The scene in the town square of Fire Fountain City was a chaotic one as a young girl ran towards the city's titular fountain. Just as she made it to the foot of the fountain, a net wrapped around her, dropping her to the ground. The girl struggled, revealing herself to be none other than Toph. Her clouded eyes burned with rage as she gripped at the net in anger.
"How could you do this to me?!" She demanded. "You betrayed me!"
Another girl stepped up to where Toph was laying, revealing to be Katara. She glared down at the captive earth bender with bitter disdain.
"You brought this on yourself." she defended, crossing her arms and turning away. "I had no choice."
Toph was dragged off by the city guards, still glaring at Katara as she was led away.
…
Three days earlier
At a lovely cliff side, Toph and Katara took fighting stances, with earth and water respectively at the ready. Zuko and Xia joined them, both in identical fighting poses. In between all four of them, Aang popped up, tying his head band around his eyes like a blindfold.
"Ok, I'm ready for some training." Aang let out.
He turned to face the other four benders, with his second step sending out a vibrational wave that let him feel where everyone was. In a fraction of a second, Aang swiftly moved to avoid several rock pillars shooting up from beneath him. A stream of fire then suddenly came from Xia, causing Aang to swipe his hand and snuff the fire out. He then sensed Katara sending a wave of water his way, prompting him to bend it right back at her before shooting a stream of fire at Zuko and a boulder towards Toph. Zuko dissipated the flames as Toph caught the small boulder.
"Good job, Twinkle Toes." Toph commended. "Visualize, then attack!"
She launched the rock back at Aang, who quickly burrowed into the ground to avoid the attack. This caused it to strike Katara in the chest, sending her sprawling to the ground. She got back up, dusting herself off.
"Maybe you should take your own advice, Toph!" she snapped as Aang poked his head out of his hole.
"What's the matter?" Toph asked mockingly. "Can't handle a little dirt, Madame Fussy-Britches?"
Katara's eyebrow twitches as she glared at Toph, prompting her to send a massive wave of water towards Toph. It parted ways for Aang, leaving him completely dry while utterly soaking Toph.
"Oh, sorry." Katara apologized sarcastically. "Did I splash you, Mud-Slug?"
"Oh great..." Xia muttered, flopping onto the ground. "Not this again."
Toph and Katara then created earth and ice ramps respectively, charging right at each other. They crashed and tackled each other to the ground, an action that made Zuko roll his eyes.
"How many times has this happened?" He asked.
"Three times this week." Xia counted.
"What's going on?" Aang questioned, still blindfolded. "Are we taking a break?"
"Something like that." Zuko replied, rubbing his eyes.
Off to the side, Sokka poked his head out from behind a rock, sporting an evil smile on his face. He then came out and ran towards Aang yelling.
"Sneak attack!" He shouted, only to be met with a rock wall to the face.
"Sokka, sneak attacks don't work if you yell them out loud." Aang told him, removing his blindfold and dropping the wall, allowing Sokka to drop to the ground.
"Seriously, how did I not capture you guys sooner if stuff like this kept happening?" Zuko questioned, gesturing all around.
"Are you referring to Sokka's stupidity or Katara and Toph butting heads?" Xia wondered.
"Pick one." Zuko replied.
Katara and Toph meanwhile were wrestling in a nearby mud puddle.
"Hungry for a mud pie?!" Toph asked, kicking mud in Katara's face.
Katara wiped it off her face, glaring at Toph.
"I'll give you a mud pie!" she shouted, bending a stream of mud into Toph's face.
The stream knocked Toph off her feet, but she quickly got back up and summoned a pillar of earth. It struck Katara, sending her flying towards the wall of a cliff. Katara slid down it, fuming as Toph came running at her.
"Uh, guys," Aang spoke up, causing them to stop. "I thought we were supposed to be training me."
Katara, as if realizing what she was doing, quickly shifted from the angry waterbender to a more calm and collected visage.
"Very well, pupil." she addressed, attempting to appear dignified despite being covered in mud. "I believe we've had enough training for today."
She then walked off, wiping mud off herself with every step.
"While Katara cleans up," Toph spoke, earthbending the mud off her. "Let's go have some fun!"
"Yeah!" Aang and Sokka cheered.
…
Aang, Sokka, and Toph all ventured into Fire Fountain city, the Fire Twins acting as babysitters to make sure they stayed out of trouble. They passed by a large coop that had messenger hawks flying in and out of it, sparking an interested smile from Sokka.
"Look at all those messenger hawks." Sokka mused. "You know, I've been thinking about getting one for myself. That way, I wouldn't have to talk to anyone. I could just send them messages."
The twins let out identical groans.
"You do realize how stupid that is, right?" Zuko questioned. "It's a waste of paper, a waste of ink, and frankly, do you even know how to train one?"
"For that matter, we already have a flying pet, in case you've forgotten." Xia pointed out. "Throwing in another flying pet is just asking for trouble."
