oh wow... so this is currently the longest chapter I've written =D enjoy!
Chapter 8. Present Hunters
"Well if that isn't a sign…-""Stop it Toph… Just because there's a little rain doesn't mean the day will be completely useless!"" A littlerain? Is that what you're calling it now?" The earth bender scoffed at her Water bending friend as she not only listened, but felt the vibrations from the extremely hard down poor just outside. Everyone was dressed and ready to head out, umbrellas were clutched in all but Aang and Katara's hands. Zuko and Mai were watching the storm clouds ominously covering the morning sky, a flash of lightning darting across followed by thunder, "Are you guy's sure you really want to head out in that?" The fire lord asked as his golden gaze slid over to the avatars oddly cheerful silver. "Why not Zuko? It's not like we don't have umbrellas… or you know, the ability to waterbend!" The younger man chuckled at the idea as he gave his famous grin.
Zuko just blinked in confusion, He distinctly remembered the anger in those silver eyes the night before, just as the Air nomad had disappeared into the sky. Everyone else seemed just as thrown off as they all stared at their companion, though after a second they all seemed like they were just going to swing with it. "If you say so… In that case, I'd suggest the southern side of the city… it has the most variety of shops…" Mai shook her head, pulling her morning robe tighter. "You're all insane…" Sokka decided to interject, a yawn fighting to come out as he ignored the Fire Lady's comment, patting Momo's head from the perch on his shoulder. "Well if where going to go… might as well head out… It looks like it's going to be a pretty soggy afternoon…" He chuckled. "Get it… Soggy… cause it's raining?" "Ah… I crack myself up!" Everyone rolled their eyes while Suki just shook her head, Toph smacked the Kyoshi warriors arm playfully. "You were the one that married him…" "Yeah… don't remind me…"
"So I think we should split up… we can all cover more ground, and have better chances of finding something." Sokka spoke up while gently swinging Suki's hand in one hand with the umbrella covering them both in the other, as the gang walked down the nearly empty sidewalk, dodging every so often the unfortunate person who had forgotten the proper gear. Though the rain was hard, it was still nice to wonder out into the town for something fun, instead of serious, and everyone felt that momentary relief. Especially sense their friend most affected by recent events, seemed to be enjoying it the most. "That's a good idea Sokka! How about we all meet back up at that one restaurant Toph loves in an hour?" Aang piped up helpfully, he had Katara's hand in one of his, her body close to his, as his other hand water bended the rain above them.
"That works for me, I wanted to go see the new earth kingdom trading posts anyway… I think it's about time I showed the little Fire-brat what a real bender's toy's are!" Momo's ears perked up as he realized what was happening, he quickly jumped from Sokka's shoulders to Toph's, wanting to even out the numbers, as much as understanding the same thing she did. It was apparent both couples wanted some time, and neither one of them could blame their friends for it. "Oh! Momo… you want to see the earth store too?" The lemur gave a helpful chirp. "Well alright then! See you guy's later!" Suki said happily as she and Sokka began walking across the road, heading for a strip of stores to the west. Toph headed east, Leaving Aang and Katara to head south, towards the shore line.
"Father, why don't we just head to the palace now? I'm sure everyone else has already started showing up!" A sturdy young male's voice questioned, the older of the two's eyebrows drew up, clear patches where the brow's had never grown back made the movement slightly amusing, as he put the object he had been observing back down. "Well Teo, I wanted to give them time before we came, besides. Wouldn't you agree that our present is… one that can't be hidden for long? Especially if Aang is there…" The teen looked up at his father from his wheel chair, He had the present resting in his lap, it was covered by a blanket, his hand stroking the small creatures back to keep her calm. "It will be funny to see the look on Aang's face when we give her to Azuna… are you sure it's a good idea?" "Why wouldn't it be? Lord Zuko is quite capable of caring for one so small, and it's not like he won't be accustomed to a creature like this, Azuna will love her!"
