Omg back here again! Who's ready for round two?! last time we were here I had just passed 500+ reads and now we're, currently, at 220K+ reads. So thank you all! I appreciate every single one of you! 

-Nikki, with love, XoX0-

***

The moon was high in the sky, full and bright as stars twinkled beside it. Like ornaments on a Christmas tree. The crickets chirped in a timed fashion, rhythmic and melodic. Winds flowed past the sleeping water tribe siblings, whirling past their heads as they snore, far away in dreamland. It flows like a river, elevating Asha's brown hair as it flows around her face; the girl closing her eyes, letting out a hum of satisfaction as her eyes close. She sat a ways away from the group, her toes tangling themselves in the grass she sat on, knees held to her chest as she watched the relatively calm waters.

"You know, most people would be asleep by now." She opens her eyes, turning to the disruption of her peace.

"Well, I'm not like most people. You should know this by now." She doesn't flinch as Aang sits beside her, crossing his legs as he leans back onto his hands. 

"Yeah, I suppose I should. You find ways to surprise me everyday though. So wanna talk about it?" He rolls his head to the girl, Asha looking to the water ahead.

"About what?" 

"What's keeping you up, Ash. Don't think we haven't noticed a change. Ever since the swamp, you haven't been..." He pauses looking for the right word. "The same." 

"How so?" Her eyes remain blank, watching as the waves flow onto shore, retreating back into the large pot of the lake. 

"Well, for one, your not smiling nearly as much. Laughing even less. You seem almost automatic. Cold and calculative. That's not the happy, joyful girl I knew. You know, the one whose smile could light up an entire city, or whose laugh was so contagious, I found myself laughing with her every time." Aang raised his hand to the girls chin, turning her head to face him as he talked. 

"What happened to that girl?" Aang speaks softly, looking to Asha's azure eyes which reflect his own right back. 

Breaking eye contact, Asha pulled away, burying her head in her knees, "She died at the swamp." Asha's voice was dark, dreary almost.

"I don't believe that." Aang shuffled so he was in front of her, blocking her view of the lake. 

"Well I do." Asha continues to look away, Aang furrowing his brows. 

"What happened Asha." It wasn't a question anymore. It was a demand. Something Avatars only did when their Onsras were in true trouble. Demand them around, like lost puppies. 

Looking to Aang, whose eyes were concentrated on her, she swallowed. "I- I saw my parents. And you." Asha held her breath, waiting for a reaction. Getting none, she continued, "I know it was just a vision, and it shouldn't shake me this much, but I just...Forget it. Forget I said anything at all." Asha quickly tries to get up, Aang pulling her back down.

"What did I say? I need to know, I need my Asha back."  He looks to her, frown deepening on his face as he watched her carefully.

Biting her lip, Asha looks back to him. "The vision called me a sorry excuse of an Onsra. That I was...Pathetic. A joke." She chokes on the words, but pushes forward. "That the only reason you gave me the choice of who I marry because you wouldn't want to marry me. Then you- er, the vision started attacking." Asha rambles, nervously scratching her wrist. 

Aang looks shocked at news. Him? Not wanting to marry Asha? Even worse, trying to hurt her?

"And I know it sounds selfish, but I don't want that choice any more! I want to be able to say one day, this is my husband- the Avatar- I want-" She's cut off by a pair of lips crashing onto hers. 

Separating, Aang looks to the girl, "Asha, I gave you the choice because I though you  didn't wanna marry me. I wanted you to have the choice to be free from tradition, but deep down I wanted nothing more for you to say what you just did." He grabs her hand. 

"You mean it?" Asha speaks after a few moments of their silence. 

"With all my heart."  

Throwing herself onto the boy, Asha cries into his shoulder, Aang wrapping an arm around her.  The two sat like that for a few minutes as silent sobs escaped Asha, Aang holding her tight while whispering sweet nothing into her ear. 

