| abstract
| - In a shop in Gaoling, Sokka is contemplating purchasing an expensive bag, but his indecisiveness begins to bore Aang and Katara, in spite of their attempts to be supportive. They leave the store and, while Sokka finally makes his purchase, are approached by a man handing out flyers for a local earthbending academy. Katara convinces Aang to check it out, since he needs to find someone to teach him the element. At Master Yu's Earthbending Academy, Aang uses the flyer's coupon to receive a free "lesson"; however, he is merely clobbered by boulders. Master Yu attempts to sell him a year's worth of lessons, but Aang declines, stating simply to Katara and Sokka that Yu is "not the one." As the trio departs, they overhear two young men discussing Earth Rumble VI, an underground earthbending tournament. Intrigued, Aang asks them where they might find it, to which they sarcastically reply, "It's on the island of None'ya ... None'ya business!" As the two walk away, laughing at their own joke, Katara follows them around a corner and forces the information out of them by freezing them to the wall with waterbending; upon her return to Aang and Sokka, they ask how she was able to get them to talk, to which she replies casually, "Oh, a girl has her ways." A hidden tunnel in a rock face leads down into the earth; at its end lies the venue of Earth Rumble VI, an arena illuminated by a ceiling of glowing crystals. The trio finds seats in the front row area, left vacant due to the threat of haphazardly launched boulders. From the center of the ring, the game's host, Xin Fu, explains the rules: each contestant must knock the opponent out of the ring with earthbending to advance to the next round. In the first round, one contender, The Boulder, battles The Hippo and defeats him. Aang is largely unimpressed with The Boulder stating, "Bumi said I need a teacher who listens to the earth; he's just listening to his big muscles." Sokka, on the other hand, has become The Boulder's newest fan. After defeating all the challengers, The Boulder has a chance to take on the Earth Rumble champion, the Blind Bandit. As the Blind Bandit is escorted to the ring, the crowd cheers. Aang and his friends realize the champion is nothing more than a little blind girl, causing The Boulder to state his reservations about fighting her. The Blind Bandit taunts him, saying it sounds as if he is scared. The Boulder's reservations vanish, and he prepares to attack her. She taunts him again, calling him "The Pebble", and laughs to herself. As she laughs, Aang realizes she is the laughing girl from the vision he had in the swamp. The Boulder is about to attack, but the Blind Bandit senses the vibrations his steps create in the ground and makes her move. She disrupts his first step, causing him to slip into a leg split. As he screams in pain, the girl quickly and easily knocks The Boulder out of the ring. Sokka is devastated, but Katara is amazed and wonders how she did it. Aang explains to Katara, "She waited and listened!" Xin Fu subsequently offers a bag of gold pieces to any spectator who can defeat the Blind Bandit. After a brief moment of silence, Aang jumps into the ring. The Blind Bandit taunts him, and Aang tries to explain that he does not really want to fight; rather, he wants to talk. However, the champion begins to fight anyway. Aang uses his airbending, drifting above the floor of the ring to evade her; she is unsettled by her sudden inability to track him. Aang speaks to her, and she, finding his position, immediately throws a large rock at him; he deflects it with a blast of airbending, but in the process, he accidentally pushes her off the ring, therefore winning the match. Aang rushes to catch the Blind Bandit, telling her he thinks she is supposed to be his earthbending teacher. Upset by her inexplicable loss, she quickly departs from the stadium. Disappointed, Aang collects the gold pieces and belt. The next day, the trio heads to Master Yu's Earthbending Academy in search of the Blind Bandit. Katara tries her intimidation tactics again on the young men she froze the day before, but they lack the information she wants. Aang, realizing they are asking about the wrong person, describes the girl from his vision as wearing a white dress and having a pet flying boar. The young men do not recognize the description, but they do know a local family whose symbol is a flying boar – the Beifong family. The trio leaves to investigate. Back at the arena, The Boulder tells Xin Fu that there was no earthbending involved in the defeat of the Blind Bandit, leaving him to believe she intentionally lost in order to split the money with the challenger. Believing he has been swindled, Xin Fu is enraged and decides to hunt her down. The trio arrives at the Beifong estate, but it is heavily guarded. They head around back and climb over the outer wall