I've actually had this chapter writen for a few days, but I've been too lazy to upload it. I've been busy too with band camp, swimming, and all that good stuff. So here's chapter 3..yay!

Toph stared blankly out onto the ocean. She hated boat rides nearly as much as she hated flying. The constant rocking of the boat caused her to loose her all-so important footing, thus causing her to usually loose the vibrations needed to navigate and usually smacked into walls. Sokka seemed to find this quite amusing. Toph felt the quivering sea under her feet and closed her eyes (not that it made a difference) and felt all the life forms scurrying and swimming through the choppy waters. Toph had never been that good at swimming.

Suddenly she heard footsteps echoing through the wooden boards. This was a little game Toph liked to play when she had been bored. She listened carefully to the footsteps and rid herself of every sense of knowing what was around her, so as not to 'see' the face of the oncoming person.

The footsteps were light, and didn't seem to hit the boards at all, making them seem almost weightless. Aang, Toph thought. She always remembered one thing; sounds. Footsteps being one of the many. Sokka's were hard heavy, Katara's were quick and flirty, her mother and father's were always so quiet yet reassuring, an Earthbender's were always hard and rooted, while the young Avatar's were light and almost unnoticeable. She let her feet once more send shockwaves into the hull of the boat and the Aang's face came into focus. Toph smiled.

"Hey," Toph muttered.

"Um, hi," Aang answered.

"What's up?"

"Nothing really," Aang answered shrugging.

"No, really what's up? Like any birds or anything?" Toph asked. Why must she always be so literal?

"Oh, um birds?" Aang wondered looking up. "There's some crow-gulls." Aang looked up to see the greasy black and white birds of the sea. One cawed before swooping down into the ocean and bringing a small fish out. It gulped it down in one bite. Aang grimaced.

"So, why are you here?" Toph asked looking down into the ocean. It felt like a quivering goopy mess, so she turned her attention back to Aang.

"Actually I want to talk to you," Aang muttered.

"Yeah?" Toph urged.

"About Appa."

"Oh," Toph turned her head away from Aang. "I didn't mean to."

"I know you didn't," Aang reassured. Toph cocked an eyebrow. The last few days he had refused to talk to her, now here he is all happy-Avatar, trying to make things right, figures. "It's just that," Aang started. "I was mad, that's all. Appa is all I have that I can tie back to my home. He's all I've got that reminds me of the simpler days."

"What about Momo?" Toph wondered. The flying lemur who was sun bathing on the deck looked up at the mention of his name, then slowly curled back into a ball. Aang laughed in that carefree way of his.

"Him too," Aang smiled. "It's just that, Appa is my animal guide, without him I feel so, so-"

"Lost," Toph cut in.

"Yes," Aang agreed. "Lost." Toph sighed. "I just want you to know that you had to make a hard decision in the dessert, and that you made the right one."

Toph smiled slightly. "Thanks."

"We needed to go to Ba Sing Se anyway," Aang smirked. "Now we can have a whole new set of adventures." Toph nodded in agreement.

"Young avatar," the head-sand bender approached Aang and bowed. "The ship is about to come into port. A direct boat to Ba Sing Se should arrive in about three days. It would have arrived sooner, but there was a sever storm down south. I am still sorry for the grief my son has caused you. And I am also sorry that my tribe and I cannot accompany you the whole way but, we have already been away from the sand too long and must return."

Aang nodded and said, "Thank you for taking us this far."

"It is my duty."

As if on cue the rickety boat came to a halt in front of a large port and began unloading supplies. Sokka and Katara met up with the two twelve-year-olds and walked into the sea-side town as if lead was in their hearts.

"I dunno, it just doesn't seem right without the big fluffy guy," Sokka muttered. The others nodded.

"I really didn't know you cared," Katara added with a smirk.

"Hey, well, if it wasn't for that guy, you and I would still be stranded on that iceberg in the South Pole," Sokka grumbled. Katara giggled.

"So true," she muttered.

"C'mon, we better check into a lodge or something. The boat to Ba Sing Se doesn't come for another three days or so," Aang said.

"Three days?" Sokka groaned. "What are we going to do in a beach town for three days?" All three of the group members and Momo looked over at Sokka as if he had just grown a second head.

"You're kidding right?" Toph said.

Sokka stared blankly into space and if a timer was ticking and he had to wait for the ping for things to register. "Oh yeah, right," the water tribe boy smiled and blushed at his own stupidity.

"You guys go have fun and I'll check in," Toph offered. "I've gotten enough sand for one week thank you."

"Suit yourself," Sokka said. With that Katara, Sokka, and Toph headed toward the ocean while Toph headed into town.

As the sea began to crash over the white sandy beach, Katara poised herself just right with her hands above her head and diverted the water from the oncoming wave onto the sand wear Sokka was tanning. When the water receded Sokka was sitting up with his "wolf-tail" askew and his cheeks filled with water. He spit the water out and took off his shirt and walked over to their fire pit and made a make-shift clothesline out of a branch. He slung the wet shirt over the branch.

"Why do you two always play with you're magic elements and I'm the one who gets wet?" Sokka asked looking over at Katara and Aang laughing. "Oh har, har," Sokka grumbled crossing his arms. Suddenly a big wave came down and crashed over Katara and Aang. They looked at each other and laughed at themselves. Sokka laughed too.

"Well, I think that's enough practice for one day," Katara smiled slipping her dress off over her head and hanging it over the fire next to Sokka's shirt. Aang too took his shirt off and hung it up to dry.

"Ah, you see," Sokka smiled as all three friends laid down on the warm sand. "This is what a vacation is all about."

"Hey, where's Momo?" Aang asked sitting back up.

"Oh come on! We just begin to relax and that stupid lemur runs off," Sokka grumbled. Katara rolled her eyes at her pessimistic brother.

"Come on," Katara said standing up. "We'll help you look for him."

"We will?" Sokka grumbled. Katara yanked her brother's hand and pulled him to his feet. "We'll split up and meet back here in a couple of minutes. Momo wouldn't go far." Aang nodded and the three set off down the beach.

Aang had only been walking for a few minutes before he spotted Momo on the jetty holding a fish in his hands. He went to go take a bite of it when the fish flopped out of his hands and back into the water. Momo hissed angrily.

"Hey Momo!" Aang smiled walking up next to his furry friend. "You scared me for a second." Momo let Aang pet his head for a few seconds before jumping into his master's arm. Aang smiled and snuggled Momo until suddenly the flying lemur stood up and began hissing again. "What's wrong boy?" Aang asked following the lemur's emerald gaze. Aang looked until his eyes landed on the body of a girl that had washed up on the beach. Aang gasped and bent down to look at her.

She was unconscious and a deathly pale color. Her black kimono was worn from the salt; making it look gray. She looked too heavy for Aang to carry himself, so without hesitation Aang got up and ran with airbending assistance to his camp, with Momo following.

OK, the main OC has come into the story! She will be formally introduced and, um, conscious in the next chapter so be on the lookout!