Pulling away, Asha wipes her eyes, facing Aang. "You know, we'll have to wait..."  Her voice drops, Aang furrowing his brows yet again.

"What? Why?" He holds her shoulders.

"Aang, you have to fight the fire lord, and I don't wanna weigh you down like that. I know it sounds unfair now, but I promise, after he's defeated it'll be worth the wait. I promise I'll wait, but you have to as well Aang." Asha holds a finger out to him, watching as his face contorts before he relents.

"If your willing to wait, so am I." He locks their fingers, sealing the promise.  "Now come on, you need some sleep." Aang stands stretching his back and arms. Looking down, he sees Asha with her arms outreached. Rolling his eyes, he bends down, picking her up bridal style (Asha yelping as he does). 

Carrying the girl to Appa, Aang collapses onto the bison, still holding the girl in his arms. 

"You can let me go now." She huffs. 

"Not a chance. I had to carry you, this is my reward." Aang smirks as the girl huffs again, nuzzling further into him. 

"Can I start calling you my fiancé now?"

"Aang. Go to sleep."

___

"It's pricey, but I really do like it." 

Asha shifts her weight from one foot to another, watching as Sokka debated a green shoulder bag. She looked over to Aang, who sat on the ground unhappy and bored. She debated sitting next to him, but ultimately decided against it due to the squeaking raptor in her arms; if Asha sat, Zulu would for sure try to escape. 

"Then you should get it. You deserve something nice." Asha says, trying to speed up the process.

"I do, don't I? But no. It's too expensive, I shouldn't."  Sokka turns back to the bag. 

"Alright, then don't." Katara snaps, annoyed at her brother. Momo sits on her shoulder, chittering. 

Rolling her eyes, Asha walks out of the store, Aang getting up to follow her, Katara after him. Sokka follows last, turning to the bag at the last second. 

The two air benders watch as Katara stomps back into the store, trying to pry her brother away from the bag.  They only look back as a man nears them, handing Aang a piece of paper. 

"Psst, psst. Hey, you kids like Earth bending? You like throwing rocks? Then check out Master Yu's Earth bending Academy." The man smiles as he leaves.  

Aang flips it over, reading the back.  "Look, there's a coupon on the back. The first lesson is free."  He looks to Asha who raises a brow. 

"Who knows? This Master Yu could be the Earth bending teacher you two have been looking for."   Katara peeps, exiting from the store.

"Thanks, but no thanks. Call it instinct, but I don't think this is who we're supposed to learn from. Aang, you can take the coupon." Asha smiles, pushing the flier closer to Aang, Sokka emerging from the store, the green bag cradled in his arms.  

___

Asha placed Zulu on the ground, a rope tied around the raptors bandanna, acting like a leash, while waiting for Aang. Sokka was somewhere, probably being a menace to society, leaving the two girls alone. 

"So, what's with you and Aang? You two seem different this  morning." Katara leaned over to Asha, who glanced at the water bender. 

"Still just friends." Asha smirks, her cheeks a light pink.

"Come on! You two should just admit you guys like each other and get it over with!" Katara cries, shaking the air bender by her shoulders.

"And how do you know we haven't done that yet?" Asha jokes, Katara suddenly stopping the shaking. 

"And you two still aren't together?!" 

"We decided to wait, till after he fights the fire lord." Asha shrugs as Katara continues to lean on her.

Their foreheads touched now as Katara glares at Asha, the girl shrinking.  "You have him wrapped around your little finger, don't you?" 

Asha only smirks once more, eyes gleaming mischievously. The two girls look over as Aang approaches them though. Escaping Katara's grip, Asha walks over to him. 

"He's not the one." Aang sounds disappointed as he hits the side of his head, dirt falling from his ear as he does. 

"I think The Boulder is gonna win back the best at Earth Rumble 6." A student talks to his friend as they pass, catching the group attention. 

"He's gonna have to fight his way through the best Earth benders in the world to even get a shot at the champ." 

