He wasn't sure what time it was when he finally woke again, but he knew that he were still freezing. With limbs heavy he climbed to his feet, pulling back the drapes once more to see the blizzard still raging. The sun was still up, he had not slept the entire day away, yet still the temptation to remain within these four walls, to deny the existence of any world beyond his door, was great. But he had to face his friends, he knew they would have questions that he, still, would be unable to answer. But ... perhaps there could be an exception. Perhaps now, with the threat of the end of the world now so frightfully real, he could break the silence. He had to tell someone. There was a chance that his mission could end in his own death, was there not? He felt an old ache of jealousy as he thought of the person he needed to speak to, but shuddering and shiver in the cold, pushing that feeling aside, he reached around his room, pulling on the heaviest robes he had and pulling back the bolt lock on his door, stumbling into the bright hallway.
Zuko was sat alone upon his throne when Aang slipped into the room, past the curious guards casting furtive looks in his direction. Zuko seemed not to notice, instead pouring over a number of scrolls piled up on his lap, a harried expression on his face. Aang cleared his throat, and Zuko glanced up.
"Am I interrupting?" Aang asked. He saw the Firelord's amber eyes quickly take in Aang's disheveled and tired appearance before shaking his head, gesturing to the table in front of him. Aang walked forwards, taking his seat, even as Zuko scowled back down at the scrolls once more, before finally sighing and placing them on the floor.
"Everything ok?" Aang asked, pulling his robes tight as she shivered in the cold. Zuko watched him acutely, his expression suddenly difficult to read yet not altogether kind.
"I was just about to ask you the same question," he said softly.
"Yeh, well, I asked first," Aang replied, managing a smirk that faltered all too quickly. "What's all that about?" He gestured towards the scrolls at Zuko's side. At this, Zuko rubbed his temples and groaned.
"Everyone's panicking. So far half of the city is snowed in, and there are many more who are still trying to dig their way out and leave their homes. There's been a rush for supplies, food stalls have been looted, civilians have been injured, and despite announcements for everyone to stay in their homes and for help to be brought to them, runners are charging a fortune to brave the snow and send messages across the city. We already have two of them in the infirmary."
"It doesn't look like it's going to stop any time soon," Aang replied gravely. "But people need food, they need to send messages to their loved ones-"
"But need they be such animals about it?" Zuko interrupted sharply, before wincing at his words and shaking his head. "We're working towards a solution, getting extra rations out there, but contacting friends and family will have to wait. This is madness, honestly. The Water Tribes must deal with this kind of weather all the time, and here we are treating it like it's the end of the world."
Aang felt his gut wrench at those words, flashed of his nightmare before his eyes, and in Innua's cold dead glare. Zuko did not miss Aang's reaction, and his amber eyes narrowed.
"So, your turn," he said evenly. "Care to explain to a few things? I know it's not of great importance now, but Kiyi missed you at her birthday last night." Aang winced.
"I know, I'm sorry I ... uh, I just had some things to deal with."
"Right," Zuko replied shortly.
In silence, Aang began to pick at his nails, staring intently down at his hands to avoid Zuko's glare. He couldn't very well tell Zuko the reason he had stormed off, it was too pathetic. No, there were more important things to discuss.
"Zuko, I - I need to speak with you," he said at length, looking back up at the Firelord. "But privately. Somewhere no one can overhear us."
This, at least, knocked the unhappy look from Zuko's face, and he seemed to spark up with interest.
"No one will hear us outside," he offered jokingly. Aang looked back at him blankly. "Ok, I know where we can go."
With a shiver, Zuko drew his robes tighter and the pair made their way from the throne room, following the hallway until they met with a handsome dark wood door, behind which stood a neatly laid out office, mostly bear minus a couple of chair, and clean desk, and several bookcases.
"This is Mamoru's office," Zuko explained. "She won't be back for a few hours now, at least, and trust me when I say that no one would dare risk being caught eavesdropping here."
"I can imagine," Aang muttered.
Zuko sat himself down in the General's chair, whilst Aang walked over to the fireplace, lighting it with a simple wave of his hand. It was strange, he could not remember ever being this cold in the South Pole.
"So, do I finally get to hear what's been keeping the great Avatar awake all these months?" Zuko asked, keeping his keen eyes focused on Aang. There were a guarded concern on his face, almost as if suddenly he wasn't sure that he wanted to hear that answer to that question after all.
"I suppose you do," Aang replied heavily, falling into the chair opposite.
"And, it's not good news, is it?" Zuko asked, his hand already raised to his temple.
"No," Aang replied. "Not even close."
