Sokka and Katara of the Southern Water Tribe drifted along the current, looking for fish to catch for supper.
"Katara, I caught one!" Sokka proclaimed as he moved the fish that was trapped in his water sphere.
"Sokka, be quiet! You're gonna' scare the fish away!" Katara grinned as she licked her lips. "I can almost smell 'em cookin'," she told her brother.
"But, Katara--" Just as Sokka brought the water around to show his sister, Katara raised her spear and broke the concentration on the water. The fish bounced on Katara's head and flopped into the water, swimming away from the two Water Tribe siblings.
"Sokka!" Katara growled as he began to shake the water from her jacket. "How is it whenever you play with magic water I get soaked?" Sokka growled and shook his fist at Katara.
"It's Waterbending, not magic!" Sokka exclaimed. Katara rolled her eyes, already have been through this argument many times with Sokka.
"And it's part of our history and blah, blah, blah," she interrupted with a scowl. While Sokka glared back at her neither of the siblings realized they were coming towards a stretch of fast moving water. Before they could react, their boat got stuck between two big pieces of ice and snapped like a dry twig.
"I knew taking you along would ruin everything!" Katara cried out as she looked around to see their cracked canoe floated away.
"Me ruin everything? Oh, I suppose it was my fault that you couldn't steer us out of the way, huh?" Sokka asked getting in Katara's face.
"As a matter of fact, yes! You probably couldn't control your freaky magic water and that's why our canoe was crushed!" Katara growled as she plopped down on the ice they were standing on. Sokka's eye twitched as he grit his teeth.
"Oh, so everything's my fault! It's my fault you're a complete, incompetent idiot who can't catch fish if her life depended on it?" Sokka screamed as he began waving him fists angrily at Katara. The water around them began to move violently as Sokka screamed louder.
"Ever since mom died I've been doing everything! All you do is run around playing 'warrior' all day and you don't help with anything! I even have to your laundry, Katara!" The giant iceberg behind them groaned as it cracked from Sokka's Waterbending.
"Do you know how bad your socks smell? Let me tell you, older sister, they are not pleasant!" Sokka screamed the last part, making three or four good sized cracks erupt from the ice.
Suddenly, huge chunks of ice fell into the water, making huge waves. The two siblings momentarily forgot about their argument, and held on tightly to the ice.
Katara looked up to the destruction Sokka had caused and glared over at him.
"Great, you've gone from moving puddles to destroying icebergs, Sokka!" Katara exclaimed as she threw her hands in the direction of the once great iceberg.
Now, in its place, a round sphere of ice floated, looking perfectly round and man-made.
"I did that?" Sokka asked in a surprised voice, though he clouded help but awe at what he had done.
As if on cue, the sphere of ice began radiating a strange blue glow, nothing like the Southern Lights that were common at the South Pole. Sokka leaned forward, noticing there was a strange shape in the sphere. It looked like... a person!
"Katara, somebody's in there!" Sokka cried as he grabbed the front of Katara's jacket and tugged her across the flat pieces of ice. Katara slipped slightly, trying to keep up with her brother.
Before Katara could open her mouth, Sokka grabbed a club out of her satchel and swung at the ice. The ice, being as tough as it was, didn't even budge and inch.
"What are you doing?" Katara demanded as she snatched away her precious club. "You're not gonna break my precious club for some ice person!" Katara cried out. Sokka glared sharply at her.
"Katara, you idiot, somebody is in there!" Sokka screamed like he did when the ice first broke. Fortunately, the ice broke again, and a blast of cold air knocked the two siblings over.
Sokka looked up and saw a small figure, much smaller than his own, with glowing eyes and arrows on their body. The glowing suddenly went away as the person tipped forward. Sokka lunged out and caught the person before they hit the ground.
Katara peeked from around her brother, spear in hand. Whatever was in that iceberg must have been dangerous.
"Katara, it's a girl!" Sokka cried out as he cradled the girl's head in his arms. The girl groaned loudly and winced as she opened her grey eyes. She moved one of her arms and rubbed her eyes.
"Who are you?" The girl asked. Katara, being the paranoid sibling, started poking the girl in the head with the end her staff.
"Hey, cut that out!" The girl cried as she raised him hands at Katara and blasted concentrated air out of them. Katara flew back a good few feet and smacked into a pile of snow.
The girl floated to her feet, using the non-existent wind she bended. She rubbed her eye again and looked around. The first thing she saw was Sokka's big, blue questioning eyes.
"Where am I?" The girl asked as she rubbed her black hair that was placed in a gravity-defying bun.
"The South Pole," Sokka informed the strange girl. "Are you... an Airbender?" Sokka asked as he watched the girl look around for something.
"Yeah, so?" The girl asked as she began to pick her ear. "Airbenders are all around the world, right?" She asked as Katara stomped towards them.
