Alright guys here's the eighth chapter of my ATLA story. Anyway, quick things to point out if haven't noticed.
Text Like this = Someone thinking to themselves
"Text Like this" = A conversation (for those of you who don't know.)
TEXT LIKE THIS = A full on shouting match
Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender. That goes to the creators of the story Bryan and Mike
Chapter 8: Somber News
In the distance Toph was running as fast as her injured legs could take her and she felt a massive shake on the ground. She stopped and felt massive heat waves hitting her. A small shed of tear managed to roll down Toph's left eye. You better come back from this… Aang.
Not too far from the explosion Sokka and Suki felt the vibrations. Both stopped and look towards the direction of the explosion. "What was that noise?" Sokka asked.
Suki gave a look of worry. "Hm… Who knows."
Suki put a hand on Sokka's shoulder. "Let's keep going. We can't afford to worry."
Sokka gave a small smile. "You're right. Let's go back to base and report this to Zuko and Katara."
"Yeah let's." Suki said.
Sokka stretched. "Once we get this over with I'm gonna head straight to the hot springs."
"Oh? Why's that?" Suki asked.
"Not gonna lie I just wanna get this over with." Sokka declared.
Suki gave him a small smile. "Understatement of the century."
Sokka gave an annoyed look. "Ha-ha make all your jokes, but you know as well as I do how stressful this is."
Suki raised an eyebrow. "Is that so?"
"Honestly I thought asking you out was the most stressful thing in the world." Sokka muttered underneath his breath.
Suki gave him a teasing look/ "Did you say something? I couldn't quite catch that."
Sokka looked away flustered. "NOTHING I SAID NOTHING."
Suki laughed at him. "Oh come on don't be that way besides-." Suki got close to Sokka's ear and whispered. "If we get this done quickly, I'll give you a reward for all your hard work once we get home."
Sokka stiffened up at her offer. "Well, I mean if you insist."
Suki smiled. "Glad you see things my way." God he's so easy. Suki thought to herself.
Sokka started picking up the pace. "We need to hurry up. I'm starting to get a bad feeling." Suki nodded.
Walking into their base he saw a beat up Katara and Zuko. Not that Sokka and Suki looked any different. Exhausted and in pain Sokka turned to look at Zuko.
"Zuko how many did you guys have to deal with?" Sokka asked.
"I don't know… about 100-200. However a majority of them ran away." Zuko said.
"Same here." Suki said.
"I wonder what that noise was from earlier." Katara said.
Sokka gave a confused look. "Wait that wasn't you guys?"
Katara eyes widened in shock. "No, we thought it was you guys."
Suki's face was full of concern. "Oh no… Aang and Toph better come out alive."
Sokka gave a small smile. "Of course they're gonna make it out. I mean it's Aang and Toph. They're practically the two strongest benders anyone has ever seen."
Suki smile faintly. "You're right Toph would never go down like that to some low life scums."
Zuko cleared his throat pulling out the scroll. "Anyway. One of the things that's bothering me is the number of soldiers. The messenger said that there was only about 100 soldiers. So why was there- Oh no." Zuko started going pale, sweating profoundly
Sokka gave a worried look. "What's going on Zuko?"
Zuko gave the scroll to Sokka. "The ink on this paper look at it."
"What about it looks fine to-" Sokka stopped.
"What's going on?" Katara asked.
"The ink stopped at 100, but you can see the messenger faintly put another zero." Sokka said.
"What does that mean?" Suki asked.
Zuko and Sokka both ran out of the door. "It means that we have to go and help out Aang and Toph right NOW."
Suki and Katara looked at each other and followed suit. All four of them ran as quickly as they could to help Aang and Toph.
"Sokka what's going on?" Katara asked.
"Don't you see. Our group and your group got about 100 to 200 soldiers to deal with at most-." Sokka said.
"And?" Katara asked.
"They intended to aim for Aang on purpose. If we do the math both Aang and Toph are dealing with at least 500 to 600 soldiers." Sokka said.
Katara's eye opened. "Aang."
"We need to hurry." Sokka said.
"I don't know how much we'll be able to contribute since we already tired ourselves out." Suki said.
Sokka picked up the speed. "Well it doesn't matter right now. I INTEND TO HELP OUT NO MATTER WHAT IT TAKES."
