Author's Note: A promise is a promise! I updated it time :D yay me! Okay just a heads up this part of the story will not include Hope and her family. It was a sweet addition in the show and a heart-warming little plot element but I don't think it's necessary to keep it in my fanfic. Also, with my new laptop I hope to be consistent with my updates (at least one chapter per week) Anywho...enjoy the latest chapter!
~th3rdhal3~

(Another Time Skiiiiip!)

"Watch out!" Katara shouted with glee from atop an overpass made of rock. She jumped and hit the water below cannon-ball style. Of course, since she was a water-bender, an enormous wave crashed on shore.

Sokka frantically tried to cover the maps he had collected from the library. "Thanks a lot, Katara." He grumbled, annoyed. He grabbed one and tried shaking it to dry the scroll off.

"Sorry Sokka." Katara apologized and immediately water-bended the moisture out of the scrolls, making them dry once again. Sokka gave her a look of dignified gratitude. I couldn't help but laugh; Aang and Toph did as well.

"Nice splash, Katara." I complimented her.

It had been a little over a week and we still hadn't found Appa. Aang's temper was more controlled than it had been since the animal first went missing; he hadn't lashed out at anyone since then. Deep down inside, I was worried. Not only for our Sky Bison friend, but for our mission as well. Traveling on foot wouldn't give us away as easily, like in the sky, but it would also take time; time we didn't have.

"Thanks Kar," Katara giggled then proceeded to push me into the water. I fought back but ended up slipping. I grabbed onto Katara's forearms to keep balance but my course of action threw her off as well. The two of us tumbled into the water. I hadn't had that much fun in water since I went swimming at Ember Island with Zuko as kids.

Sokka slide off from his spot on the large rock. "As much fun as we're having, we've gotta step it up into serious mode for a while. We can still goof off, but only if we keep moving in a timely manner. We're heading to Ba Sing Se now, and the sooner we get there, the better. Things are more difficult now because Appa's..." Sokka paused awkwardly mid-sentence. He couldn't tell if he hit a sore topic with Aang. "...not with us at the moment." He finished in the most positive way he could think of.

Aang sat cross-legged nearby with his hands on his temples. "It's okay," he clarified. "My mind is cleared and I know that our main priority now is to deliver the information about the Fire Nation to the King of Ba Sing Se." Everyone stood quite. We honestly had not expected the avatar to handle the situation in such a calm and mature way. "That comes first. Then Appa. He'll be okay-he is my Sky Bison after all." Aang stifled a small grin. The rest of us did as well. We were going to find him. I knew it. It might not be right away, but I had a strong feeling that Appa would be with us again eventually.

Sokka glanced over to where Katara and I were still 'attacking' one another in the water. "Katara, stop trying to drown Karuna!" I nearly did drown because I laughed so hard at his comment. "That's it: if you two don't cut it out while we're trying to think, I'm signing you up for oil-wrestling!" The water-bender and I shot up out of the water and took a good step or two away from each other. Sokka's tactics for getting people to pay attention were strange indeed, but they worked nonetheless.

"Yes, captain my captain!" I saluted him while still ankle deep. My hair was soaked and covered my face almost completely, so it was hard to tell where the boy even was.

"Much better." Sokka glowed. I could tell already that I had fed his ego. "So what I was leading up to before: we meed top find a route to Ba Sing Se that works for us." The boy studied the maps again. "Any contributions from the aquatic gallery?" He gave his sister and I a look. I thought about it for a minute. Thought I had only lived in the Earth Kingdom a fraction of my life, I was beginning to piece together information long forgotten.

"If I remember correctly, there should be a Ferry Station not too far from here."

"Full Moon Bay?" Sokka pointed to a spot on one of the scrolls. "It doesn't look far at all."

"That would be the one." I concluded, remembering the name of the place. I had never been there of course; but I had heard the name bounce around before. "I guess we should hop to it then."

My cousin sat one the edge of shore with her bare feet in the water. She kicked her legs, making splashes and ripples. "Aw," she pouted. "Do we have to go just yet?" She had been enjoying herself for someone who wasn't particularly found of water. Katara handed me a knapsack, which I tossed at Aang. Unfortunately, the boy had not been looking and the bag hit him right in the head, knocking him down. Crap...I ran over to apologize to the young avatar and help him back up.

