To answer your question, Theadora, when I wrote the last chapter, I didn't think Iroh had been given ownership of the teashop; I thought he was just the manager. Yesterday I went back to doublecheck to the episode where they talked about that, number 2-17, "Lake Laogai".

While the investor did ask Iroh, "how would you like to have your own teashop?" he also said that Iroh would have "complete creative freedom". That made me think that Iroh had creative freedom but not financial, and that the investor would own at least part of the tea shop if not most of it. That makes sense to me, since the investor is interested in making money. It could be read the other way, too, so I don't know. :D

I do admit a fudge as far as Iroh's apartment is concerned; somehow I thought he lived on top of the tea shop, but the investor talked about getting Iroh "an apartment in the upper ring". Could be that's where the tea shop is too, but I don't think so.

Thank you very much for reading, Theadora, and everybody else. Thanks especially for commenting, too. I love hearing what you all have to say about the story. Please, keep reading, and please keep commenting! XD Thanks again.


Chapter Twelve:

The List

Life with Toph wasn't too bad, really… but having the Gaang cut down to two was definitely different. Toph was relatively self-sufficient, and she didn't have too much to say; Aang appreciated both of those traits, most times. She would have preferred to travel by ground, of course, and she wasn't too thrilled with air travel—but there wasn't much to say about that either. Even so…

"I'd like to know how the non-Airbender Avatars got around," she grumbled.

"Well, Avatar Roku had a dragon, so he traveled by air, too," Aang replied. "But I don't know what Avatar Kyoshi or Avatar Kuruk did; I never really had time to ask them. It could be they just… walked."

"Walked! On the ground! What an incredible idea!"

"But if we did that, we wouldn't be able to—"

"Work with me here, Twinkletoes."

On their return to the Earth Kingdom, Aang and Toph quickly went to work seeking out troublespots and settling them down. A lot of the problems came from obvious sources, rabblerousers out to cause trouble when people's backs were turned. As a partner, Toph was solid. Like Toph, Aang saw through his Earthbending, and they each knew how the other was moving. Coordination was easy. Of course, Toph turning a row of Firebenders into talking heads by having the earth suck them in up to their chins made an impression, too.

It was noticed, however, that the Gaang was not up to full strength.

"Hey!" said one of the talking heads. "Where's that Water Tribe girl you used to hang out with, Avatar? Is this Dirtbender your new girlfriend or something?"

"Hey!" Toph put a foot on top of his head. "Shut up before I give you a real dirty mouth!"

Those were the easy ones. There were a few cases, though, where things were more complex. One in particular gave Aang a lot of food for thought.

Word came of a flare-up at a Fire Nation fortress complex on the Earth/Fire border. The problem: it wasn't empty, and it should have been. Aang and Toph went there to investigate.

The fortress was surrounded by angry, yelling Earth Kingdom troops, almost as if it were under siege. Fire Nation troops and citizens lined the walls of the fortress and were yelling right back.

Appa's appearance in the sky set the Earth Kingdom troops to cheering. They landed, and a general came out to meet them. "Avatar Aang. Thank goodness." He pointed abruptly at the fortress. "Those Fire Nation troops won't leave! They were supposed to leave a month ago to comply with the treaty, and they haven't moved!"

Aang frowned. "Why haven't they left?"

"I don't know. They haven't said anything."

Aang looked at the fortress. "Did you ask them?"

"Well, no…" Then the general got angry again. "That doesn't matter. They were supposed to leave, and they haven't!"

"I think we should find out if there's a reason." Aang turned back. "General, I want you to come with me. I want to talk to them."

"Talking won't do any good! You have to make them leave!"

Aang looked at him intently. "General, I want you to come with me."

The general stood there for a moment, then relented. "Oh, very well…"

Aang, Toph, and the general went through the masses of Earth Kingdom troops to the front gate of the fortress. Aang told the Fire Nation guards that he wanted to speak to their leader. A while later, the gate went up and a black and gray-haired colonel came out. He saluted Fire Nation-style, hand-of-flame over clenched fist with a slight head bow, and Aang bowed in reply. "Yes, Avatar Aang. You wanted to speak to me?"

Aang gestured. "The general says you aren't leaving your fortress as promised."

"Yes, Avatar Aang. That is correct."

"Why?"

The colonel looked downcast. "The plan was for everyone to go back to the Colony cities. The problem is that they're overcrowded. There's been trouble; there's been fighting, and worse. If it were just a matter of my troops, we could camp in tents near the cities."

He looked at Aang with haggard eyes. "But that's not all. A lot of us have our families here, wives, husbands, and children. I don't want to put them through that, especially the children. It's hard enough for troops to be in tents during the winter. Families?" The colonel shook his head.

"You should have thought of that before you started this war," the Earth Kingdom general said tartly.

The Fire Nation colonel glared. "I didn't start this war, General. And this is where we live. You'd want your family here too."

"This is our—land!"

"This is our land too!"

"It was our land before it was ever yours!"

Toph got ready to bend.

"Hey!" Aang glared at both of them. "That's enough!" He switched gaze from one to the other slowly, then back again. "Like it or not, the war is over. And I'm not going to have you two start it again.

