A/N: Next chapter. Last one before our heroes set out on their adventure.

Aang flinched when he felt the tremor pass through the ground. The party goers around him may not have known the source, but he did. All too well.

And he was just as annoyed as she was.

He tried to push it to the back of his mind as he followed the Southern Water Tribe messenger, deciding that now wasn't the time to linger on it. Irritating as it was that he couldn't seem to enjoy a single private moment, his duty as the Avatar always came first. Even though sometimes it really did try his patience.

He took a quick glance around the room, sensing the change in atmosphere. People appeared to be chatting just as loudly as before- if not louder- but the merrymaking seemed as though it had largely drawn to a close. People stood in tightly knit clusters, jabbering animatedly with one another.

If he had to put a word to the mood of the room, it would probably be "tense".

Something had happened since he'd gone into the kitchen with Toph. Not knowing what was already grating at his nerves.

He and the messenger arrived near the center of the room around the same time as Sokka and Zuko, who had likely dispersed to search for him.

"There you are." Sokka said, confirming Aang's theory. He put his hand on the messenger's shoulder, indicating the man with a smile. "Told Varl here that I was pretty sure I saw you guys headed toward the kitchen, but I decided it would be a good idea to check the buffet table just to be sure." From the crumbs of food lingering in Sokka's beard, Aang had a sneaking suspicion the man hadn't been doing much looking while he was there.

"Thank goodness." Suki said drily. "Wouldn't want to leave any loaf unturned."

"Come on, Suki." Katara joined in. "That's probably the most thorough work he's done all year."

The two shared a smirk, and Sokka looked helplessly between the two. "I don't like it when you two gang up on me."

"Maybe we could get on with this now?" Zuko pressed. "We were waiting for Aang. And now here he-" Zuko looked at the airbender, cutting himself off. His amber gaze didn't miss much. "Aang, are you okay?"

Aang realized that some of his impatience and irritation must've been showing on his face, and tried to school himself into a neutral expression. "I'm fine." He said in a clipped tone.

"You sure?" Ty Lee asked. "Your aura looks so red right now."

"I said I'm fine!" Aang insisted, raising his voice.

All eyes turned to him, and Aang could've sworn he saw Zuko tense up as Ty Lee flinched. He wasn't sure which reaction made him feel the most guilty, but it didn't matter. He felt it either way.

He gave Ty Lee a quick bow, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath before he spoke. "I'm sorry." He said. "I was a little annoyed that 'Avatar business' followed me on what was supposed to be a vacation, but that's no excuse for raising my voice like that. I appreciate your concern, and I hope you can forgive me."

Aang felt a gentle hand on his shoulder, and looked up to see Ty Lee wearing an equally gentle smile. "Apology accepted. And don't worry about it," She said, looking toward Zuko. "We're all a little on edge right now."

Apparently she'd noticed his tension as well, though he deflated slightly under her scrutiny. "Right." He agreed. He shifted his eyes from her to Aang, and in that moment the Avatar felt the unvoiced warning. It had been a while since there had been any real antagonism between the two, but Zuko still had a temper that would flare up from time to time. Right now those golden eyes were expressing their displeasure at Aang's behavior, and the airbender couldn't help but shrink slightly under the look.

Then Zuko turned back to the messenger, and Aang felt a weight lifted from his shoulders. "It might help if we all knew why we were gathered like this." The Firelord said.

"Why don't we walk and talk?" Hakoda suggested, stepping off. "Too many ears here."

Aang went to follow, and noticed Sokka falling into step beside him. "Everything work out okay back there?"

"Would've worked out better if this hadn't happened." Aang said, a little disdainfully.

"Bummer." Sokka said. "Didn't mean to interrupt."

"It's fine. I would've been more upset if I'd been left out of this, anyway." Aang assured him.

"Speaking of left out, where's Toph?"

"Right here, Snoozles." A voice came from behind them.

Aang had been pretty sure he'd felt her coming, so he didn't jump too much. Sokka had no such warning.

"Yah! Toph!" Sokka yelped, gaining the group's attention. "Could you please not sneak up on people like that?"

"And miss the look on your face?" Toph asked.

Aang couldn't help but crack a smile. Blind jokes usually meant that she had at least calmed down a little.

