See? Things are getting better! This one didn't take me nearly as long! HURRAH.

So anyway.

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar

CHAPTER 25

"…Katara?"

"Dah!" Katara shrieked in surprise, clapping a hand over her mouth. She had just come down stairs and she was still a little jumpy.

Aang frowned. "Um… you okay?" he asked warily.

Katara laughed nervously, blushing. "Oh sure, fine," she giggled, edging away from him.

"Katara, what the hell is wrong with you?" Sokka asked tonelessly. "You never sleep this late."

"I was just um… having a dream," she muttered.

"What kind of dream?" Aang asked curiously.

"Good dream," she said instantly, smiling lazily. "Um I mean uh… just a weird… dream…"

"I have news," Toph said loudly as she walked into the boarding house.

"Oh good," Katara said in a rush, glad for the distraction.

"I was just checking out the Chatter House and I heard a couple people talking about a big to-do tonight," the young earthbender responded, sitting down on the stairs next to Sokka. "There's some fancy party going on at a mansion in uptown."

Aang and Sokka stared at her. "So?" Sokka growled. He didn't like fancy parties.

"So, the mansion in uptown is owned by a rich dog collector," Toph replied.

Aang became very still and quiet. Katara looked at her feet.

"We have to get into that party," Sokka said thoughtfully. "But how?"

Toph snorted. "I'm a Bei Fong, remember?" she pointed to herself. "I can get you guys in." She frowned. "But we all have to look the part."

Aang grinned. "Does that mean we get to go clothes shopping?" he asked.

"Could you be a little more of a woman, Airhead?" Toph rolled her eyes.

Sokka shook his head. "Katara has this dumb way of trying on clothes that Aang seems to enjoy a little too much," he muttered.

Aang and Katara glanced at each other, blushed, and looked away.

"Whatever, let's go find a good shop," Toph declared, getting to her feet and leading them all out into the city.

0000000

"Zuko, sit down, relax," Iroh said contentedly, taking a long drink from his steaming tea cup.

Zuko frowned. He was leaning against the wall next to his uncle, who was sitting at a small table in a tiny shop downtown.

"I don't want to sit," Zuko replied grumpily. "I don't like this city."

"Are you kidding? This city is great!" Iroh exclaimed. "Can you believe they have a tea shop? We don't have tea like this back home."

"How very kind of you to say so," the shop owner said with a grin as he walked by the table with a tray of teapots.

"See? We're already making friends all over the place," Iroh pointed out.

Zuko scowled.

Outside the shop, Jet folded his arms over his chest and leaned against the storefront across the street. He would wait as long as he had to.

0000000

"What are they doing?" Toph asked blankly, tapping her foot on the ground to make sure she wasn't seeing things.

"Dancing," Sokka sighed, bored.

Katara and Aang were, indeed, waltzing around the small clothing store they had found half an hour earlier. The store's owner was standing beside Sokka and Toph by the counter, watching with an amused grin.

"Do they always do this?" she asked.

"Yep," Sokka sighed again. "It's how she checks if things fit."

"Stupid," Toph muttered.

"Clever," the shop owner replied. Sokka sighed a third time.

"What do you think?" Katara asked with a smile. She found that being this close to him somehow made her less nervous.

"I think I like it," Aang replied, shooting her a charming grin. He spun her under his arm and paused. "Oh wait… that was a little uncomfortable."

"Okay, let's try another one," Katara shrugged.

"What about you? How's the dress?" Aang asked, eyes travelling from her eyes to her feet and back up again. It was a rather simple dress, blue, as was her custom. The skirt hung past her knees and the v-neck dipped a little too low for Aang's comfort, which wasn't very low but still enough to make him nervous.

"Oh, it fits," she said lightly, glancing down at herself. "I'm just not really the dress type." When on the job, Katara wore a suit just like the rest of the gangsters so her clothes wouldn't get in the way of the delivery. Hanging around the distillery she usually wore a skirt like the rest of the girls her age. But Aang had never seen her in a dress.

"You look beautiful," he said officiously, not showing a trace of embarrassment. Katara, on the other hand, blushed and grinned demurely.

"Need another suit?" the shopkeeper asked from the back of the shop. The two of them looked over in surprise. Katara dropped Aang's hands.

"Yeah," she said, nodding. "I think we're getting close."

"I agree," Aang added, smirking. Katara flushed again.

Sokka sighed heavily.

0000000

"How the hell did this happen?" Zuko groaned, head in his hands.

"What?" Iroh asked indignantly as he tied an apron around his stomach.

"You got a job at this tiny tea shop," Zuko snapped. "Just because you've been here for three hours and you kept complimenting the tea."

"It's a small market," Iroh shrugged. "There aren't a lot of talented tea brewers left with all these moonshine brewers around."

Zuko's head dropped onto the table. "I can't believe this."

Outside, Jet was nodding off. He had slumped to the ground hours ago, bored.