Zuko shook his head, then clapped his hands together as if in resignation. He leaned forward under the desk, pulling out a drawer before placing two small glasses on the table. He then procured a dark brown bottle, pouring its contents into each of the glasses in turn. The strong, warm smell his Aang's nostrils immediately.
"I didn't imagine you as the heavy drink sort," Aang said, watching the Firelord place the bottle to the side of the desk.
"I'm not," Zuko admitted. "But this is what Mamoru called her damned to hell fund, and today is rather feeling like that sort of day." Zuko rose his glass, tipping it slightly towards Aang, before downing the contents, grimacing as he did so. Aang, after tentatively sniffing the strong liquid, followed suit, and was pleased to note that the heat hitting his throat was not entirely unpleasant.
"This tastes a hell of a lot better than what Hakoda gave me," Aang commented, scrunching his nose up at the memory. "By all accounts, I was half certain that he were trying to poison me."
Zuko barked a humorless laugh. "You know, he just might have been."
The pair sat in silence for a moment, before Aang bravely took a deep breath.
"Ok, I know I don't really need to say this, but what I'm about to tell you stays between us for now."
Zuko nodded, dragging his finger in a cross across his chest.
"Spirits, ok, where to start ..." Aang began to drum his fingers on the table, finding his nerves decidedly roused. "Well, uh, I'm sure you remember how I was called into the spirit world all those months ago when we came to the Fire Nation?"
Zuko nodded, pouring them another glass.
"Well, there's a reason why I've not told any one what happened. There is something coming, something bad and I think ... I think this might be the start."
Zuko looked up sharply. "The blizzard?"
"Yes," Aang replied. He took a small swig of his drink, before taking another deep breath. "The day that I was summoned into the spirit world, a spirit came to me. A spirit by the name of Koh."
Zuko's brow rose for a moment, before his composed himself. "The Face Stealer?"
"Yes." Aang had told Zuko of his journey into the spirit world he night he had kidnapped him from the Spirit Oasis. He had told him of his encounter with the ancient and terrifying spirit. He frowned, drumming his fingers once more as he fought for the best explanation.
"Koh summoned me, along with Avatar Roku. I think, even with Roku there, Koh could have taken my face. But he didn't. There was something much more at stake, something that seemed even to frighten Koh."
"What?" Zuko asked. Aang hummed quietly to himself, trying to gather his thoughts.
"I didn't know at the time, and I was still told so little that it has taken me months to understand the little that I do. Roku only told me that something was coming, something that no one had ever faced before, and that I had to stop it before it was too late. I thought he meant Tonrar, I couldn't imagine that there would be something else so soon after."
"And was it?" Zuko asked, his voice sounding hushed.
Aang visibly paled and shivered, even with the warmth of the fire pressing in on them. "Yes ... and no. I-it wasn't Tonrar, as such. But when Koh confronted me ... it was with Tonrar's face."
An eerie silence followed his words, Zuko sitting still as he fought to digest this most unpleasant pieces of information. At last, he seemed to find his voice. "But ... Tonrar's a spirit," he all but whispered. "Can Koh really take the faces of spirits?"
"I didn't think he could," Aang admitted, "but he had. When Tonrar was forced back into the spirit world by those he had possessed he somehow came face to face with Koh. Tonrar passed judgement on those spirits who returned after leaving the spirit world to live with humans, and so it was Koh who passed judgement on he. He took punishment the only way Koh can. And he took his face."
Aang downed the last of his drink, appreciating its heat.
"But it wasn't so simple as that," he continued. "Koh and Roku told me that, in sending Tonrar back to the spirit world, in making it possible for Koh to take his face, I had somehow started a chain of events that would ... would-" he hesitated. He had not yet said the words out loud. And he suddenly realised that may not be able.
"Would what?" Zuko pressed, leaning forward.
"R-Roku told me that I would see the world start to change. This blizzard." Aang gestured to the window, through which the white miasma was visible. "He said that both our worlds, this one and the spirit, would start to shred, to fall apart ... The end of the world."
Zuko's eyes widened, and he hurriedly placed the bottle he had lifted back on the table for fear that he would drop it. He looked back at Aang, roving his face trying to find hint of the joke that the Avatar was obviously playing on him, but when he saw no sign of it, he swallowed.
"All because Koh took Tonrar's face?" He said, his voice hoarse. "I don't ... I don't understand. How? How can the world be falling apart because of this?"
"I don't know," Aang replied weakly. "This is why I have not said anything, why I've spent so much time reading, researching, searching the spirit world ... before Roku could explain anything more to me, something came for him. Someone. Someone who he had time to warn me about before he forced me back into this world and he-" he voice broke, and his hands began to shake. "I can't feel him any more. My connection to the past Avatar's remains but Roku? Zuko, I can't feel him any more."
