Fire Nation soldiers suddenly appeared through a trap door to the roof of the airship. Sokka grabbed Toph's wrist and ran, feeling the heat of flames right behind them. He jumped over the edge, sticking his sword into the metal hull, cutting downward in an attempt to stop their fall. All it did was slow them down.

After only a second, they were falling, Sokka's sword leaving his grasp.

Suddenly, Sokka slammed into something, Toph's weight straining his shoulder. "Ah!" he shouted in pain. "My leg!" He looked down at the girl on his hand. "Hold on Toph," he gave a weak pull, but couldn't bring her up before two Fire Nation soldiers appeared on either side of them. He threw Boomerang at one, knocking him off his platform, then quickly pulled his sword from where it had stuck itself and threw it at the other assailant just as flames started to leave his fist. That Fire Nation soldier also fell.

Before he could take a second of breath though, more soldiers appeared in a line before him. He looked at them helplessly as his grip with Toph's slipped a little. "I don't think Boomerang's coming back Toph," he called to her, tears prickling his eyes. "It looks like this is the end."

Then he felt it. Before the soldiers even attacked, Toph's sweaty fingers slipped from his. "Toph, no!" he yelled, jerking over to try to catch her. He missed, and now he was falling too. He watched as Toph's figure fell below him when something suddenly came between them and he landed on another airship. After a shout of pain from his leg, he pulled himself up and saw Suki. He smiled. "Toph," he mumbled, looking around. "We made it." He didn't see her. "Toph?"

Suki ran up to him with a smile. A smile that disappeared. "Where's Toph?" she asked.

Sokka jerked awake. That dream again. The one where Toph had died. Sokka yawned, sitting up from his bed. Rubbing his eyes, he stood up and stretched, but then froze. "Wait a minute..." he mumbled, his nose picking up the smell of bacon. He threw on a pair of pants forgoing a tunic in his hurry and rushed down the stairs.

Entering the kitchen, he found Toph by the fireplace with bacon sizzling on a baking sheet over the flames. "What are you doing here?" he asked, walking up to her with a surprised smile.

"Oh you know, just going where I feel like," she replied with a shrug. Then she smiled too. "How are you doing?" she asked.

"Me? I'm doing fine," he said, smiling at the cooking meat in hunger.

She caught his gaze. "Oh.. don't worry, the food will be done in a minute."

"Good, good," Sokka said, barely registering her words as he watched the thin strips of deliciousness sizzle above the flames. Then he realized something. "Wait, how are you doing that?"

"Doing what."

Doing that."

"Very helpful. Care to be more specific?"

He slapped his forehead. "Cooking, Toph!" he exclaimed. "You're blind."

"You don't say?" She attempted rolling her eyes, but it didn't work. "To answer your horribly asked question; I'm able to cook because I'm awesome."

Sokka froze. "That doesn't make the impossible suddenly possible," he stated.

"For me it does," she replied.

He rose an eyebrow. "So that's how it works?"

"Yep."

Sokka sighed in a good-humored defeat as he sat down at the small table next to the fire. Toph joined him on the other side. Sokka watched her for a moment in a strange sense of wistfulness. "So," he started. "What were you doing before you came here? I mean.. it's only been a week since the commit; that's not enough time to go all the way to the Earth Kingdom and back." He hesitated. "Didn't you want to try to fix things with your parents?"

Toph sighed. "Sokka.. about what happened on the airships,"

"I know it's probably traumatic when you almost died," he interrupted. "But I dropped you onto Suki's airship and everything turned out fine."

"No, Sokka, I was trying to say was that you shouldn't blame yourself for-"

"For what?" he laughed, albeit forced. "For coming up with that amazing plan? I think I will take the blame- or credit actually."

Toph just sighed and turned back to the food. "It's done," she said simply.

"Oh, really?" He rubbed his hands together in anticipation and she stood up, slid on thick baking mittens, and pulled the metal sheet out. After putting a square of cloth onto the table, she put the hot sheet on it. Then taking two plates and using one of the two forks, she quickly divided it between them.

She smirked as he took the first bite. "I'm glad you like it," she said with a raised eyebrow as he wolfed it down.

"What was that?" Sokka asked, his voice muffle through the food he was eating.

She watched him silently. "Nothing," she said, picking up her plate to start eating as well.

Katara cried softly, leaning into Aang's shoulder as the three of them watched. "I'm sorry," Zuko said, turning to Katara and apologizing like he did every time they visited the past two years. "The doctors.. they've tried everything.. but to no effect." He turned back to Sokka, who was sitting at a small white table, on a white chair, in a blank white room. "I'm sorry," he repeated, his voice strained.

She didn't reply for a long minute. "It's.. not your fault Zuko." she finally said, turning to the Firelord.

"I know," Zuko said. Aang, hugging Katara in one arm, put the other hand on Zuko's shoulder in silent comfort as they continued watching Sokka eat from an invisible plate as his real food sat on the table ignored and long since cold.

Silently, Zuko hoped that Aang and Katara would have had enough soon so that he could leave. Azula's room was next to Sokka's. Her random screams of outrage overlapping his consistently eerie laughter was.. unsettling.

Just as he had the thought, Sokka burst out in spontaneous choking chuckling, doubling over in his chair just as Azula screamed something about her's and Zuko's mother followed by a long wail.

'Unsettling' wasn't strong enough of a word.