Everyone had scattered to some corner or the other of the temple but the hours until lunch were short. Dinner would be easy, Sokka and Teo had smoked boar meat stored in their makeshift sigluaq. The permafrost back home was better but between her ice, Toph's stone, and Sokka's designs, they had made it work. While it couldn't store meat for months like an actual sigluaq, as long as she refroze the ice every other day or so, they could safely store meat for a few days.

She wished they had noodles. Rice, soba, wide, any would do. They had become one of her favorite things she'd discovered on their travels but they could only be found in markets, something the western air temple lacked. It would be more rice for the foreseeable future and whatever vegetables she could scrounge up and learn how to prepare in a short period. She still had some gust mushrooms and Aang had mentioned that there were still some root vegetables thriving in the garden patches. If she was lucky she would find something starchy to mix with the boar fat to make a thick sauce. Normally she would add salt to the skin and blubber and have an afternoon meal of muktuq, but that didn't work with the animals they hunted in these warmer regions.

Katara packed up their dishes and made quick work of cleaning the large metal pot, leaving it beside the glowing embers of the cooking fire. They had found that it was much easier to feed the glowing embers throughout the afternoon than it was to start a new fire multiple times a day. The fire pit was deep but she bent a ring of ice around it and soaked the tinderbox by the door for good measure. It was unlikely anything in the stone courtyard would catch, but the experience with her burns made her cautious. Stepping into the temple's stone hallways she headed for the dormitories. The fastest way to find root vegetables was with someone who could see underground.

"Toph?" Katara knocked on the door but was met with silence.

She was probably already with Haru. Katara hated to disturb training, but if everyone was going to eat later she was going to need the help. Taking a quick detour to a storeroom she grabbed a basket and two moon-peaches for bribes. There was a staircase near the dorms that wasn't in the best shape but provided quick access to the upstairs cliff. Toph would get around to fixing it … eventually. Until then she picked her way up carefully to the surface. Katara didn't have to look for the young earthbender very long, Toph's voice carried clearly across the meadow.

"Stop trying to feel the metal, you can't bend the metal."

"But isn't that what we're trying to do?"

"Yes, but no-" Toph face palmed before 'looking' in her direction, "Glad you're here Sugar Queen I think you'll have better luck teaching him to waterbend."

Haru standing behind Toph looked hurt. Katara offered the poor earthbender a sympathetic smile.

"Toph, you know he doesn't see the world the same way you do, it's a little more difficult when you're used to seeing with your eyes."

Toph blew a lock of hair out of her face, "Sounds like a personal problem."

Katara rolled her eyes, "I was hoping you could help me with something."

"Like?"

"Aang said that the vegetable patches might still have some root vegetables growing in them but I need help figuring out which plants are what so I don't dig up the whole garden."

Toph held her chin between her thumb and curled forefinger, "And what's in it for me."

"This moon peach, and the fact that I'll be able to make meat for dinner."

Toph didn't look impressed.

Katara passed the second moon peach to Haru and shot him an apologetic look, he responded by shaking his head and wildly waving his hands.

"Aaaaand you can teach Haru about seismic sense?"

Toph gave a mildly evil grin, behind her Haru's head dropped and his shoulders slumped.

"Lead the way, Sweetness."

Katara mouthed a sorry to Haru, he replied with a shrug and gave her a soft smile before biting into the peach.

While the two earthbenders had their mid-morning snack Katara led them around to the stepped terraces carved into the cliff face. The crisscrossing stone paths and neatly stacked stairs spoke of an orderly and well-maintained nursery. Aang had spoken of the nomads as free spirits bound to nothing but the wind itself, but the order of these gardens told of another facet of Air Nomad culture. Possibly one that Aang might not have had the chance to experience.

He had been training to be the Avatar since he showed his first signs of bending and as a result, he had missed out on the more mundane aspects of his culture. Katara couldn't imagine losing Gran's five-flavored soup, learning how to carve sewing needles from whalebone or simply knowing how to cut the ice. These small things may have been minor but as a member of the Southern Water Tribe, they were an essential part of who she was.