Zuko took a shaking breath. "But .. the someone he warned you of? You know who that is?"
"I do now," Aang replied, his voice firmer now, a fire evident behind his stormy grey eyes as he thought of the monster that had torn Aang's connection to his friend and sifu. "Innua."
"What?" Zuko spoke so sharply, his hand jutting out to grab Aang's shoulder "Aang, that's ..."
"Crazy?" Aang said vehemently. "Trust me, the thought has crossed my mind. But it's her alright. I met her in the spirit world just today. She told me that she could stop all of this, that she could stop the world from ending. If I bring her Koh."
"Will you do it?" Zuko asked, his voice hushed. "Aang ... I know your morals, your ethics ... I know it's cold, but he steals faces. If it could put an end to all of this-"
"I understand that, Zuko, but choosing whether or not to betray the most ancient spirit in the spirit world is not my biggest worry right now. It's that I cannot find him. He disappeared the night I was pulled into the spirit world, and he has not been seen since. When I'm not trying to work out how to stop the end of the spirits-damn world, I'm trying to hunt down Koh, to force him to explain all of this, to put an end to it."
"So ..." Zuko swallowed, "To end this you need to find Koh. Is there any other way?"
Aang sat in intent silence, staring out at the window at the flurry beyond, his mind racing. "There could be," he said at last. "Roku told me that it was through allowing Tonrar's face to be stolen, through forcing him into the spirit world, that these chain of events could take place. So, either the loss of Tonrar is what's caused this, or the very act of forcing Tonrar into the spirit world did. That, somehow, it ripped the fabric of our worlds apart, creating a hole between them. If I could find a way to repair this ... maybe I could stop it."
"And this is what you have been trying to learn?"
"Yes," Aang replied with a heavy sigh, pulling his gaze away from the blizzard. "But I can find nothing ... no hint, no clue, nothing in the written word or the word of spirits that even hints at how I can even start something like that."
Aang sighed, rubbing his temples as he let his head droop down to the table.
"So, how can I be of help?" Zuko asked, his voice soft and encouraging, though the shake of terror beneath was all too clear.
"Truthfully, I don't think that you can," Aang replied honestly. "I need to find Koh, or I need to repair the damage between the worlds. I'm the Avatar, I am the only one capable."
"I can put word out," Zuko said keenly, "I can make sure my entire nation is on high alert for Koh-"
"No," Aang said sharply, looking back up at Zuko. "No, Zuko promise me that you won't do that. You have no idea how dangerous Koh is, the number of souls he could consume and faces he could steal. I can't have that, I can't have people trying to cross into the spirit wilds to hunt for him."
Zuko looked as though he were going to argue, but the fervent way in which Aang glared at him knocked him down.
"There must be something I can do," Zuko pushed. "If our worlds are going to pull themselves apart I can't every well sit by and do nothing!"
"You focus on keeping your people alive," Aang replied. "Keep your people alive, keep the tentative peace with the Earth Kingdom, keep people strong, and hopeful, until I work out how to stop this. You're good at this, Zuko. You focus on the people."
"And what about Innua? I have already recieved a hawk from the North Pole, not two days ago, stating that she and Hanh have already been presented to their Tribe as representatives. And if what you say is true then we know now that she was the one who almost killed Suki, who tried to kill Katara."
"I know," Aang said tensely. "But what good will it do to hunt her down?"
"We can force her to put a stop to this," Zuko said fiercely. "Forget any damn trade. If she can somehow stop the end of the world then we damn well make her."
Aang had to admit, Zuko was not the first of them to think of this. But Innua was smart, she was strong willed, and push come to shove all she had to do was take refuge in the spirit world, leaving her body behind and unresponsive to any questioning.
"I don't think it will work that way," he replied. "I wish it could, she will face judgement for what she did to Suki, but you will not force anything out of her any more than you could have done Azula."
Zuko's face visibly tensed at the mention of his sisters name, but the point hit home. The pair sat in an uncomfortable silence, Zuko digesting the information that he had been given, Aang anxiously hoping that in choosing to reveal the truth to the Firelord he had not made a huge mistake.
"You need to tell the others," Zuko said at length, turning his narrow-eyed focus back to the Avatar once more, "they have a right to know."
"Zuko the entire world has a right to know," Aang replied tersely, "but can you imagine the widespread panic it would even cause?"
"But they're your friends," Zuko argued.
"And they can't help. There's nothing they can do about this. Sokka has enough on his plate right now with Suki, Katara only lost her grandmother a few months ago ... why would I worry them with something they can do nothing about?"
Zuko opened his mouth to argue, but snapped it shut again, his expression demurred. "I can't tell you what to do, Aang, but I hope you reconsider."
