A/N: Ugh. I'm hating college right now. It's a leech sucking me dry of my money, my sleep, my time, and my sanity…yet I'm still here. I must be masochistic or stupid. I feel like I'm failing you all in terms of updating. Just know that I really am trying and I am fully dedicated to this story. I love it too much to let it go.

OOO

Chapter 8

Favors

OOO

True to Ty Lee's word, a large pile of thick coats was brought up to Toph's quarters the very next day. The maid that had brought them up had said that Ty Lee had to run off suddenly, but that everything her father needed should be in order. Toph made a mental note to thank Ty Lee properly for such a favor later, and sent the maid away before shutting her door and laying out the coats on her bed.

The good thing about her father was that he was the complete opposite of her mother when it came to material items. Toph's mother enjoyed high quality and rarity. She insisted upon the most expensive items she could get her hands on, to the point where she was rather pretentious about it. She could imagine what her mother's winter wardrobe looked like: lace, animal fur, satin interior, and embroideries that could only be done by select experts.

Her father on the other hand had a preference for quiet refinement, and it showed in the coats that she had just been given. His coats had no elaborate designs, no overly expensive materials, and no frills on the outside. In rich society, many would consider it quite plain, but it seemed perfect for Aang. Inconspicuous and subtle. Sure they were made out of velvet and were arguably still expensive looking in that respect, but she had seen many expensive things being sold in the market yesterday, so she imagined a person like Aang obtaining such materials wouldn't be suspicious.

All in all, it was a perfect plan. No one would think it strange, and Aang would be covered for the winter and then some. There were even enough for his friend to have as well.

"Now how do I get it to him…?" she thought out loud. She didn't even know where Aang lived or where she could even find him. The city was huge, and there were thousands of places he could be. She entertained the idea of hanging around the stores to see if he would show up to steal something, but something told her that spending the days outside with nothing to wear wasn't on the top of his list. That meant that he could basically be anywhere.

Toph's hopes deflated suddenly and she looked miserably down at the coats. Her plan wasn't really much of a plan if she couldn't deliver the coats to him. She hadn't thought that far ahead, and unfortunately it didn't seem like this would be easy.

She raked a hand through her hair. Why didn't she think to contemplate how in the world she was going to get these to him? She wasn't normally this careless, so what the hell was she thinking?

Maybe you were too busy worrying over him to think your plan through properly, she thought bitterly. A light blush painted across her cheeks at the thought. She could have denied it, but then she would be a liar.

The only other people that she knew who also knew Aang were Katara and Sokka. She could probably give the coats to Katara and ask her to deliver them to Aang. There was a chance that she had a better sense of where Aang could possibly be. Then all Toph had to do was tell Katara to just leave the coats with him secretly. Aang won't know whom the present came from, Toph's conscious would be cleared, and they never had to run into each other again.

Toph nodded. Conceptually, it was a good idea. However, there seemed to be one fatal flaw in this brilliant last minute plan of hers, and it just so happened to be situated downstairs in this very house.

The heiress opened the door to her room and strained her ears to hear the commotion coming in from the rest of the house. So far, it was quiet and nothing seemed to be stirring in the hallways. No servants, no maids, no nothing. The girl took this as a good sign and carefully slipped out of her bedroom. In her pocket was the key to her bedroom, which she used to lock the door behind her. If anyone came in and saw what was lying out on her bed, questions would be asked.

It was still rather early in the morning, so the hallways were lit with dull, grey, early morning light. Toph glanced out of the large windows in the hallway briefly and saw that the sky was rather cloudy this morning. The idea of a cold and rainy day did not lift her spirits. She was already hugging her sleeping robe closer to her body due to the chill that ran through the house. Imagine how cold it must have been outside! No doubt that the rain would turn to ice making for a rather disgusting day.

But she had promised she would do this for him. Toph could handle a few slippery and wet roads for his sake.

After traversing through the right side of the house, she made her way back into the main room. She sneezed suddenly due to the cold and sniffled quietly. She was starting to wonder whether the fireplaces were even lit. If they were, it must have been brutal out there. That was one thing she could say about this city. When winter came, it came quickly. One day there would be nice fall weather, and the next day you would think that you walked straight into a frozen tundra.

She kept walking through the house, wishing that she hadn't walked out barefoot since she couldn't feel her toes. Toph turned down the long, dimly lit hallway that was filled with storage rooms. Her feet shuffled along the tiled floors and walked towards the patch of grey light that was at the end of the hall. She reached the end of the hall, peeked into the sun room, and groaned inwardly.

Sitting there at the tea table that was set up against the dozens of windows installed in the room, Lord and Lady Bei Fong were enjoying a cup of morning tea, conversing quietly about their morning.

Toph sucked her teeth and ducked back into the hallway. She sort of hoped they had something to do this morning, but now that they were sitting right there a problem arose. The only way she was going to get these coats to Katara was if she took them to Katara herself. That meant she had to sneak out of the house.

She looked again at the couple, this time her mother was laughing quietly at whatever her husband had just said.

How in the hell am I going to do this? she thought desperately.

Sneaking out the front door was absolutely out of the question. It was old and heavy and made a large groaning noise when it was opened. Toph could hear the door open from her room, which meant that her parents would have no trouble hearing it from the sun room since it was so close to the main room. She could only get to the back door by going through the sun room, so that was obviously not an option either.

She thought back to all of her past escapades for any sort of inspiration. There was one other way she could sneak out of the house, but she hadn't done it in a while.

