Toji's eyes snapped open as he took a deep breath, heaving for air while staring at the wooden ceiling above him.
Ignoring the tingling sensations spreading throughout his body, Toji was surprised as he found himself lying on a bed instead of standing with his spiritual copy in the large forest.
'Where…where am I?' The old soul thought as he looked up, frowning a bit in confusion at the wooden walls and floor around him while still being bewildered at just what was happening.
As far as he can remember, he was talking to himself in the afterlife and then…
'Nothing. Just a gap in my memories.' Toji thought as he moved to stand up only to be surprised by how thin his body was, his entire body looking emaciated as if he hadn't eaten in weeks.
However, what he was most surprised about was the fact that his gaudy arms and legs were that of a child's, sitting on the edge of the bed while weakly clenching his hands and rolling his feet.
With each moment, he could feel the strength returning to his body as he slowly stood up, watching as flesh returned to his body and he began to look more like a thin child instead of an emaciated one.
'…Whatever that spirit did, this was not what I expected.' Toji was utterly shocked yet also confused by his current condition as he could understand for the life of him how this was happening.
It felt like the cursed technique that old hag used to bring him back to life in Shibuya except he was in control of every movement he made and there wasn't a constant voice in the back of his mind ordering him what to do.
"What exactly did he do?" Toji muttered out loud as he went to stand up, but he may have forgotten for a brief moment that he could not walk as he found himself falling face first onto the wooden floor with a grunt.
"Toji!"
'Oh shit!' Toji cursed as he heard a pair of footsteps rushing towards his room, watching the door burst open before he and the woman who opened the door looked at each other in shock as he watched tears forming in her eyes.
'Oh, this is just going to be a massive pain in my ass.'
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"Incredible." Toji raised an eyebrow at the doctor's awed whispers, deciding not to answer as he watched his new parents looking concerned at the man's words.
'Still feels weird to think of them like that.'
"Is there something wrong?" His mother asked as she had an arm wrapped around Toji to his chagrin.
She was a short woman with luscious dark brown hair cut down to her shoulders with green eyes and dressed in a green qipao that showed off the well-built muscles of her thighs and arms and Toji knew they weren't for show as he could feel the power she held when she had lifted him up.
Well, it wasn't because he weighed nearly nothing, but it was because the senses he had honed over the years of being an assassin screamed at him when she did so, which only happens when he had a really strong target to take out.
His father on the other hand was a tall yet lanky man, his hair a pitch black that was tied back in a short ponytail with light brown eyes and dressed in a simple open green vest that showed off his muscles, light grey pants and dark green boots.
"On the contrary. I don't know how, but it appears that Toji's body has restored itself to perfect condition. In fact, I'd say far beyond perfect."
"What does that mean?" His father asked and Dr. Fing Hur moved up his magnifying glasses as he placed his stethoscope back around his neck.
"Before that, can I ask you to bend this rock for me, Toji?" The doctor asked and Toji had to admit that he was a bit confused as the man took out a small rock and placed it on his lap.
"…With my hands?"
"No, with your Earthbending." The doctor responded before letting out a soft sigh as he saw Toji frowning while picking up the stone.
"I was afraid this was the case."
"There's something wrong with his earthbending, isn't there?"
'What the hell is Earthbending? Is it the cursed technique this body possessed?' Toji thought with a frown as he clenched his fist and surprised everyone as he crushed the stone in his grasp to dust.
"No, I believe that his chi has run rampant through his body in an attempt to heal him, but in doing so, it may have gotten rid of the gene that gives one the ability to bend."
"Wait, I thought bending was more of a spiritual thing than a physical thing?" His mother asked and the doctor sighed as he made a so-so gesture while pinching the bridge of his nose.
"It is, but the thing that separates benders from non-benders is the fact that benders have a specific gene on the 23rd chromosome or at least, that's what we of the scientific world have discovered through thorough research done over the centuries."
"And you think his body has rejected this gene?" His father asked and Toji frowned at that as it sounded far too similar to his own condition, suppressing his soft sigh as the doctor nodded.
