This takes place a few weeks or a month after the conclusion of the One Hundred Year War.

final lessons

"Toph, I thought we were here to see your parents." Aang frowned as he scampered after his earthbending teacher. They were so close to Toph's home that if he turned around and strained his eyes, he'd probably be able to see the walls surrounding her mansion. However, he didn't get the chance to try, as Toph suddenly came to a stop in front of an intimidating rock face. Aang stood behind her, peering uncertainly over her shoulder into a small, lightless hole.

"I told you, Aang..." Toph said, a small frown on her own lips. "We'll get to that later." She shifted into her earthbending stance, and as Aang felt a small rumble underneath his feet, the hole opened up just wide enough for the two twelve-year-olds to climb in. "...Well?"

"Huh?" Aang looked at his friend in confusion.

Toph smirked, grabbing the Avatar's arm and shoving him forward. "Don't get cold feet now, Twinkle Toes! Jump!" Without waiting for his reply, she shoved him down the hole and leapt in after him, laughing as Aang yelped in surprise.

For a brief second, they were falling through empty air, but before Aang could enjoy the wind rushing through his tunic, their bodies met the rocky ground. The Avatar got to his feet and brushed off his clothes, scoping out his surroundings as his eyes adjusted to the darkness. They had landed in a rocky cavern that was surprisingly wide and spacious. The air was cool against his skin. Aang felt somebody jab his left shoulder.

"Pretty sweet, huh?" Toph said, grinning.

"Wow," Aang said, drawing out the word. He stared in wonder at the earth that surrounded them, and at the dark tunnels that hinted at the sheer vastness of the network of caves. "Is this where you practiced your earthbending when you were little?"

"Yep. Now, shut up for a moment. Close your eyes and extend your senses, just like I taught you." Aang did what she asked, breathing in and out as he focused on the same vibrations that Toph depended on for sight. He felt her familiar, rooted presence standing to his left. Toph's voice was oddly muted as she asked, "Now, what do you sense?"

He stretched out his field of surrogate vision, extending it past one of the winding tunnels, and as he felt the large, rumbling vibrations that rocked the very earth he stood on, the word escaped his lips in an awed whisper. "Badgermoles."

His eyes flew open as the two large creatures burst from separate tunnels into the cavern. Sniffing the air curiously, they suddenly whipped their heads towards the two young benders and with low roars, the two huge mammals came barreling towards them, one after the other. Aang stifled the urge to leap out of the way when Toph chuckled, no doubt amused by his quickened heartbeat.

The badgermoles skidded to a halt just before squashing the two benders. Aang watched in awe as one of them licked Toph affectionately on the cheek, while the other rested its head comfortably on the ground in front of her. They ignored the airbender completely. Toph laughed as she patted her old companions. "I missed you guys too," she said, in a somewhat softer voice than what the Avatar was used to. Then, she turned to Aang, making sure he could see her smirk. Her back straightened."So, Twinkle Toes," she drawled. "Ready for your final earthbending lesson?"

.l.

Aang wiped the sweat from his forehead. His silver eyes bright, he turned to his friend, who was resting her head against one of the badgermoles. "That was amazing, Toph." They hadn't really trained, per se, but Aang wasn't complaining. An hour spent goofing off with gigantic earthbending mammals wasn't so bad, especially after all the difficult peace meetings he had attended in the past few weeks. Besides, whatever Toph was trying to show him, she had succeeded—Aang had gained a strange new understanding of earthbending by watching the badgermoles. It was almost as enlightening as his experience with the dragons. Toph had always said that earthbending should be an extension of your senses, but her words never really sank into his understanding until he watched the fluid movements of the original earthbenders.

Toph shrugged. "Yeah, well, anything to delay seeing my parents, right?" She curled her fingers around the badgermole's coarse fur. "And I haven't seen these guys for years. For way too long, actually." Her lips curved upwards. "I figured I owed you this, anyway. You've really become an earthbender. You're not the same flighty Twinkle Toes I met over half a year ago." She paused and Aang was glad she couldn't see him blush. "Of course, you're not nearly as good as me yet, but... You've come far, my young pupil." The earthbender grinned, saying the last words in a slightly mocking tone.

Aang smiled, and bowed to her as every student had done to his master before. "Thank you, Sifu Toph. Coming from you, that means a lot."

