Day 2 Sand

She was mad, and not just mad, she was pissed. She had woken up in the palace and found him missing. Almost no one could sneak out without her knowledge, but, she had to admit, he was one of the few who could. Her boyfriend had disappeared sometime in the night and all he had left was a small clue. The guards and council of elders had been in and searched his rooms, questioning her, but all she had said was that he had seemed a little off after he had received a letter last night. She didn't mention the clue he had left, the only clue as to where he could have disappeared.

Sand. A small pile of sand where the letter had been was the only clue he had left, and if anyone could figure it out, it was Toph, the world's greatest earthbender, and there she was, holding the sand in her hand as she tried to figure out where it came from. It had a lot of quartz, as most sands did, and it had feldspar and sandstone, meaning there was some granite near the origin. But there was something else. Toph moved the grains around and took her other hand to the pile to separate out the grains. Pulling the quartz away, and then the feldspar and sandstone, she was left with a few types of minerals, but the next most abundant and the one that shocked her the most was olivine, a small gemstone that originated in volcanic rocks. And she had felt this type of mineral in abundance once before.

"Oh, come on Sparky," she moaned to herself, "why did you have to go there of all places?"

It took her a week, and a little help from Aang and Appa to get to the Misty Palms Oasis. She jumped off the flying bison and felt the sand shift beneath her feet. It had been a long time since she had been there, and almost as long since she had dealt with this much sand.

"Toph, are you sure I can't help you find him?" Aang asked for the hundredth time.

Toph just nodded. "I'm sure Twinkle Toes. I know the general area, aaaannnnnd," she punched him in the shoulder and grinned when he winced and leaned away to rub the sore spot, "I can feel sand better than you can."

"But Toph…"

"No buts," she said and turned to him, readying her fist again. He jumped back, just like he did when they were children and her grin grew. "And Katara is expecting any day now. Go on back to your wife. I can take care of myself."

"And Zuko," Aang said with a sly smirk in his tone.

Toph turned away from the Avatar and her smile slipped. "Yeah, and Zuko." She hoped.

Aang must have noticed something, but he just headed into the main building to get provisions for her. She pet Appa while shifting her feet in the sand, getting used to the feel of it again. By the time Aang had returned, she felt more comfortable with the sand. She turned to him and helped him lift the provisions onto Appa's saddle.

When they were finished, Toph sat back in the saddle. "All right, take me to the rock outcropping, and then head on south."

"Fine," Aang sighed. "But if I see any signs of Zuko while I'm heading south, I'll come back and get you."

"You mean if I don't find him first," Toph teased. Aang didn't reply and as Appa took off, Toph's thoughts turned to why Zuko could have run off. She thought she knew why and had kept wondering why here of all places. All too soon, Appa touched down on the sand. Toph strapped on the water sacks and pulled her bag with food and blanket over her shoulder before adjusting the special clothes sandbenders wore once more. She knew they would keep her cool in the day and warm at night and block the sun and wind from tearing at her skin.

"Thanks Twinkletoes," she said as she jumped off and landed in a kneeling position, one hand in the sand. She felt Appa still in the sand and turned her face to frown up towards Aang. "Get lost, and go to your wife! I'll have Sparky send word once we're back in civilization again."

Appa didn't move and Toph could feel the Avatar on the bison's back, wavering. "But, the Avatar state could…"

"I'm the best one to find him, Aang," Toph interrupted. "We both know it, so go on." The Avatar and his bison still stood there in silence and Toph sighed. "It's my job."

She felt Aang nod and the bison took off. She heard Appa growl as they circled once, but she had told the truth, she had a job to do. It had been her responsibility for the past four years to protect Zuko, and now that they were dating, she felt the responsibility even more. But thinking wasn't getting her any closer. She needed to concentrate and she did. Tuning herself to the shifting sand, and becoming one with it, she searched. She found some small desert animals close by, the wasp-buzzards of the hill, and then some sandbenders to the west with some of their boats. She felt the mineral composite to the west was more like the sample left in the Fire Nation and she concentrated further. She was about to give up and start heading that direction to get a clearer feel of the area when she felt it. It was like getting hit, the sand was struck by different mineral altogether. A small amount, yes, but when one is looking at individual grains of sand, a rock can be very large indeed. She immediately got up and started bending her way in the direction of the rock. It had felt like a punch to her, and someone had punched the sand with that rock on their finger. And it wasn't just any ordinary rock, but one she knew quite well. There were only a few samples of it she knew of, and two of them were owned by her best friend and her boyfriend, while she held the third piece. It was meteorite and she knew where Zuko was, and she knew he was in trouble.

To be continued…