"If the research is correct, then yes. This gene is especially strong in those who can earthbend as our bending style is more physical than spiritual, but in doing so, his body also used his chi to boost his physical capabilities tremendously to make up for it."
"So, that was just pure strength he used to destroy the rock, not Earthbending?"
"Yes and that's not all. Toji, what are the names of your parents?"
'…All of a sudden, I hate this doctor.' Toji thought with a grumble as he shook his head, his parents giving him confused looks before their eyes widened at the doctor's next words.
"Like I expected. It appears the rapid influx of chi has also erased whatever memories the boy had formed up until this morning. For all intents and purposes, the Toji you two knew are gone."
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"Thank you for coming, doctor. I know it was a late call." Toji's father spoke with a smile as he stood in the door with Dr. Fing Hur, who chuckled as he shook his head while shaking the man's hand.
"It was no problem especially since Toji is such a frequent patient of mine, Xemu. However, you don't have to worry about his health no longer as Toji is probably the healthiest person in Tu Zin right now."
"I understand. It's just…it still feels as if we lost our son." The man muttered and Fing Hur smiled softly before Xemu looked up as the older man placed a hand on his shoulder.
"May I offer some advice?"
"Considering you're the oldest person in the village, advice from you is worth its weight in gold." Xemu joked and Fing Hur shook his head with a smile before speaking.
"The Toji you knew may be gone, but here's the opportunity to make happy memories with the boy you've always wanted. Besides, Toji himself seems to be very confused and the boy that is rejected from the village will burn it down to feel its warmth."
"I understand. Thank you once again, doctor."
"Anytime, kiddo. Good night and to you as well, Anah."
"Good night, doctor." Toji's mom, Anah, greeted with a smile as she appeared around the corner and the old man nodded before he walked away, Xemu closing the door before letting out a sigh as he and his wife looked at each other.
"So…what now?" She asked and Xemu gave a helpless shrug as he sat down on one of the three chairs at the table and slouched in it.
"I…I really don't know. I mean, he is still our son no matter what, but what of the years we spent readying ourselves for the day that he might no longer be there? Do we just forget about it all?"
"No, we look at them as the times that the spirits listened to our prayers and have decided to heal our child because of our devotion and our love for him."
"Every bump in the road just leads to a new beginning, right?" Xemu asked with a smirk and Anah giggled as she nodded, the man thankful as she wrapped her arms around him from behind before the two shared a kiss.
However, as they pulled away from each other, both nearly jumped at the sight of Toji standing besides them, Anah sighing as she saw the amused look in her son's eyes.
"I've forgotten how much you used to do that before…everything." She muttered the last part, but Toji caught it as he realized she was probably referencing to when he became sick.
"Sorry, but I was getting bored in the room and didn't have anything to do so I thought I would come out and ask when I can start training."
"Wait, what? Why would you need to train?" Xemu asked with a raised eyebrow and frowned along with his wife as Toji snorted while crossing his arms.
"I don't want to be that close to death ever again."
'Nor do I want to die ever again.' While Toji was pissed at the spirit for giving him a second life, he was also thankful as this meant that he was spared from the torturous experiences of Jigoku even if it is just for fifty or so years.
"…Fine, we'll start tomorrow, but you're going back to the basics along with your best friend Chung."
"Who?" Toji asked with a raised eyebrow as his father said the name, Xemu sighing as he remembered that his son most definitely had no memories of any of his friends or families.
"Hah, don't worry. You'll find out tomorrow."
"Sure, then. See you guys tomorrow." Toji spoke with a wave of his shoulder and Anah's eyes narrowed as she saw how perfectly her son was walking to his room despite the fact that he had been bedridden for the past five years.
"That was a very strange conversation." She said and Xemu nodded as he saw Toji disappear around the corner.
"Yeah, it was like I was speaking to one of my old buddies in the Army."
"Speaking of the army, think they're still looking for you?" She asked and he snorted as he nodded.
"Oh, without a doubt. One thing the Fire Nation does not like are deserters and they'll try their best to get me back. Whether that be in one piece or many is up to whether or not I'll go without a fight."
