"Woah! Steady, both of you!" said Sokka, stepping forward to stand between both girls, who seemed ready to beat each other up "Don't do this! Please, keep calm, there's no reason not to be reasonable!"

Azula frowned, still staring at Katara with hatred. But she withdrew herself slowly, still with her gaze fixated upon the Water Tribe girl, who seemed surprised to see her pass on such a great chance to fight her once again.

"Well played, Sokka" complimented Aang, smiling a little

"Why are you guys in here?" asked Sokka, surprised

"Haven't you even heard of the concept of knocking, at the very least?" asked Azula with disdain on her voice

"I thought we should knock, but Katara blasted through the door before I could even think…" muttered Aang, smiling awkwardly

"Oh, cut out the meaningless chatter" said Azula "At least explain why you believed you had the right to enter this room uninvited, will you?"

"We want answers, Azula" said Katara "And we want them now! What are you planning to do on that test? Why did you bring Haru here? What's going on here?"

"Waaaait" said Sokka "You're seriously flipping out just because of the test? Katara, there's nothing for you to worry about! And Haru's…!"

"That's not the only thing in Katara's mind, Sokka…" said Aang "You two need to talk, seriously"

Sokka raised an eyebrow, staring at his sister with some discomfort. The angry look on Katara's face made him wonder if having a conversation with her wouldn't result in the girl screaming at him without listening to anything he'd try to say…

"Well… okay" said Sokka, gulping "What do we have to talk about?"

"In private" muttered Katara, gritting her teeth

"I'm sure anything you need to tell him can be conveyed in front of all of us" said Azula, defying her rival.

"I don't think so" said Aang

"B-but… why not?" asked Sokka nervously "I mean, how bad can a nice little conversation be…?"

Katara rolled her eyes and took her brother by the wrist, dragging him outside. Azula didn't seem comfortable at all while seeing him leave, but she didn't protest; she believe she could perfectly handle both the Avatar and the blind girl on her own.

"One annoyance gone, two to go" she muttered, staring at them coldly "What will it take to have you both leave this room?"

"Why do you want us out so badly?" asked Toph, raising an eyebrow "Is this room sacred for some reason?"

"It is for me" growled Azula.

"Well, we want to ask you some questions" said Aang "So we can either ask you here, or ask you on another room, but we won't leave without answers"

Azula sighed and shook her head, irritated. She hated to be forced out of her room in this manner; it was ridiculous of the Avatar and his buddies to show up uninvited, expecting her to keep up with their demands… but she didn't want anyone here. This place was very important for her, and she didn't want it to be tainted with the presences of others.

"Fine" she grunted, leaving the room and locking it once the other two were outside too.

"Where should we…?" started Aang, but Azula walked towards the room in front of them without even listening to him. She opened the door and gestured them to enter it.

Toph immediately got as comfortable as she could, sitting on the very couch were Sokka had been the day before when he'd felt sick. Both Aang and Azula remained on their feet, neither too willing to remain in the room for too long.

"So? What business do you have with me?" said Azula

"Well, Katara pretty much asked most of them for us" said Toph "Why do you guys have Haru bending earth disks outside the city?"

"I don't wish to answer that" said Azula, frowning "You don't need to know yet"

"And when do we get to know?" asked Aang, staring at her with the same defiant look she had on her face "You two are taking this test way too seriously, and you're being too secretive about it. Why can't you guys just tell us what you're planning?"

"We can't say it as simply because it's not completely planned out yet, which reminds me of the reason why you left… I've only just realized you're actually back. How did your search go? Did you find an adequate place to hold the test?"

"Oh, I completely forgot about that!" said Aang, striking his forehead with the palm of his hand "Yes, yes! I have it! The Earth Rumble is available for us to use!"

"Earth Rumble?!" repeated Toph, sitting up now "Awesome! Oh, I've been waiting to kick some lame people's butt again while on that arena! Yeah, no one stands a chance against me!"

Azula raised an eyebrow, surprised

"You will only be fighting one opponent this time, and if you wish to call the Avatar lame, it's your choice. Your friendship always seemed very strange to me anyways"

"Well, he is a little lame from time to time…" said Toph, angering Aang

"That's not fair, Toph! I'm not lame, and…! Wait… you said she'll only fight me? That means I'll only fight her?"

"Who said it was a mutual situation?" asked Azula, smirking "You'll be fighting three people at once, little Avatar, whether you like it or not"

Both Toph and Aang were in shock after Azula's words. Then… it would be Aang against three masters. How could he come out of this in one piece? He'd be crushed flat, and if he wasn't supposed to go into the Avatar State, he wouldn't be able to protect himself at all!

"W-wait a second, how exactly does that work?" asked Toph "There's no way Aang could stand up against all of us! Actually, I don't think he'd even be able to fight me evenly! So how could he battle against Zuko, Katara and me and survive?"

"Oh, so you don't trust the Avatar's strength?" teased Azula "That's a pity, little Avatar. I was sure your friends believed in you"

"At this point, not even I would believe in myself!" said Aang "Fighting the three of them at once would be impossible! They'd destroy me, especially if I can't airbend or go into the Avatar State!"

"Too bad" said Azula, shrugging "It seems you'll never be able to prove if you're a real master of all four elements. Sokka and I struggled while trying to set the rules for a good, complex and fair test, but if you can't handle it…"

"Fair?! Three on one would never be fair!" yelled Aang

"Wait… what rules?" asked Toph, frowning

"I don't know, you tell me. It seems you guys believe you have a better idea for the test, so I'm all ears. Tell me, what brilliant plan do you have in mind? Battling out against my stupid brother until he faints of exhaustion? Fighting the Water Tribe peasant until she says she loves you far too much to hurt you anymore? And I would add a sarcastic comment about you as well, "she said, looking at Toph "but you're strong and you wouldn't go easy on the Avatar, so I'll spare you"

"Uh… thanks?" said Toph, slightly confused

Aang didn't seem amused at all by Azula's claims, but he sighed and raised his arms in signal of surrender

"Fine, fine, if you believe your test is fair then I guess it must be… but why won't you explain it already? I'm at my limit here! You two have been planning for a week, and that's driving me insane!"

