Chapter Twenty Six

When they finally stopped running, Sokka looked around at everyone with a fair amount of shame in his eyes. He was the avatar and he couldn't even beat one boy from the fire nation who was younger than him. He was supposed to save the world yet he himself needed rescuing. How was he supposed to fulfill his destiny of bringing balance to the world when he wasn't able to beat one person?

"Ok everyone, I think we can slow down a little bit now. I don't think they will pursue us for a little while at least" Katara spoke, dismounting from her ostrich horse. Toph was double mounted with her as she was unable to ride her own and they couldn't let her earth bend her way with them giving a clear trail for all to follow. The scenery surrounding them was lush and vibrant forest with the hinting of the changing seasons evident for the world to see. Sokka didn't respond to her and looked away now, not wanting to meet any of their gazes, pretending to be looking at the beautiful landscape.

"Sokka…Look, I know what you're feeling right now, but we didn't have a choice. We couldn't let you fall into the hands of the fire nation. If we did that, we would never be able to rescue you or win this war. Your too important" Katara said, trying to reassure him what they did was the right course of action. Sokka still knew though that he tossed aside his word, and the agony that followed was something that wasn't going to be wiped away so easily.

"Sokka…" Katara said, trying to get his attention when Toph lobbed a small rock at his head, making a satisfying thump as he cried out in slight shock and pain.

"Toph! What was that for?!" Sokka whirled on her, given an outlet for the negative emotions he was now feeling.

"Listen Sokka, you may think we lost back there, but you're looking at it the wrong way. It wasn't us who lost, it was Iroh who won, understand?" she said, explaining it like the fact their enemy totally defeated them made perfect sense.

"Toph, what does it matter if Iroh won or the whole fire nation? We lost! I showed I wasn't even able to beat one bender, how can I possibly be-" Sokka tried to say when another rock came flying at him, though Sokka was able to deflect it aside.

"You're not thinking Sokka! We didn't lose because Iroh's not our enemy! Didn't any of you wonder why he proposed such an idea as a duel, wasting time instead of fighting all out?" she asked, causing Sokka to suddenly think. It was true that Iroh was more than strong enough to defeat any of them, so why did he do such a thing?

"Very well, oh great spout of knowledge and wisdom, why did he do it then?" he asked, regaining some of his lost composure. Toph smiled and sat on the ground with a loud thump as the earth around her jumped slightly in the air in response to her sudden shift to a sitting position.

"It's simple, he was relaying a message to us. He took off his shoes during the fight and scrawled in the dirt what we needed to know!" she spoke, gesticulating with her hands as if to accent her point. Staring at her with a look of obvious disbelief, Sokka remained silent with his mouth open in awe. Sokka couldn't believe how gifted Iroh must have been to have planned all that out. He might have even known where they were from the start and steered his entourage in that direction to give this all important message. He was truly a genius of tactics.

"Well than, tell us Toph! What did he say?" he asked, barely containing his excitement, all shame suddenly forgotten at this news. Toph sat on the ground as the cool breeze blew through, the trees swaying in the wind as the seasons slowly began their descent into the next. All she did though was smile amidst the forest as the leaves fell around her.

"Say please" she said simply.

Sokka nearly fell to the ground so caught off guard he was, though somehow, he felt he should have known that was what she would have said. Some things he guessed would never change.

"Please tell me what Iroh said" Sokka said rather impatiently. Toph however merely looked to him skeptically.

"I don't think you really want to know. Why don't you ask like you mean it?" she teased, causing Sokka to turn slightly red with indignity. Katara was holding in a giggle with Ty Lee, trying not to laugh, though Sokka could easily tell they were enjoying themselves.

"Please oh great and mighty blind bandit, gift us with this divine message from Iroh" he spoke, now hearing the uproarious laughter from his sister and fiancée. Toph seemed rather pleased with herself.

"See? That's how you should speak to me from now on. Don't you think it suits me to be addressed like that?" she asked, completely sidetracking.

