Zuko hands a shopkeeper a few coins paying for the sharpening of his swords as well as some tools so that he can take better care of them in general. A few stores over, Katara, Sokka, Aang and Yue mull over Sokka buying a new bag for some odd reason. His uncle is in a nearby tea shop blowing the money Zuko had given him for the shopping trip. "Do you know where I can sell some of these crystals?" Zuko asks as he produces a small bag from his side before opening it revealing the glowing gems that he found in the labyrinthine cave of two lovers. "You might be better off selling them to the Bei-Fong Family, no one around here has enough money to buy even one of those, much less how many you have." The blacksmith says causing Zuko to tie the bag back to his waist. "Know anywhere that teaches earthbending?" he asks, causing the blacksmith to nod before handing him a flier. "Master Yu's bending academy. Just up the road a ways. But you look a bit old to be learning earthbending."

"I know." Zuko responds before giving a look to Aang who had walked over to him to see what he was up to. "But I need to learn it, it's the last one I need to master." Zuko says before taking 5 gold coins and having them spin around in his hands with airbending.

"Oh! You're Avatar Lee! We've heard a lot about you! I'm sure Master Yu would love to help train you." The blacksmith says before handing Zuko's swords back. "Have a good day, Avatar Lee."

"Looks like we found you a bending master," Aang says as he stands on the tips of his toes to get a look a the flier. "Think he'll be a good teacher?"

"I doubt it." Zuko says as he reads through the flier. "The guys just in it for money, so I doubt he'd be willing to train me unless I hand over a fortune. Just read this. "If you pay for the full year I'll start you off at yellow belt!" Who has a slogan like that?"

"You can at least give it a try." Aang suggests as the two begin walking back to where the others are gathered.

"You're not wrong." Zuko says before looking at the bag that Sokka had bought. "What the hell is that?" Zuko asks with a blank face looking at the ugly green bag that Sokka had purchased.

"What? I needed a new bag, my old one got thrown off Appa when we got sucked into that tornado." Sokka says but Zuko doesn't bother responding, instead turning his attention back to the flier in his hands.

"You guys go stay at an inn for a few days. I'm gonna go check out this bending academy to see what I can learn." Zuko says before turning to see his uncle with his arms full of ceramic jars of tea leaves. "I don't even want to know how much you spent on that."

"It'll taste good at least." Iroh says in his own defense. Zuko turns to Yue with a sigh and hands her the bag of gems and a bag of gold.

"You're in charge of money till I get back. Don't let those three buy anything." Zuko says before pointing at Aang, Sokka and Iroh. "We need dried fruits, nuts, meat, salt, rope, and camp supplies as well as a new cook pot and we need rice." He says causing Yue to write this down on a small piece of paper. By the time she looked up, Zuko was already gone and had headed towards the bending academy.

Zuko arrives at the large dojo that's been advertised on all the fliers around town and needless to say he's not really that impressed with the place. "Looks like he cares more about money rather than teaching." Zuko thinks to himself as he passes through the circular entrance to the dojo. The master of the dojo is a sleazy looking man with an aged face wispy separated mustache and chin beard that sits on the point of his chin. His hair is done up in a top knot and gold and green hair piece to surround it. His robes aren't that of a traditional instructor, but rather that of a noble. Underneath the well tailored vest, are white silk robes that flow past his hands. Silently he watches Master Yu speak with the students, going through a lecture over some basic earthbending styles, watching as the students launch rocks between each other, shatter boulders and go through numerous other exercises. He sits on the back wall with his conical rice hat over his face, observing the lesson that Master Yu is explaining. He watches through the end of the first class and as it ends the next group of students begin to enter the dojo. As Master Yu begins the next lesson he finally notices Zuko in the back of the room watching them.

"Ah, I apologize, I didn't see you back there." Yu says as he holds up a hand and stops the class before walking over to Zuko. "May I have your name son?" He asks, causing Zuko to look over at him.

"Lee." Zuko responds. "I wasn't trying to interrupt."

