A/N: I'm back and exam free! And I'm going to try best with updating this year, since I've been not good at that. I really enjoy writing this story and I hope you guys enjoy reading this chapter. Let me know what you think!

Aang's POV:

Toph smashes the ground hard and pushes her arms up, forming a rock ceiling to provide as much cover as possible. The blind earthbender then shoots rock at some assassins that have dropped from the ground.

"EVERYONE OUT!" She shouts as more screams are voiced when some people are struck with arrows.

I watch as arrows threatens to strike the nobles running to the emergency exit and I airbend them into the wall, then I quickly form an airbending ball around me for protection and survey what's happening without leaving myself vulnerable. I watch as Zuko emits blasts of fire, taking down some hidden assassins while Sokka is locked in battle with a non-bender. I blink and take in that scene again. 'Since when have there ever been non-bender assassins?' I frown and eye the assassins that are perching on the sill outlining the palace's ceiling.

I watch as one of them replaces his arrow with a different one, this one having a red feather on the end instead of the usual green, he changes his direction, so the arrow is now pointed at Sokka. My eyes widen in alarm. "No no NO!" I muster up all of my airbending speed as I sprint to Sokka and push him to the ground, just as the arrow embeds itself into my stomach. I collapse to my knees, circling my arms tightly around my abdomen in pain.

"AANG!" Sokka kneels beside me and places a hand on my shoulder, the colour quickly draining from his face. "TOPH give us some cover and head over here!"

"Kind of busy Snoozles!" She grunts as she pushes back a couple of skilled earthbenders.

"NOW!" At Sokka's insistence Toph screams in frustration and pushes the earthbenders backwards with all her might until they're toppled over in a heap, unconscious. She quickly locates Sokka and forms a cylindrical dome over him. She scans her surroundings and runs into the dome.

"What's wrong? We don't have time to chat you know!" I groan in pain, breathing becoming increasingly harder as the minutes tick by and my vision begins to dim.

"It's Aang! He got hit by one of those arrows that was meant for me." He chokes, trying to hold back the franticness bubbling through him. Toph zones in onto the Airbender's heart rate and finds it speeding up like crazy then slowing down and then repeating that cycle.

"Oh spirits, where was he hit?!"

"His stomach, but that's not it; the arrow isn't one of the ordinary ones." The Master Earthbender clenches her jaw in fear.

"Which one is it?" Sokka releases a strangled sort of sound.

"Oh man it's...it's...oh god why?! It's the poisonous one. We've got to get a healer or else...or else..." He breaks off his sentence into a sob. I try to reach out to put a hand to comfort him, but my arm falls short as it becomes numb.

"Sokka it's ok." I croak, the effort of speaking causes me to slump to the floor. 'Oh man it hurts so much.' I feel a strong hand on my shoulder shaking me.

"Don't you dare sleep on us!" Toph hisses. I smile weakly, but as I feel the final bit of consciousness slipping I croak one more thing.

"Don't worry about me. You've... got to... help everyone...pl..ea..se." I break off into a cough and become no longer aware of anything as darkness consumes me.

Toph's POV:

"Aang! AANG! No you DID NOT just do that. AANG!" The slow breathing of the Avatar makes me bite back my tears. Shaking my head I stand over Sokka and slap him hard across the cheek, effectively stopping his sobs.

"Spirits Toph why did you do that?!"

"Because now is NOT the time to be crying. We've got to take him to a skilled healer and get everyone out of here!" I sense as he places a hand to his cheek and nods.

"You're right. Where's Zuko?" I focus on my seismic sense and lock onto his position just outside the dome, fighting several assassins, but the room is now free of all those snotty nobles. I get out of the dome and push a chunk of rock at everyone present except Zuko. Once I'm satisfied that they are down, I grab Zuko by the collar, throw him into the dome and I manage to jump in just before a potentially lethal arrow hits me.

"What's going on here?! I nearly got hit by those arrows while you were hiding in here!"

"Where's everyone?" I ask to the point, ignoring his questions. 'We don't have time to dilly dally.'

"They managed to escape, there were a few that…" I put my hand out, cutting him off.

"Listen, we don't have time. Aang got hit by a lethal arrow and we need to get him out of here NOW. Where's Appa? I can make a tunnel to reach him." I feel Zuko's heart rate pick up, in what I assume is worry, but fortunately he doesn't ask any pointless questions and just answers me.

"He's in the backyard stable, just outside the palace." I nod. Sliding my foot to one side, I push my hands down to form a hole.

"Both of you carry Aang, while I make the tunnel. We've got to hurry, they're trying to get in." We get in and I seal the tunnel with the metal end of a discarded arrow, just as they break through my dome.

Soon enough we find ourselves in front of Appa and his shed. He walks over to his master, but Sokka goes in front of him and pats him.

