A.N.: I am truly ashamed that I let two years slip by without updating this! I thank you all so much if you're reading this for the first time, rereading it to get reacquainted, or have left reviews or added it to your favorites. I really do appreciate it! If you are rereading this, I have begun to rewrite this, to extend the details, and work out some errors that I made in the original form. I will be not only updating what is already here, but I will be adding new chapters, and concluding this story by the end of the year. Thank you again for your patience and I hope you are all still interested! This is the tenth chapter to be rewritten as of July 22, 2010.

Of course I don't own Avatar the Last Airbender or any of the characters except for Kelyin, Ren, Shaya, Ayash, and the Outcasts. Though you will later find out, I'll make it clear now that everyone is 3 years older. Zuko was 16, now 19, Katara 14/17, Sokka 15/18, Aang 12/15, Toph 12/15. Also, the events of this story were written after the second season, so please disregard all events from the final season of Avatar: The Last Airbender.

/. /. / CHAPTER 10: The Glimpse of Things to Come

/. /. / KYOSHI ISLAND

Katara stripped to her undergarments and folded the Outcast clothing, placing it in her bag. It would no longer be necessary. She crawled to the tent opening and pushed the flap open a crack, watching as Zuko spread a blanket by the fire, preparing for sleep. He took another blanket and rolled it up as a pillow.

"Zuko, come sleep in the tent. There is an extra sleeping bag from when Suki used to stay here."

He looked up briefly and shook his head no, sitting down on the blanket, his back to her. "It would be improper for me to do that, Katara."

"I don't care what's proper or improper, I'm telling you to sleep in here." She opened the flap a little more. "Please?" She asked softly. "It's warmer in here and I can feel rain in the air." He sighed and stood, approaching the tent.

The space inside was small, just barely big enough for two people. He ducked through the opening and kneeled on Suki's sleeping bag. Katara tied the tent flap closed as he removed his shoes and robes, keeping only his brown pants on. She blew out the tiny lantern in the tent, submerging herself and Zuko in darkness. She crawled into her sleeping bag, her back to him.

After a few moments, Zuko's voice broke the silence. "Thank you, Katara…"

"You've already thanked me several times."

"But it's always been to Kara. I put you through hell and back when I attacked all of you. I tried to kill you, your brother, Aang. That's something that can never be forgiven… yet you did. You forgave all of it and even brought me back from the brink of death when you could have let me die." In the dark, her hand found his.

"Zuko… why did you let Azula do it? Why didn't you fight back?" She asked softly. His hand tensed in hers.

"I lost the will to."

"What do you mean? What happened?"

"She sent the guards to claim me in the middle of the night. I fought back all I could, but she sent practically the whole army. The dragged me to the prison cells, chained me to the floor, and stuck a gag in my mouth. It seemed like an eternity before anyone came in, and when the door opened, I was greeted by Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee. Gods, Katara, I would have killed all of them if I wasn't chained down. But then I lost the will to fight back… to do anything but sit there and take it… Azula leaned down and whispered in my ear." His voice turned bitter, "So soft… so sweet… 'I forgot to tell you last week, I had Uncle Iroh executed.' She said it like it was nothing. I couldn't do anything but sit there as Mai kneeled down and drew a stiletto from her sleeve." Katara sat up quickly.

"Oh Zuko… I'm so sorry!" She had heard of Iroh's murder, as everyone had, but she had no idea of the abruptness to which the news was delivered to Zuko.

"What's done is done. Nothing can bring him back. At least I'm finally free of the Fire Nation." He stayed silent for a moment. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to get off subject. Thank you for all you've done for me.

"You're welcome, Zuko…" She said as he rolled over in his sleeping bag, his back to her. Katara sat still in the silence, her mind imagining what it must have been like in that cell, Sokka laughing as he tortured her.

"It's good to see you again after all this time, Katara." She jumped a little, his voice breaking her disturbing thoughts. "The years have been good to you."

She gave a small smile in the darkness. "Did you… did you just give me a compliment?"

"Compliments aren't my strong point, but yes, I suppose I did. You've grown into a beautiful woman."

"And you have become a very handsome young man."

"Only with your aid… I haven't seen myself since before my fathers death. I must have been a terrible sight for you to look upon. I am forever in your debt, Kat-" She cut him off, lightly placing her hand over his mouth. She underestimated his strength, still remembering how weak he'd been. In one move, he flipped around and pinned her to the ground. She didn't fight back, noticing that the attack wasn't as quick and smoothly preformed as it could have bin, and his grip on her arms was slack. "I wasn't finished." Even in the dark, she could tell he was in pain. His wounds had been healed, but the stiffness of rebuilding all his muscle tissue would keep him sore for weeks, if not months.