Her balcony had small stone pillars that acted as guards to keep people from falling. But one pillar in particular was loose. She often pried the pillar loose, tied a rope around the railing of the balcony, and lowered herself down into the garden. She would then use the trees and bushes as camouflage to make it towards the gate. She had managed to widen the gap between two bars of the front gate just enough so that she could slip through and escape the house.

She only did this when her parents were home. It was a pain to have to go through all of that, especially scaling down her balcony like she was a cat burglar or something. But that was the only way she could think of getting out here without being found out. It seemed like it would work although she really wasn't looking forward to the extra exertion.

But she needed to keep her parents from coming into her room.

After all, seeing your daughter missing was bad enough. But if they saw the open balcony window and the rope hanging down from it, there were only so many stories that Toph could come up with to justify that as being innocent fun.

The clinking of tea cups caused Toph to snap her head back to the scene in time to see her parents handing their saucers over to one of the servants form the kitchen. Another servant came through the archway leading to the kitchen, this time carrying a large platter holding two plates of breakfast for the Lord and Lady. She couldn't see what exactly the dish was from where she was standing, but the aroma definitely carried over to the hallway, reminding Toph that she should be in there right now having breakfast instead of planning an escape. But if she started to sit down, eat, and converse, she would be delayed even longer, and she couldn't afford any lost time this morning. As it was, hiding in the shadows wasn't solving any of her problems.

Lady Bei Fong picked up a knife and fork and delicately cut into the food on her plate, being careful not to let the knife scratch against the china. "It's rather late in the afternoon, don't you think?"

As soon as his plate was placed in front of him, Toph's father immediately picked up his knife and started cutting into his breakfast and bringing morsels into his mouth as quickly as he could without seeming rude or unmannered. He chewed and swallowed quickly before digging further into his meal.

Toph's mother immediately caught onto the odd behavior. "For goodness's sake, slow down. You'll make yourself sick, eating that quickly."

Lord Bei Fong lowered his utensils slightly and looked up at his wife for a moment. "I'll be perfectly fine," he smiled politely. "I just need to get back to work as soon as I can. There are a lot of matters piling up that I need to attend to."

"All of those letters you need to sort through will be there all day," her mother reasoned. "There's no need to eat as if it'll be your last one for a month, Lao."

Toph could tell that her father was resisting the urge to roll his eyes at his wife and tell her that she didn't understand what it was like to have to deal with business affairs, but he bit back the comment. "Very well. Although my eating more slowly won't prevent me from going back to my work any faster, I hope you know."

Lady Bei Fong sighed and shook her head in a reprimanding manner, lifting a glass of water to her lips. "I suppose not, though I wish you would consider taking a bit of a break from that study of yours. Soon your vision will go bad from staring at papers all day and you'll wind up with a hunch in your back."

"It'll take a lot more than working in my office for a few hours a day to cause that kind of damage, dear," her father replied blandly.

Toph rolled her eyes and pressed her back against the wall. It annoyed Toph that even when she wasn't around, her parents acted so polite and formal even to each other. She would have thought that because they thought they were alone, their conversation would be a little more intimate or at the very least not sound as if they had rehearsed it before hand. But she supposed that was too much to ask from them. It was as if they struggled to come up with something to say, their postures were so rigid and uncomfortable, and the silences that stretched after they spoke were too awkward to be coincidental. It was the reason why meals were highly unfavorable affairs for all three of them. While her parents were insufferable, they were at least tolerable to a degree when she spoke to them separately. But she supposed that meals would always be quiet affairs whenever the two of them sat together at the table.

Then again, with their marriage, Toph wasn't surprised. But, the thought was quickly dismissed. That was a whole other issue that Toph didn't want to deal with at the moment.

Her mother took another small sip of her tea. "As I was saying before, it's already so late. Don't you find it strange?"

Her father lifted a brow and swallowed another mouthful of food. "Well you have been up for a few hours and it isn't as if time has stopped suddenly. So I don't see why it being late in the day is so peculiar."

"That isn't what I mean," she retorted. "Toph hasn't come downstairs yet." Usually, the girl was known for sleeping in often. She was the last one in the house to come downstairs and have breakfast and it always took a lot of coaxing and convincing to get her dressed in the mornings. However, she always made it to meals. The fact that they were both eating alone this morning was a little unsettling.

Her father raised a brow and looked curiously toward the doorway. "Maybe she overslept."

"Well that can't do." Lady Bei Fong turned towards the doorway with a stern gaze, almost as if she were expecting Toph to come downstairs any minute so that she could scold her for being tardy. "Honestly, she's almost seventeen. If she can't even get up on her own, then there's no hope for her."

Sensing the lecture that was about to come from the mention of their daughter, Toph's father attempted to turn the conversation elsewhere. "She's probably tired from all of the extra studying you've been having her do. Just enjoy your breakfast."

But his wife was hearing none of it. Her breakfast was abandoned in exchange for drumming her nails against the wooden tabletop and sighing in exasperation. "We both know that's a lie. It isn't as if she's staying up all night completing all of her tutor's work. It isn't enough to stay in bed all day for."

Toph shifted her feet uncomfortable once she realized that the conversation was quickly zeroing in on her. It seemed as though conversations like these occurred often, because her father didn't seem to have to think much in order to come up with a quick response. He simply kept eating and muttered in a comment in between bites.