"Nonsense, no one is too young or too old to learn how to earthbend. Tell me, have you learned any Earthbending before?" Yu asks, causing Zuko to nod. "Well then how about you join us for this lecture. The first lesson is free."

"I know a thing or two." Zuko answers before he removes the conical hat from his head and removes his swords from his back. "But sure, I don't see why not."

"Now, in front of you is a simple rock that the two of you will pass between each other." Master Yu explains as he walks along the line of students facing each other on opposite sides of him. "Now stomp on the ground and then punch the boulder imagining that you are striking through your opponent's head."

The lanky boy in front of him does as he was instructed, raising a foot and stomping it on the ground before punching the boulder towards Zuko. Zuko himself extends a hand and catches the boulder in his palm but the other students punch the rocks thrown at them causing them to shatter. Seeing this, Yu raises an eyebrow noticing what Zuko did and watches intently as Zuko shifts his feet then punches the rock back to the other kid. The second boy punches it like Zuko should have which obliterates the stone. "Have you been formally trained by anyone? A master perhaps?" Yu asks as he halts the class for a moment. "I've had a couple teachers but I haven't had a full time instructor. I've trained with a member of the Dai Li and another earthbender I met in one of the mining villages west of here." Zuko answers. When he says that he trained with a member of the Dai li, a few of the boys in the class scoff but this peaks Master Yu's interest.

"You said your name is Lee, correct?" he asks as he inspects Zuko's face. "We've heard stories that the Avatar is a man of the same name. He also has a scar on the same side of his face as yours." When Master Yu says this the other boys in the class go silent looking at Zuko.

"Yeah. That's me." Zuko says before spinning his arms up and creating an air scooter that he jumps on and then balances on. To the students it looked as if Zuko moved his hands and the sand around them got pulled into this sphere of air that the man is now standing on.

"Settle down, settle down." he says to the class. "I apologize for having sit through the first lesson. Had I known that you are the avatar, I'd have given you a private lesson... for a discount." Master Yu says but Zuko shakes his head no.

"I don't want to take you away from your classes, I need a master that can travel the world with me. Not to mention, I need one that waits and listens to the earth." Zuko says before walking back to the entrance where he had set down his things.

"Hey! Wait up, if you're looking for an instructor. Maybe you should come with us. There's an earthbending tournament happening tonight under the mountain. It's called Earth Rumble Six, I think you might be able to find a master there." A boy with a tuft of hair sticking up on the top of his head says as he runs up to him. "At the base of the mountain facing the town tonight just after sunset. It's a few coins for tickets but you should go."

"Thanks." Zuko says with a nod before exiting, leaving Master Yu slightly disappointed that he wouldn't be able to teach the avatar.

It doesn't take long for Zuko to find the inn that the rest of the group is staying at, the fact that there's a ten ton flying slobber monster in the front yard is proof enough of where they are. Nodding to the attendant at the front desk, Zuko is led to the room where they are all staying. Iroh, predictably, had a kettle of tea on the fire brewing as well as some food while the others were taking the day to relax. With a bow the attendant leaves, allowing them some privacy as Zuko sets his things down and takes a seat in front of the fireplace where Iroh is preparing lunch. "Any luck with Master Yu?" Aang asks as Zuko removes his hat and relaxes against the rolled pillow.

"Nope." He responds before his uncle hands him a cup of tea, to which he thanks him for it, "But I did learn of somewhere I can potentially find one. There's supposed to be this big tournament tonight under the mountain. Earth Rumble Six is what they're calling it."

"Sounds like a whole lotta burly dudes hucking rocks at each other." Katara says as she rolls her eyes.

"That's exactly what it is, and it sounds Awesome!" Sokka says as he throws his hands into the air excitedly. "How much is it to go see! I want ringside seats!"

"From what two of the kids at the academy said, it's just a couple gold pieces per person and we have plenty to spare." Zuko says as he holds up his coin purse. "You buy everything I asked you to?" He asks Yue.