"Excuse me," Aang runs over to the boys, Asha following with Zulu by her side.

"But where is this Earth bending tournament exactly?" Aang asks with a tilt of his head, the green hat he's wearing covering his arrow, Asha's being hidden by the collar of her shirt. 

"It's on the island of Noneoya- None o' ya business!" The boys laugh as they walk away. 

"Oh, I got to remember that one." Sokka laughs as he and Katara approach the two air benders, Aang looking down as Asha glares at the boys.

"I'll take care of this. Asha, care to join?" Katara gives a sickeningly sweet smile to the girl, who returns it, handing the rope to Sokka as she runs to catch up with Katara.

The boys watch as the girls turn the corner.  

"What was I thinking? I don't need a new bag. Why'd you let me buy this?" Sokka complains, turning to Aang whose watching the corner the girls turn. The only sound after is Momo hoping into Sokka's bag, chittering as he settles for a nap, Zulu squeaking at the lemur. 

"Whose ready to find an Earth bending teacher!?" Asha cheers happily as she skips around the corner, Katara following with a walk. 

"We're going to Earth Rumble 6!" Asha smiles, looking to Aang who smiles back. 

"How did you get them to tell you?" 

"Oh, Asha and I have our ways." Katara smiles mischievously, looking over her shoulder as Asha just shrugs.

___

"Hey, front row seats! I wonder why no one else is sitting here."  Aang sits, looking down to the arena below them.  He's quick to react as he pulls Asha out of the path of a large rock, that slams into the nearby seats. 

"I guess that would be why."  Asha breathes heavily as she speaks, Aang holding her tightly in his lap as he eyeballs the rock. He sets the girl beside him,  on the side furthest of the rock, as Sokka and Katara sit beside him.  

The kids watch as a man Earth bends an explosion of rock and dirt, shaking the arena as a column of Earth raising the man up high, only to crash back down with a motion of his hand. 

"Welcome to Earth Rumble 6! I am your host, Xin Fu!" The man shouts, facing the crowd. The boys lean forward in anticipation as Katara looks away, bored. Asha just looks down to Zulu, patting the raptors stomach. 

"This is just gonna be a bunch of guys chuckin' rocks at each other, isn't it?"  Katara groans. 

"That's what I paid for!" Sokka grins, hopefully.

"The rules are simple. Just knock the other guy out of the ring, and you win." Xin Fu explains, Earth bending himself to the announcers tower, another Earth bender entering the ring. A large, black tattoo takes up his back, reflecting the light as he salutes to the crowd, grinning with a cocky confidence. 

"Round one! The Boulder versus The Big Bad Hippo!" 

___

The Boulder had won each match quickly and efficiently, fighting his way through fighter after fighter.

"Now the moment you've all been waiting for. The Boulder versus your champion..." 

The boys lean forward more, Aang nearly off his seat, as Xin Fu gestures to a short ravenette the green prize belt held proudly in front.  Asha had looked up finally, looking to the girl as she lowered the belt, her eyes a milky white.

"The Blind Bandit!" 

"She can't really be blind, It's just part of her character, right?"  Katara looks to Asha, whose focused on the girl.

"I think she is." It's Aang who answers first.  Sokka yells something about her going down, but Asha doesn't hear it.

"Look at her eyes, that can't be mimicked." Ashe looks over to Katara finally, it's only a quick glance before she looks back to the bandit. 

"The Boulder feels conflicted about fighting a young, blind girl." The fighter from earlier says, facing the Bandit, not that she would know. 

"Sounds to me like you're scared, Boulder!" The girl laughs, mocking the male. 

"The Boulder's over his conflicted feelings, and now he's ready to bury you in a rock-a-lanche!"  He crushes his hands together, glaring at the girl. 

"Whenever you're ready...The Pebble!" She throws her head back in a laugh. 

