This chapter was part of the previous one, but it was too long all together so I split it into two. I think it works better like this. ;) Also, finals are coming up, so there won't be an update next week, but after that we should be back on schedule with updates every Wednesday! *crosses fingers*

And if you get a chance, let me know what you think of the story so far. I'd love to hear all about it! =D

Chap 10- Not As It Seems

Aang squeaked and Katara yelled, "Hey!" as they were spun in place by an annoyed Toph standing there, glaring at them.

"What are you guys doing following me?"

"We weren't following you," Katara cried, "We were looking for you."

Toph had her arms crossed over her chest. "Well, I'm here. What's up?"

Aang did a double take. He didn't understand. Toph had seemed so upset the night before, but she was smiling now. If she hadn't walked out of Spice and Dice without acknowledging them or left them behind after talking to some boy, he wouldn't have thought anything was wrong.

"Are you feeling okay, Sifu Toph?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"

"Well..."

"What were you doing with that boy, Toph?" Katara asked, the disapproval clear in her voice.

Toph grinned. She'd missed Sugar Queen, even her motherly concern.

"I wasn't aware it was a crime to talk to boys," she said, smirking.

Katara stepped closer to the younger girl and sniffed. "Are you drunk?" the waterbender asked. Toph's clothes smelled like they'd been dipped in alcohol. "Because it's too early in the morning to be drinking. And you're too young!"

Toph laughed at the other girl's outburst. "No, I'm not drunk."

Aang was still confused. "Just last night you were telling Sokka and me how mad you were at Katara and now you're all smiles and acting like that never happened!" And who was that guy you were talking to? he wanted to ask as well.

"Oh, that?" Toph grinned. She turned and started towards the Palace. Aang and Katara walked with her. "That was just to get outta that stupid party." She had more important things to do. "And, I never said I was mad at Katara, you and Snoozles assumed I was. I just let you think what you wanted."

Aang's eyes were wide with shock. "Why?"

"Why do you think? Sparky tricked me into being there when you arrived, Twinkletoes. I wasn't falling for that again."

Katara was going to say something about it not being good to lie (even by omission) because the time would come when Toph was honest about something, but no one would believe her - kind of like the boy who cried wolfbat - but, she didn't. Instead, she hugged the tiny girl.

"Spirits, I missed you, Toph."

"Right back at you, Sweetness."

"Wait, hold on!" Aang still didn't understand something. "So, why were you so angry at me, then?" he asked. Because she had been. She barely said a word to him and ignored him whenever he tried to talk to her. Maybe Toph wasn't mad at Katara, but she sure as earth had been upset with him.

Toph stopped to face him. "You saying you want me to to be mad at Katara?" she asked, expertly dodging his question entirely.

"What? No! I only meant-"

"What did you mean, Aang?" Katara asked, her hands at her hips.

Toph walked on ahead, smirking as Twinkletoes tried explaining himself.

...

Dinner had been spectacular. Zuko had made sure to have everyone's favorite Fire Nation food served.

Sokka sat back, completely full. He couldn't eat another bite, not even those few fire gummies calling to him from across the table. The rest of the gaang looked just as stuffed. Suki and Katara, who were sitting next to each other, were giggling about something. Toph was picking her teeth with her pinky finger. Aang was watching her with a strange expression on his face. And, Zuko looked deep in thought. Maybe it had something to do with why Iroh and Mei weren't able to join them.

"That was some tasty meat," Sokka said.

Toph agreed, "Yeah, it was."

"Sifu Hotman?" Aang called. When the Fire Lord turned to him, Aang said, "Remember you wanted to tell everyone that you have something planned for the first annual celebration marking the end of the war?"

"I think you just did," Zuko replied.

"Oooh, what do you have planned?" Suki asked.

"It better be something good," Toph warned.

Everyone at the table looked at the Fire Lord. "I have been in contact with the leaders of the other nations and everyone seems to agree on making it a world wide celebration. In remembrance of all the lives lost and to honor everyone who helped end the war."

"That would be us," Sokka pointed out, winking at Suki.

"Man, not more pomp and ceremony!"

"Zuko, ignore Toph. You do what needs to be done," Sokka said, winking at him.

"Why?" Toph yelled, "It's only you guys!"

"We are important people, Toph!" Sokka cried, half in jest. "Besides, you'll get another chance to wear a fancy dress. If I remember correctly, you looked like the Fire Lady standing there next to Zuko."

Toph paused. "Did you just say what I think you said?"

