"It feels so great to see with my feet again!" Toph sighed happily, dressed in her Fire Nation disguise with a cheerful swing of her arms and a swagger in her step. "Who knew I'd miss seeing a normal town so much after not being able to see much for a few days?"
"I'm glad you're enjoying yourself, but let's focus on what we're here for. Meat, and plenty of it. Oh, and other things too. We're almost out of rice, and I guess we'll need other things too." I listed off in my head as we stood together in the middle of a busy market town, having walked for an hour after leaving Appa hidden safely as to not draw too much attention by flying in on a sky bison. "But we should eat something first. I fancy some pancakes, let's go find some!"
"Yeah!" Eager to fill our stomachs, Toph and I enjoyed our time leisurely, feeling like ordinary girls out doing some shopping. We viewed several shops and messed around a little, Toph and I taking our time and in no great rush to go home. I bought up a lot of fruit and vegetables since we went through a great deal and Appa was probably bored of hay all the time. Watermelons were one of his favourites, so I bought an entire sack of them. "How are we going to carry all this stuff back to Appa?" Toph questioned as our supplies started to grow beyond what we could carry.
"Huh. Didn't think that far ahead." I frowned, trying to come up with something before I snapped my fingers. "We can hire a cart and ostrich-horse. We'll bring everything back to Appa, load up then I'll return the cart and ostrich-horse before coming back. It'll take a while, but that's the best way. I'll make sure to leave you with plenty of ice so nothing spoils." I decided and Toph agreed it was a good idea so we went to go hire one for the day.
It was easy enough, getting a single wheel wagon which balanced on front supports until it was hooked onto the ostrich horse and we walked around with it, loading up our supplies as we went and eating snacks along the way. "Do you think we should buy some cookies? I think we should buy cookies. Some sweets too, oh and those fondants Katara likes! We should also stop at a coastal town so we can by some seafood too." We grinned at each other, possibly getting a little carried away but it was all stuff we'd eat quickly and we needed it. Things like treats were a luxury, and I think it's high time we spoiled ourselves.
"We should get something refreshing for ourselves too. How about sorbet?" Toph suggested and I easily agreed. With the sweet desert, we felt fully refreshed as we sat on the cart whilst the ostrich-horse drank some water from a public trough, though I couldn't help but feel like somebody was watching us.
"Hey Toph…"
"Don't worry, I've been keeping an eye on them. There's four guys and they've been following us for the last half hour. Looks like they've figured we're loaded. We should probably have been more discreet with how much we bought." Nodding my head thoughtfully I continued eating my desert calmly. "They'll probably wait until we leave town."
"Well we'll be ready for them. They probably figure since we're a couple of girls we'll be an easy target. Ha, more fool them." Smirking at their inevitable foolishness, Toph grinned as she cracked her knuckles.
"I was hoping I'd get to knock some heads on this trip, looks like I'm getting what I want." Laughing lightly I warned her to keep it contained for now and wait until we were on the road and out of sight of others before letting loose. "Is there anything else we need?"
"Come to think of it, Hakoda and Chit Sung will probably want some new clothes since they're still wearing their prison uniform. Also I've run out of thread since I've been teaching Katara how to embroider. I'll be fast, will you be okay here?" Toph assured me that she'd be fine and that nobody would try rob a blind girl in the middle of the street since people tended to get all defensive on her behalf if something like that ever happened, so I left her to it, glancing over to the alleyway where several dark silhouettes shifted, spying on us.
Going to buy myself some threads I stocked up before going back to Toph who remained waiting patiently, nothing having gone wrong so I swung myself up onto the seat beside her, gathered the reins then snapped them to make the ostrich-horse go, dumping my satchel in the back with all our food and supplies loaded up. Just as we suspected, we were followed out of town by several undesirable types. They couldn't look more like thugs if they tried, riding their mounts behind until two overtook and blocked our path, forcing me to pull up. "Let us through."
"That's a lot of food for just two little girls. How about you share some of what you got with us?" One of them wheezed at me with a rather nasty looking grin, causing me to veer away at the repulsive expression.