"Duly noted," Aang answered glumly.
Later that evening, after Aang had spoken to the Acolytes, explaining that they would have to see if the blizzard passed or lessened before they could attempt the journey to the Eastern Air Temple, he collapsed back onto his bed. He had a small plate of food sat beside him where he had crept off to eat in the privacy of his own room. He had arrived into the Throne Room to find both Zuko and Katara already present, the former keeping his steady gaze on Aang, as if mentally trying to convince him to announce to the room the exact circumstances of the blizzard that had grounded them in the Palace. The latter remained perfectly polite, even smiling at him as he entered, but the tension between them was too much for either of them to handle and so he had elected to grab some breakfast to-go, unable to cope with the dead weight in his chest, the stomach sinking sensation, and a numbness spreading over his limbs. It had reached a point where he could hardly stand even seeing her. She looked more beautiful than ever, her voice intoxicating when she spoke, and he was certain it was partially what had been driving him to madness. Whenever she entered a room, he had no choice but to leave. And he was certain that everyone else had surely noticed it.
He picked solemnly at one of his vegetable rolls, his roving thoughts ruining his appetite. He loved her with every fiber of his being ... He was the Avatar, right? The most powerful being this side of the spirit world, and yet he had managed to lose the love of his life. He was facing the literal end of the world, and he somehow had faltered so spectacularly that he still had no hope to stop it. A rumble of rage swell across his chest, and he grabbed the plate, throwing it across the room where it shattered, plastering food across the far wall. He then felt undeniable shame. Shame that he should behave so childishly. Shame that he had allowed all of this to happen in the first place. With a sigh he stood, grabbing the bin from the corner of the room as he bent to gather the broken pieces of china and smeared breakfast into the pan.
It was as he dropped the bin back into the corner of his room that he heard a light, tentative knock on his door. He paused, standing straight and looking over his shoulder, wondering quickly what sort of lie he could fabricate for not answering. With an involuntary twitch, he scolded himself once more, before opening the door to see the very last person he would have suspected.
"Hi Xing Ying." The Acolyte stood in the doorway, apprehensive and eyes darting nervously from Katara's door beside his own, and down the corridor. "What's up?"
She hesitated a moment longer, before clearing her throat.
"Can I come in?"
A surprised as he was, he did not let it show on his face or in his voice, and he stepped back, holding out an arm. "Of course."
She walked past him then stood awkwardly in the middle of his room, her hands clasped at her waist as her gaze was drawn to each corner of the room. He noted her eyes linger on the smash plate in the bin, and wondered briefly if he should come up with an explanation, but decided that changing the subject was a better tactic.
"You can sit down," he said, forcing a brightness to his voice as he gestured to the bed. He sat himself on the headboard, bare feet on the pillow, to allow her the space to sit down, yet in doing so he missed the brief flash of panic in her eyes.
"Uhh, thanks," she said, sitting down and looking considerably less than comfortable. Aang then remembered that it had not only been Zuko and Kiyi he had upset last night. He had been unnecessarily short with his Acolyte also.
"So, what can I help you with?" He asked, hoping the grin plastered onto his face helped overcome any awkwardness still left over from the previous night. Xing Ying, however, shifted uncomfortably, playing with the hem of her red sash.
"I'm really worried this is going to sound crazy," Xing Ying replied at last, hesitantly.
Aang raised his brow, curiosity sparking as a genuine laugh lit his features, perhaps catching them both by surprise. "It's snowing in the Fire Nation," he said, "what's a little more insanity going to hurt?"
Xing Ying smiled weakly, fingers continuing to rumple her sash, before sighing.
"Ok ... well, I think there's some sort of spirit watching us."
Aang's grin dropped pretty sharpish from his face, and he stared at her blankly. "A spirit?"
"Like ... a woman. I keep seeing her, standing in the corners, round corridors, even out in the snow ... but whenever I try and get a second look, she's gone."
Aang blinked at her, his heart suddenly racing. Could she mean Innua? But, if Xing Ying had seen her too then didn't that mean ... maybe Innua was actually here in the Capital?
"Sorry, I knew it would sound ridiculous," Xing Ying said, mistaking his sudden frowning silence as disdain, a deep blush creeping across her cheeks. She stood to go but Aang reached out, grabbing her shoulder.
"No, no wait," he said urgently. She swallowed audibly. "You've definitely seen her?"
It was Xing Ying's turn to looks surprised. "You've ... you've seen her too?"
"Yes," Aang replied, taking his hand from her shoulder as she dropped back down to the bed. "Honestly, I thought I had imagined it ... could you make out any of her features? Any indication as to who she could be?"
