Opening Old Wounds

The earth quaked and falling leaves flew violently in the wind. A clash between two mighty elements, a battle between earth, and air. Neither element seemed to give way to the power struggle that laid waste to the small clearing in the otherwise peaceful forest.

"Would you just stay still!?" Toph shouted with exasperation as she launched stone after stone at the nimble airbender. Though she tried, she just couldn't seem to land a hit on him. He barely seemed to touch the ground so she couldn't accurately feel where he was.

The airbender in question only laughed at the frustration of the small earthbender, practically floating as he lightly hopped from one spot to the other. "What, not so easy when you don't have the element of surprise?" Zangpo snickered lightly, just barely dodging the rock pillar that suddenly erupted fiercely from the ground in front of him.

They had been 'fighting' for several minutes, with Toph trying to land a strike on him while he practiced his dodging, attempting to hone his instincts. Occasionally, he would send a gust of wind at her, sending her careening towards the ground. With her not really able to 'see' him because of how often he'd float off the ground when he jumped, the airbender could end the battle easily. However, that wasn't the point of this exercise. They both needed the experience in bending combat, so he tried to prolong their practices as long as possible.

It's been almost a week since their fateful encounter at the Beifong estate, and they had trained with each other almost every day since. Thanks to the tips from Toph, Zangpo had been able to fine tune his air-sensory ability. His ability now allowed him to accurately visualize what he felt in the air.

He began to feel things with the air as if it were an extension of himself, almost as if the boy was able to see through the air. After some practice, Zangpo was much more sensitive to his element than ever before.

Practically growling at the boy as he moved around her, the young earthbender stomped at the ground, sending out a wide area of effect attack that surrounded her. Catching him off guard, the airbender could barely react in time as the earth beneath him exploded into columns and spikes of dense rock. 

As soon as he felt the earth shift beneath his feet, Zangpo leapt off the rising stone and launched himself high into the air. "That was a good move, you almost had me." He ground out from his place near the branches of the trees above him, nearly all of concentration being used to keep himself afloat.

Currently, all he could do was manipulate the air beneath his feat, creating somewhat of a powerful updraft as thrust to stay hovering in the air. Even though he has been practicing control with his element as he pickpocketed ignorant nobles, he just didn't have the control or familiarity with the inner workings of his element to fly. So for the moment, hovering in the air was the best he could do. However, it took a lot of focus, thus he wasn't able to really multitask while doing it, yet.

"Come on down, scaredy pants." She taunted, looking in the direction his voice had come from. The earthbender knew what his limitations were, she knew that he wouldn't be able to attack her once he was hovering in the air. With a smirk forming on her face, Toph threw her arms down to her sides. Almost immediately, rock began to cover her small form.

Groaning in response, he knew that he couldn't penetrate her defense, yet. Zangpo hadn't developed any techniques to be able to penetrate rock. Sure his airblade can gouge deep marks into trees, but was it enough to gouge out rock? He hadn't even tried it on anything other than wood.

Hearing him groan, Toph punched out and sent a fist-sized rock hurtling towards him.

Canceling the thrust keeping him in the air, he threw a hand to his side and sent a torrent of wind, propelling him in the opposite direction to avoid Toph's attack. Figuring it was worth a try, while he was falling out of the air, he sent a powerful airblade towards her armored form. 

Surprisingly, his attack actually managed to throw her off her feet, blasting apart the rock around her chest. While she was still recovering from his attack, once Zangpo hit the ground, he immediately began to wave his arms in a wide circle, encompassing Toph in a large sphere of spinning winds. Trapped in his attack, she was helpless as she was lifted off the ground.

"Do you yield?" He laughed, still waving his arms to keep her struggling form afloat as she desperately tried to connect with her element.

"In your dreams, Windmill!" She said defiantly, breaking apart her armor to take control of the little earth she had access to. Attempting to launch the rocks she had at her disposal through the walls off the wind sphere, the earthbender was sorely disappointed as they were merely ground to dust as they made contact with the vicious winds.

Zangpo had a pleased grin on his face as Toph desperately tried to get out of his cage. "Come on, there's no shame in a humbling defeat…" He teased, watching as her face grew more and more annoyed by the second.

