Here's chapter four. Please review, this is my first ever fic and I really want to know what you think of it.

Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender. Though I would like to own an Appa plushy.

Katara's POV

"That was some really good tea. We'll have to do this again sometime."

"Well, I learned the art of tea-making from the best. "

"Yes. General Iroh has taught you well. If only Firelord Zuko would learn from him too…"

The Earth King and I walked down the front steps of the palace and into the cool evening air.

"Well I need to get going. My friends are waiting for me at the house. Have a good day, your highness."

I bowed to the Earth King and continued walking down the long paved walkway and out the front gates. Once outside the palace grounds, I noticed a boy that had been sitting on the edge of a fountain get up and start walking toward me. He looked nervous and like he had something important to say. Strange. I don't remember seeing him before. He stood at about just under 6 ft and had bright green eyes and shaggy dark brown hair that looked similar to Zuko's hair when it wasn't up in his crown head piece. He had a light tan and a decent build. He was also wearing an olive green sleeveless tunic with cream colored three-quarter length pants and a black belt. I wonder what he wants. He didn't look dangerous, but I nonetheless put myself on guard in case he turned out to be a threat. He walked up to me and bowed.

"Mater Katara?"

"Yes, that's me. Who may I ask are you?"

"My name is Terran. Your friend Toph invited me to come with her and the rest of your group to the Earth Rumble Tournament tonight. She sent me here to ask you to walk me to your house."

What? Why would Toph invite some random person to come to the tournament with us? Something's up. "Ok. Give me one reason why I should believe what you're telling me is true."

"Right. Um…uh…oh yeah. Toph says that she apologizes for the Pyro prank last night. She said you'd know what that means."

Pyro prank? There's no way anyone else would know about that. I guess he really did meet Toph at some point.

"Ok. Follow me; I'm on my way home now."

Relief spread over him and he smiled as he turned to walk along side me.

"So Terran, how did you come to know Toph?"

"I met her last night at the festival after she fought my older brother and his friends and made them leave me and my younger sister alone. I saw her again early this morning at the Gentle Springs Bath House and she let me walk her home so we could talk. That's when she invited me to come to the tournament with you guys."

"Well that was uncharacteristically nice of her."

"I'm just glad that I was able to see her when her friend, Sokka, wasn't around. The first time I met Toph, he ran me off before I could even know her name."

I looked ahead and narrowed my eyes. "Oh he did, did he?"

"Yeah, in fact, that's why Toph wanted you to walk me to your house. She was concerned that Sokka might do something to me if he saw me waiting there."

I thought I told him to stop being so overly protective of Toph. The girl can take care of herself. One of these days, he's going to mess with the wrong person and find himself in a dangerous situation. Then it hit me. There is only one reason Sokka would do something like that. I looked over at Terran and gave him a small knowing smile.

"Terran, do you like Toph as more than just a potential friend?"

He suddenly looked very uncomfortable and his coloring matched the Fire Nation's insignia.

"Well…I…uh…you see…yes."

He said that last word in a nervous, squeaky voice. I softly chuckled and smiled.

"It's ok. I think it's rather cute. Maybe Toph will start acting more like a girl now."

"To tell you the truth, I find her interesting just the way she is. I'm amazed at how confident she is even though she can't see a thing. Toph is a lot different from the girls I normally see."

"Well you seem like a nice person, Terran. I'm sure Toph will eventually like you too. A word of caution though, she's quite a handful and like any earthbender, can be stubborn sometimes."

"That's fine. I'm an earthbender, like her, so I understand. The other parts of her personality may take some getting used to though. But it should be fun getting to know her. That is if she'll still be interested in me after the tournament."

"Just be yourself. And don't worry about Sokka. I'll make sure he doesn't beat you up or anything."

"Thank you, Master Katara."

"Just call me Katara."

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Suki's POV

Aang and I were sitting at the kitchen table playing a game of Pai Sho while waiting for Katara to come back. Who knew Aang was so good at this game? Zuko walked into the house through the front door and Aang turned to look at him.

"Hey Zuko. Katara should be home any minute now."

"Great. Did Sokka and Toph get back yet?"

"They've been in and out of the house all day and they haven't returned from the last time they left." I said as I frowned at the Pai Sho board when I realized that I was close to losing. Again.

Zuko walked over to us and started watching our game.

