Author Notes: While the progression of the story roughly follows that of the show, many events are changed, arranged in a different order or omitted. This is fan fiction, after all.

"This rice is great!" the Duke chomped on his dinner as the sun set on the Western Air Temple.

"You can thank Kuei for that," Katara looked at the beaming Earth King, "who knew he knew about clay pot cooking?"

"I had nothing to do in the palace, the kitchen was the only place I could do anything without the Dai Li shaking their heads."

"I bet Bosco knows how to cook too," Aang devoured his special polished rice.

"No, he only knows how to eat," Mitsu said to raucous laughter from the group.

"When you have a friend who eats, you need to know how to cook," Kuei shrugged and inhaled the soothing steam. He shot Aang a serious look that surprised him, though everyone else took it as a casual comment.

"Where's Toph?" Mitsu looked at the empty bowl next to Haru. She wasn't one to be late to dinner.

"She said she had to do some business in the woods," Sokka pinched his nose.

"This is a nun temple, there are plenty of places to do that without going into the forest," Aang pointed to a nearby sign towards the ladies' rooms.

"I'll go get her," the king put his bowl down and molded the clay into Mitsu's own bowl. "You can have the rest of my part."

Mitsu ignored him and held the new bowl away from the grasping Sokka. "No meat in here, you animal cannibal!"

"That's a big forest," Teo rolled beside Kuei. "Maybe I should go with you?"

"I'm already looking for her," Kuei turned towards the forest.

"But…you're right here…? She's… right there?" Teo pointed to the lush green above the temple.

Kuei tapped his feet on the ground. "I can feel her footsteps; I'm just making sure exactly where she is. It's an Earthbending thing."

"She feels the Earth with her feet, but she's blind…and you?"

"All Earthbenders feel the earth, haven't you noticed that Haru and Toph don't wear shoes?"

"You wear shoes."

Kuei smiled and turned a few degrees to the west. "Right there, I'll go get her."

He felt Toph's footsteps stop and then suddenly went backwards. Those steps became dimmer and were soon accompanied by Toph's knees, then her back. There was a brief flash of red and a pained howl in the distance, which made Kuei's stroll turn into a frenzied run, calling her name. He tore into the earth as he used his bending to find her shape, which flickered and shook in a panic. The king popped up on the ground just in time to see a prone Toph, crying and grasping her feet.

"Toph! What happened to you?" he ran over and cradled her in his arms.

"Zuko," she cried on his sleeve. "I went to see him in the forest."

"You did what? Look at your feet, I have to get you to Katara!" he lifted Toph off the ground and started tunneling down with his feet. As soon as he broke through everyone noticed Toph's burned feet, Katara rushing to the fountain to fetch water.

"Toph, what happened?" Aang winced at the sight of her singed feet.

"I went to see Zuko in the forest," she wiped her tears away.

"He did this to you?" Sokka made a fist.

"Well, no…but yes…"Toph lay on her belly as Katara soaked her feet in levitated water.

"He did it with Firebending?" Aang grabbed his staff.

"He didn't mean it!" Toph winced as Katara healed her feet.

"He's got to be dealt with," Aang looked at Mitsu, who slowly nodded his head.

"Put her at the fountain," Kuei pointed to the pool of blue water. "I'll get some ointment they gave us at Omashu."

Sokka and Aang lifted their friend up and sat her down on the edge of the pool while Kuei lifted the crystalline ointment, dissolving it in water and forming a soft white gel around Toph's reddened feet.

"That's better," Kuei stroked Toph's beehive hair as he controlled the insoluble gel with his other hand.

"That feels good," Toph cooed, to Katara's surprise. She blushed and tried to hide it with her hands.

Mitsu and Katara looked at each other and shrugged. "Must be an Earthbender thing," she moved to refresh the water.

"My feet are the most important thing to me," Toph whispered to the king, who was also inexplicably turning red. "I don't know what I do without them. Right now, I don't know what to do without you…"

"Don't talk," Kuei whispered back. "For once, Toph Bei Fong, keep quiet."

"Come on, Mitsu and Sokka, we're going to hunt for Zuko," Aang opened his glider.

"No, stop!" Toph waved frantically, "it was an accident!"

Aang's reply was cut off by a piece of exploding rock above him which separated them. Kuei swiped the roof over them and handed Toph to the Water siblings as explosions rocked the ground over their heads.

"It's the Combustion Man!" Sokka ran for it with Katara.

"Who?" Mitsu found himself pushed further and further back by the powerful blasts.

"It's the guy Zuko hired to try and kill us! He can blow things up with his mind!" Sokka pointed to his head.

"I know who that guy is, he's-"

Another explosion sent Mitsu hurtling to the circle arena, with two more sending Kuei rolling past Aang and the Water Tribe siblings.

"He shattered my earthen wall!"

"We're pinned down!" Aang hunkered behind Katara and Toph.

