Well, this took way too long to get written, and I would like to thank you all for being so patient with me. Thanks also go out to GalacticaCAG for giving it a once-over and making the whole thing that much better. And for all of you who looked at it, whether you reviewed or not, you gave me the fuel I needed to get back to typing.

And without further ado...enjoy

Chapter XXVIII: Reunion

"So, how is she?" Yarin quietly asked for the third time.

"How should I know? Kojima's the only one outside of the girls that knows anything, and he's only telling Akira. Now shut it and get back to sentry duty." Anzin replied in an annoyed whisper.

"Fine, but I still don't see why we've gotta keep this up. No one's looking for us anymore, not after nearly two days."

"You don't know that, and anyway we have to stay up here when we've got a team on the surface. The Avatar and Mina are out in the city investigating a rumor that has been circulating. They say--"

"Yeah, I heard it too, Anzin," Yarin said, cutting him off, "Something about so-called "ghosts" in the city, small army of 'em that are attacking patrols in all sectors. Almost wish we could get in touch, we could certainly use the help and they obviously know how to keep a low profile."

"Maybe, but how do we know we could work with these guys, assuming they do exist? You know how bad Royal propaganda's been recently."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Blaming all these 'disturbances' on Earth Kingdom terrorists as an excuse to keep the public under the Army's control. Rhino dung, all of it."

"My thoughts exactly. I've been sneaking around since we got back to the capital, and guess what? It's the blasted Army that's creating the disturbances, along with that Agni-cursed Laos Tim and his personal army of 'anti-terrorism' men. I dug a little deeper since then, right up until the festival, and I'm starting to think Ty Lee got a hair too close to what was really going on. Mina too."

"What a wonderful system we live in, eh Anzin?"

"Right you are, Yarin. Almost makes me wish I drank, maybe then I could pretend that all of this wasn't about to come crashing down on our heads."

Yarin scowled at Anzin, but he let the comment slide, "Win or lose in the war, it's going to come crashing down anyway."

"Sure, but hopefully we'll have someone in place who can rebuild it better than before. Zuko's been odd since he came back, according to the servants. Not sure what it means, but he's the only hope the Royal Family has now."

"I suppose--hold it, someone's coming."

"Don't worry, they can't see us for another ten feet. Still, we should probably hide," Yarin shook his head slightly as Anzin's comment, but they quickly faded into the alley opposite the 'tunnel house', safely dark in the late morning sun, and waited. They didn't have to wait long.

"Hey, idiots! I can see you! Now get out of there and let's get the next team sent out." Mina walked past the two Guardsmen and opened the door to the house, Aang following as Anzin and Yarin detached themselves from the walls and crossed the street.

"I still don't get how you can see us. Nobody else can." Anzin grumbled.

"I know where to look, that's all. Oh, and I'm a Yu-Yan and a girl so we're better than you at that sort of thing." Ignoring the two complaining Guardsmen, Mina waved Aang inside and shut the door before the four of them sank into the earthen shaft leading down to the caverns.

----------

"Are they finished yet?" Akira asked. Kojima shook his head, jerking a thumb to the stone curtain surrounding one of the hot springs dotting the cavern.

"C'mon, Pack Leader, it took them nearly a full day before she'd even let them touch her, and even then they couldn't tell much based on her responses."

"Just...just run over what we know again."

"It hasn't changed since the last time you asked." Kojima pulled a small stake from where it was wedged into the pillar Akira was leaning on. The stake had multiple intricate grooves cut into the surface, and a flame was slowly burning at the tip. "If I remember correctly, according to this it's been twenty minutes." Kojima looked over at Akira, "Twenty whole minutes without pestering me--that's some kind of new record for you, isn't it?"

"Just do it, Kojima. It'll make me feel better."

Kojima sighed and replaced the stake in the holder, "Almost all injuries are internal, except for a few areas that were cut and burned." he droned, "All of the wounds were kept open, so Katara was able to heal most of them easily, but there's also several ribs that only time can help. Beyond that--" Kojima broke off as Ashani slid out from behind the stone and waved to him. The talked quietly for a moment, then Ashani went back inside and Kojima shuffled back over to Akira.

