Disclaimer: All rights belong to Nickelodeon, Bryan Konietzko, Michael Dante DiMartino, and all the men and women that created the A:TLA show, books, and comics. I take no credit, and I do not mean to break any copyright rules. This is simply a work of fiction made for enjoyment. No money is being made. The lyrics are from the song "Immortals" by Fall Out Boy

Rating: General Audiences. Warning: some scenes contain dark themes and minor violence

Author's Note: I bet in the Avatar universe they say "All roads lead to Ba Sing Se"

Chapter 11: Refugees

Sometimes the only pay off for having any faith,

Is when it's tested again and again everyday

"How could you let them take Katara?" Aang shouts. His fists clench by his sides. He doesn't get angry often. In fact, he doesn't think he's ever been this angry before in his entire life.

He thought Toph was their friend. And she just gave up Katara to the Fire Nation. Katara! She gave up Katara!

Toph doesn't react. "I did what I had to do," she states blunty.

"You didn't have to give her up to the Fire Nation! We could have fought them!"

"It was Katara's choice to make, not ours. She chose to give herself up. We have to respect her decision."

Aang feels like he's about to explode. "She made a bad decision! We should have fought them anyway, not just sacrificed Katara!"

Toph's utter calmness drives him crazy. "If we had fought them, they would have killed Zuko."

"And we'd still have Katara."

It's silent for a long time. Aang's last statement hovers in the air.

Sokka finally speaks up. His voice is oddly subdued. "Toph is right," he finally says. "It was Katara's decision to make. I hate it as much as you do, but we have to trust her."

"What do you have against that Zuko guy, anyway?" Toph asks.

Aang sits down and glowers at his feet. "He's the one who betrayed Katara."

"He's also the only reason we all escaped the Fire Nation prison," Sokka points out. "Look, I don't know the guy. I don't like that he captured my sister. I don't like that he's Fire Nation. But I know my sister, and I know that she's a good judge of character. She wouldn't defend him if she didn't think he was worth defending."

"It seems to me that if she cares about this guy, you should care about him, too," Toph adds. "Because if Katara cares about him and something bad happens to him, she's going to be hurt. And if you really care about her, you wouldn't want her to be hurt."

Aang takes a deep breath. He doesn't really want Zuko to die. He doesn't want anyone to die, not even the Fire Lord. He was just so caught up in his anger. The monks spent years warning him not to become angry because bad things happen when a person is overwhelmed. Now he understands their warnings.

He tries to meditate for a moment, clearing his head of his anger. When he opens his eyes again, the crimson haze around his vision is gone.

"I'm sorry," he apologizes. "I don't know what got into me. You guys are right."

It's not the full truth. He knows exactly what got into him. He knows he would do anything for Katara. Even if it meant sacrificing, say for instance, a certain fire prince of dubious character.

"Azula agreed that we were free. That means the Fire Nation isn't hunting us." Sokka pulls out a map. "I think we should follow them. Maybe an opportunity will come up for us to rescue Katara."

"That's a good idea," Aang says. He climbs up Appa's neck and grabs the reins. "They can't move too fast on those rhinos. At least, not faster than Appa. We can catch up to them in no time."

"And when we finally fight 'em, we can knock some heads." Toph smacks a fist into her other palm. "We'll show the princess who really is powerful."

Aang can get on board with that idea. But first they have to find them.

He slides back into the saddle and grabs his staff. "I'm going to do some scouting ahead, see if I can cover more ground," he tells Sokka and Toph. "I'll be back soon."

"Be careful," Sokka says. "We can't afford to get even more split up."

Aang nods. Then he opens the wings on his staff and jumps off Appa. He glides through the air quickly, riding on the breeze.

He finds his stress and worries peel away. Not completely, but he begins to see things from a more logical point of view instead of just emotional. As angry as he is about the situation, he understands why Katara gave herself up. She's so kind and compassionate and caring. She would give herself up for anyone. He can't fault her for being her.

And her kindness is one of the reasons he likes her so much.

