Thank you for the reviews. I am really glad that you like the story, and think the jade bandit was cool. It was a lot of work to get that right. I hope you will like this chapter too. There is a quit a bit of dialogue in this chapter. That is to explain a few things. But don't worry the chapter after that will get back into the action.

He didn't know what to do. The first impulse he had was to call her name, wake her. His mouth clamped shut before a sound could escape. Slowly he stepped forwards, his right hand with the chain wrapped around his wrist lifted and reached out to touch her shoulder. When his hand was a few inches away from her she flinched, curling up a little more. Her eyes flickered a little, like they were going to open. Not wanting her to wake up to him standing over her, Aang continued moving his hand tapping her lightly on the shoulder.

Toph shrugged it off and moved over to lie on her back. Her right hand was held up to her chest, just over her mothers necklace. Her breathing got heavier as she again started to wake up on her own. Fearing now that she was having another nightmare, Aang found his voice "Toph." Her eyes started to open more. He wasn't sure why he was watching that. Did opening her eyes mean she was really wake. "Toph." He said again, a little louder this time. Still not getting much of a response. Again he tapped her on the shoulder, again a little more forcefully.

This time she wake. She let out a faint yell, more like taking in a deep breath, as she sat up in the bed. "What are you doing, where..."

"Where did you go last night."

His voice was like it had been last night, low and strong. This coupled with the strength of his presence, made Toph answer his question without finishing what she was saying first. "I woke up, couldn't get back to sleep. So I bend myself free from the handcuff and went for a walk."

"Where."

"Around the palace, why."

"That's it. You just walked around the palace."

Toph was looking more confused with every question he asked. "No, not just walking. I went to the bathroom and washed up. I can't change my clothes, but that doesn't mean I have to smell like Appa." Aang, who had been standing right next to the bed took a few steps back. giving them both some space. "Where were you. I got back and you where go. How come your the one acting all..."

"I Was..." A loud knock on the door interrupted him.

"Lady...Avatar the king will not be able to met with you this morning. You are free to carry on with your work."

Aang relaxed and feel back into the chair he had been sitting in yesterday morning. Toph was trying not to laugh. It sounded like the guard didn't know he was speaking to, Toph or Aang. This whole situation was not normal. Once the threat of laughter had subsided Aang once again opened his mouth to tell her what had happened, but again he was interrupted by the door being pushed open. Aang panicking, they were no longer chained together, and if anyone say that it would be hard to explain and keep the kings trust. He did the only thing he could do. He jumped for the chair, and practically leaped into the right side of the bed. Which was free now that Toph had moved to the centre after rolling over when she woke up.

A heavily made up maid entered the room. As she took in the sight in front of her a look of confusion spread across her face. She like everyone in the palace staff knew about the situation with the avatar and lady Toph. Seeing them fully dresses in the same clothes from the day before sitting next to each other in the same bed was still a little odd though.

After a few seconds of staring she finally found her voice. "Lady Toph, I'm here to help you dress..."

"I don't think I'll need any help with that today. Thank you though." A look of embarrassment spread across her face now. Of course the lady Toph wouldn't be able to change while handcuffed. Toph had tried to sound as pleasant as she could, but she really wanted the maid to go. So she could here what Aang was going to tell her. With a nod and small smile the maid left the room, closing the door behind her.

Toph was about to speak when Aang jumped out of bed as fast as he had jumped into hit. He unwrapped the chain from his wrist and handed her the other handcuff. With a little reluctance she took it and placed it around her left wrist, bending the lock back in place. "Why don't we go and get some tea. There is a lot of stuff we need to talk about." Toph gave a slight nod, as she slid out of the bed.

"Happy late birthday." Aang shot Toph a large smile from across the table at the jasmine dragon. Two cups of the house speciality, jasmine tea had just been placed on the table in-front of them. To help them not stick out as much, Aang had wrapped a robe over himself to cover the chain a little. It made him stick out though, but for wearing a robe in summer, which was a little less odd than the chain. The chain was now running along under the table. The shop was very quite only two other tables had people sitting at them.

"Thanks." She gave him a small smile as thanks.

"How late a present is this." He wanted to know about this and more, but he was also worried about the answers he would get to his questions."

Toph let out a held breath before answering. "Five days before you cam to see me at the academy."

"Did the others..."

"Yes, they knew. We met up in the fire nation. I had gotten back to the academy the day before you showed up." She didn't see it, but she could felt the hurt coming from his presence. "We didn't know where you where. How to reach you."

"I know, its my fault I'm sorry." Toph was going to say that it was ok, that she, they understood. The words just didn't come out. "So how many birthdays have I missed." She didn't want to answer this question. It was like he was trying to get her to be mad at him. "I need to know how many teas to buy you."

"I was twelve when we met. I'm eighteen now. So six."

"Six." He was having hard him believing that it had all been six years. They had all known each other for six years. "Tell me about them."

