They stay on the island for two more days, playing with the dragons, practicing bending - Aang starts to fire bend, making sure the jerky cooks properly. They explore the abandoned city with a Sun Warrior guide to help with the traps. Mostly they just relax. Eventually though they have to leave. It takes a week to reach the town that the banyion tree showed Aang, it's not far from where they were when they decided to visit the Sun City but a storm slowed them down.

The town stretches out underneath them, sprawling between small rocky hills. Appa lands on a grassy knoll outside the city wall and Aang jumps down. "Okay so we're looking for a girl my age with black hair and something about a flying boar."

"A flying boar? Those don't exist," Zuko states.

Aang shrugs, "Ask the swamp, not me."

"First we need to go shopping. My belt's worn out."

"Sokka, your belt is fine," Katara groans.

"No it's not! Look at this," he sticks a finger through part of his belt that he shouldn't be able to stick a finger through. "Besides, I've had this one forever and we have to go into town anyway. Spending money might make the locals want to talk to us more and we can find this girl."

Aang nods, "He has a point."

"I need new clothes too, I only have two shirts that aren't extremely Fire Nation," Zuko adds quietly, not entirely sure he wants to get involved in this.

"So it's settled, let's go shopping!" Sokka grins.

Zuko reaches for his cloak, something to hide his face but Katara stops him. "Come on. I don't think you need to worry about being recognized here, we're far enough inland."

"They might have heard something though."

"No one is looking for you here, especially with some people who are obviously Water Tribe and," Katara looks over at Aang who has already pulled a hat out of somewhere and is adjusting it over his arrow, "and not-the-Avatar."

"I guess so."

"Good, now come on." They climb down off of Appa and without thinking about it she grabs his hand pulls him along to catch up with the others who have already set off. Zuko chokes. She lets go all too soon.

Sokka leads them to the market, following the clink of coins. He cracks his fingers excitedly, "Finally! Now, we're going shopping. Zuko - eh Lee, let's find you clothes and a new belt for me. Anyone else need anything?"

"Nope, not really."

"Good, let's go then!" Sokka immediately heads to a vendor nearby. They follow but a fabric shop catches Zuko's eyes. There should be some clothes in there. He and Katara head inside, Aang staying with Sokka.

"Welcome, looking for anything?" A stout shopkeeper belts out.

"He needs new clothes."

"No green," he mutters.

"Do you have anything that isn't green? It doesn't really go with his skin tone."

The woman raises her eyebrows as she notices his pale skin and even his golden eyes. "Wear something green and people won't notice your eyes as fast hon. We don't see refugees from your part of the world."

"What! I'm- I'm not a refugee," Zuko croaks.

"Sure you're not," she shrugs and begins to pull clothing off the racks, most of it green. "And you need new clothes too, you stick out like a sore thumb girl. We see even less Water Tribe than Fire Nation here and if you don't want to get caught up in the riots wherever it is you're going then you've got to blend in."

"Riots?"

"Haven't you heard about them? How could you've not, being Water Tribe and all? Some Fire Nation commander tried to attack the Northern Water Tribe and his troops all turned on him. In Omashu just a week or two ago all the Earth Kingdom folks escaped and then some of the soldiers turned on the governor there and some say the Fire Nation Princess was even there too when it happened." Zuko's eyes widen. "Haven't heard how that's going but I know most of the port cities are up in arms with expatriates and Earth Kingdom fighting together. We're lucky," the woman pats her fabric lovingly, "There's nothing special about Gao Ling so those Fire Nation bastards have left us alone."

By the time they walk out Zuko's spent a five silvers on new clothes and both of their heads are swimming with the new information. "It's really happening," Katara grins.

"I know. It's amazing."

"Hey guys look what- what are you wearing Katara?" Sokka trots towards them. She'd been practically made to get a new dress by the shopkeeper and Zuko had readily decided to pay for it.

She rolls her eyes, "I wasn't exactly given much of a choice. But we have news."

"So do I, look at what I got!" Sokka hoists his new bag into the air proudly.

"I thought you were getting a belt," Zuko scoffs.

Sokka clutches it close, "It called to me. It said 'Sokka, take me with you, you ne-e-e-ed me.'"

"Sure it did, but we have actual news. Important news about the war."

"What is it?" Aang chimes.

"Riots have started along the coast and it's not just Earth Kingdom citizens that are fighting, a bunch of Fire Nation soldiers have joined them," Zuko answers

"What!" Both Sokka's and Aang's jaws hang open.

