On the warm sands of Fire Lily Bay, the three "friends" sat in silence. A stony silence, in Katara's case, a thoughtful silence, regarding Aang and a relaxed silence for Cari.

"I wonder how they're doing." Cari mused, thinking of subjects Toph and Sokka.

"Probably having more fun than us." Katara mumbled.

"Aw, don't be so pessimistic, Loopy!" Cari teased, tossing back her mocha hair and beaming. Katara seethed silently.

"Do you think they're together yet?" Aang asked impatiently, "I miss Sokka for his sarcasm and I miss Toph for...well all she does is punch me."

"Well it's nice to know you enjoy ourcompany, Aang." Katara snapped, as Cari thumped Aang for good measure. The moody Water Bender folded her arms as she glared sternly at his left ear; she was too scared to scowl straight at him, in case he decided he didn't like her. In fact, Aang simply shrunk away from her.

"I didn't say that…" He murmured quietly.

"Ignore her; she's a bit stroppy at the moment." Cari advised wisely, digging her bare toes into the sand and tossing back her head for maximum sunlight to hit her olive skin. Cari had this way of detecting when people were in bad moods. The problem is, she would always voice her discovery in front of the subject, who would get even more pissed off. And so…

"I AM NOTSTROPPY!" Katara exploded. She lurched onto her feet and pointed at Cari violently, "Stop trying to pretend you know everything!"

"But…I do." Cari argued simply, staring up at Katara as if they were sharing a normal conversation instead of one between a bull and anormalperson. Or as normal as Cari could possibly be. She barely scrapes the mark really...

"No-You-DON'T." The crazy Water Bender roared. Her head snapped in the direction of Aang, who jerked and cringed in fright, "Tell her, Aang! She's only known us a few days. How could she possiblyknow everything about us?"

Aang looked to Cari, who seemed on the verge of laughter.

"I-"

"Now hold it there, Sweetness," Cari interrupted, holding her hands up to reveal to silver and chunky gothic rings on each thumb, "I didn't say I know everything about you. It's simply obvious that you are pissed off."

And at this point, Katara's world fell apart, for one simple reason- Aang laughed at Cari's remark. A sweet chuckle slipped through those honey vocal chords and her heart turned to stone.

She watched his face crease in mirth with utter loss.

So he's sided with her…just because she's funny.Well…I definitely know I do not hold the appreciation and gift to create comic irony for entertainment…

Of course, she hadto be that uptight to come up with that sort of comment instead of just saying I'm not funny, thus proving the point of Cari's obvious appeal showing much more beneficial value over Katara's. In short- Cari is the better choice.

Of course, Katara may have been overacting, or maybe she was again right but only because she was insane and didn't realize that if she got professional help, then she could be quite…well, intelligent!

If she was right…then the Avatar had broken free from the Kataang shipper's obsessive clutches, and the Zutarians will probably rejoice and burn dummies of Aang. Also, he would've fallen for Cari, the hilarious but terrifying harlot. (HAHAHA!)

If she was wrong…then she was about to blow any chance she would have with Aang anyway, so really it made no difference. We can only sit back and enjoy the show…which will commence in the next chapter...

No I'm kidding. If you've already screamed and punched a hole in your computer screen, then there's really no point in me apologizing now, as you won't be there to see it…! So instead, I'll apologize to the people I slightly horrified. Sorry.

MOVING ON.

Yet again, Katara's hormones raged their riot which caused her to turn bright red, her hair to become static and unmanageable and her eyes to bulge a couple of millimeters out of their sockets. Experts on human (or cartoon character) behavior would instantly identify this as a state of anger…and so could anyone.

Basically, Katara wasstroppy. And a liar! But so are all of us when we are accused of being pissed off. And pissed, for that matter.

"FINE!" She shrieked, "IF YOU'RE SIDING WITH HERI MIGHT AS WELL NOT BE HERE! MAYBE I SHOULD GO AND…AND…"

But as we, the Avid Avatar Audience knows, when Katara is stressed, her wit goes out of the metaphorical window. Aang seemed confused at another one of Katara's outbursts. Cari raised her eyebrows.

"Mygodwoman," Cari said, too irate to even summon up a nickname, "Get out more, leave the Monk and his limbs alone, and then maybe your mind will function more successfully than that of a primitive life form."

So that's when Katara hit her, thus tying the strings of fate, which would surely end up throttling her.

"So…they're doing this to get us together?" Sokka asked, perplexed at why his friends and that other crazy girl would do such a thing. Toph nodded glumly as they stopped for some food in a little shop. They chose some noodles from the counter, paid the small amount of money that their 'friends' had left them and squeezed onto a small table in the corner.