She had felt pity for his loss, that was until Aang told her that it was difficult for him to miss the things he had never learned. He explained that he did not see it as a loss but as an opportunity. An opportunity to fill the gaps with something from all of the other nations and create something new. It had made her decide to do the same. She was far from home traveling a never-ending line of unfamiliar landscapes, with new people and unknown customs. What else was there to do but embrace it? From food to clothing and even bending. She learned and incorporated what she saw by watching Aang, Toph, and, not that she would ever admit it, but Zuko as well. But she was not the only one, in the Crystal Caves Zuko had brought down ropes of fire to match her water whips. It was then that she realized he had been watching her too.

Of course, he was, how else did he manage to find her in Ba Sing Se?

"Something on your mind Sweetness?"

Katara stopped so suddenly Haru almost tumbled over her.

"Yeah," she knew better than to lie to Toph, "a lot actually."

"Do you want to talk about it?" Haru offered.

"It's probably about Sparky." Toph teased.

Katara scowled, "It is." she admitted, "I don't trust him."

Toph sighed and turned to her, "I already told you, he's not lying. He really is here to teach Aang firebending."

"Of all people, why did it have to be him?" Katara nearly pouted.

"I know he's the Fire Prince and all but he doesn't seem too bad. Just a little broody." Haru admitted.

"He's been polite, kept to himself, and even heated our bath water," Toph added.

"He's trying to trick you, you don't know him the way I do!" Katara exasperated.

"Then tell us, how do you know him Sugar Queen?"

Katara froze, Toph's insinuating words brought the memories of his skin against hers crashing over her.

"We're here!" Karata announced rigidly, ignoring the blush painted on her cheeks.

"Spoilsport," Toph muttered.

Haru looked nervously between the two young women thoroughly confused, "So uh, where do we start?"

"You tell us Skinny." Toph turned to Haru, "Where are the potato beets?"

"How am I supposed to know?"

"Use your feet dunderhead" Toph wiggled her toes and pointed to her bare feet.

Haru let out a soft sigh and slipped off his shoes. Standing with his bare feet against the earth he fell into one of their sturdy bending stances and closed his eyes.

"Reach out with your bending, the earth is your element, and you can feel it all around you." Toph's words were even and oddly calm.

It was so much different from the way she had trained Aang. Toph's focus was solely on her student and all of a sudden, Katara felt like an intruder. She tried to take a step back to give them space but Toph placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't move." turning her focus back to Haru, she continued, "Find the gaps first, the things that aren't earth, rocks, and dirt. What do you see?"

Haru took a deep breath and stilled, silence fell over them, the seconds ticked by but Toph remained uncharacteristically patient. In the silence, the stepped garden came to life, the sounds of the wind winding through the plants, birds chirping out unfamiliar melodies, and the soft buzzing of insects surrounding them.

Those seconds had stretched into long minutes before Haru spoke, "The patch to my right is only roots, they run deep, we could use them for lashing. The one behind me is just brush, the patch behind Katara has," his eyes squeezed shut in concentration, "something, but it's too big to be potato-beets."

Haru's shoulders slumped as he opened his eyes, "I can't tell what it is."

Toph smirked, "Then let's find out."

With one of her trademark moves, Toph stomped a foot on the ground sending something mostly round erupting from the earth behind Katara showering them in a fine rain of dust and dirt. Toph easily caught whatever it was and held it out to her.

"What'd we get Sweetness?"

Katara brushed away the dirt from her clothes and took the odd-looking vegetable. It looked similar to a potato-beet but Haru was right they were too big.

"I'm not sure but let's take a few, I should be able to figure out how to use them before dinner. Aang might also know what they are."

"Ok Skinny, you heard the lady. Get her three more."

Haru nodded and fell back into his stance closing his eyes. After a few moments, he stomped his foot mimicking Toph's earlier movements. One of the not beets popped up from the ground reaching a height of about a foot before dropping to the ground.

"Harder! I want it to fly over my head!" Toph demanded.

"You know that's not very far," Haru smirked at his cautioned joke.

"Oh, we have a smart alec? Fine, let's see you try three at once Mr. Hot Shot."

