Chapter 2
Sokka's chin quivered as he sobbed on the way to where everybody would departure. Eventually, tears began to fall.
"Sokka, don't worry. We will still be together on the way." Suki tried to cheer him up.
He sniffed,"Yeah, on the way to say goodbye forever!"
"It's not forever!" Suki immediately cut in. "We are just visiting our families and checking up on things at our homes. Then everything will be back to normal." Sokka still wasn't convinced, even with a reassuring kiss on the cheek.
He just sighed and continued up the path to where Appa stood. Aang excitedly threw multiple bags on Appa's back, creating a perfect stack.
"Do you think Appa can carry all of that luggage, plus all of us? He got tired easily with just the three of us, and not there are four others joining." Katara asked wondering if it would be any help if she removed some items from her bag.
Aang continued tossing bags aimlessly, but somehow managing to put them in order. "Appa had plenty of time to rest. All he has been doing this week is eating and sleeping, and occasionally I would fly him around the city for some exercise." He smiled at her, and threw one last bag,"These bags aren't that heavy, anyway."
Katara was still concerned, but didn't speak up again.
"Hi Aang. Hi Katara." Came a mopey voice from behind. Aang and Katara turned around and saw Suki walking up to Appa with Sokka trudging slowly behind her.
"Hey guys." Katara and Aang greeted in unison. There was a silence.
"So where is Toph and Mai and Zuko?" Suki asked.
"Toph is on her way. Zuko wanted to say goodbye to Iroh, so they should be here any time as well." Katara replied.
Suki nodded, and grabbed Sokka's hand to pull him on top of Appa. That left Katara and Aang alone again.
"Aang, I've been thinking," Katara said taking a step closer.
"What is it?" Aang closed the distance between them.
"Well.. I don't know if I want to go to the South Pole with out you." She looked towards the city. Aang let her continue,"We've been together non stop for the past year. And that whole time I was too afraid to admit how I felt about you. I was afraid if we did start a relationship, and then afterwards if anything happened to you.." She shook the thought away,"Now that I finally have you, I don't know if I'm ready to leave." She turned to give him a small smile, and his answering smile made her blush.
"I'll come with you." He kissed her cheek once and went to make sure the bags were secure so they wouldn't fly off of Appa.
A sudden rumble in the earth made Katara loose her balance. The rumbling got more loud and stronger until Katara fell to the ground. And as soon as it came, it left.
"Guess who?" Toph popped out from a huge mound of earth, which dissapeared on her command.
"Thought it was you." Katara said smirking. She stood up and dusted herself off. Toph lunged herself into the air, and landed next to Suki on top of Appa. She noticed something different,"Where are the little troublemakers?" She asked with a mischievous smile.
"Who?" Asked Sokka, still sulking.
Toph frowned,"Mai and Zuko." She paused,"And why are you so down? I would be happy and try to enjoy these last moments we have together." Suki smiled and nodded to Sokka in encouragement.
Aang scratched his head,"They are taking a while. Wonder if everything's okay."
The group continued to talk about their future plans, and Aang explained he was leaving with Katara to the South Pole. Eventually, Mai and Zuko trailed up to them, hand in hand.
"There they are." Said Suki, leaning over the side of Appa's sattle.
"So what were you two up to?" Toph challenged, crossing her arms. The group stared at Toph, then to Mai and Zuko, confused.
Both of their faces started to turn red,"We were just saying goodbye to Iroh." Zuko finally spat out. Mai looked down.
Toph started to laugh,"I don't even need to feel your heart rate to tell that was a lie."
The others in the group were starting to understand where this was going. So were Zuko and Mai.
"And besides, you told us that this morning. Now it's like 2 in the afternoon. It doesn't take 3 hours to say goodbye to somebody." Toph finished, with a wide grin spreading across her face.
Sokka smirked and leaned against Appa's sattle,"So you two finally went there, huh?" He said with a laugh.
"No! We weren't..We didn't! We never even have-" Zuko was interrupted by Toph's laughter.
"Don't lie. Remember, my room was only two doors away from yours. I could feel everything you've been doing in there just fine." The group hid their laughter.
Mai and Zuko's faces went red, and they shot their heads down. The chuckles and giggles eventually faded, and Sokka clapped to get everybody's attention.
