Okay we're hopefully getting to some good parts. I love writing about everyone, but I have to admit the person who isn't too much fun writing about is Toph! And Toph was originally my very first favorite character… By the way, I'm upset so far. No one's tried to guess the children's names yet. Each Kid is named after someone in the series! I don't own Avatar the Last Airbender.
Toph raced across the plains, passed the mountains, towards Aang's home. She earthbended giant, rock-like skates to move faster than she could on her own. This also made it easier to constantly feel everything around her.
'I wonder what Aang and Zuko want?' she thought to herself. 'Whatever it is, it sounds more interesting than sitting around at home, feeling the same things over and over.' At least out in a different surrounding, she could concentrate on different vibrations. She could feel the hard jagged vibrates getting smaller, meaning she was getting farther away from the Bei Fong Village.
When Sokka's gang arrived at the house, Suki brought Kanna, Yue, Hakoda, and Teo into the house to talk to Katara. Sokka stayed outside and looked around for Aang. After awhile, he decided the hawk could have been a simple message to a friend of Aang's, not something to worry about.
Sokka was heading inside, until he spotted Appa, Aang's giant flying bison. He rubbed Appa's huge brown arrow that started from his head and ended at his tail. Appa made a roar that Sokka recognized as a hungry roar. Sokka picked up a mound of hay and placed it in front of Appa.
"There you go, buddy." Sokka said, patting his nose. Instantly, a burst of fire came from around the bison. Sokka jumped backwards in fear, and tripped over his own feet; falling on the ground. When the flame disappeared, Zuko was behind it, showing his fist. Sokka knew this is where the fire came from.
"Who was it?" a voice asked, coming from behind Appa. Zuko looked at Sokka surprised, and smiled at him. He rarely saw Sokka, but missed him since he was an old friend.
"It was just Sokka." Zuko informed, happily and sounding a little relieved. Aang came from behind Zuko and smiled jokingly at Sokka.
"Hey, Sokka. You're just in time." Aang said, helping him up. Sokka rubbed the back of his head.
"Who did you think I was, Zuko?" Sokka shouted. Zuko frowned.
"You can never be too careful." He said, tonelessly. Sokka looked at the laughing Aang, and then at the sky. By where the sun was, it looked about 8 o' clock. How long had Zuko been here? He glanced at Aang.
"What are you doing behind Appa anyway?" he asked. Appa burped as in saying, "That's personal stuff, Sokka." Sokka stared at Appa angrily. "Stupid bison." He wacked it with the dull part of his boomerang, knowing it wouldn't hurt Appa. Then he looked at Zuko.
"How's Iroh?" he asked concerned. Zuko looked at the ground. Memories flashed in his head of all the good times he and his uncle had together. The memory that gave the biggest stab in his heart was when his uncle forgave him before Sozin's comet. He gulped.
"He's no better. But he'll pull through." He said unsure, mostly to convince himself. Aang caught the ting in his tone of voice, and placed a caring hand on his friend.
"He's going to be okay, Zuko. I know it." Aang assured him. He understood Zuko's pain. It was identical to the pain he felt after he found out everyone he knew in the air temple had been destroyed. Zuko halfheartedly smiled.
"Thanks." He said. Sokka sighed.
"Not that I don't care, Zuko, but I want know something." He said, feeling bad about interrupting their connection. He could relate too, though. He could still remember every little detail about when his mother's life was taken by the fire nation, during the war.
"Why were you and Aang hiding behind Appa?"
Meanwhile, inside the Avatar's dwelling, Suki and Katara were talking over tea that Kya had made. The kids were playing with Kya, which she enjoyed. Teo was sitting against Kya, and she balanced Hakoda on her back. Yue and Kanna were playing hand games, like patty-cake, and Kya chanted along with them.
"Have you heard anything about Iroh?" Suki asked Katara. Kya was chanting quietly now, to secretly hear on the mothers' conversation. Katara sipped on her tea for a minute. Kya could tell she was swallowing thin tears.
"He's hanging on." Katara informed. Suki sighed. She placed the cup next to her seat. Hakoda's feet were getting really close to kicking it, but his mother was more focused on Iroh.
'Poor guy.' Suki thought. 'I wonder how Zuko's acting about all of this.' Then gasped to herself. 'Wouldn't Zuko be used to this kind of pain though? He's already lost his mother.' Then she put her thoughts into words.
"He's probably got his feelings in the right place." Suki told Katara. "He knows what it feels like to lose someone close to him." Katara nodded and then giggled.
"Suki, look at Hakoda." She said. Suki gasped as his foot brushed quickly against the cup. She picked it up quickly, and scolded Hakoda not to knock over her tea.
"We wouldn't want Aunt Katara cleaning up tea on her floor." She said. "Kya, can you and Hakoda move a little more ways to the side." Kya didn't show it, but she was frustrated.
"Yes ma'am." Kya said, picking up Teo, and clasping hands with Hakoda. 'I wanna know what their talking about. And… who did Zuko lose close him?' When she had moved away from Katara and Suki, she hatched an idea. Hakoda noticed Kya's sly smile.
'Perfect, he saw it.' She thought successfully. Hakoda crawled up to her, probably thinking he was being stealthy.
"Hey, Kya," he whispered. "Whatcha thinking about?" Kya closed her eyes and frowned. She held up two hands and shook them as if to say, forget it. Hakoda gasped. "I wanna know!" he protested.
"Oh, no." she said, obviously acting. "It's too complicated for you, Hakoda. You're just too young." She knew he didn't like it when people said that. He puffed out his cheeks.
"I'm not too young, whatever it is." He flared. Kya smiled jokingly. She placed him in her lap next to Teo.
