A/N: Happy New Year, everyone! Sorry, this took so long.

Chapter 16: That Desert Heat

Toph had to admit she kind of wished she did join the others. The books in a library were useless to her, but it had to be better than being out under the blazing sun of the desert. The sand was too loose and unfamiliar for her to make a shelter from the sun. She also had to admit Appa wasn't the most understandable of company.

"I told you. I don't want to cuddle…" Toph griped yet again.

That was something else that surprised her. She had no idea the big guy was such a cuddle baby. She then heard him snarl before he quickly moved away. She almost wondered if she hurt his feelings.

Then she realized the library was sinking. The sand was shifting much faster around it now. "Oh no… Library sinking!" she shouted in panic.

She jumped to her feet and quickly grabbed hold of the library. It was of little use. The sand was far too loose and far too shifty for properly planting her feet. "I'm really starting to hate you, you damn stupid sand!" she swore.

She grunted as she tried to hold on to the library with her considerable might. There was a powerful force coming from within trying to sink it even faster. This would have been a massive but doable feat under regular circumstances. With the sand, it was seemingly all but impossible. The best she could hope for was to buy time for her friends to escape.

Appa let out a nervous grunt as a few sand plumes seemed to be heading their way.

"What is it now?" Toph asked in vain.

Appa answered with another grunt just as a group of the sand sailers came into view and quickly surrounded him.

"Who's there?!" demanded Toph as she struggled to keep the entire library from sinking.

Her demands were met with silence.

Toph sent a wave of sand through earthbending where she thought a target was. Sadly, the small crafts were quick and her accuracy was shot to hell due to the fuzziness of her surroundings. She was about to send another attack, but the building seemed to sink even faster.

"Stop sinking!" she shouted at the building, which refused to listen.

She had to again grab it. She tried to fire more sand waves at the sandbenders, but missed every time. The sandbenders were having more trouble with Appa than the Master Earthbender.

"Stop…" Toph again pleaded with the building. Again, the results were disappointing.

"Don't make me put this down!" she tried to threaten.

The sandbenders had already realized she was not a threat. The bison however was a different matter.

"Put a muzzle on him!" she heard one, the leader of the group, shout to the others. She had the voice of one which was at least something.

Toph tried one last time to stop the thieves from stealing Appa. Her efforts were just as fruitless as before. "I'm sorry… Appa," she said quietly as a tear ran down her cheek. She heard the sandbenders catch Appa using a series of heavy ropes before leaving.

It had been a long time since she felt this useless and helpless. Not since she was barely more than toddler. She was barely keeping the building from sinking and taking her friends to a sandy tomb. She was unable to ward off a group of thieves stealing Appa, even while he put up the best fight he could. She couldn't even get a clear picture of them.

All she had was a voice.

She wanted to feel relief as she sensed her friends about to escape the building just as it fully sunk a second later. She couldn't even laugh at Katara's and Sokka's bickering as they landed on the sand. She couldn't even stop the unwanted tears of frustration as they came.

"There wasn't anything I could do!" Toph shouted through her frustration and anger. "I couldn't stop them…"

"Stop who?" Aang asked in worry.

"The sandbenders…" Toph replied with a sniff.

She hated being like this.

"Where's Appa?" Aang asked in full panic.

Toph couldn't bring herself to answer her friend. She sniffed again as tears fell and she looked to sand in sorrow.

"How could you let them take him!" Aang shouted at Toph in anger.

"I couldn't help it!" Toph replied defensively in frustration.

"Why didn't you stop them?!" Aang roared again.

"The library was sinking and you guys were still inside!" she replied.

"Then you could have come and got us!" Aang yelled back at her.

"I can barely sense anything in this sand… They snuck up on me and there wasn't any time," Toph snapped back as she refused to let more tears of frustration fall.

"You just didn't care!" Aang shouted again. "You-".

"Aang," Harry cut him off sternly as he leveled his gaze on his friend.

