Disclaimer: No, I do not want a free subscription to TV guide! No, I do not own Avatar: the Last Airbender! No, I don't want to try HBO for 30 days free! STOP CALLING ME!!

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Rated M: Mature Content. Blood. Guts. Sex. Drugs. All the good stuff.

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Author: So it looks like the readers like the way things are going.

Toph: What's not to like? You have all the good stuff. It says so in your rating.

Bato: Seriously, you have action, adventure, romance, sex… Everything a good story needs.

Hakoda: Some people have been complimenting us on our adult scene.

Kita: Yes, they have asked for more.

Author: We'll see what I can do. This may be an adult romance fan fic, but the story is still more important than all the "good stuff" they are requesting.

Sokka: I will get to have the good stuff at some point though won't I?

Katara: Eww. Gross! Sokka, why do you have to bring that up?

Sokka: I am a young adult and I deserve to be compensated for my part in the story.

Katara: You don't get a sex scene just because you think you earned it!

Suki: Well, I got to disagree with you there, Katara. After seeing the few the others have done, I wouldn't mind having a turn.

Katara: Well, me neither but it still isn't right to talk about it in public like this!

Mai: Oh, grow up Katara. You're an adult now, so get with the program. I bet if you had your chance with Aang, you'd be all over him.

Katara: Mai!

Aang: You're assuming she actually chooses that path. It's been… what, 23 chapters now and she hasn't made a decision yet. For all I know, she may pick Haru.

Katara: Okay would you all please stop!

Author: Alright folks; enough. Leave Katara alone. She will make a choice eventually.

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Chapter 31: Strang Findings

The banquet and dancing was a huge success. Everyone was having a wonderful time. Bato, however, was more nervous than he had been in his entire life. He had been with his share of woman in every way you can imagine, and none made him half as nervous as Nami did. Her beauty took his breath away and her shy demeanor attracted him to her, but her bold approach and her setup of this date had him wondering just what she was capable of. She was obviously intelligent and quite a good dancer. Bato wasn't sure what he had gotten himself into.

As they whirled around the dance floor, her dress would flare up and give Bato just a hint of the ravishing legs underneath. Bato could barely control himself as this woman took full advantage of her feminine charms and wrapped him around her little finger. Finally, Nami had had enough dancing and asked Bato if he'd like to join her as she got some air. Bato agreed, and the two of them went out behind the palace to a nice area filled with ornate sculptures and pillars.

"You know, after being around it for so long, you actually start to miss the plants and the green surrounding you." Bato noted as he stared out at the frozen landscape. He felt Nami close to him and smelled her perfume on the evening breeze. The moon was shining down brightly tonight and its reflection shone off the ice and snow leaving a solid shimmering field of pale moonlight.

Nami put her hand on his back as she moved in beside him and cuddled up close. "Are you alright Bato?" she asked him kindly.

"I am fine, Nami; better than fine. I had not in my life thought good fortune such as you would be rained down on me. I am just a little overwhelmed is all." Bato admitted.

"I see." Nami replied quietly. "Perhaps you would be amenable to me coming with you to the South Pole? We can talk; get to know each other. I have not been able to get you off my mind since I first saw you." She told him confidentially.

Bato was taken aback. "You feel that way too? You would honestly come with me; knowing almost nothing about me? We only just met after all." He said, putting his arm around her shoulders and looking down into her beautiful eyes. He almost lost himself within them before he pulled his gaze away.

"I would. I believe in my heart that you and I are meant to be, and I would gladly travel the world with you." She told him sincerely.

Bato had no idea what was going on. This woman he just met was telling him she would basically spend the rest of her life with him, and he knew nothing about her!

"Perhaps we can start getting to know each other tonight…" she added shyly, giving him a smoldering look with her innocent eyes. Bato had seen similar looks in women before, but never one so alluring; so absolutely irresistible.

"I think that's a wonderful idea. Let's go someplace warm and talk." Bato suggested.

