Not Too Far from the Yew Tree (an ATLA fanfiction)

Understood in the Completion of its Partial Ecstasy

[Three days later]

A dreadful scream resounded in the yard. Zuko leapt up, finding himself a fraction slower than Suki who was already leading them, and the four raced outside. Piandao had also heard, and he and a pair of students came from the staircase and merged with their group. They had not far to go, as the cause of the woman's distress was immediately apparent.

"Appa!"

Nuwa was on the ground in a terrible state of alarm. "A monster. Master, a monster, save me!"

Aang leapt down from the saddle and began profusely bowing to her in apology. "He isn't a monster, he's a flying bison. Appa is a vegetarian, don't worry, he won't hurt you. I'm sorry for scaring you." Mid-bow he looked up and saw them approaching. "We got your letter, Sokka."

As to 'we', a small figure in green slid down the side of the bison and approached them. "Well, I for one had no idea she was standing there before we landed," she stated casually, and stood without looking at anyone in particular. "This is on you, Twinkle-toes."

Aang helped the older woman to her feet and tried to calm her down while she muttered about the bison dropping from the sky like a demon. Aang apologized to her again, then turned to introduce the girl. "Everyone, this is my earthbending sifu, Toph Beifong." She was about eighteen, slender, and barefoot. Over her shoulder hung a dirty tan daypack, and her eyes were a cloudy pale green. Zuko had heard of their family, one of the wealthiest in the Earth Kingdom.

While the servant scrambled away and retreated into the mansion, everyone introduced themselves. Zuko stumbled back as a weight crash-landed on his shoulder. Momo, enthusiastic, chittered and leaned over to peer into his face, giving him a whiff of lemur-breath, vaguely fruity. He'd known they had Appa at hand, but it surprised him how quickly they had managed the trip, almost like they were eager to be out of Gao Ling at the first chance. After the city had been razed into ash by Zhao and Azula, they'd sent an embassy and engineers to aid them in rebuilding. He'd received an earful from the advisors for how much money he'd set aside for their restructuring; it had been the first and last time Zuko'd had to demonstrate his uncle's fire-breath. Most of the captured earthbenders had been held as prisoners of war, but that wasn't to his advantage, as they had been in an exceedingly poor state of health when released back to Gao Ling, and were surely armed with unpleasant things to say about his country.

Aang continued the introductions, saying, "And this is my firebending sifu, Zuko. He's the Firelord now."

Toph wasn't impressed. "Well, go on, then. Let's have some firebending. Nice and close so I can feel the heat." She swept up her bangs and pulled her eyelid down. "Visuals aren't my thing."

Everyone looked to him. Clearing his throat, he approached and held his hand out with the palm upturned, then produced a flame there. She stood without reaction, then shifted and stomped on the ground. Zuko extinguished his fire and fell to one knee as the ground rose into a pillar under his feet. He was held ten feet in the air on a surface two feet wide. "Mine's better," she said, then grinned as she lowered him back down. Aang was suppressing a laugh, and turned his face away when Zuko glared at him.

The students were introduced as Haoran and Caishen, Piandao's top students besides Sokka. The three had grown close during training, and they were thought trustworthy. Their families had mostly refrained from joining the military in the past. Haoran's oversaw a prosperous farming region and had made themselves a good living through the generations, and had helped in previous times of famine during the reign of Azulon by donating all of their own grain stores and dried provisions to the citizens free of charge. Caishen's family were artisans famed for intricate metalcraft, and had invented new household apparatuses that made life more convenient for Fire nationals. Upper end restaurants started bidding wars over their wares. "If you need any assistance, these two can help you, Avatar. Only Haoran is a firebender, but they're both skilled at swordsmanship and archery."