Ugh, so it's finally done, finally past it(I was sick again too :( ) hopefully things will move a bit faster again now ^^ I know I haven't addressed many reader comments, I've bene just kinda busy with life :/ I'm finishing this out of duty and to see if I can actually FINISH something finally. It's still got a lot of life left in it, I know where it's going and how it's going to end, the journey will be the question ^^

Gotta say bluetiger is win though for all the detailed reviews :)

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The Flower hutch wasn't hard to find. It was set apart from the cluster of other huts on the small island. It sheltered in its own cove, and seemed to have escaped the widespread destruction that had recently visited these isles. The thatch roof was decorated with potted tropical lotus flowers, likely earning the hutch its name. Appa landed and Sokka slipped off, dodging the third attempted lick-bath Appa had given him since their being reunited. Aang drifted down beside him and the two exchanged brief glances. From within the hutch was the sound of laughter, voices, and some sort of attempt at music that even Sokka could appreciate as enthusiasm lacking skill.

"Maybe I should go first?" Sokka ventured. It seemed stupid as soon as he said it. What was so hard about this? It was the time between, he decided quickly. He had no idea what his sister had been doing since the letters stopped. Now, with the Fisherman's cryptic behavior. Sokka was imagining... well.. he wasn't imagining anything, but he didn't like what he wasn't imagining. Even now though, he felt some sort of need to shield Aang. If something bad WAS afoot, then it wasn't for the Avatar to have to worry about, it was a family thing.

"Well, I guess." Aang sounded unconvinced, but then nodded,"If she's not there, I don't want to cause a stir." he stood back while Sokka ventured upthe short ramp to the hutch's front door. Door was generous, it was a screen of shells strung together. Leaping light and another round of laughter leaked out through it. Sokka found himself squinting to make out details of the shadowed shapes beyond the thin veil. Chiding himself and finding a need for courage that he hadn't been wanting for in the raid on the Fire Lord's palace, Sokka pushed aside the shells and stepped in.

The music stopped. The laughter stopped. Motion stopped.

"Katara?" The word was out of Sokka's mouth before he could stop it.

The hutch held about a dozen people, all in various levels of young adulthood, and various levels of scant dress. Two men and a young women were poised with instruments, the likely source of the vain attempt at music. Four others were engaged in some kind of impromptu dance circle on a table. The smell of fermented fruit wine hung thick in the air. The mugs and jugs clutched in hands and scattered about seemed the likely source. A haze of thin sickly-sweet smoke circled the room as well. Small bowls of burning... something had been set in the four corners.

A face popped up, and Sokka's mind registered that there was another tangle of people behind a low set of shelves off to the side. His main focus however was on a scene much closer to the door. A table with two chairs, both occupied by young men in tropic kilts, and across their laps lay his sister. She was, he supposed he should thank heavens for small miracles, dressed; albeit barely (to his standards) in skimpy native-wear. A heavy jug hung by it's loop-handle from two of her fingers. A laugh had frozen on her face, and now her dilated eyes were fixed keenly on Sokka. He could tell some calculation was taking place behind them, some slow-motion imitation of normal recognition.

She rolled off the men's laps unsteadily to her feet and eyed Sokka, "Hey bro. what's up?" she nonchalantly raised the jug to her lips and downed a gulp.

"Kataara? What're you doing here?" Sokka knew he should be.. well, something.. but his insides were trying to be too many things at once and nothing was coming out just right.

"What?" she looked around and smiled at a few of the guys, most of whom were still sober enough to be caught slightly off by the interruption. "Just havin' some fun." She said, then her face snapped back around to Sokka, the bleary expression focused by sudden anger, "What d'YOU care anyway? What bzzness is it of yours?" she stabbed towards him with the jug she was holding.

Sokka took a step back, his hands held before him, then anger poked up past guilt and he stepped in again. Sokka snatched at the jug while saying, "You're my sister, it's my business, and this is no way for a sister of mine to behave."

"Back off!" Kataara snapped. She swayed back, and with more control than Sokka would have given her credit for her arms moved in a fluid whipping motion. The strong drink in her jug snaked out through the air and lashed Sokka across the chest, knocking him back a step.

Stunned more than injured Sokka raised a hand to the red welt forming on his chest, "What're you-."

"Guys, is everything okay in here? I felt bending. Kataara?" Aang's voice ran over Sokka's. His words laced with concern and rising up into confusion at the last word. A jumble of events followed, all seemingly disjointed and overlapping in Sokka's mind.

Kataara froze.

Sokka reached towards Kataara.

Aang regarded Kataara with a serenely compassionate gaze.

