Plan was to update on Saturday but I changed my mind.
Katara stood on the deck of the fire nation cruise boat that was on route to the nearest port of Ba Sing Se. Her and Sokka had sailed for a week and were a couple of days away from their destination. She had been anxious to see Aang again and apologize for her behavior with him. Even after Sokka informed her of Aang's apology, Katara still believed that it was her fault for their fight. A part of her was still bitter at Aang's sudden departure two weeks after the war ended, but she understood why he left. Even if Aang had decided to tell her about his plan to leave, there wasn't anything she could have said to make him stay. He didn't see any other choice other than leaving and nothing was going to make him stay and watch her be with Zuko. She knew that for a fact now.
Katara also knew now what she needed to say for her apology, but she didn't know how she would deal with her feelings for the air bender. There wasn't a time where she didn't think about him ever since her break up with Zuko. Every time she closed her eyes Katara saw Aang's lopsided grin and heard his sweet voice ringing in her ears. She yearned for him now and wanted to hold him in her arms, never letting go of him. Although she now knew what she wanted, Katara wasn't sure if Aang would feel the same.
"I don't love you anymore Katara."
Those words hurt her then and hurt a lot more now that she realized how much Aang truly meant to her. Zuko had suggested that Aang could have lied about his feelings for her and Katara wanted to believe him but she was still unsure. She thought back to her last conversation with Zuko before departing from the fire nation with Sokka.
Day of departure
It was mid-morning when the three friends stood by at the port waiting for the cruise boat to finish preparations to sail. The weather was perfect with a clear blue sky and warm temperature. Zuko had luckily managed to squeeze some time away from his work to bid the water tribe sibling's farewell.
"So any idea on when you'll be coming to Ba Sing Se yet Zuko?" Sokka asked.
"I'm likely going to arrive a day before the party. I still have a lot of work to get through" Zuko answered.
"Well as long as you come. That's all that matters anyway.", Sokka gave Zuko a tight embrace, "Until next time then Fire Lord."
"Sure thing buddy" Zuko chuckled as he returned the gesture. The two friends broke off the hug. Sokka then turned to his sister.
"Alright I'm going to head into my quarters Katara. Don't take too long saying goodbye to your boyfriend." With that, Sokka went on ahead to the boat. Zuko looked to Katara with a confused look.
"You haven't told him about our break-up?"
"We just broke up yesterday Zuko. I've only had time to pack my things and rest for this trip. I'm going to tell Sokka soon, but I need to process what I'm going to do about Aang" Katara explained.
"Have you thought about what you're going to say to him?" Zuko inquired.
Katara shook her head, "I'm not sure what exactly to tell him. I know you said that he could have been lying to me about how he felt, but I'm still scared that he meant it."
"You're not going to find out if you let that fear keep you from telling him how you feel. Personally…I believe that Aang still loves you. Even if he won't admit it himself."
"I'll try to remember that. Hopefully I can figure out what to do on the way to Ba Sing Se. I can't lose him again…I refuse to." Katara stated.
"Atta girl" Zuko smiled as he placed a hand on her shoulder, "I'm sure everything will work out between you two. I just know it."
Katara smiled back. Zuko's assurance easing her mind.
"So what are you going to do about Mai?" Katara wondered. From what she knew about her, Zuko was going to have his work cut out for him. Mai wasn't pleased with Zuko breaking up with her to teach Aang fire bending and made that very clear to him at the boiling rock. Despite being hurt by Zuko, Mai still helped him and the others escape. She willingly betrayed Azula for Zuko. Her love for Zuko trumped over her fear of Azula. Mai did it for him and he repaid her by forgetting her and choosing Katara. Zuko wouldn't blame her if she hated him for it.
"I already sent out a messenger hawk to her. I wrote down that you and I broke up and how much I want to see her. I already know that she's heading to Ba Sing Se with Ty Lee and I asked her to meet me at the Jasmine Dragon so we could talk. I just hope that she'll come" Zuko pulled his hand from Katara's shoulder and crossed his arms. She could see how nervous he was.
