Hiya! TezTra here...

So how are we all? Good? Feeling musical right now, please check out my other story, 'Sokka Should've Said No' and review :) I would be so grateful!

Anyway, I recommend all that are on my profiles page, as well as those who have reviewed me; I've looked at them all :). Speaking of which, your reviews have been much appreciated and have improved my self-esteem. I also plan on making a goal to reach about 50 reviews by the end of this story, but I'm already happy with the comments I've received – thank you so much if you've reviewed and I encourage those who haven't to do so :).

Who had a great New Year? I thought the fireworks in all the countries were amazing... though I didn't exactly... see them...

Chapter 9: The continuation of chapter 8 in which Toph and Zuko find themselves in a sticky situation. This chapter holds the ending of their problem... how do things turn out?

Hopefully good :)

*I can't believe it! I always forget to do this*

Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar, the Last Airbender or anything to do with it... at least, not in my dreams.

Chapter Nine

The Earth Kingdom Mainland, Part 2

Perfect Delay

"You heard me," the Captain of the Southern coast of the Earth Kingdom answered. "You and your friend will be taken in for questioning until you can prove that you are not Fire Nation."

Toph's jaw hung on its chops as she 'gaped' at the middle-aged man. Zuko, on the other hand did not seem very surprised by the results. He just frowned at the captain as the Earthbenders and soldiers were now enclosing them, cutting closer to his and Toph's capture within every step they took. "B-but, I'm an Earthbender." Toph spluttered helplessly.

"An Earthbender who could be working for the Fire Nation." The captain said calmly. "I just want to ask a few questions and see if you're friend really isn't a bender."

"How are you supposed to prove I'm a non-bender?" Zuko demanded.

The captain said nothing at first. The soldiers had stopped advancing on the teenagers and awaited their head soldier's orders. "I can prove whether you are." The captain finally decided.

Toph looked like she was going to explode. Her face reddened, her flushed cheeks starting to stand out from the blue cloudy background she stood in front of. An artist could have captured this moment with some paint and paper, easily, with a short figure and a never-ending sky. Plain, yet dramatic for the trained eye. Zuko stopped his painter image and tuned into what was happening around him. Toph seemed to have lost it, whatever 'it' was, and was trying to reason with the commander: "Look, we just want to pass peacefully and get to Ba Sing Se. I just want to get to Ba Sing Se. We need to get to Ba Sing Se." She repeated several times. The soldiers were now confused, not knowing whether to take the two strangers in for questioning or stop and wait for their captain to tell them to resume doing so.

Zuko realised that she hadn't lost 'it' yet. It was just cutting thin; patience. Working alongside with time had never been a strength of Toph's he recalled. The Earth Kingdom Navy was not speeding up the deliberate time either, which ticked off the blind girl even more. Speaking of which, much time seemed to have passed anyway, whether Toph acknowledged it or not, for the blinding Sun was high above his head. It also seemed to be some anti-magnet to the clouds, for all those white balls of fluff were slowly moving across the sky, fleeing from the Sun as fast as possible. "… To check. If you are not from the Fire Nation you'd have nothing to worry about. Another few hours won't delay your journey." He caught the last bit of the captain's speech. "If you resist, I won't hesitate to have you two arrested. Men, continue." He ordered. The Earth Kingdom soldiers started to walk towards them again.

"YOU DON'T GET IT! I'M TRYING TO GET TO BA SING SE! YOU AND YOUR EMPTY-HEADED MEN ARE IN MY WAY!" Yep, now she lost 'it'. Zuko placed a calming hand on his friend's shoulder, wordlessly warning her to cool down before her wrath gets them locked up in some Earth Kingdom detention centre. The Earthbender took note of Zuko's admonition and took a few deep breaths. "I'm so disappointed in the Earth Nation Forces right now." She mumbled.

"Don't worry. They won't find out a thing. They'll be letting us go looking like idiots." Zuko whispered back, making Toph shrug.