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Fire Lord Zuko took out his fireworks after the feast had ended and everyone had filed outside into the back garden behind the palace. While he was setting his fireworks up, the crowd's attention centered on the Avatar. Aang had told Chief Arnook that he would perform some airbending tricks for the guests tonight, and what a show it was.

He started off by waterbending the snow and ice into rings of varying heights and sizes around the garden. He then proceeded to take out his glider, fly up into the sky and start soaring through the rings. As if that wasn't enough, he was having to twist and turn to fit through some, and in one particular one he even had to let go of the glider and go through the ring without it, only to grab the glider before he fell. The crowd cheered as he then began breaking the rings off on himself and having them go around his torso and limbs as he flew.

Katara at his queue set up an icy stalagmite in the ground, and Aang started to toss the icy rings onto the spikes in a form of game. The crowd was cheering for him as he landed and took his bow. Katara smiled at him and Aang grinned back. Zuko was happy for those two; it was good they were enjoying themselves for a change. Setting up his display was going to take just a little longer, so Zuko motioned for Katara to take the stage.

Katara nodded to him and went to the center stage. Kenji, given the night off for the festivities, came up with her; a cheering Mina left in his wake.

"You're not going to go easy on me this time, are you?" Katara grinned at Kenji.

"What do you mean 'this time'?" Kenji asked her suspiciously.

"I know you were just trying to put on a good show for your students, but I wanted a real fight. Let's see what you've got!" Katara exclaimed and she pulled up and let loose with a huge blast of water.

Kenji jumped out of the way easily and returned fire with a blast of his own. Katara easily stepped aside of the return blast and laughed. "Come on old man! Let's give these folks a real show!" Katara shouted across the open space.

"Old man, am I?!" Kenji roared in outrage. He reached into the snow and pulled up a pair of water whips. A quick swish of them and he sent them soaring for Katara. She brought up an ice shield to absorb the blow, but the whips didn't just strike the shield, they wrapped around it! One whip pulled the shield away while the other looped itself around Katara's torso and lifted her into the air. With a grin and a laugh, Kenji slammed the whip downward and Katara with it.

Katara slammed into the ground and the wind rushed from her lungs. She truly had been caught off guard. She had no idea Kenji could exert so much control over the water whips, and at such a distance. He really was quite impressive. Katara rose and with her she drew up a pillar of ice. Raising herself a good ten feet in the air, she toppled her own pillar towards Kenji with herself on top of it! Kenji hesitated to destroy the pillar with Katara on it and jumped back to avoid being crushed. Katara had expected that and leaped forward into the air as the pillar came crashing to the ground, tackling Kenji into the snow before rolling and gaining her feet.

Katara Brought up an ice case around Kenji and trapped him within. Kenji stood slowly, catching his breath and trying to regain his balance. He used his bending to add to Katara's cage, forming an icy prison in a hollow sphere of ice. Katara was unsure as to why he would not have just freed himself and hesitated, staring at the large icy ball. She gave a start when she saw the ball of ice rolling towards her at high speeds. If it hit her it would crush her!

Katara had no way to move in time and instead dug her feet in and tried to bend the ball away. Her attempt failed and she found the ball coming right at her at a very high speed. No time to move and unable to move the ball, Katara felt panic coming on. At the last second, Katara crouched into the snow as the ball rolled over here and the crowd let out cries of outrage. Kenji was standing where the ball had started, having extricated himself from it before sending it on its way. He ran to where Katara had been standing expecting to find he had done much more than expected. As he raced across the snow, he flew forward face first and slammed into the ground.

Katara burst from the snow, releasing the ankles she had just been grabbing. The crowd cheered as she brushed the snow from her outfit and Kenji got to his feet. "Well done once again, Katara." Kenji credited her before lashing out with a tidal wave of snow. Katara couldn't respond in time and was buried in the frosty water. The crowd cheered when she burst forth from the snow, only to be caught by a snowball Kenji had thrown.

