by The Tale of Aang; Azula; Toph; Sokka; Zuko; Katara (retail) (epub)
The boy and the Earthbender stopped, seeing that the Earth King was in serious danger. “Get them out of my sight,” I ordered. Mai, Ty Lee, and two Dai Li agents hauled everyone—including the Earth King—off to the prison.
I stood alone in the throne room—MY throne room, now that our little charade had ended. I’m going to like it here as ruler of the Earth Kingdom.
Then Long Feng walked in, surrounded by a throng of Dai Li agents. There was just one more step on my road to the throne: Long Feng was the final obstacle on my journey.
“It looks like the coup has gone perfectly,” he said.
“It has,” I responded.
“Now comes the part where I double-cross you, Azula. Dai Li, arrest the Fire Nation princess!”
Nobody moved. The Dai Li stood their ground. Ha! Long Feng, you are a fool. These men are smart enough to know that betraying me would have far more severe consequences than would turning their backs on you.
“They haven’t made up their minds,” I said, pleased with the agents’ loyalty. “They’re going to wait to see how this ends. To learn who will sit on the throne. They are not sure which one of us will bow down. But I know—and so do you, Long Feng.”
I strode slowly to the throne and sat down as if I had always been in that seat. I stared at Long Feng, letting him think everything over. There is only one conclusion he can come to. Only one choice for him to make. And he knows it. He heaved a heavy sigh, then bowed to me.
“You’ve beaten me at my own game,” he said heavily.
Don’t flatter yourself, Long Feng. You were my pawn from the beginning. It’s too bad that you’ve only now realized the extent of my power.
“You were never even a player,” I said. Then I nodded to the Dai Li, who swooped down on Long Feng and took him to the prison.
Finally alone in my throne room, I took a moment to savor being ruler of the Earth Kingdom. Not bad for a fourteen-year-old.
But I still had to prepare myself to deal with Zuko.
I took a squad of Dai Li agents with me and headed for the prison chambers in the underground crystal catacombs. There, I overheard Iroh trying to convince Zuko to forsake his heritage, to turn his back on his destiny, and to oppose me.
When I reached their chamber, I immediately ordered the Dai Li to Earthbend a crystal cave around Iroh, so he couldn’t help his nephew. Then I turned to face Zuko.
“I expected this kind of treachery from Uncle, but you, Prince Zuko, are no traitor. Are you? It’s not too late, Zuko. You can still redeem yourself.”
I know he doesn’t believe Iroh and all his talk of turning to goodness. I know what Zuko wants deep in his heart. I have always known him better than anyone else. He can’t hide his true feelings and desires from me, no matter what he says, no matter how noble a face he puts on for others. I know what choice he will make, even if he doesn’t know.
Iroh had tried to persuade him not to join me, but I told Zuko that we needed to work as a team, to share in the conquest of Ba Sing Se, and to complete the Fire Nation’s world domination together. What was more, I reminded him, was that he could restore his honor, capture the Avatar, and reclaim our father’s love.
“You will have everything you want if you join me,” I said patiently. “You are free to choose.” Then I ordered the Dai Li to release him, sure of what his decision would be.
I must now turn my attention to the Avatar.
I caught up with him in the crystal courtyard—and he was with Katara! The Avatar must have released her from prison. I fired blasts of blue lightning that shot through the crystal walls, but Katara sent a sheet of ice beneath my feet. Then the Avatar Earth-bended a rock ledge that knocked me down.
These two are proving to be worthwhile opponents.
We battled on until a huge red fireball suddenly exploded in the center of the courtyard. Zuko! For a split second I had a moment of doubt. Could I have been wrong, and he was attacking ME? It didn’t take Zuko long to answer my question. He turned and released a barrage of fire—right at the Avatar.
My dear brother, you were born to be a prince of the Fire Nation, and now the time has come for you to fulfill that destiny by my side. Together we battled the Avatar and the Waterbender, who tried to make Zuko feel guilty about his choice. He hesitated for a moment, poor, weak Zu-zu, but then fired a blast at Katara.
