Hi guys, sorry it took so long, I just didn't like how this chapter was put together in my weird avatard noggin. So yeah, this chapter I don't like as much, just because of how it flows. If you have any suggestions, please comment!!!! thanks guys for all your support!


"His journey is far from over."

"What do you mean?" Katara's eyes widened in fear, staring at the young Avatar. His serious gaze locked deep into her own, her blue eyes scanning his deep clouded grey ones for answers, ones he kept dangerously concealed from her.

"I'll tell you later," said, looking back down to his best friend, who cried out and winced violently. "Right now we need to help him."


Toph sat in a corner of the temple and winced again as Sokka's scream hit her ears. It was scary to her that she had never known his scream; well, she had always heard his when he was attacking something, whether it was a joke or not, but this one was much, much different. He was in complete agony. And she had to listen to it the whole time that Katara, Aang, Zuko, and Hakoda worked on getting him situated. She had to feel every jerk and wince and leap of his heartbeat. She felt his breathing race. She was suffering almost as much as he was.


But the three kids and the older warrior talked low in the crackling firelight, trying to decide next. "I think we need to move him," Katara whispered, "I--"

Sokka moaned in pain once more.

Tears came to her eyes, but still she continued. "The wind that goes through this canyon keeps us cold at night, and I think that the warmest he'll be is near the fire behind the corners of the temple. It'll give us all added protection as well."

"I agree," Hakoda said. "We need to move him to a secluded area." He tried as gently as he could to pick up the dying boy, but still Sokka cried out, wheezing and clutching his skin above the wound. His skin was pale and shallow, making him look dead, but his continuous moans and violent movement showed he wasn't. Hakoda settled his son into his arms, while Zuko and Aang wrapped the sleeping bag around his limp body. He carried him as gently and as slowly as he could, but every movement made the boy cry out.

"Oh, my boy, stay with me," Hakoda prayed, bowing his head as he walked to the new area.

The other three began to pick up the stack of firewood that was left near the now burning one. Zuko put out the old one, and as he carried the new stack with Aang and Katara, he scanned the scenery. Suki couldn't handle it anymore, so she had gone to stay with Haru, Teo and the others, which was strange from Zuko's point of view because he'd thought that she'd be the one stuck to Sokka's side almost as much as Katara was. But he finished gathering wood with the other two and quickly walked over to where Hakoda had picked a spot, behind the main wall with the sky bison mural. It was actually much warmer and secluded there, the warrior thought. And safer.

The three set down the wood in two piles, and Zuko bent a flame onto the first one, which quickly caught and burned, illuminating Hakoda setting his son down as gently as he could and unwrapping the young man from the sleeping bag.

By now Sokka's shirt had been taken off, because there wasn't much use for it actually on him anymore, and the gaang crowded around him, beginning to start their jobs.

A while later, Zuko looked over to Toph, huddled in the corner. He had never seen her like this. He wanted to go over and comfort her, but his attention turned back to his job as the young man below him cried out.

He looked back down. His job was keeping Sokka warm through putting his hands on the boy's arms and radiating firebending through the cold body, and so far, it didn't look like it was helping him at all. He looked up at Katara, who tirelessly was cleaning as gently as she could at the wound in his middle. But she had to work carefully, because even the slightest brush of something against his skin just around the wound set off the pain.

Aang kept wiping his best friend's forehead with a cool cloth that he kept freezing with his bending, but every few minutes, it melted against Sokka's boiling skin. He looked up. "Shouldn't you be trying to take whatever's stuck in him out, Katara?"

She looked up with a tearstained face. "I guess, but he's in so much pain that I don't really want to. But we need some more help." she turned to the blind earthbender in the corner, and as gently as she could, called out her name.

"Toph? I know you're not really in the position to do this right now, but we could really use your help. Can you?"

The young girl nodded, took a deep breath, and stood. "Sure," she said, trying her best to sound in a not-caring mood, but failed. She shakily walked over and sat next to Zuko, who gave her hand a small squeeze before returning to his work.

"Okay, I need you to put a hand on his chest Toph, and feel if a rise or drop of his heartbeat happens. Kay?"