"Geez Zuko, we only just broke up and you already sent out a letter to Mai. You're quick to move on." Katara teased with a smirk on her face. Zuko gave her a smug smile back.
"Oh please. As if you're one to judge. I bet you've been fantasizing about Aang ever since we broke up." He retorted. His accusation made her blush.
"Shut up!" Katara smacked his shoulder. Zuko laughed at how riled up his comment had made her. Just then a siren sounded off from the cruiser to signal its departure. It was time for her to go. Katara turned back to Zuko and hugged him which he returned.
"Good luck Katara."
"Same to you Zuko."
They broke off the hug and he bid her farewell.
Present
Even after Zuko had assured her that Aang could have been dishonest about his feelings, Katara was still insecure. Aang could have been telling the truth for all that she knew, or he lied to her because he didn't want her to pity him. After already sailing for a few days Katara still didn't know how she would convey her feelings toward Aang. She leaned on the railing and looked out to the sea, letting out a frustrated sigh.
"Missing your boyfriend?" Sokka's voice came from behind her. She looked back to see him standing behind her, eating fire flakes that the crew provided him. Katara still hadn't told her brother about her break-up with Zuko. Her mind had been so focused on Aang that she forgot to tell Sokka about her and Zuko. Now seemed like a good time to tell him.
"No…we broke up." Katara declared plain and simple. Sokka choked on the fire flakes he had just consumed. Katara sighed at her brother's clumsiness and smacked his back, preventing him from choking to death.
"What?! Why? When?" Sokka exclaimed, dropping his bag of fire flakes. Katara giggled at her brother's reaction.
"Calm down doofus and I'll explain."
She told him everything that happened between her and Zuko when he had called for her to meet with him in his office. Sokka's expressions throughout Katara's explanation ranged from anger towards Zuko for breaking up with his little sister to surprise when he found out why Zuko had done it. By the end Sokka had understood why Zuko had done it.
"Sooo are you like…okay?" He asked. He knew break-ups weren't easy to deal with.
"I'm okay. I wasn't happy about it at first but in the end Zuko was right. He and I weren't meant to be together." Katara answered, holding her arms close to her chest.
"And now you think you're meant to be with Aang now?" Sokka questioned her again.
"I know I am. There wasn't a day that went by where I didn't think about him when he left us after the war ended. Aang has become such a huge part of my life and I can't live without him." Katara concluded.
"Hmmm" Sokka picked up his bag of fire flakes. Katara raised her eyebrow at his reaction. She expected a little more than just that.
"That's it? I thought you would have more to say about this."
"Cut me some slack, I'm still processing everything you just told me. It is a lot to take in after all." Sokka replied as he went back to eating his flakes, "So what are you going to do now? Are you going to tell Aang you love him now?"
"I want to…but I'm scared."
"Why?"
"When we fought, he said he didn't love me anymore. Zuko said that Aang might have been lying but what if he wasn't?"
The water tribe warrior found himself in dilemma. Toph already confirmed that Aang had indeed lied to Katara when he said that. Despite everything, Aang still loved Katara. Now Sokka didn't know whether or not he should tell Katara the truth. Sure, it would put her mind at ease, but Aang didn't tell her the truth for a reason. Sokka was sure that Aang wouldn't appreciate it if Sokka told Katara. If he didn't tell her though, Katara would remain unsure of herself and might not even bother telling her Aang how she felt due to her fear of rejection.
He instead chose to not reveal Aang's secret, but it didn't mean that he wouldn't encourage his sister to confess her love to Aang.
"I think you should tell him."
"Really?"
"Yes. I know you're scared but you won't find out how Aang really feels about you if you don't do anything." Sokka expressed as he continued eating his flakes.
"I don't know Sokka…" Katara mumbled. Sokka wrapped his arm around her shoulder.
"Then how about I help you? I already agreed to talk to Aang so you two can hash out your problems and maybe I can find out whether or not he still has feelings for you."
"You would do that for me?"
"Anything for my little sister. I want you to be happy."
