had thought that the small girl simply naturally had more energy than he did, but after today's training, he could tell that she was exhausted too. She had been crabbier than usual, but also sloppier in demonstrating her techniques.
Aang had suggested several times that they take a break, or end early for the day and return to camp, but his earthbending teacher was having none of it. This had, of course, made for a miserable training session for the both of them.
And still, he had not yet managed to learn how to actually earthbend.
Suddenly, with a chirp, Momo landed on his chest, causing him to wince. The confused lemur's ears drooped sadly, and Aang quickly sat up, petting the lemur's head.
"Sorry, Momo. I know you didn't mean to."
His eyes drifted over the quiet campsite as he scratched behind Momo's ear. It seemed as though he and Toph were the only ones here—at least, he assumed Toph was still here, as she had immediately shut herself in her earth tent as soon as they'd gotten back.
He wondered if she was doing alright. While she was a harsh teacher, and could be… snarky at times, he knew Toph was a good person. She'd just been through a lot.
Like someone else I know, he thought with a slight smile, thinking of Zuko.
Aside from that, he knew that Toph was meant to be his earthbending teacher. No matter how tough her training was, he had to stick with it. He wasn't going to find another better one out there, no matter how hard he tried.
"Ugh… I can't believe this is all I managed to catch," Sokka sighed, and Aang looked up to see the warrior and his sister approaching the campsite from the direction of the nearby river.
"Hey, guys," Aang greeted.
"Oh. Hey, Aang," Sokka replied with a lackluster wave. Aang could see noticeable dark circles under both his and Katara's eyes. It seemed they hadn't gotten much sleep either.
"Was earthbending training better today?" Katara asked with a yawn. "Did Toph wake you up super early again?"
"Kind of," Aang replied, folding his arms behind his back again to hide his hands. He did not want the waterbender to have another reason to be frustrated with the girl. "And… yeah."
Katara's brow furrowed as she took a seat next to him. "I knew it. She shouldn't be pushing you so hard, Aang. You've only just started!"
"But that's just how earthbending training is, Katara," Aang replied with a sigh. "It's not like airbending or waterbending. It's supposed to be tough."
Katara shook her head. "I may not be an earthbender, but I don't think it's healthy to push yourself like this..."
Before Aang could reply, he spotted Zuko and Iroh returning to the campsite out of the corner of his eye. The Fire Prince's expression appeared quite irritated, and Aang cocked his head to the side as he wondered what had him in such a sour mood—other than the likely sleep deprivation.
"All right," Iroh declared, clapping his hands together. Surprisingly, he seemed to be the only person in their group who didn't appear tired and/or irritated. "Time to get started on dinner. Sokka, did you make a good catch today?"
Sokka's lips pressed into a thin line as he held up the two fish. "...This is it. Sorry."
"That's quite alright," Iroh replied kindly. "We should have enough vegetables to make up for the lack of meat, and there's still quite a bit of moo-sow jerky left."
"I'm tired of moo-sow jerky…" Sokka grumbled.
"I never thought I'd see the day when you'd get tired of any kind of meat," Katara replied, folding her arms.
"Hey, after that meal we had at the Beifong's the other night, it's hard to just go back to camp food, okay?" Sokka rebutted with a frown.
"Alright, that's enough, you two," Iroh interjected. "We need the water jugs replenished and more firewood."
"Too bad Toph can't help us with that," Katara muttered.
Suddenly, there was a rumble, and within seconds, Toph was stomping over to them.
"You got something you wanna say to my face, Sugar Queen?" she demanded, marching up to the waterbender, who stood up defiantly.
"Too bad you can't help us with that," Katara stated plainly. "Or, should I say, won't."
Toph's tiny body began to tremble with obvious rage in response to this. "Now, listen here—"
"Ooookay, guys," Aang interrupted nervously. "I'll go get the firewood! Toph, why don't you come with me? You don't have to do anything, you can just… keep me company!"