"Maybe, if they take us back to the port and question us there, we can make a run for it." She suggested.

"Separate them." The captain commanded his men, once they reached Toph and Zuko. Two men broke away from the crowd and each secured their own prisoner by the arms. The captain was smarter than his appearance allowed him to be, Zuko decided. The man must have had some experience with prisoners who were able to plan escapes because they were close enough to whisper. Never mind the fact that he and Toph were planning an escape. "Take them into the tower; we'll question them in there, in case they try anything funny." The blind girl and Avatar did nothing to defend against the two men, just allowing them to lead.

Zuko swore as he heard Toph hiss a "Damn" but there was nothing the two could do for now. With soldiers armed with spears and other weapons, stranded on a Fire Nation ship surrounded by freezing waters of winter and more Earth Kingdom ships watching their every move, and not being able to bend or fight, there was hardly anything they could do. "Know what?" he heard his friend say loudly as the Earth Kingdom procession were nearing the tower. Her voice captured everyone's attention, all heads turning back to the short blind girl. Everyone stopped heading for the grand Pagoda Tower. "I thought we could sort this out peacefully, you know, negotiation and all the pointless cra – I mean cooperation. But, seeing as we can't, I guess we'll have to go with violence." Toph said casually, despite what she was probably going to do next.

"Violence is not an option." The soldier behind her grunted. "Now move it, little girl."

Toph's eye twitched in anger, before she hissed, "Little? How 'bout I kick your behind, then we'll see who's little."

"Be quiet –" The soldier started, but was cut off with his own grunt of pain when his 'captive' brought up her knee and forced her foot backwards, kicking the man hard in his groin. Instinctively, the man let go of Toph and fell to his own knees, before collapsing to the metal deck floor, groaning and swearing in pain.

"Honestly, why don't men wear armour where they need it most?" Toph laughed, before doing what Zuko thought would have been the last thing possible in a place where earth should have been scarce. The skilled Earthbender threw her right arm across her body, below her waist, before bringing it back to her right side in the same reverse direction. As she did, she was able to whip off all the dirt and dust she had been able to swipe off the boulder earlier. Toph hardened the small particles of earth; compressing them to become one of those rock gloves, around her hand, she was famous for making. The rock glove seemed thinner and less effective than the other gloves she was able to make with much more earth, but that didn't seem to matter when she directed her unclenched rock hand at the captain. The glove grabbed the middle-aged man by his armoured shoulder, but nevertheless, pulled him toward her.

Some soldiers noticed that their captain was being dragged by the single earthen fist, as he struggled aimlessly and attempted to 'snatch' the rock glove away from Toph's command, just as she had demonstrated with the boulder before. Some men even made an effort to dive for their commander, trying to get a hold of his leg, anything to stop him from getting closer to Toph.

Zuko paused before elbowing the man behind him in the ribs, freeing himself from the soldier's grip as he jumped back in surprise and gasped for air. As Toph struggled to get the captain under her control, Zuko decided to fend off soldiers who tried to distract the Earthbender, as her hands were already full of fighting men and an old resisting soldier. The young man blocked the path of another who ran towards Toph armed with a strange lance of some sort – a thick curved blade mounted on top of a long wooden pole. Zuko wished he had his Dual Broad Swords to match with this weapon. Wait, where are my swords? Zuko asked himself. He ducked under the blade when it cut through the air where he had just been. The Firebender kicked the soldier hard on the knee while he was on the ground, tripping him over and making him fall back into his friends, throwing them all into turmoil. As the three or four men under that armed soldier tried to push him off them, another few quickly stepped around them and took over in the fight.

