Here's another chapter :D Also, a lot of you have been asking about the pairing, is this going to be Taang or Kataang...well, it's mainly going to be Taang, but with hints of Kataang, I have a plan for this story, trust me. Thank you for all the love and read!
Aang tapped his fingers against the table, class was as boring as ever. Ever since this morning, Toph had been very clingy to him, but it wasn't like he didn't expect it. After such a long time of not knowing, she wanted to make up for lost time, which included trying to dry hump him during lunch behind the school. He smiled at the thought, she was an amazing girl and now she was his. "Mr. White," He was taken out of his thoughts by the teacher giving him a glare. "Did you hear what I said?" Aang could only shake his head in response. The teacher sighed deeply, "We were talking about the modern day Vampire." His jaw clenched at the thought of Vampires. "What are the differences between the modern day Vampire compared to the Bram Stroker novel, 'Dracula'?"
"Well first off modern day Vampires are vein draining mobile blood banks that couldn't even scare a 3 year old," Aang began, earning a few laughs from his other classmates and a very heated stare from Katara in the corner of the room. "And I don't even want to get started on the other Modern day Vampires."
"Thank you Mr. White, I think that's more than enough," The teacher returned back to his lesson until the bell rang. Aang silently cheered, this was his last class of the day, but he was going to have to find something to do until Toph got done with her class. He grabbed his bag and left the classroom, only to be pulled into a dark hallway and slammed against the wall. Aang would have tried to protect himself, but he already knew who it was.
Her fangs were already at his neck, "I should bleed you dry right here."
"Oh I'm so scared," He sarcastically whispered. "What are you going to do? Give me love kisses until my neck starts bleeding?"
"You are a completely racist ass and I wouldn't have a problem leaving the husk that will be called your body in a ditch," She growled.
Aang smirked, "You wouldn't kill me." Her grip on his wrists tightened for a second, but she finally growled in anger and loosened her grip. He turned the tables and held her against the wall by her neck. "Why are you trying to attack me? I've done nothing to you."
"You know exactly why, Avatar," She let the word roll off her tongue and felt his grip become tighter and his eyes narrow at her.
"I should have left you to die vein drainer," Aang spat.
Katara barred her fangs, "Stop calling me that. My kind has done nothing to you."
She saw a dark look enter his eyes, "Your kind turned my Mother. She left my Dad because she knew she wouldn't be able to deny her thirst around him..." He let go of her neck, Katara rubbed the sensitive skin. "…I know what happened to you Katara, I know everything in this school. When your Mother was 8 months pregnant with you, she was cornered by a couple Vampires and was bit. But Vampires were never meant to have children. You, lack of a better word, drank your way out of her." Her gaze went down to her feet, ashamed of her past. "You and I are not very different…we both killed our Mothers." Katara looked up at him and his gaze was meeting hers. "But that's a story for another time." He turned to leave, but she grabbed his arm.
"Wait…I was originally going to apologize to you about my friends last night, but I was pissed off about what you had said in class…but I should apologize anyways," Katara said. "So…I'm sorry…and thank you for saving me."
"It's fine, I've been doing this long enough to know how to protect my identity." Aang gave her a small smile. He walked to the end of the hall, before turning to her, "Don't make me regret saving your life, I would hate to drive a stake through the last Half Blood at school." Aang left her in the hall, she slid down against the wall and sighed, then felt a smile appear on her face.
Sokka threw another ball across the gym towards a target that he pretended to be a wide receiver. He rolled his strained neck, he had been at this for hours. Looking forward to a hot shower, he decided his practice was over and made his way to the locker rooms. Because he stayed back so late, no one else was on this side of the school. The sun still was showing through the windows, but he wanted to get out of here before it started to set. He started to undress in front of his locker before the lights shut off. Though it wasn't dark, it still freaked him out. "Uh, there is still someone in here." His voice echoed off the walls. No one answered. Sokka put a towel around his waist and made his way to the lights. He flicked them up and down, but nothing happened. He was going to just go shower anyways until he felt the ground pull his feet down, keeping him in place.
