Sorry for the long wait. Had a very busy week :P I hope this makes up for it and remember, review or I can't update! At least 3 reviews, please! Thank you, and please make sure you enjoy reading ;)

BTW, everybody go and check out the story "The Necklace" by She-Poe, because it's a really fantastic story so far and it needs more reviewers than just me. C'moooooon guys!

5. Seeing is Believing

It was very early in the morning when Toph woke up. As she stretched and quickly made herself presentable, she wondered what time it had been when she had fallen asleep. She was still very tired, but she had woken up needing the bathroom and just couldn't drift off again.

As soon as she stepped out of her bedroom, she knew something was wrong. Very wrong. She wondered what it was as she walked around the Fire Nation palace.

Toph made her way to the kitchen. No one was around, so she helped herself to some apples that had been picked from the tree in the garden. She drank a glass of milk and sighed – her throat was all dry from last night.

It was eight o'clock when she left he kitchen and made her was back towards her bedroom. On second thoughts, she passed her room and headed for Zuko and Katara's room. An early morning surprise wouldn't hurt. She was in the mood for mischief.

But with every step she took, that feeling that something was terribly wrong grew and grew. By the time she was at the end of the corridor of their bedroom, she could have sworn someone had died. But she could see into the room from where she stood and there was no one in the bed. Instead, Zuko and Mai sat just inside the door.

Toph was thoroughly confused. Mai was fast asleep, her head resting gently on Zuko's shoulder. She seemed worse for wear as she slept, restless and miserable.

Zuko was awake, and Toph could sense in his heartbeat as she drew closer that something definitely was wrong. His heart was broken and he seemed to be numb, unmoving and in some sort of trance. Wide awake but lost in a dream. He was thinking deeply and he was hurting.

Katara was nowhere in the room. This couldn't be good.

Toph bit her lip as she knocked on the door. She sensed Zuko's head shoot up when he heard it. Gently, he lifted Mai up and lay her back down on the bed, slightly grudgingly. He walked over to the door and opened it a crack.

"It's me, Firefly," she whispered before he had seen her.

"Toph? Oh, thank the Spirits…" he sighed as he opened the door.

"I could tell the moment I stepped out of my room that something was wrong, and now you're going to tell me what," she said.

"Ok, but we've gotta be quiet. I don't wanna wake Mai up," he looked over his shoulder to the girl sleeping on his bed.

"C'mon," she took his hand. "We'll go to my room."

Toph led the Fire Lord back to her bedroom and they shut the door behind them when they were in. They sat on the bed and immediately, Zuko thought of the day he confessed to this girl that he loved Katara. She had let him lean on her the whole time for the past few months through his losses and pains. And now she was there for him once again, right when he needed her most.

"I don't know what happened. I was just walking in the gardens and I just blacked out. The next thing I knew, I was waking up. Katara, Sokka, Suki and Uncle were in the doorway and I was on top of Mai. We were in my bedroom and I had no idea how it had happened. Neither of us could remember a thing. Katara ran off crying, thinking that I was cheating on her. Sokka yelled at me and wouldn't let me go after her to try and explain and he and Suki went off after her to try and comfort her. Uncle wouldn't believe me when I told him that I didn't know what had happened. He just walked off. And now Katara and everyone else hate me and she's sad and crying and I don't know what to do!" he explained quickly, his voice raising by half an octave as the last word passed his lips.

Toph listened carefully. There was no sign of a lie in his heartbeat, only the signs of uncertainty, sorrow and heartbreak.

"Mai stayed with me last night. We tried to figure out what had happened, just between the two of us. But nothing made sense. We have no idea of how we ended up like that and no explanation for the others. All I know is that I love Katara, and I would never dream of doing something to hurt her."

"Firefly, listen. I know you're telling the truth the whole way through just then; I couldn't detect the slightest hint of a lie. But, are you absolutely sure you don't know how you and Mai ended up on top of each other?" she asked.

