I made some changes to the OG episode and a couple of pop references. I hope it wasn't too cringey <3
The moon hummed lowly under the blanket of a midnight sky. Her sweet voice mixed with Li's soft melody and danced to the notes of a made up song.
Lì's pipa laid in her lap and the strings bent under her fingers. She plucked the notes quickly, strumming with her fingertips and lightly patting the base of the instrument.
She laid on a tree, her eyes closed and her belongings settled under a concrete tent. Among random collectibles and backpacks set a broken array of musical instruments. They were a pain to carry in between villages, but at night, their soft melodies swallowed the daily tension of survival.
Lì opened her eyes. She looked down at the pipa and her hand slid down its neck. Playing the last high notes of her song, Lì strummed down, and the song finished.
She sighed heavily, looking to the moon and imagining Toph's face.
Cold and betrayed.
"Toph, did you see his face?"
"Priceless, and did you see his friends? The guy with the red beard looked like a baby." Toph gleamed, as she bent down and opened the entry of a quaint cave.
"I swear next time we run into a hunter group like that I'm gonna learn how to metalbend and take their stupid arrows-" Lì walked into the cave and pounded her fist on the carved wall. Pictures of clouds and flowery mountains decorated the gray rock in a scratched mural. A pouch of stolen fruit fell from the ceiling, pumping into Lì's palm.
Throwing one into the air, Lì called out, "Heads up."
Toph opened her grasp, the fruit settling in a nest of pale fingertips.
"-to shove up their butts." Lì finished, gnawing on an apple's crispy skin.
"Well good luck with that." Toph said, falling straight into a soft patch of moss. "You could barley take Baby Beard. You're lucky I was there to save you from that hatchet."
"Oh right like you're so badass." Lì said, approaching Budgey who lay asleep in the corner. Above his head towered strings tied loosely to the ceiling: red, green, and blue banners laid over the webs, coloring the cave in the colors of the three nations.
Lì's small hands grasped Budgey's large head. She grinned as her fingers combed over his soft fur, feathering to her touch. A growl escaped his lips, mellow from sleep.
She laughed, watching his whiskers bounce from his hot breath.
"Well I'm definitely more bad ass than you." Toph said.
"Watch your mouth!" Lì said, covering the tiny ears behind Budgey's large head.
"But you just said it!" Toph exclaimed, her bangs ruffled over her hot face.
Lì laughed. "Yeah, but I'm older. You're still just a kid. That's why I'm the better bender."
Toph sat upright, steel in her eyes. "You are not!"
"Am too!" Lì snapped back.
"Are not!"
"Are too!"
Toph punches the soft dirt of the cave, the ground rumbled as it made its way to Lì.
Lì looks down before the rock erupts from the ground, punching her on the forehead, and knocking her to the ground.
Budgey stirred before settling back.
"Ow!" Lì said. Taking her right palm and extending it from her chest, a rock flew toward Toph, hitting her square in the face.
Toph glared and the two approach one another, tense.
There's a moment: a shift from one bender to another. Budgey sits behind as an unconscious audience member and the two stand inches away.
Suddenly the dimples appear on Lì's sun kissed face and her infamous smile grows.
She punches Toph lightly on the arm, laughing as Toph reaches into her pocket.
The air dissipates and Lì ruffles with her hazelnut strands.
"Hey, I actually brought you something. Courtesy of Baby Beard."
Toph pulled out a small knife. A dragon twirling around its hilt, it's breath covering the pointed blade.
"You're terrible you know that. An absolute bandit." Lì grins, her fingers dancing along its crimson handle, tango-ing with the thin edge of its silver tongue.
"I learned from the best."
Lì fiddled with her locket. The brassy scratched oval shuffled under her fingers, weaving from her thumb to her pinkie. She twirled the necklace, wrapping the black ribbon around her index and tightening it in a clenched fist.
She looked to the moon.
"Don't look at me like that. What else was I supposed to do."
She glared at the luminescent sphere, mighty and omnipresent in the sky.
Everyone's a critic.
