NOTE: I hope you like this chapter: less dialogue, more melancholy, and MUCH MORE THINKING!!!!!

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Chapter 7

TOPH SAT on the balcony connected to her room, feeling the warm sun gleaming onto her face. She had no conception of what the others were doing; the mansion seemed extremely quiet. So much for a super awesome beach party, she thought. Although she could easily pass. She'd rather relax on a balcony all afternoon than go down and actually do something.

Just as she was thinking this, as if to her thoughts, Katara knocked on the door.

Toph: (shouting) COME IN… or come out

Katara came into her room and walked out onto the balcony.

Katara: Hi Toph. Are you up for the beach party?

Toph: Who else is?

Katara: Um, well… Zuko and Mai said maybe, but Sokka and Suki have passed, meaning that Zuko and Mai will pass, so basically just four of us now.

Toph: Pass.

Katara: But why? Wouldn't you enjoy going out and having some fun?

Toph: Frankly, Katara, I'm just fine relaxing where I am right now. The sun and this balcony are my beach, I'm tired, and I'm not hungry! Pass.

Katara: Are you sure?

Toph: If everyone else were doing it, then I'd consider. But since they're not, PASS.

Katara: Fine…

Katara walked away and out of her room, back down into the kitchen.

Toph continued to lie down in the sun.

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The mansion that surrounded the six teens was a black hole sucking them in. Four of them were in their own rooms lying on their beds: Mai and Zuko, who had gone right to bed when they got there, Sokka, who had laid down when he felt dizzy, and Suki too, who had given up on helping Katara to go enclose herself in her room. Katara was in the kitchen sitting, trying to figure out what to do. The only one who seemed to be enjoying herself at least a little was Toph, who remained relaxing by herself. The entire household was in turmoil.

After a while, Katara got up and started to walk up the stairs when she decided to stop and go outside for a little. She opened the doors and stepped outside, expecting a ray of sunshine to hit her face, but instead she saw grey clouds covering the sky. Seconds later, lightning illuminated the dark sky and was followed quickly by a huge crack of thunder.

Katara walked inside and closed the door. Better go warn Toph, she most likely doesn't want to get wet. She walked upstairs and into Toph's room; but when she got there, all she saw was an empty balcony…

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Sokka lay on his bed with the door and windows closed. His mind racing, he tried to rest; but every time he closed his eyes, he couldn't stop thinking about Toph…

A large gust of wind blew the windows open, sending them flying to the other side of the room. With a large crash, they slammed against the wall. Sokka jumped up and ran to the window, only to see ominous dark clouds blocking the sunlight over the entire sky. It started to pour, and the wind blew it into Sokka's room. He looked over towards the windows: they were hopelessly broken. Looking back outside, the entire house was surrounded with a fog of torrential rain.

Seeing no hope in trying to keep the water out of his room, he opened the door and went down into the large living room, hoping for some peace and quiet.

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Toph sat on the balcony as Katara walked out of the room. She felt the warm sun bask on her skin, and it made her feel calm…

She suddenly felt she needed to take a walk. Jumping from the balcony instead of walking calmly down the stairs, she landed on the hard earth unscathed (being an earthbender). She started walking towards the beach, feeling a need to lie in the hot sand.

As she was walking, she felt the heat of the sun go away, and she could feel that clouds were beginning to cover up the sun. Shivering from the loss of heat, she wondered if she should go back to the house; but after reasoning the cloud cover was temporary, she continued her walk down to the beach.

When she arrived, she dived right into the sand, expecting to feel a sudden surge of heat with the sun about to come peeking through the clouds. But instead what she felt was cold water rushing onto her body. That's strange, she thought to herself, why is the water up this high? Shouldn't this part of the beach be water-free?

So she got up and started walking up the beach when she heard the crack of thunder, which seemed to come from right above them. Knowing there was a huge storm right above them, she started running back to the house.

About 10 seconds later, the rain started pouring from the sky. She ducked underneath a tree to keep from getting wet, but then feeling a cave in the close distance, she ran to it, getting mildly wet. She figured she could wait there until the storm let up.

It would be a while.

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Aang and Ty Lee walked into the village just parting from the rest of the gang. Seeing a party supplies store conveniently placed right at the entrance to the village, they ambled in to look at what the store had to offer.

As they walked in, they saw all kinds of different knick knacks: random stuff like balloons, trays for food, and other useless items that only a rich person would want to buy for some exquisite party he or she was hosting for hundreds of people. They walked around the store, trying to find something that they might need.

After looking in the store for over an hour (the store was huge, bigger than the size of the mansion they were staying in: that's a lot of party stuff!), they finally gave up their search and thought for a while if there was anything they actually needed to get in town.

Walking out of the store, they looked at each other.

Aang: So Ty Lee, should we just go back to the mansion? I don't see anything that we might be able to use in this town…

Ty Lee: (looking up towards the sky) Umm Aang… look up.

Aang: Why… hey, the sky got dark again! Why?

