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The Element of Change - Book 1: Choice

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Chapter 9: When Push Comes to Shove

Notes: Warnings: (warnings are specific to each chapter, but general warning and tags for the whole fic can be checked here) TWs: Racism/benderism 😬(Sorry guys)

POV: Kiyoi

The following chapter takes place during Book Three: Fire, Episode 2 -The Headband.

The dawn painted the sky soft lavender against the jagged rocks that framed the secluded cove. Sokka was perched on the bluff. Standing a bleary-eyed sentinel, scanning the surrounding cliffs and along the beach.

‘Anything?’ Katara called up to him; his silhouette a dark smudge against the brightening sky.

Kiyoi's posture remained rigid, arms crossed tightly over her chest despite the calming rhythmic wash of the waves.

‘Just magpie-gulls and sand,’ Sokka’s voice drifted down, interrupted by a yawn. ‘And maybe a turtle-crab or two, doing… turtle-crab things.’

With the all clear, Katara and Aang kicked off their shoes and began to remove the outer layers of their clothes.

Hesitantly Kiyoi pulled off her boots and set them next to the others. ‘I’m ready,’ she announced after a moment, staring into the waves.

Katara turned back to her and cast a confused glance at her. While Katara and Aang had stripped down to their undergarments and wraps, their skin exposed to the cool morning air, Kiyoi remained dressed in her usual attire.

‘Are you sure you want to practice in that?’ Katara asked, nodding towards her layered clothing. ‘It's a lot of…fabric.’

Kiyoi nodded. ‘I should train how I will fight.’ She then offered a shrug, a hint of a smile playing on her lips. ‘It will give me an incentive to learn how to remove the water from my clothes.’

‘But you might want to practice getting the motions first. All that fabric might hinder your technique.’ Katara frowned, unconvinced.

Her clothes were staying on, and it was not up for debate.

‘I will be more comfortable this way,’ Kiyoi replied, being sure to be firm, but keep her tone polite.

‘Katara's right, Kiyoi—‘ Aang began.

Kiyoi cut him off, ‘I am training like this.’ She knew he meant well, but her voice still left no room for argument.

She was comfortable around them, but not that comfortable. She had to learn to bend the water while wearing her normal clothes. It was, after all, how she would fight. And if she was going to be soaked, she would learn how to dry herself off. Her arguments were sound, logical, even if they weren’t the whole truth.

‘Fine,’ Katara conceded, her voice tight. ‘But don't come complaining when you're tangled in your own sleeves.’ She turned away, her gaze fixed on the churning waves. ‘Let's begin.’

Kiyoi watched her wade into the shallows and felt a flicker of resignation. They hadn’t even started, and she had already aggravated her. She wanted to connect with Katara, to bridge the divide between them, but it seemed that every attempt to do so only served to widen the chasm. What was it about her that made Katara so reactive?

Aang offered a sympathetic smile. ‘She means well,’ he shrugged. ‘And if you change your mind, find it’s hindering your progress, don’t be afraid to change.’

‘Thanks Aang, but I’m pretty sure I won’t,’ she marched forward into the waves.

Immediately her trousers became weighty, but she was too stubborn and committed now to admit that.

Kiyoi raised an eyebrow. She detected an undercurrent of tone, but unfortunately whatever the tone was supposed to convey was lost to her.

Aang splashed into the shallows with way too much enthusiasm for this time in the morning. He stood next to Katara and faced her. ‘Alright, Kiyoi! First things first, you gotta feel the water,’ Aang chirped, gesturing towards the gentle waves. ‘Feel the roll of the waves and feel the push and pull.’ He swished himself side to side, comically imitating the tide.

Katara, however, fixed him with a sharpened glare. ‘Aang, this isn't a game. Kiyoi needs to learn this the right way.’

‘You need to feel the connection to the water, understand its flow,' Katara continued. We will start with the basic forms.’

Aang, clinging to positivity like a barnacle, smiled at his friend impishly. ‘Katara, come on! We can’t just jump right into the forms. It’s gotta be fun too! We should see what she can do first.’

Katara remained unamused. ‘This isn't fun and games, Aang. This is waterbending.’

That caused Aang to frown deeply. ‘But-‘

Katara sighed and folded her arms, conceding to some argument in her mind. ‘But you’re right, let's see what we’re working with,’ she turned back to Kiyoi. ‘You ready?’

Kiyoi nodded. Her eyes scanned the waves. Her mind replaying the moments where she had successfully bended water. She had to show Katara something.

Kiyoi watched the exchange, unsettled. ‘Yes.’

‘Good, show me what you can do so far,' Katara instructed.

