Ch 21- Lost and Found

"We're here."

Aang's voice sounded strange, devoid of it's usually cheer. But that was to be expected since there was still a lingering tension between them. Toph was tired of thinking about it and without making a reply, jumped off Appa upon his landing.

The Omashu Palace was surprisingly quiet. That was her first thought. The second was she wasn't in the mood to hang out with Twinkletoes, so she walked towards the small greeting party not bothering to wait for him.

"I am Su," a female voice said. "King Bumi regrets being unable to welcome you himself, but please allow me to show you to your room for the night."

"What about Appa?" Aang asked, petting his bison.

"The stables have been prepared for him. He will be well taken care of, Avatar Aang. Please, follow me."

"See you later, boy," Aang said, then ran to catch up to Toph.

Side by side they walked into the palace, in silence. Corridor after corridor, neither Aang nor Toph spoke. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched her every few steps. She didn't look mad anymore, not entirely anyway. Still, the short flight to the palace had gone at an excruciating slow pace (or so it felt). It had been an uncomfortable ride for him and Aang couldn't help wonder if it had been the same for her. If not that, then something was still bothering her because she had yet to speak to him since they dropped off the others just beyond the city walls.

"Here is your room."

Sensing the size of it, Toph assumed it was for Twinkles. What could she possibly want with a giant bed when she preferred the floor?

"Where's mine?" she wondered.

The guards exchanged a puzzled look. Su appeared confused, but apologized.

"I was instructed to prepare a room for the Avatar and his Lady."

"His what!?"

"My what!?"

Their faces flooded with heat.

Clearing her throat, Su continued. "I assumed that-"

"I take full responsibility for that one," Bumi interrupted her, snorting. "I meant to say: one room for the Avatar and another for his lady friend."

Su nodded and quickly went to work on preparing the adjacent quarters.

"Bumi! Hi!" Aang ran to hug him. The old king wrapped his arms around his oldest friend. The boy was taller now, even than the last time he had been in Omashu. And now, he had hair!

Toph made a face. How had she not sensed the crazy king approaching?

"You remember Toph, right?"

"Of course. It's not easy to forget the little girl who's almost as good a bender as I am."

Hardly amused by being called little, Toph crossed her arms, grinning slyly. "Says the old man who got lucky last time. But the Order of the White Lotus ain't around to save your sorry butt today."

Aang looked between the two earthbenders. What were they talking about?

Bumi cackled in delight. "I think...a rematch is in order."

"A rematch, huh?" Toph's smile grew. "I can go for that." Oma, she was aching to hit something.

Aang's gray eyes continued to look lost. "Uh, guys?"

"Yes, Aang?" Bumi called over his shoulder, already leading the way, but Toph could sense the direction she needed to go and continued on her own.

"Where you going?"

"The arena," Bumi announced with a smile. "Can't be bending in the hallway you know. Then we'll need to refurbish everything again," he laughed.

"Oh."

"Pick up the pace," Toph taunted, completely ignoring Aang. "For an old guy, you're slower than most."

"You are more than welcome to join us, Aang."

"Yeah, uh, I'll catch up."

Left standing there as Toph and Bumi disappeared down the hall, Aang released a long breath. Part of him considered following them in order to give Sokka, who would've loved to witness the battle, an accurate account. But tired as he felt, and getting the sense Toph didn't want him around, he went into his room instead. Once alone, Aang couldn't help going over what transpired the last few days.

...

Having slept little throughout the night, Aang was in an even worse mood when he finally got up. Still irritated with Toph for reasons unknown and the whole secret dance party thing for reasons very much known, he just wanted to pack up and head to Omashu already. However, that wasn't the most pressing issue. Sometime in the middle of night he had made up his mind it would be better (and easier) for him not to take Toph along.

Aang figured he'd make her breakfast and offer to return her to Gaoling. Then he would fly all the way back to Omashu alone, which he would agree made no sense. Appa wasn't going to like it either. But he just...he didn't want to continue traveling with her. Not when he was having such weird thoughts...all centered on her. Putting some distance between them could only help. Because Aang didn't like how he was feeling and figured the best thing to do was avoid the cause and thus take her home.