"Not everyone is you, dear," he said carefully. If his tone of voice was just a little off, she may take this entire conversation the wrong way. "Besides, I think having five hours of tutoring every day is a little bit much. What with her regular studies, flute lessons, art lessons, calligraphy lessons, dance lessons—"

"I hardly think that you are one to talk, Lao," Toph's mother quickly shot back. "You make it sound as if you are not completely involved in our daughter's life."

Her father dropped his fork and pointed an accusatory finger at her, since pointing at people with utensils was rude. "I keep her safe from harm. Attacking her with every tutor you can get your hands on is ridiculous."

Her mother sighed and pushed her plate away from her. She called to the kitchen and asked that her plate be taken away and that her cup be refilled. Her shoulders slumped slightly and looked down at her hands folded in her lap.

"It's not an attack. It's properly preparing her. There's nothing wrong with covering all bases when it comes to her education. She'll thank me for it when she gets older, just like she'll thank the both of us for not allowing her to explore the city like she wants to." At the mention of this, she scoffed as her plate was removed from in front of her and her tea cup was filled again. "Though I'll never understand why she would want to traverse the slums like she was a little commoner."

Lao Bei Fong seemed to have finally found something that he could agree with his wife on as he nodded knowingly. "Not only that, but can you imagine the trouble she could get into what with all of the riff raffs running around in that part of the city. It amazes me how much she fights us for the opportunity. I didn't see you or I attempting anything like that when we were her age."

Lao's wife chuckled in between sips of her tea. "I agree. It makes me wonder where she gets it from."

The conversation turned into a mutual rant about the strange habits of their daughter. It seemed as though they wouldn't be letting up on the topic for a while, so Toph allowed herself to slide down the wall of the hallway and sit on the floor. It was uncomfortable how the only thing they could speak civilly about was how strange they thought she was. They called her out on practically everything she did: wanting to visit the city, not wanting to sit down and have tea with their neighbors, not sharing her mother's taste in lavish clothing, and not immediately jumping on the opportunity to shop for jewels and accessories whenever it was offered to her. They spoke of her as if she had this chronic disease, or as if she was in need of an intervention. And it was done so casually that it made Toph sick just listening to it.

Toph was tempted to just escape from the hallway, walk out the front door, and deal with the consequences afterwards. Hell, with the way they were going on, they probably wouldn't even notice. But of course, it was a ridiculous idea. She needed to think of a way to get them to leave her alone for the day, at least for a couple of hours. Then her hands would be cleaned.

A chill ran through Toph's spine and she was suddenly reminded how underdressed she was at the moment, donning only her night chemise and a thin, dark robe. She felt a sneeze coming on and quickly held her nose shut so as to prevent herself from making any noise that would reveal her position. She must not have noticed it before, but she was starting to feel a head cold coming on. Maybe it was because she was out in the freezing cold the day she ran into Aang. She did walk home without a cloak the whole way home. Plus, she half remembered forgetting to shut the window to her bedroom the other night. She quietly sniffled and stood on the floor, thinking out what she could do next.

Toph held back another sneeze, and then smirked when an idea came to her. She flipped her head upside down and messed up her hair as much as she could so that it was sticking up at odd angles from her scalp. She pinched her nose until it was red so that it looked like she was blowing her nose all morning and tightened her robe around her waist. She faked a loud cough and then walked into the sun room.

She couldn't describe the expressions on her parents' faces when she walked in. At first, it looked like they were about to berate her for coming down so late. Then it switched into shock—maybe guilt, which probably had to do with their previous conversation and whether or not she had overheard it. They held that gaze for a moment and looked at each other warily, like they were two children who had just gotten caught stealing candy out of the cupboards. Toph suppressed the desire to roll her eyes and glare at the two of them, but instead faked another loud cough. Only then did they notice her disheveled appearance and stood up from their seats in worry.

Her mother rushed over to her and placed both hands on her shoulder. "Oh, goodness Toph! What on Earth happened to you? You look terrible!"

Toph crossed her arms and shivered. "I feel a little dizzy," she drawled. "Plus it's freezing in here."

Her mother tsked. "Well, no wonder. You're out in nothing but your nightgown." She started placing the backs of her hands against the skin on Toph's face. "Oh you poor thing, you must be sick, you're face is so hot."

Really? She thought. Her acting couldn't have been that good. Chances are it was her mother just trying to act concerned to cover up what she had just finished saying about her own daughter. She didn't feel sick.

Lao rounded the table, his face laced with concern. "Sick? She hasn't left the house."

Toph winced at the statement.

But her mother waved off the comment and frowned. "It's not about whether or not she was outside. Maybe one of her servants is sick."

Toph coughed again and sniffled. She tried to make her voice sound as nasally as possible and replied. "Well…I may have…slept with the window open…?"

Lady Bei Fong immediately rolled her eyes and ushered her daughter towards the door, her husband following close behind. The leftovers from breakfast were forgotten and a couple of young servants quickly and quietly cleared the mess as the trio left the sun room and made their way towards the main hall.

"I don't know how many times I have to explain this to you, Toph," her mother scolded. She was still shoving her daughter down the hall, and Toph had to suppress the urge to roll her eyes. "It's winter time. The draft almost definitely made you sick. How could you be so irresponsible?"

Toph closed her eyes. She didn't have to fake the headache coming on. "I was out on the balcony for a little bit and I forgot to close it," she answered honestly. It was a habit that she had. She always kept the window cracked open during the warm season. Something about having a nice refreshing breeze drift through her room comforted her. But she must have been so distracted last night that she forgot exactly how cold it was outside. She mentally kicked herself. Thinking back, she must have really been senile to forget to close it. She was losing her mind.

