X Conformity

As soon as she heard the name she couldn't control herself.

Quickly she grabbed the parchment from the advisors hands and run maniacally down the marble hallway. Her bare feet slapped happily against the cold surface that was sending vibrations up and down her body until she stopped at a small door that was slightly ajar.

The sound of metal against metal came from inside and she smiled widely before barging in.

"They're coming!" she shouted as the door swung open and hit the wall. Her loud shrill voice literally knocked the young man off his chair, stopping him from sharpening his butterfly knife. But after the initial shock, and pain, from the girls intrusion wore off, he smiled up at the figure looming over him.

"Who's coming?"

"Katara, Sokka, Suki and Aang!"

The green eyed soldier picked himself off the ground, and in time, his chair. His expression of shock now exaggerated. "Aang? Aang the Avatar?!"

Toph was smiling from ear to ear as the young man regained himself and sat back down, forgetting all about his blade sharpening. The blind earth bender waved a piece of paper in his face before he took it off her.

"He says they'll be here in a few days, and this was most likely written before they left."

Huso read the letter through carefully, ignoring the large messenger hawk that had followed Toph and was now perched on his shoulder. Once he had finished, his bottom lip protruded impressively. "So you read this all by yourself huh?"

Toph yanked the letter from his hand as he smiled teasingly. "No smart arse, I got one of Kuei's advisors to read it for me." she said from across the room, where she had settled on a pile of cushions. She rolled the letter back into its original original glory before throwing it over her shoulder.

Huso walked over and sat next to her, picking the letter up as he did. Next to him, Toph proceeded to pick her toes.

"Well, this is dated a few days ago. You think they'll be here soon?"

"Please. If I know Aang, he's probably already here. Not to mention miss fussy britches will want to hug me as soon as possible."

Although she couldn't see it, she knew that Huso was biting his lip. "But you hate hugs."

"Tell me about it." she said sticking a finger in her ear before pulling it out and flicking it profusely.

- - - -

- - - -

Toph was right. It wasn't long before news arrived that a large furry creature had just landed in the palace compound.

Huso now followed the girl through the overly tall corridors, staying a respectable distance behind his captain. Behind him was about 20 others, both male and female earth-benders. Their uniforms somewhat resembled the Dai Li's, only the long robe and sleeves were significantly shorter. They were Toph's design, and she had done reasonable well considering she lacked a vital mandatory element of a designer. Huso was one of the first members of the vigilante group when Toph had first started it less than a year ago. Since then they have grown in size and were now working for the 52nd earth king as the 'new' Dai Li, seeing as Kuei didn't want to break the tradition started by Kyoshi to protect the cultural heritage of Ba Sing Se.

Unfortunately, Toph was right again.

As soon as she passed the large columns holding up the palace roof, she was bombarded by two girls. They would have knocked her to her feet if it wasn't for the earthbender's stance she had taken in anticipation.

- - - -

- - - -

Katara and Suki both had their eyes on the door when it opened and wasted no time in hugging their dearly missed friend.

Toph just hung her arms limply by her side, waiting for it to be over. When they finally released her, she gave back a pieced of affection in the form of a sharp punch in the arm.

"How are you doin' sugar queen?" she said smiling as Katara let out a painful groan. Suki just laughed and hugged the girl, who was know as tall as her, around the shoulders.

"We missed you Toph."

"Yea I can tell." she replied as Sokka inched his way over to her. She didn't hesitate in sharing more 'affection' to the water tribe warrior before she grabbed his hand firmly and shook it.

Then Aang came over and scrunched up his eyes, waiting for the familiar pain in his triceps. But it didn't come. Instead he opened his eyes to her body pressed against his in a tight embrace.

The friends exchanged looks as Aang returned it.

"How are ya' twinkle toes?"

Aang pat her on the back before she let go. He thought he was in the clear until he was made to clutch his shoulder in agony.

Toph smiled and shrugged. "It's no fun when you're expecting it."

They all laughed in unison as the earthbender resumed her position in front of her group, right in front of Huso.

They all couldn't help but stare at the young man. He was lightly taller than all of them and his skin was as dark as night. Sokka and Katara had thought that their family had dark skin, but compared to this guy, they desperately needed a tan.

He walked up to each of them with an outstretched hand and greeted them all in turn.

"This is Huso. He's my right hand man basically. You know, in charge of all the technical stuff."

The dark skinned fellow bowed his head and walked back to his position behind Toph. The earth bender smiled and started to mouth something to herself. It seemed as though she was counting something, tapping her foot in rhythm to her miming. Once she had finished she stepped forward "Hey Aang...I thought you said your were bringing an extra?"

"Yea," he said rubbing the back of his head "she's had a rough couple of days so we left her with Iroh."

Toph nodded eagerly and motioned for them to come. "You have to tell me all about it over lunch. If I'm not mistaken, Kuei was told about you coming and has all this food ready."

Aang's stomach grumbled and he clutched it hungrily.

"Does he have vegetarian?"

- - - -

- - - -

Tiao walked in the door of the tea shop and sat down at a corner table, with her back to the wall. The place was quiet, with only a few paying residents scattered here and there. Aang had told her to go to the jasmine dragon and seek out someone named Iroh. She had silently agreed and asked no more questions, though now she wished she had. There were several male customers and a few waiters walking around, and she had no idea what this Iroh looked like.

After some time of sitting in her own pool of self pity, a thin figured waitress came over to her table and took out a quill and a small pad of parchment.

