New chapter alert! I'm back with Death Chase, the newest and probably longest chapter I've ever written. Damn, I have nothin' else to say. So, without further ado, let's get back to the madness that is my imagination.

Chapter 6: Death Chase

I rose to my feet, shaking off the dust and stone on my body. Blood droplets spattered everywhere.

"Congratulations!" the host said. His tunic had 'Aon' stitched onto it, so I assumed that was his name. "You're the first person to ever beat The Blind Bandit! Here- this is your champion belt and your prize money."

"Thanks," I started, taking my prizes. Then the pain of having my face sliced open set in, and I growled loudly in pain. It burned, searing agony that stretched across my face. I then noticed that my face wasn't the only injury I had sustained. That last hit had made shrapnel slice my collarbone and my upper torso, leaving the top half of my body bloody and in agony. I started to stagger, the effects of losing so much blood without treatment coming on.

"I... I have to go," I said, my voice low. I ran towards the tunnel, hoping to catch up to Toph. I didn't care about the injuries right now, only about setting things right.

Toph was about to leave, and was picking up her bag. She had a scowl etched onto her face, making me hesitate. But I pressed on. "Toph!" I called.

I had gotten her attention. She turned angrily. "What do you-?" she stopped midsentence, noticing my condition. She turned pale. Her cuts didn't even compare to mine. "Oh god..."

I waved my hand. "It doesn't matter, they're just a couple of scars." I took a deep breath. Apologizing was hard for me to do, as was breathing at this point. Blood surrounded me in a pool. "I'm sorry about back there. I just came to set things straight.'

She 'stared' at me for a moment. Then she sighed. "No. Sorry."

I stiffened. This was exactly why I don't apologize: it always ends up blowing up in my face. "Look, you! I actually took the time to apologize to your sorry-!"

"You hurt my pride and my reputation. I don't forgive for that. So I'll repeat myself. NO!" Toph yelled the last part, sending a stone pillar my way. I didn't hesitate then, and I increased the gravity on pillar, stopping it in its tracks, blood pouring out more due to the exertion. 'Damn, she's strong!'. And I was too weak, and the pillar hit my stomach at full force. I flew backwards into the wall, and I heard the crack as a crater was made.

Toph looked wide-eyed for a second, but then turned away. "Thanks for your cooperation," she said.

That made me snap. Once her foot touched the first stair, I screamed, propelling her up the rest of the way. I heard the door smash as she went through it. "Agh!" came her startled yell as she landed hard upstairs. I smirked, then felt faint. Falling on the floor, the rock being shattered thanks to the scream, I teetered on the edge of consciousness. Faintly, I heard some yells from behind me, in the tunnel.

"There he is!" Sokka said, rounding the corner. Then he stopped at the sight of me. "Katara!" he yelled, his panic rising. "Come quick!"

Katara and Aang rounded the corner, and Katara damn near broke down. "Oh no..." She practically flew right over to me, immediately starting to heal my wounds. Aang just stared, in such a state of shock that he couldn't move. Frankly, I couldn't blame him.

"Just stay still, Loki." Those were the last words I heard before I slipped into unconsciousness, ashamed that I was reduced to this.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

I woke up in a stable, on top of Appa's saddle. My upper body was swathed in bandages, tight against my skin. All of the blood was gone, and when I felt my face, three scars were all that remained of the gouges the rocks cut into my skin. Katara had outdone herself this time.

Looking around, I couldn't find the others, so it was time to put that Seismic Sense to use. I closed my eyes, searching for my friends through the vibrations in the ground. In my mind, white waves of light spread out from my position, telling me where everything was. Then I felt them, after what felt like an hour but what was really a moment. They were in a room, a large one, probably a dining room. There were 4 people with them... including Toph. I mentally cringed, then became wide-eyed as I heard Aang say "Thank you, Mr. Bei Fong,".

'Holy shit! She's part of the Bei Fong Family?' I thought. Then I grinned. 'This I have to see!'

I took a step, and my legs ached a little. Deciding it would be wise to let them rest for a bit longer, I used my Airbending to enable me to float. I drifted out the stable door, marveling at the large expanse of lawn. Now this is wealth.

