Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar.

Notes: Good news, guys. This is the end to second chapter and there is no poker jargon. There's a lot of bonding in this act, which I think is nice. I also tried to demonstrate Aang's maturity more in this chapter.

I greatly enjoyed writing this act/chapter, so I hope you'll sacrifice some time to read it!

Important: Also, if some things have been too hard to follow, I've decided to include a summary which gives a synopsis of every important details that happens. You can check it out in my profile. It'll contain many summaries (even some of the next few chapters), so watch out to avoid spoilers.

I hope you enjoy this chapter, and please review!

Book 4: Air

Chapter 2:

The Festival

...

"I'm begging that you all to forgive the Fire Nation. I'm begging you all to hope that there can be reform. Because if you don't, our world will deteriorate and the dark days of the past will repeat itself."

-Aang to the Earth Kingdom audience

...

Act 3:

Sokka and Toph are at the outdoor poker table. They have prepared to scam all of the other players, who were mostly retired Earthbending soldiers.

Sokka was holding Toph's hand as he through a few silver pieces into the pile. Though he felt the coldness of the metal leave his left hand, he also felt the warmth from Toph's hand with every squeeze. It was so strange, for despite Toph's aloofness in her demeanor, she was thoroughly involved in this game, constantly giving him pep talks and strategy. Though she had made fun of him, he felt almost as if she genuinely cared for him and wanted to him to improve. She could have handled the entire poker game by herself, but instead decided to play it with him. That independent and rebellious runaway actually believes I can do this. Though the thoughts of Toph's opening up to him flooded his mind, he was still able to focus on the game. After some careful playing and informative squeezes, he and Toph emerged victorious, almost winning every single game.

They left the table and walked underneath a nearby tree. "All right. It's time to count the money that we've earned. I need a piece of paper, Toph." He searched through his clothes, patting each of his pockets.

"Don't look at me, Snoozles." Do you think I'd be carrying those things with me? Heck, I don't even use handkerchiefs for my nose."

She was right. Sokka decided to pull out the lotus constellation scroll from his pocket and grabbed a piece of charcoal from his bag. He walked to a nearby table, flipped the scroll over (so he wouldn't mess up the constellation, and began writing. "All right, Toph. Let's begin. Number of silver pieces?" He dumped all of the silver pieces onto the ground. Toph slammed her feet onto the floor. The pieces went flying into the air, and when they landed, Toph felt for distinct and loud vibrations.

"Three-hundred and eleven pieces." She said. Sokka nodded and scribbled onto the back of the scroll. "How about gold pieces?"

Toph stomped the floor again. Now the gold pieces were flying. "Seventy-eight gold pieces."

Sokka nodded again and continued scribbling. "All right, so we just won around three hundred silver pieces, eighty gold pieces…"

"And the Metal Brain's helmet and Hooky's silver…er hook." Toph interrupted. She felt a bit awkward holding a hook that was recently pulled out from a man's wrist. She threw the helmet and hook into the pile.

"Not bad. We make a really good team." Sokka ran to the bags, picked up the pile of pieces, and placed them back into the bags. "By the way," he said. "Thanks, Toph." He stretched his arms out and reached across her shoulder, squeezing her in a hug. "Now we can get Aang an awesome birthday present." He picked up the bag and headed for the table on which he wrote. As he was about to roll up the Lotus Scroll, someone slammed a knife into the table.

Sokka leaped in shock. He stared into the face of a man who had nearly killed him. "What the heck was that?" Toph got herself into position and shot a stone at the man. The man pulled up his knife, spun, and sliced the boulder into two with the knife. He was an earthbender, apparently. "I'm not here to fight," he said. "The name's Wang the Fourth. I'm a collector of ancient items. That scroll of yours." He looked at the back of the lotus constellation and saw a dragon emblem next to all of the numbers Sokka had scribbled. "I believe it to be an important parchment. I want it."

"Too bad," Sokka said as he swiped it off the table. He turned to stare at the old piece of paper Zuko had given to their team. He did not know why anyone would want the scroll. Though he could make a duplicate, he did not want to risk giving anyone information on the Avatar. "It's our old and stinky paper. If you want some, go to a bathroom or find your own."

Wang shook his head. He cringed and was angry by the fact that Sokka didn't appreciate the paper's importance. "I don't want any paper. As a collector, I want this scroll."

