~~ Sokka was snoring in a chair when the Fire Nation doctor returned.
"Young man?" she asked.
Sokka yelped and leapt out of the chair.
"What? What's happening?"
"Calm down." she said kindly, putting her hand on his shoulder. "I came to tell you that your sister's going to be fine."
Sokka sighed with relief.
"Thank you. I don't know how we could ever...wait...I didn't tell you she was my sister did I?"
"You also didn't tell me that you two were from the Southern Water Tribe. Both I figured out on my own."
After seeing the shocked look on Sokka's face, she smiled.
"Don't worry, I'm not going to tell anyone."
Sokka collapsed in the chair.
"I have to sit down for a minute...I think my heart almost exploded there..."
"Take as long as you need. I'll let you know when your sister wakes up."
Sokka was just about to fall asleep again when the front door was blown open. He jumped out of his chair and went to draw his sword, only to find an empty sheath.
"Gah! My sword! I must have forgotten it at camp!"
He peeked around the corner to look at the intruder and gasped when he saw Toph standing in the doorway. The doctor stood her ground, simply smiling at the blind earthbender.
"Where are you keeping my friends?" Toph shouted.
Sokka ran in front of her, waving his hands.
"Toph! I'm right here! We're fine! Stop attacking!"
Toph got out of her stance and ran to Sokka, tackling him into a hug.
"Thank god you're alright!" she exclaimed.
After a couple of seconds, Sokka pushed her away.
"Uh...thanks Toph. You're not usually this affectionate
Toph blushed in response.
"You were gone when we got back to camp. What happened to you?" Sokka asked her
"It's kind of a long story. I'll tell you guys about it later. Where's your sister and Twinkletoes?"
"We had kind of a, um...scuffle at camp and Katara got pretty badly hurt. I brought her to this doctor and she healed her no questions asked."
"She just healed her? How?" Toph asked, raising an eyebrow.
Sokka was about to answer when he realized that he didn't know either.
"How did you heal my sister?" he asked the doctor.
She smiled.
"You have your secrets, I have mine."
"Fair enough. Sorry about your door by the way." Toph said, bowing her head a little. "I can make you a new one if you want."
"That's alright. We don't want anyone seeing that I have a door made out of earth do we?"
"Hey, I never asked your name." Sokka said.
"My name is Kailyn." she replied.
"Mine's-"
"Sokka. I know. You must be Toph. Nice to meet you all."
They suddenly heard a groan from the other room. Sokka's face lit up.
"Katara's awake!"
He and Toph ran through the curtains that separated the two rooms and embraced Katara on the table.
"Whoa! Easy guys, watch the chest!" Katara winced.
"Sorry." Sokka said.
"Are we in the village?" she asked.
"Yes. I brought you down here after we were attacked. You got hurt pretty bad, but Kailyn here saved you."
He motioned to the doctor standing in the corner of the room.
"It was nothing." she said. "Oh, and I believe this is yours."
She reached into a drawer and pulled out Katara's necklace and handed it to her.
"Thank you. For everything." Katara said as she hooked it around her neck. She then turned to her brother. "Did she take a look at Aang too?"
Sokka's face fell when he remembered what had happened. Katara frowned.
"Sokka, tell me what happened."
"It was Azula. She's the one that brought the firebenders. She captured Aang while I was bringing you into the village."
"What?" Katara shouted, jumping off the table. "You chose to save me instead of Aang? He's the world's last hope and you just let him go? What is wrong with you?"
"I couldn't let you die Katara!" Sokka yelled.
Katara was silenced, then, she fell to her knees, tears rolling down her face.
"I can't believe he's gone...everything we've been through and he's just gone..."
Sokka bent down to comfort his sister, then Toph cut in.
"No. He's not gone. We can save him. We can go after Azula on Appa."
"It's too risky." Sokka replied. "We'd never make it into the palace without getting toasted."
"We have to try!" Toph cried. "He would do the same thing for any of us!"
"Toph's right." Katara said, getting off the ground and drying her eyes. "We have to try."
Sokka sighed.
"Fine, but if we get killed, I don't either of you bugging me in the afterlife, got it?"
"Thanks again!" Katara said as they left the doctor's house.
"Anytime kids! Be careful!" Kailyn replied.
~~ They got back to camp and immediately headed to Appa. Momo was curled up by his side. He immediately started screeching when they approached.
"What's wrong with Momo?" Toph asked.
"We don't know how, but somehow, he was blinded." Sokka replied as he helped the girls into Appa's saddle.
"I guess we have something in common then, don't we buddy?" Toph said to Momo.
The blinded lemur whimpered in response.
"Yip yip." Sokka said.
As they lifted into the sky, Toph clutched the vial around her neck. She had been blind for her whole life, but as for Momo...
"No.." she said to herself.
"What's that?" Katara asked.
"Oh nothing." Toph said quickly.
She'd have to make her decision before Momo went blind permanently.