"Now it's clear to me that the Fire Nation people have to go."

The general exhaled. "Finally."

The colonel flared. "What are you—"

"However." Aang held up a finger. "It's also clear that the Fire Nation has families involved here, not just soldiers. That's going to take some time." He looked at the Fire Nation officer. "Colonel, I'm going to give you one month to make the arrangements, and then I'm going to insist that you leave."

The colonel thought—then nodded. "That'll be hard to meet, but that's fair. I think we should be able to get something together by then."

Aang turned. "General, you will give them one month, unhindered, and then you'll have your fortress."

The general nodded with finality. "Very well. One month. And that is all." He walked away.

The colonel watched him go. "Thank you, Avatar Aang. I never thought he'd see reason."

"You're welcome." Aang smiled. "I hope you get to see home again soon."

"Home…" He looked at Aang. "You don't know, do you? You really don't know."

He turned. "Let me tell you something, Avatar. That man there will tell you that this was his people's land before it was ours—and he's right. But I was born here in the Colonies. So were my mother and father. So were a lot of us.

"So he can say that this is his people's land—but he never lived here. We have. My grandfather and grandmother are buried here, too. So you may be giving them back their land… but you're taking it away from us."

He walked back into the fortress, not waiting for an answer.

o o o

Long Feng, wearing a light green bureaucrat's robe, walked through the Intelligence office on his way to pick up his latest reports. He could have gone a different way, but things that met the eye here were always more interesting.

One freshly-written report was lying on a desk. He picked it up and scanned it.

"Long Feng! Put that down at once!"

He rolled his eyes and put it down as his wizened old minder caught up with him. "Yes, sir."

"You know you shouldn't be looking at other people's reports. Your latest figures on sewage system maintenance are over here. Those are not for you!"

"I'll just put it back the way it was, then." Long Feng put a clean piece of parchment on top of the report, then laid a heavy ledger on top of it. He walked off for his reports.

"Long Feng, you know that's not how this was! Come back here this instant!"

Long Feng stopped, and shrugged. "I was just trying to lend a hand. I know how important it is to keep things organized."

The short old man put his hands on his hips. "Put things back the way they were. Now."

Long Feng sighed. "Very well." He removed the heavy ledger, then picked up the top sheet of paper and stowed it in his sleeve.

"Very good. Now, go and pick up your reports…"

"Yes, sir," he said resignedly.

On his way out he took a quick look at the parchment in his sleeve. Enough ink had transferred to give him a mirror image of the report.

He smiled.

o o o

Tensions on the border eventually reduced enough to where Aang felt they could continue with their other mission. They flew to Ba Sing Se.

Aang noticed activity at the outer wall and had Appa fly lower so he could take a look. "Hey, they're opening up the Drill!"

"Hah!" Toph cracked her knuckles. "If I had figured out Metalbending a little sooner, I could have opened it up for them."

Aang looked at her. "You really have to teach me Metalbending one of these days."

Toph leaned back, a smug smile on her face. "As soon as you master Earthbending, O Earthbending Student."

"Right." Aang smiled. He looked at the Drill again. "It looks like they're finding out what makes it work. I'll have to tell Sokka—next time I…" His head dropped. "...see him…"

"You will. You'll find your Airbender buddies quick as a wink, and then you'll go to the South Pole and have a big party. That, or you'll wimp out 'cause it's too hard and go back to the South Pole anyway."

Aang looked at her again. "I hope you're kidding, Toph. This is my people we're talking about. If I don't find them…"

"Or you'll go into save-the-world mode and never rest until you're done. I was just about to say that. Can't you take a joke?"

"Not about this." Aang faced forward again.

They flew on to the Palace and landed at one of the administrative buildings nearby. The chief clerk in charge of the project met them.

"This is only a partial list, Avatar Aang," he said, handing the list over. "Our review of the records continues. We'll have another list for you when you return."

Aang smiled and bowed. "Your work is greatly appreciated. Thank you."

The clerk bowed in return. "It is a pleasure to be of service to you, Avatar." He straightened. "Er—wasn't there another young lady with you when you were here last?"

"There was." Aang saddened. "She decided to stay with her family at the South Pole."

"Oh. Well, I wish you and your new girlfriend good hunting and safe travels."

Toph went wide-eyed. "What?"

Aang was a little nonplused. "Uh—Toph's not my girlfriend."

"Oh." The clerk reddened and bowed. "I beg your pardon, Avatar. I certainly meant no disrespect."

"No problem—just she's not my girlfriend." Aang looked at the list. "Say… the ink is a little faded."

"It is?" The clerk looked. "Oh, so it is. Well, let me get some ink and darken that up for you…"

A little while later Aang and Toph were on their way. "So… the list." Toph rubbed her hands together. "The thing you've been waiting for."

"Yup." Aang nodded. "Names, locations, and a brief description of each one. And two of them are here in Ba Sing Se."

"All right, then! Let's get crackin'. Then we can get you back to your ice tunnel of loooove…"

"Toph…"

"Just kidding." She smirked. "Not."