"Well?" Akira demanded.

"Well, they've...they've found something else. Took them a while to get her cooperation, but there's...well, its..."

"Spit it out, Kojima. What's wrong?" Kojima fidgeted for a moment before he closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"If she was one of us, she would have been pulled from duty under Section Nineteen."

"Section...Nineteen?" Akira tried to remember what that section of the military regulations dealt with. The section used to be a joke, considering it could only apply to an officer who...

"Great. This is just Agni-blasted great!" Akira slammed his fist into the stone column he had been leaning on, "What are we supposed to do with...What did she...Those..."

Kojima's hand on his shoulder was a vice, forcing him to stay still, "Calm down, Pack Leader, Ashani said they still don't know the...the extent of the damage, but Katara was going to do everything she could to help."

"Hey, did I miss anything with Pink?" Mina walked up, accompanied by Yarin and Anzin.

"She's Section Nineteen." Akira and Kojima said together. Mina's eyes widened.

"What? What Agni-cursed piece of complete--"

Yarin cut across Mina's rapidly lengthening string of curses, "What's Section Nineteen? I think I remember hearing about it once, but it never seemed important."

Anzin slapped him across the back of the head, "That's because it doesn't apply to you, jughead. Since you can't seem to remember regulations, here's the basics." Anzin sighed, then began as though reading from boring lecture notes, "A Section Nineteen discharge is when any officer becomes unable to perform his or her duties due to being compromised by any severe physical trauma rendering the officer unable to continue functioning effectively."

He finished reciting, then examined his gauntlet plate as he continued, "The problem with our current situation, however, is that the only physical trauma accepted as Section Nineteen is loss of a limb, a massive head injury, or a declaration of pregnancy. Even you can figure that one out, Yarin."

Yarin waved him silent, "I remember, you can shut it now. And that 'jughead' comment was low, Anzin."

"I call it as I see it, and that's hard to miss." Anzin replied, pointing at Yarin's leg.

Yarin put a hand over the canteen strapped to his thigh, "Shut it, okay? You never complained before."

Kojima spoke up, "We did complain, Yarin. Several times, but you never listened to us."

"I'm fine." Yarin shot back, and he turned to leave.

"We all lost a brother, Yarin," said Akira, "But we all need to be at our best right now, and I don't care what you say, you're not at your best when you're hitting that stuff."

"Then give me something else to hit, Captain. Until then, I deal with this my way." Taking a swallow from the canteen, he walked on and was soon lost in the perpetual haze that filled the cavern.

"Want me to go after him?" Anzin offered, but Akira shook his head.

"Let him go, we're all working with short fuses right now." Akira said, "I'll talk to him later, now let's hurry up and get the next team up and ready. How about Atin and Sokka? They seem to work well together." Privately, Akira thought that Sokka might as well be a brother to Atin by now. The pair's love of gears and gadgets was almost unnerving at times. And this was the guy who used to hate anything connected to the Fire Nation on principle. Maybe there's hope for us yet.

"Actually, I need one of them to help me with some stuff down here." Kojima spoke up, "We're trying to connect one of these blocked-off tunnels with the newer emergency tunnel system above, and I have no idea how to use that rock-mover thing they built."

Akira thought for a moment, then, "Ask Ashani if she still needs Katara and if not, send her with Atin. Poor girl probably misses the sun."

"Actually, I think it would be a wonderful idea for Katara to get some fresh air. And no, I don't think I'll need her for at least another few hours." Ashani emerged from behind the stone barrier and strode away into the cavern. A few moments later, Katara emerged with a large bag slung over one shoulder.

"Hey, could one of you take this back to Ling? Thanks." She said as Anzin relieved her of the bag, "Oh, and Ashani said it would be okay if you wanted to go in."

