Avatar The Last Airbender Fan Fiction ❯ Nothing But Your Servant ❯ Beating Toph ( Chapter 21 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

~Zuko~

The unknown anger with myself that was hidden in my chest was released when Aang allowed us to join his group. As he guided Appa on the boat, I watched as Aida hauled out large packages of hay onto the deck. She wiped the sweat on her eyebrow and took a deep breathe.

" They took the animals, but they didn't take the feed. Stupid asses. Hah, those animals are going to fuckin' starve to death. So here, your big boar can eat this." she said unaffectionately as she looked over at Aang and pointed to the food. He gave her an irritated look and I was ready to see steam come out of his ears.

" Appa's not a boar. He's a flying bison!" Aang told Aida for the millionth time this morning, but she just shrugged and slung down into Zenaida's form. Katara, Sokka, and Toph walked on the ship, looking around cautiously.

" Is someone going to pop out any moment, Zuko?" Sokka asked as he got into is fighting stance and withdrew his boomerang. Toph scoffed and felt around for a crate to sit on.

" No one is on the boat but us, Sokka." Toph reassured him as she hopped up on a crate. I pulled up the stairway as Uncle went upstairs to control the ship. It may have been one of the more smaller ships in the fleet, but it was still large. Aang, Katara, and Sokka went to go explore the ship as I walked over to Zenaida wrapped my arms around her waist from the back.

" Are you alright?" I asked her lowly in her ear and she turned around to me, her hands placed gently on my chest she looked up into my eyes. I could see the worry behind them, which made me worry too.

" Yes, I'm fine." she said after a moment of hesitation. Before I could reply, she walked away from me and went down the stairs that lead to the hallways under. She was acting real wierd this morning, but I couldn't give another thought to it because Toph grabbed my arm with a strong and painful grip.

" Where's the bathroom?" she demanded to know and I called for Zenaida who came up the stairs in a matter of moments.

" Can you bring her to the bathroom." I said as I shoved Toph off my arm and into Zenaida's area. Zenaida bowed and lead Toph down below.

~Zenaida~

" So your an earthbender?" Toph asked, her voice slightly demanding. I glanced over my shoulder at her and nodded.

" Yes. And you are too, right?" I asked back, trying to sound polite to my new friends. But she scoffed and blew her bangs out of her face.

" Yeah. But I'm much better than you." she said with a daring grin that reminded me too much of Aida's. I could hear Aida snicker in the back of my mind at Toph's comment.

" I'm sure you are. Here is the bathroom. Will I wait for you out here to escort you somewhere else, Ms.Toph?" I asked, completely referring to my servant skills on how to deal with a situation like this. But she stood in front of the door with an irritated look on her face.

" I just needed to know where the bathroom was. I don't need you to escort me everywhere. I'm an able body." she said before walking into the bathroom and slamming the door in my face. I jumped when she did that and Aida chuckled.

" Your just going to let her get away with that?" Aida asked in my head with a little laugh. I sighed and began to walk to the kitchen.

" I let you get away with acting like that, don't I?" I remark back and she lets out a whole-hearted laugh. Opening the kitchen door, I find that there is an abundant amount food laying in my view already and I begin to search my mind for what to cook.

" I'm nothing like that blind child!" Aida says in my head with a little attitude in her voice. I chuckle myself when I hear that and begin to dig through the cupboards for some ingredients.

" Your right. Your a million times worse." I say, my tongue beginning to get more brave by the moment with Aida, who laughed again.

" What do you think your doing?" A familiar voice says from behind me, startling me so Aida acts quickly and lights my fists on fire as I turn around to find the waterbender girl, Katara in the entrance of the kitchen with her hands on her hips. A disapproving look was scattered on her face as Aida's flames went out.

" You startled me." I say, putting a hand over my beating heart and lean back on the counter. She walks in the kitchen, looking around at her surroundings as in disgust.

" What are you doing?" she asks, her hand gesturing at the ingredients for soup I had layed out on the middle island counter. I was confused why she was so angry, but I gulped and tried to sound polite.

" I was going to cook us breakfast." I said truthfully, but she stood in front of me and began to search the kitchen for cooking items, a scowl still on her face.

" I'm going to cook us breakfast because I can't trust you. You practically almost killed us all and burnt Appa's tail!" she exclaimed as she slammed the pot on top of the counter, making me jump in suprise and grab the counter for support. I'm not sure whether to be scared or angry, but when she stares at me with her piercing blue eyes.......I choose scared very quickly.

" It was actually Aid-" I began, trying to explain but she held up her palm to silence me and I did.

" I don't buy into that crap. That two-faced bending crap. It either Zuko that is lying or you are." she stated as she began to pour the various items in the pot. I gulped at her sudden anger, and felt hurt that she didn't believe the truth, but me -being me of course- shut up and looked around the kitchen.

" Can I help you with something Ms.Katara?" I ask politely, my voice cracking due to my nerves. She glances up at me with irrtated, but dull eyes before bringing it back down to the pot.