"Lì?" A voice called out.
Lì's eyes tensed as she looked at the moon questionably.
"Oh my God. The moon's taking to me." Lì said aloud, her voice soaked in revelation.
"Uhh Lì, it's us."
The voice called out again, this time louder and clearer in the misty air. Lì looked down seeing three meatheads with judgmental stares.
"Ahh!" Lì screamed. Her balance shifted and she grasped tightly to her Pipa, her legs swinging in a frail attempt to grasp the tree branch. Her foot slipped and she came crashing to the cold ground.
"Ow!" She puffed. "What do you want?" Lì pushed, her knees bruised and her Pipa chipped.
"Oh. Sorry." Aang said, scratching his now fully visble dome. His straw hat was replaced with the clear image of his baby blue tattoo and his warm gray eyes blinked with nervousness.
"Look, we went to Toph's- I mean the Blind Bandit's house. He-" Sokka pointed to his right at the young goofy kid with moon like eyes. "-is the Avatar. We've been looking for an earth bending teacher and we've tracked you down because we need your help."
Lì blinked. She looked at the twelve year old boy with crescent eyes, wide ears, and a suit of merigold tunic.
"Oh." She said, dusting the crumbs of tree leaves off her shoulder. She grasped her copper locket.
"We also were wondering if, once we've rescued Toph, you could help teach Aang earth bending to defeat the fire lord and end this war." Sokka's arms extended out, pointing to the world.
"Oh." Lì said again, hearing the height of his voice.
"So... is that a yes?" Katara asked, leaning forward for an answer.
"Please don't say 'oh'." Sokka said, a small grin on his lips.
"Alright," Lì started. She looked at the three of them, trying her best to lean her voice and find balance. It trembled in the wind and threatened to break off and soar.
She looked over Appa's leather saddle: a seat to the skies. She was close enough to the moon, she could extend her palm and give it a firm hand shake.
"Uhmm." She turned and pointed to the avatar. Her finger extended past to a twelve year old child destined to save the world with her aid.
Oh what a world.
"Oong?" She said questionably. The avatar- the last of his kind, all powerful, a bridge between worlds, and guardian of the four nations- face palmed.
Sokka and Katara giggled, their cheeks raised and pink.
"Oong?" Sokka questioned, shaking his head.
"Okay, okay. I'm close enough." Lì said, her voice steadying. She looked at the only other girl in the saddle.
"Uhh... Katana, right?"
"It's Katara" Katara said, a smile on her face and her arms overlaying on her chest.
"Okay," Lì started, wearing a confident grin and extending her hand to the tall ponytail teenager.
"I already know your name, Socks." She said, smiling.
"My name is not Socks!" Sokka screamed, pulling at his hair.
For a second, Lì forgot she was buildings high in a flying bison. For a second, Lì felt warm.
"Okay, so let's go through the plan again." Lì said, ignoring Sokka's frustration.
"Right. So from the ransom note, Toph is being held at Earth Rumble 6. Her parents are planning on paying the ransom. We're just there to make sure everything goes smoothly and then boom! We'll get Toph out and then you can teach Aang earth bending."
"Hm." Lì said numbly, her eyes glancing to the cotton clouds. "What about Toph? Doesn't she want to help teach Aang earth bending?"
"Well yes and no." Aang said, gripping the reins on Appa. "We were talking in her garden and she..." He paused reminiscing on the temperamental conversation. "Uhh, seem conflicted."
Lì smiled, almost sadly. "I doubt that. She always wanted to travel the world."
"Oh yeah, I was wondering about that. The way you fought her at the tournament! What was up with that?" Sokka said, scratching his crown.
Lì laughed coldly. She turned away from the group, soaking dry trees and stone huts. They stood small among green hills and puffy clouds.
"I guess... you could say we were best friends." Lì said, Appa's tail pushed down and the bison soured through the air, cutting into the sky and sprinting to Earth ruble 6.
Oh what a world.
sorry for the short chapters. Once I've finished the story line, I'll follow a bit more closely with the episode's length and plot lines :)