Aang decided to keep the conversation he'd had with Toph a secret. She probably wouldn't like him blabbing about her crying. It'd probably end in me crying Aang thought to himself. As much as he tried, he couldn't stop thinking about it. Something had really upset her and he couldn't figure out what. Shaking his head, he dismissed the thought. He walked through the doorway, back into the main room and took his seat beside Katara. she grabbed his hand and smiled at him. He smiled back, forgetting his previous troubles.

"So tell me, young Avatar, what are your and Miss Katara's plans now that there is peace around the world?" Iroh asked with a warm smile. Aang put a finger to his chin in thought.

"Well, I haven't really thought about it. I guess I'd like to rebuild the Air Temples. They need quite a lot of work. So much of it's been destroyed..." he trailed off, a saddened look coming to his eyes, but he shook it off. "...and if anyone should rebuild the Air Temples, it should be me, right?"

"Well I hope you don't plan on doing it alone, right?"

Everyone turned to see Toph leaning against the door frame.

"You may have beaten the Loser Lord, but your earth bending skills definately aren't developed enough to rebuild entire temples" she added with her signature smirk. "Besides, you didn't think I'd be easy to get rid of, did you?" Aang smiled, happy to see Toph back to her normal self.

"But first I'm going to need you to help me. I was thinking about going back to the Southern Water Tribe. Maybe trying to rebuild the village into a city" Katara added.

"Yeah! If it used to be anything like the Northern Water Tribe, then it should be restored! Maybe Chief Arnook will even let you borrow a few benders to help out" he said with a smile. He leaned over and kissed her cheek. "Don't worry, we could do that in no time, sweetie" he said, causing a blush to come to her cheeks.

"A-HEM!" Sokka coughed, grabbing their attention. "Please, not in front of the big brother!"

"Well, it's not like they don't have to watch you and Suki swap spit every few minutes" Zuko chimed in. The two began one of their usual banters, causing everyone to roll their eyes, besides Iroh, who just laughed to himself, muttering something about youth. Katara made her way over to the two boys and began yelling herself, trying to disband the argument. Everyone just watched in amusement. Toph made her way over to Aang.

"Hey Toph! So, d'you take care of that thing?" he asked hopefully.

"Wha-? Oh yeah, that. Yeah, I got it under control" she said, faking a smile to him. "So, Twinkles, when's the big, fluffy train leaving for the Air Temples?" she asked.

"Well, I'm not completely sure how long it'll take to make everything how it used to be. I'd like to start and finish as soon as possible." He smiled at her. "It's not every day you get to rebuild a lost city" he joked. She let out a small chuckle.

"True. Which Temple are we startin' with?"

"Southern" he replied quickly. "My home. I'd like for that to be the first one done. It's gunna be wierd going back after-"

"Yeah, yeah, touchy feely stuff" she said, waiving her hand dismissively. "Well, listen here, Twinkle toes, there is no way I'm flying all the way there. Ground travel is necessary for this trip."

"Um, Toph...it'll take weeks for us to get there by foot. Plus, you can't get to the temples without a flying bison..." he spoke matter-of-factly.

"Well, the Fire Nation proved you wrong, didn't they?" She regretted the words as soon as she said them. She felt his heart jump and her hand shot up to her mouth. "Aang, I'm sorry..."

"Hey, don't worry about it. It's in the past right?" he said with a smile, losing it on her. "Sure I'm upset they're gone, but you're right anyways." She wasn't feeling any better. "Besides, if it really means that much to you, we can walk. But not the whole way there. What do you plan on doing in the mean time?"

"Well, I was thinkin'...maybe going to see my parents. I'd like to see if they'll change now, knowing I've helped in ending the war. I doubt they will...but you can always hope, right?" she asked with a smile. "If it's not too much trouble, do you think you could drop me off to Gaoling when you guys leave for the South Pole?"

"Yeah, Toph. No problem" he said smiling. "Whenever we get finished, I'll send you a letter telling you we're on our way. Deal?" he asked, holding his hand out. With a smile, she grabbed it.