Ty Lee: (sounding nervous) Umm, I don't think there's gonna be a beach party anymore, Aang.

Aang: (also sounding a bit edgy) I think you're right… and we should get back to the mansion before it actually starts to—

A rumble of thunder interrupts his sentence.

Aang: Too late. Let's go back into the party store… we shouldn't be walking around in bad weather, and it's still another 20 minutes to get up to the mansion. I think it's gonna start raining any—

Again he is interrupted by raindrops, falling one after another, and then eventually starting to come down in sheets.

Aang: (Quickly) Let's get inside, now!

The two of them run into the store.

Ty Lee: What a wonderful start to a vacation…

They sat inside, waiting for the storm to let up.

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Zuko sat on a small chair in the corner of his room. His room was located on a corner of the mansion: two of his walls contained large windows. The sun was shining in through the windows, illuminating the room with a bright yellow color.

He, however, was completely indifferent to the cheery surroundings he was currently in. He sat there, resting his eyes; all he could think about was darkness…

And as the time went on, the cheery outside turned to darkness as the storm came along, bringing endless rain and wind. Zuko sat there surrounded with the images of the storm and rain, all coming from his windows.

After a while, Zuko stood up; and walking over to his bed, he lay down and went to sleep…

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Suki stood up, looking out the single window in her room. She had heard the rumble of thunder from her bed, and had walked over to see what the day looked like. As soon as she looked out, she saw the dismal grey clouds, and with the beginning of the rain, the landscape around her became less visible, all becoming one blur.

Going back to her lounge chair, setting her head on the top of it, she couldn't bear to think about all that had happened that day…

Was it just that morning that they had been on that miserable boat? When they were stuck in that weapons chamber with the five heads all lined up? When Sokka had warned them of the wave…

Sokka

She couldn't bear to think of that name… the morning was filled with enough misery, why couldn't the afternoon be OK? Why did he have to go and make the afternoon just as miserable as the morning? And why did this storm have to come out of no where to make the afternoon even worse? It's as if this was supposed to happen…

She couldn't stop thinking about what happened in the afternoon: why did Sokka say "I love you" and then take it back? Why would he take it back? They were BF and GF… so why wouldn't he mean it? It made all the sense in the world that he would mean it… but yet he couldn't say it a second time.

Was…—IS…—there someone else? And who?

The inner turmoil inside Suki came parading out into everything she could possibly see. What was the meaning of this day? What was the purpose of all the events that happened? And what could she do to quell all of her fears? What could she do to make sure that she was the one… the one that Sokka loved, not anyone else?

She got up and sat straight on her bed, looking at the floor. Her thoughts raced around in her mind, swirling her vision… it was too much… she became dizzy, and her upper body collapsed onto the bed where she was sitting…

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Katara ran out of Toph's room into the hallway, trying to think quickly of where Toph could be. She wondered if Toph was in trouble; but the odds of that were slim; Toph was probably somewhere in the mansion. So she went down the hallway of rooms.

First was Mai's room; she wasn't in there.

Next was her own room; she wasn't in there.

Third was Zuko's room, on the corner; not their either.

Fourth was Suki's room; Suki was sleeping… oddly… but Katara was too much in a rush to bother Suki in her odd sleeping position.

Fifth was Ty Lee's room, she wasn't there.

Sixth was Aang's room; it was completely empty.

Seventh was Toph's own room, where she still wasn't there.

Last was Sokka's room… the best reasoning for her to be there. But when she opened the door, she was pushed back by the force of the wind. She got back up and looked into the room; it was completely empty, with the window blown off its hinges… but where was Sokka? And Toph?...

Immediately suspecting something of them that she really shouldn't have, Katara ran downstairs into the living room, where she found Sokka asleep on the couch. One down, she thought, one to go. So she looked in the kitchen; next in the library; then in the study; but she couldn't find Toph anywhere.

Could Toph be outside somewhere? If she wasn't in the house, then maybe she left…

The beach.

Maybe she went down there to join the others at the beach party

So Katara ran to the front door and swung it open, only to find two people standing at the door…

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The rain came blowing into the mansion as Katara brought in the visitors. Quickly closing the door, the inside of the house again became much darker, without the influx of the light from outside. She brought the visitors into the living room, and invited them to sit down.

Once they were settled, Katara immediately asked them who they were:

Katara: So what are you two doing here? Who are you trying to see?

Messenger: We're from the government base at Oaxaca on the eastern shores of the Fire Nation. We have an urgent message for Firelord Zuko that must be delivered immediately. We have received word that he is here. Could you please direct us to him?

Katara: I will… what's the message?

Advisor: Please, go get him first. We don't want to tell the entire story twice.

Katara: Okay…

Katara walked upstairs to Zuko's room and found him asleep. She shoved him awake; his eyes were looking wearily around the room surrounding him.

Zuko: (Whispering) What… do you want?

Katara: Zuko, wake up. Two people are here to see you, they say with an "urgent message". You need to come down here to see what they have to say.