Haru's smirk quickly died, giving way to uncertainty before settling on an expression of deep concentration. Katara watched as Haru shifted his weight over his right foot and lifted his left knee until it was at a right angle. Opening his left hip he quickly shifted his weight back to his center letting it fall. He dropped heavily into a wide squat, pressing his weight into the earth beneath his feet. Beside her, Katara saw three more of the vegetables shoot up just barely clearing Toph's head before hitting the ground.

Haru's eyes shot open, "Did I do it? Did they go over your head?"

"How would I know?" Toph waved a hand in front of her face.

"Katara?" Haru asked hopefully.

"Don't cover for him Sweetness, I'll know if you're lying."

"You just made it," she told him proudly.

Haru's face broke out in a smile. It was one of those rare kinds of smiles, the warm, broad, and bright ones. They had become more and more of a rarity in the last few weeks. It was nice to see one for the first time in several days because, for the first time in a while, she couldn't help but smile back.

SMACK!

"Good job Skinny!"

Haru doubled over at the unexpected blow to the back.

"T-thanks sifu." Haru sputtered out trying to find his breath.

"Ok, I'm pretty sure Sugar Queen has better things to do than watch us practice so I'm gonna speed this up a bit." Toph turned to Katara, "Whatcha looking to make Sweetness?"

"Boar stew? Hopefully?"

"Hmmm, stew you say. Let's see what we've got to work with." Toph's feet ground into the dirt, searching the patches around them, "I think we can do that."

With another stomp various vegetables from different patches shot up into the air sending clods of dirt flying everywhere.

"Really Toph?" Katara grumpily brushed more dirt from her clothes and hair.

"You're the one who asked for help. You get what you get.

Skinny! Help Ms. Fussy Britches get her food."

Katara relinquished her basket and watched on as Haru picked through the various patches for the different vegetables.

"What's on your mind, Sweetness?" Toph asked quietly.

Katara wrinkled her nose, her ability to feel them out was unnerving sometimes.

"The way you teach Haru, it's very different than the way you taught Aang."

"You mean I'm nicer to Haru than I was to Aang."

"I wasn't going to say it like that, but yes," Katara admitted.

Toph turned to her and sighed, "Twinkletoes is an airbender, it's in his nature to avoid conflict, he runs from his problems. You can't earthbend like that. To teach him earthbending he first had to know how to stand his ground. I had to teach him how to be an Earthbender." Toph turned her attention back to Haru, "I don't have to do that with Skinny because he is an Earthbender."

Toph gave a proud grin, "He's faced every challenge I put in his way even if it scares him or he knows he won't win. That's something I can respect, and as his sifu, I do."

Katara looked at the young earthbender speechless, Toph always seemed to surprise her in one way another.

She wrapped an arm around Toph's shoulders, "You know Toph, I'm really glad we got to meet you."

"I'm glad to Sweetness."

Just for a moment, Toph leaned into Katara, and then, she was gone, slipping from Katara's grasp.

"Now stop getting all mushy in front of my student."

Toph gave her a swift sock in the arm.

"OW! Really Toph!?"

Toph spread her hands and shrugged, "What? It's how I show affection."

"Can you show your affection a little softer next time?" she scowled rubbing the quickly bruising skin.

"No can do Sweetness, the harder it is, the more I like you." Toph shot her a shit-eating grin, "What can I say? Love hurts."

Katara could only roll her eyes, "Haru! Do you need help?" she called.

In the distance, Haru shook his head and a thumbs-up.

"He's almost done." Toph informed her, "So Sugar Queen, what's the story with you and Sparky?"

Katara clenched her jaw, "I told you, there is no story."

"You know better than to lie to me."

"I'm not! He chased us around the world, tried to capture Aang, and then betrayed us in Ba Sing Se."

"Us or you?"

"Me, I-I mean us." Katara faltered.

"Interesting," Toph said to herself.

"What's interesting?"

"Oh look, Haru's done." Toph off walked to meet her student leaving a distraught Katara behind.

She wasn't going to get an answer, rubbing her temples she followed Toph's zig-zagging through the gardens.

After gathering enough to fill her basket to the brim, Katara left Haru at the mercy of Toph and bid the two earthbenders good bye letting them know lunch would most likely be whatever fruit she and Sokka could find.

Once down the treacherous stairs, Katara stored her haul of vegetables and went in search of her brother.