This is part 8 of the on going story. As always reading the 7 parts before this one isn't necessary, but it would help and it might even be fun. thanks for reading. All reviews are welcome, good or bad.

Aang landed Appa on the out-skirts of Omashu, just outside the grounds of the palace. It was the middle of the night, so he could enter the city without being seen. Once he landed himself on the ground, He patted Appa, pulled out his glider and took to the sky's again. As he got closer to the palace he started to skim the windows with his eyes, looking for any clue as to which one he wanted. He didn't have to look for long, when he got sight of it he knew it was her window, it was the only one that was opened fully. The only thing that surprised him was that it was on the top floor. When he was close enough he stretched out his legs to landed on the windowsill.

He held his breath as he landed, fearing giving himself away to soon. It had been just over half a year since Iroh had died. They where all still very raw over the whole thing. She he worried most of all. News of Zuko and Katara had reached him long ago, when he had first heard the news it had brought a faint, heart felt smile to his face. This had made him decided to up his efforts in being there for her, like he promised, Iroh, Zuko and himself he would be.

"What do you what." Her voice came out of the dark that filled the room and out towards the light that surrounded him on the windowsill. She was then out of her bed, and on the floor in front of him in one quick movement. She was wearing green silk pyjamas, that looked to be a few sizes to big for her. Her hair was completely down, he had never seen it like that before. Her face feel into a pool of light as she was able to set her useless eyes on his."You broke into my room in the middle of the night, and now you are just going to sit there. Say something!"

He finally realised she was taking to him. He had been caught in her gaze. "I didn't break in. You left the window wide open, that's not very safe you know, anyone could come in." He moved his legs into the room, feeling a little braver now.

"No only you." He wasn't sure, because as she spoke she leaned back and crossed her arms, falling back into the darkness, but he was sure he saw a smile on her face. The light, jokey tone of her voice also brought to his mind the expression of a smile on her face.

"I have a mission from the earth king, and I was sent to get you to help." Having learned form the last time they spoke, he realised that it was best to just get to the point as fast as possible.

A sly grin crossed her face "I'm intrigued, continue." She took one more step back, before she lowered herself to sit on the edge of her bed.

He had a feeling that she would be intrigued, by that. Now he just had tell her what was really going on. She wasn't going to be happy when he told her, but he knew he had to tell her. "Long Feng escaped, and we are going to find him, and bring him back." While he was speaking he never took his eyes of her, he was now able to make out the outline of her figure on the bed. This fact made him a little uneasy, he was grateful she wouldn't be able to see the blush that was creping across his face.

"And the earth king sent you to get me to help you." She now pulled herself up and moved to sit on the chair by the vanity, on Aang's right. She, like Aang knew was unable to see his face turn slightly red, but she could feel his heart beating a little faster.

There was something in her tone, she just didn't seem to believe what he was saying. "Yea..."

"Liar. You came to get me to help, because you thought it would help me, to get back at the guy that killed Jet. Am I right" He forgot she knew him so well. All he could do was nod. It was a rhetorical question, she didn't need any more than his nod as an answer. "I'll come. Go get Appa, then meet me in the grounds."

He was going to ask her, how she knew Appa was near by, but the look on her face told him he better go. Before he could really look at her face in the moonlight, to see how serious she was being, she turned away. Her hand reached out to pick up a ribbon from the vanity in front of her, which she used to tie her her up in a ponytail, leaving her bangs and some other shorter strands of hair falling down around her face. As if he wasn't there, she got to her feet and walked towards the wardrobe. It was like she was playing a game of chicken with him, seeing if he would leave before she stopped to tell him to leave. She pulled out some clothes, and to Aang it looked like she was about to turn round to face him. He leaned all the way back, falling backwards out the window. He had his glider in place before he reached the window on the ground floor.

Toph dressed quickly, into a pair of brown trousers, that she tucked into a pair of brown boots. She wore a yellow top that had white flowers beaded into it. A short brown jacket that was held in place by one large bottom at the centre of her chest. She finished the outfit of, with her grandfather's brown leather gauntlets around her wrists. She ran her fingers over the engravings on them, she had only wore them once, after Iroh gave them to her and that was only for a few minutes. Unknown to her or Aang at this moment, her outfit matched Aang's. The exact same colours.

Once she was ready slowly walked towards the window. She placed her hands on the windowsill, putting all of her weight onto them. A slight lop-sided grin appeared on her face, as the air moved a little fasted around her and the felling of movement, action, adrenaline built up in her. Using her legs Toph pushed herself through the window, flipping over so she was falling back first as she did. A few feet from the ground she finished the rotation, landing on her feet. True her exit may have been a little showy and unnecessary, but she it was just to good an opportunity for her to miss out on.

By the time she reached the garden, Aang and Appa where already waiting for her. Aang was standing in the saddle organising his pack. She bent a platform to reach the saddle. Aang reached out to offer her a hand onto the saddle, but she never saw this of course. When she stepped over to the saddle, her face came into contact with Aang's hand. His middle finger hit her in her right eye. She slightly feel the rest of the way onto the saddle and was just able to keep her balance. Her right hand was covering her eye, so Aang couldn't see if there was any really damage done. "Just because I don't use them doesn't mean I want to loss my eyes, or that it doesn't hurt when they get hit. twinkles."

"Sorry." His voice was muffled by his efforts to stop himself form laughing. Toph didn't see the grin on his face, but she could feel the shaking of his shoulders as he tried to control the laughter that was building up.