"Yes, but Iroh convinced me to buy some spices and sauces so he can cook some roast duck for lunch today. It ran us seven gold and a couple dozen silver pieces for everything." Zuko nods after hearing this. "Also got some eggs for Aang, and sugar so we can make custard tarts for dessert."

"Sugar is expensive." Zuko says before she hands him back the coin purse he gave her. "Well, we still have the gemstones I found in the cave of two lovers and apparently they're worth a lot of money. So it isn't that much of an issue, besides, I'd really like a fruit tart. It's been years since I've had one." Aang perks up when Zuko says this.

"That kind of fruits?" he asks causing Zuko to shrug.

"Strawberries, Mango, and lemon custard." He answers.

"I didn't take you as someone who'd have a sweet tooth." Sokka says as Iroh rubs down the duck with szechuan sauce, pepper, salt, chilies, and minced garlic. "I thought you'd be more of a meat guy like me."

"I do enjoy meat, and I love Duck like my uncle but I do have a sweet tooth." Zuko says before seeing what looks like stars in Aang's eyes. "What?"

"The fruit you said, it's the same kind my sister loved when we'd get to make them." Zuko chuckles when Aang says this before taking a sip from his tea.

As the sun begins to set behind the mountain, Zuko and his merry band of benders and Sokka, make their way to the underside of the mountain overlooking Goaling. It doesn't take them long to find where the line entering the arena is forming and as the sun dips beneath the horizon, Zuko manages to pay for their seats before they walk inside. Entering the cave system beneath the mountain, they enter into a massive arena centered in the heart of the mountain. In the center of the room is a massive circular arena with the large symbol of Ba Sing Sei in the center of the arena. The mandala (Circle with a square in the center) in the center of the ring has a lone buff looking man standing in the center of it waiting patiently for the audience to get seated. "I wonder why the front rows are all empty?" Sokka asks moments before Zuko snaps to the side and punches a giant boulder that got sent flying towards them shattering it into a million pieces. "I guess that's why." Katara says as they turn their attention to the center of the arena. In the center of the ring, the announcer has punched the ground hard causing boulders to be sent everywhere marking the beginning of the match.

"Ladies and Gentlemen! Welcome! To Earth! Rumble! Six!" The man declares in a thunderous heavy voice he jumps up to a large platform overlooking the arena. "I'm your host Xin Fu, and tonight we have a special event. The former champion has returned to reclaim his title! Give it up for The Boulder!" Xin Fu declares as a massive mountain of a man enters from the other side of the arena to uproarious applause. "And his first opponent in the tournament is another former champion himself! Give it up for The Hefty, The Mighty, The Hippo!"

Across from the boulder in the ring is a massive sumo wrestler with barely a tuft of hair on his head holding a giant boulder in his arms. He crushes it in his hands before putting some of the rocks into his mouth and chewing them up. "The Boulder is going to bury you, In a Landslide!" The Boulder declares, gesturing with his arms in front of his face as he does so and shaking his head no. "Hippo, Angry!" The Hippo boasts before squatting down slightly and lifting a leg upwards, and slamming it onto the ring causing tremors through the entire underside of the mountain. "The rules here are simple, just knock the other guy out of the ring...Begin!" Xin Fu declares as the man beside him hits a small brass bell with a hammer. The boulder kicks off the match by slamming his foot on the ground, raising massive rocks from the ring and launching them towards his opponent. The hippo is unphased by this, as he tanks the rocks thrown at him, bouncing them harmlessly off his belly. Retaliating, the Hippo begins to use his weight to his advantage, jumping up and down causing the entire ring to rock side to side. The unstable footing caused the boulder to stagger backwards trying to find his footing. He continues to stagger almost all the way out of the ring but he manages to stop himself just shy of the boundary line. Leaning backwards he thrusts his arms out, summoning a slab of stone from the rock face before grabbing it, bending forwards and slinging it as hard as he can towards The Hippo. The piece of sheet rock slams into the back of his head as he's celebrating to the crowd. The rock shatters as it makes contact, causing the giant sumo wrestler to turn and look towards him angrily. Suddenly the ground beneath the hippo begins to move as the boulder performs a clean and jerk with his bending to lift up the hippo before throwing him out of the ring. The entire time, he's straining under the weight of the massive sumo wrestler, which Zuko guesses probably weighs 600 pounds minimum.

