A/N: Thankyou so so soooo much to the people who left me reviews. They really made me so very happy. And they inspire me to keep on writing for you. So thankyou, again! 3

With the cover of storm clouds, Appa and I left for the Earth Kingdom early yesterday morning. I had a hard time convincing Appa to even come with me. He wouldn't budge until he heard me mention Aang's name. I hope this will only be a one-time trip because I'm not sure if Appa will agree to go anywhere with me again. I think he knows that Aang being gone is my fault. He's been so upset for the past two months. I doubt that anyone misses Aang as much as Appa does. He's been so morose and gloomy that he won't even play with the village kids or let them feed him apples anymore. Mostly he sulks and cries, which completely breaks my heart because it is all my fault.

We've been moving slowly under the cover of rain clouds. Appa is usually fast, but trying to stay concealed behind the clouds is slowing us down. Aang is much better at cloud bending than I am. But we should be in the Earth Kingdom by late tonight or sometime tomorrow.

Sokka had a fit when I told him Appa and I were leaving. I explained that I was trying to help Aang, but he didn't care. He thinks this is a suicide mission, because if the Fire Lord gets one word of my being alive he'll kill me without a second thought. I agree about the Fire Lord part, but I'm very confident in my sneaking around abilities. I wouldn't be out here right now if I wasn't. If I'm caught, it doesn't only mean my demise, but Zuko's as well. Perhaps even Iroh's. Zuko may be a raging asshole, but I do not like the idea of him being sentenced to death over me. I don't like that idea at all. But Sokka worries about me. A lot. Even though I'm now a Master water bender, even though I trained with his warriors in combat skills- he still worries. And I hate to make him worry because I know how awful it feels. But I have to do this. I've failed Aang enough.

I hope this trip or mission or what have you is going to be worth it. I need something to hold on to. I need to be doing something. I can't keep waiting around in the North Pole, worrying every night that something bad is going to happen to Aang. And that I won't be able to prevent it. I think I would have lost my mind if I'd had to sit in Sokka's tent, watching him be still and wondering if Aang is still alive for another day. Atleast now I'm actually doing something. Atleast now I'm not so helpless.

Appa lets out a long, low whine.

I reach down and rub my hand through his soft fur. "What's wrong, Appa? Do you want to stop for a while?"

Suddenly, he lurches forward and nose dives toward the ground. He growls so loud that I have no choice but to cover my ears, almost falling off of him as he speeds toward the trees below us. He's moving too fast for me to cover us with any clouds. I lean forward and latch onto him, grabbing fistfuls of his hair and trying desperately to stay aboard. "Appa!" I shout frantically. "Please, slow down!"

He roars in response and if it's possible, starts to fly even faster. The ground is approaching us at such a rapid speed that I'm starting to feel sick to my stomach. We're going to crash. There's no way we can be headed this fast toward the ground and not crash into it. I shut my eyes tight and press my face into Appa's back. La, just let this be quick. Please just let it be quick.

I can feel branches whirring past us and I brace myself for the coming impact. Appa practically slams into the ground, skidding forward nearly a few dozen yards as he tries to slow down. We come to an abrupt stop and I fling forward, tearing a clump of Appa's fur off with me. I land on my knees and manage to catch myself on my wrists before my face hits the ground. Pain shoots up my arms and legs and I fall onto my side, clutching my body tightly.

Hell, atleast I'm alive.

Appa bounds over to me and presses his cold, wet nose against the side of my face. He nudges against me excitedly and whines again. His large mouths opens and I feel his hot breath all over me. He carefully closes his teeth over the sleeve of my jacket and starts to tug me along the grassy ground. "Appa, let me go." I groan. He backs up slowly, clutching me between his teeth and pulling us toward some unseen destination. He jerks excitedly, ripping the entire right sleeve of my jacket clean off. "Appa!"

"Katara!?" A voice calls from nearby.

Alright. Clearly, I was knocked out in the crash and this is just a dream.

Appa lets out a thunderous roar and sprints away from me.

"Appa!" The same voice shouts happily. The ground rumbles when Appa slams his big tail down against it. I can hear the sound of Appa's saliva going everywhere as he licks someone or something.

"Ew, get it off!" A female voice this time.

More footsteps. "Katara?"

"Aang?" I jolt upright, giving myself an intense head rush. "Aang!" I practically shriek. I leap up from my spot on the ground and sure enough, there's Aang- standing nearly five yards away from me. Alive and well, wearing dark green Earth Kingdom robes. I lunge forward and don't stop until my arms are wound so tightly around his neck that he probably can't breathe. "Aang. Oh, La. Aang. You're…you're…here! What are you doing here?! Aang, I'm so sorry. It was all my fault. I… I didn't know… I mean-"

"Katara, breathe." His voice calms me. He wraps his arms tighter around me and tucks his head into the crook of my neck.