"Toph!" Katara exclaimed. "I was just wondering about you. Where were you?"

"Had to have a little chat with the chef about whose job it is or isn't to clean up the kitchen." Toph answered easily.

Ty Lee's interest was piqued. "Why would he tell you to clean up the kitchen?"

"Because he's a drama queen, just like his brother."

Katara arched an eyebrow. "How do you know his-"

Toph lifted a hand to interrupt her. "Ask Twinkles if you want the whole story, Sweetness. Not about to explain it twice in one night."

Seeing his daughter looking thoroughly irked by the earthbender's attitude, Hakoda let out a loud laugh. "It's good to see you all together again."

"Yeah, it is." Sokka agreed, grinning widely. Katara shot her brother a glare, which he ignored. She looked annoyed by something he did at least twice a day, so he was used to it by now.

"So someone wanna fill me in on what's going on?" Toph prodded impatiently.

"As soon as the rest of us know, we'll tell you." Katara assured her.

"Relax, everyone. We're nearly outside." Hakoda said.

They stopped by the door so they could all don their outerwear. The girls all had heavy coats and boots to put on over their dresses, and Toph reluctantly covered her feet once more. The boys had largely the same, with the exception of Zuko and Aang. Aang's robe was all he wore that night, and Zuko's coat was much lighter than Hakoda's or Sokka's, mainly serving to shield him from the wind. For the limited amount of time that they would be exposed, the two firebenders could generate their own heat well enough.

Toph set to jealously hogging Aang's almost immediately, clinging to him before they were even out the door. Aang fought the impulse to fidget nervously when she did. Something about what they'd almost shared in the kitchen made the gesture… Different somehow. Like they both knew there was more to it.

Maybe he was just overthinking it. Maybe she didn't even think so. Or maybe she did, and just didn't care. It was so hard to tell with her.

"Alright." Hakoda said once they were all outside. He had to raise his voice over the wind, but it was still easy enough to hear him. "Which way are we headed?"

"The healer's building, chief."

"Was someone hurt?" Katara asked immediately. "What happened? Why wasn't I called immediately?"

"They only just returned. I set out to retrieve you all the moment they were settled in." The messenger, Varl, explained.

"Who, exactly, are we talking about?" Sokka asked.

"One of our patrols. They returned injured, and with very strange, very dire news."

"Names, Varl. What were their names?"

"I'm sorry Sokka, I'm not sure. I recognized their faces, but they're some of our newer additions. I don't know them by name. Two Earth Kingdom boys, and two girls- one from the Fire Nation and the other from the Northern Water Tribe."

"That's only four." Hakoda pointed out. "We send patrols out in groups of five. Sometimes more, never less."

"That's part of the dire news I mentioned, Chief." Varl replied. "They lost a man."

"What?" Katara asked, shocked. "How?"

"They could explain it better than me, but they encountered… Something. Some creature that nearly killed them all."

"A creature?" Aang asked. "What kind of 'creature'?"

"Again, you'll have to ask them. I ran to find you as soon as I was told."

"I don't like this." Zuko said. Aang noticed the pensive, brooding look that Zuko often took on when he was thinking cross his features. Zuko stared absently for a moment, before suddenly looking back up and around at the group, as though he'd misplaced something. "Where's my Uncle?"

"He left when you and Sokka went to look for Aang." Ty Lee explained. "He and Pakku both. I'm not sure where they went."

"Who can figure the 'White Lotus'?" Zuko replied, shaking his head. "Those old men love their mysteries."

"Well I don't." Toph interjected. "The sooner we get this all figured out, the better. I have a feeling that we're gonna be traveling soon, and I need a nap before then."

No one disputed that. It was getting later than most of them had realized, and the length of the day was beginning to cause more than one pair of eyelids to feel a little heavier than usual.

The rest of the trip was made in relative silence. The wind continued to whip around them, and flurries of snow carried off seeds of conversation before they could bear fruit. It was clear that they'd gotten as much information as they could for now, and they were all anxious to learn more.