"Alright smart guy; you're going to pay for that one!" Katara called out and she took her stance. She began to whirl the snow all around them and brought it into the air above her head. Everyone including Kenji was amazed at the massive size of the snowball Katara had crafted. Katara moved and the snowball crushed into itself, becoming smaller, more condensed. Suddenly she brought her palms together and down, then outward, and the snowball responded by exploding, showering the field with icy spikes. Kenji barely managed to get a shield up before the icicles struck; he would have been seriously injured or killed if he hadn't.

Once the rain ended, Kenji bowed. "You win again. I think we better stop before someone truly gets hut." Kenji called. Katara nodded, and then both of them took their stance and brought up a huge amount of water and began performing the tricks they had decided on earlier that day. They threw the water between them, juggled giant balls of water and even created an ornate slide of water spiraling through the air. Aang joined in on the fun and began to flying just above the slide, giving the allusion that he was riding the aerial wave.

Finally, Zuko had finished and the other performances ended. Zuko had everyone back up a bit and used his firebending at intervals to set the fuses. One by one or group by group, Zuko set the fire works into action. They exploded in a myriad of shapes and colors and made all sorts of different noises. Fireworks were not known of in the Water Tribes and everyone stared in awed fascination. The finale was an explosion that created a huge red dragon outline that swooped down on the crowd and looked like it was breathing fire. As it faded the cheering exploded.

The entertainment a success, the banquet died down and everyone began to filter out of the palace. Zuko joined Katara, Kenji and Aang in a bow as the crowds cheering started to die and they headed home. It was getting late, and for the Avatar and his friends, there was much to be done.

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Jet and Ty-Lee had missed the entertainment. They were in Ty-Lee's room talking. Jet had started by telling her about his band of freedom fighters and how they had struggled just to survive, living on their own and misunderstood. Ty-Lee liked the story even though most of the victims were Fire Nation. Hearing about the tree fort and how they were doing what they could while being just untrained kids inspired her and made her recall her own flight from home. They talked long into the night and grew closer as they talked about their lives and past events.

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The next morning dawned clear and sunny, casting unseasonal warmth on the nation of the Northern Water Tribe. Aang and his friends had spent the night in celebration but now they were packing up for their journey. Their sojourn at the North Pole was done, and they had places to go. Suki approached Aang that morning where Appa was being cared for. Aang was busy brushing Appa and getting him ready for their trip. Of course, he didn't know where they were going, but that's why Suki was approaching him.

"Aang, can I talk to you for a few moments?" Suki asked him politely.

Aang jumped down from Appa's back and landed gently in front of her. "Sure Suki; what's up?" he replied cheerily.

Suki took him to the back of the stable and made sure no one was around. After making sure they were alone, she said, "Do you remember how I fell in the oasis the other day?"

"Of course." Aang said.

"Well, the Moon Spirit told you she would be providing you a guide to help you on your journey." Suki told him. "I am that guide."

Aang's expression told of his confusion. "Suki, I don't understand. What do you mean you're my guide? You're not a spirit."

"No, but at the same time I am." Yue spoke through Suki's mouth in her own voice.

Aang did a double take. "Yue?" he asked, astonished.

"Hello again, Avatar." Yue smiled through Suki's lips. Suki began to glow with an intense radiance that forced Aang to shield his eyes, and suddenly the glow faded, absorbed back into the girl standing before him. "It's so good to see you again, Aang!" Yue exclaimed, throwing her arms around his shoulders and giving him a hug. Aang was thrown totally off balance and almost fell over, but Yue kept him on his feet.

"Yue, how is this possible?" Aang asked her curiously.

Yue explained to him about how Suki had been asked by the Moon Spirit Tui to allow Yue to accompany her and how she now had her spirit within Suki. "So now Suki and I are sharing her body until we can get my body back from the Spirit King or I will return to Tui once more." Yue finished.

"Incredible. Have you told Sokka yet? He'll…" Aang trailed as he realized what he was saying. "How are you…" he began.

"We have decided to play it down and see what happens. Suki and I both love Sokka, but we are becoming good friends ourselves. Who knows how the future will play out?" Yue shrugged.

