Chapter 14

A/N: Chapter fourteen of the series. Another apology for taking so long to update; I'll try to be more productive from now on. Once again, thanks to my friend Rosey for her help proofreading this chapter.

Disclaimer: Avatar… belongs to Nickelodeon

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Two girls with Fire Nation attire walked aimlessly through the nearest town they'd found while on their quest for information.

Thicker than Blood

The red colored clothes they wore clashed with the color of their skin and of their eyes. It was rare to see Fire Nation people with lighter skin and clear blue eyes; as well as a darker tone of skin and bright blue eyes.

"I believe this is what many refer to as 'walking into the wolf's mouth', don't you think, Katara?"

"Hush." Katara replied. "Remember; my name here is Sapphire."

"I can't believe you still use that name Sokka came up with." Toph shook her head. "And what's my name, by the way, so I don't make a mistake?"

"I still haven't thought about it." Katara pondered the question for a while. "I don't know; what name would you like to use?"

"Something easy to remember; not something that is so obvious...no offense meant."Toph scratched her chin as she spoke. Toph scratched her chin as she spoke. "Something that has to do with fire, I guess?"

"This coming from someone who called herself 'The Blind Bandit'? I mean, what were you thinking?" Katara said.

"Hello? I'm blind, I was sneaking away from home, and I kicked ass." Toph replied and crossed her arms. "So don't criticize my nicknames...'Sapphire'."

"I guess we could call you by your name, though; if we don't mention your surname. We could say you come from an Earth Kingdom colony." Katara rubbed her forehead.

"Good; great ideas, you know, must run in the family." Toph sarcastically replied.

"Look, Toph, I'm one step closer to the edge and…"

"It's alright, Princess, I'm just messing with you." Toph lightly punched Katara's arm. "You need to relax a bit, 'Sapphire'; I can hear your teeth clenching all the way here."

Katara rubbed her temples with her hands, trying indeed to relax, but failing and feeling miserable.

"I'm sorry, Toph, I really am." Katara finally said. "I just don't know what to do, you know, to get rid of these feelings. I'm tired of feeling angry and confused."

"It's alright." Toph quietly replied. "I'm just worried. Ever since we lost after that whole eclipse fiasco, and Zuko arriving, you've been growing restless."

"I guess you can understand what I'm feeling." Katara said. "I just feel this frustration growing inside of me, like it's eating me inside, and all I can feel is anger and fear."

"I get it." Toph's voice remained quiet. "That's why I kept sneaking out at nights, trying to escape from my family, and releasing all through fighting. But it's only a temporary solution, Katara; the frustration remains there, and you know the only thing I did was escape from it."

"I'm not trying to escape, Toph, honestly." Katara hugged herself. "And I can't tell what I'm feeling, at least not clearly, but I'm sure of one thing: I have to face my past and get rid of this ugly thing I have inside of me."

"What does it feel like?" Toph asked. "Can you try to explain?"

"It's something that's eating me inside, creating a hole in there, and it keeps making me sadder and madder every time." Katara answered. "I need to find something to fill that hole, Toph; I don't know if it's revenge, or forgiveness, but I have to do something about it."

"And how are we going to do it? Do we have a starting point, or we're just hoping that the answer will strike us in the face?" Toph finished her question the moment Katara crashed against someone standing still in front of her. Caught distracted, Katara fell down, and angrily looked at Toph.

"You could have warned me." Katara hissed. Toph merely laughed.

"Are you two ladies alright?" The person with whom Katara had crashed turned around and offered a hand to help her up. "You didn't hurt yourself?"

Katara's first instinct was to slap the hand of the young Fire Nation soldier standing in front of her, but something appeared on her mind, and she smiled as she took the offered hand.

"I'm so sorry!" Katara said with such a sweet tone it almost made Toph gag. "I was so distracted with my friend here, and didn't notice you, standing tall in this place."

This time Toph did gag, causing Katara to slap her back, the fake smile still on her face.

"I apologize for my friend, here." Katara said. "She has…uh, allergies! Yes, allergies, she has them."

"That's common around here." The young soldier replied. "Guess we're still not used to the climate in the colonies."

Both Katara's and Toph's blood boiled at the comment, but they managed to keep their temper under control, barely.

"I was born in one of these colonies." Katara said through clenched teeth. "But my friend was indeed born in the Fire Nation's capital."

"Oh, well, that explains her allergies." The soldier said, scratching his chin.

Katara grinned for real this time, and guessed Toph felt it, as the Earth Bender took her arm.

"We're just lost." Toph finally spoke, her voice as sweet and false as Katara's. "Could you help us find our way?"

Both of them showed what they figured was their sweetest smile, but the Fire Nation soldier could only see two huge grins, making him take a step backwards.

"Uh, I guess I could help you, if you tell me what you're looking for." He replied.

'We, fortunately, found a stupid one.' Katara thought. 'Now we have to play our cards right.'

"We're looking for my friend's uncle." Katara said, turning her head around quickly, making her long hair swirl around. It obviously caught the soldier's attention, and his eyes were quickly fixed on the Water Bender's hair, and as well as her blue eyes.

"What's his name?" The soldier asked, more interested in ogling Katara, instead of paying attention to them.

"I don't remember!" Toph giggled, feeling unsettled, because of the spectacle they were both performing.

"All we know is that his flagship had a sparrow or something in their banners." Katara said, forcing herself not to lash out, and blow their cover.

"I don't remember having a sparrow in one of our banners." The soldier scratched his head. "Oh! Maybe you're talking about the Southern Raiders! They have some sort of bird on their banner. Or maybe it's a dragon. I'm really not sure, but I could lead you to the harbor!"