"I thought I heard a familiar voice!" Came a shout from across the street. "Toph!" "Oh dear, How have you been child?" The mechanist's words followed his sons, a slight tent of worry lighting his tone as he eyed Momo. "Hey Teo! I'd say it's good to see you… but you know." She flashed a hand in front of her face, a trademark in proving her blindness. The boy chuckled. "Well it Is good to see you! I'd run and give you a hug but yeah…" They both laughed at their customary jokes. "I can't believe how long it's been!" She stopped beside his chair, attempting to lean in for a hug when his father's hands went to stop her, his eyes on the lemur. "What's wrong old man?" Toph's brows drew together as her question was answered by a higher pitched chirping sound. Momo's ears went straight up, his tail also following that motion as he cocked his head to the side, looking down at the now moving blanket.
"Brummboormnburrrm?" He darted from the earth benders shoulder, landing beside the green covered lump as it apparently struggled to free its self. "Oh dear…" The Mechanist said gently when a sound similar to Momo's but higher pitched and now angry at being stuck, picked up. "Um… what's going on Teo?" The boy gave a sheepish smile, missed completely by the blind girl. He realized his mistake a second later and spoke up. "It's Azuna's present… or well… She is." Just then a hugely oversized ear poked out from under the blanket, followed by the head of a small reddish furred female version of Momo, her eye's blue and filled with wonder as she stared at the males dark ones, surprise evident in both of their postures.
"Well this is certainly interesting…" The Mechanist said as they watched the two Lemur interact. Momo was shy at first, but before long they were playing around in Teo's lap, causing the young man to laugh at their crazy antics. "So you found another Lemur-bat? How?" Toph questioned gently as they began walking down the shops, her ears picking out the difference in tones between the two critters. "She kind of found us actually…" "Yes, I was wondering the court yard one morning about a month ago when-" He picked up the little girl, much to Momo's protest. "This little one swooped down onto my head… Imagine my surprise… It's obvious she wasn't our friend Momo by her colors… so I was excited as you could expect." "yeah, I think she thought my dad was an Air nomad or something… It took her a bit once she realized we weren't, to trust us…" Teo scratched Momo's head behind his ears, the little girl peering down from the Mechanists shoulder. "So why are you giving her to Azuna, and not keeping her at the temple?" "Well, to be honest it just isn't safe for her… As soon as she showed up, a lot of bad things started happening… " "So your giving a cursed Animal to a two year old… yeah, that makes sense…"
"No, not like that Toph…" Teo defended gently. "More like someone was trying to hurt her… these earth benders showed up, and we had to make it look like she had taken off, just so they'd leave… it was a mess." "The ASSU…" The young woman's brows drew together as she whispered the name. "What did you call them? " "The ASSU, but I don't understand why they would try to kill a Lemurbat? That doesn't make any sense… I thought they were only after Air benders…""Well Toph if you want to get specific, a Lemurbat, is an air bender of sorts… they were richly part of the culture…I've been doing some research and-""Of course! Now I understand… it's not just the air benders they want to wipe out… they want to destroy anything related to them! Erase any piece of their life from the planet!" The girl exclaimed with a horror filled voice, totally ignoring the rest of what the crazy scientist was trying to say. Both men looked at her with worry. "So are they after Aang?" Teo wondered, his eyes finally decided to take in all of the young woman's features as he spoke.
"No, they aren't that stupid… though we all wish…" "Good, but if they aren't after Aang… who are they after? One lemur bat seems really small…" "Well, apparently there are other air-benders still hiding out…" "Oh! How splendid! I can imagine how excited Aang must be!" "Yeah…" Toph let the sentence die much to the other men's disappointment. She was tired of having to think about all the bad things surrounding the ASSU, and instead focused on locating the store she had wanted to find, figuring that they could learn about it later. "You too haven't seen any earth kingdom trading posts around here have you…?" "Yeah I have, There's one not too far from here!" "Good, I need to find a birthday gift…" "Oh, well we can accompany you… just promise to keep her a secret." Teo's father said as he patted the girl lemurs head kindly. "No problem! So when did you guys get here anyway?"