Sokka was amazed. Why would a man like him want this scroll specifically? The answer was obviously. He likely knows some information about Avatar Liang-Shek. The man spoke again. "How much do you want?"

Sokka thought for awhile. "How do you even know it's valuable?"

"Because of the emblem," the man replied, pointing at the dragon symbol on the back of the scroll. It's a very special emblem. It has connections to one of the greatest humans in the world."

"Well, it's not for sale." Sokka said as he was about to leave.

The man definitely knows about Avatar Liang-Shek. Perhaps he has information on Liang-Shek that he's hiding, Toph thought.

"How about this... Care for a gamble? I saw that you're pretty good." He gestured to a poker table and threw a bag of silver pieces on the table they were standing next to.

Sokka hesitated to answer, but Toph immediately replied, "Fine, he'll take you on!" Sokka's jaw dropped as he pulled Toph away from the man.

"What are you doing?" He asked her incredulously.

"This guy knows about what we're doing, Snoozles." She whispered into his ear. He has information on Avatar Almighty. The only way we can extract it from him is if we make a bet. And besides. You have me…you can't possibly lose!" Toph was right. Sokka took a breather and nodded.

"We'll play in that house over there." Wang pointed at a house behind the stalls. As they approached the door, the man extended his arms. "The girl stays out. We play alone."

"What?" Both Sokka and Toph shouted. If Toph didn't come, Sokka was definitely going to lose.

"But she's blind!" Sokka argued. "She couldn't possibly cheat…let alone play!"

He took a lamp next to the door. "Doesn't matter. This match only concerns you and me."

Sokka was gasping straws now. "But—but… She's my girlfriend! We do everything together!"

Did Snoozles just call me,.. his girlfriend? Toph made a slight smile and almost swooned. She felt so awkward, happy, and…nice. "Don't worry Snoozles. You can do this… Remember everything I told you, all right?" She then hugged him.

"You're not kidding this time, are you?" Sokka asked. By the tightness of her hug, he doubted it. Toph shook her head. He placed his hand on her head and Sokka smiled. "All right. Let's win us some information!" There was no backing down now.

Scene switches

"You have quite a girl, there," Wang said as he hung the lamp he grabbed from the door behind him. It only illuminated the room partially, but it was bright enough to light the table.

Sokka laughed and scratched his head sheepishly. "Haha. Yeah… she's my girlfriend." He couldn't believe he called Toph that! Were his instincts telling him something?

The man took out a set of tablets and showed Sokka the cards. "We'll play a round of Omashu Hold 'Em." He shuffled with his Earthbending and began dealing. "So, what's up with you? Why are you here at this festival? Is this a rest stop for one of your quests?"

Rest stop? Quest? How did this man know there every move? Perhaps he was a member of the Dai Li. He must have spied on them in Ba Sing Se, and now followed them to get the map. "We're just here for a break? You know…to celebrate the end of the war."

Wang let out a small laugh. "I know very well that you have ulterior motives."

"That's a nice imagination you have. Why are you here?" Sokka dodged the mysterious man's answer and fired his own question.

"I'm not here for much," he said. "Just on a search for fascinating trinkets, like yours to add to my collection."

"You know what will be really interesting? Rather than money, why don't you offer a special item two?" Sokka spotted the chain of the man's watch hanging out of the shirt pocket. "Like that watch for example."

He looked into his chest pocket and smiled. At first, Sokka thought that Wang would refuse his bet. But he didn't. "Sure, no problem." During the game, he threw the watch into the middle and Sokka placed the scroll. Sokka saw that on the lid of the watch there was the insignia of a dragon—exactly the same insignia as the one on the back of their Lotus scroll. He definitely isn't a collector. Nor a Dai Li agent. He's a man on a hunt for the same thing they were after: Avatar Liang-Shek..

Scene switches

Toph was standing outside the house, trying to feel what was going on inside. Though she placed her hand on the ground, she couldn't see Sokka nor the man, for the house had a wooden porch and base. Her only option would be to listen. She placed her hand on the wall. She couldn't feel anything either. Next, she placed her ear. The voices were muffled and soft. Then, she remembered the flower Aang had given him. She took it out of her pocket and placed one end of the flower against her ear and the petals against the wall and listened.