"Sokka!" Suki whispered, miming for her boyfriend to stop. How could he have already forgotten what happened to him the last time he made fun of the small earthbender?

"Hey, I wasn't the one wearing the fancy getup."

Toph smirked. Before anyone could stop her, Sokka's metal framed chair screeched along the wall until it had him trapped high up against the ceiling.

Zuko massaged the bridge of his nose, Katara sighed and shook her head, Aang was clearly impressed (he really needed to learn metalbending!), and Suki rolled her eyes.

"I tried to warn you," the Kyoshi Warrior muttered.

Katara pretended nothing happened and turned to the Fire Lord. She thought the celebration was a really good idea and said so. They had been trying to help the world heal since the end of the war and this would be a great way to remind everyone to continue down that very path. The others joined in wondering what food would be the best to serve. Sokka, still stuck in the chair against the ceiling, said whatever food Zuko chose better be deep fried unlike that gooey Avatar Day cookie dough. It took him forever to finish the dough-y mess. They then suggested games that should be played, the music, anything they could think of. Talk of the celebration filled the table until Suki deviated from the topic.

"Hey, Toph," Suki said and Zuko was instantly concerned by the Kyoshi Warrior's devilish expression. "So, who was that guy?"

All eyes turned to Toph. Aang sat up in his chair.

"What guy?" Sokka asked, ready to tease her about it, but with his face against the ceiling, he couldn't look at the others. "Hey, uh, can you let me down now?"

Toph ignored the request. "There are lots of guys, Suki," she replied, "So, you're going to have to be more specific." Toph wasn't going to give anything away.

"The guy Aang and I saw you with, Toph," Katara clarified.

Suki smiled. "That you're boyfriend?"

Aang frowned. The idea of Toph with a boyfriend just seemed...wrong for some reason.

"So, what's his name?"

"He's not my boyfriend," Toph replied, straining to keep calm.

"Uh-huh."

"Suuuure."

"But, his name's Hide."

That name sounded familiar - so had the boy - and then Aang knew why. He jumped out of his chair. "He's the one that called the Headmaster on us! That time we were having a dance party! You're going out with that guy?"

Toph smirked.

Aang sat back down after Katara and Suki gave him a weird look. "He's not very nice," Aang grumbled, remembering how Hide had tried to pick on him at school.

"No, he's not," Toph agreed and Aang felt like he was going to be sick.

"Aw, Toph! You're first boyfriend," Sokka teased, "When do we get to meet him?"

"You don't," she said. She didn't want her friends anywhere near that creep. Twinkletoes and Sugar Queen almost messed up her whole plan when they walked in looking for her. But she didn't want to talk about that, so she brought Sokka back down with a loud screech, then said, "Hey, do you guys realize this is the first time we've all been together since the end of the war?"

"Hmm, that's true," Sokka said, easily distracted. Toph was counting on it.

"Yeah, it's nice that we're all here," Suki grinned, relenting. She easily realized what Toph was trying to do and let her. Later, she and Katara would grill the young girl endlessly.

Katara smiled, too. "It is nice."

Aang was happy that they were all together again. He truly was, but Toph with a boyfriend? He wondered what that feeling in the pit of his stomach was? Maybe it wasn't so much that she had a boyfriend, but that it was Hide. The guy was trouble and Toph deserved someone who was going to treat her right. Aang wondered how long they had been going out? When did they see each other? It couldn't be often because he and Toph were together a lot of the time. Most of the day, actually. Aang watched her as she laughed at something Sokka said.

"But seriously, I kept thinking this was never going to happen," Sokka admitted, turning to his sister, "What with you and Aang trying to make everyone happy with that Peace Treaty. Toph stuck here in the Fire Nation-"

Zuko cut him off. "She wasn't stuck here, Sokka."

"That's right," Sokka teased, "Her boyfriend kept her company."

"Control your man, Suki," Toph warned, her eyes narrowing to slits.

Aang groaned. Why did he feel sick at the thought?

"Aang, are you feeling okay?" Katara asked.

"What? Oh, uh, yeah, I think I ate too much," he replied.

"We all did," Suki agreed. "Except Sokka, apparently."

"Well, you guys know what I mean," Sokka amended, finally giving in and reaching for the fire gummies. "It's like old times. Maybe we can all celebrate the anniversary here this year. Together. After the past year we've had, I say we've earned it!"

Before anyone could reply, there was a knock at the door. Zuko thought it might be Mai, but it wasn't. It was a servant with a letter for the Fire Lord.