After almost a full minute of fruitless escape attempts, the earthbender let out a frustrated sigh. "Alright, alright, I give up. You win." She pouted cutely, standing in the air with her arms crossed in a sign of defeat.

The airbender couldn't keep the wide smirk off his face as he slowly lowered Toph to the ground. Once her feet touched the cool forest floor again, she let out a satisfied sigh and began to kiss the ground. "Ground, sweet ground, oh how I love you."

Chuckling lightly at her reaction, he couldn't help but tease her more. "Should I leave you two alone for some privacy?"

Showing no other reaction to his taunting than rolling her eyes, she ignored him as the earthbender began to make earth-angels in the dirt. Zangpo looked on in fascination, it always amazed him how earthbenders could manipulate the consistency of earth to such levels—from solid to liquid back to solid again, it was awesome.

He still hasn't attempted to condense air yet, but he planned to soon, probably after Toph leaves. Watching how earthbenders manipulated their element gave him some ideas. If he condensed the air enough, could it become similar to a solid?

Shelving the thought for now, Zangpo came back to the present. "No hard feelings?" He asked with a smile, offering his hand to her.

"Yeah, yeah, no hard feelings," She replied with a smile of her own, taking his offered hand as he helped her up off the ground.

After a few days of talking and hanging out, Toph confided in him and told him about her dream of being the best earthbender in the world. They shared similar goals, the only difference being that Zangpo wanted to be the best bender, period. Both kids wanted to leave their mark on the world, to change the way people viewed their respective elements. The friends promised to help each other as best as they could in accomplishing their dreams.

Toph had even promised that later that night she could sneak him into her house and into her parents' library, much to his enthusiasm. It was a long shot that the Beifongs possessed any books on airbenders, but it was worth a shot nonetheless. The young earthbender would be home alone that night with a couple trusted guards while her parents went out to dinner for their anniversary. She didn't know when they'd get a chance like this again, so it was the only opportunity that Zangpo would get for a while.

After telling each other what they could improve on, Toph filled in Zangpo on the plan once nightfall came around. Once her parents left for their date, she would take her guards with her as she walked around the large estate. The airbender will be waiting outside of the garden near where they first met using his air-sensory ability, staying behind their property's wall to keep out of sight. 

When Toph and her guards walk out of his ability's detection range, that's when he was to make his move. Speeding across their large garden as quietly as he could, he'd have half an hour to look through the Beifong's book collection before Toph came back. That should be more than enough time to get what he came for.

Saying farewell to each other, the blind earthbender made her way back home before anyone would suspect that she was missing. Wanting to experiment a little with his bending, Zangpo stayed behind to train some more. 

Getting into position, he began to meditate in the middle of the destroyed clearing. Using his air-sensory ability, the airbender visualized his surroundings. He followed the air currents as they flowed around him, between trees, and over the many rocks that littered the ground. Thanks to Toph's tips on seeing with her bending, he had come to some very enlightening conclusions.

She could see through the earth via vibrations in the rock, but that also applied to the air as well. Sound, for example, traveled through earth, water, fire, and air… all sound is vibration at different frequencies. At least, that's what he could feel in the air. Whenever he hummed, the small vibrating things that he could feel all around him reacted to the sound waves as they left his mouth.

This led to many new questions on the limitations of airbending. Could he learn how to manipulate the speed at which these waves or even the air itself vibrated? What would happen? Would he be able to create sound out of nothing? Was it possible to combine air compression with high vibration to create wind blades capable of cutting solid stone or possibly even metal?

The possibilities were endless, and it made Zangpo very excited.

With his eyes still closed so he could 'see' the air around him, he laid his palm out in front of him facing up. However, instead of forming a little tornado like he did the first time he tried to visualize his bending, the young airbender formed a miniature sphere of spinning air that floated above his palm. The little sphere was only a fraction of the size of the one he had trapped Toph in not so long ago, being only a little larger than his hand.

Slowly, he began to make the ball denser and denser. Condensing the air in his hand wasn't too difficult, but it took a lot of control. If he hadn't been practicing his control so much, Zangpo doubted that he would be able to manipulate the finer points of air as easily as he could now. After a minute of compressing the air into a smaller and smaller sphere, a bead of sweat formed on his forehead.

