Chapter 74: Running Away from Home
A blob of mud flew from the shores of the artificial lake underneath the bridge that they just crossed and instantly hit the Avatar straight on the head, making the poor bald boy fall on the ground like a sack of potatoes.
"Stop squealing!" Toph frowned her eyebrows "If joining you means that I will have to deal with a squealing little girl, you better not even try to convince me anymore!"
"Blergh" The poor Aang could only spit the mud that managed to enter his wide mouth while cleaning his face with his airbending. "There were worms in there!!"
"Yea? So what?" Toph raised an eyebrow "When I was out practicing my earthbending I would spend a long time in the Foggy Swamp… and you don't even want to know what I had to eat to satisfy my hunger." A smug grin appeared on her lips
Ignoring the blind girl, Aang bent a little bit of water from the artificial river, washing his mouth with it before spitting at the ground.
"You really are a little girl, aren't you… Twinkle Toes?"
"Can we please stop this talk about me and go back to the talk that you are Madara's SISTER!?" Exclaimed Aang in exasperation.
"What's wrong?" her grin grew even more sarcastic as she removed her hair adornment, letting her long black hair flow down like a river "Can't see the resemblance?"
Aang's mouth went wide, but he covered it with his hands, he didn't want Toph sending more worm filled mud balls into his mouth.
"N-Now that you look like that…."
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Toph started laughing, she even fell on the floor "Oh, I wish I could see just this one time! The look on your face must be priceless for you to sound stupid like that!" after several seconds of laughing, the blind girl finally stopped "No, we are not blood related, but Madara is my big brother even if we don't share blood, he was the only one that ever accepted who I really am, always encouraged me, shared stories of his adventures across the world with me and never treated me like a helpless, powerless blind doll."
Toph's tone became rather melancholic as she kept talking about her relationship with Madara, as if flashbacks started coming to her mind.
"It saddens me that I don't even know what he looks like, all I've heard were details from former employees that left the family estate and joined him years ago. They always told me that we indeed looked alike, especially our hair... although Madara's is more…"
"Spiky? Wild? Like a long mane?" Said Aang, raising one finger.
"Yeah… Whatever that means…" The girl had a gentle smile on her lips.
"So… you don't know what I look like as well? And Katara? Sokka? Even The Boulder?"
"Nah, I know… Well, as well as someone in my circumstances can, my senses can capture details, but… He was gone before I fully mastered it, and never came back. Not that I could blame him, I've heard talks about him around here back then."
Aang didn't know what to say, honestly, he didn't have a decent talk with Madara, they met after the Oasis attack, but the Avatar didn't really know how to bridge the gap between them so back then he decided to just sit and watch Sokka bombard him with questions about training and fighting techniques. At the end of the day, Madara and Aang had very limited interaction.
"Well…" Aang tried to break the silence "If you decide to come with us… We can go and meet up with him!" he concluded with a beaming smile.
Toph's lip trembled emotionally a bit, but she closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
"I will think about it…" she said as she walked away, back towards her room.
The Avatar stood there with a thoughtful expression as he watched Toph walk back alone, after she was gone he took a deep breath and decided to follow her example and sleep for the night.
The next day came, and Aang finally understood what Toph said, about being treated like a waste.
Wherever the blind girl went, she was surrounded by at least ten people, seven guards and three maids. Also, for some reason, he and his group were not allowed to meet with her for the whole duration of the day, it was only during the parting banquet that they shared a room, but even so… Many more guards were around.
"So, I assume that after you leave, you will go back to searching for an earthbending teacher?" Asked Lao, with a tired expression, the nightly talk with his wife wasn't pleasant at all! 'Dammit Madara, even after years you still do this to me!'
Aang just stole glances at Toph for a moment, he couldn't see her struggling… but for some reason he could… feel it?... but, not wanting to ignore the patriarch, he answered.
"Yes, we have a long journey ahead."
Nodding Lao concluded their dinner "I wish you good luck Avatar Aang."
