Chapter 10: Frenemies

**I don't own Avatar…even though I wish I did…

"Toph…Toph…Toph please, you have to wake up!...Toph…" Toph awoke to a gentle murmur and light shaking of her shoulder. She had been pretending to be asleep for nearly two full days. It was easy for her now to awake without alerting anyone to her consciousness. She lay there, unmoving trying to shake the fog that sleep had left on her mind. She knew where she was and why she was pretending to remain asleep, but she couldn't place the whispering voice. The voice was higher pitched and seemed out of place as it begged Toph to wake. "Toph, Toph please! I can't do this without you…I'm sorry…I'm sorry for what I had to do…Toph…" Sorry, the voice had said, 'Sorry,' the last time she heard it. It all came flooding back: Ty Lee. The voices matched, as did the soft, graceful movements Toph felt next to her. Toph couldn't believe she would come back and face her.

'That little bitch. I should take her out as I lay here. I could easily do it…there's a rock over there in the corner. I could knock her out, throw her in the garden and finish her off later after everyone goes to bed,' Toph's thoughts turned darker as she continued to think about what she should do to that underhanded circus freak.

Toph tried to rein her thoughts in, but her anger had built up over the past few days and she couldn't continue to repress it. Toph felt for Ty Lee's movements, and when she bent her face close to Toph's ear, Toph reached up and grabbed her around the neck. "Listen miss perky-pants, you're over. You may just be Quon's lap dog, but you ventured close enough and I am going to end you the way you helped to end me.

Ty Lee stared into Toph's sightless eyes, gasping, trying desperately to get air. Toph squeezed tighter, and it wasn't until almost a minute passed that Toph realized Ty Lee wasn't even attempting to fight back; she was only struggling for breath. Toph hadn't thought about Ty Lee's hands and what she could do with them, yet they remained by her side, unrestrained, doing nothing to help her.

Toph's grip around Ty Lee's neck loosed, and it was all Ty Lee needed to suck in a breath and begin to explain, "Toph I know you're angry and upset and trapped here, but I can help! Really! I came here to help free you and get you away from Quon. I know you don't trust me and if I were you I wouldn't trust me either, but please just trust me! I can explain."

Toph could hear the desperateness in her tone. Toph didn't want to trust her; couldn't trust her. She had been the one to capture Toph. She took away her bending and left her helpless in the hands of Quon. Toph opened her mouth to let the little bitch have it when Uncle Iroh's words came back to her, "Though one may seem an enemy; given a chance they may prove to be no more than a worthy adversary." She thought about his statement. At the time she thought he was talking about Quon, but it would be a cold day in Hell before Quon was worthy of more than a swift kick in the ass. Though Toph knew it was her subconscious that created the Iroh of her dream, just the thought of him calmed her down enough to think things through. She needed help. There was no way she could leave the house without being caught; her parents would have extra guards stationed because of her recent disappearance and illness, and she hadn't talked to any of her friends in years, so they wouldn't be coming to her rescue. Now that she thought about it, at one point Ty Lee had kind of been her friend. She knew Ty Lee had been a good friend of Suki's while she was training to be a Kyoshi warrior, but she didn't know what had caused Ty Lee to revert to enemy status. Toph knew she was putting a lot of faith in someone that had a history of being an enemy, but Zuko had changed. It was thoughts of Zuko, her best friend, besides Aang, that decided what she would do.

She let go of Ty Lee's neck and heard the sigh of relief that accompanied it. "Thank you Toph. I promise I'll make what I did up to you."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Whatever. First just help me get out of here." There was nothing Toph wanted more than to put this whole mess behind her. At this point, she would happily help Katara if it meant never seeing Quon again.

"Yah!" Though Ty Lee's voiced seemed excited, Toph could sense hesitation in the way she was rocking back and forth. "I'm so glad you agreed to let me help you, but before I can help you, I really need you to help me…" Toph sighed and, for a moment, considered closing her eyes and pretending to sleep again.

Aang was getting anxious. They were only a day away from Gaoling and he was still at a loss of what to do to get Toph to forgive him and come home. Sokka was relentless in planning and he seemed to come up with a new, more elaborate plan every hour. His latest plan involved two hog monkeys, a boarcupine, four singing groundhogs and Zuko wearing Suki's dress. Aang still wasn't exactly sure how Zuko wearing a dress fit into the plan, but he didn't bother asking for clarification. He knew Sokka would approach him in another hour with a plan that made even less sense.

Half an hour after the latest Sokka plan, this one involving badgermoles and that cabbage merchant they were always pissing off, a shadow passed over Aang as someone sat next to him near Appa's head.

