A/N; Okay fyi there may be a few things in here that break the canon, but oh well it's my story suck it up HEHEHE.

Ngl, at first I had zero ideas for this chapter but it actually became one of the most fun to write once I started lol. The key to this particular episode - do not take it seriously. Like at all. Just have fun with it. I mean we are talking about the introduction of Melon Lord, after all.

Azami P.o.V.

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

"Then you should get it. You deserve something nice."

Sokka grinned as he glanced over at his sister. "I do, don't I? But... no, it's too expensive. I shouldn't."

Oh for agni's sake, Azami thought to herself as she leaned against the store wall with Aang. Sokka had now officially reached a new level of irritating that she hadn't even considered possible before now, and that was including his obsession with pipes in that godforsaken town they just left a few days prior.

"Alright, then don't," Katara stated simply as they all started to walk away from the shop, voicing everyone else's thoughts.

About two seconds later, Sokka raced back to drooling over the same bag again, as he had already done five times prior. "You know what? I'm gonna get it!"

"Great, now can we please go?" Azami begged, officially exhausted by Sokka's now twenty-minute long decision paralysis. 

The boy in question just frowned again, before sighing as his body drooped. "I really shouldn't though, it's too-"

"WOULD YOU JUST BUY THE BLOODY BAG ALREADY?" Azami yelled at him, ignoring the sudden stares from passerbys as Sokka flinched before grabbing the bag sheepishly and pulling out their few remaining coins. It was obvious he wanted it, and until he had it he'd keep busying himself with delaying his purchase, driving her insane in the process.

Once he had it, the two went to join Katara and Aang, who were now looking at some sort of flyer in the airbender's hand. "...could be the earthbending teacher you've been looking for," Katara smiled optimistically.

Looking down at it, Azami read the offer stated;

Come one, come all! Welcoming all young and aspiring earthbenders!

Learn from the greatest Earthbending teacher in the whole town of Gaoling! Work hard, and you can quickly earn your next belt to demonstrate your skill!

Only $15 per lesson, or $150 per month at a great discount value!

We look forward to welcoming you into our wonderful academy!

Having to squint slightly, she looked at a cluster of tiny letters scribbled at the bottom of the backside of the flyer;

(Master Yu academy not responsible for any and all injuries potentially sustained while on site, including but not limited to; cuts, bruises, concussions, broken bones, internal bleeding, amnesia, paralysis, or blood poisoning. No discounts for the young or impaired. Practice rocks sold seperately.)

"You sure about this?" Azami wondered aloud, glancing down at the flyer nervously. "Sounds like a lot more trouble than it's worth."

Aang shrugged. "It's worth a shot, right?"

Yeah... he definitely didn't read the fine print.

"Eh, he's not the one," Aang grumbled to himself as he slapped the side of his head, dirt coming out of his ear, looking strange in new his earthbending student uniform. Having seen how hard he got hit, Azami considered him lucky that's all he got away with.

"I think the Boulder is gonna win back the belt at Earth Rumble Six," a voice echoed from nearby, and the four all perked up to see two young earthbenders leaving the academy.

The second one scoffed. "He's gonna have to fight his way through the best earthbenders in the world to even get a shot at the champ.

Grinning wildly, Aang leaped up immediately and raced over towards them. "Excuse me!" he called out to the two boys. "Where is this earhbending tournament exactly?"

"It's on the island of noneoya," the first boy with the mohawk began. "None o' ya business!"

The two laughed as they walked away, leaving Aang disappointed - and, much to Azami's displeasure, Sokka was also laughing as he came up beside the airbender. "Oh," he forced out between gasps. "I got to remember that one."

Glancing over at Katara, Azami smirked as she saw the waterbender having a bit of an evil glint in her eyes. The two smiled, and Katara gently put her hands on Aang's shoulders as she leaned down beside him. "We'll take care of this," she assured him before the two girls took off after the earthbenders. "Hey strong guys! Wait up!"

