After walking down a couple of floors, they were soon in the Main Hallway. It had high ceilings from which enormous and elaborated chandeliers hanged. The walls were painted a lovely pale green that imitated Toph's eyes and the borders were made of solid gold. There where beautiful paintings of past Kings and Avatars hanging from them. There were dozens of doors across the hallway which kept getting opened and closed by people entering and exiting the rooms that they led to. Katara and Aang were amazed by the elegancy and the details of the hallway. They hardly noticed all of the maids, butlers and soldiers that passed by them. Once every now and then Aang would stop to show his friends one of his past lives he saw in one of the paintings, mostly to impress Katara. He was so worried about impressing her, he didn't noticed the fact that Toph had no idea what he was showing them and that she was feeling left out.

"Hey, Katara! Check this one out!" called out Aang pointing to one of the paintings on the wall. It was picture of a past Earth Kingdom Avatar. He seemed to be in his mid-thirties and was sitting under a huge tree with amazing foliage full of color and shadows.

"Wow!" exclaimed Katara as she stared at it "This is amazing!"

"Big deal" said Sokka showing no interest "The tree is practically the whole picture. If I wanted to look at a tree, I'd go outside."

Toph didn't even bother to turn to pay attention. It's not like she could notice how beautiful or wonderful the painting was. It looked like giant grey square to her. Not any different from all the other grey and black things she 'sees' every day. She just stood there with her head hanging. But not in shame, more like angry or annoyed. Slowly she started clenching her fists as her friends continued with their great admiration.

"You can't see a tree like this by just walking outside!" spat back Katara ticked-off by her brother's ignorance. "This is a unique tree. I mean, just look at its colors! No ordinary tree has such colors!"

"She's right Sokka." Started Aang with his eyes still locked on the painting. "This is a pretty special tree."

"Well its colors are amazing…" started Sokka putting more thought in to it. "Not to mention the amazing contrast!" he continued getting more excited.

"Yeah, and look at Aang's past life." said Katara, pointing at the earthbender in the painting. "What an amazing perspective of the human body!"

Toph was about to explode. She had her eyes shut tight. Her arms and fists were shaking in consequence of the great tension and rage she was holding back. The next comment was definitely going to be the last one.

"Oh! Oh! Look at the birds in the sky!" started Sokka all worked up. Toph opened her eyes abruptly and turned her head to them. "They look so peaceful flying in the…Ooof!" before he could finish Toph punched him right on his stomach.

"What was that for!" whined Sokka clenching his stomach.

"Can we please get a move on!" Toph teethed with great asperity while crossing her arms.

Aang's eyes widened as he realized what the cause of Toph's bitterness was. "Toph, I'm sorry. We didn't mean to…" he started but was cut off by her.

"Save it!" she said starting to walk once again in rout to the Breakfast buffet. "Can we please just go?"

Aang and Katara nodded and followed the irritated earthbender down the Hall.

Sokka whimpered behind them muttering wimpy complaints about his blind friend and his pain.

After that display, no one mentioned anything or pointed out any other paintings. Actually they practically didn't even talk. They were afraid that something they say might tick-off Toph, who still seemed a little temperamental by her clenched fists and narrowed eyes. She was in the lead, making her way through everyone who came her way. Most people, when they noticed her estate, quickly got out of her way.

Pretty soon Aang caught a glimpse of the Breakfast buffet. He didn't dare to say anything considering Toph's mood but he wasn't sure if Toph knew where it was. So he decided to cut ahead of Toph. 'That way she would know if she didn't were the buffet was and if she did know, then it would seem more natural and she might not consider it as a sign that I thought she didn't, uh, know.' Thought Aang kind of confused of by his own thoughts.

He decided to try it. He increased his speed slightly just enough to catch up with her. Then he crossed in front of her, still walking towards the buffet, wincing slightly as he thought what she might do to him for doing that. She stopped followed by Katara and Sokka. Aang noticed this and stopped his course.

"What you did that for Twinkle Toes!" asked Toph blatantly, placing her hands on her hips.

"I…uh…" he stammered trying to find an excuse for his forceful action.

"In case you didn't notice, I know exactly where the Breakfast buffet is." She continued.

Aang felt his face flush slightly. He should know better by now not to underestimate her. After a small pause he decided to speak. "How?" he questioned pulling his shirt collar. It was a habit of his when he was nervous.

"That's a stupid question." She said rolling her eyes. "Twinkle Toes, the sun raised about 2 hours ago, right?" he nodded. "That means it's probably 8 am, right?" he gulped, not liking where this was going, and nodded. "Now," she started calmly. "Where the heck do you think most people are! Not to mention that I could smell the food since we entered the hall!" she finished strongly with great rage.

"Oh…" he said embarrassed.

"Ok, you two." said Katara coming in between them. "Let's just get some breakfast."

Toph looked away from Aang pissed off and crossed her arms. She hated when people treated her like a helpless little girl. She thought that by now they all learned that about her.

Aang hung his head in shame. He felt like such an idiot. He should have known by now not to sell her short. She was an amazing earthbender with incredibly sharp senses. If she could detect an ambush a mile away, finding a buffet room should be no problem.

Then Katara placed a hand on each of their shoulders. Aang looked up at her and smiled. She smiled back at him. He loved her smile. It was so gentle and bright that it would bring hope to everyone even in the hardest situations. She always made everything better…

"Can we please go get breakfast?" asked Sokka rubbing his stomach. "Between the pains Toph's punch caused me" he said glaring at her for a moment "and the hunger one I had before, my stomach doesn't stand a chance!"

"Yeah, whatever" said Toph getting loose from Katara's grip and heading to the buffet.

Sokka followed anxiously; Katara and Aang also followed but they took their time. Unlike Sokka, the events they went through in the passed few minutes pretty much ruined their appetite.

A/N: Here's chapter 2! For those who asked for it, here's some Kataang and maybe just a smidge of Tophaang (Depends on how you look at it). Remember that more pairings will develop through out the story. Please R' & R'.