Zuko, Katara and Suki all nodded at what Sokka just exclaimed. "Right."
They kept running with everything they had. Even if they were tired they kept running in order to aid their friends in any way that they can. It felt like an eternity, the more they kept running, the more it felt like they weren't getting any closer.
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"There." Sokka pointed to a figure limping towards them. The rest of the group stopped and looked at what Sokka was pointing at. The figure kept limping towards muttering words that fell on deaf ears. A gasp could be heard from the Water Bender.
Katara with her eyes wide open covered her mouth with both her hands. "Oh my god TOPH." She went running towards the little Earth Bender. As soon as she got to her Toph collapsed falling into Katara's arms. Toph looked at her beloved friend and gave her a weak smile.
"Nice to see you Sugar Queen." Toph said weakly, barely audible.
"What happened?" Suki asked as she followed Katara.
"There was too many of them…" Toph gripped on Katara's shirt. A single tear fell from Toph's eye. "Twinkle Toes stayed behind to let me escape. Please… I beg you… go help Aang."
Sokka clenched his fists. "That idiot… What in the hell was thinking. Don't worry Toph I'll make sure to bring back Aang safely, if it's the last thing I do. Come on Zuko we have to help him." Zuko gave him a serious stare.
"You don't have to tell me twice." Zuko pointed at Toph. "You two stay here with Toph. This could get ugly." Suki nodded understanding the situation they were in.
Zuko and Sokka started running toward the direction Toph came from. Sokka couldn't stand seeing Toph crying. As much as he disliked her antics he hated seeing someone close to him being reduced to tears.
"Come on buddy. You better be right there." Sokka pleaded.
"Thank… you." Toph said as she finally passed out from all the pain she was feeling. Katara started carrying Toph.
"Come on Suki. We need to go. She needs medical attention based on her injuries." Suki nodded in agreement.
Taking a last look into the far Suki closed her eyes and put her hands to her chest. "Please be careful… All of you."
XXXXXXXX
"How far were we separated from each other? We've been running for a while." Sokka asked.
"We're close." Zuko said.
"How do you know?" Sokka asked.
Zuko looked at his surroundings. "Look around you. The landscape's starting to change."
Sokka closed his eyes. "Just how far did you push yourself Aang?"
Zuko stopped dead in his tracks. Looking at the damage done. Trees that were once green and tall are now black, tumbled over, and covered in crimson. Life that once thrived in the area had been left completely lifeless. In the midst of all that destruction at the center of all of it was a huge crater. Sokka stopped with a confused glare.
"Why'd we stop Zuko?"
"Don't you see we're already here. Look at the landscape, it's clear that a battle happened here. Plus the bodies that are all around here suggest so." Zuko said.
Sokka gave a distressed look. "Where's Aang?"
Zuko pointed at the crater. "My guess is right over there." They ran to the crater and stopped. From afar it looked small, but once they were up close they were surprised as to how deep the hole was. Both looked at the center and saw nothing.
Sokka panicked. "Where is he? WHERE'S AANG? ZUKO WHERE'S AANG?"
Zuko put his hand on his shoulder. "Calm down Sokka. Acting like this isn't going to make this easier."
Sokka stopped and looked down. So many thoughts were going through his head. Many were of his friend, the Avatar. As much as he wanted to let feelings go wild he realised that Zuko had a point.
"Yeah you're right. I'm sorry."
Zuko patted him in the back. "Don't be. It's natural to give this sort of response."
"So now what?" Sokka asked.
"We look for Aang. Even if it means searching the whole area. There's no way Aang could've gone out like that" Zuko said.
"Yeah you're right." Sokka said.
They spent hours looking for the Avatar, hoping to find him. However they couldn't find a single soul in the midst of what had happened. Sokka fell to his knees and lost it. Tears were streaming down his face when he realized that his best friend was no longer with them. How was gonna explain this to Katara and Suki. How was he gonna explain this to Toph. He promised that he'd bring him back. It was bad enough seeing Toph crying, but this might push her over the edge. Zuko grabbed Sokka's shoulder to show sympathy. After a while they headed back to the base being greeted with a hopeful Katara and Suki. However they had to break the news to them one way or another. Needless, to say they had same reaction as Sokka had earlier.
"Where's Toph? We need to tell her." Sokka said.
"She's still out of it. We can't tell her right now. She's already in bad shape, we can't add more by telling her Aang's dead." Suki said.
