Chapter Text
Past two rivers and a village destroyed in a flood, they came to Pohuai Stronghold, now under Earth Kingdom control and staffed by Earth Kingdom soldiers, one of Firelord Zuko’s first concessions to the Earth King.
Some of the soldiers recognized Toph and, at her request, opened the gates to let her and her companions in. The sun was sinking low-- within the stronghold, it had already set behind the walls-- and the surrounding area was mostly boggy and not the best place to find a campsite. Katara had once mentioned a sheltered place in the ruins nearby, but Pohuai Stronghold was more obvious, full of marching feet and rising high enough for Teo to see the towers from as far away as Toph felt it.
Within the stronghold, the earthbender in command of the place offered Toph and her friends a place to stay. Toph accepted, reassuring herself that this probably counted as repayment for saving the nation.
“So, what brings you here?” the commander asked conversationally.
Toph explained her mission, and heard a few of the other soldiers make approving noises.
“That’s admirable of you,” said the commander.
“I can help you make some renovations while I’m here,” she offered.
“That won’t be necessary,” said the commander. “This is a military outpost. There aren’t any cripples in the military.”
Toph was about to start shouting when Teo put a hand on her shoulder.
“Thank you for your hospitality,” he told the commander. The interruption gave Toph time to think of better ideas than shouting.
**
Late that night, Toph wandered the stronghold. The guards on duty noticed her, acknowledged her, and let her be. It was different being a hero, especially compared to being a fugitive.
The bottom floor of the stronghold was okay. Toph told herself she’d figure out the long flights of steps later. They were way too steep to just flatten into a ramp, but she’d think of something. Or Teo would think of something.
She left the building and went for a walk up on the wall instead. If anyone like Teo were to work here, they’d probably be up patrolling the walls with a bow and arrow. That or doing the cooking and the laundry, unless the soldiers did that for themselves; Toph didn’t know.
The top of the wall was broad and smooth and mostly level, but there were steps in a few places.
She nodded politely to a sentry as she passed. He stopped and turned to watch her for a moment, then continued on away from her. She knelt at the foot of the short flight of steps. A year ago, her metalbending would have been too rough and too loud for this, but she’d been practicing. She pulled at the steps and smoothed them down into a ramp. She wasn’t sure what to do with the extra material, so she left it by the side of the walkway, where she could hope that no one would trip over it in the dark.
She felt another sentry’s footsteps moving toward her. Now what? She had thought she’d just fix everything first and let everyone else ask questions later, but if the sentry asked her what she was doing or why the stairs were gone, what was she supposed to say?
“Miss Beifong,” the sentry greeted her. “Out stargazing, I take it?” His footsteps stopped.
“Yeah, exactly. That one there looks like Appa,” she said, pointing in the general direction of the horizon.
“Um...” He started to walk closer to her, then stopped when his foot found the ramp. “What the...? What happened to the stairs?”
Toph shrugged. “I dunno.”
“You can bend metal,” he said.
“Yeah,” Toph said innocently. “What about it?”
“Is this so your friend can come up here with you? Just warn people so nobody falls and breaks their neck,” said the sentry, “and put it back when you’re done.”
“Of course,” Toph lied. She smiled and waved goodbye to the guard and hurried on.
The rest of the stairs on the wall were easy to fix, and she finished and went back to bed, intending to talk to Teo about the stairs within the stronghold in the morning.
**
Morning came and Toph and Teo found the stairs immediately after waking up and getting dressed.
“That’s way too steep,” said Teo. “Maybe we could put in a steam-powered lift. Considering where we are, that would mean either coal or firebending, since they don’t have the same geothermal heat here as we do back home. I’m not even sure it’s possible. If you get me the blueprints and ask the commander whether they can maintain it and keep it running if we do install one, then I can tell you whether it’s possible.”
“What do you need blueprints for? You’ve got me, remember?” Toph could feel the shape of the entire building. She described to Teo the rooms above and below them, and the rooms on the other side of the wall.
“That won’t work,” said Teo. “But maybe on the outside of the building... oh, but that won’t work, either.”
“Why not?”
“You can’t just add another door to a place like this,” said Teo. “It’s one more entrance you have to defend. And if it’s on the outside, it’s a weak point that an enemy could attack and keep troops from getting up or down.”
“Well... then what are we supposed to do? Give up?” The entire reason they were traveling was to fix things like that. “We could rebuild this entire place from the ground up.”
“I’m not sure you want to do that,” said Teo. “The commander won’t be happy.”
“Hmph.” Toph folded her arms. “What do I care if he’s happy or not?”
