Authors Note: This chapter intersects with my other story, The Lone Warrior. You don't have to read it to understand what's going on, but it helps.
Sokka and Toph returned from swimming and headed to their respective tents. Sokka finished changing first, and walked out by the campfire. He looked over to Toph's tent and remembered back to when he had seen her changing a few days ago. He was still staring when Toph exited. He quickly looked away and sat down by the fire. Toph sat down next to him and smiled.
"Were you thinking about watching me get dressed again?" she asked with a smirk.
"What? No! I-I would never-" Sokka tried stuttering his way out of the accusation, but Toph cut him.
"I can tell you're lying."
He immediately stopped talking and blushed.
"So Sokka, we're all alone for at least a couple of days. What should we do to pass the time?"
"Um..." Sokka's heart was racing and Toph knew it. "We could take care of Appa! You know, fun stuff like that."
He quickly got up and walked over to the corner of the camp where Appa stood. Toph sighed and followed him.
"I thought that maybe we could spend some time together. Alone." she said, stepping in front of him.
Sokka laughed nervously.
"That's a good idea Toph, you could tell me where you took Appa the other day."
Toph's eyes widened.
"I didn't even know you knew how to fly Appa! How'd you do it Toph?"
"Oh alright. I had a little run-in with a bounty hunter."
Sokka was shocked.
"A bounty hunter? I thought they gave up hunting you!"
"I thought so too. Apparently this guy was tracking us for a while. He took me away on Appa and brought me to my parents."
"Why didn't you tell us sooner?"
"I didn't want you guys to worry! We have other things way more important than me to worry about so just drop it!"
Toph started to storm off when Sokka grabbed her arm.
"Toph I-I mean we, care about you. You're just as important as anyone else in the group."
"Thanks Sokka, I needed that." Toph sniffed.
Sokka smiled and pulled her into a hug. When they broke the embrace, Sokka noticed something dangling from her neck. He lightly touched the string and Toph pushed his hand away.
"What is that?"
"It's nothing. Just a necklace."
"You've never worn jewelry before...you're not telling me everything about the kidnapping."
Toph sighed and pulled the phial out from around her neck.
"What is it?" Sokka asked.
"It's got some kind of serum in it. The bounty hunter splashed some in my face and for a few minutes, I could see. It was amazing!"
"So this stuff is like a cure for blindness?"
"I guess. It doesn't work very long though."
"Do you think it would work on Momo? I mean, since he's smaller, maybe this will be more permanent for him."
Toph said nothing, and her head hung. Sokka noticed and put his hand on her shoulder.
"I'm sorry Toph, I know you wanted to see, but you can get along just fine without your sight. Momo's completely lost while he's blind."
Toph nodded her head and Sokka crossed over to Momo, who was curled up near Appa.
"So how does this work? I just splash it in his face?"
Toph nodded. Sokka unscrewed the cap on the phial, swished the contents around, then called Momo's name. The lemur looked up towards the sound and was hit square in the face with the serum. He immediately screeched and took off into the air, rubbing his eyes. He was headed right for a tree, but at the last second, he opened his eyes and darted in the other direction.
"Yeah! It worked!" Sokka exclaimed. "Thanks for this Toph. You saved Momo's life."
Toph grunted in reply and headed back to the campfire. They suddenly heard more screeching, and Sokka looked up in the sky to see Momo wrestling with what looked like a bird. It escaped Momo's grasp and took off towards Sokka. He screamed and put his arms over his face, only to have the hawk land on his shoulder. He breathed a sigh of relief and put his arms down. Momo was about to attack the hawk, but Sokka grabbed his tail.
"Oh no you don't. Bad lemur! Bad!"
Momo hissed as Sokka put him on the ground, then took off back into the sky again.
"What's going on?" Toph asked.
"I guess we got another message." Sokka replied.
He took the piece of paper out of the tube and started reading it.
Dear Sokka,
I hope that you get this message, because you have no idea what I went through to write it! I've been stuck in a fire nation prison called the Boiling Rock for a few weeks now. At least I think it's been a few weeks. I lose track of time in here. I miss you Sokka. I haven't stopped thinking about you and what happened at the Serpent's Pass since I got in here. You're the only thing keeping me going. I'm not asking you to rescue me, but if you happen to be passing by, I'd love a visit. Just be careful, the place is surrounded by a lake of boiling water. I'm sorry, I think someone's coming. I hope to contact you again soon.
Love,
Suki
"Well, what's it say?" Toph inquired. "Who's it from?"
"It's from Suki..." Sokka said with tears in his eyes. "I know where she is."
"Oh...that's great I guess. That means she's out of prison then?"
"No, but she will be soon. I'm breaking her out."
"What? And just how do you plan to do that?"
"I don't know."
"Do you even know where this place is?"
"It's called the Boiling Rock. It has to be on one of these maps."
Sokka went over to Appa's saddle, lying near a tree, and started pulling maps out of one of the packs on it.
"Here's our biggest one of the Fire Nation. The one we used for the invasion. Toph see if you can help me find-"
Toph raised an eyebrow at him.
"Right. Never mind."
After scanning the map for a few minutes, he found it.
"Here it is! Right near the Western Air Temple!" Sokka shouted.
"So how do you plan on getting past a lake of boiling water?"
"I'll figure that out when I get there."
"Why do you keep saying I?"
"Because you're not going Toph. You have to stay here with Aang."
"What? I have to go! You cant do this alone!"
"I'll be fine Toph. Just please, listen to me. We can't lose Aang again, Katara would kill us. Here, help me get Appa's saddle on."
Once the bison was saddled up, Sokka climbed on. When he was about to take off, Toph called to him.
"Sokka, wait!"
Sokka stopped and looked down at her.
"I l-l-" Toph tried to get the words out, but she couldn't say it. "Good luck Sokka."
"You too Toph. Stay out of trouble and I'll be back soon with Suki!"
"Oh joy." Toph said under her breath.
She felt the wind in her hair as the bison lifted off the ground and soared into the air. Momo came down from the sky and curled up on her shoulders.
"I know Momo, I hate her too."