The more the little sphere shrunk, the harder it was to condense. The airbender wasn't sure what they were called, but he envisioned the air molecules converging into a single point, becoming more compact as they began to merge.

When a little more time had passed and Zangpo wasn't able to condense the ball of air any more, he opened his eyes and looked at his hand. There just barely above his palm, was a ghost white, marble sized sphere of spinning air. Normally the air that he bent was clear, barely even visible to the naked eye. The only time it gained color, was when it picked things up like dust and dirt debris. Now, though, the ball of condensed air was so dense that he could actually see the gasses that made it up.

He could feel how dense the sphere was, but it wasn't quite a solid. Its makeup was still a bunch of different types of gasses, only thicker than they had any right to be.

Wanting to see what it could do, he stayed seated as he thrust out his palm and launched it towards one of the large boulders that were laying around with a speed his eyes could barely track. Zangpo expected the spinning sphere of condensed air to make some kind of mark on the rock, but he wasn't prepared for what actually happened. Once his attack reached the rock, it continued on its path as if the rock wasn't even there.

Combining the speed at which the sphere spun and the density, the little ball became deadly. Without even slowing its velocity, the little spinning ball of death seemed to eat straight through the rock, carving a perfectly circular tunnel through the boulder and out the other side. If he had hit Toph with that attack when she was in her rock armor, she would have surely been killed.

This was progress though. If he mastered this condensed air technique, earthbenders wouldn't even be able to defend themselves against him. Zangpo could attack straight through whatever they desperately threw at him.

The silver-eyed airbender planned to develop techniques that could deal with each of the three other elements. He already had an idea how to defeat firebenders. While he didn't see himself as really smart, likely due to the years of verbal and emotional abuse, Zangpo did know that fire needed oxygen to burn as well as whatever other gasses that made up the air. If he could effectively remove the air from around a firebender, they wouldn't be able to bend anything. Not only that, but it would also be a good way to incapacitate someone since they wouldn't be able to breathe.

When it came to waterbending, he wasn't too sure how to deal with that yet. The boy didn't know enough about the element of water to come up with a good enough plan. That is exactly why he planned to seek out an alchemist eventually, they'd surely know more about the elements than he did.

Feeling a little exhausted from his fight with Toph and experimentation with his bending, the young airbender made his way back to Gaoling.

With a little bit of airbending, he was able to clean the dust and dirt off of his clothes to avoid unnecessary questions and suspicion. Around the inn he stayed at, Zangpo had something of a reputation. A few days prior, the kind old lady that ran the inn got a little too curious for her own good and began to ask him questions about where his parents were and why he was there alone.

Zangpo lied to her, of course. He told her that his parents were nobles from a nearby town, and that they sent him ahead so they could finish up their business without having him wait. The boy told the old woman that he had heard of Master Yu's Earthbending academy and that he was really excited to join. Not wanting to disappoint their son, they had decided to let him join and go off on his own while they would catch up later.

It wasn't the most believable lie, but for an eleven year old, it wasn't too bad. As an 'earthbender,' Zangpo had proven to his parent's that he could handle himself for a little while without them. To settle the woman's concern for his well-being, he had told her that in a week's time his parent's would come and retrieve him.

The old woman didn't look like she entirely bought his story, but she refrained from asking him any more questions—though she has been watching him more suspiciously since then.

Entering the inn and sending the old owner a pleasant smile, he eagerly made his way up to his room. Once inside, he laid down on the bed with a groan. It had been a long day so far, and it wasn't even finished, yet. Not only was he physically exhausted, but he was supposed to be at Toph's house tonight. Zangpo wanted to be mentally sharp and well-rested in case anything went wrong. He didn't expect it to, but you could never be too prepared for the worst. His mindset was expect the worst and hope for the best; not the most optimistic view, but it helped him keep a straight head on his shoulders.

Thinking about Toph, the boy couldn't help the smile that crossed his features. She was his first real friend, the past week hanging out with her has been the best time in his life. The earthbender didn't judge him for being an airbender, she had accepted him for who he was, just as he had accepted her.

