The Bonds of Family Series~The Heist
Title: The Heist
Author: Enki
Word Count: 1,220
Characters: Aang, Toph
Authors Notes: Set four years after the final battle of the Hundred Years War. Takes place after 'If You Could Choose' and a little over 12 hours before “The Final Binding”.
Beta-ed by
hanishi.
Summery: Desperate times call for desperate measures, leading the Avatar to pull a Blue Spirit.
The regiment of guards patrolling the grand estate was difficult to deal with, even with all of his experience from the war. Taking them down without alerting their comrades and waking the household required a level of stealth not normally associated with the duties of an Avatar. However, during his time spent traveling with the current Fire Lord, Aang had learned more then just firebending. Guards dispatched, he whispered a soft, “Sorry.” The puff of air carried him over the innermost wall and one step closer to his goal.
He slipped silently through the clinging shadows like a thief in the night. Aang winced at the simile his nervous mind had supplied. He was a thief in the night. The Avatar had hoped it wouldn’t come to this, but desperate times called for desperate measures. Skirting around the main building, he saw it. A tower, looming dark against the starry sky, built to guard the precious treasure within. The dark water of a moat surrounded it, too wide and too deep for an Earthbender to bridge. Aang smiled and remembered a move Katara liked to use. A moment later, he was gliding over the moat on a sliver of ice.
The tower was made completely of wood. There were no windows and only one entrance. The door was, of course, locked. Aang summoned an intense heat, though no flame, to his hand, just like he used to do when Iroh would instruct him to heat the tea. The old man had claimed it was an exercise in fine-tuning his control, Zuko said his Uncle just wanted a cup of tea and was too lazy to make it himself. With a smile at the familiar argument, he placed his hand over the wooden lock and in a few minutes had seared completely though. The door swung open. The center of the tower was open from bare ground to the wooden ceiling high above. About halfway up was a ledge with a door, but there were no stairs, just the smooth curved walls.
He took a firm stance, rooted himself to the ground. This next part would be tricky; he would have to raise a pillar of earth up to the ledge without alerting the guards who must be patrolling the inner house. Earthbending was not exactly a quiet discipline. It was doable; he had seen her pull it off as she strove to find new challenges to overcome. Aang’s heart twisted when he though of his earthbending teacher, as it had every time he thought of her since this began. This heist was unorthodox to say the least, but if he didn’t do something drastic, then she would. He shuddered to think of what Toph’s version of drastic would be.
Taking a deep breath, Aang grounded himself and forced all other thoughts away, worrying would not help him now. He split his focus, concentrating on raising the earth and suppressing the vibrations his bending caused. It was difficult and time consuming, sweat beaded on his bald head. At last, the earth pillar was level to the platform. This door was also locked, but he could handle that.
Moments later he entered the dark room. A bit of fumbling and he was able to find and light a covered lantern. The flickering light revealed an opulent sitting room. Along one wall hung a set of elaborately embroidered robes. They were undoubtedly intended to be worn at the party which was being hosted here the following night. However, this room did not contain what he was searching for. Aang spied a door to the right. Opening it, he found a bedroom, just as lavishly decorated as the sitting room.
The bed had been pushed away from the wall and stripped of its silk sheets. A rough hole, just large enough for a small person to squeeze though, had been cut though the wooden wall to the outside. Aang wondered how she had managed to pull that off.
Toph was sitting on the floor, surrounded by torn strips of sheets knotted together. She was dressed for traveling. Aang suddenly felt nervous. They had discussed all the possibilities, made their plans, but now that it was actually happening Aang felt like he had swallowed a rabbiroo or two. He took a deep breath, “Hi, Toph” and winced; even though his voice had deepened, it still squeaked when he was nervous.
“Your late, Twinkletoes.” Her voice sounded annoyed, but Aang knew her well enough to see the relief in the loosening of her shoulders. “I’ve been 16 for ten whole minutes now.”
“Sorry, some of the guards were reluctant to let me in. It took me a little longer to convince them than I though it would. Seems your parents forgot to put me on the guest list.”
She smiled at his joke, but then silence stretched between them. Somehow she knew that he was looking at the mess she had made of the room. “I was making a rope out of the bed sheets, just in case. But then I realized I had no idea how high up I was, or if the rope would be long enough.”
Just in case the words torn at his heart. Just in case he didn’t come, just in case he changed his mind. It was a strange thought, but he realized she was probably just as nervous as he was. Somehow, that made him feel better. Aang smiled. “I’m here, Toph.”
“Right.” She shook herself and jumped up. “Well, don’t just stand there; we’ve wasted enough time here as it is. Grab my bag would you? It’s around here somewhere.”
Aang spotted the bag and picked it up as Toph walked to the door. Even though she really was blind in this wooden prison, she didn’t bump into anything, a sign of just how much time she’d been force to spend here. Aang opened the outside door for her, then grabbed her hand and jumped, a burst of air carrying them both to the pillar of earth.
She yelped and hit him. “Warn me next time, Twinkletoes.” But she was already digging her toes into the dirt and a grin spread across her face. Her grin brought an answering smile to his face and he felt giddiness in his heart that chased away the last of his nervousness. This was Toph, and everything would be alright. His smile widened, it felt so good to have her by his side again.
“Do you want to take us down or shall I?” He asked her in his best gallant voice.
“I will.” Aang didn’t have time to be alarmed at the smirk that crossed her face. The dirt platform they were standing on plummeted toward the ground faster then Appa trying to escape a fireball. The resulting shockwave shook the foundations of the tower, and probably every other building in the estate as well. As Aang steadied himself on ground that was no longer moving, he heard shouts of alarm from the guards.
“Toph! We’re supposed to be quiet and sneaky!”
She turned to him with wide eyed innocence. “But Aang, it would be terribly rude of me to run off without giving my parents a proper goodbye.” Sending another pulse though the earth, she gave him a positively evil grin.