"Alright; I won't interfere. Still, you're going to have to tell him some time." Aang told her casually. "So where are we going, oh great and powerful moon spirit guide lady?" Aang asked her with a small bow and flourish.

"I can sense the medallions faintly and though I cannot pin point their locations I can at least get us into the right general area. If you want to grab a map, I can point them out to you and we can decide on how to proceed." Yue told him.

"Aang, where are you?" Sokka shouted from out in the yard. Quickly, that same light appeared and Suki was back to her old self.

"Don't tell Sokka, okay Aang?" Suki whispered quickly to him as Sokka came into the stable.

"There you are." Sokka said as he saw Aang. As he came in, he also noticed Suki. "Hey Suki." Sokka added hesitantly. He was obviously uncomfortable. "What's going on?" he asked as he eyed them both.

"Nothing is going on, Sokka. We were just discussing what our plans were." Suki told him.

"Oh, that's okay then." Sokka replied, dismissing his suspicions. "Aang, when do you want to get going? My dad's fleet is taking off in about two hours."

"I'm not sure yet Sokka. Just make sure everyone has their things together so we are ready to go. Appa can't carry everyone, so some of us are going to have to use a ship." Aang said.

"I already thought of that. I had my father leave one Fire Nation ship here for us to use if we need it." Sokka told him in a self-congratulatory manner.

"Alright then. Go get everyone together and meet me by the ship." Aang told him. "Oh, and do you have that world map on you?" Aang asked as an afterthought.

"What? Oh yeah; I have it right here." He said, reaching into his backpack. "Just don't lose it, okay?"

"No problem, Sokka." Aang assured him.

Sokka left the room and Aang walked over to a work table and spread the map out. "Okay Yue, where are these medallions?" Aang asked her.

Suki walked over and looked over the map. "There is one somewhere around here…" she trailed, pointing to the middle of the desert. "Over here…" she said, pointing into central Ba Sing Se.

"Wait, you can't give any more detail than that? The one in the desert could be under a mountain of sand! And Ba Sing Se only came back under the Earth King's rule a short time ago. For all we know it could be in someone's jewelry box of hidden under a staircase. How can we find these things?" Aang demanded in exasperation.

"I can give you clues to help narrow the search a bit." She said. La gave me the hints. I can tell everyone at once and say that I heard you mention them when you were in a trance talking to the spirits or something." Yue shrugged it off. "There's another one here…" she pointed to the Southern Air Temple, "and here…" she pointed to the Fire Nation Capital.

Aang was marking the map in each place Yue was pointing as her finger left the spot. "Another here…" she pointed to the Western Air Temple, "and here…" she pointed to… "Kyoshi Island!" Suki exclaimed suddenly. There's a medallion in my home!" she said, excited.

Aang marked it on the map and moved and mentioned Yue to continue. It was interesting to see the change between who was talking. Nothing outward seemed to change, but the way she held herself, the vibe she put out was different. Suki was a warrior and Yue was a princess. The differences were easy enough to notice if you knew what you were looking for.

"There's one here…" she pointed in the middle of the ocean off the northern water tribe, "and one here." She pointed to where Aang believed the Sun Warriors dwelled. "There are others, but they are close in region to the ones I pointed out and we can mention them afterwards." She told him.

"So we have to search each of these areas and hope we can find a needle in a haystack." Aang sighed. "Alright, let's get going.

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Aang flew Appa onto the ship remaining in the harbor. They had all said their goodbyes to the fleet as they headed for the South Pole. Hakoda had led the expedition south, Kita on his arm. Bato was given command of his own ship and Nami had joined him, though they had only just met. Chief Arnook had said his goodbyes and waited on the docks with his people as the waterbenders let down the wall of ice that would free the few ships within the walls and allow them to lead the way south.

