Before
Toph was four years old the first time her parents made her feel genuinely disabled. They did not treat her any differently than normal, but the expectation that she was a danger to herself really made her feel like an invalid. She had been playing outside, enjoying the sensation of the scratchy grass between her toes and the warm breeze caressing her face when Toph had first become aware of the vibrations of the Earth. It had almost felt like the ground was calling to her, beckoning her. Slowly lowering herself to her knees, she let her fingers sink beyond the blades of grass and dig into the soil below.
It felt like a welcoming embrace. It felt as if Toph had been missing something her entire life and had suddenly found it again. Clenching her hands, her fingers flowed through the ground as if it was mere water and not caked dry and hard by the hot sun. The ground below her rose up, and without seeing it, Toph knew what had happened because the Earth was speaking to her. She had made the dirt rise up below her with just the barest movement of her hands. She was an earth bender.
A gasp behind her shattered her moment of tranquility, and the heavy thumps of running footsteps told her it was her father approaching. His hands grabbed her shoulders like a talon sinking its claws into its prey, and wrenched her off the ground. The soothing hum of the Earth has violently ripped away from Toph. Suspended in the air, Toph felt lost. For a second, she hated her father for taking her away from the soothing tones of the ground.
"What do you think you are doing?" Her father seethed, his hot breath washing across Toph's face. She could tell by the odor of his halitosis that he had pickled herring with his lunch. His hands shook her tiny body around like a ragdoll, her feet not once brushing against the ground. "Toph, what were you doing?"
"I was earthbending," Toph replied simply. There were plenty of earth benders living in Gaoling, but the Beifong family seemed plagued with members who were without bending. It was believed to not be in their heritage, and yet here was Toph, the first Beifong bender in generations. Toph could hardly wait for the excitement her parents would show – imagine their own daughter, an earthbender!
However, the dreams of a young Toph would not come true. "Why would you do something so dangerous? You could have been hurt!" With those words, Toph knew this would be something else her parents would ban from for her safety. She was already banned from playing with the other children or even leaving the estate. Surely, he could let her keep this one thing?
"Daddy, it's not dangerous! The Earth is nice." Toph was starting to get disoriented from hanging in the air for so long. She had no concept of what was up and down and really wished her father would place her back down where she was comfortable.
"Nice? You're blind, Toph! You cannot do things that other people can."
Toph could not believe her perfect ears. She knew she was blind and that her parents were extra worried because of it, but she never realized they looked down upon her for her lack of sight.
"But Dad-"
"No buts! Now I don't want to see you earthbending again. I have to go talk to your mother about this." Toph's father finally placed her back on the ground; the rush of warmth flowing through her body from connection to the Earth did nothing to tame the cold feeling of dread racing through her veins.
Her mother had not been any more understanding than her father. They both were in agreement – no earthbending. Her father hired numerous guards with the sole task of watching young Toph. Their duties were to keep her safe, keep her inside, and keep her from bending. Even when they tried to keep themselves discreet, she could still hear their heavy breathing. It seemed the guards believed that as long as they stood still in a room, due to Toph's blindness, she would forget they were even there.
Toph wished she could pretend they weren't there, but every time she started to relax and play with the idea of maybe getting up to grab a toy or some other object, a guard would swoop in to complete the task for her believing the young earthbender to be incompetent.
The young girl was growing infuriated with this stifling atmosphere. Two years passed with this routine, being kept from the Earth she loved so dearly, and therefore, being kept from any modicum of happiness. Toph grew quieter and quieter, but in her mind, her fury grew. She wanted to scream. She tried to fight back. She wanted her parents to understand her. Most of all, she wanted to earthbend.
It all came to a head shortly after her sixth birthday. It was an innocuous incident that would trigger the event that would forever change her life, but Toph had finally reached her boiling point. Toph had been sitting at the dinner table with her parents, her cup to her left, her chopsticks to her right, and her army of guards standing resolutely behind her.
Toph had reached her hand out to grab her cup. She engaged in a simple activity daily and one that she could do without any aid. One of the guards, who must have been new to their division, suddenly rushed forward, scrambling to grab the cup for Toph.
"Her, Miss Beifong. Let me."
"I can do it myself, thanks," Toph snapped, snatching the cup out of the guard's hand, and in doing so, drenching herself with the cool water.
"Toph," her father said brusquely, "he is just trying to help."
"I don't need help!" Toph exploded. "I can pick up a cup by myself!"
Toph was furious. Just because she couldn't see, did the rest of the World believe that she wasn't even capable of taking a drink of water unsupervised? The more Toph ruminated on the fact, the angrier she got. The ground beneath them began rumbling and shaking, sending plates crashing to the floor from the table. Her parents let out shrieks of shock, but Toph was deaf to the noise. This was what she had been missing. She was earthbending once more.