They came upon a small, mostly unassuming building. It was a squat, single story structure that stood out from the rest only by a simple symbol near the door. It was a series of three "L" shapes arranged in a stylized pinwheel within a circle. A universally understood symbol for healing that originated with the air nomads.*

As soon as they walked in, the atmosphere seemed… Heavier, almost. There was an air of deep sorrow that was so nearly palpable, Aang was sure that the rest of the group had to feel it. This only heaped further uneasiness on top of what was already there, and he felt the urge to hurry up and be done with this.

Something about the whole situation had him on edge, really. First his strange visions, and then suddenly patrols were returning with "dire news"? At risk of sounding too much like Sokka, entirely too much weird stuff had happened to them for him to believe that this was all a coincidence.

He kept all this to himself, though, as they removed their boots by the door. Ty Lee had been right, they were all on edge right now. The last thing they needed was Aang heaping his strange Avatar happenings on top of their current troubles.

He felt Toph's arm tighten on his, and he looked down at her. She wore an openly concerned expression, and he realized that the combination of physical contact and the fact that she'd removed her boots had clued her in on the fact that he was lost in his own thoughts.

"You alright?" She asked, surprisingly soothingly.

He considered giving her a curt 'Yeah' or something along those lines, but realized that he'd be caught in the lie in a heartbeat. His heartbeat, to be specific.

He opted for the truth. "I just can't shake the feeling that this all has something to do with what we talked about earlier."

"What, 'great danger' and all that?" She asked.

"Yeah." He confirmed.

"Try not to worry about that for now." She said, her voice low but firm. "Let's just concentrate on what we know, and try to focus on the facts as we get them. No point in guessing while we still don't have much to go on. We'll talk about that when it becomes relevant."

That made sense, in a 'Toph' sort of way. It was far from the 'everything will turn out for the best' talk he could likely expect from Katara, but somehow this comforted him more.

She made no promises about things she couldn't possibly know about, and made no attempts to boost his mood with assurances and niceties. Just straightforward, logical advice to keep him on task, and prevent him from worrying about things out of his control.

"You're right." He told her. "Thanks."

He surprised himself with how much he meant that. He had a tendency to allow his thoughts to drift, but Toph always brought him right back. She was the same as usual; acting as a fixed point in his life, keeping him grounded.

"No problem." She said nonchalantly. "Just making sure you don't go crawling into your headspace again. We need you focused right now." She said it with her usual flippant attitude, but a light dusting of pink on her pale cheeks showed him that she'd been affected by the genuine show of gratitude more than she cared to admit. He knew she didn't handle compliments to anything besides her earthbending skill with very much grace.

He was about to tease her about it, when Varl brought his attention back to the present.

"Right through here." The man said, gesturing them all through a doorway.

Aang wasn't a healer, but even he could see that the individuals in the room had not had a very good evening. Two of them, both men around his age, were very clearly injured. One with sandy hair and a freckled face had a splint tied to his leg, holding a damaged bone in place. The other, one with dark brown hair and gray eyes, had bandages wrapped around his head. A third individual was in one of the beds, a Water Tribe girl with wild hair and sharp blue eyes.

What surprised Aang the most were the three individuals standing in the room. One he didn't recognize, aside from placing her features as those belonging to someone born in the Fire Nation. The other two, however…

Iroh turned to them as they entered, holding a tray of tea that had several steaming cups sitting on top. "What took you all so long? The tea's almost gotten cold already."

"Uncle…" Zuko said disbelievingly. "What- how?"

"When the messenger arrived sounding worried about a returned patrol, it was easy enough to guess that they would likely be recovering here. I asked Pakku to show me the way, so I could show them a bit of kindness while they settled in. I assumed they would need it after their ordeal, and it would seem I was right." He held out the tray. "Would you like a cup?"

Aang, Toph, Ty Lee, and Katara accepted the offer gratefully. Zuko, Sokka, Suki, and Hakoda declined, getting straight to business.

Hakoda approached the nearest bed, occupied by the man with the injured leg. "What's your name, son?" The chief asked.

"Wei, sir." The injured man replied.

"Just Hakoda is fine right now. No need for titles. Especially with what you've all been through."

"Wei…" Sokka muttered under his breath, stroking his beard thoughtfully. "That would mean-" He began looking around the room, stopping at each member of the patrol. "You're Miki." He said, pointing at the girl sitting on the edge of the bed adjacent to Wei. She nodded, confirming his guess.