"I know," Katara beams, "Everything's finally started! Maybe by the time you master earth and fire bending things will be to the point that all you have to do is go in and get rid of Ozai without having to worry about entirely destroying their government!" Zuko looks at her, a slight, surprised smile dancing across his face. He'd never realized that she's thought about the after Ozai bit too. "About the earth bending though, did you find anything out about that girl?"

"Maybe," Aang starts before Sokka cuts in.

"Apparently the crest of the family that pretty much runs this town is a flying boar but hardly anything is known about their daughter other than she's super sick. So nope, she's not the one we're looking for." Sokka taps his chin thoughtfully. "Maybe they have another daughter stuck in the attic or something."

"I highly doubt that," Katara retorts. "It's worth a shot though. So where's their house?"

Aang points towards the far edge of town, "Out there. They have a huge mansion or something."

Aang was right, they do have a huge mansion. The outer wall towers over them but a metal engraved winged boar hangs above their doors and so Aang squares his shoulders and knocks.

"Do you have an appointment?" A bored voice immediately speaks out from the other side.

"Uh, no but -"

"You can make an appointment on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Come back then."

"What! No, we need to speak to him. It's about his daughter."

Silence. A slat opens in the door and green eyes peer down a long crooked nose at them. "Young man, Miss Bei Fong is very sick, there's nothing you could possibly tell him about her."

"Well I'm-"

"I can heal her." Katara cuts in, "I'm a healer. That's why we came, we want to see if we can help."

The eyes take in her dark skin and bright blue eyes and he sighs. "Fine." The door swings open to reveal the owner of the voice, a lankly older man who bows sharply and raises an eyebrow until they all bow back. "Good. Come with me." He turns on his heel and heads towards the sprawling house. They walk quickly along the large pathway with beautiful hedges all along it. Zuko's constantly looking around, he's found five guards stationed atop the walls and three more patrolling the lawn. He's confident he can take them if necessary. Katara and Sokka are comfortable though they have noticed the guards too. Aang is the most nervous out of all of them, his walking jerky and jumpy.

The man leads them inside, cool jasmine scents wafting around them as they pad through stone hallways with large windows. "Here," he motions to a room, "You can stay here until Master Bei Fong is ready to meet with you."

The door slides closed with a snap behind them and just like that they're alone in a stranger's house. They all sit on red pillows around a small table. The door opens with a whisper and a servant comes in with a pot of tea and cups that are set in front of them.

"Excuse me, can you tell us anything about Master Bei Fong or his daughter?" Aang asks.

"I'm afraid I'm only here to bring you your tea sir." She bows herself out.

"Wait, can you at least tell us how long we're going to have to wait?" The door closing them is the only answer. Aang huffs. "Great."

"This is a lot like my home," Zuko mutters. "Don't expect anyone to be helpful." He brings pours the tea and they drink in silence.

Katara only sips, not particularly liking the flavor. "So what, do we just wait here?"

Zuko nods. "Nothing else to do."

"What about your sister?," She starts, the questions she's so curious about just pouring out. "What do you think happened with her? I mean she sent the Rough Rhinos after us but do you think she's still after us?"

"What do you mean? Why wouldn't Psycho still be after us?" Sokka asks

"Apparently the riots happened in Omashu right after we left also. The lady we talked to said Azula might have been there when it happened."

Sokka 'ohs'. Aang's eyebrows furrow. "Do you think Bumi's alright? What about everyone we helped get out?"

Katara shrugs, "I don't know. She didn't say anything about them."

"Oh, okay."

"I'm sure he's okay, Aang."

"You weren't the one chased by that crazy woman! We have no idea if she'll kill him or not."

"Azula won't kill him so long as there's a chance he'll be useful. Besides if he's anything like the stories I heard about him growing up he might actually have a chance against her," Zuko states calmly.

Aang huffs. A knock on the door followed by it sliding open stops the conversation. "Master Bei Fong will see you now."

They follow a servant into another room where Master Bei Fong and his wife sit imperiously on a raised dais. "Welcome -"

"I'm Katara, this is Aang, my brother Sokka and Lee."

"Hmm, I'm Lao Bei Fong and this is my wife, Poppy. I hear you've come to try and help my daughter."

"Yes. I'm a healer and would like the chance to help her."

"And why would you do that, what do you expect to gain from it?"

"Well-"

"We ask nothing more than food and lodging while Master Katara performs the healing," Zuko says, easily adopting the speech he'd heard so often growing up, the formality vaguely comforting.

Lao looks at him in surprise, happy that the fee is so little. "I'm sure that can be arranged. Do you have anything that needs to be brought into the compound?"

"Uh," Aang pipes up, "Actually my bison and lemur. They're on the edge of town and I don't want to leave them alone too long."