"Thanks, Katara." said Akira. The waterbender moved to let him through the thin opening in the curtain of stone, although as he passed she pulled his shoulder to bring him down to her level.

"I healed the physical damage, but even with my bending it could be several days before I can detect...anything else," Katara whispered, "We can figure out what to do about it then." Akira nodded and continued inside.

The inside was dark, the high walls blocking most of the ever-present glow from lava pools, but several of the small burning stakes dotted the edges of the small chamber.

Ty Lee was laying on a small cot in the center of the chamber, rolled over on her side with a thin blanket pulled over her head. Akira quietly crouched down next to her, but there was a muffled crack as his leg plate--one of the few pieces of armor they wore even down here--hit a rock. The acrobat jumped and threw off the blanket, then stopped as she noticed the cause of the sound.

"Hey, easy. Just me." Akira said. Ty Lee relaxed back onto the cot, although she made no move to retrieve the blanket. She was wearing a pale pink under-robe that looked a few sizes too big for her, but it couldn't be helped--Ashani was the only woman in the group who had brought extra clothing.

"Ashani says you'll be okay, in fact you should be able to get out of here by tomorrow." He said, but for all the response he got he might as well have been talking to a rock, "You okay? Look, I know this has been...difficult, but--"

"I'm sorry." Ty Lee's voice was weak, but it brought Akira to a halt as he stared in blank confusion at the girl.

"Sorry?"

"Yeah, I'm sorry about...about the fight. You know, on the ferry coming back." The acrobat said. Akira settled himself into a more comfortable position and started to reach for her hand. The motion was aborted, however, and he let his hand fall to massage his leg as an uncomfortable silence filled the enclosure.

"Azula said--"

"Azula always lies, remember?" He tried to cut her off, but Ty Lee continued as though she hadn't heard.

"Azula said that you wouldn't come. She said that you wouldn't help a traitor to the nation, and that you probably hated me now."

"Ty Lee, I don't and never will hate you, and neither will any of the Wolves." Again she ignored him.

"I said a lot of stuff on the ferry, mostly bad stuff. I didn't really mean it, I swear, I just--"

"With all due respect, shut it." Akira cut in, reaching in and shutting the girl's mouth with one hand. The gymnast tried to continue for a moment, but soon trailed off into silence as Akira moved his hand away. Again silence reigned in the chamber.

As the silence began to seem permanent, the flickering of the lit stakes was joined by another small light. "Hey, remember this?" Ty Lee slowly turned to look at Akira. Or rather, at Akira's hand, which now held a small orange flame. He gently moved his hand and the fire began shifting across his palm. Akira continued the movement, until the dancing flame was swirling in lazy, almost hypnotic motions along his palm and fingers.

As Ty Lee watched the floating spark, however, Akira flicked one of his fingers upward and the flame shot out into space then fell, almost grazing the tips of his fingers as it seemed to slingshot around the back of his hand to return to his palm. Several more finger movements, and the flame blurred into a hazy yet intricate design in midair.

His movements became faster, almost erratic, as the flame danced and spun, weaving between his fingers and whipping around his hand as blue sparks began trailing the flame. Akira's eyes narrowed for a moment in concentration, then the orange was swallowed by a pure bolt of azure, still darting and weaving in the strange dance around his hand.

The flame continued to move faster as Akira's other hand joined the first in directing the flame. Now it spun and whipped over and around both hands, even up onto his arms several times.

Finally, Akira held his hands out and the flame stopped between them before flickering and fading into oblivion. The enclosure returned to the flickering light of the stakes, except for a short series of sparks from a stake near the entrance.

"You've gotten better, what was that pattern called?" She asked. Akira grinned and rubbed his arm sheepishly.

"Honestly, I stopped using the old named patterns a while back. I sort of made that one up using parts from 'The Monkey' and maybe a bit from "The Cat-Owl Twins'. Other than that, it was all made-up as I went."

He thought he saw a flicker of a smile, "You have gotten better. You used to burn your fingers a lot, remember?"