"I'm absolutely positive!" His voice was starting to break as he spoke. It quavered dangerously, threatening to let him lose control and fall apart. But he couldn't, and Toph wouldn't let him, not just yet.

"Zuko, do you know why you blacked out while you were out in the garden?"

He shook his head, unable to speak this time for fear of not having an understandable voice.

Toph put a hand on her head. All this excitement so early in the morning after such a restless night wasn't doing her good.

She sighed, "Don't stress over it. We'll figure something out," she promised.

Zuko nodded, lips trembling as Toph wrapped her arms around him.

He cried silent tears onto her shoulder for a long while before they both nodded back off to sleep.

It was almost noon when Katara woke up. She was in her brother's room. She could tell because he and Suki were laying either side of her, fast asleep in their bed.

They must have carried me inside after I fell asleep.

She sat up quietly, trying to flatten the creases in her damp wedding dress. Suki was still in hers too and as the Kyoshi Warrior rolled over to face Katara, she opened her eyes.

"Oh, well good morning," she smiled weakly.

"What's so good about it?" Katara sighed.

Suki pulled her back down to lie on the bed again. "Now, you listen to me, Katara, and you listen damn well. Everything is going to be ok. We're going to figure this out and Zuko and Mai are going to get what they deserve. But we've got to get all of our facts straight before we do anything. Now you stay strong and lean on me and Sokka. We'll tell Aang and Toph what's happened and if you want, we can tell your Dad and Grandmother. Listen, Katara, we're all here for you whenever you need us. And we're going to get to the bottom of this together."

Katara smiled, "Thanks Suki. I don't know what to do about this though. We only just got married and he's already cheating on me. What's everyone going to say when they find out?"

Katara waited for an answer, but when she looked back at the Kyoshi Warrior, she found she had fallen asleep again.

She closed her eyes and let a tear trickle down her nose. It was painful and she half whished she hadn't found out that Zuko and Mai were together secretly. What she didn't know couldn't hurt her, and at that moment, the pain of knowing that Zuko was cheating on her hurt so much she whished she hadn't found out.

Azula felt numb as she watched the morning pass. Slowly and painfully for those who knew what was going on, or at least thought they did, heartbreaking for the ones who it affected most. But no one was hurt more than her brother, at least not in her eyes.

He had lost Katara because of this. She thought he was cheating on her. But he wasn't and he knew that. He didn't know how he and Mai had ended up in bed together. He had no idea of what Windu had done. He had no idea of what Shang and Long Feng were planning. And he was absolutely clueless as to what would happen next. Uncle didn't believe his innocence. Sokka didn't want him anywhere near his sister. Suki was so suspicious of him and the glare she had given him stung. Mai and Toph were the only ones who believed him and only because Mai was the one who had been caught with Zuko and she knew as much as he did, and Toph could tell he wasn't lying because of his heartbeat.

But Azula knew the full truth. She knew more than any of them. She knew what had really happened, not just that it wasn't like what the others thought. She knew who was behind it and she knew why he was behind it.

What hurt most was that she couldn't tell them what she knew. She was dead; a spirit to watch over them, not to be one of them. And that's why, when she was added to the picture, she was the one who hurt most because she could feel all of their pain.

It was mid afternoon when Sokka, Suki and a very depressed Katara got up. They headed down to the kitchen, hopping not to run into the wrong people for fear of Katara bursting into tears again. But as they entered the dinning room, they found that Aang was the only one in there.

"Hey guys! What's –?" He stopped short when he saw Katara. Her eyes were still red and swollen from all of her crying and her expression sad and full of pain.

"W…What happened?" he asked curiously.

Katara bit her lip; she couldn't say it. Aang stood up from where he sat and walked over to the group. He looked around to the other faces to try and figure out what was up.

He looked to Sokka and then to Suki and then to…

"Wait… where's Zuko?" he asked, looking back to Katara.

Her eyes filled with water so quickly that he could have sworn she was keeping the ocean in them. She started to sob heavily and fell do her knees in tears.

