we went to the beifong estate and jumped over the gate as quietly as we could.
we looked out from behind a bush - only to be thrown in the air by the ground and land in the bushes.
'what are you doing here, twinkle toes?' asked the blind bandit.
'how did you know it was me?' asked aang, still in the bush.
'don't answer to twinkle toes! it's not manly!' whined sokka
'you're the one whose bag matches his belt.' katara said, smirking.
'how did you find me?' asked the girl.
'well, a crazy king told me i had to find an earthbender who listens to the earth. and then i had a vision in a magic swamp and...' began aang, airbending out of the bush.
'what aang is trying to say is, he's the avatar, and if he doesn't master earthbending soon he won't be able to defeat the fire lord.' explained katara.
'not my problem. now get out of here or i'll call the guards.'
'look, we all have to do our part to win this war. and yours is to teach aang earthbending.' said sokka
'guards! guards, help!' cried the girl.
we jumped back over the fence and watched as the guards took her back to her house.
'that was way too close!' said sokka, dusting himself off.
'yeah, but it may have been just what we needed.' smiled aang
'what do you mean?' asked katara, stepping forwards.
aang told us how he'd decided to go to the beifong house, and try to get toph to join us.
spirits.
---
'the beifongs will see you now' said the servant who'd greeted us.
we walked into their dining room and sat down.
'blow on it. it's too hot for her.' said lao, tophs dad.
'allow me.' said aang, sending a mini
tornado to cool tophs rice.
'avatar aang, it's an honor to have you visit us.' said mrs beifong.
'in your opinion, how much longer do you think the war will last?' asked mr beifong.
'i'd like to defeat the fire lord by the end of summer,' said aang, looking over at toph, 'but i can't do that without finding an earthbending teacher first.'
'well, master yu is the finest teacher in the land. he's been teaching toph since she was little.' said mr bei fong.
'then she must be a great earthbender, probably good enough to teach someone else.'
just then, aang jumped up out of his seat, and it felt like a rock hit my foot.
'ow' i muttered, trying to hold my breath so i didnt shout.
'toph is still learning the basics.' said master yu.
'yes, and sadly because of her blindness, i don't think she will ever become a true master.' said me beifong.
me and my friends shared nervous looks.
'oh, i'm sure she's better than you think she is.' grinned aang
i felt my head hit something as aang fell into his bowl.
and when i looked up, his bowl was stuck to his face.
he tore it off and sneezed, sending food onto everyone's faces.
'what's your problem?' shouted toph
'what's your problem?' shouted aang in reply.
everyone paused, staring at the two.
'well, shall we move to the living room for dessert then?' asked mrs beifong.
---
when we got back to our room it was already night.
'good night, buddy.' said aang to appa.
then, toph entered and aang assumed a fighting stance.
'relax. look, i'm sorry about dinner. let's call a truce, ok?' asked toph.
they went outside to talk.
'are we wasting our time' asked sokka, staring at the ceiling.
i was sitting by katara, braiding flowers into her hair.
'what do you mean?' she asked.
'tophs parents might not even let her come with us' he said.
'he's got a point' i said, 'and we can't exactly steal the daughter of the richest people around'
'we can try' joked katara.
and just then, a servant came running into our room.
'MISS BEIFONG AND THE AVATAR HAVE BEEN TAKEN'
we stopped and turned to one another.
'did we accidentally manifest that.' i said as we ran out the room.
'we mightve' said katara, terrified.
when we got to the garden, there was a sword stuck in the earth with a note pinned to it.
'"if you want to see your daughter again, bring 500 gold pieces to the arena."' said katara, holding the note, 'it's signed "xin fu and the boulder."'
sokka took the scroll and said, sombrely, 'i can't believe it.'
and then shouted,
'I HAVE THE BOULDER'S AUTOGRAPH!'
'master yu, i need you to help you get my daughter back.' asked lao.
'we're going with you.' i said, taking my staff.
---
we went straight to the arena, only to find aang and toph in metal cases.
'why don't you come up here so i can smack that grin off your face?' shouted toph pointing at them through the bars.
'i'm not smiling.' said xin fu.
we rushed forward,
'toph!' yelled her dad
'here's your money. now let them go.' said sokka.
he dropped the bag and master yu kicked it over to them with an earth bending move.
xin fu looked inside the bag and gave someone a signal.
the bottom of tophs case fell open and she ran towards her parents.