“You’re the one who wants to get involved in politics. What you want to do in Yu Dao will be easier if you don’t get on powerful people’s bad sides,” said Teo.
“Maybe,” she allowed, but Toph thought she might be on the commander’s bad side already after remodeling the top of the wall.
She felt Chenli’s footsteps and those of a soldier coming toward them. Well before either of them said anything, Toph turned toward them.
“Hey,” she said.
“Good morning, Miss Beifong. Your friend here got a bit lost,” said the soldier. Chenli looked down. “I’ll leave her with you. By the way, the commander is hoping you’ll remember to fix the wall before you leave. It’s very important to our defenses.”
Toph thought that was bull, but she smiled and nodded anyway. “Of course. I’ll remember.”
She could just leave the ramps in place like she had in the northern port town, so she didn’t worry about that. It was Chenli getting lost that worried her. Toph resolved to test her more carefully after they left Pohuai, because she’d be worthless as a teacher if she couldn’t get around on her own.
**
The commander was there to “remind” Toph about the ramps before the gate was opened, so she had to undo all her hard work before she could leave with Teo and Chenli. Their visit to Pohuai was completely useless and Toph seethed about it as they left.
“Chenli,” she said once they were a ways away from the stronghold, “which way to Yu Dao?”
“I don’t know,” Chenli admitted. “East?”
“Yep, east. How about you take the lead today?” said Toph. She slowed her pace. Beside her, Teo slowed his. Chenli blazed the trail ahead of them, with cautious steps. They were out amid wetlands and fallen plant detritus that crinkled and collapsed underfoot, deadening Toph’s sense of vibrations.
Chenli reached out to touch a tree she’d seemed like she was going to walk into, and went around it. For a moment, Toph wondered how she’d done it without earthbending. Then she noticed the shade. Chenli was just lucky the sun was out.
She led them east, out of the forest and past wetlands and sometimes through wetlands, getting everyone muddy. At one point, Toph had to push Teo through the mud, even as he protested that it would be possible to go around it.
When it felt like it was almost noon, and Chenli hadn’t done any worse than a couple of close calls on uneven ground, Toph decided she’d seen enough.
“You’ve gotten us pretty far from Pohuai,” she said. “How did you manage to get lost earlier?”
Chenli stopped walking. “You believed that? That was a lie I told when that man caught me sneaking around.”
It wasn’t an answer Toph had expected at all. “What were you sneaking around for? I could feel the whole building!”
There was a pause before Chenli answered. “I prefer to see things for myself.”
“Glad we’ve got that straightened out,” said Toph. She started walking again, past Chenli, to take the lead. “Now let’s try to pick up the pace, slowpokes.”
**
Teo’s wheels were covered in drying mud, like his hands. He told himself that getting angry never solved anything. Really. That was why he was the kind of guy who just let things like this roll right off his back, instead of wanting to shout at Toph that she should have asked that question first and maybe they wouldn’t have had to go through the bog.
“Toph, can you ask that a little sooner next time?” Teo said once he trusted himself to be polite. “It’s not good for my chair to roll through mud like that.”
“It’s just mud,” said Toph. “Don’t be such a baby.”
“Getting mud in my wheels makes it harder for me to get around,” he said. Just a statement of fact, not blaming her. It was getting in between the wheels and the axles, and Teo was going to hate cleaning that out whenever Toph decided they could stop for the day.
Wordlessly, Toph bent the mud away from his chair. Then she kept walking. Walking and scowling.
“Hey, Toph, are you okay?” he asked.
“I’m fine,” she said, too fast and too brightly. “Why wouldn’t I be?” She picked up her pace and Teo and Chenli both had to speed up to keep from being left behind. “Besides you two being so slow, everything’s peachy.”
Teo pushed a little harder, a little faster. Just fast enough to get ahead of Toph, who immediately sped up. So Teo sped up a little more.
“Don’t tell me you’re still upset about not being able to do anything at Pohuai Stronghold,” he said.
“I’m not upset,” Toph lied.
“Have it your way.” Toph was almost running. Then Teo inched out ahead of her again and suddenly the earth was shifting under Toph’s feet, propelling her way faster than Teo could have gone.
Without thinking, he went all-out, trying to catch her. She just kept widening the gap, and Teo brought himself to a stop. He could go faster than that in the air, but he was on land where Toph had the advantage.
Chenli came running after him and stopped, panting, doubled over. “What-- just happened?” she panted.
Teo shrugged. Then he remembered to answer out loud. “I don’t know, I think Toph is angry at us.” He stared off after her. The way she was using her earthbending looked almost as awesome as flying. He wished he could show her that his flying was even better, but Toph would never be able to see it, and she’d never believe him if he told her.