"It's really typical of them to think that friends of opposite genders should get together," Toph commented, hoping that Sokka's mind wouldn't speed up from a stomach full of food so fast that he would realize that she was simply playing along. Bowing her head so her raven hair fell and hid her face, Toph managed to disguise a blush. There was no need for it though; Sokka's face was already submerged in his bowl, chopsticks lying forgotten on the table.

"You know," Sokka started after a belch, "I realize that we are of opposite genders, which would naturally spark a romantic interest…notbetweenusofcourse!" He added in a gush, "But I don't know why they think we would make a good couple."

"Why not?" Toph asked, suddenly alert. She was idly picking at her noodles, showing her rare dainty side. Sokka watched her slender, porcelain fingers manipulate the chopsticks, forgetting his train of thought. He gulped and touched back down to earth.

"Well…I'm three years older than you!"

"I recall Suki being a year older than you." Toph pointed out, her tone suddenly icy at the mention of the Kyoshi warrior.

Oh, just so you know, I loved Suki and all- I mean, what a star- but she was in the way of Tokka, so I killed her off. NO arguments. Tokka comes first. (Spoken like a true Cari.)

"Well…yes…but a year is shorter than three."

"Genius." Toph snorted, a little more venomously than she would have if Suki wasn't the topic of conversation. Sokka wriggled uncomfortably.

"I mean, you're lovely and all, Toph, but-"

"But I don't wave around little fans like a delicate princess." The wild Earth Bender spat, realizing a little too late that she had blown her cover. She had acted a little toojealous and vindictive. However, Sokka still hadn't absorbed the food into his blood stream so he was a still littleslow (little meaning that he wasn't able to tell Iroh from the Buddah). But not too slow that he missed Toph's dark mood.
"What's up Toph? Suki was a nice girl!" Sokka said, choking on his words slightly as he used the past tense on his late girlfriend, "Sounds like you're jealous…" He teased. Toph's temperature shot up and her palms began to itch.

BOLLOCKS! He KNOWS?She yelled in her head.

"…I didn't think you were the kind of girl who was into fans." He finished, the imbecile.

"I've had plenty of fans!" Toph protested, outraged, but relieved all the same at Sokka's stupidity, "Remember, I was the Earth Wrestling champion. You think I didn't have my followe-Oh…thosefans."

Sokka snickered and Toph scowled.

"You know, we reallywouldn'tmake a good couple." Toph shot at him, her arms folded stubbornly, "We can hardly communicate unless you've got a fat belly and a belch rising up your gullet!"

And with that, she stormed from the little shop in a huff.

It seemed that the plan wasn't going to run smoothly at all…Oh shut up, Taang Fans.

"Toph!" Sokka cried, as he exited the little shop, grieving over the bowl of food he had just left behind, "Wait!"

The stumpy Earth Manipulator sighed and her pace slowed. She waited, stony faced, for Sokka to catch her up. Once feeling his familiar galumpy steps, (a word that I made myself, and am proud of. ©!) she sighed and relaxed.

"Sorry, Tufty." She apologized stiffly, "Sometimes emotions take hold, y'know?"

Sokka frowned slightly as they stood amidst the hustle and bustle of a market they were passing through. Unluckily for Toph, his intelligence had finally picked up the pace.

"Toph, correct me if I'm wrong…" He gulped, and forced himself to go on, his heartbeat quickening, "But it sounds like you actually want us-"

But let us curse the 'Spirits' (honestly...) that Sokka wasn't able to finish his sentence, that was about to contain something us Tokka fans were URGING this boy to say. Without warning, the ground began to tremble ever so slightly. An ostrich-horse stepped back from its water trough in alarm as its contents started to ripple eerily. The quaking grew steadily more obvious, as pots for sale began to shake, some falling off of their shelves and shattering. Sokka frantically seized Toph's arm. Although she was perfectly capable of standing up on her own two feet, even in an earthquake, she didn't mind. In fact, as the ground began to rattle and heave, as the crowd began to shriek and scream, as all chaos broke loose, Toph smiled, completely oblivious to the riot around her.

Wow…and I thought it was always going to be me that had to hold onto hisarm…

But she managed to distract herself from the pleasant warmth that was bubbling through her, and realized that she recognized this type of earthquake. Conveniently, (which has NOTHING to do with me…!) a skilled Earth Bender like Toph could recognize different earth quakes, if they were natural or caused by bending, and this particular one was very familiar. It took her back to a time when she and Cari were playing in the vast garden surrounding her house, and she managed to insult her very deeply- it was something about a boy or something. I think it was a comment on his hair. Thus, causing Cari to summon great strength- which was channeled through a delightfully terrifying earthquake, an earthquake much like this one. Toph rolled her eyes.