Gliding towards the main house, I heard voices in one of the rooms, and I instantly changed course. Coming up to the window, I swathed myself in shadows, and I looked inside. What I saw nearly made me laugh to death. Toph was wearing a long, white petticoat dress, with a yellow ribbon with a flower on it tied in her hair to keep it up. She looked uncomfortable, and I was glad. Aang, however, had a bowl stuck to his face, soup dripping down his head. The others, Mr. and Mrs. Bei Fong, and ,surprisingly, Master Yu, looked at him strangely. Sokka was eating like an animal, and Katara seemed to be the only one out of the three who had any sense. Laughter was practically coming out the side of my mouth, straining to get out.

I went back to the stable before it escalated, and by the sound of it, it did, and fast. I chuckled, the darkness coming off of me. 'That was fun,' I thought, lying back down. Now, time for the Waiting Game.

Several minutes later, Aang and the others came in. He and Katara, seeing that I was awake, rushed over to me to inspect me, making sure I was alright.

"Get off of him!" Sokka said, exasperated. "God, give the man some space."

They both backed up, still having worry in their eyes. "Thank you, Sokka," I said. Lifting myself up, I stepped onto the floor, and I immediately put my guard up. "What do you want, Toph?"

The others turned in the direction of the door, guard up. "Relax," Toph said, opening it. "I'm here to call a truce, Twinkle Toes. Sorry about dinner."

"Alright, now say sorry to me," I said.

Toph turned her head in my direction. "Why are you here?" she said, suddenly apprehensive.

"I travel with them, idiot. How did your parents take your wounds?" I asked her. "Are you alright?"

"Glad you're concerned. But don't be. They thought I fell or some bullshit like that. And don't tell me you're here to apologize again." She sneered. "It's getting old."

"I only apologize once, girl." She was shocked at my cold tone, if her face was anything to go by. "I offered an apology, and you didn't take it. Don't expect me to offer a second one. Do you deserve it?"

Toph started to speak, but closed her mouth. "Come on, Twinkle Toes. I want to speak to you about my offer." She and Aang started walking towards the door. But before she closed it, she turned back towards me. "Loki," she said. She smiled a small smile. "Apology accepted." And she closed the door.

I smiled, then sighed. "Glad that's over," I said. "Hey, what was Aang's offer?"

Sokka turned to me, unrolling his sleeping bag as he did so. "Toph offered to teach Aang and you Earthbending, Loki." He shook his sleeping bag. "Pretty nice of her, considering what she did."

"Yeah..." I said, slowly settling back into the saddle. I don't sleep as much as the others, so I lay awake for a while. Suddenly, I heard a scream. A girl's scream. I leaped up immediately, waking Sokka and Katara up.

"What happened?" Sokka asked, sleepy-eyed.

"They're in trouble," I said simply, and I ran outside. They quickly followed, and we ran until we saw the scene I was looking for.

The Earthbenders had locked up Toph and Aang in two steel cages, the latter probably as a percaution. Aon was standing on top of the two cages, grinning. "Where's the money?" he asked me.

"It's mine," I said. "I won it fairly, the battle was legit, so I don't know what the hell you're talkin' about."

Aon sneered. "Then why did you run after her, hmm? To split the money? It all seems orchestrated to me, right boys?" He was greeted with a chorus of "Yeah!" from the other Earthbenders. "And no one cheats me out of money."

I sighed. I am never apologizing again.

I looked at Aang's prison, and I remembered my duty. To protect him at all costs, that's what I vowed. And I was gonna stay true to that. I concentrated all my energy on Aang, and I shifted the shadows making a void in his cage. My face had a thin veil of sweat from the exertion, but I managed to put him through. Doing something similar to the ground at my feet, I switched with Aang, right before they dragged the cages off. My last sight was Aang staring at me with a look of shock on his face, wondering what had just happened. Then he faded out of view.

"Hey, Twinkle Toes," Toph called from the other cage. "Bust us out of here! I can't bend in this cage!"

"Um, first, get the name straight- it's Loki, not 'Twinkle Toes'. Second, I'm trying, you idiot. What do you think I've been doing for the past half hour?"

