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Chapter 1

Playing in the Sand

"Finally here!" Toph cheered as she flopped down on the deck of her family's summer home. After being cramped in a vehicle for hours it was nice to be able to stretch out her limbs.

"I'm just glad that we made it at all," Aang said.

"My driving is not that bad," Sokka huffed as he began pulling bags out of the trunk.

"Tell that to my stomach," Aang replied. "We'd have to go back a few miles, but tell that to my stomach."

"He does have a point, Sokka," Suki smiled as she stepped out of the second vehicle. "Just because you pay taxes that doesn't mean you can take your share of the road out of the middle."

"Enough pleasantries," Azula said as she, Ty Lee, and Mai filed out as well. "I'd like to begin this vacation as soon as possible."

"So let's just dump our stuff in the living room and get down to the beach so we can play in the water!" Ty Lee said merrily.

"Or not," Mai offered.

"Sorry, ladies, but first things first," Sokka said. "We've gotta get our stuff into our rooms and unpack."

"Are you okay in there?" Toph asked as she moved back over to the car. "Awful quiet. Sokka's driving give you a heart attack?"

"Nah. Just a little too comfortable to move."

"Get out of that car and grab these bags before I come over there and drag you out, you stupid cook!" Azula growled.

"Yes, ma'am!" Dwight replied with a smile before lazily sliding out of the front passenger door. "You could stand to be a little nicer though. This is supposed to be a vacation."

"It was supposed to be a vacation from you," Azula replied.

"Your uncle gave me some time off and Zuko said I should go with y'all. Didn't think it'd bother you this much."

"Get used to it, cowboy," Suki grinned. "She never takes a vacation from being that way."

"Tell you what then," Dwight offered. "I'll get the bags inside and drop 'em off so you can all go and have some fun. Sound good?"

"You do all the work and we get down to some beach fun?" Toph asked. "Works for me!"

Before anyone could protest the idea Toph had already grabbed Aang's arm and started dragging him through the sand. Sokka gave a pleading look to Suki who only smiled and nodded before he ran off after them.

"You married that," Azula said.

"I know."

"Well, you can do whatever you want, but I'm going to take the idiot up on his offer. And my things had better be left untouched when I get to my room. Mai, Ty Lee, come on."

"I think I'm going to go ahead and give Dwight a hand," Ty Lee said.

"Thank you, darlin'," Dwight said with a polite nod.

"You go on ahead without me and I'll catch up."

Azula stared after Dwight and Ty Lee as they entered the house with a few bags each. She raised and inquisitive eyebrow and then turned on her heel for the beach.

"Something wrong?" Mai asked.

"There's something unsettling about those two being together."

"If I didn't know better, I'd say you were jealous," Mai commented blandly.

"Good thing you know better," Azula replied. "She must be plotting something."

"I think you're giving her a little too much credit there," Mai said. "Ty Lee doesn't 'plot' anything."

"When was the last time you saw Ty Lee pass up a chance to play so that she could work?"

Mai thought for a moment. "What do you think she's plotting?"

As Azula and Mai began to try deciphering whatever was going through Ty Lee's mind, Toph had already pulled Aang ankle deep into the water. She ran a few paces away from him and then began bombarding him with splashes and laughed. Not wanting to be the only one soaking wet, Aang retaliated by kicking water back at her. The two of them continued like this for a while before Aang raised up his hands.

"Okay okay!" he laughed. "I give! I can't see anymore."

"Crybaby," Toph grinned as she continued.

Fighting his way through the splashes and covering his eyes so he could find her, Aang advanced on his girlfriend. Before she even knew he was there, Aang scooped her into his arms bridal style and started carrying her into deeper water.

"Not so tough now," he said.

"Aang, put me down!" she said as she tried to push away. "Come on!"

"No way," he smiled. The water was now high enough that Toph could feel it brushing against her body. She wrapped her arms tight around Aang's neck knowing full well if he put her down that she would be lost. "I thought you wanted down."

"You are so dead," she said as she clung tighter to him. "Take me back to the beach!"

"Nope. I'm in a very rare position of power here so I'm going to get all I can out of it," Aang told her. "You know what I want."

"I know what you want, but it's not what you're gonna get if you don't take me back right now!"

"First things first," he grinned triumphantly.

"This is blackmail," she smiled deviously.

"Extortion actually."

Toph cupped her idiot boyfriend's cheek in her hand and leaned up to kiss him. She had to admit he had been behaving himself pretty well when it came to getting her affections recently. He knew that she was not one for showing affection like so many other people did. Where most people would hug someone in need, it was more like her to punch them in the arm. Aang on the other hand was more of the touchy-feely sentimental type and she knew it. She also knew he had been restraining himself for her sake. He did deserve a bit of a reward.

"Why does it feel like every time we come over here someone's making out in the water?"

Aang turned to the voice, but Toph recognized it immediately. She grabbed on tight as her boyfriend began to run through the water back to the shore in excitement.

"Ethan!" he cried. "Airis! It's great to see you again!"

"We saw the cars turn down the road to the house and figured it had to be you guys," Airis smiled. "Welcome back!"

"You've got some new faces with you this time," Ethan said drolly.

"And a few old ones couldn't make it," Toph explained. "Sugar Queen's got school and Hot Head decided to join the police force."

"Good for him!" Airis said. "Katara has to be so proud."

"Hey," Sokka said from behind, "isn't anyone going to introduce me?"

"My bad," Toph grinned. "Airis, Ethan, this is Katara's idiot brother."

"Nice to meet you, idiot," Ethan said casually.

Everyone began to laugh as Sokka's face fell. He bowed his head in a defeated way as Suki began to pat him consolingly.

