"You know, we haven't checked in on some of our stories for quite a while now," Sokka commented one day when the Gaang were once again gathered in the upstairs lounge of the Jasmine Dragon.

Toph put aside the stick she was using to pick her toes and wriggled them. "Ah, that's better… what were you saying again, Sokka?"

Sokka raised a disgusted eyebrow before continuing. "I meant, we haven't finished some of the chapter stories we've read before, either because their new chapters aren't out yet -"

"Or we just don't want to continue them," Zuko finished for him, remembering The Tale of Azula.

"Well, we did read the latest chapter of The Tale of Kara, though that hasn't done us much good," Katara sniffed.

"Yeah well, that's not the only chapter story we've been reading." Sokka flipped through the pages of the Companion, but stopped suddenly and pointed to a spot on a certain page. "Hey, there's a new chapter for Not the Last Airbender! What do you say guys, shall we read it."

Toph shrugged. "Well, it has been one of the better stories we've read so far. I say we go for it." And she reclined back on the couch while waiting for Sokka to begin, wriggling her newly-cleaned toes.

As he landed Appa on the shore, Aang heard a small sob. He turned and saw the girl, kneeling on a patch of sand, tears streaming down her face. As Aang leapt off of Appa, she said in a soft voice, "I killed them. I killed them all."

"Yeah, well seeing as it was just a bunch of firebenders…"said Sokka, being his usual insensitive self.

"The author's got that right," Toph grinned, causing Sokka to shoot a glare at her before continuing.

She whirled around to face him, her eyes shining from tears, and said "Have you ever lost a family member?"

"Yes," he said, remembering the day his mother died. "But I don't see how that has anything to do with -"

"Now multiply the feeling you had by 10,"She said, cutting him off. "Then imagine, the day after you suffered that loss, bringing that same feeling upon other people, killing after learning that all life is sacred, and try to imagine how you would feel then. Try to imagine how I feel now."

"Sorry dear, but I don't think Sokka is ever going to understand exactly how you feel," Toph smirked.

"Hey, believe it or not I actually have feelings!" Sokka protested. "I get what she means!"

"I dunno, Sokka. You don't seem to be getting the 'all life is sacred' part," Katara said coyly.

"That's because I'm not built to survive on fruits and vegetables like those airbenders – although I'm not saying there's anything wrong with being vegetarian," Sokka added as he glanced at Aang. "That's just not for me."

"Yeah, because you can't survive without your daily supply of smoked sea slug," Katara grinned, while Toph sniggered appreciatively.

He fell silent as her words sunk in. Then he said "Why multiply by 10?"

"Because that's how many people I lost. My friends, my family, even my lemur. All gone." She looked into the distance, remembering the times she shared with them. "All gone." She repeated.

"Wait, did you say you lost a lemur?" Aang asked. "We just found one. Maybe he's yours!"

Her face lit up, then quickly fell as Aang held out Momo. "That's not him. Thanks for trying though. I appreciate it."

"You know, I've been wondering," Sokka spoke up. "In the last chapter, we didn't even notice there was anyone else at the Air Temple until after we named Momo and heard the noise from the Fire Nation's machines, right? But we pretty much went through the whole place already, so if she did come from there, we would've already met her, wouldn't we?"

"I think the remaining airbenders – if there were any - would have the sense not to remain in their old homes when they knew the Fire Nation could attack them there," Katara analyzed. "Probably they were hiding in one of the nearby mountains up until about the day before we arrived there. Then the Fire Nation chased the girl towards the Air Temple when they were pursuing her."

"Makes sense," Aang agreed. "So there might actually be more lemurs like Momo there?"

"Even if there were any, I won't be having more fruit-stealers in our team. One is enough, got it?"

"Aye aye, Captain Sokka," Toph responded with a grin.

"No problem. What's your name?"

"I'm Nea, and this is Paku. And you are?"

"I'm Aang, this is Katara, and this is Sokka. And here's Appa and Momo."

"Pleasure to -why are you staring at me like that Sokka?"

"I'm trying to figure out how you did that thing with the catapults." He replied. "Last time I checked, girls weren't that powerful."

"Okay, now I see a problem with the story," Sokka said. "If I hadn't realized that girls were pretty powerful from fourteen years of living with Katara, at least I would've figured that out when she broke that iceberg Aang was frozen in."

"You actually did that?" Zuko looked wondrously at Katara, who simply shrugged.

"I was arguing with Sokka at the time, and I guess I got so infuriated I let my bending go loose. I didn't even mean to break the iceberg in the first place."

"That's pretty cool," Toph grinned. "And now we have a new standard for annoying – so-annoying-I-could-break-an-iceberg."

"Gee, thanks," Sokka muttered while the others laughed.

She smiled mischievously. "Really?"

"Yeah, real - what are you doing?"