But she ruined his plans. Again. Toph was already cooking something. When had she learned how to cook?

"Couldn't sleep either?" she asked, stirring the contents in the pot. It smelled sweet.

"I slept fine."

Aang's response was less than enthusiastic, plus he was clearly lying. She narrowed her eyes, but continued stirring.

He obviously had a rough night. If that On Ji girl didn't return his feelings, well that had to suck. Toph had been there before and it was only that bit of sympathy which kept her from yelling at him.

"So where to next?" she said, handing him a bowl of whatever she made.

Sitting, Aang sniffed the contents. Again, it smelled good, but it didn't look too appetizing.

"I'm going to Omashu." He was giving off some weird vibrations. "But I'll drop you off at Gaoling first."

"...What?" Something was wrong with him. Twinkles didn't sound like himself at all, so even while she was getting angrier by the second, Toph managed to keep her temper in check. "You better be joking right now."

Putting his bowl aside, he shook his head.

"I want to get everything on Suki's list as soon as possible and-"

"And what?"

He sighed. "It'll be faster if I do it on my own."

"That's what I told you back in my parents' house!" she argued, starting to lose it. "But you still wanted me to come along!"

"That was a mistake on my part." His voice was cold, detached, and he wouldn't look at her.

"What's really going on?!" she demanded, voice exploding. "You've been acting weird since we left the party last night."

"I don't want to talk about the party!" he cried, standing to leave.

She was right behind him. "Well we're gonna!"

"Leave me alone, Toph," he warned.

Momo ran to hide behind Appa, Appa hid behind a tiny bush.

Unable to remain calm anymore, Aang grabbed his glider. She knew he would take off any second. Her only option was to physically restrain him. Once he got in the air, Toph wouldn't be able to much she could do about it, so she grabbed his sleeve and yanked him to a stop.

Growing angry himself, he shrugged her hand off. She let him and snatched his glider instead.

"Talk. Now," she ordered.

Confused over everything and still too frustrated to think straight, he answered with the first thing that popped into his head.

"I was jealous, okay?" he muttered. And it had taken him most of the night to figure it out and admit it to himself. He still didn't understand why exactly.

"Is this about that girl?"

"No!" he cried, wanting to yank his hair.

"Then, jealous of what?!" Toph asked incredulously. "All the girls were after you!" she accused, feeling that same annoying mix of irritation and fierce displeasure just thinking about them following him around the whole time. "All the girls wanted to dance with you!"

"Not all of them," he mumbled, looking away.

What on earth was he talking about? There was a line, a literal line to dance with Kuzon.

She narrowed her eyes further. "So some random girl didn't dance with you, that means you gotta act like a jerk?"

It wasn't some random girl.

"I don't want to talk about it anymore, Toph. Please give me my glider back."

"Why, so you can run away?" she taunted, furious now.

"I just don't want to be here with you!"

Spirits, he hadn't meant to say that. It was the truth, but he hadn't meant to say it.

Unable to speak, unable to curse Twinkles or any of his past lives because she was so shocked, Toph simply stood there. When Aang didn't immediately apologize for saying something so incredibly hurtful, she flung the glider at his head. "Fine," she muttered, then went over to the saddle to grab her satchel.

Before leaving, Toph paused to scratch behind Momo's ear and pet Appa's fur. "Stay outta trouble you two," she said, forcing a smile to her face, and then she was gone.

...

"How do you think they're getting along?" Sokka asked his soon-to-be wife.

"Who? Toph and Aang?"

"No, Appa and Momo," was his sarcastic reply.

"I'm sure they're all fine," Suki answered. "It's only been a few days."

Rubbing his chin, he nodded. "Yeah, I guess you're right. Not much coulda happened in that time."

...

"What did I just do?!" Aang cried. "I yelled at her for no reason!"

Momo chittered in agreement.

Appa's growl seemed to say, "Yup, this is all your fault."

"We have to find her!" Aang told them, springing into action and picking up and storing everything in a flash. "Come on, let's go. She couldn't have gotten very far."

...

The forest was huge. Toph hadn't realized how big until she was walking in the middle of it. Half of the day must have passed her by already.