"Maybe I should call for a doctor," Lao thought out loud.

Toph's eyes widened and her head snapped to look behind her. "No!" Lao shot her a wary look and Toph's mother gripped her shoulders tightly, staring at her face and trying to gauge what was the matter. "No doctors," Toph continued a little more calmly. "I'm not that sick. It's just a cold. All I need is a little rest."

"Are you sure?" her mother asked. "You felt a little hot when I touched you earlier."

Toph shook her head and shrugged her mother's hands off of her shoulders. She walked towards the main staircase and looked back as she walked. "It was probably your imagination." She sneezed for good measure before continuing. "I just need to sleep a little more. If I'm left alone for the rest of the day I think I'll be fine."

Lao seemed appeased by the suggestion, but then again he was like her and had never been one to care much for his healthy. He seemed content with the fact that it was just a little cold. Her mother however—worrywart that she was—was still not pleased with the sudden turn of events.

"I want someone checking in on you every hour," her mother insisted, already snapping her head around for someone to order. "You should be drinking tea, I want you bundled up tight, and I'm cancelling all of your lessons."

Toph raised an eyebrow. All of a sudden her mother was acting so concerned when she was complaining about how abnormal she was not two minutes before.

Two-faced, I swear, she thought.

Her father sighed and decided to assess his daughter's healthy for himself. He placed the back of his hands against her cheeks and held her at arms length, searching her face for any further diagnosis. He rolled his eyes and let Toph go.

"She feels a little warm, and she looks flushed," her father observed, "but that's no reason to be having someone check in on her. It looks like nothing more than a common cold. There's no need to be so dramatic over this."

"How do you mean dramatic?" her mother asked.

"All she needs is sufficient rest. She can't get that if you're constantly pestering her, now can she?" Her father was falling back into the habit of talking for other people, but as long as it was helping get Toph out of this house, the young heiress was not even attempting to complain.

Lady Bei Fong huffed at the seemingly ludicrous suggestion, but then looked at her daughter once more. All kidding aside, Toph was shivering in her thin night clothes and she was afraid that the sneezing and coughing was starting to become less and less of an act. She only hoped that she didn't seem too sick and that her parents would leave her alone for the rest of the day while under the pretense of getting some much needed rest.

Her mother looked about ready to argue, but there was another spark of tension between the couple that Toph had also sensed earlier. The two adults shared a look. Lao's eyebrows lifted slightly and his head was tilted slightly to the side, almost as if he were quietly daring her to challenge him in a decision. His wife, however, tightened her lips and lifted her chin higher so that her face was lifted as high and as straight as she could hold it. Toph stared between the two nobles and hoped that her father actually one this little disagreement.

Lady Bei Fong was the first to tremble under the pressure of her husband's challenge. Her gaze faltered, and she started to bite her lip slightly. Finally, as if she were heaving a great load of stones off of her back, she sighed and nodded to her daughter.

"Fine. I'll let the servants know that you need rest and that they shouldn't bother you. But you're only napping until lunch. After that, you are going to be cared for completely until you're better. You have a lot that needs to be done, and you being sick is quite the inconvenience."

"Your mother is right, Toph," her father explained, now starting to take her mother's side again. He looked at the large clock in the main room and clicked his tongue once he realized what time it was. "You need to take proper care of yourself. Be careful about that window next time, yes?" he added tiredly.

Toph bit her tongue and held back the comment she desperately wanted to make public. But instead she bowed her head slightly and promised that she wouldn't do anything of the sort again. She waited there on the frigid steps and waited until her father had decided that he had lectured enough and waved for her to run upstairs and rest. She smiled and turned on her heel towards her bedroom again.

She had to remind herself that the hallways echoed as she trudged back through the hallways to her room. No yelling, no stomping, no cursing, not even muttering. She had to stay composed and still pretend like she was sick. It wasn't until she reached her room that she finally saw it fit to let out her frustration. She grabbed the object closest to her—a glass figurine of a lily—and flung it towards the opposite wall. It made contact and immediately shattered into small beads of crystal all over her carpet. The sound of the glass breaking echoed through the room and mingled with her harsh breathing. Toph turned and kicked the bottom of her door before plunging into her closet.

"An 'inconvenience,' huh?" she muttered hatefully. "Was I getting in the way of your quality time with your dull, wooden desk, huh Dad?" She dug into the very back of her closet and pulled out her plain clothes that she used to go outside. They were collected into a disorganized heap in her arms and dropped unceremoniously on her bed. She dropped to her knees and started feeling around under her bed.

"And poor, poor, Mom," Toph continued, "has to go through the trouble of informing all the tutors to say that her daughter is not seeing anyone today. How absolutely terrible that she would have to lift a finger and cancel!"

Something about her parents always riled her up. In fact, their daily interaction would follow a concrete formula: she would speak to them, the conversation would remain dull, they would wave her off and say something stupid, she would get upset, and then she would sneak out to clear her head. It happened every single time, and this encounter with them just proved how predictable their relationship was, if one could even call it that. It was always like this though: they were probably too busy to bother with her for too long, and they were probably annoyed that they had to inconvenience so many people just because she was feeling a little under the weather.

It was simple: just get better so that they wouldn't have to deal with any drama and complications. That's what their relationship had been reduced to.

More hateful thoughts started filling her head, and she decided that it was no use dwelling on them at the moment when she was on a time limit. Toph emerged pulling out a large case filled with boxes and wrapping papers from old presents she had gotten over the years. She recognized some of them and the occasions: Christmas, Birthday's, Half-Birthday's, Just-Because-We Felt-Like-It presents, and a few condolence presents she had received when some snotty old geezer from her family that she didn't particularly care for happened to die suddenly.