He moved on to the others. "Avan," He said, pointing at the boy with the head injury. "And Aloy." He pointed to the girl shivering pitifully in her bed. They both nodded in confirmation.

"Wow, not bad." Suki complimented her husband.

"I'm pretty good with names." Sokka replied with false modesty and a shrug.

"Sparky sparky boom man?" Toph reminded him with a smirk.

"Okay, I meant remembering names, not making them up. Give me a break, we were getting shot at by a guy's forehead tattoo at the time."

"Fair enough." Toph conceded.

"Wait." Sokka said, sounding somber all of the sudden. "Nilak requested all of you by name. Don't tell me…"

"He…" The girl named Miki began. "He didn't make it. He gave his life to make sure we all got back in one piece."

"Don't take the blame, Miki." The boy with the head wrap interjected. "It was my fault. He died saving my life, so if there's anyone to blame-"

"No one is blaming anyone." Hakoda interrupted softly, raising a hand for order. "We just want to know what happened."

The four members of the patrol shared a look, before Miki looked up at the Chief. "It started off as a regular patrol. But mid way through our route, we had to respond to a distress flare. That's… That's when everything went bad." She sighed, looking down and tightening her grip on the sheets beside her. "I wasn't there for the first bit, but-"

"It's okay, Miki." Avan interrupted. "I can tell it from here."

The girl sent him a look that was equal parts thankful and worried. He took a deep breath, closing his eyes to gather his thoughts.

"We found a ship." He began, voice taking on a severe tone. He recounted the story of their evening slowly, with as much detail as he could recall. At times, he would seem to fade out as he spoke, drifting off in the middle of a sentence. Aang was unsure if that was the result of physical trauma from the head injury, or mental trauma from the ordeal.

The Avatar paid particular attention to the description of the "centipede" creature. His first thought was the possibility that it could be Koh, but he couldn't be certain. He shivered slightly even thinking of the vile entity, but what the boy was describing didn't sound much like the creature that plagued Aang's thoughts.

Many denizens of the spirit world had the capability to shift and change their appearance on demand. Very little in the spirit world was actually solid or corporeal. It was a strange place with its own set of rules that took time to accept. Aang still hadn't spent enough time there to really grow used to it, and he doubted he ever would.

That all being said, Koh actually seemed to favor the disgusting, insectile form he had presented to the Avatar. It seemed to give him great enjoyment to make the Avatar- and presumably any other visitors- thoroughly uncomfortable with the many-legged body topped with the strange slit that blinked like an eye, changing to any of his collected faces.

He had to be sure though. "Neither of those… Things spoke to you in any way?"

Avan shook his head slowly, so as not to cause himself any unnecessary pain. "No, just hisses and screeches from what I could tell."

"Maybe you could've understood them, master Pakku." Wei said cheekily.

"And what, exactly, is that supposed to mean?" The Waterbending master asked. He heard a snicker, and looked over just in time to see Aang and Sokka covering their laughter with blatantly fake coughing.

"All anyone really seems reasonably sure about is that they were spirits." Aloy said, before adding, "Very angry spirits."

"What could've made them that way?" Ty Lee asked. "From what you guys told me about all of your spirit encounters, there's usually some reason they become violent."

"Well, Gramps was saying that this is a time that weird spirit stuff starts happening. Maybe it just has to do with all that 'worlds closer than usual' business." Sokka suggested.

"I'm actually pleasantly surprised that you were paying enough attention to gather that much." Pakku admitted.

"Believe me, I didn't want to. But Suki made me."

Pakku turned to Suki. "Thank you, then, for making sure our future chief is at least somewhat familiar with our customs."

Before she could reply, Sokka was already on he defensive. "Hey, I know all of the important stuff. All of our culture that, y'know, actually affects our daily lives?"

"It's that very attitude that brings these spirits down upon us now! Most of the younger generation of this tribe has absolutely no respect for the customs that have-"

Hakoda raised a hand to interrupt. "And that's mostly my fault. I should've asked the North for more waterbenders, healers, and shamans when we lost the last of ours. But I didn't want to place them at risk with the raids going on. Trust me, Dad, it's ignorance on their part… Not deliberate negligence or disrespect."

