Finally things seemed to calm down about Kochi, Meifeng, and her pregnancy. Meifeng was rather surprised when her family 'easily' accepted the situation – with 'easily' meaning they were only put-off for about a day before they banded together to help them make a plan for the next steps of Meifeng and Kochi's young lives.
Meifeng was now an airbending master, but she was disappointed to learn that she would not be allowed to have her celebratory dinner, her induction ceremony, or her tattooing until after the baby was born. Aang felt a little sad as he had never heard of this situation before – a master unable to get his or her tattoos immediately following the test – but he dismissed it as just another change to the Air Nomad society that he'd need to get used to thanks to the Earth Kingdom blood the next generation now had flowing through their veins. He didn't mind so much and planned to have Meifeng celebrate along with others who might earn their tattoos at some point in the future. He felt that Kochi and Tengfei were the closest, but were still most likely over a year away. It sounded like a long time, but then again, Meifeng would be pregnant for probably another 6 or 7 months anyway.
What took center-stage now in Meifeng's life was not the tattooing anyway – it was the marriage. She definitely loved Kochi and couldn't wait to be his wife. All involved agreed that a ceremony sooner rather than later was the best way to go. They finally decided that they would hold the wedding in the 2-to-3 month timeframe. Both Meifeng and Kochi were agreeable to that schedule.
57 months ASC
Aang heard a frantic knocking at his door after he had already gone to bed.
"Avatar Aang," said a man who he recognized as a citizen of the Eastern Air Temple, but one who had recently relocated from Qi Cun so he wasn't as familiar with him yet.
"Yes, is something wrong?" Aang asked the man once he made it to the door.
Out of breath, he continued trying to speak. "A messenger hawk….just came and the scroll said it should be delivered….immediately," said the man. He handed the scroll to Aang.
"Oh…thanks," said Aang. The man bowed to the Avatar as Aang slowly closed the door.
Katara appeared in the bedroom door. She saw Aang standing there reading the just-delivered scroll and chose to wait until he was done reading before saying anything.
Aang looked at her.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
"Looks like I'm headed to Omashu," he replied.
"Hm? Work or pleasure?" she asked lightly.
"Looks like it could be a little of both," replied Aang.
"Huh?" said Katara not entirely expecting that answer.
"Toph's having another Earth Battle," said Aang.
"And….," said Katara. "You haven't been back to Earth Battle since the first one."
"The scroll is from Iroh…you know, the Grand Master of the Order of the White Lotus?" said Aang.
"Oh," said Katara.
"…and the scroll is to both of us, but I don't want you going. There will be enough of us without your help," said Aang.
Katara was now 6 months along in her second pregnancy and was starting to grow quickly. Her "cute" baby bump was now getting bigger and bigger.
"I understand," she replied. "But still, what's going on?"
"Iroh has gathered some intelligence about a rogue group in the Earth Kingdom. He thinks that there might be an assassination attempt on Toph during the Earth Battle," said Aang.
"Oh spirits," said Katara with concern in her voice. "When is it?"
"Looks like it is in three days time. I'll leave in one," said Aang as he walked back towards the bedroom and Katara. "In the meantime, let's get some sleep."
OlOlOlOlOlO
Aang arrived at the palace in Omashu two days later. Toph's stable workers unsaddled the sky bison and showed him to the place where he'd stay while Aang was visiting the city.
Aang started walking from Appa's landing spot towards the nearest door to the palace and saw both Sokka and Iroh walking towards him.
"Aang, how've you been buddy!" Sokka cried out, before giving Aang a one-arm man hug. "Where's Katara?"
"Uh, Sokka. You know she's expecting, right?" answered Aang.
"Yeah, but so is Suki, in about a month," replied Sokka.
"That's right! Sokka, why are you here?" asked Aang.
"Aw, she'll be ok," said Sokka. "She lives in the water tribe for goodness sakes. There are a ton of healers who can do a better job of caring for her than me."
"But Sokka, what about the emotional support?" asked Aang.
"After last time, it might be better if I'm not around," said Sokka, jabbing Aang with an elbow. "Know what I mean?"
"Can I interrupt this heartfelt reunion?" asked Iroh. "I know it has been a while since the two of you saw each other, but we have limited time before the event is supposed to start."
"Who else is here?" asked Aang.
"We have quite a few White Lotus members who made it here, but I'm sure you are asking from a more personal view. I'm afraid that it will just be you two and Toph for this assignment," said Iroh. "Zuko can't get away at the moment – I didn't press the issue since we aren't even 100% sure anything will happen."
"Sounds good," replied Aang. "Where's Toph?"
"She's addressing some of her personal guards. Let's go find her," said Iroh.
The three friends entered the palace and went immediately to Toph's large hall where she usually met with any large groups that needed her attention. Right now, that was the majority of her personal guard.
"You must keep your eyes open for anything suspicious," noted Toph as she spoke to the gathering. "It is unknown what the nature of the threat is so keep your mind open. It could be a bender or a non-bender, an obvious weapon or not."
Sokka leaned over so he could whisper in Iroh's ear. "Do you have any details about this?"
"Not much. One of the White Lotus members in a town just south of Ba Sing Se overheard a conversation in a restaurant and immediately reported it. The man he heard claimed that his family lived in Omashu and that ever since Toph had taken over as Queen, that she had ignored the populace, especially the poor, and that he was going to 'fix the situation'."
"That doesn't sound good," interrupted Aang. "But how do you know it wasn't just an empty threat? I'm sure there are lots of people who say things in the heat of emotion but never carry them out."