"So when exactly are we gonna tell her? She's gonna find out one way or another." Zuko said.
"First let's head to Earth Kingdom and let Toph get proper treatment since this isn't a very good place for that. Then we'll tell her. Like you said Zuko she's gonna find out one way or the other. So might as well tell her as soon as possible." Sokka said.
Katara nodded. "I don't like this. I don't like any of this."
Sokka sighed. "I know you don't sis, but we can't keep up a lie since she can sense when someone lies."
"Fine, we'll do it your way." Katara said.
"Alright then, let's get some rest and head out first thing in the morning."
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7 days. It took 7 days for Toph to wake up and fully recover. She was unconscious for 4 of those days and it seemed unknown when she would open up those colorless eyes. She could hear Katara gasp when she came to and was relieved to see her doing well. She tried getting out of bed so she could start 'seeing,' but it seemed quite difficult as her legs couldn't support her for too long. Still, even with the amount she was able to walk she was able to sense her surroundings. She felt Katara right next to her. She felt Sokka and Suki napping in the chairs next to her. She was happy to 'see' all of friends with her, except for someone. She couldn't feel Aang anywhere. She didn't think too much of it since Sparky wasn't there. She thought that they were probably having another meeting. Katara then told her to take it easy since she was out of it for 4 days. For once Toph listened seeing as she was too tired to argue with anyone. She had rested for another three days, leading us to the current event. A knock could be heard in Toph's room.
"Come in." Toph said.
The door opened and Sokka popped out. "What's up Toph?"
Toph smiled as she recognized that voice. "Nothing much Snoozles. So what do you want?"
"We're meeting up in my house and we need you to be there." Sokka said.
"How come?" Toph asked.
"Zuko summoned you." Sokka replied.
Toph smiled. "Oh Sparky needs me? When does he never need me? I'll be there in a bit Snoozles."
"You already know where we already live right?" Sokka asked.
Toph nodded. "Yup. I'll be there. I get to see all of you again. Plus I'll be able to see Twinkle Toes right?"
As soon as she said that she felt the mood darken a bit. Sokka avoided Toph's gaze and too his leave.
What was that about? Toph thought to herself. She was about to get dressed when she thought of doing something out her nature that the world might shake: She wanted to take a shower. Crazy right? So she headed to the bathroom and took a 30 minute shower. After she finished with her shower she dried off and got dressed. She was a little nervous to see Aang especially after what she did to him before leaving. She blushed as soon as she remembered kissing Aang.
"Okay no more of that." Toph said out loud.
She continued getting ready and headed out the room and walked towards Sokka's house. It took her bit to get there, but as soon as she got there she stopped at the entrance because she felt a strange feeling in her gut. She ignored it and knocked on the door. She was received by Suki.
"Hi Toph." Suki said.
"What's up?" Toph said.
"The others are waiting on you." Suki replied.
Toph walked into the room and sensed someone else. In the room was Zuko, Sokka, Katara, Suki, Iroh, Bumi and a new person she'd never met. She was about their age; brown nut hair tall, hazel colored eyes,and wore a green tunic. But there was no Aang.
"What's with waking us up this early." Toph asked.
"Toph it's almost about to be 12 in the afternoon." Katara pointed out.
"And your point?" Toph asked.
Zuko cleared his throat. "If we can get started please."
"Oh right." Katara said.
"So as you all know the explosion yesterday could be heard all throughout the land. This woman right next to me supposedly heard the explosion and apparently she can sense if there's any life form around." Zuko said.
"What does that have to do with anything?" Toph asked.
"Well if you let me finish. Anyways, she has some new to tell us." Zuko said.
"Hmm...might as well get the most important of news out of the way. Based on what was left of the large explosion a mere hundred of those soldiers perished. Not a single soul is alive." The girl said.
The same feeling Toph felt when she was at Sokka's entrance began to haunt her. "What are you trying to say?"
"I'm saying that Avatar Aang has died in battle." The mood of the room changed from bright to dark at the drop of a hat.
"We also found this…" Zuko handed parts of Aang's clothing and a misshaped glider.
"What is it?" Suki asked.
"It's some of Aang's belongings." Sokka spoke up.
"We'll honor Aang's passing in a few days." Zuko said.
Sokka sighed. "Then the search for the new Avatar will start."