"Aang… are you alright?" Katara was still not sure if her boyfriends mood was real or not, especially from what Zuko had told her the night before, that was afterall the reason she had gone to his room to wait for him. "Why wouldn't I be? I have the most beautiful woman in the world holding my hand?" He gave her a sly grin, knowing full well why she was concerned, in truth he couldn't tell her just yet that he was excited for knowing that the other Airbender who'd escaped was still alive, because he didn't know for sure if the joy would be short lived or not. She blushed at his comment, squeezing back when he stroked her hand with his thumb reassuringly. "If you say so…I just thought…" "Don't worry about it Katara, I'm ok, right now I just want to enjoy spending this day with you… though I do wish it wasn't raining…" He glared playfully at the sky as his hand was raised above their heads to create the water shield. "Oh, You want me to take a turn? Is your arm tired…" "haha, no it's fine." He turned his silver gaze back to her blue, a gentle smile tugging at his lips. "You look beautiful today you know?" She blinked, unsure of what to say to that.
"Ok you!… why are you trying to flatter me so much?" She dropped his hand to put her own on her hips, stopping to raise her eyebrow at him. He laughed at the cute image she presented, rain dripping down her features as she had stepped out from his shelter."What? Am I not allowed to compliment the woman I love? I mean, I haven't really gotten to spend much time with you in the past week… I feel like I have to make up for lost time." She rolled her eyes, but allowed him to pull her against his chest, and once again out of the rain. "I hate not getting to spend time with you… I think that frustrates me more than anything else when things come up…" He whispered seriously, his eye's a full display of his affection for her. "I've missed you too Aang, but I understand when things like this come up… If I didn't I wouldn't be able to call myself your girlfriend." He pressed his forehead against hers, eyebrows drawn back and his voice husky with emotion. "You're my entire world, you know that?… if I didn't have you, I don't know if I'd have the ability to do the things I do, but Katara if things ever get too hard on you, I'll understand if…""Aang, don't talk like that... I promise that I don't ever intend on going anywhere… You mean everything to me! I don't think I could survive without you honestly… It doesn't matter how long you're gone, or where you go, or what you have to do. So long as I know that you're coming back to me… I won't ever go anywhere; I'll always be waiting for you to come home…"
"You are my home…" He whispered just before his lips crashed down onto hers. He poured every ounce of love he had for her into this kiss, it was gentle, but deeply profound, as feelings words couldn't begin to describe passed between them both. She kissed him back just as earnestly determined for him to understand just how much he truly meant to her. Tears slipped passed her closed eyes as the emotions became too hard to hold inside. It turned desperate when he pushed her up against a damp wall, his teeth nipping her lower lip. He finally allowed her to feel every ounce of his pain, hurt, and uncertainty from this past week as he greedily accepted her soothing responses of love, concern, and protection over his hearts deepest secrets.
Her tong danced across his lips, before his darted out to meet hers, they tasted one another's mouths savoring every second, whilst they battled one another. Her hand's slid down his back, gripping tightly when they slowly rose back to his shoulders. One of his hands was lost in her hair, the other propped against the wall holding her between him and it, keeping her shielded from the rain while devouring her mouth, she was just as hungry to return the favors, and did so as one hand slid up behind his head to give herself a little more control, they fought over dominance, neither giving in as both desired to show the other how much they meant.
Finally, Aang pulled back, panting hard as he twisted so that his own back was against the wall beside her. Katara sighed with a husky air to her voice. "That was well worth the wait…" He whispered after several long minutes of them both attempting to cool down. "I have to agree with you there…" She said with a smile as her hands pushed her off the wall to sand and face him. "We really probably should get to shopping though…" He laughed lightly accepting her hand as she began leading the way. They were both soaked from the rain, but at the moment the coolness felt divine.
"Oh Suki look at this!" Sokka shouted in excitement as he darted from table to table, picking up random articles of clothing to flash at his wife, She was torn between looking at the table she had stumbled across, and watching him run around like his pants were on fire. "I like that one!" "no… She has one just like those!" "Your right! But what about this!" "It's cute…what do you think of this?" She held up a toddler sized dress in shades of green. "That's a pretty one!" He piped up before finding four more things to show her. "I think I'll get this for her…" The Kyoshi warrior said at last, happy with the small green, yellow, and gold embroidered outfit. It reminded her of her home island, something the children there would wear.