She stumbled back into a stream. This is my chance! I fired a charge of lightning into the stream. It traveled through the water and struck Katara. She collapsed from the shock.
Then something unexpected happened. The Avatar’s tattoos began to glow, and he seemed to grow in power—but he also appeared to be distracted by this strange state he had entered.
Now it ends, Avatar! I blasted him from behind with my most powerful lightning bolt. His tattoos stopped glowing and he crumpled to the ground. At the same time, Katara recovered. She quickly rushed to his side, but this fight was over.
Zuko and I approached the weakened girl and the motionless Avatar, and prepared for our final victory.
Suddenly a rush of fire and lightning filled the air, blocking our path to the helpless duo.
Iroh! The traitor has managed to free himself. But he cannot take away my ultimate moment of glory. I will not allow it.
Although I defeated Iroh, he fought fiercely. By the time I was able to subdue him, Katara—and more important, the Avatar—had vanished.
And so the Avatar has escaped yet again. But unlike the other times, I am less upset about it, as I now have two great victories to celebrate.
I returned to the throne room and sat on my new throne, with Zuko standing beside me. “We’ve done it, Zuko. It’s taken one hundred years, but thanks to us, the Fire Nation has conquered Ba Sing Se.”
Zuko, however, was not in such a joyous mood. He falls back so easily into his moody, brooding habits. “I betrayed Uncle,” he said, with shame in his voice.
“No, Brother, he betrayed you,” I said. “When you return home, Father will welcome you as a war hero.”
“But I don’t have the Avatar. What if Father doesn’t restore my honor?” he asked.
Poor, poor Zuko. I actually feel sorry for him. He still doesn’t understand, even at his moment of ultimate achievement.
“Father doesn’t need to restore your honor, Zuko,” I explained. “Today you restored your own honor.”
My brother looked away from me with a pained expression across his face. I hope he can eventually believe what I have told him: that by choosing his family, by choosing me over the Avatar, he has come back to his rightful place in the Fire Nation.
And I welcome him by my side.
Chapter 1
My name is Toph Beifong. I’m an Earthbender. A pretty good one, too. But what really stinks is that I have to hide that part of who I am.
See, my parents are very rich and power- ful. I come from one of the most important families in the Earth Kingdom, the Beifongs. Just saying my last name has always opened doors. People rush to help me just because my family is wealthy, and I really can’t stand that.
I live on a huge estate in a giant mansion, with servants attending to my every whim. I hate that, too. I don’t want to be treated as royalty or anyone special. And I most definitely do not want to be treated as if I have a handicap.
Oh, yeah, I guess I should mention that I’m blind. But before you start feeling sorry for me or start thinking I’m helpless, let me explain something. I see with my feet. I know it sounds weird, but believe me, it’s true. More accurately, I see using Earthbending. I feel the vibrations in the earth and they help me figure out where everything is. I can sense the slightest movement—in other people, in tree branches swaying in the wind, even in the tiniest ants crawling on the ground.
I’ve never felt sorry for myself for one second, but my parents don’t understand me. They always treat me like I’m helpless. They think I’m just a beginning-level Earthbending student, and they take comfort in that. If I ever showed them wh
at I’m really capable of, they’d ground me for the next twenty years!
Sometimes I get so frustrated from hiding who I really am, not being able to use my Earthbending skills to their full capacity around my mom and dad, I feel like screaming! So, that’s why I’ve adopted a kind of secret identity.
I sneak out of my house at night, when my parents are asleep, and I compete in Earthbending tournaments. If my folks ever found out about it, I’d be grounded for the rest of my life! At the competitions I’m known as “the Blind Bandit.” It’s kind of silly, I know. But I didn’t even make up the name. This guy named Xin Fu, who runs the tournaments, started calling me that.
Competing lets me cut loose with my Earthbending abilities—a chance I never get as Toph Beifong, poor, weak, blind girl, obedient daughter of the oh-so-important Beifong family. But as the Blind Bandit, I fight—and win, by the way. In fact, I’M the reigning champion!