Pakku seemed to deflate.

Hakoda had found it a difficult transition to start referring to the older man as his father. But he knew that whenever he did- or Katara called him "grandpa"- it usually improved his mood. Though he could come across as bitter at times, Hakoda knew the older man liked the reminder that he was part of a family now. Even Sokka's "gramp gramp" term seemed to be growing on him.

"Yes, well…" Pakku said, sounding a little embarrassed by his outburst. "All the same... We don't know what's causing this, and that's the only guess I have at the moment."

Toph nudged Aang's side, and gave him a quick nod toward the group. "Just became relevant. Tell them about your vision." She whispered, quiet enough that no one else would hear them over the continuing speculation.

"Why? I thought we agreed that we can't be sure whether it was real or not until we have information on Wan."

"We did, but you have a weird cactus juice trip, then this happens? Way too convenient."

"Could be a coincidence." Aang whispered with a shrug. He didn't believe that, but he desperately wanted to.

"I stopped believing in coincidences a long time ago, Twinkletoes."

"Around the time you became guard captain?" He asked.

"Before that." She answered. "Around the time you stumbled into my life, actually."

"Something to share?" Pakku suddenly asked, taking notice of their whispering.

Aang blushed and stammered. They hadn't even been talking about anything wrong, or unusual. Just the simple fact that he was caught not paying attention was enough to throw him off balance.

Another nudge from Toph had the words spilling from his mouth. "I had a vision. Earlier tonight."

"And you were planning on telling us this… When, exactly?"

"He's telling us now, isn't he Grandpa?" Katara said softly. Ever the mediator. Pakku sighed and backed down once again.

Katara turned back to Aang, giving him an encouraging, supportive look. "Go ahead Aang. Say what you were going to say."

The support was unexpected, and Aang found himself caught off guard. On top of that, Katara was sending him an all too familiar look with wide eyes and a sweet smile; which only further served to scramble his brain. "R-right. The vision. Uhh." He could feel his face hearing up, knowing that everyone was waiting for him to spit it out.

He received one last elbow from Toph. This one was much harder, probably bruising his ribs. He stopped himself just short of letting an "Ow!" slip off his tongue. Shooting a quick glance down at the earthbender, he noticed that she didn't seem very pleased at that particular moment. He'd have to remember to ask her about it later.

A few members of the group seemed curious about the interaction between Aang and Toph, but their attention focused back on the airbender as he did his best to recount the details of his vision. He gave a slightly more abridged version of what he'd told Toph, only explaining enough to give the general gist of it to the group. They all listened intently, accepting his recounting of the strange events surprisingly easily. Aang guessed there really was something to what Sokka said earlier. Maybe just enough weird stuff did happen to them to make this sort of thing seem normal.

Once he was done, Aang allowed them a moment to digest what he'd just said. It had certainly taken him a while to come to terms with it all, so he expected much the same from his friends.

Iroh was the first to break the silence. He'd been walking around tending to the three bedridden soldiers as best he could, and had to raise his voice across the room as he changed the damp rag pressed to Aloy's forehead.

"Fascinating." He said. "The first Avatar. I can only imagine what it must have been like to see such a thing."

"It was…" Aang searched for a word. "Surreal."

Iroh chuckled at that. "I'd imagine so."

"Vaatu, you said?" Pakku asked him.

"Yeah." Aang replied.

"Hmm," Pakku seemed thoughtful.

"Sound familiar?" Hakoda asked the older man.

"No, not at all." Pakku said. "But, powerful, malevolent spirits such as this could potentially affect others around them. It could make them angry and violent, more likely to strike out as these did. But it's entirely likely that these entities acted without any such outside influence."

"It makes sense." Katara supplied. "After all, even when its forest was being destroyed, Hei Bai didn't kill anyone. It only abducted a few members of the village- and Sokka. Then returned them when Aang calmed it down."

"No two spirits are exactly alike, child." Pakku explained, with the softness he strictly reserved for his waterbending prodigy of a granddaughter. "It could be that the ones this patrol encountered were inherently more aggressive in their approach."

"From what Avan told us, it doesn't even sound like they really had an approach." Aang said. "It sounds like they were just… driven mad or something."

