Disclaimer: Dude I don't own Avatar the last air bender.

After her talk with Roku, Thea was extremely disappointed with her circumstances. The best she could do was drag her feet to her room and just try to live through the next month with the avatar. She had just entered the temple and she remembered something.

Aww man! I never actually got to have a look around this temple. I have no clue how to get to my room!

So the young teenager decided to just wander the halls, hoping that she would stumble upon her room. Maybe if she was lucky she would be able to free Katara and stop her from running to the others. A large voice in her head kept telling her not to get her hopes up though; things never went smoothly for her.

After about five minutes of wandering around, Thea had decided to take a left onto one of the hallways. Toph happened to be leaning in that hallway, listening to her surroundings. So of course Toph had heard Thea walk into that certain hallway. Thea was in her own little world again, contemplating what she was supposed to do; so she just kept on walking through as though it was just like the other hallways.

Toph had been watching her and wondering what she was doing. It was not until she noticed how she walked, that she forgot what she was doing, she just blurted out exactly what she was thinking. "Fantastic! Another earth bender! I'm so tired of all these wimpy elements that do the same amount of damage as a mouse-rat."

Toph's sudden outburst had caused Thea to be pushed out of her reverie and go on the defensive.

"What are you talking about? I could easily be a fire bender or even a water bender." Thea asked; making sure that her words were spoken carefully and slowly, so that Toph would hear every word.

"Nope."

"How would you know? Are you some psychic?" Thea shot back; she was getting increasingly angrier at Toph for getting closer to the truth.

"It's the way you walk. Most people walk around viewing things as an obstacle. While you . . . you walk around as if you everything is just as flimsy as a shadow." Toph retorted already knowing she was right.

Thea having already decided not to allow anyone of them onto her little secret strongly denied the claim. "Toph, I do not bend any element at all." With that as her closing statement, she started to walk away. She did not want to have another fight. It seemed like all she did today was fight.

Toph, would not take no as an answer though. She knew she was right, when it came to earth benders, she was always right. In order to prove her theory, Toph slid her foot on the ground causing a boulder to come out from the ground and aim itself towards Thea. The minute Toph slid her foot on the ground; Thea had felt the boulder that would come for her. So she did what any self respecting bender would do. She spun around on instinct and chopped the boulder in half with her hand, which made it plunge to the ground with a loud thump.

Toph answered happily "Ooooh now this is gonna be fun." As much as Thea hated to admit it, she was enjoying Toph's company. Toph always said everything that was on her mind and she didn't beat around the bush. Since part of her secret was already out, she thought it wouldn't hurt to play along.

"Anyway Toph, I may want to move a little to the left." Thea warned Toph as she threw her hand on the wall causing a big chunk of the ceiling to fall to the ground in the direction of Toph. The young earth bender quickly understood what Thea had meant and leapt out of the way. The sight of Toph scrambling to her feet had made Thea burst into laughter. The sound of Thea's laughter made Toph blush and snap at Thea "This isn't over; I'm going to get you for this." She replied angrily as she turned to walk away, already mumbling about some plan she was concocting.

By the time Thea realized that she could have asked Toph for directions she was long gone. So Thea just had to keep on following the way she was going and hoping that she would find the room. Although after a while, Thea's body started to fight her every move. Every movement Thea was making felt as though she had to pull 1,000 pound bricks around with her. As a result Thea became more and more exhausted, all the way to a point where all Thea could do was lean against the wall and gasp for breath.

Aang just happened to be walking down the hallway, in search for Toph, when he spotted Thea against the wall; half unconscious. So being the overly sensitive one in the group, he freaked out and rushed over to help.

"Thea? Thea! Are you okay?" Aang asked while he shook her shoulders trying to get her to become more alert.

"Go . . . away. I'm . . . getting . . . up." Thea answered in a slurred voice.

"What are you doing out of your room? Katara's going to be super mad at you for leaving." Aang wondered, for once actually agreeing with Katara's overly maternal ways. Seeing as how Thea probably would have been in a better state if she had stayed in her room.

