hello there friends

welcome back to Alter Egos!

here comes chapter 14...yeet

Chapter 14

Zuko's night had certainly started out strange enough. His weird conversation with Katara kept on popping up in his head - it was like his brain loved to remind him about how awful he was at social situations. He had been more then happy to leave the room and head to the beach. Unfortunately, Aang had seen him walking off, and had insisted on bringing the whole gaang. All Zuko had wanted was a peaceful night of solitude in one of his favorite places in the world. Instead, he got a "bonding" time with all his way-too-optimistic buddies.

They were all crammed around a make-shift campfire that Zuko had made when everyone complained of the cold. He had tried (more like begged) to tell them that they should just go back to the house, but they wouldn't listen. He was currently propped up against a rock, next to Toph and Sokka. Sokka had his arm around Suki, who was to the right of him. To the right of Suki was Katara, who was across from Zuko. Next to Katara was Aang, and the circle was completed with Toph to the right of him. Suki and Sokka were of course practically sitting on each other, and Aang was trying a little bit too hard to scooch closer to Katara. Zuko watched the scene with an uncomfortable feeling in his stomach. He recognized it as annoyance, but not jealousy. He refused to be jealous of a twelve year old.

Toph seemed to notice his sudden shift in behavior. She raised her eyebrow at him, but he looked away from her. Zuko heard her scoff in annoyance before bending a rock to bump his leg. He turned to look at her with scorn, but was met with a pointed glare from her. Zuko wasn't stupid, and could obviously read her message.

We'll talk later.

Obviously, he couldn't be more ecstatic.

Aang was in the middle of giving them a lecture on why he would never touch alcohol and how sobriety kept his body clean when he suddenly paused in the middle of his sentence and stared with a confused look at Katara.

"Katara, where's your necklace?"

Zuko felt his cheeks grow hot and his skin turn pale. This was what he had been worried about from the moment he had recieved the choker. It wasn't that he was worried about them searching through his things and finding it, oh no. Zuko was very confident in his ability to keep things hidden. What he was worried about was that annoying habit of the giver of the gift - she really was a shit liar. Even worse then he was, in fact. She also had her "self righteous" image to keep up, and that image did not include lying to her friends.

Katara's eyes went wide and her hand unconsciously flew to he"r neck. Zuko watched her eyes widen, before relaxing in realization. She avoided looking at Aang when answering with a suspicious "I must have lost it when we were on Appa."

Zuko inwardly cringed. Why did she have to be such a bad liar? Anyone could see how fidgety she was being, but he was praying to Agni that they thought it was from the guilt of losing the necklace, and not the guilt of lying.

Toph frowned when the words left Katara's mouth. Zuko cursed under his breath - the bling girl could spot liars from miles away. Even if Katara was mildly better at lying, there was no way she could train her body to keep her heart rate steady when she lied. Nervously, Zuko felt his own pulse only to find that his heart was beating a rate that was not normal for a resting human being. Again, he swore and tried to calm himself down.

It didn't work. Toph's head snapped over to him.

She narrowed her eyebrows and began to speak. "Sugar Queen, are you sure you lost the thing? Someone might have took it. In fact, I can actually sense the nec- Ow!"

Zuko had nudged her hard in the side before she could say anything more. He mumbled under his breath an apology before glaring at Toph. She sent him back an equally threatening gaze which repeated her earlier message.

Aang rubbed his head, obviously confused by the ordeal. "Uh, Toph, what were you saying?"

Toph shook her head and stared at the ground. "Nevermind, it's just one of Azula's old pieces of jewelry. Forgot I said anything," she finished with a growl.

How ironic that the blind girl is left in the dark in this mystery.

The evening carried on with no further disruptions, and finally Katara ordered them all off to bed. Zuko was glad to oblige, and practically sprinted down the sand. However, Toph made a huge hole and Zuko dropped in.

"What the hell, Toph?"

"You and me, Sparky. It's time we have a nice little chat about recent events and your strange behavior," Toph walked away with a smirk on her face, not even bothering to hide how excited she was that she was finally getting let in on a secret.

Zuko sighed and began to climb his way out of the hole.

This was going to be a long night.

"So Sparky, care to explain?"

Zuko was currently deciding the best way to approach this situation. He knew he couldn't lie to Toph, but maybe there was a small chance that he could continue avoiding the question until she gives it up.

"What are you talking about To-"

"Sparky, I'd advise you not to play stupid unless you want to be buried in the the sand for the whole night," Toph looked at him with a raised eyebrow and an annoying smirk on her face.

And they wondered why I was trying to kill them.

Zuko rubbed his head and looked up at her. Toph's lips were shaped into a perfect smirk, knowing that she had Zuko stuck. Honestly, Toph's meddling could rival Azula's. Zuko had a secret theory that if Azula and Toph weren't on different sides of the war, they'd be great friends.

"Fine, Toph. Now get me out of this stupid hole."

Toph's face broke out in a wide grin, finally getting what she wanted. Zuko was finally lifted out of the hole. He thought about running, but didn't want to risk the chance of ending up in another ditch. He was royally fucked.

Zuko sat down on the beach and unconsciously ran his hands in the sand. Toph took this as a cue to come and sit next to him. She looked to him expectantly, obviously waiting for him to start talking.

Here goes nothing.

"I'm the Blue Spirit."

oops cliffhanger

Sorry this chapter was so short and took so long to get out; may has been very busy. Updates should be longer and more frequent ;)

remember to review! your guys' reviews give me so much inspiration for writing. even suggesting a situation you'd like to see in the fic would help!

- moody