"We have big appetites." I responded slowly, feeling Toph shift beside me as we both got ready. There were only four, so I glanced around to take a look. All of them had weapons, but I didn't know if any of them were fire benders. "Well Toph, looks like you were right about us being followed. What are we going to do?" Throwing up a hand in an act of despair, Toph sniggered as I dramatically pretended to sob. "We're outnumbered by this big bad men, I guess we have no choice."
"You're right Kayo. We don't have a choice." We grinned at each other and bumped fists.
"Two for you and two for me?"
"Sounds fair."
"Which two do you want?"
"I'll take the big one behind us and his friend. You can have the other two." Nodding my head, both Toph and I moved in unison. We leaped off our cart as the thieves all blinked in surprise, not expecting us to fight back. I pirouetted in midair and landed elegantly as a ribbon appeared and started to cascade around me as I then twirled one baton, making large movements and patterns so that the two guys in front became fixated on it before I launched it up into the air. Their eyes followed it, heads turning upwards and whilst they were distracted, I pulled the other free and flung the ribbon out to latch it around the guy who had a sword in his hand, wrapping it around his wrist which made him look down in shock before yelping as I dragged him forwards.
Behind me I could feel the earth shifting as Toph took on the other two, redirecting the dirt underneath the big guy's feet as he stepped forwards so that he dropped into the splits with a crack and a squeak of pain, his body not made for such a stretch and I couldn't help but wince for him in sympathy. That had to hurt. Focusing back on my opponents, I swung the first guy into the dirt before catching the falling baton, both now in my hands as I twirled them around and used one to strike against the first's back, untangling him before then using the ribbons like whips.
The second guy shrieked and leaped back before hurriedly pulling his spiked club free, shaking off his surprise and came charging towards me, club raised high. Spinning underneath him I stretched out my foot in order to trip him up, twirling the ribbons and batons with a kick over my head as I rotated downwards and used the ribbons to grab hold of the club and pulled it from the second thief's hands as he grunted in confusion when it vanished, looking around him as both of my attackers turned towards me. With a twirl I swung the club around and slammed it against the first one's gut before catching the other's wrist, tugging the ribbons to make them punch one another as I then flipped through them, making them yell and try to hit me only for me to angle my body away and they hit each other, beating each other up until finally I wrapped them both up with the ribbons then pulled with a laugh, making them spin until they were dizzy and they fell over with a groan, Toph dusting off her hands as she wrapped things up too.
"You know, I thought these guys would be tougher than that. I'm disappointed." Toph said as she came over to me as I wrapped up the ribbons to put them away.
"I'm not a fan of violence, but even for me that was a little boring. Let's get out of here Toph, maybe we'll get luckier the next time some idiots try to rob us." I gestured and she cackled, stomping the ground to make all four of them fly into the air as they yelled fearfully and landed in a heap one on top of the other, saving the heaviest for last who flopped completely and crushed the others. Once we were away, Toph was in stitches.
"They must have had such dumb looks on their faces! Thinking they'd scored easy but then getting their butts kicked!" She grinned as I steered the ostrich-horse to where we'd left Appa. "And you, with your fancy twirling and dancing or whatever it is you do. You make fighting look like some kind of art form."
"I just go with what feels natural. Of course I'd rather not fight if I can help it, but I admit, it was oddly satisfying beating up some bad guys." I mused, looking at Toph before we grinned at one another again. Appa was glad to see us, growling and getting up where he'd been resting and started licking the both of us affectionately. "Appa no! Appa! Come on buddy, I didn't realise you missed us that much."
"Appa needs a bath, he's starting to get smelly again." Toph complained with a wrinkle of her nose, flinging out the saliva she was now covered in.
"I'll make sure to give him a bath once we've got all these supplies back. Here we go Appa, you ready to be loaded up?" Rubbing his face I then started getting things unloaded, Toph earth bending the ground to make it easier to reach the saddle so that we could then lift the heavier things together until we'd tied everything down, complete with our work. "Okay my fluffy buddy, I have to take the cart and horse back now, so I'll be gone for just over an hour but then I'll be back. You behave for Toph, make sure to listen to what she says." Growling again with one final lick, Appa let me go and I returned to the town, taking a different road as to make sure I boycotted the place those thieves had tried to ambush us.