The plainest box she could find was a dark blue box wrapped up in a simple white ribbon. If she folded the coats right, they would just fit in the box. She pulled it out from under the bed along with a pair of black winter boots that she hid under there as well. Everything else was shoved back underneath.

Footsteps sounded from outside, and Toph quickly realized that it was probably her parents coming to check on her. She darted to the door and made sure that it was locked. They could still come in with their own keys, but at least it would deter them for the moment. Toph didn't stop getting ready as she threw on a loose pair of black wool slacks, a long sleeved green sweater, and her long coat. She was wrapping a scarf around her neck and reaching out for her boots at the same time when she heard the doorknob jiggle. A sigh was heard through the door, before the visitor started knocking.

Toph used her sick voice again. "Who is it?" she moaned loudly.

"Are you alright, Miss Bei Fong?" Thank goodness. It's just a maid. "Your parents wanted me to bring you up some tea?"

Toph rolled her eyes and started pulling on her boots. "Just leave it by the door, I'll come and get it in a second."

She heard the clatter of the tea tray outside her door and the retreating steps of the maid. She sincerely hoped that no one else came up while she was gone to give her more tea or something like that. Toph quickly opened the door and pulled in the tray of tea that was brought up. She left it on her bedside table and simply ignored it. Besides, from the smell she could tell that it was oolong tea, and she hated that tea anyway.

Feeling a lot better wrapped up in warm clothes, she started packing away the coats as best she could in the box that she had found. While she did this, she happened a look at the time and started doing the usual calculations in her head: how long would it take her to get where she was going? How long would it take her to get back? When did she need to get back? How much time could she afford wasting in between? If she was even a minute off, someone might come upstairs at lunch to fetch her, and then discover that she isn't in her room. It wouldn't take long for the large staff of maids and servants to search the rest of the house and confirm that she wasn't home. Then she would really have to start praying.

She double-checked the door to her room to make sure that it was locked, blew out all the lamps in her room, and grabbed her black cloak. She pulled on the hood and tucked the package underneath her arm as she opened the door the balcony and stepped outside.

"Oh, S-Spirits, it's c-c-cold!"

The wind and the rain outside was helping it feel colder than it probably was in reality. The rain hitting her face felt like needles against her skin and the wind was chilling her damp clothing further. She was thankful for the thick boots on her feet, otherwise she would be slipping and falling once she reached the ground. Looking down at the garden path, she could already see the mini river flowing down the path.

Toph was tempted to go back inside and wait until tomorrow for her to deliver the present. But she shook her head at the thought. She wouldn't get a chance like this again, and Aang needed these coats in case of weather precisely like this. A violent shiver shook her body, but she ignored the chill seeping into her skin and set to work.

Toph kneeled down and pried the loose pillar out of the balcony. A large space was opened up large enough for her to slip through. She tipped the pillar over and held it upside down. The pillar was hollowed out, and Toph was able to reach inside and pull out a rope long enough for the job she needed done. The pillar was pushed off to the side and Toph began to tie the rope around the banister, using a combination of the most complicated and haphazard knots she could think of so that she wouldn't fall. It took longer than usual due to her shaking and trembling hands, but she eventually got the rope tied.

She tugged and checked the knots one more time before tucking the package closer to her body and slipping through the gap in the balcony. Before she lowered herself, she pulled out form her pocket a pair of warm gloves that had a good grip to help her hang onto the rope. Toph let her feet drop over the edge and lean against the building. Then, as slowly and as carefully as she could manage, she pushed off the house and lowered herself down the wall. She repeated the process and continued to scale down the building one foot at a time.

It was thanks to the experience she had in doing this task that she managed to get down to the ground without falling. She had slipped a couple of times when her foot slipped against the wet, slick surface of the house, but she had managed to get down without hurting herself and, more importantly, without damaging the package she was clinging to.

The cover of the rain made it so that Toph didn't need to hide behind the greenery and could just run straight towards the gates of the estate. She was careful to avoid the guards who were still walking around the grounds, holding up lanterns to see through the thick rain. It was amazing that is was this dark out, yet it was still early in the morning.

Toph reached the gates of the estate and quickly located the two bars that were pulled apart. She twisted her body so that she was able to slip through without a sound. She gripped the package under her cloak with both arms and started running down the path towards the town. Thankfully, no one was outside to question her and ask her where she was going. She figured that no one—not even the regular people in the town—would be dumb enough to be outside in this weather.

Well, no one save for herself.

As she navigated through the cold, set streets, she wondered if what she was doing was sane at all. She could get sick, she could get lost, she might lose the package, and worst of all she might be found out by her parents. She was right: the whole plan was stupid, especially with the dangerous weather added into the mix. She knew that Aang needed the help and deserved it as well. But she had never been this cold in her life, she was too distracted to remember an umbrella so that she wouldn't have gotten soaked, and she only just realized exactly how far she needed to walk in order to make it to Katara's house to drop off the package.

All of these would have been enough to convince anyone to go home and forgo the mission presented to them. Everyone except for her, apparently. And it made her wonder—again—why she was going through all of the trouble for this one boy who she didn't even like. She was complaining, yet she wasn't stopping. Why? Why was this so important for her?

