Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender.

Chapter 1 : Fresh Start

"Zuko, I am off to get a few groceries. Watch the shop while I am gone?" Asked Iroh to his nephew who was ringing someone up at the counter.

Zuko turned and look at his uncle with a smile. He couldn't believe it…He was finally free. Free of war, honor, and the avatar. He was happy. Ever since he and his uncle had opened their tea shop The Jade Dragon Zuko had felt as though he was home.

"Ok uncle. Hurry back though; it's almost time for the afternoon rush."

Iroh nodded to his nephew, he too smiling. He was thinking about all of the luck that had found them in the past few days. For one Iroh was finally living his dream of owning his own tea shop. Second he had noticed that Zuko was starting to seem comfortable with the idea of not catching the avatar to regain his honor. And finally Iroh had acquired a sense of security within the very walls that he had once laid siege upon. He chuckled at the thought.

When Iroh reached the market he began to shop around looking for different herbs and spices to blend for tea. After getting all that he needed from the market he turned to head back to The Jade Dragon. He froze. Right there not 20 ft. in front of him stood Azula, Mai and Ty Lee in earth kingdom disguises. "Oh no." He thought to himself. But they hadn't seemed to notice him yet. Realizing this he took it as his only chance to get away. He scurried around a building to avoid them when he suddenly collided with someone. Iroh being the gentleman he was immediately began to apologize to the young lady, that is until he realized who she was. There on the ground laid none other than Mai. Iroh immediately took a defensive stance until he noticed the tears streaming down her face. Knowing that she wasn't one to express her feelings this had to be bad. He settled himself on the ground beside her.

"What seems to be troubling you my young warrior?" Asked Iroh

Mai looked up into Iroh's eyes almost shocked that he would even consider conversating with her let alone try to make her feel better. She wiped the tears from her face and sighed.

"Why aren't you attacking me or something? I mean after all the trouble that Azula, Ty Lee and I have caused u I would've expected an attack of some kind."

Iroh laughed at Mai's theory and began to explain.

"Well seeing as how you are not attacking me on this lovely day, why ruin it by attacking you? However you seem distraught and I don't like seeing ladies cry, it is just about the most heart wrenching site in the world. And in these times when you see a lady crying it is almost definitely tied to the war in one way or another. So I ask you again, what is troubling you?"

Mai didn't know what it was about Iroh that just made her want to explain everything to him. Explain how she just can't handle working with Azula anymore. Mai wanted to be good. She just didn't know how to change without pissing Azula off. But seeing as how she had been pissed off by Azula, she seemed to have the right to leave.

Mai finally mustered up the courage to respond to Iroh's question.

"I am tired of working for Azula, I am tired of listening to her complaining and bossiness and worst of all…her insults. I want out. And now I am. But I have nowhere to go and no Idea what I am going to do to make a living and what if Azula decides that she wants me dead for being a traitor? I don't know what to do."

Iroh nodded understandingly to Mai. This young warrior had definitely had enough time with Azula and seems to seriously want to change. Everyone should get a second chance he thought to himself. Suddenly an idea hit him.

He looked at Mai and asked "what do you want in life?"

She looked at him strangely then decided that she should just tell him.

"I just want to be happy."

Iroh smiled at this as he got up and held out his hand to help her up.

"If you truly seek happiness, then follow me."

...

Meanwhile in a guest house just around the corner, four friends are celebrating their recent success in acquiring the Earth King's signature for the use of his troops for the invasion plan on the Day of Black Sun.

"Well guys we did it, we finally got the Earth king's signature for his troops and now all we need to do is find Dad and some other warriors and we should be alright!" said Sokka who seemed to be at the high point of his life. Sokka finally felt like he had done some good for the ending of the war.

Aang and Katara were dancing around in the living room while Mo-Mo flew in a circle over their heads. Everyone seemed to be happy. Everyone except for Toph.

She stood by herself propped up in a corner staring blindly at the floor. She could sense through vibrations where everyone was…Including Sokka. She just couldn't understand the way she felt about him. One minute she is arguing with him and yelling and then the next minute she misses him. She didn't think anyone had noticed how she felt about Sokka yet…Except for the one person who she didn't want to find out. Suki. When they all tried to cross The Serpent's Pass and Toph nearly drowned. She had been screaming for Sokka to come save her. Well before Sokka could act Suki had already jumped in after her. Toph not realizing that it was Suki not Sokka that had saved her, kissed her. The humiliation that Toph felt afterwards was almost unbearable. But she knew that Suki had caught on to her liking Sokka.

While Toph was lost in her thoughts, she hadn't noticed that Sokka was now right next to her. Not only that but they were also the only ones in the room now. Toph didn't know what say so she said the first thing that came to mind.

"What do you want?" It came off as more grumpy than she would have liked.

Sokka noticed the grumpiness in her voice and decided to call her on it.

"Toph? Is everything okay?" Sokka was trying to befriend her the best he could without making it seem like he was hitting on her or something. He always got a strange feeling that Toph liked him but he could never prove it. Well he never really tried to prove it.

Toph was almost taken aback by the sincerity in his voice. Being one to use vibrations to see can be rather helpful when talking to someone. She looked in his general direction. She was trying very hard to fight back the tears that she was containing. On one front, she missed her parents a lot more than she was letting on. And two, she liked Sokka and just couldn't find a way to tell him. She fought a hard battle but it seemed that her emotion had won. Tears started streaming down her face.

This shocked Sokka. He couldn't recall ever seeing Toph cry. What could be wrong with her? He thought to himself. Sokka didn't know what to do. Should he go get Katara? Then he decided against his better judgment to hug her.

When he did he could feel Toph tense in is arms. Toph couldn't believe it, he was hugging her. She decided to go ahead and try to explain what was bothering her. God I just hope this goes better than it has been in my head. She thought, afraid of how Sokka will react to how she feels.

She took a deep breath "Sokka I…I just…I have a lot on my mind. First of all I miss my parents a lot more than I let on. And I also have been trying to get up the courage to tell you something."

This caught Sokka's attention. What could she be telling him that took so much courage to say? He thought for a second then noticed that she was waiting for him to say something. He sighed "What is it Toph?"

She sniffed "Sokka I…I l-l-li."

But suddenly she was cut off by Katara coming in as she was saying something. "Hey are you guys hungry? Aang and I are about to go find a restaurant or maybe even a tea shop, ya'll wanna come?"

Toph couldn't resist, she had to get out of here. She was chickening out. She was ashamed of herself but at the same time felt that then wasn't the right time to tell Sokka how she felt. She just knew that time would come eventually.

The four made their way out into the city and decided to go to the new tea shop that everyone had been talking about. The Jade Dragon.

A/N: Hey guys!! Thanks for reading chapter 1!! I hope you enjoyed it! PLEASE write reviews. How am I going to know if you liked it or not if you don't write a review?