Getting back to town I returned the cart and horse, thanked the owner then went on my way, grabbing a snack for the return journey and enjoyed a very pleasant walk. Once we were all back together again, we stopped by a coastal town like we said to buy things like seafood, fish, ocean kumquats, kelp, salt and other variations of vegetables before leaving, heading back to the Western Air Temple. The trip took two days total, returning much to everyone's relief as they'd been on their last bowls of rice and pickled gherkins, which was all we had left. "We have returned!" Toph yelled so that her voice echoed out triumphantly, bringing everyone running towards the food. "You see Sokka? This is how you go out and get real meat."
"I give thanks to the great and mighty Toph, supplier of meat." Sokka bowed down on the floor, prostrating himself before Toph who stood above all the rest as I laughed.
"Oh, so I'm not even worth mentioning?" Sokka quickly turned to bow at me, lowering his hands to the ground again before me.
"I give thanks to the wise and talented Kayo, cooker of food, earner of money and supplier of tasty meat." He listed off much to everyone's amusement before I rolled my eyes and instructed him to help unload. Aang got the saddle off of Appa so that he could rest whilst we all unpacked and I handed out fresh clothes and a few other things to Hakoda and Chit Sung so that they didn't have to wear prison rags anymore.
"Thank you Kayo, that's very kind of you." Hakoda smiled and ruffled my hair lightly, taking the clothes acceptingly before helping to carry the big grain bin of rice I'd bought. "Just how did you afford all this?"
"Kayo and Toph are the best at earning easy money, and Kayo knows how to bargain better than a stingy merchant trader." Aang supplied as he carefully carried the several dozen crates of eggs we'd bought. "Looks like we're going to eat well tonight!" Momo flew down to me with a chitter of sound, searching all over me for snacks until he jumped up and down on my head.
"Don't worry Momo, I didn't forget about you." I assured him, reaching into one of the bags and gave him a cookie. "There, all yours." Taking it Momo stuffed the whole thing in his mouth before flying off to enjoy it out of reach of everyone else, thinking someone might steal it. With everything unpacked, Toph took to putting her feet up whilst Zuko, Sokka and Hakoda putting down the last box before we all settled. We shared out the cookies, sweets and Katara thoroughly enjoyed her fondant cakes, putting her in a much better mood even with Zuko around as she and I then made an extensive dinner for everyone to fully celebrate the reunion between Sokka, Katara and Hakoda.
"You even bought all this stuff to make Water Tribe food!" Katara beamed as we stewed the ocean kumquats until they'd taste like sea prunes. "Thank you for doing this."
"You're finally back together with your dad and you can enjoy some time together. It's only fair that you have some dishes from home to make it feel like old times." I said as I stirred the pot, Katara smiling at me before she flung her arms around my neck from behind, making me chuckle as I patted her head lightly. It was a sumptuous feast, one that everyone enjoyed until everybody was completely full and our bellies having expanded at least three times their normal size.
I waited until everybody else had fallen asleep before I went to go find Zuko who'd gone off somewhere and I found him training alone, his form better than I had ever seen it before and his bending was even more powerful since he'd learned the true meaning of the element of fire. "Hey." Not wanting to surprise him, I spoke up as I approached, emerging from the shadows as he stopped to look up. "You want that talk?"
"What talk?"
"You asked if we could talk when I came back."
"Oh, that." Rubbing his face against his shoulder and sleeve to remove the sweat, Zuko then turned his back to me. "Forget it, it's nothing." Not believing him for even a second, I noticed how stiff and tense he was, so clearly something was bothering him. Walking up to his back I looped my arms around his middle and turned my cheek against his back, holding onto him lightly.
"Talk to me Zuko. You've been getting so good at sharing your feelings recently, don't quit whilst you're ahead." I felt him sigh heavily, dropping the tenseness a little and I let him go as he turned around to face me.