"You won't be forced to do anything shameless, stop worrying so much" said Azula

"I just want to know! Is that too much to ask?!" yelled Aang, at the ends of his patience.

Azula played with her left bang for a little while pondering the answer to the Avatar's question

"It is, actually… but since you took the time to go all the way to Gaoling to let us use the Earth Rumble, I'll let you in on the first question which you wanted me to answer" decided Azula, surprising both Toph and Aang

"You really will?" asked the Avatar, in shock

"You don't want me to?" countered Azula, and Aang shook his head vigorously

"That's not what I meant! Sure I want to!"

"Good. Very well, the reason why we sought out Haru rather than the little Bandit here was because we were under the impression that she was training, so we believed it would be better to leave her be. And he's bending earth disks because that's what you'll be bending on your test."

Aang and Toph were surprised after her words, which didn't seem to be the reaction Azula wanted to see, despite knowing she couldn't have expected anything else to happen. She sighed impatiently and stared at them with clear irritation in her eyes

"Well, are you happy now? Will you stop pestering me with your questions?"

"Y-you said we'll bend that…?" repeated Toph "W-what do you mean?! If we're going to be at Earth Rumble, we have to have tons of other earth to bend!"

"Wrong" said Azula "The only earth that you'll be allowed to bend will be the earth disks, whether you like it or not"

"OF COURSE I DON'T LIKE IT!" yelled Toph "That's just ridiculous! Are you two psychos out of your mind, or you're too much in love to think straight?! Argh, this is so infuriating!"

"Calm down, Toph…" said Aang "There has to be a good explanation behind this"

"Oh, I assure you there is one. But I won't bother saying it now, you won't understand anything either way" said Azula, staring at her nails

"B-but…" said Aang

"I said I would answer your first question, Avatar" grunted Azula, staring at Aang with cruel eyes "And I already have. So… why don't you two run along and let me go back to my room?"

"What's with you and that room?" asked Toph, frowning and crossing her arms "Is that the first place you and Sokka made out in or something?"

It was the first time Aang had seen the proud princess blushing madly, staring at Toph in disbelief with a very funny an unusual expression on her face

"W-what did you just…?! Oh, that's all I'm taking from the two of you!" she yelled "Leave now and stop annoying me, will you?!"

Toph couldn't help but smirk. Embarrassing the Fire Nation Princess like she just had done wasn't something people could do easily, but if the girl would insist on limiting Toph's earthbending material, she wouldn't just lay low and let Azula get away with everything… and this was the best way to get back at her.

"Oh, so I really got that right? Or maybe you two were onto something far crazier than that, who knows?" said Toph

"That's enough, Toph" muttered Aang, just as Azula started to lose her nerve completely "L-let's just go, shall we?"

"Go where?" asked Toph, lying down on the couch with complete ease "I'm fine here! Let's just take a day off, shall we?"

Azula stared at her, enraged. She seemed to be even willing to throw a lightning bolt at the blind girl, but surprisingly enough, she repressed the urge.

"Fine, stay there, peasant!" she grunted "But if either of you dare to enter that room once again, I'll burn you to cinders!"

Aang gulped as Azula stormed out of the room, slamming the door after her. Toph smiled, though, stretching her toes happily.

"That was fun" she said

"I wouldn't do that again, if I were you…" suggested Aang

"Oh, come on, Twinkle Toes. You'll take away the fun in life if you don't let me annoy people with short tempers!"

"You annoy the ones with short tempers and the ones with long tempers as well" said Aang, but then he frowned "Is that the right way to go about it…? Long tempers?"

"Relax, Twinkle Toes" said Toph, beaming "Enjoy your freedom while you can… because I think you'll need to train a thousand times harder if you're actually supposed to fight against three opponents"

Aang sighed and nodded; allowing himself to fall on another couch while in deep thought of what would he have to endure on that dreadful test that was looming over him…

Meanwhile, the Fire Nation Princess returned to her favorite room and locked the door shut. If Sokka survived the conversation with his sister, he'd have to knock before coming in, and once he was inside, she'd lock the door for good. She was glad to have freed herself from the Avatar and his awfully persistent and nosy friend, but now she could only worry about Sokka… Would his sister try to poison him against her? Would she try her very best to convince him that their relationship was wrong…? Azula didn't even need to think about it twice, she knew people well, and she didn't need to be as talented as she was at judging others to know Katara wanted her far away from her brother…

But the one thing troubling her was that Sokka might get swayed by her. If he believed her, it would probably mean her downfall once again… The world had changed far too much for her liking, and she still had to deal with the frustrations that dwelled deep within her soul, threatening to rot her if she dared show any weakness. Those frustrations and troubles caused her almost unbearable pain, but lately, the agony had been fading away, slowly, but surely, and a certain somebody was responsible for this. She would never tell him so directly, but the only reason she fought so hard to become a better person was for Sokka's sake.

She'd be completely lost without him.

I am very sorry for all of you who thought Katara and Azula were going to beat each other black and blue, but that can't happen within the Royal Palace! Zuko would banish both of them! (?) Okay, okay, he wouldn't xD but don't fret, a real fight between those two might arise later on the story ^^ And on the next update you'll see how Sokka's little conversation with his sister went! Well, that's all for today! ^^