Author's Note: It's been a short while since I've updated, but no matter how long it takes I am definitely going to finish this story. I was doing some estimation over the last week as to how long this story will be on . On Microsoft Word, I have twenty chapters of about 10,000 words each planned, but on , I plan to divide each chapter by four smaller chapters like this one. Overall, it comes to roughly EIGHTY CHAPTERS (not that hard to figure out). Whew, that's a lengthy story! Not to mention sequels.
Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar the Last Airbender, nor will I ever.
Chapter Five: Into the Earth Kingdom
In the three days that Aang and Katara had been flying together, Aang seemed to have taken on a much more positive attitude about their mission. To Katara, it was like the old days as she watched the optimistic young airbender catch the wind in his face and laugh.
He would occasionally leap from Appa's head and soar with his blue glider. His being a nomad, Katara figured that traveling was putting Aang into this good mood.
It was late in the afternoon when Katara was sewing a hole in her shirt, blatantly ignoring the dullness of being surrounded by nothing but clouds and water for hours at a time. Aang was meditating near the front of the saddle (Appa didn't need steering as they were simply heading straight north).
To Katara's relief, Aang emerged from his meditative state after another ten minutes. He looked to Katara and smiled.
"Hey."
She returned his smile. "Hey." She moved her attention back to the half-sewn hole.
Aang moved to her side and placed a hand on her knee. Katara grinned to herself, knowing that Aang's modesty would not allow him to place his hand any higher on her leg.
After a moment of silence, Aang sighed. "I know you're bored Katara, but trust me, we'll see the mainland any min—um—hour now."
She looked up. "I'm fine. It's just… I'm a little fed up with the scenery, I guess."
Aang laughed. "But it's water! How can you get tired of seeing water?"
Katara gave Aang a pleading look. "You know what I mean."
Aang smiled at his own smart-alecky behavior and turned to face the direction Appa was moving in. It was small, at first, but Aang recognized the peak of a mountain, miles off on the horizon.
"Katara!"
She rushed to Aang's side. "What is it Aang?"
"It's land! Only about an hour away!"
Katara exhaled. "Finally."
Toph sat at a small desk in her room. She felt the warmth of the candlelight and the cool stone beneath her feet. She knew that if she ever really wanted to leave her parents again, she could have done it forcefully. However, something always stopped her from going through with it.
When Toph was alone, she desperately thought of ways to escape quietly, and then when she talked to her parents, a deep feeling of pity welled within her stomach. Even though she was miserable here, she could tell that the last time she ran away, she really did hurt them badly.
None of this mattered, Toph knew, and, like she had said in her letter, she was going to get out of Gaoling at all costs. She stood and straightened her green earthbending clothes, (a habit that she had picked up on account of Katara's constant nagging in their travels) and picked up a small bag filled with her few necessities.
It was as she turned to the door that she felt the footsteps of Fen-Su. He stood by the door casually. "Well Toph, your parents are at the spa for another two hours and I left your note to them in the lounge. They don't know who wrote it for you, so… I should be off the hook for now."
Toph smiled in his general direction. "I can't ever thank you."
"You don't have to. Just stay safe Toph. I don't want to feel responsible for anything that might happen."
"Relax Fen-Su; I'm just going to go spend some time with my friends."
Fen-Su crossed his arms. "And how do plan to get across the South Sea to the Water Tribe?"
"I'm going to get a ferry to Kyoshi Island. I have some friends there who can give me a ride the rest of the way."
Fen-Su nodded and stepped aside. "I know you can handle yourself, Toph. Good luck."
Toph hugged him affectionately (rather than punching him) and ran out the door. She proceeded down a hallway, through the lounge and dining room, then out the front door. The courtyard was empty of guards for now, so she headed for the front gate.
When she reached the closed metal bars of the gate, she felt several men approaching from behind. "TOPH! LADY TOPH! What do you think you're doing?"
"Leaving this hell far behind, and none of you can stop me!"
The guard laughed. "Yes I can, young lady. I have the key to that gate!"
Toph rolled her eyes at them as she turned to the gate. She reached out and bent two bars like toothpicks. The hole she had made was just big enough for her and she went running down into Gaoling laughing hysterically. "See you guys later!"
The guard at the gate quickly struggled to unlock it and pursue, but the dent she had made complicated the process and Toph was long gone.
She ran through the lower streets of Gaoling and frantically tried to make it to the outer gate of the town.
As she ran down the main street toward her objective, a large burly arm stopped her. "Well, well, well, if it isn't the Blind Bandit… you owe me and some of my friends money little girl."
Toph didn't have the slightest look of fear on her face. "You and your friends should join the club." She twitched her toes and the man sunk two feet into the ground. Toph made a run for it and left the angry gambler far behind.
