This should be easy enough to get done since I kind of cheated on the last one. This is one of the more important chapters insofar as how I tell my story, so useful criticism would be much appreciated. Also, I got a comment from an anonymous user that sounded like it wanted a response. I hope you know I can't do that if you don't use an account. But this is all off topic. Hopefully I can get what I'm after out of this.

As the group approached the base of the mountain, along a path lined with statues, Sokka's impatience shockingly got the better of him. "How far are we from the tunnel?"

"Actually, it's not just one tunnel," Chong provided unhelpfully, "The lovers didn't want anyone to find out about their love, so they built a whole labyrinth!"

"Labyrinth?!"

"I'm sure we'll figure it out," Chong assured. That seemed enough for Sokka. Until Lily spoke up…

"All we need to do is trust in love. …According to the curse."

"Curse?!"

"Hey! We're here!" Finally they arrived at the cursed labyrinth. Some of the statues did seem to have a somewhat demonic bent to them, though Tom spotted Buddhist influences that he recognized as more benevolent. Still, there was something foreboding about the place. It seemed like the very mountain wanted you to turn back. Tom knew that some of the wildlife was dangerous and wondered if that was what was giving off the spirit of dread. Or perhaps the spirit of the two lovers yet lingered there and didn't want trespassers on their hallowed ground.

"What exactly is this curse?" Sokka asked, getting right to the point.

"The curse says that only those who trust in love can make it through the caves. Otherwise you'll be trapped in them forever," Chong explained.

"And die!" his wife quickly added.

"Oh, yeah. And die." Suddenly his mood brightened is it was want to do, "Hey! I just remembered the rest of that song!" He stepped toward the mouth of the cave and dramatically strummed his instrument once, "…and die…" Of course, that didn't fill in everything, but no one was about to bring that up. Especially not Sokka.

"That's it!" he declared, "There is no way we are going into some cursed hole!"

"I don't think we have much of a choice," Tom said motioning behind them at a rising pillar of smoke. "Looks like we're going to have some unwelcome company."

"The Fire Nation," Sokka breathed, "They're tracking us."

The situation seemed dire. No one was rushing to venture into the purportedly cursed labyrinth, but they couldn't stand around for long with what looked like a large Fire Nation platoon on their heels. Aang was the first to speak. "So all you need to do is trust in love to get through these caves?" he asked Chong, who was tuning his instrument.

"That's correct, Master Arrowhead," he said whimsically before turning back to his tuning.

That and a look at Katara was all Aang needed to hear. "We can make it."

Aang's confidence seemed to decide for Sokka and everyone else. "Everyone into the hole!" Sokka ordered.

Not long after, the group could hear Fire Nation tanks arriving at the mouth of the cave. They stopped and after a few seconds the sounds of a cave-in rang out. The light provided by the sun was cut off abruptly, leaving the group in total darkness. Luckily, Chong's group happened to have torches that were bright enough to illuminate the cave as well as the sun had. They backtracked a bit to the entrance to find it completely closed off by rubble.

As bad as the situation seemed, it didn't really change the plan. They intended to go through the cave and the entrance being blocked was scary, but acceptable. That didn't stop the semi-claustrophobic Appa from trying to dig his way out.

"It's okay, Appa," Katara assured, "We'll be fine. I hope…"

"We will be fine," Sokka was next to assure. "All we need is a plan. Chong, how long do those torches last?"

"Uh, about two hours."

"And we have five touches," Lilly said happily, holding the items in question. "So that's…" she struck the four unlit torches at once, "…ten hours!"

Sokka quickly snatched the torches and stamped them out on the ground. "It doesn't work like that if they're all lit at the same time!" he grumbled as the last one went out.

"Oh, right…"

"I'm going to make a map to keep track of exactly where we've been," Sokka said retrieving parchment and a brush from the supplies on Appa's saddle. "That way we can solve it like a maze and get out of here."

"Maybe you should let me draw the map, Sokka," Tom suggested, "Your art skills aren't exactly world class."

"My art skills are just fine!" Sokka shot back as the group started down what was so far their only option. "And besides, I know a few tricks for getting out of mazes. Just trust me."

"Maybe there's a specific trick for getting us out of here?" Tom questioned. "Perhaps love being the way out is some kind of riddle?"

"Well, by the time you figure out your love riddle, we'll already be out, so…" Sokka paused as they reached their first branching path, "…just let me concentrate." Tom knew he was right, but what the hell. He decided to let Sokka have his fun. They'd get out eventually.

After some aimless wandering and the expenditure of one torch, Katara decided to hazard "breaking Sokka's concentration" and point out a problem.

"Sokka, this is the tenth dead end you've led us to."

"This doesn't make sense, we already came through here!" Sokka grumbled. Indeed, Tom noticed that one wall looked exactly like the entrance. But somehow the path they had taken was gone leaving two others. Tom was the only one who knew why. "There's only one explanation. The tunnels are changing."