"Don't tell me it's bad news," Sokka said. He knew how the universe loved proving him wrong. All he had said was they deserved a little down time. All of them, together. That wasn't too much to ask for, was it?

"It's not great news," Zuko sighed.

"You had to open your big mouth, didn't you, Snoozles?" Toph shook her head.

"It's from the Earth Kingdom. Apparently, King Bumi and the King Kuei aren't agreeing on all points. They each want to make changes to the Peace Treaty."

Katara made a face. "But when I left, they had agreed on everything!"

Zuko looked at her. "It seems they changed their minds."

"Monkey feathers!" Aang cursed. "This means we have to go back to the Earth Kingdom soon, doesn't it?"

"And, I just got here, too," Katara whined. She couldn't believe her luck. Both Bumi and Kuei had gotten along so well while she was there, even without Aang. She felt she had made real progress. Both the Northern and Southern Water Tribes had signed the Peace Treaty and she was in the Fire Nation to get Zuko to sign it as well.

"I know, sis, but this needs to be done. At least this time you get to travel on Appa."

"Yeah, that's true."

"So, when do we leave?"

"Katara, you're the Ambassador, what do you think?" Aang asked.

Toph, who had been quiet up until then, spoke up, "I think you guys should get packing. The sooner you leave, the sooner you can get this whole thing resolved."

"You mean, we should get packing," Aang corrected.

Toph shook her head. "No. I mean, you guys. I'm not going."

"What? Why not?" Aang asked, surprised. He thought she would be the first in line to travel since they weren't going anywhere near Katara and Sokka's homeland. At least, he hoped she would be. This time, they didn't have to leave her behind.

"I'm not going to help with all that Treaty stuff," Toph waved her hand in the air as if the mere thought of it bored her. "Besides, trying to get both of those crazy kings to agree? Doesn't sound like fun. I'd rather stay here."

"Are you sure?" Katara asked.

"Yeah, Toph," Sokka added, "It might be a while before anyone can come back."

Even if she wanted to, she couldn't go. She had to stay with Sparky. "Yup, I'm sure," Toph replied, smirking.

Aang didn't know what to say. When Suki teased Toph about not wanting to leave her new boyfriend, Aang could feel the anger begin to simmer to the surface. As he watched Toph a moment longer, he realized it was more than not wanting to leave her behind, he wanted her to want to come with him, had expected her to, but Toph was picking her boyfriend over him and...it hurt.

"So this is about your boyfriend then?" Aang asked, standing. His hands had turned to fists at his sides.

Toph turned to face him. She could sense the strange vibrations he was giving off and didn't understand what they meant.

"I'm not going. That's all there is to it."

"Because you're choosing your boyfriend," he spit the word out, "over us!"

The room shook as Toph stood up from her chair. "Aang, you don't know what you're talking about, so just shut up!" she yelled.

"Did she just call Aang by his name?" Sokka whispered to no one in particular.

Suki nodded. "Yeah, that was weird."

"I'm not going to shut up until you tell me what's going on!" the Avatar yelled back.

"It's none of your business!"

The others watched the exchange with mixed feelings.

"So you get a boyfirend and forget everything that really matters! Like friends! Like family!"

"Aang!" Katara cried, she didn't know what had gotten into him.

"I haven't forgotten anything!" The table trembled. "You're just an idiot, bald monk who rushes to stupid conclusions without knowing everything there is to know!"

"And you're just being selfish! No wonder you had no friends until we came along!"

"All right, enough!" Zuko yelled, slamming his hands on the table. "Everyone calm down!" He closed his eyes and took a deep breath to calm himself down. When he looked up at the others, Toph had left. "Great," he said with a sigh, then sat down. Aang was still breathing heavy and was standing near the window, his glider in hand. "Aang, wait." The boy did and Zuko took another deep breath before speaking again. "Toph said it was none of your business..." Aang glared at the Fire Lord, who continued, "...because I asked her not to say anything."

"What are you talking about?" Katara asked, worry coloring her tone.

Zuko consider the best way to explain.

"Would you like me to do it?" They all turned to see Mai leaning against the door frame.

"Yes. Please."

Mai quickly explained that there had been an attempt on the Fire Lord's life. Toph took it upon herself to figure out who was behind it. With Mai's help, they had uncovered a group of Fire Nation citizen, made up of nobles and commoners alike, calling themselves Ozaists. They wanted to get rid of Zuko and return Ozai to the throne.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Katara asked. She couldn't believe he'd keep something like that from them.

"I didn't want any of you to worry."