Aang's questions had 'caused Thea to giggle, it may have been that she was half awake or that it was the stress causing her to have the weird reaction, but she didn't care. She also thought it would be best to tell the truth for once, considering he would find out anyway. "I kind of . . . ran away."

"How did you run away? Katara would have bound you to your bed if you even tried to run away." Aang's grey eyes were glistening with interest.

The avatar's choice of words had caused Thea to go into another fit of giggles. This only made Aang even more curious at what was going on. "You're close Aang. Except it was the other way around. I bound her to a chair. I'm really sorry; just I had to get out of there!" Thea pleaded, she didn't want everyone to be even more suspicious of her. It was already painfully obvious that most of the gang was wary of her presence there.

The young monk's response had caused Thea to just stare in wonder at him. For Aang had fallen to the ground in laughter. His face had turned into a bright red tomato, while his arms wrapped around his chest, like it could somehow muffle the laughter.

"What's so funny? Aren't you supposed to be yelling at me or something?" Thea asked, obviously trying to figure out how the situation had turned into . . . that.

Remembering the injured girl next to him, Aang finally tried to stifle his laughter and answer Thea. "It's just I can only imagine Katara's face, I mean it's not every day that someone gives Katara the slip."Thea scrunched up her face at this information. This just meant it was going to take a while for Katara to trust her; then again maybe it wouldn't be a bad thing. "Here let me help you up. We should probably go find Katara and free her." Aang thought out loud.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. Give me your hand." Thea had out stretched her hand, waiting for Aang to meet hers the rest of the way. After a second of hesitation he extended his hand to hers. Following a few more minutes of Aang trying to lift Thea –who was twice his size- up. And when Thea was finally standing up she almost fell down again, nearly bringing Aang with her too.

After deciding that this wasn't going to work, Aang got closer to Thea, grabbed her arm and threw is over his shoulders, at the same time he also placed his arm on her waist; all in hopes of holding the older girl up. When Aang finally thought that Thea wasn't going to fall on her face, they started walking towards her room.

"You're girlfriend isn't going to be too happy, at the sight of this." Thea mused at the thought of having Katara even angrier at her.

"Wh-who do you mean?" Aang's face was already blushing; His face also told Thea that he knew exactly who she was talking about.

"I'm just saying, Katara won't be too . . . happy."

"But she and I don't like each other like that." He answered; still hoping hide it.

"Sure, Sure, little one." Thea answered, deciding to suppress the quarrel before it turned into an actual argument.

"Hey! I'm not so little! I've grown at least four inches over the summer!" Aang stared right into Thea's eyes as he defended himself. The two went at each other like that as they walked down the hall towards Thea's room. After ten minutes or so Thea finally ended the bickering.

"Can we sit down for a bit?" Thea begged.

"We really need to get back to your room"

"Please? This place seems to go on forever!" She exclaimed, her face scrunching up at the thought of how much longer it would be.

Aang considered Thea's condition and how long it would be until they got across the temple for a moment before he answered Thea's question. "I . . . guess, we can sit down for a few mo-" But before Aang could finish his sentence, Thea let go of him and plopped down on the floor, right where she stood.

"How much farther? I must have spent all morning searching for the room!" Thea asked as she lay on her back and let her ivory hair flow around her.

"Not much. Only a couple more hallways and we should be there." Aang answered as he stood in the hallway awkwardly.

"Here, sit young avatar. You must be exhausted after having to lug me around." Thea commanded as she patted her hand on the ground, but Aang just still stood there undecided about whether or not he should sit down with her.

"Don't worry, I won't bite. I'm way too tired for that anyway." Thea added reassuringly. Finally realizing how Thea's "Request" was a demand, Aang sat down against the wall next to Thea.

"Only for five minutes, then we really need to go and get Katara. She won't be happy about it, but we need to have her try again, at healing you." Aang answered going straight to business.

Something struck Thea, something that she forgot to ask and should have been the first thing she did ask. "How long was I unconscious?"