"Well hurry up! We don't have all day!"

"Actually, it's night, so-"

"Shut up!"

I smirked. I had gotten under her skin once again. But she was right, we couldn't stay here all night. But the cage started vibrating, and suddenly, we were on the ground, dropped out of the cage by a trap door. Rubbing my sore backside, I got up, and got into a fighting stance. The Earthbenders had surrounded us, blocking all routes of escape. Toph had just gotten back on her feet, shaking off her dizziness. Now wasn't the time to be stumbling around.

"Now, let's show these thieves what we do to people who steal our money," Aon grinned evilly. "Kill them!"

I smiled. A fight to the death then? Gladly. "You ready?" I asked Toph, already knowing her answer.

"I was born ready." She stomped her foot, creating a seismic shockwave that razed the ground, knocking two of our opponents off of their feet. I finished the job, grabbing them by their necks and hurling them out of the arena. They landed on top of each other, dazed.

Toph lifted her arms, a small pedestal formed in front of her. She swiped her hands across it repeatedly, and several discs of stone launched themselves at another Earthbender, one I recognized as the Big Bad Hippo. It impacted his chest and face, the force sending him back a few feet. I ran towards him, ducking and dodging the attacks that were thrown my way. Rolling under a huge chunk of stone thrown by The Boulder (ironically), I lunged at the Hippo, driving my shoulder into his gut. Now, had it been anybody else doing that (except for Toph, probably), they would've bounced right off. But my strength outmatched his, albeit by a small margin, and I sent him flying out the arena. He landed on top of the others, crushing them as they tried to get back up. I had to laugh at that.

Toph was holding her own quite well. She punched the ground, sending rows upon rows of sharp stone pillars towards her opponents. One flew to the edge of the ring, twitching uncontrollably. The others managed to dodge them to some extent, although all got hurt. The Boulder hurled several chunks of rock at her, hoping to catch her off guard. Toph deftly turned around, avoiding a stone spike and smashing the boulders with her fists in one fluid movement. She performed a leg sweep, sending a crescent of earth towards The Boulder, knocking him out of the arena and into the three Earthbenders still trying to get up, crushing them once again.

The twitching Earthbender managed to get up, and I was getting ready to rush him when I heard Sokka's voice. "Hey, we got your money!"

Sokka was closely followed by Aang, Katara, Mr. Bei Fong, and Master Yu. Toph's father was holding a box of what I assumed to be money, and was rushing towards Toph when a giant rock landed in front of him, scaring him senseless. He ran to the bleachers, sitting down along with everyone else.

"Toph, come here!" he yelled, obviously distressed. He never thought of why Toph was still in one piece. Amazing.

Suddenly, I felt a pain in my stomach, and I was flying through the air. I had forgotten about the Aon, and I had paid dearly.

"Loki!" Toph screamed. She started to turn when I yelled back at her. "Don't move, and cover your ears!" I said, as I started to stockpile energy. My throat started to tingle, and I felt the sound building up. Finally, I released it, and the sound came out in a giant shriek, propelling me at a surprisingly fast speed towards one of the Earthbenders. I passed over him, blasting him back with the sound that came out of my mouth. He skidded on the ground, knocking the still twitching Earthbender off of his feet and out of the arena with him.

Finally, it was just us against Aon. Well, Toph against Aon- I saw the fire in her eyes signaling that she wanted to crush him. So I backed down, ready to jump in at a moment's notice.

"Bring it, little girl," Aon said, sneering. Big mistake.

"Bring it? I already brought it to the table, sat down, and ate it!" Toph smirked. She brought her arms up, two boulders coming out of the ground. Sending them towards Aon, she shattered them in mid-air, creating hundreds of tiny pieces of shrapnel. Aon brought up an earth shield, but he wasn't fast enough, as dozens of shards cut his torso and arms. The rest clattered to the ground, useless.