Scene switches

Sokka screamed excitedly in his victory. He couldn't believe it. He called Wang's bluff and won the game. He not only kept the scroll, but also won the clock. He was about to grab both items from the table, but Wang placed his hands on Sokka's, preventing him from lifting. "Not so fast," he said. Sokka was afraid that Wang was about to do some crazy earthbending and hurt him. Wang, however, only reached into his robes and pulled out an earth canister. "Double or nothing." That too, had a dragon insignia on it.

Sokka, with newfound confidence in his skills agreed. Besides, the canister was likely valuable also. "All right. Double or nothing." He let go of the clock.

Wang swiped away the tablets and took out a new deck. "Let's begin." The difference between this deck and the one they had previously used was that the tablet color was ligther.

"Wow. This earth." Sokka said as he felt the cards. "It's so soft."

Toph listened in disbelief. That cheater! That freaking cheater! Upon realizing that Sokka beat him, he's relying on soft earth cards to win! By doing so, he could earthbend the images on the cards to his liking, allowing him to easily create a winning hand.

Knowing that Sokka's loss was inevitable, she picked up the helmet and began metal bending. She began twisting the metal around and created a rectangular plate. She flattened it out and began to carve a few characters into it. All that was missing now was the insignia. All right Toph. Now what does that dragon look like?

She began pressing in the metal with her fingers, carving the shape of what she thought was a dragon. She burst through the door. A dejected and sorrowful Sokka looked at her. He had already lost the bet. "Triple or nothing!" She shouted.

"Whe lost it all!" Sokka exclaimed. "There's nothing we can offer."

"Actually, we do have something else!" She took out the metal plate she metal-bended. "There is no way you can read the scroll without this…er…decoder."

"Fascinating…" Wang said as he stroked his mustache. He had not read about a decoder in any of his books. He doubted its authenticity. "But I'm afraid that I'm not very interested. I have what I want." He held the scroll and canister in his hands and prepared to leave the festival.

"Why don't you take a look at it, however?" Toph asked, pleadingly.

Wang nodded, picked up the metal plate and took a look at it. He turned around to face the lamp he had hung on the back of the wall. "I've been to many places, and I know of many things." He continued appraising the metal. "You're a cunning little girl. But I'll always be one step ahead. I know you, you're the Blind Bandit. You helped this worthless water tribe boy cheat his way through all the games. And to think that I'd actually let you play alongside him."

I'm a lot more cunning what you think, Toph thought. She gently moved her feet back, earthbending the canister to her. She then felt the canister, and remade a duplicate and slid it back onto the table. She hid the original canister by earthbending it into the wall.

Wang finally spotted the error in the plate. "This metallic plate. There's no dragon insignia on it. It's worthless to me." He turned around to face Toph. "You should've known whom your dealing with, little girl."

Toph tried to contain her laughter over her victory. With a forced tone, she said, "Oh, you're right. You are so brilliant."

Wang laughed and picked up his items. "Let it be known today, that you were defeated by the great Chin the Fourth." He finally revealed his true name and walked out the room.

When left, Sokka ran to Toph. "That was brilliant! How'd you plan everything. I mean, how'd you know everything that was going on? I have my sources," Toph said. She felt the flower inside her pockets. "The only downside is that our map's gone."

"Pfft." Sokka replied. "It wasn't that important. Heck, I even used it as an accounting paper. What matters is that we know where the locations are." Toph summoned the canister from the ground.

Sokka pat Toph on the back. "Well, we still have most of the money. Let's go see if we can get Aang a present."

Toph was touched by the fact that Sokka was able to win without cheating, unlike that Chin person. She didn't tell Sokka that, however, for she would appear to be too soft. Rather, she decided to keep it a secret.

Scene switches

Ringleader Zui walks backstage telling Mei to get ready for the next show. By then, Aang had already put back on his hat.

"Mei Ling. It's time for your next show." He gestured for her to come with him. Apparently he was sober now. He brought her onto the stage, and the entire audience cheered. "Now, people. The main event you've all been waiting for!" Ringleader Zui said. Confetti flew everywhere.