Aang wanted to shout more at them all, but instead let out a yell of anger to the sky. He then said coldly, "I'm going after Appa."

He unfurled his glider and took to the sky before soaring off quickly.

"Aang!" Katara called to him, but to no avail.

Harry looked to Toph. "Are you okay?" he asked as he looked her over. She seemed fine on the outside at least.

"They didn't hurt me, if that's what you mean," she replied sullenly.

"That's the best that can be expected," he said as he looked to where Aang shot off. He shook his head and let out a frustrated sigh. "I'll go after him. Don't wander too far. I'll bring him back," Harry said to the others.

Katara and Toph nodded to him in understanding. Sokka looked to be in thought, but wouldn't move without at least Katara and Toph going with him.

Harry took to the sky as well. He was glad to be a natural flyer, even as an airbender. He would be careful though. A pissed off Avatar was not something handled lightly.

[-] [-] [-]

Aang was looking around in vain searching for any sign of Appa. He didn't even fully register he was going in circles. It was not easy to navigate the desert without Appa.

"I should have known you would come after me," Aang grumbled as he sensed Harry fly over to him.

"You've been going in circles," Harry said flatly.

Aang growled and sped off faster.

Harry easily caught up.

Aang looked as if he was going to try sending an air blast at Harry.

Harry looked to him unimpressed. "You may be the Airbending master, but you damn well know I have a lot more up my sleeve," Harry warned.

Aang huffed and flew to the ground before slamming down on it. "What do you want?" he asked with narrowed eyes.

He might have been tempted to try something now, but he couldn't water bend anything. He also wasn't very skilled yet at Earthbending, let alone a completely different subclass of it. Harry also had his own powerful and varied skill set.

"Are you calm enough to talk?" Harry asked as he kept his distance. He didn't think Aang would try anything, but he was ready if something happened.

"I'm not calm at all," Aang replied as he leveled his gaze.

"Understandable. Are you controlled enough to talk?" Harry asked.

Aang sighed and gave a curt nod. "Keep it quick though. I need to find Appa," Aang added as he sat down.

"Exactly," Harry said. "Flying around in circles all willy nilly isn't going to do the trick."

"Traveling by air is faster than on the ground, even if they used those sand sailers of theirs," Aang argued.

"True," Harry admitted. "But they also know this desert like the back of their hand," he pointed out.

"What do we do then?" Aang asked.

"We head back and think. I have a couple of ideas that might help, even if I am not sure by how much or at all. They require we be where we know they were," Harry explained.

Aang let out a huff. "I guess it's better than nothing…"

The two got ready to head back as Aang added, "I still not calming though."

"So long as you control it. I don't care. As I said, it's understandable," Harry replied to him.

Aang remained silent as he picked up where the others were and took to the sky once more with Harry following behind him. Harry would ask how to improve his own senses to that level, if they didn't have more pressing matters at the moment.

[-] [-] [-]

Zuko and Iroh were in the middle of packing their few meager belongings so they could get to it first thing in morning. Zuko then paused in what he was doing and looked to his uncle.

Iroh gave a sigh and said, "Looks like we'll have to push forward our timetable." He had really been looking forward to one last relaxing evening with his nephew before they began their long journey to Ba Sing Se.

"Who do you think it is?" Zuko asked lowly. He sensed something but he wasn't sure.

Iroh was in thought before he causally answered, "I feel we are about to find out soon enough."

A group of men wearing fire nation colors and riding atop armored rhinos bounded over the slope in front of the two wanted Fire Nation criminals. The riders soon surrounded them.

"Ah. Colonel Mongke. I suppose this isn't a social call between old friends," Uncle Iroh said as both he and Zuko took in their opponents.

"There's a price on both of your heads. A mighty fine price, I might add," the colonel said. He was a severe looking man with a medium built but very muscular body. The man then smiled in a fashion that truly reflected his smugness in having the numbers advantage.