Aon grew angry, and he stomped the ground, bringing up six boulders. He kicked them at Toph, one at a time, but with deadly accuracy. She didn't even look worried as she ran towards Aon, creating several rock spikes to protect her from his onslaught. Two got through, however, but she simply grabbed one and smashed it against the other, not slowing down in the slightest. Toph skidded towards him, razing the earth in front of her. Half of the arena cracked and crumbled to the ground, taking Aon with it. He tumbled to the ground covered in rock with his body twitching spastically. He was out for good. I smiled at Toph's display of power as I walked over. I have to admit, even I had underestimated her at one point. But that went out the window as soon as she beat the crap out of me.

"You alright?" I asked her.

"I should be asking you that question," she said, smirking. "How could I get hurt? I'm-"

"Okay, no more egotistical rants, woman." I smiled. "I've heard enough for one lifetime."

Toph smiled as the gang walked up. "Oh yeah? Well get used to it."

We were getting ready to take off, leaving the town and the Bei Fong family behind. Well, most of them, anyway.

"Hey Toph," I called from on top of Appa. "Your champion belt... I think you need it more than I do."

Toph's eyebrow twitched. "Oh, saying you're too good for it, are ya? Remember how I whooped your ass?"

"No, if I recall, I whooped you and embarrassed you at the same time, so go shove that argument up your ass." I grinned.

Sokka and Aang laughed at that. "But if you want your title back- oof!" I was knocked off of Appa by a large boulder, and I dropped the belt. Toph was blind so she couldn't see it coming, and it hit her right on her head. We were both unconscious before we hit the ground. The last thing I heard was Aang asking, "Do you think we should pick them up?"

"Hey, do you guys want soup or berries?" Sokka asked us. We had been flying for a whole day, and all of us were anxious to get some rest.

"Soup," we all said simultaneously. Katara was laying out the sleeping bags, Aang was gathering firewood, and Toph and I sat and talked.

"So, how long have ya been blind?" I asked.

"My whole life," she answered. "You get used to it after the first year."

I chuckled lightly. "Ya know, I was blind for a while, three years to be precise."

Her eyes widended slightly. "Really? How?"

My eyes darkened a bit, a little emotion seeping through. "When I was five, three kids decided it would be cool to play a prank on the reject. I was powerful back then, even at five, but it was three on one, and even I knew I was outnumbered. Doesn't mean I didn't fight back though- I gave one kid 2 black eyes and I broke another one's face. Huh, good times, good times..."

"Loki!" Toph waved her hand in front of my face, then smacked me hard.

"What the fuck was that for, you little brat?" I yelled.

"Keep going," she said bluntly.

I glared at her for a little while longer, then I continued. "Well, one held on to my feet while another held on to my hands, then the other squeezed little drops of acid from a syringe on my eyes. I remember getting rushed to my mother, who was one of the best healers in the Clan. She did what she could, so I wasn't forced to be blind forever, but I was blind until I was eight. During that time, I learned Seismic Sense, but I had to learn the hard way. Kids still tried to beat me up, so I was forced to learn how to avoid their attacks and counteract. I got hit the first few times, but I quickly learned from my mistakes, and was able to swiftly take 'em down by the time I was six. I even learned how to 'see' in the air: echolocation."

"Echolocation?" Toph asked. "What the hell is that?"

I smiled. "I studied the bats in the caves surrounding the village, who were blind as well. They screeched and as they did, I saw the sound waves bounce everywhere in a split second, and return to them. It showed them where obstacles were and where to get food and water. Doing this for a couple of months allowed me to imitate them, allowing me to fight in the air if I wanted to, or was forced to by the Airbenders."

Toph's eyes widened at that. Frankly, I didn't think her eyes could get wider at that point. "There were Airbenders-"

"Hey guys? Can you get up and help a bit?" Katara asked. She looked a little irritated. "We all do something to help out around here, Loki you know that. So why don't you-"

"Katara, I told you, I can pull my own weight around here," I said, taking out my sleeping bag.

"Exactly. I don't need a fire, I've got my own food, and look," Toph created a rock tent behind her. "I even put up my tent!"

"Well, that's good for you two, but not for- hey! Wake up, Loki!" Katara said, slapping me upside the head. Toph laughed.

"Huh? Did you say something?" I said sleepily.

"Ugh, forget it!" Katara stalked away to get her sleeping bag.