Katara rested her head on her brother's shoulder and looked out to the sea ahead of them. Thanks to Sokka, she was beginning to feel hopeful about her situation. However, she still was cautious.
"I just hope everything goes well" Katara muttered.
"Sheesh Katara, you worry too much. What's the worse that could happen?" Sokka asked confidently.
"TOPH!"
Toph paused her toe picking on the couch and turned to Aang's direction. The air bender marched through the front door to where Toph sat and shoved the newspaper he held in his hands to her face.
"What is this?!" Aang demanded.
"Ughhhhh…I don't know. For the last time Twinkle toes, I AM BLIND!" Toph replied annoyed. She was getting tired of her friends forgetting that she was blind.
"Oh, guess I forgot…" Aang sheepishly said as he pulled back the newspaper from her face.
"What's going on?" asked Suki who was coming from the kitchen with a cup of tea. Aang turned around and showed her the newspaper he held in his hand.
"The Ba Sing Se chronicles put out an advertisement telling women that I was single and "ready to mingle." I went to their office and demanded to know why they put it out and they told me a young blind girl told them to put the word out that I wanted to start dating and to spread the news."
Suki took the newspaper from Aang and looked at what was said.
"Ladies, the Avatar is single and ready to mingle! If you want to reserve a date with him then be sure to come by and apply. This may be a once in a lifetime opportunity so don't wait! More information will be available before reservations made."
"Toph! How could you do such a thing?" Suki admonished her.
"Let's be real, Twinkle toes would have taken too long to find another girl, so I made it easier for him. Now he's got options to pick from." Toph explained.
"This isn't how I wanted to go about it Toph!" Aang fumed. He couldn't believe his friend would go behind his back and do this.
"Too bad! By the way, your first date is tonight."
"What?!" Aang screeched.
"You have a date with a Noblemen's daughter at the Badgermole Diner. It's where all your dates will be. A carriage will arrive to take you there and back."
"How were you able to plan this out?" Aang wondered, still in disbelief of the situation.
"I have my ways" was all Toph said, smirking as she laid back down on the couch with her hands behind her head. Aang buried his face with his hands.
"I'm not prepared for this" he mumbled. Suki looked at him sympathetically. She placed her tea on the table next to the couch and walked up to the air bender. She pulled his hands down from his face and held them.
"I know this has…well come out of nowhere, but you should do it. I don't agree with how Toph went around doing this", Suki and Aang turned to Toph, giving her a dirty look.
"Just a reminder, I am still blind. You two are giving mean looks to a blind person so who are the dumb ones here?" Toph remarked. Suki and Aang looked back at each other, ignoring what she said.
"Toph did this with good intentions in mind. The plan was for you to start dating anyway so you might as well start tonight."
"But Suki I'm not prepared for this! I've never been on a blind date with someone I never met and apparently I'm going to have several. I won't know how to act at all" Aang replied.
"You just need to be yourself Aang. Just be yourself with your date and get to know them. It's that simple."
"Okay…be myself…okay. I got it" Aang sighed.
"Good!", Suki let go of his hands, turned Aang around and pushed him towards his room. "Now make sure you have something nice to wear and get ready for the date."
"Fine" Aang mumbled as he went into his room and closed the door.
'Might as well go through with it.' With that thought, the air bender started preparing himself for his first blind date.
For the date, Aang wore an air nomad outfit similar to what he had on for Zuko's coronation ceremony. Only this time the colors were orange and red. He was still nervous about the date. He had only hoped that this first girl he was going to see was at least a nice person. After finally being done with his preparations, Aang realized he still had time before his carriage would arrive and decided to meditate until then. It wasn't long until he heard Toph call out to him.
"Yo Princess Twinkle toes! Your fancy carriage is here!"