"I'll send someone to fetch them. Now, Master Katara, we've had physicians from all over the world look at her. What makes you think you can help her?"

"I trained directly under the Head Healer at the North Pole. I can't make any promises until I see her though."

"Fine. Poppy will you take them to our daughter?"

"Of course, my dear." Poppy smiles as she stands, bows to her husband, and leads them through another wing of the house and out into the gardens. She motions for a servant and moments later they are being escorted to where a young lady kneels beside a stone table, sipping tea delicately. "Toph, it's Mother. I brought some people who would very much like to meet you." She turns and Aang nearly jumps out of his skin. This is in fact his earth bending teacher. Grey, blind eyes stare towards them but he knows that somehow she's a master. She bows. "Master Katara, this is my daughter, Toph. This woman," Poppy gently pushes Katara towards Toph, "Is a healer all the way from the North Pole and wants to try and help you."

Toph smiles without it touching her grey eyes. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"It's wonderful to meet you too. Miss Bei Fong, if we could speak with your daughter privately for a minute?"

"Oh, is that really necessary?" Katara nods. "I'll be back at the house if you need me."

The moment Poppy is out of earshot Toph turns to them her ladylike demeanor dropped. "Who are you and what are you really doing here?"

"What!"

"You heard me." She rounds on Aang, stands and jabs him squarely in the chest. "You freaked when you saw me and it wasn't because of my eyes now was it?"

"How- how could you tell."

"I'm blind not deaf Dumb-Dumb, your heartbeat went crazy. Now what's up?"

"I don't know what you're-"

"I know you're lying."

"Fine, I'm the Avatar and you're supposed to be my earth bending teacher."

Toph pauses, she blinks, her eyebrows scrunch up. "You're not lying. What makes you think I'm supposed to be your teacher?"

"Uh, you're not going to believe it but I giant tree in the middle of a swamp told me so?"

"Wow. You are really, really crazy."

"No, I'm not!"

"Whatever."

"Wait so you believe me!"

"No. I believe that you believe you but I don't believe you."

Aang deflates. "Oh."

"Besides, my parents would never go for it. As far as they know I can't bend more than pebbles."

"But you can, can't you?"

A wolfish grin spreads across her face. "I'm the best earthbender in the world."

. . .

"We are indeed honored to have the Avatar in our home - even if you lied about your reasons here - but we cannot allow our sick daughter to leave with you and quite frankly we're shocked that you would suggest that. She is weak and fragile and in no condition to go anywhere."

"Master Bei Fong-"

"No! There's nothing more to discuss. Toph can't travel with you and even if she could she hasn't been taught more than just the basics of earth bending!"

Toph keeps her mouth shut. She's heard this discussion before but the words still sting. She is neither weak nor fragile and she knows it but what can she do other than bear it? This is her family and if her father says no then that's it, there's no point in fighting it.

. . .

"Hey."

"Ack!" Aang yelps and turns to the window where Toph's head is barely visibly. "What are you doing here? Your dad said you couldn't talk to us anymore."

"He's asleep. I wanted to show you guys something. Come on."

"What is it, Toph?" Katara questions as she follows Aang out of the window, Zuko and Sokka climbing out after her.

"Shh, just follow me." She leads then to a secluded patch of raw rock and settles into a bending stance. The earth rumbles and opens up underneath them.

"What the!"

The ground closes behind them. "It's dark, I can't see anything!"

Toph snorts, "Oh no, what a nightmare."

Sokka pauses, "Sorry," he mutters embarrassed.

Zuko lights a flame as soon as the ground levels out, "There, is that better?"

"Guys," Katara's out of breath.

"Crap," Zuko looks at her before snapping, "Toph, you need to get her back to the surface."

"Why, what's wrong with - "

"Now!" He growls and the fire flares.

"Okay, okay." She kicks and flicks her wrist and they're all back on the surface and Katara can breathe again. She gasps in cold air and Zuko's right beside her, Sokka on the the other side. Aang flits around them.

"Are you okay?" Aang asks.

"Yeah," she chokes out. "Fine. Go on without me."

Sokka squeezes her arm. "Is there anything we can do?"

"Space. Give me some space. Just go."

Zuko exchanges a look with Sokka whose shoulders droop slightly and he nods. "Come on guys. What was it you wanted to show us, Toph?"

"Uh - right this way?" Toph tilts her head towards the still partially hyperventilating woman before opening up the ground again. It closes behind them, Sokka's heartbeat speeding up at the intense dark until Aang creates a tiny flame in his hand. "So what was that?"

"Nothing."