"Enough with the thank you's and debts, Zuko. I don't want to hear that anymore." She reached up, breaking his grip on her arms, holding his face in her hands. He pushed her hands away and held them at her sides. Something soft brushed her lips.

The kiss was brief and he pulled away quickly, picking up his discarded clothing and pulling his shoes on. She touched her lips gingerly, the warmth of his mouth was still there. She felt her face become hot with a blush. "Why did you do that?" She asked, barely above a whisper.

"Forgive me. It was wrong of me." He untied the tent flap, taking his clothing and leaving, returning to the blanket by the fire. "I told you staying in there with you was improper…" He spoke as he pulled his shirt back on. She watched sadly as he lay down on the blanket beside the fire. Too taken back to argue, she tied the tent flap closed again and lay down in her sleeping bag. Her eyes stared up at the top of the tent, sleep avoiding her as she tenderly touched her lips once more.

/. /. / SOUTHERN AIR TEMPLE

Mai watched from a short distance away as Jet spoke quietly with Aang, and two of his oldest friends from his days as a freedom fighter, when he temporarily formed his own group away from the Outcasts. It was rather late and though Jet was still wearing his usual leather armor, Aang and the male and female, neither of which she could remember a name, had already gotten ready for sleep. A campfire lit their faces.

The male of the two stood at a 5'11, naked from the waist up, exposing lithe and agile muscles, powerful arms and a strong abdomen. His face was long and thin, and though his nose was slightly too big for his features and he didn't open his mouth once during the whole conversation, there was a silent, commanding strength about him.

The female was surprisingly beautiful. Her face was heart shaped, framed by choppy auburn hair, long in the front, angled up in the back with bangs. It was obviously self cut, but well done. There was almost a roughness about her beauty, as if she tried to hide it. Mai had never seen the girl out of her warrior garb, which consisted of a black hooded sleeveless tunic, a grey armor like chest plate with brown pants and heavy boots. She always appeared rather flat and a bit stocky, though now in a simple tunic and short pants, Mai realized that she had bound herself flat beneath the armor. Without the tight binding, Mai saw that despite a slim waist and wiry muscle, she had curvy hips and strong legs, and was for lack of a better word, very well endowed on top, the flatness being a very well done, and probably painful illusion.

The four stood after a few moments and the two nameless ones nodded to Jet and walked away, slipping into the darkness as the light of the campfire left them. Mai slowly approached as Jet gave Aang an encouraging pat on the back.

"We'll find her Aang, even if it's only the four of us looking." Aang gave a small nod and walked away. Jet turned to Mai and gave a weary smile. "They still can't find Toph or Ren, and the leaders won't give us any more people to keep searching. We just got word from Ayash and Shaya that Azula is forming some kind of plan of attack due to a rumor of Zuko still being alive somewhere." Mai's breath caught in her throat, but her face remained blank. The years of acting at the palace finally paid off. "There was a message sent to her stating that he was on Kyoshi. I find that pretty hard to believe if he was really as bad off as Ty Lee said. In that condition, he would have certainly died by now. Besides, Katara is a smart girl. With her and her brother living on Kyoshi, they would have surely seen him and sent word. They know him all too well."

"Perhaps we should go to Kyoshi and try to find him before she does, if he is indeed alive."

"Mai, I'm sorry, but there's no way he's still alive in that state. Even if we did find him miraculously alive, the only thing you could do for him is put him out of his misery. With everyone focused on Azula right now, we have to keep searching for Ren and Toph. The are both strong, but with that bounty hunter constantly looking and the large reward for Toph, they can't hide forever. I know they're still out there. Aang must go with the others to thwart Azula, so it's just you, me, Smellerbee, and Longshot. It'll take a while to get to the places we need to. Appa is still having trouble with his back leg, and if anyone is going to need him, it's Aang." Mai gave a stiff nod as Jet put his arm around her shoulders, talking of plans for the search and what the others would do about Azula. Mai nodded here and there, but she wasn't really listening. All she could see was a broken Zuko, laying in the middle of nowhere, his last breaths, alone…