He didn't appreciate being called princess. He let out a sigh and walked out of his room and to the living room area. The girls weren't sitting down, and the front door was open so it was safe to assume that they were outside. Once he was outside, he saw a big green carriage with an insignia of royalty printed on both sides of the carriage. It was attached to two ostrich horses draped in green and gold. The driver was at the front of the carriage waiting and ready to go. Aang couldn't help but feel that this was still too much for a simple air nomad, even if he was the Avatar. Suki and Toph waited by the side of the carriage for him.
"The carriage was kind of unnecessary Toph. I could have just walked and flew over to the restaurant with my glider." Aang said as he walked up to his friends.
"It wouldn't kill you to take a carriage Aang. You might easily forget this but…you are literally the most important person in this world. You gotta act like it. It wouldn't kill you to take advantage of that once in a while." Toph replied.
"Fine then I'll take the carriage." Aang resigned. There was no point in arguing with Toph about this.
"Still feeling nervous?" Suki asked.
"Yeah I am."
"You're going to be just fine. You look handsome by the way."
"Thanks Suki" He blushed at the compliment.
"Don't sweat it so much Twinkle toes. You look amazing." Said Toph.
"Thanks Toph! That mea—", Aang narrowed his eyes at the blind girl, "Seriously?"
"You all make it too easy for me" Toph laughed.
"Whatever." Aang pouted as he stepped into his carriage and took his seat. The girls stood in front of the carriage entrance; Suki had her hand placed on the door.
"Good luck Aang. Remember, just be yourself."
"You got this Twinkle Toes"
"Thanks, I'll do my best" Aang replied with a thumbs up. Suki closed the door and with that the carriage took off for the Badgermole Diner. As soon as his carriage was out of sight for the girls, another carriage came by in front of them. Suki was surprised but Toph wasn't.
"Alright honey, I hope you didn't have any plans."
"Why? Where are we going?" Suki asked, still confused.
"We're going to watch twinkle toes on his date. I reserved a table, so we won't be too far to hear or see anything. It should be entertaining to watch." Toph explained, stepping into the new carriage.
"Is that really such a good idea Toph? I don't think Aang would like it if we spied on his blind date." Suki responded.
"I'm the one that got him into these dates to begin with so I'm going. Now are you coming with me or not?" Toph impatiently asked. Suki stood by and thought about it. Finally, she stepped into the carriage and shut the door behind her.
"I'll come but only to make sure Aang will be okay." Suki stated as she sat down.
"Whatever you say honey" Toph grinned.
It only took a half hour for Aang's carriage to reach the Badgermole Diner. He stepped out of the carriage and walked into the restaurant where a host stood by a podium. The host instantly recognized Aang and led him to the table which was in the corner near the window. Aang was grateful for not being put at a table in the center of the restaurant. There would be too many eyes on him, and he didn't want to be watched by the other customers while on his blind date. Aang took his seat and looked to out the window. His view outside was a nice garden with a pond in the middle. He couldn't help but think that it would be a nice place to meditate peacefully.
"Is there anything you would like to drink Sir?"
Aang turned around to see a female waiter.
"Just some water would be nice."
The waiter nodded her head and placed two paper menus on the table. "I'll be back with that water as soon as I can."
"Thank you." Aang simply said. The waiter turned around and headed for the kitchen. While Aang looked over the menu, the host came back with a young lady who looked to be sixteen years old by his side. She wore a green and blue Shenyi. Her black hair flowed down past her shoulders.
'She sure is pretty.'
"Avatar Aang, might I introduce you to Miu of the Tsuya family." Said the host. Ling bowed her head towards Aang to which he responded by bowing his own head.
"It's nice to meet you Miu" Aang greeted her as she took her seat across from him.
"Likewise, Avatar Aang it is an honor to meet you" Miu responded with a small smile.
"You can just call me Aang."
"Oh…okay." Miu said nothing else. From what Aang could tell, she was nervous as well. For a minute, neither of them said anything. Aang waited for Miu to say anything but she had stayed quiet. She was not even looking at him as her gaze was set on the table.
"So…um…I heard that the Tsuya family is a noble family." Aang tried to start a conversation. Miu looked back up at him, hesitating before speaking.
