Disclaimer: I will NEVER own Avatar.

Ages:

Aang, Toph: 16

Katara, Suki: 17

Sokka, Arianna: 18

Zuko: 19

*O*O*O*O*O*O*

(Aang POV)

"There's this girl I found while I was at the Fire Nation during one of those meetings a while back. Her name's Arianna. She said she knew you and-,"

"You mean, THE Arianna? Was she a firebender?" She was getting prettyexcited.

"Um, yeah." I backed away slowly.

"Go on!" She shouted and started jumping up and down. She was acting like her old 12 year old self again. Good times… Too bad we're 16 now… Getting married, going to live by ourselves.

"Well, she's going to be there at Zuko's. Turns out that she's his cousin on his mom's side. She found out about the reunion and that you're going to be there. Zuko sent me a letter that she'd be coming and I was supposed to tell you."

"Oh my spirits! YES!" In the spur of the moment she grabbed my collar and kissed my cheek. My eyes were wide open and she finally noticed what she was doing.

"Oh, sorry." She blushed while looking down. She's so cute when she does that.

"It's okay. Anyway, how do you know her?" I asked curiously.

"She was my best friend before you guys came! She lived in Gaoling too! Remember when I told you that I hid in caves to practice earthbending?" I nodded.

"Well, she was there also. I was about six and she was eight. I was practicing my bending when I felt some other girl. I REMEMBER NOW! I threw a boulder at her but she dodged it with firebending. Her family was poor and Fire Nation and they were trying to fit in. We weren't friends at first."

"I'm not surprised!" I chuckled but stopped when I saw her give me a death glare, but eased up when she started laughing too.

"She had attitude and I commended her for it," Toph said matter-of-fact, but her face tensed again, "We were best friends for two years after that. But the Earth Kingdom officials found out about their family and took her to the prisons. I never got to say bye and I've never seen her again." A tear fell down Toph's cheek, but she hid it with her bangs and quickly rubbed it off.

I put my hand on her shoulder. "It's okay. She's fine now."

"Yeah. Can't wait to see her again. Well, not really 'see' her but, yeah." She smiled again and a sense of relief passed through her features.

*O*O*O*O*O*O*

(Sokka's POV)

All this time I was wasting my time hoping you would come around. You have your own secrets and I'm sick of being the last to know. And all I want now is to get you out of my mind. And the worst thing is that I don't even think you feel sorry. Not even a little bit.

I stared at the green ribbon in my hand and threw it into the air. Aang and Toph were too deep in a conversation to even notice that I was just staring at it fall down into the water below.

I can't describe it. It feels like the world underneath me is crumbling and I'm hanging on with one pinky finger. The "manly" side of me is telling me to suck it up and be a man while my heart is dying inside.

Yue died. Suki killed me. Lesson learned, Sokka?

Never love. It isn't worth the pain

*O*O*O*O*O*O*.

(Toph's POV)

"Sokka?" I shook him gently from his sleep. He seemed in pain and I'm not that mean that I would slap him awake like I usually do. "Sokka! Wake up! We need to set up camp."

The groggy 19 year old slapped himself awake and literally fell off Appa. Aang ran to help him but Sokka just walked away. I could feel his heartbeat. It was dangerously low and I don't care if he needs his space! He needs a friend who'll listen to him!

I followed after him to a cliff. He was sitting on the side of it with his legs hanging and I sat beside him.

"You okay?" I ask cautiously. When no answer came back I said, "Sokka. You have to let this out. I'm no expert, but I know that something bad will happen if you keep it to yourself. Please, just let it out."

He turned and looked at me. I could tell that he was crying because I could hear some sniffles. He was trying his hardest to make sure that the tears wouldn't fall.

"It feels like she's betrayed me. Like everything that I've always enjoyed in life is becoming darker and I just want to stop it altogether." His head hung down.

"It may seem horrible right now, but we're here for you! Me, Aang, and Katara! We're your family, remember?" He still never answered so I just went on.

"Sometimes, people think that holding on makes them strong. It's not. Right now, it's letting go."

"She's right, Sokka." Aang had sneaked up on us. (My feet were dangling too so I couldn't 'see' anymore.) He sat on the other side of Sokka.

"See," I went on, "We're all here for you!" Aang and I gave him a huge hug and he smiled and squeezed back.

He walked away and after a few minutes Aang and I left as well.

"Wait, what's that?" He pointed to something in the ground. It was carved into the dirt.

YOU SAID YOU WOULD KILL ANYONE WHO HURT ME. WHY THE HELL ARE YOU STILL ALIVE?

"Sokka wrote it." Aang concluded after reading the message out loud.

*O*O*O*O*O*O*

"Hey Katara!" The Fire Nation teenager walked to her new friend. She was outside in the palace gardens.

"Hey Arianna." She sounded sad.

"What's wrong?" Her brown eyes looked into her friend's eyes with concern.

"Nothing much." The waterbender was determined to keep her secret. "Forget about that." Desperately trying to change the subject, "Tell me about yourself."

"Well, I've lived a pretty exciting life you could say!" The firebender's smile lit up and went on with her happy memories back with Toph while Katara became even more depressed.

She has the same smile as Aang.

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