She told him that no one knew she was good at earthbending, how everyone always treated her like glass because she was blind. Though she didn't show it on her face, her voice gave her away—it made her sad. Toph felt alone in this world, living a double life. On one side she was a powerful earthbending girl with an amusing sense of humor that made Zangpo laugh, and on the other, she was but a weak and defenseless noble girl that couldn't defend for herself.

Toph told him that if her parents found out what she's been up to, they'd lock her away, assign guards to watch her every move; she wouldn't be able to live her life. A prisoner locked in a gilded cage…

Zangpo felt bad for her, but while he was in Gaoling, he promised to bring her the enjoyment and freedom she deserved. Because that's what friends do.

***

Moving as stealthily as possible, the airbender approached the predesignated spot along the wall of the Beifong estate. Toph's parents had just left, so now all he had to do was wait for the young earthbender to take her guards out for a walk.

Sitting cross-legged in the shadows hidden from view of anyone passing by, Zangpo closed his eyes and began his air-sensory. The range in which he could see has tripled, no longer a mere fifteen feet, but instead forty five. After a good ten minutes of waiting, he felt three individuals walk out of the Beifong house, two adults and one child. 

Knowing that it was Toph and her guards, he waited for them to leave his ability's range and then jumped over the stone wall and into the garden.

In the distance, he could see the trio walk around the side of the house and out of view. Not wanting to waste any more time than necessary, he sprinted to the back door and entered the house. Toph had promised him that the servants were off for tonight and only her two guards would be present, so he wasn't worried as he made his way through the house.

The place was large and a little confusing, but soon enough, he found the room that he was looking for—the library. 

Letting out a low whistle of appreciation, Zangpo began to scan the many rows of books and scrolls throughout the large room. He only had roughly twenty five more minutes or so until Toph came back, so he needed to make this quick.

There were books on many different subjects, from the type of animals in each of the four nations to the types of flora and weather. It took him about fifteen minutes or so before he finally found the section of the library that talked about the different bending abilities, and another five minutes to find something related to airbending.

Tucked away in one of the corners of the packed library, an orange journal caught his eye. Grabbing it gently, he wiped the thick layer of dust off of the faded cover. Evidently, no one had read or even touched this book in quite some time. Zangpo doubted that they would even notice it was gone. Once he cleaned the cover off, the young airbender saw that it was written by Avatar Yangchen, an airbender, if he remembered correctly.

Opening the little notebook, Zangpo's eyes roved over the first couple of pages out of curiosity. He didn't have much time left, but he wanted to make sure what he grabbed would be helpful before he left the library for good.

The beginning of the book seemed to cover Yangchen's early life at the Northern Air Temple, much to his appreciation. There were notes about different bending techniques he could try, and goes over some of the requirements needed to be considered an airbending master. He doubted that he'd ever be able to get the arrow tattoos that denote a master airbender, but Zangpo felt that he didn't really need them anyway.

Just as he was getting into Yangchen's journal, he heard a door open and a couple of voices that were in deep conversation.

Not wanting to get caught with his treasure, Zangpo cursed under his breath, tucked the book into his robe, and began to sneak towards the back door that he came in. Toph must have known he was there, because just as the voices were about to turn a corner and spot him, she seemed to fall and put on a dramatic performance of hurting herself.

"Ooooh, ow, ow, ow, I think I broke my leg." He heard her say in the most obviously fake whine of a voice the airbender has ever heard. The guards didn't seem to notice though as they began to panic, attempting to comfort her and demand to know where it hurt the most.

Shaking his head at the silliness of the situation, he sent a silent 'thank you' to Toph and quickly found his way back outside.

Without looking back, he sprinted across the garden once more and easily cleared the perimeter wall with a graceful leap. Not being able to keep the smile off his face as he thought about the book that was close to his chest, he quickly made his way to the inn, being inconspicuous as possible.

Other than receiving a suspicious look from the nosey old innkeeper, Zangpo made it up to his room without issue.