Akira laughed softly, "Yeah, I remember. I'm glad that servant of yours knew about all of those healing herbs, Nei probably would've just yelled at me for being stupid and hurting myself." His smile faded as he looked at the ceiling, "Anzin sent Li to check on your family, he should be getting back soon."

Almost as soon as he had finished, something small and furry collided with the back of his head and launched itself at Ty Lee. Before anyone quite knew what had happened, the gymnast found herself staring at a pair of deep amber eyes, the armadillo-cat to which they belonged now nuzzling her cheek and giving a plaintive mew, as if to scold its mother for leaving it at home.

"That's one smart cat, ma'am." Li spoke up, leaning against the entry-way, "No idea how she survived on her own for over a week, but I found her near your house and she wouldn't leave me alone." The creature in question was now being rubbed behind the ears and purring loudly as it settled into a ball at the edge of Ty Lee's cot.

Akira eased himself up, groaning as one of his knees popped loudly. "I'll be back later, right now I need to track down Yarin." Following Li out of the cramped room, he was surprised as Aidyn barreled into the back of his leg and nearly put him on the ground.

"She doesn't want you to leave." Ty Lee wore what might have been an amused grin as she motioned the armadillo-cat back to her. "You know, " she added, her smile weakening, "for the number of times I fought with them, Katara's been really nice to me."

Akira looked back from where he'd been sliding through the exit, "Yeah, Katara's all right. Anybody who could still work with us after the run-in I had with Sokka is definitely all right. The Avatar and his friends are good people, Ty Lee. You don't have to worry about Azula anymore, you've got real friends now." With that he fully exited the chamber, emerging into the red-tinted underground that he had yet to completely get used to.

He started to wonder where Yarin might have gotten off to when he noticed Aang approaching.

"Need something, Avatar?" Akira inwardly winced at the tone of his voice, realizing that came out harsher than he intended. Be nice, you're on the same side now.

Mercifully, the airbender appeared to take no notice, "Uh, I was wondering if I could ask you something."

Li interrupted, "Hang on, Avatar, I just need to have a word with the Captain on something. Shouldn't take long, then you two can talk." The airbender nodded vaguely as Li led the way over to one of the stone pillars.

"Okay, Captain, you said you wanted a report." Li started, "The mansion is a bunch of sticks. They burned the whole thing to the ground, and I couldn't stick around long enough to find anything or anyone besides that cat." Li's expression was unreadable, and it rubbed Akira the wrong way to know that he couldn't read either his or Atin's body language nearly as well as his own men.

Even Anzin was still recognizable; his habit of tucking his head down a bit and to the left when stressed was muted but still there, along with countless other idiosyncracies that broadcasted feeling and intent more accurately than words ever could.

"Captain?" Too late, Akira realized he was staring. Giving himself a quick shake, he brought his attention back to the present to find the other Guardsman staring with what was probably an amused expression.

"Sorry, spaced out for a moment. Not enough sleep, I think. Anyway, thanks for the info, I just wish there was time to do more."

Li nodded, "I know what you mean, I feel useless when it's not my turn top-side. Well then," he pushed away from the pillar he'd been leaning on and and began walking away, "If there's nothing else, I'm going to challenge Anzin to a Pai-Sho match on that board your Seargent brought over. He claims he's winning 16-14, but anyone can tell you he's only won 15."

Akira watched Li make his way beck towards what had been dubbed "The Camp". A circle of stone tents ringed two of the smaller lava pools while a handful of storage tents were haphazardly strewn around nearby, and a larger stone tent surrounded one of the heated pools of water to be used as a bath-house for them all and healing tent for Katara.

"So, uh, I was wanting to ask you something?" He'd almost forgotten the Avatar was still there, but he gestured for the kid to proceed as he took Li's spot against the pillar.

"I, uh, I saw one of your guys...Yarin, I think? Anyways, he--"

Akira put his hand up and Aang stopped short, "I know, he's working on a short fuse right now...we all are." The Firebender sighed, "You grew up as a monk, I don't suppose you know what it's like to lose a brother."