"Katara! What's wrong?!" He bent down and hugged her tightly, trying to comfort her. It hurt him so much to see her cry. He wanted her to tell him what was going on and trust in him to make it better.

"Katara, do you just want us to tell him?" Suki whispered.

The waterbender nodded meekly as she cried onto Aang's shoulder.

"Aang," Sokka started sternly. "Zuko's been cheating on Katara… with Mai."

The Avatar's eyes widened in disbelief. Disbelief turned to suspicion, and suspicion turned to anger as Aang understood the full extent of what Zuko had done.

"What?! But- but why?! They only just got married and Mai is his ex! He loved Katara! Why would he do something so heartless and cruel and – and – and…" Aang trailed off as angry, hateful tear came to his eyes. Zuko, you bastard!

"Why?" he asked again.

"We don't know," Suki sighed as she knelt down beside Katara and stroked her back.

"Yes, I think we do. Zuko's a man-whore and he just doesn't know when is too far!" Sokka proclaimed angrily.

Sokka's eyes were filled with rage and Aang knew that his were too. His heart was burning – the girl he loved, he'd sworn to let go of. He still loved Katara, but he wanted her to be happy. She was happy with Zuko, so he'd let her go so that she could be. But now Zuko had torn her down and betrayed her… again.

Aang felt like he had made his sacrifice for nothing. Zuko had done something terrible and Aang would make sure he would pay for every tear Katara shed. Aang would be there for her and when she was over Zuko, he was let her come to him with open arms.

"It's ok, Katara, we're here for you." He stroked her hair and rubbed her back. "What exactly happened?"

Toph spoke with Mai after she and Zuko woke up again. Mai seemed to know only about as much as Zuko did, and there was as much truth in what she was telling her as there was in what Zuko had said.

"The guy asked me to go for a walk with him and so I did…" She was blushing slightly as she told them of what had happened at the after-party. "We went outside and started talking. He seemed friendly and I thought maybe we could get along." At this point, she shot a meek glance at Zuko. "I thought we might even be able to be more than just friends…" Her head hung for a moment. "But then he suddenly got up and said he needed to go, and he just ran back inside. I just sat there… I wasn't so sure what had just happened. But before he came back… that's if he was planning on coming back… someone snuck up behind me and knocked me out." Mai explained the whole scenario from her point of view. Toph and Zuko listened carefully.

"What was his name?" Toph asked quickly.

"I…" Mai's face suddenly held a faint trace of emotion, other than the confusion the morning and previous night had caused her – anger. "No! He didn't tell me his name…" she sighed, frustrated. That was all she needed. The guy she thought maybe she could be with hadn't even told her his name, and he might have been able to help them solve this case. Maybe he'd seen whoever it was that snuck up on her as he left and they came. But without a name, and because she wasn't confident with remembering a face, she doubted she'd be able to find him again.

They left their room at one point, deciding it was time to have something to eat.

Zuko, Toph and Mai were about to walk into the kitchen when Toph put an arm out to stop them.

"Toph?" he asked hoarsely.

"They're in there. Aang too. Katara's crying and Sokka and Suki are telling him how they found you guys and what happened."

Mai sighed, "Please let them figure it out."

"What should we do?" Zuko asked the blind girl.

"You two wait here; I'm gonna go and talk to them… maybe you should actually go wait over somewhere else, just incase someone storms out and decides to beat you up, Zuko."

They both knew that by "someone" she meant Sokka. But they agreed that it was their best option. They walked back away from the kitchen and sat in a living room to wait and see what Toph could do for them.

Toph took a deep breath and opened the kitchen door.

"Hey guys," she greeted them bluntly. Everyone but Katara – who was still crying onto Aang's shoulder – looked over to her, guessing that she already knew about what had happened.

"I can't believe he'd do something so stupid!" Sokka shouted.

"Yea, I mean poor Katara! They hadn't even been married for twenty-four hours!" Aang grizzled.

"It was so insensitive… and you should have seen Katara's face when she walked into the room," Suki sighed.

Katara continued to sob quietly onto Aang's shoulder as he held her tightly.

