Thank you for reading and thanks to those who reviewed. Very much appreciated! Please read, enjoy and review! And any pointers will be very welcome, seeing as I'm new to writng and all. Thank you!

Disclaimer: Nothing has changed. I still do not own. You would have heard about it if it had. :-)

CHAPTER 3

Toph looked over at her boss. She saw how impatient he was and knew the time it was taking to tie up loose ends so they could leave for Ghana was taking its toll on him. Zuko was a highly disciplined person, but he had a temper that had been legendary when he was younger. With the years and the experience he had acquired, it was rare to see Zuko lose his temper over trivial things. She shook her head as she watched him storm out of the room over a mistake on the list he had asked the HR manager to submit. He was rearing to go and quite frankly so was she. She was his personal assistant, but he was more like a big brother to her. Apart from Aang and their 4year old son, he and Uncle Iroh were the only people she considered family. And it pained her to have seen him in pain over the past 3years. He had managed to mask his pain behind a stoic expression over time, but he hadn't fooled her.

5years ago Toph's father had disowned her for choosing to be with Aang. She had been in her final year of college when she'd met Aang. He'd been a struggling artist who lived in a one bedroom apartment in a rough part of town. He was – still is - a bald tattoo covered guy with a gentle nature and great talent. He had seemed her opposite in more ways than one. She had been the only heiress to the Bei Fong conglomerate. She had been butting heads with her father for some time, and Aang was the proverbial hay that broke the particular camel that was Lao Bei Fong's back. She had met Aang at an open mike night held every Friday at the Jasmine Dragon, Uncle Iroh's trendy cafe. He had come up to her and told her she had the most amazing emerald eyes he'd ever seen, and would like to paint her if she was ok with it. Strangely enough, she had agreed and the rest they say was history.

Having been home–schooled her entire life, a lot of people didn't even know they Bei Fongs had a daughter. Aang had had no idea who she was and she had liked that very much. By the time he found out, she was pregnant with his baby and her father was threatening to disown her if she didn't terminate the pregnancy or give the baby up for adoption. She had refused to budge and moved in with Aang. The one room apartment had been in a pretty rough area of town, and that's when Zuko had stepped in. They had been friends since she was a little girl; her father deeming the Agnimukhas as befitting their social status to mingle with. But she and Zuko had been fast friends mainly because they had found the whole social class game incredibly silly. Due to her being virtually an unknown, her father disowning his only daughter hadn't become a huge scandal. That was the only thing she was thankful to her parents for, for the sheltered upbringing they had given her.

Zuko had asked his uncle to let them stay with them (Zuko was staying with Iroh because he had had somewhat of an altercation with his father). Since Iroh lived in a huge house with only Zuko for company, he was more than agreeable to the idea. And so their big and happy family had been born. With Iroh's help Aang had gotten his work shown in a famous gallery and had had his break. They had wanted to move out but Uncle had convinced them to stay 'to warm an old man's heart'. Zuko had started up Agni Constructions and had eventually moved out to his own condo. She had gone to work for Zuko after AJ – Aang Jr. – had been weaned. Since he worked from home in the studio Uncle had converted the sun room into, Aang had taken care of AJ while she worked.

Toph missed Katara a lot. When Zuko started dating Katara, Toph had felt like she was losing her older brother and had resented Katara a little. They had butted heads a couple of times but had become quite close. When Katara cut Zuko off, Toph had tried to talk sense into her friend because she knew how much Zuko loved Katara and she believed every single word of Zuko's explanation. Katara had flat out refused to see reason and had demanded she leave her apartment since she was taking Zuko's side. Toph didn't know which of the two was more stubborn. Katara had blacklisted her along with Zuko and refused all attempts she made to contact her.

Now 3years later they were going to see her. She was going to give Katara an earful whether she liked it or not. She had seen what Katara's absence and refusal to communicate with Zuko had done to him. Katara had had a major tongue lashing coming for way too long.

Jet had since their first official first date been trying to get Katara to commit to a relationship, by which he meant get into his bed. Every time he got close, she seemed to get hesitant and withdraw. He was getting tired of the game. He even gave her 2year old piggy back rides and rolled around all over the floor with her. What more did she want? Yes, she was a beauty. Standing at about 5'5'', he had pegged her vital statistics to be about 36-26-38. She sure could pass for a mixed parentage Ghanaian girl, with her figure and her silky mocha skin. Her beautiful cerulean eyes were a giveaway though. He just wondered what it would take to get her into bed. He had been the perfect gentleman and kept it all very light for a month! He needed to get some action soon. No woman no matter how beautiful was worth this much effort if she wasn't going to give it up! He was usually done and gone by the time they hit the third date mark. He'd been at it for a freaking month! He cursed her baby's father. He sure seemed to have done a number on her. He wasn't going to quit though. He didn't know what it was, but he wasn't going to give up until he had what he wanted. Who knows? Maybe they could actually develop into something more permanent.

Katara on the other hand was worrying about her situation with regards to Jet, blissfully unaware of Jet's view of their 'relationship'. She wondered if she was ready for the next step. Every time he had gotten close to her physically, thoughts of Zuko's embrace intruded in her mind and it would make her recoil. She was trying. She was attracted to him. Yet something kept holding her back; that something being Zuko. She thought she was over him already! She needed her head examined if she was going to stay hung up on Zuko after all this time. She decided she'd go stay overnight at Jet's tomorrow night. He had been hinting at a sleepover for the past week. She was a big girl. She could handle spending the night with her boyfriend, right? Jet was her boyfriend, wasn't he? They'd been on date after date for one month straight. It had to mean something.

"Hey Boss Lady," Ekua broke into her musings poking her head around her office door. "Want me to pick something up for you? I'm heading over to the food court."