Tonight is Earth Rumble Six. The arena is packed. After a particularly boring day “studying” with my Earthbending teacher, Master Yu, “learning” how to move tiny pebbles, I’m ready to kick some Earthbending butt.
As the champ, I get to sit back and watch a bunch of chumps compete until they narrow the challengers down. My opponent tonight is this big, muscle-bound guy who calls himself “the Boulder.” I think he got the name because he moves as slowly and stomps as heavily as one, not because he Earthbends them well.
Okay, here it goes. … I love it when the crowd cheers like this!
“The Boulder feels conflicted about fighting a young, blind girl!” he said aloud.
What a fool! He’s going down—hard!
“Whenever you’re ready, ‘Pebble’!” The crowd loves this stuff. And I have to admit I get a kick out of stirring them up.
Right now I’m laughing loudly. You know, to make the Boulder even madder than he already is. The angrier an opponent, the less subtle his attack, the easier it is for me to follow his moves and stop him.
“It’s on!” the Boulder cried.
Finally! Okay, Toph, focus on his movements. Block out the sound of the crowd, just feel the ground under your feet. There he is—he’s charging forward—but not for long!
The Boulder went down quickly. He took a big clumsy step toward me, then lifted his other foot. Before it could hit the ground, I flexed my ankle, driving my heel into the earth, sending a narrow shockwave racing toward him. So as his foot came down, a ripple of rock from my shockwave shoved his foot to the side, causing him to land in a painful split. He moaned and groaned as he scrambled back to his feet.
Ha! Take that! Maybe one of these days they’ll bring me some serious competition. In fact, maybe I’ll just finish him off right now—for kicks. BAM!
I extended my arms, Earthbending three jagged poles of rock, which burst up from the ground, slammed into the Boulder, and sent him flying into the far wall. Match over.
Yawn! This is so boring—Whoa, did I just hear that right? Xin Fu’s offering a sack of gold to anyone who can beat me. Finally, some real competition. What, no takers? Wait a minute, who’s this little guy? He feels tiny … small enough to crush with my bare hands—without even using Earthbending! What’d he just say to me? He doesn’t want to fight, he just wants to talk to me? I’m not here for conversation, kid. I’m here to defend my title, so bring it on!
Okay, he’s in the air … but why hasn’t he landed? Where’d he go? Is he still in the air? How can that be? I can’t see him if I can’t feel his movements on the ground. There he is. But he landed so softly, as if he was floating. How did he do that?
“Somebody’s a little light on his feet!” I shouted. “What’s your fighting name? ‘The Fancy Dancer’?”
He’s not getting away this time. I’ll knock him right off those fancy feet.
He’s gone, again! It’s like he just vanished. Can this kid fly? That’s impossible, but all I know is that he’s not standing on the ground. Ah, there you are. An even softer landing this time. I am not amused.
Okay, no more funny business. You want to play, here’s a ball, kid. Actually, here’s a big fat boulder! Wait a minute, why can’t I hear the boulder rolling toward him? What’s happening?
BAM! I can’t believe it! He just turned my boulder against me and it pushed me out of the ring! The rock never landed, and the Fancy Dancer never touched down. That must be why I couldn’t pick up the rock’s movement fast enough. And that’s how this scrawny little kid beat me! I am so out of here!
“Wait!”
Now what? Oh, now he wants to chat!
“Please, listen!”
This kid just doesn’t know when to quit!
“I need an Earthbending teacher, and I think it’s supposed to be you!”
And this is my problem because … ?
“Whoever you are, just leave me alone!” Then I Earthbended a doorway through the wall, kept on walking, and slammed the opening shut behind me.
I don’t know who this kid is or what he’s talking about, but I really don’t care. I’m no one’s teacher, especially not some weird, flying dancer who just stole my championship title!
The very next day I was strolling the grounds of my family’s estate when I felt three intruders scramble over the stone wall and land in the bushes. I guess they thought they were being quiet, but I can feel them through the earth, loud and clear. This’ll surprise them.
WHOOSH! I made a mound of earth pop up beneath them, flinging them into the nearby bushes.