"Katara, be quiet a second! Everyone, listen up," Toph called, using as much power as she could over her friends. "I knew as soon as I stepped out of my room this morning that something was up. When I found Zuko and Mai in his room they were both upset. Mai was still asleep but Zuko was awake and he told me his side of the story. He told me he didn't have a clue about how he and Mai had ended up together like that and guess what. He was telling the truth, because I didn't detect the slightest hint of a lie."

They looked at her and Katara did her best to silence herself as she turned around.

"W…what?"

"I was talking to him this morning and he told me what happened. He wasn't lying about what he said; he didn't cheat on you, Katara."

"Then how the hell did he and Mai end up in the same bed?!" Sokka exploded, being completely unreasonable.

"I- I don't know! All I know is –"

"You're just as bad as him, Toph!"

"What?!"

"You're sticking up for him! You know that he did the wrong thing, but you're sticking up for him anyway! This is exactly like when he first tried to join our group; we all knew what he was like, but you insisted that he was serious about what he was saying! You're sticking up for him now, even though he's wrong and we're right! How could you?! You're just as sick as he is!"

"I am not sick! And neither is he! Sokka, stop being stupid and listen to me for a sec!"

"No Toph, Sokka's right!" Aang started, holding Katara. "What Zuko did is unforgivable, and you sticking up for him makes you as bad as he is!"

"Both of you are being absolutely stupid! Just listen to me for a moment and –"

"Why are you sticking up for him?! I thought we were friends, Toph! How could you side with him like this?!" Katara sobbed.

"Katara, I –"

"It's because he treats you as if you were family. You think of him as if he and you are best friends or something and you'd side with each other no matter what! You're only doing this because you think you know him and you think you're close to him – closer to him than any of us! But you're not! And you siding with him like this is just stupid!"

"Sokka! How could you say that?!" she cried, losing her temper.

"Because it's true!"

"No, it's not!" she shouted.

"It is! Jeez Toph, I thought you were better than this! But I guess I was wrong!"

"Sokka –"

"Just get out! If you believe in him so much, then why are you here?!"

Toph shut up. She closed her mouth and stared blindly and sadly at Sokka. She had thought these people were her friends. She had thought they would believe her. But in the end, they were the blind ones.

"You're all overreacting," she started again, slowly, steadily. "The only reason you don't believe me is because you're not like me. You're not blind and you don't know how to listen to a heartbeat like I do."

"Toph, stop being ridiculous; this has nothing to do with the way you earthbend," Aang scolded her.

"Zuko's innocent, and so is Mai! The only reason you don't believe it is because you can't see it!"

"Seeing is believing, Toph," Katara glowered.

"No, it's not! Not in this case! Not when things can't be explained!"

"Toph! Stop acting as if you know what you're talking about! Zuko's a sick fuck and he cheated on Katara! There's nothing that's going to change that, not even what you say!" Sokka yelled at her.

She felt something; a harsh jolt in her heart. They didn't trust her – they thought she was the enemy. She hated the feeling. It really hurt. But just then, she knew that she wouldn't be able to convince them. Except… Suki hadn't said anything the whole time. Toph listened to her heartbeat, concentrating on it hard.

Toph realized something – Suki knew that Toph was right… well, she didn't know, but she knew that there was something more to Mai and Zuko sleeping together than they were simply together behind Katara's back. She could smell a rat.

Toph sighed. She couldn't talk to Suki now, not without causing the others to not trust her as well.

"If that's the way you're going to be…" She shrugged helplessly. With that, she turned and left the kitchen.

Iroh walked down from his room, sleepily. It had been a rough night after finding Mai and Zuko together. The retired General couldn't get the thought out of his head.

As he walked towards the kitchen, hopping for a pot of tea, he passed a living room and noticed two silent figures, sitting on two of the chairs. He poked his head into the room, only to find it was Zuko and Mai. They looked up at him when he stepped in.

"Uncle?" Zuko whispered, standing up.

