Disclaimer- I don't own A:TLA

A/N- Thanks to all who reviewed!

To answer Jesse Lin's question 'Would Toph really cry?' Since she's a twelve year old girl whose father just put her only friend she's ever had in jail and is going to have him branded with hot iron, I'd have to say yes, she would. But that's just my personal opinion. You are free to think whatever you want.

BTW- Zuko doesn't have his scar… yet.

Enjoy!

Chapter 2

Katara turned around and faced the officers. "Ye… yes?" she asked.

"Hold it right there!" a cop said as three of them walked up to her.

Katara's eyes widened when she saw the guns pointed at her and she threw her arms up in the air above her head.

&&&&&

Aang was scarred, to say the least. He had heard from people who had gotten the brand that it was the worst thing that ever happened to them. Tears started running down his face as he thought of the pain that was going to come when the hot iron hit his skin.

No! Don't think about that! He scolded himself. But the thought kept coming back into his head. No! Think about Toph! Yeah, think about her.

So he started thinking about how she was now safe because her parents didn't believe she was a bender. She would never have to go through the pain, at least not for a while. He thought about all the fun they had over the three weeks they had known each other. He thought about her pretty face, but that started to bring more tears to his eyes.

Seeing her get thrown to the ground by her own father had ripped his heart apart. He felt even worse because if anything ever did happen to her, he wouldn't be able to protect her from it, because he was going to jail.

Because he was going to jail, he couldn't tell her how he really felt…

&&&&&

Zuko had been sitting in the same position for what seemed like hours when he heard a creaking noise.

"You've got company scumbag," a raspy voice called out.

Zuko heard a loud "Uh!" noise as someone was thrown into his cell.

He looked up with a barren look on his face. He noticed it was a girl. She looked up and took in her surroundings. He could see the fear in her eyes. Poor kid.

He could tell she was too weak to walk, probably from being beaten.

"Umm… hi," she said warily.

He just looked her dead in the eyes. "Did they beat you?"

"Yeah. They must have been afraid that I would cause a fight," she said sadly.

"Do you even know how to use your bending?" he asked her. He still had a poker face.

"How did you know I was a bender?" she asked.

"This is a bending jail, there for you either are one or they think you are one and they didn't bother checking," he said with a flat voice.

Her face seemed to drop for some reason. "Yeah, I am a bender, but I hardly know how to use it. Yourself?"

"I'm a bender, but I have no idea which one I am."

"Then how do they know you are one?"

"They have some kind of test. I only had to take it because my dad had lots of power."

"That's horrible," she said sympathetically. There was a brief moment of silence until she held out her hand. "I'm Katara by the way."

He took her hand and shook it. "Zuko."

&&&&&

It was getting late, and Toph decided that it was the right time to bust Aang out. She snuck out her window and used her earth bending to located Aang. She searched for a half hour until she finally found him. She noticed she had past this spot earlier. She keyed in on her senses more. That's why I missed him. He's depressed, so he's putting more pressure on the ground.

She placed her hands on the wall and concentrated on her earth bending. Come on Toph. You can do this. She felt the earth in the wall shift slightly. Bingo.

&&&&&&

"So why are you here?" Zuko asked Katara.

She sighed. "Some kids from my former school thought it would be funny to tell the cops I had stolen something. And since I'm a bender, it's 'throw you in jail and brand you first, ask questions later.' If they ask questions."

"Don't get your hopes up. They're never going to ask questions. It's 'you're wrong, and we're right.' There's nothing about questions in that statement," Zuko said solemnly.

Katara gave a sad laugh. Then something hit Zuko. "Did they brand you?"

"Not yet, but I have no doubt they will," she said evenly.

"You don't seem to upset about that. It hurts like hell," he said showing her his arm.

"That's horrible!" she cried. Then her expression changed. "But there's nothing I can do about it. So why should I get worked up about it? Besides, I'm a water bender, so hopefully that will help."

"Why would that make a difference?"

"Apparently some water benders have healing powers. I'm hoping I have them too."

He nodded, wishing he had that power.

"If I have them, I'll try and heal your burn too," she said kindly.

He gave her a small smile.

"Are you curious as to what kind of bender you are?" she asked.

He started to get mad. He didn't want to be a bender, so why should he find out which one he was? "No, I'm not," he snapped.

She seemed to understand why he was angry. "It's going to change anything if you don't know. You'll still have the mark, so everyone will know you are one. Why not use it for your advantage?"

"What advantage? We're stuck in metal cell and I doubt the officers are planning on letting us out any time soon, if at all!"