As they rounded the corner into a side alley, the two boys turned around in surprise to see Katara and Azami both leaning against a wall, Azami hiding slightly behind her bangs and pretending to look a bit shy while Katara gently played with her braid.

Mohawk boy grinned as he straightened his back slightly. "Well, how can we help you ladies?"

"Oh, we were just wondering where this earthbending tournament is," Azami asked innocently, twiddling her thumbs in front of her. "Maybe we could go with you guys?"

The two looked like their birthdays had come early. "How about we, heh, show you the way instead?"

"I'm afraid that won't work," Azami replied simply as she met Katara's gaze again. Azami sent a sly wink towards her, and the waterbender instantly pulled water out of her pouch and froze the torsos of the two boys, then lifted them both screaming onto the wall so they were hanging at a ninety-degree angle out from it, the friction between their heads holding them up.

Grinning, the two girls both approached them, and Azami summoned a small blue flame in her palm as she stared down at the two boys that were now beneath her. "Now, let's try that again, shall we?"

"You ready to find an earthbending teacher?" Katara announced proudly as the two returned to Aang and Sokka. "Because we're going to Earth Rumble Six!"

The airbender looked at the two girls in shock while Sokka picked his bag up off the ground, which Momo had turned into his new home. "How did you get them to tell you?" Aang asked, confused.

"Oh, we girls have our ways," Azami smirked as she patted Aang's shoulder softly. 

As it turned out, getting to the tournament was stupidly simple. Before they knew it, the gaang had arrived at a huge underground arena, with stands all surrounding a fairly large centeral ring. Azami sat down first, with Sokka next to her, then Aang and Katara.

"Hey, front row seats!" Aang exclaimed as they all sat down, Azami with a bag of popcorn in hand. "I wonder why no one else is sitting here."

Azami just shrugged as she started eating her popcorn, but on the next glance up she yelped in surprise as a massive boulder came flying right at her. Sadly, she had to ditch the popcorn as she launched herself over towards Sokka, the boulder missing her by only a few inches as it smashed into the seat she was just occupying.

Looking over at Sokka, she blushed slightly as she quickly let go of him, not having realized she grabbed onto him in the first place. The thoughts soon left her mind, though, as she gazed down sadly at her popcorn, now all scattered on the floor.

Why was she made to suffer? What did she do to deserve such a fate?

She didn't have long to dwell on the single greatest catastrophe of her life, though, because soon there was a disturbance in the center of the arena, and her attention turned towards the man now emerging from within the earth.

"Welcome to Earth Rumble Six!" he announced in a blaring voice, met by the cheers of the crowd. "I am your host, Xin Fu!"

From the far side of Sokka and Aang, Katara just sighed as she looked down at her nails. "This is just gonna be a bunch of guys chucking rocks at each other, isn't it?"

"That's what I paid for," Sokka responded slyly.

Xin Fu continued speaking from down in the arena, and Azami strained her ears slightly to hear him over the crowd. "The rules are simple. Just knock the other guy out of the ring, and you win!"

He quickly used his bending to leap up onto a podium overlooking the arena, getting ready to announce the first round. Sadly, Katara's prediction turned out to be true, as two ridiculously buff guys came out and started to duel. For some reason, Sokka seemed to get super attached to one called the Boulder, who was obsessed with referring to himself in third person, and to Aang's point, 'only listens to his muscles'.

Unfortunately, as she was still sitting next to him, Azami ended up going nearly half-deaf from Sokka's constant screaming and cheering as the rounds continued. The highlight of the evening for him - though certainly not for her - was when a man cosplaying as a Fire Nation soldier came out to duel.

Naturally, the crowd booed him, including Sokka, but at this point Azami had learned not to take it personally. She just sat back and enjoyed the match - at least, that is, until the 'Fire Nation Man™' ended up getting smashed right into the boulder that had nearly crushed Azami only minutes prior.

"Yeahhh! Woooo!" Sokka screamed at him while Azami just covered both her ears and tried to disappear entirely. "The Boulder knows how to put the hurt in the dirt! Yeahh, woooo!"