"There ya go, Toph," I said, rolling my sleeping bag into a pillow and putting my head on it. "Failproof way to get rid of someone." I grinned.

"Yeah," she said, falling backwards into her rock tent. She grabbed her bag and used it as a pillow. "I guess it is."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

I woke up suddenly after I felt something coming towards us from a distance. Now alert, I put both hands on the ground, trying to pinpoint it better. My eyes widened. The thing was coming- fast.

"Toph!" I whispered, trying to get her attention. She awoke instantly, putting her hand to the ground.

"Feel it?" I asked. I was getting worried, and was contemplating waking the others up.

"Yeah," she said. Toph turned around to wake up the others. "Hey! Wake up!" Toph's screaming had them holding their ears for dear life. I damn near passed out.

"What is it, guys?" Aang asked.

"There's something coming towards us fast. We should move Aang. Now." I emphasized the last part just in case they were still tired. Sokka started to pack up the things.

"Alright, it's better to be safe than sorry." Aang hopped onto Appa. "Come on, guys. Let's get moving."

We lifted off and flew into the night, and I looked back to see what was following us.

"Holy shit," I said. "What the hell is that?" I pointed to the thing following us, and the others gasped. It had three segments, each seeming to move on six wheels each. It had smoke coming from a funnel at the front, and a deep trail was being left behind it. I couldn't place a name on it, but I knew it was bad.

"Good thing we left early," Sokka said, sighing. He turned around to Aang. "So, do ya know where we're gonna land?"

"Over there," Aang said, pointing at a large ledge coming out of a mountain. "There's no way they'll find us there."

We landed on the ledge, and started to take off our sleeping gear from Appa.

"Okay," Sokka said. "Let's not set up camp, alright. Just find the softest patch of dirt you can and go to sleep." He immediately plopped down on the ground, using his sleeping bag as a pillow. He was snoring within the minute.

"Alright. Toph and Loki probably weren't going to help anyway." Katara said, shooting an angry glare at the people in question.

I shrugged it off and lied awake, still listening for any sounds that might alert me to the thing's presence. "Whatever, Sugar Queen," Toph said, rolling over.

Katara immediately sat up. "Sugar Queen?" she yelled. "How can you- hey! Are you listening?"

"Huh? Did you say something?" Toph asked, looking a bit dazed.

Katara was livid. "Never mind!" she growled out. She rolled over in her sleeping bag, and was just about to head off to sleep when-

"We have company, guys," I said quietly. I was honestly getting tired of this bullshit.

"No. There's no way they could have found us!" Aang walked to the edge, overlooking a pass that connected our cliff to another mountain. The monstruous thing was scaling the side of the pass, ending up at the other end. It suddenly stopped, and the back segment opened up to reveal... Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee.

"Aw, shit." I facepalmed. "My luck sucks so much..."

"What's wrong Loki?" Katara and Toph asked simultaneously. I raised my eyebrow at that, but shrugged it off. "Do you know her?"

"I know all of them," I said. I then turned towards the trio. "Hello, ladies," I said as if I was flirting. "How are you this evening?"

Mai and Azula blushed slightly, while Ty Lee giggled. "Hello to you, too, Loki," she said back in the same flirting tone. I saw Toph shift slightly at this, but dismissed it.

"Look, we didn't come here to talk!" Azula said angrily, still blushing a little. "We're here to take the Avatar." With that, she shot a blast of fire at us, the azure flames crackling and sparking violently as the creatures the three girls rode on swiftly crawled towards our position. Creating rock spires as obstacles for the trio, Toph shattered them, sending stone shrapnel across their skin. But they didn't slow down a bit.

"Let's go!" Sokka said, jumping onto Appa.

"Agreed!" Toph created a rock wall to block the three girls, and I used gravity to push it towards them. We both turned to get on Appa when a bolt of blue lightning struck the wall, blasting a hole in it. Mai threw three daggers towards Toph, hoping to impale her. She lifted the ground beneath her feet, propelling her towards Appa and blocking the daggers.