"Good to know my dear brother hasn't spared any expenses," Iroh said. He quietly warned Zuko. "They're each masters of different weapons which complement each other."

Zuko gave a nod as he noticed one of the men had Yuyan Archer markings. It didn't matter why that man was no longer with the famed archers. The markings still meant he had their level of skill.

The men didn't bother to hide which weapons they favored. Zuko still planned on going after the archer quickly. Best to take out the range weapon user as soon as possible.

"How about we skip the small talk. Let's just get to the part where we bring you two in," Mongke said as his men chuckled in agreement.

As soon as Mongke finished speaking a massive spiked ball attached to a chain flew towards Iroh. Despite his love for tea and seemingly lazy demeanor, Uncle Iroh managed to react quick and used a powerful kick to send the incoming weapon to the side. Then in a move that was either high level of skill or luck, he managed to tumble forward and dodge two dangerous fireballs sent his way. He followed through by hitting one rhino's rear which caused it to charge forward with his rider dragging behind him.

The moment the first arrow was launched, Zuko immediately took action. He quickly knocked it away, since he was ready for it. Zuko then responded by firing a fire blast at the archer. The bow was now out of commission.

Mongke huffed as he got into action. There was a part of him that preferred it this way. He would become a legend himself by taking down the famed Dragon of the West. The former friend sent a volley of fire blasts at the disgraced general. Disgraced as he was, Iroh still managed to deflect each and every fire blast.

Zuko took his chance and ran up the leader's rhino. He used two fire kicks and sent the unaware colonel flying from his mount.

Iroh was not one to pass up this chance they had to escape. He jumped on their ostrich horse and rode towards Zuko. His nephew jumped from the rhino on to their shared mount as Iroh continued to speed away.

The last of the Rough Rhinos recovered from his moment of shock at what all just happened, and lit a grenade. He threw the explosive at the fleeing ostrich horse, but Zuko reacted quickly. He used a fire blast to set off the grenade prematurely in the air. This had the added benefit of giving them a small smoke screen.

"Somehow I expected that to be more difficult," Zuko said to his uncle.

"Never underestimate your opponents. Nor should you let your ego grow so large," Iroh mused wisely.

"Obviously," Zuko replied as they continued to ride forward.

[-] [-] [-]

"There they are," Aang said as he pointed down to the others.

Harry sighed. "I told them not to wander…"

The two landed in front of the others. Aang was using all of his Airbender training to only appear he was about to explode in anger.

"Are you alright? Aang?" Katara immediately asked.

"Really?" Aang asked flatly as he looked to her with a frown.

Katara looked taken aback to that. She should have known he wouldn't be alright already. It still hurt to be looked at that way by him. It hurt more than she thought it would.

"He's controlling himself at least," Harry answered.

"Why did you all move? Didn't Harry tell you to stay put?" Aang asked in a no-nonsense manner.

"We need water. Don't have much left," Sokka said.

"Yeah. Just Sugar Tits' bending water," Toph said making a yuck face. There was no telling where all that water had been, even if Katara refreshed it when possible.

Katara shot Toph a look, but left it alone. She was too tired to get into a fight now.

"Do you at least remember the way back?" Harry asked.

"We walked in a straight line…" Sokka said a little unsure.

Harry sighed.

"Can't you use this as a chance to test whatever it is you were going to do?" Aang asked. "If not. I'll go look for Appa myself. Again."

Harry concentrated. Aang did have a point. "Trackeyous!" he called out as he waved his wand in a quick pattern. He and the others waited a moment.

"This seems useless…" Aang muttered.

Harry rolled his eyes, but it did work. He didn't show how relieved he was when the spell started to work. It was a spell used for tracking obviously. What it did was provide a visual trail to follow. There were two key ways to get it to work. One was to have a clear idea of who or what you were following. The other was to start from a place you knew your target was.

"That's amazing!" Katara said.