"I don't blame you, it looks just like something you'd find in Kyoshi island! I'm sure she'll love it!" Sokka said with a grin as he paused to look at the growing pile in his hands. "Which do you think I should get her?" his wife laughed absently shaking her head. "Well not that one, I don't think I like that shade of purple…" "yeah…but what about this…" "Na… it's too small." And so it went for another fifteen minutes, eventually they walked out of that venders place with only Suki's gift. "Aww man… this stinks! What do you get a two year old fire princess?" His wife gave him a soft smile of understanding. "Don't worry, we will find something! Your good about that." "Hey the rain's stopped!" They both looked up happily as the first rays of sunlight began peeking out through the clouds. "Well see! That's a very good sign!" "Your right!" He took her hand in his after closing the umbrella and tucking it against his sword sheath on his back.
"Oh!" Suki stopped, her hand leaving his to flatten against her stomach. "What is it?" Sokka immediately went on alarm when he watched his wife's movements. "oh…wow." She whispered, further setting her husband's anxiety ablaze. "Suki? What is it? Do I need to call for help-" "No, Feel!" she grabbed his hand and had it against her stomach in one lighting fast motion. At first he was confused, but that was short lived when he felt a small pressure pressing back against his hand. "Is that…?" his wife gave him a tear filled grin. "You feel that?" His eyes widened as a deep paternal pride began filling his heart. "Yeah… there it is again!" he said softly excitement coloring his words, as his hand slid down her stomach a bit. "Our baby's first kick…" She said in wonderment, they were both lost in the moment, eye's locked on one another as nothing mattered but these precious few seconds. The sun seemed to understand their special situation, choosing to release a ray that bathed them both in its warm light. Suki's hand rested against Sokka's guiding it every so often to follow their child's small movements.
"So Toph, what have you been up to over the past year?" Teo questioned, his eye's lost in her angelic face. He'd never noticed but within the past few years, she had grown a lot, and now it was near impossible not to see that. "Mostly following leads on Air Nomad sightings with the gang, But I have spent a good bit of time in Ba Sing Sa with Iroh…" "What's Iroh doing all the way in the Earth Kingdom?" he asked, truly curious. He turned his head for a moment to scan for his father, the man had disappeared into a mechanics shop not long ago, but he hadn't surfaced. "Well… you remember how obsessed with tea he is right?" "Ha! Who wouldn't… that was one of his favorite topics!" Toph laughed, her features soft as she enjoyed the opportunity to spend time with this young man. "yeah, well he owns his own tea shop… it's actually a nice place, We all have a house about a block from it… not that we ever get to really stay there much but you know!" they both grinned at one another, a blush colored the girls features as she felt a small flutter in her heart.
"What about you Teo? What have you been up too?" "Well, I've been helping my dad restore much of the Northern temple, instead of trying to rebuild over it he decided it would be even more beneficial to help keep its history strong." "Really? Huh… I remember hearing that half of it was destroyed by the machinery though?" "Yeah, it took some time but we managed to fix some of it… there are things we absolutely can't mess with for the sake of our living there… but we have tried to make it better. You know, you should come out there some time… I could take you gliding!" Toph looked down, a smile on her unseeing face as she fought the heat of a blush on her cheeks. "That would be nice…"
"Oh there you too are! Toph did you find the gift you wanted to get?" "Yeah. Did you find what you spent so long in there for?" She was feeling uncharacteristically giddy for once and couldn't seem to lose the smile on her face. "Yes, though now I must wait to use it… I do wish I would have brought that project with me…" Teo rolled his eyes. "Dad, if you had we'd of taken even longer just to lug that thing here…" His father smiled, noticing the close proximity of the two teens as he finally took a moment to focus on them. "Yeah… I think it's about time I headed back to meet up with everyone, were going to eat at one of my favorite café's here if you too want to come…" The mechanist looked sadly at the two lemurs on his son's lap, both chatting away with one another.