"Deal." There was a big crash causing the two to cringe. Looking over, Aang saw that Sokka and Zuko were rolling around the floor, trying to fight, knocking over several flower pots in the process. He couldn't help but laugh.

Later that evening, Sokka revealed his plans to return to Kyoshi Island with Suki. Nobody was very surprised, considering how obsessed the two were with each other. Soon enough, it was night time and everyone was asleep in their beds. Well...almost everyone.

Toph was stirring in her bed, deeply lost in a lack of sleep. Her thoughts were keeping her awake. She couldn't figure out why Aang had chosen her over herself. Growling in frustration, she rolled herself out of bed and took a walk around the building, searching for the kitchen in hopes of finding a tea to calm her nerves. She easily found her way, being able to see better in the dark than everyone else can in the day. "Alright, now the hard part..." she began sliding her hands across the countertop in hopes of finding the tea pot, spark rocks, and tea leaves. "Aha" she shouted in a whisper, finding the rocks and leaves. "Now all that's left is the-" CRASH! "...kettle..." with just sliding her hands across the counter top, she'd knocked the pot straight to the floor. She froze as soon as it happened, listening and feeling for anyone's steps. As if on que, a pair of sleepy feet made their way down the hallway towards the kitchen.

"Toph?" a non-too graceful looking Suki asked. "What happened?" she asked, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

"Uh...hey, Fangirl. I couldn't sleep, so I came to make some tea...killing the kettle in the process."

"Clay or glass?" Suki asked.

"I think it was his new glass one...why?"

"Well, if it was a clay pot, you could have bent the shards either back together or at least off of the floor, but..." she walked over to the pantry, coming back with a broom and dustpan. "...since it's not, we'll have to sweet it up." She turned and lit one of the lanterns in the kitchen and began sweeping up the mess. Toph, not easily embarrassed, looked to the ground with red cheeks. Her blindness causing things like this to happen were one of the very few things that got to her. "Hey, you OK?" Toph just sat in silence. Letting out a sigh, Suki continued. "Toph, it's not your fault. You didn't know where it was." Silence. Toph just shuffled her feet like a child would.

"It's not just about the kettle..." she said shyly. Suki's ears perked at the vulnerability in Toph's tone.

"Well...what is it?"

"Suki...have you ever wanted...something...but couldn't have it?" Toph asked.

"I'm afraid I don't understand..."

"*Sigh* Well, say you...liked someone...but they didn't like you back? What would you do?"

"Oh...um...well how do you know he doesn't like you back?" Toph's mind replayed the vibrations she felt of the kiss.

"I just...know..." she said painfully, a tear sliding down her face. Suki picked up on the hurt in her voice. She was shocked. She'd never seen Toph, of all people, so vulnerable. Toph's hands began trembling slightly. Suki set down the dustpan full of glass and walked over to Toph, grabbing her shoulders and speaking gently.

"Oh Toph... I'm sorry" she said, pulling the smaller girl into her arms. Toph wrapped her arms around Suki, silently letting more tears fall. "Who is it?" she asked cautiously. Toph was silent, thinking about whether or not to tell her.

"Promise not to tell?" She felt Suki nodding. "A-Aang... I'm in love with Aang..." Suki's eyes widened and she pulled Toph away, looking her in the eyes.

"Aang?" Toph nodded with a quivering lip.

"Oh Spirits, Toph...today must've been terrible for you..." she nodded again. The two were silent for a few moments.

"Do you think it's because I'm blind?" she asked. Suki looked at Toph in disbelief.

"No! That can't be it! Toph, you embrace your blindness and get along with it so well that we forget you're blind ourselves. If anything, your blindness is admirable." A smile came to the young girl's face.

"You really mean that?"

"Yeah, I do. Besides, I don't think it's that there's any things he doesn't like about you. He's just got eyes for Katara is all. Sokka said he's liked her since he came out of the ice. So it's nothing you've done. OK?"

"OK...Suki? Thanks..." she said in almost a whisper. After a moment of silence, Toph swung her arm, her fist colliding with Suki's arm. "If you tell anyone about this talk, you'll wake up buried alive" she said with a smile. Rubbing her arm, Suki smiled back.

"You got it Toph. Now, let's make you that tea."