"Okay," she whispered. "Here's what I was thinking. You could sneak over there ,where your mom is, listen to their conversation." He gasped. "Then come report to me. Okay?" He nodded. Then he frowned. "What's the matter?"
"Can we have codenames?" he asked excitingly. Kya bit her lip.
'Whatever it takes.' She thought. She smiled like she thought it was a great idea. "Sure!" she exclaimed. "What's yours?" he thought a minute, than snapped his fingers.
"I want mine's to be Wolf!" he said. "Because the water tribe's army sign is a wolf!" Kya smiled.
"Of course!" she said. "Mine's… um… Eagle eye, okay?" Hakoda raised his hand to his forehead and saluted. She saluted back and pointed a straight arm towards the women, like she was leading him into battle.
Hakoda commando crawled towards the chairs. Kya chuckled at the child's simple mind. 'If only life were still so simple to me.' She sighed, twisting Teo's thin baby hair.
Toph felt the sun burning on the back of her neck and sweat streaking down her face. She was only a few minutes away from Aang's home. She had been feeling the atmosphere change from the mountain to the ground. The smell also changed. It didn't smell as earthy as it did in the mountains.
"I'm almost there, Twinkle Toes." She informed to herself and the rocks around her.
Aang and Zuko had finished explaining to Sokka their dream when they heard the far off sound of earthbending. Sokka climbed above Appa and looked in the distance.
"It's Toph!" he announced with a huge smile. Aang and Zuko exchanged hopeful glances to each other. They climbed on top of Appa and waited for Toph.
Inside, it was only a couple minutes before Katara and Suki found Hakoda hiding behind their chairs.
"What were you doing back there?" Suki asked. Hakoda was on the berg of tears, and his lip was quivering. He sniffed and glanced at Kya. She slid her hand back and forth by her throat, saying 'Don't rat us out, please!' Hakoda didn't catch on.
"Kya-"Then he stopped. Kya was wrapping her arms around Teo. Suki raised an eyebrow and looked back at Kya.
"Kya what?" she asked. Hakoda sniffed and stopped his tears.
"Kya asked me to look for a toy for Teo." He said. Katara couldn't help but smile, because he lied as bad as his dad. Suki frowned, knowing he was lying and wasn't finding it amusing.
"Do I need to bring you home to tell me what you were really doing?" Suki said, and Hakoda pouted. Kya got up, holding Teo in her arms. She cleared her throat.
"Mrs. Suki," she started. "I'm the one who told him to go back there, and listen to your conversation." She admitted. Suki frowned. Katara looked angry. Even Yue and Kanna stopped playing hand games and listened to Kya and Suki.
"Why would you do that, Kya?" Katara asked. Kya looked into Teo's eyes instead of her mother's. Hakoda was hugging Suki's leg as if to say, don't be too hard on her.
"I wanted to know what you were talking about." She confessed. Yue and Kanna made a "Oooh." sound that annoyed Kya, but she didn't show it. Hakoda tightened his grip. Katara walked up to Kya and placed a hand on her face.
"Please don't eavesdrop again, or use any of the kids for it." She ordered. Kya nodded and placed her finger in the palm of Teo's tiny hand. He wrapped his fingers tightly around it. Kya was surprised about his strength. Then she looked up at Katara.
"What's dad doing?"
Toph had arrived and Zuko, Sokka, and Aang explained the dream again. Toph only frowned.
"What's a dream have to do with anything?" Toph asked. "It was just a dream." She raised to hands in the air ,clueless. Zuko looked at the ground.
"We can't be too careful." He sighed.
"And don't you find it strange we both had the same dream?" Aang asked her. "Even Sokka finds it suspicious. And he's the logic-and-science guy." Toph shrugged. The dream didn't give too many details anyway. Ozai getting out of jail and… hurting people.
"How would he come back anyway?" Toph asked. "Did the dream at least tell you that?" Zuko lifted his head.
"He'll find a way." He assured. Sokka raised a finger.
"The least he could to is use martial arts." Sokka suggested. Toph shrugged again. This didn't seem logical at all. She thought she came rushing down here, because they were being ambushed or something, not discussing a dream. She stood up.
"I don't see why you called me here." She stated. She leaned against Appa. "But I'll stay a little while. Haven't been in a few weeks." Aang smiled.
"I'm happy." He said. "Sokka's staying the day, so you can catch up with him." Toph blew on a strain of hair hanging in her face. Zuko got up.
"I guess I should go explain everything to Mai." He said. "But I will hopefully be back tonight." He walked in front of the bison and started heading down the road.
"Some guy." Sokka said. "We should go inside." Toph, Aang, and Sokka opened the heavy front doors to the Avatar's house. Suki and Katara greeted everyone with a hug and an offering of tea. Sokka refused tea, but asked for a bed.
"Of course, Sokka." Katara chuckled. Suki rubbed her forehead irritatingly. Aang showed him to a guest room, and had Kya make more tea.
Toph sat down in the living room and made different shapes with extra rocks she carried for Sokka's kids. They'd request and she's bend it.
"A star! A star!" Yue chanted. Toph manipulated the rock into a pointed edge star.
"Wolf head!" Hakoda requested. She placed her hand over the rock like an iron and when she lifted her hand it was a detailed grey wolf head. The kids clapped. Aang watched, but his mind was somewhere else.
I know much didn't happen like I promised… but the next chapter you're going to meet the rest of Zuko's family. And Uncle Iroh might be in it. We might find out what happened to Zuko's mom and Azula after the comet. Please try to guess who each kid is named after or I'll tell you in the LAST chapter! I want you to guess… (Hint: use .com for help. It's useful)