Oh, and on top of this, the arena used badgermoles to sweep up excess earth. That's certainly something.

Over an hour passed, with all the matches ending nearly the same - the Boulder coming out on top. It didn't matter who he faced - even a guy who was tunneling through the earth - he always came out on top.

After what was starting to feel like a never-ending nightmare, the lights in the arena FINALLY dimmed, with only Xin Fu's podium still highlighted. "Now, the moment you've all been waiting for," he announced. "The Boulder versus your champion - the Blind Bandit!"

The lights came back to reveal a... girl. A tiny girl, definitely no older than Aang (physically, at least). She was wearing a long green cape, and holding the championship belt above her head, but perhaps the most striking part of her feature was her washed out eye color. "She can't really be blind, can she?" Katara asked skeptically. "It's just part of her character, right?"

"I think she is," Aang wondered.

"I think she is... going down!" Sokka exclaimed, still obviously rooting for the Boulder.

Down on the pitch, the two prepared to fight. "The Boulder feels conflicted about fighting a young, blind girl," the Boulder muttered loudly.

"Sounds to me like you're scared, Boulder," the girl smirked.

The Boulder straightened slightly, his face hardening. "The Boulder's over his conflicted feelings, and now he's ready to bury you, in a rock-alanche!"

The girl just continued to grin as she stretch her arm out towards him, inviting his challenge. "Whenever you're ready, the pebble!"

I like her, Azami smiled softly as Aang gasped, as though he remembered something important. Before she could ask him, though, the Boulder had already made his move in starting the match. As he started racing towards the small girl, she responded by simply sliding a foot outwards into a stance Azami had never seen before. Almost like she was... waiting for him.

Before the Boulder had taken even two steps, the girl simply kicked her foot into the ground, and a small line of earth raced towards her opponent. As he stepped down, the line caught his foot and dragged him sideways into a split, which caused him to let out a less-than-subtle scream of pain as he was clearly stretched beyond his body's limit.

The Blind Bandit then simply followed up with a quick jerk of her hand, and three small pillars of earth shot right into the Boulder's back, throwing him straight into the wall of the stands. "Your winner, and still the champion, the Blind Bandit!" Xin Fu proclaimed as the crowds cheered for her.

As for the gaang - they were all simply staring down in shock, unable to believe what had just transpired. Azami had seen powerful earthbending before, especially when Aang fought Bumi on their first return visit to Omashu, but this was a different kind of skill that she'd never seen before.

"How did she do that?" Katara wondered aloud while Sokka started sobbing at the Boulder's defeat.

"She waited, and listened," Aang replied with an excited grin.

Down in the ring, Xin Fu jumped down from his podium with a massive sack of coins in his hand. "To make things a little more interesting, I'm offering up this sack of gold pieces, to anyone who can defeat the Blind Bandit!" When no one responded, the announcer scoffed. "What? No one dares to face her?"

"I will!"

Caught off guard, Azami's gaze instantly flicked towards Aang as she realized he was now down on the pitch. This isn't going to end well, she thought bitterly, but there was no stopping him now.

"Go Aang!" Sokka cheered. "Avenge the Boulder!"

Xin Fu leaped up off the pitch again as the Blind Bandit and Aang faced each other. "Do people really want to see two little girls fighting out here?" the girl mocked as the crowd oohed in response.

"I don't really want to fight you," Aang admitted while putting his hands up in a placating gesture. "I want to talk to you."

"Boo!" Sokka yelled down at them. "No talking!"

Once again, Azami was forced to slap him upside the head while Katara scolded him, and honestly her hand was getting a little tired of it at this point.

Returning her attention to the match, it was going about as she expected. The Blind Bandit would somehow sense wherever he was while touching the ground, bend at him, then Aang would float away gently. That is, until he suddenly used his airbending to push her out of the arena.

The crowd, along with Xin Fu, went silent for a moment before erupting into cheers. While Sokka and Katara both grinned at the airbender's success, Azami couldn't help grimacing slightly - even here, in the Earth Kingdom, attracting unwanted attention was no good thing.