It took her an excruciatingly long twenty minutes to trudge through empty streets and locate Katara's house. By now, the rain had stopped and the sky wasn't so dark anymore. A few people were walking through the streets clutching coats to their bodies. They were all giving Toph strange looks as they took in her soaked ensemble, but she paid them no mind.

The only thing she was staring at was the warm light coming from Katara's window, and Toph couldn't help but sigh in relief at the sight. She pulled out the unharmed package from underneath her cloak and walked up the steps to Katara's front door.

OOO

The last couple of days for the two boys were—without any exaggeration—mind-numbingly boring.

During the winter, Jet always moved in with Aang. The small building that he called home was extremely run down—more so than Aang's—and often got far too cold to sleep in. The holes in the walls and ceilings, the roof that had a tendency to leak, and the broken windows only added to the frigid temperatures. So the boys made a silent agreement that Aang's home would be the better place to be when the weather got too intense.

Normally, the winter was great for the two of them. Ever since they were boys, they treated the winter like one long sleepover. They each lived so far away from each other that meeting up for something as simple as hanging out for the day was never an option. When they did meet up, it was always for serious business such as getting food and clothes. At least now, they had time to just be a couple of teenage boys.

Or at least they thought they did.

They kept their promise and decided that leaving the house wasn't allowed unless it was absolutely necessary. Jet had carried over the few lanterns that he kept at his house to warm up Aang's room as much as they could. The windows were kept shut tight and they used the blankets that Jet had found two days ago to wrap themselves up and keep them warmer. Another pile of quilts was made in the room for Jet to sleep and all of the food they had collected between the two of them was kept on the table Aang kept in the room.

The only problem with the entire set up was that they were so used to going outside and doing something. But this was the first time in a long time that they didn't have thick sweaters and jackets at their disposal. Now their days were filled with nothing but sitting inside and doing nothing.

Aang would pass hours reading the many books he had around his room. Jet would sometimes entertain himself with one for ten minutes or so, but would abandon it in favor of messing with his knife collection that he always brought over. He would use a wall for target practice and start throwing knives, and for hours the only noises that could be heard in the room was the thud of knives impaling the wall and the soft crinkle of paper every time Aang turned a page. When that got boring, they would talk for the rest of the night.

Aside from that, there wasn't much for them to do. The desire to go outside, stretch their legs, and do something other than sitting around all day was far too great. One time, Jet had thought that he would do just that and go outside for only a few minutes. But the moment he opened the door and felt the wind whip against his face, the idea was quickly forgotten.

It had only been two days, and the boys were wondering whether they could last the week before they started banging their heads against the wall for a bit of entertainment.

The two boys would huddle in front of Aang's large window for only a few minutes each day and taking advantage of the great view. While the large avenue that normally was very busy on market days wasn't visible from Aang's window, there was a faint visual of the gates of the city. If there really was a market day coming soon, then surely a plethora of carts and carriages would be filing into the city. The two of them knew in the back of their minds that the likelihood of such a procession was abnormally low. If they were lucky, one would come only at the end of the week, and even that sentiment alone was looking more and more like wishful thinking as the days wore on. Needless to say that life had been veering towards hopeless.

Jet was currently asleep in the corner of the room, snoring quietly with his arm draped over his eyes. He was dressed in every single sweater he had ever owned and was bundled up with multiple blankets and quilts in order to keep him warm. That left Aang a time of peace and quiet where he could sit at the table in his room and catch up on reading. There had been an abnormal amount of excitement lately and he couldn't remember the last time he had simply sat down and enjoyed the silent pleasure that reading a good novel gave him.

Also, it was a relief to be able to read a book without Jet teasing him for trying to be all "smart and literate." He said only nobles knew how to read. From there stemmed another conversation of how much Jet truly detested any sort of rich person and how cultured, civilized, and privileged they thought they were. Of course, Aang didn't care and always ignored him, but it was nice to not have him breathing over his shoulder and making fun of his hobby.

Though he did have to admit that it was hard to concentrate on the words on the page. Often, he found himself rereading multiple passages that he just didn't recall. His mind was racing and filling up with all sorts of agendas that he had hoped to accomplish. For example, today would have been a great time to go to the streets and gamble for money. There were a couple of copper coins in this pocket that he reserved for specifically instances such as these. The money he earned was always spent on more extravagant things or items in large stores that were very hard to just snatch and take. His eyes drifted to the jugs in the corner of the room and mentally noted that water would have been another good idea for today. But since it wasn't completely necessary—they still had enough for a couple of days—going out in temperatures like today was agreed to have been a bad idea, much to Aang's dismay.

It bothered him—truly and utterly bothered him—that he couldn't go anywhere. Sitting here in his room reading and not going out there and surviving like he should have been filled him was a sense of loathing that he couldn't easily shake. Every time he tried to find someone to blame for it, he couldn't. It was an irrational emotion to have, since it also didn't solve anything brooding about the place with nothing to do. But who could blame him? It was like tying a dog up to a tree with a short rope and leaving him there for days without being able to go anywhere else. It was cruel, and it annoyed him that this was the only place that he could stay. And he couldn't help but have all of the "what if's" run through his head and think about what he could have done differently to make sure that nothing like this could have happened.

He was about to return again to see if he could try reading again, but Jet's stirring in the corner of the room caught him off guard. The blankets started moving about as the boy stretched his limbs from underneath him, and his groan came out muffled and distorted with sleepiness.

"Rise and shine, sleeping beauty," Aang muttered from behind his book. He chuckled when he felt the dirty glare being sent his way.

Jet rubbed at his eyes and looked towards the window. "Is it raining?" he asked.