"Well they need to hurry up. I'm not waiting for them if they aren't here by the time Katara gets home."

Just then, Sokka and Toph spilled into the house giggling like mad, and quickly shut the door behind them. Aang greeted them.

"Hey guys. You-"

"Nothing!" They both quickly said this at the same time while snapping around to face us. Aang, Zuko, and I looked at each other with confused looks. Then I narrowed my eyes and turned to look at Toph and Sokka.

"What have both of you been up to?"

Sokka was the first to speak. "Like we said, nothing."

Zuko looked at them suspiciously. "Yeah right. What have you done now?"

It was Toph's turn to answer. "Can it, Sparky. If anyone asks you about anything having to do with us and cabbages, you guys don't know anything, understand?"

Aang gave them a weird look. "I don't want to know, do I?"

"No, so stop asking questions, Twinkle Toes."

When Katara finally got home and walked through the door, I noticed she wasn't alone. Some guy followed her in. I saw Sokka glare at him. Wait. Is that the guy we met yesterday night?

"Everyone, this is Terran. Toph invited him to come to the tournament with us."

Terran tried to put on a confident appearance, but I could still tell he was nervous. Aang jumped from the stool he was sitting on using airbending and landed right in front of him.

Hi, I'm Aang! Nice to meet you."

"It's an honor to meet you, Avatar Aang."

Katara looked at him and warmly smiled. "No need to be so formal. Any friend of Toph's is a friend of our's, right everyone?" As she said that last sentence, I noticed that she looked directly at Sokka, who was still glaring daggers at Terran. Zuko went over to his and Mai's room and knocked on the door.

"Mai, let's go. We're ready to leave."

She opened the door and followed him out to where we were and looked over at Terran.

"Who's that?"

"This is Toph's new friend, Terran. Come on, we're leaving on Appa." Aang headed through the back door, followed by the rest of us, and everyone loaded up on Appa. Toph was clinging to Sokka's arm as usual.

"So, how do you like being on a flying bison for the first time?"

Terran looked over the side of Appa's saddle and looked over the city of Ba Sing Se. "Well, it has a great view. So Toph, you said that you like going to Earth Rumble tournaments? Who's your favorite fighter? "

Toph smirked at him. "My favorite is the Blind Bandit. It's too bad that she's not allowed to compete any more though. She was forced to retire and was given the title of Legendary Champion a year ago when the managers of Earth Rumble started losing major cash on bets because everyone knew the Blind Bandit would win any match she was in. This is the first one that I've gone to since then. I'm still a little upset that they eliminated my favorite fighter all in the name of profits. If I see those guys, I'm gonna let them know exactly what I think of their stupid decision." Everyone tried to contain their laughter.

"Yeah, it's a real shame. That was the year I became interested in Earth Rumble. I was really looking forward to seeing at least one of her fights. I had heard rumors that 'Blind Bandit' was just a stage name and that she wasn't really blind." We finally couldn't hold it in any more and everyone but Terran started bursting out laughing. Terran looked at us like we were crazy.

"What's so funny?"

"I am the Blind Bandit. And whoever told you that BS about me not really being blind is just embarrassed about trying to defeat a blind person and failing miserably. But some competitors will still seek me out for a duel."

"…Are there any other major surprises I should know about you?"

"Not at the moment. Speaking of surprises, you said you wanted to come with us to show me something. What is it?"

"If I told you it wouldn't be a surprise, now would it?"

Sokka got an angry look on his face. "If it's anything dangerous, so help me I'll-"

Katara stopped him, mid-sentence. "Sokka, that's enough! Terran is our guest, and you will treat him as such, understand?"

Sokka just leaned back against Appa's saddle, grumbling under his breath.

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Suki's POV

We soon landed near the place where the tournament was to be held. The head officials of Ba Sing Se demanded that they hold this year's festival tournament away from the city, due to damages done to the wall by giant flying boulders. We got down from Appa and gave the people our tickets at the entrance. I noticed Terran didn't have a ticket and instead showed them a backstage pass. I wonder what that was all about. We walked over to the seating area and were fortunate enough to have front row seats. Katara leaned over and whispered to me.

"Do you know if there's any way to get Sokka to step away from Toph for a moment?"

"Why? I'm sure Sokka will cool down and relax after a while."