The Blind Bandit stormed off, despite Aang begging her to wait and to be his teacher, so the airbender returned to the arena defeatedly where a disgruntled Xin Fu was holding both the champion belt and the sack of coins. Sokka quickly grabbed both before pulling Aang into a side hug. "Way to go, champ!"

Sokka P.o.V.

"I gotta admit, now I'm really glad I bought this bag," Sokka grinned as he gazed down fondly at his new accessories. "It matches the belt perfectly."

The others just deadpanned at him. "That is a big relief," Katara muttered.

"If we want to find the Blind Bandit, the earthbending academy is a good place to start," Aang announced as the group approached Master Yu's academy. Honestly, Sokka didn't really get why he wanted the Blind Bandit - clearly, the Boulder was superior - but it was his call as the Avatar.

As they walked in, the only people Sokka could see were the same two boys Azami and Katara had raced after the previous day. The two were busy smashing their hands into large buckets filled with earth, but they both paused to look up as they heard the gaang's arrival.

"Oh great," Mohawk boy grunted as he saw them approaching. "You again."

With one glare from Katara and Azami, the two boys instantly flinched and yelped, their demeanors changing immediately to fear. "Yeah, I didn't think so," Katara smirked.

"Nicely done," Sokka praised the two. Clearly, whatever trick they used worked, and considering the bending power between them he could only imagine what they came up with.

"Hey, you're the kid who beat the Blind Bandit," the long-haired boy breathed in awe as he pointed to Aang.

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

"The Blind Bandit's a mystery," Mohawk boy muttered mysteriously. "She shows up to fight, then disappears."

Azami sighed before placing a hand on Aang's shoulder. "Let me handle this," she assured him before marching up to the two boys, who had both turned pale. "You're not telling us everything, now spill!"

"No no, I swear it's true!" the long-haired boy pleaded. "No one knows where she goes, or who she really is!"

The firebender seemed unimpressed, and Sokka grew a little nervous as he saw her hand curling behind her back, a tiny flame sparking. "That's because we're asking about the wrong person," Aang thankfully realized, clearing some of the tension. "In my vision, I saw a girl in a white dress, with a pet flying boar. Know anybody like that?"

"Well, a flying boar is the symbol of the Beifong family," Mohawk boy admitted while the other was cowering behind him, still nervous under Azami's glare. "They're the richest people in town. Probably the whole world."

The other boy peeked out, his face still pale. "Y-yeah, but they don't have a daughter."

"A flying boar is good enough for me," Aang grinned happily as he turned to the others. "Let's check it out."

As they went to leave, the two boys scoffed behind them. "Yeah, you better lea-"

Before he could finish, the two yelped as they ducked beneath a small burst of blue flame racing above their heads. "Shut it," Azami hissed at them before marching out after Aang.

"We've got our eyes on you," Katara threatened as she too left.

Sokka, who was the only one left in the academy, decided he wanted to go out in style. So, putting his hands out in a groovy gesture, he just walked out backwards. "Water tribe," he whispered with a grin before spinning around to follow the others.

Azami P.o.V.

"You were right, bad idea."

Azami smirked as she crossed her arms, a sense of immense satisfaction washing over her. "I told you, but did you listen?"

Aang's brilliant plan to get a young girl to abandon her home and teach him bending? Trespass on her property. Yeah, Azami saw that mess coming a mile away and decided to wait outside the Beifong estate, and within a matter of a few minutes the others all returned, Sokka's chin a little bruised.

"Well, I've got another idea," Aang grinned. "Follow me."

This second idea proved to be far more sensible. For once, Aang simply walked up to the front gate and played the 'I'm the Avatar' card. Turns out, that really opens doors in places that aren't occupied by the Fire Nation. Soon after requesting an audience, one of the estate's guards returned, inviting them all inside.