"The Tsuya is a noble clan that have resided in Ba Sing Se since Avatar Kyoshi's era. My family specializes in trading and manufacturing."
"That's very interesting. Will you be working in the family business?" Aang wondered.
"No. It's only the men that work in it. The women stay at home and take care of the family" Miu replied.
"Oh…" Aang was about to ask another question but was interrupted when the waitress returned.
"Here is a glass of water for you Sir", She turned to Miu, "Is there anything you would like to drink Miss?"
"I would like some water as well."
"Very well. I'll return with your glass. Please look over the menu while I fetch your glass", with that the waitress went back to the kitchen. They both looked over their menu and knew what they wanted. When the waitress came back, Aang had ordered the vegetarian noodles while Miu ordered fried rice.
"So Miu…is there anything you like to do for fun?" Aang inquired once the waitress took their orders.
"Nothing really." Miu simply said, looking back down at the table.
'Spirits help me.' Aang thought to himself. She wasn't really giving him much in terms of a conversation. From what he could see, Miu didn't look like she wanted to be on this date with him.
On the other corner of the restaurant, Toph and Suki sat at their own table watching Aang and his date from a distance. Thanks to Toph's enhanced hearing, she was able to hear them and relayed what was going on to Suki.
"What is up with this chick? Why even sign up for a date with the Avatar if this is how you're going to react?" Toph wondered.
"Aang seems to really be trying, but she's not budging an inch." Suki muttered, feeling sorry for the air bender. It didn't seem like his first blind date would even want a second date with him.
After a few minutes of Aang trying to keep a conversation going with Miu, the waitress had come back with their food. The two ate their meals in silence which at this point starting to irritate Aang. He was trying to follow what Suki had advised him to do but it didn't seem like this girl even cared. He needed to find out what Miu's deal was.
"Why are you here?"
Ling looked up from her rice, "excuse me?"
"Why are you here? You're barely talking to me so I'm wondering why you even bothered to be here." Aang stated.
"W-w-w-well I do want to be-e-e here" Miu stuttered, dropping her chopsticks. She seemed to be more nervous now. Aang wasn't having it, however.
"Miu! You have been nothing but disinterested since you sat down. I'm starting to think you just came here to waste my time." Aang fumed. This girl was getting on his nerves.
"No. That wasn't my intention Avatar Aang. I didn't mean to offend you." Miu insisted. She was panicking at his accusations.
"You have yet to give me any evidence to the contrary" Aang rebutted.
"Fine! I didn't sign up for this, my mother did!" cried Miu. Tears had started swelling in her eyes and threatened to fall.
"Huh?!"
Back on the other corner of the restaurant, Toph smacked her hand on her forehead.
"Crap! I should have seen this coming!" Toph grumbled.
"What?" Suki asked, Toph had yet to tell her what was said by Ling.
"Her mom signed her up to be here with Aang. She isn't here by her own volition. Her mom likely forced her to be here." Toph explained.
"Gosh, that's terrible. Should we do something about this?"
Toph thought for a moment before speaking, "Nah, let's just see what they do. I don't want to jump in without hearing anything else."
"So your mom is forcing you into this?" Aang asked, still in disbelief.
Miu nodded and sniffled, "I already had a boy that I love but my parents forced us to split so that I can be with you instead. If I married the Avatar then my family's status within the wealthy elite would have put them on top. They don't even care whether I would even want to marry you because they love the family image more than me."
This is the last thing Aang had wanted. Thanks to him, this young girl was forced to leave someone she loved just to be at on a date with him.
"I am so sorry Miu.", he bowed his head down, "I caused you trouble."
"No Aang! Don't be sorry, you didn't force me to be here. This is all my family's fault, and I should be apologizing for wasting your time like this. I was only acting disinterested because I thought it would make you not want another date with me. You're just trying to find love for yourself. I cannot fault you for that." Miu replied, clasping her hands. Aang brought his head up and faced her again.
"What will your family do if they know that I don't want to marry you?"