The Acolyte shook her head. "Could you?"
For the briefest of moments he considered telling her that it was Innua that he had seen, but the plethora of questions that would come as a result convinced him otherwise.
"Should we ask if anyone else has seen anything?" She asked.
Aang rubbed his coarse chin, considering. The last thing he wanted was to give anyone a reason to panic. Innua had poisoned Suki, had tried to poison Katara, and her presence in the castle would not be a welcome one, and sending Sokka on a murderous hunt for her was not what he had in mind. But, at the same time, Innua having found her way, unnoticed, into the Fire Nation, was the sort of thing that the Firelord had a right to know about. Unless he was wrong. Unless it wasn't Innua at all but, as Xing Ying assumed, a spirit.
"Not yet," he replied at last. "If there's a spirit here I should be able to speak with it, and too many people on alert could very well frighten it away."
Xing Ying nodded in agreement.
"Thank you for telling me, Xing Ying," Aang added. "And ... I'm sorry if my tone wasn't entirely pleasant with you last night."
Her face flushed.
"Did you have fun, anyway?" He asked kindly. Xing Ying seemed entirely unsure of how to reply, mouthing for a moment.
"Sort of," she said at last. She looked like there was something else that she wanted to say, her eyes flitting across his face for a moment, before she swiftly got to her feet, bowing her head and hurrying from his room. He was decidedly taken aback by the speed at which her attitude seemed to have changed around him, and decided that, when time allowed, he would speak to Yee Li about what was going on with his brightest student. Logging that onto his mental list of yet more things to concern over, he raised a hand to his temple. Before he braved the blizzard he needed to speak to this spirit, or confirm that it was Innua at least. Things, perhaps, could not get weirder.
He was wrong.
Five days after the first snows started to fall, the blizzard had not let up. If anything, the flurry had become more furious, and both bending and non-bending Fire Nation citizens were working day and night to try and prevent the snow from burying the Capital completely. The Firelord, after much deliberation and weighing up the risks involved, had sent out three airships full of as many supplies as the Capital could spare, offering aid to the other towns and villages to be found in his country. It was proving difficult to get word out to anyone, and despite trying to organise relief aid from the Northern Water Tribes and the closest Earth Kingdom cities, most of the hawks sent were returning, notes still intact, barely hours later. There was no word, yet, as to whether this blizzard was located just on the Fire Nation, or if people worldwide were also battling the elements. Aang knew that it was soon going to become his responsibility to find out for certain.
Whilst still maintaining his search for the illusive spirit that Xing Ying insisted still remained in the Palace, Aang had offered his assistance to the Firelord wherever he could. Alongside the firebenders in the Firelord's Guard he would proceed to melt back as much snow as possible from people's homes, and from the streets. Though the snow and ice easy gave way to their burning flames, the battle was constant, with the snow falling at such a rate that, by the end of the day, many of the streets they had cleared were white again. Being one of the only two waterbenders in the entire of the Fire Nation too left him invaluable for warping and shaping the ice that had formed into barriers, preventing the slopes of snow forming around the perimeter of the volcano falling in. This, however, offered another problem for the Avatar. He and Katara were forced to work closely together, their role requiring them to interact on a level that the pair had avoided for many months previous. He approached the issue as chastely as he could, but it was hard enough fighting the elements without also having to fight the churning in his stomach and pounding in his chest each time their eyes met.
After one particularly crushing afternoon pushing back the frost and ice, he, Katara, and Sokka made their way back to the Palace. Sokka, who had insisted that he, too, could help chip back the ice without bending, looked little less than exhausted as he walked between the pair of them. However, he still fought to find conversation, perhaps more disquieted by the awkward silence between his sister and friend than he was the icy sweat that stuck across his brow. Perhaps hoping that latter events would encourage the ex-couple to put their differences aside, maybe even start seeing one another again, the disappointment in his face as he looked between the pair of them resolutely keeping their gazes away from one another was clear to see. The warrior had been close to bringing the topic of their relationship up with them on several occasions. He had almost lost Suki, and he could not bear the thought of two of the people he cared about most in the world ever having to deal with the pain he had. It was insane, they were both better together, stronger together, and it was only his worry of alienating either one of them that prevented him from locking them in a room together until they sorted things out. And so, in silence, the trio continued to scale the freshly cleared walkway to the Palace, all noting glumly how quickly it seemed to be filling with snow again.
Once inside, the small group shivered as they dust of bent the snow from their shoulders, pulling off heavy layers of coat and robe needed to keep them warm in the every dropping temperatures. They were fortunate that they had such clothing to hand. The Fire Nation simply had had no need for warmer clothing in the past, and so much of the population were severely struggling to keep warm without huddling up next to their flames.