She dropped into her long stance, toes digging into the wet sand. She extended her hands and a thin stream of water rose from the waves, hovering in front of her. She concentrated, trying to shape it, to give it form, direct it. With a flick of her wrist, she attempted to create a water whip, but the result was weak and unstable. The stream lost its integrity, splashing out in a spray instead of a controlled ribbon.

‘It's… difficult,’ Kiyoi admitted, her brow furrowed in concentration. She tried again, this time focusing on her breathing, trying to channel the energy through her body, shifting her weight in her legs. The water stream grew slightly stronger, but still lacked the precision she desired.

Katara watched, her expression unreadable.

Aang offered an encouraging smile. ‘You're getting there, Kiyoi. Just keep practising.’

‘What else?’ Katara challenged flatly.

‘Well, I can boil the water, but that’s not really safe to try right now,’ Kiyoi sighed. ‘But I think…’ she trailed off.

She could demonstrate her understanding of flow. What the spirits had told her about direction and purpose.

She shifted her stance, adopting a familiar pose, her feet planted firmly, her arms angled sharply, fingers ridged and pointed like spear tips. She turned her attention to a small wave approaching them. She raised her hands. With a sharp, forceful movement, she shoved the wave back, halting it. The wave, momentarily contained, began to build. It grew taller and larger—a wall of churning energy.

Aang's eyes widened. ‘Whoa.’

The wave continued to swell.

Katara's eyes narrowed. ‘That's enough—‘

Before Katara could finish her sentence, Kiyoi released the contained energy. The wall of water, no longer held back, resumed its natural flow. It crashed down with a thunderous roar engulfing them.

The three of them washed back onto the beach, sputtering, unceremoniously dumped in the sand.

Sokka’s distant laughter trickled down from the bluff.

‘Wow!’ Aang gasped, sitting back up, shaking his new hair out like a wet lion-dog. ‘That was… a lot of water!’

Katara stood up, raking her hair back. ‘What was that!’ she demanded.

Kiyoi sat up from the sand and smiled, swiping away her dark hair plastered to her face. ‘I… I thought I’d try how I bent the steam, but with water.’

‘That was not waterbending, Kiyoi. That was… You're trying to force the water, to dominate it, like you would fire! It doesn't work that way.’ Katara glared at her.

Her smile faltered. ‘I… I wasn’t trying to dominate it,’ Kiyoi rebutted. ‘I thought… if I stopped it, I could…’

‘You stopped it, alright,’ Katara retorted.

Aang tried to intervene. ‘Come on, Katara, she's just trying to learn. It was actually kind of cool!’

Katara shot him a glare. ‘Cool? Aang, she could have crushed us!’

Aang stood up and offered her a hand, pulling her up from the sand. ‘You asked her to show you what she knows, that’s what she knows.’ He shrugged and offered a placating smile.

‘Well, that’s enough of that.’ Katara stepped forward, her gaze fixed on Kiyoi. ‘We will teach you properly now, starting with the basic stances. We’ll work on streaming the water.’

As she brushed off the sand, Kiyoi felt the not entirely silent disapproval radiate from Katara. It made her stomach churn.

At that moment, Kiyoi finally placed her finger on how the jabs and icy stares made her feel. Katara made her feel like an intruder. An intruder; that's how she sees me.

Kiyoi reevaluated her approach. Maybe indifference was not the best approach. Perhaps she needed to prove herself, to show Katara that her desire to learn was genuine, that she yearned to connect with the water as deeply as she did. That she did want to belong.

‘Of course,’ Kiyoi offered a respectful bow. ‘I am eager to learn in whatever way you deem appropriate.’

Katara appraised her. There was shift in her, Kiyoi saw it. She had said something right.

‘Your main technique when using water from your waterskin is streaming the water. This is an essential form; it is the base for a water whip—you'll use it a lot. So that's what we will work on.’ Katara told her and gestured for them all to wade back into the shallows again.

Katara demonstrated a series of flowing movements, her arms tracing graceful arcs in the air, her body weight shifting effortlessly from side to side as a ribbon of water orbited around her. She guided it, pushing and pulling it around her. ‘Now you try.’

Kiyoi observed closely, her mind trying to process the unfamiliar movements. She attempted to mimic Katara, but her feet were instinctively planted in a shorter stance, her arms held in rigid, angular positions.

‘Like this?’ she asked.

Katara’s lips thinned. ‘No, Kiyoi. That’s… that’s not... You’re too stiff. Waterbending is about yielding, about letting the water guide you.’