/. /. / SOUTHERN AIR TEMPLE

"What did he say, Aang?" A female voice asked softly from the shadows as Aang came through the bushes, to lay by Appa's side. He looked up, his kind grey eyes were clouded with worry, but he managed to give a small smile to the girl that sat before him. The transformation in her from two months ago was startling. Aang quickly found that is was impossible to teach Kelyin Airbending, but he discovered that, although completely devoid of skill, Earthbending had been passed down to the girl by her mother, whom she'd never known. Once opened to the idea of finally bending once again, Kelyin was like a sponge for the craft of Earthbending, soaking in every move that Aang showed her within minutes. During their practice sessions, she had discarded the Outcast clothes and makeup, adopting long orange and yellow robes, the colors of the Air Nomads, which she only wore when alone with Aang. She'd abandoned the stiff wooden arm that had been crafted to look real, finding a new and much more unique way to replace the missing limb. Her hair, when freed from the hood, was the color of wheat, falling to the middle of her back without a hint of a wave. He loved her hair, never seeing that color before. Her face was rather round with a pointed chin and an upturned nose, lightly sun tanned skin, and cunning grey eyes. Now, however, she was wrapped up in her Outcast guise once more, a long sleeve black shirt replacing the sleeveless tunic and leather gauntlets of before.

"They are going to try to find her, but I have to go with the others to keep an eye on Azula. She's planning some kind of secret attack on Kyoshi because she thinks her brother is there. Jet, Mai, Smellerbee, and Longshot are going to keep searching for Toph." He sat down, his head in his hands. "I know she's got to be out there somewhere. She's so strong, she had to make it through."

"If Ren's with her, and I know he would never leave anyone's side if they were in danger, they are definitely out there, laying low perhaps, to avoid the bounty, but they are out there somewhere." She smiled at him and crawled over to sit beside him, wrapping her good arm around his shoulders. "I'll go with them. We'll find them, Aang, I promise." She took her arm from him, using her left hand to summon a stream of small rocks and pebbles from a large pouch strung on her back. The rocks went up the empty sleeve of her shirt and formed the shame of a thin human arm, fingers and all, made of stone. "We'll find them, no matter what." Aang gave a small smile and laid back, Appa's warm furry leg serving as a pillow. Kelyin laid beside him.

/. /. /.

Toph gave a tiny groan as she stretched her muscles. She smiled as she felt his fingers move down her naked hip. "I'd like to see your face now."

"Don't you think it's a bit late now? If you find that I'm ugly, you can't take back what we've just done." She playfully punched him in the arm, giving a small laugh before she sat up, holding her shirt closed.

"I think it's only right that I see your face, seeing as you're my first." She reached out and he guided her hands to his face once more. His tangled waves of hair were hanging in his face, concealing it. She parted the 'curtain' and tucked it away behind his ears. She let her fingers slide over his forehead, absorbing the vertical line of missing hair where a scar ran through his right eyebrow. She recoiled slightly as her fingertips gently touched his eyelids. She timidly touched the scarred flesh where the left eye should be. Her voice was uncharacteristically soft when she spoke. "How did you lose it?"

"It was carved out as a punishment for stealing when I was a child in the Fire Nation." Her hands slid down his nose. It was long and crooked, as if it had been broken several times.

"You're from the Fire Nation?" She asked nonchalantly as she took in his strong jaw line and wide, thin lipped mouth.

"I was born there and lived there as a child, but I moved to the Earth Nation shortly after the stealing incident." He had a thick, strong neck, wide, broad, powerful shoulders. A true mammoth of a man. A smirk marked her face as she took her hands away. "What?" He asked, noticing the smile.

"I like knowing what you look like… very powerful. You're like one of those giants in the bedtime stories I used to hear."

"It's late, Toph, and we're moving on tomorrow. Perhaps you should get some sleep."

"Another small island? Or are we finally going to get to the Air Temple?"

"I've found a small fishing boat going to Kyoshi early in the morning. We'll get there and lay low for a few days, then we'll do our best to get to the temple. It's difficult though, because no one knows the Outcasts are there, except for the Outcasts themselves and being that 'no one lives in the Air Temple' anymore, no boats go there. We'll do our best though." Toph laid down by the fire.

"It'll be nice to officially be free. Hidden where no one knows."

"You'll like the Outcast camp. It's a big free for all. No matter where you're from, everyone is there for the same common goal. A freedom of speech and belief. A great place, like a huge family."

"Sounds wonderful…" Toph yawned. "Goodnight, Ren." She smashed the ground with her fists and two slabs of rock flew up like tent walls around her.

He watched as she curled up, falling asleep almost immediately. A small smile formed on his face as he prodded the fire once more to keep it going. "Goodnight, Toph." He whispered softly.

/. /. / POST SCRIPT AUTHORS NOTE:

P.S.A.N. : Only one chapter to go in the rewrite, then a brand spanking new chapter! It only took me 2 years and 7 months to update! In this rewrite, a mere 30 words were added, mostly dealing with Toph and Ren's aftermath.