Zuko studied them confidently while they were standing in defensive positions in a row, all looking like identical dolls with the yellow and green armour and conical helmets they wore. These men seemed harmless enough, more than Fire Nation men at least. The Avatar grabbed the first man who stepped forward, once he was close enough, and hit him in the guts, releasing his hold on him as he did so, forcing the winded soldier back. This, he remembered as Suki's tactic. He was also glad that, unlike the Fire Nation, the soldiers here only wore chest and shoulder plates, not fully armoured. The more Zuko fought the men who stepped forward, the more he longed to use his fists less. The young man suddenly realised the advantage he had now that they were fighting the Earth Kingdom crew anyway. "Hey, Toph? You think I can bend now?" He called to the blind Earthbender.

Toph was just finished off beating a man who ran at her foolishly unprepared and unprotected. She resumed her pulling on the captain whom was being pulled back by three or so soldiers. It was like a rough game of 'Tug of War' only using a live, seemingly breakable human than some strong rope. "I guess," She said loudly, "We're fighting our way through them anyway, so you might as well have some fun." Toph stomped her right foot hard on the deck floor, unintentionally bending a ray of black metal on the ground to creep up her calf and keep her leg frozen on the spot. Zuko forgot about her Metalbending ability, Toph seemed to have also. "Oops! Almost forgot." She admitted.

"You sure I should bend?" Zuko asked as he threw back an older man and punched another in the face. He didn't even know why he wanted Toph's 'permission' to Firebend, he didn't understand why he was asking the blind teenager when the normal him would be reckless and bend away without a moment to lose.

"Sure. Do whatever. Just make me proud." She joked, only the nineteen-year-old didn't pick up the tease in her comment.

Pleased that he was free to bend with nothing holding him back, Zuko took several breaths before remembering to charge his attacks before releasing them. The Avatar straightened his legs and positioned his fists in line with his waist. He then shot forth his dominant arm beside him, aiming at a whole group of cluttering soldiers before swapping arms with his other, bringing his right back and throwing his left forth. As he felt his blood warm up, bright red flames were discharged from his tight fist. The men yelled in surprise but they all dove out of the way. The fire hit the metal ground and left a messy, scorched mark where it died out.

"He's a Firebender!" One of the soldiers shouted, because he was an idiot. Zuko charged up another attack and freed a large fireball, which flew at another unprepared fighter, with a flaming trail tailing it.

He heard a familiar cry of triumph and, to his mistake, turned to see what Toph had achieved. He felt strong arms grab his. He turned to throw a punch at whoever was clutching his arm, only to be greeted with a different pair of hands grasping his free one as he turned. Impulsively, Zuko took several quick steps backwards so his opponents were in view and powerfully swerved the man holding his right arm into another soldier who was cautiously approaching the three to assist his friends, but sadly, not cautiously enough. The man was forced to let go as he was swung around with such speed and fell back, landing on top of his comrade completely. The ex-prince then, with a now free arm, clung onto the other man's wrist, to secure that he was locked onto his arm, and twisted it, forcing the soldier to either stay where he was and break his arm, or spin along with it, twisting into the air. The soldier wisely chose the second suggestion. Zuko let go of the man's wrist as he was half-way through his flying turn, at the same second the man did, and he fell onto his back painfully, groaning and dizzy from the flip.

Zuko recognised the fallen man as the one soldier who kept his guard up when he was watching Toph and him, the one who was quiet and the most wary. Zuko caught a glimpse of the scabbard of his precious swords lying underneath the man. Without hesitating, the Avatar grabbed the combined hilts of his Broad Swords and the top of the scabbard tightly before yanking as hard as he could. The swords slipped from underneath the soldier neatly. The young man, glad to be united with his weapons again, swung the swords' rope across his shoulder.

"ALRIGHT!" Toph yelled, her sudden voice piercing everyone's ears. "Are we going to go through this the easy way or the hard way?" She asked, softening her volume just a little. The soldiers all stared as their captain was trapped in a hollow column of some sort, the black metal raised from the deck, still connected, in a neat sheet and 'wrapped' around the immobilized captain. "Well, how 'bout we ask the head soldier since no one can decide." She said after a moment of shock passed away. Zuko moved toward his companion and away from the small army of the Earth Kingdom soldiers.