Mei Ling stood there and bit her lips. She knew what was coming up. The Ringleader took a deep breath and punched her right in the chest. The audience all cheered and hurrahed. "You like that, Fire Nation scum? Huh? Now that Avatar Aang has saved the world, you're not so tough, huh?" Aang's jaw dropped in horror watching Mei get beaten up. After a few more punches, he took out a whip out. "How about giving this cretin a dose of her own medicine?" He asked the crowd. They unanimously hollered a loud "yes!" He lit the whip on fire and cracked it against the back of Mei's chest. Even Aang grimaced upon seeing these actions. Not just because of their brutality, but also because of the attitude that the entire Earth Kingdom audience had. He was going to cut in, but he was afraid he would tarnish his image and that by supporting Fire Nation and would stir even more tension between the two nations. Then the ringleader took off his shirt, revealing a somewhat muscular body. "Here's to the Avatar!" He swung his fists and legs and began earthbending fairly large rocks at poor Mei.

Aang finally couldn't stand it. He ran up on stage and deflected the rocks with earthbending.

"What are you doing?" The ringleader asked enraged.

"I'm doing what is right. I'm protecting this lady and this world."

The ringleader laughed, and the audience followed suit. "And what makes you think that it's your duty to protect this world?"

Aang hesitated for a moment, but finally decided that there was no other option. No one would believe him unless he had proof. He ripped off his hat, revealing his bald head and blue arrow tattoo. "Because I am the Avatar!"

The entire audience gasped. They felt humbled and bowed down. The ringleader, though embarrassed, didn't bow. Instead, he tried to cover up his humiliation by exposing Aang as a fraud. "What are you guys doing? An arrow tattoo? Is that all you need now in order to believe that he's the Avatar?"

"I'll show you for disrupting my show. He began to lift huge boulders and shove them in Aang's direction."

Aang deflected them with airbending, giving final proof that he was indeed the Avatar. The ringleader finally bowed too.

"I want you to stop what you are doing, Ringleader Zui."

"Forgive me, Avatar." Though shocked by what he was hearing, Zui maintained his composure and addressed Aang in the highest terms. "But she's Fire Nation. They nearly brought the destruction of the world! They destroyed the balance and harmony of the four nations until you arrived and restored it."

"And now, that balance that I worked so hard to achieve is being disrupted again." Aang responded. "Unless we learn to make peace and forgive their past ways, we'll never achieve this balance that we all seek." He was addressing everyone, even the audience. "Think about what your doing. You're having fun watching a man beat up a girl! This girl," He pointed at Mei. "is one of the sweetest, strongest, and most caring girls I've ever met. She is not Fire Nation. She's the hope for the Fire Nation. And hope for us that they can all strive to become better people like her! And you are destroying this hope. If you all dislike the Fire Nation so much, why don't you act more honorable rather than deigning yourselves to behave like them?"

Aang panted as he gave his tirade. All of the people stared at the Avatar. They couldn't believe that he was supporting a Fire Nation girl.

"He's a traitor!" One shouted. "He'd rather help a Fire Nation girl than the entire Earth Kingdom!"

The others hollered in agreement, but Aang protested. "I care for all four nations. That's why I'm doing this!"

While Aang was arguing with the audience, Ringleader Zui got up and decided to take advantage of the crowd's distracting Aang. He summoned a huge boulder and readied himself to smash Aang with it. Before it hit him, thought, Mei got between Aang and the boulder. She sprayed a huge flame and tried to deflect it. However, she couldn't stop it and was knocked over. The audience gasped and Aang turned and deflected it with his air blast. Upon seeing Mei on the ground unconscious, Aang was furious. He turned to the people once again. "Is this how you treat the Avatar, especially on his birthday? By chunking rocks at him? One person doesn't decide or reflect a nation. If it did," he pointed to the ringleader who almost had him killed, "then the Earth Kingdom is out there to get me." He pointed to Mei now, "And the Fire Nation is my savior." He sighed. "I'm begging that you all to forgive the Fire Nation. I'm begging you all to hope that there can be reform. Because if you don't, our world will deteriorate and the dark days of the past will repeat itself."

He ran to check up on Mei, who opened her eyes. Luckily, her spray of flame had slowed the boulder enough to prevent any serious injury. She smiled at Aang, who smiled back. The audience applauded at Aang's words and Mei's actions. They all began cheering, "Avatar Aang, Avatar Aang!" and listened to the Avatar's words. Even the non-believers who believed him to be a traitor only a few minutes ago.

Aang lifted Mei up and turned to Ringleader Zui. "I want you to free all of your performers. Set them free."