Asha leans forward, looking to the girl as the fight starts. In milliseconds, The Boulder attempts to run at the Bandit, a battle cry being yelled out. It's in vain though as the Bandit moves her foot in arc, sending a shock wave of rock towards the Boulder, who steps on it; sliding into a perfect split.

"You go Bandit!" Asha cheers loudly, surprising herself and her friends around her. "Show 'em what a girl can do!" 

The Bandit turns, facing the direction the voice came from, smirking.  Turning back to the Boulder, the girl makes a chopping motion with her hand, three stalagmites erupting from the ground, ejecting him from the ring. 

"Your winner, and still the champion, The Blind Bandit!" Xin Fu yells, raising her fist as he does. 

"No!" Sokka cries.

"Yes!" Asha cheers. 

"How did she do that?"  Katara asks incredulously. 

"She waited, and listened." Aang turns to Katara, smiling,

"To make things a little more interesting,  I'm offering up this sack of gold pieces to anyone who can defeat The Blind Bandit!" Xin fu pauses, looking to the crowd as he holds up a green bag. "What, no one dares to face her?"

"I will!" Asha whips her head toward Aang, who stands walking to get to the Arena. 

"Aang, are you sure about this? I mean, it's an Earth bending fight! We haven't been taught to fight Earth bending style." Asha follows Aang, cringing as she starts to sound like Sokka.  

"I promise, I'll be fine. I just need to get close and talk to her." Aang turns to Asha, holding both of her hands. With a quick hug, he turns to the arena. Huffing, Asha turns back to walk to her seat. 

"Go Aang! Avenge The Boulder!" Sokka cries out as Asha sits next to Katara.

"Do people really want to see two little girls fighting out here?" The bandit mocks, Aang putting his hands up in surrender. 

"I don't really want to fight you. I want to talk to you." 

"Boo! No talking!" Sokka cups his mouth as he yells, her brother hitting him, then chastising him. 

"This can't end well." Asha frowns, looking to the two benders facing off.

___

Asha was, of course, right. Aang had defeated her and took the belt; losing the chance to talk to the girl. She stormed off, shutting the poor boy out. The only way they could think to get close to the Blind Bandit, was to go to the source where they found out about her. 

"I gotta admit, now I'm really glad I bought this bag. It matches the belt perfectly." Sokka smiles as he holds the bag, belt wrapped around his waist.

"That is a big relief." Asha groans, sarcastically, holding Zulu in her arms. Sokka glares at her, the air bender returning it.  

"If we want to find The Blind Bandit, the Earth bending Academy is a good place to start." Aang interrupts their glaring contest. He grabs Asha's hand, leading her away from Sokka as he enters the gates. The two boys from earlier greeting them. 

"Oh great, you two again." 

Katara steps forward, glaring at the boys as Asha stays behind, glaring as well. The two boys flinching back. 

"Yea, didn't think so." Katara growls. 

"Nicely done!" Sokka nods in approval. 

"Hey, you're the kid who beat The Blind Bandit." One of the students walks up to them. 

"We need to talk to her. Do you know where she lives?" 

"The Blind Bandit's a mystery. She shows up to fight, then disappears." The student snarks, Aang looking down disappointed.  

"I got this." Asha smiles sweetly before turning to the student. "You're not telling us everything!" She growls, the boy throwing his hands up in fear. 

"No, no, I swear it's true! No one knows where she goes, or who she really is!" The boy stumbles back in fear, cowering as Asha leans closer with a snarl.

"That's because we're asking about the wrong person. In my vision, I saw a girl in a white dress with a pet flying boar. Know anybody like that?" Aang asks as he pulls Asha back, the student looking about ready to soil himself. How he do that? That boy must not have feared death.

"Well, a flying boar is the symbol of the Bei Fong family. They're the richest people in town, probably the whole world." 

"Yeah, but they don't have a daughter."  

"Flying boar is good enough for me! Let's check it out!" Aang pulls Asha out of the courtyard. 