Toph knocked on the metal, surrounding the man, with her knuckles which caused him to scowl at her, before turning his head around to look at his men, even with the limited amount of freedom he had to move. The world around Zuko suddenly seemed to turn into chaos in the next few seconds. He saw a shadow towering over him, getting bigger and bigger every second. He turned his head curiously to find a boulder heading straight for him. Zuko didn't falter a moment as he grabbed Toph and yelled for her to "DUCK!" He pulled her out of the way, both their feet tripping on one another before they stumbled completely and fell in a mess.

"Wait, wait!" she cried before twisting her entire body around so she was lying on her stomach with her foot against Zuko's cheek. The Avatar could see that some soldiers were trying to shift their captain's metal prison to no avail while some other tried to slow the boulder to a soft landing elsewhere with their bending, failing miserably also. The old man could be crushed under the heavy rock. Toph seemed to do some quick calculations before reaching out her hand and placing it flat on the metal floor, in line with the captain. She crumpled the metal under her palm, which created some sort of fissure to trail along the metal floor until it reached the commander's metal prison and made the metal sheet split in half. The captain quickly scrambled out of the metal and out of the boulder's way, as all the soldiers dived for cover too, the rock just scraping the soles of their boots. Zuko was quite grateful Toph didn't leave the man in the boulder's 'hands'. "Ow." Zuko heard Toph wince, his gladness of Toph saving the old man gone in a puff.

He focused his attention on the Metalbender to see her clutching onto the wrist of the hand she used to bend. "Toph?" He asked. The girl loosened her fist before unclenching it fully to show her rough skin and some scars. Her hand was raw and sore from bending hard, cold metal, bleeding almost.

"This means I should practise too, right?" She laughed. Zuko blinked twice before returning her smile and getting to his feet. He pulled the Earthbender upright. "I guess the others have finally figured out we're fighting."

"So, what now?" Zuko asked as several more boulders were projected from the other three occupied wooden ships and landed unceremoniously around the deck, some rolling away from the small craters they created, the rocks scattering everywhere like it was an over-sized game of 'Marbles'. Toph frowned before dropping her hands to her sides and let a heavy breath escape her lips.

"Hmm, keep fighting and win eventually by the end of next week or retreat and find another quick way to get to the mainland. Tricky, tricky." Toph pushed Zuko out of the way and moved herself as a rock fell from the sky to where they were just standing. The captain and soldiers had fled and were withdrawing from the Fire Nation Ship to their Earth Kingdom vessel, but some soldiers were crossing the bridge in the opposite direction. This confusion slowed down the Earth Kingdom members of the Navy. But soon enough, all the soldiers ran in the one direction, back to their ship, and drew back their wooden overpass.

"Choose quickly, Toph, before they choose for us." Zuko said, before grasping Toph's wrist and leading her toward the Pagoda Tower, already having made up his own mind, not caring whether his friend disagreed or not.

"But, there's no other shortcut I can think of –" Toph began.

"I'm not the one who is blind and can't bend here. Trust me on this one. Let's do this, slow and steady." Zuko said hurriedly, running up some flights of steps, practically skipping a few as he sprinted, neglecting to hold on to the blind girl as she ran behind him.

"There's nothing wrong about me being blind. If that's something you can't deal with, that's your problem." She shot back in reply. Zuko paid no attention to her comment as he nearly slipped at a sharp turn around a corner. He regained his balance quickly and ran up some more stairs before reaching the control room. Zuko entered the room and dashed towards the controls, waiting impatiently for Toph to take over the whole working-the-controls thing. "You are so lucky I've had to deal with people making fun of my blindness my whole life. You are so lucky you're not the first to give me an excuse to beat the life out of you because of my lack of sight." Toph growled as Zuko felt like biting back his words. He was, after all, well acquainted with regret.