"I don't know," Toph chimed in. "I kinda like the idea of not talking to Sokka."
Sokka glared at them all.
"You see this… this is why I want the hawk." he muttered. "That way I don't have to deal with you guys."
"Anyway!" Aang said loudly, trying to change the subject. "We have one silver piece left. What should we do with it?"
Toph then suddenly stopped walking, a smirk forming on her face.
"We can get more money." She declared, pointing to an alley that ran below them. "Right there."
The gang backtracked, looking down into the alley to see a man sitting at a table. He had three identical shells on a table, as well as a smooth pebble. He had a sizable crowd around him as a man dropped some coins to try his luck.
"You can't be serious." Zuko commented. "Everyone knows these games are rigged."
"Of course they are, and I know how." Toph explained as the man began shifting the shells. "You seeing people can't tell, but with my earthbending, I can sense where the pebble is, and the dealer just slipped it into his sleeve. That way, no matter what his victim chooses..."
The dealer stopped moving the shells and the man picked one. With a smug look, the dealer lifted the shell to reveal nothing.
"They're destined to lose." Toph finished.
Toph then moved towards the dealer, with the others following close behind. As the dealer collected his money, he noticed Toph approaching. The second he saw her cloudy eyes, he knew he was looking at an easy win.
"You there." He called out. "Wanna play a friendly game?"
Toph cocked her head, putting on an innocent air.
"Me?" she asked. "Are you sure? I don't think I'd be very good at the game. I'm blind."
"You don't have to see to be lucky." the dealer reassured.
Toph moved forward, feeling around as if she was completely helpless, eventually settling at the table. She took the group's single silver piece, setting it on the table. The dealer then showed a single pebble under one of the shells before moving the shells around. This time, he secretly slid two more pebbles under the other two shells, before stopping and allowing Toph to guess. She pointed at the one on the left, prompting the dealer to lift it.
"Hey, you won!" Aang cheered.
"Indeed she did." the dealer agreed, tossing two silver coins onto the table. "But how about we make the game a little more interesting."
"More interesting?" Toph asked curiously. "How?"
"Well, your skinny friend in the ponytail has a very nice sword." the dealer remarked. "If you put it on the table, I'll put 20 silver pieces against it."
"I'm not sure I'm comfortable with-" Sokka protested.
"I'll do it for 40!" Toph countered, grabbing Sokka's sword and placing it on the table.
"Toph, you can't put the sword against 40 pieces of silver." Zuko admonished.
"Thank you!" Sokka exclaimed.
"He's right." Xia agreed. "That's a Piandao original. It's worth at least 60."
"60 it is." the dealer agreed.
"Hey, don't I get a say in this?!" Sokka insisted.
"Deals been made." the dealer informed him, dropping 60 pieces of silver into a sack. "Now, let's see if the little lady's luck holds out."
"Oh I am so buying that messenger hawk now." Sokka grumbled.
He began moving the shells once more, discretely sliding the pebbles back into his sleeves as he did. Toph smirked slightly, sensing his every move. Just as he was about to pocket the third pebble, Toph inconspicuously clenched her fist, causing the rock to move back under the shell. The dealer then stopped the shells, a cocky grin on his face. Toph pretended to think for a moment, then pointed at the one in the middle.
"Sorry, little lady, but-" the dealer replied as he lifted the shell, only to see the pebble still there. "Huh?!"
"I won!" Toph cheered.
She grabbed the sack of silver and Sokka's sword, taking off down the alley. Sokka and Aang scrambled to catch up, the Fire twins doing the same after a brief second.
…
The five returned to camp, the three younger ones laughing hard as all five of them were holding baskets full of food and provisions.
"Whoa." Katara let out, seeing all their stuff. "Where did you get the money to buy all this stuff?"
"Toph got us money." Aang answered, taking a bite out of an apple he had. "She scammed one of those guys in town who moves the shells around all sneaky like."
"She used earthbending to win the game!" Sokka declared, sitting down himself. "Classic!"
"Ah." Katara let out with a disapproving tone. "So, she cheated."
"Are you seriously disapproving this?" Xia questioned. "Miss 'stealing is wrong unless it's from pirates'?"
"Besides, I only cheated because he was cheating." Toph added. "I cheated a cheater. What's wrong with that?"
"First off, the thing with the pirates was completely different." Katara defended.
"As I recall, the incident with the pirates was the closest I came to actually capturing both Xia and Aang." Zuko remarked.
"Exactly!" Katara declared, gesturing to Zuko with both hands. "Doing something as reckless as these scams is a bad idea and a habit we can't afford to condone."
"Why?" Toph asked. "Because it's fun? And you hate fun?"
"I do not hate fun!" Katara insisted.
She looked around for a moment before grabbing Momo and put him on her head.
"See? Fun!" Katara declared.
Momo just slid off her head, running away the second he hit the ground.
"Fun or not, one scam is enough." Zuko insisted. "Trust me, it can get real addicting real fast. We've got enough money for a while, so we should be good."