'what about aang?' asked katara, warily.
xin fu held up aangs wanted poster and smiled evilly,
'i think the fire nation will pay a hefty price for the avatar. now, get out of my ring.'
all of the contestants that we'd seen earlier jumped down, shielding aang and xin fu from any attacks we might use.
'go. i'll be ok.' said aang, waving us away.
we turned back to toph and her parents, who were already walking away.
'toph, there's too many of them. we need an earthbender. we need you!' called katara.
'my daughter is blind. she is blind and tiny and helpless and fragile. she cannot help you.' said lao
ouch.
toph let go of her fathers hand quickly, 'yes, i can.'
she walked towards us, just as xin fu and his "gang" walked away.
then, she earth bended a jagged rock in front of them and they turned round to e us standing there, ready to fight.
'let him go. i beat you all before, and i'll do it again.' shouted toph
they looked at us,
'the boulder takes issue with that comment.'
the hippo threw aangs metal case to the floor and we got ready to run at them.
but toph stopped us and whispered,
'wait... they're mine.'
î looked at sokka and katara, who seemed to be just as confused as me.
but we stepped back.
after a few seconds, she kicked the ground and sent both rubble and the men flying back.
then, she walked into he cloud of dust, obscuring herself from our view.
me, katara, and sokka, ran towards aang and began trying to break open his case.
'hit it harder!' yelled aang as sokka punched it.
'i'm trying!' said sokka in return.
he hit the rock on the lock one last time and it broke.
aang sprung out of the box - ready for combat.
but i shook my head and he dropped his stance.
the hippo ran out of the dust cloud but stopped when the boulder was flung out the cloud and landed beside him.
then, toph emerged from the cloud and caused three of the men to hit each other, falling to the ground.
and thought i saw a slight smile before she pushed the men off with an earth bending move.
toph let the dust cloud subside and it was only her and xin fu in the ring.
he took up a bending stance and toph spat at the ground as they circled one another.
suddenly, xin fu began pelting rocks across the area towards her.
but toph was too fast and blocked them all.
then, once he'd dodged one of her attacks he lodged his hand in the ground and threw a boulder at her.
but she dodged it again and sent him hurtling into the stands.
---
when we got back to tophs house, her parents were surprisingly unimpressed.
'dad, i know it's hard for you to see me this way, but the obedient little helpless blind girl that you think i am just isn't me. i love fighting. i love being an earthbender. and i'm really, really good at it. i know i've kept my life secret from you, but you were keeping me secret from the whole world. you were doing it to protect me. but i'm twelve years old and i've never had a real friend. so now that you see who i really am, i hope it doesn't change the way you feel about me.' said toph as we sat in the hall in front of her parents.
'of course it doesn't change the way i feel about you, toph.' said lao, 'it's made me realize something.'
'it has?' asked toph, hopefully.
'yes. i've let you have far too much freedom. from now on, you will be cared for and guarded 24 hours a day.'
'but dad!'
mrs bei fong cut in, 'we are doing this for your own good, toph.'
mr bei fong stood up
'please escort the avatar and his friends out. they are no longer welcome here.'
'i'm sorry, toph.' said aang as we were taken outside.
'i'm sorry, too. goodbye, aang.'
---
we waited outside the town on a cliff and î sat by sokka on appa as he cleaned the tournament belt.
we sat in silence.
then, toph ran out of the bushes, panting.
'toph! what are you doing here?' called aang.
'my dad changed his mind. he said i was free to travel the world.'
i could tell she was lying.
i could see it in her eyes.
'well, we'd better get out of here - before your dad changes his mind again.' said sokka.
'good idea.' she replied.
'you're gonna be a great teacher, toph.' said aang.
'speaking of which, i want to show you something.' said toph, slyly
aang hopped off of appa, 'okay.'
then, toph tapped the ground and threw aang into a tree.
'ouch.' i said, holding my stomach from the pain.
'now we're even.' said toph, smiling. then, she looked at sokka, 'uh, i'll take the belt back.'
sokka dropped it onto her and it hit her on the head.
'sorry!' he said.
i helped toph up onto appa and we left.