The wooden slab was propped up in front of the window and managed to keep out enough cold and rain so that they wouldn't freeze. But the sounds of the water hitting the wood were echoing loudly through the room.

Aang turned another page and sighed. "Yeah. It stopped a couple of times in the past few hours, but it keeps starting up again randomly. I don't doubt there's going to be some ice on the roads soon."

Jet groaned loudly and plopped back down against the quilts and comforters underneath him. "Are you serious? Do you think it's going to stay like this?"

Aang shrugged and put his book down on the table. "I don't know. I hope not. We need to go out for water soon."

"How soon?" Jet asked. Depending on how bad the weather was, they may have to put stocking up on hold, or they probably wouldn't be able to go at all.

"I'd say about two days," Aang reasoned, staring at the jugs in the corner. "If we push it and really conserve, maybe three." But Aang knew that three days wasn't going to cut it. Because they had so little food left, they needed to keep themselves properly hydrated. Things were really starting to look bleak for the two of them. They needed to go out and steal something. From a bakery, a restaurant, a home. Anything. It'd be riskier than stealing from the market, and Aang would no doubt feel terrible about it later, but they couldn't afford to base their actions on morality at the moment.

Jet frowned and stared straight up at the ceiling. He was chewing on the inside of his cheek before he spoke again. "We can stop drinking water in the middle of the day to save water for three days. By then the weather should clear up, right?"

"Yeah," Aang commented. "Or it could get worse. Let's just stick with the plan. We'll go for more water in two days, no matter how cold it is."

Jet looked like he wanted to argue further, but decided against it and simply rolled over and looked towards the wall. "Fine. Whatever," he said tiredly.

Aang decided to let him sleep. He tended to do that when he had nothing to do or when was really stressed. He still felt pangs of worry hit his heart and couldn't help but ask Jet one last time if he was alright and if he needed to talk about anything at all.

"I'm fine Aang. Just tired." And the conversation was left at that.

It was obvious that the boy was getting more and more discouraged as the days went on. Although, to be fair, so was Aang. But he decided to not let himself get depressed over this. It wouldn't help either of them if they were both stewing over how miserable and messed up their situation was. If Jet was going to be miserable now, Aang would pick up the optimism. And later, when Aang was sure that he would fall into a slump, Jet would do the same for him. It was a back and forth support system that worked for the two of them for years, and it would continue working. It had to.

Aang shot his head up when he heard a knock coming from the front door downstairs. Jet didn't seem to hear to noise, or pretended not to hear it. Hugging his thin sweaters closer to him, he walked downstairs to where the house was colder and walked towards the door.

The moment he shoved it open, wind came flying into the room and chilled him to the bone, making him glad that he was stuck inside the house for once. The rain seemed to have let up some and was now only falling as a light drizzle. He looked around in front of him and to the left of him, wondering where the visitor had gone. He didn't see a flurry of blue coats and brown hair race around the corner and out of his line of vision.

Katara looked from around the corner and bit her lip, hoping that Aang would take the package. He was still staring down at it, wondering who would have bothered to leave a present for him. She pulled her scarf over her face and sighed. The request was so odd. Toph had come into her house soaking wet, refused new clothes, a warm drink, and food, and simply gave her that package and told her to deliver it to Aang.

Katara wasn't sure why Toph would be compelled to give Aang a present all of a sudden. When she had asked the noble why she was even bothering with something such as this, she just sighed, averted her eyes, and said, "I owe him. This is my way of saying thanks." When Katara asked why she had to go and deliver it, Toph stayed silent and didn't reveal as much information. She just said that she couldn't go give him the present herself. Besides, Katara was the only one who knew where he lived. Toph going over to visit him would have seemed strange. The older girl was tempted to pry for more information, but the green eyed girl looked tired and cold in those clothes and looked like she went through a lot to give this present to her to deliver. She had left Toph in her home to warm up while she went and dropped the present off.

The blue eyes girl looked on hopefully as she saw Aang carefully pick up the package and bring inside the house with him. She didn't leave her position until she heard the door shoved back into place. Whatever the gift was and whatever it was that Toph was planning, she at least hoped it al went well. To think that the poor girl went out in the chilling rain just for this, Katara couldn't understand that. But she supposed in the end, it was all resolved. Katara pushed herself off the wall of the building she was hiding behind and went back through the streets to tend to Toph who was nice and safe back at her house.

Meanwhile, Aang was attempting to untie the knot to the box he had found on his doorstep. At first, he didn't want to believe it. Who in the world would take the trouble of wrapping up a present for him, and in such a nice box too? It wasn't like he had many friends, and there wasn't any sort of special occasion that he could think of that came up recently. But, upon picking it up, it didn't look like it was harmful. It couldn't hurt to see what was inside, right? After all, if it was something good, he and Jet might be able to keep it.

Aang kicked open the door and startled Jet who was still sleeping on the floor. He groaned loudly and looked up from his cocoon of blankets, scarves, and sweaters to see what the noise was about. It was upon seeing the gift in Aang's hands that he got up from his bed and walked over to the table where Aang set the present down. Jet looked over Aang's shoulder and immediately asked, "Where'd you get that?"

The boy shrugged in response. "It was on the doorstep. Someone knocked just now and I found it here."

Jet kept staring at the box and picked at the white ribbon still wrapped around the box. He furrowed his brows at the odd gesture of random kindness. "Should we open it?"