"Don't lie to me. What's wrong with her?"

Sokka clenches his teeth. "Some bad stuff happened to her okay."

"O-okay?" Neither Sokka nor Aang add anything. Eventually Toph says something just to break the silence. "So your friend's a fire bender?"

"Yeah, he's pretty good too. He's my teacher."

"Cool, now what's his real name, it's not Lee."

Aang's eyebrows knit together, "How'd you know that?"

Toph smiles. "The same way I can 'see'. I feel vibrations through my feet and those vibrations can tell me when someone's lying."

Sokka gawks, "Really, that's got to be so useful. Wait so does that mean you can feel it when I do this?" He waves his hand in front of her face and she easily swats him out of the way. "That's so neat."

"Yeah, that really is! You're so cool, you're pretty much a human lie detector."

"Along with being the world's best earth bender, yes. But anyway, what's his name?"

"Zuko. Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation."

Toph whistles. "Wow. Royalty, huh?"

"Mhmm. So where exactly are we going, Toph?" Aang questions.

"Earth Rumble Six."

"What's that?"

"It sounds like fun."

"It's the biggest earth bending competition in the world, and I'm the champ."

Aang's jaw drops, "You're joking."

"Nope," Toph cracks her knuckles. "We're almost there. Why don't you guys go find somewhere to sit, I have to go get ready." They reach a dead end and she begins earth bending again, easily moving the rocks out of the way. The tunnel opens up into a gigantic arena, a plateau in the center and seating all around. "See ya!" She waves and steps right off the edge of the seating area - only to be caught by a rock slide forming under her.

"Wow, I wasn't expecting this," Aang shippers, taking in the nearly empty underground stadium.

"I know right, it looks so cool!" Sokka rubs his hands together in excitement before finding them seats. He picks close to the front row.

No one asks to see any tickets, perhaps arriving with Toph has its perks. People filter in over the next hour and soon the whole stadium is abuzz. Vendors start selling food. A large man paces around the bleachers shouting. "Join the revolution! The Earth Kingdom needs you!" Over and over again. A loud groaning quiets the crowd as a gong begins to sound from the hole opening in the center of the plateau. A burly announcer rises with a beautiful woman hitting the gong.

"Welcome to Earth Rumble Six," He roars. "I'm your host, Xin Fu." The crowd screams in appreciation. "The rules are simple, just knock the other guy out of the ring and you win." Xin Fu bends himself out of the ring and to the announcers' column across the arena from the gang. The woman in the middle sinks back into the ground to be replaced by yet another large burly man with arms the size of Aang's head.

"Round one, The Boulder!" The crowd roars and The Boulder waves and flexes for the masses. "Versus The Big Bad Hippo!" An obese man who's missing several teeth plods out of the hole. It closes up behind him.

The Boulder turns around. "Listen up, Hippo, you may be big but you ain't bad. The boulder's gonna win this - in a landslide!"

The Hippo simply looks at the other man before letting loose an animalistic roar, "Hippo mad."

The Boulder just laughs and launches a rock at The Hippo who catches it in his mouth and with a crunch the rock is gone. Sokka's eyebrows shoot up. "Holy crap." Hippo begins to jump slowly, his considerable stomach bouncing along with him. The entire plateau begins to shake. The Boulder wobbles - "Unbelievable, The Hippo is rocking The Boulder" - before bracing himself and throwing an entire sheet of rock at The Hippo. It hits the other fighter square in the chest before The Boulder reaches down and with a great show of force bends the Hippo right off the side of the arena.

"The Boulder wins!"

"Woohoo!" The boys cheer, joining in with the crowd.

. . .

Zuko walks her back to their room so she can fall apart without worrying about a stray guard wandering by. She thuds down onto her bed, wrapping her arms around her legs. Her chest is still tight, still constricting in panic and she knows it's not real, she knows she's not in danger but dammit she can't breathe and she's still scared of the ground swallowing her up. "I thought I was done with this!" She hisses. Zuko sits down beside her, a comforting hand placed on the bed that she quickly grabs onto before molding herself to his side, that same hand now wrapped around her shoulders. Her free hand clenches and unclenches quickly. "I thought after the Swamp - I mean I've been so much better since then! And I did not great but at least not like this in Omashu, I thou- I thought," her words are interrupted by hiccups and more tears. "I'm supposed to be better than this Zuko, I am."

"There's nothing wrong with you for this," He pulls her closer.

"But I'm supposed to be stronger, I'm supposed to have gotten over it by now. Normal people would have gotten over it by now!"