"How can a blizzard in the Fire Nation be worse than that seven day polar night we had back home?" Sokka asked, rubbing his arms vigorously. "Hey, you remember that one, Katara? We had to huddle up in the same igloo for days."
Katara nodded, her expression distracted. Aang noticed Sokka's shoulders droop just a little as he shot her a deflated look. As one, the three of them trudged back towards the Throne Room where Zuko was no doubt to be found, bent over his paper work, his twitching and hair on end from all the times he had exasperatedly ran his hand through it.
Sure enough, the Firelord looked up from his latest correspondence, his expression tired and tense, as they pushed through the double doors. Just yesterday men on ostrich horses had been sent out with all the furs they had been able to find, couriering messages back and forth as best they could, and it seemed that, with some relief, the first had returned. Yet, Zuko still looked exhausted, having barely left the throne room in the last five days, trying to keep on top of the situation. A reserved meal had already been set up for them on the long table, and Sokka was quick to take his seat, digging into the small scraps of meat on his plate.
"Any news from the North or the Earth Kingdom yet?" Aang asked, taking his seat opposite Sokka, his tired limbs thankful for the soft cushion below him.
"No," Zuko replied with a heavy sigh. "We're cut off from anything overseas, we can barely reach anything inland, and I can't spare another airship right now to try and make contact."
"Then Appa and I will go," Aang said firmly. He had broached the subject with Zuko the night before, yet Zuko had been determined to keep Aang in the Capital. "Appa has had enough rest, I can make faster pace with my bending, and bring supplies back with me. Yu Dao may be willing to help yet, Zuko."
Zuko's upper lipped curled momentarily at the mention of the Colony, before he sighed. "But, if it gets worse here we're going to need you."
"I know, Zuko," Aang replied apologetically. "But it won't be long before you start to run low and supplies. Plus ... I'm the Avatar, there are other people out there who need my help too."
Zuko groaned, rubbing his fingers against his temples. "I know ... you're right, you're right."
"Then I'll leave tomorrow," Aang said softly. "I'll be as quick as I can."
"Be careful, Aang," Sokka said, glumly pushing his rice about his bowl, "or someone might accuse Zuko of trying to pop the Avatar off again if you freeze to death."
"It's quite an elaborate assassination plot, I'll give you that, Zuko," Aang said, tipping a glass in Zuko's direction briefly. But Zuko didn't laugh, his expression instead grim as he looked down at the three of them.
"This isn't a laughing matter," Katara interrupted, her tone morose as she stood to pour tea into their mugs. Aang saw the worry in her eyes, yet somehow that only made his stomach knot tighter, and he quickly sought for a good reason to excuse himself and leave the table. However, his thoughts were interrupted by the sound of raised voices from the other side of the wide doors, one of the guards demanding for someone to stop. Surprised, each of them in the room got to their feet, tense and ready to fall into offensive positions when their invader finally broke through the doors. Aang suddenly found himself certain that Innua was going to charge into the room, her fingers laced with ice, a maniacal grin on her face. However, as the doors were violently kicked open, the sound of scraping metal hitting them, it was to reveal a figure decidedly shorter than Innua, covered in snow and, at first, utterly unrecognizable.
"This was the Fire Nation when I left it," came an irritated female voice, muffled by the hood pulled up around her face. "What the hell happened?"
"Toph?" Katara gasped in disbelief, dropping her fists.
"Who else were you expecting?" The earthbender snarled in response, before shaking herself vigorously, causing the pile of snow that had collected on her coat to fall to the floor. Roughly she pulled back her hood, revealing right pink nose and cheeks, her teeth visibly chattering.
"What are you doing here?" Sokka cried, taking in her appearance in alarm. Aang quickly jumped to his feet, a flame igniting his palm as he hurried to warn his visibly freezing friend.
"I'm not in the damn mood for chivalry, Twinkletoes," she snapped, pushing him away.
"I'll repeat," Sokka said, "what on earth are you doing here?"
Zuko, after nodding reassuringly at the guards hovering tentatively by the door, raised his arms causing the flames around them to burst and burn brighter.
"Well, I thought I was getting away from the bad weather but, well, go figure," Toph said sourly, shuffling up next to the flames to warm her unbelievably still bare feet.
"Bad weather?" Aang asked, his stomach sinking as he hovered near her.
"Yeh, this blizzard hit Yu Dao about a week after you guys left. I figured it had blown down from the North Pole, I didn't expect the Fire Nation would actually be worse."
There was an uneasy silence among the companions.
"There's a blizzard in the Earth Kingdom?" Aang repeated, his voice quiet.
