I apologize for the Hiatus. The story is still going on.
On a hot sunny day within the mountains, Team Avatar were currently training Aang to hone his skills against Fire Lord Ozai. The first two who decided to hone test Aang was Katara and Toph Bei Fong. As this was happening, Appa, Momo and Zuko's hawk Summer were watching them train.
Aang was blindfolded and used his seismic sense to predict his allies movements and used his acrobatic skills to dodge rocks and sashes of water. This tactic worked for a moment until a rock Toph threw back towards Aang had hit Katara in the chest. Then, Katara and Toph had gotten into a heated argument. Clashing Earth with Ice.
"Are we taking a break?" Aang asked, while blindfolded. He could hear Toph and Katara fighting.
The next moment, Zuko jumped from behind rocks with a pair of dual blades and attempted to strike Aang. "No time breaks! Focus on the enemy in front of you." he sead while swinging his blades at Aang.
Aang recognized the sound of Zuko's voice and swiftly dodged Zuko's attacks-left and right. "But, Zuko... you used to be an enemy." Aang noted as he remembered countering Zuko, back when he was learning to bend Water and Earth.
While Zuko is attacking Aang with his blades, Sokka smiled as he saw an opening. He then rushed in the battle, hoping he wouldn't get caught. "Sneak attack!" Sokka yelled out loud as he ran towards Aang, attempting to strike Aang with his boomerang.
Both Zuko and Aang stopped their battle, temporarily to see Sokka rushing towards them.
Aang bended an Earth wall to stop Sokka in his tracks. "Sokka. Sneak attacks don't work if you yell them out loud." he removed the blindfold.
Both Zuko and Aang saw mud splat and looked to see Katara and Toph grappling each other.
"Hungry for a mud pie?" Toph kicked some mud in Katara's face, getting mud on her chest, face and hair.
"I'll give you a mud pie!" Katara yelled in retaliation. She then kicked Toph down into the mud.
In the next second, Toph bended Earth, causing Katara to scream and fly onto part of a boulder.
Zuko gasped as he knew something bad was gonna happen if they made. Zuko saw Toph running towards Katara and ran in their direction. "Ladies! Ladies!" Zuko yelled as he rushed in between them.
"Zuko?" Katara questioned.
"We're supposed to be training the Avata-I mean, Aang. Not with each other." Zuko said with reason.
Both Katara and Toph looked at Aang, who was staring at them alongside Sokka.
"Very well. Consider your training done for today, Aang." Katara then brushed some mud out of her hair and walked elsewhere.
Toph waited until Katara walked elsewhere just to speak. "Alright. While sugar queen is busy washing the mud out her hair..." Toph bended the mud off her skin and clothes. "Let's have some fun!" she said, energetically.
"Yeah!" Both Aang and Sokka shouted.
Zuko stayed quiet, then turned his head toward the direction where Katara had walked.
Twenty Minutes Later
Aang, Toph, Sokka and Zuko roamed through a town with many factories. A small number of Fire Nation messenger hawks flown over the sky, squawking as they are about to reach their station. Not many people were roaming the streets that Aang and his friends were roaming.
Zuko's hawk Summer glanced at all the messenger hawks from below as he rested on Zuko's shoulder.
"Look at all these messenger hawks. I plan on getting one for myself. That way, I wouldn't have to talk to anyone. I could just send the messages." Sokka said, eagerly as he walked.
A number of messenger hawks stared at Summer as Zuko passed by.
"Then go for it. Nothing's stopping you from getting one." Zuko said.
Sokka sighed. "I wish I could... but I don't have any money." he pouted as he looked in his wallet to find nothing.
There was a moment of silence, until Aang pulled a silver coin from his pocket. "So, guys. What are we going to get with our last silver piece?"
"Nothing, really." Zuko shrugged.
Toph stopped walking and thought of something. "Wrong. We could get more money."
Aang, Sokka and Zuko looked back at Toph.
"How?" Aang asked.
Toph walked over to a corner and pointed at a level beneath them. "Right there."
Sokka, Zuko and Aang walked next to Toph to see a guy with a small table and three bowls. There were people all around the person switching bowls.
"Gambling?" Zuko asked as he saw a guy switching bowls.
"This is where you see they're at a disadvantage. Everyone guesses wrong, because the dealer moves the rock at the last minute. But, I can feel it with my Earthbending." Toph stated and muttered.
"I don't think this is the way to go..." Zuko muttered.
"Shush. I wanna see if Toph is right." Sokka shushed Zuko.
A guy had guessed by pointing his finger at the bowl in the middle. The dealer then lifted the bowl, revealing that there was no rock in the bowl. The guy who payed and guessed had broke down in tears, learning that he lost.
After the player left, the dealer spotted Aang, Zuko, Toph and Sokka. He spotted Zuko, whom had worn an eyepatch.
"You there. The boy with eyepatch." The Dealer called upon Zuko, which caught his attention. "Would you like to play a game?"
"Me? No. I don't gamble." Zuko told the dealer as he shook his head no.
"Come on. It would be fun..." The Dealer tried to reason with Zuko.
"I said no." Zuko replied.
"I see..." After being rejected by Zuko, he glanced at Toph. "What about you, little lady? Do you wanna play?"
"Hm? How can I play, when I can't see?" Toph waved her hand over her face. "I'm blind."
"You don't need to see to be lucky." The Dealer told Toph.