At first she ran to get as far away from Aang as possible. She hadn't bothered paying attention in what direction she was headed. With a frustrated sigh, Toph kept walking anyway. What other option did she have? Besides, it wasn't like she was scared or anything, but she'd never felt more alone. And it didn't help matters that in her haste to get away before the tears started to fall, she failed to grab any food. There was money in her satchel aside from her clothes but there was no one around from which to buy a few supplies.

Sighing again, she kicked a rock with her toe. Twinkletoes was a huge jerk, she thought, swiping at her cheeks, furious with herself for crying again. What he said was bad enough and it made her feel awful, but the worst part was that he was being completely honest. He meant every word.

Whatever, she didn't need him.

...

They had been flying most of the day, searching. The sun was starting to set and Aang was beginning to worry.

They still hadn't found Toph. They flew low over the forest, but there were so many trees, it was difficult to see much of anything below the thick canopy of branches and leaves. So they split up, Appa flying one way, Momo another, and Aang a third. Still, no luck.

"It's getting too dark to see," Aang told them. "Let's walk for a while."

Firebending a small flame for visibility, he led the way through the forest floor. Momo flew onto his shoulder and Appa trailed behind.

...

"We can continue with the rest of the scrolls tomorrow," Zuko stated, his eyes burning with lack of sleep. It was very late, after all, and he had risen up early (as he was prone to do most days).

Ambassador How, who had been dozing off, quickly agreed to return first thing in the morning and left for the night. The others bowed their good nights and left as well. Only Katara remained.

"Not tired?" he asked when she yawned all of a sudden.

Katara smiled, embarrassed. "I should go, too," she said, standing. Even after the last few weeks she was still not used to the long days in the Fire Palace. Since Aang left it had been nothing but work, work, work. Zuko and his advisers and the ambassadors, including herself, spent their evenings discussing so many things, so many pressing issues and possible solutions, they buzzed in her head as she lay in her bed trying to fall asleep.

"Katara?"

Zuko planned to offer to walk her to her room. Not that she wasn't capable of doing it on her own or anything. But...the thought had taken residence in his mind a few nights ago and wouldn't go away. Perhaps he wanted the chance to talk with her about something other than what consumed their evenings, surrounded by others. He had yet to follow through however. And when she turned those bright blue eyes his way, giving him what could only be described as a hopeful smile, he lost his nerve. "Have a good night," the Fire Lord said instead.

A look of disappointment flashed across her face so fast, he was sure he misread her expression.

"Good night, Zuko," she said before walking out the door.

When Katara was gone, he fell back on his chair and groaned into his hands. Why was it so much easier to talk to Toph?

...

Still alone in the middle of the huge forest and not having slept long at all, Toph woke up when she sensed the approaching footsteps. Sitting up inside her earth tent, she was ready to move at a moment's notice, but waited quietly.

The pace of the individuals was slow, not like they were tired, but rather relaxed. When she recognized the vibrations, she bended her earth tent away.

"Wow. Ground people..."

Ground people?

"Toph, hi!" It was Ohev. He sounded way too happy.

"Hey." His friends were with him. She met them all once, years ago. "What're you doing here? What happened to Omashu?"

"We were headed there last night," he admitted, sheepishly, "but we went the wrong way. It worked out though because we were able to rest part of the night...and most of today. None of us are in any kind of hurry, so it's all good. What about you? Where's your...um, that serious guy?"

Her smile faltered. "Dunno." She didn't want to talk about Aang.

"I'm sorry, you don't have to answer that," Ohev apologized, smiling at her. "I ask too many questions anyway."

"He does," someone behind them commented.

"So..." Ohev began after a short silence, "...if you don't have any other plans, do you want to come with us?" he offered. "It's not much farther."

"Sure," Toph replied. It's not like she had anywhere else to be.

The boy smiled, hope blooming. When he ran into her at the secret dance party, he couldn't have been more surprised or happier. They had talked and laughed and danced, but through it all, she had seemed a little preoccupied. Maybe now that the other guy wasn't around...

"You remember everyone, right? That's Chong and Lily and..."

...