Stamping her left foot, the floor completely erupted, sending shattered debris of the stone that used to be their dining room floor careening across the room. Pieces glanced off of the guards and her parents, but Toph, unable to see the large chunk of stone flying towards her in the air, was knocked to the ground with a blow to the head.
Everything stopped. The Earth stopped shaking, and it sounded like all the inhabitants in the room did not dare even to breathe. Toph felt something warm and sticky run down her forehead, and the scent of metallic blood flooded her nose. The sharp intake of breath from her father was the only warning she got before he started on his tirade.
"What in the world are you thinking?" He screamed, shouting so loud that Toph's sensitive ears began ringing. "Why would you ever do something so dangerous? Someone could have gotten hurt! You DID get hurt!"
"I can take care of myself," Toph retorted, rising to her feet.
"No, you can't!" Her father's voice just seemed to rise in volume. Toph's mother whispered something to one of the guards, but Toph was so absorbed in her fight with her father that she failed to notice. "This is why I said no earthbending!"
"Why? Because it makes me happy? Do you even care?" She felt tears brimming in her useless eyes, but she wasn't sad. These were tears of pure, unfiltered anger.
A hand reached down and grabbed Toph's arm. The earthbender identified it as the guard who tried to help her earlier drink. "Let me help you back to your room, Miss Beifong."
"Let go of me," Toph wrenched herself out of his grip. He immediately released her, indicating to Toph that this guard was weak if a six-year-old child could easily escape his hold.
"There will be no more talk of earthbending in this house. I am your father, and you will do as I say!" The drop of blood had reached Toph's cheek, mixing with the tears that had escaped their hold.
"No, I won't!" Toph gritted her teeth so hard that there would be worry of permanent damage if she had grown any of her adult teeth yet. "I am an earthbender, and if I can't bend here, I will leave and find someplace I can!"
"Toph, calm down," her mother tried to mediate.
"Where would you go? You're just a child and a blind one at that. You wouldn't be able to make it."
Toph's head was swimming, and whether it was from the blow to the head or the anger teeming out of her, she couldn't be sure. Everyone in this room regarded her as worthless. Worthless as a bender and especially worthless as a daughter. Were they planning on keeping Toph locked up on the Beifong estate forever, never leaving her guarded tower to fully immerse herself in her natural element? If they couldn't accept her earthbending, then they couldn't accept Toph. Plotting out her trajectory, and with a little bit of luck, Toph barreled into the weak guard she spotted out earlier and broke through their line-up.
Using her memory of the estate and the vibrations on the floor to guide her, Toph ran until she found herself in the gardens. She didn't stop; she just kept running past the gate and out of the shelter she had known for her entire life. Toph had never been outside the gates, so she kept running straight, trusting in the Earth to lead her.
She pumped her legs until her muscles burned and her lungs screamed. She collapsed, letting the dirt soothe her aches and pains. Spreading out her arms and legs until she resembled a fallen angel, Toph expanded her senses. She could hear the echo of water dripping, and the air felt cool and still. The ground below her was cold to the touch. Toph deduced she had found herself in a cave, and safe in her solitude, she finally broke down.
Tears ran freely, carving paths in her soft skin. Her parents couldn't accept that she was an earthbender, and in doing so, it felt like they genuinely could not accept Toph as their child. She knew they wished for a normal daughter. One that wasn't broken. Her parents had even tried for a second child, but her mother's stomach remained flat, and her existence was just a stark reminder of their own failures.
Toph had nowhere to go. She couldn't return to her house and back to a life where the very thing that made her special also created an unnecessary burden on others. Toph did not have any friends to fall back on; her parents ensured that. She was only six, so it wasn't like she could find a job and a house. She was truly alone in this cave.
Deep beneath the cave floor, Toph could feel a low rumbling. Sitting up, she whipped her head around frantically, trying to hear any clue as to what would be approaching. The wall behind her burst open, and Toph quickly ducked, shielding her head from further injury. Even though she could not see anything, she could practically feel the massive presence that fell over here.
Whatever was looming above the child, it let out a huff of air so large, Toph's neat hair flew out of its bun. Toph was terrified, but she never considered herself a coward, and she wasn't going to start now. Reaching a shaking hand up, her fingers threaded with warm fur. She paused in case this animal would attack, but it remained motionless under her hand.
Mustering all of her courage, she ran both hands over the face of the massive creature that was sitting passively before her. Her hands found large nostrils and ears, but when her hands hit the eyes of the creature, she flinched, expecting it to last out from suddenly blocking its sight. The animal remained motionless, and the eyes under her hand did not even move, as if not sensing anything in front of them. Suddenly, it hit her. Living in the Earth Kingdom, Toph had grown up with stories about the wildlife that lived in the area, including the majestic but blind badger moles, the very founders of earthbending.