"Why do you want to know. Are you dyeing or something."

He gave a exaggerated shake of his head.. "No. I just want to know." He picked up his cup of tea, blowing on it before he took a sip.

This was another question she didn't want to answer. She felt that she owed him though, so she answered. "When we where in the desert after the library sank. That was my thirteenth birthday. I was fourteen just before I found out about my mother. Fifth-teen, just two days before Suki and Sokka's wedding. Sixteen, three days before I told Katara and Sokka my plan. To marry Zuko and help balance the world. Seventeen, before you came to ask me to help you find Long feng. why do you really want to know."

"I missed a lot..."

"Don't start feeling sorry for yourself. No one made you go, that was your choice." Once the words were out of her mouth she wanted to take them back. She shouldn't have been so harsh. "Aang I..."

"It's ok your right. Its my own fault that I missed so much. I'm here now though." Toph gave a little nod. Now that he had got her disappointed enough with him, and made himself feel bad enough, he could tell her what he had too. "I went out into the city last night."

"I figured. You were looking for me. You didn't trust me."

"Something like that. You where gone and I got mad then...that doesn't matter. What dose matter is that I went to the broken sword inn, I spoke to the guy in the back room. He told me the jade bandit had just been there, to pick something up."

"That scum..."

"Dose it really matter that he told me and not you. The point is that we know that jade bandit is here." Toph gave a reluctant nod. "There's more. I met the jade bandit."

"What did they say."

"Nothing actually. They just nodded there head a lot. It was them though. They had the emerald. You were wrong though. They stole the emerald from Lord Hong."

"Did you get it back." That was a stupid question. Of course she knew the answer already.

"No."

Toph leaned back in her chair. Thinking over all that she had been told. They drank the first tea in silence. The second and third, Toph insisted on knowing about Aang's birthdays since she had known him. In truth birthdays were not a big deal for air nomads. He had almost forgotten his birthday till three years after the war, while he was travelling he came across records in the northern air temple of his birth. Knowing the date didn't change anything, he still never thought about his birthday. Toph made a mental note the tell the others and make sure they did something for his birthday this year. It was summer, so it was coming up soon like Zuko's and then Katara and Sokka's. Suki's was at the very end of the year a few days from Sokka's.

Toph found it odd that she was the youngest, but that her birthday cam first in the year. Now knowing Aang's birthday they realised that he was a season, winter older than her. He was born one hundred and one winter before her, making him the older. Toph was a little disappointed by this, she had liked the idea that she was older than at least one person in the group. This was their conversion over the fourth cup of tea. They left after that, not making it to number five or six. He still owed her two cups of tea.

It had been easier than she had thought to be in the jasmine dragon. She hadn't been there since she had visited Iroh while she was in the city. She was going to be sixteen soon and was starting to worry about Zuko not being able to do his job as fire lord, because of other people's prejudice. Iroh had seemed older to her, but she didn't think much of it. He was working, of course he was tired. She wished latter that she had noticed and done something to help him, maybe she could have saved him. If she had only noticed sooner. This was a dangerous road to go down, so she stopped herself before she went to far. In the earth kingdom people have long lives, they endure and live. She wasn't used to old age.

Aang forgot about the loss of Iroh till he walked into the shop. The whole time he kept expecting to see him bringing over another tray of tea for them. Sit down and walk while it was quite. Give advice, spirits now they could both use some now.

When back at the palace, the king had asked for their presence at dinner so they could up date him on their work. Toph had her hair and make up done by the maid that came to help her dress that morning, while Aang sat on a chair by the window of her room. He was thinking of how best to tell the king what he had found out, but not have to tell him that Toph had unlocked the handcuff from herself. When the maid left, he told Toph what he thought up. They would say that she couldn't sleep. So they walked around the palace. Then decided to go into the city, hoping to find a lead. Which they did. They rest of the story was the same as what happened, only Toph was there too. The fact that they were chained together was the reason he got away. The earth king seemed to lap this up. At last he was seeing some progress.

Like the night before, Aang slept in his sleeping bag next to Toph's bed. He started to wake just before the sun started to rise in the sky. He lay on his back and stretched out his arms over his head. The chain seemed to be pulled tighter. He worried that he may have woken Toph up. Slowly he pulled himself up. The bed was empty.

Unlike the last time he didn't feel a surge of anger building up inside him. She was probably just washing up again. His eyes drifted to the door, in case it was opened a crack after she left the room to wash. It was then that eyes feel on the wooded headboard of the bed. On the far left side of the bed the other handcuff was chained to the headboard.

He let out a stifled laugh, at first. She handcuffed him to the bed so he wouldn't go off again to find the jade bandit without her, that was very Toph. Even though this made sense for Toph, something about it didn't seem right to him. The simple answer was always the right one. In this case it was also the least pleasant one.

Toph was the jade bandit. She had handcuffed him to the headboard to keep him out of her way, will she did whatever she was going to do with the emerald she stole.