Aang was exhausted. He had bags under his eyes and his legs weren't going to hold up much longer. He felt like he was about to collapse any second. They walked all night looking for Toph. Most of the morning, too. They only stopped to rest a few minutes in between and then continued their search.

When Aang paused against a tree, Appa hit the ground with a thud and Momo fell on top of him.

"We can't stop yet, guys. We have to find Toph!" he insisted. "Guys?"

Appa was sound asleep. So was Momo.

"Okay, maybe we can take a short nap," Aang mumbled, sliding down against the tree trunk. Closing his eyes, he fell asleep on the spot.

...

Not too far away, many of the travelling nomads jumped into the river, then ran right out in a hurry complaining that it was too cold. It was still springtime, summer had yet to warm the running water. Chong took the opportunity to approach Toph. He looked at her and said, "You know, Ohev was right about you."

She quirked an eyebrow. "Oh yeah? What'd he say?"

"He said you were blind. And I think he was on to something."

Sitting under the shade of a tree, Toph blinked owlishly in his direction. There was no ill intent behind his words and she only laughed, an amused chuckle escaping her.

"Hey, wanna hear a song?" he asked with a lazy smile. "It's a good one, too."

Strumming his guitar, he rose to return to the spot where the others were laying on the ground, letting the sun dry them off. As he walked, he sang:

"Love is in the air,

in the stars and in my hair,

Love is everywhere,

like over there and right here, yeah!"

At midday they began to prepare lunch. Toph offered to pay for her meal, but they wouldn't take her money. Lily was the one who said she could buy supplies once they reached the city, if she wanted.

After they ate, the nomads sang songs and danced. One of them tried to braid Toph's hair. She was about to refuse, but they'd been so kind to her, begrudgingly, she relented. Suddenly two sets of hands descended upon her, tugging and twisting her long, dark hair. The one braid was turned to two and colorful flowers were added throughtout. When the two women moved on, Ohev took the empty seat next to her.

"The flowers look good on you," he said, cheeks coloring.

His heart was doing that same weird thing Aang's had before and Toph realized something. She tried not to blush. "Um, thanks."

...

When Aang opened his eyes, for a second he had forgotten everything that happened. Until he looked around and remembered Toph was gone.

"Guys, wake up!"

Momo and Appa wouldn't budge.

"Come on, guys. Don't you want to find Toph?"

Appa peered one eye open. Momo complained as he sat up, rubbing his eyes.

"Do you smell that?" Aang asked them and both perked up immediately. While they had spent all night looking and most of the day sleeping, they hadn't eaten anything yet. "I bet it's Toph making dinner!"

All three hurried in the direction of the delicious smells wafting their way.

...

After the singing and dancing, they all took a nap. Even Toph. When they woke up, the sun was setting and it was time for dinner apparently because Lily and Chong were busy adding ingredients to a big pot.

"Do you want to go for a walk?" Ohev asked Toph.

"To get more firewood?"

"Um, sure, yeah. To get firewood."

They had only been gone a short while when Aang, Appa, and Momo stepped into the clearing. Aang was about to call Toph's name when he realized she wasn't anywhere in sight. Other people were there though.

"Hi," he waved.

"Hey, I know you!" Chong exclaimed.

With their unique attire they weren't easy to forget. Aang recognized them all almost immediately. He wondered if Ohev was with them and then if Toph was with Ohev. He pushed away those feelings that sprung up again when he pictured them together.

"Yeah," Aang nodded, "we've run into each other a few times."

Chong looked at him like he had grown a second head.

"No offense, fellow human, but I didn't mean you, I meant the lemur."

Aang blinked. "You remember Momo, but not me?" Guess his hair and the headband did hide his identity well.

"His name's Momo?" Chong inquired. "Oh then I don't think I know him."

Aang blinked a few more times, then shook his head. "Um, we were looking for our friend Toph. Have you seen her?" he asked, half hoping they hadn't. Yes, he realized how selfish that sounded.

"Toph?" Chong repeated.

"Yes, she has long, black hair and green eyes and she was wearing a green shirt with dark pants."

Chong looked over at Lily who only shrugged. "Nah, don't think we've seen anyone like that."

"Oh." Aang thought he would be incredibly relieved to know she wasn't with Ohev, but that wasn't the case. In fact, he was starting to get really worried now.