Kiyoi straightened up and frowned. ‘Yielding?’ she questioned. ‘But how can you bend it if you don’t give the water direction?’ She understood the concept of flow, but yielding? It felt foreign. ‘My streams aren’t forming with enough integrity to be precise. I need more control.’

‘Ah, okay,’ Aang nodded thoughtfully. ‘I see your problem. Usually, you can only do really precise movements with small amounts of water. If you want to stream the water better to shape your water whips, try to be less forceful,’ he encouraged. ‘Being less constraining is yielding. You give water direction, but you only guide it,’ Aang explained.

He demonstrated the technique again, his movements fluid and graceful, the water responding to him like a friend. ‘Yielding means you direct it, but let it do most of the work. Water naturally flows one way or the other.

'With water, the more precise you want to be and the more controlled you are, the less responsive it is.’ He gestured towards the waves, his stream disappearing into the sea foam. ‘Think of it like… like a dance. You lead, but you don’t force. You follow the rhythm, the natural flow of the water.’

Kiyoi watched, her mind trying to reconcile Aang’s explanation with her own understanding. ‘I don’t know much about dancing. But… I think I understand. I’ve been doing it already; when I let the pressure build in the points I want and then let it go and push it along. What I did with the wave, that’s yielding?’ she asked.

Aang furrowed his brow. ‘Huh, yeah, I guess,’ he said, a hint of surprise in his voice. ‘I mean, it’s not exactly how I do it, but… yeah, that’s kind of yielding.’

Katara shook her head, unimpressed. ‘That’s not yielding, Aang,’ she said, seeming more disappointed than angry. ‘That’s… that’s forcing the water to do what you want. Try again, Kiyoi. I think if you get the form, you’ll get a feel for it and you’ll understand.’

Katara moved through the stances again, the fluid, slow movements with splayed-out fingers.

Instinctively, Kiyoi's body settled into the rigid, powerful stances she’d been taught. So, bearing in mind Aang’s instruction to be less forceful, to be to it as a guide, she tried again.

She mirrored Katara’s movements as best she could, staying in a comfortable stance but opening her hands from closed fists and loosening her wrists. Something changed. Her fingers felt the draw of the waves.

‘Like this?’ Kiyoi asked, her voice tinged with uncertainty. She extended her hand loosely, and, to her surprise, a small tendril of water rose from the waves, swirling around her outstretched fingers.

Katara's eyes flickered with surprise. ‘That's… not the form.’

‘I know,’ Kiyoi replied, her gaze fixed on the swirling water. ‘But… when I stand like this, I… feel it. I feel the water responding.’ She moved, shifting her weight, more fluid this time, but still infused with the grounding stance of her childhood. Another tendril of water rose—this one larger, converging with the smaller one. She moved her hands in an arc, like Katara, and her grin widened as the water followed, swirling around her in a steady stream.

She tried another movement: a quick, sharp gesture, shortening her stance as she exhaled, pushing out in a punch that resembled a fire strike. The stream compressed into a jet of water, shooting forward, impacting a deep divot in the shore. Sand sprayed up and rained down on the beach.

Aang, his eyes wide with excitement, clapped his hands. ‘That's amazing, Kiyoi! You're waterbending!’

Katara’s jaw tightened. ‘That is not waterbending. Your stance is all wrong. You are not listening.’

‘Yet, it’s effective,’ Kiyoi protested, her voice betraying her frustration. Why was Katara being unreasonably harsh? ‘I am trying to adapt. These kinds of stances aren’t natural to me. I’m doing what I can to guide the water. This way it doesn’t feel like I’m straining or too forceful.’

Katara clenched her fists, and Kiyoi swore she felt the water around her knees drop a few degrees.

Aang, seeing his friend's darkening expression, tried to apply a balm to it. ‘Katara, she’s just trying to understand.’

‘And she’s doing it wrong!’ Katara snapped. ‘She’s treating waterbending like it’s… Argh!’ She turned back toward her, her face dripping with icy rage, ‘Waterbending is not about just moving the water; getting it to do what you want, Kiyoi!’ Katara ranted taking a step forward. ‘It’s about understanding it, about connecting with it. It’s about… about respect.’

‘Respect?’ Kiyoi asked incredulously.

Well, if it was about respect, after the way she’d treated her since she had joined them, Katara shouldn’t be able to bend a thimble.

‘Respect for… the water?’ Or respect for something else? A sinking feeling settled upon her as Kiyoi finally uncovered the root of Katara’s resentment. Katara saw her as an intruder; not just because of her past with Zuko, but because someone like her was a waterbender.

Kiyoi's chest tightened and her mouth went dry.

‘Yes, respect!’ Katara exclaimed, her voice rising. ‘You can’t just… just bully it into submission, like everything else you people do. The way you bend is like a spit in the face to waterbending… it’s wrong… it’s an abomination!’