"I can't get an angle on him without being blown up!" Katara reached for the fountain.

The explosions abated for a while, leaving Aang to peek through a crack in the stone. Zuko had joined the Combustion Man on the ledge, but he was yelling at the man and even kicked out against him.

"I don't want you to hunt the Avatar anymore! I want you to stop!" the prince stood in front of the large, bald man and kicked out at him. He found himself pushed aside by the man's metallic hand despite making one more offer to double the Combustion Man's fee to turn aside.

"No more!" Zuko sent a fireball at the giant, who parried it and turned towards him, his forehead tattoo glowing. A hasty wall of flames was no protection against the extreme force of the Combustion Man and soon Zuko was flying over the edge of the cliff. The Combustion Man turned around to focus on his primary prey, seeing Sokka alone near the fountain. A whizzing sound came to his ears and he felt a sharp thud on his forehead.

"Yeah, boomerang!" Sokka grabbed the returning blade. The giant tumbled and toppled backwards only to leap back up and warm his tattoo up. "Awww, Boomerang!" the Water Tribesman leapt back behind the rock wall.

The Combustion Man drew a deep breath and blew out, yet there was no explosion. His vision began to blur and his legs began to wobble, grabbing the wall with his metal arm. He felt the fire inside him well up for his next blast, but instead it continued to flow outwards. The resultant explosion collapsed the entire rock face he was on, forcing everyone to shield their eyes. Sokka leapt back as the metallic arm clanged in front of him, bent out of shape.

"Zuko!" Mitsu let go of the vine he was hanging on from and flew to the cliff where Zuko had fallen from. To his relief the prince was hanging from a vine, out of range of the fortuitous boomerang strike.

Kuei turned to Toph, who was a bit miffed that everyone had dropped her and left her to lie on her back.

"A little help here," she sighed.

Mitsu pulled in with his new passenger, who immediately bowed upon landing. The distance between Aang and Zuko was physically six feet but from the look of desperation in Zuko's eyes it may as well have been six thousand feet. Aang stepped forward, unconsciously Airbending the space for a clear look at the Fire Nation prince.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but thank you, Zuko." Aang bowed.

"I did the boomerang thing, hello?" Sokka made a strange pose.

Zuko took a look at Mitsu and bowed back. "I'm sorry for sending that freak after you; I've been through a lot these past few years and it's been difficult to tell between right and wrong." Zuko bowed again with the hand gesture.

"I'm sorry I've burned your feet," he bowed to Toph, who was propped up on the fountain with her blackened feet pointed at him. "It was an accident, but I will take responsibility for it."

Before Toph could reply, Kuei's outstretched arm flashed past her cheek, its index finger pointed at Zuko.

"You had better take responsibility for everything, including part of the blame at Ba Sing Se. Toph isn't the only person who's been burned by your previous attempt at being good."

Aang felt his lightning wound tingle, while Toph blushed slightly behind Kuei. Zuko himself also winced, being a firsthand witness to Azula's merciless lightning strike in the Crystal Caverns.

"I know that, your Majesty," Zuko put two palms together for his fellow royal, "I aim to exercise my Firebending with the utmost caution and care. I know how Firebending has hurt people and I don't want to do that again." Gone was the morbid, stern tone that was the voice they had known for the past year; Zuko was sounding as humble as pie.

Katara somehow caressed her right hand, the memory of Aang's own Firebending escapade returning despite the fully healed hand.

Aang looked Zuko in the eye and laid down his staff. "I think you are supposed to be my Firebending teacher," he turned to the others and then back to Zuko.

"Thank you, you don't know what that means to me," Zuko bowed with the fist-palm gesture.

"Wait, I have to ask everyone else first," Aang looked up at Mitsu, who only replied with a nod. Kuei looked at his brother and took a step back, bowing in agreement.

"I'd let him join," Toph grinned, "I'd love the chance to get him back for these," she wiggled her toes.

Aang turned to Sokka. "If you think it's what you need, I'm with you all the way," Sokka nodded to the Avatar.

Katara was the last one to be asked, and the air fell silent as Aang asked for her opinion.

"Fine," she finally replied after a long silence, "I trust your judgment, and there is no other choice." She shot Zuko a stare and turned to help Kuei lift Toph to another part of the stream for further healing.

"It will take time with Katara," Mitsu put his hand on Zuko's shoulder. "She holds grudges longer than most."

"I'll do my best," Zuko looked up at his friend, "Not just for Aang or the Fire Nation, but for Uncle." He wished Iroh was there to help smoothen things out with Katara and others who hated him.

"Toph is joking, you know that right?" Aang walked up to the two princes.

"Saying that, we have to start practicing as far away as possible from the others. Firebending can be dangerous if unstructured."

Aang nodded and bowed to his new sifu as the sun finally set , now a sign of a new day tomorrow and possibly a new friendship.