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The first time that Mai saw Toph Bei Fong, the younger girl was standing in the throneroom of Omashu. Modifications were still underway,
converting the chamber from the relatively simple arrangement favoured under Mad King Bumi towards the Fire Nation's traditional elevated throne and fire
pits. For now, however, the workmen had been banished and soldiers lined the walls while Mai's father sat on an elaborately carved wooden chair that she
had seen in his study at home.

Toph herself had four guards accompanying her: two had preceded her into the room and then stood aside, flanking the doors - and to Mai's
eyes, nervously aware that each had a Fire Nation soldier stood discreetly behind them, ready to strike them down. The other two followed Toph as she walked
down the centre of the room towards the Mai's family. One cleared his throat and as if signalled, Toph halted at the appropriate distance from the Governor
for a noble petitioner.

Mai's eyes narrowed. No, that was a signal. The tiny girl - barely waist-high to her towering guards had a film of milky-white over the
more expected green that was common in the Earth Kingdom, and they diconcertingly failed to focus upon those in front of her. She was blind.

"So cute," Mai's mother whispered and Mai's lips twitched. Indeed. Ty Lee would have had a pink ribbon around the Earth
Kingdom girl's throat in an instant, and probably romped with her like a puppy after no more than a minute. Toph's raven dark hair was elaborately
bound up behind her head and contrasted with her porcelain-like complexion and the pale yellow gown and creamy girdle that she wore. Weak colours, Mai
calculated. Making her look vulnerable and unthreatening. Her choices? Unlikely if she's blind, but who then?

"Lady Toph Bei Fong," the Governor greeted her formally, inclining his head slightly. "I am curious to hear what brings a
daughter of your clan into the newest stronghold of the Fire Nation."

Toph dropped to one knee and lowered her head. By Agni, Mai thought, boredly. Eyelashes too? Her mother squealed again at the cuteness,
causing Mai's brother Tom-Tom to squirm excitedly in their mother's arms.

"Lord Governor, with the triumph of the Fire Nation in securing Omashu, my father has concluded that the time has come for the Bei Fong
to seek closer ties with the conquerors," Toph recited sweetly. "I have been sent here in token of his hopes for a new relationship."

"Hmm." Mai's father leant back in his chair. Although she could not see it, Mai knew that his face had stilled to mask his
calculations. Pointless, particularly since the girl in front of him couldn't see his face. "You father offers an alliance?"

"Lord Governor, an alliance would be between equals," Toph replied, evading the trap neatly. "What my father offers is his
allegiance." She reached delicately into her girdle and produced a small scroll.

That wasn't a recitation, Mai noted. She might have been briefed, but she's no talking doll. At her father's nod she stepped
forwards and reached out for the scroll but as her hand reached it, Toph's hand moved slightly - clearly questing for the hand to receive the scroll,
moving it outside of Mai's closing fingers. "Hold still," the older girl instructed flatly and pulled the document away from Toph, not bothering
to wait for her father's instructions before cracking the seal.

It only took her a moment to decipher to contents before handing it over to to her father to peruse. Rats deserting a sinking ship. And
sacrificing their daughter for their own prosperity. How tedious.

Mai's mother leant over and read the scroll over her husband's shoulder. Usually it would be a shocking breach of protocol, but then,
how would Toph know. "Ooh!" she squealed. "Of course you can stay here, Lady Bei Fong! I'm sure Mai would love a new friend." Ah. That
was how.

Her father hmmed. "Yes, that would be best I think." He looked up. "Mai, Lord Bei Fong has sent his daughter here to ask for
my assistance in arranging a suitable marriage for her within the Fire Nation's nobility when she is old enough. In the meantime," he smiled
triumphantly, "he hopes that we will educate her in how to become a suitable young lady of the Fire Nation. Do you know what this means?"

"Mother has a new doll," Mai drawled under her breath and out of the corner of her eye saw Toph twitch. Good hearing.

"It means that the Bei Fong Clan, one of the leading names of the southern Kingdom want to assimilate," the Governor
declared proudly. "Tell me, Lady Bei Fong, do you have a brother?"

Oh Great Agni, no! Mai thought. Bad enough to be trapped her in Omashu. Marriage to some Earth Kingdom bumpkin? Unthinkable.

"No, Lord Governor. I am an only child," Toph replied evenly. Thank you, Agni.

"Hmm. A shame. Still, that would make you the her to your family, wouldn't it? Whoever marries you is going to be very lucky young
man." Colour appeared on Toph's face, high on her cheeks.

Mai's mother giggled. "Oh, she's just a little girl, dear." She turned her attention to Toph. "Tell me child, are you
a bender?"

Mai could read regret in Toph's posture. "No, my lady. I have been taught some of the exercises, for health reasons, but I cannot
bend."

"Ah, well that would have made matters a little awkward. It would be best if you didn't practise the earthbending exercises any
more, Lady Bei Fong. Perhaps Mai can teach you some of the firebending equivalents."

"I would like that," Toph agreed, smiling - a little nervously - but even so, the first smile to cross her face since she had
entered the throne room.

.oOo.

"Now Mai, Toph and I want your honest opinion on this," her mother called from behind the changing screen.

"Mm-hmm," Mai agreed from the couch and scooped a handful of fire flakes out of the bowl she held, bracing herself. Her mother had
insisted on bringing chest after chest of clothes with them, even those long packed away as far too small for Mai and decidedly the wrong garments to dress
Tom-Tom in once he was old enough. Still, the arrival of Toph made it somewhat convenient to have all the spare clothes around - perhaps an act of genuine
foresight by her mother. Ha ha. So funny that Mai forgot to laugh.

It wasn't as bad as it could have been. Toph stumbled a little coming out from behind the screen, probably due to the elaborate ankle
boots that had replaced the simple sandals that she had worn earlier under her gown. Red breeches and a heavy looking tunic that Mai thought had started out as
part of her uniform at the Royal Fire Academy for Girls.

"Well?" demanded her mother.

Mai paused. "Adorable," she drawled. "But you'll have to do something with her hair." She could have sworn that a
panicked look crossed Toph's face but it was quickly replaced by the solemn expression that Mai was beginning to suspect was a mask.

"Well of course," her mother fluttered. "Do you remember how Azula had her hair?" She touched Toph familiarly on the
shoulder. "That's Princess Azula, the Fire Lord's daughter. She and Mai were great friends when they were younger. Come and help me,
Mai."

She took another mouthful of fire flakes before obeying, brushing Toph's hair back and allowing her mother to pull free the bangs that
framed the younger girl's face before pulling the hair into a topknot. The hairpiece that her mother handed her to use was one she'd been given by
Prince Zuko - probably picked out by his mother but still - and she cursed herself for hesitating before fastening it.

"Now, what do you think?" Mai's mother caroled and pulled Toph in front of - oh surely not! - the room's single, tall
mirror.

She saw Toph blink, and just as Mai was about to say something cutting, the younger girl tilted her head and asked: "Is that me?"
in wonderstruck tones.

"Of course it is, Toph," the woman declared proudly. "You're the very image of a fine young fire maiden. You'll have
young men beating their way to your door in no time." She swept off towards the door. "I'll leave the two of you to get to know each
other."

Mai waited until her mother was out of earshot before commenting. "'Is that me'?"

"That's what I'd say if I looked any different." Toph giggled and waved one hand in front of her face. "I don't
look like a clown do I?"

"She's right. Except for your eyes, you could walk down any street in the Fire Nation and no one would look twice at you." She
shrugged and held out her bowl. "Fire flake?"

Mai watched Toph cross the room cautiously and after seeing her reach uncertainly for the bowl, positioned it in front of Toph's questing
fingers. Fingers that seemed if anything more calloused than her own. She hadn't thought that Earth Kingdom girls were trained to fight, but perhaps the
earthbending styles were harder on the fingers.

A little blind girl was the most interesting thing in all Omashu, and wasn't that pathetic?

.oOo.

"You're too balanced," Mai advised from her seat on the steps outside the palace. This was Toph's third lesson in the
firebending style and the first where she'd tried more than breathing exercises. Thus far it wasn't actually going too badly. Having walked Toph
through the moves, physically guiding her through each step, Mai had been impressed at how closely the young girl had managed to repeat them without that
guidance.

"How can I be too balanced?" Toph asked, sounding surprised. "My teachers always said balance was
everything."

"Yeah. Earthbender teachers. You're not doing that any more." Mai stood and walked over towards her student. "Firebending
is all about power and the greatest power comes from creating an imbalance and directing it to your advantage. Like my brother walking."

Toph frowned. "Your brother?"

"Tom-Tom's just learning to toddle. When he walks he throws himself forward creating an imbalance that should have him fall on his
face. Then he pushes his legs forward and rides the imbalance. It's the same for firebenders: they use their imbalance to power their
attacks."

"But what about defense?"

Mai shook her head. "The best defense is to destroy your enemies before they can strike you down. Firebending is aggressive." She
looked around and the building work and nodded. "Come this way."

Toph frowned and then followed Mai as she walked towards one of the stone pillars that were being replaced by steel buttresses for the new
palace. This one was still standing. "Look at... uh, touch this pillar. This is balanced, right."

The younger girl ran her hands over the carfully shaped stones. "It had better be, or it would topple over."

"What if it did?" Mai asked. "What if it was off balance and it fell? You can imagine the destructive force that would be
unleashed on whatever was underneath it. Stone hammering against stone, crushing everything between them and the ground."

Toph grinned. "Yes, I can."

"Well, if it was balanced, it wouldn't fall. Firebenders create and use imbalance. Our arts are the same way. Don't cling to
balance, release it... and unleash power." Mai took Toph by the shoulders and pushed her into place. "Now try again, and stop being so
dynamic."

Toph nodded and began to move through the kata. Still slow, still somewhat stiffly, but now with just the beginnings of the energy that Mai
had been looking for. "Again, faster!" Toph obediently repeated the moves, but she wasn't showing any more energy - her control was impressive,
Mai admitted: every move was exactly placed the same way as the first time. Which was the problem. "Too rooted, let go of the ground."

"I thought you wanted to teach me the firebending arts, not the airbending ones?" called Toph, still repeating the moves
flawlessly. She had stamina at least.

"Exagerate, think about fire dancing?"

"Fire dances?"

Mai shrugged. She'd heard the term from Zuko. Actual dancing wasn't something she could claim any experience of. And it wasn't as
if Toph would have ever seen a flame flicker the way that most people had. "Try putting some passion into it."

Toph frowned but obeyed. The whirling moves grew sloppier, but more energetic. "I suppose that that's better. Are you
tired?"

"Shouldn't I ask that?" Toph asked. "I mean, sitting down watching me do this must be very tiring."

"Hmm. Keep going then." It wasn't like there was anything else for her to do.

Round and round the Earth girl went. Hmm. Earth girl. She didn't really look or act like any of the demure, dainty little girls Mai had
seen among the Earth Kingdom families that remained in Omashu. The Earth Kingdom nobility apparently considered porcelain dolls the feminine ideal: pretty to
look at but otherwise quiet and useless. Toph might act like that around Mai's parents, but it was becoming clear that she was a passionate girl underneath
that mask... almost as fiery as the sparks...

Sparks?

Mai sat up sharply, eyes locked on the firefly sparks flying around Toph's fingers as she danced through the kata, topknot bouncing.
There was a spreading grin on the blind girl's face but she seemed - no, probably was - oblivious to what was happening around her hands. Panting,
exuberant. "Remember your breathing," Mai instructed, keeping her voice flat and even. This was unexpected. And interesting. "Your chi depends
upon your breath."

Toph took an even breath and moved on, turning, hands wheeling and...

Whoosh.

It wasn't a lot of flame - Azula, firebending prodigy that she was, would have heaped scorn upon the brief trickle of fire. But it was
completely unexpected and Toph fell out of the form, barely staying on her feet as she blew hastily on her fingers. "What was that?" she exclaimed
nervously. "Why didn't you warn me there was a candle there?"

"There isn't a candle there," Mai told her.

"But I burned my fingers," Toph protested, holding up the reddened tips of her fingers in proof. "I felt it."

"I'm sure you did," the fire maiden agreed. "But there isn't a candle there."

Toph frowned and then moved her hand gently through the air where she had just been burned. "Well what is it? There's some sort of
fire - or there was. Did I knock it over?"

Mai pursed her lip. "Tell me, Toph. How long have you been a firebender?"

"How long I've been a what?"

.oOo.

"Why this is magnificent," Mai's father said in delight. "A firebender? This will do wonders for your marriage prospects,
Lady Bei Fong."

"Dear," his wife suggested. "Perhaps we should call her Toph. After all, she's practically part of the family." She
planted Tom-Tom in a surprised Toph's lap and the toddler cooed, patting at the girl. Somewhat hesitantly, Toph held Mai's brother securely. "You
see, Tom-Tom loves her."

"Hmm," the Governor said, and nodded. "That's true. Of course, it does raise another point. Firebenders are required to
serve in the imperial army, from the age of fourteen. How old are you, Toph?"

"I'm ten," Toph said and Mai frowned slightly. She had guessed that Toph was a little older than that. Of course, firebenders
usually first displayed signs of their abilities even younger than that. She wished for a moment that she had worked out Toph's tells but thus far she
hadn't quite worked out how to identify when the younger girl was lying. Usually the eyes were the easiest cue, but Toph's blind eyes were almost as
uninformative to others as they were to her.

"Well that gives you some time to prepare," he told her. "And I suppose that no one will expect a great deal of you, because
of your blindness."

Toph blushed and ducked her head. Well, Mai thought she was blushing. She was beginning to suspect that Toph used that reaction to hide a
number of emotions

"How remarkable though," he continued. "A firebender from such a highly placed Earth Kingdom family. Do you know if any of
your ancestors are from the Fire Nation, Toph?"

"I don't think so," she admitted. "I always got bored when they started talking about genny,
genaloggies..."

"Genealogies?" Mai's father prompted.

"Yes, those. I don't think any of my grandparents or great-grandparents were from the Fire Nation, they were all from Gaoling,"
Toph said. "I'm not sure about longer ago."

"Hmm. And Gaoling hasn't really had all that much fighting near it," the Governor said thoughtfully. "How very strange. I
suppose that your spirit must be simply so attuned to fire that you only needed the slightest hint to begin bending."

Or maybe several days teaching the basics, Mai noted dispassionately.

"Anyway, now we'll have to find a teacher for you. Mai can teach you the forms but you'll need a real firebender to teach you
how to bend. There are some good benders in the garrison. And Prince Zuko is touring the new territories. He will want to meet you."

Mai turned her back and walked out of the room.

.oOo.

"So what's the deal with this Prince Zuko?"

Mai blinked and looked up. It was a mark of her distraction that she hadn't noticed Toph returning to the rooms that they were sharing.
Her parents had been more than glad to volunteer her to see that the blind girl didn't hurt herself. Or worse, make a noise and a nuisiance of herself.
They couldn't have that.

"You know him? Your mother mentioned a Princess Azula..." Toph was sitting on her own bed, wearing a nightdress - another of
Mai's cast offs. She wasn't looking at Mai, the older girl had noticed that Toph often didn't bother to look and someone she was speaking to. She
would have thought that that made it hard to hear but apparently not.

"Yes." Mai got out of bed and picked up her own night clothes. She must have missed dinner. "He's my age, the son of the
Fire Lord Ozai. Azula is his little sister, she attended the Royal Fire Academy when I did. Their mother brought him to visit sometimes."

Toph nodded. "You didn't like him?"

Mai said nothing as she stripped off her robes.

"You did like him." She could see Toph's face moving as she thought. "But you don't like him any
more?"

"It isn't your business."

Toph frowned. "So you aren't mad he's going to visit, you're mad because... ohhh."

"Which part of 'none of your business' didn't you understand?" Mai grumbled as she pulled on her own
nightgown.

"The part where it isn't," Toph told her matter-of-factly. "You're pretty much the first friend I ever made - well the
first that wasn't an animal, if they count."

"We've known each other for less than a week. That's -" Okay, so Azula had pretty much picked Ty Lee and herself as
henchwomen within days of meeting them, but that wasn't the same, right? "- not all that long."

"I know. I never knew making friends was so easy." Toph hung her head a little. "Mom and dad didn't let me leave the house
much, and that was just in the garden. With guards around. Anytime they had guests, I had to stay in my rooms so I almost never met anyone."

Mai raised an eyebrow. "I knew the Earth Kingdom were backwards, but I didn't realise they were that bad. Did they let you wear
shoes?"

"Yes. Except I generally didn't." Toph wiggled her toes. "It makes it easier for me to find my way
around."

"That was a joke. At school they taught me that the ideal Earth Kingdom woman was barefoot and pregnant."

"...if I wasn't supposed to be a fire maiden now, I think I'd be supposed to slap you for saying that."

Mai shrugged. "I don't think any of the teachers ever actually met anyone from the Earth Kingdom. The women I've met seem like
they're supposed to be dolls - looking pretty, but always kept somewhere safe."

Toph hid her face. "That's sort of how they treated me. Dad said that I was delicate."

"You miss them, don't you."

"No."

Ah. So that was how Toph sounded when she was lying. Half-choked as if... Mai winced. Crying. Great. I made a little girl cry for
her mother and father. Toph was lying down, facing away, shoulders shaking. Well this is going to do wonders for helping her to appreciate the Fire Nation.
What would Azula do?

...okay, no. Bad plan. What would Ty Lee do in this situation? Ty is good with people, she'd know how to help her. She could... well,
she'd... ugh.

Rather than going to her own bed, Mai walked over to Toph's and sat on it, resting one hand on the younger girl's shoulder. "If
anyone asks about this, deny everything," she instructed, and then hugged her from behind.

.oOo.

Before the Omashu had surrendered to the Fire Nation, a great stone bridge had connected the surrounding mountains to the city's pinnacle
of rock. It hadn't surprised many people when the bridge collapsed very shortly afterwards - Omashu was home to many Earthbenders after all. The
new bridge, prepared in advance was made of metal, secured strongly at both ends. Its great mass did not even shake under the weight of the many komodo rhinos
of Prince Zuko's entourage.

Mai frowned as Toph's fingers unerringly reached for the fire flakes. "I'm surprised you're more interested in food than in
seeing your new sifu arrive." She thought a moment about what she'd just said and then sighed, holding the bowl out. "Never
mind."

Toph smiled demurely and munched on the fire flakes. "I think I'm developing a liking for Fire Nation cuisine," she admitted.
"So, is Prince Zuko hot and spicy too?"

Mai didn't bother glaring at her and skipped straight to pinching the other girl's cheek, causing several fire flakes to spill out of
her mouth.

"What?" Toph mumbled, brushing the food delicately off her red and black robes. "We've already established that you have
an unrequited crush on him and - okay, okay, let go of my cheek already."

"He's probably the most important person you're ever going to meet," Mai warned. "When he reaches the Governor's
palace, expect him take father's chair while we kneel before him. He's very proud."

"Thanks."

Mai froze and then turned to look along the wall. Standing at the top of the stairs in military uniform, his helmet under one arm, Prince
Zuko gave her a quirky smile. She looked back at the bridge, which the komodo-rhinos were still only halfway across. "Your highness." She dropped to
her knees. "You're early."

"You can save that for the formal reception," Zuko told her, reaching down to - unnecessarily - help her back to her feet. "I
couldn't sleep last night so I came on ahead and told my escort to catch up." He turned to Toph who was standing, half-frozen in surprise, face
crimson. "Excuse me, could I have a moment with Mai please."

"Uh... sure, I'll just... wander along the wall a way..." Toph muttered.

Mai stared after the girl as she trotted along the top of the wall, resting one hand upon the crenellations to guide her. "Don't go
too far, we have to return to the palace soon."

"I didn't know you had a little sister," Zuko noted. "I guess I don't know you as well as I thought I
did."

Mai nodded slowly. "Apparently not."

He smiled. "It's good to see you, Mai. Two years seems like a long time. I was pleased when your father was appointed Governor here
and I found out I would be visiting you."

