gemsofformenos: Thank you again ^_^ Yeah, I figured that readers could use another little break. Katara needed her time to shine and really be who she was in the show. And Jet needed a good verbal whoopin'. But yes, there are always consequences.

"And also thumbs up for Sokka. His reaction at Dr. Fongs quote, as Suki had introduced him, was priceless. You've just nailed him, in my opinion." Thanks, I try to keep him as in character as I can. I see him as immature at times but in the end he does the right thing; he is definitely one to use humor to cope too. He was there for her and has supported her. This is so important. He finally let her know, that she's not alone." Exactly, he decided to brave up and do what was right.

"This sounds like a joke, I know, because women will have to do handle the real hard and painful work in there, but I can understand his worries. But also Suki still hasn't got a clue, what she will have to face at birth." As a woman, I feel like people sometimes downplay the stress that men feel during their significant other's labor. I definitely agree that the women have the scary part but that doesn't mean that the man can't stress too. I would imagine that it's hard to watch a loved one go through such stress. "And all Sokka could do during this time is to hold her hand." And not being able to do anything but watch and try to be supportive is hard too.

About a week since she had brought TyLee over and her mother was still refusing to talk to her. "You decided to leave your brother home all. Alone. To talk to your friend!" The dramatic way she had tossed her hands into the air did little to ease the tension. "I know you don't think far beyond yourself, young lady, but this is unacceptable. You knew how important that dinner was to your father. We were almost late because of you. We ended up having to leave Tom-Tom…" Mai ended up tuning her out entirely from there. The woman had been lecturing her on selfishness and in that same spiel, admitted her own self-interest. If Tom-Tom's well-being had matter that much, they would have skipped the dinner.

But no. Because they were the parents and she was the daughter, the blame lie with her. And TyLee hasn't talked to her since. She couldn't blame TyLee. Her mother had the audacity to phone TyLee's parents and so the girl was also in trouble.

And that was her fault too.

She had put all of her soul into not taking things out on Tom-Tom, but the more her mom spoke and chastised. The more Mai wished that the boy had never been born at all. She was a burden to her parents and Tom-Tom was a burden to her.

And he was still a burden because Mai had to watch him after school that day. She had to watch him the day after that as well and, for her crime, she wasn't allowed company either. She was barred from Chan's Halloween party too. This particularly vexed her; Halloween was the one time of the year she actually rather enjoyed. It was prime shopping season for her wardrobe, and she hadn't even had the chance to do so once that season.

She was beginning to think she should just stop trying to enjoy things at all. The less she liked, the less there was to lose. Halloween was a children's holiday anyways. And it wasn't the same now that she TyLee and Azula didn't dress up together. Just to torture herself a little more, she opened her phone and browsed old pictures. The first was very, very old; her first Halloween with the two girls. She had been a ladybug, TyLee was a bee, and Azula was a praying mantis of all things. They each held their little pumpkin buckets staring at the camera with cubby baby faces and the kind of adorably wide smiles that only children could muster. She swiped a few times to something more recent. The Halloween party from two years ago; TyLee was a zombie cheerleader, flashing a peace sign at the camera, somehow managing to hold her pom poms at the same time. Azula's costume was handcrafted and model after her zodiac sign; complete with full body paint and dashes of glitter and a pair of elaborate wings. She had gone all out that year and won the costume competition. Zuko was in this one too; his was also handmade—he had gone the vampire route but with a steampunk twist. And Mai. She was just Mai. Blah, Mai, with a generic vampire costume. Granted it suited her style well but she wished that she had the ambition to create something original.

It would seem that she wouldn't be getting her chance.

She swiped again. God, they were so happy. There was always a touch of pain in Zuko's eyes but at least he was there. And at least he was having a good time for the moment. Another swipe and she had to hold back tears, she wondered where it had gone wrong. How she had let both Azula and TyLee distance themselves.

Indeed, that was somehow her fault too.

.oOo.