" Go light the fire." she instructs and I am glad that she isn't angry at me. I go over to the metal oven that was built in the wall of the room. It looks like a big fireplace with a chimney at the top. Inside the large hole, I pointed a finger at the bottom and Aida let fire fly out of it and light the wood in there. Katara hangs the pot on the chain over it and begins to stir the soup. Glancing up at me, she sighs. " What do you want?"

" Uhm...." I begin to think but nothing good come up so I just bow and make my way back upstairs when the bathroom door swings open and Toph comes out. Suddenly, everything gets black.

~Aida~

The Toph girl looks up at me with an annoyed look. It doesn't seem like we're collecting any good vibes from the other girls on the boat today. I smirk at her and chuckle.

" You must think that your some tough ass kid, huh?" I ask her bitterly and her features scrunch in anger before she turned away and began to walk up the stairs. I grab her arm and turn her around, bringing my face close to hers. " You better watch your fuckin' tone with us, kid. I could melt those useless eyes of yours out of your sockets. Just fuckin' try us. No, try me. Try me. Pull some shit like that again and I'm going to rip your ass apart, got it kid?"

She looked up at me with hate and anger filling her features. I chuckled because she looked like a real cute kid so I messed up her hair, only to recieve a strong kick in the shin and a punch in the gut. I bent in pain at the kid's power, but not long enough where she could escape my wrath. Grabbing her strong arm, I smashed her small body up against the wall and she let out a scream that alerted the boat.

" Aida!!!!!" Zuko yelled from the top of the stairs as he descended. Katara was running down the hallway to me, water whip ready to go, but I had already dropped the girl who had a busted lip. Zuko grabbed my arm and shoved me in the nearest room, which of course was the bathroom. The force of his shove made me fall and hit my head on the wall. He slammed the door behind him and pulled me up by my arm. " What the hell did you do!!??"

" That kid thinks she's sly so I had to set her fuckin' ass strai-" I began explaining but he shoved me into the wall again and my head cracked the mirror it landed on. The pain from that flew throughout my whole body and I shuddered.

" You don't ever hurt Toph, Aang, Katara, or Sokka ever again, is that understood!?" he yelled and I could feel that wierd sensation that I feel when he commands us to do something. I slowly began to slide to the ground, but he pulled me back up.

" And Appa and Momo! Them too!" Sokka's voice could be heard through the walls. Zuko sighed and added their names as well.

~Zenaida~

Aida faded and let me come out. Wow, she's in a ton of trouble. I told her not to go making trouble, but she had to pick on a little kid, didn't she? I don't understand her sometimes.

" Just shut the fuck up, Zenaida." Aida said in my mind, sounding exhausted. I kept my thoughts to myself as we sat in the dining area eating our soup in silence. I glanced up at Toph who had a scowl on her face, her lip bruised and cut. Damn, Aida just doesn't know when to stop.

" I get the fuckin' picture, Zenaida! Just shut the fuck up already!!!!!!!!" her shrill was so high-pitched that I jumped and dropped my spoon, causing everyone to look up at me as I pressed my hands over my ears and stumbled out of the room. I could hear Zuko's familiar footsteps behind me but I waved him away with a hand as I made my way on deck.

" Aida....please.....I think everything will be okay if you just apologize to Toph." I recommended to her and received a chuckle before I heard her bitter reply.

" How the fuck can I when Zuko commanded me not to come out for a WHOLE FUCKIN' WEEK!!!!!!!!!!!" she screamed even louder and it made me drop to the floor on my knees, hands pressed over my ears as if the noise was coming from the outside.

" Shh!" I finally said outloud and she did. Getting up, I felt bad that Aida was banished for a week but she shouldn't have busted a kid's lip when the kid is less than half our size. I made my way back into the kitchen and began eating as if nothing was wrong.

" What happened?" Aang asked, full of concern. I chose my words carefully as Katara gave me a melting glare.

" Aida." I said shortly, because her name always seemed to explain everything. Zuko and General Iroh nodded understandingly, but Sokka kept pressing.

" What happened with her?" Sokka asked. I was suprised and happy to see that Aida didn't scream the answer herself in my head and I sighed.

" Let's just say that she's not having the best time of her life right now." I said and Toph scoffed while pointing to her lip.

" No duh! I wonder who else isn't having the time of their life!" Toph said as she began to eat her soup again. I watched her carefully and I could see a small grin coming onto her face. I was going to say something, but Sokka spoke out first.

" So where are we headed?" he asked as he slurped down the rest of his soup, making a distasteful sound that made everyone's features scrunch in disgust.

" First to Omashu where we are dropping Uncle off." Zuko stated as he pushed his bowl of soup away and glanced at his Uncle. Our hands had somehow unconciously intertwined under the table and when I noticed it, I smiled and scooted closer to him. " Then, to wherever we need to go after that."

After we finished eating, Katara cleaned the dishes as we headed on deck. I leaned on the ledge as Sokka challenged Zuko to a sword duel. Aang tended to Appa as Katara made her way up the stairs. General Iroh was in the captain's room where he controlled the boat. All that was missing was Toph, who came up beside me and sat on the crate, her eyes focused on her playing thumbs. After a few moments of silence, she spoke.

" I want to speak to Aida." she declared with a defiant look in her eyes. Why would she want to see Aida? Aida was the one who busted her lip. What's going on..........