"'We aren't children any more'," Mai said, causing him to flinch. "You were right."

"Yes," he agreed. "But I was also wrong. Just because we're adults doesn't mean that we have to change who we are. I
know it can never be the same, but I'd like it if we can still be friends."

"So would I," Mai admitted. "How are your family?"

Zuko shrugged. "Same as ever. Azula and Lu Ten are feuding again."

"How predictable. What is it this time?"

"Your friend, Ty Lee. It seems that Lu Ten swept her off her feet last time he visited. She went back to the northern fleet with
him."

Mai sighed. "She always did love a pretty face. I hope your cousin will be good to her."

"He's a good man, Mai," Zuko told her. "As as far as I can tell he's as smitten by her as she is by
him."

"The great romantic," she said sarcastically. It's not really about Ty Lee, she thought. It's the same as ever: power. Lu
Ten stole Ty Lee away from Azula to score a point and now she wants revenge. "Your father would never approve of them marrying, you know. Lu Ten could be
the next Fire Lord, so he has to marry a strong firebender. If his father hadn't killed the last of the Dragons, young fire maidens would be hunting them
down to win renown and earn his hand in marriage."

"Oh?" Zuko laughed. "Would you slay a dragon for my cousin if you were a firebender? I'm sure that Ty Lee would be happy
to share him with you."

"He's not my type."

"He isn't hot and spicy enough for you?"

Mai's cheeks reddened. "How long were you standing there, your highness?"

"Long enough to hear you avoid her question," Zuko admitted. "Was there something else I shouldn't have
heard?"

"You're impossible."

.oOo.

"I must say, I don't understand why you're doing this, Prince Zuko," Mai's father admitted as he led the way up one of
the rearmost towers of the palace. This particular tower was among the furthest along in conversion to modern standards, metal covering almost every surface.
That was necessary, given its purpose. "He's a prestigous prisoner, I admit, but he's also a crazy old man."

"He's also one of the strongest, cleverest Earthbenders ever. If he was ruler of the entire Earth Kingdom instead of that fool in Ba
Sing Sei, the war could be going very differently. Imagine if the Avatar had had his support when she fought the Three Dragons. My father himself admits it was
a very close fight." Zuko shook his head. "I need to take his measure. Besides, don't you want to share the good news with him?" He gestured
back towards where Mai and Toph were following the two men.

"Oh?" the Governor said. "Oh, I see," he claimed sagely and nodded.

Toph and Mai looked at each other and rolled their eyes. It was blatantly clear that he didn't. Zuko smiled. "You're a fine
administrator," he assured the older man. "My father couldn't have picked a better man to organise the rebuilding of Omashu. Mostly I want to
discuss spiritual matters with the former King. If you feel your time is better spent elsewhere, I wouldn't presume to second-guess you."

Mai's father beamed. "Well, I wouldn't want to slight you, your highness, but perhaps I should return to my other
duties."

Zuko nodded encouragingly. "I'm sure that the guards can guide us. It has been very kind of you to make so much time for me, your
excellency. Perhaps you and your family could dine with me this evening. The quarters you made available are very spacious," he leant in confidingly,
"But perhaps a little quiet after spending two years in the military."

"I quite understand." Mai's father stepped aside and let the girls catch up. "Mai, please attend upon his Highness in my
absence."

"...of course, dad."

.oOo.

Bumi, one time King of Omashu, was kept in a room with metal walls, ceiling and floor. On top of that, he had been locked inside an iron
casket, with only a small window left to expose his face. His wrinkled face lit up in a gap toothed smile when he saw the door open to reveal Zuko, Mai and
Toph. "Welcome, welcome. It's not often I get visitors up here, much less pretty girls!"

Zuko bowed. "King Bumi," he greeted the deposed ruler with aplomb. "I am Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation. My companions are
Lady Mai, whose father I believe you have met, and Lady Toph Bei Fong, who is from Gaoling."

"Picking the fairest flowers of two peoples, your highness? I can't say I blame you. Were I twenty years younger..."

"You would be old enough to be our great grandfather?" Mai asked sardonically.

Bumi cackled insanely. "Oh I like you. Sharp as those knives you don't think I can see up your sleeves. So, Prince Zuko, what brings
you here to see an old man?"

Zuko reached into his belt and pulled a small token out from a cunningly concealed fold. "I was thinking that we might have a little
conversation about the White Lotus," he said.

"Oh, do you play Pai Sho?" the old man asked in apparent delight but Mai could see - knew Zuko had seen - that the gambit had
scored a mark somewhere.

"A little," Zuko admitted. "It's expected in a courtly upbringing. But we both know that the White Lotus isn't just a
gambit in that game, your majesty. My uncle Iroh was a very good player, as it happens. This particular token was his. Which suggests to me that
around twelve years ago, someone decided to sacrifice a piece. Or am I wrong?"

"Twelve years ago? I don't recall any special tournaments for Pai Sho that year," Bumi dissembled.

Zuko leant forwards, face very calm. "Let me speak plainly, Bumi. You don't mind if I call you Bumi, do you?"

"You go right ahead, Zuko," . We're all friends here."

"For a hundred years, the Fire Nation has held the advantage in the War. Oh, we've had our defeats. But generally? We've been
winning. And for most of that time, the Avatars have done nothing. The Air Avatar was a coward and the Avatar Kanna was almost as much of one, fighting only
when she was cornered. And all that time the people of the Earth Kingdom were crying out for an Avatar to lead them to victory over the Fire Nation. To punish
us."

"Did you and the rest of your society manuver my uncle, my father and my grandfather to face the Avatar in order to arrange a new
Avatar? Someone younger, more biddable, someone whose birth loyalties would be to the Earth Kingdom?"
D for Drakensis

You're only young once, but immaturity is forever.

Jonas

Now This is good writing.
... Oh... my. Well, Bumi's play sort of worked and sort of didn't. Bet he didn't expect the Avatar to pop up right in front of the Fire Nation.
Heh.
Not bad...

But one jarring detail that will require some rewriting itowards the end with Toph you have her doing things that would require to have sight which she
doesn't...

for example:

Toph and Mai looked at each other and rolled their eyes. It was blatantly clear that he didn't. Zuko smiled. "You're a fine administrator,"
he assured the older man. "My father couldn't have picked a better man to organise the rebuilding of Omashu. Mostly I want to discuss spiritual
matters with the former King. If you feel your time is better spent elsewhere, I wouldn't presume to second-guess you."
--Werehawk--
My mom's brief take on upcoming Guatemalan Elections "In last throes of preelection activities. Much loudspeaker vote pleading."
Hmm. Thanks for the catch.

As for Bumi's play - well let's say that Zuko's deductions were very very good... and then he got it twisted around at the end.
D for Drakensis

You're only young once, but immaturity is forever.
Hmm. A fire avatar to rebuke them?

That would kind of strip the legitimacy of the Fire Lords' doctrine of fire's supremacy right?
Mai's eyes tightened. Bumi remained calm however. "If we were to do such a vile thing, Prince Zuko, I would have done so much
earlier. In time for a young Avatar to grow to adulthood, to fully realise their potential by mastering all four elements. Not a mere twelve years before
Sozin's Comet returns. In politics, as in bending, timing is all important."

Zuko considered this and then nodded, a smile crossing his face. "I see. That makes sense," he said, relaxing. "But I'm
forgetting myself: locked up here, you can't have heard the good news."

"Good news?" Bumi asked curiously.

"Come forward Toph," Zuko said, looking welcomingly back at her. "Have you ever met King Bumi before?"

"No," Toph said as she approached fearlessly. "I never left Gaoling before I came here."

Zuko smiled. "Toph's a very high born girl," he told the captive king. "I'm sure you know what it means about her
ancestry and her upbringing. Very traditional, very pure, totally of the Earth Kingdom. And yet, she's a firebender. What does that mean, do you
think?"

"I have never heard the like," admitted Bumi. "Are you sure?"

"Why don't you show him, Toph," Zuko suggested. "I'd like to see what you can do myself. Just step back a little. I
wouldn't want you to scorch him at all."

Toph obediently backed up and began to work through the kata. "Ha!" she shouted at the completion, as a trickle of flame flowed
from her fingers.

"Not bad for a beginner," cackled Bumi but there was something hollow about his expression. "How old are you,
Toph?"

"I'm ten," she told him. "Why?"

"Oh, no reason." The old man turned to Zuko. "Obviously you have a theory, sonny-boy. Why don't you run it past
me?"

"It means that you've lost," Zuko said confidently. "The people of the Earth Kingdom are adapting to our ways. Toph is
only the first. Someday firebenders will replace the earthbenders entirely. Your society, your ways, they will all be destroyed and the Fire Nation will have
replaced them."

"That will never happen," Bumi declared. "The balance between the elements is shaken, yes. Your grandfather's massacre of
the Airbenders has done that. But every action has a reaction, Prince Zuko. The Air Nomads were burned away, and in return, for a hundred years, the Fire
Nation have been eroded away by this war, as though by a great and steady wind."

"Are you so sure?"

Bumi did not reply and Zuko laughed lightly. "That's what I thought."

"I don't begrudge you your bending, Lady Toph Bei Fong," Bumi told her, leaning forwards as much as he could. "I just
don't think it means what sonny-boy here believes. Take joy in it."

"I will," Toph agreed quietly.

.oOo.

"How much did you teach her?" Zuko asked Mai after his first lesson with Toph.

"Two of the basic forms," she told him, leaning on the balustrade overlooking the courtyard where Toph was still drilling patiently
under the sun. "She's lucky firebenders don't get sunstroke, training in this heat."

Zuko nodded and accepted a towel, rubbing vigorously at his hair, sweatsoaked after his own exercise. "I've made it clear it's
important she bathes after training sessions," he promised.

"Did you mention washing her hair?"

He blinked. "Wha- uh, no. I should have?"

Mai's lips quirked. "It would be wise."

"Right. She's learning quickly," Zuko admitted. "In some ways she's picking this up as fast as Azula." Which was
remarkable. Azula was a prodigy - she'd been bending since she was four and these days she studied only with the ancient and learned, since only they had
techniques that she had not yet mastered to offer. "But she's also frustratingly weak."

"Weak?"

"Well, she's still very early in her training," conceded the young Prince. "But usually power isn't something that
young firebenders have to worry about: up to a certain point they're far more likely to wind up bending more fire than they can manage. It's one of the
reasons that it can be dangerous to be around a novice. But take a look at how much fire she's using right now: no more than what she demonstrated when we
were meeting King Bumi." He leant his elbows on the balustrade. "If someone challenges her to Agni Kai before she manages to release her strength,
she'd be easy prey. It's worrying."

"I hadn't considered Agni Kai," Mai said thoughtfully, her mind racing. Toph was blind. She'd be almost entirely helpless
if challenged to a duel.

"I know what you're thinking," he told her with a proud smile. "Actually I was concerned about that myself, but I
don't think it would be a problem in an Agni Kai. We benders can feel our element, and I've been working with Toph on that. If anything, that's
what impresses me most about her. She can almost read the fire - a few times she's even deduced my own position just from my fire. If she can master that
then the only way anyone would beat her in an Agni Kai would be to refrain from using fire at all - and how many benders would that occur to?"

Mai nodded. "You like her," she observed lightly.

Zuko turned his head slightly, brow furrowed. "I suppose?"

"Not like that." Mai shuffled a little closer to him. "If it was someone else you would say it was 'unusual' or
'disappointing'. Instead you're worried for her."

"Oh." The prince nodded slowly. "I suppose I am. It's kind of nice, having someone look up to me. Call me sifu. Back home
I was always the weakest. Looked down on a little. It wasn't until I joined the army that I realised I'm still better at bending than most. And I
can't exactly hold classes in the army."

Mai nodded. "She will miss you when you leave," she told him noncommitally.

"I'll miss both of you," he admitted. "But I can't stay more than another day or so. Still, I'll be looping back
through the area so maybe I can stop here on the way back. If..." he hesitated. "If you'd like me to."

Mai parted her lips... and the great gong in front of the palace began to sound, the booming noise rattling windows across the
city.

"What's that?" Zuko asked in surprise. "An alarm?"

"Yes," Mai agreed. "Toph, come here!" she called down and then turned to the prince, bowing her head. "We should
report to my father immediately. Whatever has happened, he will want to know where we are."

.oOo.

Mai's father looked as if he'd aged a decade in the hours since she had last seen him. In his hand a crude scroll - cheap parchment
that had been tied with cord - was crumpled. "The resistance have grown too bold," he growled.

"What has happened?" Mai asked warily.

Her mother was upon her immediately. "You're alright. Oh, thank Agni at least one of my babies is safe."

Mai looked down at her sobbing mother, perplexed. Toph, less distracted, tilted her head to one side. "Where is Tom-Tom?" she
asked, pointing at the wall to the nursery. "I can't hear him."

"The resistance has him," the governor growled, straightening the parchment and offering it to Zuko. "Your highness, the
signature is that of Jet, one of their known leaders. He's young - and ruthless. He's threatened to kill my son unless we hand over a prisoner he deems
to be of equal value."

Zuko frowned. "I suppose he makes some suggestions?" he asked and turned the parchment over. "Oh."

"Who?" Mai asked.

"Neither of these are acceptable," Zuko declared bleakly. "I'll do everything I can to recover your son, but you know that
we can't accept those terms."

Mai patted her mother distractedly as the woman wept into her chest. "Who is this 'Jet' asking for?" she
demanded.

Her father slumped into his chair. "He suggests either King Bumi... or Lady Toph."

"I'll go."

Eyes turned towards the speaker and Toph cleared her throat. "What? I like Tom-Tom. I'm not going to let anyone hurt him for my
sake."

"I don't think you understand, Toph," Zuko said gently. "We can't hand you over to the resistance. Even aside from
what they'd do to you - and Jet has killed Earth Kingdom peasents just because they were in his way, what he'd do to someone he sees as a traitor would
be horrible - if we trade you for Tom-Tom, we'd destroy all hope of peacefully bringing your people into the Fire Nation. Everyone would say that we valued
you less than Tom-Tom. It's very brave of you, but it's not an option."

Toph lowered her face slightly, looking for a moment as if she was going to stomp one foot against the floor. "Do you have any better
ideas?"

Zuko frowned. "Well... no. Too dangerous."

"What?" Mai's mother asked hopefully. "Please, Prince Zuko. Please save my little boy!"

"Well... we could pretend to give in and then snatch him back during the exchange," Zuko said reluctantly. "The thing is,
we'd have to at least make it look as if we're serious, which means they'd have to see either King Bumi or Toph in the group or they'll smell a
rat." He looke dat the ransom note again. "He's proposing the exchange be carried out in the mountains outside Omashu. His earthbenders will have
an advantage there. He might say that he'd have only one companion when he brings Tom-Tom but he could have an entire platoon hiding under the
surface."

Mai frowned. "They would need some time to get into position though. If you agreed to meet outside the city but only told him exactly
where a short while before, then he'd have to rush to meet you and wouldn't have time to move in earthbenders."

"That would work," Zuko agreed thoughtfully. "It's a shame I don't have one of Lu Ten's skyships - that would be
perfect for this."

"Skyships?" the governor asked.

"Just an idea he had. I guess he was sick of looking at Bao Sing Se's wall and wanted to just go over it instead of attacking it
directly. Doesn't matter anyway, he's yet to make one that hasn't crashed horribly." Zuko shrugged. "Still, no use wishing for wings. Do
you have anything in your stables faster than my Komodo Rhinos?"

"Well, there are the Mongoose Dragons that our scouts use..." the Governor suggested hesitantly.

"I don't think they could carry the casket that King Bumi is imprisoned in," objected Mai warily.

"You're right," Zuko agreed. "And I don't think we can count on him co-operating when we're basically
doublecrossing his own people." He and Mai started to glare at each other, daring each other to voice the obvious conclusion.

Mai's mother burst into tears again.

.oOo.

Toph had never ridden on any kind of animal before, so she rode behind Mai as they left Omashu late that afternoon. At first it had been
suggested that she ride with Zuko, but he had pointed out that he would most likely be fighting Jet and his accomplice, leaving Mai responsible for retreiving
Tom-Tom and getting he and Toph clear. Above their heads, a messenger hawk flapped his way back towards wherever it was that the rebels had their base,
carrying a description of where Zuko had decided to carry out the exchange.

"Are you scared?" Mai asked as she felt Toph's arms tighten around her waist.

"Not a bit," Toph mumbled into her back. "Feels funny being this far off the ground."

"How did you manage getting to Omashu then?" Mai asked.

"Palanquin. I hated it."

"It is tedious being carried around," Mai admitted. "Although when I mentioned being afraid, I was meaning more about
Jet."

"What's to be afraid of? You're here. Sifu is here. I'm a firebender now. We're good."

Mai rolled her eyes. Had she ever been that naive? "I admire your confidence."

The meeting place was an open plateau no more than a mile from the end of the bridge. Zuko had selected it as being hard to sneak upon, and
hopefully the tough rock would be slow down any earthbenders trying to sneak up on them. Despite the short warning, it was only a few minutes before two
ostrich horses padded up the ridge towards them. Mai eyed them warily.

The handsome boy in the lead was chewing on a straw and his back up wore red warpaint on his - no, Mai noticed, seeing the lack of an
adam's apple - on her face. Both wore shabby armour, the leader carrying hookswords. From the descriptions that Zuko had provided of the more prominent
members of Jet's Freedom Fighters, that would make him the man himself.

"You have my brother," Mai called.

"Right down to business, eh?" Jet asked sardonically. "Alright, that works for me. Smellerbee, show her the brat." His
compatriot moved forward, close enough to reveal the kicking and irritable shape of the toddler. "Cute kid. Reminds me a little of all the ones your Fire
Nation barbecued over the years. So, you have our merchandise?"

"I'm right here," Toph grumbled, sticking her head out from behind Mai.

"Oh right." He shrugged. "Kind of shrimpy, but who am I to complain? Alright, here's how it goes, Smellerbee will sort of
circle around to the left with our old prisoner. The fire wench over there circles other way with our new prisoner. Then you and I, Prince Zuko will move
forward to collect."

"Alright. Your left or my left?" Zuko asked.

Jet sneered around the straw. "Who cares? And no tricks, your high and mightiness - I know how much your father wants to see me inside
the Boiling Rock Prison and he's never caught me yet."

Zuko chuckled drily as Mai and Smellerbee both walked their respective steeds to their left. "Don't overestimate yourself. I doubt
my father's even heard of you. Outfits like your Freedom Fighters are a dime a dozen."

The rebel spat out his straw. "Seems like I've got you where I want you though," he said and Zuko twisted in his saddle as he
heard arrows whistle... not for him, but for...

"Mai! Duck!" he shouted angrily and the girl rolled out of her saddle, taking Toph with her a moment before two arrows caught her
mongoose dragon in the throat. The spindley lizard slumped almost silently to the floor.

"I'm changing the deal," Jet declared, spurring his ostrich horse towards Zuko and drawing his hook swords. "If the
governor is willing to give up a prize like Bei Fong for his son, then what will he surrender for the prize of his daughter and the son of the Fire
Lord?"

Zuko narrowed his eyes and leapt from his own mount, kicking at the shoulder of the mongoose dragon to send it scuttling towards Mai.
"You know what to do, Mai." He sent a massive, inefficient gout of flame hurtling across the plateau towards Jet, forcing the treacherous Freedom
Fighter to turn away as the ostrich horse, clearly not wartrained, balked.

Behind the fallen mongoose dragon, Mai pushed Toph against the ground. "Stay here, out of sight," she whispered. "I'll
come back for you." Overhead she heard more arrows whistling down and flicked her wrist, bringing a throwing dagger to her hand. Now all she had to do was
catch Smellerbee - difficult as the second Freedom Fighter was mounted and on the other side of the plateau. With a squall, Zuko's mount bounded over the
corpse of its former stable mate and Mai jumped for the reins. That solved half of the problem, courtesy of Zuko. Now it was up to her to finish the
job.

