AN: hey! so this story was inspired by actually a discord conversation i had with a friend, i'm also noting this now that this is my first time writing a story like this, so please let me know if i do anything wrong. anyways, enjoy!

Character ages: Toph is 16, Aang is 17, Katara is 19, and Sokka is 20

the Gaang were on another mission as they usually were, except this time they were going to Ba Sing Se to meet with the Earth King, which led them to having to fly through a desert, the desert where Appa was stolen a few years ago. because of their not so enjoyable memories that they had in this desert, they made sure they would be careful while traveling through it this time.

Toph and Sokka were sitting in Appa's saddle talking while Katara and Aang sat together on Appa's head. even though the Gaang were all good friends, they had formed into some couples over the years, leading to them liking some alone time with their partners, especially since most of the world knew about the Gaang's relationship status's, they barely got time away alone with their partners since when they went out in public they would be surrounded by fans, especially Aang and Katara since Aang was the Avatar.

they had been flying for hours when Aang realized that Appa was starting to get too tired to fly, Aang knew that if Appa kept flying with all their things and them on him, he would soon pass out from flying so long with all the weight. So as Aang noted this, he grabbed his map and looked to see if there were any near by villages they could stop at to rest for the night, only to see the Misty Palms Oasis. this was the place they had stopped at last time before going to the Wan Shi Tong library, where Appa was taken. having no where else to go, Aang decided that he would land Appa there and they would stay there for the night

after around 20 minutes of flying, Aang had finally spotted the Oasis and started to start bringing Appa down to land, Sokka noticed this however, "hey, why are you taking us down?" Sokka asked the young airbender from his spot on Appa's saddle, slightly confused. "Appa is too tired to keep flying so it'd be best if we land and stay here for the night." Aang explained while looking over his shoulder at Sokka, which got him a nod from Sokka telling him he understood.

Appa had finally landed, the sun was just then setting when they had landed. Aang was about to get off Appa's head when he realized Katara had fallen asleep on his shoulder, making him smile at how peaceful she looked when she was sleeping. although after looking at Katara for a minute or two, Aang decided to wake her up so they could find somewhere to stay for the night, even though he felt bad about disturbing her sleep. Aang shook Katara gently to wake her up, slightly smiling when he saw her eyes flutter open. "hey sweetie" Katara whispered to Aang, earning her a smile from him, "hey" he whispered back to her "sorry for waking you up, but we need to stop and let Appa rest for the night" Aang explained to her quietly, she nodded to him then rubbed her eyes so that they could focus a bit easier. seeing that Katara was somewhat fully awake, Aang decided to gently pick her up bridal style and lightly jumped off of Appa's head using his airbending to land, after he gently yet reluctantly put Katara down as he watched Toph and Sokka climb down off of Appa

"what are we doing here again Twinkle Toes?" Toph asked Aang, as she was somewhat grumpy from having to be woken up by Sokka as she also was asleep when they arrived. "Appa has to rest, i'm sure we can find somewhere to stay for the night" just as Aang had replied too Toph, they heard a woman's voice behind them "excuse me, are you the Avatar?" she asked, they all turned to look at her only to see a middle aged woman looking at them curiously "yes I am" Aang replied, "do you need somewhere to stay? you look like you all could use some rest" the woman said to them with a warm smile, "actually that would be amazing, thank you" Aang said sounding relieved from not having to ask people if there was anywhere they could stay. "great, i'll let you get your things and i'll show you to my inn where you can stay for the night" the woman told them, as they began to grab their things and let her lead the way to the inn

the woman had them walk for around 5 minutes until they reached the inn "this is my inn, i'll lead you guys to your rooms" the nice woman said, "rooms?" Sokka asked, surprised they weren't all going to be sharing one room. "of course, i've heard of your relationships, Toph and Sokka and the famous Katara and Avatar Aang, i thought you guys would like to have your own rooms" the woman explained, to which Sokka nodded in a thanks. "quick question" Katara finally spoke, after being quiet since she woke up, she was leaning against Aang for support since she was quite tired, "if you don't mind me asking, what is your name miss?" Katara finished, referring to the woman who had brought them to the inn "my name is Lin" she replied calmly, making Aang speak "well it's nice to meet you Lin, and thank you for helping us" he said thankfully, as they came to two doors on opposite sides of the hallway leading too two different rooms "it's nice to meet you as well, and it's the least i could do for the hero's who ended the hundred year war. anyways, here's your rooms" Lin had spoke in a calm, quiet voice since it was now after dark and other people in the inn might be sleeping. they said their thanks to Lin and headed into their rooms, Toph and Sokka going into one and Aang and Katara going into the other.

Aang put his and Katara's things on the floor after closing the room's door, at this point he was basically carrying Katara since she had almost passed out in his arms, she had said she would fly Appa most of the way so the others could get some rest after being tired from their recent mission, so she had barely gotten sleep in days from flying Appa. Aang put Katara on the bed and laid her head on a pillow and pulled the blanket up to her shoulders since it was rather cold that night, while she was still in her regular clothes, as she had said she was too tired to change into her undergarments. Aang changed into his undergarments and laid next to Katara as he was also tired from their journey, not to his surprise though, he felt Katara snuggle up next to him as he put his arms around her and pulled her close. Aang noticed that Katara had already fallen asleep in his arms, and he decided to do the same and he quickly fell asleep.

-x-X-X-x

"you have the Avatar and his friends staying at your inn, correct?" a sandbender asked Lin, Lin nodded with a smirk "i know who your going for, and i saw the girl, she was struggling just to walk from i'm assuming how tired she was, she won't have the energy to fight you off." Lin told the sandbender, "very good, and she's still with the Avatar i'm assuming?" the sandbender asked, "she is but he also looked somewhat tired, if your careful and quick you will most likely not have to deal with him." she replied, hoping she would just get her money soon. "alright, we already have the room number, once we get what we want, you'll get your money." the sandbender told Lin, she nodded in response.

"to my understanding, you just want the girl, right?" Lin asked, wondering if they'd try and take some items from her inn "yeah, just the girl, the guy who wants her is paying big money for us getting her." the sandbender told her, making her sigh in somewhat relief that her items and inn would be fine. "alright then, here's the key to get it, just return it when you give me the money, i'm going to go lock up and prepare for your "break in" as you call it." Lin told the man before her, "deal." he replied before walking off.

to be continued...