"I saw Mai at the prison. Her uncle was the warden and he told her I was there after I got caught." Needing a moment to process that, mostly about the fact that Zuko actually got caught, I waved my hands in front of my head.
"Hold up for a second, back up and start from the beginning so I know exactly what happened. So, you and Sokka infiltrated the most secure prison in the entire Fire Nation and…?" Zuko continued from there, explaining how they'd been unable to find Sokka's dad but found Suki instead, but Zuko had been caught by the guards whilst covering for Sokka so that he could talk to Suki. From there Zuko recounted the rest of the story, including the first attempt at escape but then Sokka had abandoned it when a new batch of prisoners came in which happened to have Hakoda as one of them.
He then talked about how Mai had shown up and she'd told him how he'd broken her heart and that he'd betrayed his country. "Well duh, of course she'd be mad. You left her nothing more than a piece of paper with a few words in ink. That's bound to suck." I flicked him on the head to drive my point home, hand on hip with a click of my tongue. "No wonder she was mad."
"Well, she can't have been all that mad, because after the riot and we captured her uncle the warden, she helped us escape by stopping the guards from cutting the lines to the gondola and flipped the lever so it would carrying on taking us back to the top of the ridge." I paused for a second, seeing why Zuko seemed so confused and a little frustrated. "Why would she do that?! Azula was right there, she knew she wouldn't be shown mercy but she did it anyway."
"Isn't it obvious?" I questioned as Zuko started pacing, throwing his hands out in angry gestures. "It's because she still loves you Zuko. Love makes people do crazy things, and maybe deep down Mai knows that you have the Fire Nation's best interests at heart so she helped you out. Make sure you thank her next time you see her, she saved your butt." Looking at him sternly so he knew I was serious, Zuko looked at me a little desperately.
"But does this mean I have to date her again now? She saved our lives, I can't hurt her again."
"Don't you want to date her? From what you've told me about Mai whilst you two were together, she actually seems pretty nice. Aside from the fact that she needs to work on showing her emotions more rather than being an expressionless doll, you always talk about her warmly, like you miss her." Zuko gripped his hair again, seemingly even more confused than before.
"I do, and I care about her, but it's more complicated than that."
"Why?" Not understanding what the big deal was, I folded my arms and frowned at him with an arch of my eyebrow. "Why is it complicated? And why are you so worked up over this? You'll get your chance to talk things through with Mai after Aang defeats the Fire Lord and the war's over. That's when we can release war prisoners and they'll have to let Mai go then." Walking over him to reach out and take his face in my hands, I brought him back to face me so that he'd stop pacing and trying to tear his hair out. "You need to stop blaming yourself for so much. Although you probably could have gone about it a different way, you had to leave. It happened, so let it go for now until it's the right time to deal with it. There's only so much you can do right now, so just take it one day at a time."
"You sound a little like Uncle Iroh." Zuko softened towards me as he placed his hands on wrists lightly to hold them.
"I do my best. He is like an uncle and father to me, so you know." Giving a shrug, we smiled at each other before Zuko unexpectedly pulled me in for a hug, holding me close to him. "Zuko?"
"Let me just stay like this for a while. Please." Going silent as his rather timid request, I closed my eyes and settled into his arms to make myself more comfortable. Registering his closeness my pulse naturally quickened a little, giving tiny skips and jumps as I felt my throat constrict nervously. The only guys I was used to being hugged by were usually a lot older than me and were considered family or where considered close friends like Sokka and Aang. Zuko being like this wasn't something I was used to, and I doubt I'd ever get used to it, but it also felt different to how it felt when I hugged Sokka, who was probably closest in age and height to Zuko.
Although unnerving at first, I also found it very easy to grow relaxed in his arms, listening to the sound of his breathing and feeling the warmth that was generated between us from close body contact. Letting myself smile secretly, I began to wonder if it was perhaps time I really considered what Zuko meant to me, and whether or not I wanted our relationship to change. As scary as those thoughts were, they were also a little exhilarating.