This struck Aang by surprise; the question seemed to have no relevance. "About two days I think."

"Then it won't work, for at least another day." Thea answered with absolute certainty.

"What makes a difference between today and tomorrow?"

"I've been hit by the same people enough times to know how long it takes before it can heal. The people, who usually get me, tend to poison their weapons. I guess they figure there is a bigger chance of a kill." Thea replied already sounding bored as if she had, had this conversation multiple times before.

"Then how are you walking around!" Aang half-shouted to Thea.

Thea sighed as she knew the answer to this too. "Like I said, I've been poisoned too many times to count. Apparently I've been hit, so many times that I'm immune. The only side effect is that healers can't work on me, until it's out of my system." Thea then popped her mouth into an O and let out a yawn for effect, to show how much this conversation interested her.

"Who are these people and why are they trying to kill you?" Aang asked with extreme curiosity showing on his child like features.

Thea had anticipated this question. "What's up with those tattoos?" Thea inquired as she thought she found the perfect distraction.

"Huh? Oh these? You see it's an ages old tradition for air-benders to-" Thea smirked as Aang went on about the tattoos on his body. Boys were always so much easier to stray from a conversation. Thea bet it would have been just as easy to do with Sokka or Zuko.

Back in Thea's room, Katara was still trying to break free of the stones holding onto her feet. She was doing exactly as Thea had suggested; she was using the water as a water whip and it was taking longer than she had thought.

"Stupid Thea . . . Trusted a stranger . . . Got bound to a chair for trying to help." Katara muttered to herself as she slowly broke through the layers of rock. "The minute I'm out of here, she is in a world of trouble if she's still here." Katara's deep blue eyes were full of frustration as she concentrated on getting out. It wasn't until another 10 minutes passed by that she finally broke through the last layer of rock. By the end her long brown locks covered her face and her clothes were covered in mud from the mixture of dirt and water.

"Ugh this is going to take forever to get out!" Katara exclaimed as she ran out the door in search for her other companions. She first ran to Sokka's room, he was the closest. Yet, when she looked in his appointed room, he wasn't in there. So she decided to go look for Zuko and Aang who were supposed to be in the training arena. As she turned around, she bumped right into her brother, who had piles of food in his hands before Katara knocked in on the floor.

"Hey! That took a long time to find all that food!" Sokka moaned as he bent down to the floor and started picking them up.

Katara though knocked an apple out of his hand, the minute he grabbed it. "Sokka, we have a problem" She said, with a very serious look on her face.

Sokka finally noticed his sister's appearance, when she forced him to look at her. Her blue dress was still muddy and her braid was half undone. "What happened to you?" Did you nag Toph again about her hygiene? You know she, she doesn't like it when you bother her." Sokka replied with a hint of mockery in his voice.

"No, it wasn't Toph. It was the new girl, Thea." Katara answered as if it was obvious.

"Do you remember her this morning? She couldn't even stand straight, let alone do . . . that to you. Are you sure you didn't drink some cactus juice?" He asked, as his tan lips turned upwards at the memory.

"Ugh! No, she ran away and bound me to a chair!"

"She was hurt!"

"Aren't you supposed to be on my side! You? The boy who can't meet a single person without yelling fire nation!"

"It's just that logic shows the girl shouldn't be able to run away and bind you." He answered impassively

"Whatever. We need to go find the rest and tell them what happened. She could lead the fire nation to us! Whether she means to or not." Katara said as she started walking towards where the rest of the boys were training. Sokka just followed, hoping to get some light shed onto the situation.

When they reached the arena, all they saw was Zuko in the middle of the training circle. He was apparently meditating, as he breathed in and out in a rhythmic rate. Usually Katara knew better to interrupt him, but she figured it was one of those times, where she needed his help. No matter what wrath would be put upon her. She wasn't stupid enough though to just walk up and ask for his help. She took seven large steps backwards and had to grab Sokka too, because he just stood there idly, wondering what was going on. She called to Zuko, when the siblings were out of the way.