"Let's just say this is more than just a friendly outing for her and Terran."

I looked down the row to see Terran talking to Toph with a goofy smile on his face. For once, I was glad Toph couldn't see. She'd probably laugh at him. I looked around for any excuse to get rid of Sokka for a few minutes. Then I saw my chance.

"Hey Sokka! There's a vendor selling beef jerky and fire gummies!"

"Oh, where?!"

"Waaaay over there." I pointed to a food vendor standing all the way on the other side of the enormous arena. Sokka got up and dashed over, nearly knocking Aang, Katara, and I backwards as he passed in front of us. Katara and I looked down the row to see Toph giggling and Terran staring towards Sokka with a confused look. He then saw us smiling at him and silently thanked us before turning back to Toph.

Toph's POV

With Sokka gone for the moment, Terran finally stopped acting like such a wuss. I could tell he was really excited about something as his heart was going a million miles a minute, but in a good way. Sokka finally came back to his seat just before the first match started.

"Stupid vendor. He ran out of beef jerky. But he still had plenty of fire gummies though. Toph, you want any?"

"Sure." Sokka passed me a large bucket filled with the sweet Fire Nation snack. I returned my attention back to the arena as the first two competitors walked out. "The Boulder?! He's still trying to get the championship belt? That guy couldn't bend his way out of a wet paper bag. Although, he might have a small chance now that I'm not allowed to compete anymore."

The official started the match or should I say the one-sided match, as it only lasted for a few minutes, with the Boulder being defeated with one swift move. He's still the same moron I fought back in Gaoling. As the tournament went on, the person who had defeated The Boulder, Grey Stone, continued to win all his matches. I noticed Terran focusing intently on every match. Sokka leaned over and whispered to me.

"What's his deal?"

"I don't know. Maybe he's just really into the tournament."

The final match was about to start, and I was beginning to wonder what surprise Terran wanted to show me. The tournament was almost over and he still hadn't told me what it was yet. I turned my head towards him and noticed his heart rate was getting very excited and nervous.

"Hey, what's this surprise you wanted to show me? I haven't got all night, you know."

"It's coming soon. I need to leave for a moment."

"What, now? You'll miss part of the final match."

"Trust me, I won't miss anything."

I felt him walk away and turn a corner around a side of the arena. What is he doing? An official walked into the center of the arena.

"And now, for the final match, Grey Stone" I felt Grey Stone walk onto the arena and the crowd cheered, "vs the defending champion, Rockslide."

My jaw nearly hit the floor, Sokka choked on a fire gummy, and everyone else gasped as we saw Terran step out onto the arena.

Sokka's POV

That kid's the Earth Rumble champion? I don't think he'll be keeping it for long. If he was scared enough of his brother to allow himself to be bullied, then he doesn't stand a chance against Grey Stone. Once I stopped choking, I kicked back and waited for the match to start. This ought to be fun to watch. I looked over at Toph, whose look of shock had now been replaced with a slight frown.

As soon as the match started, Grey Stone fired off a line of jagged rocks at Terran. I was surprised to see him steal control, and redirect the line of rocks right back at his opponent. Grey Stone smashed through them, and then rocked the entire arena with a powerful tremor, catching Terran off guard and momentarily causing him to lose his balance. Grey used this small opportunity to form a rope of dirt, similar to Katara's water whip, and smack Terran in his bare chest with it. I could have sworn I saw a look of worry flicker across Toph's face as Terran was just barely able to stop himself at the last minute from being knocked out of the ring by digging his hands and feet into the ground. Terran shot a nervous glance at Toph, and then looked back at his opponent who was grinning smugly at him. He charged towards Grey and started running circles around him, creating a giant cloud of dust in the process. Then, he stepped back and buried himself up to his neck, and slowly started to rise back up. I almost choked on another fire gummy when I saw the move he was trying to pull off. As Terran rose out of the ground, I saw that he had covered himself in so much rock, that when he was completely out of the ground, he looked like a giant 8 ft tall rock human with a tiny head. I looked at Toph, who was smirking and looking very pleased. Grey cleared the dust cloud and looked up at Terran in shock. In an attempt to shake the rocks loose, Grey sent out an earthquake so powerful, even the audience was well shaken up. Of course, this had absolutely no effect on his intended target. Terran raised a large earthen hand and swiped at Grey, then he smashed another massive fist into ground, setting off a huge wave of earth that easily bowled Grey Stone out of the arena.

