16 Chapter 16: Prelude To The Drill

After a couple of days of flying, we get ever closer to Ba Sing Se.

We could've gotten to our destination faster, but Aang spotted a small group of people traveling on foot through a pathway that was blocked off.

Aang talked to them and offered a ride after learning that they were heading to Ba Sing Se. One of them is a pregnant woman.

After only a day, the pregnant woman started to feel her baby kick, and we landed to deliver the baby and continued the journey the day after.

Going by the time Team Avatar spent in the desert in the show, we are about a few days early.

Just when I thought that one of the people in the group we picked up pointed at something in the distance.

It looks like the drill the Fire Nation will use to go through the wall.

Aang, being a curious person, decides to check it out.

"I don't know, let's find out."

Aang turns Appa towards the drill and flies higher to avoid being detected.

Sokka looks down and points at the giant machine.

"It's Fire Nation! Look at the symbol on its top!"

Everyone just observes the drill with worried faces.

Aang tries to reassure the group that Team Avatar is gonna stop whatever the Fire Nation is planning.

We fly the rest of the way to Ba Sing Se, dropping off the group of people at the customs gate, then making our way to the wall where the drill is likely to meet.

Aang calls out for a general, informs him of his status of Avatar, and tells him of the incoming drill.

Judging by how far away it was, it may take a day and a half to get here.

Wrapping up the impromptu war meeting, I make my way over to Toph.

"Hey, Toph. Since we're here, how about we look around for a shop that has metal or something. I think it'll be useful to us when we fight that machine the Fire Nation cooked up."

"Sure, but where are we gonna find metal? Not many Earth Kingdom cities use it. Except for maybe prisons."

"Good point... Hmm, how about we just steal an empty metal cage?"

"Stealing, huh? I like the way you think, Lu. Let's do it."

We informed Team Avatar that we were going to find a place to train for a special move and headed out to places likely to have metal cages, like butcher shops of jails.

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After having no luck getting an empty cage in the prisons, we made our way to the food market.

Almost immediately, we spot a few empty animal cages beside a cart near a butcher shop.

I wait until the butcher is looking the other way and I earthbend a couple of cages into the ground and towards our hiding spot.

Successful in our heist, Toph and I make our way to a deserted park.

"So, do you know how to metalbend, Lu?"

"Nope, not yet. All I know is that certain metals still contain fragments of the earth in them, allowing us to bend as if it was a regular rock. We should be able to sense it easily thanks to your special sight."

"Hmm..."

Toph looks down and touches the flat side on top of the cage. She raises a palm and strikes the metal a few times with both hands.

"Hey! You're right, Lu! I can feel some earth in there!"

Toph regains her focus and punches the cage, causing the flat top to dent in the shape of her fist.

"Whoo! That was awesome! I'm a metalbender now!"

"Nice job, Toph. Now it's my turn."

I mimic the same movement as Toph and strike the cage's flat top.

After a few tries, I got the feel of the earth inside the metal and punched it similar to how Toph did.

"Great! Now we're both metalbenders! That drill is gonna eat dirt tomorrow!"

Toph comes up and hugs me in excitement.

"Alright, let's calm down. We're still novice metalbenders, we gotta train some more."

Toph faces me and speaks with a teasing tone.

"Oh, now you want to train. What's the occasion? Don't want to be left behind by your girlfriend?"

"...I don't want to see you worry your butt off when I get injured."

Toph looks down and hugs me tighter, her hand tracing the scar on my forearm.

"...I shouldn't have let you go alone."

"Sorry, I was... stupid, naive, and lazy. I thought I could handle it. Your face, when you found out I got injured, was... painful to see. I realized then, that I have to stop slacking and start training. If I don't, then I may... die. I don't want to miss out on a life with you, so in gonna get stronger."

Toph giggles at my last statement.

"Haha, 'Miss out on a life with you'? Are you formally proposing to me?"

"... Yeah, I am."

Toph widens her eyes. Still hugging me, she buries her face in my chest to hide her embarrassment. I grab her shoulders to separate us and hold her hands.

"Toph. Will you marry me after this war is over?"

Toph just stands there, shuffling her feet in nervousness.

She likes me. Loves me, even. But she hasn't officially accepted the engagement, as she never told her family because we left abruptly. I want to hear her say that she wants this marriage, not just our parents.

"I-I don't know, we might be engaged, but we're still pretty young, what if you change your mind later-"

I lift her face up, and give her a quick kiss.

"I said 'after the war'. I never specified a time. You can officially accept whenever you're ready, Toph."

Sure, there's Ty Lee, but she's a little too promiscuous for me. Other girls in Avatar? Nah, not much. I have no interest in Katara, Suki is meh, Azula may turn into a yandere, and May is way too gloomy and pessimistic.

Toph says nothing and smiles.

We stay hugging for a few minutes, until we silently get back to our metalbending training.

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We spent most of the day and a few hours of the night getting used to bending metal before we decided it was time to meet up with the rest of Team Avatar back on the wall.

Aang and the rest were still atop the wall waiting for us.

"Hey, guys! Done with that special move you said you were training for?"

"Well, we got as much done as we could've today. Toph got a little tired. I figured we shouldn't push it since tomorrow that thing will make contact with the wall."

"Yeah, you're right. Sokka and Katara went down the wall to look for a place to stay for the night. They should be back in a few minutes."

Toph stretches her arms and back, her bones making cracking noises.

"Alright! An actual bed after so long!"

I have to agree. While, as an earthbender, I find the earth more comfortable to sleep on than the regular person, it doesn't mean that beds are less comfortable. Quite the contrary.

We tell Aang the details of our training, and he gets excited again at the fact that we managed to bend metal.

A few minutes later Sokka comes back to tell us that they found a house to rent with a backyard big enough for Appa.

We make our way down and get on Appa to our temporary home.

Getting there in less than 2 minutes, we step up to the front door to be greeted by Katara and a person I'm guessing to be the landlord.

Katara informs us the Earth Kingdom military has agreed to pay for the night as thanks for volunteering to battle the drill.

The landlord leaves and we settle in our respective rooms.

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I'm woken up to footsteps and the door to my room opening. It's Toph.

"Toph? What's wrong?"

"... It's nothing. I just had a little trouble sleeping is all."

Toph makes her way to my side and drops her futon next to mine.

"You don't mind if I sleep with you, do you?"

"Ah, well, you already brought your futon, so I don't see why not."

I can faintly see Toph smile through the darkness, the moonlight illuminating her face.

"Great. Good night, Lu"

Toph adjusts her futon and grabs onto my arm while laying down.

"Good night, Toph."

I lay down while thinking of battle plans for a rematch against Azula.

I'm not exactly comfortable with outright killing her, maiming her, or severely burning her with lava.

I might just end up capturing her.

Maybe I can convince her to stop acting so insane? I can't exactly say that her father doesn't love her, she'll just respond with 'you don't know him!' or something.

All Azula needs is an actual family that can love her instead of emotionally abusing her like Ursa and using her as if she were a tool like Ozai.

Whatever, I'll think of a plan while she's under my custody.

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There's gonna be less kissing on lips from now on, but more hugging/cuddling.

I know for sure writing a change in an already written story is gonna be harder than writing an original novel.

Check out 'Reborn as the Wolf God's Son', please. While the updates are much slower, I'm still updating it.

It already has 2 lemons. *wink*

Although, I think, at my novice writing level, it's a little cringe to reread those lemon scenes. Maybe it's just my view as the author. It might be good enough for readers though.