into a gardened area. Suddenly, the trio is thrust into the air by the earth being pushed up from underneath them. The Blind Bandit, now dressed in an elegant dress, confronts Aang (using the nickname "Twinkle Toes"), asking him why he has come. Aang and his friends explain that he is the Avatar and that he needs an earthbending teacher. After they refuse to leave her alone, the Blind Bandit calls the guards, forcing the trio to leave. The guards arrive and escort her inside, revealing her name to be Toph. Over the wall, Aang sneakily smiles to himself as he forms an idea of what to do next. Toph's father and mother are meeting with Master Yu to confirm that she is not trying anything dangerous in her earthbending lessons, and Master Yu assures them that he has kept Toph at the basic level. A servant comes in to tell them a visitor has come – announcing that it is the Avatar, Toph becomes agitated. At dinner, Aang, Katara, Sokka, and Master Yu have joined Toph and her family. Toph's father inquires of Aang how long he feels the Hundred Year War will continue, and Aang explains he hopes to defeat the Fire Lord by summer. He is still, he tells them, in need of an earthbending teacher. Although Master Yu is mentioned as a candidate for Aang's teacher by Toph's father, Aang attempts to bring up the possibility of Toph as his teacher instead, but she hits Aang's foot with earthbending under the table to try to keep him quiet. Aang tries to reveal Toph's secret identity, but she earthbends his chair forward, causing his face to smash into his soup. Not to be outdone, Aang returns the favor with an airbending-enhanced sneeze, throwing Toph's soup onto her, as well as Master Yu and Toph's mother. Toph and Aang start to fight, but Toph's mother declares dinner is finished. Later, Sokka, Katara, and Aang are getting ready for bed as guests of Toph's family. Aang, in his room, is surprised by the sudden appearance of Toph; as Aang jumps into a defensive stance, she calls a truce. The two of them walk the grounds of her family's estate while she explains to him how she sees using earthbending. Toph envies Aang's carefree life, but knows she has commitments to her family that prevent her from leaving to join him. Suddenly, the two of them are ambushed by Xin Fu and his wrestlers: The Boulder, The Hippo, Fire Nation Man, The Gopher, The Gecko, and the Headhunter. A ransom note is left demanding five hundred gold pieces for the safe return of their daughter. Toph's father enlists Master Yu's help, and Sokka and Katara come along as well. They arrive at the arena with the ransom, and Toph is released. When Katara asks about Aang, Xin Fu states that he plans to turn the Avatar over to the Fire Nation for a reward. He is flanked by all the wrestlers, who threaten them as they leave. Katara runs after Toph as she leaves, asking for her assistance. Her father protests, saying Toph is blind, tiny, helpless and fragile, which causes Toph to reject her father and assist them. Toph heads back into the arena demanding Aang's release. The earthbenders begin to attack, and Toph tells Sokka and Katara to leave them to her. Toph defeats each opponent almost effortlessly, which amazes and shocks Lao and Master Yu. Finally, Toph faces off against Xin Fu and sends him flying into the wall, prompting Master Yu to declare her to be "the greatest earthbender [he has] ever seen!" Back at home, Toph tries to explain her secret identity to her parents, hoping it will not upset them. However, instead of taking her display as a token of autonomy and responsibility, they jump to the conclusion that the freedom they gave her allowed her to put herself into danger. They decide Toph has had too much freedom and must be confined and guarded from now on. Aang, Katara, and Sokka are forced out of the house, and Toph sheds tears for losing the possibility of gaining friends and what little freedom she had left. As they prepare to leave on Appa, Toph comes running up, telling them her father has changed his mind. Toph knocks Aang into the air as payback for knocking her off the stage after the championship battle; he lands in a tree. Toph requests the championship belt back, and Sokka, forgetting that Toph is blind, tosses it down to her. The belt hits her on the head, and she falls to the ground. Sokka sheepishly apologizes as Aang falls out of the tree. Meanwhile, Toph's father brings a small chest to a table in front of Master Yu and Xin Fu, saying he knows they are different, but have a similar interest. He opens the chest to reveal a large amount of gold, offering it to them for the safe return of his daughter, whom he states was kidnapped by the Avatar, proving Toph's story to be fabricated. Meanwhile, as Team Avatar, now a quartet, flies away on Appa, a contented smile breaks across Toph's face.
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