Toph swallowed and nodded, her heart already racing as she put her hand on his bare chest and nearly flinched. Spirits, his skin was burning, and the heartbeat and breathing she felt under the skin was completely different from the strong and steady beats she normally felt from him. Even though she was a master, his heartbeat always made her feel stronger, protected. Loved… but now Katara was right. It was as if his whole body was at war inside of him.

Katara breathed deeply, and staring at her father, she felt the hot tears prickle at her eyes. "Dad, I don't want to hurt him," she croaked, and her father gave a sad smile. He reached across his son's body to touch his daughter.

"You can do this. Sokka knows you can. His life can only be saved by you. Pain doesn't matter now. He wants to be rid of it…" he looked down. Sokka's face was tied together in a painful wince, and he moaned agonizingly. His wheezed once, and coughed as well, and a trickle blood spurted from the wound. He cried out again.

"Okay," she whispered, and slowly began to inspect the wound. It was scary to see the inside of her brother, but she knew she had to put all emotions away and act fast. Carefully, she slowly pulled the skin apart a little. Sokka screamed and writhed under her, crying out and his sweat pouring down his agonized face. A thin sheet began to form over his entire body as well.

"Katara!" Toph cried. "I don't think this is going well!"

The young waterbender looked up. All of the gaang's faces were focused on Sokka, and so she knew she had to act quickly. Looking back down, she swiftly widened the wound on his abdomen, and she saw a flash of the metal…there! It shone again! Sokka's cries echoed throughout the temple, and he writhed crazily in pain, but now instead of trying to get him comfortable, the group kept him pinned down while Katara did her job.


Sokka struggled within the darkness. He couldn't hear or see anything, but he felt the agonizing, murderous pain deep within him. He wanted to die--again. And this time, stay that way. But soothing wisps of his sister's voice came to him, begging to him to stay with them. He had to, for her sake, for Aang's, for all of them. He forced himself through the darkness to push on…


Katara waited until the group had a proper hold on Sokka, and she continued. No one moved or made a sound except the crackling fire and Sokka's outcries, but they all watched as Katara, as softly as her shaking hands would let her, pulled apart the wound, and the metal gleamed in the vivid orange light cast by the fire. And slowly she used her thumb and her index finger as tweezers. She grabbed a hold of the metal shard, but as soon as she did, her brother lurched and cried out, clearly being tortured by the pain.

But as Katara looked at her father, Aang, Zuko, and Toph, she knew what she had to do it. And it was as if Toph could read her mind.

"It's okay Katara," the earthbender whispered, fear in her voice. "You can do it."

Everyone knew it was more serious than it seemed if Toph was scared and she used everyone's real names.

Katara nodded and looked back down. Using her fingers again, she grabbed a hold of the metal and began to pull it out.

Sokka screamed the loudest he ever had, groaning and wincing, sweat pouring down his face, and his blood pounding out of the wound. His breathing intensified, as did his heart rate, and the pain he felt, even deep into the darkness. The others' hearts pounded dangerously fast, but no one thought of themselves at that moment.

"Katara," Aang whispered quickly. "Just pull it out quick!"

"Aang, that'll kill him," Zuko cried, Sokka moving once again violently under his grip.

"I can't kill my own brother!" she cried.

"You might if you go slow!" he said, looking straight at her. "Katara, you're a healer. You can heal what happens to him, but we need to get it out first, find out what it is, and save his life because of his original wound. We all believe in you."

Katara gulped, and she looked up. Toph's eyes stared toward Sokka's body. Hakoda's were closed in prayer, and the only one left to stare at was the prince. His gold eyes pierced her soul. Asking her through his expression questions that she didn't know the answer to. She didn't know what to do. She didn't know what to think, except the one sentence that broke out of her.

"I-I can't d-do it…"

Aang looked up. "Katara."

She looked up at him. "Aang, I can't." she looked down to her brother, moaning with every other beat of his heart. She breathed in deeply. A look of determination crossed her face, immediately replacing the fear, and she looked at Sokka with a serious face.

She once more grabbed the metal shard, and pulling it out as softly yet as quickly as she could, the others winced and turned away as Sokka's screams and writhing movements became worse. She closed her eyes as she pulled it out even more, and the young warrior screamed, his body now beginning to shake from shock once more.

