Disclaimer - I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender. If I did, Jet would have been telling the truth.

(Yes, Kitty-chan, I know he's dead. Poor Jet. Sad to say but that gets him out of the way of ZUTARA!)

Oh and thank you for the EIGHT! reviews, Kitty-chan.

Also thanks to 123 roseq, Kaze no Ato, Veranda, and Jordana Kari (again!) for your lovely reviews.

And TiffanyV, you're so wonderful. Thank you for your support and criticism. You inspire me to be a better writer.

Yes, TiffanyV is my sister and beta. I think I've mentioned her before. But if you give me nine reviews, I'll gush about you too. : )

Chapter 10

"Would you stop doing that?!" Toph shrieked with annoyance and dropped her defensive stance and the boulder she'd been about to hurl at him.

Aang had just performed a nose dive with his glider and landed in front of her pelting her with a gust of wind. For about the hundredth time.

"I can't see you when you're in the air! It won't be my fault if I crush you because you keep dive bombing me!"

"Sorry," Aang said sheepishly. "I just wanted to say I think we should try over there by the mountain." That's where I found Zuko before when Katara was with me."

"Okay," she said still a bit annoyed. She started walking in the direction of the mountain.

"Come on, Toph. Get on"

"What?!"

"It'll be way faster if I fly you over there."

"You're crazy if you think I'm gonna get on that with you." Toph stated as she pointed to his glider. "Riding Appa is bad enough but at least there's ten tons of hairy between me and splat! Having nothing but you and your 'delicate instrument' to keep me from becoming a pancake, no thanks. No. No way."

"Aaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!!!!!!"

"Calm down, Toph! We are almost there!" Aang had to yell to be heard over Toph's piercing scream. "And loosen your arms; you're making it hard to breath."

Aang had convinced her to allow him to fly them over. He wanted her to hold onto the top of the glider thus leaving him free to scan the area as they flew. But she panicked on the first take off and let go before they were an inch from the ground. Finally they got off the ground. Toph now had her arms wrapped around his neck, her head buried in his shoulder, and when she'd felt her feet leave contact with the ground; she had wrapped her legs around his waist.

All in all, not the most comfortable way to fly.

"Toph, if I can't breathe, I can't bend."

The pressure on his neck loosened slightly.

Now, how to land, Aang thought as he tried to see around the girl that had adhered herself to him like a hungry lemur to a basket of leechy nuts.

Aang decided to let go of his glider and make an air cushion for them. This incited another wave of blood curling shrieks from Toph as they landed softly in the swirling wind.

Aang stood up, rubbing his neck. Toph was lying prone in the dirt, face down.

"Come on, Toph. It wasn't that bad."

"Hmnvhrphinghmughahn," was all he could make out as she kept her head down. She seemed to be trying to make contact to the ground with as much of her body as possible.

Deciding it was best to leave her alone to recover, Aang began to look around.

When he looked back he saw Toph was in her horse stance, levitating a pair of boulders in front of her at shoulder level. Past her Aang saw the old man who traveled with Zuko.

"Hey! This is great! We've been looking for you!" Aang exclaimed as he rushed over. Suddenly, a rock wall blocked his path.

"Wait, Aang," Toph said out of the side of her mouth as she continued to eye the firebender. "We don't know if we can trust him."

Aang took his defensive stance as well as the wall was lowered. He spoke first.

"We are not here to fight you."

"That is good. I do not intend to fight you two either. I am seeking my nephew. He was being followed and I lost his trail."

"Zuko was attacked. We have him, but something happened. I think you need to come with us." Aang said quickly, not sure how much he should reveal.

"Yes, I will come."

Aang looked at Toph imploringly.

"It's okay. He's telling the truth. He won't attack us."

"Before we go there's something you need to know about Zuko."

Aang and Toph finished explaining all that had happened so far.

"And so Roku said you could help us," Aang concluded.

"Take me to them," said Iroh with concern etched on his face and fear laced in his voice.

As they walked Iroh contemplated what he had just heard. They were trapped in the Spirit World and because of him Zuko and Katara were going to be put through some kind of a test. They needed to be warned. They needed to be prepared for the worst.

"There is a way we can contact them." Iroh said to the pair.

"That's great!" Aang said optimistically.

Iroh smiled at the innocent youth though he did not share the boy's sanguinity.

"Aang, do you know of the Fourwing Saltbrush plant?"

"Uh, sure. The monks used to feed it to the bison during winter."

"Can you get some? We will need it if we are to contact Zuko and your friend."

"Yeah," said Aang cheerfully. "Are you alright with him, Toph?"

"I'm a big girl. I can handle myself," she said loudly, "as long as I don't have to get back on that thing." She said pointing at the glider Aang had just clicked open.

Reassured, Aang took off in search of the plant.

Sokka sat there on the sleeping bison watching the immobile bodies of Katara and Zuko.

At first he didn't think there was any change to them at all though as he watched his little sister more closely, he noticed subtle differences in her appearance.

At one point a blush crept up her cheeks and checking her for fever, Sokka noticed her heart was racing. Puzzled, he looked over at Zuko, who looked flushed as well.

Sokka was glad when Katara's cheeks retuned to their normal caramel color, though he was unnerved by the redness that receded from the face and neck of the teenage boy.

A few minutes later Katara's pulse raced again but this time she appeared pale as if frightened.

"Aang and Toph had better get back soon," was all he could say. He needed to do something more to protect Katara than just sit here and watch as who knows what was happening in the Spirit World.

"They are smart but they are weak," Koh stated to the other spirit as he returned. "They will not make it past the first test, so great is their fear. Surat, you will conquer them easily."

"I refuse to underestimate them," said the menacing spirit. "They have shown resilience for all that they have faced. I will not be turned away again. Their pain will become their downfall.

"Alert the others, Koh. It is time."

Unaware of the conversation of the foreboding spirits, Zuko and Katara continued walking in a comfortable silence, side by side.

Author Notes

Sorry, not hardly any Zutara in this chapter but I needed to set things up for the good stuff.

Note my extensive vocabulary; sanguinity - hopefulness, cheerfulness, optimism

Or my proficient use of my thesaurus. And no, that's not a dinosaur.

Also, it's amazing what you can find out online.

Search for plant used to revive and up pops Fourwing Saltbrush.

No, I didn't make that up. It's a real shrub.

We get smarter everyday. : D

P.S. I may not get to update until I get back from vacation which would be Sept 1st

But I plan on writing while I'm gone and will probably complete this story so I'll post it all at once.

Oh and sorry, I'm having a bit of technical difficulties. I think I've got it figured out. You see, I am the technical difficulty.