I don't own Avatar the Last Airbender, although heaven knows how much I'd like to.
Aang awoke in the morning with 4 things. Momo, still asleep on his lap, Appa, sleeping in the middle of the wide cavern, an aching back, and a slight befuddlement as to where he was.
He sat up, looking around stupidly. The sun was shining through the hole in the ceiling. It took him a while to realize where he was and what his business was. A year after splitting up, the world wasn't getting any better, so he chose one of their old hideouts to bring the gaang back together.
Aang himself didn't change much. The only noticeable differences were the little crop of hair on his head, his greater height, and the earth bender's uniform he was wearing.
Looking down on what he fell asleep upon, a smile grew on his face. The assortment of goods he got for his friends were in a bundle, and he fell asleep right on it. Quickly looking inside, he made sure that nothing was broken before getting off of Appa's saddle.
Stretching a bit, he walked into the entrance of the hall. Katara was sleeping near the entrance to the cave; Toph was sleeping on the right side of the room from him. Sokka was already up and about, rummaging through the travel sacks for breakfast. Aang walked up to him, Sokka still blissfully unaware of Aang's presence. "Hey."
"FOR THE LOVE OF!" Sokka yelled, shocked at the sudden appearance of his friend. Glancing over to the girls, who didn't wake, he continued on in a lower tone. "Don't scare me like that. I almost killed you!" Grinning broadly, Aang gave Sokka a quick embrace. Sokka pulled away, and muttered "Three second rule, m'kay?" before rummaging through the sacks for food again.
Soon enough, the two guys had a small fire going, a meager breakfast out before them. Sokka commented first, breaking the uncomfortable silence. "So Zuko couldn't make it, huh?"
"You know how it is, he's busy in the palace. 'Specially after the execution of…" Aang shuddered. The council had him Zuko and Iroh outvoted. 7 to 3 in favor of the execution of former firelord Ozai. Then matters with his sister arose. Outraged at the murder of her father, Azula had been stirring up trouble as well; her and her ragtag group had grown into an organization with supporters from all four nations. The opposite of the Order of the White Lotus. Calling themselves the Black Light, they crusaded under the symbol of a black circle with a red cross going through it. Sokka, a member of the Order, had shared a number of clashes with this organization, as did Aang. The organization was swift and deadly, not hesitating to kill anyone who was a potential threat, whether that person was friend or foe.
Sokka shook his head sagely. "It's a sad thing mate. You'd think that after the war everything would get better. Instead of fighting a big easy target, now we have to fight with a bunch of little… snake like thingies. At least the fire nation was easy to predict. The Black Light, you don't know what they'd do." He looked at the burning flames for a while before sighing and plopping down onto the ground. He picked up his sword and starting jabbing the air around him. Aang went on eating his bread, looking at his friend with slightly bemused eyes.
"C'mon Sokka, its not all that bad. Least the damage they're doing is smaller in scale."
To this Sokka agreed. Helping himself to tea and toast, he said through a mouthful of food, "Fo, 'ows 'uki en' tuh koshi urriurs doin?"
"Come again?"
Sokka gulfed down the food with frightening speed. "How's Suki and the Kyoshi warriors doing?
"Renovations of Ba Sing Se, helping the refugees go back home, you know. They like to keep themselves busy." A smile came on Sokka's tan face. Aang continued. "And how are the watertribes doing?"
"You were there. They rebuilt the South Pole, united the wandering tribes and brought unity. Too bad you didn't stay long. You missed seeing me and Katara back there." Aang looked away towards the entrance where Katara was sleeping. He was heavily disappointed at his inability to see Katara as well but duty came first, before himself. Duty prevented him from seeing Katara for a full year. HE never did tell her how he felt about her. He gave out a small "Yeah." before letting himself take another bite into his toast.
"She was really sad for a while, missing you like that." Aang brought his gaze away from Katara and looked at his friend. "You've got no idea how pissed I was at not being able to see her."
"I bet you brought up a pretty little storm huh?" The voice startled the two boys; Toph seemingly materialized out of nowhere and was halfway into her own breakfast. After much coughing and sputtering, Sokka managed to squeak out "You need to not do that. I almost swallowed my tea cup. That makes twice in one day."
"And you guys need to not talk so loudly." She replied uninterestedly. "Woke me from a nice ol' dream I was having. Something about pummeling the snot out of the both of ya. And unless you don't want that dream to become a reality, I suggest that you don't wake me from my sleep anymore."
