Alright, you can go ahead and scream at me now. I know, I know. It's been...what? Like, a decade since I last updated. I hate myself for not writing, but writer's block is a very powerful thing, my friend. Anyways, it's not just that. Considering school, family, and, oh, the 48-hour Bones marathon I watched, you can see distractions are also very powerful. By the way, can I ask you guys a question? Well, no offense to any of my male readers, but how come the best guys are fictional? Seeley Booth, Jacob Black...Seriously. Sorry, I have ADD. (I finished the Twilight series, by the way. Breaking Dawn's good, but not the best.) Okay, anyways, on to Chapter 10. It's short and not very good, but I hope you like it. R&R! -KTBG

P.S. Update! I've changed the genre and summary of the story. It is now Friendship/Adventure.

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Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar. (Stupid Mike and Bryan. They won't let fans do anything...)

The Earthbender

Flames of heat burst from little beads of pain as Liz's shoulder was being ripped out of its socket. "Gah!" she gasped. "Katara, I didn't know you were this strong!" Katara's skinny fingers were wrapped around Liz's forearm, pulling her to the fire pit.

Aang and Sokka were sitting, cross-legged on the floor next to the fire pit. Their eyes were glued to a ragged map clenched tightly in Sokka's tan hands. As Liz and Katara approached, Liz's jaw lowered to let her speak, but the boys quickly looked up at her with sorry expressions. "Guys," Liz breathed, "w-what's wrong?"

Sokka bit his lip in frightened look that Liz'd never seen before on his face. "Uh, Liz, sit down." Plopping down on the stone floor, Liz brushed her hair behind her ears so she could hear Sokka a little bit better. Furrowing her brow in confusion, the Water Tribe boy continued. "We need to talk to you, now that you're better." His handsome, blue eyes flickered to his sister for an unnoticeable second. "Well, when you were, uh, hurt at the island...We kind of made a decision." Liz's chest tightened in preparation for what he might say next. Glancing at his sister once more, Sokka sighed, "We think it might be better for you to go back to your parents."

Liz's face fell, and the color faded to a pale grey. A solid rock pilled up in her throat, threatening to pour tears over her cheeks. It's like she was slapped in the face. Her lips sealed together by an invisible bond, she wasn't able to respond. A thousand pounds of pressure settled over the kids, and Liz's fighting tears were about to make it two thousand.

They spilled. Silently, but not entirely unseen. Katara threw her long arms around Liz's shoulders, and Aang's head hung. Sokka, serious as ever, knew he'd done the right thing. Liz was safe, and they could continue with their plan for Sozin's Comet. Pushing his hands against the cold ground, he began to lift himself up to his feet.

The clapping of bare feet rushing toward them broke the emotional moment, and Toph was soon in front of them. "Appa's gone!" she shouted. Faster than lightening, Aang's head snapped up in her direction.

"What? When?" Hopping back on his feet, he ran to her, panic bright in his eyes.

"I walked past where we keep him, and he was gone!" At that, Aang took off running, a flash of orange and pale out of the room.

"Toph," Sokka called. Her blind eyes shifted to him. "You and Liz will go search the southern and eastern parts of the temple." His hard eyes flickered to Katara. "Katara, you and I will go search in the northern and western parts of the temple." Katara stood up, a determined look on her face. They ran off. Sokka shouted after him, "Gather the others. We're going to turn this place inside out until we find Appa."

Liz's ears could hear the tapping of their feet as they raced away to search for the beast. Jaw twitching, Liz's palms were pressed flat on the ground as she sat there, still in shock. "C'mon!" Toph yelled at her. "Get up!" Blinking out of her daze, Liz jumped up and joined the eathbender.

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Twisting on her heels, Liz caught herself before smashing into Toph who came to an abrupt stop in front of a long and illustrious hallway, branching out into separate rooms and corridors. "Toph, what's wrong?" Liz gasped.

Sighing with annoyance, Toph replied, "He's not here. We need to check somewhere else. Come with me."

Stomping off, ignoring the hall completely, Toph traveled towards another hall, not too far away. "Wait, Toph," Liz protested. "How can you tell? We...We haven't even searched the rooms yet." Toph began to grind her teeth as she turned around to face the girl.

"I'm the world's greatest earthbender."

"But you're blind!" Liz said without thinking.

"Thanks for the update!" Toph responded, stomping on to the next hall.