"Hah, as if we don't have enough problems already." Anah muttered as she dropped in her husband's lap and the man smiled before turning her chin to make her look at me.
"Don't worry. We made sure that no one who was in my old unit knew where we escaped to and we changed our identities to make sure no one could track us. Plus, with Toji having regained a perfect bill of health, good omens are finally coming our way."
"I know. It's just…there's still this bad feeling like something is wrong and I don't know what that is." The woman muttered and the man smiled as he pulled her closer with a hug and nodded.
"If something bad does happen, we'll just take care of it like we always do."
"Together?" Anah asked before giggling as Xemu nodded with a grin.
"I wouldn't have it any other way."
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'So, my new father is a deserter and a traitor to his nation? Well, that sounds really familiar, doesn't it?' Toji thought with a smirk as he recalled the discussion his parents had last night when he went back to his room.
Thankful for his senses having returned, the young boy/ man had listened in on their discussion and had to admit that Fire Nation sounded a bit like the Zen'in Clan.
From the militaristic aspects to their hatred for deserters and everything in between, it seems far too similar, but whereas his father seemed to scared of this Fire Nation, Toji had not fear his old clan at all.
That fear was especially minimal when he remembered that he could take out the entirety of his clan within less than twelve hours, with that time being shorter if he was allowed to use his cursed tool arsenal.
'I am going to miss that worm.' Toji thought with a smirk as he remembered the Inventory Curse he had found and tamed to follow his orders and only his.
It was a hard struggle since he did not have any cursed energy or a shikigami talisman to use, but he had finally managed to tame the worm and had spent the better part of his life using it as a storage for all of his weapons.
"And now it's gone. Hah, may you rest in peace, you ugly-faced bastard." Toji muttered as he opened the door to the outside and was immediately blinded by the bright sun outside.
Blinking a few times to get the white dots out of his vision while raising a hand to block out the sunlight, Toji rose an eyebrow at the rather sad sight in front of him.
Buildings looked to be slightly decayed and run-down and some of the people walking past, of which they were only about 30 or 40, looked a bit malnourished as they sat around in the shade.
However, as he looked around, his second eyebrow joined the first as he saw a smiling boy rushing towards him, the boy having dark brown hair and dark green eyes before Toji moved to the side as the boy jumped at him.
"Toj-!" The boy grunted as he fell to the floor and Toji rolled his eyes as he saw the boy giving him a shocked look.
"Don't jump at me."
"Toji, be nice to your best friend."
"Him?" He asked with a raised eyebrow at his mother while pointing at the boy, who was utterly confused as he stood up and dusted off his pants while Anah smiled exasperatedly and nodded.
"Yes, him. Toji, this is Chung and he's been your friend since the two of you met each other at two. Chung, Toji has lost most of the memories he had other than the ones from yesterday night so don't feel bad if he didn't recognize you."
"Oh…well, it's nice to meet you, Toji. I'm Chung."
"Yes, I think she's already introduced you."
"Toji."
"Am I not telling the truth?" Toji asked and Anah just shook her head with a sigh before the boy winced as he felt a harsh slap on the back of his head.
"Don't talk to your mother like that, idiot." His father Xemu spoke with a disapproving frown and Toji took a subtle deep breath as he wanted to talk back, but decided it was not worth the effort.
"Right. Sorry, mom."
"It's okay, sweetie. Just…be friendly next time, okay?"
"Okay." He nodded and Anah nodded with a smile before she walked back into the room, Toji raising an eyebrow at his father as the man just shook his head.
"I miss the old you."
"Eh, sure."
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"So, did you take us to the outskirts of the city to train like I asked?" Toji asked as he and Chung followed his father to the small shack outside the small village, having answered and spoken with the boy a few times only to appease his boredom.
"Yes, I did. Bending is not allowed in the village, after all." Xemu spoke with a smirk and Toji frowned to hide his shock as the man punched and unleashed a burst of flames from his fist.
'Cursed energy? No, I didn't sense the usual malice that comes from someone using cursed energy. They spoke of chi and bending so is this the bending they spoke of?'
