~Aang's POV~

I sighed and leaned against my staff. Sokka moved around the green bag, eyeing it with scrutiny.

"I want it ... but it's really expensive ... but I really want it ..." he muttered.

Beth rolled her eyes. "Then get it. You've been standing there for an hour. I already got my shopping done." She gestured to her new clothes. We'd all decided that her otherworldly clothes made her stand out too much, so she and Katara had disappeared as soon as we got into Gaoling. Beth now wore a dark green tank top, black pants that cinched at the ankles, and a light brown scarf.

"You look just like an Earth Kingdom citizen!" Katara had announced, pleased. "Minus the hair and eyes, that is."

Sokka's shoulders slumped. "Never mind. I'm not getting it."

Katara started to walk away. "Well, okay then." Beth and I followed her.

"Actually, I'm gonna buy it!" Sokka ran back to the shop. Katara, Beth, and I let out a simultaneous groan of annoyance.

"Hey, hey, you there!" A man sidled up to us. "You like earthbending? Go to Master Yu's Earthbending  Academy!" He handed us a flyer and ran off. We stared at the paper.

"Earthbending Academy, huh?" Katara smiled, "Maybe this is the guy that's supposed to teach you!"

Beth grabbed the flyer and turned it over. "It's got a coupon. First lesson's free." She handed the paper back to me. "Whaddaya think?"

I grinned.

*****

"Students, in your stances!" Master Yu called.

The two rows of earthbending students shifted into their stances. I didn't really know what to do, so I just stood there and watched.

"Now, strike!"

The boy in front of me lifted his rock. In the blink of an eye, the rock hit me right in the gut. I flew backward into a tea-pot shaped vase.

Master Yu walked up to me. "Do you want to continue my lessons? I'll move you up to the next level if you pay for the whole year!"

I stared at him through the sand that covered my entire body. Then it shifted and covered my face.

I walked out of the academy, shaking my head. Other kids pushed past me as I stepped down to my friends. They straightened when they saw me.

"So, is he the right guy?" Katara asked immediately.

I shrugged, "I don't think so." I tilted my head to the side and smacked it, causing sand to fall out of my ear. Beth propped her arm on my head.

"Don't worry, kid. We'll find you a teacher." She eyed the two boys that strode past us, cheering about an earthbending tournament. "Maybe those guys know someone."

I grinned and ran after them. "Hey, guys, where's this earthbending tournament you're talking about?"

One of the boys raised an eyebrow. "Oh, you know, it's at Noneya."

"Noneya business!" the other snorted. They walked away laughing. My friends joined me, Sokka laughing his head off. His laughter quickly turned to groans when Beth punched him in the arm.

"What?" he whined, "It was funny!"

Katara touched my shoulder. "Let me and Beth handle this." She smirked at the blonde, who had Sokka in a headlock, noogying him. "This requires a more ... feminine touch. Right, Beth?"

Beth looked up and smiled. "Right!" She released Sokka, who fell down. "Be right back!" They sauntered off, calling to the boys.

Sokka stood and brushed himself off before staring at his bag, which had dropped on the ground. "Ugh! Why did I buy this? Why did you guys let me buy this?" He huffed and crossed his arms. Momo ran up and crawled into the bag.

Just then, Katara and Beth ran back around the corner, big smiles on their faces. "You boys ready to see the Earth Rumble VI?" Katara cheered.

My eyebrows raised in confusion. "How did you ... ?"

Beth rubbed the top of my head. "Us girls have our ways," she smirked.

As we walked, I leaned over and whispered, "Seriously, how'd you get them to talk?"

"Katara may or may not have frozen them horizontal to the ground, and I may or may not have threatened to knock out their teeth if they didn't tell us," she said calmly.

I blinked, "Wow. That's ... violent."

She said in an innocent tone, "It was in the name of helping the Avatar," and began humming one of those songs from her world.

*****

As we sat down in at the front of the stone bleachers, I couldn't help but wonder out loud, "Why isn't anybody else sitting here?"

Suddenly, a giant boulder smashed down right next to me and Beth.

"That's why," Sokka said.

Beth rolled her eyes. "Thank you, Captain Obvious."

"Who's Captain Obvious?" I asked. She just shook her head.

A platform rose out of the center of the ring, a man standing on top of it. As he lowered it back down, he said, "Hello, and welcome to Earth Rumble VI!"

Katara sighed, "This is just going to be a bunch of idiots throwing rocks at each other, isn't it?"

Beth pulled out her black box. "Tell me when something interesting-and I mean interesting- happens." She put in her strange "earbuds" and closed her eyes, bobbing her head to some sort of music. I'd already given up on trying to understand how it all worked. The one thing I did understand: Once her music begins, Beth is completely oblivious to everything around her.

Once the host explained the rules, he introduced the first fighters: The Boulder and The Hippo.

The Boulder bent three rocks at The Hippo, but he wasn't fazed. In fact, he caught one in his mouth, chewed it up, and spit it out. Then he jumped up and down, making the arena tilt. The Boulder stumbled to the edge, but bent an platform for him to steady himself.

The Boulder grabbed his platform and threw it at his opponent, hitting him in the back. As The Hippo turned, the ground beneath him flew up and threw him out of the ring, thus ending the fight and giving the victory to The Boulder.