“Is she coming back?” asked Chenli.
He didn’t know. “Let’s just try following her,” he said, and set off at a pace he thought he and Chenli could both keep up.
***
When Toph finally stopped to rest, it was getting cold. She didn’t know what she’d done wrong, but everything was falling apart between her and Teo. Now that whatever they’d had going was completely ruined, what was she supposed to do? Keep heading for Yu Dao?
Instead of making camp, she started practicing her earthbending. She still couldn’t feel what she was doing as clearly as before Zuko had burned her, but she was getting there, and it felt good to focus on the earth. There was just the rock, and the act of bending it to her will.
And wheels coming toward her. They were way off in the distance. Toph turned toward the vibrations, shifting her feet to get a better feel for how far away they were.
Now what? She could start running again and maybe get away. But why was Teo following her anyway? She’d botched that friendship. It was too bad. She might as well leave before they had a big fight.
She raised a stone tent for herself and crawled inside. She’d just pretend to be sleeping when Teo and Chenli caught up with her.
**
They followed Toph by the trail of loose earth and half-buried bits of turf. That and the fact that she was running in a straight line. After a while, Teo settled into a rhythm, broken only by the times when the ground rose and fell and he had to push harder to get over a hill, or when he let himself coast down. Chenli jogged directly behind him, treading over the places Teo had already chosen as the firmest and most even.
By the time dusk had fallen, Teo had half forgotten why he was running (he thought of it as running). He started laughing at the speed he could get coasting down a hill. The wind would whip his hair and clothes like it did when he was flying. There hadn’t exactly been any hills back home, just flat stone and staircases.
With any luck, a break from the group would have helped Toph’s mood as much as Teo’s.
By the time Teo spotted a rock formation at the end of the trail that looked decidedly unnatural, he was out of breath and his arms ached. Chenli caught up from some ways back, panting and sweaty. She looked about ready to fall over.
Teo stopped right in front of Toph’s rock tent. “Toph’s right there,” he told Chenli. “It looks like she’s asleep.”
He rolled just slightly closer. “Hey, Toph, wake up,” he said.
Chenli walked over to her, knelt and was about to touch her when Toph pushed herself up.
“I’m awake,” she said. “What are you doing here?”
“You’re the one who earthbends us a shelter every night,” said Teo. Did it matter if he let his smile disappear remembering that? If Toph knew how uneasy he felt, suddenly realizing that he might not be able to get home without her... then what? “Besides, what if you run into a tigerwolf without me?”
“I can take care of myself,” said Toph. “You’re the one with no bending.”
“I’m teasing you,” said Teo. “It’s a joke. I know you can take care of yourself. I’ve seen you fight, Toph, remember?”
“Yeah, okay,” she said, still not sounding happy. “So then why’d you come? Just because you can’t get anywhere without me?”
That was just close enough to true to make Teo feel like a block of ice had dropped into his stomach. But he was with Toph because he wanted the adventure and because the world needed to be fixed, because he believed in what they were doing and because it was too late to turn back now.
“We’re going to design Republic City together,” he said. “We’re fixing things. And we’re doing great! I should be asking you why you ran off like that.”
“We’re not doing great! We were, but now we’re not. We haven’t fixed anything since Full Moon Bay,” said Toph. “The further we go, the more hopeless it seems. So what if we fixed a couple of buildings? The entire world is full of-- of-- barriers! And people being stupid! You know how many people we’ve helped so far? Three! And we’ve been traveling for weeks! And I’m not even sure why you’re still with me. I know I’m getting on your nerves even more than I usually do.”
“Well, yeah, you are acting immature,” Teo said, and Toph scowled at him, “but that doesn’t mean we can’t still work together. You and Katara managed to work together for months, and I know you two were at each other’s throats for a while.”
“I’m not acting immature,” Toph said. After a moment, she added, “Well, anyway, how are we supposed to fix something so big? At this rate, we’ll die of old age before we’ve even made a dent.”
Teo considered that for a moment. “Ideas,” he said. “Next time, instead of just fixing the problems, we’ll talk about why we’re doing it. Then, when we’re gone, the whole village will work together to continue our work.”
Toph nodded. “I like it. But... why are we doing this?”
“I thought you knew,” said Teo, helplessly. The main idea was something about designing for everyone, and something about helping people get around and do things...
“Your idea is that we’re being wasted,” Chenli said. “We could do more if they would only let us.”
“Yeah,” said Toph. “They think we can’t do anything.”
“Or they just forget about us.” It was coming together now. Teo knew what to tell the next village.