As both him and Poppy stood up, Toph also did so, but contrary to their elegant movements, she did so abruptly.
"Mom, Dad… I wish to talk to you..."
"Not now, Toph, it's already time for you to go to bed" Said Lao, basically ignoring the girl's pleas.
But as he was about to walk through the doorway, it was blocked by an earth wall, which shocked the couple and made them look back at an equally flabbergasted 'Master' Yu, then at Toph… finally noticing her hand raised, signaling that it was her who did it.
"I'm tired of this, I am not a frail porcelain doll like you think I am… "
Master Yu immediately went to bend the earth back down, but for some reason the wall slightly trembled but didn't budge, making Toph smirk a little bit.
"I am strong, not even that pompous prick over there can outmatch my earthbending!" She narrowed her eyes "I wish to teach the Avatar earthbending."
"Preposterous Toph!" Shouted Lao "You are a weak, frail, blind girl, and MY daughter! I won't allow you to travel around with these people, or ANYONE for that matter!"
"You don't understand who I am! I love fighting, I love earthbending! I am really… really good at it! And I want to go out adventuring like Madara!" She spoke, undoing her earth wall now that she got her parent's attention
"DON'T MENTION THAT NAME!" Shouted Poppy in anger. "He almost destroyed our family! You have no idea how bad of an influence that boy was on you! I regret it.. I REGRET THAT I ALLOWED YOUR FATHER TO KEEP HIM HERE!"
'Allowed me?' Lao's eyebrows twitched furiously "Toph…" His voice lowered "It seems we gave you far too much freedom, from now on you will be guarded and cared for 24 hours a day!"
"We are doing that for your own good, sweetie." Added Poppy, with a soft tone.
Toph could only sigh and lower her head as her father kicked the Avatar and his team out.
"Sorry… Goodbye, Aang…" a single tear fell down her face as she too was escorted to her room.
Entering her room, she could only sit down by her bed and hug her knees while tears kept flowing.
For several minutes she sat there, with her head lowered, but eventually she raised her red puffy eyes that narrowed dangerously as she suddenly stood up. "I'm tired of this!"
Stomping the ground, she opened a secret hole in her room's floor that had a few sacks of coins, her Championship belt and her Blind Bandit clothes.
Team Avatar could only follow the guards, honestly even if Aang wanted to help, this was a family issue, not an international calamity, he had no power here and he knew it.
As Sokka was fixing Appa's saddle, he turned to Aang;
"Don't worry Aang! We can always ask for the Boulder to teach you!" He said in excitement.
The poor Avatar could only give an extremely forced smile "… Yeah… We can search a bit further…"
"Don't worry, we will find you a teacher. There are plenty of amazing earthbenders out there." Said Katara while putting a hand on the bald boy's shoulder.
"Not like her." Said Aang with a saddened expression.
As the group was ready to leave, they heard a voice in the distance;
"Wait!" Shouted Toph, running towards the group, donning her Blind Bandit clothes and carrying a satchel.
"Toph! What are you doing here?"
"My dad changed his mind… He said I am free to travel the world!" Said the girl with a light smile on her face;
Sokka and Katara exchanged knowing glances, before the elder brother turned to the blind girl and smirked at her;
"Well, we better get out of here before he 'changes his mind' again…"
"Good idea!" Said Toph
"You're gonna be a great teacher, Toph!" Said Aang with a happy smile.
"You can bet that I will! I learned from the best!" She grinned and for some reason Aang felt a nasty shiver run down his spine "Speaking of which…" She then turned her face towards her family estate and took a deep breath before removing her hair adornment and tossing it on the ground, letting her hair flow freely.
…
Inside a minimalistic Japanese styled room, with clean tatami floors and open shoji doors that led to a stone platform connected to a private koi pond, the sound of the bamboo-scare and rustle of leaves is the only thing that could be heard.