"Zuko… please, just tell me it was just all a bad dream for me," he begged.

"How could you not believe me the first time?!" He voice was hysterical; Iroh had never known his nephew to get like this. "Don't you trust me?! I love Katara! I would never do something like that to her!"

"Zuko, calm down. Things are going to turn out fine. We've got Toph on our side after all," Mai spoke.

Zuko bit his lip and sat down, his hands running through his hair.

"Mr. Iroh, we promise you that we didn't get together behind anyone's back. Neither of us have any idea how we ended up the way we did, all we know is that we never meant for it to happen," Mai explained bluntly, leaning back in her chair as she examined her nails, bored.

Iroh hesitated. He came and sat down with the two teenagers, but he remained silent until Ty Lee joined them.

"Hey guy!" she greeted them cheerily. Her smile faded when she saw their glum expressions. "Guys?"

Zuko sighed in time with Mai.

"It was a rough night," Iroh explained. "We have no idea what the full story is."

Ty Lee looked at Mai and Zuko in confusion. Everyone jumped as the kitchen door could be heard slamming. Toph dragged herself into the living room and sighed, plopping herself down miserably on the couch, next to Zuko. He put an arm around her and hugged her.

"Any luck?"

"No, none whatsoever." There was a pause. "I can't believe them. They won't believe me, no matter what I say. They reckon they need to see it to believe it."

"What?" Mai sounded indignant. This was no surprise – who wouldn't feel indignant after being accused of stealing another girl's new husband.

"Wait, what's going on?" Ty Lee asked.

"We don't exactly know," Mai sighed. "Last night, that guy I was talking to went for a walk with me and… I dunno, he had to leave me for a moment and he ran off and while he was gone… I just passed out I guess. I thought I heard someone coming up behind me, but I didn't get a chance to see who. And then, the next thing I know, I was waking up and Zuko was on top of me and we were both in his bed with Katara and the others in the doorway gawking at us."

"Yea, I was just walking in the garden because I needed a breather and I just blacked out. I woke up and I was on top of Mai. Katara ran off crying and Sokka started yelling at me and I had no idea what had happened!"

Ty Lee looked between them all in shock. This really was a horrible thing to happen and she had no idea how she was suppose to handle it. It was depressing really, to know that your friends didn't trust you.

Poor Toph, that's unfair that they only don't believe her because they can't see it like she can.

But Ty Lee believed her. There had to be a logical explanation to what had happened. Zuko and Mai had told their stories and said that they couldn't remember anything and Toph knew they weren't lying. What choice did Ty Lee have? Why wouldn't she believe them?

"Don't worry, you guys. We'll figure something out! There has to be an explanation!"

Mai, Zuko, Toph and Iroh smiled at her enthusiasm and certainty. She always knew how to put a smile on someone's face.

It wasn't until Aang, Katara, Sokka and Suki left the kitchen, casting horrible glances at Zuko, Mai and Toph as they passed them, that the accused couple, Iroh, Toph and Ty Lee went in. Iroh brewed a pot of ginseng tea and Toph sat between a silent Mai and Zuko. Ty Lee sat across from them and Iroh joined her once he'd passed around cups of tea.

"So, how are we going to figure this one out?" Toph asked the room in general.

Mai shrugged, "Who knows…"

"Are you two absolutely sure you don't know how this happened?" Iroh looked between Mai and Zuko sternly.

Mai just sighed and shook her head. But Zuko quickly scrutinized his uncle's face. There was that wrinkle at his brow and the playful gleam that was usually in his eyes was nowhere to be found. He still had doubts about how innocent they were. Inside, Zuko flared up, and he couldn't suppress his anger.

Growling angrily, he stood up, "WHY DON'T YOU BELIEVE US?!" he yelled, angry tears gleaming in his eye. "WHY ARE YOU SIDING WITH THEM?!"

"Zuko! I'm not siding with them! I just want to be sure that you guys are in the right here!" Iroh insisted, but Zuko could still see his doubt, plain as day.