But nevertheless, the blind Earthbender wrapped her fingers around a lever and pulling it. "Sorry, Toph, I… I didn't mean –" Zuko started.

"Shut up and take the wheel, before the blind girl crashes the ship." Toph interrupted. The young man had a feeling she was not going to let this go for a very, very long time. Zuko walked over to the steering wheel and grasped his hands around it, getting ready to sharply veer it if needed as he stared out the broken glass of the window screen, as if the glass barrier was still there, just invisible. The reason it was broken would always be a mystery to the Avatar. "So where are we going?" Toph asked reluctantly after the great Fire Nation ship started to move backwards, almost crashing into one of the Earth Kingdom wooden ships. The three opposing vessels were still circling their black metal one, with the fourth joining in after sailing as far from the Fire Nation ship as possible.

"Don't you know the Earth Kingdom seas better than I do?" Zuko asked, quickly turning the wheel to the left, trying to steer the ship toward the opposite direction of the Earth Kingdom mainland. But Zuko found this feat difficult as the Earth Kingdom fleet's path whirled in a circle around them, making the part of water the Fire Nation vessel was floating on turn around like it was in a whirlpool. Zuko could hear the gurgle and groaning of the current as the waves smashed against the metal hull of the ship, forcing the whole ship to follow which ever direction the water wanted it to go. The rain of boulders made things even more confusing, each and every individual rock making its suicide mission as it flew across the sky and landed cold and hard somewhere, anywhere, on the black ship, causing as much damage as a nail being forced through the surface of plastic. "This seems impossible." Zuko muttered under his breath, but Toph caught it anyway, just as she always did.

"Well? Give me an update on what's goin' on and I might be a help, despite my blindness." Toph said, but she seemed to be laughing it off now, to which Zuko was thankful.

"It's rough out there, by the looks of it. I mean, the stupid Earth Kingdom ships are making a current while the boulders are killing my ears and the ship physically." Zuko described briefly, not knowing how Toph was supposed to chip in and help this situation out.

"Oh please, princess. My ears are way more sensitive than yours and I'm coping with it." Toph mocked. Zuko was glad that she didn't mention anything about her blindness. "But I do feel a little dizzy."

"Wish I was a Waterbender." The Avatar stated. "I could bend our way out."

"Waterbender? Hmm, maybe, that might actually work!" Toph exclaimed, shooting a finger up like she had an idea. Zuko could almost picture a light flick on just above the teenager's head.

"Explain." Zuko demanded, as he held onto the steering wheel tightly, his knuckles almost going red from the tension. He could feel his palms heating and was quick to notice when the wood of the wheel starting to smoke.

"Well, you're the… Avatar, right? So, you bend us right outta here! With some tricks played around with the water we'll be on our way." Toph said, clapping her hands together like she was explaining simple instructions to the childish game of 'Hide and Explode' rather than being unclear about her plans to fight the Earth Kingdom Navy.

"If I'm not Earthbender material, what makes you think it's not the same with Waterbending?" Zuko asked bluntly as he accidentally failed to notice the bow of the metal ship was not following with his steering wheel. The ship was still moving backwards, thanks to Toph, and so he had to keep spinning the wheel to keep it from crashing into one of the opposing ships. This made the Fire Nation ship sail around in circles backwards; in the opposite direction the whirlpool was trying to direct its current. The ship moved roughly against the waves; it was a bumpy ride. Any sudden jerk of the ship could throw either Toph or Zuko out the window and down a long fall.

"Who said you weren't Earthbender material?" Toph asked innocently with a playful smile on her face. Zuko was about to rebut to Toph's plan when she resigned. "Alright! I'll teach you Earthbending," she promised, "But first, let's get out of here."

"I can't Waterbend, not now, not in five seconds when I've never really done it before." Zuko said but Toph; however, was not convinced. "Look, I know I've done Waterbending before" – Toph frowned at the memory – "but that was when I was all weird and had no idea what was happening. Wait – why don't I do that again?" Zuko asked.