Xia sighed in agreement.
"Good point." She admitted. "No more scams."
"Very well." Aang relented, lifting his headband to reveal his arrow tattoo. "On behalf of everyone here, I will personally make an Avatar promise that we won't make a habit of doing these scams."
…
The promise lasted a grand total of a single night. The next morning, Aang, Sokka, and Toph were out on the town once more, scamming to their heart's content. Their first stop was to an area where people were gathered around a dice game. The dice, two long stone sticks with circles and x's, were tossed into the air, the highest number of circles winning. The winners of the game invited Toph over, noting her blind eyes and large bag of coins. She accepted and took the dice. As the dice were tossed on the ground, they started tilting towards a losing hand. Toph however, just twitched her head slightly and the dice rolled onto a straight six, the highest possible score. Aang and Sokka both cheered as the former winners handed over their money.
Their next scam involved a strength testing game at a local carnival. A large man tried his hand at the game, swinging the hammer down with all his might, only for the ball to make it up halfway. As he walked away in embarrassment, Toph shook her now much larger money bag, offering it up as a bet. Aang and Sokka watched from behind as she gave her bag to the man in charge. He then gave her the hammer in kind, which she struggled to hold. As she went stumbling backwards, all the carnival patrons snickered and laughed, but Toph just smirked. Taking a step, she used Earthbending to launch her hammer up, bringing it down so hard on the machine the bell went flying. As everyone just stared, Toph calmly walked over, took her money, and left.
Later, a carriage was going down the street being carried by a dragon moose. Inside, a nobleman was opening up a cup of tea and enjoying the aroma. Outside his carriage, Toph emerged from an alley, using earthbending to cause a small rock to pop up in front of one of the carts wheels. The noble inside rushes out to see what happened, only to see Toph on the ground, pretending to be hit. The noble freaked out at the sight and was about to take off, only for him to run into Sokka, back in his Wang Fire costume. He was also wearing a guard's headband and wielding one of their weapons, making him look like one of the city guards. He glares at the noble as if he were in trouble. The noble literally got down on his knees, begging for forgiveness and offering him a bribe. Twelve bribes later, Sokka agreed.
…
Back at camp, the other three members of the gang looked over the money haul with looks of trepidation. Xia crossed her arms, shaking her head at Aang.
"So much for you Avatar Promise." she muttered.
Katara just began berating the three of them yet again.
"Guys, I think these scams have gone on far enough." She insisted. "If you keep doing them, something bad is gonna happen."
"You have to admit, this is a common occurrence for our little group." Zuko pointed out.
"Oh come on, Firecracker, lighten up." Toph berated. "You sound like sweetness. Or Sourpuss right now. Seriously, you two need to chill."
"And what?" Katara asked angrily. "You expect us to act wild and recklessly like you?"
"Yeah! Maybe!" Toph challenged. "They maybe you'd see how great we have it! I mean, look at us! We're traveling around the world! Making easy money! Having fun! With no parents to tell us what to do!"
Something clicked for Katara and her anger melted, replaced with a look of understanding.
"Oh, I think I get it now." she realized. "You're acting like this because of your parents."
Toph snorted and looked away. Zuko raised an eyebrow, glancing at his sister.
"Richest family in the Earth Kingdom, treated her like a fragile doll because of her blindness, refused to accept her for the powerful earthbender she actually was, so she ran away and joined us." Xia summarized.
"Got it." Zuko replied.
"They were controlling over you, so you ran away," Katara continued, "and now you act like your parents don't exist. You act like you hate them, but you don't. You just feel guilty."
"I do hate them." Toph insisted.
Xia chuckled.
"Toph, take it from two people who literally have a genocidal maniac for a father, we know what hatred sounds like." She spoke up. "You don't hate them."
"If anything, you miss them." Katara realized. "You miss them, but you don't know how to deal with what you're feeling, or just don't want to. That's why you're acting this way."
"Look," Toph snapped, standing up. "I ran away to help Aang and to start my own life away from them! That's it!"
"You know what? It doesn't matter." Katara decided. "These scams put us all at risk, and we don't need that. We've already got some third-eyed freak after us."
"Speaking of that 'third-eyed freak'," Sokka chimed ion. "I think I've come up with a name for him. What do you think of Sparky-Sparky-Boom Man?"
The group just looked at him blankly.
"We're not calling him that." The fire twins declared in unison.
"Just think about it." Sokka told them.
"We have enough money!" Katara snapped. "You need to stop this!"
"You're not the boss of me, Katara!" Toph snapped right back. "You can't tell me what to do, and I'm not gonna stop just because you said so!"
She stalked off, plopping onto the ground a ways away before setting up and earth tent, slamming triangular pieces into place to simulate slamming the door behind her. Everyone just stared at the tent for a moment, then Sokka stood up, grabbing some of the money from the scams.
"Speaking of money, I'm off to spend some." Sokka declared, walking off. "See you guys later."
Xia glanced over at her brother.
"You mind-?"