"Yeah…" Aang said as he led the group back. He soon raised an eyebrow as he saw the track was all but straight. He gave Sokka a hard look.

"Okay… So it was a straightish line…" Sokka said.

"That's not straight at all!" Aang retorted. Harry sighed and nodded in agreement to Aang's words.

"We really needed the water…" Sokka replied.

"Can't Harry just summon it up?" Katara asked.

"It doesn't exactly work that way. You can't just create something out nothing like that when you conjure something. There has to be a source to it. Granted, said source doesn't have to be too much, but it still has to be something," Harry said.

"The desert is too dry?" Katara asked.

Harry nodded to her.

"Let's just get going already! Harry's spell worked. Once we get back, we can use it again to find the sandbenders," Aang said impatiently.

"Hopefully… Sadly, there is a time limit…" Harry said with a frown.

"What?!" Aang asked in frustration.

"It will still kind of work… Most likely," Harry replied.

"How likely are we talking? How much time did Sokka waste?" Aang asked with a huff.

"Hey… Water is kind of important you know…" Sokka answered with a frown.

"It should give us a general direction at the very least," Harry answered Aang.

Aang gave another huff in annoyance to that. He wanted to say more, but he did promise to control himself.

[-] [-] [-]

As Zuko sat back in this Junk shop, or whatever it was, he watched his uncle play the shop owner in a game of Pai Sho. There was a part of him that felt the game almost seemed rehearsed, if that made sense.

His uncle was winning, but he didn't even seem to be looking at the game as he placed the pieces. The man playing him did the same thing. They looked at the board, but it was obvious they weren't focused on the game itself. Rehearsed as it seemed, Zuko couldn't help but watch intently.

It wasn't too much longer until the tiles were all placed. The pattern they formed was something Zuko hadn't really seen before, even if the two seemed to be following the rules of the game while placing them. The tiles on the board were arranged in the shape of a lotus flower. Zuko wondered if that was brilliant, or if it was a little too easy to copy. Perhaps there was more to their words as well while they arranged the tiles.

"Welcome, brother. The White Lotus opens wide to those who know her secrets," the man said to Iroh as he extended his hand. Iroh took it as he grinned in a friendly manner to shop owner.

"Great. So now what?" Zuko asked.

The man grinned to them…

[-] [-] [-]

The group was making some progress. Harry's spell worked well enough to give them a general direction, but it would make sudden and jarring corrections. Aang still wasn't satisfied with their rate of progress and it was taking all of his monk training not to blame everything on Sokka.

Luckily, the others were keeping mostly to themselves, even Momo was calmer than usual. The only words being said were Sokka's complaints about being thirsty. The others mostly ignored him, but didn't argue. As much as they hated his griping, he did have a point.

Aang finally turned to him and snapped a little. "Maybe if you didn't keep yakking on and on. You might not be as thirsty!" he almost roared. He didn't care how little what he said made sense.

Sokka didn't like Aang obviously lashing out at him. He also wasn't in the best of moods either. He was thirsty. The sun was beating down on them unrelentingly and it was far too hot, even for a desert as far as he was concerned.

"Yeah?! It won't matter if we find Appa or not when we die of thirst," Sokka said.

Aang was about to go nuclear and everyone could tell.

"Look!" shouted Katara far louder than necessary. Sokka and Aang couldn't help but look to her. "A cactus," she finished.

"Water!" Sokka shouted as he and Momo dashed over to the desert plant.

"Sokka. Wait-" Harry started but he was too late.

Sokka and Momo were already harvesting the cactus. "What's the matter?" Sokka asked after he already finished his second helping of the thirst-quenching liquid.

His pupils suddenly grew large and his mouth hung open.

Harry sighed. "I was going to check if it was safe to drink…"

"Can you do something about it?" Katara asked.

"What are you talking aboutttt?" Sokka said in a strange draw. "Oooo… I love it when the sky goes alllll polk-a-dot."