Kataara looked back at Aang. Surprise and Shock tumbled through a series of convolutions, passing a whole host of emotions until the ended up at horror.

Sokka's fingertips touched Kataara's shoulder.

Sokka was knocked off his feet by a second reflexive burst of water bending.

Kataara turned and ran.

"Kataara wait!" Sokka began to lever himself up. Some of the other party goers were beginning to get unruly at this point. The two guys that had been Kataara's furniture began to stand. Sokka shot them a look that put them both back in their seats and began to run after his sister. A touch on his arm stopped him.

"Let me." Aang said quietly.

Sokka stared at Aang a moment without recognition. He knew he was feeling a thousand things himself that he couldn't express, and could only imagine what Aang was going though. So, why did Aang look so calm. There was only that gentle Avatar spirit wanting to help.

Sokka opened his mouth to protest, but it turned into merely a shrug and a nod, "Okay Aang."

Aang stepped through the hutch, skirting the debris, both human and otherwise, and somehow making it all seem that much dirtier in comparison to his own divine presence. Then he was gone, after Kataara out the back, and Sokka was left with the befuddled party-goers.

***

The metal felt smooth, too smooth beneath her feet. Toph tried to curl her toes in it but they found no purchase. Beside her Sokka maintained his balance on the slippery slope only a breath longer than she did, and together they tumbled over the edge of the Fire Nation airship. Toph felt the world go dark as she sailed through the air. The double terror of falling, coupled with not knowing, not being abe to see, only being able to wait for the sudden stop rushed through her. Toph opened her mouth, but the wind whipped away her scream. A hand closed about her wrist. Sokka. A sudden jolt stopped her fall. Toph could see him, feel him above her. He was holding on by one hand to one of the fire-platforms beneath the ship.

"I gotcha Toph, hang on." With a grunt of effort Sokka began slowly pulling Toph upwards towards the platform. She couldn't hold onto his wrist at this angle. She was totally at the mercy of his grip, but she knew he wouldn't let go. She could feel his resolve, the strain of his heart.

"Sokka, you'll never get us both up. Let me go." Toph tried to squirm free, but there was no escaping his grip.

"Stop it. I'll lose my grip and we'll both fall if you squirm." Sokka's voice was filled with the effort and concentration he was exerting. He had her halfway there when Fire nation warriors stormed out onthe adjoining platforms. Tethered back to the main ship they had no need to worry about falling themselves.

"Sokka, let me GO! save yourself!" Toph began to squirm again, but it only drew out a growling groan from Sokka; three quarters of the way up. The soldiers took up stances and turned towards Sokka and Toph as they dangled. Toph willed them gone, willed them dead, but it was futile.

Sokka gave one last roar of effort as the soldiers let loose. Toph's fingers met metal and clung. The platform creaked in protest as her fingers dug into it, pulling herself up was a snap. The smell of fire filled her nose, the heat burned her hair and Lungs. Toph felt the platform at her back. Somewhere Sokka screamed. Toph lashed out first left, then right with sweeping kicks, not even bothering to rise. The platforms to either side bent away, sweeping the soldiers off and dashing them into unconsciousness so they hung limply form their tethers.

At least they had tethers. Sokka's scream hadn't stopped. Toph turned and reached for him, felt him. She felt the blackened skin under her touch. She saw him aflame, skin crisped as the last of his strength fled and his fingers slipped through her own. Toph's own scream was incoherent as she watched him fall away. His eyes never left her, even as his charred body plummeted to the earth below. When he hit the rocks, Toph felt the jolt through every inch of her body.

Another jolt, and another. Toph sat bolt upright amid a pile of rocks. Rocks, ground, no airships anywhere. Her breath came in pants as Toph struggled to regain her composure. The dream sent shivers down her spine. She was glad no one was around to see. Toph was in a deep basement of the Fire Palace. It was a little place set aside for her to train. Train and wait; wait for Sokka to come back, or for Zuko to come back. Toph grumbled and took out her frustration by powdering a rock near her left hand with a quick stomp of the foot as she got up.

She was in a plain gi, though she'd sweat through it in her sleep. As she made her way towards the edge of the room Toph remembered, she'd fallen asleep here, training to exhaustion. It helped pass the time, and made her feel she was doing something, anything other than just sitting here being useless.

Toph felt a tremor and dug her toes into the stone floor. Listening, she felt it more clearly. Toph took off even with the vibrations still tickling along her toes. That had been an explosion above.

Toph emerged into a firestorm. Chaos wasn't the word. There was an order to things, a terrible order. Soldiers stormed past Toph towards the outer gates of the palace. An explosion blossomed over the gates again and Toph took off for them herself. At least staying home wasn't boring this time.