"You're just like me, huh?" Toph whispered, her hands now stroking the bridge of the badgermole's nose. "No one ever blames you for being blind."
Toph felt an affinity with the large beast. Only this creature could understand the life of a blind earthbender. Its large nose nudged Toph's head, inhaling, before turning and walking away. Somehow, Toph knew the badgermole wanted her to follow it. Mimicking the badgermole's stance on her hands and knees, the girl quickly crawled after her blind companion.
Toph wasn't sure how long she had spent with the badger moles. She had no concept of time. It could have been hours, or it could have been days, but it didn't matter. This was the happiest Toph had ever been. Learning bending from the original masters was a blessing that no other human on Earth could state, and here she was, young and blind, being taught by the greatest earthbenders there ever was.
Eventually, the badgermole nudged her out of the cave's mouth, and Toph knew it was time to leave. She had no idea where she was to go, but she did not have to worry about it long. It seemed as if she had only been out in the sun for a few minutes before a horde of people came running up, all talking at the same time, making it impossible to pick out one individual phrase.
Her parents had been so worried about her disappearance that they agreed to take away her private guard patrol. Even better, they agreed to let her eathbend, but with a few stipulations. She was to learn from Master Yu, who taught at the local earthbending school, and most of all, she must refrain from bending within the house. If she broke either of these rules, she wouldn't be allowed to earthbend ever again.
Toph thought that perhaps her parents were finally changing. If sticking to their rules meant that she was allowed to bend, she would always follow them. It wasn't like she needed tutelage; she had already gotten that from the badger moles. Of course, Toph might not have agreed to their rules if she had realized this would be another way to control her and keep her a little girl.
Master Yu refused to take their practice past preliminary levels. Day after day, they would run the same, monotonous drills over and over again, without much actual bending. Toph kept silent, however, knowing that if she fought against her father's rules, even this joke of earthbending would cease.
As Toph got older, she figured out how to escape from the walls of the Beifong estate undetected. She could explore the town of Gaoling without having to worry about anyone reporting her back to her family. No one knew she existed, and for these short excursions, that was a blessing. As she was blind, the townspeople would give her a wide berth on the street, leaving Toph room to explore the city at ease and comfort.
When she was eleven years old, Toph began to hear gossip around the town about an upcoming earthbending tournament. Only the best earthbenders could enter. It was the general consensus that one crowned champion was to be considered the best earthbending in the entire North region.
Having to keep quiet at home and only practicing her earthbending when she snuck out, Toph was aching for a chance to show off her skills. Toph knew she was the best earthbender in the World, but what was the point if no one else knew? Toph would sign up for this tournament, and when she won, the World would finally see that being blind didn't mean she was incapable.
After sweet-talking a couple of old ladies who gossiped like it was going out of fashion, Toph got the name of the man who led the tournament: Xin Fu. Xin Fu was a hard man to find. She learned that he did not have the cleanest of records through the grapevine, but that just made him all the better at hiding. Toph was not about to give up just yet.
Master Yu had an annoying habit of constantly chattering during their earthbending training. He would talk about anything and everything, especially if it had to do with himself or his school. One warm morning, while moving through the stances at an achingly slow pace, Toph managed to tune in on Master Yu's inane babble at the precisely right time. Luck was on the little girl's side this time.
"And this thug, Xin Fu, keeps showing up to my school to harass my students about some tournament he's running. It's not even regulated! I don't need my students associating with a bunch of criminals and low lives." Master Yu continued babbling about some inane topics, but Toph got her information. She knew exactly where Xin Yu was hanging out, and she was not going to let him get away.
Several days later, Toph was hiding near Master Yu's Earthbending School entrance. She knew for a fact that Master Yu was on a business trip that day, and therefore would not spot Toph out of her cage. This was her only opportunity, and now she just had to wait for Xin Fu to show up.
She had been waiting for hours when a man, far older than the students who attended the school, walked through the front gates. This had to be him. Following him into the school's front courtyard, she found him hustling kids, trying to convince them to buy tickets for the earthbending event. Bracing her shoulders, she stood far back from the group and cracked her neck, releasing any tension. She was ready.
"Xin Fu," Toph called out. "I want to compete in the earthbending tournament!"
All movement stopped, and Toph was betting that everyone's eyes were now on her.
"No, little girls. Wouldn't want you to go crying to your mommy," Xin Fu sneered. Toph's heckles immediately raised.
"Why, you scared that I could actually win?" Toph jutted out her chin and hoped she looked intimidating enough.
When Xin Fu started guffawing, Toph knew she had failed, but she refused to break her stance. She merely shifted her foot two inches to the left, and the next thing Xin Fu knew was that a wall of rock pushed him over.
