Wandering Firebender

Ninety Two: The Promise

"I've always hated these dumb parties." Toph commented, stepping out onto the balcony with Alger for some fresh air. He nodded a little and leaned on the railing, looking out over the night view of the Inner Ring of Ba Sing Se.

"I can see that. You don't seem like the type to enjoy a more sophisticated environment." Alger said in reply.

"It's not that. I can handle all the fancy sophisticated stuff. It just reminds me too much of being back home; always having to act a certain way just to make my parents happy." She grumbled.

"I see...I can understand having reservations about it then. I'm sorry that they made you feel that way. I suppose in a way everyone here has to do that in order to fit in with the occasion." He thought aloud.

"Yeah well, that's not the way I do things. I don't ever want to do things that way anymore." Toph expressed seriously, shaking her head as she spoke.

"As long as you maintain some sense of balance, I don't see anything wrong with that." Alger said in reply.

"Good. Think fast."

Alger looked over just in time to see that Toph was tossing him a small stone that she had sculpted and brought with her. He caught it in his hands and instantly felt a strange tingling sensation in his palms. He looked at her in surprise.

"What is this?" He asked.

"It's a moon rock. We got it from a meteorite. Go ahead, play around with it." She invited.

Alger began to bend the rock and was caught off guard by how malleable it was. It required a combination of earthbending and metalbending to do it, but it allowed him to smoothly manipulate what felt like liquid stone.

"Wow, I've never felt anything like this before!" Alger exclaimed in astonishment.

"Right? Pretty cool, huh? Your metalbending's gotten a lot better, bookworm. I'm almost impressed." Toph noted with a chuckle.

"Heh, well, I had a fine teacher," Alger said with a smile. "Have you ever considered teaching metalbending to others? It's a very useful skill." He proposed. Toph thought about this for a moment.

"Hmm...not a bad idea. I'll have to think about it. I don't know if I wanna let other people know my special secret just yet." She said with a smug grin.

"Hm, well, let me know when you make up your mind." Alger said. He tossed the stone back to her. It smacked her in the shoulder and fell to the ground.

"Hey! What was that for?" She questioned.

"Sorry! Forgot." He said, quickly scooping it back up and placing it in her hands this time...

Meanwhile inside the Earth King's palace, the party was well underway with guests littered all around the main hosting area. There was live music and entertainment from Bosco the bear (and company), and long tables lined with food for everyone to enjoy.

It felt especially strange for Elio to be back here. He had mixed feelings about this place because of what had happened to him the last time he'd been here. Aside from that, times were changing in the world, and him being invited in here was a huge sign of that.

He looked over and saw Sri and Cindra walking together. Cindra had on a beautiful blue dress and jewelry that honored her water tribe heritage elegantly. Sri looked pretty too, although she had to buy her dress just before the event.

"This place is amazing!" Sri said with a grin as she looked around.

"I can't believe a place this huge exists. So many stairs," Cindra commented with a little laugh. "Is it how you remember, Elio?" She asked him curiously. Elio chuckled a little and smiled.