Sokka began to protest until a small hand went over his mouth, "You scream anything and I'll make sure the only hard on you get, is a pillar through dick, got it?" He nodded. "Now, who gave you that chip to track The Avatar? There is no way you were smart enough to pull that off by yourself."
"I don't know, I was approached by a man that said that if I put a tracking device on The Avatar, my sister would go free," Sokka said as soon as the hand was gone.
He sunk lower, "Wrong answer, I can tell you're lying. I can feel your heartbeat through the ground. Now, who gave you that chip? If you don't tell me, I won't be the only person you will be worrying about."
"Okay, okay! It was a man named Long Feng, he told me that he would get my sister protection from whoever was trying to kidnap her if I asked The Avatar to save her and put a tracer on him," Sokka admitted. "I had no other choice, my sister is…special and needs to be protected."
She rolled her eyes, "I know that your sister is a Half Blood Vampire you idiot. What does Long Feng want with The Avatar?"
Sokka swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat, "I don't know, I swear, he just only said what he wanted and agreed to help me."
"Where did you meet him?"
"The warehouse, by Roku River."
Sokka was released from the ground, he turned around to see who it was, but saw nothing. Toph was already down the hallway, pulling off the mask she had used to protect her identity for the moment, she had to find Aang quickly. Toph walked out in front of the school to see Aang waiting for her, "Aang, we need to talk about something," She told him, grabbing him by the arm and yanking him to follow her.
He regained his footing and kept up with her, "What's wrong Toph?"
She looked around them as they continued their fast pace, "I have news about you being set up last night."
Aang's brow furrowed, "How did you know I got set up last night?"
"Teo," She quickly answered. "Apparently Long Feng made Meathead a deal that if he put a tracer on you, his sister would get protection from Ozai…thing is…the little 'meeting' they had…was in the same place Katara was in. Ozai and Long Feng are working together."
The Cloud Child pondered this in his mind, "Vampires and Demons working together, not surprising, but I don't understand why Long Feng would throw his own people under the bus for the ability to be day walkers."
"That's why no one trusts Vampires, they would starve, kill and torture their own kind." Toph scowled. "Do you know how close they were to a cure?"
Aang shook his head, "No, but with all the resistance they gave me last night, they couldn't have been too far off."
Toph stopped and looked at Aang, "Aang, do you know what this means? She's going to still be a target…"
"What do you want to do about it? Watch her every night from now on?"
"No…I think, that maybe…" Aang already knew what she was going to get at.
"Oh no, hell no Toph. There is no way that is going to happen," He refused.
"Do you think I like the idea?" She asked.
"You know how I feel about having blood suckers near me, my Dad would never forgive me for letting her stay at my house," Aang stopped in his place, "You were there when I saw her Toph, you saw what I had to do to my own Mother…then I had to tell my Father what I did…he hates Vampires as much as I do."
Toph took his hand in hers, like last night, "Aang, we have to put personal problems aside. She didn't ask to be put in this situation, unlike half of those undead freaks out there. You know how I felt when I found out I had these powers, I was scared…no one was there to help me until you came along Aang. She is in constant danger for something a couple blood suckers did to her Mom. Don't let Ozai torture her and kill her so that he can build an army of blood suckers."
He sighed, Aang knew she was right and he wished she wasn't. Katara may have been a Vampire, but she never had a choice in the matter. "Give me some time to think about it okay?"
"The more you think about it, the closer she gets to being taken again Aang."
Aang squeezed his eyes shut, hating that he had to do this, "Fine, get your stuff and meet me at my house." He kissed her, "I hope you realize how hard this will be."
Toph gave him another kiss, "I know, I wouldn't be asking this if we didn't need to do this. Plus, I'll spend the night tonight."
He smiled, "Bring a toothbrush then."
"That's not all I bring," She said as she walked towards her house.