Zui was now cowering. He suspected that he was in huge trouble for attacking the Avatar, but Aang did not fight. "But then how will I earn all my money?"

"Money? That's all you care about. Unlike the Fire Nation girls, who cared about the people."

"I don't care about people?" The ringleader gained a little confidence and laughed weakly. "Let me tell you, I care about the people. Without me, those Fire Nation girls and young children won't have anywhere to go to!"

Then, Sokka and Toph had found Aang. They ran onto stage with their bags of money. "Hey Aang, Look at all of the money we got!" He lifted a bag full of silver. "We can get you an amazing birthday present!"

Aang turned to Sokka. "Actually, you came just in time for my present." He yanked the bag and handed it to the ringleader. "Have your money." He took the other bag and handed it to Mei. Both Sokka and Toph stood aghast that he through away all of the money they worked so hard to earn.

"Here, take this Mei. Take all your friends and travel to Ba Sing Se. You can find many post offices and hawk delivery systems there. Tell your family and your friends' families that you are all fine."

"Avatar… I don't know what to say." Mei blushed. "Except thank you so much."

Aang blushed too upon seeing the beautiful girl's cheeks turn red. "No, Mei." Aang shook his head. "Thank you for giving me the confidence to do what's right." Aang continued, with a straight tone. "And if you need help in the city, just seek a man name Iroh at the Jasmine Dragon tea shop. Tell him you're a friend of the Avatar. He'll be glad to help you."

"But how will he know we're friends?" Mei asked.

Aang knew that the question was meaningless. After all, Uncle Iroh would help anyone. But he decided to answer it anyway. He handed her the snow globe he had made for Katara. "Show him this." Aang said.

Mei took it, and read the name "Katara" on the base of the globe. "This Katara girl," she said. "I bet she'd be really proud of you, Avatar." Aang smiled upon hearing her say this. She leaned in to kiss Aang on the cheeks, sending the entire audience wild. "Once again, thank you so much, Avatar Aang."

"I have one final request for you."

"Ask away, all mighty Avatar," Mei teased.

"Have us disappear."

Mei nodded, perfectly understanding the Avatar's words. She and Aang began to perform the Disappearing Dragon, firebending a huge sphere of flame around themselves (including Toph and Sokka) and when the sphere had contracted they had managed to vanish.

Scene switches

Aang, Sokka, and Toph, have left the festival and taken off on Appa.

As Appa flew across the sky, which was beginning to dawn, Aang, Sokka, and Toph could still hear the people of the festival cheering, "Avatar Aang, Avatar Aang!"

"You must have been pretty popular with the people there, especially with that girl" Sokka remarked. He wasn't mad that Aang had given away his identity because they still managed to escape easily. He was a bit mad, though, that Aang had given away most of their money. Luckily, though, they now had a canister, which was likely had contents important for their journey. His visit to the festival wasn't a complete loss.

Toph nudged Aang in the shoulder. "I hope that our visit to the festival finally cheered you up, Twinkle Toes." Aang looked up at the setting moon as he heard Toph's words. It did cheer him up, for now, he no longer viewed his separation from Katara with sadness. He knew that as long he believed in her and himself and did what was right, they would maintain a special bond. A firebending girl at the festival taught him that.

Fades to white.

Note: I was greatly pleased with how this chapter turned out. Yes, though I know it was messy like the rest and perhaps hard to follow, I thought that the ending was pretty sweet. At least I think so. Originally I intended for this episode to be a meaningless filler, but I turned out to be quite an important chapter for everyone. Yay!

What about the canister with a dragon emblem on it? It'll play a role in the later chapters.

What about this Wang/Chin the Fourth man? As for Chin the Fourth, he'll be playing a major role in the next few or later chapters, so stay tuned to find out what he has in store for Aang's team!

What about Zuko and Katara? What have they been up to the entire time? I'm going to be alternating between Aang's team and Zuko's team. You'll see how they're doing in the next episode.

The next Episode is titled, "The Spirit Thief," in which Zuko and Katara visit the Northern Water Tribe. However, Katara is framed for a crime and is about to get executed. It is up to Zuko and the Blue Spirit to prove her innocence or rescue her. Continue to find out what happens.

By the way, I will be updating a lot less now because summer is almost over.

Finally, once again, thank you for reading and please review! Reviews are greatly appreciated.