Zuko: (Unwillingly sitting up in bed) Ugh… ok, I'll be down there in a sec.

Katara: We'll be waiting!

Katara then walked out of his room and went back downstairs to join the messengers.

Katara: He said he'd be here in a minute.

Messenger: OK.

Two minutes later, Zuko grudged down the stairs and walked into the living room. Seeing government people, his eyes opened, and he looked at his clothes immediately, thinking I don't look like a Firelord

Zuko didn't have a chance to say anything; immediately, the message-conveyers started to talk.

Messenger: Firelord Zuko, it is an honor to be in your presence… we need to deliver a message to you from the government base at Oaxaca.

Zuko: (Very tired) Good to meet you… go on, please, so I can get back to my nap.

Advisor: You might not be able to sleep, Firelord.

Messenger: A few days ago, a massive typhoon struck Magana Island off the coast of the Fire Nation in the large ocean. The entire island was decimated, and all the population was killed.

Advisor: Firelord Zuko, this typhoon is going to strike the eastern shores of the Fire Nation, and then will head this way! You must do something to protect the people of this nation!

And with this, Zuko's mind began to swirl. And the storm outside the palace continued to rage on around them.

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Off the coast of the Fire Nation, the group of clouds known as the typhoon gathered together over the warm waters of the ocean. The clouds bunched together, all poised to attack the land ahead like a large military. Gaining strength, the storm moved close to the coast…

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The land sat where it was with a mist of silence hovering over the entire peninsula. The people inhabiting the area had been evacuated a couple days earlier, after hearing about the horrors of what happened on Magana Island. Towns sat like ghost towns; mountains watched with an aura of uncertainty as the thought of doom loomed over the horizon.

The storm clouds could soon be seen off the coast of the Fire Nation. Closer and closer they crawled, getting anxious as they moved closer to victory over the land. Darker and darker the sky got; greyer and greyer became the color of the landscape; higher and higher rose the waves; and heavier and heavier the wind began to blow. Soon, the midday sky was covered with a menacing blanket of black devilish clouds, swirling overhead like a never-stopping top.

A drop; then two more; then hundreds of thousands of rain drops started to fall from the sky and onto the cold, hard, barren earth. The wind swirled in its fury against the houses and trees; the waves crashed onshore, destroying beaches and houses too vulnerable to the sea; lightning cracked from ahead, sending down fireballs of catastrophe upon trees, open fields, and houses, setting them all on fire, then being quickly put out by the torrential rain.

The rain soaked the land with its never-ending pitter patter; the soil became saturated; and puddles formed along roadsides and in fields. Dry forests turned into swamps; the unforgiving downpour never ceasing. The water was blown by the wind into normally dry areas; it blew the raindrops into buildings, caves, and the towers of boats.

Soon, the clouds began to swirl around a center; they became closer and closer to the ground, forming a tornado funnel. The funnel roared like a lion, whipping trees and homes with wind and ripping apart anything laying in its path. Trees were demolished; mountains were whipped; fields were annihilated; and homes were decimated from the destructive force of the raging and ruthless tornado.

However, after a few short minutes, the funnel ceased to exist; but its short life left a devastating aftermath. Everything was crushed to pieces; the land was completely wiped out of everything it needed to offer.

Not long after, the ferocious sea began to rise toward the already-saturated land. And as the storm raged on, the sea water rose over the banks and into the towns and forests; covering everything from decimated trees to piles of rubble that used to be a house.

The ruthless storm continued for hours on end, crushing every little thing on the plains, burying hope with every last step backward from recovery. The wind blew; the sea raged; the rain pounded; without any hope of an end in sight.

After what seemed like hours; days; the wind stopped blowing; the rain stopped falling; and the waves stopped crashing. The clouds overhead continued on, bringing bright sunny skies behind it.

But the land was gone, submerged underneath the raging sea. One could see the mountain peaks, but the plains and towns were covered by the sea.

After many more days, the sea finally receded; revealing all the damage that the storm left behind. The forest was gone; the peaks were eroded; and towns were completely decimated. All things were broken apart, lying over the ground like dead in a battlefield.

Time stands still over the broken land of the Fire Nation.

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Ok, I really hope you absolutely loved this chapter, and I hope that my biggest critic (cough cough SHYLANDREW) is actually happy with this one... Much more melancholy as I said before (probably due to the fact that I just finished reading one of the most melancholy/sad/odd war novels of all time, All Quiet on the Western Front.

Anyway, I really want you people who are reading (YES, I KNOW THAT YOU ARE READING!!!!!!!!!!) to review, especially with my change in tone for the story. Is it good? Do you like it? Or is it completely terrible? Tell me IN A REVIEW. How about that? Is it too hard to click that button to review and type in maybe a paragraph or something for about 1-2 minutes telling me what you think of my story? I don't think so. So why don't you just go down there and click it? See? Not so hard!

Ok, that's all for now, hope you enjoyed the chapter, and I hope to get another one out in maybe 2-3 weeks (depending on how swamped I am with work).

-Calypso-