"The true mind can weather all the lies and illusions without being lost. The true heart can tough the poison of hatred without being harmed. Since beginningless time, darkness thrives in the void, but always yields to purifying light."
— The lion turtle explaining energy bending to Aang.
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Toph slammed her feet against the ground, punching a giant rock at me. I ducked, falling to the floor and putting my hands over my head.
"Get back up, Sparkles! The Fire Lord isn't going to go easy on you!" I groaned in frustration, getting to my feet.
My eyes widened. "Whoa whoa, Toph, wait. WAIT!" I yelled, but no way in heck was she holding back. Earth crashed into my chest and I fell further back, slamming against a tree.
"You call yourself a dual bender? Where's the dual bending?" she yelled. "I know it's not there and I'm blind. He's going to rip you to shreds!"
Frustrated, I balled up my fists, slicing my hand through the air. Fire boomerangs swung at her head. I repeated the attack, except using the water from a tree trunk to ice up her feet with. She dodged all of it, only to bonk me in the head with an earth ball.
"Sometimes I wonder if you're really blind," I grumbled.
"I can hear you. Now man up, chicken legs," she shouted.
"I'll kill you," I sneered.
"Show me what you got!"
I planted my shoes on the ground, my fists pulled back to my waist. With a shout, I did a triple fire punch, bouncing away on my palms. I landed on my feet, sliding it up to give her a water lash. She dodged all of them, and then I finally got a hit when I cut through her attacks, gathering up all the water around me the way Hama the witch had taught me, and slammed it against her. She got to her feet quicker than she fell.
"Okay," she gave me a nod, "not subtle, but we can work with that."
Zuko walked up behind her, flashing me a sly grin. "Losing your touch? Remember when you blew us off the ship during that Agni Kai? What happened?"
I glared at him. "Zu, get out of my face."
"You know," Suki said, appearing behind Zuko and standing on her toes to look over his shoulder, "Maybe less bending combat and more hand-to-hand combat. You're getting a bit too stiff."
"I'm out," Toph said, sitting on the ground. "I'd rather watch." We all raised our eyebrows. "You know what I mean," she rolled her gray eyes.
Suki stood in front of me. "Punch me." I didn't hold back. Aiming at her shoulder, I threw a punch. She grabbed my arm, flipping me over her back. I landed hard. "Let's do it again."
I got to my feet again, kicking at her legs. She jumped over my leg, knocking me to the ground with one kick. I groaned, getting up again. I punched. She grabbed my arm but I twisted around, getting her in a headlock, my arm around her neck. She struggled, but she was strong. With a powerful boost she kicked her legs up, landing behind me, switching the position. I threw back my elbow, catching her shoulder.
She rolled away, her shoes kicking my bottom. I landed on all fours. We faced each other. I waited for her to make a move. We circled each other.
"Come on," I beckoned. "It's no fun if you stare at my face."
She smirked. "You sure I'm the one staring?" She flipped in the air, her foot aimed right at my face. In a sudden defense, I grabbed her it and threw her to the side. She landed on her shoulder, turning over to get back on her feet. "You're good at defense."