"Not now Appa. Aang is in a critical condition and we've got to take him to Kyoshi Island, pronto!" He groans in agreement and lowers himself to the ground for easy access. Zuko and Sokka gently carry Aang onto the bison and I hop on after them.

"I should stay here. This is my nation and I need to make sure everyone is safe." Zuko states, ready to jump off the saddle.

"Arrows!" Sokka suddenly yells and Zuko firebends a cover over us, melting them in the process.

"No! It's a death wish to leave you here and you are our only line of defence against anything in the air, because I can't see!" I hear him sigh in response to my yelling.

"Alright. Hang on guys...yip yip!" No sooner do I feel the vaguely familiar rush of air brushing past me, I grab onto the saddle tightly.

"I forgot how much I hate flying." I mutter as I shift closer to Sokka for extra support, but I find him moving away. "What are you doing?" I question, curiosity lacing my tone of voice.

"Checking on Aang, his pulse is dangerously slow. What if...what if we lose him before we get there? What if they can't do anything? What if they don't know how?!" I bite my lip, hating that my very own fears are being voiced out. I look for Sokka's hand, and when I find it I squeeze it before letting go.

"Aang is strong. He came back from the dead before, so he can do it again." I respond more confidently than I actually feel.

"But that's because Katara was there with him! And she had the spirit water!" At Sokka's rebuttal I go over his words from earlier in my head.

"Why are we going to Kyoshi Island?"

"Katara's there, I told her to make her way to the Fire Nation, because the meetings were nearly finished."

"Then if anyone can heal him, it's Katara." I say, dismissing his concerns.

"What if she hates him too much to heal him?" I hit him hard in response to his ludicrous question.

"Katara loves Aang, like we all do. She wouldn't do that, I'm surprised you'd even think that about your own sister."

"You're right. She's just been so withdrawn for the past 3 years, I guess I don't know her as much as I used to or as much as I'd liked to." Sokka utters sadly and I frown in response before adopting a neutral expression.

"That doesn't mean she's changed." I assert lightly.

"I guess you're right. So you love Aang?" I close my eyes in annoyance, 'spirits I was so hoping he didn't hear that part. Snoozles and his overactive imagination.'

"Of course I do; I love him like a brother or a best friend."

"So all those years were an act?" I shake my head at Sokka's question and I open my eyes again.

"It wasn't an act. I felt true resentment towards him, but I guess my heart never stopped caring."

"Looks like we're all on the same page. So what was that attack all about?!"

"That was an assassination attempt, thought that would've been obvious enough."

"I knew that! But why?"

"They want to take us all out and start a new era or something. Aang was going to tell me the details, but..." I shrug, turning my head, a lone tear runs down my cheek, 'gosh why was I such a jerk to him?' We fall into an uncomfortable silence, with Sokka once again checking on Aang. He rests against the saddle edge again as he sighs.

"What happened when you went to confront Aang?" I bite my lip, contemplating whether to tell him or not. I look down in shame.

"He's been targeted by assassins for 3 years." I whisper softly to which Sokka shakes his head in disbelief before dropping it into his hands.

"No...no! Why didn't he tell us?!" Sokka chokes out, his words strained with tension.

"His dumb logic of protecting us was probably the reason. I hit him really badly, then I left him there where he was attacked by those assassins. They must have been there already and I was so angry that I didn't take notice. It's my fault he couldn't defend himself." I murmur as tears start leaking down my face. I feel a gentle arm around my shoulders, pulling me towards him.

"Toph it's not your fault; knowing Aang he probably got on your nerves on purpose to make you leave, so you wouldn't stumble on his secret." Sokka reasons, but I shake my head as I suddenly feel angry at myself.

"I should've known he was lying, but I was so wrapped up in my anger that I carelessly didn't check."

"Stop blaming yourself! At least you're not the reason that Aang is fighting for his life right now." The strangled tone coming from Sokka tells me he's on the verge of tears. I take in a deep breath and exhale, 'I have to pull myself together. We can't all crumble like this, otherwise we won't be thinking sharply.'

"I wonder why he didn't just airbend the arrow away from you instead of throwing himself in the crossfire?" I ask in an attempt to change the topic away from whose fault this is.

"Good point, why didn't he?" At Sokka's contemplative question I push away from him and shrug.

"Who knows?"

"Gosh why is he always getting himself in trouble?!" The pony-tailed warrior groans in frustration.

"Trouble has an amazing way in attracting to us. How is he now?" I say non-committedly and silence ensues as he checks.

"His heart is barely beating, if we don't get help now..." Sokka's worried tone is interrupted by Zuko's shout.

"Guys we're here!" Zuko's holler sends some sort of relief in me. I fumble around until I come in contact with Aang's upper arm, I squeeze gently; 'please be ok until we find Katara, please.'

A/N: Well you'll be happy to know that Katara finally enters the story in the next chapter, so stay tuned! And till then don't forget to review please! They keep me going

22/1/18