While their daughter seemed annoyed, her parents proved to be kind enough hosts, offering them all, along with their guest, Master Yu, a place at the dinner table and food to eat. As the servants came out with bowls of soup for all of them, the girl's father turned to the servant, seeming concerned. "Blow on it," he instructed. "It's too hot for her."

"Allow me," Aang smiled before blowing a small gust of air over at the girl's bowl, cooling it. While the Beifongs all clapped, Azami frowned as she felt her bowl, which was cold. Whether by intention or accident was unclear, but nevertheless,  while the others were distracted she discreetly placed her hand against the side, channeling a small amount of heat into the bowl until it was steaming like the others.

A rather niche trick, but a useful one.

Rather than get lost in the conversation, Azami simply focused on eating - that is, until Aang yelped in pain and leaped out his chair. Looking up in confusion, she saw the airbender glaring at the young girl, who was simply eatiing in peace.

"Toph is still learning the basics," Master Yu explained to Aang, who seemed irritated for some reason.

Toph's father glanced down sadly at his food. "Yes. And sadly, because of her blindness, I don't think she will ever become a true master."

"Oh, I'm sure she's better than you think she is," Aang insisted before suddenly faceplanting into his soup. The whole room now full-on staring at him, he just rose with an unamused expression, the bowl sticking to his head and soup dripping down the sides. As he wiped his face with his hands, he smirked quickly before starting to fake a sneeze.

Being far more familiar with airbenders than the others, Azami instantly knew what was about to happen and quickly ducked under the table, the blast from Aang's sneeze echoing loudly around her. As she pulled herself back up, she was shocked by the absolute mess that was the room - everyone and everything but her was covered in food.

"What's your problem?" Toph snapped as she slammed her hands on the table.

Aang quickly responded in kind. "What's your problem?"

As Toph's father just glanced between the two kids in confusion, her mother tried to step in and play damage control. "Well, shall we move to the living room for dessert, then?"

Aang P.o.V.

"Good night, buddy."

Aang smiled softly as he rubbed Appa's head through the bedroom window. The Beifongs had been kind enough to let them all stay the night, even despite the mess that was dinner, which he was prepared to accept partial responsibility for. He still didn't get what Toph's deal was, though.

Speaking of the earthbender, a pair of soft footsteps soon echoed from the doorway, and Aang yelped in surprise as he saw Toph leaning against the doorframe. "Relax," she snapped, before softening her tone slightly. "Look, I'm sorry about dinner. Let's call a truce, okay?"

Surprised, Aang actually did relax his stance. He nodded in response, and soon he and Toph were wandering the grounds alone. She told him about how she could see with earthbending, by listening to the vibrations in the earth, how it allowed her to see things that he couldn't...

"Even those ants," she finished, and after looking around the darkness Aang returned his gaze to Toph, immensely impressed. 

"That's amazing," he breathed in awe.

Her shoulders slumped in response, and for some reason her tone started sounding more defeated as she spoke. "My parents don't understand," she muttered. "They've always treated me like I was helpless."

"Is that why you became the Blind Bandit?" Aang wondered, Toph nodding in confirmation. "Then why stay here where you're not happy?"

"They're my parents," she protested to him. "Where else am I supposed to go?"

Aang grinned. "You could come with us."

"Yeah, you guys get to go wherever you want," Toph bitterly stated. "No one telling you what to do - that's the life. It's just not my life."

Taking a few steps forward, Aang stood next to her as he gazed out into the darkness ahead of them. "It could be, you know," he offered. "Azami and I both left everyone we knew behind, and I was barely any older than you are now. I still am, actually, if you take away those hundred years we spent in the iceberg."

He hesitated, and when she didn't reply, he pushed onwards. "I know it's hard. Leaving people that you love, who love and care for you - it's one of the hardest things you can do. But sometimes it's the right thing, and you have to step up - sometimes, even, for no one but yourself."

"You sound like a wise, old person," Toph remarked, and Aang chuckled nervously. In all fairness, he had been raised by several wise old people, so they probably rubbed off on him a bit. "Thanks, Aang. I'll-"

She paused, her head twitching to the side. "We're being ambushed!" she suddenly cried out, and the two tried to run - only to get caught in metal cages. Great.