"Unfortunately, it might be best if I take the little one with me… remember, surprise…" "Oh yeah… well Teo, would you like to come?" The boy gave a strangled look to his father as he fought over if it would be ok to leave him alone to accompany Toph, or not. The scientist saved him. "Yes, I think he should… it's impolite to leave a lady wondering the streets alone." Toph scoffed at the notion but Teo flashed his dad a bright smile. "Alright, let's go then!" Momo complained as the little girl was plucked from her spot beside him, but he had heard what was going on and knew he'd see her again soon. He raised one paw to wave bye, she did the same.
"I hope she likes this…" "Aang, how could she not! It's something any kid would love…" "You think so?" He asked as he looked into her blue eyes. He had gotten a stuffed air bison toy, it was something of his culture. But was also just too cute to walk away from. "Of course, I bet she will sleep with it all the time!" He smiled as his eye's looked at the set of beach toy's Katara had picked out in her hands. "Two year old's aren't too hard to please Aang, it's all about giving them something they can have an imagination with…" She spoke matter-of-factly having helped take care of the children in her home village before their journey ever began. He nodded, he was about to respond when a blast of wind from a small tornado hit them as someone darted across the street into an ally. "What was that?" Katara asked, but Aang had already taken off, leaving her startled in the square where everyone else was slowly trickling too.
"Hey where's Aang?" Sokka asked as he and Suki joined their sister, Toph and Teo coming up shortly after. "What's going on?" Toph asked just before she stomped the ground, shooting out a huge pillar of rock that smacked a speeding earth bender in the face. He had two companions who darted past him, only to be met by walls of rock. "Why are you chasing them?" Toph shouted, she could still feel Aang and whoever else it was with him, moving quickly down the ally. "This is non of your concern!" Spat the first man as he made a quick stance, shooting rocks at the gang. "Their ASSU!" Katara shouted as she used her water whip to knock the other two onto the ground. "What?" "Aang took off after something that made a lot of wind! I think it was an Air-bender!" She answered her brother as he unsheathed his sword, handing his gift to his wife. Suki unfortunately had to step behind him, being unable to fight without risking her child.
"Where do you think you're going?" Toph shouted as she shot back her own attacks while blocking the one's coming towards everyone. Katara stood beside her, water shooting out to encase all three in ice, only to be melted by fire seconds later as two men in old soldier's uniforms happened to catch up.
"Hey! Wait up!" Aang shouted as he followed closely on the cloaked air-benders heals. "Who are you?" He attempted to speed in front of her but she sensed it and kicked it up a notch herself. "Leave me Alone!" She finally screamed back, her voice mature but not by much. Aang smiled as he realized who she must be. "You're the one who escaped! I'm Aang! The Avatar I can help you!" His smile widened as she slowed her pace, just enough for him to run beside her as they darted down the different streets. "Why are you still running?" He asked as he managed to glimpse a pretty face and steely green eyes. "They aren't far behind! I can't stop!" Her hood fell away revealing dark blond hair and a very blue arrow tattooed on her forehead. "You're a master?" He nearly laughed in delight, here she was. The one who would mean that he wasn't the last, He wasn't alone! "Yeah! What of it?" She replied sarcastically, a grin crossing her face before they both took off up a wall. "I've been tracking you for so long now!" he shouted. "Yeah well I've been trying to get a hold of you for three years!" His eyebrows drew together as they both stopped on the roof, finally giving him a chance to look at her.
She was a very pretty girl, older than him he could tell, though not by much, maybe twenty at the oldest. "Who are you?" He asked softly, knowing this was going to be a short meeting. "My names Tinly, I'm one of the last in my generation alive… Listen, these ASSU are no joke! I've been kept from contacting you… everyone else who's tried has been killed… there are things you must know! But…" She looked out, the building they stood on was high enough to see that they weren't going to be alone for long. "I can't now… Please… Be ready, When I come find you… They will try to stop me… to silence everything I have to say so that you never learn-" Before he could blink she had her glider opened and had taken off, he would have watched after her, asked her to finish what she was going to say. But he got distracted by the bolder flying towards her, a deadly accurate shot. "Bastards…" He growled out before lifting his hand and squeezing his fist, stopping the stone in mid air.