I reached over and grabbed her hand, pulling her close just as more knives flew at her. She blushed heavily, but I didn't notice. "Let's go!" I said, and Appa lifted off. A bolt of lightning struck where we were flying just a moment ago, and Katara nearly jumped out of her skin. I looked back, and I saw Azula glaring at us. I could see the fire in her eyes, like she knew she was going to catch us, one way or another. But I could care less.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Land, sweet land!" Toph plopped down on the ground.

Appa was asleep as soon as he hit the ground, and Aang slid off of his head as soon as it was safe to get off.

"Alright," Sokka said, he and Katara getting off of the sleeping air bison. "We've put a lot of distance between us and those three girls. Now, let's follow Appa's lead and get some rest."

"Of course, we could've gotten some earlier if Toph and Loki didn't have such issues," Katara said, irritated. As soon as the words came out of her mouth, we were both sitting up, looking murderous. "WHAT?" we said in unison.

"Look," Aang said. His eyes were drooping to the point that they were practically closed. "Everyone is just really tired right now. Let's just all get to sleep."

"No! I want to hear what Katara has to say! You think I have issues?" Toph stood up, clearly tired.

"I'm just saying that if you two had helped out earlier, maybe we could've gotten some sleep, and then maybe we wouldn't be in this mess!"

"Wait," I interjected. "It sounds like she's blaming us." I got off of Appa's saddle and jumped to the ground. "Are you blaming us for this, Katara?"

Aang quickly stepped in. "No, no! She's not blaming you guys!"

"Oh, no, I'm blaming them!"

Toph got in Katara's face. "Look, I don't ask you guys for diddly-doo-da. I carry my own damn weight. I don't need anybody's help, you got that?"

"Anyway, if there's anyone you should be blaming, it's Appa." At this, Aang looked astonished. "No offense, buddy, but he's been leaving a trail of fur everywhere we travel." I grabbed a fistful of Appa's hair and let it blow away. "He's shedding, remember?"

"You're blaming Appa?" Aang said, scandalized. "How dare you blame him. You guys always say you're carrying you're own weight, but you're not! He is! He's carrying you're fucking weight! He never had problems when it was just three of us on him!" He finished, now yelling.

We stared at him for a while, then turned around. Toph and I picked up our bags. Walking away, Toph said, "I'm outta here."

I looked at her, then patted her shoulder. "I'm gonna see you later, shorty," I said, smiling.

She punched my side lightly, and smiled slightly. "Bet on it, Bones."

I smirked at the nickname she gave me, and we walked our seperate ways.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

I walked along the path for a long while, thinkin' about my situation. Aang and Katara needed time to cool down, so a couple of days would do it. I knew we would both be back, whether by outside forces or just a change of heart. But not now.

I sighed. This was gonna be a long two days.

"Looks like someone is lost," a voice said from the cover of the trees. I turned, cautious.

Focusing my ears, I tried to pinpoint where the voice had come from. Then I had a sudden premonition, and I swiftly turned around, my nails turning razor-sharp.

"You still have your edge, I see." A girl about my age was standing right in front of me, smirking. She had pure-white hair, with a streak of black in it. Her eyes was heterochromatic: she had one red eye and one blue eye. But the thing that threw me the most was her skin- it was black, like mine was supposed to be... My face tensed slightly. She looked so damn familiar. Then it struck me. "R-Rinca?"

"In the flesh!" She walked up and hugged me, and I was still shocked that she was here. "My, you haven't changed a bit, Lo-Lo." She looked me up and down, almost hungrily.

I raised an eyebrow at the mention of my old nickname. "I thought I said for you to never call me that again."

She looked at me, her expression dull. "Since when do either of us listen to what other people say?" she asked bluntly. Damn, almost as blunt as Toph.

"True, but I gotta ask, what are you doing here?"

Rinca hesitated for a moment. "We're back," she said simply. And that simple phrase was what made me smile, what made me think that there's even more hope for defeating Ozai.

"Where are you guys meeting?" I asked, still not believing the news.

"In Ba Sing Se," Rinca said. She then smiled. "I'm traveling alone, and I don't want to impede on your time by traveling with you." She stopped, and looked me right in the eyes. "And where's Aang, Loki? You were never one to quit what you were doing, you know. You finished the job, no matter what. So I advise you to get your ass back and find him."