Zuko was still hurling fire, almost wildly, around the plateau, preventing Jet from closing in with his hook swords. Mai charged the mongoose
dragon behind him, around the destruction and towards her brother's captor.

"Yipe!" Smellerbee reversed her attempt to keep circling and get behind Zuko as she saw Mai bearing down on her and instead tried
to regroup with her leader. "Don't throw that thing," she threw back over her shoulder in warning. "I'm still holding your
brother."

Mai kicked out and one leg launcher discharged two arrows, piercing the ostrich horses's thigh. "I'm a better shot than
that," she retorted, closing in as the beast slowed, lamed but not felled.

"I thought you'd be better than this, Prince Zuko," taunted Jet, scrambling free of his own mount to spare himself more of its
fearful attempts to avoid the fire. "Everyone talks about the strength of the fire of the royal family, but you're just throwing around a flashy light
show with barely any heat at all."

"Yes. Well, there's a reason for that," Zuko advised and then jumped backwards, towards the centre of the plateau,
extinguishing his own fires. "Heads up!"

Jet's eyes flickered to the sky and then widened in fire at the rain of fiery boulders descending upon them. "No!" he shouted.
"How...?"

With a cataclysmic crash, the boulders smashed into the rear of the plateau, cutting off the Freedom Fighter retreat and setting fire to the
sparse vegetation. "You cheated with archers," Zuko told him, burning two arrows out of the sky with a casual gesture. "I cheated with
catapults. We spent all afternoon zeroing in every catapult in the city on this hill."

Jet's face twisted. "This isn't over!" he roared and broke into a sprint - not towards Zuko but towards Mai's fallen
mongoose dragon. Zuko paled and gave chase, but he was further away than the fleet-footed outlaw.

"Hello, Lady Bei Fong," he heard Jet shout as he leapt over the dead beast. The freedom fighter raised both hookswords to strike
down upon the tiny girl.

"Toph! No!"

"Count this as the day you almost escaped the justice of Jet the Freedom Fighter!" Jet cried out as he brought the weapons down
upon the traitor. Then he yelped in surprise as the pint-sized firebender stepped forwards into the attack and in a move that was pure earthbending swept her
hands and outwards, chopping at his wrists and blocking his sword strokes before either could reach her.

Toph worked her jaw for a moment, inhaled through her nose... and exhaled a tongue of fire into Jet's face.

Two screams cut through the air as Jet recoiled from the attack. One of pain as his face was scorched, the other of warning from behind
him.

"Toph, get down!" Zuko snapped in his 'sifu voice' and the instant he saw her obey, he thrust out with two fingers towards
the bandit - not with anger, not with fury at the cowardly attempt to strike down his student... just a calm determination that Jet was never going to threaten
any one he cared about... ever... again...

Lightning slashed across the plateau from his fingers. An instant later, it was followed by thunder as more fiery rocks pummelled the
earth.

In the aftermath the silence was shocking.

Then a child's wail cut through it. "Mai? Toph?"

"Here." Mai emerged from the evening shadows, red blood and black soot almost invisible on her robes. In her arms was her brother.
Judging by the noise the toddler was making, he seemed to be intact.

"I'm okay," Toph reported. She paused. "I don't think you got him though."

There was a bitter laugh from behind her. "You've got sharp ears, traitor." Jet staggered to his feet. His face wasn't as
handsome as it had once been - Toph's fire had seared the flesh around his left eye and back into the hair line. While it looked superficial to Zuko -
clearly Toph still hadn't managed to bend significant heat into her flames - he had no doubt that it must be painful. "You shouldn't have warned
her, Prince Zuko. You gave me time to dodge as well. That's why I'm going to win: because I'll make any sacrifice to destroy the Fire
Nation."

"I've seen your 'sacrifices'," Zuko said softly. "My soldiers call them atrocities, and they're commited
against your own people. I think this is the first time you've ever paid the price personally, instead of leaving innocents to suffer for your
'victories'."

Jet shook his head. "This isn't over, your highness. Because we both might have cheated, but I cheated twice." He
stamped his feet and the ground began to rumble menacingly.

"Earthbenders!" Zuko shouted as the ground shook, and then split beneath them.

"Meet my good friend, the Boulder," Jet called as the stone between them rose up to protect him from the fireball Zuko hurled at
him. "What kept you?" he added in a low voice.

Mai jumped from boulder to boulder as the plateau crumbled, ignoring the two rebels as she carried her brother towards where she'd last
seen Toph.

"Sorry," she heard a new voice report from somewhere near Jet. "It's mostly sandstone near Gaoling. The Boulder finds
granite harder to work with."

Zeroing on a disgusted - and very unladylike - snort from behind what was left of her mongoose dragon, Mai found Toph taking cover. "You
stayed where I left you? Are you feeling alright?"

"It's the last place anyone would expect to find me," Toph said reasonably.

"The earthbender said he was from Gaoling, like you - I don't suppose you know of him?"

Toph shrugged, apparently not concerned. Then again, Mai realised, she probably couldn see the way that the stones around them were breaking
up. "The only earthbender I know in Gaoling is Master Yu. And the badgermoles. This one sounds like what my mother would call a 'lowlife
gladiator'." She paused. "That was a no."

"Did you have to teach her sarcasm as well?" Zuko asked, leaping off a pillar of rock that was trying to hurl him into the
sky.

"She learned it all by herself," Mai said defensively. "I'm so proud," she deadpanned. Tom-Tom squealed and waved his
hands excitedly at the moving rocks.

Zuko nodded. "Okay. I think everyone we care about is here, so let's leave. I don't know about you, but I don't really care
about what they do to the hill. Any objections?"

"I've got one," said a voice from behind him.

Zuko reached back and fired a long stream at Jet, forcing him back behind cover. "Any important objections? No? Great. Let's
go."

He whirled his arms and hurled a mass of fire up and over the barrier shielding Jet and the Boulder. Mai grabbed hold of Toph with her free
hand and sprinted down the hill towards the end of the bridge.

"You're not getting away that easily!" Jet called after them. "Boulder, slow them down!"

"That's 'the' Boulder," the musclebound Earthbender declared and grunted dramatically as he pushed forward with one
foot, a fissure of stone chasing after the fleeing group, snaking left and right as it pursued them. Missing Mai's foot by inches, it instead connected
with Zuko before he could react to her warning cry, pushing his foot awkwardly to one side. Stumbling, he caught himself on a boulder.

"Are you hurt?"

"I just sprained my ankle, I can keep going," Zuko told her as he resumed running, slower and clearly with some pain.

Mai masked her relief he could keep moving. "I didn't ask for a diagnosis," she retorted. They were nearing the bottom of the
plateau and even slowed by Toph's short legs they were keeping ahead of their pursuers. She felt Toph's hand slip away and heard a startled cry from
behind her. Turning her head she saw the younger girl sprawled on the ground, clutching at the side of a pitfall that had opened behind them.
"Zuko!"

The prince turned and saw the same thing. "I'll get her."

"No." Mai handed over her brother. "Your ankle will slow you down. Just get Tom-Tom home for me. I'll take care of
Toph." Turning, she ran back up the hill, seeing Toph slip out of sight into the widening chasm. Without hesitating, Mai dropped over the edge herself
clutching at the stone surface to control her descent.

As he reached the road, Zuko was staggering, teeth gritted against the pain from his ankle. Ahead of him, he could see a troop of komodo
dragon riders charging along the bridge to the rescue. Glancing over his shoulder he saw Jet and the Boulder finally slow and stop chasing. Pausing for a
moment to catch his breath, he looked for Mai and Toph.

Nothing.

They'll be okay, they must just be in a fold in the ground. They'll come into view any moment now, he concluded, picking out the
chasm where Toph had fallen. Maybe they're using it to cover their escape.

The blood ran from his face as he watched the Boulder extend his arms and then draw both back both hands, knuckles out. In obedience to the
large man's earthbending, the chasm slowly closed up, the two rebels diving into its last vestige.

"No!" he shouted, scanning the hill again for any sign of his student and his... Mai. "Noooo!"

.oOo.

"See if you can find the girls down here," Jet ordered. "I didn't see them come out."

The Boulder grunted. "No chance. All the stones jumbling around down here - must be a thousand caves and fissures. I closed it all up -
no one but an Earthbender could get out of here, not even the greatest Earthbender alive would be able to track someone else down here. Even if they did
survive the fall, they'll just die down here."

Jet frowned. "I suppose you're right," he conceded. "Just lead me out of here then. I can't see a thing."

"Oh no," said a small, sarcastic voice from below him. "What a nightmare."
D for Drakensis

You're only young once, but immaturity is forever.
<3 Toph. ^_^
===========

===============================================
"V, did you do something foolish?"
"Yes, and it was glorious."
Mai woke up in darkness that for a moment she wondered if she had actually opened her eyes. It took a moment for her to realise that she must
be underground and a moment longer to realise that her head was cushioned on a heap of sand.

"Welcome back from the spirit world," Toph said from the darkness. There was a slight swish, as if sand was being brushed away from
something. "For a while there I was afraid you'd be taking up permanent residence there."

"What happened?" asked Mai and then winced as she felt pain from her head. Touching her face she found a trail of blood leading up
to - "Ouch." - a swollen bruise the size of a goose-egg just above her hair line.

There was another swish of sand. "A rock hit you on the head when you were coming down after me." She paused. "Thank you for
that, by the way."

"I promised I'd look after you," Mai waved off the gratitude.

"No, really. I had a perfect getaway, and you messed it up. Thanks for caring, but you have lousy timing in deciding to come out of your
shell."

Mai blinked. "Wha- you were in on it? You were one of the kidnappers?" She reached for her favorite throwing dagger and found it
absent.

She could hear Toph's bangs whip back and forth as she shook her head. "No. That messed me up as much as it did anyone. It's not
Tom-Tom's fault he was born in the Fire Nation and I don't really give a damn about the war. I came here to hide, nothing more. If I hadn't turned
out to be a firebender I'd have been safe for months. Instead..." she sighed. "My parents will probably find out I came here any day now. Saving
Tom-Tom was my excuse to get out of the city before they find me. Thanks for playing hero, Spiky," she added, her voice dropping into
uncertaintly.

"Well, clearly, I shouldn't have bothered."

Toph hesitated. "I deserve that." The swishing sound stopped. "I'm sorry Mai. I meant what I said about you being the best
friend I ever had. I didn't plan on that either. I'm going to get you out of this."

Mai rolled to her feet, then paused before straightening and waved her hands cautiously above her head to check she wasn't about to butt
her already bloody head against the ceiling. I wonder if this is how Toph feels all the time. "How are you going to do that? You're a firebender, not
an earthbender. Speaking of which, if you're feeling guilty, a little light here wouldn't hurt."

There was a long pause. "Uh. Well, you're wrong about pretty much all of that."

"Is this really the time for riddles?"

"You're right. I guess I must sound like that old man, Bumi," Toph admitted. "Okay, first thing is, we're buried
pretty solidly. I haven't found any air holes so far, so we've only got so much air. Talking is using a bit, but fire would use it a lot faster. And I
don't know how long it will take to get out of here. I broke through into this gallery only a few minutes after we fell, or we'd probably have
suffocated by now. So I don't really want to use more fire unless I really have to."

Mai grimaced, but nodded. "I understand. Who are you really."

"I really am Toph Bei Fong. But... my parents don't know I'm here. I ran away from them about a month back. They... found out I
was a bender. They've always thought I was delicate because I can't see - but my bending terrified them. They... I don't want to talk about this,
okay? They tried to take it away from me. At first I thought I was just ill. I thought it would come back. Then I overheard the real reason. They'd found,
somehow, a chi specialist who did something to my chakra. They tried to sealed my bending away forever."

"Agni..." Mai murmered. She remembered what Zuko had been like the one time Azula had managed to convince Ty Lee to block his
bending. He'd not noticed the gentle nudges that the young girl had used... and the betrayal on his face when fire failed to respond to him had been
fearful. Of course, that had worn off after an hour or so.

"Anyway, I figured the safest place to hide would be somewhere that the Fire Nation had occupied: it would be really difficult for my
parents to send anyone after me here. And if anyone went looking for a blind girl, I didn't think that they would suspect a fire maiden of being a missing
Earth Kingdom heiress."

Mai nodded. "And then your bending came back and you were a seven day wonder, your name on everyone's lips." She rubbed at her
head again. "I suppose the block must be why you couldn't bend any great amount of fire. That's really been puzzling Zuko."

Toph chuckled. "So I heard." There was a rustle of cloth. "I'm blind, not deaf." The swishing sound resumed. "Do
you want your knife back? I had to borrow it."

"No, if you're using it to dig, then you're probably making good use of it," Mai offered, walking hesitantly across the -
what had Toph said? - gallery. She pulled out a larger blade from inside her robe. "I'll help."

She could almost feel Toph looking at her, which was ridiculous, since Toph really couldn't be. "Okay, paranoid now. I tell you that
I lied a lot to you and now you're walking towards me with a big knife. Not helping."

"You're the one who's been living a lie," Mai pointed out. "Wouldn't that make you the untrustworthy
one?"

"I am disarmed by your logic," Toph said and Mai heard something metal clatter onto the rocky surface that served as the floor of
the gallery. "Have your knife back." The sound of the sand continued, apparently disproving Mai's assumption that it was the sound of Toph
digging.

"I'd rather you didn't stick me with it accidentally," Mai told her, kneeling to recover the weapon. "Throwing it
around like that is a little careless."

"I know exactly where you are," Toph told her. "And I don't need it to dig." There was a scrambling sound and when
she next spoke, her voice echoed, as though she was speaking through a tube. "I'm through the wall, I think there's a vertical fissure here that
we can use to get closer to the surface."

Mai reached forwards and found a circular hole in the stone wall. Perfectly circular, and even smooth except where sand had accumulated in
the bottom. "This isn't firebending. The only way you could be doing this was if..." No, that was impossible. There was no possible way that she
could have been sharing her bedroom with the greatest imaginable threat to the Fire Nation. And Toph was too young... or so she claimed. "How old are you,
really?"

"I was born just after the winter solstice. Twelve years ago..."

Twelve years ago. Mai had only been four years old when the Three Dragons faced the Avatar, barely old enough to understand the reports being
sent back from the colonies. Three great armies, commanded by the Fire Lord Azulon and his two sons had hounded the Avatar Kanna across the southern half of
the Earth Kingdom, never allowing her to find refuge. At last, exhausted, the Avatar had tried to break through Azulon's army to reach the Serpent's
Pass and flee into Ba Sing Se.

Accounts of the battle were as much legend as history, but all accounts agreed that Kanna had killed many of Azulon's soldiers and
perhaps mortally wounded him before his sons could reach him. When she fled onto the narrow spine of land that was the only connection between the two halves
of the continent, the indomitable Azulon insisted on continuing the chase and Prince Iroh, the Dragon of the West, had counselled that the three royal
Firebenders should follow alone so that that they could move swiftly after their prey on the confined path.

Of the three, only Prince Ozai, the younger of the Firelord's sons. The Serpent's Pass had been shattered into a thousand pieces and
both Azulon and Iroh's bodies were lost beneath the waves. Ozai had brought back Kanna's body as a trophy however, proving the great victory,
henceforth the Victory of the Three Dragons, over the Avatar. Mai could just barely remember the day of Ozai's return and certainly none of his famous
speech that day.

Of course, she had been required to study it later on, by teachers who claimed disappointment that a small girl had not remembered a long
speech she had heard only in part. These days, every educated citizen could quote the speech almost letter perfect. Ozai had declared that as his brother Iroh
had been the chosen heir, all histories were to record Iroh as the Fire Lord succeeding their father Azulon, his reign covering the days between Azulon's
death and Ozai's own investiture as Fire Lord. A reign that had therefore begun on the day of the winter solstice.

"You were born within days of the Victory of the Three Dragons," she said slowly. "You are an earthbender, and a
firebender." She looked irritably off into the darkness. "Would you like to confess now, before I reach the mindboggling obvious
conclusion?"

Toph muttered something that sounded obscene. Her little sister had all sorts of entertaining bad habits that she'd apparently been
hiding. For a moment she idly considered what Azula or Ty Lee would make of her and then reality set in.

"What if I said it was none of your business, Spiky?" the younger girl asked.

Mai's lips curved. Revenge was sweet. "I think I'd remember what you said to me when I said my relationship with Prince Zuko was
none of yours, little sister."

"'Little sister'?" Toph responded, suddenly much closer. "Are you going soft on me, Spiky?"

"I wouldn't dream of it. Would you prefer I refer to you by your other name, Avat-"

Toph growled deep in her throat. "No, I'm good," she assured Mai hastily. "I'm... just going to dig for a while,
let's be quiet and conserve the air."

.oOo.

The sun was just beginning to creep up over the horizon when Toph finally managed to break a hole through to the surface. Admittedly this
little victory was still over a hundred yards below the top of the canyon surrounding Omashu, but at least it guarenteed a light and air, both of which Mai had
been growing somewhat concerned about for the last hour or so. If she wasn't so rational she might have been claustrophobic, but clearly that was
impossible. There was no doubt that the air in the caves had been running out, even if Toph had laughed at the notion. Unfortunately, Toph's crippled chi
made it impossible for her to tunnel quickly, she had to effectively brush aside the stone, one thin layer at a time, dissolving it into sand.

"Okay, you're clear." Toph said, pulling back to let Mai past. "I guess I'll see you some time."

Mai blinked as the sudden light irritated her eyes. "And what makes you think I'm letting you out of my sight?"

"Um, Mai. I already told you, I'm leaving Omashu. Even if you hadn't figured out I... about my bending, I wasn't going to
stay. I'll just go burrow through the other side of the mountain and you can go home."

"And I already told you, you're my little sister. And you need a bath, the nearest of which is in Omashu." Mai felt a smile
crawling across her face and was glad Toph couldn't see her. What would it do to her reputation. "And as for the other stuff... well, technically
it's my patriotic duty to report the Avatar's identity to my father. But there's something about being a Fire Maiden that I think you've
forgotten."

Toph frowned in thought. "One of those boring lessons?"

"The first duty of a woman of the Fire Nation is always to her family," Mai reminded her. "Always. It doesn't
matter what politics the men play around with. Our job is to make sure our families survive. And I don't think letting the Fire Lord Ozai that the Avatar
he's so worried about is -" blind, chi-crippled, effectively orphaned "- learning firebending from his own son, would be in my family's best
interests."

"Oh." Toph thought about that and then shrugged. "Sorry. Still not staying. Not going to be here when my parents turn up. If
you want to do me a favour, tell everyone that Toph Bei Fong died last night."

"Not letting you out of my sight. Is your memory failing you, little sister?"

"Not staying in Omashu! Are you going senile already?" Toph half-shouted and stamped one foot, creating a small crater under
it.

Mai nodded. "Then I will go with you." Uh, wait, what?

"I can look after myself," Toph said, huffing in frustration. "I'm... I was the greatest earthbender in the
world. The undefeated champion of the Earth Rumble. I made it here without any help at all and I don't need help now."

"Who said I thought you needed help?" Mai asked innocently. "Omashu is unbelieveable tedious. You were the only person who
made it evenly remotely bearable. The way I see it, following you around should be far more exciting." She smiled faintly. "You aren't the only
person whose parents don't let her get out much."

Toph looked at her and then shook her head. "You're crazy. I'm glad you're my sister, no one else would be able to cope.
Keeping you away from Tom-Tom is practically a public service." She threw up her hands in defeat. "Okay, you can come with me. But first there's
something I need to do in Omashu."

.oOo.

"You know, when you said you wanted to do one last thing in Omashu, I thought you had something discreet in mind, not releasing King
Bumi," Mai hissed as the two girls crept up the palace tower. The palace was very quiet today, with only a minimum of guards. She had the uneasy suspicion
that every ablebodied man was busy excavating a certain hill.

