Author's note: soooo...right i'm kinda not stuck now but i am really really busy so i almost have no time to write so it might get a little chaotic now. But back to the story! whoo conflict! Angstness and fights! whooot! oh and tay and em get a cookie from the last post!

Chapter VII:

When we got home, I asked my father for permission to use some of his old suits and mother's old dresses. He mumbled something that sounded like a yes… So Sokka and Aang were trying on suits with Jiro and Katara and Toph were currently in my attic, sifting through various red, gold and black dresses.

"Ugh! Aren't you guys allowed to wear any other color?" Katara said frustrated.

"Nope…" I said sadly.

"Not even white?" Toph asked.

"No, that's water tribe's colors…" I said while my mind was somewhere else entirely. Jiro. Did he or did he not just agree to go to the dance with the most unoriginal girl in school?

Frustrated, Katara finally picked a red dress that was the same color as her fire nation shirt. Toph choose a black dress that was topped with red satin. I already had my dress hung up from a year ago when I got a dress too early and nobody asked me to the dance. It was one of those rare occasions when Jiro was visiting his cousin in New Ozai.

"Wait a minute…Tara?" Katara said walking over to the back of the room.

I snapped out of my reverie.

"What?" I asked trying to focus on what Katara was looking at.

"Where does that door lead to?" Katara said pulling a old military poster back farther.

Looking at the hidden door, I suddenly remembered finding it a couple years back when mother got sick. She begged me to bring her to the attic but then she told me to leave her with her thoughts. I sneaked back to see her close that door. But when I tried to open it, it was locked.

"Oh…actually, I don't really know…" I said watching Katara try to open it. Of course it was locked. But when I inspected the door closely, I found a strange circular lock. It was just a hole with blue paint around it.

"Maybe we're supposed to do something to this lock…" I said inspecting it closer.

Toph came up and put her hand against the door, to feel the vibrations.

"It still has water in there…" She said softly.

"What should we do, Tara?" Katara asked me.

"Maybe…" I had the strangest feeling that I'd been here in one of …my dreams maybe?

I slowly worked my hands fluidly upward to try to bend the water out of the lock. Finally I got every single drop and I put it into Katara's water bottle. There was a strange creaking noise and the door slowly swung open. Prodding me in the back, Katara motioned me to go first. I took a deep breath and walked in. Katara gasped and I just stared in awe. Inside the door was a small room decorated in blue and white rugs and carpets. There were animal pelts and dresses adorned with blue and a least a dozen pieces of jewelry sitting on a dresser. I slowly fingered through some of my mother's familiar necklaces. One was a silver pendant of a crescent moon and waves. I remembered her wearing this on the day she died… Taking Jiro's charm off of the satin ribbon, I put the charm next to the silver moon and put it on.

"I feel like we're back at the Southern water tribe…no the Northern water tribe definitely. This is too lavish for the South Pole!" Katara said excitedly, rummaging through some of the animal pelts.

"Is this what it looks like?" I asked quietly while I sat down on the white rug.

"Yeah…and sometimes we ate sea prunes." Katara said wistfully.

"It's beautiful then…" I asked wondering if this is where my mother went to think things over…

"Could we… I mean I think Sokka should see this…is it ok?" Katara asked putting her hand on my shoulder.

"No please I'd like for him and everyone else to see this…" I said closing my eyes.

"Oh! Ok! I'll go get him!" and with that, Katara rushed out of the room.

I sat in silence and noticed that Toph was sitting on the penguin-bear rug too.

"So…" Toph said slowly, "your mother really did come from the water tribe?"

"Yeah…" I murmured.

"I can sense things…like lies for instance." Toph said carefully.

"Oh?" I tried to sound interested.

"Yeah, and I can sense what um…kind of bender you are." She said, inspecting her fingernails even though she was blind. "I thought, at first, you were a fire bender. You have the same aura and the same temper. But now I can see I made a mistake and I'm …well …sorry." I looked at Toph with curiosity.

"Um…was that what you were fighting Katara about?" I asked cautiously.

"Yeah…but now I can see I can trust you. You're different from the rest of the fire nation. You and Jiro both are." She said matter of factly.

Before I could say anything else, Aang, Sokka and Jiro were in the secret door and all staring with wonder. I watched Jiro carefully, to see if his eyes were sad at all. But other then the sadness that was in them before, I saw pure joy when his eyes saw the blue room.

"Who built this?" Sokka asked in astonishment.

"My mother did…" I said quietly.

"This is…" Sokka trailed off.

"Amazing?" Aang offered.

"Yeah…"

"So uh Tara?" Jiro called to me, crossing the room.

"Yeah?" I said looking into his eyes, trying to figure out what was going on.

"What is that on your neck?" he asked looking down, obviously embarrassed by the intensity of my look.

"It was my mother's favorite necklace. I hope you don't mind what I've done with your charm…" I answered tonelessly.

"No actually it looks good behind the moon like that…" he replied. "Um…Tara? I should probably get going…" Jiro trailed off.

"Here, I'll walk you home…" I said trying to buy us some alone time. Usually we had nothing but alone time but now it seemed… like he was avoiding me. I followed Jiro to the door and he held the door almost like old times…only the atmosphere was tense. I realized we weren't talking or joking…and it scared me. It was something that never happened. When we rounded the corner to his house and he stopped in front of his front lawn.

"Thanks for walking me home, Tara…" he said pointedly.

Not able to take anymore I asked the question that had been burning a hole through my lips the entire trip home.

"Look, Jiro, what happened? You weren't like this before you talked to Akito." He wouldn't look at me. "You know you can tell me anything, Jiro…" I added.

"It's nothing. I really got to go now, Tara. I'll talk to you tomorrow." He started for the door.

I shouted the first thing that came to my mind, "Did you ask her to the dance?"

He stopped short; like he was surprised I asked that question. The longer he stood there, not saying anything, the more horrified of the answer I became. Finally he answered back the word that echoed in my mind for the rest of the night.

"Yes."

And with that he walked inside and shut the door without saying anything else.