As much as Tom didn't like sharing his precognition lest he be asked how he came to that conclusion, he spoke up. "Is it possible that badgermoles in the area are altering the caves around us?"

"I've heard of them," one of the hippy dancers spoke up, "They're these big, earthbending, toothy things that live underground."

Sokka thought briefly on it, "It is possible that they could change the tunnels if they can earthbend…" A rumbling in the background seemed to confirm this.

"The tunnels, they're a-changing! I knew we shouldn't have come down here…" Chong said in a surprisingly mellow panic. Sokka was unamused by his antics. But before the conversation could go any further, the sound of something approaching caught everyone's attention. Out of the darkness rushed a brown dog-like creature with a stubbed nose and wing like forearms. "It's a giant flying thing with teeth!"

"No, it's a wolfbat!"

The beast rushed toward the group, intent to make a meal out of someone, but Sokka rushed toward it with the lit torch. He tried to drive it away with the flame, but the wolfbat knocked it from his hand and into Appa's leg. The giant Sky Bison went into a frenzy at the sudden heat assaulting his leg and ended up smashing into the walls nearby, causing another cave-in. Aang used his airbending to push most of the group out of the way. The debris started to fill in and cut off the branching paths of the cave. Tom had to jump out of the way on his own toward a small path off to the side. The falling rocks seemed to follow him and as the light of the torch faded, the rocks closed in around him.

Tom wasn't sure how long he was out. A minute? An hour? It didn't really matter. What did matter was he was trapped in a small pocket made by some rather large boulders. They had sheltered him from most of the rocks, though he did feel like he'd ben tenderized after the cave-in. Tom couldn't see a thing, but he could sense his only way out was filled with rubble. Well, it was now or never. At least he wasn't testing his new technique out in combat. If someone had been watching the rubble from the other side, they'd see it glow red for a moment before blasting out with a roaring flame. Tom reached his hand out from the natural tomb, his body still wrapped head to toe in flames. The only reason he wasn't burned to death by his own flames was the thin cushion provided by his pressure barrier. But even with all the work he had put into it, the flames didn't take long to burn through his strength.

Tom tried to pull himself out of the hole, but he was stopped by something painfully gripping his ankle. He gasped in pain when he tried to pull if free; it was trapped by some rather large rocks. "Oh, damn it. Okay… Dragon Burst one more time. One, two, three!" His body ignited again, illuminating the black cave. The heat, the pressure, and the force of the flames moved the rocks just enough for Tom to blast free. This caused the little nook that saved him to collapse, but that was no longer his concern. The force that broke him free from the rocks had propelled him hard into the ceiling. He dropped immediately onto the hard ground with a thud.

Tom gripped his left leg. His ankle was screaming and he could feel a little trickle of blood running from it. It wasn't anything life threatening, or even sprained, but that and the exhaustion of using Dragon Burst for the first time was almost too much for him. He got up all the same and lit a candle sized flame (all he could manage), and started down the narrow path. "No way. I am not going to buy it down here. Go ahead, life! Kick me again! Put as many mountains between me and the end of this bullshit as you want! I'll still get home! I won't quit until I do!" He almost tripped over the uneven path as his flame started to flicker with his vision. But the closer he got to rest, the clearer the visage of a certain girl came into view. Than another, younger one. Than an older woman. Than a few more people, and a house, and a life, and everything worth fighting for. Tom snapped out of his daze and continued. "Just keep going…"

Eventually exhaustion claimed his flame and he was left in the dark. It didn't claim his will, however, and after a second the path started to glow a comforting green. In his exhaustion he had forgotten the luminescent crystals that lined the path out of the cave. Though, it was complete luck that he happened to be there when his flame went out. Or who knows? Maybe love did lead the way?

Apparently he wasn't too far from the exit, thank goodness. He had to shield his eyes from the light as he limped out of the cave. Katara gasped at the sight of him as he hobbled over. "Oh my goodness, Tom! Are you alright?"

Tom smiled as much as he could, "Yeah. I'll be fine as soon as I regain consciousness." Before anyone registered what he had said, Tom had already begun his dirt nap.

Literally the first joke I came up with for this series was the one that I ended this chapter with. Getting this far makes me really feel like I've put a dent in it and I'm really happy to have stuck with this so far. Over all, I think this is what I was looking for out of this. I could ask for helpful reviews again, but all that does is make me angry when people ignore me.

This is definitely the kind of thing that I intend to fix when I redo this. Specifically combine these last two chapters into one. I don't think the way it is is awful but it really doesn't have any business being two parts. Though outside of that, I don't really think I can complain about what I was able to do with this. I pretty much got out of it what I wanted, pushing Tom's backstory while keeping it minimalist. I recall watching Gundam OO around the time I started writing this, and it's pretty heavily influenced the way I've been trying to tell the story. I'd like to think I've pulled it off thus far.