"You must be Sokka and Suki," Airis said, shaking Suki's free hand. "Katara's told me a lot about you."

"Like what?" Sokka asked hopefully.

"She said you're a genius for one," Airis told him, much to Sokka's delight. "And that it's surprising how little common sense you have considering you're a genius for another."

"I have plenty of common sense!"

"Sokka, you blow yourself up on almost a daily basis," Azula said, joining the conversation. "If you had any common sense you would at least wear more flame retardant clothing."

"You're as sociable as ever I see," Airis smiled.

"Mai, this is Ethan and Airis. The one that looks half asleep is more trouble than he's worth."

"Nice to see you too."

"So what are you two doing all the way out here today anyway?" Suki asked.

"Keeping with tradition," Airis explained. "The first thing we do on our summer vacation has been to come and build a sand castle ever since we were kids."

"Sand castles, eh?" Sokka asked. "I bet I could build a Taj Mahal! Come on, Suki, let's get started!"

"You do know that's a mausoleum, not a castle right?" Airis asked.

"Azula, come on! I'll need your help too! We'll totally blow away anything they make!"

"Simple guy, isn't he?" Ethan said.

"You have no idea," Azula groaned.

"At least he's got the right spirit," Airis said. "Let's go show them how it's done!"

"Yay," Ethan said dryly as he spun his finger around unenthusiastically.

"What do you say, Toph?" Aang asked. "Want to get in on the fun?"

"Sure," she replied. "But I got a better idea than a castle."

For the remainder of the afternoon the group of summer vacationers worked and toiled in the sand. When Dwight and Ty Lee had finished with the bags and joined them, Ty Lee insisted that the two of them try to make a sand bunny. She even somehow managed to drag Mai into the effort. Sokka's Taj Mahal venture proved to be more difficult than he had first expected. Each time he managed to get one of the minarets erected, he would have to hurry over to another to keep it from falling apart. It was almost more entertaining for the others to watch him run around than it was to build their sculptures.

Ethan and Airis, clearly the veterans in the competition Sokka had started, were nearly half finished with their castle before anyone else's sculptures were really even beginning to take shape. Sokka complained that the two of them should not be allowed to be on a team together, but that was quickly silenced when Suki pointed out that he was the one that challenged them to begin with. Initially, Airis had tried to convince Ethan to build a pagoda but he sighed and said it would be too troublesome to keep something that tall from crumbling the higher they got. Knowing full well how stubborn Ethan was when it came to convincing him to do something he did not want to do, Airis settled for a fairly basic castle surrounded by walls and a little moat.

Out of everyone on the beach Aang was the only one not digging through and building with sand and mud. Toph had been very specific in her instructions to him to "sit still and stay put." She had started working on her sculpture behind him and refused to allow him to turn and look at it. However, it became obvious what she was attempting to do when she periodically came over and placed her hands on his face. Aang was flattered and eager to see just how a sand sculpture of his face would turn out.

As the sun was beginning to set the groups out sand builders gathered together to show off their creations. The sand bunny that belonged to Ty Lee, Mai, and Dwight turned out better than anyone had expected. It had two ears laying flat on its back, two well defined eyes, and a little nose that Ty Lee kept tapping lightly with her finger.

"Isn't it just the cutest thing ever?" she said happily.

"It's very nice," Suki agreed. "But I'd have to say our Taj Mahal beats it by a landslide."

"How'd you manage to keep the onion dome from breaking apart?" Ethan asked.

"With a tenacity beyond all reason," Sokka replied.

"That makes no sense," Ethan commented.

"Luck," Azula translated for him.

"And now it does."

"Gotta say I like the moat," Dwight said about Ethan and Airis' castle. "Gives it a whole medieval feel."

"The moat was just to give Airis something to do while I finished up the work on the towers," Ethan said.

"He likes to put symbols on the towers like you would see on a kingdom's flag," Airis explained. "He'll sit in front of a tower for five minutes to meticulously draw one in, but he won't make a sand pagoda with me. Go figure."

"Yeah yeah," Toph said impatiently. "What about mine?"

The others stared down at the face that Toph had formed in the sand. They had to admit that it was a remarkable likeness. A nearly perfect replica of Aang's smiling face. To help illustrate the point, Aang was now laying down next to it and smiling.

"Creepy," Sokka shivered.

"At least this one doesn't talk," Azula said.

"Or dance around," Mai added.

"Be nice!" Suki ordered. "It's amazing, Toph. It really does look just like him."

"I have a twin!" Aang grinned broadly. "How did you manage to pull this off?"

"Are you kidding?" Toph said, confidence radiating off of her. "I know your face so well I could have done that with my eyes closed."

"Now I feel bad," Aang said as he stood up and brushed off the sand. "I don't think I could do that with my eyes closed."

"Maybe you just need to study her face a little closer," Ty Lee suggested.

"Not a bad idea," Aang agreed as he pulled Toph to him. He kissed her sweet lips as he held her face gently in his hands. Just as he deepened their kiss however, a splash of cold water doused them from the side.

"Tone it down on the PDA," Suki laughed from the water.

"You're not getting away with that!" Toph laughed as she ran to the water to fight back.

"Sokka, help!" Suki whined teasingly.

"On my way!"

"No you're not!" Aang shouted. He caught Sokka around the waist and hoisted him off the ground. The two struggled until Aang had carried Sokka into the water and dumped him, completely dressed, under the small waves. Summer had officially begun and so had the first of what Aang had hoped was a lot of crazy and fun water fights.

A/N: So begins another installment of the "Changes" series. I hope you all will join me for more summer fun! Reviews please!