For a moment there was silence, then, "The other Airbenders at the temple...they were close enough to be my family. I lost everything when the war started, remember?"

Akira mentally kicked himself, "I'm sorry, it's easy to forget that you're a hundred years old. However...even knowing that, Yarin's situation is still...different."

"Different?" The Avatar's face was all confusion as he stared at Akira. The Firebender sighed again, before raising his head to stare at the ceiling of the cavern.

"Yarin's story goes back a ways, back before the Wolves," He began slowly, "The Wolves, White Unit, we're High Guardsmen. In the military, that translates to everything from bodyguards and heavy assault soldiers to saboteurs and assassins. Well, not so much on assassination anymore; Ozai's not nearly as fond of the practice as Azulon was. The Darkwalkers, Anzin's unit--they were Azulon's prize. Their only failed assignment was getting rid of the Blue Spirit, a fact that Anzin's probably still touchy about." Aang's face twitched once, perhaps towards a smile, but Akira was still staring at the ceiling and missed the look completely.

"Anyways, where was I? Oh right, the versatility. Since we're expected to do so much, and since most units spend so much time in the field, mortality is pretty high. Not as high as the normal army," He added hastily, "But there's hardly a month where you don't hear about somebody you know...well...biting it."

"Even White Unit hasn't been left out. We've lost several over the years, and we've accepted those from units that were too decimated to keep going. Dasi, Yarin, and I guess Li and Atin now are among that last set. Dasi and Yarin were both a part of Green Unit, which was destroyed along with just about everything else at Three Pines."

"I've heard several people mention that battle. Katara says she doesn't remember hearing anything about it and neither Toph nor Sokka know more than the fact that the Fire Nation got beaten."

"Beaten?" Akira snorted, "Try beaten, stabbed, crushed, burnt to a crisp and then tossed in the river. Three Pines humiliated us, and it cost us way too many good men. I could tell you exactly what happened, but the short version is that the commander in charge of all our forces was an over-ambitious baboon-dog whose name I refuse to remember, and wanted to curry a bit of favor with the Fire Lord. The Earth Kingdom forces knew who he was, not surprising considering he normally oversaw operations in the region to begin with, and they knew just how to get him hot and steaming. We were doing just fine by dividing them and forcing retreats, but he was getting frustrated and insisted on a knockout blow."

"Green and Brown Units, and two men on loan from White, were all sent in as escort for over half of the regular troops. I'm ashamed to admit that the commander's over-confidence was catching. We got sloppy, and they got off a textbook flank crash before we knew our faces from firewood. Brown Unit was wiped out to a man, and Green was cut to three. We got off light, only lost two men that day." Akira's voice was bitter, and he raked a hand through his hair before he continued.

"Two of the men from Green Unit were assigned to us to replace those we lost. Those two men were Dasi and Yarin."

"After a few months with White Unit, they had fit in to the point where an outsider couldn't tell the difference. Thing is, we could. Yarin was extremely protective of Dasi, always stuck with him on full squad deployments. Yarin made sure he got whatever he wanted, kept the rest of us off Dasi's back, that kind of stuff."

"It sounds like Yarin really cared about him."

"You don't know the half of it," Akira muttered, "But that's all I can really say. If you want the rest of the story, you'll have to ask Yarin about it. Now, was that all you wanted to ask?" Aang fidgeted for a second, but remained silent. Akira nodded and turned to leave.

"Uh, actually..." Aang trailed off as Akira turned to look back at him.

"Avatar, with all due respect, spit it out."

"You...you and Ty Lee...it's just, well..." He faltered again, but then, "You like her, don't you?"

Akira stared at him for a moment, then slowly nodded, "Yeah, I do," He said, then fixed Aang with a somewhat amused grin, "Am I right in saying you're fairly fond of our resident healer?"