"Yeah, you better leave." One of the students mumbles, Katara slowly walking out as she turns to the boys. 

"Hey, I've got my eye on you!"  Katara exits, her brother behind her with arms out like an airplane. 

"Water Tribe!" 

___

Asha lands on a large bush beside Katara, grunting as Aang lands next to her. Sokka thumping on the ground. How did they think this was a good idea? Not when the person they were looking for could feel their footsteps. 

"What are you doing here, twinkle toes?" The same girl from the arena approaches the groaning kids.  She now wore a fancy gown that dragged on the ground. 

"How did you know it was me?" Aang looks up to the girl. 

"Don't answer to twinkle toes, it's not manly!" Sokka whines, slowly getting up from the ground. 

"You're the one whose bag matches his belt." Asha snarks, giggling as she does. 

"Your the one from the arena, right? The girl in the stands." The bandit turns to Asha, the girl  looking up as she stood over her. 

"Yea? How did you-" 

"I never forget a voice, especially one that cheers for me." The girl smiles. "On a different note, how did you find me?" The bandit snaps to Aang, who air bends himself to his feet, them offers a hand to Asha, who takes it. 

"Well, a crazy king told me I had to find an Earth bender who listens to the Earth. And then I had a vision in a magic swamp and-" Aang starts, rambling to the Earth bender. 

"What Aang is trying to say is, he's the Avatar; Asha's the Onsra. And it they don't master Earth bending, they won't be able to defeat the fire lord. " Katara steps in. 

"Not my problem. Now get out of here or I'll call the guards." The girl turns to walk away.

"Look, we all have to do our part to win this war. And yours is to teach Aang and Asha Earth bending. " Sokka shrugs as the girl turns around, looking distraught.  

She's silent for a few seconds. "Guards! Guards, help!" She yells, suddenly.  Turning, Asha goes to run, the Blind Bandit grabbing her by the arm before she can get to far.  Aang turns to go back for her, but Katara pulls his arm before the guards can spot them.  Fixing her hair, the girl turns to face the guards, stepping in front of Asha.

"Toph, what happened?" A guard ran up to the girl, Toph.

"I thought I heard someone. I got scared." Toph says sweetly, grabbing Asha's forearm as she does; the air bender smiling nervously at the mean guards staring at her.

"Who is this, Toph?" The guard eyes Asha, skeptical of the stranger.

"This is my personal maid. I'm training her." Toph spits out, still holding onto Asha's arm tightly.

"Just be careful, you know your father doesn't want you wandering the grounds without supervision Toph." The guard says. Escorting the two girls away, Asha looks back; only finding Aang's head pop out of view. 

"So you know my name, but I don't know yours." Toph turns to Asha, arms folded as the guard leaves. 

"Asha. My names Asha."  The air bender smiles at Toph; not that she would know. 

"I assume Onsra Asha." Toph smirks. 

Toph even laughs as she hears a groan from the other girl. "Come on, we gotta get you changed for dinner."

___

Asha's back sat straight against the chair she was perched on, only staring in disbelief at Aang and Toph.  She sat beside the Earth bender, Aang and the others across; all trying to take in the fact that a simple rivalry had become a war, just over dinner. 

"What's your problem?!" Toph shouts first, standing as the bowl fell off her food covered face, 

"What's your problem?!" Aang stands as well. 

"Perhaps we should move to the living room for dessert." Toph's mom is calm as Asha buries her head in her hands, groaning.

___

"Good night, buddy." Aang says quietly as he waves to Appa, Gumi laying beside him. Zulu and Momo both laid inside, cuddling in the corner.

"Thanks for looking after them." Aang turns his head as Asha walks over to him. She was clad in a long, light green dress that dragged along the floor, elegant and pretty. Not that Aang cared, she'd probably look good in a paper bag.

"Not a problem. So, what happened with you and Toph?" Aang moved over, allowing Asha to stand beside him. She took her spot, leaning against his shoulder as his arm, per habit, wrapped around her shoulder.