With Yangchen's journal now in his possession, he sat on his bed in debate. Should he stay up and read the book, or should he get a good night's rest? He was supposed to be meeting Toph tomorrow, but it would be later in the afternoon. Since he didn't have anything to do in the morning, the airbender could always sleep in…

Making up his mind, he lit the candle on his bedside table and flipped the book open. Finding a source of knowledge about airbending has been on his mind since he ran away from home, he was going to take advantage of this.

The first half of the book was about Yangchen's childhood and early adult life, about how she mastered each bending style and traveled the world. Even though she was the avatar and was able to bend each element, she had always favored air. Even as she finished her study of her native element, Yangchen never stopped training her airbending. In the journal, she explained how she liked to use her avatar state to practice her bending in a meadow near some place called Yaoping Town. It stated that in the avatar state, her airbending was so strong that she was able to actually affect the sky itself, moving clouds and forming storms.

Zangpo knew he had a long way to go, but he wanted to be that powerful as well. Even if it was unlikely that he would ever reach such a level, he still had to try.

Avatar Yangchen's words had captivated him for hours as he read page after page of her life. He didn't agree with some of her principles, such as being a pacifist, but her words held much wisdom in those crisp parchment pages. She explained the need for the avatar to rebirth as a human each reincarnation, how that if the avatar was just a powerful immortal spirit living atop a mountain, they wouldn't have anything in common with ordinary people. Yangchen acknowledged the need for the avatar to experience the emotions that come with being human, such as sadness, joy, anger, and love.

More than once she referenced someone named Guru Laghima and his philosophies. She mentioned how he was an inspiration to the air nomads and he was seen as the greatest airbender who ever lived. Yangchen stated that the legends said Laghima discovered how to freely fly, and how he supposedly lived the last forty years of his life without ever touching the ground. 

The avatar stated that she had read some of the last remaining works of Guru Laghima at the Eastern Air Temple, and how they were one of the most treasured things the air nomads possessed.

Zangpo doubted that they'd still be there after the Fire Nation had probably destroyed everything of value. However, he made a mental list of places to go on his journey and promptly put the Eastern Air temple on it. If Laghima's philosophies held the secrets to flying, then he wanted to read them; needed to read them.

One particular passage in Yangchen's journal caught his attention as he read about the significant events in her life.

When Avatar Yangchen was fraught with sorrow and rage after being unable to get control of Earth Kingdom's many criminals and other rebellious groups, she sought someplace where she could release her emotions without anyone hearing her or the rushing of her airbending. Eventually, she found her way to the loudest beach in the Earth Kingdom, Tigerdillo's Roar. There, she gave into her frustrations, releasing burst after burst of air that ripped through the ocean.

Unable to get any relief from her airbending, even the powerful cyclone she generated soon dissipated into the wind. Realizing that her bending wasn't helping, she allowed the rage and sorrow to fill her lungs, and then she simply screamed, screamed as loud as she could. The bellowing screeches of rage and despair was amplified by her bending, tearing through the ocean far more effectively than her normal bending had. Over and over again she yelled out, until she just didn't have anything left to yell out anymore.

No longer feeling as though she was succumbing to the weight of the entire world, Yangchen calmed, her tears finally drying against her pale skin. It wasn't till after she calmed down that she realized what she had done. She had somehow developed a new airbending technique, a technique that allowed her to amply her voice to deafening levels.

This confirmed Zangpo's theory about using his bending to create or amplify sound, and it made him very anticipatory.

Not only has Yangchen's journal given him tips and teachings on airbending, it has also given confirmation on some of the theories he had. Not only about soundbending, but about the possibility of flight, as well. He needed to find Guru Laghima's works, if they still existed. They could potentially provide the breakthrough in his flight experimentation that he needed.

With his mind too active to go to sleep, he spent the night reading and rereading Yangchen's journal a couple times to gain a better understanding of what was written. Zangpo didn't stop reading until hours later when he saw the sun beginning to peak over the horizon. Only then did he allow his exhaustion to finally take him.

***

"So were you able to find anything useful last night?" Toph asked with a smile on her face, tossing a rock up and down as she sat across from Zangpo. When she met him at their clearing, Toph could tell that he was beyond exhausted by the way he held himself, almost as though he didn't get enough sleep the night before.

"Actually, I… did," He replied with a yawn, ignoring Toph's growing smirk. "I found a journal of a former Avatar, Avatar Yangchen to be exact." 

