73 Toph

"And now the moment you've all been waiting for!"

In an underground, dimly lit hall, a large rectangular arena was located in the middle. The arena had stairs running down to a lower, oval shaped area. Seats for spectators started at the same level as the arena. Sitting among the crowd, team Avatar seemed rather excited about what was going on… well… at least one of them…

"WOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOO" Shouted Sokka. "YEEEEEEEAHHHHHHHH!"

"The Boulder versus…. Your champion… the Blind Bandit!" 

As Xin Fu, the announcer, introduced the new fighter, the lights seemed to focus on a single person. A short, black haired girl with bangs covering her milky-green eyes, almost half of her body was hidden behind a massive Champion green belt as she raised the belt up above her head.

"She can't really be blind," Said Katara, observing the small champion girl. "It's just part of her character…. Right?"

"I think she is…" Said Aang looking at her as if he had seen her before.

"I think she is…" Said Sokka with a deadpan face… Before instantly shouting while gesturing down with both hands "GOING DOWN!" 

In the center of the Arena;

"The Boulder feels conflicted about fighting a young…. Blind…. Girl."

"Sounds to me like you are scared, Boulder… " Said the blind girl mockingly as she pointed at her opponent.

"The Boulder is over his conflicted feelings…. And now he's ready to bury you… in a rock-alanche!"

"Let's dance then…. The Pebble!" The girl threw her head back and laughed.

"It's on!" the Boulder replied as he took one step forward. As his heel hit the ground, a smirk appeared on the blind girl's face as her opponent took a second step, but this time the blind girl suddenly kicked the arena surface, creating a shock wave through the arena floor that churned up the ground in the direction of the Boulder in a straight line. 

Once the Boulder felt his feet meeting the shock wave from the blind girl, he was forced down onto the ground in a perfect split.

"UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" Exclaimed the poor Boulder in pain as his crotch was forced to stretch in angles that were never attempted by him before.

Grinning evilly, the blind girl stomped the ground with her other foot's heel, suddenly making a pillar of rock rise right below the Boulder's crotch, which was only a few inches above the ground.

"OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!" This time it was not just the Boulder, every single male in the audience, including the announcer, shared the dread and closed their legs in reflex. 

"EVIL!!!!!!!!!!!" Shouted Sokka with a pale face while protecting his crotch with his hands.

"I don't understand why every single other man screamed like they were the ones in pain…." Said Katara in confusion.

"You don't understand men, Katara," Said Sokka with a sage expression "We share pain…." A lonely tear fell from one of his eyes as he stared at the horizon.

"…. Okay…?" Said the young waterbender.

Even Aang looked incredibly uncomfortable, though he tried to maintain his serene expression, but his crossed legs and trembling hands expressed his real thoughts.

Back in the Arena, Toph was satisfied with her performance considering the shouts she heard from both her target and the audience, so without further ado, she simply did a motion with her right hand, forming three pillars of earth that launched the Boulder outside the Arena.

"A-and your winner, and still champion…. The Blind Bandit!!!!" Said Xin Fu, the muscular announcer with long dark hair, his legs were almost crossed but one could see that he was using his entire willpower to remain serious and aloof towards the situation. 

"How did she do that?" Asked Katara in confusion, again, the girl was supposed to be blind!

"Heartlessly…" Said Sokka, still protecting his crotch.

"She waited…. And listened…" Said Aang, remembering what Bumi told him in Omashu.

As Xin Fu jumped back towards the arena from his raised announcer platform, he shouted to the crowd "To make things a little more interesting, I'm offering up this sack of gold pieces to anyone who can defeat the Blind Bandit!"

For the first few seconds there was only silence, until Aang raised his hand "I will!"

Xin Fu looked disappointed for a moment, but nodded and accepted the challenge anyway.

"Go Aang! Avenge the Boulder!" Shouted Sokka with passion in his voice.

Feeling the newcomer walking into the Arena platform, Toph smirked "Do people really want to see two little girls fighting out here?"

"OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHH!!!" The audience was relentless.

"I don't really want to fight you. I want to talk to you" Said the disguised Avatar as he put his hands up in a conciliatory gesture.

"BOOOOO!!!!" Shouted Sokka with a disgusted expression that was short lived considering that Katara slapped him in the back of the head right away.

"Don't boo at him!" 

Back in the arena, Aang could be seen gliding inches above the ground after dodging the first strike from Toph.

"Somebody's a little light on his feet! What's your fighting name? The Fancy Dancer?" Said a focused Toph as she concentrated on her earthbending skills. "Now… where'd you go?..."

"Please, wait!" Shouted Aang as he finally touched the ground.

Unfortunately for Aang, his move to throw Toph's rock back at her was met with an earth wall, Toph had been ambushed before, and although she never had fought an airbender before, she didn't just trust her earthbending, but also her other senses.