‘Katara!’ Aang protested, his features confused with shock and dismay. ‘Katara, that’s unfair.’

That word. Again. Abomination. A poisoned dart aimed directly at her heart.

‘I… I apologise,’ Kiyoi sneered, her voice dangerously quiet, fury simmering beneath the surface. ‘I didn’t mean to disrespect the water with my existence.’

It was clear. Katara didn’t just dislike her methods; she hated her. She hated her because she was a waterbender, from the Fire Nation.

Kiyoi was so used to feeling it the opposite way. Her own resentment because she was Fire Nation and bended the “wrong” element. Her self-loathing because of who her real father was. But it was exactly the same, except now she bent the “right” element. She just did it “wrong” and didn't have the "right" mother.

She hadn’t expected this; but she should have. It was naive to believe that she wouldn’t face from both sides of judgement.

She hardened her gaze, her posture stiffening with resolve. ‘I. Am. Done.’ she declared flatly. She turned and trudged out of the waves and onto the sandy beach.

‘Kiyoi?’ Aang tried calling after her with concern.

She waved a dismissive hand, not bothering to look back. With a sharp, controlled movement, adapted from the lesson she had just learned, she drew the water clinging to her clothes into a ribbon that orbited around her. The water began to bubble and simmer under her control, steaming her and banishing the damp chill. With a flick of her wrist, she cast the boiling ribbon onto the sand, where it hissed and dissipated.

‘Kiyoi, come back!’ Aang pleaded as he waded out of the water.

‘No,’ she gritted as she pulled her boots on. ‘I can see my teacher’s heart isn’t in it.’

‘Katara is just passionate about waterbending,’ he tried to defuse the situation.

‘No, Aang. That isn’t what it’s about,’ Kiyoi shook her head. ‘I appreciate your help today, and what you taught me, but I will not train with her until she accepts that this is who I am.’ She clenched her fist and turned away. 'I can't change that.'

‘Kiyoi?’ Aang tried again.

‘Have a good day at school.’ She farewelled as calmly as she could. It wasn’t his fault.

She didn’t have to tolerate being treated like she was something to be reviled. She left Aang standing on the beach, his expression anxious and downcast as she climbed the winding path up the rocks.

At the top, she met Sokka’s distraught face. ‘Whoa, whoa, whoa! What happened? You just seemed like you were getting it?’

Kiyoi stormed past him in the direction of the cave. She didn’t stop, didn’t even glance at him. ‘Ask your sister,’ she muttered back, her voice low and tight.

He tried to grab her shoulder, but she shrugged him off roughly.

‘Kiyoi, what happened?’ he asked, stumbling alongside her, trying to keep pace with her long, enraged strides.

She halted and turned back to him, trying to soften her gaze. ‘Sokka, I’m sorry, but I can’t be around people at the moment. I’ll do something I’ll regret.’ She spoke evenly, but fire burned beneath it. ‘I’m going to go calm down. I’ll be back before noon.’

She continued on her way past him.

'Kiyoi?' He let out an exasperated sigh and shook his head. ‘Uh... okay, just… be safe!’ he called out after her. ‘Come find me if you need something!’

She halted again, not turning around—but still registering his words. She just nodded. They were kind. She appreciated them, but they did not quell anything.

I should probably do something productive, she thought over the swirling voices of anger and hurt. Usually when she did something productive while travelling in the Earth Kingdom, it was either making pots to sell or fishing. She didn’t have the right mindset for pottery right now. So fishing it was.

Storming back into the cave, she grabbed her sword from where it leaned against the wall and attached it to her belt. Then she rummaged through her pack, taking out her knife and sheathing it up her sleeve.

Toph stopped playing with Momo and sat up, tracking Kiyoi's sharpened movements as she stalked around the cave. ‘Hey, Fusspot, where are you going?’

‘To blow off some steam,’ she gave her a clipped answer as she trudged past the girl and scooped up a wicker basket.

‘With blades?’ Toph asked with an air of excitement. ‘Can I come?’

Without answering her, Kiyoi started to march towards the beach—this time in the opposite direction from where they trained.

The sandy gravel are her feet began to echo, and Kiyoi huffed out a sigh.

‘What happened?’ Toph pestered as she caught up with her.

‘Toph. I need to be alone right now.’ She kept powering on, her gaze fixed on the ocean ahead.

‘Hey, wasn’t it you and Iroh that told me doing things alone isn't always the best idea?’

The memory of the first time she met Toph flashed before her. The concern she and Iroh both felt finding a young girl—who was blind—wandering along the road alone. Then the shock of quickly realising there was not much need for concern.