"On it."
He got up, grabbing his swords and sliding them on before going after the water tribe warrior.
…
In town, Zuko managed to find Sokka at the messenger hawk coop, coming out with one of the hawks on his arm.
"Somehow I knew I'd find you here." Zuko remarked, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Don't tell me you actually bought one of those things."
"Hey there Zuko." Sokka greeted. "Meet Hawky, the newest member of team Avatar."
"And you named it, great." Zuko muttered. "Do you even know how to train one of these things?"
"No… but how hard can it be?" Sokka replied.
"Hard." Zuko answered. "Very, very hard. Besides, we're barely able to feed Appa and Momo half the time."
"That was before we got our get rich quick scheme!" Sokka reminded as the two began walking past a bulletin board. "Now we have enough money to feed everyone and still have enough for the inva-"
The two stopped dead in their tracks, Sokka cringing visibly.
"Zuko, if I turn around, am I gonna see what I think I saw?" he asked.
"If what you saw is a wanted poster with a crudely drawn picture of Toph's face, then yes." Zuko answered.
They both turned back to the board, and sure enough, they saw the poster with Toph's face on it. Even Hawky screeched in response.
"You're right, Hawky," Sokka replied this is bad.
Zuko snatched it off the board, tucking it into his shirt.
"We need to get back to camp," he declared. "Now."
...
Back at camp, Xia sat off to the side, meditating as Toph was counting the money, sorting them via shape. Upon hearing them approach, Toph perked.
"Sourpuss and Twinkle Toes are down in the river practicing their fancy splashes, and princess firecracker's mediating." she announced.
"Actually, it's you we need to talk to." Sokka told her.
"We found this in town today." Zuko informed, showing her the poster.
"Well it sounds like a sheet of paper, but I guess you're referring to what's on the sheet of paper." Toph replied.
Zuko paused, then remembered Toph's blindness.
"It's a wanted poster." He explained. "Your wanted poster."
"Wait, wanted poster?" Xia spoke up, standing up and approaching the trio. "Oh no..."
"Oh yes." Sokka nodded. "They've nicknamed her 'The Runaway'."
"That's so cool!" Toph exclaimed. "The Runaway. I love my new nickname. Is there a picture? Does it look good?"
Sokka looked down at the poster's crude picture before looking back at Toph.
"Well yeah, actually, it does look pretty good." Sokka admitted.
"That's not the point here." Zuko snapped. "These scams are drawing too much attention."
"Zuko's right." Xia agreed. "Trust us, being wanted just makes life a million times harder. We need to leave before someone recognizes you and tries to arrest you."
"Don't be a bunch of worrywarts." Toph dismissed. "Think of it this way, now we've got plenty of money to help with the invasion plan."
"Well… I have been thinking of making some armor for Appa." Sokka pondered before getting identical glares from the fire twins. "Not that I fully agree with her, of course."
Toph stood up, taking a bag of money and pulling several pieces of gold and silver from it.
"Well, why not start with a nice map of the Fire Nation." she suggested. "You have been complaining about ours being outdated. You know what?"
She puts the money back and holds out the entire bag.
"Make it an atlas." she amended.
"I do like expensive atlases." Sokka admitted, taking the bag
"Of course you do." Toph replied, swiping the poster. "And that's why this wanted poster is gonna stay our little secret."
She walked off with the poster in her hands, leaving Sokka and the fire twins alone.
"Did you seriously let yourself get bribed?" Xia questioned.
"I like to think of it as 'a donation to further a cause'." Sokka replied. "Besides, we need stuff for the invasion."
"We need to live long enough to see the invasion through." Zuko argued.
"I don't disagree." Sokka replied.
"Then why are you letting her walk all over you?" Zuko countered.
"Hey, I never agreed to anything." Sokka insisted.
"Whatever." Xia brushed off, marching towards the river.
"Hey, where are you going?" Sokka called out.
"To tell Katara." She answered. "She'll put an end to this."
As she walked towards the river, Momo came scampering over, seeing Hawky on Sokka's shoulder. He screeched at the bird before leaping towards him, causing the two to chase each other around Sokka's head.
"Hawky! Make nice! Bad Hawky!" Sokka let out.
Zuko stared for a moment, then just walked away, unable to handle the insanity of Sokka any longer.
…
Later that day, Katara was mixing up some stew in a pot for dinner. She then used water bending to send some out of the pot and into Appa's mouth. He slurped it up and licked his lips in satisfaction before Katara returned to her cooking. As she did, she glanced over at Aang, who was drinking some tea Xia had made with Zuko, the three of them just waiting for the return of the final two members. They did not have to wait long as Sokka and Toph returned, large bags of money in hand.
"Well look who decided to join us." Katara remarked sarcastically. "Where have you two been? Off scamming again?"
"Yes, we were." Toph confirmed, dropping her bag.
"And I suppose you still refuse to accept what you're doing is dangerous?" Katara went on.
"No, because it's not." Toph replied.