A moment later, a massive weight collapsed on to Aang's cage and started pounding away at it, pushing his cage down slightly into the earth. Gripping the bars of the small opening, Aang glared at the announcer for Earth Rumble Six, Xin Fu.

"I think you kids owe me some money," he grinned at them.

Azami P.o.V.

"If you want to see your daughter again, bring five hundred gold pieces to the arena," Katara read aloud from the note left behind. "It's signed Xin Fu and the Boulder."

Sokka took the parchment in hand, gazing at it in shock. "I can't believe it," he muttered before suddenly bursting into a grin and collapsing to his knees. "I have the Boulder's autograph!"

Azami sighed as she marched over to Sokka, officially tired of slapping him - but, nevertheless, he deserved it. So, one resounding smack and a yelp of pain later, and he was soon looking sheepish as she glared daggers at him. "Would you be a little considerate?" she hissed before jabbing a thumb over at Toph's sobbing mother.

"Sorry," Sokka muttered before tucking the parchment into his pocket.

"Poor Toph," Mrs. Beifong cried as she knelt next to the carved sections of earth. "She must be so scared."

Yeah... I doubt it.

Well, she was right! One point Azami!

Getting Toph back was easy enough. As soon as they all got to the arena and handed Xin Fu the gold pieces, the young girl's cage was lowered from the chain it was hanging from and quickly opened, allowing her to run back to her parents.

"What about Aang?" Katara demanded as she looked up at the airbender, who was still stuck in his suspended cage.

Xin Fu unfurled a copy of the wanted posters Azami had seen put up for both Aang and herself, a maniacal grin crossing his face. "I think the Fire Nation will pay a hefty price for the Avatar," he boasted before turning to face Azami. "You as well, your highness."

As soon as he said that, all the other earthbenders that had competed the previous evening started to appear around them. Rather than waiting to be attacked, Azami quickly leaped up and sent a blast outwards from her foot at the chain holding Aang's cage, causing him to fall. The earthbenders quickly surrounded her as she jumped onto Aang's cage, holding a dagger of fire in each hand, daring them to come closer. 

Before she knew it, she was completely blocked off from Katara and Sokka. Even though she was outnumbered, though, she wasn't going to let them take her without a fight.

Unfortunately, they weren't quite as stupid as she hoped, and all charged in at once. She desperately kicked a flame at over half of them, and while those guys backed off - one even screaming in pain as the fire seared into his face - it did nothing to stop the rock that smashed right into her other leg, tripping her and causing her head to slam right into Aang's cage, dazing her.

Glancing up, she saw the Hippo and the Boulder both enter her vision, but before they could do anything, a massive brown cloud suddenly erupted around them. After blinking a few times and shaking her head slightly, Azami pulled herself back up to notice that she was completely surrounded by a swirl of dust. 

To her left, she heard a scream followed by an earthbender flying over her head and out of sight. Out of the cloud came Toph, carrying her signature smirk. "I've got these guys," she informed Azami, catching a boulder flying at her back without even turning around before heading back off into the cloud again.

Oh, she definitely liked this new girl.

After Toph had headed back in to fight, Azami crawled down to the bottom of Aang's cage, using a small fire to melt the lock on it. Soon enough, he pulled himself out, looking ready to fight - but Azami simply shook her head, and he seemed to get the message.

It wasn't long before the dust cloud cleared completely, revealing Toph and Xin Fu as the only earhbenders still standing. The others all lay clumped in a pile outside the arena, groaning in pain. Rather than interfere, the two simply sat back and watched the brewing fight.

Xin Fu cracked his neck a few times before setting himself in a ready stance - Toph, on the other hand, simply spat on the arena before the two started to circle one another.

The tension continued to rise for a moment longer, until Xin Fu seemingly lost his patience and started to send nearly a dozen boulders flying towards the girl. Instead of dealing with each one individually, Toph just pulled a pyramid-like structure up in front of her, the incoming rocks all bouncing or breaking on impact.

