Burnt Out - Zuko x OC

I Am A Child

THREE YEARS AGO

A picturesque garden sat atop rolling green hills in the Southern Earth Kingdom. There were no guards around, not when Kai and her father, General Fong, were visiting the Beifong Estate. Kai and Toph always took advantage of the moments when they could truly be alone. They were the only friends each other was allowed.

Kai and Toph stood hidden between tall hedges in the garden labyrinth. No shoes, like always. The tips of their fingers touching just enough for Toph to understand the basics.

"Now, part your legs like this." Kai kicked Toph's bare feet further apart, guiding her into a more stable stance by pushing down on her shoulders gently, "Good! That's perfect form, Toph. Remember what I told you? You have to feel the strength of the earth within you. You are the soil beneath your feet."

Kai unfolded Toph's small, child sized fingers and continued, "Take a deep breath and —"

Without further instruction Toph shifted her palm upward and the ground beneath it uprooted in time. She could feel it, it sent a supersonic flash of blue vision through her toes and to her mind's eye. She could see. She could see!

Toph's stance broke as the corners of her mouth turned up into a smile, "I did it! I actually did it!"

Kai hugged her tight, far too tight for any other nine year old. But not Toph, Kai knew that she was strong. She'd known from the moment they'd met just years ago, when her training had just become more grueling

Her training. That was why Kai and her father were there. Though the Beifong's weren't of political standpoint, they were the most influential family in the Southern Earth Kingdom. With influence came money, money that General Fong desperately needed for his secret project. Toph's family provided that much needed income, they figured it was for the greater good of all their people.

Kai pulled away from Toph with a proud grin on her face, though she couldn't tell, "You could see, couldn't you?!"

The small girl nodded excitedly with the hint of tears in her blue-grey eyes.

"I knew there was a way! After I ran into those badgermoles, I knew we could figure it out!" The two girls collapsed onto the ground, embracing the cool grass. Kai had been secretly training Toph for months behind her parents' backs. And while Toph had learned quickly how to move small rocks, this was the first big progress she'd made.

Toph could still feel the small vibrations. As if now that she'd experienced it, it was there to stay. Her new sight was a permanent part of her.

"I think you'll do better with rock. A real solid surface, like the kind at the bottom of the hills. The vibrations will be stronger down there."

The smile faded from Toph's face, "Yeah, like that'll ever happen.. you know they don't let me leave these walls."

Kai shrugged, "It's better to ask for forgiveness than permission, y'know?"

Toph repeated the same move over and over again until she'd mastered it. Little guidance was needed from Kai, not now that Toph could see for herself what she was doing. Tall mounds of dirt and rock erected from the grounds beside them as they giggled out of excitement. Kai was just about to challenge the girl, toss a pebble at her to see if she would know it was coming when Toph's expression changed dramatically.

"Someone is coming, I can see -- er, feel them." Kai sucked in her breath and shifted all the mounds back into the earth, they stomped on the grass atop them with hopes that the guards wouldn't notice.