"The message, Toph! What about the message?!" he practically howled at her. Giving him an innocent look, she merely shrugged her shoulders.

"Oh right, I forgot. Why don't I tell you while you massage my feet?" she said, lifting her feet into the air as a small mound of earth rose to serve as a makeshift rest for them.

Sokka swore silently he would pay her back for this, oh how he would…

*************

Toph sighed contently as Sokka continued to rub her feet as she explained everything she was told. How they were being pursued by Azula's Fiancee, how Iroh was steering them clear of their activities, and how he was creating a network of lies to keep them confused and unable to accurately predict where they were. The most important piece of information though was the information about the southern air temple.

"Well, it's like this. Iroh says that in the Southern air temple lies the first Hungerer. Once it's defeated, the other Hungerers will die away, and no new ones will be born" she explained. The others listened intently to her every word, though no one seemed to listen quite as well as Sokka. She could tell he was plotting revenge from the irregular beating of his heart, he was so easy to predict and so much fun to tease, it was almost too easy. He may get emotional from time to time, but with the right kick in the pants, he was back to his usual cheerful self.

"The first Hungerer? Wow, that must be very powerful! Do you think we can defeat it easily?" Ty Lee asked, speaking up for the first time in the whole conversation. Toph shrugged her shoulders.

"How should I know? I make a habit of not fighting them, but I get the feeling Iroh wouldn't send us to fight the first if it was something he didn't think we could beat" she explained. Iroh was an incredible man, she knew this. He was a much higher ranking member of the order of the white lotus than her, and he had talked to her on many an occasion after the loss of the first avatar, helping her with many difficult problems such as being illiterate and teaching her how to perceive messages written into the earth to help with intelligence gathering, such as now. He was also a close friend of hers and one she wouldn't want to see come to any harm.

"Alright then, we have a purpose! We need to proceed on to the southern air temple!" Sokka spoke and posed heroically pointing.

"Wow, you mean you already know how to ascend the steep cliffs?" Ty lee asked in amazement. The sudden silence from Sokka was all the proof in the world to Toph he had entirely forgotten the only way to get to the southern air temple was by flying bison, which they no longer possessed.

"Ok, I'm open to suggestions" he said, letting go of his heroic pose. Before Toph could speak her mind, Momo peaked his head out of the pack and flew right into Ty Lee's waiting arms, a handful of Leechi nuts his bait and prize. Ty Lee seemed to have trained the little guy well to respond only to the smell of the food to get his intention. Suddenly Sokka's attitude brightened tremendously as he swooped on the surprised lemur and held him up to his face.

"Momo, you're a genius! We can fly up there! We just need to get one of the hot air balloons" he said, giving the lemur a big hug as it wriggled its way uncomfortably out of his grasp. Toph was a little jealous of the lemur and all its lavish attention, stealing all her thunder, but she was content now that they had a plan and a course of action. She did feel a nagging bit of guilt over the one piece of information she withheld, even if it was for their sake. She purposely left out that the first Hungerer was in fact the only Air Hungerer…

And she could guarantee it was no coincidence that the Hungerers became a part of their existence around the same time the avatar had died.

Author notes:

Ok, i would like to think this is a good way to wrap up that whole unsightly situation they rolled themselves into. Who doesnt think every problem on earth can't be solved with a relaxing footrub? lol, anyway, i'm going to post two chapters today since im going to be away for a while and not be able to post for a while...Also because i'm really interested to see what everyone thinks of the next chapter. I dont want to brag, but i think i did an awesome job with it, even though i'll probably be saying that in the next chapter anyway. Anyway, as always, please review and let me know what you think and if anyone has some suggestions, even as tiny as use spellcheck more (i actually got that as a private message, best advice i was ever given, even if it was something of a Mick Dove thing to say, and if you dont know what that means, switch the first letters of those two words), it will be greatly appreciated.

Jalein Foxkin