"They already didn't like the boy I love so there is no chance they will allow me to go back to him. They would likely set me up on an arrange marriage if I couldn't capture your heart. I would not have a choice in who I married." Miu's makeup had started to go down due to her tears.
"The boy you love…what's his name?" Aang wondered.
"Huan.", Miu smiled as she reminisced, "We met at the Ba Sing Se academy and became best friends. He always knew how to make me smile and laugh whenever I was down. He makes me feel loved…more than my own family does."
Aang decided right there and then what he was going to do. He stood up from his seat and held out his hand to Miu. She looked at him with a confused expression.
"I'll take you to him right now." Aang stated.
"I can't trouble you more than I already have Aang! I don't want to burden you with my problems." Miu insisted.
"You won't be troubling me Miu. I want to help you. We'll take my carriage and I'll bring you to Huan." Aang replied with his hand still held out to her. Miu still looked bewildered at his gesture until he gave her a lopsided grin. With that she took his hand and the two dashed out of the restaurant after leaving money for their meals. Miu told the carriage driver where Huan's home was and the driver didn't waste time.
On the way over, Aang and Miu sat across from each other and talked about whatever came to mind. He had told her of his time growing up in the Southern Air Temples and she had told him of her life growing up in Ba Sing Se. Ling herself had a question that she wanted to ask Aang since the start of their blind date but was not sure how to ask until now.
"Is it true that you prefer girls that are older than you?"
Aang nearly choked, "WHAT?! Where did you hear that?!"
"It was actually a requirement on the application.", Ling replied with a matter-of-fact tone. Aang buried his face in his hands and groaned. He already knew for a fact that Toph had something to do with that. Remembering that he didn't answer Miu's question, he looked back to her.
"I wouldn't say that I…prefer older girls. My most intimate experiences just happened to have been with girls older than me." Aang answered, remembering the girls that he had kissed before. Katara being the first girl he kissed, June being the second who had also introduced him to the concept of tongue kissing, and Kano being the last girl he kissed. Looking at his flustered expression, Miu couldn't help but giggle.
"Don't laugh, I'm sensitive…" Aang pouted his lips. That however just made Miu laugh out loud.
"I'm sorry Aang but you're just so cute when your flustered like this." Miu chuckled.
"I'm not cute…" Aang muttered, crossing his arms.
Eventually the carriage reached its destination. Aang looked out the window and realized that they were now in the lower ring of Ba Sing Se. He then looked back to Miu.
"I'm gonna go ahead and guess the reason your family doesn't like Huan is because he isn't from a wealthy family." Aang stated.
"I'm afraid that is true.", Miu sighed, "But I love him for who he is, not for his background."
Aang nodded his head and opened the door. They stepped out and standing in front of them was a small house. Miu hurried to the front door of the house and knocked. The door opened and revealed a young man close to her age.
"Huan!" Miu cried out as she embraced the young man. Upon closer inspection, Huan had brown hair and had a very light skin tone. He was surprised to see Miu but returned the embrace. From what Aang could see, Huan was happy to see her again. The lovers eventually broke off from one another.
"I thought I would never see you again! I thought you would be with the Avatar by now." Huan said as he held on to Miu's hands. Ling stepped to a side to reveal Aang standing behind her.
"Avatar Aang brought me here after I told him everything. He wants to help us." Miu explained. Huan looked at Aang with astonishment.
"I am honored that you wish to help us Avatar but what can you do? The Tsuya family will not accept me as a suitor for Miu."
"As Avatar, I get access to royalty wherever I go. I'll talk to King Kuei and see if he can give you a suitable position within his administration. You will have a high paying job where you can both be together." Aang grinned. He didn't like to use his status as Avatar to get whatever he wanted but he didn't mind using it if it meant helping others.
"But what about my family? They might not accept him despite that and will try to take me away from Huan" Miu inquired. Aang brought his hand up to his chin and thought for a moment. He snapped his fingers when an idea struck.
"Then for now, you two will have to stay somewhere else. There is a secret house used by the White Lotus in the middle ring. No one has stayed in there since the war ended so you two can stay until you decide what you want to do next." Aang turned back and walked back to the carriage to speak with the driver. He quickly made his way back to Miu and Huan.