"I agree with the Avatar," Iroh chimed in. "I have encountered spirits in the past, and none were ever driven to such senseless violence as to attack people on sight. There is normally some explanation to their actions."

"Well the point remains that we can do nothing from here."

"Don't worry." Aang said, already knowing what he had to do. "I'll figure out what's going on, and fix it before it gets any worse."

"I dunno Aang," Sokka cautioned. "This sounds like it might get a little hairier than most of the other 'spirit stuff' we've had to deal with."

"I know," Aang replied. "But this is my job. I have to stop this before anyone else gets hurt, or worse."

Sokka sighed. "Fine. Then I'm going with you."

"I'm coming too." Zuko said. "It sounds like you're gonna need all the firepower you can get."

Aang didn't even get a chance to protest before Ty Lee and Katara had also stepped forward. Suki looked as though she wanted to join in, but held back with a reluctant look and a hand on her belly.

"It's too late to set out now." Pakku said. "I suggest we all try to get as much rest as possible, and hope the storm passes before we set out in the morning."

"We?" Aang asked the older waterbender.

"Yes, I'm coming with you. Unless my granddaughter taught you spirit bending while I wasn't paying attention."

"Spirit bending?" Katara asked.

"I'll take that as a 'no', then." Pakku said. "I'll teach you both as we travel." He sent Aang a stern look. "Hopefully you prove to be a more apt pupil than last time."

Aang gulped, then nodded. "My attention span's gotten better since then."

Pakku arched an eyebrow.

"No, really." Aang insisted.

"Do you know where you're going?" Hakoda asked.

"No." Aang replied. "But I was hoping that one of these guys could tell us how to get there."

"I can do better than that." Miki said, getting up from the bed she was sitting on. Standing straight, she came up to about Sokka's height. "I remember the way. I'll take you there."

"Wait, then I'm going too." Wei insisted, trying to get up.

Miki reached over and calmly, but firmly pushed him right back down. "You're going to stay here. The healers did what they could, but you still need rest for that to recover fully."

"The first thing I've heard tonight that actually makes sense." Katara said. She walked over to the other one, Avan, and placed a hand on his head. Aang realised after a moment that she had coalesced water around the palm, which began to glow blue. She pulled her hand back with a conflicted expression, then turned to the group.

"I think you guys are actually gonna have to go without me. I'd like to see what I can do to help these guys."

"What if we need a healer?" Sokka asked.

"I've taught Aang just about everything I know. And besides, you have Grandpa. He knows a thing or two."

"Oh, I feel better already." Sokka quipped, drawing another glare from Pakku.

"What about spirit bending?" Aang asked her.

She shrugged. "If anyone can learn it, I know you can." She gave him another of her soft smiles. "Maybe you can teach me something when you get back."

"We shall see…" Pakku said, glancing over at the Avatar.

"Alright then." Zuko spoke up during the lull in conversation. "We all know what we're doing, so why don't we all go try to get some rest? We can pick this up at dawn tomorrow."

"Dawn?" Toph piped up. "Why?"

"We need to take advantage of as much daylight as possible." Zuko answered.

Toph scoffed. "Says the firebender."

They began to disband after that, going to gather their things for the walk back to their respective lodgings. Aang found himself near Toph while they were putting on their boots, and decided now was as good a time as any to ask about earlier.

He decided to start safely. "I was a little surprised to hear you complain about the wake up time. I didn't hear you volunteer, so I kinda figured you weren't coming."

Toph blew a bang of hair out of her face as she slipped on one of her large boots. "The fact that you think I need to volunteer at this point makes me worry that you've been talking to a different Toph all these years. Just try leaving me behind when something like this is going down, Twinkletoes."

"Right." He replied. "Sorry."

She shrugged. "'S fine."

He'd already finished pulling on his boots by this point, and was leaning on the wall beside her. "So…" He began. "Earlier-"

"What's this about, Twinkles?"

"I haven't said anything yet!"

"You get all fidgety when you're about to talk about something that you don't wanna talk about. You're making me nervous. Just spit it out."

Aang to a deep breath. "When you elbowed me." He began.

"What about it?" Toph asked. "Not getting soft on me just yet, are you?"

"No, it's just…" He tried to find the right words. "You seemed… Upset."