"I knew she wouldn't put up with Katara for long…" She groaned.

"Huh?" Sokka squeaked, still clutching her arm, but crouched down with his head between his knees. With a kick to the earth, Toph forced Sokka upwards and reluctantly pulled herself out of his clutches.

"This isn't a Natural Disaster, Sokka," She told him knowingly, "This is just a disaster. It's Cari."

"Cari's…doing this?"

"Yes. And I bet it's your sister that caused her to act in such a destructive way."

Sokka wasn't listening to that; he was too busy in awe of Cari's immense power and was watching the earthquake now with respect, rather than terror.

"She must be even better than you!" He mused, thoughtlessly. A colossal punch managed to quite literally beat the thought out of his head.

"Wrong." Toph growled, her fists clenched and her expression indignant, "Ijust happen to have better control over my emotions!"

"Clearly…" Sokka muttered sarcastically, trying and failing to pop the dent out of his arm.

"On the bright side," Toph said dully, "We're nearer to Fire Lily Bay than we thought. Once again, your map-reading skills fail to provide accuracy."

"I'd like to see you do better…" Sokka mumbled.

"So would I." She snapped, "But obviously we only have youto rely on. We'd better ask directions in order to end up in the right place, instead of following yourestimations and finding ourselves beating up a few Fire Nation Soldiers."

Sokka stuck his tongue out right in Toph's face. Toph retaliated by seizing the front of his clothes and threatening:

"You want another imperfection to match that boil you had on there, Snoozles?" She threatened. Sokka's eyes were wide as he recognized the proximity of their faces. He could see every different shade of emerald, forest and jade beneath the milky mask that hid them from him. He had never realized how many colours she had concealed.

"Mmm?" He said in a daze. Toph frowned in confusion, but sense the closeness of Sokka and threw him back immediately.

"Listen, Sokka." She said, smoothing down her clothes and trying to suppress the blush seeping across her face, "It's probably better that we stay away for a while, ok? We don't want to get caught in the middle of the two craziest girls we've ever come across at war, do we? I mean, think of what will happen! Mud fights, shards of ice, chunks of rocks! It's just safer if we stay here and-I don't know- kill some time for a bit?" She realized that she was rambling due to her discomfort.

Sokka smiled, realizing just how cute she was underneath the surface.

Cari's eyes were like tunnels, her mahogany hair whipped around her face and her spindly fingers with talon-like nails were crippled into claws. The ground beneath her was shaking so violently, that neither Katara nor Aang could stand up. Luckily Aang was further away, at Appa's side, so his delicate little frame wasn't about to be harmed. As if Cari OR Katara would let that happen anyway!

Now, maybe Katara had insulted her boyfriend's hairdo- NO she didn't, she did the unmentionable, something that not even TOPH would dream of doing to Cari, even when she was at her most annoying. Katara actually hitCari. The untouchable Matchsticks. The force-field protected Lover Girl it seemed.

Katara had crossed the line. And boy was she going to pay for it.

She stared up at Cari with horror in her eyes, her mouth hanging open and struggling to stand up.

"Oh dear…" Was all she could say, not that her words were easy to understand since she was being tossed about.

Cari let out a shriek that bounced off the mountains and reached neighboring planets. It could curdle blood, it could extinguish Azula's lightning bolts, it could melt the brains of the hasty little water bender before her.

"Cari?" Aang called warily, not expecting to be heard. He watched her in complete disbelief, "Hey- is that what I look like in the Avatar state?" He asked Appa, who carried on munching grass, oblivious to the chaos that was happening right in front of him.

Yes Aang, it's pretty much what you look like, except Cari looked more liable to explode at any second.

"Cari?" Katara mimicked Aang (typical!) and finally managed to stay on her feet, "I'm…sorry!" She wailed, the unfamiliar feeling of apologizing burning her tongue.

Suddenly, the ground became still and the startling stop caused both Katara and Aang to fall over again. The birds began to sing, and the trees leaned in the casual breeze. Peace. Katara heaved a sigh of relief and got to her feet, her knees shaking uncontrollably. It seemed she was forgiven.

"Cari," Katara cried, "I'm so glad you've forgiv-"

But at this point she looked up. And saw that no, Cari hadn'tforgiven her. Would I seriously write that? I'm trying to make her as realistic as possible here!

She knew this because heading towards her at a tearing speed, with a terrifying rumble that barely covered that blood-thirsty scream of Cari's, was a colossal mud slide.