"No thank you, Ekua. I'm not really hungry." Katara replied absently.

"Is everything alright Katara? You've hardly had lunch for the past 3days." She asked with concern evident on her face.

"Don't worry Ekua. I had a large breakfast."

"You would tell me if something was wrong right? You know I'm here for you. It's not Kya is it?" Ekua was like a dog with a bone once she knew something was up.

"Gosh no, Kya's doing just great! I'm just trying to figure something out. Thanks for worrying but you don't need to, ok? You know what? Why don't you get me some Aloko and peanuts? Here take this." She said passing her some money from her purse.

"Nope, Boss Lady. Lunch is on me. Tomorrow you're buying." She said with an impish little grin.

"No fair! It's only Aloko you're getting. Tomorrow you'll tell me you want Chateau Brian from Le Magellan!" Katara cried in mock horror.

"Well you had your chance and you chose poor man's food!" Ekua left chuckling.

Aloko was bite size pieces of ripe plantain that's fried till golden brown. It went well with peanuts and wasn't really a meal in itself. More like a snack.

She went home at her usual time and spent her evening in the usual ritual of playing with her daughter, helping her with her writing (Kya could write from 1 to 5 and ABC), coloring a page in her book and watching a little 'Barney and friends' with her. She gave Kya her evening bath and cuddled with her as usual till she was asleep and put her to bed. All the while thinking about the sleepover she was planning. She didn't know how she felt about leaving Kya all alone with Gran Gran all night. She was sure she'd be asleep the whole time she was gone, but what if she woke up and came looking for her? Then again, she didn't think she was ready for her daughter to wake up to Jet in the house yet. She decided to talk to Gran Gran about it.

Her grandmother was watching 'Sex in the City 2' again on DVD. She plopped down beside her and put her head on her lap.

"Gran Gran, I was thinking about spending tomorrow night at Jet's. But I don't know about leaving you guys here by yourselves..."

"Sweetheart, if you're ready then I'll say it's about time! You don't need to worry about us. We'll be fine. If you want, Kya can sleep in my room. It just has to be something you want to do, ok?"

Katara nodded and stayed on the couch with her grandmother. She was so thankful for her Gran Gran. 'I have the best grandmother ever!' She thought to herself.

She went to bed somewhat at peace with her decision though she still had a little bit of lingering doubt at the back of her mind. But boy did Jet have some big boots to fill. Zuko was a hard act to follow. She just hoped Jet was up to the task and that thoughts of Zuko would stay banished.

Zuko, Toph and AJ arrived in Kotoka Int. Airport at 8:30pm Thursday night. They checked into the Holiday Inn since it was so close to the airport. They were tired from the long journey but Zuko was too keyed up to retire to his room immediately. He saw Toph and AJ to their room which was adjacent his and went downstairs to the reception. Approaching the pretty young lady at the front desk, he asked if she knew where the La Senza shop in Accra could be found.

"It's not too far from here actually, sir. It's at the Accra Mall, 20minutes drive from here." She said with a polite smile.

Zuko was thrilled and slightly nervous at the same time. He arranged for a rental car for 12 o'clock tomorrow and went up to his room. He showered and got ready for bed. Requesting a wakeup call for 7 o'clock ho got into bed. He had a hard time but he managed to fall asleep eventually.

Katara met Jet at their usual table at Rhapsody and gave him a quick kiss on his cheek. They had agreed to meet up for an early lunch since they had both skipped breakfast. While waiting for their tab after a hearty meal of boiled yam and spinach stew, Katara decided to share.

"I'm going to cook dinner for you tonight." Katara said seriously.

"What time do you want me over?" Jet asked.

"At your place." She clarified with a small smile, and saw Jet's face light up with a bright smile.

"Oh wow. Katara that would be awesome! Should I pick you up or would you rather drive over?"

"I'll drive over. I'll pick up the ingredients I need and go put Kya to bed before I come over."

"Why don't I pick you up after you've put Kya to bed? I'll be your chauffeur service for the night, Ok? I know you love your car but mine isn't that bad is it? Please baby?" he pleaded. "You never let me drive you around." He complained looking somewhat downcast.

"Oh fine, you can pick me up. Let's make it 8 o'clock alright? See you later." she said getting up to head back to work with a quick peck on his cheek.

When she got back Ekua seemed a little smug. Katara wondered what could have happened to make her assistant look like that, but she decided to let it slide. She worked the rest of the day with a slight edge of anticipation and left about a half hour earlier than usual to pick up the ingredients for the salad she planned to make for dinner. She knew Jet didn't eat much after 7pm so it would be appropriate.

She went home and put her daughter to bed after their evening routine and took a quick shower. Gathering her hair into a ponytail she put on a knee length blue cotton caftan with white Adinkra patterns and slipped on a pair of white flip-flops. She decided to save herself the trouble of getting all made up and applied her favorite sheer pearly pink gloss to her lips. She was done when Gran Gran called out to her that Jet had arrived. She picked up her white Baby Phat overnight bag with silver chain and silver heart with a keylock. She kissed Gran Gran goodnight and handing over the bag of groceries to Jet left her apartment. They went down the stairs chatting and laughing as Jet was his usual charming self.

Stepping out to the parking lot she had the shock of her life. There stood Zuko and Toph with AJ in her arms. What was he doing here? How did he even know where here was for him to be? He looked like he was about to murder someone! That thought had her jerking away from Jet who had had his arms around her waist. The movement wasn't lost on Zuko and his eyes dropped to the overnight bag in her hand. The same one she used to pack to his condo before he had convinced her to bring some of her stuff over.

How the hell had this happened? Whatever the heck this was!