On top of the tatami floor laid Madara, facing down, with his torso exposed. And laying besides him was a fair-skinned woman with dark brown hair tied in a bun and bangs covering one half of her beautiful face, she had bright blue eyes and wore a black yukata with blue and purplish-blue roses artistically embroidered into it, with a blue sash around her thin waist.
The woman was carrying a thin bamboo stick, and beside her she had a small box with many flasks of what looked to be different colors of ink and many other sticks just like the one that she was holding.
"We are almost done with our weekly session, Mr. Uchiha." Said her soft calm voice, as she kept slowly piercing Madara's back with the bamboo needle. A painting of one blue and one red dragon coiling around a big Uchiha Fan in a sea of flames could be seen being painted in Yakuza style, although not finished yet.
"Thank you, Hanya." He said as a soft towel was pressed to his back for several seconds before he sat up and adjusted his own black yukata.
Shaking her head with a smile "Don't mention it, at least you are not loud like Mr. Lei, he used to scream a lot back then…"
"I remember," Madara chuckled. "Even though his was way simpler, with only green…"
The woman could only chuckle, "More colors does not equal more pain, Mr. Uchiha."
"Then it seems that he is still just as wimpy as he was back then" Madara shrugged. "And just managed to mask it better."
They both stood up and Hanya escorted him to the exit of her shop, and once they arrived, she bowed "Thank you once more for giving me this opportunity Mr. Uchiha."
"Stop that woman, every week you thank me for it and honestly, it's not needed. You have talent for this kind of stuff and I would be glad to always keep you around here even if that was your one talent."
"Then let me thank you for not forcing me to be a healer just because I am a waterbender…" She said with an emotional face.
"Being born with the gift of bending does not force one to go down that route, it opens a door yes, but we all should be able to decide our path." Madara said offhandedly as he waved his hand and walked back towards his not-so-humble abode.
As he was walking, enjoying the sight of his 'upgraded' resort, Nari appeared out of nowhere, right beside him;
"Mr. Uchiha,"
"HOLY FUCKING SHIT WOMAN!" Shouted Madara as he got a jump-scare "You need to seriously stop doing that!"
"Hmm?" Nari tilted her head to the side with an innocent expression.
Staring at his innocent looking mother figure Madara's eyebrow could only twitch a little bit before he calmed down by taking a deep breath.
"How can I help you today, Nari?"
"We received what appears to be the first batch of Northern Water Tribesmen that wish to live here…"
Yeah, ever since the siege fiasco, many Water Tribesmen wanted to move here. Not everyone in the North had a good life. It's a tough environment and the sources of food are also very scarce. They survive, yes, but some of them want more than to simply survive to live another day.
"That's interesting… But did that really deserve the scare?"
"Well… You will be interested to know that we have a special guest now…"
"Who?" Madara raised an eyebrow, not very interested but simply playing the part.
"…. Princess Yue…"
"… Shit…"
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
KojiSan
KojiSan Hello!!! Here am i! with your new chapter!
Today i dont have any rant or massive texts to write here, and it's kinda weird... x_x
I want to let you all know that i will skip a LOT of book 2 plotline, because everything is kinda... not that exciting?.. i mean who wants to see Jet again, right?
I will not skip the WHOLE god damn thing, but i will skip the less important details, because i don't want to rewrite the plot exactly word by word as someone complained the previous chapter...
Oh yeah that is a thing! someone complained that i'm copying the whole damn thing word by word, and while i am keeping a LOT intact, i am doing quite a few subtle changes that are slowly adding up... its not a WHOLE NEW PLOT, no its not.. but it won't play the same due to Madara.. who isn't even RELATED to the plot, and that is the point!
Anyway, i hope yall enjoyin my work, im putting a lot of my heart into this, contrary to what some people might believe...
HAve a great day you wonderful sausages, you are all beautiful in your own 'special' way! :D
See you tomorrow!
