Chapter Two: Splitting Up Again

Everything was set. Aang and Toph would be heading to the Earth Kingdom, dropping off the two Earth Kings on the way. And then doubling back to take care of the towns in need of their help. So far, Aang wasn't sure if the two kings would live long enough to get home.

"You should be my heir." Kuei smiled sweetly to Toph.

Bumi rolled his eyes. "Smile and bat your eyes all you want, but you're wasting your time. Toph, you she be my heir, you could whip my generals into shape. Plus, I always have a festival to show off the best benders in my city. And... there's rock candy!" He gave his crazy laugh.

"Well, I need some one to retrain the Dai Li and keep them in order. And Miss Bei Fong is the perfect candidate for that! Plus, with her beauty, she'll have men following her every word." Kuei cooed dreamily.

"Would both of you shut your holes. I'm already an heir." She huffed. "Besides, both of you forgot one thing."

"What's that?" They asked leaning in to listen.

"I only answer to me!" She said shoving both men backwards a little too hard.

Kuei and Bumi both tumbled over the side of Appa's saddle. Aang whipped around to see both men falling. "TOPH! What did you do?"

She sat back with an irritated look on her face. "They deserved it." she mumbled.

Aang grabbed his glider. "Appa catch Kuei, I'm going for Bumi!" Appa let out a great groan as he dove after the man screaming like a banshee, while his owner went after the one cackling like a mad man.

Toph held onto the saddle as it dipped, and felt a thud next to her. "Have a nice fall, Queenie?" She grinned at the shaking mass in front of her, but all she got was a whimper in response. "Geeze, can't even take a little joke. Grow a pair!" She heard loud hoots and laughs somewhere above her.

"Drop me again Aang!" Came Bumi's thrilled shout.

"He's... he's crazy!" Kuei choked out between sobs.

"Tsk. At least he has a pair." Toph scoffed.

Ty Lee and Sokka decided to head in the direction of the island where she had been in the circus. She said once they got there her old boss would help them decide where to head. He was a member of the White Lotus, and had helped get her into it.

"I still don't understand why we had to bring Momo." Sokka pouted as he eyed the lemur riding on the girls head.

"I told you he would be a hit at the circus. I already told Zuko and Katara it might take a week to get the information from Master Ruyo." She said scratching behind Momo's ears. "Plus it's going to take a good four days to get there even by airship. It's close to Crescent Island."

"Great." He mumbled rummaging through his bag for a snack. "What the... Momo! Did you eat all my snacks?"

The lemur dropped his ears and chattered as he curled his tail around Ty Lee's neck. Sokka glared at the lemur and gave a sigh, only to let out a surprised yell as he saw the last cookie in the lemur's paw.

"YOU DID! YOU TOOK MY COOKIES!" Sokka said diving after the lemur only to find himself on the floor in a paralyzed state. "Damn it. Momo, I'll get you for this."

"Momo says, fat chance." Ty Lee giggled. "If you promise to leave the little guy alone I'll restore the movement to your limbs."

Momo jumped down to the floor of the airship and held the cookie in front of Sokka's mouth. Sokka stared at him and opened his mouth cautiously, as Momo inched the cookie closer. Just as a crumb dropped into Sokka's mouth, Momo pulled the cookie back and shoved it in his own mouth.

"Nooo! Momo! Why do you torment me?" Sokka sobbed. "That... it's not... I'm not talking to you ever again!"

Ty Lee finally lost all her composure. "I can't... oh my goodness... I've never seen a lemur do that... and you fell... fell for... for it!" She laughed as she tumbled to the floor clutching her stomach.

"Laugh all you want! I'm getting you back too!" Sokka threatened. Or tried to be threatening when he was paralyzed from the neck down.

"Oh... Sokka... st-stop making me laugh... my... my stomach hurts!" Ty Lee said as tears crawled out of her eyes, and Momo added his two cents to the scene by offering Sokka a spider.

"Why me?" Sokka sighed as he tried to ignore the spider dangling in his face and the hysterical woman rolling on the floor clutching her stomach.

Zuko sighed as he glanced at his traveling companion. She hadn't said a word for the last two days, unless it involved who went where and how long they would take. Zuko managed to set up a way for them all to keep in touch, should something happen, and that was the last time she spoke. She would have said something in response to him, but Chief Arnook had ruined that.

It took him, Aang, Iroh, and Pakku to restrain her enough so she didn't kill the man. Sokka, Hakoda, and Bumi were holding Toph up off the ground, so she wouldn't bury him alive. And Ty Lee was the only one free to drag the man away from the scene. The day after that, Arnook retreated back to the North Pole, but he left a letter for Hakoda. Unfortunately, Hakoda wouldn't share what was in it. Thus the reason for Katara's silence.

"Katara," he began. "Are you alright... well... that's a stupid question... of course you're not alright... why would I ask that when I know ... god, I still suck at this..."

A soft giggle drew his attention to her again. "Zuko, do you talk to yourself often?"

A blush crept up his cheeks. "No... sometimes." he said quietly. "When I came to the temple to join your group, I rehearsed what I was going to say. It... took me hours to get it right... And I wasn't talking just now! I was correcting myself for asking a stupid question."

She rolled her eyes. "It's still talking to yourself." she added. "So, we're heading to which city again."

"It's a port city on the island we were on. But at the opposite end." Zuko said as he handed her a map. "Uncle said it's been taken by pirates and our ships won't be able to trade until it's dealt with."

She eyed the map. "Pirates... hmm. What are all these red circles? And these little white dots?"

"The red is the towns or cities that need our expertise. And from what I remember, the dots are Lotus members." He pointed, but tumbled out of his carriage seat as it came to a sudden stop. "What the hell?"

Katara had her hands at the ready as Zuko scrambled back up. Both of their hearts were pounding in their chests. They weren't due to stop for another four hours, and it unnerved them even more when they couldn't hear anything outside.

Both were thankful that they decided to travel as the noblewoman and her guard, but it still didn't help the fact that they had no idea what had stopped their carriage. Zuko was about to open the door to check when it ripped open. He barely had time to stop the blade from coming down on the intruder's head. If it hadn't been for Katara's quick reaction with her blood bending, the man would be dead.

"Hello Katara." Came a smug voice.

"What do you want?" She sighed in relief. "You nearly got your head severed, Jet."

He eyed Zuko's sword above his head. "I was sent to retrieve you actually. Apparently, Bee has something very important to tell you, but I'm not privileged enough to know."

"How do we know this isn't some hair brained scam of yours?" Zuko said with narrowed eyes. "Like when you broke into the palace and almost blew the invasion."

Jet bowed his head in shame. "Look, I was wrong. And I have come to realize that Katara knows what she's doing and me getting in the way is a bad idea." He said honestly. "Besides, I've been threatened with castration should I interfere again."

As much as Zuko didn't like Jet, he'd never wish that on him, and subconsciously, he covered himself imagining the pain. "I don't even want to know who threatened that."

Katara rolled her eyes. "Let's go ladies, Bee wouldn't have stopped us if it weren't important."

A/N: I apologize for the shortness. I have to get to bed because I have a dentist appointment. It may be a few days before I get another chapter up. I hope this is keeping you entertained. If not, I'll try harder. -Zar