"No, they wouldn't have!" He scowls. "Normal people wouldn't have left the room after Chang. Normal people would have broken then. You made it through that and through Fong. So what if caves freak you out? You're still trying, you're still fighting and that's a whole hell of a lot more than what a normal person would do."

She looks at him, as close to a smile as she has right now on her lips before her brow furrows. "So what if I do break? What if I'm already broken? What if-"

"Katara?"

"What?"

"I promise you that you are not broken and if you ever do, I'll be there to help you pick up the pieces."

She tilts her head, "You mean it?" She chokes through the new wave of tears.

"For the rest of my life, I mean it." She squeezes his hand and he squeezes back, letting her cry herself out.

Eventually the tears stop, the hyperventilating stops, Katara can breathe and think right again. She laughs awkwardly, trying to erase the previous half hour. "Sorry about that."

"It's nothing."

"You shouldn't have to listen to stuff like that. You have enough going on and it's really not important, it's just the panic talking not me."

"Katara, I don't mind listening to stuff like that. I'd rather hear about it than let you be by yourself during something like that."

"I'm saying that you shouldn't have to though. I don't care if you don't mind, I want you to not have to deal with them at all, I don't even want to deal with them at all!"

"And what I'm saying is that I couldn't help when it really happened and that killed me. I still have nightmares about it and listening and being with you during your panic attacks makes me good for something!" He pauses, "I couldn't help then, I want to help now."

"Zuko - "

"What?"

"You help," somehow she scoots even closer to him. Seconds pass and they get closer. Their faces are almost close enough to touch and his heart is beating out of control. No, he can't do this! It would ruin everything! Especially after she just panicked, he can't take advantage like that. He can't do this to her!

"I - I have go now!" He jumps up, jostling her, practically running out the door.

"What's going on? What did I do?" She asks the closed door, Zuko's footsteps echoing down the hallway. Tear spring up at the corners of her eyes. "What was that for?" The door doesn't answer her. "Stupid fucking ugh jerk bender!" She wipes the tears away angrily. Her stomach aches. "No," she looks down at her abdomen, "I do not need this right now!" she wails, throwing herself back onto the bed to cry in peace.

. . .

"Fuck, fuck, fuck!" The bathroom was thankfully right down the hall. He slams the door shut behind him. What is he doing? He's an adult, he needs to act like it. He rinses his burning face and groans. He can't go back out there.

. . .

The door bangs open.

"What do you want now? Did you come back just to storm off again," Katara spits without looking. "I was trying to sleep you fuck."

"Actually," Lao replies, his voice barely containing it's hostility. "I want to know where my daughter is."

Katara shoots up, "What?"

"You know what I'm talking about. Your friends are all gone, where did they go with my daughter?"

Katara yawns, she honestly had been trying to sleep. "Well, Lee's somewhere I don't know where that ass is. Aang and Sokka said they were taking a walk. I don't know anything beyond that. Is Toph missing?"

"Yes, and I'm sure the Avatar took her somewhere."

Katara shrugs, "I don't know, he didn't say anything about it to me."

"What's going on in here!" Zuko charges into the room, fists at the ready, no flames out yet though.

"Oh," Katara turns the full strength of her oh-so-sweet-smile on him and his blood runs cold. "So you decided to come storming back in?"

His fists fall and Lao Bei Fong is temporarily forgotten as Zuko reddens and rubs the back of his head in shame. "Listen, about that, I didn't mean to, I just kinda, yeah."

"Hmpf."

"I really had to go to the bathroom!"

"You're a terrible liar."

"Excuse me," Lao butts in, "but I must demand that you tell me where my daughter is!"

"Sir, I told you I don't know."

Lao turns to Zuko who just shrugs. One of the guards rushes in. "Sir, I might have found something."

"Good. Show me what it is and leave someone here to guard our guests," he sneers the last word and glides out of the room. Another guard is called over who stands sentry on the other side of their now closed door.

Zuko opens his mouth but Katara clenches her jaw and flops back down. He sighs and sits down on the edge of the bed. She continues to ignore him. "I'm sorry. I wasn't feeling well" not entirely a lie, "and didn't want you to get grossed out. I'm fine now though."

She turns her head to look at him, "Zuko, I've helped out in infirmaries, I don't think I would have gotten grossed out. Besides," she grumbles, "You didn't have to shove me."

He bows his head, "Sorry about that. I didn't mean to."

"Okay," She rolls her eyes and sighs. "I guess I can forgive you. You owe me though."

"Of course," He smiles warmly. "How are you now?"

"I'm ok."

He eyes the hand kneading her stomach. "You don't look ok."

"Oh thanks a lot, Zuko."

"I didn't mean it like that."