Momo was suddenly flying in circles seemingly chasing his tail in the sky.

Harry shook his head and just got to work on the remaining cactus water. One of their problems was solved for the moment. Harry wasn't fully sure what to do about Sokka though. He was tempted to petrify him and use leviocorpus. That would require too much concentration for the moment. He needed to concentrate on the trail, which seemed to be fading.

"There isn't as much left as I hoped there would be after making it safe, but here is some water," Harry said as he handed out cactus cups. He looked to Aang who seemed intent on refusing it. "Refusing the water isn't going to make things faster," Harry said to him evenly.

Aang gave a frown as he accepted the cup. "Are you sure this spell is still working?" Aang asked.

"It is losing strength, but still going well enough. Our pace is nowhere near the speed of those sand sailers," Harry admitted with a frown.

Toph felt much more refreshed after having some water finally. "I never knew water was so damn good!" Toph said as Sokka giggled. Something was off about it though. Toph turned to him and raised an eyebrow. She could focus a little more, since she wasn't so thirsty. "What are you laughing at?"

"Can't you see it? I mean you have like twenty eyes now. Their rainbow colored too!" he said.

"How is that… funny?" Toph asked. She felt it was best to just go with it at the moment.

"I mean come on! The Kyoshi Warriors are doing the Can-Can. I have to say I didn't expect Suki to have such lacy black underwear," Sokka said as he gave a perverted giggle. He then muttered, "The way their all sucked up…"

Katara gave a disgusted look to her brother.

"First of all… Ewww!" started Toph. "Also, I have no idea who Suki is and I've only heard tales about the Kyoshi Warriors," she continued. "And lastly. Ewwwwww! I don't need to know about another girl's underwear situation. Ever!" She would have sent a rock at him, but there was only sand here.

Sokka was suddenly wrapped up in a rope. "I didn't know you could do that with hair…" Sokka said in awe.

"Time to go," Harry started as he tugged on the other end of Sokka's… leash. That's what it essentially was. This way Sokka wouldn't wander off, and they wouldn't have to worry about physically dragging him with them.

"About time," Aang said with a sigh. His anger was slowly receding after so much walking and finally having some water.

[-] [-] [-]

Zuko was annoyed.

It wasn't because they were still in the junk shop either. What annoyed him is he was left here in this storage room part of the store while his uncle seemed to be having the time of his life. Admittedly, it was mostly being excluded that got to him.

"Sorry. Members only," the store owner had said just as the door closed in Zuko's face earlier.

The Exiled Prince wanted to be angrier, but they were still technically ahead of schedule. That still didn't mean he wasn't bored. "It's about night time now," he thought to himself.

The door then opened and his uncle stepped out. "It was so interesting to meet a grand lotus," the store keeper said.

Zuko sighed. "Please tell me you weren't just chatting this whole time…"

His uncle gave a grin as he said, "We were chatting actually."

Zuko was about to let out a frustrated sigh.

"Turns out a couple of Earthbenders managed to see us right as we entered town," Iroh then said seriously.

"Are they after us?" Zuko asked in concern.

"They were asking for a blind girl wearing Earth Kingdom garb. We misdirected them with some effort, but figured it would be best if you two waited a little while before leaving after them," the junk dealer said.

Zuko gave a slight nod. "You have my thanks," he said.

"Your thanks aren't needed. We were honored to have a Grand Lotus as a guest," the man replied as he turned and nodded to Iroh.

A young man then came up and handed them both sacks and papers. "Passports and some supplies for your journey," he said before bowing and leaving.

"Best to take the back way out. With the war still on going, security is tight and entrance to Ba Sing Se is very limited. Even when everything works out perfectly smooth, it will still take a good while to wait for the ferry and the ride itself is rather long," the shopkeeper explained to them as he led the way.

