AUTHOR'S NOTES—the plot suddenly thickens…

…or does it? Also, a little of Toph's mysterious backstory gets shared.

Oh, and sorry for the long delay. You know… holidays, New Years, laziness; all that jazz

AVATAR: THE LAST FIREBENDER

BOOK 1: WATER

CHAPTER 4-3: THE WARRIORS OF KYOSHI, PART 3

Kyoshi Island; late afternoon a couple days later

While Toph was being taught by Suki and the other Kyoshi warriors, Aang and Zukko found that they were being followed and lauded by many of the townspeople, particularly the young women. The friendliness of the citizens as well as the respect they had for the Avatar got to Aang and Zuko's heads, and neither of them was keen on leaving any time soon. Luckily, this also played out well for Toph, as that meant that she could receive more Kyoshi Warrior training. When Toph told Aang and Zuko that this was what she was up to, she found that both of them approved.

"So your cracks about the Kyoshis are over now, huh?" Zuko joked;

"The only way any of my cracks will disappear completely is if I snuff it," Toph replied, "otherwise they're doomed to stay."

"At least you're getting along with them better now," Aang smiled

"Yeah," Toph smirked, "they're a pretty interesting group—definitely mysterious too. That's my side of the story though—so what's yours?"

"I can't say I've done much in the way of things constructive," Zuko laughed, "I've mostly just been enjoying the hospitality of the townspeople."

"Have any of you noticed the amount of Airbender influence here though?" Toph wondered aloud, "now, before either of you jump down my throat, I'm only saying this because I see it—I am not trying to accuse anyone here."

"Oh yeah," Aang smiled, "I noticed it. It's a nice combination, I think. Technically, Avatar Kyoshi was an airbender as well, being the avatar and all."

"Was she this secretive though?" Toph raised an eyebrow;

"Enough with the whole secretive thing, Toph," Zuko sighed, "perhaps you should loosen up a little and enjoy the place. I think your pride is still hurt from being forced into that dress and make-up. Either way, it doesn't look half-bad on you."

Toph sat down, still decked out in her Kyoshi gear, and Momo, who had been with Aang and Zuko during Toph's training, jumped onto Toph's shoulder. Perhaps she was being paranoid. Her life had been a long series of chases and hunts, so she was not exactly trusting of people, nor was she very open about her own doings. Maybe this was why Aang and Zuko shrugged her off—was she being hypocritical?

Aang trusted Zuko more than Toph, and Zuko's words seemed to hold more comfort. Suki had not wronged him or Zuko—just Toph, and only because of Toph's arrogance. He and Zuko had clearly seen that there was a prideful streak among these warriors, and he respected that—just like he wore his Air Nomad Insignia with pride. This insignia, which covered most of the front surface of Aang's shirt, was worn by airbenders who were not part of the Air Warrior Confederation in order to differentiate friend from foe. Most of its wearers were male airbenders from the Northern Air Temple and perhaps a few aged survivors from the Southern Air Temple massacre many years ago.

Zuko was certainly not lying to Aang, or even keeping something secret. Toph had her secrets, and he could deal with that for the most part as well. However, being surrounded by openly friendly and generous people made it difficult for Aang to think there was any conspiracy here. Besides, he knew that not all people who professed to be or supported the Air Warriors were inherently evil.

Air-Warrior-controlled Earth Kingdom port; afternoon

Word of the Avatar's appearance at Kyoshi island spread swiftly with the wind, and soon it reached the ears of Azula and Zhao. By this time, the necessary repairs had been made to Azula's ship and fleet, and so she and the Water Chief were ready to set sail. With the knowledge of where their target was, they also knew where to go.

"the race is on then," Zhao smirked, glancing over at Azula.

"Don't attack the Kyoshi Warriors unless they defend him," Azula instructed in return, though she was also grinning, "assuming that he does not decide to push off all of their hospitality, he should still be there by the time we arrive and strike."

Zhao nodded, and soon his small Water Tribe fleet, as well as Azula's Air Warrior fleet, took off southward. They were going to pay their old friend Suki a visit.

Kyoshi Island; evening

Toph was bothered by several things at this point, one of them being that she did not have her original clothes anymore. She was unsure what the Kyoshi Warriors had done with them or what their reasons were, but that could not be helped. Whatever the case was, she was sleepless that night, and so she got up and took a walk. Despite all of her heavy gear, her life of being chased and hunted had led her to remain light on her feet, and it seemed that these uniforms were not as loud when moving as they looked.

The island was quiet in the evening, and was lit only by the occasional torch near a street, or by the light of the moon glancing off of the ocean. Toph wondered, this time entirely out of curiosity, where the Kyoshi Warriors were. She had shelved her suspicions for now, and was just going on a walk. She had no intentions of trying to find something to get mad at Suki or anyone else for—she was simply unable to get to sleep, and so she wanted to take a walk. However, normalcy was not at all in Toph's job description, and the things she overheard could not be unheard.

"So, word is it that Azula's ships are back in working order?"

"Aye; she and Chief Zhao are on their way here right now."

"Do you expect they'll attack us?"

"Azula certainly will try not to—even she knows that expending allies like that is only going to get her a lot of enemies and very little actually accomplished."

"Suki knows where the Avatar is, and she will hand-deliver him to Azula. Hopefully the operation goes through—otherwise Suki will get a little more than a simple knock on the head to put her out of the game."

Toph could not see the source of the noise, and she had frozen when she first heard it. She could not tell who it was that was talking, but most of the voices were female, and were too far away for her to be able to distinguish them. At least one of them sounded like Suki's, but even if it was her, Toph had no proof of anything. Perhaps it was someone trying to capture Suki and impersonate her. Whatever the case was, she needed to at least let Aang and Zuko know what she had heard, and so she turned to head back to their place of lodging.