She remembered Iroh, his gentle smile, tea in hand, the soothing cadence of his voice as he offered advice. Kiyoi had mainly been silent, just listening to her—feeling a connection. They were both noble girls who had run away from home. She doubted for the same reasons. She hoped—for Toph’s sake—not for the same reasons. But she understood why she would run from the constricting lifestyle. It must be hard, especially for a girl as free-spirited as her.

‘This is different Toph, I’m not going off on a mission or trying to prove something. I’m just angry. I’m not someone you want to be around right now,’ Kiyoi quickened her pace, but the tiny girl still followed, not taking a hint. Annoyingly, she seemed to be enjoying this interaction as if it were a leisurely stroll.

‘You think I want to be in the cave when Sugar Queen gets back from whatever happened between you two?’ Toph kicked the sand up, spraying it out with every step as they trudged across the beach. ‘At least you’re still reasonable when you’re angry.’

‘Sugar Queen?’ she stopped and turned to Toph, her anger subsiding ever so slightly at the odd nickname. Was it supposed to be sarcastic?

‘What did she say, cause I know she said something,’ Toph pressed. ‘She’s been as pleasant as a cactus to you since you joined, and honestly, I’ve been waiting for you to snap; been waiting to see the show.’ She rubbed her hands together with a mischievous grin.

‘It wasn’t much of a spectacle, Toph,’ she stated and stared at the girl, wondering why she was still here. ‘Sorry to disappoint.’

‘Aww. Booo!’ Toph kicked a loose stone and earthbended it, sending skipping across the beach and far out to sea.

They wandered out onto a rocky outcrop dotted with tide pools. Finding a large rock that wasn’t too barnacle-encrusted, Kiyoi sat on its edge and gazed into the shallow pool at its tiny fish and meandering snails.

‘You’re not going to leave, are you?’ She sighed and hung her head.

‘Accepts you?’ Toph scoffed. ‘Pfft. You don’t need her acceptance.’

‘Nope.’ Toph stomped the ground, pushing up her own rock to sit on. ‘Spill.’

Kiyoi stared into the water meditatively. ‘Honestly, Toph, she said something unforgivable. I don’t think she knows how deeply hurtful it was,’ Kiyoi admitted. ‘And I’m not training with her again until she changes her attitude and accepts me.’

‘It’s not about getting her to like me, it's…’ she sighed and decided to tell her exactly what was said. ‘Katara… she said some things. About my bending, that I was trying to "bully" the water into submission. Trying to conquer it like everything the Fire Nation does. She said the way I bend is an abomination.’

‘SHE WHAT!!!’ Toph screeched. All the little crabs and tide creatures darted into crevices at the sound. Toph stood up and stamped around. ‘That’s-that’s-rotten of her! Stuff her approval Kiyoi! She's just trying to make you follow rules! She can’t handle that you’re not doing things her way! She’s bossy like that!’

Kiyoi watched the young girl rant and rave on her behalf and let a sad smile come to her face. ‘No Toph. It’s not that. But at least now I know where I stand and why she hates me.’

‘Okay, why do you think she hates you then?’ Toph leaned back on the rock, turning her head to her, listening intently.

‘She’s just jealous you can brew tea without a fire. All the times we could have cooked without making smoke. You would have been so helpful.’ Toph suggested, trying to be supportive.

Kiyoi shook her head. ‘I don’t think so; it's a lot deeper and simpler than that.’

Kiyoi looked at the small girl and sighed hesitantly. ‘Toph, I don’t want to poison the way you see your friend...’

Toph didn’t stop her.

‘Katara… hates me because I'm from the Fire Nation and I bend water. She sees me like I’m some kind of… some kind of… contaminant. She doesn’t want to teach me because the way I connect with water is different. Because I’m different, I’m not like her.’ Kiyoi said, her voice wavering a bit at the stinging inside her chest.

‘I think she feels that training me is a spit in the face of her people’s art, that she’s betraying them, or something. And I understand that... But I won’t take it. Not anymore.’ She picked up a rock and threw it as far as she could, watching the splash and hearing the satisfying plunk as it sank. ‘It’s not the first time I’ve felt like this, Toph. I’ve felt this my whole life. I’m just surprised and disappointed that I feel it again, here.’

‘You’re not a contaminant, Kiyoi,’ Toph said firmly. ‘Don't ever think that. You're strong, you're capable, and you're one of us. Sugar Queen’s got her own issues, and she’s piling them onto you. And you know what, I meant what I said…’ she continued with a knowing, smug look on her face. ‘She is jealous, and she’s looking for a reason to hate you.’

