Ok here's what I've written for this week. Hope you like it.

Thanks again to those of you who reviewed last time.

I don't own A:TLA so please don't sue me.

Enjoy!

Parallels

About twenty minutes later—although Sokka could have sworn it was more like an hour—Ty Lee finally led their small group to the undersized building that was supposedly home to the island's best healers.

Lani, whose injury was more easily diagnosable, was immediately led over to a nearby bed and sat down, where one of the healers began working on her ankle.

Toph, however, was a tougher case. A middle-aged man came over when Sokka carried her inside, and, seeing the dried blood that had seeped from her ears, curtly asked,

"What happened? What can you tell me about this young lady's condition?"

Setting Toph gently on the edge of one of the beds, he turned to explain the situation to the healer, mindful to keep Toph's hand in his.

"Well," he explained, "we don't really know. One of the men we were fighting threw these grenades that gave off an extremely loud blast when they exploded. It was far louder than any normal explosive and when I got over to Toph," he motioned to the girl next to him, "her ears were bleeding and she couldn't hear very well."

"Hmmm," the healer mumbled, going over to Toph and gently placing a hand on her shoulder. Toph flinched initially when the man touched her, not know exactly what was going on. Gently squeezing her hand, Sokka nodded for the healer to continue.

He then took a wet wash cloth and began to clean some of the dried blood from her neck, trying to clear away some of the blood so he could peer deeper into her ears.

A bit perplexed, he took a step back and began to study Toph closely. Finally, a light seemed to go on and he asked,

"Excuse me, but is your friend blind?"

"Yeah…" Sokka let out slowly, "but I'm not sure what that has to do with it. She's having trouble hearing, not seeing."

The healer chuckled softly, "It has everything to do with it, my friend. You see, because she is blind, her ears have had to become more sensitive to cope with everyday life. When your attacker dropped those explosives, the loud boom that you heard, was probably a very intense, low frequency noise. That noise didn't bother you—or any of the other Kyoshi Warriors—because your ears are not as sensitive as hers.

Unfortunately for Toph, it may to have come close to rupturing her eardrums, and I'm sure it gave her an extremely bad headache. This headache may have also clouded her perception which in turn probably affected her internal equilibrium."

When Sokka contorted his face into a frown, the healer elaborated,

"By internal equilibrium I mean your body's balance—its ability to cope with changes to its environment. When that balance is upset it's similar to when you or I get extremely dizzy. In Toph's case, however, I would imagine it to be like the worst case of dizziness or disorientation you've ever had coupled with not being able to see."

Sokka nodded, finally understanding the healer, "So can you help her?"

The healer frowned, "Yes, but I can only do so much. I can give you some herbal tea that will help with the headache, but that will most likely subside with time. For her ears, I am going to give you a soothing cream to apply that should promote quicker healing, and I'm also going to give you a solution to put in them. If you apply both of these religiously for the next couple days, I should think she will be alright."

Taking a moment to scour his shelves for the proper medications, the healer soon came back with the needed supplies.

Taking the medication and the tea from the healer, Sokka helped Toph to her feet. Bending down, he spoke into her ear,

"Toph, the healer said you're going to be alright, but you're going to have to drink this tea and let me or Aang put these drops and this cream in your ear, ok?"

"Sure Snoozles," she said, still holding his hand and taking a couple tentative steps forward. "Whatever it's going to take. But," she added, a slight smirk on her face, "if you touch my feet I'll kill you."

Sokka snorted, not sure why Toph thought he would be touching her feet, but glad that she was still able to joke. The thing that worried him most, however, was her hearing. The healer had assured him that everything should return back to normal but he wasn't going to take any chances. The last thing he wanted was for there to be any permanent damage to Toph's ears.

Increasing his stride so that he was now leading Toph, they went outside and stood on the deck for a couple minutes while Sokka scanned the road for any sign of Suki or Aang. Apparently, they had gone off to get a couple rooms ready while Sokka had taken Toph to the healer.

Finally spotting Aang pacing nervously across the street, Sokka waved him over. Jogging to the pair, he immediately asked,

"So how is she? Is she going to be alright?"

"Yeah," Sokka explained, "the healer said she was going to be fine as long as we apply these drops and this cream to her ears every day and give her this tea when we get back to our rooms."

Aang cracked a relieved smile, "That's good," he breathed. "Come on, I'll show you to the rooms Suki set up for us. They're pretty nice and I'm sure you'd both like to get off your feet for a bit."

"That's for sure," Sokka agreed.

"Oh," Aang hastened to add, "Suki said that you don't need to worry about dinner tonight and that she would have some food sent over to our rooms shortly. She would, however, like talk with us tomorrow over lunch." He paused for a second, "and I think that would be a good time to tell her why we came."

Sokka nodded, "I think that's probably a good idea. Maybe she'll have some idea on how we can get a scale from an elephant koi—but," he paused, letting out a breath, "let's not worry about that right now. Let's get Toph back to the room and give her this medication; we can talk with Suki in the morning."

"Alright," Aang conceded as he led the way through the streets toward their rooms.

"Sir, I believe it is imperative that we send some of our troops to search for Princess Azula," General Zian stated.

