***
It didn’t take long for Toph to get a hang of metalbending, showing that while she might be blind, she made up for such a 'weakness' by being the most talented earthbender alive.
But as she was morphing dozens of chunks of metal in her room into different shapes, a bead of sweat rolled down her cheek. Not having a lot of exciting things to do in her life, Toph usually spent it training and learning more about the new art of metalbending.
*knock* *knock*
Suddenly, two soft knocks landed on her door, and Toph, who had been too preoccupied with metalbending used her sensory ability to see who it was.
"Young Lady," the soft, feminine voice of one of the servants rang out. "Your mother has told me to remind you to get ready. Do you need help?"
"No," Toph said. Until lately, servants would dress her up. But after telling her mother that she had memorized the places of her clothing she wanted to try it herself. "I will put on the clothes myself. If there is anything out of place, then you can tell me in the end."
She wore her usual nice clothes and tied up her hair in a nice bundle. Looking at the mirror in her room, Toph sighed, she somewhat knew what she looked like, but was unable to see it for real.
This blindness had made her who she is, so she wasn’t too bothered by it.
“Will I always live like this, until I get old? In a prison of pity from my parents…” Toph muttered, a strange feeling blossoming in her heart.
The strange young man’s words came to mind, and how he seemed to know quite a lot. Even though he wasn’t an earthbender, he somehow knew more about it than her and was able to correctly theorize metal bending.
Toph’s hand twitched and from under her bed, a crumble of metal came out. It was the size to comfortably fit in her small hands. Having the metal float in front of her hand, she changed its shape into that of a human, or more correctly, the shape of the man who had helped her reach this level of bending.
Hiding the figurine in her robes, the door to her room opened and her mother came in. “Oh, Toph, you look so cute. Your memory is also quite good to be able to remember where your clothes are placed. My little girl is a genius!”
She came and hugged Toph, with a delighted smile on her face, and from the vibrations on the ground, Toph could tell how much her mother cared about her.
This was also one of the reasons why she had a hard time leaving her home, or running away because she could do so whenever she wanted. But knowing that her parents would worry, and loved her so much, she was hesitant.
…
When dinner time came around, her family went out for dinner, which it did so each month. A small army of earthbenders and warriors followed them as they went towards one of the famous local restaurants they owned, the Flying Pig.
A three-story restaurant, with lanterns all around the building. The light that came out of the building was so bright that it made it seem as if it was blessed by the sun.
"This place is pretty as always, the best establishment in the Earth Kingdom. Even nobles from all around the world want to come here and visit it," Toph's father told a story about how it was made, something that she had heard thousands of times now, as they got closer to the establishment. Every time they came here, he would always say it with such enthusiasm as if it was his first time.
Even her mother found it annoying, but she kept her usual smile during the whole story. Toph didn't know why she would do that, if her mother said something, then her father would stop talking about the story. What a weird woman…
Suddenly, just as they were about to enter, Toph stopped just outside of the door. Her father immediately noticed this, and he stopped his story. "Toph," he looked at her. "Are you okay?"
Her mother, who was holding her hand to guide the 'blind' girl through the streets, also glanced at her daughter.
"Dear, is something wrong?" Her mother inquired, the worried voice made it clear that she was distressed, and Toph didn't need her earth sensory ability to tell that much.
"No."
Toph then started walking with her parents. But she could still tell that they were worried. Any of her small actions could be interpreted by her parents in a way that worried them. Imagine how they would react if she decided to go and fight in the war against the Fire Nation.
Also, her father was secretly funding some of the Fire Nation expeditions so they wouldn’t hurt his business too, so Toph knew that even if everyone else was afraid of the Fire Nation, her father sponsored both sides so no matter who won, the Beifong Family would come out on top. If something like this became public then the family would be ruined. But Toph knew that there were some things she mustn't say.
As they entered, the place was even more mesmerizing inside than outside. Granite table, luxurious chairs, and beautiful waiters with traditional uniforms. Toph wasn’t preoccupied with any of this and instead acted like she didn’t notice the man with many children who were orphans, judging by their demeanor as they feasted on a giant table.