"Aang!" Katara replied with annoyance. "Don't tell her she doesn't have to do anything!"
"I'll get the firewood," Zuko muttered, turning to leave. "I'd rather not listen to you two yammer on about this again."
"I'm not yammering!" Katara replied defensively. "I'm being perfectly reasonable!"
"Well, whatever you're doing clearly isn't making things any better," Zuko said, turning back around. "Can you just drop it?"
"Of course you'd be on her side," Katara muttered, narrowing her eyes.
"I'm not on anyone's side," Zuko snapped. "I'm on the side of peace and quiet ."
Aang pinched his nose bridge, the throbbing in his head beginning to worsen. He had to do something to stop the arguing… but what could he do?
"Everyone, shh!" Toph hissed abruptly, crouching down and placing her hand on the ground. "We need to get out of here, now! The avalanche machine is—"
Seemingly out of nowhere, the ground around them began to shake, and the birds in the trees around them took off in flocks.
"Come on, everybody!" Aang shouted, waving his arm towards the bison.
With that, his companions began to move in a panic, Sokka and Zuko bumping into each other as they scrambled to get their things, and Katara and Iroh gathered up the cooking utensils next to the fire pit, while Toph darted back over to her earth tent to grab her bag.
"Hurry, you guys!" Aang shouted again as the rumbling grew stronger, his eyes darting around the trees anxiously. If they had to fight those three girls again, he wasn't certain he would be able to do so very effectively with how tired and sore he was.
With a crash, several trees collapsed, one nearly hitting Sokka before he jumped out of the way. The fallen trees were quickly pushed aside by what looked to be a large metal tank, a thick black plume of smoke billowing from its top.
Aang grimaced with terror as he airbent himself onto Appa's head, his companions scrambling into the saddle after him.
Before he had the chance to say "yip yip", however, a door on the machine opened with a loud hiss, and several darts flew out of it.
Thankfully, Katara used her bending water to block them before they hit anyone, freezing them in ice.
As she did so, however, Ty Lee emerged from the tank, twirling into the air and looking as though she was about to land directly into Appa's saddle.
Thinking quickly, Aang grabbed his staff, jumped to his feet, and hurled a blast of air as strong as he could manage directly at her.
The acrobat grimaced and held her arms up in front of her face as the wind forced her backwards, where she tumbled onto the grass.
"Yip yip!" Aang shouted, whipping the reins several times. "Yip yip!"
While Appa ascended as he usually did, he was noticeably much slower than usual, indicating the bison's own fatigue. As they rose into the air, Aang watched an irritated-looking Azula emerge from the tank with Mai at her side.
"You're not getting away that easily this time," the Fire Princess shouted from where she stood atop the tank's roof, crouching down into a horse stance.
What emerged from her fingertips was not blue fire, however. Instead, there was a loud crackling sound, and as the princess moved her fingers in circular motions, it looked as though she was generating something completely different.
"Lightning…" he heard Zuko murmur, and turned to see the Fire Prince's eyes were wide with horror. "Can you make Appa fly any faster?!" he shouted frantically, turning to Aang.
"Lightning? " Aang replied incredulously. "What—?"
Before Aang had the chance to reply, there was an earsplitting crack as a white bolt of lightning snaked its way directly towards them.
Suddenly, Iroh bolted to his feet, and as he held out his arms, two fingers extended on both hands, he almost seemed to pull the lightning into his body, curling into himself as Toph, Katara, Sokka, and Zuko clung to the rim of the saddle, the latter three squinting their eyes. With a fluid motion, Iroh's arm shot backwards, and the lightning left his body, lighting up the evening sky with a crack.
Zuko darted forward to catch his uncle as the old man fell down on one knee, clearly winded. Judging by the expressions on the faces of both the Fire Prince and his sister below, it seemed that this turn of events was a shock to both of them.
"Yip yip!" Aang shouted again, shaking his head rapidly and whipping Appa's reins as they soared up into the clouds.