"Since you don't know what bending is, we're going to give you the books of our world's history tonight and I expect you to have read all of them within a month's time, understood?"
"Yes, sir." Toji didn't realize it, but he had subconsciously slipped into the stoic mindset he had in the Zen'in Clan and Xemu noticed the change in attitude from his son as he narrowed his eyes slightly and nodded.
"Okay then. Now, Chung here is an Earthbender, which I'm sure you can figure out what it means and I wish to see how good you are so I want you to face off against him. Chung, you are allowed to use your Earthbending."
"Yes!" Chung exclaimed and Toji stood up with a confident look in his eyes as the two boys walked backwards to stand a few meters away from each other while Xemu raised a hand.
"Both ready? Good. Then, begin." The moment Xemu dropped his hand, Toji took a deep breath as he felt the adrenaline pumping through his body and his heart pounding in his ears.
Not knowing anything of what was about to happen, he felt his mind racing as Chung stomped on the ground and rocks shot up around him, quickly moving back only to stumble and drop right as a rock flew over his head.
'Right, this body is not used to my rapid movements nor am I used to its muscle memory.' The boy thought with a frown as he rolled backwards, cursing this body for not being used to the pain as he winced when he rolled over a sharp rock.
Chung, however, was frustrated as he missed with another rock bullet and stomped on the ground once again, Toji stumbling slightly from the shockwave before surprising both his father and Chung as he did a corkscrew through the middle of two rocks that sailed past him.
'Finally, my body is responding how I want it to.' Toji thought with a smirk as he rushed towards Chung, who was now panicking slightly as he punched at the few rocks he stomped up only for Toji to flip or slide under them with ease.
As the boy neared him, Toji feinted a spinning kick that made Chung quickly summon a rock wall with a stomp before the boy flipped over it and behind his friend.
Spinning around, Chung tried to throw a rock, but it was too late as Toji lunged forward with a drop kick that made the boy bounce off of the wall, quickly rolling to his feet and jumping onto Chung with a fist pulled back only to stop as his father spoke.
"Toji!" The man barked and Toji froze as the scared Kukuru Unit member faded away and was replaced by a terrified Chung, the boy quickly standing up with a deep breath before holding a hand out to Chung.
He however was not surprised to see the boy quickly scrambling back in terror, watching as his father spoke in a soft voice to the boy before watching as Chung left and his father sighed.
"…Hah, I think we should cancel training for today, Toji." Xemu spoke as he turned to his son, not surprised to see the slight look of remorse and guilt in his eyes as Toji scratched the back of his head and nodded.
"Yeah, I think I need some rest."
"Of course son." The man spoke with a soft smile to show that he was not angry, but he sighed as Toji simply nodded and walked past him.
'I guess you have not gotten past your trauma, have you Toji Zen'in?'
A/N: Apologies for the late upload, but I was really struggling to figure out how this story was going to go since the story is set about 16 years before the main story starts.
Also, to add, the youngest of the main cast will be Aang at 16 years old(since that is usually the age where Avatars are told of who they are) so basically, the timeline has been pushed back a bit.
For other reference, Toph is 18, Katara is 20, Sokka and Suki are 21 and Zuku along with Toji are 22.
The reason this was done was because this is a Toji x Toph story and a grown man going out with a girl that's barely 13 is…yeah, let's not think too much on that.
Naturally, if I do decide to do LOK continuation one-shots or short chapters in the universe of this story, I will definitely be shifting the timeline around to make it all fit.
After all, isn't that what fanfiction is about? To make your desires and ideas come to life.
Anyway, yeah, that's about it and like I said, Toji has some deep-seated trauma that awakens during battle so expect more moments like the one in the fight against Chung, especially in moments where he gets pushed or is in an emotional situation.
What those situations are, we'll have to find out.
And now, like always, you can go to my Pat-reon-.-com-/-KingCrimsonNova to read ahead on this as well as many other stories. If you want to, you are free to, but if you don't want, all's good as I will still be uploading here. This is just me trying to get some extra cash.
As always, read, enjoy, review and until next week...
Ba-Bye~!