Chapter 75: Crossroads
"... So, that's why I came here…" Said a sheepish Yue
Massaging his forehead with an exhausted expression, Madara stared at the runaway princess;
"Let me see if I've got this right… You have been having nightmares ever since the siege ended, and because you felt like a helpless damsel in distress during the whole ordeal, you started seeking methods to actually do something about it…"
Yue nodded.
"Then… you decided to talk to your father, the Chief, one of the most bullheaded traditionalists of your whole nation, Pakku aside… but we don't talk about him, about actually breaking a 'sacred tradition', and he not only refused but also got incredibly irritated, because of course he did…"
Yue nodded again.
"Finally … you had the ingenious idea of dipping, because of course you did, and came all the way here to train under Kaliya considering that you now view her like a new role model ever since she defended your homeland." Madara concluded by taking a breather, while watching Yue nodding again and again like a Pig Rooster.
"What did your father say about it?... Please tell me your father is aware of … This!" Demanded an exasperated Madara while looking straight into the Northern Princess' eyes. One could see bags forming under his eyes already.
"… Well… funny story… let's just say that he didn't say 'No' to my idea" she said giving him a forced beaming smile.
"MOTHER FU-"Madara was about to shout, but was instantly slapped on the back of the head by his mother figure, Nari, who carried a sharpened gaze towards her beloved 'adopted son'.
"Don't use such crass words in front of a Princess, Mr. Uchiha."
Waving her small hands in a panicky state, Yue tried to mediate "Please Miss Wulong, don't do that, Madara is the only one I know that would accept me in my circumstances, I am already bringing too much trouble just by being here, I don't want him being forced to behave differently, this is his home after all…"
Staring at the Princess, Nari's gaze softened "You wouldn't be saying that if you had heard how this man has been behaving since he was a kid, Princess, some of our employees have known him since he was nine and let me tell you one thing… This man's words used to make sailors blush by that age already! But now he is the face of this town… he can't be seen behaving like the crass hooligan that he used to…"
Madara kept staring at Nari with a twitching eye "What am I supposed to say? Monkey Feathers?!"
Nari simply stared back at him "Anything is better than your wide-range of F word usages, Mr. Uchiha…"
..
Madara kept staring at Nari for an awkward amount of time before simply turning away to walk back towards his home… the home where he could curse as much as he wanted… but one could hear him mumbling to himself
"Damn royalty…. Monkey feathers!.."
Although the day didn't start that well for the first and only Uchiha in the world, as the day progressed and transitioned to a second and third day, Madara couldn't help but take a note from Iroh's book and that led to the current situation;
"Ah… Jasmine tea, what a wonderful addition to such a beautiful day" Said a satisfied Madara, sitting on a reclining chair, drinking a wonderful blend of tea with some extra cookies while watching first hand what was happening in the wide plaza in front of him;
"MOTHER FUC-" A squealy female voice could be heard
"Princess! Don't curse, you are Royalty, you need to keep decorum in any and all circumstances!" Said Madara, interrupting the target of his political headaches
Yue could only stare at Madara as if she was about to murder him, but not before the huge 'ice boulder' that she was using all her might and skill to keep floating above her increased in size and weight.
"Ye better stop losing focus, Princess" A happily evil Kaliya smirked to the side, sitting on an ice block while drinking sake in one hand and bending the water with the other. "Otherwise I will be forced to add an ice floor underneath ye feet to make sure ye keep paying attention"
"Grr…." Was all that the Princess could say
"Alright, ice floor it is!" Kaliya said cheerfully.
"Ahhh…" Madara smacked his lips in satisfaction after enjoying a sip of his drink. "… it brings back good ol' memories…"
Poor Yue could only double her efforts and focus, staring down at the floor to help her concentrate, while listening to the evil maniacal laughs of the evilest couple she had ever met!
…
On the other side of the Earth Kingdom, things were not as cheerful as they were at the Uchiha Resort… Yue's opinion about it being fully ignored, of course… as a small team of four children wearing different colored clothes that clearly displayed different origins, kept discussing things in front of an exhausted and sleepy flying bison.
"WHAT!?" Shouted another squealy, incredibly high-pitched girl's voice.