Aang's expression was priceless, if a bit delayed as he realized what Akira meant. He opened his mouth to reply, but Akira waved him silent and just clapped him on the shoulder as he went by. He hadn't gotten more than a few feet past the Avatar, however, when Akira tossed back over his shoulder:

"Between you and me, she sorta looks like old portraits of my mother."

-----------------------

Atin was bored.

Check that, he was very bored. He couldn't take any unfinished gadget top-side to work on, since they had to stay still and alert for any over-curious explorers that might stumble over the house. He also had to stay alert for Anzin, who was currently chatting up the merchants at the evening market for any details on moving a rather unique animal through the city.

The Avatar's bison had yet to be found despite daily searching, and it was hopelessly obvious that Aang was maintaining only a slim hold on his emotions. Atin had never experienced the Avatar State in person, but he agreed with the unspoken pledge to go easy on the kid and count himself lucky to not have the probably painful experience.

Denied his usual pastimes, the firebender took to idly toying with loose tiles in the street as he thought about the brilliant, albeit untested, alarm system that Toph had set up. In the exceedingly slim chance that anyone was poking around, he could bring his boot down on a small chunk of stone disguised to look like just another piece in the road. Right now his heel was resting on the stone, waiting for a Toph-induced tremor that would signal their forced retreat from the cavern and request an "all clear" from either himself or Katara. If that ever happened (again, highly unlikely, but Ling and Toph had worked out the system and no-one was going to argue with either of them) two quick shots with his heel would signal back that it was safe to bring everyone up.

Across the street, he saw Katara suddenly stiffen and draw back deeper into her own hiding place.

So, someone's coming from the north, he thought. He couldn't see in that direction from where he hid, instead watching the stretch of road to the south, but soon he could hear muted footfalls on the street. There seemed to be only one man, and he sounded heavy despite obvious attempts to keep his passage quiet.

Atin made a quick estimate and began counting down. A beat after his countdown expired a man appeared in the street, moving softly but surely down the center of the road. He had a rough traveling cloak that obscured his build, although even a conservative observer would have called him large, and the hood had been pulled up to hide his face. Not at all uncommon out here, especially given the less than honest business that took place in these neighborhoods.

Still, something about the man felt...off. His posture wasn't quite...

He felt rather than heard the movement behind him, and turned just in time to catch a glancing boot to the side of his face that drove him into the wall. Grunting with the pain, he gave a cursory rub to his now throbbing jaw as he brought an arm up to stop another kick to the face.

His attacker was wearing a traveling cloak nearly identical to the man, although he seemed to be a good deal smaller and far more agile as Atin found himself backed into the wall by a flurry of punches and kicks that left his blocking limbs feeling like they'd been hit by a Komodo Rhino.

Then his opponent made a mistake, committing to a punch a hair too early and leaving Atin an opening to get his head out of the way, leaving the incoming fist with nothing to hit.

Except, of course, the wall.

The sound was somewhere between a dull thud and a crunching sound, but all he cared about was that his attacker was now doubled over and breathing raggedly whle cradling an obviously broken hand. The firebender brought his arm back to take advantage of the opening when he felt a restraining arm close on his shoulder. Without thinking, he threw his elbow back and made contact. He heard a sharp exhale as he turned to down this mysterious attacker for good, but before he could do much more than register movement he found himself slammed against the wall and a cloaked figure staring into his face. Then the figure removed its hood and Atin ceased trying to break the man's grip and simply stared.

"General Iroh?" The former general maintained a neutral expression as Katara crossed the street with two other cloaked figures and began healing his attacker's hand. Finally, he felt the hands relax and he slid down the wall to actually stand before the massive man.

"I would very much like to meet with your friends. As well as the Avatar, if I can."

"Uh, okay," Atin managed, "Right over here, sir."

--------------------

Toph's face momentarily clouded over in a mixture of concern and confusion before getting up from the edge of the heated pool. Mina had quickly become her favorite of their new "friends"--she still didn't trust them completely--and the two could often be found sitting at the edge of one of many underground pools and talking like the oldest of friends. Mina was easy to talk to, and it definitely helped that she and Toph agreed more often than not on how things ought to be.