"Nah, no one will ever know we were here," Toph assured her. "Can't release a man who doesn't want to be
liberated."

Mai frowned. "He's a prisoner, Toph."

"Suuure he is, Spiky. You just keep telling yourself that. Most powerful Earthbender you've ever seen - except for me of course -
and you think a couple of layers of metal has him confined?" Toph shook her head. "He's in there because he choses to be."

"Why would he chose to be locked away while we take over his kingdom?" Mai asked curiously.

Toph shrugged. "You've got me there. No idea. I didn't say he wasn't crazy." She pulled a stone of of a pocket and it
started shifting in her hand into a facsimile of a key. "Presumably it makes sense to him."

"That doesn't look very much like the key," Mai advised.

Toph grinned cockily and slid it any way, wiggling it back and forth for a moment. Mai had the feeling that if Toph could see she would have
closed her eyes to concentrate. After a moment Mai's little sister turned the key fully and the lock snapped open. "Easy as an easy thing," she
bragged and pushed the door open.

"Ooh, pretty girls here again," Bumi chuckled from his casket. "Can't stay away from my manly charms, can
you?"

"Oh please," Mai sighed, leaning against the door frame. "Yes, congratulations, you have a twelve year old
admirer."

"Twelve years old?" Bumi asked. "Funny, it seems more like four days than two years since you last come to visit
me."

Toph advanced closer towards him. "Yeah, I lied. I'm a bad person, I know."

"No," Bumi shook his head. "I think you are wise beyond your years. I take it from your method of entrance that you're not
just a firebender, young Toph."

"I'm an Earthbender," Toph told him flatly. "I am - I was - the best Earthbender I've ever heard of. Better than you.
And yes, you saw yourself. I can bend fire too. Not well, but a bit. That doesn't have to mean... what you're thinking."

"Only the Avatar can bend the four elements," Bumi said patiently. "It is not fair, I know. You're too young to have to
deal with that burden but there is no other explanation. Everyone in the Earth Kingdom has been waiting for you. And," he smiled at Mai, "At least
you do not need to bear the burden alone."

"Me?" she said, pointing a finger at her face. "I'm not a bender."

"No, but you love Toph and will protect her," Bumi told her. "When the Avatar's heart is sure then there is nothing that
can stand against her... but when they are in doubt..." He shook his head. "Love has always been mankind's greatest strength and weakness. It is
no different for the Avatar."

Toph made a disgusted noise. "Whatever. Not what I'm here for. On top of this, I have another problem."

Bumi frowned. "You're having to beat the boys off with a stick?"

"What? No," Toph said irritably.

"Oh, they won't look at you? That's strange."

"Who cares about boys?" snapped Toph. "Get with it, grandpa, someone's messed with my chi. I can't bend worth a damn
any more. I figure being messed up like that is a lot more likely to be causing my sudden firebending than being some reborn hero that everyone expects to save
their butts."

Bumi frowned. "I've heard of some techniques to block chi, but those are only temporary," he admitted. "Typically,
one's chakras will quickly return the flows to normal. The only exceptions I have heard of that have permanent effects are those so disruptive that they
kill the target."

"That's my experience as well," Mai confirmed. "I have a... friend who knows some of those techniques," she added
when Bumi looked at her enquiringly.

"Hmm. And if someone could learn other forms of bending though a little chi manipulation," Bumi added. "Then everyone would be
doing it."

"There's always a first time," Toph protested. "Anyway. Fine, you don't know anything useful, so I'm done here.
Enjoy your vacation up here," she threw back over her shoulder as she headed back out the door.

"I will," Bumi promised cheerily. "But would you mind doing an old man a favour?"

"Well that depends," Toph told him. "What's in it for me?"

He cackled in amusement. "I know the fastest way out of the city. Interested?"

"Alright, I'm listening."

"Tell Aang that I miss all the fun we had," Bumi asked.

"Aang?" Toph looked at Mai in perplexion. "Look, I'm not trekking around the world looking for some old
codger."

Bumi laughed. "Old codger? Don't you worry your head about that, Lady Toph. Aang will find you."

"Well. Alright. If you say so," she agreed. "So, what's this secret way out of the city?"

There was a sparkle in Bumi's eye. "You've seen Omashu's mail system?"

"I'm blind," Toph deadpanned.

"Oh. Right. But you know how it works, right?"

Toph frowned. "Well... yeah. I..." A grin spread across her face. "Are you suggesting what I think you're
suggesting?"

Mai's eyes narrowed. "What is he suggesting?"

"Trust me, it's very interesting," Toph promised a little smugly. "Well, thanks for that King Bumi. I'd tell you to
write and let me know how you're getting on, but I get the feeling that I'm going to be moving around a bit and..."

"Yes, yes, you can't read," Mai said. "You've done that to death already."

.oOo.

"No."

Toph pouted. "It's perfectly safe. I had someone read me a scroll about Omashu once and they used to use them for hundreds of
packages a day."

"That was when there were Earthbenders all over the place to keep it working," Mai said, eyeing the slide warily.

"You'll have an Earthbender right in the car with you, couldn't be safer," Toph pointed out. She hopped into the sled and
ran her hands over it. "No problem."

Mai shook her head. "No problem now, or no problem before your chi was shut down?"

Toph stabbed one finger towards the older girl. "Listen, I know exactly what my limits are, Spiky. I may not like them, but I
know them. This, I can do."

"And walking out of Omashu quietly is so hard?" Mai asked somewhat plainatively.

"There's too much chance of someone spotting us. If we huddle down inside this, then no one will be able to see us. They'll just
assume that one of the builders knocked it onto the slide and ignore it. I can get us right the way to the outer wall in less time than it takes for us to
argue about it."

Mai sighed and and jumped into the back of the sled, slouching down against the stone until she was entirely below the lip. "I'm
going to regret this," she predicted gloomily as Toph tipped the sled onto the ramp.

.oOo.

Locks of hair fell away from Zuko's scalp as he ran the razor across his scalp. The garrison had worked through the night and then the
following day to dig out the hill, but all they had found was the broken body of Jet's accomplice, Smellerbee, crushed amost beyond recognition by the
rocks.

The candles that lit Zuko's quarters flared in time with his breathing. Normally his control was better than that but he couldn't
bring himself to care. His eyes watered for a moment and his face blurred in the metal mirror to impassive golden eyes and long, raven black bangs framing a
pale face. "I failed you," he apologised, but when he wiped his eyes the only face present was that his own, his topknot pulled into an old fashioned
high ponytail. Turning his head, he began to cut away the hair at the back of his head.

And Toph... he'd led his student to her death. He'd let her courage and his pride in her blind him to the fact that she was only ten
years old. Not even old enough for military service and she'd ridden into the ambush with him as faithfully as any soldier, faced down Jet himself
fearlessly... none of which he should have allowed. Zuko's jaw clenched. "Agni, let her have died cleanly," he prayed, loathing himself for the
words. "Let her not have fallen into Jet's hands."

His shaving done, Zuko folded away the kit and began to don his armour. Normally his aide would have helped him but he had sent the man away.
He felt the need to do this himself. Slowly, deliberately, he buckled on his greaves and breastplate, then lifted the heavy yoke over his shoulders, lacing it
into place. He didn't bother with the helmet - he wanted the widest possible field of vision.

There was a knock on the door. "Come in," Zuko called. He didn't turn around when the door opened. but a glance at the mirror
showed him the governor entering.

"Prince Zuko?" the man asked and then gasped as he saw Zuko. "Your highness?"

"Yes governor. What can I do for you?" he asked bluntly and saw an angry retort die on the father's face as a politician's
instincts restrained him. "I should never have let Mai and Toph come with me," Zuko admitted, before the older man could say anything.

Mai's father sighed wearily. "I doubt you could have stopped them, your highness. The first duty of a woman of the Fire Nation is
always to her family. Mai would never have agreed to simply wait while someone else rescued Tom-Tom. And little Toph..." he sighed heavily. "She was
a natural fire maiden. Why would that not come as instinctively to her as all else."

"We were so close. So damn close to all being safe," Zuko growled, feeling candles around the room blaze, melting prodigously
through the wax.

"So I saw," the governor agreed. "I should not blame you for my daughters' deaths."

Should not. Meaning of course, that he did. "Why not? I do. I should have been the one to go back for Toph. I'm the bender. I would
have stood a better chance."

"You were injured. And you had sworn to bring my son back, for which I thank you." The old man was fighting to control his
breathing. And his temper. "I... am grateful for what you were able to do, Prince Zuko. I... my wife's temper is uncertain however. I would not insult
a son of the Firelord by demanding his departure..."

"But somethings are hard to unsay," Zuko agreed. "Do not concern yourself, Lord Governor. I will not hold anything your wife
says against her or against you. And I will leave Omashu at dawn. The so-called Freedom Fighters cannot be camped far from here and I intend to put a stop to
them once and for all. It is long since time that someone purged the bandits in this part of the world."

The old man smiled. It was not a pleasent expression. "You will bring them to justice?" He paused. "But what about the rest of
your tour."

"This isn't about justice," Zuko growled. "It's vengeance. And to hell with the tour."
D for Drakensis

You're only young once, but immaturity is forever.
Haha. Oh Toph. Toph and Mai together are ridiculously fun in their teasing although Mai probably should have left a note for Zuko.

Zuko isn't Zuko without SOME sort of vengeance.

Also, this seems like a fragment: "Of the three, only Prince Ozai, the younger of the Firelord's sons."
Yep. Should have returned on the end of that.
D for Drakensis

You're only young once, but immaturity is forever.
Quote: drakensis wrote:

"Tell Aang that I miss all the fun we had," Bumi asked.

"Aang?" Toph looked at Mai in perplexion. "Look, I'm not trekking around the world looking for some old
codger."

Bumi laughed. "Old codger? Don't you worry your head about that, Lady Toph. Aang will find you."
*Eyes Bumi*

Has somebody been reading the script for the Prime version of this universe?

Also, Toph for the hilarity!
Quote: nocarename wrote:


Quote: drakensis wrote:

"Tell Aang that I miss all the fun we had," Bumi asked.

"Aang?" Toph looked at Mai in perplexion. "Look, I'm not trekking around the world looking for some old
codger."

Bumi laughed. "Old codger? Don't you worry your head about that, Lady Toph. Aang will find you."
*Eyes Bumi*


Has somebody been reading the script for the Prime version of this universe?


Also, Toph for the hilarity!



The Avatar can 'talk' to the spirits of past Avatars. It sounds like Aang didn't go into hybernation in this timeline, died, resulting in the
waterbender Kanna becoming Avatar, and thence to Toph.
___________________________
"I've always wanted to be somebody, but I should have been more specific." - George Carlin
My bad. I missed how old Bumi was.
I just want to add how great this is. Well written, well plotted, excellent character work, snappy dialogue and even intelligible action scenes. It hits all my
buttons.

Please more.

---------------

Epsilon
Quote: Epsilon wrote:

I just want to add how great this is. Well written, well plotted, excellent character work, snappy dialogue and even intelligible action scenes. It hits all
my buttons.




Please more.




---------------


Epsilon
This basically sums up my feelings on this story.

So....

Pretty please more. [Image: happy0024.gif]
"Why did I ever say I wanted to travel with you?" Mai asked, emptying her boot of swamp water for the seventh time that
morning.

"I think it was something about wanting to have an adventure," Toph replied with a grin. She was a lot more expressive without
adult supervision, Mai had noticed. Of course, she was mostly indulging this at Mai's expense, but who else was there? "This is just one of those bits
that don't generally get a lot of attention in the ballads."

"The ballads. Right."

"I could sing one for you, if you want," the younger girl offered.

"Please don't." For someone who depended on her hearing more than sight, Toph could be astonishingly tone deaf. Her reportoire
was also split more or less evenly between very traditional Earth Kingdom ballads and some very raunchy tavern songs that Mai would be fascinated to learn
where the young girl had heard them. Certainly, from what Toph said about her family life, she wouldn't have heard them at her home. "Are you certain
you know where we're going?"

"Well," Toph paused, turning her face back and forth and then pointed a few degrees off what Mai judged to be their direction of
travel. "That's south."

"I was hoping for some landmarks."

Toph grinned. "Well, sure, I can see dozens of those. Once you've seen nothing, it's totally unmistakeable."

Mai counted to ten. "So we're just going to keep following your bearings until we get out the other side of the
swamp?"

"Or we hit the sea," Toph conceded. "We might have to follow the coast if that happens. I'm not really sure where that is
- kind of hard for me read a map." She shrugged her shoulders. "Trust me, I don't like this any more than you do. The mud here is terrible for
earthbending and it's too damp for fire to be any use."

"It must have been difficult to get through the swamps last time."

"Are you nuts, Spiky? I've never been here before. When I came to Omashu I travelled through the mountains - much easier for fast
movement. I wouldn't be in this mudpit at all if I could think of anywhere that it would be harder for someone to track us through."

Mai groaned. "You don't know the swamps at all?"

Toph splashed her way down off the hillock that they'd been resting on. "I know that we're going south. More or less. Sooner or
later, we'll reach dry land."

Her companion sighed morosely and waded into the muck. Almost immediately, some of it ran into her boots.

.oOo.

Mai had brought down a small animal with one of her throwing knives and took charge of cooking it that evening after Toph broke up some of
the tree roots and and managed to start a rather smokey fire.

"This isn't bad," Toph admitted, chewing on the rather gamey meat.

"Don't overwhelm me with your praise," Mai mumbled around her own mouthful.

Toph leant back, propping her feet up on a root. "Okay, done embarassing you for the moment. She gnawed on a bone. "Seriously I
probably ought to learn how to cook now that I'm a firebender. It was a bit dangerous before."

"I can imagine," Mai said drily. "How did you manage to forage for food when you were on your own?"

"Mostly I just didn't bother cooking."

Mai groaned. "So this is an adventure. Just great."

"Hey, you could have stayed in Omashu," Toph said and shrugged. "I didn't drag you here. You could probably go back, even
now. Feel tempted?"

"Hmm. Wading through this swamp or dying of boredom in Omashu... not really a difficult decision, little sister." Mai threw one of
the bones away. "Just promise me that you're not planning to stay in this swamp and learn waterbending now that you know you're the
Avatar."

"I'm still not convinced of that."

"You said yourself, you were a powerful earthbender before your pa-" Mai reconsidered her words as she saw Toph's face twist.
"Before your chi was injured. Zuko said you were still one of the most talented benders he'd ever met. He couldn't believe how quickly you picked
it up. And believe me, he knows what he's talking about."

The blind girl spat into the water. "If I was the reincarnation of some sort of mythical hero, don't you think I'd know about
it?"

"Possibly not." Mai shrugged. "After the Avatar Kanna was killed, the everyone started searching for her successor. I was just
a child at the time, but I had to do a report about the last fire nation Avatar: Rokku. The histories say that the Fire Lord was heartbroken when he learned
that his closest friend was the Avatar. They were supposed to have been like brothers before Rokku betrayed him. If Rokku had known when he was a child,
wouldn't Sozin have known as well?"

"I don't know? Do children talk about that sort of thing?"

"I think so," said Mai uncertainly. "My parents always told me to be quiet so I suppose children are normally
talkative."

"Great. We both had weird childhoods. Maybe you're the Avatar."

"Hmm. No thank you."

"Then you know how I feel," Toph told her. "I don't want to bring balance to the world. Or to destroy the Fire Nation. You
said everyone was looking for the Avatar - they weren't doing it to give me tea and fire flakes. They all wanted the Avatar's power, to control. I
guess it doesn't matter if I'm the Avatar or not. If anyone finds out I can bend more than one element, they'll try to control me. Just like my
parents. Just like your parents. That isn't exactly what I had in mind for my life."

Mai nodded. "So. What do you want?"

Toph sat up and hugged her knees. "I don't know. I don't really have a plan."

"Then maybe we need somewhere to go, somewhere we can live while you try to make a plan." Mai grimaced. "I wish I had a
map."

"Sorry, I didn't see any maps when I was packing," Toph shrugged. The familiar joke seemed to steady her. "What do you
want to know?"

"There's supposed to be an island where one of the Avatars lived," Mai told her. "I don't remember the name, but
it's some way off the south coast. They don't play any part in the war other than some refugees making their way there. No one would look twice at a
couple of young girls there - particularly since apparently they traditionally cover their faces in paint."

Toph shrugged. "One place is as good as another. But if an Avatar once lived there, wouldn't they be more likely to suspect
me?"

"Not if you're discreet about bending," suggested Mai.

"But I love bending!"

Was I this annoying when I was twelve? I don't think so. I think Ty Lee was though... "Get some sleep. I want to get through the
swamp as fast as possible, which means an early start."

.oOo.

This wasn't what I had in mind for an early start, Mai mused as the vines continued to drag on her ankles. It was still dark, although
some moonlight was filtering through the treetops of the swamp. Of course, since she was face down and using her throwing knives to keep herself from being
dragged off by suddenly hostile vegetation. Toph, not carrying any weapons - something I really need to teach her about, she decided - had already been dragged
off.

Risking her grip by only holding on one-handed, Mai used her other hand to throw kunai at the vines, severing two of them and loosening the
grip to the point she could break loose and run in the direction Toph had vanished.

"For the record," she advised the trees as she jumped through them, "If you hurt my little sister I'm going to go get Zuko
and make him raise an army of firebenders to reduce this whole maggoty mess to ashes. So you might want to keep that in mind." The trees didn't seem
very intimidated. Clearly she was losing her edge.

There was a ground mist, but she could hear splashing ahead, so probably Toph was putting up some resistance. Mai sped up her pace and
started jumping from branch to branch, avoiding the water below her. The branches didn't drop her into the water, which she took to mean that her
intimidation tactics had worked, which was more than they ever had on Ty Lee.

Ahead of her, a black and red shape was moving through the branches in the same direction. "Toph?" No, too large, she decided. And
hopefully Toph wasn't faking her death to get away from her. They were getting along quite well, all things considered. But the clothes were certainly the
right colours to be from the Fire Nation.

She pushed herself harder, trying to get closer and get a better look, but all she could make out was that whoever it was had shaved most of
their head and had what was left of their hair in a high ponytail that looked like something out of a historical play. Mai hadn't seen anything that
ridiculous since the last time her mother insisted she accompany her to the Ember Island Players.

Mai blinked as the shape vanished behind a tree trunk and didn't reappear. And the sound of struggling was also gone. "Toph!"
she called. "Toph! Make some noise so I can find you!"

.oOo.

Is the entire universe intent on giving me baths? Toph wondered the vines dragged her into the water. Flailing around she dug one hand into
the muddy bottom and bent a ridge up out of it, pushing her up above the water again. Waterbending really would come in handy right now, she admitted. Of
course, I don't know anything about waterbending, so that's a wash.

Toph dug her heels into the muddy ridgeand pushed her hands upwards, trying to lift up enough of a barricade to stop herself from being
dragged any further. The mud wasn't sturdy enough to stop her progress however and she cried out in pain as she was smashed bodily through though her own
wall.

Suddenly the vines released her. "Why, you're just a little girl," drawled a surprised voice.

"Who's a little girl?" Toph snapped back, scrambling to her feet, bruised but intact. She was uneasily aware that she was hip
deep in the mud, which was too soft to betray where the attacker was.

He chuckled. "Easy now, I ain't gonna hurt ya."

"You've got that right!" The swamp-mud might not have the consistency to protect her, but it worked just fine as a projectile
Toph discovered as she dragged a handful of it up and lobbed a hihg velocity mudpie towards the enemy bender.

"Now hold on there!" the voice yelped, more in surprise than pain, to Toph's regret. She felt the silt begin to harden around
her feet, trying to immobilise her.

"That isn't going to work!" Toph declared, forcing the mud away. Water ran down her breeches. He isn't bending the mud,
he's bending the water in it. This guy's a waterbender. I thought it was just water and ice they could shape: he's good. Her determination
crystalised: he may be all that and a bag of fire flakes, but there's no way he's a better bender than Toph Bei Fong! She sank into a horse stance,
forcing the mud up into a wall around her, pushing the water away and forming a shield between her and the enemy.