"You heard me!" Shouted back an annoyed and pissed off girl.
"You are blaming ME for this?!" Shouted a blind girl with long flowing black hair while wearing a beige and green tunic, standing on her bare feet as she faced a taller tanned girl wearing a blue tunic.
The older girl made a 'Come On' move with her hands after throwing her green sleeping bag to the side.
Before any catfight could take place, a bald boy with an arrow tattoo on his head and dark bags under his eyes jumped in between them
"No!... No! She is not blaming you!" He tried his best to give the blind girl a friendly smile
"No, I'm blaming her!" Said Katara, from behind Aang.
Toph, not willing to take any shit, grabbed Aang by his face and threw him to the side like he had no weight whatsoever and came face to face with her opponent, a pissed and tired Katara.
The situation escalated so much that the blind girl decided to leave, and now the original trio stood beside a shedding Appa while Aang shouted to the skies;
"WHAT DID I JUST DO?!... I can't believe I just yelled at my earthbending teacher!"
Sokka decided to keep to himself during the whole ordeal, he did try to stop Toph but it didn't work, it seemed that he did learn…. Slowly, but… He improved!
….
Walking for several hours in silence, Toph finally sensed something through her feet and made a fissure with her feet, aiming towards a big rock nearby.
"OW!" An old voice could be heard "That really hurt my tailbone…."
Stepping closer, Toph noticed that her earth sense only captured this one person in the vicinity, so obviously it wasn't an ambush.
"Who are you?"
"Just an old man looking for the perfect tea leaves in the vicinity, have you seen a white flower with luscious green edges?"
Toph just deadpanned and pointed to her own eyes.
"Oh… I apologize, are you alone here?"
"… Yes, now I am…"
"Why don't you accompany this old man and have some good tea, then? There's no bad day that can't be improved with the right tea…"
Toph kept staring at the man, her sense could tell her the person she was talking to was a genuine good person, no lies detected. "Sure… Why not?"
As the duo of old and young reached a steadily built camp near the road around a mountain, not that far away from where they met, the old Iroh went straight to his teapot and started preparing it, all while humming a joyous song that he heard from the Resort the last time he was there, the old man liked music as well it seemed.
As they sat down by the campfire, Iroh handed Toph her cup after filling it "Here is your tea…. You seem a little too young to be traveling alone."
"You seem a little too old, " Toph replied after taking the teacup.
Iroh laughed joyfully "Perhaps I am."
"I know what you're thinking… I look like I can't handle being by myself."
"I wasn't thinking that."
"You wouldn't even let me pour my own cup of tea!"
"I poured your tea because I wanted to, and for no other reason." Said Iroh while giving Toph a grandfatherly smile, sadly she couldn't see it.
"People see me and think I'm weak. They want to take care of me, but I can take care of myself… by myself."
Iroh took a sip from his own teacup and then replied with a more serious tone "You sound like my nephew, always thinking you need to do things on your own, without anyone's support… There is nothing wrong with letting the people who love you help you. Not that I love you…I just met you…" The old General added with an awkward tone.
Toph on the other hand simply laughed "So… Where is your nephew?"
The old General caressed his long grey beard while showing a thinking expression "He should've been back by now, he went out hunting for food-"
"Uncle, look what I got!" Said a mildly excited Zuko as he showed up with a couple of dead Raccoon Crows that were as big as his torso. "Oh? It seems we have company…"
Iroh simply smiled, but he was very happy deep inside, his nephew seemed to get over that trance that took over him for a while, and ever since that one night when he was suffering from a fever, the young banished Prince woke up the next day with energy and his eyes were finally filled with life again.
"Oh yes, this is a fellow traveler, we met while I was out looking for those tea leaves that I told you about…"
"The possibly poisonous ones?"
"No, the possibly delicious ones!"
Zuko could only sigh, but their light banter made Toph laugh "It must be nice, to have a family that supports you…"
Zuko simply went to prepare the meat, starting with the whole defeathering process, while Iroh kept Toph company.