Katara's eye twitched, but she nodded, elbowing Toph so she would do the same.

"That would be so kind of you!" Katara's eye kept twitching. "Which way should we take?"

"Oh, it's easy." The Fire Nation soldier said, pointing his finger south. "We'll just head in that direction, go straight, and we'll get to the harbor in no time!"

As the soldier turned around, Toph began to make her move, but Katara beat her to it. The soldier's knee twisted unnaturally and he fell to the ground, gripping his leg, trying to smother a scream.

"Oh dear, are you alright?" Katara asked, all sweetness gone from her voice.

"It's nothing." The soldier replied, trying to save face. "I'm sure it's nothing, just let me get up and…"

The moment he tried to get up, the pain in his leg was greater than he could withstand, and he fell down once again.

"You shouldn't try to put weight in it." Katara said. "Maybe it would be better if a medic checked that out."

"But I can't let two lovely ladies walk alone!" The soldier replied. "That would be ungentlemanly of me!"

"Don't worry." Toph said as she walked past him. "We'll get there on our own, thanks."

"Really, thank you for your help, but you should get that leg checked." Katara said as she also walked away.

"Wait!" The soldier tried to stop them, but they were already walking away. "At least tell me your names?"


Katara and Toph ignored him, and kept walking south, in the direction the soldier had pointed to them.

"That was cold, Princess." Toph said. "I could have tripped him with a stone, or created a small hole in the ground; you didn't have to use Blood Bending to harm him."

"We got the information we needed." Katara replied. "He wasn't useful to us anymore."

"You know, as much as you claim to hate Zuko, you're beginning to sound like him more and more." Toph replied.

That stopped Katara right on her track. Toph stopped as well when she couldn't feel Katara's footsteps anymore, rendering her virtually blind and unable sense where her friend was.

"Ka…Sapphire? Where are you?" Toph asked.

"You're right." Katara whispered. "I'm beginning to act like those I resent so much, and I hadn't even realized it until now."

Katara turned around, looking at the very spot they'd left the soldier, and stared at the soldier still sitting on the ground, holding his knee in pain.
"I can't believe…"

"Calm down, Princess, we can't undo what has been done." Toph said. "We both know that. All we can do now is use the information we just acquired, and keep going until we find what you're looking for."

"I don't know what I'm doing anymore, Toph." Katara said. "Every thing just keeps getting more and more confusing, and I'm afraid I can't control my emotions; and will do something stupid."

"We still have a choice, Princess; and you know it." Toph calmly said. "We can just turn around and go back; you just have to let go."

"How can I let go?" Katara replied as two tears slowly fell from her eyes. "How can I forget what happened to my mother? What happened to me? I have to find a form of closure, Toph, or else I won't be able to help Aang when the time comes."

"Then you have to make a choice right now, or elseall of these things we've done will have accomplished nothing." Toph replied. "And you know Aang and Sokka are probably looking for us right now; which means they could be flying over Fire Nation territory, making them an easy target. So, it's your call, Princess. What are we going to do now?"

"I think I've crossed a line I shouldn't have. Ever since I learned how to bend blood, I've felt strong, maybe stronger than all of you." Katara confessed. "Aang is the Avatar and can do many powerful things, even if he's not in the Avatar state. You can bend earth and bend metal, even though you can't see. Even Sokka managed to create something for himself on his own, so he could feel as an equal to us."

"You're telling me you felt less than us? Even when you were the Avatar's first teacher in Water Bending?" Toph asked. "And now you feel more than us, because you can bend our blood, and do to us what you want?"

"It sounds horrible, I know, and I hate myself for it." Katara shook her head. "I didn't want to learn it; I was forced to, and I haven't liked myself ever since. It made me feel as dangerous as a Fire Bender, as Zuko is, and I hated that. I don't want to have this power, while feeling this hate inside of me, wondering what I'm going to do with it."

"If we find this man, what are you going to do, kill him?" Toph asked. "Are you ready to do so? Stare into the eyes of that man and do to him what he did to your mother?"

"I will never know if I don't find him." Katara's voice turned harsh. "This is driving me crazy, Toph, and it all has to end. I have to do this on my own, and I will understand if you want to turn back-- to Aang and Sokka."

"I'm already here, Katara; I told you so." Toph replied. "All the way, Princess; I'm with you till the very end."

"There's one very important thing I want to ask you; something I need to know if you can do, if the time comes." Katara said.

"I don't like where this is going." Toph frowned.

"If--or when--we find this man and you see me about to lose control, or become a monster; you must stop me. One way or the other, can you do that, Toph?"
Toph remained in silence for a long time, feeling Katara's wild, errant heartbeat.

"I just don't know how to answer that." Toph honestly replied. "It's all up to you, Katara, and you know it. If you use your Blood Bending, you can kill both the man you're looking for and me without much effort."

"Yes, I'm aware of it, but I'm also aware of another thing." Katara said. "You can know what I will do by my heartbeat, right?"
Toph nodded.

"Then you will know if I cross that line, even before I do." Katara replied. "Can I trust you with this? That you will stop me if I can't?"

"I said I'd help you, didn't I?" Toph replied and began walking away. Katara sighed and followed her friend, heading towards the harbor, feeling lighter after confessing her secret fears.

Toph, on the other hand, was seriously considering what Katara had asked for her to do. She wasn't known for showing emotion, but at that moment, she was struggling to keep the tears from coming out.

'I have faith in you, Katara.' Toph thought. 'Please, please, don't disappoint me; please don't let me down.'

End of Chapter