I do not own any of the original Avatar characters.
Taking An Alternate Route
Sado stood silently in line, trying to ignore the cabbage vendor who was sobbing as he was carried away after having his cart smashed by a platypus bear. They had come to a place called crescent moon bay to take a ferry to Ba Sing Se, but first they needed to get the tickets. And Sado was not using the family passport he had kept when he ran away. Even in the Earth Kingdoms there were people that knew about his family.
"Next!" the woman behind the counter shouted angrily.
"Five tickets for the ferry to Ba Sing Se, please," Aang said.
"Passport?" the woman snapped.
"No one told us we needed passports," Aang said.
"Don't you know who this is?" Sokka asked. "He's the Avatar."
"Bah, I see fifty Avatars a day," the woman said. "And by the way, not a very impressive costume."
She pointed to the side and they all looked over, seeing a handful of people, including a child, dressed in clothes similar to Aang's with arrows drawn on their head and hands, one even having gone so far to make himself a glider. Sado was actually impressed by a couple of their costumes.
"Besides, no animals allowed!" the woman spat as Momo crawled up to Aang's shoulder.
Aang looked like he wanted to argue, but the woman leaned forward.
"Do I need to call security?" the woman growled.
The bear looked over at them, crunching a cabbage, and Momo ducked down behind Aang.
"That won't be necessary," Aang said.
"Next!" the woman shouted.
"I'll take care of this," Toph said, walking up to the desk and putting her Beifong passport on the desk. "My name is Toph Beifong and I'll need five tickets."
"The golden seal of the flying boar!" the woman breathed, awestruck. "It is my pleasure to help anyone of the Beifong family."
"It is your family," Toph said. "As you can see, I'm blind, and these three imbeciles are my valets," she gestured to Katara, Aang, and Sokka, who were sharing a group hug. "This one's my bodyguard." She pointed to Sado, who tilted his head in greeting.
"But...the animal-"
"Is my seeing-eye lemur," Toph interrupted.
"Well, normally it's only one ticket per passport," the woman said. "But...this document is so official...I guess it's worth five tickets."
She stamped five tickets and Toph reached up, taking them before turning and walking away, Sado obediently falling in at her side, restraining an amused smile.
"Bodyguard, huh?" Sado asked. "Seems like we have our roles reversed. You usually end up saving my life."
"Alright!" Sokka grinned after they were out of earshot. "We scammed that lady good!"
Just then, a security guard grabbed Sokka by the back of the shirt, making him stop and spin around, Sado grabbing his sword before noticing the mischievous glint in her eyes and pausing.
"Tickets and passports please," she demanded.
"Is there a problem?" Sokka asked, Sado rolling his eyes.
"Yeah, I got a problem with you," she said, jabbing a finger into his chest. "I've seen your type before. Probably sarcastic, think you're hilarious, and let me guess, you're traveling with the Avatar." She narrowed her eyes but smirked, apparently unable to hold it back fully.
"Do I know you?" Sokka asked.
"You mean you don't remember?" the girl demanded, grabbing a fist-full of his shirt. "Maybe you remember this." Then, she kissed him on the cheek."
"Suki!" Sokka cheered after a moment of confusion, hugging her.
"Of course he recognizes a girl by her kissing him on the cheek," Sado snorted. "Guess that shows how few girls want anything to do with you."
"You're hilarious," Sokka said. "Sado, Toph, this is Suki, she's the leader of the Kiyoshi Warriors. The reason I didn't recognize her is that normally her face is covered in makeup."
"Didn't you also wear that makeup once?" Katara asked, Suki giggling as Sokka shouted for Katara to shut up and that it was just for training.
"Well whataya know," Sado smirked. "Sokka's a crossdresser. It explains so much."
Toph and Suki both laughed.
"Come on," Suki said. "Let's find somewhere to catch up."
Sado felt his insides start to throb and looked around, seeing a bench off to the side. "I'll catch up."
Suki nodded, turning and walking away with most of the others, Toph quickly helping Sado to the bench just before the pain spiked and he grit his teeth, clutching his sides. After a few minutes, the pain receded and he sighed, standing.
"You okay?" Toph asked.
"Yeah," Sado said. "I've had worse."
Toph nodded and they walked after the others, finding them at a place along the top of the wall with benches where the others were talking. However, as they reached the bottom of the stairs leading up to it, three people who had told them about the ferry and stopped them taking an apparently deadly path known as Serpent's Pass, ran over, one of the two women, the pregnant one, calling out to them.
"You two, you're the Avatar's friends!" she said. "Please, you must help us!"
"What's wrong?" Sado asked.
"Someone took all of our belongings!" she said. "Our passports, our tickets! Everything is gone!"
"What happened?" Aang asked, looking down at them.
"Someone stole their stuff, including their passports and tickets," Sado said.
"I'l talk at the lady for you!" Aang promised.
Five minutes later, they had been refused again.
"Don't worry, you'll make it to the city safely," Aang said. "I'll lead you through the Serpent's Pass."
"What!?" the pregnant woman asked. "But that pass is too dangerous! We'll never make it through alive!"
"Trust us," Sado said. "We'll get you through safely. All you need to do is trust us and no harm will come to you. We have an earthbender, a waterbender, and a guy who can do both along with airbending. We can handle anything we meet. I promise you, no harm will come to you as long as you trust us."
The woman stared at him for a moment before nodding. "Okay."
Sado nodded and they left, traveling a mile or so west to the beginning of the Serpent's Pass. It wasn't winding like Sado had expected, but it was about twenty miles long and at points was about a mile high above the water.
"Look at this writing, how horrible," the pregnant woman said.
"What's it say?" Toph asked.