Toph didn't like the look of the place at all—not that she could see it very well through swollen, stinging eyes. But her condition was getting worse and her parents were getting desperate. And so she found herself in the waiting room of the shadiest looking eye doctor she had ever not heard of. She holds her focused on her phone as hard as possible and found the voice command button. Not bothering to keep her voice low she said, "Twinkle Toes, ya gotta help me, this is sketchier than Zhao telling us that our math tests only ask questions about what we learned in class."

Lao hushed her. "You have to keep your voice down, this man is going to help fix your eyes and then you'll be able to get back to school and soccer. And he's doing it for a deal!"

"But he won't help us if you keep saying things like that, dear." Poppy added.

Toph folded her arms over her chest. "Stop calling me that!" She grumbled. She had a feeling that this doctor dude would see her regardless of her words, he just wanted to make a quick buck and she didn't want to be his lab rat.

"Doctor Warui Kōkei, will see you now."

"To bad I won't see him." Toph huffed. She had earned herself more hushing from both parents.

But the nurse chuckled, "well hopefully we can fix that, yes?"

The nurse seemed nice enough, but Toph was still skeptical. Maybe it was the crumbling and faded wallpaper or maybe it was the scuffed and creaking floorboards. It could have been the crying child or the broken clock. Whatever it was, Toph had the most foreboding feeling.

Not that her parents would take that opinion into account.

.oOo.

"Have you heard anything about BeiFong?" Mai asked Smellerbee. It had been a bitch to track the girl down in the after school rush, so she better have an answer.

"What do you care for?" The girl returned with a question of her own. "I have a bus to catch."

"And I have a question that needs an answer. BeiFong is on your soccer team, have you heard any news."

Smellerbee rolled her eyes. "Sure. Her parents are taking her to some eye doctor no one has ever heard of. If he does then I won't have to worry about her taking my place as team captain."

"I'm sure you will." Mai stated plainly. She sure hoped that the surgery, or whatever the treatment was, would go well. She watched Smellerbee stop towards her bus, leaving her to wonder if literally everyone attending Wan High—save for Aang—were in endless states of sour moods.

She knew that she was and that it was about to get worse.

Years ago, Tom-Tom running up to her screaming, "Maaaaaaai!" And then jumping into a hug would have turned her day around. That day each syllable was a crescendo off annoyance and his body colliding with hers, was a detonator. It was a silent explosion, but an explosion no less. "Get off, Tom, I've got homework to do. Sit down and watch TV or something."

He looked at her with innocent eyes, "I'm hungry though, Mai. Really, really hungry. We can go to the kitchen and play animal crackers!"

It was almost enough to break the resentment. Almost. But this time she wanted to hold onto and relish in her anger, even if she would only keep it within. On the outside she remained cold. "I don't have time for animal crackers. Stop playing with your food and just eat it." She found herself a seat on the sofa and watched him teeter off towards the kitchen, rubbing his eyes.

She pulled out her phone, Azula's number still remained in her contacts and for a moment she considered giving it a call. But she recalled the girl saying that she had other goth girls to talk to, the though left her bitter so she scrapped that idea, swapping it out for a worse one.

She dialed Zuko's phone.

Again her message went to voice mail and she was furious. Of all the times he had called her during his slumps…she had always picked up, even if it was to yell and argue. And now he had the audacity to ignore her completely? She really had been nothing more than a person to weep to after his father whopped his druggy ass a good one.

She very nearly threw the phone, when a text appeared on her screen.

She dared to hope that it was TyLee or Zuko. Instead an ugly message scrawled itself across the screen, with an even uglier photo. It took a lot to invoke a physical response, but the phone fell from her hands which came to cover her mouth. The phone fell face up so a glance down could send chills down her spine all over again.

It was bloody, the image. She couldn't tell exactly what had happened to Toph's eyes, but they were bleeding. And she was screaming, her face twisted and contorted in pain. Her hands seemed to claw at her seat as her mother held her close.

She didn't recognize the sender's number, but the message was clear and cutting.

"I hope you're happy."