Plus, it got boring down here with nothing to do but play doorman for the search parties top-side.

So, she sat around and talked with the Yu-Yan, about anything and everything. Once, all they did was think up creative--and usually insulting--nicknames for everyone they knew, and even Toph could admit that Mina had her beat in the longest string of insults, curses, and outright swears that the young Earthbender had ever heard. She also used their conversations to feel out the occasional white lie or half-truth from the archer, and had come to the fairly certain conclusion that Sokka had somehow snared another fan. She debated often whether to tell Mina just what she thought of him, but figured that the archer might have to find out on her own.

So they continued talking, leading up to today's discussion on spark rocks, traditional Fire Nation food, and their shared distaste for wasting time on personal appearance. Which of course had somehow come back to Sokka.

"Y'know, I wonder how Sokka and Katara are even related sometimes. I mean, Sokka's really cool, laid back, y'know? With his sis, it's all about getting everything lined out, put in the proper place, but with him it's not--"

"Hey, sorry to interrupt, but I need to check on something." Toph swung her legs out of the water and stood up, giving the ground a solid slap with one foot to get a good view of where she was going. Then, she turned back quickly to Mina, "And you do realize that you're gonna have to hit him over the head with the fact that you like him, right? Hardest head I've ever met besides mine."

The entrance shaft under the house was easy to find, the stone well worn from repeated raising and lowering, and Toph had become familiar with the usual vibrations from overhead. Placing her hands on the stone, she nodded quickly and moved over to a small shaft embedded in the rock. Giving it a quick jab, she felt the vibrations pass up to the surface, answered a moment later by two sharp pulses.

She frowned again as she placed her hand back on the shaft wall. Atin's vibrations were becoming familiar by now, and Toph could pick out Sugar Queen anywhere, but the four other shapes were unfamiliar. She wasn't sure, but she might have met the largest figure before. Still...

"Hey, somebody get over here! We've got strangers wanting to come down!" A moment later and Ling exited his tent and moved up to stand beside her.

Toph gave the briefest of shrugs, "I guess you'll do," she said, before beginning to drag the shaft down into the Earth. As the shapes came closer, she became aware that Sokka and Mina had also joined her, and that Mina's heartbeat was quite a few ticks above normal.

The newcomers were almost at their level when she heard Mina whisper something behind her. She wasn't entirely sure what was said, but they vanished from her "sight" quickly as she found her concentration taken up by a weakening wall that threatened to give out the moment the platform descended past.

She finally let the stone come to a crunching halt, and Atin led the way out into the cavern. The large man, who she knew she had met before, stepped quickly over to Ling, and the old seargent's heartrate made an impressive jump.

"Who are these people?" Toph asked Katara, noting that both she and Atin seemed keyed up.

Katara responded, her voice deliberately calm, "This is Iroh, Zuko's uncle. He and--"

"I knew I had met him!" Toph shouted in triumph, disturbing the quiet conversation between Iroh and Ling. She tuned into his vibrations, giving him an appreciative once-over before nodding, "You've been doing some serious exercise, huh? Lookin' good, old man."

If she had sight, she would have seen Ling glaring at her, perhaps offended over referring to the great General Iroh as "old man", but Iroh's hearty laugh silenced any complaints he may have had.

"My dear Toph, it has been far too long since I have had the pleasure of speaking with you. I am glad I have found you all in good health."

"Hey, who are these guys?" Sokka's voice came from behind her as he and Mina returned to the group. Toph noted the mutually elevated heart-rates, as well as a few clues from posture, and groaned inwardly. Oh well, Mina could make her own choices, and in the meantime...

"S-Sokka?" The voice was so small that Toph wasn't entirely sure she'd heard right at first, but one of the strangers slowly stepped toward him with shaky footsteps that seemed unsure of which direction to run.

"Huh? Do I know you?" Sokka asked with genuine curiosity before he found himself crushed in an embrace by the stranger that very nearly lifted him off the ground.