"Seems we don't much have a choice…" Zuko said darkly. He was starting to accept their recent lot in life, but he still wasn't thrilled about it. Being exiled was one thing. Being a high-ranking fugitive was an altogether different matter and it was really starting to fully sink in for Zuko.

[-] [-] [-]

"It looks like it is getting stronger," Katara said as she stood on the recovered sand sailer they found broken and buried in the desert sands.

"Repairo really is amazing," Toph said as she sat down on it. Toph was able to sense the craft under the sand after finally having some water. She could even point out the different sections of it. Harry levitated the pieces from the sand and repaired it. After that, they were finally able to make some solid progress.

Sokka then smacked his lips and said, "Hmmmm… I love the taste of Pinpurple." He was currently tied up to the main mast of the sand sailer.

Harry shook his head and said, "I'm just glad we could actually tie him up properly." Toph gave a laugh to that. Sokka's cactus water induced ravings were more entertaining when you weren't dying of thirst and didn't have to worry about him wandering off.

"I see what looks like a village of some sort," Aang said from the front as he looked ahead.

"Good! We'll ask them if they've seen anyone or Appa," Katara said.

Aang hopped back to take over sail filling duty. He was the better Airbender.

Soon they came up to the group of people. They were all dressed in the same garb the sandbenders back in the Oasis were. Aang then brought the sand sailer around to cut them off from possibly escaping.

"Who are you to ride a sand sailer?" the man who seemed to be the leader asked.

"Where's Appa?!" Aang demanded. His patience was wearing thin once he saw them.

"What are you talking about?" the man asked in genuine confusion.

"He's accusing us of stealing?! That sandsailer belongs to the Hami tribe. They're just a bunch thieves in the dunes!" a younger man who looked similar to the older man blurted out.

Toph tugged on Harry's arm. "That's him. He's the one who led the group of bison snatchers," she whispered to him.

"Are you sure?" Harry asked as Aang grew furious and started arguing with the younger of the two men. The rest of the people were obviously worried. Aang was pretty terrifying when he was angry. They were probably lucky he wasn't going into Avatar mode.

Toph nodded. "I don't forget a voice," she said.

"I'll bring this to a quick and peaceful end," Harry said out loud. The others looked to him. He then dashed forward with his wand out. The other sandbenders tensed, but were still scared of pissing off Aang further. "Obliviate," Harry said quietly.

The younger man blinked blankly.

Harry hated doing this, but he was angry too and the desert was wearing on him just as much as the others. He wanted this over with. He would have to make sure he didn't start relying on this too much. It was too easy… It was also the Lockhart Way.

"You were just about to tell us the truth," Harry calmly told the man.

His vision seemed to clear. "I didn't know it was the Avatar's Sky Bison! I wouldn't have stolen it if I did!" he said quickly once his eyes returned to their normal light.

"My son…" the older man said in a heartbroken tone. "You know I've been working to put an end to that reputation of ours. Then you go and do this?" he asked.

"You've been trying for years! They still don't trust us much at all. Most of the offers we get are still thieving jobs!" the son said. His genuine frustration at the other people despite his father's care and honesty came through clearly in his words.

"Yes… It has been a few years now," the father started. "But our people were thieves and murderers for generations! Gaining trust after that? Is going to take a long time."

"It… It doesn't matter now anyways… Their bison will be half way to Ba Sing Se by now, if he isn't already there," the younger man said. He almost sounded sorry, but was more defensive in his tone.

"Ba Sing Se?" Aang asked almost hopelessly.

"We must make this right. You can't take the old usual routes to Ba Sing Se. The war is still going on in the Earth Kingdoms. There are two options… Serpent's Pass…" the man started.

"Father! You can't tell them to take that route… I know I did wrong… But that path is deadly…" the son said in worry.

"And their deaths would partly be on your head," he said sternly to his son.

The son looked down sullenly. "I'm sorry… I know it isn't much, but it is all I can give…" he muttered.

"We are all sorry. We will deal with him as you deem fit, Avatar," the father said in deference to Aang.