Something passed across Toph's face, but it was gone before Aang could identify it. She was back to her usual dismissive attitude by the time she spoke again. "That all?" She asked. "I was just getting annoyed at how long it was taking you to make words, Twinkles. You know I'm not a patient person."

She sounded casual, but there was an undertone to her words. Something bordering on annoyed, but not quite.

He was still breathing in to make his reply when she cut him short with her own. "Look, Aang. We have an early start tomorrow. We can sit here and talk about our feelings or we can get some sleep. I know which one I'd rather be doing."

"Toph, you coming?" Ty Lee called as she made for the door.

"Be right there. Don't rush me, Sunshine." She ignored Ty Lee's reactionary giggle and turned back to Aang. "That's my cue, Twinkletoes."

Aang tried to fight down a surge of irritation. He wasn't really angry at her, he knew. He just found it slightly annoying that she expected him to be an open book, and yet told him nothing.

"Fine." He relented. "But this conversation isn't over."

"I had a feeling you'd say that." Toph said with a sigh. She rolled her eyes, but Aang swore he saw a grin working its way onto her face. "Same old Airhead."

Aang stiffened as Toph leaned forward to pat his cheek with her hand. "Try not to stay up worrying too late, alright?" He felt his eyes tracking her as she turned to walk away. Once again, his gaze dropped lower, following the hypnotic sway of her hips. "I'll see you in the morning, Twinkletoes."

She followed Ty Lee out of the building, and Aang was left alone. Iroh had begun sipping tea with Pakku, Zuko was chatting along with Katara and Suki at the beside of the shivering girl, and Sokka was speaking with his father about travel arrangements for the following day.

Everyone was busy, or at the very least engaged in some way or another. Aang couldn't escape the feeling that he should've been doing something too, but all he could do was stare at the door, unmoving.

The evening had started so well, after the little incident with Ori. But now his duty as the Avatar had once again reared its ugly head, and he was left to perform some dangerous task with a little information and a lot of risk.

Toph's attitude wasn't helping at all. He should've been worried about potentially facing down some horrible spirit monster. He should've been concerned with his imminent training with spirit bending. Instead, he was rooted in place, trying to figure out what he'd done to make the girl he couldn't get out of his head act so distantly toward him. He tried to play back the conversation in his head, to see if he'd said something offensive, but came up with nothing.

"You alright there, champ?" Sokka asked, giving Aang a firm clap on the back.

Aang stumbled forward a little, as he usually did from Sokka's display of affection. He righted himself, looking away from the door at last. "Yeah, just… Confused, I guess."

"What's there to be confused about? We go in, figure out what's going on, kick some spirit butt, and be back in time for dinner."

Aang couldn't help but admire Sokka's clear grasp of his priorities. Still, he shook his head at the answer. "No, not that. It's Toph."

Sokka arched an eyebrow. "Girl trouble again?"

"Yeah. Well, no- I mean… Maybe? I don't know." Aang said miserably. "I just feel like I… did something, and now she's annoyed with me."

"What'd you do?"

"I don't know! She won't tell me! I want to make things better, but the way she's acting is just…" His words failed him, and he just gave an unintelligible "augh!" sound in the place of an actual coherent thought.

He expected confusion from Sokka, but instead the Water Tribe Warrior just tilted his head back and laughed wholeheartedly. He was still wiping tears from his eyes as he explained himself to the thoroughly confused airbender.

"Sounds like love to me."

So this may not seem like it, but this was the literary equivalent of doing a high intensity workout for me. I've never had so many characters in a room that I was trying to keep relevant all at once. Every time I was about to move to0 the next line of dialogue, I had to run through the character list in my head again to make sure no one was suffering from "idle sim" syndrome. But whatever, I think it came out alright.

*The "symbol" I'm referencing is called the Antahkarana symbol. It's an ancient Tibetan (at least people think it's tibetan) symbol that has been used for spiritual healing purposes. I figure I couldn't very well have a red plus sign on the building, so I went with what I thought was best.

I have a few extra ideas for writing projects cooking around in my head, and some even have drafts written up already. I'll give a bit more detail when I have more substantial content written up, but keep an eye out for that.

Till then, have a great week, guys.

Cheers,

Specter