Appa, Aang on his back, landed on the final ship and Aang jumped down to greet his friends. Sokka and Katara had insisted on coming with him of course, as had Toph. Zuko also wanted to get to the bottom of things, which of course included Mai. Jet was with them as another spirit guide and of course Ty-Lee was there as well. Suki was with them also, regardless of Hakoda's offer of dropping her off on Kyoshi Island. She was as necessary to the success of the mission as the rest of them; maybe more so.

"Okay everyone; we have to plan this out. I spoke to the spirit that Tui told me about and I got some of the information we need to find these medallions. I marked them on this map, and…" Aang was interrupted by Sokka's gasp as he ran over to him and yanked the map from his grasp. He knelt down on the deck and spread the map out, noticing immediately all the marks Aang had made.

"You wrote on my map!" he accused Aang in a whiny voice. "That was an expensive map, Aang!" he continued.

"I'm sorry Sokka; I was in a bit of a hurry and didn't want to forget anything." Aang apologized. "But as you can see, these medallions are really scattered all over the world."

Everyone gathered around the large map and started to examine the different places. "This one is out in the middle of the ocean!" Ty-Lee exclaimed.

"This one isn't much better; it's out in the largest desert in the world. We can't search these." Mai added her sarcastic complaint.

"I know it won't be easy, but we also don't need to find them all. We just need to find as many as we can. The spirit gave us hints as to where to look for each one. To speed things up, maybe we should split up and conduct separate searches." Aang suggested.

"Well it's an idea. We have the ship and we have Appa so we could do that." Sokka said as he stroked his chin like his father did.

"These two appear to be at the western air temple and the Fire Nation capital. I could go there and look for them and see how Uncle is doing." Zuko suggested.

"Then I am going there too." Mai said casually.

"This one appears to be at the southern air temple, and we could probably swing by Kyoshi Island on the way for this one over here if we take Appa." Sokka suggested.

"Then that leaves the one in Ba Sing Se and the one in the desert, as well as the one in the ocean." Katara said.

"And the one where the Sun Warrior civilization used to be." Zuko added. "I can check that one out too."

"So that's it then." Sokka decided. "Zuko and Mai will check out the three we know of in the fire nation and take the ship. The rest of us can use Appa to skip along the coast and check the rest out." Sokka continued.

"I can try Ba Sing Se. I hate the place, but at least I can see what I am doing. Besides, I may be able to see my parents." Toph volunteered.

"The desert one probably isn't the best idea. We all remember what happened the last time we were there." Katara mentioned. "Maybe we could drop off Suki on Kyoshi Island and check out the Southern air temple and the one in the ocean, and then come back around to pick her up."

"Oh, I want to go to Kyoshi Island too. I need to go through my initiation." Ty-Lee added.

"Okay, so Suki and Ty-Lee will check out Kyoshi Island, Toph will go overland to Ba Sing Se. Aang and Katara will check the ocean and Southern Air Temple. That just leaves me and Jet." Sokka tallied off on his fingers.

"Jet can come with us to Kyoshi Island!" Ty-Lee chimed in.

"I don't mind wherever you want me. Your best Idea would be to send me with Toph though. I know the Earth Kingdom and Ba Sing Se. I would be most useful there. Besides, I can contact my freedom fighters and we can use their help in the search. And that way, Toph can keep an eye on me, just in case." Jet suggested. It was the most he had contributed in a long time. Everyone was staring at him except Ty-Lee, who knew he had good ideas.

"Good idea Jet. You can join Toph and check out the main Earth Kingdom points and I will stay with Aang and Katara. That will give us a total of four search teams and there will be at least two of us in each giving us a bit more to work with." Sokka tallied his final count.

"Not to mention safer." Aang added.

"Now there are other medallions in the general radius of some of your targets. There may be more than one at a site for example, so keep your eyes open." Aang warned everyone.

"Also, when Aang talked to the spirit she gave him some clues to finding the amulets. She said that the amulets would generally be with prestigious individuals and that though they may look slightly different each time, they will always have a certain symbol on the piece and they will always be in the shape of a spherical disc. The symbol looks like this." Suki told everyone, bending down and taking a pen from Sokka's bag. She drew a strange symbol on the corner of the map that looked almost like a face with tentacles of energy coming from it. Everyone studied the symbol and memorized it.