Surprise, surprise, the intruders are none other than the Fancy Dancer and two of his friends! What does he want?
“What are you doing here, Twinkle Toes?”
“Well, a crazy king told me I had to find an Earthbender who listens to the earth. And then I had a vision in a magic swamp, and—”
What is this kid rambling on about?
The girl he was with interrupted him. “What Aang is trying to say is, he’s the Avatar, and if he doesn’t master Earthbending soon, he won’t be able to defeat the Fire Lord.”
The Avatar, huh? Well, that explains a lot! No wonder he was able to float through the air to evade me, and to redirect the boulder I shot at him. He can AIRBEND. So that’s why Twinkle Toes is so light on his feet! Still, that has nothing to do with me.
“Not my problem. Now get out of here before I call the guards.”
When they refused to leave I went into my helpless little girl act. I hate doing it, but sometimes it serves its purpose. There’s no way I’m going to let this guy ruin the cover I’ve got going. I cried out for the guards, who came running as they scrambled back over the wall.
“I thought I heard something,” I told the guards. “I was scared.”
“You know your father doesn’t want you wandering the grounds without supervision!”
You know, it’s funny that they think I’M the blind one. They’re the ones who should open their eyes to the truth. Maybe someday I’ll be able to be who I really am and not have to hide my ability. But not today.
Back at the house, my father pressed Master Yu about my Earthbending lessons. He wanted to make sure that I wasn’t doing anything too dangerous.
“Absolutely not!” Master Yu said. “I’m keeping her at the beginner’s level.”
Ha! If he only knew! Of course, I had to sit there and listen to his nonsense, as usual. What kind of an Earthbending instructor can’t spot potential and talent like mine? Like I said, I think they’re the blind ones. I am so ready to break out of this … this prison.
Then one of the servants told my father that he had an unannounced visitor—the Avatar.
That kid just does not give up! Now he’s wormed his way into my house using his title, which of course totally impresses my father. Well, I don’t care what the Avatar does or says. I’m not going to become his Earthbending teacher. Besides, my father will never allow it.
So the Avatar and his two friends are joining me, my parents, and Master Yu for dinner. My parents are making such a fuss over th
e Avatar! I can tell this isn’t going to be pretty. …
“Avatar Aang, it’s an honor to have you visit us. You’re welcome in our home as long as you like.”
I think I’m going to be sick!
“In your opinion, how much longer do you think the war will last?” my father asked the Avatar.
“I’d like to defeat the Fire Lord by the end of summer, but I can’t do that without finding an Earthbending teacher first.”
I can feel him staring right at me!
“Master Yu is the finest teacher in the land,” my father said. “He’s been teaching Toph since she was little.”
“Then she must be a great Earthbender!” the Avatar blurted out. “Good enough to teach someone else!”
What is he doing? This kid is going to get me into big trouble. He’s going to blow everything. I can’t let him tell my folks about my life as the Blind Bandit!
I slid my foot against the stone floor and sent an Earthbending jolt to the Avatar’s leg. Hopefully that’ll quiet him down.
“Sadly, because of her blindness, I don’t think Toph will ever become a true master,” my father said.
Just leave it at that, kid, all right!?
“Oh, I’m sure she’s better than you think!”
Unbelievable! I expected the Avatar would be a little quicker on the uptake. Here, take another kick; maybe you’ll get the message this time.
“What is your problem!” I shouted.
“What is YOUR problem?” the Avatar yelled, unleashing an Airbending blast that splattered soup all over everyone.
I wish he would just leave me ALONE!
I’ve spent most of tonight tossing and turning in my bed. Am I being too harsh? Am I taking out my own frustrating life on this kid who’s just looking for some help? I should go talk to him.
When I walked into the Avatar’s room, he jumped back and struck a defensive pose. I explained that I wasn’t here to fight him and that I just wanted to talk. Isn’t that what he said to me the first time we met? How ironic!
We took a walk through the estate’s moonlit gardens, and I explained to him how I actually see through Earthbending. “But my parents don’t understand. They’ve always treated me like I was helpless.” He’s kind of easy to talk to.