I sigh. "Aang…two months…I was so scared…"

"I know." He nods against my skin and pulls me closer.

I have never been so overwhelmed with emotion. My head is spinning. I have so many things to tell him, to ask him. "Aang, I wanted to come for you… I tried. I mean, the Fire Lord he- I… I wanted to. I would've done anything…I…"

"I know, Katara." He says again. He pulls back so that I can see his smile. Aang has a way of staying calm when I'm not able to. "I missed you, too."

Yeah, that's basically what I was getting at.

It took a good half hour before I was finally calm enough to explain to Aang what happened before and after we were caught. We moved to a new location, per my suggestion, because Appa was so out of control during our descent that it's fairly plausible that someone may have spotted him. Now he's resting happily, with Aang sitting on one of his large paws. It's incredibly nice to see the two of them back together.

Chen is Prince Zuko- Aang figured out that part on his own during his captivity. I could hardly stand looking at Aang's face while admitting what I stupid mistake I had made. I am so ashamed of myself. Aang told me to stop apologizing and that everything is alright, but it certainly isn't. I almost lost him. I could have. Nothing will make that okay. But Aang didn't look too happy when he heard about my battle with Zuko and how the Fire Lord thinks I'm dead.

"Thinks you're dead, huh?" The girl who'd been accompanying Aang speaks up. "So why are you traveling around on a giant bison then?

If looks could kill, I swear she'd have been a goner.

Oblivious that this stranger has offended me, Aang chimes in. "Oh, this is Toph! My earth bending teacher! Toph, this is Katara, my water bending teacher! Toph is the one who helped me escape from the Fire Nation."

Toph chuckles. "Well, I had some help."

Suddenly, I completely hate her. I should have been the one to save Aang. He's my best friend, after all. Who does this girl think she is? I can feel myself glowering at her, despite my better judgment. But that's when I notice the odd color of her eyes. They have a misty glaze-like filter over them. And even though I know that she's looking at me, her eyes don't meet mine. Instead, they hover somewhere between my chin and nose. I realize that she must be blind.

"It was incredible, Katara, you should've seen it. She built all these underground tunnels that led directly underneath the cell I was in. Toph is a metal bender, can you believe that? We disappeared underground without leaving any sort of clue behind as to how. That was a few weeks ago and I bet the Fire Nation still has no idea how I escaped." Aang beams.

"Wow. And how did you do that, Toph?" I ask, trying to swallow the sarcasm in my voice.

Her eyes narrow. "You mean, how could a little blind girl be a talented Master bender like you?"

Aang shrinks back, frowning with uncertainty. "Toph, I'm sure she didn't mean it like that." He holds up a hand.

"Oh, she did." Toph smirks in my direction. "Actually, Katara, just because I'm blind doesn't mean that I can't see. I can feel the vibrations in the ground with my earth bending and it allows me to see everything around me. Can hear things, too."

I turn away from her and fold my arms over my chest, annoyed that I let my frustration show. I take a deep breath. "That does sound incredible."

Toph smiles proudly.

Aang turns to me, his brows knitted tightly together. "Katara, I found out a few things while I was in the Fire Nation prison. I spent most of the time meditating and I was able to speak with Roku. At the end of the summer, there's gonna be a comet-"

"A giant one." Toph interjects.

Aang nods before continuing. "Sozin's comet. When it arrives, every single fire bender will have one hundred times the power that they normally do."

"Oh, La." I let out a shaky breath.

Toph snorts. "He hasn't even told you the best news yet."

I frown. "There's more?"

"The Fire Lord recently discovered a way to…" He trails off, not meeting my eyes.

"To what? To what?!"

"To take the Avatar powers from Aang!" Toph finishes for him. "And we think they already found it."

"The meteor…" I feel my mouth go dry.

Aang's head jerks up in surprise. "How did you know that?"

"It's… a long story." I shake my head, remembering Iroh's crazy letter. "So… what do you mean…take the Avatar powers?"

"Avatar Mardav had a twin brother who wanted his power. He knew that killing his brother would do nothing because the Avatar would just be reborn again. But Koh came to him and told him about the meteorite that had been created by a more evil spirit some hundred years ago. With it, Mardav's twin, Garjan, would have been able to steal the Avatar powers. He would've been able to bend all of the elements and even enter the Avatar state."

"Please tell me that was just a legend." I beg.

Aang looks down sadly. "Roku told me about it himself."

"Spirits." I curse, leaning back against the base of a large tree. "That's why the Fire Lord kept you alive for so long? So he could find the meteor and take your powers!"

"Most likely." He nods.

My face hardens and I feel my body stiffen. "Well, that's not going to happen. Absolutely not."

"And how do you know?" Toph remarks sourly. "We think the Fire Nation already found the meteor!"

"Yeah well, I know who has it. And I'm going to get it from him."