As soon as the Avatar touched the ground, Toph grinned "Gotcha"

Aang could only watch as one of his feet was swallowed by the Arena.

"Let's see you dodge me now… Twinkle Toes…" She grinned as she pushed the Earth Wall she used as defense towards Aang with incredible speed, pushing him out of the arena.

"YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAHHHHHHHHH!" Everyone shouted in excitement.

"And there we have it! The unmatched! The victorious! The Blind Bandit!" Shouted Xin Fu while pocketing his bag of coins.

Grabbing her Champion belt back, Toph wore a huge smirk on her face as she simply escaped through the wall, thwarting any plans that Aang had about reaching out to her for a talk.

After everything was over, Team Avatar went on an investigation tour through the city of Gao Ling, first being the Earthbending School, but no one seemed to know anything about the Blind Bandit.

Finally, the team managed to get some clues due to Aang's dream about a white flying boar, the sigil of the Beifong family, which led them to their current situation.

Lao and Poppy Beifong seemed happy as they stared at their guests, they heard about the Avatar coming for a visit and prepared a welcome feast for all of them.

"Avatar Aang. It's an honor to have you visit us." Said Poppy with a happy smile on her face.

"In your opinion, how much longer do you think the war will last?" Asked Lao with a friendly face, but his eyes were sharp and focused.

"I'd like to defeat the Fire Lord by the end of summer, but I can't do that without an earthbending teacher first…" Aang said while staring at Toph, making her annoyed.

"Well, Master Yu is the finest teacher in the land." Lao said as he pointed towards the pompous, second-rate earthbending 'Master' that was having dinner with them. "He's been teaching Toph since she was little."

"Then she must be a great earthbender! Probably good enough to teach someone else!" Said Aang with a beaming smile.

Toph didn't like what he said, so she sent a fissure under the table at him.

"Ow!" He shouted, as Lao cast an odd glance towards his daughter who merely ate her soup.

"Toph is still learning the basics." Said Yu.

"And what about firebending? Have you already secured a teacher?" Asked Lao while eating his meal.

"Hmm… Well I didn't think that far ahead, having to master earthbending first and all…" Said an uncomfortable Aang, he didn't like the idea that he needed to learn firebending at all! 

"But… We met one very strong firebender a while ago, who seemed friendly enough. If it comes down to it, I will request him to teach me…" Said Aang reluctantly.

"I don't think Madara will teach you Aang, he said he would never teach his firebending to anyone" said Sokka offhandedly while using a toothpick.

That single offhand comment raised the eyebrows of almost everyone in the room.

Poppy's were twitching furiously;

Lao's were sweating… a lot... as he stole quick glances towards his wife while pretending that everything was fine;

Toph's almost reached her hairline as she had to hold herself back, she really wanted to trap Aang with her earthbending and ask him some questions right now.

Yu, on the other hand, was clueless and simply looked at everyone's reactions then simply shrugged.

"W-well…. Shall we move to the living room for dessert, then?" Said Poppy while controlling herself, regardless of anything, she was a noble lady and would always follow the right protocol.

Later that night, while everyone was already sleeping on the comfiest beds in the world, thanks to the Beifong's wealth, Aang was patting Appa outside, staring at the night sky.

"Goodnight, Buddy." The Avatar said softly, staring at his sleepy flying bison.

As he was about to leave, his path was blocked by Toph, who stared at him with a seriousness that she didn't have even when playing the Blind Bandit role.

Aang just moved into a defensive position, expecting the worst.

"Relax. Look, I'm sorry about dinner. Let's call a truce, okay?" Said the blind girl, which indeed made Aang let down his defensive position as the two of them headed out to the yard.

"Even though I was born blind. I've never had a problem seeing." Said Toph as she walked along the side of the bridge and jumped down, hitting the ground. "I see with earthbending, it's kind of like seeing with my feet. I feel vibrations in the earth, and I can see where everything is… You… That tree… Even those ants over there."

"That's… That's amazing!" Shouted Aang in excitement

"But my parents don't understand, they never did… and to be honest, they don't even know that I can do it. It's not even about me being good at hiding it, it's just that they are so sure that I'm helpless that they don't even pay attention."

"Is that why you became the Blind Bandit?"

"Yeah... It's the only place where I can be myself." Said Toph.

"Then why stay here where you're not happy?" Asked Aang, confused.

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

"You could come with us!" Said an excited Aang.

"Yeah. You guys get to go wherever you want. No one telling you what to do, that's the life!" She said excitedly before getting downcast "It's just not… My life…"

"It can be your life, your life is yours to go wherever you want!" Aang said sagely.

Chuckling, Toph shook her head "It's not that easy Twinkle Toes… Things are expected of me."

"Then… What do you want?" 

Taking a deep breath, Toph turned to Aang "You mentioned Madara…"

"Yes?" Aang was confused. "Do you know him?"

"Know him? He is my brother!" 

"WHAT?!"