And here we are… Book Two! I can't tell you all how pleased I was with the outcome of the first one and with everyone's reactions. As some of you might have noticed I took down one other story of mine that never went anywhere but am using a few of the ideas from it. I really hope you all enjoy this new adventure! It will start us off where we left off last.

Chapter 1

The sun hung lazily in the sky above The Jasmine Dragon. Appa was napping outside as Momo lurked from his back to the roof, hunting large bugs. As for the group, they were sitting inside, drinking a new blend of tea that Iroh had invented. It had been but a month since they had decided to travel the world once more, and plans were already set in motion. Plans of who would do what, who would stay where to help run what, and where they were going had been charted. They had only delayed their trip for so long to wait for Sokka's leg to fully heal, and to pass the time had stayed in Ba Sing Se so as Toph could help rebuild the city.

"It looks like progress is certainly being made quickly." Iroh sat down into a cushiony chair, sipping his tea. "It looks like you all will be able to begin your journey soon."

"They can totally finish up here without me. Everything is practically done anyway!" Toph lounged back, her feet resting upon the table edge.

"That's great!" Aang perked up, "So where should we go first?"

Zuko opened the map up, pointing at a place to answer Aang's question.

"There's a village being rebuilt down near the Nan Shan River. I say we stop there first, and keep going south from there. We can go to Omashu, and then visit Kyoshi Island and take it from there."

Zuko turned his gaze to Katara, giving her hand a soft squeeze.

"I know that's a little close to Whale Tail Island…are you okay with that?"

Katara tensed up slightly before exhaling, nodding her head.

"It's fine. I've put that all behind me now."

"As long as we don't go to Gaoling, I'm fine!"

"Toph….don't you think maybe it's time for you to at least talk to your parents?" Aang attempted to reach out for her hand, which she quickly snapped away.

"No Twinkle Toes, I really don't." Toph stood up and stalked outside, signaling the end of the conversation.

The Gaang had left early the next morning and flown for practically all day long. To the relief of a tired and hungry Appa, they had decided to land before sunset, to make camp and sleep for the night. Sokka slid down from Appa's back, surveying the woods around them.

"Alright, it'll be sundown soon and honestly, we don't really know what's out there, so we gotta be careful. So I'll go with Suki and we'll collect the wood, Toph and Aang can set up the camp, and Katara and Zuko can get some water. After that, dinner!" Sokka smacked his lips together as he rubbed his stomach before securing his sword onto his back and marching into the woods.

"His mind is always on food isn't it?" Suki placed her hands on her hips, watching her husband walk into the woods before following him.

Everyone else set about their duties, Katara and Zuko quickly finishing their duties of water collection and took instead to wading in the cool refreshing water. Zuko swept a hand across the water to send a wave towards Katara, who bended a wall of water infront of herself, blocking the attack. With a smirk, she held her other hand behind her back, snaked up a stream of water behind him, and grabbed his ankle, pulling him down. He sat in the water, sputtering and spitting while Katara began to skate toward him, not paying attention to his hand sneaking up. In one swift move, he grabbed Katara's ankle, tripping her. She attempted to keep herself up by bending a large wave but only washed the two off onto the shore.

They landed in a tangled heap, Katara on top of Zuko. They looked to one another before breaking out into loud laughter. With a devious smirk, Zuko wrapped his arms around Katara's waist and ran back into the water, tackling her in with a loud splash. The two sat there in the shallow banks, staring into one another's eyes as Zuko wrapped his arms around her more tightly, kissing her cheek. Their time alone only lasted for mere seconds before Sokka yelled over loudly.

"Food!"

Katara giggled quietly as they stood, heading back over to the fire.

"That tree branch was not there the first time I walked by!" Sokka grumbled, rubbing his newly bruised eye.

"Just like you didn't trip on it, right?" Suki chided, nudging Sokka.

"I did not trip! I was…telling that ant-beetle a secret!" Sokka crossed his arms, looking stubborn as the entire group burst out into laughter.

As was customary the group's dinner was filled stories and laughter, which would, as had become custom, lead them well into the night.

Toph had earth bended a tent for each person, in 2 staggered lines, placing the guys in the front, the girls in the back. As luck would have it, it wasn't until they were all ready for bed that the noises had set in.

Screeching animals, thumps, crunches, a cacophony of sounds echoed around them as shining eyes could be seen here and there in the brush.

"It's alright guys. It's just... scary forest noises from a scary...unfamiliar...haunted...forest." Sokka's voice became more and more high pitched as the noises increased.

It took one last loud screech from the dark forest for Toph to quickly earth bend herself and her friends into one straight line in one large earth tent. Sokka sighed, relieved, as she closed off the remaining side walls, leaving several windows open at the top of the tent.

"Thanks Toph."

Alright, A short first opening chapter, with of course, Sokka humor! Hope you all like and continue to read :) RxR OH! And for any Harry Potter fans out there…check out my new one-shot; Secrets He Had to Share!