"Abandon hope," Sado said.
"How can we abandon hope?" the pregnant woman said, beginning to cry into her husband's shoulder. "It's all we have."
"I don't know," Aang said. "Maybe we should abandon hope."
"What are you saying?" Katara asked.
"The monks used to teach that hope was just a distraction," Aang said, Sado holding a hand to his heart, feeling pain swell and fade in his chest a few times. "Hope won't get us to Ba Sing Se. We need to focus on what we're doing right now, and that's getting across this pass."
"Okay," Katara said, unsurely. "If you say so."
"Don't be afraid," Sado said, looking to the three people they were escorting. "Like I said, we can handle anything we meet."
The man nodded and Sado turned, following the others as they walked along the pass, Sado careful to stay away from the edges in case of an episode. After a bit, they ended up walking along the side of it, a Fire Nation battleship passing beside them.
"The Fire Nation controls the western lake," Suki said. "Rumor has it they're working on something big on the other side and they don't want anyone to know about it."
"Wouldn't surprise me," Sado said.
Just then, the ground broke off under the man they were escorted, but Toph caught him with a chunk of stone, then tossed him back up to the path, the chunk that had broken free falling to the water as the ship stopped.
"They've spotted us!" Sokka shouted just as they launched a massive flaming stone at them.
Aang leapt off of the wall, swiping his staff and using a blast of wind to redirect the stone into the ship, making the back explode and light on fire as the ship's second catapult fired. This stone exploded into the cliff above them, dropping a section of it at Suki, only for Sokka to shove her out of the way. Then, Toph formed a ramp over him, diverting the stones over the path.
"Suki, are you okay?" Sokka asked worriedly. "You have to be more careful! Come on!"
"More careful?" Sado snorted. "Yeah, that was entirely her fault."
"Thanks for saving my life Toph," Toph was saying to herself. "Hey, no problem Sokka."
"Thanks for saving my friend Toph," Sado said, grabbing her hand. "Time to go."
Toph smiled slightly, running along behind him as they tried to get out of range of the ship's catapults. After a few minutes they were safe and began to walk again. After a few hours, and three episodes for Sado, they stopped for the night on a round flat area starting a fire to keep them warm. Sado walked away from the camp fire after a little bit, finding a rock to sit on just as yet another episode began, sucking in a breath and clutching his sides, tears rolling down his face. The pain wasn't settling fully anymore. It was almost to the point that he couldn't handle it. Clearly his time was running up early.
"It's getting worse," Toph said, stopping behind him as the pain finished settling as much as it would.
Sado simply nodded, reaching up and drying his eyes.
"You're dying, aren't you?" Toph asked.
Again Sado nodded.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Toph asked.
"Because there's nothing we can do to change it," Sado said. "And...I just didn't want that to be hanging in the air when I talk to you. I just wanted to be able to enjoy what time I have left with my friends."
"Do the others know?" Toph asked.
"Yeah," Sado said. "I almost died at the North Pole, so I couldn't hide it from them."
"How long do you have left?" Toph asked.
"Maybe a month," Sado said. "If that."
"What!?" she gasped. "Only a month? When were you going to tell me!?"
"I was going to apologize for not before I died," Sado said. "I'm sorry."
Toph was silent for a moment before sitting beside him and wrapping her arms around him. "We'll make it worth while. Once we reach Ba Sing Se, we'll make it the best month of your life."
Sado smiled. "Thank you."
"Of course," Toph smiled. "It's what friends do. I'm not letting my best friend die miserable if I can't save him."
"You're taking the news awfully well," Sado said.
"You said you were born this way," Toph said. "If you couldn't find a cure in fourteen years, including in that library, I doubt we'll find one in the next month or less. But, I'm a little confused, if you've only got a month because your insides are being cooked, wouldn't it be too late for a cure?"
"I have a month because that's the speed with with they're cooking," Sado said. "In a month, the damage will be too great too survive. If I had a cure, I'd live with however much damage I have now. I'd still have a shortened life, but it'd be longer than next month."
Toph nodded. "That makes sense. Come on. You need rest."
Sado nodded, standing only for his legs to give out, Toph catching him. He stared at his legs, slowly applying weight to them, just barely able to support his own weight, his legs trembling with the effort.
"You can't walk," Toph realized. "I'll help you."
"You need your hands free to earthbend," Sado said.
"I can bend well enough with my feet," Toph said, taking one of his arms over her shoulders, wrapping her arm around his waist. "I'm not leaving you behind. You're my best friend. You were my first friend."
Sado nodded. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to cause trouble."
"You're fine," Toph said as they reached their sleeping rolls, Toph setting him down gently.
"Are you okay?" Suki asked.
"My time's almost up," Sado said.
"It's early," Sokka said.
"I'm not kicking the bucket yet," Sado said. "I can hang in there. I just won't be walking very fast."
"It's alright," Aang said. "We won't leave you behind."
"I'll help you walk tomorrow," Sokka said. "It'll be easier for me, and then Toph's not having to use only her feet to bend."
"Sure," Sado said.
"Try to get some rest," Toph said, Sado catching a waver in her voice, but not saying anything. "We'll wake you up in the morning."
Sado nodded and closed his eyes, laying there for several minutes before hearing Toph sniff and opening his eyes, seeing her wiping hers. The others were all laying down as well, seeming to be asleep, so he guessed he had drifted off for a bit. He pushed himself up, sliding over beside Toph and hugging her, Toph turning her face into his shoulder, crying quietly. After a few more minutes, she cried herself to sleep and Sado lay her down, pulling her blanket up over her before laying down on his own bed, struggling to sleep, only for the pain to deny him that rest.
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