"Oww...can't breathe...something hard...jabbing...in the..." He let out a grateful sigh as the cloaked figure relaxed the death embrace and hurriedly reached into the cloak for a moment before producing...

"Boomerang! You found it!" Toph was fairly certain that every inhabitant of the cavern was now assembled at their impromptu meeting, and she was just as certain that they were all now looking at Sokka and his new friend as the Water Tribesman all but danced with joy. Then said friend reached up and unclasped the cloak, and Sokka's reaction was instant. Toph's eyes narrowed as she felt his heart rate climb so fast that she swore she felt a stutter, and his body went rigid as he gave out a small squeak.

"Sokka, I--I thought you...I thought you were..." Once again, Sokka was pulled into a crushing hug, but the voice and her "sight" together had triggered Toph's memory and she felt her own eyes widen a fraction as she identified the voice.

"Suki?"

--------------------------

Katara watched as Suki pulled Sokka into another embrace as her brain tried to absorb the fact that the girl from Kyoshi was here in the Fire Nation, and traveling with Iroh of all people! She heard several sets of boots crunching on the stone floor, turning to see Yarin walking slowly towards the group. Akira was approaching as well, supporting Ty Lee with one arm. The acrobat winced at each step, but waved off his offer to physically carry her with an amused glare and an attempt at a smile.

"General Iroh, it's an honor sir." Akira said as he attempted an awkward bow, only to be hauled back up by the general.

"My companions have told me much about you, and I have heard much more on my own. I do not believe you need to bow to me, Captain." Iroh smiled as Akira stared in blank confusion.

"I'm so happy that you're all safe!" Ty Lee piped up, her free arm reaching out and wrapping around Midori's neck.

"I won't be for much longer if you keep this up!" Midori laughed as she managed to carefully extricate herself from the acrobat's death-grip and moved to stand by Katara, "We're just glad that Iroh's friends were able to help us hide out in the city."

"So, you're the 'ghosts' that everyone's been talking about," Anzin muttered in a slight daze, "A general and three thin, scruffy-looking girls are confounding the military garrison of the Capital City itself. Frankly, I'm surprised you're alive at all."

"Yeah, thanks again Iroh," Suki spoke up from where she remained more or less glued to Sokka, "I'm just glad that Azula was wrong about all of you." She tightened her grip on the Water Tribe warrior as she mumbled something into his shoulder.

Then the two were kissing, deeply, passionately, and unashamedly oblivious to the audience around them. Katara felt her cheeks burn as she tried to look anywhere but at her brother and Suki, while she heard at least two of the Guardsmen cheering and Toph making a rather derisive noise. She chanced another look, and saw that Mina was wearing an expression suitable to being punched in the gut. Frowning slightly, she was about to ask if the archer was feeling alright when Ty Lee's high-pitched squeal of approval echoed throughout the cavern and all thoughts were put aside to massage her ringing ears.

"And on that note, I think it's time we set up the newcomers with some tents and figured out what we're supposed to do now." Ling said. General approval followed, and everyone was all motion again, hurrying to find food and supplies for the newcomers, while Ty Lee was convincing her two Kyoshi companions to give the heated springs a try. Katara looked around to find her brother, but he and Suki had disappeared, along with Mina.

Trying to scrub the images of moments prior from her mind, she found herself instead remembering the "talk" she and Aang had just before the invasion attempt. She found herself blushing again as the taste of pomegranate and sea-salt ghosted across her lips, but a shout from Midori involving her hand and questioning Katara's healing ability roused her from her thoughts. As she made her way back to the tents, giving a shouted reply to Midori's criticism, she couldn't help but think that maybe, just maybe, things were going to finally turn out all right.

But of course Katara would be wrong...otherwise this story is going to be totally anticlimactic. I would be most pleased if you could check out and respond to a poll I've got on my profile page, it could actually determine which version of Chapter 31 I use. Now, back to work, and I hopefully won't take six months to finish the next installment.

--NullChronicler--