I need to move more fluidly, Toph deduced. The water in the mud is making it difficult. I need to adjust my stances to allow for this. Vines
slapped into her cover and she threw up one hand, bending the mud that clung to the plant, battling for control of the plant.

"You don't need to do this!" protested her opponent.

Toph spat into the water. "Easy for you to say. What would a guy be doing dragging a girl away into the swamp like this be up to? I can
think of some pretty nasty reasons."

The vine collapsed suddenly. "I suppose I can't blame you for being frightened," the speaker said. "You're an earth
bender - you'll probably be happier out of the water. I'll leave you alone until the sun's up and you calm down a bit." There was a splashing
sound as the other bender backed off.

Great. So I've got until dawn, which can't be all that far off, to figure out how to mudbend better than a waterbender. Toph spread
out her hands, then splayed her fingers, reaching out. Around her, the mud began to build itself into blocks, which promptly collapsed under their own weight.
She grunted unhappily and moved her hands slowly around, stirring the viscous mud as if it was water. Sweat began form on her brow. "Harder to make it
behave like water when I'm bending it like Earth," she noted out loud.

Slowly she softened her stance, letting the mud break into chunks as they moved. Somewhere in between then. Earth was balanced, Fire was
unbalanced. Water was... what? The opposite of fire? What would that be again.

.oOo.

It was the laconic, drawling voices that caught Mai's attention. She had returned to the campsite and resorted to her limited tracking
skills in order to try to follow the path by which Toph had been dragged away. That... hadn't worked. Water was not known for retaining marks of passage
after all, and the vines had moved fast.

Still, there were marks. Banks where something shaped by human hands had touched. Which meant? Most probably boats. Recently enough, by her
guess. People were almost always source to less reliable information than observation, but rather easier to elicit it from. Of course, part of their
unreliablity came from disparate motivations. Which simply meant that it was necessary to motivate them properly.

Sometimes even Azula could be a useful rolemodel.

Mai tumbled out of the branches overhanging the landing site as the skiff touched the shore. The distraction of handling the boat in that
moment was enough to give her a crucial moment in which to act. The man at the bow was a bender, and therefore the main target. One booted foot caught his
bulkier partner across the jaw, disorientating him and then she was behind the waterbender, one hand pinning his thin wrists and the other holding sharp steel
to his throat.

"Be very very careful about what you say next," she advised coldly. "Best of all, say nothing until I am
done."

"Tho," the waterbender asked nervously. "You okay?"

"Shut up, Due," the pudgy man - wearing nothing but a pair of leaves, Mai noted distastefully - ordered. "You ain't being
real friendly, Missie."

Mai didn't break her attention. "I don't find this swamp very friendly," she retorted. "My little sister was stolen
away from my side last night. She is twelve years old and blind. And so far as I can tell, you are the only others in the area. I'm sure that you
understand my reasoning."

"Hey!" Due said indignantly - and sincerely, judging by the way his breath and heartrate were changing. Uncoincidentally, one of
Mai's fingers was set precisely over one of his radial arteries to check that.

"Shut up, Due," Tho repeated, his eyes narrowing. "Anyone around here who tried what you're suggestin' would be face
down in the swamp someplace even nastier than your attitude, Missie. Maybe two or three different places," he added thoughtfully. "Which doesn't
mean that there aren't those who wouldn't want to put a scare in folks who don't have any proper business being here and might - might, I say -
make a mistake."

"That is a mistake that they will regret," Mai observed, calculating her options. Due might be the bender of the pair, but he
wasn't the brains between these two... and then she pushed him forwards on top of Tho, withdrawing her blade and twisting herself between two whips of
muddy water that were reaching to constrain him. Alright, he wasn't even the only bender. Unfortunate, although Tho seemed more level-headed.

Due rolled out of the boat entirely to clear the way for Tho and water began to rise behind him. "Don't you threaten us,
girlie!"

His partner shook his head sharply. "Leave it," he said, eyeing Mai carefully. "If Desai Lai was missin' you'd be
'bout as worried." He shuffled back a bit in the boat. "It you're willin' to quit making threats, missie, we'll take you to Huu.
He'll find your sister for you, sure as sure."

"Who?"

"No, Huu... aw, I'm not getting into this. It's his name!" The waterbender smiled, although it didn't reach his eyes.
"Don't you worry your head, I''m sure we'll find her safe and sound."

"You mistake my meaning," Mai warned, putting her knife ostensibly away inside her sleeve and sitting down in the boat. "My
sister is unlikely to respond passively to fear. Whoever has her may be the one who needs to be rescued."

.oOo.

"You know, I was sort of expecting you to get out of the water," the voice observed. It didn't much surprise Toph: she'd
felt the first bits of sunlight on her face a few moments before. "Aren't you cold?"

"I am warmed by the fires of righteous fury," Toph deadpanned. Wow, Fire Nation Man's nonsense sounds even stupider
when I'm saying it. Actually, she's been firebending the water around her to warm her up, but she didn't feel like letting this guy know that. She
sank into horse stance, building up a mound of mud under her feet, lifting herself out of the water.

The voice sounded exasperated. It was annoying not being able to tell whether he was truthful or not. "I'm not going to fight you. I
just wanted to scare you and your companion away. This swamp is a sacred place and you were disturbing it with your fire."

Toph spat into the water. "And us throwing down here hasn't caused about a hundred times as much of a disturbance? Oh yeah, that
makes sense." The blind girl gestured and a fist-sized gob of mud rose up in front of her face. "You're going to have to do better than
that."

"I'm n-" There was a crunch as the mud, and the pebble that Toph had hidden in the middle of it, struck something solid. An
obstruction probably since it didn't sound like broken bone. "Now that's just dirty," the man said, sounding slightly shocked.

Mud squelched mockingly between Toph's toes as she flexed the ground beneath her. She couldn't get anything like the force she was
used to, but by jumping as she did so, she could at least get some distance.

Toph was unpleasently surprised to crash into a spongy mass of vines that absorbed her impact and began to twist around her. With a startled
cry, she tucked herself into a ball, trying not to give the vines anything to hold onto and tried to reach for the mud she'd felt on them before. It
wasn't there. Obviously whoever the other bender was, he'd made a point of scraping it away before confronting her.

"Stop that," the man ordered and she felt a warm, human hand on her shoulder. "Just relax and I'll take you back to your
parents."

Toph screamed.

Mud exploded up from the bed of the swamp, smacking the man aside with what would have been lethal force had the water not softened the blow.
The vines relaxed abruptly as he was distracted from bending them and Toph dove against the little hillock. It was formed over a mass of roots, not stone, but
it was the closest thing the Earthbender had come across to solid ground in hours and she burrowed into it like a mole carving a hole into the damp soil,
compressing the sides to hold them together and reduce the water seepage. Roots in the way were driven aside by the earth, groaning in protest.

"Stop!" the man's voice begged. "Please stop, you don't know what you're doing."

Toph gasped for breath, not sure she could speak. She could barely feel anything over the beating of her own heart. Despite her efforts,
water was beginning to pool around her hands and feet. Stuffling around she hollowed out a burrow large enough for her to turn around in. The entrance was too
small for the man to come in after her.

Huddling against one of the branches, she tried to breath the way Zuko had taught her. In through the nose, holding the air deep inside her
chest, then slowly out past her lips. In... hold... out...

Slowly her heart began to beat more steadily, less like a brutal hammer in her chest. Slowly her eyes began to close.

"I'm sorry," she heard the man say, the sound carried as much by the tree roots as by the air.

"If you come down here... I'll kill you..." Toph murmured, unsure if he would hear her.

.oOo.

Mai wasn't the most experienced person in the world when it came to trees, but she was fairly sure that the massive tree trunk - almost
as far around as her father's palace in Omashu - must belong to the largest tree in the world. The trunk didn't even begin until the roots were heaped
at least twice as high as her head.

"Quite a sight, isn't it," Tho said solemnly. "Biggest tree in the swamp. Huu's usually around here."

Duw nudged the skiff up against one of the lower roots. "He's probably napping up at the top again."

"He calls it meditatin'," Tho corrected and then shrugged. "'Course, does look like nappin' to me, come to that.
Says he found enlightenment up there. Don't rightly know what's so important about that but the man surely loves to talk about it. He'll bend your
ear about it all day if you let him."

"I'll be firm," Mai told him drily and hopped out of the boat and onto the root. The soggy wood was treacherous footing and she
needed to use a hand on occasion to help her climb. She could feel the eyes of the two waterbenders still eyeing her suspiciously every now and then as the
followed her and smiled privately. The further up the tree they went, the further the pair were from water that they could use to attack her, since neither
appeared to be carrying any water. Her weapons, on the other hand...

"Uh, Tho, I don't like the way she's smilin'," Duw muttered, having caught Mai's face in profile as she turned
around one obstacle.

Tho shrugged irritably. "She's just a skinny girl," he said dismissively, running one finger along a root, droplets of water
rising from the wood and along his finger in illustration of the source of his confidence. "Let Huu deal with her temper."

"There's no one up here," Mai observed, looking around the base of the tree. Her eyes locked onto Tho and her lips tightened in
accusation.

The pudgy waterbender shrugged. "He'll not be far," he assured her and turned outwards, cupping his hands around his mouth.
"Huu! Hey, Huu! You got visitors!" Beside him, Duw started slapping his hands against the bark of the tree, the beat echoing around them.

Mai stared at them and then shrugged. It saved her the bother of shouting, and if nothing else, Toph might hear them. She considered that,
and Toph, for a moment and then discreetly moved away a few steps away from the two of them.

A moment later, Duw pulled his hands off the trunk. "Huu's round the other side," he said confidently. "I can hear him
beating the tree too."

The fire maiden bit her lip lightly. There were too many possible jokes to choose from and she was not going to treat the lanky waterbender
like some of the less bright boys she'd met over the years, even if the man did act like them. Instead she gestured in that direction. "Lead the
way."

Duw did so gladly, but Tho waited for Mai to follow, making it clear he intended to bring up the rear. Mai let him have the position. If the
two of them were together then one of them might block her from bringing down the other. Seperated, they would be easier to deal with if necessary.

The little group circled the tree and began to descend towards the water again. Ahead of them, Mai could see movement, which resolved into
another pudgy looking man wearing the same sort of leaf loincloth as the two natives with her. Of course, since the man was on his knees, apparently grubbing
around on top of a mound of earth, it wasn't covering as much as Mai would have liked. "I'm suddenly glad I skipped breakfast," she muttered
under her breath.

"Hey Huu," called Tho. "Got a visitor for you."

Much to her relief, the man straightened up. "Seems to be my morning for them," he said in a resigned voice. "Hey Tho, hey
Duw." His eyes set on Mai and he blinked. "Don't see many folks from the Fire Nation here. Too wet for most of them. What can I do for
you?"

"My little sister was dragged off by some vines," Mai told him bluntly. "These two thought you might know something about
that."

Huu frowned. "Well, I did find a little girl last night -" he said, pointing at a hole in the ground. "But she's an
earthbender -"

Mai shoved Duw aside and jumped down from the root onto the hillock. "What did you do to her!?" she demanded, reaching for a
throwing knife.

"Oh yeah, you're sisters alright," Huu concluded wearily. "She holed up down there. I tried to coax her out, promised to
take her home... just seemed to make her mad." He spread his hands. "Can't get down that dugout of hers, bit to narrow for a fellow my size, and
I'm not sure I can widen it without collapsin' it."

Duw scrambled down after Mai. "Aw, don't you worry, little lady. Ol' Duw can get in there, I ain't as full in the gut as
these two. I'll get your sister out of there."

"What are the funeral rites around here?" Mai asked him mildly. "Do they take a lot of preparation?"

"Huh?"

Huu shook his head. "Duw, the girl's meaner than a catgator with a toothache when she's riled. Stick your head in there and
you're gonna get it bitten clean off. Stubborn too - she stayed plumb in the water all night rather than get up on shore like I told her
too."

"Aw shoot, how bad can a little girl be."

Mai cleared her throat.

"On second thoughts, she's your sister, you deal with her," Duw decided wisely.
D for Drakensis

You're only young once, but immaturity is forever.
Toph woke at the sound of someone snaking their way into her burrow. She swept her hands around, ready to close the tunnel in on whoever
dared to intrude her, but there was a familiarity to the heartbeat, to the way that the person was touching the wet earth. "Mai?" she asked, hating
how weak she sounded.

"Do you know anyone else crazy enough to come down here after you?" Mai asked wryly. "Did he hurt you?"

"...yeah, like some old guy could hurt me?" Toph asked and hugged Mai's shoulders before letting go and punching her on the
shoulders.

Mai rubbed at the impact site. "What was that for?"

"I don't do hugs."

"Of course not. Nice place you have here," Mai said, looking around. "Very homey. Are you planning to put down
roots?"

Toph shook her head, then realised that for once it was Mai who wouldn't be able to see the gesture. "When I was little, I used to
hide in caves near my parents' estate. It's where I met the badgermoles, where I learned to earthbend. I guess I just instinctively feel happier down
here."

Mai put one hand in the water pooling on the floor and made a small noise of surprise when she found that it was warm. "I didn't
know that there was a tribe of waterbenders in the swamp," she said. "I suppose they must hide here so that the Fire Nation doesn't find them, to
wipe them out the way they did the Air Nomads. Even if the fleets do conquer the poles, waterbenders could survive in the depths of the swamp for a long time
without anyone knowing that they existed."

"Is that what your people want?" asked Toph hesitantly. "To wipe out the waterbenders... and the
earthbenders?"

Mai closed her eyes. "'The will of the Fire Lord is the will of the Fire Nation'," she recited tonelessly. "It is the
will of every Fire Lord since Sozin the Great that all the world be united under the rule of their lineage. And the benders of the other nations have always
opposed that will." She opened her eyes again. "I think that this is another of those things that it would be better for the Fire Lord to never find
out about."

"I think you're right," Toph agreed, her voice solemn. "But what do we do about them. The... the one who brought me here
said he would take me to my parents."

Mai reached out and took Toph's shoulder, running her hand down the arm until she was sure where her little sister's hand was.
"Well first we'll try to reason with them," she decided. Then she pressed the hilt of one of her smaller daggers into Toph's hand.
"Remind me to teach you how to use this at the earliest opportunity," she instructed. "Bending is all very well, but no one ever died from
having too many weapons to hand."

"I know how to use a knife, Mai," Toph said, tucking the weapon and the sheath away.

"You do?"

"Of course. Sharp end goes in the other person's soft bits," the earthbender said.

Mai frowned. "It's a little more complicated than that," she said. "Or would you say that earthbending was just playing
with mudpies?"

"Earthbending is a thousand times more awesome that that!" Toph replied hotly and then broke off. "Oh. Sorry."

"That's alright, little sister. I'm sure that you'll understand after you've spent hours and hours learning how to use
them properly," Mai said graciously.

"I get it already, Spiky."

"And I do mean hours," insisted Mai. "From now on you're going to practise every day with me. You've been letting your
skills get rusty while we're travelling and that just won't do."

"Oh yeah?" Toph said, and then smiled slowly. "Okay. I'll do it. But if you're teaching me to use a knife, then
I'm going to teach you earthbending." She rubbed her hands together. "Oh yes. And learning that is going to be painful... for the
student."

"Are you alright down there, missie?" a voice drawled from the mouth of the den. Toph gestured sharply and a mudpie rocketed out of
the tunnel towards the speaker.

"...let's give them a little longer, Tho," advised Huu.

.oOo.

"So what brings the two of you to our little corner of the world?" Huu asked some time later. The five of them had regrouped on the
highest roots, well above most of the trees in the swamp. Between the efforts of the three waterbenders and Toph, the two girls's clothes were even
reasonably dry and clean, although the warming sunlight remained welcome.

"The Fire Nation captured Omashu recently," Mai told him. True, if not the answer to the question. "It wasn't safe for us
to stay in the area and we thought no one would be likely to follow us into the swamp."

Duw wrinkled his nose. "Why wouldn't it be safe for you there. I mean, you're Fire Nation? Aren't you?"

"Idiot," Tho rumbled. "Look at their eyes. You think the little one'd have eyes like that if she was pure Fire Nation.
She'd have eyes like her sister." He looked over. "You two are mixed blood, ain'tcha?"

Mai lowered her face, hiding her eyes with her bangs. It wasn't until later that she realised that the gesture was one Toph might have
used. "Both sides consider that to be treason."

Huu sighed and shook his head. "Just another way that the both of them are more alike than they realise."

Firmly, Mai drew Toph against her to disguise the way that the young earthbender was shaking with laughter. "There are supposed to be
islands in the south that are neutral in the war. We plan to make our way there. Leave it all behind." Until Sozin's Comet returns, when no one will
be safe, she thought. But there was time enough to worry about that later.

"I don't know about that," Huu said thoughtfully. "Then again, I've never left the swamp. I'd suggest you stay,
but I think your little sister might be a bit on the noisy side for the tree." He glowered at Toph for a moment before letting his face relax into a smile
that seemed easier for him. "No offense, young lady, but it really didn't like you twisting its roots around like that."

"That's it fault for letting you use it drag me around like that," Toph said forthrightly. "If it can't take a
pounding then it shouldn't get in a fight." The tree branch that the girls were sitting on flexed menacingly and Toph stamped one foot against it
firmly. "Yeah, you heard me."

"Are you sure you're going to avoid the war with your sister acting like that?" Tho asked, apparently amused that the branch
stopped moving.

Mai shrugged. "I figure on an island I can set her to beating the ocean into submission," she said sardonically. "By that
time, hopefully she'll have started noticing boys and channel all that energy into something constructive."

"Ick." There was a disgusted noise from Toph and rather disquieted looks from the three men. Then again, from the way Toph had been
acting, they were probably concerned that Toph's idea of flirting would be rather like Azula's. The Princess' occasional romantic inclinations
leant more towards conquest than ongoing relationships. And wasn't that a horrible thought. The last thing that the world needed was another Azula, much
less one who could bend all four elements.

"Well, I think we can at least get you across the swamp safely," Tho offered just a little too quickly. Perhaps he had sons that he
wanted to protect. Mai couldn't blame him if he did. "I can get you to the other side in a day or two if Duw doesn't mind spelling me on the
skiff. There's a port there, I'm sure you can find a ship there to wherever you want."

Mai nodded to him. "That would be very kind of you," she said with a smile as if she didn't have a fair idea that he had an
ulterior motive. She didn't care if his reasoning was less about altruism and more about removing Toph from their little paradise. The results were the
same either way.

.oOo.

The ship to Kiyoshi Island wasn't crammed with refugees, but there was a definite sense that this leg of the voyage was less about moving
trade goods from the mainland than it delivering people who thought that the isolated island would be safer for them than the alternatives.

"So do the women really paint their faces?" Toph asked curiously.

"Not all of them," answered the ship's cook. Mai had kindly volunteered Toph to help with peeling the various tubers and
slicing meats for the broth passengers received. It was partly because it justified putting them in the room nearest the kitchen and partly some of the
promised knife training for Toph. "Just the Kiyoshi Warriors. They're named for one of the Avatars, so they always paint their faces the way she did
to intimidate their enemies."

Toph shrugged her shoulders and picked up another vegetable. Peeling by touch wasn't as hard as she'd expected and at least it
didn't mean moving around as much. She was beginning to get a feel for the vibrations in the wood of the ship, but it being made of so many different
pieces made it tricky and deceptive - all the planks were different and they didn't always fit together the same way. "Does that
work."

The man chuckled. "Oh yes. They'll scare the alcohol right out of a drunken sailor, with those scary faces. And anyone who
doesn't do what they say, right sharpish, they'll clobber them. More than one damn fool thought he could ignore a girl telling him what to do and wound
up wondering what hit him."

"Sounds like they're really strong," Toph said admiringly.