Aang laughed, none too loudly. "Sorry Toph." Looking at his old teacher, he went on, "Did you do something with your hair?" Toph grinned. "You realized huh? Took the maids a while to get it this way. I don't like anyone touching any part of me without my consent." She blew on her bangs. "But then again, I suppose it's not too bad once you get used to it."
"So, how's life going for you back home?" Sokka interrupted, gesturing out the door. "Your parents giving you any trouble?"
Toph laughed. "Not much they can say Snoozles. Champion and hero of the world, how can you find something to be disappointed in that?"
Sokka smiled at his old nickname. Dusting off any crumbs on his shirt, he walked into the further depths of the cave. "I don't know about you two, but I'm going to see my old furry friend Appa." As Toph got up to follow him, Aang held her with one hand a grin on his face. A moment later the two were rewarded with a deep groan and a loud "BLEARRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGHH." Laughing, the two walked into the light filled room where Appa was resting. Sokka, covered in saliva, was wiping the slime off on a nearby wall. Toph gave Appa a warm hug, past misgivings forgotten. Once reunions were made all around, Sokka glanced at the room from which they just came from. "Katara still isn't up yet? Wow."
"It's probably because she was up and about so late last night. She helped me get here." Toph replied casually. "Well, see you guys."
"Where do you think you're going?"
"Where do you think? I've been traveling all last night. I'm taking a bath!" And with that she trudged off into the bathing cavern found next to the one they were staying in. The bath was a big pool, with heat vents near the edge on one side, perfect to take a bath in. It was located in the middle of a low ceiling room, and was at the bottom of a winding downwards slope, providing the best privacy. If anyone were to try and invade, the echoes would alert the bather of his/her presence immediately.
Sokka watched as Toph trundled off, before turning to Aang. "We'd better wake up Katara." Looking at the sky, he continued, "Looks to be around 10 o'clock. She slept on the way here, so se shouldn't be sleeping." Followed by Aang, he wet to wake Katara, only to find her missing. Alarmed, the two boys searched everywhere. Aang ran into the bathing cavern, only to have an enormous rock hurled at his way from a furious Toph. Turning a bend and blushing at what he just did, he yelled, "Katara's missing! Do you know where she is?" Katara's voice came back to him. "I'm right here!" Aang stood still, breathing a sigh of relief yet still having his heart trying to beat its way out of his chest. "Oh. That's alright then!" he yelled. He didn't know what to do. The most beautiful girl in the world was naked, and less than 10 feet from him, yet he couldn't do anything to fall for the temptation. Toph's earthbending gave an answer to his predicament. "YOU'RE STILL HERE!!!" She yelled, and the comment was followed by a number of rocks pelting his way, aimed on his back like a couple of heat seeking missiles. He narrowly avoided them by running out of the bathing cave and into Sokka. "They're O.K." he breathed hastily and staggered into the main cave. Sokka, peering in after Aang, got a rock right onto his nose.
Toph was working herself into a rage. "What was he thinking, barging into two ladies washing like that!?" Katara only smiled and continued to wash her friends back, a little blush working its way on her features. "He's only hormonal. After all, he is in his teens…"
"Easy for you to say Sugar Queen. But you don't see me walking into a couple of guys bathing, do you?"
Katara shrugged. "Well, it wouldn't do you much good would it?"
Toph splashed some water at Katara, who splashed some back. "You sure you want to do that? Splash water at a water bending master?" Toph shrugged back. "As far as I'm concerned, this cave is made of rock and everyone knows that rock beats water." Katara grinned. This argument was old, reaching far back into the days of the gang. Which element was the best? Instead of answering, she just turned around and said "Your turn to scrub my back." Just like the good old days…
After they were done bathing, Katara dried herself off with some simple waterbending. She sent the water all around. Toph, who was drying herself as well, got hit my some of the water and commented, "That method works fine, except it doesn't do your companions much justice." After toweling herself off again, she grinned wickedly and remarked, "Ready to meet your pervy boyfriend?"
Katara gave her a little shove. "He's not my boyfriend and he's not pervy. Just hormonal is all." She stated as she started up the slope. Toph, slinging the towel over her shoulder, followed a moment after with a smirk, stepping on Sokka's unconscious body as she left.