"Zuko?" Katara asked softly at first. The fire bender didn't hear Katara's call and just kept on meditating. Katara tried calling his name in the same tone for another three times, before she figured it wasn't going to work. So this time Katara yelled at the top of her lungs "Zuko! Come on get up!" He would have had to been deaf not to hear Katara's call this time. He was shoved out of his meditation; with no choice in the matter and just as Katara had predicted Zuko was not happy about it. He jumped up from his sitting position with a vengeance. His hands shot out streams of fire, both streams were the length of three feet. Katara and Sokka had taken just enough steps back, to not become burned by the blazing heat.

"What? I was in the middle of something!" Zuko snarled, his face was twitching from anger.

"Have you seen Aang?" Katara asked, as she ignored his question. Katara's question caught Zuko off guard. He was under the impression that Aang had gone to go get Toph and Katara; he had wanted to test the avatar with all his teachers.

"He was supposed to get you and Toph." Zuko answered, his expression slowly growing into curiosity.

"Well, that girl had better left! 'Cause if she's the reason for him disappearing then, it won't be pretty." Katara's choice of words had Zuko in utter confusion. Apparently it had shown on his face too, so Katata thought it would be best fill him in.

"So you tried to help and it bit you in the butt?" Zuko asked, still not sure what the problem was. Sokka tried to stifle his laughter at Zuko's assumption. It seemed like neither of the boys, believed what she was saying.

"How 'bout I clear this up some more? Strange girl comes to us "accidently", binds me to a chair, and runs away. With a map of everywhere we've been. Anything sound suspicious here?" Katara implied.

"I had a map of you guys and I'm not out to get you." Zuko retorted, of course though the minute the words came out of his mouth he knew it was a mistake.

"Was this before or after, you constantly ambushed us?" Katara smiled at how easy it was to do away Zuko's explanation.

"Hey! In the end, I decided to help you guys out!" He answered.

"Can we just go and find Aang and see if Thea actually left?" Katara asked him as she stuck her lower lip out. She didn't exactly want to go find him alone.

"Aang can take care of himself; I mean he's the Av-" Right when Zuko was speaking, a loud boom had cut him off mid sentence. Both Katara and Zuko stared at each other, trying to see if the other knew what that noise was. It wasn't until a full thirty seconds later that they ran into a sprint, towards the noise.

The teens thought that maybe Azula had come back for another attempt at Aang. When they finally got to the scene of the blast, they were surprised to see Toph standing next to a big pile of rocks. The weirdest part though, was that she looked amused. Her usually blank face, showed the excitement of a girl who had just received great news.

"What just happened?" Shouted Zuko. He was tired of all the interruptions today.

"The new girl and I were just messing around." Toph said to Zuko.

"I told you, she probably didn't leave." Katara said as she nudged Zuko.

Zuko got straight to business. He most likely didn't want to have that conversation again. "Do you know where she or Aang went?"

"Hmm… let's see sparky. I didn't exactly see where she was going …" Zuko was about to turn around and start the search again, when Toph started where she left off. "But, I can tell you were both of them are. They're both, pretty far though."

"Great. We'll just have to split up. Zuko and Sokka can go find Thea, Toph and I can go find Aang." Katara planned as she walked over to Toph; waiting for directions.

Toph smirked at this. "No need, Sugar Queen. They're both in the same place."

"Wait. What?" Katara and Zuko asked at the same time.

"I think she got lost. She stopped for a few minutes, but considering how she got me by surprise, I thought she could handle it by herself." Toph shrugged at this; like it was obvious.

"Maybe we should go find them?" Zuko suggested.

"Sure, they're that way." Toph said as she pointed to the north hallway. With the end of that sentence, the three teens started following Toph.

Sorry It took so long. I had sooo many thoughts going on in my head. Mentally I'm at like chapter 13 but writing takes a bit longer. Plus, I also didn't write sokka in. Until I was done with the chapter, so i had to reread and change a few things