"Heh. There's a reason no Fire Nation ships ever harass them, like they do some other islands. Those girls would put up quite a
fight," the cook promised her. "Safest place in the world, Kiyoshi Island. They say Kyoshi was an Avatar. She was born there, back when it was part
of the Earth Kingdom, and moved it away from the mainland when some warlord threatened it. Ever since, her Warriors have protected it." He grinned.
"You thinking of joining them?"

"Good idea," Toph said brightly. "Of course, I might have trouble putting the make up on."

The cook laughed. "Oh well, perhaps your sister will want to." he picked up the pot of vegetables that Toph had been preparing.
"Looks good enough," he complimented and then brushed them into the pot. "That's the food done. You can go play now. Thanks for the
help."

"Play?" Toph muttered in disbelief as made her way to the doorway, probing each step to make sure she was still walking between the
wooden crates and barrels that took up most of the kitchen. The glorified rabbit hutch that she and Mai were occupying was immediately to her left when she
reached the gangway, a small, oddly angular compartment that Toph had had trouble reconciling with the shape of the ship until she realised that one wall was
the hull and that the cabin was only barely above the waterline. Now that was a nightmarish prospect.

"Hi," she said as she pushed aside the curtain that covered the front of the cubby hole. "The food'll probably be ready in
a little while."

Mai looked up from the scroll she was reading. "Let me guess. Tepid water with shredded rotten vegetables again?"

"How did you guess?"

She tapped the scroll. "I've been reading up on the Kiyoshi Warriors. They seem to be the main military force on the
island..."

"And the only ones who actually paint their faces," Toph finished. "I asked the cook."

Mai rolled her eyes. "Naturally. I shouldn't have wasted my money on this scroll, I should have just let you ask
around."

"Naturally," Toph agreed with relative cheer. She patted the inside of the hull gently and then sat down as far from it as she
could get in the small space. "I told you that the scroll about Oma and Shu would be more interesting."

"I lived in Omashu for over a month, Toph, in which time I heard that stupid story at least a thousand times. I could quote it from
memory, if I wasn't sure that listening to it, even when I'm the one telling it, would cause me to gouge out my own ears. Given how central it is to
Earth Kingdom mythology, I'm sure you're just as aware of it."

"I like the story," Toph admitted. "Oma beating up two villages with her earthbending is a great story. It's a shame that
most of the versions have to mention Shu at all."

Well at least her hormones haven't kicked in yet. "They were both idiots. If Oma could defeat both villages singlehandedly and force
peace between them, then certainly they could have done so tog..." Mai shook her head. "No. I am not getting into this. Change the subject.
Now."

Toph pouted and then asked: "Are you going to try to join the Kyoshi Warriors? They're supposed to be fierce warriors, so we'd
fit right in."

"It'll depend on whether or not they get paid," Mai pointed out. "We don't have all that much money - if they're a
volunteer force then I'll need to find some way of earning money. We don't have all that much of it and it would look suspicious if we don't have
some means of support. As far as I can tell, there aren't any large towns on the island, just a number of small villages. And in a small village, everyone
knows everyone else's business, so we have to get our stories straight."

"Do we have to change our names?" asked Toph.

"No - we might forget ourselves, and its probably not necessary since no one should be looking for us on the island. However, we need to
agree on where we came from. The story we told the swamp tribe is a good start: one of our parents is from the Fire Nation and the other from the Earth
Kingdom. After Omashu was captured, they were killed -"

"- by Jet," suggested Toph.

"Yes, that would work," Mai agreed. "No one will believe we were peasents, so our father was a Fire Nation soldier who retired
after an injury and married the daughter of an Earth Kingdom merchant. His name was... Lee. What should our mother's name be?"

Toph shrugged. "Jin perhaps? It's a fairly common name in the Earth Kingdom. What if someone else knows Omashu though? A merchant
would be fairly well known."

"That's fairly unlikely, actually. Most of the refugees here are from coastal towns. Those from places inland and further north are
more likely to retreat east and north towards Ba Sing Se." Mai smiled slightly. "I asked around. However, even unlikely things happen, so if
we're challenged, we shall admit that our father was actually Zeng the Smuggler. He was in Omashu's cells when the city fell and my father had him
executed. No one would be surprised that he had a secret marriage or that we didn't want to admit to being his daughters."

"I guess that makes sense." Toph stretched out her legs. "Well, since we've settled that, and I've had my knife
practise today, it's your turn."

"My turn?" Mai asked. "What... you mean teaching me the earthbending forms?"

"Of course. No time like the present. If we work hard, then your stances should be ready for some beginning kata once we reach Kyoshi
Island," Toph confirmed. "Now, take a horse stance."

The older girl stared at her. "In here? I can't even stand upright!"

Toph smirked. "The stances I'll be teaching you are from earthbending. If you do them right, your head won't ever be high enough
to be at risk. If - sorry, when - you make a mistake, you'll bash yourself on the deck. Consider it an incentive."

"So you want me to stand in the cabin and adopt various earthbending stances on your command?"

"I want you to bash your head repeatedly against the deck while trying to adopt earthbending stances," Toph admitted
unashamedly. "But you're annoyingly competent at everything I've ever seen you try so I'll settle for you learning the
stances."

.oOo.

Kyoshi Island was very picturesque. Mai hated it instantly. Toph started kissing the ground the moment she was off the jetty, which was
fairly predictable since she'd done exactly the same thing when she got off Tho's skiff at the edge of the swamp.

Mai stopped Toph's enthusiastic make-out session with the island by picking her up by the belt and carrying her clear off the jetty. Then
she set her down and let the earthbender get on with it. Benders were freaks about that sort of thing in her experience, (She was continually surprised that
Azula didn't try to bathe in molten lava and had the idea in reserve should she ever encounter the Princess and a volcano simultaneously at any point.) but
the fire maiden didn't want to deal with the complaints from everyone else getting off the boat.

"She's an earthbender?" asked someone and Mai turned to a young woman wearing long, concealing green dress and black armour.
Given that the girl's face was covered in white make up (except for the bits that were black or crimson) this was clearly one of the famous Kyoshi
Warriors.

"What gave you that idea?"

The Kyoshi Warrior chuckled. Amazing, even a smile looked horrifying in that face paint. "It's not an uncommon reaction. Where are
you from?"

"Oma's Hearth." Which was a tiny hamlet near Omashu, that was allegedly Oma's birthplace. Or possibly where she sulked off
to die after her boyfriend died. It depended who you talked to. "It's near Omashu," Mai added when it was clear the name didn't mean anything
to the other girl. She resisted them temptation to reel off the whole sob story she and Toph had rehearsed. Nothing could possibly be more suspicious than
that.

"Ah? I'd have thought if you were trying to get away from the war, you'd have headed for Ba Sing Se," the Kyoshi Warrior
asked.

Mai looked her in the eyes. "I wasn't sure if the Dai Li would decide to arrest me for having the wrong colour eyes," she
explained simply.

The Kyoshi Warrior blinked. "How..."

"Astonishingly, it seems that Fire Nation boy parts work with Earth Kingdom girl parts. Who knew?"

That make up wasn't thick enough to disguise the fact that the warrior was now blushing furiously. "I'm sorry."

Mai shrugged. "I get that a lot. Is there any paperwork I need to do or can I start looking for somewhere to sleep?" She looked up
at the sky, where the sun was descending in the approximate direction of the Fire Nation. "It's a little late in the day to go looking for
work."

"No paperwork and you can stay in the community hall at the top of the street for a few nights if you want," the other young woman
said promptly. "That's open to all refugees. If you'll help me spread the word through everyone else arriving then I'll even buy you and your
sister some supper."

Okay, now she was definitely up to something. Mai nudged Toph with the tip of one boot. "Come on, little sister. You can snog your
element again after supper if you want."

Toph scrambled obediently to her feet, confirming that she had also picked up on something. Lack of even token resistance on Toph's part
was always an indication she was concerned, if not outright nervous. "Do you have fire flakes?" she asked ingeniously.

The Kyoshi Warrior looked blank. "I've never heard of them."

"They're bad for you anyway," Mai advised, hiding her own disappointment and turned around to start telling the other refugees
the good news.

.oOo.

"So, why'd you want to talk to us?" Toph asked the Kyoshi Warrior as soon as food had been served.

Mai seriously considered slapping the girl. Had she never heard of subtlety? Oh, right. Toph. "...I suppose that the question does cut
through a lot of tedious verbal fencing," she conceded.

The Kyoshi Warrior threw her head back and laughed merrily. "Serves me right for being sneaky," she admitted. "The meal is
exactly what I said it was: repayment for helping me. If you hadn't then they would have scattered and I would have had to chase them all down and let them
know that they don't have to beg for shelter. Which would take all night. Seriously." She paused. "I'm Suki, by the way."

"Mai." "Toph." The two sisters introduced themselves and returned to the rice, which had roast duck in it.
Delicious.

"A pleasure," Suki said with apparent sincerity. "The conversation, on the other hand, has an ulterior motive. Mai, how would
you like to be a Kyoshi Warrior?"

"You're recruiting random arrivals?" she asked in surprise.

"Only the ones that are female, of a suitable age and have previous martial training," Suki smiled. "The dart-launchers are
clever, but they must be very difficult to maintain." Silently, Mai conceded that point to Suki. "I'll be blunt. Sooner or later, the war is
coming to Kiyoshi Island. My girls are good, but there aren't really all that many of us. If the Fire Nation does invade then I'll call up all those
who resigned to get married, but we'll still be significantly outnumbered."

"So if we want sancturary here, I have to be willing to fight for it?" Mai asked. "It seems like a desperate way to make up
the numbers."

Suki shook her head. "Not just numbers. Warrior to warrior, I believe that my girls are better than the Fire Nation's soldiers. But
we haven't faced a serious threat in years. I need to shake them up if we're going to be ready. Bringing in outsiders, with different skills, will
force them to push themselves. It will motivate them to improve their skills rather than be shown up."

Mai sipped at her water. As far as she could tell, Suki was completely sincere and open about what she was saying. Which made absolutely no
sense. "And you think that this revitalised force can beat off a Fire Nation invasion force?"

"Once, perhaps even twice," she agreed confidently and then her shoulders slumped. "At which point, we'll have to cut a
deal. Probably we'll be drafted into the Fire Army and have to fight for them to spare the rest of the population."

"I'd like to join the Kyoshi Warriors!" Toph offered brightly.

Hmm. That was a good idea. "No," declared Mai flatly, applying reverse psychology.

Toph's fists hit the table, causing the dishes to bounce upwards. "I'm not asking you," she told Mai angrily. It spoiled
the effect slightly that she didn't then turn to Suki with big pleading eyes, but then it was difficult for Toph to realise the impact of puppy-dog eyes in
negotiations.

Suki, bless her little heart, made mistake number one when dealing with Toph. "The Kyoshi Warriors are the traditional defenders of this
island. There is no room amongst us for a mascot." Mai prudently picked up her bowl before the earth started moving.

In fairness to Suki, despite being ambushed, point blank, with her footing vanishing more or less instantly into mud, she managed to parry
Toph's chopstick with one of her fans. It didn't really count as impressive in Mai's opinion - Toph might be the deadliest blind twelve year old in
the world (and the Avatar, if that helped), but she was a blind twelve year old - however at least the leader of the Kyoshi Warriors wasn't a
total pushover.

The next round had Suki on the offensive, fans moving in all sorts of interesting patterns that were presumably intended to guide and control
attacks launched at her. Toph let her thrusts with the chopsticks get redirected and neutralized while she quietly a raised a ten inch tall wall behind
Suki's knees and then threw a bowl at her. Suki stepped backwards, Suki landed on her rear. Point to the earthbender, even if Suki had kipped up almost
without breaking stride.

The finale was a flurry of blows that Mai couldn't be bothered to track as she tilted her bowl to pick out the last bits of rice.
Outcome: Toph on the ground, Suki with a fan pointed at the small girl's throat and a surprised expression on her face. The surprised expression was
probably because of the narrow spike that rose out of the ground and vanished inside her skirts.

"I don't think that Toph's applying for the role of mascot," suggested Mai, casually switching her bowl for Suki's
half-finished one.

Suki nodded slowly. "I thought you were blind," she told Toph, very carefully withdrawing the fan from its threatening
position.

Toph shrugged smugly. "I am." The spike vanished.

Suki's eyes widened noticeably. "Fuck me."

Mai sighed. Too easy. Far too easy.
D for Drakensis

You're only young once, but immaturity is forever.
Still good. Though I think that casual profanity is a little weird coming from any castmember, especially someone like Suki.

------------------

Epsilon
I did hesitate over that - it's not the sort of thing that would actually appear in a kids cartoon. On the other hand, given some of the things I've
already implied, the story is already rather more hardedged than the original.
D for Drakensis

You're only young once, but immaturity is forever.
Wait... blindness is a combat handicap? What?
"How pleasent to see you cousin," Azula drawled from the throne-like chair that she occupied. "I was beginning to think that
father's instructions weren't being attended to."

Admiral Prince Lu Ten of the Northern Fleet elected not to rise to the bait. The meeting chamber was hardly what could be called crowded:
aside from Azula, only War Minister Qin and Lu Ten's counterpart from the Soutern Fleet, Zhao, were present. "We seem to be missing Prince Zuko,"
he said instead, picking up map from the table and studying the unit deployments there. "Are you sure he was advised of this conference?" It would be
just like Azula to make Zuko's invitation vanish and then condemn him for not arriving.

"It's possible he is not aware," Azula revealed, to Lu Ten's carefully masked surprise. "Zuzu is carrying out
independent operations in the southern part of the continent, which makes it quite difficult to correspond with him."

"I thought he was carrying out a tour of the garrisons?" Lu Ten noted.

"Those were his orders," Qin agreed irritably. "Apparently the Prince has interpreted his itinerary rather
loosely."

Zhao chuckled darkly but said nothing. It was possible he just found the statement amusing, or that he was anticipating Zuko being reined in
firmly as a result of his non-attendance.

"Well, I think we can manage the next step of my father's strategy without Zuko's assistance," Azula decided sweetly.
"It's time to break the Earth Kingdom once and for all. And that means taking Ba Sing Se."

"That would do it," Lu Ten agreed. "Of course, it's easier said than done." In all the thousands of years since it
became the centre of government for the Earth Kingdom, the Impenetrable City had never fallen to invasion. Totally self-sufficient behind the towering walls,
even the legendary Chin the Conqueror had preferred to attack the Avatar's homeland rather than lay siege to the stronghold.

Azula's smile was sweet. "I'm sure you'd be aware, cousin." Lu Ten had raided the northern coasts extensively, and the
typical response of the Earth Kingdom - to burn their villages and retreat into the cities - had made the attacks largely futile. "War Minister Qin
assures me that he has a siege train sufficient to the task."

Lu Ten's eyebrows rose. "Impressive." He dropped the map he'd been studying and pulled another from those heaped on the
conference table, sliding it over to the Minister. "Walk me through your plan, Minister."

Qin smiled. "We've been bringing in the components for almost six months now," he revealed, tapping a point south of
Serpent's Pass. "The next step is to convoy them across the lakes to the assembly point on the shore. From there:" he traced a path across the
rocky wasteland south-west of Bao Sing Se "we'll approach the walls here."

"So are you going to fly over the wall?" Zhao asked sarcastically.

"No, we'll breach it," Qin said firmly. "I have the tools to do the job." He smiled slyly. "The war balloons
will be acting under Princess Azula's command."

Lu Ten smiled. "You got them to work at last?" he asked. "I almost envy you, cousin," he added looking at Azula.
"Those sound very useful."

"Yes," she agreed. "I'm sure that they will be. While Minister Qin attacks Ba Sing Se from the outside, I will be
attacking it from within. The key to control over the city is the General Secretariat, Long Feng. He's a pragmatist - if surrendering to the Fire Nation is
the only way he sees to retain control of his city, then that's what he'll do."

"And you believe that breaking through the Outer Wall will push him into a corner," Lu Ten concluded. "It could work. It would
certainly make the city far easier to control if the populace see it as nothing more than a 'peaceful' transfer of power. I imagine you have plans for
Long Feng's 'retirement', once he has served his purpose?"

They all smiled cynically. Long Feng might be persuaded that nothing would change in his beloved city under the rule of the Fire Nation, but
nothing could be further from the truth.

Lu Ten studied the map again, this time examining the routes out of the city towards the shorelines north and east of it. "It's
imperative that the Earth King does not manage to escape," he observed. "Most of the Kingdom consider him at least semi-divine, so his presence would
act as a rallying point. If capturing the city is to break their spirit, then it needs to be a clean sweep."

"Agreed. So that's what you'll be doing," Azula said firmly. "Covering the routes out of the city to make sure that it
doesn't happen." She smiled sweetly. "Admiral Zhao will take control of the lakes, covering the transit of Minister Qin's engines and then
ensure that no one escapes by that route. Minister Qin breaks the city open, I accept control from Long Feng... and you can pick up the pieces, Lu
Ten."

"Masterly," he murmered, his stomach roiling. It was clear who would take the bulk of the prestige for the victory. Still, that
didn't mean that he couldn't turn the matter to his advantage. "Still, it will be very dangerous for you inside the city. The Dai Li are allegedly
quite impressive and I doubt Long Feng will allow you to bring a large escort while you're playing diplomat."

"War has its risks," Azula said confidently. "After all, our fathers didn't become legends by avoiding the
Avatar."

"True, but I'd feel better if you had more security. After all, it would be a terrible blow to your father if anything were to
happen to you." Lu Ten smiled broadly. "Why don't you take Ty Lee with you? I'm sure she'd love to see you and her special skills would
be most useful if things go awry."

Azula's eyes turned calculating... and perhaps a little suspicious. "Of course, it would be so good to enjoy her company again.
It's very cruel that you've kept her to yourself for so long."

Lu Ten chuckled. "Needs of the war, dear cousin. But you'll have her all to yourself for the duration of the siege and I'll just
have to manage." I'm sure that you thought it was very clever to have her 'defect' to me, dear cousin, putting an assassin in my bed.
But if I'm so willing to see her back at your side, what does that say to you about her loyalties?

.oOo.

Mai rolled over as she felt a hand touch her shoulder. "What?" she asked, looking up to see Suki kneeling over her, already in full
warpaint although the light from outside suggested that the sun was still uncertain about rising above the horizon.

"It's time to wake up," the auburn-haired Kyoshi leader advised. "Unlike lazy mainland girls, Kyoshi Warriors must rise
early to prepare for the day."

"Do you have these aphorisms written down anywhere?" Mai asked, rolling out of the thin futon that the community hall had provided
her.

Suki grinned. "Of course." She looked at where Toph was sprawled on the next futon over. "I'll let you wake the little
menace. The baths are out back if you want to freshen up before training begins." She turned and walked away, with tolerable stealth given the creakiness
of the old wood that covered the floor of the hall.

"Are you done pretending to sleep?" Mai asked the younger girl, noticing with amusement that Toph's rather spectacular long,
thick hair was sticking almost straight up, substantially increasing her height.

"How long is it until noon?" Toph mumbled, scratching at an itch under one arm. So much from the elegant young fire maiden that
Mai's mother had cooed over.

Mai shook her head. "Much longer than I'm going to let you nap," she said, pushing her own blankets aside to reveal the small
bundle that contained the weapons too uncomfortable to wear she was asleep. When she looked up, Toph had pulled the blankets over her head, leaving only her
hair visible. There were about seventeen possible ways to wake the earthbender. It says something about Mai that the option she chose was to drop a dagger,
point down, onto Toph's hair. "Oops."

A hand snaked out from under the blanket, holding the knife Mai had given Toph, and severed the locks of hair that had been pinned. "You
convinced me," the blind girl muttered, burrowing out of the bedding.

"Kyoshi Warriors must rise early to prepare for the day," Mai parroted Suki.

"...you really, really wanted me to join the Kyoshi Warriors, didn't you."