"What's so funny, your smiling too aren't you." Her left hand was now lifted, pointing towards Aang. He guessed she was aiming for his face, but her hand wasn't lifted high enough, she was pointing at his chest. He also guessed that she was pointing to his heart unintentional because that was were she got the best read of people.

Still with a grin on his face, he was able to stop the laughter and answer her question. "Sorry Toph, it's just...you called me twinkles." Toph finally lowered her right hand, she was unsure what to say next. His answer was not what she was expecting. "You haven't called me that in a long time, case you've been mad at me. That must mean you don't hate me." Toph was about to respond, to say something, but he spoke first. "Let me look at your eye." again he didn't give her the chance to say anything. He placed his left hand on the side of her face, tilting her head into the moon light,

He had never really looked into her eyes before, in fact he was only the third person to have really looked in her eyes. People tended to avoid looking at her eyes, they worried she would know and be offended. He like most people assumed her eyes where of a faded, milky green. Now that he looked into them he saw that they were really underneath a deep green, and this deep green peered through the jadedness of the rest of her eyes in some places. They where in fact the most beautiful unique eyes he had ever seen. He had got lost in them and only realised his hand was still on her face, when he felt her sifting her weight from one leg to the other. "It looks fine, we should get going." he sounded so rushed, Toph lowered her head. She had always been insecure about her eyes, that was why she tried to hide them under her hair, these insecurity's seemed to come rushing back to her now. Her eyes must be so strange and ugly for him to react the way he did.

Aang sat himself in his normal place, as he lifted the rains in his hands towards him he felt his elbow press against the two objects he had brought with him to give to Toph. He turned to look at her, when he did her eyes flashed in-front of his only for a second. After blinking a few times, he saw her sitting at the at the front of the saddle with her back to him. "Come on are we going or not."

"Yup yup"

they didn't speak, a comfortable silence surrounded them. Aang had forgotten what he wanted to give to Toph, he had been taken a little of guard with the image of her eyes. Now he remembered them, he thought now was as good a time as any. There was no way she would be able to avoid him here flying on Appa., she would have to listen to him, even if she didn't like it or want to say anything back. Though he couldn't rule-out the idea that if she really wanted to get away from him, she would just jump from Appa. Momo who had curled himself up on Aang's shoulder seemed to be incuraging him to get on with it, by gently patting him on the back with his tail. "Toph, can you come here for a minute."

He was facing out in front of them as he spoke, so his quiet voice was almost lost in the wind. Toph slowly and carefully pulled herself to her feet. Getting her balance she very carefully stepped out of the saddle and onto Appa's neck. Aang again held out his hand for her, but this time her indicated what he was doing by simply saying "Here." As he did. Toph had only held out her hand a few inches before Aang reached it, taking a strong hold and gently pulling her to set next to him. It was only with her sitting next to him know that he realised that she hadn't said anything to him. Normally she would have had some comment about being asked to clime onto Appa's head while he was flying or being asked to do anything really.

Taking a deep breath, as he pulled out the first thing he wanted to give to her from his Robe. "This is the letter I left in your room for everyone." Hen placed the letter in her hands, that were held in her lap, as she made no effort to take the letter herself. Momo now moved to sit in Toph's lap, nuzzling her hand that held the letter with his nose. She started to stroke Momo on the back on his head, as she turned to face Aang.

"Have the others read this."

"Yes." When he turned to face her, she was holding her arm out in-front of her, with the letter in her hand. Once he answered her question, she let the letter go, letting it float away into the air. Aang's eyes fallowed the letter till it floated through a clouded and was lost forever. Toph felt his eyes fall back on her, when the letter escaped his sight. She remained in a perfectly still position for a few seconds, before she spoke, still facing out in front of her where she had let the letter go.

"It doesn't matted what the letter says. The point is that you still took off, left us." his mouth opened to protest, but she continued. "What matters it that you left...but also that your here now. What you said before, that I must not hate you any-more...you have to know that I never hated you." This time when she stopped to take a breath, she was hoping he would say something, but he didn't. "Aang." Her voice was a little more stern now, forcing him to turn and look at her as she spoke, because now for his benefit she turned to face him. "You do now that right."

"I guess, but I wouldn't blame you if..."

"Stop being so self pitting. I don't hate you, I never did. I hated what you did...no I hated the way you went about what you did...but I know that you must have had a good reason, you would never do anything that would hurt someone on purpose." A sense of guilt was forming in the pit of the airbenders stomach. He was prepared to do what he had to to get Long Feng back, that didn't sound like the person she was talking about. "I was disappointed in you. It was like everything I thought I taught you was a waste of time."

"It wasn't. It was because of what I learned from you that I was able to face my responsibility as avatar and leave, and why I am going after Long Feng now. That's all down to you."

For a brief second a small smile creped across the teachers face, as a blush also coloured her checks, because of her students words. "I think there is a complement in there somewhere, that you learned to be stubborn because of me."

"With a sifu like you how could I not end up a little stubborn."

They didn't speak for the rest of the trip. Aang fearing the reaction the other thing he wanted to return to her might get, he kept in his robe pressed against his heart. There was still plenty of time to give it back to her, when she would maybe more willing to except it. He felt a pang of regret that she had not read the letter, he had wanted her so badly to read it. In the end it didn't matter, neither she nor any of the others hated him, and she was with him now, helping him in his next task. That was all that mattered now.