"I gave the driver the location, he will take you two there right now." Aang explained, gesturing back to the carriage.
"Thank you so much Aang!" Miu cried out as she let go of Huan's hands and hugged Aang. He hugged her back.
"You're welcome. I'm sorry this happened to you. This was my fault." Aang said with a sad tone.
"Do not blame yourself." Miu pulled her head back and looked at him, "You're just seeking a companion. I cannot fault you for that."
"Thanks for saying that Miu…do you think I have a chance at finding love like you and Huan have?"
She kissed his cheek before answering his question, "Without a doubt in my mind."
They broke off their hug. Huan walked up to him and shook Aang's hand.
"We cannot thank you enough for this. I only hope there is a way for us to repay your kindness."
"Just be sure to send me an invite to your wedding. I'll be happy to attend." Aang replied. He laughed when he saw both Miu and Huan's flushed expressions.
After packing what he needed, Huan and Miu went off in the carriage towards the secret house. Aang didn't mind not having a ride back home and used his air bending to jump from building to building until he made it back. He found Suki and Toph waiting for him in the living room.
"So where did you go?" Toph asked.
"On the date? You know where I went." Aang replied confused.
"I mean after you left the diner. We thought about following you but decided to just wait until you told us."
"Follow me? Wait…you two were at the diner too? You were spying one me?!" He looked to Suki who was looking at any other direction besides his.
"That's irrelevant!" Toph declared.
"I feel like it is releva—" Aang tried to say until he was interrupted.
"For crying out loud twinkle toes, just tell us what happened!" Toph hollered.
The air bender sighed and gave in to Toph's demands. He had explained the situation and what he had done for Miu and Huan.
"That was really sweet of you to do for them Aang. I'm proud of you." Suki said after he finished explaining.
"I wouldn't expect anything less from you twinkle toes. I'll take a look back at your lists of dates and filter out the girls whose mothers signed them up. It would be better if you weren't in a similar situation again." Toph replied.
"There's actually something I wanted to ask you Toph."
"What is it?" Toph leaned back on the chair she sat on.
Aang narrowed his eyes at her, "What's up with the age requirement for the girls?"
"Considering your romantic history…", Toph held a smug grin, "It's obvious that you have a type."
"It doesn't mean I only like older girls." Aang retorted.
"Well I could change it but you already have a large number of blind dates ahead of you. If I change it then the number would just increase." Toph crossed her arms.
Aang raised his brow, "Large number? How many are there?"
"I'd sure love to tell you Twinkle toes but I'm really tired. I'm going to sleep." Toph said as she jumped up from her chair and walked towards her room.
"TOPH! How many?!" Aang yelled, his arms spread out. Toph turned her head back as she walked into her room.
"Goodnight." She simply said with a smug smile and slammed the door. Aang turned to Suki, hoping that she would know at least. But before he could ask, she was already shaking her head.
"Trust me Aang. I am just as clueless as you are."
"Guess I got no choice but to go along with it I guess." Aang sat down next to Suki on the couch.
"You don't have to do it. You can just say no Aang." Suki suggested.
"I could…but I don't want to give up after just one date."
Suki smiled and placed her hand on Aang's. "I'm glad to hear that. Just remember that you can come to me or Toph for advice…", she then thought for a moment, "On second thought, only come to me if you need advice about girls because I don't think Toph can help you much with that."
"I HEARD THAT!" Toph yelled from her room.
"I thought you were going to sleep Toph!" Aang yelled back.
"…SHUT UP!" Toph replied. Suki and Aang laughed at her childish response. After wiping the tears from his eyes after laughing so hard, Aang turned to Suki.
"I appreciate it. I'll be sure to get all the help I can get."
The first date might not have gone the way any of them expected but it wouldn't keep him from trying again.
Hope you liked this chapter. As always, leave a review since they do keep me motivated to do more. It really helps a lot. Expect the next chapter soon!