"Princess, I don't know if you've noticed but I'm trying to keep your Avatar identity hushed up. I mean, the Fire Nation is after you and we can't give them a heads up on where you are. Virtually the whole world thinks you're dead or something, ever since you were banished." Toph clarified. Zuko seemed to follow half-way through her speech.

"So, everyone thinks I'm dead? The whole world doesn't know I still exist, well, the Avatar exists?" Zuko asked in disbelief. Sure, he knew people back in Kyoshi Island who believed the Avatar had disappeared, but having the entire world thinking that just felt plain weird and creepy. It was like he wasn't real, just another ghost who walked around in a body, no one knowing and no one caring.

"Pretty much." Toph answered. Comfort was certainly not something she was good at making people feel. Zuko decided to stop thinking about the subject and concentrated on leading the Fire Nation ship out of harm's way. The Avatar made another quick spin of the wheel as the fancy prow of the black ship nearly collided with one of the wooden Earth Kingdom boats because he forgot to steer. The three sharp layers of grand golden edgings on the prow almost shredded the hull of the wooden ship into millions of splinters, just scraping the stilted surface. But still, the contact seemed to slightly 'push' the Earth Kingdom vessel a little, rocking the boat like it was weightless. This gave Zuko an idea.

"Toph, can you please stop the ship moving backwards? I want you to turn the engine on the highest power there is and make it move forward." Zuko ordered. Toph just shrugged in a way that wordlessly gave the I-don't-know-what-the-hell-you-are-doing-but-I-trust-you-even-if-we-end-up-washed-away-on-some-remote-island impression. The Earthbender paused before grasping her sore hand on the same lever she used before and took hold of another before pulling them both back down. The ship lurched to a halt before jerking again and then changing direction. Toph placed her barefoot on a pedal underneath the metal controls desk and forced it down. The speed of the Fire Nation ship quickened gradually as she kept her foot there. "I'm going to ask you to hold on, nothing more or less." Zuko added as he squeezed his own hands on the steering wheel. "It's going to be a… rough ride."

The young man watched carefully with narrowed eyes as the ship he was sailing headed straight forward towards the closest Earth Kingdom ship, the prow's golden sheen gleaming in the sunlight, reflecting the light in a devious way as it was aimed at the middle of the hull of the wooden ship it was ready to pierce. Out of the corner of his eye, Zuko caught Toph clutching onto a long metal pipe that was nailed against the wall it was propped on, like it had something to do with the plumbing. He could see the dents her tensed fingers were leaving on the metal. Zuko couldn't help but let a smile form on his lips. The opposing wooden ship was still moving though, and when the Fire Nation ship reached the outer ring of the whirlpool, it just missed the boat. But of course, a current was a current, and so the force of the pushing water made the metal ship crash into the Earth Kingdom vessel. Thick splinters of wood flew in every direction possible, some fragments even puncturing the metal of the black ship Zuko tried to steer, leaving holes that would forever remind those who witnessed this splintering incident of this day.

The wooden craft was now only half of what it used to be, with its bow disintegrated and the ship sinking. Zuko caught sight of many small figures diving into the sea for their lives while the rest were attempting to drop an extra life boat into the waters, while they were on the tilted deck, and climb aboard the small wooden dinghy.

"What just happened?" Toph demanded through clenched teeth as she finally felt that the trembling of the crash had ended. "What did you do?" She insisted. Zuko took several intakes of air before answering.

"I crashed into another ship. We're out of the circle."

It was true; the Fire Nation boat, after colliding with and practically destroying one of the Earth Kingdom Navy boats, had finally escaped the 'whirlpool' it had been trapped in and was free to sail where ever it needed to go.

"Great job. At least you've got a brain. Crazy, but still smart." Toph said with a smile in her sentence. The Firebender did not know whether he should take her comment as a compliment or not, but had no time to do anything when there was a loud –

BOOM!