He sees a dark colored blur on the ground below. He swoops closer and sees the group of komodo rhinos. But when he looks for Katara, he can't find her. In fact, he only sees Fire Nation soldiers. The princess and the other girls are nowhere to be seen.

They must have split up. A decoy group, perhaps, or simply Azula wanted to travel without the soldiers. Either way, Aang has to find the others. They must have Katara.

He flies back upwards and continues his search. He's not going to give up until he finds her.

He can't.

Aang lands on Appa's back, stumbling slightly. Sokka reaches out and steadies him.

"Did you see her?" he asks impatiently.

Aang nods. "They split up into two groups, one going northwest, probably back to the Fire Nation. But the group with Azula and Katara is heading northeast. We're not too far behind. But there's something else you guys might want to see." He turns. "Appa, bring us lower."

The air bison obeys, sinking towards the earth. When they break through the cloud cover, what they see below is a surprise.

A huge lake stretches out beneath them. On the near shore is a few boats packed with people or loading. Hundreds, maybe even thousands, of people are crowded along the shores, trying to get to the boats. Most of them wear the green and brown tones of the Earth Kingdom.

"What's going on?" Toph asks.

Sokka describes the scene aloud for her. Then he turns to Aang. "Why are all those people there?"

"I don't know," Aang admits. He bites his lip and looks out ahead, past the lake. "Azula and the others caught a boat of their own a little farther down the shore. If we keep going ahead, we can probably catch them within the hour."

"It's no use," Toph says.

"What do you mean?"

"We can't fight them on water," she explains. "None of us are Waterbenders, and there's no Earth to bend. They'll have the advantage. We'll have to wait until they make landfall. Why not land and take a quick look around, see what's going on?"

Aang stares back out ahead. Sokka knows that he wants desperately to chase after Katara, but Toph has a point. Besides, what's happening below could be important.

"Alright," Aang finally says. "Just a quick look around." He takes the reins and brings Appa down, landing just behind the crowds. They get off and walk around a bit, startled by the amount of tents and make-shift homes built next to the shore. Some of the people look like they've been waiting for days to get on a ship.

"Hey," Sokka asks a guy who is walking by. "Why are so many people here?"

"Our homes have been destroyed or threatened by the Fire Nation," he says. "We're trying to get to safety behind the walls of Ba Sing Se. We just want a better life."

They follow the stream of people walking towards the ticket stands. An older woman with a permanent scowl stamps a ticket.

"I've told you already!" she scolds the man in front of her. "No vegetables on the ferry! One cabbage slug could destroy the entire ecosystem of Ba Sing Se! Security!"

A big bear roars and stands up on its hind legs. Sokka winces as it crashes its paws down, destroying the cabbage cart of the unfortunate man.

"My cabbages!" the man howls, sinking to his knees. Two security men escort him away.

"Next!" the woman calls out.

A pregnant woman, her husband, and another man step forward. "Three tickets for Ba Sing Se, please," the husband says, his arm around his wife.

"Passports," the woman orders.

"Uh…" The man looks around in confusion. "We don't have passports, ma'am. Everyone we own was destroyed."

"No passports, no tickets. Now, do I need to call security?"

The man glances at the bear, who crunches down on a cabbage. He shakes his head and backs up. "No."

"We should help them," Aang insists.

"What can we do?" Sokka asks. "We don't have passports, either."

Toph stalks ahead of them. "I'll take care of this," she says. She walks up and slides her passport onto the desk. "My name is Toph Beifong and I'll need three tickets."

The woman's eyes widen. "Oh! The gold seal of the flying boar!" She spreads her arms. "It is my pleasure to help anyone of the Beifong family."

"It is your pleasure," Toph says cockily.

"Well...normally it's only one ticket per passport, but this document is so official…" The woman stares at longingly. "I guess it's worth three tickets."

"Thank you very much." Toph takes the stamped tickets and walks over to the pregnant woman and the two men. "Excuse me?"

They all turn. "Yes?" the husband asks, a confused expression on his face.

"I don't mean to eavesdrop, but I noticed you guys needed some tickets. I happen to have three extra here, and it would be a shame if they went to waste." Toph holds them out. "You can have them, if you want."