"Wait," Lily said. "Did she have flowers in her hair?"

"Uh, I don't think so."

"Was she really pretty?" another girl asked.

Aang cleared his throat. "Yeah...she's very pretty."

"Well we ran into this one girl, but she was one of the ground people. Is your friend one of the ground people?"

Did they mean an earthbender?

"I don't think that's his friend," Chong argued. "Because she was blind."

"Yeah, that's Toph!" Aang cried, excited. "Where did you last see her?"

"Well, she was sitting right there," Lily pointed to a fallen log.

"And where is she now?"

They all looked around at each other, then shrugged.

"Maybe she returned to the ground?" Chong offered.

Aang didn't bother making a reply. "Do you mind if I wait for her? We've been looking all night," he added instead.

"Yeah."

"You do mind?"

"No."

"You don't mind?"

"Yeah."

Aang inhaled deeply so as not to yell. "I need to talk to her, so I'm going to sit here and wait for her, okay."

"That's what I said."

While that was going on, Toph and Ohev were standing nearby, just beyond a row of trees. They were close enough that she heard the exchange, but far enough they couldn't be spotted.

Unsure how she felt, Toph continued gathering wood. On the one hand she was still angry with Twinkletoes for being a huge jerk. On the other, he came looking for her. Had been looking all night. And, he said she was pretty...

There was a strange fluttering in her stomach. It felt weird.

"Are you okay?" Ohev asked. He had hoped that if they were alone, they'd get a chance to talk like they had the previous night, but she had been quiet the whole time.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Toph knew she was going to have to face Aang sooner or later. Might as well get it over with. "We should get this to the others."

When they stepped back into the clearing, Aang's relieved smile was accompanied by a knot in his gut. She was with Ohev. Those feelings came back, swirling inside him, violent and vicious. But at the same time, he was just so happy to see her again. When he took in the flowers in her hair, he smiled unconsciously.

"We brought firewood!" Ohev declared, pausing when he noticed Aang. He looked over at Toph, then between the two, unable to read the expression on either of their faces.

They dumped all they collected. It was a pretty big pile.

"How'd you know we needed more?" Lily asked, grabbing a few sticks to throw into the fire.

Dusting her hands, Toph shrugged. "Lucky guess."

"Hey, Toph?" Aang stood up. His palms were sweaty for some reason.

"What're you doing here, Twinkletoes?" she muttered. Thought you were traveling on your own, she glared her accusation.

"Twinkletoes? I thought his name was Momo?"

"No, Momo's the lemur."

"Oh yeah."

"Can we talk? Please, Toph? Please give me a chance to say I'm sorry." He whispered the last part.

She didn't want to talk, especially not in front of the others, but she could hear the remorse in his voice. Crud. Why was she suddenly feeling guilty, he's the one who should be feeling guilty. Fine, she would let him apologize and then...then she didn't know.

"Not here," Toph replied, heading down towards the river.

They left the clearing and walked past a few trees. There, Toph continued parallel to the slow rushing water until she couldn't hear the others anymore (and they wouldn't be able hear them either). Aang trailed close behind, an awkward silence filling the space between them.

As upset as she had been earlier, the way he walked with cautious, heavy footsteps affected her. She didn't want to feel responsible for his misery, but she did anyway. Even though he had been the one who wanted her gone.

"You can talk now," she informed him, but if he had, she wouldn't have listened, lost in her own thoughts as she was. The last few days, nothing made sense.

Although Toph had not wanted to, she spent the majority of the nearly two days away from Twinkletoes thinking about him. She and Aang had been friends for many years now and they had been through a lot in that time, things that had little to do with war or training.

His breakup with Sugar Queen, Toph's refusal to return home, all the letters he wrote her while she was in the Fire Nation, reminding her she was never alone. Then they crash-landed on Taang Island, she had those strange and frightening dreams, and there was that accidental kiss...

In Gaoling, Toph realized Aang had grown, he was different somehow...and it wasn't a bad different. They became Tag Team Champions, he asked her to travel with him again, and she was looking forward to it. Until the secret dance party when she had been annoyed with him and the girls and everything else, too. She still didn't get why she wanted to punch those girls for no apparent reason.