"First things first we have to stop this army before we start planning for anything else." Zuko said.
"Well based on what Toph told us about what happened back then if they have that large amount of soldiers on their side it'll be difficult ambushing them." Sokka said.
"The real question is where did they get so many rebels?" Suki asked.
"Believe it or not, many people in the Fire Nation don't like what I've done to the nation." Zuko spoke up.
"What do you mean.? You've made alliances with other nations." Katara said.
"And that's where the issue lies. Some didn't like the fact that a nation as powerful as the Fire Nation would rely on allies." Zuko said.
"Still though. Who would've thought that there'd be that many people who would want to oppose Zuko." Suki said.
Zuko rubbed his chin. "Well, not really I mean the people of the Fire Nation have been used to not having any form of alliances. We thought that we were too powerful to have any allies. Since I took over I've made plenty of allies with different nations and the citizens aren't too pleased to hear that. They begin to feel like their once great nation has been reduced to a mere kicking puppy asking for help."
"Well, we're gonna have to figure out who's out to get you." Sokka said.
Zuko looked annoyed. "That could be anyone."
"I know that smartass." Sokka said.
Zuko snapped. "WHO ARE YOU CALLING A SMARTASS YOU DUMBASS."
The tension in the room was starting to rise as Zuko grabbed Sokka by the shirt. Bumi and Iroh had to step in to stop the commotion from getting out of control.
"Excuse me." Toph muttered.
Suki turned around seeing as she's the only who heard her. She was about to stop her, but then she realized she should just let her be. She can only imagine the pain she must be in right now. Losing the person you love can affect anyone, even someone as stone hearted as Toph. As soon as the commotion stopped Katara snapped her fingers. "I know maybe if we can get a description of what he looked like then maybe we cut shorten the list of culprits."
Sokka smiled. "Hey that's pretty smart of you sis."
Zuko put his hand in his chin pondering. "That might just work. Toph do you think you could tell us-" He turned towards Toph, but there was nothing there.
"Where's Toph?" Sokka asked.
"She left a while ago." Suki finally spoke up.
"And you didn't say anything?" Katara asked.
"She looked out of it. I didn't want to interfere with whatever she's dealing with." Suki said.
"Great now we have to find her." Katara said.
Sokka walked next to his sister and patted her shoulder. "Sis, I think Suki's right. I feel like we should let Toph handle what she's dealing with on her own."
Katara snapped. "DON'T YOU GET IT? THAT'S EXACTLY WHY WE HAVE TO FIND HER. WE'RE SUPPOSED TO SHOW SUPPORT TO ONE ANOTHER AND I CAN'T STAND WATCHING TOPH SUFFER WHILE WE'RE DOIN NOTHING." Katara stormed out the room, slamming the door in the process.
"Katara wait-" Suki said.
"Just let her be." Sokka said.
"But-" Suki started.
"Give her some time, If I knew her any better I'd say she's gonna go talk to Toph." Zuko said.
"FIne, but you can't blame someone for worrying." Suki muttered.
"In any case I need to have a word with Sokka in private." Zuko stated.
Suki and the rest nodded and left the room except Sokka.
XXXXXXXX
Toph walked and walked wherever the wind took her. After hearing the news there was only one person she could think about.
"Aang."
A/N: So right about now I should be working on the 9th chapter of this fanfic. So yeah one chapter once a month. However since I missed like three months worth of chapters I'll update quicker. So the next one should be coming.. Honestly this fanfic is taking a lot longer to complete. I was supposed to have finished this last January and here I am only half way done with it. Don't worry to those who enjoy my story, I will complete it, I promise. I'm gonna finish this mainly because there's authors out there that start off a good ass fanfic and then they have the audacity to abandon it and leave the readers craving for more. I honestly hate that so much. So I'm making it my goal to not do that. SORRY FOR THE RANT. Anyway like any of the previous chapters you've been reading there's a reference to a tv show. Oh and if you haven't noticed the following chapters are gonna be about 5k words or something like that. That's because I noticed that many people don't like reading long ass chapters. So, I'll just keep them shorter. Plus, I could add more cliffhangers and blue ball you guys. So thanks again for everything guys. Like any chapter I've written there's always a reference to another Animoo. If you could read and review that would be fantastic. Any type of criticism is fine. Anyway I appreciate you guys.