The open gate of Gaoling seemed to smile upon Toph as she finally crossed the town's limits.
She threw her arms into the air. "I'm finally free! Time to head to South."
Zuko paced in his throne room. He had just received the relayed message stating that the Water Tribe was to remain neutral and only Avatar Aang and Katara were traveling to help in the Earth Kingdom.
Mai watched him from a nearby pillar. "Zuko, everything will be fine. Aang and Katara will be a great help."
Zuko shook his head. "This isn't Katara's fight. Her people have remained peaceful while she follows Aang into war!"
"I'm sure she just wanted to stay with Aang—to protect him. She loves him, Zuko."
Zuko sighed. "War leaves no time for love. Aang should have left her behind."
Mai embraced Zuko. "I love you."
Zuko looked down at her with eyes of regret for what he had said. "And I love you too, Mai. But what I mean is that Aang is the Avatar and he needs to start making bolder priorities."
Mai kissed Zuko lightly on the lips and smiled. "Haven't you listened to your uncle? Love is always a major priority—even if you are the avatar." She began to nudge him towards the exit. "I think we both need some extra rest tonight."
Appa touched down on a soft coastal plain. The mountain that Aang had seen earlier was the beginning of a mountain range miles to the east. He jumped off Appa's head and looked around excitedly.
"Here we are, Katara; back in the Earth Kingdom!"
Katara climbed down from Appa's back. "This is a nice campsite. Do you want to stop here?"
Aang sat down on the damp grass. He felt around the area and took in all of its beauty. "Yes, let's set up camp."
Katara unloaded their sleeping bags as Aang gathered burnable material to light a fire with his bending.
As nightfall fast approached, they had a nice set up. The fire was burning beautifully, their sleeping bags were positioned beside each other, and Appa was enjoying a large amount of tall grass.
After dinner, which was stewed over the fire, Aang and Katara cuddled together from their respective sleeping bags. Aang wrapped his arm around her as she rested her head on his chest.
The light of the fire danced across their faces in brilliant oranges and yellows. Katara sighed contentedly. "So, what do you think?"
Aang began to stroke a lock of her hair. "I think this is nice… the stars are out, the fire is warm, I'm with you…"
Katara smiled, flattered by Aang's subtle comparison of her to the warmth of the fire, or the shining of the stars. "And what about the resistance… what are we going to do about that?"
"Well, I think that we should stop in to see Bumi since Omashu is only a day north of here. Then, from there, we continue north until we find an occupied colony. The resistance members may be willing to tell us where their army is if we assure them we only want to deliver a message."
Katara made a quick humming sound as if she was processing what Aang had said. The truth was that she already expected this to be his plan. "I think you're a bit more positive about this than I am."
Aang smiled down to her. "Is that so?"
"Yes. What if the resistance finds a reason to attack us—I mean, these are the same firebenders we've always fled from and fought with…"
"Why would they see the need to do that?"
"Because we don't really have a message for them; that's why."
"Yes we do. I'm going to negotiate with them—you know, give them a reason to give in."
Katara sat up to look Aang in the eyes. "Aang, remember that these are people who have only known war for their entire lives. I think that there may be more hatred built up inside of them than you assume."
Aang looked down for a moment and then returned to her gaze. "If they attack us, you know I won't kill any of them. There's always a peaceful way… we just have to find their leader—that's our plan B. If we can capture the leader of the resistance, the rest of them will fall apart."
Katara returned to her place on Aang's chest and sighed again. "It's not going to be as easy as it was to find Ozai. We knew who he was. The leader of the resistance could be anybody in the whole world."
Aang agreed, but he couldn't help pointing out something. "It wasn't easy finding Ozai. I would've have had no idea where he was if not for the giant Lion Turtle that led me to him."
"True," Katara replied, "But at least we knew who he was…"
The following minutes were laid with silence. Katara felt the warmth of Aang's chest and the gentle movement of his hand along her forehead. This was topped by the coziness of her sleeping bag. For a moment, her eyes closed, and she fell into a light sleep.
Her eyes shot open at the sound of a deep grumbling. She jumped up and looked around. Aang was smiling at her. "It's just Appa snoring."
She couldn't help but giggle at herself. "Maybe we should follow his example and get some rest."
Aang nodded as Katara leaned in to kiss him. She laid down facing away from his sleeping bag. Aang rubbed her forearm briefly as a sign of affection and then fell into his pillow.
After a moment of this, Katara reached behind her, to where Aang was laying. She found his hand brought it around her to rest on her lower abdomen.
Aang smiled to himself as he felt the soft and smooth, yet shapely form of Katara under the sleeping bag.
This journey was going well.
