COLLAB: CHAPTER 3

A/N: Moar cowbell! I added some moar cowbell for the awesome reviewer who put that. I love you secret reviewer! Oh, and this picks up with Katara's POV still.

The boat ride to the Fire Nation was definitely a memorable one. Sokka kept Aang and I entertained with his eccentric stories for most of the time. It also gave all of us more time to catch up.

The feeling of being in a group with them again was indescribable. It had been so long since it had just been the three of us traveling together.

"Hey Katara, look!" Said Sokka as he held up a tiny purple octopus-like creature close to my face, taking me away from my thoughts.

"Ah! Sokka! Where did you even find that?" I said after taking it from Sokka to keep him from bringing it any closer to my face.

"It was just swimming around. Remember when we used these little guys to fool the Fire Nation into thinking we had some deadly disease?' Sokka said as he put the tiny creature onto his forehead.

Just as I was about to respond, Aang came back from swimming, with the creatures all over his body.

"Look Sokka! I found a lot more! I bet it means we are getting close to shore now!" Aang said with a huge grin on his face.

"I'll check the map" I said as I went over to our supply bag. Sokka and Aang continued to put the octopi all over their bodies, acting like children as usual.

Later that day we reached land. Although Sokka and I would not be considered suspicious by authorities, Aang still had his arrows, which were a dead give-away since he was the only airbender left.

We wrapped over Aang's arrows with extra cloth we had, and tied it into a knot so it would stay on his head.

We began walking towards where the Fire Nation palace was supposed to be.

"According to the map," Sokka said, "We should be able to make it to the palace before sundown!"

At around six o'clock, we reached the palace.

"Hurray!" Yelled Aang as he ripped the tied cloth from his head and floating around on a ball of air joyfully.

"Aang! What are you doing? We aren't even in there yet, someone could still see you!" Sokka said to Aang.

Aang came to an abrupt stop with a pouty expression on his face, to which Sokka just rolled his eyes.

As we began to approach the palace, we heard someone coming towards us from the gates surrounding the place.

"I thought I heard a familiar voice," said the mysterious voice in a husky tone.

Then, out stepped Zuko, the Firelord. He was dressed in a regal outfit, with his hair pulled back.

"Zuko!" said Aang as he flew into a hug with him, with Sokka close behind. They looked like excited little kids, the way they held onto him.

Zuko began to try and shake them off of him, feeling a bit uncomfortable.

Then Zuko invited us into his palace, and we sat down for tea.

"Toph? Last I heard, she was living here in the Fire Nation, not to far from here either. My uncle used to visit her often." Zuko said after we asked him if he knew the whereabouts of Toph.

"Really? Then will he know where she is?" Aang asked.

"I'm sure he would, but he is traveling around and won't be back here for some time. I'm sure I could ask my assistants to find out where she lives, we do keep records of the people living here."

"That'd be great!" I say excitedly, "Once we find her, we will have the entire group back together!"

Zuko had a skeptical look on his face.

"Say we do find her. Then what? Do you guys have a plan at all for what our next move would be? You have to realize, the entire world, and spirit world will be against us this time. It won't be as easy as you all seem to think."

After moments of silence, Aang finally spoke up.

"No, we don't really have a plan, but I'm not just going to sit around doing nothing to help the situation," He said with a serious tone.

For a moment the two looked at each other with stern expressions. eventually, Zuko relaxed and sighed.

"Fine, I just hope it works out as well as you expect it to," He said as he sat back.

After Zuko was informed where Toph was, the next day, we made our way across town to where we were told.

It had taken much longer to find where the place was than necessary, mainly because of Sokka's inability to follow directions and try to lead us there, we had gotten lost multiple times. By the end of the day we were worn out.

When we saw the house, Sokka ran to the door and began to hit it rapidly. He waited for a few minutes, with no response.

"Toph," Sokka called, "Come on out, we want to see you."

"Maybe she isn't home Sokka," Aang said with disappointment.

We waited around for another minute or two until Zuko noticed one of the neighbors walking out of his house.

"You there," He said as he pointed to the man, "Could you possibly tell us where the girl that lives here is?"

"That house? Well I'm pretty sure that little girl was taken away a few months ago" He responded.

"Where did they take her?" I asked, worried.

"Oh I wouldn't think to far. The city prison is just a little over that way." The man said as he pointed to the left.

After the man had told us where the prison was, we quickly headed over to it. The man said he wasn't sure why they had taken Toph away, but he had heard it was because she was a well-known Avatar supporter. Hearing that had really made Aang feel guilty though.

We arrived at the prison a few minutes later.

"We are here to see a Toph Beifong. Please bring us to her." Zuko told the man at the front desk, with much authority.

The man obviously recognized Zuko as the Firelord, for he quickly shrank in his seat and began looking up the name. He told us to follow him after he found it, and lead us to where she was imprisoned.

When we arrived at her cell, that was made of wood, Zuko told the man to leave, to which he cowered away without protest.

"Toph!" I said when I saw her. She lifted her head up towards us with a confused expression on her face.

"Katara? Is that you?" She asked.

"Yes Toph, it's all of us actually, we have to get you out of here."

"It's about time. This cage is made of wood so I haven't been able to escape. Well? What are you guys waiting for?" She asked as she got up and felt for the edges of the cage.

I contemplated how to break the cell at first, but then I saw Sokka's machete in his bag, and grabbed it from him.

"Hey!" He yelled in protest, until he realized my idea.

I began hitting the cage until dents and cracks began to form on the wood and eventually busted through.