"Too be honest, not much. We talked about our adventures, her life so far, the air temples. Nothing new." Asha closed her eyes, nuzzling further into Aang, who leaned his head on hers.

The two separate quickly as the door slams open, Toph stepping into the room. She faces the two air benders with her arms crossed. 

"Relax you two. Look, I'm sorry about dinner. Let's call a truce, okay?" 

___

"Even though I was born blind, I've never had a problem seeing." Toph balances on the guardrail as the two air benders walk along the bridge, hand in hand. 

The girl jumps off of the guardrail, landing on the ground. "I see with Earth bending. It's kind of like seeing with my feet. I can feel the vibrations in the Earth, and I can see where everything is. You, Asha, that tree, even those ants." Aang looks around as Toph speaks, spotting everything but the ants.

"That's amazing. You truly have a gift Toph." Asha looks to Toph with a smile, gleefully complimenting the other girl. 

"My parents don't understand. They've always treated me like I was helpless." Toph grunts, folding her arms.

"Is that why you became The Blind Bandit?" Aang tilts his head as he asks, getting a simple 'yea' in reply. "Then why stay here where you're not happy?"  He pushes on.

"They're my parents. Where else am I supposed to go?" 

"Come with us." Asha jumps in, Toph looking in her direction at the suggestion. 

"Yeah. You guys get to go wherever you want. No one telling you what to do, that's the life. Just not my life." Toph drops to her knees, quickly placing her hand on the ground.

"We're being ambushed." 

Aang quickly grabs Toph's arm, Asha bringing up the end as they run back to the house. Their cut off by a gopher trail, another fighter from the arena popping up as the trio fall into combat stances. Asha barely doges as two metal case fall onto the other two, trapping them.  

Asha fires a slice of air to towards the gopher fighter, knocking him off of his feet. She doesn't have time to react as Xin Fu uses Earth bending to lock her hands and feet together, causing her to fall. He picks her up with ease, dragging a finger across her chin.

"Pretty little thing aren't you?" He smirks; Aang growling from his cage as he bangs on the metal bars. His smirk only drops as Asha spits at him, the saliva hitting his cheek.  He throws her to his gang of goons, who gag her with a white cloth shortly after.   

"Now, I think you kids owe me some money."

___

"You think you're so tough!" Toph smacks her hands on the bars of her cage's window. "Why don't you come up here so I can smack that grin off your face."

Asha rolls her eyes, her groan muffled by the cloth. It would've been a cool one-line except for the fact that-

"I'm not smiling." Xin Fu was not smiling.

All eyes turn as Toph's name is called out, said girls father and teacher there; Katara and Sokka following right behind. 

Sokka holds up a green bag, "Here's your money. Now let them go!"  

Toph's Earth bending teacher pushes over the bag with an Earth bending move. Xin Fu opens the bag, inspecting it's contents. Looking satisfied, Xin Fu gives a signal, Toph's cage opening allowing her to fall to the ground. She quickly gets up, running to her father. 

Toph, her father and master started walking away.

"What about the other two?" Katara glares at the fighters and their ring leader. 

Xin Fu smirks and holds up two scrolls. Taking one in each hand, he unrolls them, revealing wanted pictures of both air benders.

"I think the fire nation will pay a hefty price for the Avatar and his Onsra. Now. Get out of my ring." 

Asha and Aang can only watch as Katara and Sokka are quickly surrounded, the two looking to the air benders. Asha tries to smile reassuringly despite the fact that if her friends didn't run, they'd be dead. 

"Go. We'll be okay." Aang waves them off, speaking when Asha couldn't.

They watch as the siblings back away, the two slowly frowning as the fighters close in. 

"Let them go! I beat you all before, and I'll do it again!" All their heads snap to the small girl, who makes a sweeping motion with her hand.

"The Boulder takes issue with that comment." The self named fighter glares at Toph. 