Katara didn't let it show that she was shaken up by his outburst. "Alright I guess if you don't want to talk about it, I'm going to sleep."

She walked to the opposite corner and lay down. He looked down at his brand, mixed feelings starting up in his heart.

&&&&&&

Aang looked up sharply when he heard a low rumbling noise coming from the wall. He backed up to the opposite wall. There was a small explosion and a hole appeared in the wall. Through the dust cloud, he could see a figure. Toph.

He immediately sprang up and ran over to her. He was about to say something when she covered his mouth with her hand. It was kind of freaky how she could almost predict your next move.

"Not now," she hissed at him. She motioned him to follow her with her hand. He followed her out of the room. He kept following her until the reached the wall that separated her house from the rest of the world. Then he realized something.

"Aren't you going to close up the whole in the wall?" he whispered in her ear.

She shook her head no. Then she pointed up. Take us over the wall.

He grabbed her around the waist and air bended them onto the wall, and then onto the other side.

Once Toph's feet touched the ground, she started to run in the opposite direction from her home. Aang followed her close on her heels. They had been running for ten minutes and were in a forest when Toph slowed down to a stop.

Aang stopped immediately and looked at her. "Is everything okay Toph?" he asked caringly as he walked up to her.

She placed her hands on her knees and breathed heavily. "I'm fine, just tired."

Aang grabbed her hands and pulled her down on the ground across from him. This was the prefect time to tell her something he had wanted to tell her for a while, but he knew they had to use this time plan what they were going to do, not chitchat.

"What are we going to do now?" he asked her.

She shrugged in response, for she didn't think she could talk right now, for two reasons. One was because of her empty lungs, the other was because she was painfully aware of the fact that Aang had yet to let go of her hands.

"Should we go back and stay with Gyotso?" he suggested.

Toph looked up sharply and shook her head. She gathered up air in her lungs to try and speak. "We can't--the officers—will—go there—first," she managed out.

He nodded in understanding. He could tell she trouble speaking, so he crawled over to her other side, wrapped his arm around her shoulders, and leaned her up against him. "It's okay. You just rest now. We'll figure out something later. We're far enough away so they won't find us for a while."

In response, she slumped onto his chest and fell asleep. He pulled her closer and took a good look at there surroundings. They were all alone in the middle of a forest at night. He realized then that he had never felt so alone before. The only thing he had now was the girl sleeping in his arms. It was a sad feeling.

&&&&&

Lao Beifong went to his daughter's room to make sure she was alright. He felt horrible for pushing her to the ground earlier that day. He had been so mad at her that he had lost control of his emotions, but that was still no right to shove his only daughter.

"Toph?" he asked quietly.

No response came from the other side of the door. He figured she was ignoring him because she was mad at him, so he kept talking.

"Toph, I'm sorry I pushed you today. I was just mad that you were sticking up for that bending boy. I know he was your friend, but those things aren't your friends. They are power obsessed and all they care about is enslaving us normal people. I wouldn't have been at all surprise if he had just been using you," he said through the door.

There was still silence. "Toph? Toph are you even listening to me?"

He swung the door open and saw it was empty.

He ran to the nearest and yelled in his face. "Where is my daughter?!"

"I-I don't know Sir," stammered the guard.

"Well find her!" Lao yelled.

The guards were running off in different directions, looking for Toph. Lao went down the hall to tell his wife the news. She started to cry when she heard it.

Then a guard came rushing in. "Umm… Sir, we just checked up on the prisoner. He's escaped too."

Lao felt the blood rush to his face while his wife started bawling her eyes out. That bender boy has kidnapped my daughter. He won't get away with this.

&&&&&

I wonder what bender I really am. Zuko thought to himself. Katara's right… even though I won't admit it. Well, since there's no water or earth, maybe I should try fire.

He stuck out his palm and concentrated. He really didn't know what he was concentrating on, but it was worth a try. Then he felt some kind of warmth coming from his palm. He opened one eye and saw a small flame erupt from his palm. Both of his eyes shot open at the sight. He was a fire bender!

With the flame in his one hand, he looked at the brand on his other arm. Then he did something he barely believed he was doing.

Sudden pain shot through arm. Everything started to go a blinding white. Then the flame started to get out of control. He screamed at the top of his lungs. He was in so much pain. Yet, somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew this was nothing to what he was going to have to go through in the future…

A/N- Well? What did you think? It's definitely longer than the other two. In fact, this chapter just doubled the number of words in this story. If any of you can guess what Zuko actually did, you get a big cookie!

Thanks for reading and please review!