The Fire Lord pressed his trembling lips tightly together, as if it would help stop them moving so violently. He slowly shook his head in disbelief of his uncle and swatted his cup of tea over, letting the content spill out over the table as he stormed out of the room.

"Zuko! Come back!" Mai and Ty Lee stood up quickly, but Toph and Iroh grabbed them quickly.

"Just leave him!"

Iroh sighed, "He just needs a moment to cool off. It'll all be fine after that."

Toph was practically fuming as she sat back down, "You had to go and ask, didn't you?"

"Hey, I'm only trying to make sure everyone's being completely honest!" Iroh defensively put up his hands.

"That's what I'm here for!" Toph cried indignantly, standing up. "I can tell when people are lying or keeping something secret! I'm the master of telling how someone is feeling! I already told you that they're not keeping anything and that they're not lying about anything!"

"Toph, I was just –"

But she was already out of the room, following after Zuko.

"What was the big idea?!" Aang's voice startled Zuko as he passed down the hall. He had been hoping to sit by the turtle-duck pond to calm himself down and clear his head. But obviously, the Avatar didn't want to leave him in peace any time soon.

"What was the big idea of what? Not being able to tell the truth without being accused of lying?!" Zuko shot back at him. He was siding with Sokka and Katara, deeming him a cheat, a liar and a man-whore. It was infuriating. "Aang! You know I'm not like that!"

"How can I be sure?!" Aang yelled. "Zuko, you've broken her heart! She's fallen apart because of you once before because of that whole arranged marriage thing with Mai, maybe you should have just gotten married to her anyway! At least it would have saved Katara from getting all that false hope when you went back for her and then it would have saved her the heartbreak when she found out that you and Mai were together again!"

Rage was written all over Aang's face, and at the back of his mind, Zuko reminded himself that this kid was the Avatar and that if he said the wrong thing, he may well end up sending him into the Avatar state.

"Aang! Stop it! I'M NOT THAT KIND OF PERSON!" he shouted, somehow fighting back the tears in his eyes. He dropped his voice so suddenly that Aang was shocked, but he wouldn't let that show. "I'm not that kind of person," he repeated. "Aang, I would never do something so horrible to Katara… I wouldn't do that to anyone! I don't get why you people can't just understand that!" As quickly as his voice had dropped, it shot back up.

"Whatever, Zuko," he spat.

"Whatever, yourself! Aang! How can you not believe him?! How can you not believe me when I'm telling you?!" Toph's voice didn't startle either of them. It was almost as if she had arrived right on cue. "If you aren't willing to believe that Zuko isn't as much of a jerk as this whole thing makes him look like, then move along!"

Aang gave her a cold look, and she knew it, even though she was blind. But Toph remained unflinching. Soon enough, Aang decided he'd had enough and left.

"Are you ok?" she sighed to Zuko, once Aang had been gone for about a minute.

He nodded silently.

"Look, thing's will turn out alright," she promised, "and I'm sure the only reason your uncle is still in doubt is because he wasn't actually involved. The only people who should have no doubts about this are you and Mai. The only reason I'm in the picture too, is because I can tell you're telling the truth because of your heartbeats. Ty Lee's just the trusting type. Mai's her best friend and she grew up with both of you, so she knows that there's something wrong about the whole situation, and the fact that I'm on your side makes her even more certain that you're innocent."

Fire Lord Zuko still didn't speak. He just stared blankly at her, trying to take in everything that was happening around him.

"If it makes you feel any better," Toph started hesitantly. "Suki can smell a rat. The whole time I was trying to convince them that you and Mai were innocent, she didn't say a word. I listened to her heartbeat for a bit and I can tell that she thinks there's more to this than you were cheating on Katara with Mai. I couldn't say anything to her straight off because the others were there, but I'm going to try and catch her alone at some point and talk to her and tell her what you and Mai told me."

Zuko smiled faintly at her and nodded, "Thanks Toph. I owe you one."

"No worries, Firefly," she smirked. She stepped towards him and hugged him. He hugged her back and she followed him outside. They sat together, silently by the turtle-duck pond.