0000000

"I'm uncomfortable," Sokka grumbled as the four of them walked down the street in their nice new clothes. It was just past sunset and the weather was good, so they elected to walk to uptown instead of drive.

"With what, the clothes or our cover story?" Katara asked, rolling her eyes.

"Both," he muttered.

They had decided that Toph was their ticket in. She was a Bei Fong after all, so she would be the leading lady. Katara would be her good friend, daughter of a wealthy police commissioner from the south. Aang and Sokka were playing the parts of their bodyguards. Toph declared that Sokka would be hers.

"Why?" Sokka had asked distractedly, tugging at the sleeves of his new suit.

"I'm a Bei Fong," Toph said definitively. "I get the taller guy. Nobody would believe it the other way around."

And that had been the end of the discussion.

"Well… I guess it's good my suit matches your dress," Aang offered at length. Katara smiled.

So Katara and Toph walked into the manor side-by-side, Aang at Katara's shoulder and Sokka at Toph's. Through some coincidence that was perhaps not a coincidence at all, Aang's tie and the pinstripes on his dark suit perfectly matched the color of Katara's dress. She'd even pressed him into buying a new hat just for the occasion. His hat was too recognizable, and besides, the new one fit him better.

A butler greeted them at the door.

"Welcome," he said lightly, bowing. "May I have your names?"

"I am Sai Bei Fong," Toph said loudly. "This is my good friend Kaya Dao." Katara smiled. "This is my escort, Lee." Sokka nodded. "And Kaya's escort, Kuzon." Aang waved. Toph removed her trench coat and handed it to the man without preamble. "You can take our coats now," she said flatly, striding past him. "Hurry up, Lee."

Sokka sighed and pulled his own trench coat off, handing it over and racing after the Blind Bandit. Katara moved to take her coat off, but Aang moved behind her and slid it from her shoulders. She paused in surprise, but as he handed the two coats to the rather disgruntled butler, he smiled at her. Suddenly, she was Kaya, he was Kuzon, and she could see in that smile that this wasn't a bad idea at all.

"Thanks, Kuzon," she said lightly, smiling right back.

"Sure thing, Kaya," he said quietly, offering her his arm. She took it without a second thought and they walked together into the ballroom.

"Wow," Sokka whispered, stopping at the threshold. The manor was huge and lavishly decorated, full of music, food, and high society. The ballroom seemed to be glowing with golden light from two giant chandeliers. The room rumbled with conversation and some slow jazz from one corner.

"Wow is right," Katara muttered. Aang smiled.

"This place is amazing," he said.

"Pfft, not that great," Toph shrugged. "Now come on, we have to mingle and find that dog."

"Mingle?" Sokka asked blankly. Toph grabbed him by the elbow and they disappeared into the crowd.

"Don't you guys get into big bashes like this all the time?" Aang asked as they strolled into the crowd arm-in-arm.

"Well… not like this exactly," she said thoughtfully. "Back home, the bashes we get into are much more… laid back, I suppose." She paused to take a closer look at the guests they were now in the thick of. "Me and Lee, we crawl the speakeasies, not the mansions. They're much more fun, to say the least."

"Meet a lot of guys on these crawls of yours?" Aang asked nonchalantly.

Katara grinned at him. "Now Kuzon, why would my bodyguard be interested in such a thing?"

Aang flushed. "Oh, yeah," he said blankly. "I… I mean, of course, I was just kidding."

"Smooth," Katara murmured, laughing.

"I'm not good at lying," Aang muttered.

"It's not lying," Katara said delicately. "It's closely guarding the truth."

"That's the same thing."

0000000

"Hurry up, Lee," Toph barked at random intervals. "The blind girl shouldn't be in the lead."

"Right, sorry," Sokka muttered for what felt like the millionth time.

"Anything about this party striking you as odd?" Toph asked quietly at length.

"Which part, the fact that he's not serving any booze or the fact that the place is crawling with Prohibition Officers?" Sokka replied under his breath.

"Both," Toph stated, surprised. "You really pay attention, Snoozles."

"I do indeed," Sokka sighed, the compliment going right over his head. "Just because he isn't serving it doesn't mean he doesn't have it. With this kind of money, I don't believe for a second this mop isn't dripping."

"What kind of moron invites the Officers to his house when he has a load of illegal alcohol hidden somewhere?" Toph snorted.

"The kind who knows he won't get busted," Sokka said darkly.

"The word 'cahoots' springs to mind," Toph added.

"So let's get us some information, oh mighty Sai Bei Fong," Sokka said, bowing and offering her his arm. She rolled her eyes and took it.

0000000

"So Kuzon is your… bodyguard?"

Aang and Katara had gotten roped into a conversation with the wife of a rich restaurant owner in an attempt to gain information. She seemed much more interested in Kaya and Kuzon. She had seemed quite surprised when Katara had introduced him as her bodyguard and kept glancing at their linked arms.