Aang took a deep breath as he put on his jacket. He still hadn't talked to his Father about letting the Half Blood stay with them, but now he didn't have any more time. All that he could picture in his mind is the look on his face when he told him that he had killed his Mother. It was a mix between acceptance and sorrow. The only thing Aang was thankful for in the situation was that his Father didn't have to be there to see her die. He jumped when there was a knock on his window, he saw Toph waiting outside. Aang opened it to let her in, she pulled off her goggles, "You ready to go?" She asked.
He grabbed his mask from the hook in his closet, "Not yet, I still haven't talked to my Dad yet." Aang took a couple more deep breaths before going to his door and opening it. He walked down the hall to the living room where his Father was currently watching TV. "Dad, I need to talk to you about something."
Aang's Father, Gyatso, had short dark hair like his son, though it was mixed with a lot more grey hair. He had a matching goatee and wore a white polo with blue jeans. He turned towards Aang with a smile, "Oh so you finally told her huh?" Gyatso commented, "What's going on?"
"One of our…clients' needs a place a stay for a while. She is being hunted by the Vampires and Demons. She isn't safe with her family and we need to keep her here until we can take care of them, is that okay?" Aang intentionally left out the part about her being a Half Blood.
He smiled, "Of course, I'll make up the spare bedroom." Aang gave him a smile back as they left, he still wasn't very sure of the situation. His father was very accepting when it came to his other life, but he was about to bring a Vampire into their house, which hadn't happen for years. Aang put on his mask as he and Toph went to his window and he held her to him as they jumped out, landing gracefully on the ground. Neither of them said a thing on the way to Katara's house. Toph knew that Aang wouldn't want to talk about this and decided to give him some time. They finally made it to the familiar house and Aang knocked on the door a couple times. It took a little bit until Sokka answered the door, earning a punch to the nose from Aang.
He cried out in pain as he fell to the ground, holding his nose. "That's for trying to track me." Aang walked over him into the living room where Katara sat on the couch with an older man, who he guessed was their Father. Her Father, Chief Hakoda of the Police, stood with a hand on a holstered gun. "Relax, we are only here for your daughter."
"You're not taking my daughter," Hakoda replied.
"We're the only people your daughter will be safe with Mr. Aqua. I've dealt with the man that took her and he will not stop until he gets what he wants from her." Aang explained.
The cautious father gripped his gun, "I can protect my daughter."
"You did a really good job of it last time," Toph crossed her arms.
Aang nudged his partner, "Your daughter is the only Half Blood left in Ember Island and if she is taken, not even I could save her Mr. Aqua. We're just going to protect her until we can deal with the man that wants her. Last time I checked, no one on the Police force has any power like we have. Your son has already sold out your daughter's home location by going to the people that took her and tried making a deal with them. We'll make sure you can keep contact with her through secure phones and have supervised visits."
"How am I supposed to trust you? You're the biggest vigilante in town, you could just hurt my little girl like the man who took her." Hakoda finally pulled his gun.
"Dad," Katara put her hand on his arm, "You can trust him." Hakoda looked between Aang and his daughter before putting his gun away.
"I better hear from my daughter as soon as she gets to where you are taking her or I'll make sure that I put a bullet in between your eyes, you got it?" He demanded.
"The only bullet you should be letting off is at your son for putting your daughter in danger," Toph replied. "Half blood, get some stuff and we can get out of here." Katara shot a look at Toph before going back to her room.
Hakoda sat down, letting out a relaxing sigh, "How long are you going to have my daughter?"
"I'm not going to have her, she will be staying with one of her fellow classmates so she can still go to school. Hopefully she won't be there too long and we can bring her back here. So we'll need about 20 packets for her." Hakoda nodded as he got up and went into the kitchen, coming back with a bag for Katara's 'food'.
Sokka finally came into the room, holding his bloody nose, "What the hell is going on?"
Katara followed her brother in and immediately held a hand over her mouth and nose, "Sokka, will you please clean up your blood before I lose it."
"Hold on for a second," He told her, "Are you really going to let him walk into here and not do anything? He just punched me!"