‘Jealous?’ The suggestion surprised her. ‘You really think she’s jealous of me?’

‘Haven’t you noticed the pattern?’ Toph smirked.

‘What, every time I open my mouth she rolls her eyes and snipes at me?’

‘Not every time.’ Toph smirked.

Kiyoi furrowed her brow, her mind searching back. She was usually adept at reading people, at deciphering the subtle nuances. But in this case, she was drawing a blank.

‘Just every time you do something useful and every time you are vulnerable about your past,’ she surmised. Then Toph started counting off on her fingers, ‘Every time you show you care, when your problem-solve, when you offer to help her, when you take out a battleship; she tries to cut you down somehow.

'She attacks you when she sees you doing what she thinks is her job. And then when you talk about your past, she piles on and kicks you while you’re down.’

A frown creased Kiyoi’s face as she contemplated the idea. She replayed those interactions in her mind, carefully considering this new information. Toph was right. Katara still hated her because of her origins, but she only got aggressive and snarky when Kiyoi infringed upon what Katara perceived as her role in the group.

Kiyoi’s eyes widened. ‘Does she seriously think I’m going to replace her?’

Toph considered it for a moment and shrugged. ‘Look, Sugar Queen is used to being in charge,’ she mused. ‘She’s the one who takes care of us, the mum of the group, the waterbender, the person everyone relies on. You should have felt her heart beating yesterday when you said you would go find lunch for Aang. Phawww. You made her sooooo cranky.’ Toph chuckled. ‘She's feeling challenged by you. And she is looking for a reason to distrust you and hate you, and she can’t find one, so she’s gone back to roots: your heritage and hers.’

‘But that’s… that’s ridiculous,’ Kiyoi scoffed in disbelief. ‘I don’t want to replace her. I just want to… to be part of the team. I'm just doing what needs to be done. And I am certainly not anyone’s mum.’

‘I know,’ Toph said, simply with a bright smile. ‘But Katara's used to being the only one who can fix things, the only one who knows what to do. And now, you’re here, and you’re good at… well… everything. And the fact that you’re from the Fire Nation, and a waterbender, that just salts the wound.’

Toph paused to pick at something in her teeth casually. ‘All her life she has thought she is special because she is the last waterbender of the Southern Water Tribe, the only waterbender. And now you show up, and she’s not the only waterbender in this group, not as special anymore. And your people… well, they're the reason it's a heritage she carries alone. And boom, finally, something she can justify disliking you for.’

Oh. Kiyoi winced. Yes… that would be pretty hard to get over. She let out a frustrated groan and raked a hand through her hair. ‘I just don’t know her well enough to decide the best approach.’

Toph snorted. ‘Best approach? There isn’t one. Sugar Queen’s got issues. She’s used to being in charge, and you’re stepping on her toes. Plain and simple.’

‘So, what do I do?’ Kiyoi asked in frustration. ‘Try prove myself worthy? Ignore her?’

‘Neither,’ Toph snapped. ‘She just needs to get over it. You want to learn waterbending? Learn it. She doesn’t want to teach you? Just get Aang to teach you.’

‘But the team…’ Kiyoi hesitated, her brow furrowing. ‘I don’t want to put Aang in that position. I don’t want him to seem like he’s taking sides. He doesn’t need that kind of pressure, not before the invasion...’

‘Geez, you really live up to the name, Fusspot,’ Toph murmured, rolling her eyes. ‘We’re a team, and a robust one at that. We aren’t going to let Sugar Queen’s tantrums push us round.' She paused, a mischievous grin spreading across her face. ‘Besides,’ she added, ‘I’m sure Twinkle Toes will have something to say about all this.’

‘Really? You think he’d go against Katara like that?’ Kiyoi asked, a flicker of surprise crossing her face. But Aang is smitten with Katara, of course he’s going to prefer her side over someone like her.

‘I know so,’ Toph reiterated, her voice firm. ‘He’s all about peace and harmony and everyone getting along. He can’t stand conflict. He’ll have Katara wrapped around his little finger in no time.’ Toph cleared her throat and imitated a higher voice, ‘Oh Katara, please be nice to Kiyoi, she just wants to help. You’re being mean Katara.’ Then she snorted. ‘He’s got a way with her.’

‘And if I make it worse?’ Kiyoi asked.

‘Worse than this?’ Toph raised an eyebrow, a hint of amusement in her voice. ‘You want to learn waterbending? Then learn it. She’s making it hard? Then find a way around her. If she wants to be a stubborn ostrich-horse, that’s her problem.’ Toph turned to her, cloudy eyes fixed at her with a determined look. ‘Look, Kiyoi, you’re not going to change her overnight. But you can make her realise that she’s not the only one with a right to be here. You’re part of this team, too. And you’re not going anywhere. Do it your way. And if she still hates you? That’s her problem. She’s missing out on a great friend.’