After a few minutes of following without saying a word, Aang wondered when she would stop. Suddenly, Toph paused, crossed her arms over her chest, and essentially glared at him. He kind of wished she'd go back to walking aimlessly.

Shuffling in place, he ran a hand through his growing hair. He hadn't shaved since before arriving in Gaoling. Longer hair helped him travel incognito, which is why he began to let it grow in the first place, but it currently gave him something else to do besides stare at the seriously angry look on her face.

"I wanted to apologize," he stated.

Once, he might have let her walk away or he would have been the one to leave, but his goal at the moment wasn't to avoid conflict, it wasn't to cut and run. It was to deal with this. To face it. Head on.

"I'm so sorry about yesterday," he continued. "I shouldn't have said...what I did. It was mean. I was upset, but I shouldn't have taken it out on you." Expecting to get some sort of reaction from her, a response of some kind, he got nothing. There was only the same steely silence. "Toph, I'm sorry! Please say you forgive me!"

"Why should I?"

She wasn't going to make it easy, that much he knew. Aang just didn't know how much groveling he would have to do in the meantime.

"Because I felt bad the moment I said I didn't want to be around you because it's not true."

"Only you weren't lying," she added.

"Maybe I wasn't but that was because I didn't want to be around anyone. Please believe me when I say I wish I could take it back. I was just," he rubbed the back of his neck, feeling overwhelmed. "I was angry and frustrated - with myself. Not you. And, I'm sorry I yelled."

It wasn't like he hadn't yelled at her before.

"I want my staff back!"

"How dare you blame Appa? He saved your life three times today!"

"You just didn't care! You never liked Appa! You wanted him gone!"

Some she deserved, some she should've kicked his butt to Kyoshi Island and back for, but what he said the other night was different. He meant it.

"I want us to keep traveling together," he swore. She could tell he meant that, too. "I don't know what was wrong with me the other night. But I promise I won't behave that way again."

Throughout his apology, Toph had been debating what to do. She knew what she wanted to do, but wasn't sure she should.

"Toph..." Aang moved closer, taking her hand in his. Knowing each word would be more difficult to say than the previous one, he pressed on anyway. "I understand if you don't want to come with me anymore," he sighed, resigned.

The problem was she did. Only two days without him and already she had missed him so much.

"I won't blame you if that's the case but, it won't be the same without you," he added in a whisper.

His voice was so low, so close, it tugged at her in a way she couldn't quite explain. She had to clear her throat twice before she felt able to speak.

"Fine, I'll keep traveling with you." She said it like she was doing him a favor, though it might've been the other way around. "But if you ever say anything like that to me again..." she let the threat hang in the air.

"I won't," he promised.

"Better not or- hey!"

Aang yanked her into a tight hug. It was not unpleasant. For a moment she closed her eyes and let herself enjoy the warmth of his embrace, but when she sensed the approaching footsteps, she jerked away.

Ohev paused at a distance.

"Everything okay?" he asked, immediately noticing how close Aang and Toph were standing to each other. What little hope he had, floated away in that instant. "Dinner's ready, if you guys are hungry."

"I'm starving!" Aang said, smiling. "Race you guys there!"

...

The giant bed shook again and Aang raised his head from the pillow. He must have fallen asleep the minute he laid down. As he sat up, a frantic pounding came from his door.

The room trembled one more time before he could answer it. He couldn't remember a time there were so many earthquakes in Omashu all at once.

"Avatar Aang!" Su cried as the door opened. "We need your help!"

"What is it?"

"Your Lady- forgive me, I meant to say your lady friend and King Bumi are fighting!" she explained with an overly anxious expression. "If they keep it up, they might destroy the Palace to the point no amount of refurbishing could salvage it."

"Are they still down in the arena?" Aang asked and once she confirmed, his glider materialized and he was off.

AN: Wow, that was a long chapter! XD Anyway, the song Chong sings is from that Love Potion #8 book and the earthbending battle Toph and Bumi refer to happened in The Lost Adventures back when they were in old people camp. ;) Also, if you could let me know what you guys think so far, that would be awesome! Because it's always nice to hear from you! =D