"Sokka, you've done enough to 'protect' your sister. Now go clean up your blood." He demanded. Sokka tried to scowl, but his hand holding his nose blocked the look before he stormed to the kitchen. Hakoda walked over to Aang, "You better keep my daughter safe, I'm putting my faith into you to protect her. If I don't hear from my daughter in an hour, I will make sure the next time you're spotted in this town, the only thing that will be left of you if your mask."
Aang held a hand over Toph's mouth before she could say anything, "Of course Mr. Aqua, I understand the worry; you don't have to remind me. She looks just like her mother, doesn't she?" Hakoda was taken back in surprise, "After what happened to her, you don't want to plan another funeral…I'll make sure you never have to bury another family member. We'll be outside," He said to Katara and left, Toph right on his tail.
Hakoda hugged his daughter, "I don't trust him Katara."
"If he thinks I'm in danger, then he's my best chance at survival…he might not like me, but he wouldn't let me die," Katara told him.
"He doesn't like you?"
She nodded, "He isn't very friendly towards my kind, it doesn't matter though, I'm not going to be staying with him, he wouldn't put his secret identity in danger like that again. After Sokka tried to track him, I'm surprised he is even helping."
He kissed Katara on top of her head, "I'm sorry it had to come to this honey. I should have been there to protect your Mother."
Katara felt tears prick at her eyes, but she held them back, "Dad, there was no way you could have helped her, even if you were there, we would have lost you too. I'll call you when I get to where they're taking me. I love you Dad." She gave him one last hug.
"I love you too Katara," Hakoda handed Katara the bag of blood packets and watched as she left. He took a deep breath, hoping to get rid of the empty feeling he now felt. "Sokka, you and I need to talk."
Aang and Toph led the way down the street while Katara tried her best to keep up behind them. They hadn't said a word since they had left and Katara was still full of questions. "So do you want to tell me what's going on or am I supposed to be a silent captive?"
"I would love that," Toph said under her breath.
"What exactly do you want to know?" Aang asked, not bothering to turn around to look at her.
"Why exactly am I being hidden?"
Toph rolled her eyes, "I thought that would be obvious, you're the only Half Blood in Ember Island. Ozai needs you to finish their plan and if he gets his hands on you, we will be up to our ears in day walking Full Bloods. Nothing will stop them from feeding on humans and taking over the town."
"What am I going to do then?"
"You're going to continue living your life, but instead of being at the place your brother pretty much just put a giant arrow over, you'll be staying with me." Aang told her.
Toph shot a look at Aang, "What are you doing?"
"She knows who we are," He said.
"How?"
Aang was silent for a little bit as they continued to walk, "She drank my blood." He stopped before Toph's earth wall came out in front of him.
"What?!" She nearly yelled, "You know better than that!" Toph turned to Katara, "You vein draining slut! You seduced him didn't you? I will bury you so deep you'll be able to see your ancestors."
"Don't call me a vein drainer you mud-slinging bitch," Toph felt her anger rise, "I did nothing to him, he saved me from dying. Vampires can gain substance from a human without changing them. There was no way I could have seduced him, all my powers are in my witchcraft anyways."
Toph was about to come back with something but Aang stood between them, "Enough, you two are going to need to start getting along."
"And I haven't even started with you," She pointed at Aang, "You're trying to save this vein drainer when you hate her kind."
"Lover's spat?" They all turned to see an Asian man leading a group of 5 behind him. He had a pony tail with little facial hair and wore a green cloak. "I'm sorry if we're interrupting Avatar, but you have something we want."
Aang moved Katara behind him, "Long Feng, you're not touching another Half Blood."
Long Feng smirked, "Why are you trying to protect one of my kind Avatar? Especially after what I did to your Mother." Toph didn't need to see Aang's face to know the anger that was building inside of him. Katara looked up and saw the clouds beginning to form above them. "I remember when you were trying to stop my underground blood trafficking. You looked so heartbroken to see your Mother so desperate that she was drinking blood off of my dirty floor." Aang's eye twitched in anger and clenched his fists as air currents started to circle him. "She was almost like her, but you've brought her back to her full health. It seems like I have to starve her again."