"Think he'd work as an earthbending master?" Yue asks as she leans in towards Zuko so he can hear her over the cheering crowd, and Sokka.

"No." Zuko answers firmly, not bothering to elaborate. Yue shrugs before leaning back onto Sokka's shoulder causing him to reach his arm around her shoulders and rest his hand on her chest.

"The Next match is against Fire. Nation. Man!" Xin Fu declares as the firenation themed earthbender begins marching in along a path that he had created for himself. In his arms he's holding a firenation flag, dressed in the pointed shoes, red and brown pants with a large red cape around him displaying the emblem of the firenation.

"Please rise for Firenation National Anthem." He says in a thick russian accent before getting down on a single knee and raising an arm towards the sky. "Fi-re lord. My flame burns for thee..." He begins as he closes his eyes while singing. Doing so earns a chorus of booing from the crowd as well as a bunch of rocks thrown at him.

As Firenation Man goes to protest his treatment to the crowd, he's suddenly sucked into the ground with the stone he was standing on suddenly having turned to sand. "No... No please!' He protests before he's abruptly launched from the ring by The Boulder before crash landing beside Sokka, who along with the crowd, pelts him with more rocks. Zuko takes out a large scroll and an ink well before the next match begins, studying each of the moves that the boulder does as he takes down each opponent. Fighting a man with a green luchador mask over his face, an opponent who was digging beneath the ring through the course of the fight and several other fighters. The entire tournament lasting long into the night, with Sokka and Yue getting up to get refreshments and food for them to eat. Zuko however continues to paint out the techniques and styles on his scrolls as the fight's continue. Hardly paying any mind to Sokka's celebrations, Yue's laughter or the banter between Aang and Katara about the fights. He does however accept a shishkabob that Sokka bought him and some sake that they were selling at the concession stand.

"Now it's time for the main event, The Boulder has defeated each and every opponent here tonight and is ready to take on your reigning champion!" Xin Fu declares as the audience turns their attention to a small girl on the far side of the ring away from The Boulder. She stands at half the height of the two much taller women who helped her into the ring, as she holds her title belt high above her head. "The Blind Bandit!" Xin Fu declares as the audience goes wild for the small girl. After her announcement, the two attendants beside her take the belt and her cape leaving her alone in the other end of the ring.

"The Boulder has conflicted feelings about fighting a small blind girl." The Boulder says as he gives the small girl a confused look.

"Sounds to me like you're scared, Boulder!" She says before pointing at him with a wide grin on her face.

"The Boulders over his conflicted feelings and is ready to bury you in a Rock-alanche!" He shouts causing the crowd to roar with excitement.

"Whatever you say, The Pebble." The Blind Bandit retorts before extending her arms outwards and laughing maniacally at this. When she does so, Zuko immediately recognises the laughter from his vision in the Foggy Swamp.

"She can't really be blind can she?" Katara asks, causing Sokka to Shrug.

"I think she is..." Aang responds.

"Begin!" Xin Fu shouts.

Zuko has set down his pen and scroll and is now watching with his undivided attention as The Blind Bandit steps back into a defensive stance with her hands in towards her chest, her right hand open and facing upwards with the left open and facing downwards. Almost in slow motion he watches the boulder shift his weight forwards before lifting his left foot upwards intending to bring it slamming down on the rocky floor. The Blind Bandit kicked the ground the moment that The Boulder had moved. A line of disturbed and cracked stones makes its way from where she had kicked the ground right to where The Boulder is about to step. His foot comes down on the disturbed rocks and when she feels this happen she shifts her foot to the side causing the rocks to catch The Boulder's heel then pull him to the side into a full split. The crowd goes silent as the boulder screams in pain before seeing The Bandit chop her arm forwards causing three stone rounded spikes to launch out of the ground, striking him in the tailbone, back and head launching him from the ring.