"I know," she sticks her tongue out. He rolls his eyes. "Zuko," she whispers, deliberately not looking at him.

"Hmm?"

"Stay tonight?" He looks at her, shocked. They've slept together before, fallen asleep after long talks or after crying simply because moving back to their respective bed rolls didn't seem important. He's wanted her to stay with him, stay the night a hundred times but he'd never say anything, he didn't want to make her uncomfortable. Now she asks, of course it's today. But he doesn't dare turn her down, she may never ask again. She's been listening to the silence and blurts out, "I don't mean for anything you know, like that, I just I well Isleepbetterwithyouhere. Forget I said anything."

"Katara-"

"No, it's fine. Just forget about it."

He glances down quickly to make sure everything is as it should be. She gasps slightly when he first gets in, she'd given up on him staying. Honestly she was cursing herself for even opening her mouth and making a fool of herself but she stops the moment the mattress sinks down with the weight of another person. "Is this okay?"

She nods her head, her heart beating so loud that she swears he can hear it but his own is thumping just as hard. He's beside her, his side touching her back but he's halfway off the bed and there's no way in hell he'll be able to sleep like this. He turns to his side and hesitantly rests his hand on her shoulder. She's frozen in place and he's not sure whether to leave her alone or whether to listen to his instinct or hormones - the difference is rather fuzzy right now - and pull her close to him. She swallows as he scoots farther away from the edge of the bed. His stomach hits her back and suddenly the fact that he's a fire bender is all too obvious and a sigh escapes her lips. She snuggles closer without even thinking "Can I move your hand?"

"Uh sure?"

She pulls the hand that was on her shoulder down to her lower abs. "Oh Goddess," She mutters, relishing in the warmth.

Zuko lays behind her, paralyzed. The moment she drug his hand lower his mind jumped to a crazy conclusion that obviously wasn't the same one that she jumped to because now instead of his hand potentially lower she has it placed firmly in one spot and he can't for the life of himself figure out why. She groans softly, pushing his hand harder against her skin and it's all he can do to not jump from the bed again. "Uh, Katara?" he squeaks.

She jumps and quickly moves his hand away. "Oh shit, Zuko, I'm sorry. I wasn't even thinking. I'm sorry! I said I wasn't interested in anything and then the moment you get in here, oh gosh, I'm sorry! That's not why I did that, I just, you're so warm."

"Oh! Okay, so warm, okay. I can do warm. Warm is yeah, it's good. Warm is good," He sounds like an idiot and he knows it but the words won't stop, "If you want warm, I can do warm. One warm hand, coming right up." Said hand heats up, he looks at her though her head is hidden under her arm in embarrassment, then places his hand on her belly. Again she sighs and seems to melt. "Are you okay?"

She winces, not really wanting to talk about that but considering that she practically assaulted his hand she supposes he deserves an explanation and rolls over to give him one. "Uh yeah, it's just my time of the month."

"Huh?"

Katara pales, she knows he was on a ship with a bunch of guys for two years but surely that doesn't mean - no perhaps it does. She didn't have her period on the ship, the stress mixed with the fact that she's irregular due to her athleticism made sure she wouldn't bleed then. This is not something use wants to talk about at all, much less with him! "You know, my time of the month, my moon cycle?" His forehead furrows. "The red waves," he still doesn't get it. "Oh Goddess Zuko, I'm menstruating, I'm on my period!"

His mouth forms a small 'oh'. "Uncle told me about that. Do you need anything, Uncle said foot rubs? I can give you a foot rub."

"No, just keep your hand there please and if you don't mind, can I put my back against you too?" He nods and they relax, all thoughts of earlier in the evening forgotten.

. . .

"Now! The moment you've all been waiting for, The Boulder versus your champion, The Blind Bandit!" If the stadium went nuts before, now it goes absolutely ballistic as the crowd cheers for their reigning champion. Toph rises from the center of the ring, no longer dressed in the nicer clothes she led them out of compound in but in rugged green and tan with a cape that's removed by two beautiful women at her side. She hoists her championship belt over her head before handing it off too.

"Woo! Go Toph!" Sokka screams and Aang can't help but join in.

The Boulder rises from the pit and they take opposite sides. "The Boulder feels conflicted about fighting a young, blind girl," he states with much ado.

Toph laughs and points at him, "Sounds to me like you're scared."

The Boulder pouts in mock hurt before responding, "The Boulder's over his conflicted feelings and now he's ready to bury you - in a rock-a-lanche!"

"Whenever you're ready," Toph grins, "The Pebble."