Aang sighed. "Do as you will… I don't know your tribe well enough to decide his fate… I won't be held responsible for anything too dire though," he said. He was still the pacifist and life loving monk he always was, even now. Harry felt great admiration for his Master Instructor when it came to moments like this.

"We will take you to Full Moon Bay. There is a ferry that leaves from there. It is safer, even if it is a bit slower," the father said.

"I think it's obvious. And I'm blind. Safe ferry over deadly pass," Toph said.

The others ended up agreeing with her. Sokka still kept the pass in mind. It would be a good backup in case the ferry didn't work out. He was starting to finally come down from his cactus juice high and seeing a might bit clearer.

[-] [-] [-]

Things had not really been going as well as they hoped while waiting for the ferry in Full Moon Bay. The lady behind the counter was very mean… or rather set in her ways. She loved bureaucracy and all that came with it.

Toph did help out huge in the end. She used her family's seal to get the lady to cooperate. She even convinced the lady Momo was her 'seeing-eye-lemur'. Then things took an unfortunate turn. They were going to have to wait a long time. It seemed the ferry was very in demand, but could only make so many trips safely.

"I guess we have to wait…" Sokka said mostly to himself.

Suddenly a security guard girl came up to Sokka and demanded, "Tickets and Passports please!"

"Is there a problem?" Sokka asked looking the girl over. She seemed a bit familiar.

Katara gave a giggle and whispered to Harry, "There might not have been at first, but there is now."

"I guess I can kind of get why it isn't clicking for him right away," Harry whispered back.

Aang actually gave a smile and was about to blurt out a hello, but Harry placed a hand over his mouth to stop him.

"Just watch Aang, this will be good," Katara said hiding a giggle again.

Toph felt left out, but decided to just watch and get the full details later.

"Yeah. I have a problem with you," the guard started teasingly, even if Sokka wasn't fully aware.

"I know your type. Sarcastic. Thinks you're so hilarious … And let me guess. You're traveling with the Avatar," she said with a smirk that confused Sokka.

"This is good," Aang said with a smile. He was getting a little better since they were out of the desert now and knew where to go, even if they were behind.

"Do I know you?" Sokka asked. He hated to admit it, but she kind of nailed his personality with that.

"You mean you don't remember me?" she asked in fake shock.

Sokka was feeling pretty bad right now. He still couldn't quite get who she was though. She was also pretty.

The girl then gave a lovely smile. "Maybe this will help you remember," she said in a mysterious and flirty tone.

She then kissed him in the same way she did for their first kiss.

Sokka's blue eyes lit up. "Suki!" he called out happily before hugging her tightly.

"Sokka!" Suki replied just as happily. "It's so great to see you again!"

A/N: Sorry it took so long to get this chapter out. I've been writing other stories and mostly I had trouble figuring out where to end this chapter. I felt my original plan would end up way too long. There was also the fact that somehow my writings did not carry over when I was visiting family for the holidays. This meant I couldn't do any work on the story when taking a moment to myself, usually before going to bed.

It's not that I haven't been working on this story either. I have written a chapter or two of Ba Sing Se and I have written several new chapters for Harry's Post Bending Countries adventures with the girl I have chosen. I'm not saying something couldn't change who I go with, but I am pretty set on her now. I like her way too much.

I've talked before about how I had a completely different romance in mind. I was planning to keep Hogwarts a bit more separate at first, but in most of the romance scenes I wrote I kept thinking "But *insert name of girl* would be so much better… and more fun!".

I've also written a good bit for after his return, which includes how the Graveyard scene plays out in this story. Hint, though probably expected, it goes very differently from Canon. This Harry has seen actual war by that point and he is a lot more powerful.

I've also written "Moody's" fate. I was inspired by a different story for writing it, but gave it my own twist. I will try to remember to credit them as the inspiration, but not until after his fate plays out. Otherwise, it would be spolierish.