She winces as she hears a metal case crash onto the ground, then a thump.  The water tribe siblings move to help her, but Toph stops them. "Wait. They're mine. "

Katara and Sokka watch as Toph knocks back the fighters. She creates a dust cloud, hiding her actions from the rest of the group; they only watch as one of the fighters - fire nation man- flies out, crashing into the wall below the bleachers. Moving around the cloud, Sokka and Katara run over to where Asha and Aang are.  Asha's binds were now interchanged with ropes, which Katara easily untied; allowing Asha to untie the gag around her mouth. Running over, Katara tried helping her brother with Aang's cage. 

"Hit it harder!" Aang whines, watching as Asha looks to Sokka.

"I'm trying!"  Sokka whines right back. 

The four only glance as another fighter flies from the cloud of dust, flying into Fire nation man. 

Sokka slams a rock into the metal case one last time, breaking the lock. Aang jumps out, ready to fight until Asha grabs his shoulder, shaking his head as she points to Toph.  They watch as Toph stands in the center of the ring. The Boulder and Hippo charging from opposite sides of the arena, a face painted man swinging from above.

Toph makes several motions and the stone circle turns. She stands in the clear as the three men fly into each other,  Toph ejecting them from the arena shortly after.

Xin Fu and Toph face off, staring at each other. The man cracks his neck as Toph spits to the side, the tension growing. The two start circling each other, Xin Fu jumping into action as he a series of boulders towards Toph, who creates two triangular sheets to shield her. Sending half of her shield toward the ring leader, who narrowly dodges it by launching himself into the air. As Xin Fu starts landing, he turns so his hands delve into the Earth. He chucks a chunk of Earth towards Toph. Stepping to the side, the Earth bender side steps, avoiding the attack; her face impassive. 

Finally, Toph turns to throw her own attack, successfully hitting Xin Fu out of the ring.  The raven is shocked as pair of arms wraps around her, pulling her tight. 

"I knew you could do it!" Asha squeals, Toph tapping the girls arm, enjoying the touch even if she wouldn't admit it.

***

" 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 earth bender. 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 sixteen 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." Toph faces her father, her head down low. 

"Of course it doesn't change the way I feel about you, Toph. It's made me realize something." Her dad stares back, not that Toph would know.

"It has?" 

"Yes. I've let you have far too much freedom. From now on, you will be cared for and guarded 24 hours a day."  Toph's dad is grim faced. 

"But dad-" 

"We are doing this for your own good, Toph." Her mother buts in. 

"Please escort the Avatar and his friends out. They are no longer welcome here." 

Asha and Aang turn their heads. 

"I'm sorry Toph." Aang speaks for both of them. 

"I'm sorry too. Goodbye, Aang. Asha." Toph lifts her face, a tear streaking down.

Escaping the guards reach, Asha quickly runs over to Toph. Hugging the girl tightly, which the raven returns, Asha feeling a few of own tears fall.

___

"We'll find you guys another teacher. There are plenty of amazing Earth benders out there." Katara tries cheering the two up.

"Not like her." Aang frowns.

Asha turns as footsteps invade her hearing. There she finds the same Raven running towards them. 

"Toph, what are you doing here?" Aang smiles as he looks to her. 

"My dad changed his mind! He said I was free to travel the world!"  She smiles, facing the group. 

"Well, we'd better get out of here- before your dad changes his mind again. " Sokka looks to his sister quickly as he speaks. 

"Good Idea." 

"You're gonna be a great teacher, Toph." Asha smiles as she wraps an arm around the other girl.

"Speaking of which, Aang I want to show you something." Toph smirks slyly, the foolish air bender hoping out of the saddle without a second guess. He's quickly thrown into the nearby tree by earth bending, Asha laughing as he hangs.

"Now we're even. And I'll take the belt back." Toph extends her hand to Sokka, who drops it over the saddle. 

"Ow!" 

"Sorry!"