Steam: An Avatar Story

Chapter 6

The next day, Katara rolled out of bed and fed Ren, waiting for Suki to come in so she could watch the small dragon while Katara trained. Zuko would be here shortly, and he'd be accompanying her to the arena like he did yesterday.

Katara's door opened, revealing Suki with Katara's breakfast and a stash of dried meat and milk for Ren to eat throughout the day. Thanking her, Katara sat down to eat.

A few minutes later there was a knock on her door, which Suki silently answered. Zuko was standing there, and he walked over to sit by Katara when she beckoned him in.

"I want to take Ren outside tonight," Katara said. "She needs to see the outside world."

"I'll go with you. We just need to make sure she's not seen." Katara thanked him and continued eating.

"Are you ready for today?" Zuko asked after a moment.

"I'm sore from yesterday. I'm terrified I won't be able to Earthbend." She confided. "I was so bad at it yesterday."

"You'll do better today, I know it. There's an Earthbender in there somewhere, I know there is. Once you make progress on that, we'll find you a good Waterbending teacher, even if it means we have to sneak away from the palace. I'm not going to let you fail to reach your full potential."

"Thanks Zuko. I'm ready." Katara stood up and walked out, Zuko close behind.

There was rumbling and smashing in the arena when they got there. Confused, the two teens ran into the arena and saw the Beifong girl displaying an incredible array of Earthbending, far more advanced then what Master Yu was teaching her. Zuko and Katara exchanged a look.

"Toph!" Katara exclaimed. The blind girl turned towards her with uncanny accuracy. "That's your name right?"

"What's it to you?" She asked brashly, spitting on the ground and crossing her arms.

"That was incredible Earthbending! How are you doing that?"

"Uh, like a normal person." Toph replied, raising an eyebrow.

"But you're..." Katara trailed off.

"Blind? That's alright Sugar Queen you can say it." Katara spluttered.

"Sugar Queen?!"

"Yeah, so?" Zuko chuckled a bit at that.

"Shut up Sparky." Toph snapped. That remark made Zuko's face redden and he clenched his fists.

"Did you really just call me Sparky?" Zuko asked dangerously. Toph cocked her head towards him.

"And?" She asked, raising her eyebrow once more. Zuko took a step towards her, intent on giving the young girl a piece of his mind and a lesson on respect when, with a flick of her hand, Earth buried him all the way up his body so he couldn't talk.

"What in Agni?" Katara exclaimed. "He's the Crown Prince, you can't talk to or treat him like that!"

"Sugar Queen, I really don't care what he is. I'm here because I was bored out of my mind being confined to my house in the Earth Kingdom. I thought it was time for a change of scenery." Toph dropped the earth surrounding Zuko, which gave him the opportunity to continue towards her.

"Sparky, if you don't want to end up in the ground, then leave me alone." Toph said, nonchalant. Zuko honestly had no response for that and he stopped. He was astounded that this little blind girl wasn't scared of him, and how confident she was, despite that.

"What do you mean a change of scenery, you can't really see it can you?" Katara asked. It was a simple question, and thankfully Toph didn't take offense.