"Okay, first we are going to drop off Toph, since her house is closest. Then, me and Suki will be dropped off at Kyoshi. Then, Aang, you have to hurry to the Fire Nation to drop off Zuko and Mai so they can have their fun time." There was chuckles again, and Zuko shot Sokka an angry look, that made the laughter stop and Sokka's grin disappear. He cleared his throat and continued," Then Aang and Katara can just fly to the South Pole from there. It's going to be a pretty long trip, but there will be plently of breaks along the way." He clapped loudly one more time, which startled Toph and made her jump.
Aang hopped onto Appa's head and yelled yip yip. Appa groaned and whacked his tail against the ground, then soared into the clouds. Mai still wasn't used to flying, she had only done it once before, and it was only for a few minutes. She held herself against Zuko to keep warm, and he burried his face in her hair. Sokka stared down at the city below, pointing out all of the familiar places he had been before. "That's where we put up posters of Appa.. That's where we found an old guy sweeping Appa's hair.. Ooh! Look! It's Iroh's tea shop! It looks so tiny from up here!" He grinned at Suki, who pretended to be entertained.
Aang watched the clouds fly past them, until Katara tapped his shoulder. He smiled once he turned around.
"Are you just coming with me because I want you to?" She asked, lowering her voice to a whisper.
He shook his head,"No, of course not. I want to be with you too." He smiled apologetically and put his arm around her waist.
Toph grew bored of ease dropping on the conversations and fell asleep. Eventually, Mai grew bored as well, and unpinned her hair so she could mess around with her pins. At least it kept her busy. Zuko felt uneasy with Mai so close to him and her hair flying in his face. He buried his face in her hair once more to hide his blush. He held down the fire building up in his chest and swallowed. Mai felt him stiffening, "You okay?" She whispered, putting her face even closer. Zuko nodded weakly, "Yeah." He forced out,"I like your hair down." He smiled and hid his face in her shoulder again. Mai kissed his forehead and nuzzled into his chest.
"ARE WE THERE YET?!?!" Toph yelled from her sleeping position, startling everyone. She was already tired with the relationship fluff going on.
Aang looked down,"Almost, your house isn't that far from here." He started to lower Appa so he could see the city more clearly.
Sokka's frown returned,"Already?'' His chin began to quiver again. He started crying, loudly and obnoxiously.
"Calm down Sokka, you can come visit when ever you want." She paused,"Please do. I want any excuse to get away from my parents. They annoy me to death." She threw her hands into the air.
"Yeah sure, we will just swim across the ocean, no, we will tame and ride the Unagi, leave him at the dock, walk across the Earth Kingdom, find your city, and go to your house." Sokka
explained sarcastically.
Toph frowned,"Thanks." She closed her eyes again.
"Can we not fight the last few moments we are all together?" Suki asked in a small voice.
"Fine." Toph and Sokka agreed.
Appa continued to fly down until he came to an arubt stop.
"We're here." Aang yelled as everyone jumped off of Appa to say goodbye. They shared one last group hug, which Zuko forced Mai into by dragging her by the waist.
Tears flooded from Sokka's eyes,"B-b-b-bye Toph!!" He forced out and hugged her. She punched his shoulder,"Seeya Captain Boomerang." She said with a smile.
Toph and Aang hugged,"Bye, Twinkle Toes."
Aang felt like he would cry,"Bye, Toph." He said through a cracked voice.
Katara ran to hug her friend,"Don't get into too much trouble." She teased Toph.
"I'll miss you Sugar Queen." She teased back.
Now Toph ran to hug Zuko,"Bye Zuko!!! I'll miss you so much!!" Tears started draining from her eyes.
Zuko stood there awkwardly, and Mai let out a giggle.
"Erm..I'll miss you too..?" He sputtered.
Toph sniffed and back away,"Mai, take care of him."
Mai nodded and smiled at Zuko. Toph took a breath and continued up the steps. She turned and waved once more, and walked into the garden.
They watched sadly as she disappeared.
Sokka broke the silence,"I don't know how much longer I can put up with this." Tears began to spill again, and the group loaded back onto Appa.
Thanks for reading. Chapt.3 will be updated shortly ;)
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