Toph found herself much more tired than before, figuring that maybe sharing feelings wasn't all that bad. She was now on her bed, eyes locked onto the ceiling, she was beginning to nod off to sleep when...

-KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!-

"Toph, it's time to get up!" Katara shouted into the young earth bender's room. Toph's eyebrows furrowed. A deep growling sound resonated in her chest. Her firsts clenched. The Jasmine Dragon shook.

"AAAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHHHH!"

Downstairs, Sokka slurped his entire bowl of noodles in fear and shock. His hands began to tremble.

"Who woke Toph up early?" he whispered.

(A/N: Think of the scene in Jurassic Park where Lex sees the shadow of the velociraptor in the cafeteria)

Covering her face with the pillow, Toph began kicking and screaming, cursing any of Katara's descendants.

"Toph?"

She stopped kicking around, his voice almost soothing her temper with its airy tone.

"Mmm?"

"You let it all out?"

"...mhm..."

"Good! Now come on downstairs. Breakfast is served. It's your favorite!" he said excitedly. She uncovered her face, an eyebrow raised in confusion. Proping herself up on an elbow, she faced the doorway.

"Twinkletoes, every food is my favorite..."

"Yeah, I know! Now come on, you wouldn't want it to get cold, would you?" he asked in a sing-song voice like she was a child, bounding down the halls. She chuckled at his behavior and rose out of bed. He was always able to make her do things nobody else could. Had anyone else come to her, she'd have earth bended them into next week. But not him...

Sleepily, she shuffled her feet towards the kitchen.

"Good morning, young Toph!" Iroh shouted with glee, a chuckle escaping him.

"Ughmornin'" was all Toph could muster up for the old man.

"Trouble sleeping?" he asked, handing her a bowl of noodles and a cup of tea.

"Yeah, something like that..." she answered, recalling the hours she'd spent tossing and turning the night before.

"Yeah, I'm pretty good at reading people usually, but your hair is the giveaway in this case" he said with a laugh. Her hand reached up, and indeed her hair was all on end like a large boarqupine. Sighing in defeat, she made her way to the table and sat with everyone else. There was a large silence besides the sound if a certain air bender slurping his noodles as if there was nothing at all going on. Sokka sat in his seat shaking while everyone else, save for Aang, sat nervously awaiting a reaction out of Toph.

"Well?" she asked, tapping her foot on the floor. "Why am I not asleep right now?"

"Weren't you listening yesterday?" Katara asked in a frustrated tone. "We're leaving at noon! How on earth didn't you hear us? You were standing right there!"

"Look, Sugarqueen, I've already got a mom, so whenever you're ready to stop trying to take her place, that'd be great" Toph said in a dismissive tone and began slurping her noodles loudly.

"Oh, no! Not this again" Sokka groaned, covering his ears and shaking his head. "Look, Toph. Yesterday while you were lost in the magical world of fruit pies," he said, glaring at Aang, who shrugged and smiled sheepishly, "we decided to head out this morning, hence the early rise. If we pack up and leave in an hour, we should be to Kyoshi by morning tomorrow" he said quickly.

-break-

Aang was shaken from his memory by a small pair of hands tapping on his head. He turned to see Momo sitting on his shoulder. He chirped quietly and tilted his head to the side. Aang let out a sigh he was not aware he was holding in. He reached up and scratched the small lemur's head.

"Well, looks like it's just the three of us now, Momo. You, me, and Appa." He looked away with a deepening sadness in his eyes. "The last living proof that the Air Nomads existed." Bending the air around him, he brought himself to his feet and began walking around the Southern Air Temple. He began reminiscing his time there as a child, and one of his earliest entrances into the Avatar State. Shaking his head of his memories, he made his way up to his old room to find it just as he'd left it, window open and all. Sighing once again, he walked across the room, closing the very window that changed his life forever. He sat himself down on his bed and stretched out his limbs. Letting out a groan of frustration, he lied himself down for what he knew would be another night of no sleep. As much as he tried, his thoughts would not stop wandering back to how things used to be.

Chapter 2 up! I apologize for the wait, but I hope you like it!