"Sokka, I really appreciate all your help but let's just do what we do best: storm in with no plan and hope no one dies." Aang really couldn't handle another conversation or risk infuriating Zuko as Sokka proposed a new plan to humiliate him.

"That sounds like a good plan Aang." Aang jumped in surprise when he realized it wasn't Sokka that had sat next to him, but Suki. Suki giggled and continued, "Sorry to surprise you Aang, but I wanted to come up and just give you some company. You seem so melancholy sitting up here brooding over how to recover your lover." Aang's blush caused more giggles from Suki. "Aang, there's nothing to be embarrassed about. It's natural. Anyway they," she pointed her thumb at their friends, "don't know the real reason I'm up here. I told them I was going to try to lighten your mood, but I also wanted to provide you with an opportunity to talk…if you feel like it. If not, no worries, I'll still sit here and try to cheer you up." Suki gave Aang a genuine smile and watched Aang's face to see whether she should wait for him to start or jump in herself.

Although Aang wasn't sure he was making the right decision, he decided to confide in Suki. He went through the entire story, skipping no sordid detail or embarrassing moment. As he talked, his face relaxed and his breathing slowed. Suki was right, talking about what happened did help, he hadn't realized his body language was projecting his emotions so clearly and it felt nice to feel almost back to normal. As he reached the part where he found the house completely empty, he could see Suki's face tighten in concentration. He could tell she wanted to advise him, but he could also see that she wouldn't offer up advice unless he asked.

"So, what do you think?" He asked as he finished his tale.

Suki hesitated a moment, as if looking for the right words. After several seconds she took a deep breath and began, "Aang, I know you always have the best intentions at heart, but when you tell your current girlfriend that you're going to visit your ex-girlfriend and then call her a selfish, hateful, jealous, bitter harpy…well…it's just that, while your words were creative, they were probably not the best choices to say to someone who's already mad at you."

Aang threw his head into his hands. "I know. I've regretted those words from the moment they left my mouth. They were inexcusable. I hurt her when she was just looking out for me. But Katara had always been our friend and, even though she hurt me, she deserved a second chance. But now, I think I may have lost Toph for good. Those things I said drove her away and I don't know how to start seeking her forgiveness or even if she'll ever forgive me." Aang went from being regretful and miserable to livid as he finished, "She went home to get married. For all we know some dumbass may have already put a ring on her finger and knocked her up!" Aang was working himself into a frenzy. He was barely managing to control himself.

"Aang…Aang! Calm down. I'm sure she hasn't been married or knocked up yet. Of course she still loves you…" Aang wasn't listening. He could feel the avatar state coming on. He a deep breath in an attempt to utilize a calming technique taught to him by the monks, but he lost control of his bending as he exhaled, knocking Suki off Appa.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" At the sound of Suki's started cry, Sokka's head jerked up, along with Zuko's and Katara's. Aang stood agape, hardly believing what he had just done.

"AANG! WHAT THE HELL? DO SOMETHING!" Sokka's screams jerked him out of his astonishment and he pulled Appa's strings, encouraging Appa to continue downward. As soon as Appa was neck to neck with Suki, Aang hopped off, grabbed Suki, bringing her into his arms, and bent the air around them, slowing the air and giving Appa time to position himself directly underneath them. Before their toes had even touched Appa's saddle, Sokka ripped Suki from Aang's embrace and began yelling at Aang.

"WHAT THE HELL IS YOUR PROBLEM? FIRST YOU SIT AS FAR AWAY FROM US AS POSSIBLE, BARELY SAY ANYTHING TO US AND ACT ALL SAD. THEN YOU'RE HEAD AND HANDS STARTS DOING THAT GLOWY-THINGY AND YOU NEARLY MURDER MY WIFE! WHAT THE HELL IS YOUR PROBLEM?"

Sokka's outburst took Aang aback, but he knew he deserved it. "Suki, I'm so sorry. I couldn't calm down! I don't know what's happening to me…" Aang glanced at his friends, uncertainty and fear in his eyes. "I…I…just need to get out of here for a while…" He looked at Suki again, 'I'm sorry,' written clearly in his eyes, grabbed his glider, jumped off Appa and glided toward the mountains that were rising below them.

Suki glared at Sokka and elbowed him in the ribs.

"Suki! What the hell? Aang's the one you should be elbowing! He just threw you off a flying bison not me!" Sokka looked to Zuko and Katara for backup, but they offered none.

Katara broke the silence, "Uh…well I suppose we should make camp and wait for Aang to come back." With that, Katara climbed over to Appa's reins and directed him toward the base of the mountains.

There's chapter 10! Comments? Reviews? Send 'em my way!