Toph can't see their expressions, so Sokka makes a mental note to tell her later. The woman tears up and the man's eyes brighten. The other man reaches out and takes the tickets.

"Thank you so much," the woman says. "I don't know how to repay you."

Toph shrugs. "Like I said, they were extra. Have a safe ride."

She rejoins the others and they start to walk back to the exit. There's nothing more for them here. Just as they're about to reach the door, Sokka is tugged backwards by his collar.

"Hey-"

"Tickets and passport, please," a young woman in security getup says aggressively, her hand held out.

Sokka's heart beats wildly. "Is there a problem?" he asks. He glances backwards to see the others looking worriedly at him.

"Yeah! I got a problem with you." She pokes at his chest and stares right into him with her deep blue eyes. Blue eyes are so rare outside the Water Tribe…Before Sokka can make the connection, she interrupts his thoughts. "I've seen your type before. Probably sarcastic, think you're hilarious, and let me guess - you're travelling with the Avatar."

Sokka squints. Those eyes do look familiar...and so does the voice…

"Suki!" he exclaims, throwing his arms around her. She laughs and hugs him back.

"It's so good to see you, Sokka," she says, right before leaning up and planting a kiss on his lips. He can feel himself blushing. Then she looks behind him and waves at Aang.

"Who's the new girl?" she asks. "And where's Katara?"

Sokka feels his good mood vanish. "Is there someplace we can talk?" he asks.

She nods. "Follow me."

Suki leads them to a pavilion alongside the banks of the lake. There are benches for them to sit on. Suki takes a seat next to Sokka and wraps her arm around his waist. He wishes this reunion wasn't soured by the events of earlier.

"We haven't met yet," Suki says, looking over at Toph. "I'm Suki, from Kyoshi Island."

"I'm Toph," the other girl says simply.

"She's also from the Earth Kingdom," Aang adds. "She's an amazing Earthbender."

"But tell us your story first," Sokka insists. "Are you here alone? Or are the other Kyoshi warriors with you?"

She nods. "After you left, and after the threat to our island was eliminated, we wanted to find a way to help people. We escorted a group of refugees and we've been here ever since."

"I'm glad we ran into you," Aang admits. "We really could use your help."

"Why? What happened?"

Sokka takes it upon himself to tell the story. "We were looking for an earthbending teacher, like Oyaji suggested. We had some false leads and some interesting adventures, but eventually we found Toph here. She was just started to teach Katara earthbending today when Azula showed up."

Suki's eyes widen. "Azula found you guys again?"

Sokka nods. "And this time she was ready. She brought Zuko along as a hostage to blackmail Katara into giving herself up. As a condition of surrender, we were set free."

"We were following Azula and the others to try and rescue Katara when we saw what was happening down here and decided to take a look around," Aang adds. He looks across the river. "But we need to get back on their trail again."

Suki frowns. "You followed Azula here?"

"We were almost caught up to them when they went across the river," Sokka says. "We don't want to let them get too far ahead and lose them."

She shakes her head. "No point in worrying. If they were headed in this direction, then there's only one place they could be going."

"What do you mean?" Aang asks.

Toph breaks her silence. "There's only one place to go in this part of the world," she says. "The same place where all the refugees are going. Azula is taking Katara to Ba Sing Se."

"But why? The Fire Nation has tried and failed to conquer Ba Sing Se before. The walls are impenetrable," Sokka says.

"The Fire Nation has tried. Azula hasn't."

A tense silence falls over the group as they realize what this new information means. Ba Sing Se is the last big Earth Kingdom city, the last safe haven in the world. If Ba Sing Se falls to the Fire Nation…

"We have to rescue Katara and prevent Azula from taking the city," Aang finally says, breaking the silence. He stands. "We need to get going."

"You'll need help," Suki says. "You guys go on ahead. My warriors and I will follow." She takes Sokka's hand. "We'll save Katara. I promise."

Sokka leans in and kisses her. "We'll see each other at Ba Sing Se then."

Then he turns and follows the others as they sprint to where they left Appa and Momo.