"Really?" Katara asked.
"Yes, really." Toph insisted.
"Well then," Katara replied, pulling out the wanted poster. "What's this?"
"I don't know!" Toph yelled. "I mean, seriously! What is with you people?! I'm blind!"
She even pulled down her bottom eyelids for emphasis.
"It's a wanted poster!" Katara exclaimed. "Of you! The Runaway. Is that what you're called now? Are you proud of this?!"
"Wait, what?!" Toph shouted. "Where did you get that?! Who told you?! Zuko?! Xia?!"
"That doesn't matter, Toph." Katara shot down. "We've told you time and time again that this is dangerous! This ends now!"
"Ugh! I can't believe this!" Toph shrieked, throwing her hands in the air and turning away.
"Don't you walk away from me while I'm talking to you!" Katara snapped, giving chase as Toph attempted to leave.
"Oh really, Mom?" Toph snarled, turning back to face Katara. "Whatcha gonna do if I don't, send me to my room?"
"I wish I could!" Katara replied.
"Well, you can't!" Toph told her. "Because you're not my mom, and you're not their mom!"
"I never said I was!" Katara insisted.
"No, but you certainly act like it!" Toph went on. "You think it's your job to boss everyone around, but it's not! You're just a regular kid like the rest of us! So stop acting like you can tell me what to do! I can do whatever I want!"
She then stalked off, leaving a fuming Katara in her wake.
"I don't act that way!" Katara insisted. "Sokka, do I act motherly?"
"Hey, I'm staying out of this one." Sokka insisted.
"Zuko-?"
"Hey, I'm the new guy here." He interjected, holding up his hands. "Leave me out of this."
"Same here." Xia begged. "I'm not touching this with a 50 foot pole."
"What about you, Aang?" Katara asked. "Do I act like a mom?"
"Well..." Aang mumbled, rubbing his eyes nervously. "I uh-"
"Stop rubbing your eye and speak clearly when you talk!" Katara snapped.
"Yes, ma'am." Aang quickly replied.
"Katara, maybe you need to calm down." Xia suggested. "Both you and Toph are a bit emotional right now and-"
"Emotional?" Katara interrupted, letting out a small, angry laugh. "I'm sorry if someone in our group putting everyone in danger makes me emotional! If there's a threat to this group, someone has to make sure we all don't crash and burn!"
"Is that so?" Toph snapped. "Because last time you 'protected' us from a threat, you attacked Xia!"
"Okay, that's it!" Xia suddenly snapped.
Both girls jumped as Xia got in between them, facing Katara.
"You, go sit over there!" she declared, pointing at one end of the camp. "Toph, you go in the opposite direction! NOW!"
The girls tried to argue, but Xia just turned them both around and pushed them towards their designated areas. They started walking, still glaring at one another. Once they did as they were told, Xia returned to the group, looking physically drained.
"Well… that got out of hand fast." she sighed, rubbing her face.
"What did she mean by that?" Zuko questioned. "Attacking you, I mean."
"That, Zuko, is a tale best left in the past." Sokka insisted.
…
Later on, Toph and Katara were sitting on opposite ends of the camps, both of them still in bad moods. The rest of the group was off to the side, looking at the two while trying to figure out what to do.
"Ok, we need to get these two talking again." Xia insisted. "Question is how?"
"I think I may have an idea about that." Sokka volunteered. "And it'll be a great way to test out my messenger hawk."
"Really?" Aang questioned. "How?"
"Simple." Sokka explained. "We write a note to Katara saying it's from Toph saying she's ready to talk and apologize. They're work things out and everything will be good."
"Uh, Sokka, don't you think-" Xia tried to inform.
"No." Zuko cut off. "They have to learn the hard way."
"Well I think it sounds pretty good." Aang commented. "Let's try it."
Sokka then pulled out a piece of parchment and some ink.
"Okay, how's this sound?" He asked before beginning to write. "'Dear Katara, I'm sorry for everything. Your friend, Toph'."
"Sounds good to me." Aang told him. "Let's send it."
Sokka proceeded to place the note in Hawky's message holder before sending him off towards Katara.
"See? Told you I could figure out how to use him." Sokka boasted.
"Just wait." Zuko insisted.
Katara took the letter from Hawky and opened it. She read it for a moment, then stood up and faced the group.
"I know this is from you, Sokka! Toph can't write!" she shouted before tearing up the paper. "Ugh! You're so infuriating!"
She threw the pieces in the air and marched off.
"That was what you were trying to warn us about, wasn't it?" Sokka asked.
"Yep." Xia nodded, uncovering her ears.
"Seriously, how do we keep forgetting Toph's blind?" Aang wondered.
"In our defense, she does make it difficult to remember sometimes." Sokka defended.
"I guess Plan B is we send a note to Toph pretending it's from Katara." Aang suggested.
"Aang..." Xia muttered.
"Oh, right." Aang recalled. "So, now what?"
"I think at this point, someone's gonna have to talk to her." Sokka reasoned.