Bitting her lip, Liz corrected herself. "Th-That's not what I meant. Sorry...I mean, how? You're young. I...I just don't get it."

"Listen, Princess, I know you're used to having these talks with Sugar Queen and all, but we kinda don't have time right now," Toph spat.

"Sorry," Liz repeated. "Sorry." Toph ignored the apologies and kept walking, Appa, the main priority, on her mind.

Liz followed as Toph led her to the next hallway, and it looked just the same. Huge murals painted on the walls of monks and bison, but no Appa. Nothing but dust. "He's not here, either," Toph grunted. "But...wait...Haru? Is that you?" she called into the hallway. Her tomboyish voice bounced off the tall walls, and the echoes flooded Liz's ears.

A head popped out of one of the rooms. It was Haru, all right. The mustache proved it. Running from behind the wall, he shouted, "Toph! Found anything?"

Haru slid to a stop as he neared the girls, flinging dust into the air. Itching Liz's throat, she coughed. "Nope," Toph replied, unharmed by the dust. Is she used to this filth? Liz asked herself. "You?"

"Nothing. Man, Aang's gonna be devastated." He shook his head, then let it hang.

"Suck it up, and keep looking," Toph ordered. "We'll find the big fuzzball soon enough." Haru perked up with enthusiasm and ran back to the rooms again. Toph then continued her march through the temple.

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Toph finally sat down, shooting up dust once more. Rubbing her dirt-encrusted feet, she sighed in defeat. "Oh man..." she breathed, grasping her head in her hands. Liz stepped towards her, then sat down, legs crossed.

"It's okay," she comforted. "I'm sure Aang will under-"

"You don't get it!" Toph barked, eyes dark. "I've lost Appa once, and Aang's gonna think I lost him again!" Leaning back, Toph lifted her arms and laid her head in her hands, right on top of left. She took a deep breath.

"Well...Can you answer my questions, now?" Liz asked, holding her chin in her palm.

Toph rolled her blind eyes, spitting in the other direction. "Whatever."

"Okay, well, how can you tell where Appa is if you...you know...?"

"Can't see?" Toph finished for her, furrowing her brow. "I already told you. I'm the world's greatest earthbender."

"But that doesn't explain much. What do you mean?" Liz leaned forward, cocking her head to the side.

"You're not gonna let this go, are you?"

"Nope."

Letting out a sigh, Toph replied, "Well, because I'm an earthbender, I'm sort of connected to the earth in some way. Because I'm blind, I focus on my other senses. In other words, I can feel the vibrations in the ground, so I can see you."

"What?" Liz asked, surprised.

"Well, not 'see' see. I can tell where you are. I can tell where everything is around me. That's why I knew Appa wasn't anywhere in the rooms connected to that hall. That's why I knew Haru was searching there."

"Wow..." Liz marveled. "From what's happened already, I really shouldn't be so surprised, but that's incredible. You're Aang's teacher, aren't you?"

Toph chuckled, a low huff, really. "Yeah, I'm his teacher, but Twinkle Toes isn't too much of a student." Liz slapped a hand to her mouth to hide her quivering lip. "What?" Toph asked.

"Twinkle Toes," Liz giggled.

"Aang's light his feet, okay? Been calling him that since day one. You get used to it after a while." Toph spat once more, and the ball of phlegm landed right where the first one did. It sent a chill down Liz's spine.

"Aang's having a hard time learning earthbending?" Liz inquired, shifting chin rests.

"He's good, but he's still got a lot to work on." She chuckled again, remembering a training session back in the Earth Kingdom. After a moment of silence between the two girls, Toph asked, "Are the questions over now?"

"Yes."

"Good, 'cause we need to get to Aang and Snoozles and see if they've found anything." Cracks could be heard as they stood up and stretch, popping their knuckles as well as their necks.

Suddenly, tip-tapping of feet came once again as the girls saw Sokka running to greet them. "Found anything?" he asked, gasping for air.

"No, Snoozles," Toph mocked, crossing her arms over her chest. "You?" Sokka replied with hesitation, and Toph knew they had a problem.

"Well, I'll go report back to Aang with the news," Sokka breathed. "This isn't good." He slowly turned back, shoulders hunched. Setting a foot in front of him, Sokka dug his toes into a crack in the ground. Taking another step, it was man down. Crash! "I'm okay..." a weak voice whimpered from the floor. Giggles and snorts came from the two girls behind him.