"Well, that's just dumb," Katara said, bluntly. "We're your friends! We can help. You should have told us."

"Perhaps," Zuko replied, "But it's not a big deal-"

"What!" Katara yelled, "It's a very big deal!"

"Every leader has things like this happen," he reminded them. "It's part if the job."

"True," Sokka agreed.

"Besides," Zuko continued, "Toph and Mai seemed to have everything under control."

"We do," Mai added.

Katara didn't like Mai's tone.

"What are you doing to stop these Ozaists?" Sokka asked.

Since everything was now in the open, Mai saw no point in not explaining further. But, she looked to Zuko anyway. When he gave her a slight nod, Mai proceeded to explain. "We don't know too much about them, but Toph met with one of the leaders of the Ozaists today. She's trying to gain their trust and infiltrate-"

"Hide's their leader?" Aang asked, interrupting.

"One of them."

Aang cursed and ran out of the dining room.

"I guess that's why Toph pretended not to know us when we went looking for her this morning," Katara surmised.

"Yes. You nearly ruined her plan."

Katara really didn't like Mai's tone.

...

Aang looked for Toph in her room and outside near the earthbending arena she created for herself near the Palace Gardens. When he didn't find her there, he flew on his glider for a while hoping to spot her somewhere below. When he didn't, he ended up in the stables. Both Appa and Momo were there. Momo seemed especially excited.

"What is it, buddy?" Aang asked, airbending himself to the other side of Appa. Aang was surprised to see Toph sitting there next to his bison.

"I said, don't make noise," she said to the lemur. Blissfully ignorant, Momo chirped in response, then settled himself on her lap. "Yeah, I know," Toph smirked, taking no notice of Aang's presence. "You have no clue what I'm saying."

"Hey, Toph," the airbender said awkwardly, "Can I, um, sit with you?"

After a moment she replied, "I rather you didn't."

He stood there, feeling horrible and guilty while he looked down at her.

"I'm really sorry, Toph."

She didn't reply, didn't even acknowledge that she heard.

"Toph, I didn't know-"

"Doesn't matter," she said, cutting him off.

"I know," he sighed, sounding defeated. He knew he really messed up. "I just-"

"Don't wanna hear it."

"Okay," he whispered. Aang didn't know what to say or do to make things right again, so he simply stood there for a few minutes, not saying anything. Momo had moved from her lap to his shoulder. Appa growled once as he settled in for the night. That's when Toph got up.

"You sound tired," she said, petting his fur. "Get some sleep."

Appa growled in reply making Toph smile. "'Night, Momo," she called out before exiting the stables.

The Avatar watched her go. Appa growled again, then nudged him.

"But she doesn't want to talk to me."

Appa nudge him again and Momo chirped.

"You're right. I do have to apologize."

Aang ran out of the stables into the night. Luckily, she hadn't gotten far.

"Toph, wait up!"

She didn't, but he caught up with her quickly enough. Aang was trying to come up with the best way to say he was sorry and was surprised when she was the first to speak.

"Maybe I didn't have any friends until I met you guys-"

He didn't let her finish. "Toph, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said the things I did."

"No, you shouldn't have."

"I just felt really bad."

"Doesn't give you the right."

"I know," he admitted, sighing again.

Toph stopped and Aang did, too. She turned to face him, her sightless eyes 'looking' into his grey ones.

"You called me selfish, but you're the selfish one, Aang," she said, her index finger digging into his chest. "If things don't go your way, you lash out, blaming everyone else."

"I'm sorry! I didn't know you were helping Zuko and trying to keep him safe! Or that it was the reason you couldn't come with us. I thought you didn't want to because of...of your boyfriend-"

"Stop right there!" She was in his face. "Stop with the boyfriend nonsense! I don't have one, I don't want one! Got it?"

For the first time all evening, Aang smiled. "Got it, Sifu."

"Good!" She blew the bangs out of her face in frustration and Aang's smile grew.

"I'm very sorry I said all those mean things. Can you forgive me?" He took a tentative step forward and wrapped her up in a crushing hug. "Please?"

"Get off!" she yelled, surprised. "You're not doing yourself any favors here, Twinkletoes!"

Aang laughed, relieved, when she called him by his nickname. Another apology was on the tip of his tongue when he decided he had to do something else to make her understand just how sorry he felt. She meant so much to him, she was his best friend and he shouldn't have treated her so badly. He promised himself he never would again. That's when he had the bright idea to lean forward and kiss her cheek, but at the same time that he did so, Toph turned her head and suddenly, his lips were on hers.