Finally, after what seemed like hours, Katara pulled out the metal shard, a total of nearly six inches long and two inches wide. She breathed a sigh of relief, suddenly releasing the anxious breath she had kept in, and she held the bloody shard in her hand, also dark crimson. Blood dripped from the shard onto the ground, marking the price that the Warrior already had to pay. His blood ran down the dagger and down Katara's arm, and she shivered, but she had to be strong for him now. So she just held the shard to the light, inspecting it. Besides the blood, a deep yellow green substance covered the shard as well, as well as Sokka's wound, and it was sticky. It even seemed to start to burn her fingers.

Zuko had bowed his head and closed his eyes when she replied to his piercing stare, but as he looked up at the metal now lying in Katara's hand, something was oddly familiar about it. His eyes widened.

"Katara," he commanded silently. "Give that to me."

She looked up. "What? Don't you at least want me to clean--"

"Give it to me. Now."

Katara stared at him with worry in her eyes as she warily placed the bloody metal in Zuko's hand. His eyes focused on it and he fingered the design. It had clearly been made for a master.

"Mai's dagger," he whispered under his breath, but he looked up. "It's been poisoned with one of the most deadly poisons known to the world. The dragon-cobra's. It sounds like an animal, but in truth, it's human-made. Only select few apothecaries know how to make it. It has shards of metal that, once it goes through the heart, rips it up. And the acidic substance burns the insides. It kills slowly," he nodded towards the pale young man who kept groaning. "It means death for all, there is only one cure, but it is a long shot. I don't know how he's survived this long. He's a strong man, in spirit at least. He's died once. But if we have any chance of saving him, we need to get that cure in him, FAST." he sighed and stood up. "I need to think about this. Alone, sorry."

The four looked (and felt) him walk away, and Toph knew something was wrong when Zuko's hand took the dagger from Katara. His heart sped up in fear and sorrow. And somehow, she knew he was connected to what happened.

"I'll go see what's wrong with Sparky," she volunteered, glad to get away, and Aang, Katara, and Hakoda worked on healing what they could in the poisoned boy's body.

As she followed him into her endless darkness, the blind bandit felt the prince's heart rate increase every time she felt him bring the dagger up to look at it. And she needed to know what he knew. She kicked the ground, and Zuko yelled in surprise.

"UGH! Toph! Let me out!"

"Not until you tell me. Now."

"Tell you what?" he angrily cried.

"Don't play that against me," she hissed, making his mouth shut with the venom in her voice.

Toph walked over to where she had encased everything of Zuko's into a rock pillar, with only his hands, feet, and face visible, at least, what she knew she bent around him.

"Zuko spit it out. Now. I felt your heartbeat. I know your sorrow. Somehow this is connected to you, and I don't think I want to hear it. But I have to, for my family's protection." she glared him straight in his eyes. "What is the metal that was stuck in Sokka's middle?"

Zuko's head dropped. "Let me go and I'll tell you."

The young girl gave him a wary look, but let him down, not softly, and he fell to his knees. He looked up, his hair covering part of his bad eye, giving him less vision of the earthbender in front of him. Not that he needed to see her. He didn't want to look anyone in the eyes right now, even eyes that couldn't see him back.

He pulled out the dagger. "Here. Do you know what this is?" He handed it to her, and she felt the sharp sides, the firmness and sleekness of the blade. She winced as the blood of her best friend covered her fingers, but still she concentrated. "I've felt these around before. They're familiar…" she suddenly gasped. "Your crazy psycho girlfriend!!!" she cried out, her stare of surprise turning to anger. She grabbed the prince by his shirt front, and nearly lifted him up off the ground, as small as she was.

"How did this get into Sokka?"

"It's all my fault that he's like this."

"Wha--what?"

"I shouldn't have frozen…he shouldn't have done that for me…"

"Zuko?" she asked, worriedly.

"I'm guilty. He got in the way…"

"Got in the way of who, Zuko? You're not making any sense!"

The prince looked up. "Why do I mess everything up? Especially for you all? Katara will kill me…"

Toph shook him. "Zuko, what happened? Tell me what happened!"

"Azula…" he whispered.


What'd you guys think? You like? Please read and review, and any suggestions are greatly appreciated! thanks, God bless,

And if any of you guys are Pro-Life, pray that the FOCA law doesn't get passed. Sorry. but I'm freaking out about this.

AVATARONE3