Toph thinks I'm a great friend? She nearly cried.

‘Thanks, I needed to hear that,’ Kiyoi nodded appreciatively, a small smile gracing her lips. Then, a sudden thought struck her, a curious observation about the wisdom emanating from the earthbender. ‘How old are you, Toph?’

‘Twelve,’ Toph replied, flopping back down on the flat rock, dipping her feet into the cool tide pool. ‘Why? How old are you?’

Twelve. She is twelve and more resolved in herself than I ever will be.

‘Seventeen,’ Kiyoi said, a hint of wistfulness in her voice. ‘I wish I were as sure of myself as you. You’re so confident. And to have that, at your age… makes me a little jealous.’ She offered the girl a warm smile, even if she couldn't see it.

Toph chuckled, ‘Confidence ain’t something you’re born with,’ she said, her voice surprisingly gentle. ‘It’s something you build for yourself, brick by brick.’ She paused, then added with a hint of a smirk, ‘Besides, being blind kinda forces you to figure things out. You gotta rely on yourself, trust your instincts. You don’t have time to second-guess yourself like a lily-liver.’

‘I see,’ Kiyoi nodded. She marvelled at Toph’s simple resoluteness.

Comfortable silence settled between them, the rhythmic sound of the waves providing a soothing backdrop. Kiyoi watched as Toph idly swirled her feet in the water, her expression relaxed and content.

‘Right, well, I did come here with the intent of fishing, so I guess I should do that, or we won’t have lunch,’ Kiyoi said, her gaze drifting towards the churning waves.

‘Fishing?’ Toph asked, tilting her head. ‘But you don’t have a net or anything.’

‘Don’t need them,’ Kiyoi replied, a playful smirk tugging at the corner of her lips. ‘This is the one move I’m really good at.’

She walked to the edge of the rocks, her gaze scanning the water’s depths. Spotting a larger fish swimming near the surface, she lowered her stance, her movements fluid and precise. Reaching out with her energy, she grasped the water surrounding the fish, pulling and forcing a small wave to carry it up and over the rocks, depositing it into the tide pool. She turned to her with a smile that dropped into an unamused glower as Toph slowly clapped.

‘Wow,’ Toph said, her voice laced with sarcasm. ‘Sounded impressive. I assume there’s a fish in there?’

‘Yeah,’ Kiyoi confirmed, glancing at the struggling fish in the shallow pool. ‘You’re not going to have any qualms about me filleting it?’

‘Can’t be offended by what I don’t see,’ Toph retorted with amusement. ‘Where’d you learn that, anyway?’

‘Had to,’ Kiyoi replied, nostalgia fogging up in her mind. ‘Iroh, Zuko, and I were on a raft for three weeks after the North Pole. At night, I would fish and do what I could to propel the raft faster. Then it was just something I had to keep doing in the Earth Kingdom. Iroh and Zuko are resourceful and determined, good warriors, but fishermen... they are not.’

She paused, her gaze drifting back towards the ocean. Another fish, even larger than the first, swam into view. With a swift, practiced movement, she repeated the process, sending a wave crashing over the rocks, depositing the second fish into the tide pool.

‘So, how did you hide your bending from them?’ Toph asked curiously.

‘On the raft, I did it while Zuko was asleep. Iroh knew by then, so he kept watch.' Kiyoi replied, her focus unwavering as her eyes tracked another fish darting around below. 'And then later, in the Earth Kingdom, Iroh would cover for me so I could go to rivers alone, say I had to have privacy, or bathe, or some excuse to do with my period or something,’ she rolled her eyes and tugged at the water around the fish. ‘Zuko probably thought I was some hygiene freak.’

‘What’s a period?’ Toph asked, her voice innocently curious.

The wave in her grasp dropped back into the sea. The fish flopped over the rocks with a wet slapping that pierced the deafening silence that question induced.

Kiyoi stared in horror at the girl in front of her. ‘You mean… no one’s told you?’

‘Told me what?’ Toph persisted.

What had her life come to? How did she get here from starting the year off hunting the Avatar? Agni, why her? Well, who else was going to tell the poor girl?

‘Well, when girls get older their body changes… and parts of you… ah develop a process of renewing every month… it’s… a cycle…’ Kiyoi, graciously, attempted.

‘Like moulting?’ Toph asked. ‘Am I going to start shedding my skin?’