"You sound as if you are speaking from experience…" Iroh's voice carried a sad tone.
"Yeah…" The blind girl nodded "… My family doesn't support me, they never did and probably never will… and when I finally ran away to have my own life… me and my friends had some issues, and now here I am."
"Issues always arise when we start on a new path in life, things are never as simple as we expect them to be, but if we push through the barriers on our path… we always end up discovering new experiences that help us grow" Iroh said while sneakily looking towards Zuko "And through said growth… We discover who we truly are."
Toph lowered her head a little bit as if contemplating the old man's words "You know… my older brother said something similar to me… just less… wisely…"
Iroh laughed
"He was the only one that supported me… but he was… kicked out…" Toph said with a saddened expression, but those words quickly attracted Zuko's attention.
"Is that so? Did he do something bad?" The old general asked while, again, stealing glances at his nephew who suddenly grew interested in the conversation
Toph shook her head "No, he did what he believed was right… it's just that… my father didn't see it that way and kicked him out…"
Zuko couldn't help but hold his chest at those words, many expressions shifting on his face. "And… What happened to him?" he asked with an almost pleading voice, introducing himself into the conversation.
Facing up, not that Toph could see the sky but she could feel the wind gently touching her face, she said "He is doing good from what I've heard, at the end of the day… He proved that he didn't need my father to be successful, he earned it all by himself with his own hands… it is what the old man over there said… life threw him a wall and he just blasted his way through it… and now he is living more than well and is happy…. I just wish I could meet him again…"
"I… I see…." Were the only words that an emotional Zuko could say.
"We will meet again!" Toph turned a bit excited "And when we meet… I plan on beating the shit out of him for leaving me behind all of these years!" She concluded by punching her empty palm in front of her chest
"I believe he would be happy to see you…" Said Zuko, offering her a smile.
"Thank you for the talk, and the tea was great" Said Toph as she stood up "Old man, you are lucky to have a good nephew to keep you in check. Don't go wandering around like that… not everyone is as kind hearted as I am…"
Iroh chuckled "Noted, I shall be escorted by my beloved nephew here the next time I decide to go tea leaf hunting…"
"Sorry for taking up your time, I shall go back to my friends now… I know they need me"
"It was a pleasure. Sharing tea with a fascinating stranger is one of life's true delights."
"Hopefully we can meet again some time" Concluded Toph before jumping away from their location and using her earthbending to speed through her journey back.
"What an interesting earthbender, isn't she Prince Zuko?"
"She reminds me of Teacher, they look similar… " Said Zuko, staring at the fading girl's long black hair "Do you think that her older brother also resembles Teacher?"
Iroh shrugged "Who knows… perhaps…" his smile got wider as he watched Zuko reaction to their newest acquaintance.
Zuko kept staring at the horizon with many things running through his thoughts.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS
KojiSan
KojiSan
This is my favorite chapter so far.
i've written many chapters in both of my novels, but this chapter so far is my favorite of all of them.
It really shows the small and subtle changes, that some people overlook and judge to be insignificant, to merge into one big shift in the original narrative...
Zuko never left, Zuko Alone didn't happen. Toph having Madara as an elder brother figure and their own story was able to bring some light to Zuko in a very unique way.
This chapter is the summit of all changes that happened from the moment Madara stepped out of the Air Temble at the age of 9.
And it IS my favorite, it's what i want in a fanfiction, not a mass shift in tone, not a new MC to the OG story, and not an abysmal AU that seems like a complete new world instead of the original... no... it's subtle changes that are MEANINGFULL, it doesnt happen due to ONE talk, it take YEARS, slow building blocks falling on the right places.
Thank you all for the wait, this chapter took me a while to write, i wanted to get it right and i spent yesterday sleeping the whole day... XD
I'm not disappearing guys... i am not the Avatar!
Now you wonderful and patient sausages... have a great day, stay awesome and see you next chapter!
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