"Um… he's my escort," Katara said hurriedly.

"Oh," the woman said. "So the two of you are…?"

"No," they blurted in unison, sharing a blushing glance.

"He's been my bodyguard and um… escort for a long time," Katara lied nervously. "We're good friends."

"Oh, I see… Well it was nice to meet you."

The woman vanished into the crowd. Aang and Katara didn't move.

"You think we shouldn't be walking like this?" Aang asked quietly, frowning at their arms.

"No," Katara said simply. "You're my escort. It's just plain improper for a lady to be left without her escort." She smirked and leaned closer. "You need to hang on to me, Sparky."

Aang blushed and grinned. "No problem, Dollface."

They wandered off into the thick of things again, still arm-in-arm.

0000000

"Uncle."

"What is it, Zuko? I'm working."

"Jet has been standing outside the shop for hours," Zuko pointed out darkly. Iroh had somehow wrangled him into working at the shop as well in mere minutes, and he'd been waiting tables for half the day. "Maybe all day, I just noticed him."

"That boy seemed rather odd," Iroh admitted. "He was a little too suspicious on the boat ride here." He paused. "Smellerbee and Longshot were nice though."

Zuko sighed and rolled his eyes, sweeping an empty tray back into the kitchen.

0000000

"Spirits, these people are boring," Katara sighed as she and Aang took their leave from yet another dull and useless conversation.

"No argument here," Aang yawned. Suddenly, Katara's hand tightened on his arm. "What?"

He glanced at her and realized she was holding onto him so tightly for balance as she stood up on her toes.

"What are you looking at?" he asked curiously, craning his neck up to see over the crowd.

"Butler with a tray of dog food," she said shortly, and without another word she was weaving through the crowd, dragging him along behind her.

0000000

"Wait a second," Sokka said suddenly, coming to an abrupt halt. Toph scowled at him. "I just thought of something."

"Wow, good job," she sighed, rolling her eyes.

Sokka ignored her. "This guy is a dog collector," he said lowly. "So where are all of his dogs?"

Toph blinked several times. "I can't believe I didn't think of it," she said blankly.

"Where are they? Can you see the rest of the house?"

Toph shook her head. "Not easily with all these people milling around. Hang on." She cleared her throat. "Oh dear!" she said loudly, startling Sokka. "I seem to have broken my shoe. Bodyguard, fix it."

She grabbed Sokka's tie and bent down, dragging him down with her.

"What are you doing?" he hissed.

"Pretend to fix my shoe," she muttered. The shoes were, in fact, broken, but only in that Toph had ripped the soles off so she could see. The real reason she had bent down became apparent to Sokka when she flattened both hands to the floor and closed her eyes.

"See anything?" Sokka asked quietly after several long moments.

"It's downstairs," she whispered. "Big room, full of dogs. Three people are going down the stairs, and I'm willing to bet we know two of them." She paused. "Uh oh, make that five people. Two more are headed that way."

Sokka nodded. "I believe we can be of assistance," he said shortly, and the two of them started making their way toward the stairs.

0000000

Aang and Katara silently followed the butler down a flight of stairs just off the ballroom. There was only one door at the bottom which the butler had just disappeared through. Aang pressed his ear to it, listening.

"I think he's gone," he said quietly, confused.

"That was quick," Katara added.

Aang opened the door a crack and peeked in. He frowned.

"What?" Katara whispered, leaning closer to try to see. Aang swallowed hard at her proximity and opened the door the rest of the way, revealing a small, empty room. The two of them walked in and looked around.

"This is weird," Aang said lightly. It was just a little room with wood paneled walls and dark red carpet. The back wall was all bookcases stuffed to the brim with literature and there was a single wooden chair in one corner. There was nothing else but the light switch on the wall which they didn't turn on. Aang closed the door behind them.

"Does this make any sense to you?" Katara asked at length. "Because frankly I'm flummoxed."

Aang snickered. She glanced at him. "Flummoxed," he said in explanation. She quirked an eyebrow. "It's a uh… funny word."

Katara stared. He shrugged. The corners of her mouth turned up just a bit.

"Aha," Aang declared triumphantly. "A smile. You can't help yourself."

Katara rolled her eyes and gave him a playful shove away from her.

"Anyway," she said firmly when he stopped laughing. "Clearly there's a door behind one of these bookcases."

"Clearly," Aang affirmed, nodding.

Katara glanced at him and he shrugged again. She shook her head, exasperated.

"Would you focus?" she tried to sound serious through the laughter in her voice.

"I am focused," he argued airily. "I am very focused on these really… exciting… bookcases."

"You know you're a terrible liar," she laughed.

"It's not lying," he pointed out. "It's closely guarding the truth."

She shoved him again. He was about to argue, but they both froze and looked back at the door.

Someone was coming down the stairs.