"Maybe you should." Xia suggested. "You have the most experience dealing with Katara."
"I was talking about Toph." Sokka replied walking off.
The three looked at each other in surprise as Sokka went over to Toph.
"Come on." He told her. "We need to talk."
…
Later, Katara decided to try and calm down by taking a bath in a spring under the cliff. As she waded in the water, Sokka and Toph made their way to the edge of the cliff, sitting down on the edge. Katara could see their feet, and when they started talking, she could hear their voices.
"So lemme guess:" Toph began, "You brought me out here to tell me that your sister's not as annoying as I make her out to be."
"Nah, she's pretty much a pain," Sokka told her, earning a glare from Katara. "She's always gotta be right about everything and she gets all bossy and involved and in your business…"
"Yeah." Toph confirmed. "I don't know how you could deal with it."
"Actually, in a way, I depend on in," Sokka informed, causing Katara to look up in surprise.
"I don't understand," Toph told him.
"When our mom died, that was the hardest time in my life. Our family was a mess, but Katara? She had so much strength. She stepped up and took on so much responsibility. She helped fill the void that was left by our mom."
"I guess I never thought about that." Toph admitted.
"I'm gonna tell you something crazy. I never told anyone this before, but honestly? I'm not sure I can remember what my mother looked like. It really seems like my whole life, Katara's been the one looking out for me. She's always been the one that's there. And now, when I try to remember my mom, Katara's is the only face I can picture."
Under the cliff, Katara felt tears running down her face.
"The truth is sometimes Katara does act motherly, but that's not always a bad thing. She's compassionate and kind, and she actually cares about me." Toph wiped tears from her eyes. "You know, the real me. That's more than my own mom."
By now, Katara was completely choked up. She sunk into the water, utterly moved. Up above her, Toph punched Sokka hard in the arm.
"Don't ever tell her I said any of this!"
"Hey, my lips are sealed." Sokka promised.
…
Around nightfall, Katara was back at camp, sitting next to a sleeping Momo as Sokka and Toph returned. The fire twins tensed as the two returned, more than a little nervous about Toph and Katara clashing again. Katara rose to meet Toph as Sokka kept walking, joining the twins and Aang off to the side.
"Hi, Toph," Katara began, rubbing her arm awkwardly. "Um, I wanna-"
"Katara, stop," Toph cut off, holding up a hand. "You don't need to apologize. I was the one being stupid. These scams are out of control, and I'm done with them."
The other four gang members all sighed in relief, Aang even going so far as to flop onto his back.
"Actually, I wasn't going to apologize," Katara replied, smiling. "I was gonna say… I wanna pull a scam with you."
Aang sat back up in shock, his jaw dropping in time with Sokka's. Zuko and Xia both looked stunned, the former wiggling his pinkie in his ear to make sure he heard correctly.
"What?" Toph questioned. "You wanna pull a scam?"
"Not just any scam, the ultimate scam." Katara replied, causing Sokka and Aang to collapse in shock. "Whaddaya say, Toph? Just you and me. One last go. You in?"
"Heck yes I'm in!" Toph cheered. "Let's go plan out a scam!"
The two girls walked off, chatting about their plan and leaving the rest of the group behind.
"Okay… what just happened?" Xia questioned.
"I have no idea." Zuko replied.
"Katara just agreed to a scam..." Xia muttered. "Sokka, what the heck did you-?"
She stopped short, seeing both Aang and Sokka on the ground. They were foaming at the mouth, the shock too much for them to handle. The twins just looked at them both, then face palmed simultaneously.
…
"The plan is simple." Katara explained, holding the wanted poster. "This poster says you're worth a lot of money, ten times more than you've made in all your scams. So, I'm gonna turn you in and collect the reward. Then, you metalbend yourself out of jail and we're on our way."
…
Toph ran towards Fire fountain city's titular fountain, making it to the foot of the fountain before a net wrapped around her, dropping her to the ground. She struggled, her clouded eyes burned with rage as she gripped at the net in anger.
"How could you do this to me?!" She demanded. "You betrayed me!"
Katara stepped up to where Toph was laying, glaring down at the captive earth bender with bitter disdain.
"You brought this on yourself." she defended, crossing her arms and turning away. "I had no choice."
Toph was dragged off by the city guards, still glaring at Katara as she was led away. As Katara watched, the chief of town authorities came up to her.
"You did the right thing, turning in the Runaway." He commended.
"The right thing is its own reward." Katara replied.
"Well, I'm happy to hear you say that." the town authority remarked.
After a beat of silence, Katara spoke up again.
"But, I still want the actual reward."
"Of course, right this way."
He ushered her away from the fountain to give her what she had 'earned'.
…
Meanwhile, the guard that caught Toph dragged her into the town jail. She then tossed Toph into a cell, freeing her from the net and closing her in the cell. Toph tried feeling the floor, but became panicked when she couldn't sense any earth in it. She felt around, truly blind for perhaps the first time in her life, grasping at the thick, blocky bars of her cell.