"Get her out of here," Aang told Toph. She nodded and grabbed Katara around the waist, opening the ground beneath them and shutting it after they fell through. "You always know how to push my buttons don't you Long Feng?"
He chuckled, "Happens when we've done this back and forth too much. There is nothing you can do that I don't know about."
Aang took a deep breath of the cold air, "Did you know I could do this?" The clouds above him began to spin in a cylinder and descended from the sky. The Vampires watching in a mix of amazement and horror as a tornado set down on the ground. Aang grunted as he used his powers to make the tornado increase in size, sucking in the Vampires and Long Feng. He tried his best to control it, but he had never made one this big before. The Tornado began to pull him in and he kept his footing until it got too close and sucked him in with the others.
Toph sat on Aang's couch, tapping her fingers against her arm and her feet up on the table. Aang's father had gone to bed shortly after Katara and Toph had arrived, Katara had introduced herself as a witch instead of being a half-blood. The Earthborn was currently out of her outfit and in one of Aang's shirts that went down to her mid-thigh. She was more worried than she showed, Toph tried to act annoyed at the Vampire in the next room changing her clothes, but she couldn't. Katara came out of the room, a pair of pajama bottoms with a penguin pattern on it and a large shirt, like Toph, but it was completely black. She was running her fingers through her hair, making sure there weren't any knots. Toph knew that no matter what, people like her, like Aang, like Katara and even like Teo were still people no matter what, but she never really thought of a Vampire living a normal life. She watched as Katara went over to the fridge and shuffled some things around until she found one of the hidden blood packets. Her nose scrunched as she saw the small smile appear on her face. "I will never understand how you can drink that stuff."
Katara walked back into the small living room and sat on the couch against the wall, "It's not like I have a choice, if I don't have it, I die. I would take being a werewolf over this." She popped off the cap of the packet and took a slow drink.
"So…what does it taste like?" Toph asked.
She took the small sign of friendliness from Toph, "Everything tastes different…this tastes kind of like good leftovers you didn't want to heat up."
Toph smiled, "I know that taste, leftover meat lasagna, it's best when it's cold."
"Warm blood tastes like pure sugar," Katara tried not to freak her out too much. "It's almost addicting."
"What does Aang's taste like?" Katara immediately went silent. She had to be careful with what she said. It wasn't like she could tell her it was the most delicious thing she had tasted. Katara couldn't tell her that she would go through the punishment she endured when she was kidnapped to taste the sweet nectar that flowed through Aang's veins.
Katara sighed, "I have to admit…his blood tastes delicious, but I would never feed on Aang or put his life in danger, I swear."
"You're attracted to him too, aren't you?" She was surprised at Toph's tone, she was expecting jealously, hatred and bitterness but she was calm.
"Even if I did, he has you. And if you weren't there, Aang hates me and my kind, he wouldn't even touch me with a ten foot pole," Katara answered before taking a drink of blood.
Toph pulled her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around them, "It's not that Aang hates you…Aang doesn't hate…what happened to him…I…I saw his face when he saw his Mother. What Long Feng did to his Mother, Aang takes it out on all Vampires."
"What happened to his Mother?" Katara asked, putting the blood packet to the side, wanting to hear the story more than anything.
"It's not my story to tell," Toph said.
"It's mine," They both turned to see Aang in his bedroom door way, he had cuts and his jacket had rips.
Toph stood up and hugged him, which he returned with one of his arms as he held his mask in the other. "What happened?"
"I tried the whole 'Tornado' thing you've been bugging me to try, not the best idea," He told her, pulling the jacket off as she let go of him. Katara saw the blood that had stained his skin and bit her bottom lip, making sure not to jump him. "Can you get me a wet washcloth so I can clean up a bit?" He asked Toph.
She scoffed, "What am I? Your maid?"
"Says the girl with a maid," He smiled. Toph rolled her eyes and went into the kitchen. Aang sat down on the couch Toph was using, putting his jacket and mask on the arm of the couch. "So you want to know about my Mother…"
-SDB