I smiled at her attitude. "Yeah, yeah. I know." I tousled her hair before starting to run. "I'll see ya soon!" I called back.

"You better!" Rinca yelled, fading into the distance.

I smiled again, it turning into a mad grin. The Eighth Company, Assassin Regiment, was back in business.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

After a while, I stopped at the edge of a desert. Rolling dunes stretched as far as the eye could see, but in the distance was a tiny cluster of homes, and I decided to stop there. I had started to walk when I heard the voice, and I smiled, knowing who it belonged to.

"I told you we'd see each other again," the voice said.

"No, I think I told you," I said, turning around. Toph stood in front of me, but behind her was someone I definitely did not expect.

"Iroh?" I asked, a little confused but overall calm. I held no grudge against the man; he wasn't like his brother, and he truly wasn't as bad as others make him out to be. Holding out my hand, I nodded with a slight smile. "Can't say I ain't surprised."

He laughed heartily, and shook the hand. "I would say the same thing, Bones." He laughed again.

My eyebrow twitched at the nickname. "What was that?" I asked.

"Oh, this young lady here told me your nickname, and spoke quite a lot about you in general." His smile never left his face.

"Oh really?" I said, turning towards Toph. She blushed slightly, but didn't turn away.

"Iwashighontea," she mumbled incoherently.

"What?"

"I WAS HIGH ON TEA, OKAY?" She was blushing madly now. We looked at each other for a while, then busted out laughing. Iroh watched the exchange with amusement.

"I do not want to interrupt, but I believe we need to be somewhere," he said after several seconds. We stopped immediately, and turned towards the desert.

"Alright," I said, starting to walk. Let's get this show on the road."

And we walked. The village got larger with each passing minute, and soon it was right in front of us.

Then I saw the pillar of blue fire.

"Let's go!" I yelled, hurrying to the scene, Toph right behind me. Iroh had disappeared, but I dismissed it. I had more important matters to deal with.

Toph and I ran through the alleys, searching for our friends. We found them, three on one, facing off against Azula. Toph slipped off her backpack, getting into a fighting stance. I did the same, turning my left arm into a whip.

"You ready?" she asked me, smirking.

"I was born ready." I whipped my 'arm' towards Azula's leg, forcing her to one knee. She was about to turn around, but Toph shifted her foot to the right, and Azula was flung to one side, knocked off her feet by the shifting of the ground. Our friends looked at us, shocked that we were here.

"Thought you could use a little help," Toph said, still smirking. Their faces suddenly turned to relief, and I saw a little gratitude in Katara and Aang's eyes. We all turned towards Azula, including Zuko, who I just noticed, and Iroh. So that's where he went.

"So, enemies banding together with traitors. I should've expected this," Azula said, her contempt evident. "Alright, you got me." She held up her hands. "A princess goes down with honor."

Bullshit.

She looked at all of us in turn, her eyes jumping fromn one person to another. My feet shifted, slightly uncomfortable. Normally, I read her like an open book: she was too damn predictable, her emotions are like her facial expressions to me. But now... I couldn't read her. It was bothering me.

I was so deep in thought that my reflexes dulled ever so slightly, and in that time, she attacked. She shot a quick bolt of lightning at Iroh's chest, sending him through an open doorway. We instantly turned towards Azula, and threw everything we had in one, giant blow. There was a giant explosion, then nothing.

We looked over to where Iroh lay. Zuko kneeled next to him, seemingly fustrated with himself. I knew we had to leave him alone, but Katara's big heart couldn't let her go just yet.

"Zuko, I can help him," she said. "Please, just let me-"

"Leave!" he yelled, not even turning around. Toph winced slightly at this. I could see that she wanted to stay, to help Iroh. Her foot shifted ever so slightly for reasons I don't know, but when Iroh took an unnoticable breath, she breathed out a sigh of relief.

"But-"

"LEAVE!" He threw flame this time, forcing us back. Katara now looked visibly hurt, and we all turned and walked towards Appa.

The next rising of the moon found us all asleep on Appa's saddle. I didn't notice my arm around Toph's waist. And she didn't notice when she moved in closer.