"You have got to be kidding me," Azula shook her head wildly, "that's not possible. I'm not going to be in this," she pointed to herself, "for the rest of my life. Got it?"
"What should we do?" Toph asked.
"Well," Aang scratched his head, "according to the guy I asked, Madame something-or-another went west. I guess we'll have to find her."
"At least she couldn't have gotten that far," Sokka said with a shrug, "Aang saw her this morning."
"Hopefully she didn't," Aang sighed, "we'll have to split up. I'll go with Momo and search from the air on my glider. Sokka, you and Toph go on foot while Katara, Zuko, and Azula can fly on Appa."
"You want me to go with them!?" Katara shouted, pointing at Azula and Zuko, "Are you crazy? There's no way."
"Katara, please," Aang opened his glider, "I figured it's better to put you with them then Sokka. Besides, if we don't find her you're going to be Zuko forever."
Katara opened her mouth to reply, then decided against it.
"Katara, you guys head north-west. Sokka, you and Toph head west straightforward, and I'll go south-west. Once you find her, get the potion and immediately locate the others."
"How are we supposed to do that?" Azula asked, crossing her arms, "We'll all be greatly separated."
"You're going to have to try," Aang said. He turned to Katara and smiled, "Good luck everyone." With a small wave he took off, gliding into the sky.
"We'll have to travel fast," Katara spoke up, "it's almost nighttime."
"Oh man, I gotta pee!" Sokka bounced on his heels, "what do I do? What do I do?"
"You hold it," Azula growled, "or I'll hold you. Around the throat."
"Do you really want me to hold it?" Sokka asked, "That'll damage your kidney, or liver or something."
"Bladder?"
"That's it," Sokka smiled, "thank you Katara."
"Fine, go. But you better not be looking at anything."
Sokka crossed his arms, "Like I want to?"
Katara watched Sokka head off before turning back to the others.
"The sun has begun to set," she looked at the sky with concern, "we'll search for the rest of today, until it gets to dark to see. Then in the morning we'll continue."
Zuko went to speak, but a shriek from the trees and Sokka running back to Katara stopped him.
"I'm bleeding!" Sokka cried, clutching Katara's wrist.
"Sokka," she laughed, "It's called a period."
"Oh," he let go, "that's what that is?"
"You really didn't know what a period was?" Toph asked.
Sokka turned on her with a snarl, "Just because I don't know what it is doesn't mean I'm stupid!"
Toph looked surprised, "I didn't say-"
"Shut it!" Sokka screeched.
"PMS much," Zuko muttered.
"PMS? Is that why Katara's always so cranky?" Sokka backed away at the look on her face.
"No," Toph laughed, "but it's probably why Azula's such an evil bi-"
"Hey!" Azula warned.
"Ow," Sokka wrapped his arms around his waist, "my stomach."
"Relax, it's just cramps," Katara said.
"It hurts," Sokka whimpered, "and why am I suddenly craving chocolate?"
Azula rolled her eyes, "Enough about the peasant and his womanly problems. Can we get back to finding this old lady?"
"Azula's right," Katara headed over to Appa, "We should get going. The sun's even lower now. We'll probably have to stop in an hour or so to sleep," she turned to Azula and Zuko, "get on."
"Wait, you want me to get on that thing?" Zuko asked.
"Appa's not a thing," Katara replied as Azula pulled herself up, "he's a flying bison."
"Whatever," Zuko replied as he climbed up.
Sokka watched them take off on Appa and fly away, "Do you think Katara will be okay?"
"Probably. After all, I'm sure they won't want to harm Zuko's body," Toph replied, "Come on. We have to get moving."
Aang sighed, "Momo, what if they're stuck like this? It'll be all my fault. It was my idea to stop in town for some fruit, and that's where that fruit vendor first laid eyes on them."
The wind picked up, blowing into Aang's eyes. He squinted to keep them from drying out, and angled his glider slightly off so the wind wouldn't have control over his flight.
"Even if Katara's stuck in Zuko's body, it won't change the way I feel about her. Nothing will. I'll still love her, and be willing to be with her, even if she looks like," Aang slowly closed his eyes, then opened them, "I won't fail," he promised himself.
"So Toph," Sokka turned to her, his arms still wrapped around his cramping stomach, "what does PMS stand for?"
"Taking a sudden interest?" Toph asked as they continued their search.
"Just tell me," he said awkwardly, his face turning bright red.
"Well, the full thing is PMSIFB," Toph said with a nod, "But it's shortened to PMS."
"Wow," Sokka blushed deeper, "so what does PMSIFB stand for?"
Toph smiled, "Pathetic Male Stuck In Female's Body."
"How can it be this dark already?" Katara asked.
"It wouldn't be dark if you could firebend," Azula said mockingly, "unfortunately you're too chicken to try it."
"I'm not chicken!" Katara said angrily, "I just don't want to hurt someone."
"Whatever you say, chicken."
"Arg!" Katara placed her head in her hands, "You two are hopeless."
"Of course I'm hopeless," Zuko replied with a grunt, "look at the body I'm trapped in. Why should I be anything but hopeless?"