"That's what I just said, ain't it?" Toph said irritably, before sighing with relief as the warm spread across her body and she was able to remove her sodden coat.
"How did you even get here?" Sokka asked. "We can't get anybody out!" Toph just shrugged.
"I got a lift off some nut who thought it'd be warmer here, then managed to grab a ride with one of your supply ships."
"What about your students? Satoru?" Katara asked. "Didn't they come with you?"
Suddenly Toph's cheeks blazed a deep beet red, and she practically snarled her response. "They're with family, he's gone."
"Like ... gone gone?" Sokka gasped, looking horrified.
"No, you dimwit!" Toph raised her hand, one of the goblets from the table rising and smacking Sokka across the forehead. The warrior yelped, grabbing his head and glaring.
"You seem ... angrier than usual," Zuko said, though Aang noted that this was said from the relative safe distance of his throne.
"What happened?" Aang asked, feeling concern rise in his chest. Toph had told him, after all, that not long back Satoru had asked her to marry him.
"Nothing," she spat in response. "He's probably back with his uncle now, or whatever, I don't care."
Aang suddenly felt solicitous for the welfare of his friend, having not seen her so visibly upset before. It seemed likely Satoru had not taken her refusal of marriage well, and though he did not believe it possible that anyone could push Toph around, let alone someone like Satoru, something must have happened for her to be this angry.
"What did he do?" Aang demanded. The others looks in his direction, then back to Toph, alarmed.
"Oh relax, Twinkletoes." She dropped the last of her overcoat and robes on the floor and seated herself at the table, beginning to load a plate with food.
Sokka seemed equally as concerned now, uncertain of what he had missed between Toph and Satoru, but certain that he'd defend his friend. "You need me to pummel him?" He asked, smashing his fist into the palm of his hand.
Toph snorted into her mug. "What, you think I'd need help with that?"
Sokka shrugged sheepishly, whilst Aang came and took the seat beside the earthbender. Zuko now dropped from his throne, kicking paper aside, and Katara moved in closer. Toph groaned at her new audience.
"Look, I don't wanna talk about it, ok? That ain't why I'm here."
"Toph, you know you can tell us anything, right?" Katara said softly, placing her hand on Toph's. "That's what we're here for."
Toph became subdued at this point, and shuffled awkwardly in her seat. "Ok, fine ... but first, how's Suki?"
"Oh!" Sokka said loudly, making them all jump. "Of course, you don't know ... she's doing fine, she's still unwell and very weak, but she'll be fine."
"What was it?"
Aang opened his mouth to reply, but Sokka jutted in. "It's rather a long one, so how about you tell us what's going on with you first?"
Toph growled under her breath. "Look, I can't say it, alright." She jabbed a thumb in Aang's direction. "Princess here knows. You tell 'em."
The other three on the table looked across at Aang with mingled expressions of surprise and annoyance. Aang held up his hands in defense.
"Toph, it's not really my pla-"
"You tell 'em." Toph snarled, stabbing a piece of meat with a fork. "I can't say it."
"Can't say what?" Sokka asked, looking wildly between them. Aang's upper lip curled, before sighing.
"Ok, fine. Satoru asked Toph to marry him."
A ringing silence followed his words, and the fork in Toph's hand broke in two as her face burned with mingled embarrassment and fury.
"But ... isn't that ... a good thing?" Zuko offered, confused. At that, however, Sokka suddenly broke into a loud laughter.
"Sokka!" Katara yelled, aghast.
"Nope, nope he's probably got it about right," Toph said.
Zuko looked between them, his expression that of utter confusion. "I don't understand ... why is this funny?"
"Really?" Sokka said, wiping the tears from his eyes. "You don't see what's funny about Satoru asking Toph, the Toph, to marry him?"
"I really don't," Zuko said, looking over at Toph.
"I think I'm missing something too," Katara agreed.
"Toph getting married," Sokka reiterated. He then turned to the earthbender. "On a scale of dead to definitely dead, how dead is Satoru now?"
"I wouldn't know," Toph responded. "I didn't answer him when he asked ... I left to help you guys with that little spirit problem we had. He was waiting for me in Yu Dao, though, and when I told him no he just left without a word to me the next day."
"Oh ..." Katara looked on sadly. "But you really seemed to like him ..."
"I did," Toph snapped defensively, frowning. "But I didn't want to marry the guy! We were having fun, why couldn't he just leave it at that?"
"Well, you are of marrying age according to Earth Kingdom tradition," Katara continued, perhaps unwisely. "It wasn't any secret how much he liked you, perhaps he was just trying to be honorable about things-"
"Oh please, we'd already slept together, it wasn't that," Toph scoffed, taking the group back with her abruptness.