"Hey!" She called out. "What kind of cell is this?!"
"A wooden one." the guard replied, exiting the building and closing the door behind her.
…
In the town authority's office, Katara watched as the chief grabbed a box from under his desk. He put the box on his desk and opened it up, only for the door top open up, prompting him to close it back up.
"That's her!" The chief declared, pointing at her. "That's the girl you were looking for."
Katara turned around, gasping in horror as the Combustion Bender came striding in, having to literally duck to get into the building.
…
Back at camp, Xia, Zuko, Sokka, and Aang were all impatiently waiting for the girls to get back. It had been several hours now, any they were all getting restless.
"This scam shouldn't be taking this long, should it?" Aang asked.
"No, it shouldn't." Sokka agreed. "Something must have happened."
"Agreed," Xia nodded. "You two stay here, Zuko and I are going to check it out."
"What?" Sokka let out. "Why should we stay? Katara's my sister."
"And that's why you're staying." Zuko rationalized. "You won't be thinking clearly with Katara in danger."
"Gather up the camp and be ready to get out of here at a moment's notice," Xia commanded.
Zuko and Xia took off towards town, both ready for anything.
"We're still going, aren't we?" Aang guessed.
"You know it." Sokka confirmed, turning to Momo and Hawky. "You two behave. Appa's in charge."
They walked off, and almost immediately, Momo and Hawky started screeching at one another. This lasted a grand total of ten seconds before Appa roared at them, making them shut up.
…
In the wooden cell, Katara and Toph were both sitting on the floor looking miserable. Toph's head then shot up.
"Wait!" she cried out. "It's a trap!"
"Really?" Katara replied sarcastically. "No kidding! Is that why we're sitting in a wooden cage right now? Geez, how'd you figure out it was a trap?"
"Not for us! We're the bait! He wants Zuko and Xia!"
Katara's eyes went wide and she face palmed.
"I can't believe I'm so stupid! See? This is exactly why I'm against these scams! I knew this would happen!"
"But… this was your idea."
"I know..." Katara put her head in her hands, burying her face in her lap. "I wanted to show that I'm not so motherly. I wanted to show you that I can have fun too."
"Katara, you are fun," Toph reassured. "If nothing else, you're at least fun to argue with."
"I know your relationship with your parents is complicated. And I shouldn't have said what I said."
"It's okay. I was really mad when you said that because ... well because, maybe it's true." Toph started to cry, finally letting her true emotions out. "I try not to think about it, but when I left, I probably really hurt them."
Katara pulled Toph into a hug, embracing her gently.
…
Zuko and Xia made their way through Fire Fountain City, looking for the girls. As they did, they were more than a little put off by the fact that there didn't seem to be anyone around.
"Ok… this is a little off putting." Zuko noted.
"Tell me about it," Xia shuddered, adjusting her grip on her swords. "I feel like I'm walking into the dragon's den."
As they kept walking into town, the Combustion Bender walked to the edge of a nearby rooftop and inhaled deeply. Just as he let out a concussive blast, Aang quickly dashed in out of nowhere and pushed Xia and Zuko out of the way before it hit.
"Look out!" He shouted.
The blast hit the ground where the two had been. They stumbled slightly, then Sokka grabbed them both and pulled them behind the fountain.
"I thought I told you both to stay at camp." Xia told them.
"Just be happy we didn't listen." Sokka retorted.
"Yeah, Sparky-Sparky-Boom Man nearly blew you guys up." Aang reminded her.
"You know, I'm starting to think that name doesn't quite fit." Sokka commented.
The Combustion Bender jumped down from the roof and fired another blast at them. The four barely dodge it, but ended up being sent flying back by the blast.
…
In their prison cell, Katara and Toph could feel the entire building shake from the Combustion Bender's attack. Toph, who had been trying without success to bust out, paused when the shaking started.
"Oh no..." she moaned. "He's found them."
"We have to do something!" Katara insisted.
"Like what? We need some earth or water, we need bendables."
"What about your meteor bracelet? You can make a saw."
"I left it back at camp." Toph slumped to the ground as she said this. "I was worried they'd take it."
Katara exhaled deeply as she leaned back, wiping her forehead. As she looked down at her hand, she saw her own sweat and went wide eyed. She then smiled at this before getting back to her feet and started running in place.
"Um, Katara?" Toph inquired. "Are you ok?"
"Just fine." Katara replied.
"Then, what are you doing?"
"I'm making my own water."
To prove her point, Katara gathered the sweat she'd already produced, using it to begin slicing through the wooden door. Toph heard the sound of slicing wood and got to her feet, grinning from ear to ear.
"Katara, you're a genius!" she cheered. "A sweaty, stinky genius!"
Katara gathered some more sweat from under her armpits, continuing her assault on the door.
…
Back outside, the four young heroes ran through the streets of town, trying to avoid the assassin's blasts. One such blast sent them scrambling from cover, taking shelter behind an upturned wheelbarrow.