Katara forced her temper down and breathed deeply in and out, "I'm just going to take Appa down, that way we can make camp for the night."
"I'm strong enough where I don't need sleep," Azula bragged, "but since you're so weak as to need it, go ahead. Take us down."
"Morning, ponytail," Toph said, shaking Sokka awake the next morning.
Sokka sat up and yawned, "Day two," he muttered.
"Let's go, let's go!" Toph rushed him, "do you want to be Azula forever?"
"Of course not! How could I live? How could I ever find love?" Sokka pushed himself to his feet as Toph grabbed his wrist and began pulling him along.
Morning sun turned into bright light streaming down from the sky as they walked.
"I guess it doesn't matter to me," Toph spoke up after an hour of silence.
"What doesn't matter to you?"
"What you look like," Toph shrugged, "I can't see, so, when I like someone, I go fully on personality," she turned to him, "you said before that you wouldn't be able to find love as long as you're Azula."
"How do you expect me to?"
Toph shrugged, "That's why it wouldn't matter if I loved you or not," Toph froze, aware of how that had come out, "that's not what I meant!"
Sokka placed a hand on her shoulder, "It's okay Toph, I know what you mean," he smiled, "and thanks."
Toph blushed, then regained her composure, "Yeah, yeah, cut the crap. Let's just get back to this searching."
"Is it hopeless Momo?" Aang asked as they took off for the fourth time that morning, "Every time I think I see somewhere she could be, it turns out to be an abandoned hut," Aang sighed, "maybe we went too far?"
Momo followed as Aang turned his glider and began sailing back the way he came, "Let's look again, we might have missed something. I just hope the other's are having more luck then we are."
"We've been searching non-stop!" Azula complained, "she's no where to be found!"
"We can't abandon the search," Katara argued, "that's like abandoning our lives."
"Look," Zuko leaned over the side of Appa, "I see someone down there."
"Let's check it out," Katara said, pulling on Appa's reins.
Appa descended, setting down in front of the people Zuko had spotted.
"It's just blind-girl and the peasant," Azula complained.
"Any luck?" Sokka asked Katara.
Katara shook her head, "You?"
"No," Toph kicked at the ground, "It's like she just vanished!"
"Now what?" Zuko asked, "shouldn't we continue our search?"
"That would be best," Katara answered, "Hopefully Aang found something, anything, that could lead him to her. We need that antidote. And soon."
Zuko turned to climb back up on Appa, but was forced against a tree by two daggers. They stuck through the fabric over his right shoulder and his left leg, pinning him flat against the bark.
Suddenly a girl cartwheeled towards them, leapt over Sokka and shot her hand out towards Azula, who nimbly dodged the strike.
"Ty Lee," Azula exclaimed as she dodged another attack, "Stop! It's me, Azula!"
"You can't fool us," Mai said, stepping forward and flinging darts towards Zuko, who had begun to pull lose.
"No really, it's me," Azula said angrily. Ty Lee was able to strike her in the left arm, paralyzing it, a second before Toph sucked her down, into the earth, leaving nothing sticking out of the hole but her head.
"Hello?" Aang called, pushing the door open to a lone house, "Anybody here? I'm looking for-"
"Me?"
Aang spun around, his eyes falling on the old lady, her silvery hair sparkling as she stepped into the light. As he laid eyes on her anger bubbled to the surface, and he let his temper unfurl.
"The situation is worse! Now-"
"I am aware," she smiled, her lips curving up around yellow cracked teeth, "Now, not just the brother and sister are involved, but another set of siblings."
"H-how do you know?" Aang asked with caution.
"I tend to like to keep watch over my," she paused, searching for the right word, "clients."
Aang stepped forward menacingly, "Give me the antidote!"
"I would, believe me, I would," she smiled again, "but, unfortunately for you, that was my last vile. And seeing as you shattered it..."
"What am I supposed to do now?" Aang asked furiously, his eyes and tattoos beginning to glow.
"Calm down, calm down, don't go all 'Avatar' on me," the glowing subsided as she went on, "If you'll just bring me the ingredients to make the antidote I would be more then willing to help you out. And for half-price!" She laughed, then stopped as she saw Aang glaring at her, "It was just a joke."
"What do I need to get you?"
"I made a list, figuring you'd be here soon," she pulled out a folded piece of parchment from her robes and passed it to him, "I'll need these by sunset, that'll give me just enough time to make the potion, and for you to deliver it to your friends."
Aang looked the list over, "Where am I supposed to find these herbs?"
"Just look around, they're everywhere."
"And what if the potion doesn't work this time?"
The lady smiled and brushed the hair away from her hidden eye, revealing to Aang a completely whited over pupil and iris, "Then I guess that's just too bad."
Author's Note: Wow, I finished this sooner then expected, or maybe that's just beacause I put off all my other work, which may be the reason it came out a bit rushed. Oh well, anyway, it would have been out sooner, but I took a break to write 'Zhao's Secret Love Letters' and the second chapter of 'Inferno.' So if you have a moment, why not go R&R them?
Yes, that's a hint.
Nikole