Fire Lord Zuko frowned; he had called this meeting of generals to discuss Azula's escape and their best possible course of action, but so far the discussion was going nowhere. Apparently none of the generals wanted to address the most important point of the discussion—the fact that no one knew where Azula was and what her plans were now that she was free.

The room in which he and the eight generals sat was much like the war room his father had kept. The map of the world was still in the middle and the men knelt on either side of it, but in contrast to his father, Zuko had refused to sit upon the raised dais and gaze down on his subjects; instead he had elected to kneel at the head of the map in front of them. He felt it demonstrated that he was in charge, but it also made him an approachable figure, one who was willing to listen to a reasonable argument—even if it was in opposition to his.

Zuko cleared his throat, quickly gaining the attention of everyone in the room. Nodding to General Zian, he spoke,

"Thank you for your thoughts General, but perhaps we are all missing the point. We don't know where Princess Azula is or what her plans are now that she has her freedom. I believe that answering the latter question first is the most important because it will provide us with the most information and hopefully lead us to her. Therefore, I pose this question to all of you: what do we know about the possible reasons for Azula's escape? Do we have any more information from the doctor? Has anything been found in her cell?"

This time, General Jong stood and spoke up, acknowledging the Fire Lord first with a short bow,

"I regret to say that we have relatively no new information from the prison. We have interrogated the doctor, but there is little he seems to know. He insists that he did not leave his house that day to come to the prison, and there are others who can confirm his alibi. I am inclined to believe him despite the evidence. It is almost as if another, identical person entered the prison that day."

"Impossible!" the man kneeling across from General Jong exclaimed. "We know for a fact that the doctor showed up for work, came into Princess Azula's cell, escorted her from it, and then, when they were a safe distance from the prison, turned on our guards. There is no confusion!"

"General Xian," Fire Lord Zuko stated calmly, "I understand your anger, especially in light of the fact that your nephew was one of the guards who was attacked, but I need you to remain objective. There is ample evidence that the doctor was both at the prison and at home."

Motioning to General Jong, he waited for him to continue.

The man nodded, "As I was saying, the doctor seems to know nothing of what happened at the prison that day, and there are others who can confirm he never left his house. The only interesting information we were able to obtain was from a few townspeople who noticed a strange man leading a woman away in the direction of the coast. The woman's description matches that of Princess Azula, but there is no way to know for certain. It is believed that, if these two people were indeed the princess and the supposed doctor, they could have headed to the coast and boarded a ship. I'm afraid to say that they may have gone anywhere from there."

General Jong finished his statement and sat down, and for several seconds silence reigned. General Zian started to stand again to offer another opinion when a new voice cut through the silence.

"Fire Lord, begging your pardon, but I have an idea."

Everyone turned to see this new voice, and were shocked to see the young aide of General Jong addressing the Fire Lord. They held their breath, waiting to see what would happen. Under Fire Lord Ozai, speaking out of turn, or even—in the case of this aide—speaking at all, was at best, an insult, at worst, gross insubordination worthy of banishment or possibly an Agni Kai.

The Fire Lord turned and studied the young aide. The boy was probably no older than fifteen judging by the way his uniform sagged over his slender body. He wore a slightly worried, but determined expression on his face.

Zuko let a small smile flash across his pensive face, this young man's position was probably not much different than his own when he had spoken out in his father's war room on that infamous day. Subconsciously brushing his scar, Zuko nodded to the boy,

"And what is your name son?"

"My…my name, sir?" He stuttered, finally realizing the gravity of his outburst.

Zuko nodded for him to continue.

The boy gulped, bowing, "Shoji, sir."

Zuko smiled and walked over to the boy. Placing a hand on his shoulder, he turned and addressed the entire room,

"Generals, do I need to remind you again that I am not my father?"

He slowly looked around the room, meeting the eyes of each of his generals, "I will never be the person my father was, but believe it or not, I learned a lot from that man. He taught me—albeit through cruel methods—that standing up for what you believe is never wrong."

Holding up a hand to forestall any questions or comments, he continued, "Now I realize that my father gave me this scar, and that he was a monster; but ultimately, his decision to condemn me to hunt the avatar was the one that made me into the man I am today. My travels and experiences taught me what was necessary to lead this nation as its Fire Lord, and, if there is ever a day when I am naïve enough to assume that I know everything there is to know, then I hope each and every one of you will stand up and tell me—just like young Shoji has done today."

He paused for a moment before looking down at the boy, "Although next time, I think it would be better to ask the General first before you speak."

Shoji looked relieved, but still gulped and nodded under the Fire Lord's gaze.

"Now," Zuko said, patting him on the shoulder and returning to his spot at the head of the map, "please continue."

"Well," Shoji began haltingly, slowly gaining confidence with each passing line, "You, sir, know the princess the best, but it is quite possible that," he paused for a moment, searching for the right words, "in her affected state, she may want to return to the things she is most comfortable with, or knows from her childhood."

He hastened to add after seeing the confusion on Zuko's face, "The reason I suggest this is because of my grandmother. She has, over the last few years, contracted a disease that sometimes causes her mind to revert back to a younger state. Her body is still whole but her mind is affected. From what I understand, this is similar to the princess's condition.