"Come on, Toph." Katara held her hand out to the young girl. "We have to cover more ground. Besides, I thought you said you couldn't swim." Toph grabbed the darker skinned girl's arm and stood up.

"Exactly." She grinned broadly. Katara shook her head. My cousin was just as hard to understand as Sokka was. For different reasons, obviously.

Full Moon Bay was indeed full, with people. It seemed as though every refugee in the region was present. Patched up tents were just about every eight to ten feet a person walked. The people looked like they had been through hell and back. They didn't desire to live like this, and my heart ached for them.

The five of us stood in line to purchase tickets. The grouchy woman in charge of selling the tickets was horrible. We watched as she had security with an angry platypus-bear destroy a cabbage merchant's vegetable cart; certain items weren't allowed on the ferries. The poor man had a melt down and removed himself from the line. "Next!" The witch of a woman called out. Aang cautiously approached the stone podium where she sat behind, furiously stamping paperwork.

"Um, five tickets please." He requested. The woman didn't so much as even look at him.

"Passports?" She droned on.

Aang tugged on his collar nervously. "Passports?" He repeated. "No one told us we needed passports." That was true indeed. Sokka decided to add in his two cents.

"Don't you know who this is?" He pointed at Aang. "He's the avatar!" The Water Tribe boy tried to reason with her. I thought for sure that would be the deal-breaker. The crabby lady only scowled.

"Ba! I see 50 avatars a day. By the way, not a very impressive costume." She pointed over a little ways away where we saw a handful of others dressed up to look like Aang...only they looked absolutely ridiculous! She thinks we're con-artists! My temper began to boil. "Besides, no animals allowed." The woman had seen Momo. I loved the little lemur to death but sometimes I wanted to strangle him.

"You think we're scamming you?" I spat at the bitter looking woman. "He's the real deal!" I put my hand on Aang's shoulder.

"NEXT!" Came the response.

"Don't get your panties in a bunch, sifu." Toph strolled up to the podium. "I can take it from here." She proudly placed and elongated card with the Bei Fong symbol onto the stone. "My name is Toph Bei Fong and I'll need five tickets." Instantly, the woman's tone changed.

"The golden seal of the flying boar!" Her eyes widened as she marveled at the symbol. "It is my pleasure to help anyone from the Bei Fong family." She bowed. I rolled my eyes and snorted. Oh sure, NOW you'll show us some gratitude. Toph really hammed it up.

"It is your pleasure. As you can see, I'm blind and these four imbeciles are my valets." Toph pointed to us.

"Hey!" I objected. Toph giggled.

"And a cousin." She clarified.

"But the animal..." the woman protested.

"..is my seeing-eye lemur." Toph played it up coolly.

"Well, usually it is only one ticket per passport...but with this seal I can make an exception." The lady stamped all of our tickets. Toph retrieved them.

"Thank you very much." She said with a cheesy grin.

The five of us headed toward the lines for the ferries when Sokka was stopped by a female security guard. She looked about the same age as Katara and I, maybe slightly older. She had short brown hair, lighter than mine and determined, blue eyes. "Is there a problem?" Sokka asked her.

"Yeah, I've got a problem with you." She looked pissed. The first thought that popped into my head was, Spirits, what has Sokka done now? But he had been with us the whole time. What kind of trouble could he have possibly gotten into? The girl continued. "I've seen your type before: Probably sarcastic, think you're hilarious and let me guess-you're traveling with the avatar?" Huh? What was this chick's problem? And how did she know...those things were true? Sokka must have been thinking the same thing because he seemed utterly clueless until the girl kissed him on the cheek.

"Suki!" He exclaimed, excitement written all over his face. Aang and Katara were smiling so I assumed they knew her as well. The girl named Suki gave Sokka a big hug.

"It's so good to see you." She beamed.

The gang introduced Toph and I to Suki and we chatted with her while waiting to board a ferry. It was nice to be above ground again. Thought I was an earth-bender, underground caverns weren't exactly my thing.