"Who are you?!" Katara screamed as she put a finger in the girl's face.
"I'm Toph, and I'm a-a-achoo!" Toph said as she was shot backwards and went straight through the lower half of the ice sphere.
Katara and Sokka both looked at each other as Toph shot backwards. "And I though you were a freak," Katara said as she peeked through the hole Toph created.
"Appa! Buddy, you're awake!" Toph cried out. Katara dropped her spear when she looked at Appa, the giant flying bison.
"Tha- Wha- What is that thing!" Katara cried as she hid behind Sokka. Sokka laughed loudly and reached out to pet Appa. Katara grabbed Sokka's shoulder and tugged him back.
"Don't touch that thing! It looks like it could eat us alive!" Katara growled as she once again held her spear up to Toph. Toph raised her eyebrows as she hugged Appa.
"Appa isn't dangerous. Actually, Appa is a vegetarian!" Toph said happily as she rubbed Appa's fuzzy head. "He doesn't bite either!" Toph proclaimed.
--
Zuko's one good eye narrowed as he looked at the beam of glowing light.
"It could be the Avatar!" Zuko said as he turned to his Uncle. "Years of searching, and now I've found the Avatar!"
Iroh sighed as he looked up from his card game. "Zuko, we have been down this road before. That is just the celestial lights, they are very common here. And, even if that was the Avatar, I doubt we would be able to catch him. He has been eluding the Fire Nation for a hundred years, he probably will not let you take him that easily," Iroh informed his nephew. Zuko turned away from his Uncle, ignoring him.
"Tell the captain to head towards that light," Zuko told the nearest henchmen.
--
"Giant light beams, flying bison, Airbenders...I think I've got Midnight Sun Madness. I'm going home where stuff makes sense," Katara said as she began walking away from Toph and Sokka. She stopped as she made her way towards the edge, looking around, and noticing there was no logical way to get home.
"Appa and I could give you a lift," Toph said as she patted Appa's arrow.
"That would be great," Sokka said as Toph Airbended himself up on Appa's head. He then turned around to his sister and raised an eyebrow at her. "Aren't you getting on?" He asked.
"Oh, no! I'm not riding that fluffy snot-monster. I'll just wait until somebody comes to find me," Katara announced as she plopped down on the snow.
Sokka rolled his eyes and pretended to look for somebody. "Well, seeing there is nobody out here besides us, I'm guessing your going to freeze to death, right?" Sokka asked as Toph giggled at his comment. Katara growled loudly as she began to climb on Appa's tail.
"Well, first time riders, hold on tight!" Toph said as she whipped Appa's reigns. "Yip-yip!" The giant bison groaned as he jumped into the air and into the freezing water.
"Wow, I've never been on a floating buffalo," Katara said sarcastically as she sat back against Appa's saddle.
"Appa's just tired," Toph announced as she rubbed Appa's nose. "Right, buddy?" Appa groaned in reply, getting salt water in his mouth. "Once he's rested he'll be soaring through the sky!" Toph said happily.
Sokka smiled slightly as a thought came to him mind. "Um, Toph?" Sokka asked.
"Yeah?"
"Since you're an Airbender, do you know what happened to the Avatar?" Sokka asked with hope in his eyes.
"Uh, no, I-I mean yes," Toph stuttered as she laughed nervously. Katara and Sokka looked at each other.
"Well, did you know him or not?" Katara asked impatiently. Sokka flicked her in the forehead.
"Well, I knew people that knew him, but I didn't know him personally," Toph informed Sokka as she looked away. "Sorry."
"Oh," Sokka said as he tried to hide his disappointment.
--
"Toph? Toph, wake up!" Sokka said as he shook the young Airbender's shoulder. Toph sat up and rubbed her grey eyes.
"Whazzut?" Toph asked sleepily. Sokka smiled kindly as he grabbed Toph's hand.
"Come on, Toph," Sokka said. "I want you to meet the villagers!" Sokka then tugged Toph out of the small room Katara and her shared for the night and stopped in front of the villagers.
"Village meet Toph, Toph meet the Village," Sokka said as Toph looked everyone over. Toph raised her hand timidly.
"Um, hi?" She said uncertainly. One of the little girls came up to Toph and smiled up at her.
"Are you really and Airbender?" She asked in him child-like voice. Toph couldn't help but grin at the child.
"You bet!" Toph said excitedly. "And this is my glider!" She said as she held the object in the air. The children in the village gaped at Toph as if she were a God. Somewhere behind Toph Katara snorted.
"Human's flying? Yeah, right, and Sokka's the Fire Lord!" Katara said sarcastically. Toph raised him eyebrows at the warrior.
"What's so wrong about being the Fire Lord?" Toph asked as she scratched the back of her neck. "Fire Lord is a very powerful position." Everything around Toph suddenly froze.