"I don't know, what if a ferret pops out and chews our faces off?" Aang asked warily. It hadn't occurred to him until now, but maybe this wasn't a present at all. Maybe it was just some low life trying to get back at them for something. Or maybe it was just a sick prank being pulled on them because someone didn't have anything else better to do. All of those possibilities seemed more probably than someone actually caring enough to give him a gift.

Jet have him a deadpanned look. "Really? If that were even true, the box would be shaking and moving around like crazy. Besides…" Jet took the box and started shaking it around violently for a few seconds. He stopped, listened for a moment, and nudged Aang's shoulder. "There doesn't seem like there's anything alive in here. It can't hurt to see what someone went through the trouble of giving you. Just crack it open and see what's up."

Aang was still al little hesitant to open the box, but Jet seemed se eager to see what was inside that he decided it was better to just open it up and see. He slipped the ribbon off completely and lifted the lid of the box off of the top and peered inside. At first, neither boy said anything, because they weren't quite sure what they were looking at. It was just a large swatch of fabric in the box. It wasn't until Jet screamed the answer as loudly as he could that Aang's eyes finally popped out of their sockets, leaving him extremely perplexed.

"Coats!"

The tan boy didn't hesitate to lift one of the six coats out of the box and hold it up to himself. They looked really warm and brand-spanking new. Jet immediately threw on the coat and slipped his arms through the sleeves. He tied all the strings and clasped all the buttons and laughed once the coat was perfectly placed on.

"And they fit! Haha!" Jet immediately hugged the coat closer to him, relishing in the warmth that surrounded him for the first time this winter. Aang's mind immediately compared him to a little girl showing off a brand new dress that she had gotten on Christmas or for her birthday. Aang would have normally laughed at the comparison if he weren't so confused about what just happened.

"Here, Aang," Jet nearly shouted in his excitement. He sifted through the box and pulled out one of the coats in the box. "Try one on! It should fit."

Aang didn't have the time to protest the action before Jet immediately slipped him into one of the coats in the pile. Aang struggled to throw Jet off of him before he slowly fastened all the buttons on his coat and looked at his complete ensemble. He had to admit, the coat felt nice and warm and he felt a small spark of relief and happiness thrum through his body when he felt the fabric against his skin and warm his skin. He was tempted to just bask in the miracle that overcame them like Jet was, but Aang quickly snapped himself out of his reverie and decided to be the voice of logic.

"This doesn't make sense," Aang commented. "Who would give us coats like this? Why?"

"Maybe it was Katara," Jet offered. "I've always said that she had a soft spot for the two of us."

Aang shook his head and removed the coat. He started inspecting it with a critical eye and frowned. "A coat like this? No way. This is made out of velvet. Do you know how expensive that is? I mean, I know Katara has money, but not this much. You'd need like ten gold pieces to buy something like this. It doesn't make sense…"

Jet rolled his eyes and groaned dramatically. "Who the hell cares?" Jet laughed. "We have coats! Coats, Aang! We can go outside, we're not going to starve, and we'll be set for ages. Look how many there are. We can each have three, this is amazing! Stop complaining and just enjoy it for a second."

Aang may have seemed like a paranoid, uptight worrywart, but this was just a little too strange for him. It didn't make sense. Why anyone would want to drop off coats for them like they were life long friends was absolutely ridiculous. There had to be a catch of some sort with all of this. They didn't live in a world where kindness showed up to your doorstep. So who else could have—

His eyes were fixed on the inside of the coat he was holding and he froze. "…no freaking way."

"What? What happened, is something wr—hey! What the hell are you doing!" Jet shouted at Aang when he stalked over, undid the buttons on the coat, and snatched it off of him. Jet looked at Aang strangely when he saw him stuffing the coats back into the box and tying back together.

"What the hell is your problem? Why are you putting them away?"

Aang ignored him and took the box with him downstairs. He pulled the hat on his head lower so that it covered his forehead and buttoned up the sweater he was wearing. He was about to fling open the door to the house before he was stopped by Jet. The boy was holding the door closed with the palm of his hand and was looking at Aang expectantly, awaiting an explanation.

The grey eyed boy was too riled and up and upset to explain anything in detail. He sighed and simply stated, "We're not keeping these."

"Why the hell not?" Jet asked seriously, his light and uncaring demeanor dissipating quickly. "We need these. And you're taking them back?"

Aang wrenched the door open regardless and caused Jet to stumble backwards a few steps. All of a sudden, Aang was filled with an anger that warmed up his entire body. He was numb to the cold and to the wind howling against his body. He wasn't even thinking about the weather. He was far too upset, and he had his eyes on one destination only.

He left Jet with one final statement before he rushed out of the house. "It's not the coats I have a problem with. It's who sent them." That's all he left his best friend with, and he slammed the door behind him.

As Aang stalked angrily through the streets of the city, he couldn't suppress his anger and he almost couldn't believe what he had just seen. It was impossible that something like this could happen, and he was dead set on resolving this once and for all. He wasn't going to be made a fool of. This wasn't going to keep going on, not as long as he had something to say about. The cold was brutal, and he was sure that even his blood was running cold thanks to the wind added into the mix. His whole body was shivering and his lips were turning blue, and inside the back of his mind was the desire to turn around and find warm shelter before he froze to death. But what he saw fueled his anger and helped him ignore the cold and press forward.

Embroidered into the hem of one of the coats was an animal: a flying boar to be precise.

You had to be an idiot to not know what that seal meant and what is represented. Placing all the pieces together, there was only one person who could possibly be behind this.

Toph Bei Fong.