Before the other benders knew what hit them he had shattered the large rock, than shot all the pieces at them, not caring if he wounded them too much. The grunts of pain faded before he turned around, but when he did he was staring at nothing but a blank ally, who ever those men were had taken off. Almost as if they weren't even there before…
"Aang!" Katara shouted gratefully as she watched him jump off the roof and land gently in front of all of them. His stormy gaze took in all of the destruction that surrounded his friends. "Are you all alright?" He asked worried, they nodded. "What about you?" "I'm fine… Katara… I met her… I really met her!" he spoke soft, but his voice was full of emotions that everyone could clearly tell he was trying not to let overwhelm him. A tear fell down his girlfriends cheek as she wrapped him in a hug. "I told you, you would!" He hugged her back, unable to keep the tears out of his eyes, though he did manage to keep them from falling. "Yeah, and we met the ASSU… officially." Toph snorted, her hand moved to pick her nose but she quickly changed tactics when she remembered Teo was nearby. "Yeah, We had them! You should of seen it, Toph was all like 'Pow, Bam, Whack!' And Katara man she was all like! Water bending Slice! It was awesome! But then… they… just…" "They disappeared…" Suki finished for her over excited husband, he glowered out at the places where the men had been before.
"It was like they knew she had gotten away or something… and then just… took off." Teo spoke up, having been mostly quiet the hole time, Momo sitting in his lap. "Well, I would expect nothing less… there's a reason they have managed to wipe out so many of my people…" Aang paused as he debated about finishing his sentence. "It isn't easy to kill an air-bender you know…" Everyone seemed to focus on those words. "But they don't kill…" Toph interjected. "Just because we don't kill doesn't mean we haven't mastered the ability to defend… we have one of the most perfected forms of defense. It's what we do. So these men aren't just your run-in-the-mill benders…" He let the rest of that sink in as he released Katara from his arms and took her hand.
"Come on you guys… I think it's about time we grabbed lunch." The smile had slowly returned to his face as the avatar guided all of his friends into the little restaurant. He was to filled with joy to remain upset at the moment as he kissed his best friend on the cheek. "You were right Katara." She grinned back up at him. "No, your heart was right Aang. You knew it all along, I just had to help you believe it."
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And another chapter down!
I do hope everyone likes it... and that it makes sense... I swear my attention span it the lengths of a rodents... one second I'm thinking of this situation, then another not a second later... .0
If it's ever confusing let me know... =)
Kimjuni2 8D Yayee! then that would be a win for me! I love knowing that people really like my story... it doesn't matter to me how many, so long as at least one does! Thank you for your review! I hope this chapter is one you enjoy as well!
Loopy kid Welcome to having a FF account! =D It's a lot better when you do because then you can keep track of things easier! haha. Yeah... I played with that outcome a few times, but over all I figured Aang responded pretty well... 8D I was going to have him rough up the guys a bit more... but then I realized that wasn't very Aang like... so yeah. haha.
Now should I be concerned at your mention of this? I know full well how it is as a reader, this is my first story but I've been reading fanfics myself sense I was like 12 on here, (Thats a long time! Lol) so I try hard not to use repeating words to much... did I still manage to fail at that? XD Thank you for your constant reviews you rock! I hope this chapter is just as much to your liking! =)
Again, Thank you to everyone who so much as just reads, even if you don't comment (Though you get extra loves and cookies if you do). It means a lot to me that you've enjoyed my story. I have lots more ideas to come! this story will be around for a while, and hopefully with each chapter I'll improve as a writer to become even more enjoyable!
Next Chapter,
Chapter 9. Here come the Terrible Twos...
Azunas birthday, will be lots of fun fluff. A few faces we all know and Love from the series will appear as well!
And minor plot... :D
Stay tuned!
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