"That was only the first piece of evidence," stated Iroh. "I've have had no less than three other members report similar conversations to me. The preponderance of the evidence is that something will happen. They also heard something about Earth Battle in the conversations as well – that is why we think it will happen there."
"I see," said Aang. "Well, we'll definitely be prepared."
OlOlOlOlOlO
Iroh called together all the members of the Order of the White Lotus who had made it to Omashu for this particular mission. He assigned them areas of the arena that they should patrol, all the while fitting in with the rest of the crowd so no one would think they were being watched or targeted.
Aang decided to wear a wrap on his head and gloves to cover up his tattoos.
The event started in earnest with everyone "in the know" including the White Lotus members, Toph, her guard, and her friends all going into this with an air of seriousness. It was supposed to be a fun event, but was turning out not to be. Even if nothing at all happened, the joy was already gone because all these people would have been on alert and cautious the entire time just waiting for something to happen.
The announcer said the names of the pairings two-by-two and the earthbenders, as they always had before, came out in funny clothes and with funny names. For most people, this was a fun and much looked forward to event.
Two hours into the event, still nothing had happened. Aang finally decided to break his cover just a bit by approaching Sokka when he saw him walking towards him.
"Sokka," he said.
"Aang, why are you talking to me? We're supposed to be undercover," Sokka replied.
"No one knows its me and you've got your disguise on as well," noted Aang. "Anyway, I'm a little worried because nothing has happened yet."
"Wait, you're worried that nothing has happened yet?" asked Sokka.
"Well, at least if something had happened, we would have known how serious it was and could have dealt with it. I think the waiting is what is killing me," said Aang.
"Just keep your eyes open," Sokka told his friend. "I have this feeling in my gut that something is going to happen."
Aang gave Sokka a look. "Sokka, if my memory serves me correctly, your instincts only serve you about 50% of the time."
Sokka glared back at him. "Well, you haven't been around me lately…my instincts have gotten a lot better."
Aang turned away from Sokka and rolled his eyes. Same old Sokka.
The event went off without a hitch. When the arena had cleared out, most of the people who had acted as covert security gathered around Toph, who remained in her private viewing box.
When she heard Aang, Sokka and Iroh enter her box, Toph could only shrug her shoulders.
"I don't know," said Iroh. "Perhaps our intelligence was wr-…"
A frantic guard ran up to the Queen of Omashu. "Queen Toph, we have a, uh…situation."
"Well, spit it out!" she yelled at the man. She wasn't in the mood having not really enjoyed herself all that much this evening for no apparent reason.
"You are needed at the palace," is what the guard told her.
"Let's go," shouted Sokka to everyone there. They took off running.
As they approached the palace, Toph could hear the clanging. She wasn't sure what exactly was going on, but something was definitely happening and she didn't know what.
As she gestured to move forward, her Captain of the Guard approached her. "Queen Toph, we have somewhat of a situation in the palace."
Toph turned to talk to the man. "What happened?" she asked.
"It would seem that as most of our resources were in the arena protecting you, that someone has ransacked the palace. There are numerous items missing."
"I've been robbed?" she asked in a 'you've got to be pulling my leg' tone.
"You're kidding," added Sokka.
Iroh was standing silently beside the group. "I guess we now know what their plan was. It wasn't to harm you after all, it was to get to the palace."
"Thanks for figuring that one out now," added Toph. She turned to her Captain. "I'm going inside now, but I expect a full report in the morning."
"Yes, miss," was his reply.
Toph stormed into her palace while Aang, Sokka and Iroh stood outside for a bit more taking in the sights and sounds of the crime scene investigation.
"We should go find out what they took," noted Iroh. "Perhaps we can figure out what is going on if we gather more information about what they wanted."
"Good idea, Iroh," said Aang.
The three friends entered the palace, stepping over some knocked over pedestals and pulled-down curtains. They wandered room-to-room trying to observe and overhear the guards who were now investigating.
One guard approached another in the main dining area. Aang heard him say, "Yeah, all the silver is gone."
Sokka heard another guard, who just happened to be staring at a blank spot on the wall say, "There is a lot of artwork missing, not just this piece."
Yet another guard was in one of Toph's offices. "The safe was open and…" was all that Iroh heard the guard say before he went to find his two companions again.
Once the three of them were together, Iroh suggested that they, along with Toph, The Duke, and the other members of the Order of the White Lotus meet first thing in the morning.
OlOlOlOlOlO
The next morning, Toph was in no better a mood. She sat at the breakfast table as Aang, Sokka, Iroh, and several others crowded into her dining room.
"Now my breakfast has to be ruined, too?" she said aloud.
"Toph, you are missing many expensive and culturally significant items," said Iroh. "The three of us watched some of the investigation and it seems the main goal of this personal invasion was not against you per se – it was to claim some of your riches. The other damage that was caused was extremely minor and easily fixed."
"I have already sent my guards out into the streets to dig up the dirt so to speak," said Toph. "I'm sure they'll be back with some information before lunch," she assured them. "Not everything is a world crisis, Iroh."
"I know that. But when I heard that you might have been the target, well….I just had to act. You are a member of the Order of the White Lotus as well as the rest of us here and we always help one another," said Iroh. "Especially when we don't know how serious the threat is."
Toph smiled. "I know, Iroh. And I appreciate it. But I just want you guys to know that I'm not helpless. I think I've grown into this Queen thing. I can handle it."