TophHa! Maybe for you. I had a great time. I never realized how much I missed tormenting the Avatar. I wish you were putting up more of a fight, but it was still fun.
You were tossing me around like a rag doll all day long.
Toph
I know! And I'm an old lady! Imagine me in my prime. [laughing] I would have destroyed you!
I just don't understand why I can't get back to my former self. It's like ... I'm a step slower. I'm tentative, I'm out of sync, I just can't get back in the groove.
Toph
[matter-of-factly] Probably carrying around that metal doesn't help.
Toph
The little bits of metal poison stuck in your body. [Pause] You mean to tell me you can't feel metal in your own body?! You really are the worst Avatar ever.
I thought Su got it all out...
Toph
No, my girls never really picked up metalbending all that well, if you ask me.
[excited] That's been my problem this entire time! [grabbing Toph by the shoulders] I gotta get it out! You can get it out for me, right?
Toph
Who do you think you're talking to? [puts her hand on Korra's face, pushing her away]
Toph
Okay, if you want me to bend out this metal, you need to relax.
Toph
Seriously? Your body is like a twisted tree trunk!
Toph
It wouldn't hurt if you would just relax! Stop fighting me!
[frustrated] I'm not fighting!
Toph
[giving up] All right, that's it. You're going to have to do this on your own. Clearly, you want to keep the metal in there.
What do you mean? Why would I want poison inside me?
Toph
I don't know! Maybe so you have an excuse not to go back to being the Avatar. If you don't get better, you can't do your job, so you don't have to worry about getting hurt again!
Toph
Whatever. When you want it out, you can bend it out. I can't deal with all your issues for you.
Wait! What am I supposed to do now?
Toph
How should I know? Ask the spirit that brought you here. The good news is, if you're looking for a place to hang where no one will bother you, you picked the best swamp in the world!
[Toph relaxes on a tree root, whistling a little tune as Korra approaches]
So ... what's the plan for today?
Toph
[smiling] You're looking at it.
We didn't do anything yesterday, or the day before that. [She sits down on a nearby root. After a brief pause, she's upbeat again.] I know! Tell me the story of how you taught Aang to earthbend!
Toph
[nonchalantly] What's there to tell? I threw some rocks at the Avatar, he got all whiny, and Sokka fell in a hole.
[underwhelmed] I thought there'd be more to it than that ... [another brief pause] Oh, what about the time you guys took down the Fire Lord? That must've been epic!
Toph
Oh yeah! [blandly] It was hot. I was on a blimp. And I think a giant turtle showed up. Wow, what a day.
Okay, you're terrible at telling stories.
Toph
You're terrible at listening to them!
[Korra sits on a tree root, having encountered visions in the Swamp of her enemies at moments where they did her the most harm. Toph walks up to her.]
Toph
There you are! You got my dinner yet?
No ... this swamp ... It did crazy things to my mind. I had visions, of all the times my enemies hurt me.
Toph
[nonchalantly] Yeah, I figured something like that might happen.
[surprised] What? You wanted me to see those visions? You are one twisted old lady, you know that?
Toph
Look, I know you want to get better. And so does the Swamp! It can sense you're out of balance. It will teach you what you need to learn, if you're open to listening.
[sighs] Okay, Swamp, I'm all ears.
Toph
You said you saw your past enemies. Now why do you think that is?
I don't know. Because they made me and a lot of other people suffer.
Toph
Sounds like you're carrying around your former enemies, the same way you're still carrying around that metal poison. You maybe consider you could learn something from them?
[unconvinced] Sounds like the swamp is messing with your mind, too.
Toph
My mind's just fine, thank you. Listen: [as she speaks, images of each of Korra's enemies fade in and out] what did Amon want? Equality for all. Unalaq? He brought back the spirits. And Zaheer believed in freedom.
Toph
The problem was, those guys were totally out of balance and they took their ideologies too far.
Okay, fine. But that doesn't explain why they keep haunting me.
Toph
Because you need to face your fears. You can't expect to deal with future enemies if you're still fighting the old ones.
So here's something I've always been curious about. Who's Lin's dad?
[Lin shoots Bolin an extremely dirty look]
Toph
He was a guy named Kanto. Nice man but it didn't really work out between us.
Toph
Lin, I can feel your enraged breathing from here. Just say what you have to say, and let's get it over with.
Just get it over with? Yeah, let's not linger on the fact that I grew up without a Dad. No need to get all touchy-feely about it. Just one of those things, right?
Toph
Hey, I forgave you for all your garbage a long time ago, and Su and I worked things out. You're the only one who wants to hold on to this family drama nonsense for the rest of your life.
Forgave me for what? And not knowing my Dad is nonsense to you? It was pretty important to me. And until now, you would never even discuss it. You know, after Su and I patched things up, I thought "Maybe I should try to reach out to Mom." But now that we're together again, I remember why we stopped talking. You make me furious, and you don't even know why. And when I tell you, you don't care. Once we save Su, you and I are finished.
Toph
[sighs sadly] If that's your decision and it makes you happy, then fine.
Thanks for coming to save us Mom.
Yeah, thanks, Chief. [Pauses briefly] I'm sorry for what I said last night. I was just...you know.
Toph
Look, I know I wasn't a great mother, but one way or another, I ended up with two great kids. Good enough to risk my bony old butt for, anyway. If you can just find some way not to hate me, maybe that's enough, at least for me.
Me too. [Hugs her mother]
The Legend of Korra · 160 quotes