“L -Lord Beifong!” A loud exclamation suddenly rattled through the restaurant, getting everyone’s attention. Her father clenched his fist in annoyance, even though there was a smile on his face. But the yeller didn’t seem to get the memo, the manager of the Flying Pig rushed towards her father and bowed down like a dog.
“My Lord, if I had known you were coming,” the manager’s slimy eyes glanced towards the big table with laughing children and the man helping them.
The Manager had only let them in because the man had paid an astronomical amount of money, but with the Lord here, it wasn’t worth losing his job.
“I will take care of this, Lord Beifong,” the overweight manager with a small mustache was about to walk towards the table that was ‘unsightly’ for a lord, but her father put a hand on the man’s shoulder, stopping him.
“Don’t do something like that, if they’ve paid, then they’re customers,” her father insisted sternly. Slowly a smile appeared on his face as he glanced towards the table. “Also, it isn’t like we get to meet such an interesting person every day."
As they approached the table, the man turned to look at them and smiled. "Oh, Lord Beifong, I almost didn't recognize you."
"Have we met before?"
"No, but the name Lao Beifong and your appearance is well known throughout the Earth Kingdom. It would be weirder if I somehow didn't know about you." Sokka added the friendly smile from him was infectious as Toph's father smiled too.
***
Lao Beifong could tell that the young man in front of him was someone interesting. The kind of person that you might meet only once in your lifetime. "Since you know me already. I seem to be at a disadvantage of not knowing your name."
"Sokka, just Sokka," he said, his voice had a strange attractiveness to it that made anyone listening want to be his friend. Sokka mentioned towards the orphans. "I decided to reward them with a good meal, as they've helped me a lot. Hope there isn't any problem with that."
Lao Beifong suddenly felt a strange chill go down his spine. Even when meeting the most dangerous kind of people to do business with, he never felt this.
'Was it the cold wind?' He wondered, deciding to dismiss such a feeling for now.
"No, not at all. I am delighted to have your company here and glad to see someone show kindness to children." Lao Beifong smiled, his brown eyes meeting Sokka's inviting blue ones. "Do you mind if we take the table next to you? I would love to hear what stories someone like you has to tell."
Sokka nodded in agreement. "Sure, but my stories aren't that interesting. I'm just another guy traveling through the road of life, trying to help as many people as I can while at the same time fulfilling my dreams."
"Contrary to what you might think, that sounds interesting," Lao Beifong remarked, looking at his guards he ordered them. "Don't let any high-ranking officials or nobility come to interrupt our conversation."
"Yes, Lord Beifong," one of the men, whose uniform was more defined than others clasped his hands and immediately went to work. He was the captain of the earthbender guard for the Baifong Family, and also Toph's earthbending teacher.
"You say that you don't have interesting stories. But how about the story of how you came to help these children?" Inquired Lao Beifong. "That sounds very interesting to me."
His family took their seats on a table to the right of Sokka. The young man smiled, a light of amusement glittering in his eyes. "I just wanted to fix certain things within this beautiful town. For example, in the slums, there is a lot of criminal activity there, so I had to fix that before it developed even more."
Lao Beifong nodded, not showing what he was thinking outwardly.
'Is he trying to fix corruption? That's quite naive of him. Do you think good deeds can fix the bad? It might sound plausible on paper, but humans are creatures of endless greed. The slums will always exist no matter what.'
Of course, such thoughts, Lao Beifong made sure to now show outwardly. A waiter brought his family some tea in elegant, golden-decorated cups. There was no need to even ask what kind of tea they wanted because the manager was quite thorough with his research. That was one of the main reasons he was the manager in the Flying Pig, even though his demeanor was quite kiss-ass and annoying.
"Well, the situation of the slums has intrigued many governors and nobles through the ages." Lao Beifong chose his words carefully, not wanting to ruin a newly made friendship. Not that he cared about it too much, but as a businessman one had to keep their relationships stable. Sokka seemed like the kind of guy that would go far in the world.
Maybe not far in political power, but he had a demeanor that attracted people. It was something Lao Beifong judged that only those of pure heart had and couldn't be copied by someone like a scheming businessman.