‘No, not like moulting!’ Kiyoi’s stammering grew increasingly awkward. ‘Well, uh… not moulting exactly—it’s… it’s a natural process… a part of growing up…’

Toph finally put an end to her suffering with a burst of laughter. ‘I’m messing with you,’ she chuckled, wiping tears from her eyes. ‘Don’t worry, Sugar Queen beat you to it. Said she wanted me to be “prepared.” Instead, she scarred me for life, and I won’t forgive her.’

‘Oh, thank the Spirits,’ Kiyoi let out a sigh of relief, her shoulders slumping. ‘I thought I was going to have to give you the… the talk.’

‘Nah,’ Toph replied, her grin widening. ‘But I’m touched you’d step up to the task, Fusspot. That was sweet of you.’

The relief quickly gave way to annoyance. ‘Oh, you’re touched, are you? You think that was funny?’ She reached into the tide pool and flicked Toph with a wave of water.

‘Yeah, pretty funny,’ Toph giggled and kicked her feet, sending a spray of water back at her.

Kiyoi retaliated with a larger splash, letting out a chuckle. ‘Are you sure you want to play this game with a waterbender?’

Toph grinned, unfazed by the challenge. With a powerful stomp, she earthbent a large boulder into the sea, sending a large wave of water crashing over them both.

Kiyoi, thoroughly soaked—again—laughed, picking seaweed from her hair. ‘Okay, okay, careful, don’t let our lunch escape. Truce?’ she asked, flinging a bit of seaweed at Toph.

‘Truce,’ she agreed with a giggle, brushing the seaweed off her shoulder.

With a loose draw of her finger across them, Kiyoi bent the water out of their clothes, leaving them dry and comfortable. She turned back to the sea, scanning for another fish.

She spied a large enough one, reached out and pulled, washing it over the rocks and into the pool. ‘Right, that should be enough to feed the five of us,’ she said, dusting her hands off with satisfaction.

Toph nodded, her expression thoughtful. ‘Impressive, you’re gonna put Sokka out of a job too at this rate,’ she chuckled. ‘You really are good at everything.’

‘Definitely not everything, Toph,’ Kiyoi replied, a hint of a smile playing on her lips. ‘But I try.’

She knelt down at the edge of the tide pool and pulled the basket over, her movements becoming precise and efficient as she prepared the fish. She worked quickly, her hands moving with familiar ease.

‘You know, I am actually bad at a lot of things. Case in point, I only ever cooked once, then Iroh graciously volunteered for the rest of our journey. He said he preferred meals that sustained life rather than threatened it.' She mused as an afterthought; 'So I guess that’s one thing Katara doesn’t have to worry about me encroaching on.’

‘So,’ Toph jumped on the abandoned point, ‘what are we going to do about Sugar Queen?’

Kiyoi paused, her knife hovering over a beheaded fish. ‘I don’t know,’ she admitted, a sigh of frustration leaving her. What was she going to do? Of course she would continue to be civil to her for the sake of peace among the group. But she was not going to go out of her way to appease Katara. ‘I will try not to provoke her further, but I will not beg for her approval. And I’m not going to let her stop me. She should already know she’s picked a losing fight. I can be very determined once provoked.’

‘Good to hear.’ Toph laughed. ‘Trust me, she’ll come around. We’ll make her. I bet Twinkle Toes is all ready scheming a way to make you two the best-est of friends.’

‘Aang? Scheming?’ Kiyoi scoffed. She didn’t think the boy had a deceptive bone in his body.

‘Oh yeah,’ Toph mused. ‘Be warned, he’s probably going to make you two hold hands for a day or knit you a giant shirt that you both have to wear until you talk about your feelings and apologise or something.’

Kiyoi grimaced, ‘Are you serious?’

Hi! Thank you for reading. If you like this, let me know. Please Like, reblog, or comment. Even if it's just a emoji or pointing out an error, it lets me know you are engaged in this fic. It really motivates me to continue updating 🥰

If you liked this and want more The Element of Change (EOC) content, Check out my Tumblr It is exclusively for ATLA and this fic, so it has memes, art, and extras like headcannons and extras which you can scope out on my pinned post for navigation. ALSO: I have asks open there I done a thing in previous fandoms where I answer Mail in character… so if you have questions for me… or any of the characters in the story, drop an ask in and address it to them :) Sometimes I have polls going.

This is a work in a series that is currently being crossposted on Tumblr and AO3. If you want to read more, currently 37 out of 45 planned chapters as well as related short stories are available on AO3. That is the best place to read until I work my way through posting the chapters here. The masterlist has the link to the AO3 series which is public so you don't need an account to read or leave kudos and comment.

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