"Toph-" Katara began, reproachfully, but the earthbender qas quick with a rebuttal.
"Right, because we've all waited until our wedding nights like good boys and girls," she said derisively. Katara blushed, her eyes now busy looking anywhere but Aang, who would have gladly welcomed the ground opening up and swallowing him as Sokka looked quickly between the pair of them, his eyes narrowing.
"So, what about the mines," Zuko asked, keenly pushing past the apparent embarrassment Toph had caused between her friends.
"The mines?" Toph said, blankly. "Really, you want to talk about the fucking mines?"
As Firelord it was a long time since Zuko had had anyone speak to him this way, and his expression of shock would have been funny if Toph wasn't brimming with electric fury.
"I knew I didn't want to talk about this," she snapped. "Ok, you know what? New rule. Anyone mention this again will get one hell of a pumelling. Alright?"
Katara, who had already been embarassed into silence, nodded. Sokka, who still seem distracted by the dropped bombshell that his sister and friend had already slept together, merely sat with his lower lid twitching, and Aang was too keen to get away from the table as quick as possible to argue.
"You know, Toph, why don't you get some rest?" Zuko offered, lowering his voice into as soft and comforting a tone as he could manage.
"Spirits, enough with the man gestures! I'm quite capable of taking care of myself," Toph spat, climbing to her feet. "How you could stand this, Katara, I'll never know." And, with that, Toph stalked out of the hall, turning in direction of the chambers.
"Quiet some week." The Firelord got to his feet, heading back the throne and the pile of paperwork waiting for him. "But at least we now know for sure that it's not just the Fire Nation dealing with the blizzard."
"I'm willing to bet that the North is dealing with it, too," Aang murmered, still looking the direction that Toph had left. "It could be everywhere ..."
"It'll pass," Sokka said, getting too to his feet, his tone disgruntled. "Anyway, I'm going to check on Suki." He paused, lookng back at them. "You know, she didn't even wait to hear what happened with that before storming off."
"She just needs some time to herself," Aang replied softly. "It can't have been easy getting here."
"Yeh," Sokka grumbled. He chucked a few more bits of food into a bowl. His eyes lingered on Aang's for a moment longer, his expression disconcerting, before heading towards the doors.
"You know, I'll come too," Katara said, standing. "Another healing session can't hurt."
Glumly Aang watched as Katara hurried after her brother, wondering whether Sokka would opt to seeth in silence, or demand to know what had actually happened between his sister and Aang. He hoped for the former.
"It'll be alright," Zuko said suddenly, causing Aang to start. "He'll get over it."
"Over what?" Aang responded, all too quickly. Zuko simply shrugged, turning back to his paper work.
Later that night, after Aang had finished unsuccessfully roaming the halls and passageways of the Palace, hoping to catch a glimpse of Innua, or the spirit, he back his way back to his room. The feeling of helplessness and panic had only grown since Toph had dropped the bombshell that the snow storm was spread across the Earth Kingdom, and he knew that the time left before he needed to take direct action was little. But all that he could do was walk up and down the same corridors, hoping to see the spirit before he had no choice but to leave for the Temples the following morning. He considered travelling to the spirit world once more, perhaps in doing so he could bait Innua over there with him. If not, there was still Wan Shi Tong's Library, hidden somewhere in the spirit world.
As he turned the corner to his room, his heels now dragging, he tensed up, nervous that Katara would be outside of her room. But the hallway, mercifully, was empty, and with the smallest glance at her door, he opened his own to his room.
He knew something wasn't quite right as soon as his fingers touched the handle. He could sense someone was inside, a sort of static sensation tingling through the air, a light vibration through the floor boards. He carefully pushed the door open, his body tense and ready to react. Yet even with all the preparation in the world, perhaps even if he had known what he would fine, the sight of the dark figure standing in the middle of his room sent panicked shivers of fear down his spine, the hair on his arms and the back of his neck standing on end. Raising his arms he swiftly lit the lamps around the room, a sharp burst of fire flashing from each in his hurry to see who the ghostly figure was. But as soon as the furious light filled the room, the figure vanished. There was no shadow, no trace, no lingering hint of its presence. Aang stood, his breathing uneaven as his heart hammered, staring at the spot that it had stood. There was one thing, at least, that he knew now. That had not been Innua.
That night his nightmares were even more unsettling.
A/N: Thank you everyone who has been reviewing! I will get round to answering your reviews individually at some point, too. I have been debating removing the 'first editions' of Books 1 and 2 from the website, mainly to avoid anyone who hasn't yet read the series coming across spoilers. However, I know a few people have enjoyed being able to re-read those. If anyone has any opinions on this, lemme know!