A/N: Ok, if you don't know that this may contain spoilers by now, by all means, go jump in the Fountain of Cho-Chai. Also... there's a lot of stuff going on in the fic right now, just try to keep it all together, it'll piece itself together eventually. : R&R please! Thank you.

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Avatar: The Last Airbender or any of the characters within it.

--

Chapter 4

Zuko drummed his fingers on the arm of the throne as he propped his legs up. He was terribly weary, but his mind was running through everything, and he knew he had no time to rest.

Ever since the death of his father, it had been politics and business with the whole world, but he was hanging in there. He enjoyed the rush of attention at first, and most definitely the news that he was the Fire Lord, but it got old eventually.

He had to sign paper after paper, induct new laws, and reestablish entire towns. He knew he didn't exactly have a deadline, but he was trying to make everything convenient to the people who had lost their homes or families...

He should just sleep. Right now. In his throne.

But he couldn't.

"Good afternoon, milord."

He glanced down at the entrance to the throne room, and tugged at his hair in aggravation.

"Good afternoon, Seung."

A young man with dark brown hair and a nervous look on his face came into view as he walked nearer to Zuko. He bowed as he approached.

"Milord," he said, looking at a clipboard in his hands, "I have scrounged all the food for the party tomorrow and the ballroom is set... There is a man in the front lounge who insisted on seeing you; he said it was urgent, but I told him you may be awhile. He told me he didn't care how long you took, and he wasn't leaving until he had conference with you. He also said to tell you he was from the Southern Water Tribe... The statue and mansion you are preparing will be done within weeks, just as you wished, and the rebuilding of the-"

"Wait, wait, wait..." Zuko interrupted, "from the Southern Water Tribe?"

"Yes, that's what he-"

"What is his name?"

"Well, I didn't ask, but-"

"Bring him here."

"But, milord..."

"Immediately."

Seung nodded and swiftly walked out of the room.

It didn't seem to take him long to fetch the man, probably from his long years of serving under the malicious Fire Lord Ozai. Seung was still fearful, even with Zuko in charge.

The Southern Water Tribe man of whom Seung had mentioned, was just who Zuko expected. He had slightly long black hair and definite lines accentuating his cheekbones.

"Hello, Chief Hakota," Zuko said as he converged with the man's line of sight.

Hakota lowered himself so that he was on his knees.

"No need to bow to me," Zuko claimed politely.

He got up from his throne and stepped down to face the man. He kneeled as well, but on one knee instead, and put a hand on his shoulder.

"You've done much more in this war than I ever have," he said, smiling softly. "You are a great leader as well."

Hakota laughed.

"A great leader, huh?" he repeated. "I adore your flattery, but I've come to find the location of my son and daughter."

Zuko lifted himself and his companion to a standing position. He nodded.

"Actually, I just spoke to Katara yesterday," he said, thoughtfully, and tapped his finger softly on his chin. "They're in the city. But only until tomorrow night. I'll let Seung take you to them." He focused his attention on his assistant. Seung was casually writing on the clipboard, but looked up at the mention of his name.

"Yes, milord."

Hakota attempted to bow, but caught himself in the act.

"Sorry..." he said, scratching the back of his neck.

Zuko laughed.

"It's okay. Just don't make it a habit."

--

"Well. That was weird," Katara admitted, standing up. "She seemed to give up pretty quickly... She didn't even give it a second thought. I mean, don't get me wrong; I'm completely relieved that she didn't feed your soul to a crazy spirit, but it was just..."

Aang shrugged.

"Maybe she knows something," he said, staring at the fountain and noting that the nymph who had spoken to him was missing from it.

"Like what?"

He shook his head.

"I don't know. But whatever it is, it must've been pretty important to just get that conversation over with. It doesn't seem to me like Cho-Chai is one to mess around, so I don't think she would just leave without good reasoning." He looked at her with a subtly confused look. "Did you see the sky? And the water?... That was some intense stuff."

Katara nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, I saw that. This whole situation gives me the creeps," she replied.

Aang nodded as well.

"Mmhmm. By the way, she mentioned something about staying away from it until she finds a replacement. What do you think that meant?"

"I'm not sure, but I'm perfectly fine staying away from this entire part of the city even long after that."

She crossed her arms.

"Yeah, well... I don't know, there's just something about that fountain... I wonder how long it's even been there..."

Aang sighed.

"Are we going to the marketplace, or are we going back to the house? I'm not sure if I'm really in the mood for any more adventure for today," Katara said, yawning.

"I dunno. Let's ask Momo."

The lemur pointed back in the direction they had came, his ears pointed sharply downwards, giving him the look of a miniature hunting polar leopard.

Katara and Aang both laughed.

"I guess that's settled," she said, beaming. "Sleep it is."

--

The door flung open.

"Whoa," Sokka said, only slightly jumping as it happened. He saw her and almost instantly started laughing. "What's up with you?" he managed between breaths.

"I'm soaked. And you know why?"

Sokka just continued to laugh, more to himself than her.

"No, I suppose I can't say I do," he said sarcastically.

Toph walked up to him and thumped him on the back of the head.

"Oww, what was that for!?"

"That's more of a rhetorical question than you even know. Anyway, as I was saying, do you want to know why I am so wet?"

Sokka looked down.

"Well, if it'll keep you from violently swatting my brains out, then sure, I'd love to."

"Glad to hear it. So, I was taking a walk, like I usually do when I have nothing better to do, and I overhear this one guy saying he didn't like the new Fire Lord. I walked up to him, pretty calmly at first, -yeah I know, shocker!-, but he and his two pals started bad talking Zuko and Aang... and it was so... obnoxious! I will not have people talking about my friends like that!" She stomped at the ground and made a huge indent in the floor, naturally making Sokka flinch. "So, when I tried to earthbend at them, I regrettably found that one of them was an earthbender too! The one who got me ticked off in the first place though, was a firebender, and then finally after a short while, all four of us were fighting; the third guy a waterbender."

Sokka rolled his eyes.

"That's... interesting," he said, having very little interest in the subject at all. "A street fight, huh? Well, did you win?"

Toph glared at him, but tilted her head in shame.

"No. They were too strong. I think at one point they realized I could only see through vibrations, because they tried their best to keep off the ground, or stay on objects that weren't exactly earth. They also had some crazy moves I never would have expected. The waterbender was shouting something about his water glowing red or something, too... it was insane."

"Wow," Sokka said, stunned. She'd never lost a street fight... or any fight. "Sounds like a pretty even match."

Toph sighed.

"I could've beaten them. I just wasn't prepared for a scuff with three different benders."

Sokka shrugged.

"Well, you've had better days. But I'm not gonna mess with you after a beating like that," he said sincerely, and she nodded.

He took a sip from his cup, but found it all over his lap after Toph slapped the bottom of it.

Sokka jumped out of his seat in surprise and tried to shake his pants to wring them out.

"Why'd you do that!?"

"Well... you've had better days. But I'm not going to argue with you after that."

He narrowed his eyes at her.

"Why, you little..."

He swatted at her, but she had already started walking toward her room.

"If you need me, I'll be in my room," she stated, closing the door behind her, but slowly opened it again. "Try not to need me."

She slammed the door.