The Traitor Princess

Chapter 42 - The Tales of Ba Sing Se

The Tale of Toph and Eziri

Toph laid in the center of the living room on a pillow. She declined to go with Katara to the market. Sokka and Aang were out looking for Appa and Eziri said she had to run an 'errand.' Toph was perfectly content to lay around by herself and have a relaxing day.

Unfortunately for her, she felt Eziri's quick, heavy footsteps approaching the front door. The firebender stumbled into the house. "Hey, Toph!" She said cheerfully. Toph just groaned in response; her peaceful silence officially distrubed.

Eziri walked into the living room and dropped a large bag onto the floor with a loud thud. Toph sat up with a confused look. "What is that?"

"Sand."

"And why exactly are you walking around with a giant bag of sand?"

"Well–"

"Oh, don't tell me you're back on the whole 'glass-bending' thing again."

Eziri chuckled. "No. But now that you remind me—" Eziri shook her head and pulled herself back to her original point. "Never mind, I actually have a proposition..."

"I'm listening."

"I was wondering if you would be willing to work on sandbending with me? I figured it would be good practice for you and it would help me get over my new fear of sand."

Toph quirked a brow. "Seriously?"

"Yeah." Eziri shifted uncomfortably. "Of course, if you're not up for it I totally understand."

"No, I'm up for it." Toph got to her feet and stretched out her arms. "Where are we practicing?"

"Uh...I was thinking here?" Eziri asked hesitantly.

Toph shrugged and used her bending to shove all the furniture to the edge of the room. "Works for me."

Eziri smiled and opened up the bag. She picked the bag up and dumped all the sand onto the floor. Toph placed one of her feet atop the small grains and started feeling it with her bending.

"Okay, so I'm thinking we do some stretches and basic forms first. I'll do my firebending sets without fire and you can work through yours with the sand?" Toph nodded. "Cool. Once you get the hang of using the sand then maybe we can do some close-contact sparring? I'll stick to smoke or hand-to-hand and you can use the sand. Sound good?"

Toph shrugged. "Sure."

The girls separated and started warming up. Toph focused on the sand and it took her a few tries to manipulate the element the way she wanted. However, she was able to move through her forms with the sand after only a little bit of practice. This wasn't just therapeutic for Eziri; Toph was silently frustrated with herself for not being able to save Appa. This was exactly what the earthbender needed.

Eziri was moving through her own forms, but she was struggling to remain calm. Even though it wasn't enough sand to bury her again, she was still a bit panicked at the sight. As much as it sucked, she wanted to get over this fear. She couldn't turn into a useless ball of nerves if they ever faced sandbenders again; she had to be prepared.

"Ok, I think I'm ready if you are." Toph said. Eziri took a deep breath and shifted out of her stance. Toph could feel the firebender's rapid heart rate with her bending. "Uh...are you sure this is a good idea? Maybe we should try it some other time.."

"No." Eziri shook out her hands to try and get rid of her nerves. "It's now or never. I want to get over this."

"Are you sure?"