A comfortable quiet settled over them. Aang lay his head back against the second badgermole as Toph absentmindedly ran her fingers through her badgermole's fur. Aang knew her well enough to tell that she still felt a little uneasy to be so close to her home, with a confrontation with her parents looming in the near, near future. With a strange confidence, he shattered the silence and said, "They're proud of you, Toph."

Toph's fingers tensed against the rhythmically breathing badgermole. "I'm not gonna believe it 'til I see it. What makes you so sure?"

"Call it Avatar's intuition."

She punched him in the arm, shaking her head with a short laugh. "Fine, then," she said. "I'm holding you to that." There was another brief silence before Toph suddenly spoke again. "I guess after this, you're going to start that Harmony Restoration stuff, huh?"

"Yeah. The movement needs me—I have a feeling some people won't like moving back to the Fire Nation after they've already built lives here. " He grew silent. Aang lowered his gaze as the realization hit him. "...You're not coming with us, are you?"

Toph shook her head slowly. "Can you honestly say that you expected me to?" she asked him quietly.

His earthbending teacher had begun to seem like a permanent fixture in their lives, ever since she joined their little group in an effort to find freedom. And yet... Why did it seem so natural, so easy to accept that the entirety of this meeting felt like a goodbye—a last lesson from Toph? Didn't she say the same words earlier? "I guess I didn't expect you to come along," Aang finally admitted.

"This whole 'restoring harmony after the war' stuff... That's your thing, Aang. And I guess it's Sokka's and Katara's, too." Toph sat up, resting her arms on her knees. Her badgermole stirred and snuffled in surprise at the sudden absence of her weight. "Not to sound like Zuko here... But I have my own destiny."

Aang sat up as well. He bowed his head, even though he was unsure if she could see the gesture. "I understand." The airbender gazed curiously at the milky eyes that never gave away what the earthbender was thinking. "What are you going to do after you make up with your parents, Toph?"

She shrugged. "I'm not sure," she admitted uncertainly. "But... well, I'm the only metalbender in existence. Although it'd be fun to be the only person who can crush a metal cage into a tiny, crumpled-up ball... This is something that I have the responsibility of spreading around the world. That is, if anybody's even got what it takes." She snorted, as though doubting the entire world's earthbending population.

"I guess you'll be having a lot of people calling you 'Sifu Toph' one day." Aang smiled.

"I'll admit, I kinda like the sound of that." The earthbender grinned broadly, a sight now familiar to his eyes. He decided that it was fitting for the Blind Bandit to end her journey with their gang of friends the same way that she began it—with Aang, earthbending in Gaoling. Toph got to her feet. "Let's go—I think we're boring the badgermoles." She patted her former teachers one last time, before turning away as the giant earthbenders disappeared into a tunnel.

"You know, this isn't goodbye for us," Aang promised. He stood beside his earthbending master and nudged her. "Friendships can last more than one lifetime," he reminded her. "You'll be seeing us again. All of us."

"Well, not in the literal sense. Since I never really saw any of you." Toph smiled as she heard his laughter. "And don't worry—you're not getting rid of me that easily. One day, I'm going to have to teach you how to metalbend, if you can handle it!" She cracked her knuckles with a wicked grin.

"And somebody has to be there to make fun of Sokka and fight with Katara," the airbender joked with his trademark goofy smile.

"Yeah, well," Toph said, blowing her bangs from her face, "enough of this mushy-gushy friendship stuff, okay? It's making me sick. Are we gonna go talk to my crazy parents or what?" She couldn't completely hide her small smile.

Aang laughed, and the two friends ascended back to the surface. A lone badgermole's growl echoed behind them, like a final farewell.

I've had this written for ages but I wasn't sure if I should post it or not. I am somewhat pleased by the wordcount of this oneshot, as I have a problem with writing too-short stories. This still can't be considered long, but I think it's an acceptable length.

Anyways, while reading The Promise, I noticed (with some sadness) that Toph split up from the rest of the Gaang at some point after the war. She's always sort of been an outsider, in my opinion, no matter how strong her friendships within Team Avatar were, and it was inevitable that she would leave once the war that brought them together was concluded. And I've been harbouring this idea of Toph showing Aang, earthbender-to-earthbender, the badgermoles who befriended her as a young child. I've always been a big fan of Toph and Aang's friendship and I wish it was showcased more in canon. Anyways, feedback would, as always, be appreciated.

Thanks for reading,

SumerianScribe.