"What about him?" Katara asked.

I shrugged, "I don't think so. That guy doesn't listen to the earth like Bumi said my teacher would; he's just showing off his muscles." I looked at Beth to see if she had an opinion, before remembering that she couldn't hear me.

The fights ended as quickly as they began. Man after man sailed out of the ring. All powerful earthbenders, but none of them seemed like the right person to be my teacher.

Finally, the last fighter was introduced. "I give you ... The Blind Bandit!"

A short girl with black hair held up the championship belt. She handed the belt and her cape to her assistants, who walked off.

"Beth." I nudged her, causing her eyes to snap open.

"This better be good," she grouched, removing her earbuds. "I was right in the middle of 'Vanilla Twighlight' ."

"Look." I pointed at The Blind Bandit. Beth's eyes widened, and a broad smile crossed her face.

"I've been waiting for this episode," she whispered, her smile widening.

Katara glanced at her, the at The Bandit. "She's not really blind ... is she?"

Bethe leaned back. "Oh, she's blind all right. And she's gonna take The Boulder down."

Sokka smirked, "Care to bet?" Beth nodded. They began conversing, settling on an acceptable amount just as the fight started.

The Bandit threw back her head in laughter, and my vision in the swamp flashed before my eyes. I knew that laugh ...

The Boulder yelled and took a step forward, but as he did, his opponent struck the floor with her foot. His foot landed on her stream of rocks, which swerved to the side. The Boulder let out a howl of pain as he was forced into the splits.

The girl then made a chopping movement with her hand, and three pillars rose up from the ground and slammed The Boulder out of the arena.

"The winner is ... The Blind Bandit!"

Sokka held his face and cried, while Beth held out her hand and said, "Pay up, buddy boy!"

The host jumped down from his pillar and landed beside The Bandit. He held up a green bag. "Let's make this more interesting," he declared. "Whoever can defeat The Blind Bandit wins this bag of gold pieces."

Silence. Well, almost silence: Beth kept saying the word "cricket" over and over.

"Really? No one is brave enough to challenge her?"

I hopped up. "I'll do it!" I raced forward and entered the ring. The host jumped out of the ring.

"You got this, Aang!" I heard Beth call.

"Win for The Boulder!" came Sokka's voice, followed back a yelp and a whine. Beth probably smacked him, I thought with a smile.

"Hello," I said. "Look, I don't want to fight; I want to talk." I heard Sokka boo, before yelping again.

I stepped forward, and The Bandit stomped the ground, sending a shock wave across the ground. A rock rose out of the ground right underneath me, launching me into the air. I used a bit of airbending to land softly behind her.

Annoyed, The Bandit whirled around and launched another pillar under me. I did the same thing as before.

"Stop!" I called. "I just want to talk!"

She bent a boulder at me. Instinctively, I brought up my hands and airbent the rock away- along with The Bandit. She flew out of the ring.

Once more, silence.

Then the crowd roared, my friends the loudest among them. But I didn't pay them any attention. I ran down the stairs, after The Bandit, who was walking away.

"Wait! I think you're supposed to be my earthbending teacher!" I yelled.

"Just go away and leave me alone!" she growled, earthbending an opening in the wall and stepping through it. She closed it just as I reached her.

"Aw ..." I shuffled back up to the arena, where Katara, Beth, and Sokka waited for me. Sokka had the championship belt and the bag of gold in his hands.

He slung an arm around my shoulders. "Good job, buddy!" Katara smiled at me.

I lowered my head. I'm never gonna find a teacher as good as her ... I looked up when a hand touched my shoulder.

"Don't worry," Beth murmured, squeezing my shoulder. "We'll find her. I don't know how, but we will."

*****

"You know, now that I have this belt, I'm really happy that I bought this bag. They match perfectly!" Sokka announced as we walked through Gaoling.

"Gee, it's a good thing you have a great fashion sense, Sokka," Beth said with an eye roll. I snickered, before getting serious again.

"Okay, so I think we should look for The Bandit at the academy first," I declared. My friends nodded in agreement.

When we entered the courtyard of the academy, we found the two boys from the other day.

One of them glared at me. "What're you doing here?"

Katara glared back at him, and Beth cracked her knuckles. They backed up.

"That's what I thought," Beth smirked. Sokka patted her shoulder with a smug look on his face.

"Wait a minute!" one of the boys shouted. "You're the one that defeated The Blind Bandit!"

I shrugged, "I wouldn't exactly call it 'defeating'. Can you tell us where she lives? We reaalllly need to talk to her."

The kid shook his head. "No one knows anything about her. Not where she lives, or where she goes."

Katara patted my shoulder. "This'll only take a moment." She stalked up to the second boy. "What aren't you telling us?" she snarled.

He threw up his hands in defense, fear in his eyes. "I swear, that's all we know!"

A thought came to me. A memory, really. My swamp vision showed me a girl in a dress, with a flying boar. I told the boys about it.

"The Beifong family's symbol is a flying boar."

"But they don't have any kids."

I grinned. "It's enough. Come on, guys." I walked away, my friends close behind.

Earthbending teacher, here we come!