Suki was a warrior from Kyoshi Island and the reason the gang didn't recognize her was because she wasn't wearing her face paint or her warrior's outfit. Instead she had her ugly security guard outfit-as she thought of it, with a dorky green hat to match the rest.

"So what are you doing out here?" Aang asked.

"After you guys left Kyoshi, the other warriors and I wanted to find a way to help people. You guys inspired us." I grinned. The gang had certainly inspired Toph and I as well. "So why are you guys taking the ferry? Couldn't you just fly over on Appa?" We grew silent. Then we told Suki about how Appa was taken and she gave us her condolences. "Are you doing okay?" She asked Aang, who was gazing across the water.

"I'm doing fine. Would everybody please stop worrying about me?" There was a sharp tone in his voice. I went over to where he leaned against a guard rail and playfully nudged him in the ribs.

"Calm down baldy. We just care about ya, that's all." I teased. Aang crossed his arms and gave me a look.

"Oh no. I'm still mad at you. You knocked me down earlier." I couldn't help but to laugh out loud.

"With a bag." Aang didn't laugh with me. "Oh come on, Aang. If you're going to be like this the whole ferry ride..."

"Oh! Speaking of the ferry," Katara interrupted. "We should get our tickets out to be ready." She glanced over at Toph. My cousin felt the water-bender's gaze on her.

"I gave them to Sokka." She reported. Sokka rummaged around in the green and beige bag he had bought when they were in Gaoling. His search suddenly became frantic. The boy started pulling out items out and looking through his possessions.

"What? No! They're not here! But I-I just had them!" Oh no...I groaned internally. Sokka emptied the bag out entirely on the bench and Katara began helping him. "I don't believe this! I haven't touched them since putting them in here. Someone must have stolen them." He concluded. I cursed out bad luck. "Look! Even some of our money is gone too!" Sokka counted the coins in a small, brown pouch.

"Pick pockets..." I grumbled under my breath. Could we catch a break at all? It was extremely frustrating.

"How do we get to Ba Sing Se now?" Katara wondered, sharing similar thoughts as me. I doubted we would go through the procedure of acquiring tickets with madame crabby ass. Sokka sighed and pulled out a scroll he had been studying intently while the four of us were having fun at the oasis.

"I didn't want to have to come to this option," he began. "I saw it earlier but decided against it. We have no other choice now. We're going to have to go through the Serpent's Pass."

"You have got to be kidding me..." My eyes were as large as dinner plates as I stared up at the giant serpent that had emerged from the water in front of our path. The sea creature was the colors of turquoise and purple and almost resembled a dragon. It must have been at least 100 feet long.

"I think I've figured out why they call it Serpent's Pass!" Sokka hollered, pointing at the enormous sea monster.

"You don't say." I bit back. Sokka held Momo up in his arms.

"Oh great and powerful sea serpent, please accept this humble and tasty offering, thank you." His sister yelled at him and hit him on the head.

"Sokka!"

Aang hit a strong gush of wind at the serpent with his staff. "I'll distract it-you guys figure out a way to get across!" The avatar soared at the sea creature on his glider. In a second, Katara created a pathway of ice from the other side of the route from the earth that Toph had uprooted. Sokka and Suki ran across it while I aided Toph. It was slippery, but the fear forced us to continue without fail. Halfway down the ice path, I stopped. Katara had gone to help Aang battle the sea monster. The two fought wonderfully, but the serpent wasn't retreating. The need more help.

"Toph, you've gotta get to the other side by yourself. I'm gonna go help Aang and Katara." I told her. "You're not far from shore, you can do this!" My cousin nodded and nervously began side stepping across the ice. It didn't occur to me that then she was completely blind until I had already left her.

I dived into the water just as an attack from Katara sent the beast crashing down onto the ice path. Under the water, I could still hear a high-pitched yelp. "Toph!" I screamed, as I rose to the surface. Suki jumped into the water towards my cousin, and I knew it was going to be okay. I breathed a sigh of relief. I held my breath and went back under. There was still much more of the creature underneath the water. I kicked my legs as hard as I could and descended towards the rest of it's scaly body. I let my chi simmer until I could no longer feel the chill of the water. Shoving my hands into the other half of the sea serpent, I could physically see the transfer of heat as the serpent's skin grew red. The beast roared and squirmed, moving into the perfect position for Aang and Katara to finish it off. The two benders created a whirlpool only meters above me and trapped the creature in it. Once the sea serpent was thrown into the rocky sides of the passageway, it decided it didn't want to mess with team avatar, and disappeared into the water.