"Welcome to the Jasmine dragon. The special of the day is fire lily tea with a honey rice bun on the side."

Tiao sat in silence for a moment before nodding. The waitress stood there, waiting for a response,. When none came she wrote down the special and walked away, not sure if the girl even talked or not.

Tiao was following Aang's orders right down to his very last word.

"Don't talk to anyone other than Iroh. Tell him that we sent you to wait for us there. Also, make sure your hair is covered. Most people aren't accustomed to seeing young white haired girls. And whatever you do, don't firebend."

So Tiao had put on her Parka, even though it was incredibly hot, and put the hood up and over her head. Now all that could be seen of her was her face, and a blue eyed girl wearing an ocean blue parka didn't look out of place with all the visiting waterbenders around.

Pretty soon, the waitress came back with a tray of tea and a steaming honey rice bun She placed it down on the table and stood up straight. Tiao handed her some coins out of her small knapsack and the young girl hastily walked away.

Tiao just sat there, staring at the tray. She had no intention of consuming it, she had only bought it to look non conspicuous. So far, it was working. No one in the shop seemed to be paying any attention to her. In fact, she wasn't even the saddest looking customer there. After taking a quick glance around at her surroundings, she noticed a small party of people dressed in black, and a young couple, one of which had their face buried in folded arms on the table in front of them while the other consoled them.

So, instead of looking out of place, she decided to play the part. She placed both of her elbows on the table and put her forehead in her hands. It was only then, when none of her new acquaintances were around, that everything that had happened in the past week hit her like flying hippo-cow. Her eyes began to sting horribly and and uncomfortable wet feeling fell down her cheek and into her untouched tea.

- - - -

- - - -

The young waitress bounded happily to the kitchen, counting her newly acquired money as she went. By her calculation, she had just received a very generous tip on her first day.

"Iroh, sir, look what someone just gave me."

The aged man turned and took the currency into his hands. He turned a coin around in his fingers and held it up to the light.

"Lien, who did you get this from?"

The young girl stopped her excitable bounce and pointed over to the corner table. Iroh peered around the kitchen wall and looked at the figure sobbing quietly in the corner.

"Did I do something wrong?"

"No Lien, don't worry." he said softly before taking the money over to the table. Without announcing, he sat on the cushion across from the girl and let the money roll softly onto the polished surface.

Tiao quickly looked up. Her eyes were red and her face was streaked from the trails of tears. She quickly wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her coat and sniffed quietly.

"Sorry." she said, her voice croaky.

Iroh held up a hand and smiled kindly. "I think of it as my duty to help any of my patrons, should they need it."

Tiao looked down at the smile pile of coins on the table. She inwardly cursed for not paying attention to what she was doing.

Iroh inspected her before picking up one of the small gold pieces. "By your eyes I would say you are from the water tribe?" Tiao nodded, wiping her face once more. Iroh moved his hand in front of his face and looked at the piece of metal carefully.

"I must know, how did you come across such relics? And why are you giving them to my waitresses?"

His tone was light and cheerful, so Tiao knew that he was just curious. But remembering what Aang had told her she quickly made up something.

"They were my fathers. I carry them around with me as good luck charms. I have real money." Quickly she put her hand into her knapsack and pulled out a small pile of water tribe coins, but Iroh pushed her hand back. She could tell by the look on his face that he wasn't buying it, literally.

"These look fairly knew. You must be taking good care of them."

Knowing now that talking was just getting her into more trouble, she decided not to speak. She simply nodded and place the blue coins back in her bag. The old man seemed to be interested in what was inside it, so she quickly shut it and attempted clearing her throat.

"I'm sorry about the money. You can keep it. But I really need to get going, I'm supposed to be looking for someone."

Tiao adjusted the hood on her head, pulling it further over her face.

Iroh made no attempt to stop her.

"Young lady, if you like, I know nearly every person in the upper ring. Perhaps I could help you."

Tiao turned and seriously considered his offer. She was usually a good judge of character, and this guy seemed to have 'good' written all over him. After remembering how big the city seemed from the air, and how bigger it got once she touched the ground, Tiao decided it was best to let him help her.

He smiled triumphantly and walked into the kitchen. She reluctantly followed, slipping her waitress some water tribe money as she passed her.

They got into the kitchen and the man poured two cups of tea. It smelled a lot nicer than what she had been given earlier, and out of courtesy, decided that it was best to drink it.

She sipped at her cup and took a seat and a wooden bench that was lined up against the wall. The flavoured hot water slid down her throat and started to warm up her body. Of course, being a firebender her body was naturally warm, but combined with the heat brought on by the tea, she could feel herself starting to sweat under the thick leather of her blue fur trimmed coat.

The grey haired man, who had started brewing some more tea for his customers, could see the beads of sweat falling down her face even under the darkness of the hood.

"Tea is good for warming the body. I'm sure its getting very hot under there." he joked while Tiao was suffering.

She didn't even get to finish her tea before she put it down and pulled off the coat. It piled on the floor and she leaned her head against the wall behind her, taking a deep breath of the cooler air and letting it regulate her body temperature.

It took her a while to realise what she had done, and that the man had stopped brewing tea to stare at her ivory locks that were draped over her shoulders.

She looked down and covered her face with one hand.

"Shit."

There, I have now included two things that the original Avatar did not.

An Aryan and a Black man :D GO DIFFERENCE!!!

lol

So what do you think? Is good? Reuniting is hard...why did I pick to reunite XD

Please Review