"What was that about crying home to mommy?" Toph smirked, cracking her knuckles. "Anyone else wanna go?"
Xin Fu broke out from under the rock wall before sending a volley of stones Toph's way. Xin Fu was slow and awkward, and even if Toph couldn't see through the ground's vibrations, she was sure she would have still been able to avoid his oncoming attack.
Taking two steps to the right and squatting down, Toph felt the air trails left behind from the rocks whoosh past her. "Is that all you've got?" Toph taunted the grown man. She could tell he was getting frustrated. When people grew frustrated, they grew sloppy.
Before Xin Fu could send out another attack, Toph thrust her hands out, completely encasing Xin Fu in rock from the neck down. If Xin Fu was any sort of a bender, he wouldn't have been caught aware by such an obvious attack. Luckily, Xin Fu seemed to be mostly full of hot air. Toph knew she had won. The Beifong bender slowly walked up to face Xin Fu and grinned brightly in his face. "So when and where do competitors meet?"
"Rocky Bay Bar, tonight at seven," Xin Fu grumbled, conceding defeat.
"See you then," Toph waved, bringing the rocky prison back into the ground.
As she walked away, she heard one of the boys who had been watching the event speak in astonishment, "Woah, is she blind?"
"Dude, I would so pay to see that."
"Give me a ticket!"
"Me too!"
Toph smiled to herself. It looks like both Xin Fu and herself can profit from her appearance in the tournament. Toph was finally going to break free and show the World what she could do. Later, when Toph was lifting the championship belt above her head in victory, Toph finally felt like herself. This is where she belonged, amongst the dirt and dirty deeds. Even with the belt's weight, Toph had never felt lighter.
Now
Aang couldn't help but wonder how the blonde knew he was the Avatar; Katara and Sokka shared the same thought.
Sokka was wary, perhaps he was some kind of spy from the Fire Nation, but his blue eyes said the opposite.
While Katara was surprised by his blonde hair, blue ocean eyes, and Whiskers?? but his eyes reminded her so much of someone, but she couldn't quite put the finger. Except for the blonde hair, he looked like someone from the Water tribes.
"Are you sure?" The woman asked, still glaring at the team tightened behind the columns; Aang noticed some of the women in front of them looked almost helpful that the blonde guy wasn't lying; the older man looked skeptical.
"Yes, the girl is a Waterbender, while the guy is a nonbender. Hey, Air Head, do some Airbending," Naruto shouted, looking at the bold with arrows around his body.
Aang looked annoyed at the nickname before glancing at his friends, almost asking what to do?
Both Katara and Sokka nodded at him; they needed to know he was the Avatar, after all, he shrugged his shoulders and jumped ten feet up in the air, from there he saw the surprised faces of everyone except the one whose name was Naruto, he had a smile on his face.
Landing on his foot, the older man stepped forward with his hands squeezed together in front of his chest.
"You're indeed the Avatar. It Is an honor to meet you; I'm sorry for how he treated you and your friends," The old man apologized with a sincere tone.
"Don't Worry, Now, Check This Out," Aang stated and started using his Airbending to do a trick, with the stupidest grin he could show.
The people gathered started cheering, almost as if he just showed that he could bend all four elements and was ready to take on the Fire Lord; one of them even passed out from happiness.
Naruto raised an eyebrow at his behavior; he gestured for Suki to free the other two guests.
Freeing them, Naruto noticed the slight glare of the guy towards Suki, while the girl approached him, while the older man was busy talking with the Avatar.
"Thank you for helping us," the girl said with a smile.
"No problems, miss..." "Oh, My name is Katara; he's my brother Sokka and Aang," Katara introduced herself with an embarrassed smile on her face.
"My name is Naruto; this one is Suki is good to meet you all; follow me. I will lead you to your rooms; we can talk inside," Naruto introduced himself and the girl and gestured for them to follow him, knowing they had their own questions. Aang and Sokka followed behind, ready to ask how he knew that Aang was the Avatar and that Katara could Waterbend.
On the other hand, Katara figured he could have known Aang was the Avatar because of his tattoos around his body; after all, the Air nomad's culture was known through the World, and there were still books describing them.
But Katara couldn't fathom how Naruto knew of her Waterbending and that Sokka couldn't bend.
Soon they reached the house, food and different sweets were brought to the Avatar; Suki left, saying she needed to train.
Naruto was the only one who stayed behind; the door closed.
"So, How did you know about Aang and me?" Katara asked immediately after the door was closed; Naruto chuckled at the expression on her face.
"Wow, you waited until the door was closed" Naruto chuckled before his face turned slightly serious.
"As for your question,"
Neither Aang, Katara, or Sokka understand how in the following minute, a tree suddenly grew from the outside, coming inside through the open window and wrapped around the blonde, almost protecting him.
"I'm a Woodbender,"