I could hear Sokka cheering safely on shore. "Yeah! Woohoo! Team Avatar!" I smiled and swam to the other side of the passageway. That name does have a nice ring to it.

The crackling fire kept me warm as I edged closer to it. Above it, hung, were Suki's warrior robe and mine and Toph's tunics. They were still partly damp and couldn't be worn yet. I laid against a rather comfortable rock which seemed to trap in heat. I was in only my beige undergarments; a tank top and shorts that stopped in the middle of my thighs. My hair had dried before dusk because it was barely shoulder length. I was thankful for that because it was kind of a chilly night. Toph had already called it a night and retreated to her earth tent-I knew that for sure. I had a feeling that Aang was meditating by himself; he had been pretty distant these past few days. Sokka and Suki were most likely somewhere together. The two made a cute pair in my opinion.

I grabbed a nearby twig and started poking at the flames beside me. They were consistent yet controlled; the way fire is meant to be. "Careful there pyro." Startled, I dropped the twig and it incinerated within the flames. I turned to my right to see Katara standing a few meters away. She too was wearing more comfortable sleeping wear and she had taken her hair out of her braid. She looked stunning. I thanked the darkness for concealing my blush. The water-bender sat down next to me. "You swim very well for an earth-bender." She pointed out after a moment of silence. Pretty well for a former fire-bender. I tried to avoid her gaze.

"Well I've always liked the water." Katara grinned.

"Trying living in the South Pole, it's kind of hard not to be a fan of water." We both chuckled at this. I always joked about her and her brother sticking out like sore thumbs because of their Water Tribe get-up. I couldn't help but stare at the water-bender. If all the women from the Water Tribe were as beautiful as her- I couldn't wrap my mind around the concept. Even though it was all in my head, it still felt awkward. Katara was a friend, a really good one. We had hit it off well in the past month and a half we'd known one another.

"Why do you keep crossing and uncrossing your feet?" Her voice brought me back to reality. I wasn't even aware that I was moving at all. I was at a loss for words and babbled quietly for a moment.

"I don't...I don't know." A small smile formed on my lips when I realized how stupid I was being. Why couldn't I act normal around Katara all of a sudden? The darker skinned girl giggled and leaned her head against my shoulder. It was a sweet gesture. Perfectly normal for good friends. So why was I so uptight? It was my damned chi that screwed me over.

"You're warm." Katara said and it came out as a whisper, just below my ear. She took hold of my right arm and I could feel the coolness of her body against me. My breathing began to quicken and to distract myself I gaze up at the stars against the blackened sky. My eyes roamed around from constellation to constellation. There must have been at least a billion stars visible in the present moment.

An ember sprang up from the fire and landed on my left forearm. I instinctively recoiled, then remembered where I was. Katara was still laying against me, and her eyes were closed. She was asleep. I listened to her soft and gentle breathing. Spirits, she's beautiful...I thought to myself over and over again. But I shook my head. I wasn't interested in being interested in anyone, and I doubted I would ever be.

I turned my head down slowly so I was just above hers. The scent of Katara's hair was amazing as I inhaled. It was a familiar scent that was both intriguing and very pleasant. I began to further recognize it the more I drew in breath. Jasmine. I froze. There were only two other women in my life who carried the same aroma with them wherever they tread. Only two, and I had failed them both.

My actions were blunt and sudden. I pushed Katara away from me; not hard but enough to stir her slumber. She awoke seconds later. Sleep was still evident in her bright, blue eyes. "Kar?" She spoke my name smoothly. I scooted back farther. "Are you okay?" She was now confused as well as concerned. I rose to my feet and started backing away. In her eyes I could see her piecing together what just happened. Katara stood up too. "Kar," she pleaded. "Just speak to me-please!" She called out after me. "Kar!" I was yards away before I even knew my legs were moving. I couldn't stop myself. I was running from something once again.