"Oh, it's on!" The Boulder yells and raises a foot in an excessive show of earth bending. Toph simply moves her arms and swishes her foot forward as The Boulder lands. The ground underneath him moves with the blind girl's motions, and he slips into a painful split. The crowd winces and several men groan.

Toph brings her hand down in a chopping motion and three beams shoot up from the arena, hitting The Boulder dead on. He flies out of the ring, hitting the wall below the bleachers. The fight was over before it began. Toph grins and raises her arms in victory as the crowd hollers in appreciation. Aang smiles, awestruck, she has to be his teacher!

"Your winner, and still the champion, The Blind Bandit!" Xin Fu jumps down from the podium and lands beside the little earth bender. He holds a large bag of coins in his hands. "To make things a little more interesting, I'm offering up the bag of gold coins to anyone who can defeat The Blind Bandit!" The stadium is now dead quiet, everyone holding their breath to see if anyone will volunteer.

From the crowd a voice calls out. "I'll do it!" Another earth bender makes his way over the ring and Sokka gasps.

The man is wearing the Bei Fong guard uniform. "This is really bad."

"And who are you?" Xin Fu demands.

"I'm Guowei of the-"

Xin Fu doesn't wait to hear where he's from. "Here we have Guowei who dares to take on The Blind Bandit!" Xin Fu again retreats to the podium.

"So, think you're gonna take me? Let's see if you're any better than The Pebble."

"Toph," she freezes at the use of her real name "I'm here to take you home. Your father-"

She growls, "My father had better not find out about this!" She kicks the ground with her heel and rock forms around the poor man who obviously is no match. He struggles to move his hands but by the time he breaks one free she's already jutted her palm out and knocked that entire side of the arena off.

Xin Fu blinks. A lot of things have happened during the Earth Rumbles but never before has someone simply destroyed the arena. The crowd is hushed, waiting to see if that really counted as a win or not. Xin fu roars, "Give it up for The Blind Bandit, undefeated champion for three years running!" Toph opens up the center hole and steps in. No one sees her go down to where Guowei is and makes the rocks around him even thicker before stomping back to the changing rooms, a scowl on her face. He'll survive but it'll be awhile before he gets up.

Unseen by Aang or Sokka, Lao stands with another guard and exits the area.

Five minutes later the champion stands beside them in her clothes from before biting her lip. "That wasn't exactly as good of a show as I had hoped to show you."

"Hey, don't let that guy get to you," Sokka droops an arm lazily over her shoulders. "He probably was just saying that." He purposefully leaves out the fact that the Guowei was wearing a Bei Fong uniform.

"Yeah, I didn't recognize his voice or footsteps." She doesn't mention that that could just mean he was stationed to a different part of the mansion. She opens up the wall and they begin the walk back to the house.

"See, nothing to worry about! You were amazing out there!" Aang gushes.

Toph smiles, "Thanks."

"You have to come with us and teach me how to do stuff like that! It was so cool!" Aang continues to fawn over her and her performance for the rest of the trip while Sokka goes on and on about all the moves and how big The Boulder was and how he's got to be so embarrassed to have been taken out by her. Toph isn't quite sure how to respond to it. She's never been around anyone who knew that she could bend like that. It feels different, good. For the first time in her life she feels like she might actually have friends even if she's only known them for less than a day.

She stomps her feet and the ground opens up above them. She raises them, too caught up in the moment and conversation to notice her father standing beside the entrance. All the blood drain out of her face when she feels him and she can't seem to be able to speak right. Sokka and Aang turn.

"Avatar Aang, I think it's time for you and your friends to leave. Your bison has already been taken back to where we found it." Lao turns to his daughter, cold disgust in his eyes. "You, young lady are in serious trouble. I saw your little performance at the 'Earth Rumble' and have to say I am seriously disappointed in you. You are tiny. You are helpless. You are fragile, you shouldn't be doing things like that!"

Aang darts forward. "She was amazing out there! How can you look at your daughter and think those terrible things after seeing what she did? She's the champion, she's the best earthbender in the world!"

"Avatar I don't expect you to know about these kinds of things but Toph Bei Fong has a name to uphold, an image, and she can't have it dirtied by the likes of -"

Sokka butts in, "The likes of what, doing what she loves?"

"Yes, exactly those things." Lao hisses.

Aang's about to retort when Toph grabs his arm, her face once again schooled to be a porcelain doll. "Don't."

"But you-"

"Just don't."