"This isn't working!" Sokka exclaimed. "He's too good!"
"You need to get Aang out of here!" Zuko insisted. "He's after me and Xia, not you two!"
"We're not leaving you!" Aang insisted. "We should split up. He can't chase all of us."
"Right!" Xia agreed. "I'll draw his fire! You three find the girls and get out of here!"
"Why you?!" Zuko demanded.
"I'm immortal, remember?!" She pointed out.
"What if you aren't?!" Zuko piped up. "Your mark is damaged! You might not be-!"
Before he could finish, the Combustion Bender came towards their hiding spot, shooting a blast right at it. It forced Zuko, Aang, and Sokka to go one direction, and Xia the other. She took the opportunity to scale one of the buildings, looking down at the assassin.
"Hey!" she shouted as she began running along the rooftop. "You want me?! Here I am! Come get me!"
The Combustion Bender turned towards her, instantly firing a blast at her. She ran to avoid it, but was still sent flying. She rebounded hard off the Ozai statue, falling to the ground with a hard thud. She struggled to her knees, her vision blurry. The Combustion Bender approached her, preparing to shoot her point blank. Before he could get off another shot though, his head was suddenly encased in ice, much to her surprise. She looked up, seeing the rest of the group, including Katara and Toph standing opposite of the assassin.
"Zuko, grab Xia!" Katara ordered. "Hurry!"
Zuko quickly ran over to Xia and grabbed her by the hand before running off with her. They all began running as the assassin managed to free his head from the ice. He prepared another blast, aimed right at the twins. Xia heard the inhale and moved on instinct.
"Look out!"
She shoved Zuko to the ground, taking the blast full to the chest. She went flying down the street, bouncing several times before coming to a stop.
"Xia!" Zuko screamed.
The assassin tried a second time, but Toph was much faster on the draw. She summoned up a boulder, launching it at him. The blast shattered the boulder instead, the debris creating a cloud of dust as one of the small stones struck him in the center of his eye tattoo. He tried firing another blast at the team, but the impact caused the blast to knock him back, head first into a wall. By the time he recovered, everyone was gone.
…
The team returned to camp, Zuko setting Xia down on the ground as Katara rushed over with her canteen of water.
"She's not moving..." Zuko said, his voice laced with panic.
"Combustion Man really did a number on her." Sokka remarked. "Oh, I named him Combustion Man."
"That's great, now help us get packed before Combustion Man finds our camp!" Toph snapped, grabbing Sokka by the back of his shirt.
"See?" Sokka exclaimed as he was dragged off. "It fits so well!"
As Sokka, Aang and Toph went off to pack up, Katara continued working on healing Xia. However, as she began the process, her eyes went wide and she stopped. Zuko looked at her with anger and confusion.
"Why did you stop?" He demanded. "You have to heal her!"
"Zuko… There's nothing to heal." Katara lamented.
"What are you talking about?!" Zuko snapped. "You were able to save Aang, can't you save her?!"
"No, I can't." Katara answered solemnly. "I'm sorry, Zuko..."
Zuko looked down at his sister, grasping her tightly and pulling her into a hug. She remained limp in his grasp.
"She said she was immortal..." He choked. "This shouldn't have..."
Suddenly, Xia's bandaged wrist began to glow for a brief moment. It died away just as Zuko noticed it, then she suddenly gasped for air in his grasp. In shock, Zuko pulled her away from him, still holding her as she struggled to breathe, holding her chest painfully.
"Ow..." she grunted. "That hurts..."
Zuko instantly grabbed Xia and held her close, much to her surprise.
"Okay, okay, I'm happy to be alive too, but I'm still in a lot of pain." she winced, patting her twin on the back. "Ow..."
"Sorry." Zuko replied, letting her go.
"Please, don't do that again." Katara begged. "I think two deaths is enough."
"Actually, this is time number three." Xia corrected, tapping the massive scar on her neck. "But, I'm with you… Dying sucks."
"I hear you." Aang agreed.
…
Later on, the gang had put a good amount of distance between themselves and Fire Fountain City. They landed for the night, the gang disembarking. Zuko carried Xia off on his back as Aang slid down from Appa's head. Sokka paused just long enough to let out a yawn and stretch, turning to Hawky.
"Well, I'm exhausted." Sokka let out. "Hawky, how about you, buddy?"
Hawky let out a caw, earning him a head scratch from Sokka.
"Yeah, you're such a lazy bird."
Katara watched her brother dismount, then prepared to do the same. However, Toph caught her arm, stopping her.
"Hang on." she requested. "I need your help."
Katara sat back down, facing Toph.
"What is it?"
"I need you to write some things down for me." Toph requested, holding out a sheet of paper. "I want to send a letter to my parents."
Katara smiled, taking the paper.
"I'll be happy to." She reassured.
She wrote Toph's letter, then placed it in Hawky's holder, sending him off to deliver it.
"Hey," Sokka let out, "Where'd Hawky go?"