"I want to see you run into the ground by a brute squad. I'll settle for you not being a total embarassement with a
knife."

Toph punched Mai in the thigh and stumbled out of the hall in search of the jakes. Mai felt uncharacteristically emotional at the gesture. So
this was what having a little sister was like. It felt bruising.

By the time that they were washed and dressed - well, just dressed in Toph's case since she didn't see the need to clean anything
that was going to be painted over or underneath clothes - the training yard was full of other would-be Kyoshi Warriors.

"Before you can wear the traditional garments of the Kyoshi Warriors, you must prove yourselves worthy," Suki announced.
"Before you can wear the warpaint of the Kyoshi Warriors, you must prove yourselves worthy. Therefore, you will now be tested."

"Is this a written test? Because I suck at those," a voice asked from somewhere around hip height on most of the prospective
recruits. Suki had a suspicion that she knew who was heckling her.

"Well volunteered, Toph," she said. "Come out here."

She waited until the small girl was next to her and then gestured down the slope from the yard. There was a narrow side valley on the other
side of one of the hills that framed the village. "Along that valley is what we Kyoshi Warriors call the confidence course. It's positively littered
with obstacles and challenges to overcome. The route goes all the way down to the shore and then back along the other side of the valley. And while physical
exercises are excellent conditioning for the body, there's nothing like the confidence course for putting your body to the test." Suki smiled a trifle
smugly. "Just to make sure that you're all worthy to become Kyoshi Warriors, you'll all be running though the course this morning." She
paused dramatically. "As will the eight year old girls who are just starting their training. You'll have a little bit of a start, but any of you who
can't get all the way around the course before an eight year old are clearly not fit to be Kyoshi Warriors."

There was a general grumbling from the young women around Mai, several of whom seemed annoyed that they would be competing against little
girls. Mai, for her part, was looking down the valley, trying to spot the obstacles. She could remember how much trouble she, Ty Lee and Azula could cause when
they were little girls and it wasn't a comforting thought.

"Just to show you all how it's done," Suki added. "Toph here will run through the course with me right beside her, before
she joins you for the actual test of course."

Toph didn't bother to look up at the Kyoshi Warrior. There was enough shuffling of feet amongst the other women that she could get a good
feel for her surroundings, but the course wasn't close enough for her to judge more than the general direction so she just turned to face it. "When do
we start?"

She could feel Suki tensing to spring into a run. "N-" Toph burst into a run a fraction before Suki could steal the lead.
"-ow! Sneaky bitch," she added, gearing her pace to Toph's admittedly slower one. Youthful energy couldn't entirely outweigh the advantage of
having longer legs and, of course, Suki was considerably more used to running. "How do you do that?"

"I listen," Toph said, between the deep breathes she was using to regulate her body. Much as she preferred earthbending, she had to
admit that the firebending techniques had their uses besides lighting stuff on fire. Not that she should light stuff on fire right now, anyway. In her way Mai
could be almost as restrictive as her parents, although at least she would explain her reasoning and sometimes change her mind if Toph argued cleverly
enough.

It was frustrating having to work around things instead of blasting through them the way that she wanted to. Thank you father, for that last
'gift', she thought spitefully. Time was she would have been able to detect the course from the starting point and even decipher the obstacles well in
advance. Instead, she was dependent upon Suki's own movements to give her a guide.

There were two wood posts ahead, either side of what she presumed to be the path. As they got closer, Toph could make out the edge of a
wooden board just brushing the ground. Some kind of fence? She kicked a pebble up at an angle and it bounced off something at head point. Yep, a fence. She
hung back, deliberately to let Suki go first but the Kyoshi Warrior also slowed.

"What's wrong, Toph?" Suki teased. "Is the mighty earthender afraid of the unknown?"

Toph grit her teeth. She could earthbend around the problem, but with her current weakness it would slow her down immensely to lift herself
over the fence. Alternatively, she was fairly sure that she could smash her way through the barrier, but that probably wouldn't go down too well. So that
meant falling back on a more physical approach. Speeding up again, she ran for the wooden boards and ran her hands up them quickly. There were gaps between
them, presumably intentional and she scrambled up them like a ladder.

The wood shook as she climbed, presumably because Suki was climbing alongside her. "I thought so," the Kyoshi Warrior deduced.
"You can't see the wood, can you?"

"I can't see anything," Toph reminded her.

"But you use your earthbending in a similar way," Suki speculated. "And that doesn't work on wood, so you have trouble
with things made of that."

Toph's hands reached the last plank and she rolled over the top of the barrier, letting her own weight tip over it. "So
what?"

"So up here you really are blind."

Both girls dropped and rolled on the ground to absorb the impact. "And down here I'm not," Toph said, running for the next
obstacle, a mud-pit. She thought that there was something lying on the top of the mud, probably intended to make it more difficult, whatever it was.

"Still, it is a weakness," Suki warned. "How do you plan to counter for it?"

Toph frowned. "I've got some ideas." She jumped onto the mud, picking her way around whatever it was lying on top of the
mud."

Suki made a running jump, her landing revealing where the other side of the pit was. "Careful of the thorns," she warned, amused.
"Most people just jump the ditch."

"I'm not afraid of a little earth between my toes," Toph explained, cheating a little with her earthbending to create a step
that she could use between the mud and the bank.

"So I see. You don't seem to use your bending as much as some that I've seen."

I used to. I wish I still could. "I don't want to rely on just one thing," Toph said. "It's not like I could have used
it on the ship."

Suki chuckled. "The next obstacle is a log over a ditch," she warned. "Don't bend - I want to see what your balance is
like."

Toph obeyed. Why is she now helping me? It's nice, but what is she up to?

.oOo.

Even with a first run through to get used to the obstacles, Toph was among the last runners to complete the confidence course, although she
was still able to beat any of the eight year olds. Mai, on the other hand, had relatively little difficulty and the two of them walked down towards the sea
after Suki had congratulated those who passed and told them were to report for their first training session that evening.

"I need to learn to waterbend," Toph said quietly

Mai nodded. "Why?"

"In the swamp, Huu fought by bending the water in the vines," Toph explained. "If I learn to detect water the way I do earth,
then the water in plants will help me to see better."

"Ah. Well, Zuko told me that you had a very good sense of fire," Mai told the earthbender. "If you can do the same for water
then that would help, but I don't know how you're going to learn without a teacher."

Toph walked out on the sand until water covered her toes. "I didn't learn to earthbend from a master bender, I learnt from the
badgermoles. Perhaps I can do the same now."

Mai considered. "You don't mean you want to learn waterbending from badgermoles, do you?" Because she wasn't sure if there
were any of the creatures on Kyoshi Island and she was almost certain that they didn't swim.

"The legends say that airbenders and firebenders learnt from animals, much as Oma learned from the badgermoles. But waterbenders learned
to bend from the Moon and the Ocean: from the tides." She shrugged. "Although I'm a little vague about what a tide is. I was more interested in
hearing about earthbending at the time."

It was a clear request for information, Mai realised. "I don't know a great deal about tides," she admitted. "Something
about water moving up and down beaches or the like."

"Well it's a good job that I'm on a beach then."

Several minutes later. "Mai, how long does the tide take to move up and down a beach?"

"Hours."

"...this is going to take forever."

.oOo.

Suki was apparently of the belief that the future Kyoshi Warriors needed to be entirely familiar with every inch of the island's
shoreline, which at least left Toph with ample time to spend knee deep in water. Mai didn't watch. "Once you've seen nothing once, you've seen
nothing a thousand times," she pointed out when Toph asked why. Much to the surprise of Suki, who witnessed the question, Toph seemed pleased by the
answer. Then again, Suki wasn't sure what Toph was doing in the water to begin with.

Since she had all that time without Toph to provide a diversion from the stulifying beauty of Kyoshi Island, Mai devoted a moderate effort to
ensuring that none of her particular squad of trainees were an embarassment with throwing weapons and considerable effort to working out how the tradtional
Kyoshi war fan could be thrown.

She was working at the latter endeavour, having some success with spiking the corners into a target post when Suki sought her out.

"Your sister's a strange one," she noted, leaning against the adjacent pole to that Mai was targeting. She had seen Mai
demonstrate her skills to be confident of her safety in doing so.

"She's a bender," Mai said and threw another fan. It cut a tiny sliver from the post and fell to the ground. Pathetic. If that
was soldier then he'd barely have more than a papercut.

Suki waited for further elaboration and when it was not forthcoming, she pulled out her fan and started tapping it against her gauntlets.
"You don't like benders?"

Mai walked forward and recovered her fans. "I don't get sentimental about them," she replied evenly. Given that the entire
island was named for an avatar, the most bendery of all benders, actually agreeing that she disliked them (she didn't, that would require caring) would
probably lead to being locked away somewhere, or something similiarly tedious.

"Well, given that she's an earthbender, take it from me that it's a bit odd she spends all her time kneedeep in the sea. Is she
trying to become a waterbender or something?"

"Yes." Why lie when the truth was so much less plausible.

Suki's eyes went wide. "What? But that's impossible, unless..."

Mai threw one of the fans at the post. It pierced the log more or less at eye height and remained embedded.

"She'd be around the right age."

"Yes, she picked up on that right away," Mai agreed. "It took quite a while to persuade her to stop playing with the candles
when she was younger."

Suki looked excited. "Did she manage anything?"

"She burnt most of her fingers," lied Mai laconically. Second fan - inch and a half to the left, same penetration. Not too bad.
"I suppose it's possible that she is what she hopes she is," leaving aside that she hopes she's just got a freaky chakra system, "but
I'm not holding my breath."

"I see." Suki's face fell a little. "I suppose I was hoping a little too much. I'm like a lot of girls here, Kyoshi is
a hero of mine. Meeting another Avatar, the next Earth Kingdom Avatar, it's always been a dream of mine. Do you have any dreams, Mai?"

Zuko's face crossed Mai's thoughts for a moment. "I did." She recovered her fans.

Suki's face fell. "I'm sorry. Kyoshi Island has been peaceful for so long, sometimes I forget."

.oOo.

The moon was high in the sky when Mai walked out to see if Toph was planning to come to bed that evening. Other than the sentries - Suki took
security seriously, and besides which it gave her a punishment to lay on slackers - the rest of the group were already bedded down for the night, this time at
a campsite rather than a local hall. The younger girl was still standing in the water, although it had now risen to her waist.

"If it gets much deeper, I'm going to start giving you swimming lessons," Mai advised.

She saw the corner of Toph's lips curve upwards in a smirk. Then the Earthbender moved her hands slightly and turned to face Mai, her
legs remaining quite still. Floating. "I can give you swimming lessons," she offered.

Mai raised an eyebrow. "It's going well then?"

"I can do a little, anyway," Toph said and drifted a little closer to shore before starting to walk out of the water. "Deep
water..." She shuddered. "I'd be lost."

"You've also been in the water for hours," Mai noted, watching water drip from Top's pants. "Isn't that
cold?"

"Well I wasn't," Toph shivered. "The water was warmer than it is out here." She moved one hand through a slow arc in
front of her and water literally flew off her, spattering onto the sand.

"Suki wondered why you're in the water every day," Mai warned calmly, wondering what Toph would do if Suki discovered the
truth. With at least a little grasp on three elements there didn't seem to be any doubt that Toph was the Avatar.

Toph stomped hard on the sand, raising a small cloud of it. "What is she up to?" she grumbled. "I don't understand her at
all. She doesn't feel hostile, but she keeps poking around at us."

"Hundreds of years ago Kyoshi protected this island," Mai reminded her. "Suki wishes for another Avatar to do the same now,
little sister."

"I can't protect anyone," Toph said bitterly. "Not even myself." She stamped again on the sand and scowled at the
little cloud of sand that rose up in response. "That would have hurled boulders all the way to the cliffs," she said bleakly. "Now all I can do
is throw sand."

"How does it feel to be like the rest of us, who can't bend at all?"

Colour rushed to Toph's cheeks. "How would it feel if someone cut your fingers off?" she asked.

Mai frowned and then kicked out at one of the bushes above the bush, triggering one of the launchers strapped to her calf. A dart hurtled out
and slashed through the leaves. "It would be difficult," she admitted. "But it wouldn't leave me any more defenseless. Remember, had you
been fighting for real, Suki would also have died."

Toph shrugged and then looked up as rain began to fall from the sky. As droplets struck them she reached out unerringly and took Mai's
hand. "Maybe," she said, sounding only half-convinced. "Let's get out of the rain."

"I thought you liked water," Mai asked as they walked up the path towards the campsite.

"No, I hate it."

Behind the bush that Mai had targeted, Suki reached out and gently pulled the dart out from where it had pinned her green uniform to the
dense shrub. Either she had the worst luck ever or Mai had spotted her. No, if the knife thrower had noticed Suki spying on them, surely she would have warned
her sister. But with what they were talking about... Toph had been waterbending, for real. Surely she must be the Avatar then! But why hadn't she simply
declared herself?

Troubled by the thoughts, Suki sat and toyed with the dart. "What's going on? And why did it sound as if she felt helpless? The
Avatar is the greatest of all benders so why did she sound weak? And why would an Avatar feel... weak?"

.oOo.

The next morning, Suki handed leadership of the training group over to her second and began to cut back across the island towards
Kyoshi's Shrine. Even without her doubts, she could not decide this matter herself: it would affect not only the Kyoshi Warriors but everyone on the
island.

Despite the punishing pace that the young warrior set, the sun was high in the sky when she reached the shrine and Oyaji was sitting outside,
drinking tea. The old chief smiled as he saw Suki running up the slope. "Suki! Welcome back. I thought that you wouldn't have time to visit the Shrine
until you had your new students ready. Is everything well?"

Suki bowed her head. "The training goes well," she reported. "But there has been a strange development. The youngest of the
students is an earthbender named Toph."

"So I hear." Oyaji poured himself another cup of tea and produced a second cup for Suki. "She must be quite a handful, to have
fought you to a draw."

Behind her make up, Suki blushed. "She ambushed me," she said in excuse, although it was not the surprise that had led to her
defeat.

"Of course," the old man nodded, sipping at his tea.

"Last night I saw her waterbending."

Tea exploded out of Oyaji's mouth, all over Suki. "What!?"

"Toph can bend more than one element," Suki confirmed, wiping at the tea, not caring that it was leaving streaks in her facepaint.
"And she's the right age: she could be the new Avatar."

Oyaji raised one hand to calm the young woman. "Let's not get ahead of outselves," he told her solemnly. "You may be
right, but jumping to conclusions could cause great trouble." The old man handed her the other tea cup and then lifted the tea pot. "We can talk
about this inside, in front of Kyoshi. Her wisdom will guide us in this matter."

Inside the shrine, Suki took a moment to look around at the various artifacts of the long dead Avatar. Like many children on the island it
was seeing the robes, the weapons and other remnants of Kyoshi that had inspired her to join the Kyoshi Warriors. Now, when she looked at them, she wondered
that so little was left of the woman that traditions claimed to have been among the greatest of the Avatars. Kyoshi had served to maintain the balance of the
world for over two centuries, but it seemed her legacy would survive her by even that long... unless the new Avatar could make matters right.

Suki thought of Toph and a shiver went through her. Earthbenders could move small mountains - for that matter, Kyoshi had torn her entire
homeland away from the continent, creating Kyoshi Island, but Toph seemed to strain to move much more than her own weight when she was earthbending. She showed
signs of being an excellent warrior - strong, quick and fearless - but the Fire Nation would hardly be intimidated by her bending.

She's just young, still growing into her power, Suki told herself and sat crosslegged facing Oyaji, sipping from her tea cup, letting the
warm drink refresh her after the long run.

The old man passed her a rag. "Better clean your face off, child. It wouldn't do for anyone to see the leader of Kyoshi Warriors
with patchy face paint."

Suki chuckled and cleaned the make-up off efficiently, well accustomed to the routine.

"Now, young Toph," Oyaji said thoughtfully. "I think half the island have heard how she... demonstrated... her earthbending on
you." Suki blushed again. She had no doubt that a dozen ribald exagerations were making their way through the gossip of the island's people. "So,
what did you see her using her waterbending for?"

"She dried herself out after standing waist deep in the water," Suki reported. "And I think she was using it to move through
the water somehow."

"Well some people call the latter swimming," Oyaji joked. "As for the former, why was she standing in the water? Is that a new
form of training that you've introduced?"

"No, her sister told me that she was trying to learn how to waterbend," explained Suki wryly. "She made a joke of it, said
that Toph had always wanted to be the Avatar ever since she learned she was the right age. Said that she tried to firebend when she was younger. Of course, Mai
claimed that it never worked."

"So her sister - this Mai - probably knows then."

Suki nodded. "She was right there when Toph dried herself. There's no way she could have missed it and she didn't bat an
eyelash... then again, she might not have anyway. Mai's pretty unshakeable."

"You like her?" Oyaji asked.

"I've been considering giving her a squad as soon as she finishes her training. She's good - maybe as good as I am," Suki
admitted and then her lips thinned. "Of course, she's also been lying to me."

Oyaji sighed and poured some more tea. "Perhaps with good reason. It has only been twelve years since the Avatar Kanna was killed and
avatar spirit reborn. You may recall that Kyoshi was sixteen when she was told of her destiny, that is the tradition of the Avatar. Only in great need will the
Avatar be allowed to learn their identity before they have completed their childhood. Such was the mistake made by the Air Nomads with the Avatar Roku's
successor."

"I heard that he was a coward," Suki murmered.

"Would you expect a child to carry the burden of the entire world easily?" asked Oyaji pointedly. "Could you have led the
Kyoshi Warriors as you were when you were Toph's age? The duties of the Avatar are far harder and it is unreasonable to expect someone so young to be able
to master them. If Toph is truly the Avatar then her sister may want no more than to protect her from those who would abuse her... and, of course, from the
Fire Nation. Think, young one, what would happen if Toph were to be publically known as the Avatar?"

"You believe me?"

"It seems likely," Oyaji agreed. "But you have not answered my question."

"There would be a great celebration," Suki admitted. "It's impossible that the Fire Nation would not learn of her
presence. And they'd attack us the way they did the Air Temples: with overwhelming numbers, to kill anyone who could possibly be the Avatar." Her
shoulders slumped.

"Perhaps even more damaging, everyone would expect the Avatar to defend us," Oyaji added. "I have no doubt that she is very
brave, but do you believe that she has the power at her age to defeat an entire army the way Kyoshi did? Remember, Kyoshi had spent many years learning the
four bending arts from the greatest of masters. That is not a luxury that this child has had."

Suki's eyes went wide. "Airbending! With the Air Nomads gone, there is no one left to teach her airbending. And without
that..."

Oyaji reached over and patted the warrior reassuringly on the back of her hand. "All is not lost, Suki. Remember, the Avatar is the
bridge between this world and the spirit worlds. Her guidance will not only come from her teachers who dwell in this one."

"I understand." Suki took a deep breath to steady herself. "So. What do we do?"

"For now, we should do nothing. It is possible, if unlikely, that we are mistaken. Wait and listen, assess the situation," Oyaji
ordered. "Do not alert them to your suspicion. Since the Avatar's sister wishest to protect her, allow her to do so. If she is the Avatar then it is
our duty to give her sanctuary here until she is ready."

"I will," Suki promised. "I swear it by Kyoshi."

The chief leant forwards, staring Suki firmly in the eye. "When you became a Kyoshi Warrior you swore an oath in the name of the Avatar
Kyoshi to protect this island and those who live here. If the Fire Nation comes here, whether they seek the Avatar here or not, you must ensure that she
escapes them. Even if it means abandoning your duties here." He smiled sadly. "I pray that such a dark day never comes, but the Avatar must be
protected at any cost."
D for Drakensis

You're only young once, but immaturity is forever.
Toph is starting to acquire her own gang of protectors. Interesting group... and oddly enough, mostly non-benders as opposed to Aang's group in canon.

Oh, and this line seems weird: "Well it's a good job that I'm on a beach then."

