Day 12, Tuesday, Part 3

Toph

Toph had walked away from the house a bit before stopping to strech before searching. She had plenty of time before they were supposed to meet again and the caves were small, she knew, so it would be quick work to look through them all with her earthbending. Besides, she did not expect to find anything there. After all, what possible reason could Zuko have for going there?

She planted both feet firmly on the ground, letting them sink slightly into the cool earth. She was still near enough to the house that she could feel the footsteps of some of the others as they walked off in their different directions. Not Aang, of course, since he was flying. Mai and Ty Lee were nearly impossible to detect, their combat training giving them such light steps. She figured Suki would have been just as difficult, had she not been walking next to Sokka. Smiling, she listened to the vibrations of Sokka stomping away, the way he always did when doing something he did not really want to.

Katara was somewhere between these two extremes, walking softly but still easily detectable. What interested her, however, was where Katara was going. She had started towards the beach alright, but then... She had turned around, slowed down. For some reason, the waterbender was heading back toward the house.

Toph frowned. What is she up to? Keeping her attention on where Katara was, she started to slowly move back towards the house, making sure to keep it between them, so she would not be spotted. All the others were already out of range, making it easier to track the other girl. She had reached the house when Katara disappeared into the far end. The side door Sokka led me through two days ago to avoid having to go to the front side, she thought, hurrying around the building. There is a wooden stair just inside the door, leading to the second floor. I won't be able to see in there.

Feeling her way across the wood, she found the door handle. It had locked behind Katara, but it took her only a second to metalbend it open. Thankfully, it opened without a sound, allowing her to sneak in easily. However, as she remembered, the stair inside was all wood. For a moment she debated using earthbending to coat the stair in dirt, but decided not to. It would either take a lot of time or make a lot of noise, and she wanted to do neither of those. Instead, she felt around, getting her hands on the railing.

Using the rail to lead her, she advanced up the stairs at a fairly good speed. Silently thanking Sokka for pulling her through there the other day, she skipped across the second-to-last step as she felt the railing end, knowing that particular step gave a nasty creaking sound. At the platform on the top of the stairs, she paused, listening intently. The wooden floor blinded her, but her sense of hearing was still near perfect. The muffled sounds of talking were coming from what she assumed was another room. Feeling her way across the wall, she found the door and, pressing her ear against it, was able to listen to the conversation on the other side.

"-ai is a bit worried. I almost feel guilty." Katara's voice.

"Don't worry about it. I'm sure she'll forgive us." Toph's eyebrows shot up, and she nearly yelped in surprise. Clamping her hands across her mouth, she continued to listen. Katara spoke again first.

"Aang should be the one to find the tracks we planted," she said, a note of warm humor in her voice. "I wonder what he'll do."

"Depends on how seriously he takes it," Zuko laughed. "Either he'll panic, or go get the others. He might try to figure them out himself, but I don't think so."

"No, probably not," Katara replied gleefully. "I can't wait to see their faces when they find out they've been had! It'll be great to finally have payback for all those pranks Aang, Sokka and Toph has played on us."

Toph felt herself tense, ready to move away from the door. She would find Sokka and the others before they returned, tell them what was going on, turn this back on Zuko and Katara, or... Or she could join forces with them. Slowly, a grin spread across her face. Those two were hopeless. They had already been found out, and there was no way they would keep the prank going without help. Having decided, she slammed the door open, entering the room with a huge grin.

"Hiya!" she exclaimed, wishing she could have seen their faces. There was a crash from the far end of the room, probably one of them dropping something or even falling off a chair. Katara gasped loudly, but quickly recovered.

"H-hey Toph, what's up?"

"Oh, nothing much, Katara. I felt you going back to the house, so I figured I'd investigate why," she replied, placing her hands on the doorjamb, making sure no one could try to sneak past her. "Everything alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine! I just, uh, forgot something. My necklace. I've got it now."

"Ah, okay," Toph said, grinning even wider. "How kind of Zuko to hold on to it for you!"

"Zuko?" Katara replied, her voice going up an octave. "What are you-"

"Katara. She obviously heard us."

Katara sighed. "Yeah, figures."

"Hey, don't beat yourselves up," Toph told them with a smirk. "You're dealing with a pro, after all." As if I'd tell them it was mostly luck that I found them out, she added to herself. "Besides, I don't want to expose you to the others... I want to join you."

"Wait, you'd help us?"

"Please, without me you'll be found out easily. I'd be surprised if you even made it far past lunch," she said dismissively. "You need me."

There was a silence in the room, which she assumed was the two others silently communicating. A few moments later, Zuko cleared his throat.

"Fine, you're in. Tell us what to do," he sighed. Toph grinned.

"Alright, first... We need to get you out of here."