"The winner and still champion, Rockslide!"

The crowd went wild as Terran released the rocks from his hold and was handed his championship belt.

Toph's POV

As soon as Terran walked out of the arena, we all rushed over to congratulate him, with Sokka trailing behind us. Aang reached him first with airbending.

"That was incredible! Where'd you learn to do that?"

"My dad taught me and my siblings before he left to fight in the war. Then my mom started teaching us. But that move you all saw was something I taught myself." I felt him turn to me. "But I don't think I'll ever be quite as good as the previous champion. So what did you think of my surprise?"

I punched him square on his shoulder, and then crossed my arms and looked up at where I assumed his eyes were. "You're damn right you won't ever be as good as me. But I guess that was pretty awesome. You might be able to keep up with me."

"So you liked it?!" I could hear the excitement in his voice. To tell you the truth, I thought it was impressive. But being who I was, I wasn't going to let him know that. I still had a reputation to maintain.

"It was ok. I guess you can hang out with me if you still want to. But don't think that this means we're together or anything, got it? I haven't decided that yet."

I could practically hear his smile. "Fair enough."

Katara's POV

Mai yawned and spoke in her usual monotone voice, "Let's get going. I'm tired and it's getting late."

As we followed Aang back to Appa, I saw Suki rush behind me, grab Sokka's ear and start pulling him with her as she walked ahead of me. I couldn't help but laugh at the sight, and I could hear Toph and even Terran laughing behind me.

"But Suki, I was just telling him how things were going to be. Ow! Let go of my ear, woman!"

"I'll let go only if you stay in front of me."

"Ok ok! I promise, just let go!" Suki let go and continued to glare at him as she motioned for him to turn around and start walking.

I turned my head and saw Terran and Toph talking quietly. I tried to stop myself from giggling when I saw Terran reach over and hold Toph's hand. She blushed bright red and donned an annoyed look before socking him in his shoulder and telling him not to push his luck. He smirked and lightly shoved her. She looked at him and playfully shoved him back, triggering a light-hearted shoving war. Those two are going to get along just fine.

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Toph's POV

"So will you come with me?"

"Let me get this straight. You want me to come with you to a volcano that's rumored to have precious stones embedded beneath the surface."

"It's not a rumor. I've been there before and I can tell you it's true."

"What's going on over here?"

Back at the house, Terran was telling me about a volcano north of Ba Sing Se that has various precious stones within it and that he had a way of safely getting one. Sokka and Aang walked over to us.

"What's this I hear about a volcano? Terran you'd better not be leading her into something dangerous."

"It's not dangerous, at least not for me. Don't worry, I'll make sure nothing happens."

"I'm going with you to make sure. And why would you even want to go near a volcano?"

"There's one north of here that has precious stones just beneath its rocky surface. I've been there before."

Aang spoke up. "Isn't that just a myth? And besides, that volcano might be dormant, but using earthbending to dig into its surface could disrupt something."

"Actually, I can tell he's not lying about anything. And I want to see how he can make it safe for himself to dig into a volcano. This could be a useful technique for tunneling into dangerous areas."

"Hmm. You have a point. Alright count me in. We can take Appa."

I felt Katara walk into the room. "Are you guys going somewhere tomorrow? If so, be back in time to get ready for the party that night. And Sokka, Toph, I don't want you two drinking this time."

Sokka tensed up when she said this. Frankly, I wasn't too happy about it either. "Aw, come on Katara. Toph and I never drink at that party to the point of being drunk."

"Still, this party is a formal event, and the two of you have come close to doing stupid things at it, even when you're only slightly buzzed. So no alcohol this time. Terran, would like to come with us? Toph still needs an escort."

"Sure, I can find something to wear."

"What?! I don't need an escort. I've been going to that party every year by myself and no one ever had a problem with it."

"I don't want to hear it Toph. The only reason we let you go without an escort is because you would scare off anyone we would get for you. Now that we have one who's not going anywhere, you will be going with an escort like the rest of us. Besides, we may not mind, but the rest of the people there do.

"Since when do I give a damn about what other people think? Those people can all take their opinions and shove them-"

"Toph, that's enough. Terran is your escort and you will not be touching any alcohol. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, mother." Someone just kill me, now.