Maybe you should change it to "good thing"?
Mai would have been more impressed with the ceremonies that formally celebrated the
induction of the trainees into the sisterhood of the Kyoshi Warriors if it didn't resemble so closely some of the cliques at the Royal Fire Academy for
Girls clustering in their dormitories to do each other's make-up.



"At least no one's doing anything to my feet," Toph said thankfully from
beside Mai. Although the younger girl's first attempt to don the warpaint had been predictably disasterous, she had corrected for her previous errors and
was able to do a passable job now - as long as someone told her which pot of paint was which.



"Your feet?" Mai asked.



Toph shuddered. "Mother took me to a spa once," she said under her breath.
"They 'beautified' my feet, scraping away half my calluses. I couldn't see anything with them for most of the rest of the
day."



Mai winced. Her own parents weren't the most understanding, but they'd never
suggested that she wear a blindfold as some obscure concession to fashion. Then again, blindfolds had never been fashionable in Fire Nation society, so maybe
she was giving her mother a little more credit than necessary.



"The golden insigna that you wear symbolise the honor of the warrior's heart,"
Suki reminded the new Kyoshi Warriors. "The silk threads symbolise the brave blood that flows through her veins. Many of you are not from Kyoshi Island,
but by joining us in this way, you have all become daughters of Kyoshi like our founder Koko."



"Many of you are already warriors. While the Kyoshi Warriors have always practised the
martial arts passed down from our ancestors, we do not ask that you forget your own skills now that you have joined with us. Although Kyoshi and her daughter
were both of the Earth Kingdom, our arts draw equally from those of the Water Tribes, in homage to the Ocean that surrounds Kyoshi Island. Just as you have
learned the ways of the Kyoshi Warriors, now your sister warriors will learn from you, how to best fight alongside and against your own martial traditions. The
Avatar learned from all of the four nations, seeking wisdom amongst all of them. So to, do we."



Suki bowed her head deeply, as did the other Kyoshi Warriors around the room. "Welcome,
sisters."



Mai, Toph and the others returned the bow.



When Suki's face came up she was smiling. "Now, enough with the speeches. We've
prepared a feast, so let's enjoy the food, the dancing and each other's company."



There was cheer and the new Kyoshi Warriors dispersed, their more experienced fellows
guiding them in friendly groups into the yard where the feast awaited them. With everyone dressed and made up the same way, within moments it was hard to tell
newcomers from veterans, which was the point, Mai supposed.



Individuals were still possible to pick out, if you were familiar with their hair or some
other distinguishing mark however. Amongst each other, the Kyoshi Warriors were individuals but to outsiders they displayed only a single face.



"I know that unsmiling face," Suki observed brightly, moving easily through the
crowd to stand at Mai's elbow. "You're not going to cheer up even now?"



"Spiky never does," Toph observed from Mai's other side and nudged the older
girl sharply below the ribs.



"I delegate chirpiness," Mai replied in a deadpan voice.



"Right, right," Suki said, shaking her head. "Well if you're not going to
enjoy the party, let's talk business for a moment. I'm just about done drawing up the rosters for which warriors will be joining the various villages
around the island. Usually, we break up family members -"



Mai and Toph both froze up.



"- but in this case I'm going to make an exception. I want Mai to take over the
squad posted to Kyoshi's Shrine, but it's also traditional that when we have a bender amongst our warriors that they be stationed there. I don't
want either of you to think you're getting special treatment though," she added firmly. "Guarding the Shrine is one of the most important
responsibilities that we have when we're at peace - if thieves were to make off with the artifacts there then we would all be disgraced. And if there is an
attack on the island then your squad will be our main reserve."



"If it's so important, why do you want me to take charge there?" Mai asked.
"Why not someone from Kyoshi Island?"



"Because you're not an outsider," Suki explained carefully, as if to a
particularly slow child. "You're a Kyoshi Warrior, one of us. From today it doesn't matter where you came from. And you're the best choice.
The only person I'd trust more with the job is me, and I have too many other responsibilities."



.oOo.



"I miss Mai," Ty Lee observed out of the blue.



Azula rolled her eyes at the statement, but at least conversing on that point would be more
interesting than any of the spiritforsaken literature that the Dai Li escort had provided for them while they waited to meet with Long Feng. If the sappy
romances were what the nobility of the Earth Kingdom really read, then their problems ran deeper than she had ever imagined. As an example of the culture that
the Dai Li forcibly imposed on the population of Ba Sing Se, all that it convinced her of was the sheer humanitarian goodness of her plans for them. Really,
she deserved a parade.



"What brought her to mind?" she asked, propping one elbow on the arm of the
splendid but not terribly comfortable stone chair she had claimed. "It's very sad, of course, but she's been gone for several months
now."



"Oh, her aura balanced us out," the acrobatic girl explained. "I'm very
pink and with you being crimson -"



"Of course I am," Azula sighed. "I'm the Princess of the Fire Nation,
what other colour would I be?"



""Yeah, but Mai was all dark shades, she accented everything so nicely. I'm
worried we might be off balance without her."



Azula blinked. "If I'm following you correctly, you're concerned that I might
start acting like some sappy, puppy-loving romantic without Mai to drag my mood down," she said, in an uncomfortably tentative tone. "All things
considered, I'd have to say that it sounds very unlikely."



"No, seriously," Ty Lee disagreed. "It's just not the same with out her
here."



"Well, if it makes you feel better, apparently Zuzu's been in a total mood since
she got buried," Azula told her. "Maybe when we're done here we can go see him and he can act like a wet blanket."



"You've heard from him lately?"



Azula laughed. "Zuzu's too busy burning the southern provinces into submission to
write, but I still get intelligence reports. If they're to be believed, he's so incoherent with grief that he isn't even asking for surrenders any
more, just razing every town he comes across. It's rather pathetic, really."



Ty
Lee rolled over on the bunk she was lying on. "Aw that's so romantic." She cuddled a cushion. "Well except the burning towns
bits."



"I suppose. It's certainly helpful - a few towns even surrendered in the hope that
we'd protect them from his roaring rampage of revenge against everyone. Still, you have to wonder - well, I have to wonder," Azula corrected himself.
"How dangerous could they possibly be if they're running in fear from Zuzu? These are the same people that Admiral Zhao couldn't conquer in three
years. Just was the good Admiral playing at?"



"Well maybe Zuko is stronger than Zhao?"



Azula laughed harshly. "Oh dear, Ty. That's a terrible thing to say about Admiral
Zhao. And if it were true..." She hummed thoughtfully. "Oh my... that could make things very interesting. Very interesting indeed. Thank you,
Ty."



She rose and walked over to her writing desk, humming merrily to her self.



Ty
Lee sighed and rolled over onto her back. "Yeah, her chi's way crazy. I wish Mai was here."



.oOo.



"There's something going on on the mainland," Mai reported to Suki, handing
over the telescope that she;d been using.



Suki accepted the instrument and put it to her eye. Although the mainland was completely
below the horizon from the shoreline, at this altitude it was possible to make out a smudge of land. And it was entirely too easy to see a column of smoke
rising from it. "It must be quite a fire," she concluded. "Too much for it to be just them celebrating Avatar Day a week or two early," she
said, relinquishing the telescope over to the third Kiyoshi Warrior at the lookout post built into the roof of the barracks.



"Uh... what am I supposed to do this?" asked Toph snidely, returning it
to Mai.



"Exactly what you just did," Suki replied, unfazed. "Mai, I want you to put
together a team to investigate. The people of Chin Village are no friends to Kyoshi Island, but we need to know if this is simply a fire getting out of hand or
if the Fire Nation have attacked them."



Mai nodded thoughtfully. "Toph, fetch June and Shu-lin."



The small girl turned and ran down the steps from the wooden tower. Suki noted that the
earthbender had no difficulty at all perceiving the individual stairs, something that she would not have expected Toph to manage when she first came to Kyoshi
Island. It was perhaps the least of changes in the girl, certainly the least connected to her training as a warrior.



"Whatever happens, don't start a fight with the Fire Nation," Suki ordered
seriously. "My orders from Oyaji are very firm: we are not to provoke an attack upon Kyoshi Island." She stepped closer. "Less officially, just
don't leave anyone behind, even if you do have to fight for them. I want all three of you back safely."



Mai nodded her understanding. "Four."



Suki blinked. "Four?"



"There will be four of us."



"You, Shu-lin and June. Who else?"



Mai rolled her eyes at Suki's obtuseness and the leader of the Kyoshi Warriors stared at
her in shock. "Look Mai, I know you don't like leaving your sister alone, but you need to be objective here. She's too young and inexperienced for
something this dangerous. This is why I wasn't going to post the two of you to the same place."



"I chose Toph for the same reason I chose the others," Mai answered
coolly.



Suki shook her head. "What reason?" she demanded, keeping her voice down as she
heard the first footsteps start up the stairs.



"Because we're all killers," revealed Mai with narrowed eyes. Suki's eyes
widened but she bit back a response as three Kyoshi Warriors joined them, crowding the lookout platform.



June was a tall, sultry woman with a burned face from a past encounter with a firebender.
Although the warpaint masked the scar, it couldn't hide the immobility of the flesh beneath it. Shu-lin, on the other hand, had never left Kyoshi or fought
anything more hostile than a sparring match so far as Suki knew and had been known to the warleader for more than half her life. The notion that she was a
killer simply didn't mesh at all with Suki's view of her. And then, of course, there was Toph.



The Avatar, the hope of half the world, the bridge between the spirit world. It was too much
to hope that an Avatar could avoid deaths in carrying out their duties... but to be defined as a killer? So young?



Mai had to be mistaken. She had to be.



.oOo.



The smoke was still rising, blotting out the stars, when the four Kyoshi Warriors paddled
their canoe to the foot of the cliff that Chin Village was built upon. They hadn't found it at all difficult to find the shore in the dark - the fires
above were almost ideal as a landmark and the sunset had hidden their approach. And, of course, the firebenders would be weaker with the sun below the horizon
- another good reason for timing their little foray for night time.



The path up the cliff was almost certain to be guarded, but there was a ravine a short
distance to the north that was deep enough to hide the canoe. "Toph, find a route up the cliff," Mai ordered quietly. "Make one if you have to,
but keep it discreet. June, Shu-lin, help me camoflage the canoe." She pointed at the shrubs that somehow managed to cling to the ravine walls in places.
"If we heap a few of those on top of the boat no one is likely to see it from above."



They were almost done when there was a rattle from above and a pebble tumbled down the side
of the ravine. Mai looked up to see Toph hanging from the steep slope by one hand. "This is the easiest route," the younger girl advised in a low
voice. "I've put hand holds in on the trickier bits."



Mai turned her head to the other two. "June, finish covering the boat and follow us
up," she ordered, looking almost cheerful for a change. Then she jumped up to the first foothold she could see and started following Toph up the
cliff.



The two Kyoshi Warriors still at the bottom of the slope looked at each other.
"What's with her?" Shu-Lin asked, reaching for a handhold to start her own climb.



June shrugged. "Like I'd know. Maybe this sneaking around gets her hot." She
went back to working with the shrubs. "Somehow, I didn't envisage gardening as a vital skill when I agreed to join the famous Kyoshi Warriors,"
she thought outloud.



Another pebble rolled down the slope onto her. "Quietly," hissed Mai, barely
audible from the darkness above June.



Because ravines, by their very nature, are of little agricultural use, the top of the cliff
had become home to a variety of plants that the farmers of Chin Village did not tolerate in their fields, the resultant hedgerow providing a natural marker for
the potentially dangerous drop. Toph had dealt with the barrier by burrowing a narrow hole beneath it, one just barely wide enough for the older three to
wriggle through.



By
the time June reached the top, Su-Lin was already halfway across the fields towards the village, following the line of another hedgerow. Toph was following the
Kyoshi native, close enough to provide ranged support but sufficiently far behind that a single fire blast wouldn't catch them both. "So we're
teaming up?" she asked Mai, who was waiting for her.



The squad leader nodded her confirmation. "We're checking the road," she said
and then, as if expanding the explanation was physically painful for her added: "The others will check the village square."



June grinned, not caring that without her facepaint the expression would probably have sent
small children running in terror for their mommies. Mai's almost constipated reaction to having to explain things to anyone who wasn't Toph never
failed to amuse. Clearly, the other girl didn't get out much. Probably spent half her life minding her little sister.



The two of them moved seamlessly along the hedgerow towards the road, which was slightly
sunken and - predictably - flanked by hedgerows on either side. June had point so she got to to push through the shrubs to check the road while Mai watched her
back. It probably would have been easier to get through the bushes wearing something other than the long robes of a Kyoshi Warrior, she noted.



"Komodo Rhinos," she reported tersely. "No more than twelve, no fewer than
eight." Which meant anything from four to more than thirty Fire Nation soldiers, most probably the latter - four soldiers with a remount each would be
very unlikely to attack a settlement as large as Chin Village. There was no need to elaborate though, Mai could do the maths as easily as she could. "Only
going in, not away." And since there was only one road to Chin Village, which was on a slight pennisula, that meant they were still there. "No sign
of recent bootprints." Which meant it was entirely a cavalry force. Last that June had heard, there weren't any major Fire Nation forces near enough
to be sending out cavalry patrols but it had been most of a year since she'd heard anything concrete.



Mai nodded. "We'll check the village," she decided and waved for June to lead
the way.



.oOo.



It
was quite easy to find the village square. The thirty-foot wooden statues burning was a pretty big hint.



One had fallen over due to the fire having started at the bottom and weakened the support
structure, sending it crashing into one of the municipal buildings, setting that on fire. It was hard to make out any details but judging by the others, it had
probably represented the mysterious Air Nomad Avatar between Avatar Roku and Avatar Kanna.



Their representations had been ignited around the head and they were still burning, almost
like giant candles, identifiable mainly by the colour of their robes. And like candles they lit the area around them. Red firelight illuminating blackened wood
and blackened bodies in a way that was weirdly beautiful until you looked closely.



There was no sign of Shu-Lin or Toph, but if they were still present then they were probably
doing the same as June and Mai, doing their best to watch their surroundings without being seen. In the flickering light of several dozen burning houses, there
were enough moving shadows to disguise an entire platoon.



"Well I think we can rule out this being anyone but fire nation soldiers," Jun
murmered.



Mai nodded. "Which raises the question of what they're doing," she replied
quietly.



June looked around at the devestation. "Looks pretty clear to me, Spiky," she
said, stealing Toph's nickname for the cool-tempered girl.



"Even the Fire Nation doesn't burn villages just to see them burn," Mai
clarified.



"Plunder first and then the burn?" June asked sardonically. She cocked her head.
"Sounds like any action is going to be nearer to the cliffs."



Mai nodded and the pair of them began to work their way carefully through the alleyways. It
would have been faster to cut across the roofs - but skylining themselves for any firebenders would be almost as dangerous as trusting to burning rafters to
support them. Several buildings had already been reduced to shells when the rafters had given up on supporting the tiles.



Fortunately for their ability to arrive stealthily, the cliff was marginally lower where the
village stood, forming a natural amphitheatre focused upon a tiny shrine. At least twenty Fire Nation soldiers stood around the top, looking inwards, making it
difficult to see what lay within. The skull-faces of their helmets made an eerie parallel to the white face paint of the Kyoshi Warriors. Komodo Rhinos were
positioned in pairs along the perimeter, each pair's reins in the hands of a single soldier.



"..an enemy of the Fire Nation," a voice was declaiming. A younger man, Mai
suspected. Well educated, probably in the Capital. The sort of man who would usually hold a position in one of the prestigious regiments, not in a band of
frontier scouts. For that matter, the armour was not that of a rough and ready field unit - although battered by service, it looked like that of elite guards,
which would mean that most or all of them were firebenders. "Foolish of you to think that your little festival in his honour would be
overlooked."



"Please, no!" a thinner voice protested. "We hate the Avatar, the festival is
to remember the crimes of the Avatar Kyoshi!"



The first speaker laughed. "Oh, how terrible. I've clearly made a greivous
error." His voice hardened. "Do you take me for a fool?" There was a rush of fire and a terrible scream that receded slowly as the source fell
away off the cliff.



"Great," June observed. "A terror raid. At least they don't have a ship,
doesn't look like they'll be a threat to Kyoshi Island." She started to move backwards and then realised that Mai hadn't followed
her.



"This is wrong," Mai mused, eyes still fixed on the back of the
soldiers.



June sighed. "Yes, it is. But we can't do anything about it now."



"Not that," clarified Mai. "These aren't the sort of soldiers sent out
for this sort of thing. They're someone's personal guards and we need to find out whose."



"Right... and how do you suggest that we do that? There are a few too many of those
guys for us to fight, even if the others were with us. And if we go any closer then chances are that they'll spot us and we will have to fight
them."



"Not if we're underneath one of the Komodo Rhinos."



June's face twitched. "That's the first joke I've ever heard you make. Are
you feeling alright?"



Mai ignored her and started to crawl through the grass towards the nearest of the riding
beasts.



"Okay... not a joke," concluded June. "I'm not following you out there
though."



The other Kyoshi Warrior kept crawling.



I
must be out of my mind, June thought as she crawled after her.



.oOo.



In
contrast to the village, the amphitheatre was strangely clean. Of course, that was largely because the cliff was right there for handy disposal of...
mess.



With the soldiers all positioned around the edge, the paved floor was occupied on one side
by the surviving villagers. Mostly the women and the children, with a few men who were merely feeble or useless. Mai was sure that anyone who even looked as if
they might put up resistance had been killed swiftly.



The only man on the other side of the paving was clearly the leader of the soldiers, wearing
lightweight armour. Rather than full helmet, he wore a hideous metal mask that covered his face with the visage of a devil, leaving the rest of his head bare -
of protection and largely of hair. If it wasn't for the circumstances it should have looked laughable, hadn't he ever looked into a mirror?



Under the bellies of a pair of Komodo Rhinos, Mai and June exchanged glances. June's was
questioning and Mai shook her head slightly. Giving Mai a disbelieving look, June mimed the Fire Nation officer's high topknot. Surely that must be
recognisable? There couldn't be all that many idiots prancing around as if they were from the age of the Sun Warriors.



Mai held out her hand palm down and then brought it slowly down, pressing herself against
the grass to avoid startling the Komodo Rhino by touching its underbelly as it began to shuffle uneasily. Possibly it had scented them... or perhaps it was
simply bored. The beasts were ill-tempered at best.



"I have had enough of the raids, of the bandits that you have sheltered and fed,"
the officer said, glaring savagely at the crowd. "The age of four nations, the age of the Avatar... it is all over. The Fire Nation will transform the
world in its image. We have tried doing so peacefully... and you have seen the results. Your young men emerge from the hills and ravage our people, preying
upon women, upon children..." He turned sharply, striding towards them. "You may note that my men have not done so. Those who resisted, those who we
knew to be our enemies, only they have been put to fire and to the sword."



"Because it has harbored banditry, this village will be razed to the ground," he
added casually. "However, the Fire Nation is not without sympathy. Your men brought this upon your homes, but my men will escort you to another settlement
where you may make new lives." Unspoken, both Kyoshi Warriors knew, was that those lives would be in the Fire Nation colonies, very probably with men not
unlike those who had ravaged Chin Village.



They exchanged looks again and began to slowly work their way backwards. Horrible though the
attack had been, there was nothing that the two of them could do to undo it, and at least if the raid was a punitive one, there was little likelihood of it
being repeated against Kyoshi Island.



"Yeah, you're a real hero," spat a female voice.



A
familiar voice.



Mai's eyes went wide as a small figure flipped up over the lip of the cliff, landing on
her feet beside the small shrine. Green robes, white face paint with her eyes detailed in red and black. A simple headband pinning raven-dark hair. A Kyoshi
Warrior... and the diminutive stature made it clear precisely which one.



"I challenge you to an
Agni Kai!"
D for Drakensis

You're only young once, but immaturity is forever.
HOLY SHIT! Girl has got balls of steel!
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