Grrr. Sorry this took so long everybody.

Bad news: My laptop got a virus T_T

Good news: My father bought me a new one

Bad news: It has Vista. :-O

Good news: I am dealing with it.

Bad news: Only after my father's purchase of a brand new laptop did I realize that I am a spoiled American brat. TT_TT

Anyway, here is the next chapter.

Aang Meets Iroh

"I thought that she would be here." Aang whimpered.

He had walked through town, by himself, traveling back to the stone wall where Toph liked to go when she was upset. But she wasn't there. He was all by himself.

"Why is this happening?" "Why…can't I fix this?" He asked. He grabbed the sides of his head, wishing his headache would go away. "I…I need help." He wondered if he was speaking to God, but he was really just speaking, hoping that anyone who would hear him.

After a few moments of silence, Aang heard something. It sounded like the wind was whispering to him. He saw someone's shadow looming over his own.

"Hello there." An rugged, heavily accented voice said. Aang shuffled his legs over the stone wall and looked at the fat old man who had greeted him. He had a long gray (almost white) beard and was loosing the hair on the top of his head. He had a peaceful smile between his chubby cheeks and winkles around his eyes, from laughing a lot.

"Um…hi." Aang felt slightly uncomfortable. A total stranger had walked up from behind him and eased dropped on the conversation he was having with…himself. On the other hand, there was something about the elder that seemed…familiar, almost father-like.

"I see that I am not the only one who likes to come here when they are bothered by something." He said. Aang thought he felt the air around him warm up when the old man spoke.

The man leapt over the stone wall, as agile as a young boy, and sat next to Aang, still grinning.

"Do…I know you?" Aang examined his strange clothes. He dressed very loosely, but he still looked strong underneath the buttoned shirt.

"Who knows." He said. "Maybe we have met many times already, even if we did not know each other. But my name is Iroh."

Aang didn't understand. "I…have to go." Aang said, feeling did not go more than two steps before turning back around.

"As you wish, Aang."

"How do you know my name?"

"A friend of yours told me about you. She spoke very highly of you. She mentioned your arrow cap."

"She? Toph?"

"Yes. Ms. Bei Fong."

"She…told you about me?" Aang sat back down.

"She did. Apparently, she cares for you very much. I have not seen a young woman so sure of her feelings before I met her."

Aang felt Guilt poke at his shoulder, but he had gotten used to it.

"Did she…say anything else?" Aang asked.

"She did. But I do not think that she would want me to say more." The old man pulled out a piece of bread and took a bite out of it. "You seem…upset about something. Did Toph say something to hurt your feelings?"

"Toph isn't speaking to me." Aang admitted.

"Oh?"

"I…really hurt her feelings. And now she is avoiding me."

"Nothing that cannot be fixed, of that I am sure."

"I don't know. I think that this is really bad. I don't think that things can ever go back to normal."

"That is natural. Relationships of all kinds must change."

"Yeah, but I think that ours is about to end. She's the best friend I've ever had. I don't think I could ever be happy without her." Aang could not believe how open he was with Iroh.

Iroh looked at Aang, smiled, then shook his head. "Young People" He thought. "I know it's more difficult when you fight with your best friend. Because, normally, you would cry on their shoulder. Have you told her how you feel?" Iroh asked, still chewing on his bread.

"I told you. She won't speak to me. She's avoiding me too. That makes it a bit harder."

"Find her."

"It's not that simple!" Aang raised his voice.

"Isn't it?" Iroh's smile did not move.

"No! It's not! I came here looking for her. I can't keep track of her for more than a few seconds."

"She found you whenever you needed help, I bet. What is stopping you from going to her home?"

"…" Aang didn't say anything.

"Are you afraid of facing her?"

"…" Aang stayed silent.

"Young man, I don't know what you are afraid of. I am sure that she is just as scared of facing you as you are."

"I don't think that is true." Aang almost giggled, knowing the tough front Toph always put up.

"Why else would she run away each time you approached her?"

"…" Aang was speechless again. The wind blew past his ear.

"Do you want your friendship to end?" Iroh asked.

"NO!" Aang gasped.

"Is this the first fight you have ever had?"

"Uh…maybe." Aang paused and thought of the thousands of times Toph lost her temper with him. "I don't know. This is the first big fight we've had."

"Arguments?"

"What?"

"You must have had arguments before."

"Oh yeah. I mean, who doesn't?"

"My nephew argues with me all the time." Iroh's eyes softened and his smile dissipated for a brief second. "But…no matter how many times we fight, I make sure that I am always there for him."

"But you are family. That is different." Aang heard his conscience yell at him, reminding him that Toph was like a sister to him.

"Yes, it is different. You don't choose who your family is. You do choose your friends. Your friends can be more valuable because they are the people destiny pulled you towards. There is a reason you are friends with another person. If there was no reason, then you would not be friends in the first place."

"…" Aang listened carefully.

"Try to get her to remember why you were friends in the first place. When you speak to her, I mean."

"I already told you! I can't speak with her." Aang got angry without warning. Maybe it was because a total stranger decided to give him advice, or maybe it was his teenaged pride getting in the way of hearing some useful advice, but he lost his temper for a brief moment.

"Why is that Toph could speak to me about her problems so easily, but you cannot?"

"I…I…" Aang felt his head grow hot. "How should I know!"

Iroh did not smile, nor did he did not get angry back at Aang. Aang needed to vent, so he let him.

"I will not tell you what to do then." Iroh looked away from him and admired the clouds in the sky. Aang looked in the same direction as him, but didn't see anything special in the sky.

"I don't know what I'm doing." Aang said, lowering his voice. "I don't understand girls."

Iroh almost laughed. He knew how incredibly common that problem was with men of Aang's age. And men of any other age.

"Relax." Iroh said. "Don't get worked up over little things. Most problems can be solved, especially when you are young. I'm an old man already. If you need to say something to this girl, then make sure that you do it quick. Trust me, you will be my age before you know it."

Aang sighed, still not sure of himself. Iroh sense his self-doubt, so he kept talking.

"When I was a boy…" Aang rolled his eyes. "…my young brother and I used to fight without end. We'd argue all the time, no matter what age. Every little problem we had erupted into conflict. Then, when I had graduated from school and left home, we had a fight on the way over to this country, one that was much bigger than usual. We both were so angry with each other. Do you know what happened when we landed in America?"

"You forgave each other." Aang moaned, guessing how the cheesy story ended.

"No. We did not. I did not see him again." Iroh sighed. Aang's head twisted towards Iroh, suddenly very interested. "We live only a hundred miles away from one another, but we do not call , or write or visit. It has been a long time since the day we came here. I have not spoken to my brother in almost forty years."

Aang was silent…again. Iroh's message was clear, yet he had more to say.

"I was once an intelligent man. Intelligence is a two-bladed sword, you see. Intelligence likes to start arguments and intelligent people only offer advice, not solutions. Intelligence gets in the way of the things that really matter and likes to blind people, especially young people who cannot tell who is really important in their lives. Now…after learning how important family is, and learning that lesson the hard way…I wish I wish that I had not been so intelligent when I was younger."

Aang looked at the clouds. Iroh heard him exhale through his nose.

After a few minutes, he jumped to his feet and wiped the dirt off his pants.

"Thank you." He said sincerely.

"My pleasure." Iroh's eyes smiled more than his mouth. He bowed gently.

Aang ran away from the wall, eager to find Toph and talk to her.

Iroh thought to himself as the Aang ran off. "I am beginning to think that every young person in this town is a little lost." Iroh paused for a moment, then laughed.

To be Continued.