Both heads spun around in a flash like their owners were not afraid of cracking their necks. Toph jumped in shock while Zuko's eyes widened to find a large indentation that had been punched into the back wall right behind them. The dent was round and in the shape of half a solid circle, like a boulder had hit it with hard force. Thankfully, the metal the rock had hit was thick enough to stop it from penetrating the wall. Not a single syllable was uttered as the shock passed away, but then there was another distant and low thud beneath Zuko and Toph somewhere. The source was most likely the thrown boulder, which had not been able to make a dent deep enough for it to stay where it was and so fell from its hollow, metal 'chair' to crash onto the deck behind the Pagoda Tower.

"They're still throwing rocks at us?" Zuko asked loudly. Toph was silent for a moment before she dashed out of the control room. Zuko didn't object as he heard her confident yet hasty footsteps carry themselves down the first staircase, the noise echoing against the walls and rebounding back into the control room. There was no need for an explanation about what she was going to do. "Be careful." Zuko called to her once she was long gone though still in audible range.

"THANKS! YOU TOO!" She yelled back, and judging by the distance and volume of her voice, Toph was probably on the ground level of the tower by now.

Zuko chuckled before turning serious again. He wanted to know when the Fire Nation ship would be out of the Earth Kingdom Navy's shooting range and decided he needed to see for himself. Zuko loosened his grip on the wooden steering wheel to make sure it would be steady without his control. Once he felt secured about the wheel, he turned to the large indentation on the opposite wall of the smashed window screen. The height of the dent seemed like twice his own but what did tallness matter compared to strength?

The Avatar didn't bother taking a stance as he pulled back his arm and punched out a fireball, not attempting to charge it either. But, to his fault, the fireball hit the dent but the force rebounded into him, pushing him back because of the force. Zuko stumbled on his two feet before tripping over and falling on his back. Great. I got knocked over by my own attack, he thought to himself, how embarrassing. The young man got up on his feet again to be met with a big hole in the middle of the great metal dent, with the sides of the gap singeing away like it was cotton. Zuko could see the remaining three wooden ships with the bold Earth Nation Insignia painted on the side of the hull and the flying dark green sails, two of which were following the foamy trail the Fire Nation vessel left in the waters it moved through while the third was back with the other half ship, probably rescuing shipwrecked soldiers.

So the Earth Kingdom Navy were intelligent in a way after all, they were going to drive their enemy out of their territory to make sure they don't come back. Clever, very clever. The soldiers on the two wooden ships were catapulting boulders with their Earthbending while Zuko could see rocks being directed back to their rightful owners from the bow of the black ship by Toph who was out of his sight. He didn't know how long those Earth Kingdom ships were going to chase him and Toph, but however long, it was going to waste valuable time. The two unfriendly ships were a fair distance away from the Fire Nation ship, but it would be a matter of time before the ship's engine was exhausted and died or the two Navy boats caught up. They couldn't sail forever.

"TOPH?" Zuko called down, out the hole.

"YEAH?" He heard her voice loud and clear below him, though the dent didn't allow him to see much further than the very end of the ship. Several boulders were projected from the bow of the Fire Nation ship, some missing the two opposing Earth Kingdom ships, some able to make it onto the deck of one of the large boats. Zuko could tell that Toph, without his help, was making an effort to throw back the boulders as far as possible just to make sure the rocks would hit the enemy or be far enough to threaten them.

"THEY'RE CHASING US! NO USE GOING AROUND THEM! THEY MIGHT EVEN DRIVE US BACK TO KYOSHI ISLAND OR FURTHER!" Zuko yelled back.

There was a moment of silence, with nothing but that strange sound of noisy wind and the banging of boulders when Toph's sharp voice surprised him: "I DON'T THINK THEY'LL TAKE US THAT FAR! THEY'LL PROBABLY CHASE US UNTIL WE'RE A FAIR DISTANCE FROM THE MAINLAND! DAMN IT!"