Aang slumps and they head back to the room to get their stuff, Katara, and Zuko. Unfortunately for Sokka's sanity they find Zuko sharing Katara's bed. Aang gulps and blushes, trying to avoid looking at the sleeping forms. He's gotten up in the middle of the night before and he's seen but that doesn't make it hurt any less or be any less embarrassing. Sokka on the other hand - who too has seen them just finally can yell without worrying about waking Aang up - shouts. "What the hell Zuko! I told you to stay away from my baby sister. This is not staying away! I get it that you two are close and like each other but for Tui and La's sake can you not sleep together when we might see it! She's my baby sister!"

Zuko jerks up out of sleep and even Katara wakes up, calling water to her hands because of the shouting. "We weren't doing anything!" Zuko shouts right back and the moment Katara realizes that no, they aren't in danger, and realizes what Sokka's yelling about she thwacks the back of his head with a water whip.

"Really Sokka!" Katara screeches, "You come in here and start yelling because what, you think we're 'doing stuff'? For crying out loud Sokka I'm on my period! He's warm, put two and two together!"

Sokka's face burns, "Eew, I didn't want to know that!"

"And besides, unless you want to increase the odds of me screaming in the middle of the night and waking everyone up you're not gonna say shit because I sleep better with him there," she snaps.

Zuko doesn't say anything, trying not to dig himself a deeper hole.

Sokka throws his hands up, "I know you two snuggle but please wait till everyone's asleep before starting!"

"Wait," Katara falters, "You know?"

Sokka rolls his eyes, "It's not exactly a secret."

"Oh. We're not you know. It's just sleep."

"I know," Sokka turns to Zuko who has a sudden interest in the floor. "You'd better keep it that way. Now, we have to leave."

"What, why?"

Aang sighs, "Toph took us to an Earth Rumble and her dad found us and she's in trouble and he's kicked us out."

"What, no. He came in here looking for her but I didn't think he'd ever actually find you guys."

Sokka shrugs, "Well he did and now we have to go."

"I just hope she's okay."

. . .

"Father, please!"

"Young lady, hold your tongue while your father is speaking."

"As I was saying, your skills are beyond what your sensei has taught you but you are not ready."

"Father," her voice cracks, "I'm ready. You saw me out there, I'm a strong bender."

"No. You're a silly, disrespectful, little girl who goes behind her parents' backs to what, to brawl like a commoner?"

Toph's fists ball up in her sleeves. "I know it's hard for you to see me like that father but the little blind obedient girl you think I am just isn't me. I love fighting, I love being an earthbender. I'm really really good at it."

Her father peers down his nose at her. "While we may allow you to continue your studies - if you behave - this experience has taught me something."

For a moment she dares to be hopeful. "Yes?"

"We've given you far too much freedom. From now on you will be cared for and guarded twenty-four hours a day."

"Father!"

"We're doing this for your own good, Toph," her mother states gently.

"Excuse me." Toph bows out, tears beginning to roll down her cheeks.

Lao stands to call her back but Poppy puts a hand on his elbow, "Let her be. The guards will watch her." Those guards end up encased in ground within minutes, rock clamped firmly over their mouths.

She runs.

. . .

Sokka walks between Zuko and Katara claiming that 'his brotherly love demands it', that is until she grabs his ear and tells him to mind his own damn business. Katara however still does have a hard time looking at the prince and visa versa. They'd done nothing wrong and yet both feel as though they were caught with their hands in the jerky jar. Aang plods along his shoulders slumped and his feet heavy. He thought Toph was the one. He really did.

Appa roars out a greeting and Aang flings himself onto his snout. Momo begins to sniff the boy. "Hey buddy, I missed you too. How were things while we were gone?" Appa snorts. "Good. I know it's late, but we need to get going. I don't really want to stay here any longer."

Katara puts a hand on Aang's shoulder. "Don't worry, we'll find you another teacher."

"Not like her. Come on," he says, "Let's go." They all climb up aboard the bison, Katara blushing when Zuko helps her up. Aang casts one longing look over his shoulder before snapping the reins. "Appa, yip yi-"

"Wait!" A tiny voice calls out. Aang turns in is seat and Appa doesn't take flight. "Wait for me!"

"Toph! What are you doing here?"

"My dad changed his mind, he said I was free to go!" Zuko's eyebrow shoots up. He has a father a lot like hers at least in the control issue category and somehow he doubts she's actually allowed. That doesn't stop Aang from flying off of Appa and hugging her tightly.

"Well come, let's go before he changes his mind again!" Aang picks her up and jumps up to Appa's saddle. She shrieks and clings to his neck. "It's okay. You're on Appa now. Appa, say hello." The bison grunts his approval as Aang sets Toph down. He hugs her one more time and she punches him in the arm. "What was that for?"

She smiles, "Nothing Twinkletoes."