"I think I remember my parent's talking about her once, but that was years ago." She squinted her eyes as if trying to remember more clearly. Toph had only been around six or seven at the time, so her memory was a little foggy.

"She was an Air Nomad, and her journal was filled with her teachings and experiences. I can't thank you enough, Toph." The airbender stated sincerely, feeling as though he really lucked out. Him coming across the young earthbender was almost like it was meant to be, like their destiny was written by the spirits. It all seemed like such a coincidence to him. 

Toph blushed at his words and looked away. "Don't mention it, Windmill. It's what friends are for."

Rolling his eyes at the silly nickname she gave him, Zangpo moved towards her and wrapped her in a tight hug. Thinking about it, it was the first hug that he's ever remembered giving. He hasn't even been on the receiving end of one before.

The girl's blush deepened, but she didn't try to push him away. Instead, she hesitantly returned the hug with a small smile. She's received plenty of hugs before, but this was the first from a friend, let alone some boy she met.

"You're my first real friend, Toph…" He voiced quietly over her shoulder. Hearing him, she didn't respond at first, choosing to instead tighten her arms ever so slightly. Zangpo hadn't really talked about his personal life all that much, being vague whenever she would bring it up. She knew that he ran away from home and his parents didn't like that he was an airbender, but that was it. 

"Mine too, Zang." Toph replied honestly and just as quietly, hoping that he would take this moment to open up to her more.

With her being blind and treated like glass all the time by her parents, she didn't really have much of a social life. The only real people she could talk to were her guards, her parents, and Master Wu. The young earthbender didn't have anyone she could really trust, she had no one to be herself around; that is, until Zangpo came into her life. 

She's only known him for about a week. However, they just clicked. Toph felt like he had always been there. It was a strange feeling, but a welcome one nonetheless.

As if he could hear her thoughts and hopes, the airbender began to speak just as quietly as before. "I've told you that I ran away, but I never told you why," He started, "Ever since I was three years old, I knew that I was an airbender. And as I've mentioned, my parents weren't exactly thrilled about it. They hated my bending ability, and despised me for it. My parents would abuse me because of it, verbally, physically, and emotionally…" 

While he talked, Toph didn't dare interrupt him, choosing instead to stay silent and hug him harder when she felt he needed it. He told her about his life, the goods and the bads, though the goods seemed so far and in between. When Zangpo talked about how his father would try and beat the airbending out of him, she felt angry tears gather in her eyes. His parents were supposed to love and protect him, but they did the exact opposite of that. 

When he mentioned how he had to steal food to feed himself, she wanted to find his parents in Burroo and let them know exactly how she thought of them. They didn't deserve to have such an amazing son in their lives.

Just as she thought he was done with his story, he finally got to the night he ran away from the village.

"He was going to kill me, I know he was," He cried silently, shaking lightly as he seemed to relive that horrifying moment. "I've never been more scared in my life than in that moment, Toph. I didn't kill him on purpose, you have to believe me." 

Her heart broke hearing the pain in his voice. She could feel his tears soaking through her shirt, but she didn't mind. "I know you didn't." The earthbender cooed soothingly, laying her head against his. Toph knew that he hadn't dealt with his pain, yet. Just as he had run from home, he had run from the pain that followed. Zangpo was risking a lot being as vulnerable as he was, and she wouldn't dare betray the trust that he put in her. 

"I didn't know what to do or where to go, but I knew that I couldn't stay there any longer." He croaked, his voice thick with emotion.

Finally breaking the hug, Toph looked him in the eye as best as she could. It didn't mean much for her as she couldn't see, but she knew that Zang would appreciate it. "For whatever it's worth, I'm glad that I met you, Zang. If you hadn't left home, I'd still be a lonely trapped little girl hiding her abilities from everyone she knew." The young girl uttered honestly, a small sad smile on her lips.

Looking down meaningfully where their hands were connected between them, he never thought he would have a friend like her before. The thought was only something that he had dreamt once upon a time. "Friends forever?" The boy asked vulnerably, worried that she'd say no.

"Friends forever," Toph agreed, much to Zangpo's relief. "I promise."