"Your winner and still the reigning champion! The Blind Bandit!" Xin Fu declares as the crowd goes wild. He lets them get their applause in for a few moments before an attendant brings him a large green sack with metal straps around it. "For an exhibition match. I am offering this bag of gold pieces to Anyone who can defeat The Blind Bandit!" He says but the crowd remains silent when he says this. "What? No one here believes they can do it?" He asks the audience, and suddenly Sokka gets an idea.

"How about The Avatar!" Sokka calls out before yanking Zuko's hat off of his head and shoving him forwards with his foot causing him to stand up.

"The avatar, The Avatar himself is in this building?" Xin Fu echoes, "I don't see any proof of this man being the avatar."

"Do something Zuko." Sokka says, causing Zuko to sigh.

Zuko gives Katara and Yue a nod causing them to uncork their water skins causing Zuko to bend the water around himself before leaping off the stands and spinning through the air. Doing so creates a small tornado that pulls in pebbles and dust from the audience and around the ring making the dust devil he's controlling visible as he uses it to float into the ring. The crowd is astonished at the use of bending and then suddenly frightened when Zuko breathes fire from his mouth as he lands in the ring on the far side of the blind bandit. This causes the entire arena to go dead silent aside from the groaning of The Boulder on the ground beneath the ring. "Well... uh... Since it is the Avatar Himself taking part in this contest of earthbending. I believe it is fair if he only uses Earthbending."

"Who said you get to say what he can and can't use?" The Blind Bandit speaks up, pointing her finger at Xin Fu without looking up at him. "None of you pussies could even get dirt on my clothes. I want a real challenge." She says before directing her finger towards Zuko. "I want everything you got, I wanna see if it'll take the avatar himself to finally take me down."

"Do you have anything to add to this?" Xin Fu asks, causing Zuko to nod to him before turning to the blind bandit.

"Can you bring out two basins of water so I can use my waterbending." He requests and Xin Fu allows this with a few of the other wrestlers leaving the arena and returning with two large brass basins full of water. "Earthbending is the last element I need to master. If I win, I want you to be my earthbending master." Though her eyes are slightly hidden by her hair, he does see that she's surprised that he would ask that of her.

"If you beat me... I'll consider it." The Bandit replies as she relaxes back into the stance she used to defeat the boulder.

"This is bound to be the greatest match of all time. The Avatar has Returned and has come here tonight looking for a master to teach him his last art. Is he strong enough to take down The Blind Bandit?" He asks the crowd who roar cheering for the fight but Zuko can't tell if they're rooting for or against him. "The stakes are high ladies and gentlemen. If The Blind Bandit wins here tonight she will be the greatest earthbender alive! But, should she lose she will teach what she knows to the new champion The Avatar!"

The crowd falls silent as Xin Fu grabs the small hammer and raises it high into the air for the audience to see before bringing it down on the bell. The moment Zuko hears the bell, he sprays fire from beneath his feet, spinning around the floor creating a massive ring of flames that expands outwards towards The Bandit. The use of firebending causes the crowd to turn hostile, and begin booing him as he does so. Sokka even joins in with the booing, but is quickly silenced when he's smacked by Katara and then smacked again by Yue. The bandit smirks before lifting up a wall to protect herself from the flames causing them to slam into the stone before dissipating into smoke. She feels him move his body weight upwards and take a step back before hearing the water in the two basins get pulled upwards and towards him. She retaliates, punching the wall she created to protect herself from the flames towards Zuko. The audience watches as the flat wall of rock is sent flying towards Zuko who steps hard on the stony ground before spinning and planting a side kick into the center of the sheet rock shattering it.