As soon as they stopped coming, Toph sent half the pyramid flying towards Xin Fu, who dodged to the side to avoid it. As he stuck his hand into the ground for balance, he flung a smaller rock at Toph - which proved to be a mistake. She sidestepped it with ease, and before he could move, Toph had easily sent Xin Fu flying out of the arena, were he slammed into the stands right next to Master Yu and Toph's father.

From where they were watching, Sokka just let out an astonished squeal before collapsing while Katara ran over to join the others. "That was amazing, Toph!" she exclaimed, to which Azami wholeheartedly agreed - the young girl was easily the most talented bender she'd ever met.

Sokka P.o.V.

"Dad, I know it's probably hard for you to see me this way, but the obedient little helpless blind girl that you think I am just isn't me," Toph confessed as she faced her parents rather awkwardly. "I love fighting. I love being an earthbender! And I'm really, really good at it!"

Sokka smiled softly at the girl's speech - while he still admittedly was a Boulder fan, he'd gained a lot of respect for the young earthbender. He knew first-hand how hard it was to deal with the weight of a parent's expectations, and even moreso to stand up to them.

"I know I've kept my life secret from you, but you were keeping me secret from the whole world," Toph continued. "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."

Her father closed his eyes as his expression softened. "Of course it doesn't change the way I feel about you, Toph," he assured her, but Sokka could feel something was off about him. "It's... made me realize something."

"It has?" Toph asked hopefully.

Sokka's gut twisted as her father's expression hardened. "Yes," he nodded. "I've let you have far too much freedom. From now on, you will be cared for and guarded twenty-four hours a day!"

"But dad-!"

"We are doing this for your own good, Toph," her mother insisted.

Sokka winced at that, not at all appreciating the similarities to his father's words when he left. "Please escort the Avatar and his friends out," Mr. Beifong announced as he rose. A servant came up next to the gaang, and Sokka knew that it was time to leave. "They are no longer welcome here."

"I'm sorry, Toph," Aang muttered sadly as they left.

She replied in kind, offering a tearful apology as she was forced to stay behind with her parents. Honestly, Sokka understood where they were coming from, but it wasn't right of them to simply ignore her requests. Or who she actually is, for that matter.

Soon enough, they were once again packing up on Appa, ready to continue their journey... wherever. Personally, Sokka was much more concerned with the fact that his belt was now covered in dust, so he took to polishing it while the two girls comforted Aang.

That is, until his head snapped up at the sound of footsteps racing towards them, and he quickly got up on Appa's saddle to see Toph racing towards them, panting slightly. "What are you doing here?" Aang exclaimed happily.

"My dad changed his mind," she replied. "He said I was free to travel the world." Sokka could easily tell she was lying through her teeth - there was absolutely no way he just did a complete one-eighty like that. Still, he could respect her desire to run away, and since Aang did need to learn earthbending as soon as possible, he wasn't going to say anything to stop her.

So after sharing a quick glance with Katara, he smiled down at the young girl. "Well, we'd better get out of here. Before your dad changes his mind again."

"Good idea," Toph smirked before calling Aang over to 'show him something'. As soon as the airbender landed on the ground, she immediately kicked him up into a nearby tree with her bending, and Sokka couldn't help the snort he let out. "Now we're even. Um, I'll take the belt back, too."

Grumbling to himself, Sokka reluctantly pried the belt off of his waist and casually tossed it down, not realizing he'd just thrown it at her head. Naturally, she yelped in pain as the metal made contact with her, and he muttered a soft apology before Azami could slap him again. He was getting really tired of that, even if he deserved it some of the time.

Okay, most of the time. 

A/N; Let it be known - melon lord has joined the gaang. I repeat; our lord and savior, the great melon lord, has entered the story.

(side note; if someone can find a small fic that is like those national geographic memes, only one about observing the wild toph in her natural habitat, please send it to me. I would be eternally grateful.)

Anyways, as per usual hope you guys enjoyed