"What do you mean by prestigious?" Ty-Lee inquired. "Do you mean like a king or something?"

"Prestigious could mean anyone of note, Ty-Lee. It could be a king, a scholar, a merchant… even the Avatar." Mai told her friend.

"Oh. Okay then. So we keep an eye out for famous or important people with big jewelry." Ty-Lee figured.

"Pretty much." Mai smiled at her.

"Alright then; we know what we have to do! We will meet up back in the Fire Nation capital once we are done. If you can't find your medallions by the date we decided on, head there. If you find it sooner, look for the next one." Sokka said with finality.

On the beach, Chief Arnook and numerous Northern Tribesmen were standing there waiting to see them off. Frost and Chill had taken a liking to the Chief and both were at his side, his hand petting them kindly.

"Alright everyone; let's go and save the world… again." Aang said seriously as he and his friends waved goodbye.

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Aang: We are finally on our way to the main plot of the story!

Sokka: And it's about time. Talk about drama.

Author: Well, people always wanted a deeper look into those not focused on in the series. I can't help it… I liked the characters.

Toph: I think you liked a few of them a little too much.

Katara: Yeah, you sure spent a lot of time on OC characters.

Kenji: Hey, we can't help it if we are so likable.

Kita: Yeah! And besides, we are pivotal to the story in some way.

Author: And even if they weren't, they brought deeper insight into Hakoda, Bato and the northern tribe. They played their role there if nowhere else.

Hakoda: It may be true a few new characters were developed, but during the war there were lots of bit parts and alternate characters such as the fortune teller, the divide guide and the 2 tribes, the boy at the carnival, the sandbenders… none were overly developed, but just enough for the main cast to move along. Heck, Bato and I were like that until a few authors took us in and developed us.

Bato: It's true. Luckily, a few lovely ladies liked us enough to write about us, and this guy (points to the author) is doing his best as well.

Author: Aww… thanks guys. You're the best!

Zuko: Can we move on now? People are bored waiting for the next chapter.

Author: Sorry Zuko. I am going as fast as I can! My job hates me!

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Author's Corner:

So a lot of people have actually been praising the adult content and have enjoyed that aspect of it. Given that the characters have been fully developed and people understand their mind sets and points of view, much more can be done with them. Note that I will NOT be throwing random pairs together or squeezing sex in just for the sake of having it. My responsibility is to the story, not to a few folks whims. There will be the occasional scenes, but some couples may not get scene time at all, especially the younger ones. Sorry to disappoint.

From this point forward you will see a few less point of view changes and fewer breakups. Chapters may be a bit longer or shorter depending on how I end them. Shorter chapters mean more frequent posts most likely, but I will try and curb that. Kira brought up a valid point that I was making too much of the alternate and non-main characters. I guess that is true. Some of the characters in the series, like Hakoda and Bato, had very little screen time overall. Developing them has been a goal, and I think I have done that. Characters like Suki, Yue, Mai and Ty-Lee had more screen time but still weren't well developed and as such I did the same to them. Anyone notice how little screen time I have given Aang? And Sokka hasn't had as much either. Katara's screen time was storyline based, so she had a bit more. Any who, pretty soon I will only begin PoV following the Avatar and his gang and having the rest either narrated or a chapter swap. In situations where I have to, obviously I will PoV change, such as going from Aang's group to Ozai's. I will not intermingle the areas of the chapter though and keep it more linear. I got the way I have been doing it from some great authors, but without feedback, I am taking Kira's advice.

Here we go… Finally out of the snowy wastes. I am sure your all looking forward to the group splitting up and exploring some other places finally. I know I was. The teams are split in a way best suited to the tasks they have. I did not pair some of the couples together for that reason. Don't worry though. Things will all work out.

And as always, REVIEW PLEASE! Good, bad or indifferent, you guys keep me going. Things you like are more prominent. Things you hate get fixed changed or removed. You don't learn without the critiques.