As the rocks clear he suddenly has to dodge a series of rocks thrown towards him, dipping and dodging around each of the stones she throws at him. She feels the heat as he blasts himself off the ground using firebending through his feet to shift where he's at in the arena. Before landing back down and taking a step forwards. "What's wrong, Hotfoot? Afraid of a few pebbles?" She says as she turns towards where he landed and punches the ground causing a wall of rocks to be uprooted and thrust towards him. Zuko spins on his feet using the water coating his arms to slice through the stones before launching the water whip towards her. This bending style being completely foreign to her, she can't feel out where the attack is coming from, except for a vague impression that Zuko is leaning forwards with his right foot and right arm pointed out towards her. She lifts her arms up and pulls them in towards her, covering herself in a dome of stone and rock as the tendril of water Zuko is controlling slams into the stones.

Feeling the impact of the water on her protective sphere, she punches out blocks of the dome launching them towards Zuko. The firebender didn't expect her to launch to rocks she was protecting herself with at him and is clocked in the stomach by one, being forced backwards almost to the edge of the ring. The crowd jeers at the impact, some booing that he didn't fall out of the ring, but he's far from done. Pulling his arms in towards his chest, he spins and jumps upwards creating a tornado around his waist that is strong enough to suck the hats that some of the audience members are wearing right off of their heads. "Where'd you go..." She asks before feeling the spiraling sensation around the ground that his tornado is creating. "There you are." She says before striking the dome again this time launching an entire side of it towards Zuko. The rocks getting caught up in the tornado he's controlling and being redirected all around the room. One even gets sent back to her, hitting her in the stomach and sending her backwards through the other half of the dome she created. She lands flat on her back with a shocked expression on her face.

"Y-you actually hit me?!" She says shocked that the stone actually made contact before feeling a sudden wave of heat as she narrowly dodges out of the way of a plume of flames that Zuko had created as he breathes it from his mouth. She jumps to the side trying to evade the fire but she can't sense if he's using anything else.

As her feet land on the stone once again, she feels a sudden wet and cold sensation wrap around her waist then she recognises what is touching her. As the realization hits her, she's lifted fifteen feet into the air before Zuko tosses her from the ring. This leaves the crowd completely silent, as Zuko lands back in the ring, Xin Fu finally speaks up after what feels like an eternity of silence. "Ladies and Gentlemen! Your New Champion! The Avatar!" He shouts, causing the crowd to go wild but Zuko pays little attention to it. He instead rushes down to where he had tossed the blind bandit, finding her seated on a rock and dusting herself off.

"You ok?" He asks, causing her to spit dirt from her mouth onto the floor. "I wasn't trying to hurt you with that."

"Nah, I'm good." She says before standing to her feet. "Happy actually, none of those clowns ever managed to get dust on my shirt but you, you actually hit me. Not only that but you beat me. What's your name Sparky?"

"Zuko." He answers, "What's yours?"

"Toph. Toph Beifong." She responds, causing Zuko's eyes to widen when she says this. "I guess this means you're technically my uncle doesn't it?" She asks.

"Not exactly... I'm his reincarnation yeah but I'm not Jun." He says as Toph gets to her feet before tapping him in the chest with her knuckles. "Are you willing to teach me Earthbending?" he asks.

"Look, I'd love to there, Sparky but I don't think my folks would be up to letting me do that..." She says before turning away. "They're a bit... overprotective of me. Even though my uncle was blind too and was the avatar they're afraid that what happened to him will happen to me too."

"Think I could try to convince them?" he asks, causing her to shrug. "If not, I could hire you to be my earthbending master."

"I don't think that last part would work. They don't even know I am an earthbender." She admits, "But, tell you what. You convince them to let me train you then I will."

"Deal." Zuko says as he shakes Toph's hand.

"Come to my home tomorrow at noon, The Bei Fong estate just outside of town. You'll get lunch and you can try to talk them into letting me train you." She says before waiving dismissively, before Zuko can get another word in she walks over to a stone wall and thrusts her arms outwards creating a small pathway for herself before closing it behind her.

"There's the champ, how do ya' feel Zuko?" Sokka asks as he comes marching down to where Zuko was standing, the massive sack of gold jingling in his hand. Zuko turns and looks at Sokka seeing that he is now wearing the title belt with the symbol of the Badgermole on the front of it.

"I think I just met my new master." He says before following Sokka back to the rest of his team avatar.