"I knew it!" Katara stepped in between Toph and the village children. "Only Fire Nation scum would say something good about the Fire Lord! You're a spy!" Toph raised an eyebrow at Katara and laughed.
"Spy? I doubt being frozen in a block of ice means I'm a spy, Katara," Toph said as she patted Katara's shoulder.
"Katara! Toph is not a spy, right Toph?" Sokka asked as he put a defensive hand on Toph's shoulder. Toph, however, was not paying attention.
"Penguin!" Toph screamed as she used her Airbending skills to run towards said creature.
"She's kidding, right?" Katara asked Sokka.
--
"Toph, do you think you can teach me how to Waterbend? I mean, you being an Airbender and all, I thought you could help me," Sokka asked Toph as he rubbed his arm. Toph sighed and stopped chasing the penguins momentarily.
"Sokka, I'm and Airbender, and only an Airbender. Even if I wanted to teach you Waterbending I couldn't." Toph then snorted. "I'd have to be the Avatar to do that!" Toph exclaimed as she raised her hands in the air. Sokka smiled kindly, hiding the disappointment he felt.
"Oh, well, sorry for asking," Sokka said, feeling stupid at that moment. Toph shrugged him shoulders.
"If you really want to learn Waterbending, Appa and I could take you to the North Pole. I've heard it's full of Waterbending masters. We could find you a master in no time!" Toph said happily as she fell trying to catch another penguin.
"Are you sure, Toph? The North Pole is on the other side of the world. It's not exactly turn at the next iceberg, you know?" Sokka asked. Toph grunted as she leapt for a smaller penguin and missed.
"Yeah, well, Appa and I are going to all off the other Air Temples so I can continue to master Airbending. The Southern and Eastern Air Temples are pretty far away from here also, so it'll be no sweat!" Sokka bit his lip in uncertainty.
"Toph, about the Airbenders, I think there's something you should know about them," Sokka said softly as he put a hand on Toph's hand, stopping the younger girl from pouncing on any other penguins.
"What about them?" Toph demanded. Sokka was keeping her from catching these penguins and riding them!
"Well, the Airbend--" Sokka was stopped in mid-sentence when a penguin jumped onto him, probably in search of a fish he had in his pocket.
"You have a fish? Great!" Toph cried as she yanked the fish out of Sokka's pocket and held it in the air.
--
"Are you sure about this?" Sokka she looked over the big hill him and Toph were on. Toph gave Sokka a thumbs up and leaned forward on the penguin.
"Ready?"
"No!"
"Go!" Just as Toph was about to lean over a voice stopped them.
"Wait! Sokka, don't go!" Toph looked behind him to see Katara running up behind them. As soon as he got near Sokka he grasped his arm and tugged him away from the penguin. The penguin growled and waddled to where the other penguins were.
"Katara, what are you doing?"
"Look!" Katara pointed towards a plume of smoke that looked like it was headed toward the small, little village. "Toph must have alerted the Fire Nation with that blue light when we found her! Now the Fire Nation's coming this way!" Katara said angrily as she glared at Toph.
Sokka gasped as he looked at the plume.
"What are we going to do?" Sokka asked as he turned back toward Toph and Katara.
"How am I supposed to know? Ask the Fire Nation scum!" Katara said angrily as she pointed an accusing finger at Toph.
"Hey, it's not my fault this happened! I don't even know how long I was stuck in that iceberg! Anyways, why is everyone so afraid of the Fire Nation. I have friends all throughout the Fire Nation, and they've never tried to roast me or anything!" Toph cried out as she threw her hands in the direction of the plume.
Sokka put a hand on Toph's shoulder.
"Toph, how long were you in that iceberg? This war has been going on for hundreds of years. I think you've been stuck in there for a hundred years!" Toph gasped and brushed off Sokka's comforting hand.
"T-that's ridiculous! I was stuck in the iceberg a day, maybe a week even, but not a hundred years! Do I look like a hundred year old woman to you?" Toph asked as she showed Sokka her liver-spot free hand. Katara snorted while Sokka looked sadly towards Toph.
"No, because the iceberg must have preserved your and Appa's bodies somehow. Toph, I'm really sorry," Sokka said as he looked towards the young girl. Toph grabbed her head and fell back on the snow.
"That can't be true. What happened to all of my old friends, like Bumi, Kuzon and everyone else? What happened to my people?" Toph asked.
"I don't know, but you won't find out if we don't do something about that Fire Navy ship!" Katara yelled as she began to run toward the village.
"C'mon, Toph, we need to hide! The Fire Nation is coming!" Sokka said as he grabbed hold of Toph's tattooed hand. Toph yanked her hand out of Sokka's and turned away.
"No, I've been running away for a hundred years, it's time for me to fight back!"