Azula's eyes were red and dry from crying. It was an unusual case for a spirit to be in and Ursa and Yue were both shocked.

As the sun had risen in the human world, Azula had met a spirit of someone else she had known. Lu Ten had only stayed a little while for the girls to explain to him what had happened, and then swap stories with Azula about what their deaths had been like. It hadn't done much good, if he had been trying to get her mind off her brother's situation, but it brought her some comfort to know that there were other spirits up there that she knew.

"Well, I'd better move along then, hadn't I?" he smirked. "Take care of yourself, La!" He gave her a quick hug, then one to Ursa and a flashy smile to Yue before he left, disappearing into the clouds that were like walls around where the three women always seemed to linger, next to the well.

"Is there more to the Spirit World that just this place?" she asked. She'd never been beyond the walls of cloud that surrounded the well and she hadn't really seen any other spirits until just then with Lu Ten.

"Yes!" Ursa almost laughed, glad to have something else to talk about. "Very much. The Spirit World is even bigger than the mortal world. All of the spirits of good people are close to us here, and all of the bad spirits are in another realm. The only way we can access that other realm is if the gods let it be. But you can't ask the gods – they come to you and only if they need to. When Avatar Aang was calling me and Yue for help, just after you died, to help him and his friends with their battle, we thought that he was a god at first!"

Azula frowned for a moment. "Mum, why didn't I come into the Spirit World as soon as I died? I didn't get here until after we helped defeat Dad and that whole thing happened with Zuko and Mai and Katara."

Ursa looked thoughtful and so did Yue.

"That's a good question. I've thought of it a few times myself. Maybe the gods just chose to keep your spirit in the mortal world because you were just going to be called back there in a moment anyway," she shrugged. "Who knows?"

Azula nodded slowly and turned back to the well as she finally caught a glimpse of Windu, sneaking around after Aang.

"Here we go again…"

Aang huffed as he stormed around. He was planning to find Katara, Sokka and Suki again, but they weren't in Sokka and Suki's room. So he wandered around the palace in search of them, hoping not to run into anyone he didn't want to see just then.

For a moment, as he walked down a hall that was going to lead to Zuko's room, he thought he heard footsteps behind him. Aang quickly turned around, expecting to see Zuko. But no one was there. Shaking his head, he kept walking. The footsteps didn't start again as he ducked his head around the corner of Zuko's room. Katara wasn't in there, and thankfully, neither was anyone else – not even Zuko himself.

With a sigh, Aang changed his course. Maybe Katara had gone with Sokka and Suki to tell her father what had happened and they were over at the housing units. Maybe Gran-Gran Kana was soothing her and telling her she'd find someone else. Maybe Chief Hakoda was getting angry and ready to explode. Maybe he was plotting revenge for his daughter, with Sokka helping him.

Well, Aang could help with that, and he would do so with much pleasure. He couldn't stand the thought of letting Zuko get away with breaking Katara's heart. And now that he thought about it, Mai needed punishing too.

But me and Mai had been talking… we had both agreed we would let go of them. Why has she lied to me?! She told me she was letting go of him, just like I was letting go of Katara! Urgh! She's just as bad as Zuko!

But before his thoughts could travel any further on that matter, he heard a scuffle of feet behind him. He turned around in time to see a flash of blue, and then his world went black.

The next time Aang woke up, he was looking into three faces.

One was a Water Tribe warrior who had come to the wedding with Hakoda.

Then there was that man who had been standing around with Fire Lord Ozai and who had ran off when Zuko had joined the fight of the final battle.

The last face, he recognized with a pang of greatest fear, was the face of Long Feng.

Dun dun dun! How's that for the next chapter? I sure hope you all liked it and please, tell me in your reviews. Remember, I need three (3) of those before I can update. So please review. Thank you to everyone who reviewed last chapter.

And please remember to check out "The Necklace" by She-Poe. AND REVIEW IT!

Oh, yes, and JOIN TEAM ZUTARA!!!