She had her arms held out in front of her. "Because last time I checked," she said as she lifted her arms up above her head, and Sokka was hoisted into the air, upside down. "Girls," she moved them to the side, and he was moved above the water. "Were that powerful."

She stretched her fingers out, and Sokka dropped into the water. Nea dusted her hands off as Aang and Katara laughed.

"I like her," Toph grinned.

"You wouldn't if it was you getting tossed into the water," Sokka retorted.

"Well, I don't have sexist ideals that land me in trouble," Toph smirked. "And I don't need them to get myself a boyfriend either."

"Hey, Suki already knows I've changed!" Sokka protested before turning back to the story while ignoring Toph's smug face.

Sokka slowly rose up, looking exasperated. "Let me get this straight. You're an airbender who can control everything."

She laughed. "Not everything, only air. I just compress it so that it holds things, then move it about how I please. I can only do it with straight, slightly thin things though. Anything else is beyond me."

"Ha! I knew it! Girls aren't powerful at all." He crossed his arms, looking smug.

Toph shook her head in amazement. "He never learns, does he?"

"I wouldn't mind trying that move out for myself," Aang mused. "It sounds pretty effective."

"Plus, it's perfect for a bit of Sokka-dunking," Katara grinned, while Sokka simply huffed indignantly.

"It could have been worse, you know." She said.

"Worse how?"

"Oh, I don't know," she said as Sokka was hoisted up once more, his legs twisting up. "I could've, thrown you?"

Sokka tried valiantly to escape, but he was powerless. He was bent back, then launched into the air, landing in the water once more. Rising, he said, "Do you live to torture me?"

"Sorry sweetheart, but that's my job."

"Yeah Toph, I get it. Between you, her and Momo, my life is going to be one heck of a mess."

"Yes it is, Snoozles. Be grateful for it."

Sokka groaned.

She grinned. "Perhaps. But enough about me. What about you? I thought I was the only airbender left."

"Aang is the avatar. I'm just a waterbender, and Sokka's a nonbender."

"Since when is Aang an old man? He looks pretty young to me, but he's been missing for a hundred years!"

"I kind of got preserved in an iceberg." Aang said sheepishly.

"Makes him sound like salted fish," Sokka commented.

Now it was Katara's turn to shake her head in amazement. "Only my brother can see food in everything."

"Well, it's the only special ability he's got after all," Toph pointed out.

Nea looked at him strangely. "Wow. My story's a lot less weird."

"Let's hear it." Sokka said.

So she told them. When the Fire Nation raided the Southern air temple, they killed everyone. Or so they thought. Unbeknownst to them, some airbenders remained hidden. She was a descendant of those lucky few. Yesterday, however, they were discovered. Nea had always been the best at hiding, so she survived. It was only a matter of time, however, before they found her.

"That's why I ran away. It was killing me, but I knew I had to. I couldn't let the airbenders die out. I had to survive."

"That must have been terrible for you." Katara said softly. "If you want, you can come with us to the North pole. We're going to find Aang a water bending teacher."

"I'd like that. But why can't you teach him Katara? You said you're a waterbender." Nea replied.

"The trouble is, I haven't found anyone to teach me either." She said sadly.

"Well what are waiting for? Let's go to the North Pole."

She leapt onto Paku and cried "Yipyip!"

And that's how Nea joined the Gaang.

"That's it. The chapter ends here." Sokka closed the book.

"I think that's the end of the story. It doesn't sound like there's going to be more, right?" Toph asked.

"Still, the story has an interesting idea. Could some of the airbenders have survived Sozin's Comet a hundred years ago?" Zuko thought aloud.

"Maybe. Some of they might have escaped after all. What do you think, Aang?" Katara looked at her boyfriend only to see his downcast face. "Aang?"

"They didn't survive the Comet."

"But how would you know?" Toph asked. "They could be hiding out there, not revealing themselves because they didn't know we already kicked Ozai's butt and ended the war."

"Yes, some of them may have escaped, but the Fire Nation knew there would be survivors. Back on our way to the Northern Water Tribe, I almost got caught by Zhao when I went to explore a mountain cave full of Air Nomad stuff. He said the trap had been used before to capture other Air Nomads who might think there was one of their kind there and try to make contact with them, only to get caught by the Fire Nation."

There was a long silence. Then Katara said softly, "Is this the time when we met that merchant who sold you the Air Nomad necklace."

Aang nodded, and she put her arms around him. "Oh Aang, I didn't realize."

The airbender smiled sadly. "It's alright. In fact, I even used some of the Air Nomad relics to escape from Zhao."

Sokka's eyes widened. "How did you do that?"

A grin slowly spread across Aang's face. "Well, I did use a dorje to create a tornado and sweep Zhao and his soldiers around the room…"

And so ends Not the Last Airbender, who we have to thank head19 for allowing her story to be included in the Companion. Aang's near escape from Zhao was featured in the AtLA comic Relics, where you can get the full story of how he avoided capture once again. Till next time, folks!