I'll Be Your Family

Similar People pt. 5

Zuko silently walked behind Toph, lost in thought at what she said to him.

Father couldn't be wrong. Even if Gaoling didn't need the Fire Nation's help there must some parts of the Earth Kingdom that did. It's for the greater good that the Fire Nation conquers the Earth Kingdom. Besides, Toph said she was gonna prove that Father was wrong about the Sozin style. I don't know what she's trying to prove by taking me to her master.

He scratched his head as he wondered how she was going to prove he didn't need the Sozin style. She was taking him to see masters of a traditional Earthbending style, after all. He didn't see how those two things were related.

Maybe she thinks I'll change my mind because she mastered 'Traditional' Earthbending faster than Azula mastered the Sozin style. But Toph still mastered a bending style over a hundred years old. Even if it proves that the Sozin style might not be the best style of all nations, it doesn't change the fact that I need to master it. The fact that there's a style equivalent to it in the Earth Kingdom doesn't change that. It makes sense, considering how long the war has gone on.

He tried to reassure himself as they got closer to the edge of town. He tried to tell himself that Toph was going to be wrong, even as they got further and further from the academy. He tried to tell himself that she must have learned a retired recluse as they set foot at the bottom of the Northern mountains. The mountains that he knew for a fact were uninhabited.

"We're here Scruffy. Make sure not to light anything on fire, they're scared of it." She told him as they approached a cavern at the foot of the mountain. She stomped on the ground and waited with her arms crossed.

A few moments later, Zuko watched as giant creatures with brown fur and long noses walked out of the cave. Toph ran up to them and hugged them, laughing as they licked her in what he assumed was a 'hello'.

Hah, his heartbeat is racing. How could he be scared of these things though, they're adorable.

Toph looked back at him and gestured toward the large creatures that definitely should have eaten her.

"These are the badger moles. They live in the cave system around Gaoling. They taught me Earthbending after I ran away from home. They're blind too, so I learned how to 'see' by copying them." She said as she waited for his reaction.

"You didn't learn 'Traditional' Earthbending." He said softly, looking at her with clouded eyes.

She took a moment to leave her master's side and stand in front of him.

"I didn't. My family hired 'Master' Yu from the academy to teach me, but I haven't even learned how to lift a pebble from him. It wasn't until I met the badger moles that I learned how to do real Earthbending. They're the original Earthbenders, learning from them taught me more than any amount of 'Traditional' Earthbending could teach me."

He looked at her as he tried to come up with any excuse as to why she was wrong. He thought of how she could be lying. Of how she had to be trying to trick him into turning against the Fire Nation. How she must have been trying to turn him against his father because Father can't be wrong about Sozin's style. Father can't be wrong.

He was right to banish me, I needed it. He was right to punish me, I deserved it. He was right to sacrifice innocent soldiers, I was just too stupid to understand. He was right to ignore me in favor of Azula. He was right when he said I was lucky to be born. He was right...

He watched as Toph led one of the badger moles toward him. She took his hand and placed it on the badger's head. He looked into its gray eyes which were the same as Toph's, and suddenly he understood.

"Father was wrong." He said it with a sad acceptance, finally willing himself to understand that his father had been wrong about Sozin's Style. He didn't need to master it to be strong, Toph hadn't mastered 'Traditional' Earthbending and she was already strong enough.

Toph isn't lying about learning from these creatures. She wouldn't have been able to learn from anyone else. It was obvious in her match with Boulder that they weren't bending the same way. If 'Traditional' Earthbending taught her how to 'see', Boulder would have used it too. He didn't though. She crushed him because she understands Earthbending in a different way than others. Because she learned from the badger moles and they're the original Earthbenders.

He looked into the glossy eyes of the badger mole and made himself recall the hints he decided to ignore. All of the truths he was too scared to accept when he thought his father could never be wrong about anything.

The temples I visited while looking for the Avatar didn't have any weapons. The skeletons Uncle and I cremated were too small to be soldiers. The water tribe village the Avatar was hiding in only had women and children in it. The Northern Water Tribe had a beautiful city without any help from the Fire Nation. A city Zhao tried to destroy with the Fire Nation's technology. Technology we were told the world needed. Technology the people of the Earth King refer to with fear and disgust.

He thought of Song's burns. He thought of the water tribe princess that Uncle said sacrificed herself to save the moon. The moon that Zhao tried to destroy with a plan his father approved of.

If he had succeeded the tides would have been thrown out of balance. The Fire Nation needs the tides. Zhao's plan would have killed millions and his father would have helped him.

He took a deep breath and looked at Toph. She was patiently waiting for him as he gathered his thoughts.

Father was wrong about my bending. That means he might be wrong about other things too. I might not need to become like Azula to surpass her. The Fire Nation might not be just in their conquest of the Earth Kingdom. I might not have lost... I might not have lost my honor by defending those soldiers back then. I might not know what he was wrong about but I can find out. Uncle might be able to help me. He said chasing the avatar might not be my destiny, father said it was. But now I know father can be wrong. Uncle might be able to help me find out what he was wrong about.

"You were right, Toph," Zuko said, the corner of his lips twitching as he started feeling content for the first time in a long time It was freeing to know that some of the doubts he had buried in anger and grief weren't unfounded.

"Of course I was Scruffy. I'm the greatest Earthbender in the world. There's no way you could be weak after injuring me, whether you've mastered Firebending or not." She punched him in the arm as the badger moles made their way back into the caverns.

"Ow! What was that for" Zuko started rubbing his shoulder and looked at her for an answer.

I thought we were getting along! That was the bad shoulder too.

"It's how I show affection." She smiled at him and he couldn't help but chuckle at her antics.

He ruffled her hair and finally said what he should have said much earlier.

"Thank you, Toph. I won't forget this."