"SO DO WE KEEP RUNNING?" Zuko asked after taking the options he and Toph had into consideration.

"FIRST OF ALL, WE'RE NOT RUNNING," Toph yelled, she was even able to stress some emphasis in her tone at the same time as she shouted. "WE'RE SAILING-ISH. AND TWO, WE SHOULD JUST LET THEM CHASE US UNTIL THEY GROW TIRED AND LEAVE US ALONE!"

Zuko just shrugged, despite the fact that Toph wasn't there to witness his response, and decided to think things over, something he never usually did in most situations. It was almost like a dangerous pastime to him.

"When? When?" Toph whined as she was sprawled across the rug in the control room, spread out like a dead eagle, well, more like dying.

"It was your idea to let them chase us until they stopped." Zuko shot back in a grumble. He too, had spread himself out on a wide metal chair positioned before a table used for what seemed to be planning tactics and strategies for there was a clear map of some sort with a large grid and coordinates printed on the side. He could picture the battle between the Fire Nation ship and the two Earth Kingdom Navy ships in motion on the map. The black metal ship would be further ahead the two wooden ones as they were separated a bit, each vessel sailing on one side of the Fire Nation's craft. It was like the three vessels were positioned in a dot-to-dot triangle, each point as a ship. Because of this, Zuko could not take a shot at turning around the black ship and try to go around the opposing Navy vessels. "At least they stopped throwing boulders at us." Zuko said.

"Yeah, at least." Toph shot back sarcastically, pretending to be thankful.

Zuko glared at the Earthbender who lay on her back lazily, tired from throwing back rocks on her own for such a long time. Time. So much of it had passed. It was well past midday and the purple-pink cloudless sky of noon threatened to let dusk take over and allow the sun to rest for some hours. "At least I'm doing something." Zuko defended. Toph snorted as a reply.

"Oh yeah? Like what?" The blind teenager asked. The Firebender stopped staring defiantly at his companion as he shifted his position on his seat and turned his head to look at the hole he burned right in the centre of the round indentation that had been punched into the bare wall cleanly like a ball being bounced onto a stretched out blanket.

"Like thinking. I'm planning a way to get the navy off our backs. And what are you doing…?" Zuko trailed off as he got up from his chair. Toph scrambled to her bare feet also, feeling sudden surprise in her friend's atmosphere, even though her senses were muffled when she was on the rug and metal. The ex-prince walked over to the dent and bent over so his face was right in front of the hole. Looking outside, Zuko saw the two Earth Kingdom ships slow down until they both came to a complete stop. Then the two wooden crafts turned around, almost in unison, before both had the rear ends of the ships facing Zuko. And with that, the two vessels sailed in the reverse course they had been following. "Hey Toph, look at this – I mean, come here. They're leaving." Zuko said, changing midsentence for his friend's sake.

Toph frowned before approaching the Firebender. There was no use for the girl to peep out of the hole and 'see' what was going on so the Earthbender just stood next to Zuko and waited. "So what does this mean? We chase them back?" Toph asked with a laugh.

"No, I don't think so. We should lay off for a while, or wait 'till those guys are out of sight then go around the edge of the mainland until we can find a clear coast to dump this ship and walk to Ba Sing Se." Zuko said thoughtfully. Toph seemed to think about his suggestion also, when she finally nodded in agreement.

"You're right. We don't need permission or a seaport to get to the mainland. We'll just follow along the coastline until we find a suitable place." Toph approved. She clapped her hands together excitedly before rubbing her palms with the sort of attitude that screamed the 'we-have-a-lot-of-work-to-do' impression.

To Be Concluded

Well, not concluded-concluded :)

Anyway, thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed :). Please review – whether you want it to be for praise or advice, it will be much appreciated. Thank you all again!

Have a great holiday if you're on one... and have a great... thing if you're not :)

Happy Days!

TezTra