My grandmother frequently forgets things, often acts irrationally, but usually she simply asks for this blanket she had as a child. She is most content when she can just hold that blanket—it is a form of comfort for her. I am not sure why, but she has grown attached to it again.

So my question—my suggestion—is to look for anything she may have been attached to when she was younger, anything that had special significance for her that you may have accidentally overlooked. Is there anything you have that she may want to retrieve? It could give you some insight into where she was going."

Zuko sat for a very long time simply thinking about what Shoji had said. His argument was reasoned and logical, and frankly, none of the Generals had come up with anything better. He racked his memory for something—anything—that could be a clue, and he was about to admit defeat when a thought hit him.

Jumping to his feet, he spoke quickly,

"Shoji, you may have just saved us a lot of time, money, and energy searching for my sister."

Noting the confused stares of many of the Generals, he explained,

"When my sister and I were young, and my uncle, the former General Iroh, was fighting in the war, he would often send us gifts back from the towns he conquered. Normally they were dolls or something else that Azula just used for firebending practice, but there was one thing in particular that she didn't burn. It was this fan that my uncle had sent her."

Elaborating further, he continued, "On it was a beautiful depiction of an earthbender and a firebender fighting side by side, and, for whatever reason, it caught her interest. She would never admit it to anyone, but I caught her just looking at the fan a couple times, and she would often hide it when I came into the room."

"But where is it now?" General Xian interrupted.

"I gave it back to my uncle when he was last here. When he was visiting the palace, he mentioned that it would have been something his son, Lu Ten, would have liked, so I thought it was apt to give it to him. He must have taken it back with him to his tea shop in Ba Sing Se."

The realization of his last conclusion hit him in an instant, and he hurriedly finished,

"And the doctor had mentioned that Azula kept talking about some fan while she was in her cell. He thought it was mindless babble but I told him about the fan anyway and that I had given it back to Iroh, and if he told her…"

Standing, speaking quickly and authoritatively, Zuko ordered,

"General, prepare my airship and gather a division of troops. I am going to Ba Sing Se to see my uncle."

"But sir," General Jong protested, "don't you think this is a bit premature? For all we know the princess has no intention of finding this fan. And besides, how would she know where your uncle is?"

Turning abruptly, Zuko spoke, "She would remember from the time when she and the Dai Li captured the city, and no, I do not believe this is premature. My uncle has been a father to me throughout my life—I will not allow any harm to come to him. Now please, ready my ship and the troops, that is an order, not a request."

"At once, sir," the General said, bowing as the Fire Lord hurriedly strode from the room to prepare for his mission.

"You're late." It was a statement, not a question. It left no room for explanation or excuse—it was simply to be accepted as fact.

Shong Ti bowed his head as he bent over the large pool of crystal clear water.

"I am," he confirmed.

"Why?"

Again, the one word phrase struck a chord deep in his stomach. He hated feeling uncomfortable, inadequate; the sickly, slow eating away of your stomach from the inside that crawled through your belly like a malignant tumor. It was the one emotion that he felt like he couldn't control—the one that gave him the most trouble and yet required the most from of him. Taking a deep breath, he tried to compose his features before answering,

"I have no excuse. Things here are simply taking longer than I expected. The young water bender has been most uncooperative—but that will soon change. Thankfully for her, her friends have been most helpful. I foresee no problem in gathering what we need."

"Do not be over confident, the avatar is not one to be trifled with." The voice warned, "He has already proven himself a capable warrior once and I have no doubt he can do it again. Appearances can be deceiving."

The voice chuckled at this last comment.

Shong Ti acknowledged this with a slight nod,

"I understand my lord. I will not underestimate him. In addition," he continued, "I have procured another resource for our plans."

"Oh, and what have you done this time?" The voice carried a tone of condescension and skepticism.

"I have taken the liberty of freeing the fire nation princess. She will be a most useful asset to our cause, if," he paused for a moment, "she can be contained."

The silence that followed seemed to frown at this last comment,

"See to it that she does not hinder our plans. We cannot afford any delays. The solstice is not far off."

"I am aware, my lord. And I believe that the princess will be an effective agent of chaos and dissension. Her advantages far outweigh the risks." He continued.

"And she knows nothing more?"

Shong Ti smiled, "Nothing. Absolutely nothing."

"Good. I expect nothing less."

"We eagerly await your arrival; the wheels are turning. It won't be long now." Shong Ti stated.

"You have done well my servant, but do not grow complacent—I too am not one to be taken lightly. Remember the gift I have bestowed upon you, and remember what I can do even while I am here."

Shong Ti gulped, "Of course."

"Good, I will contact you soon. Do not fail me."

"Never, my lord." He confirmed.

The pool reverted to its normal stillness, the voice and its malevolence gone for now. Shong Ti stood; it was time to check on his favorite prisoner.

Hope you found that interesting. I liked how it worked out! Anyway, if you liked it(or even if you didn't), I'd love to hear your thoughts so please click the cool new review button! Thanks for reading!