Toph sat down, acting like a real blind person, until she felt one of the bowls and used the last silver piece Aang had.
"Very well." The Dealer began switching the bowls. As he did, one rockflung into another bowl, secretly. And another rock from one of his sleeves slid into one of the three bowls.
Toph smiled as she used her Earthbending and felt both rocks in two of the three bowls.
After ten seconds of switching, Toph picked the bowl on her right.
The Dealer picked up the bowl Toph was pointing at and revealed the rock was under there.
"Flameo, Toph!" Aang had commented Toph.
"Fancy guessing." The Dealer gave Toph two pieces of silver. "You are amazing at this. Would you like to make the game a little more interesting?" he asked while playing with coins.
"Interesting? How?" Toph asked.
The Dealer glanced at Sokka's space sword. "Let's say you put up your friend's sword and possibly your other friend's pet bird-"
Zuko cut him off. "Summer's not for sale."
Summer squawked.
"Fine. Just your friend's sword. If you win, then you get twenty pieces of silver. That can be more interesting..." The Dealer said as he picked up a bag field with silver and smiled.
"I'll do it for forty pieces of silver!" Toph quickly grabbed Sokka's sword and gave it to the Dealer.
Sokka nearly choked after learning that Toph is gambling with more than he expected.
"Forty pieces of silver it is." The Dealer then put twenty more pieces of silver within the bag. Afterwards, he started switching bowls faster and faster than usual.
Toph payed really close attention to the rocks underneath the bowls. With her Earthbending, Toph felt that the Dealer had secretly slid two rocks from the bowls under her sleeves. Then as when he was about to slid the last one under his sleeve, Toph bended the small rock back into the bowl while the dealer kept switching. After the switching was done in the next eight seconds, Toph pointed at the bowl in the middle.
"Sorry, little lady. But-" The Dealer gasped as he saw the rock under the bowl he had just lifted. "Huh?" he looked closely at the bowl.
"Yes!" Sokka yelled, while taking his space sword back.
"I won!" Toph smiled then took the forty pieces of silver and ran away along with her friends.
Twenty Minutes Later
Aang, Sokka, Zuko and Toph were seen walking towards a cliff with baskets of goodies. Appa was resting on part of a cliff. Zuko was the only one who didn't laugh as he walked to the cliff and found Katara making stew in a big pot. Toph threw the baskets filled with goods and ingredients next to Katara.
"Where did you get the money to buy all this stuff?" Katara asked.
"Toph got us money. She scammed a guy who moves the rocks and bowls all sneaky-like." Aang stated as he was eating an apple.
Katara frowned.
"She used her Earthbending to win the game." Sokka told Katara.
"Ah, so she cheated..." Katara questioned as she stopped sturing soup.
"Hey. I only did it, because he was cheating." Toph took a bite from an apple. "I cheated a cheater. What's wrong with that?"
"I understand that you beat a cheater... but, I think we shouldn't get into a habit of gambling, that's all." Katara stated.
"Katara has a point, you know." Zuko said.
"What do you mean?" Aang asked.
"We're supposed to be laying low. We can't afford to draw attention to ourselves, until the Solar Eclipse arrive. I mean, what if someone we scam next end up calling the authorities on us? Then, everything goes up to smoke!" Zuko told the group.
Sokka made an explosion sound with his mouth and hand. Momo imitated Sokka's movements.
Toph chuckled. "You're just jealous that twinkletoes, Sokka and I are fun... and both you and Katara aren't."
"You're wrng! I am fun!" Both Katara and Zuko snapped.
Suddenly the duo Benders paused and looked at each other in an awkward manner.
Aang stood up and bowed. "Katara, Zuko, I am making an Avatar Promise to the both of you that we won't do anymore scams."
Zuko's individual right eyebrow twitched.
Four Hours Later
Hours after doing multiple and successful scams, Sokka had bought a messenger hawk and discovered a wanted poster of his friend, Toph Bei Fong. He immediately rushed towards Toph and told her the news. She bribed him with a small pouch of silver coins, so that he wouldn't tell Aang, Katara and Zuko. Afterwards, she took her wanted poster and left. Sokka was then approached by his sister and the Avatar.
"Sokka, you also have a messenger hawk, like Zuko!" Aang pointed towards the red hawk on Sokka's right shoulder.
"Yep! Now we can send messages to people all over the world! Like gran-gran.
"Wow, how does it work?" Aang asked in a happy manner.
Sokka paused. "Hmm... I never actually thought about that." He looked to his messenger hawk on his right shoulder, then pointed south. "Hawkie, gran-gran! South pole!" he had ordered his messenger hawk to fly towards the South pole, but it refused by shaking its head no. Because it has no knowledge of the Water Tribe. "I'm going to have to ask Zuko, how he works with his hawk."
"What's going on?" Zuko had asked as he walked towards his friends with his hawk, Summer on his left shoulder. He stared at Sokka, then at his new messenger hawk. "You bought a hawk."
"Sure did! Now Team Avatar has TWO messenger hawks!" Sokka raised two fingers towards Zuko's face.
"What's its name?" Aang asked as he looked at Sokka's messenger hawk.
Suddenly, the two Fire Nation messenger hawks started screeching to one another.
"What are they saying?" Aang asked as he watched Sokka and Zuko's hawks screech at each other.
Suddenly, Momo jumped onto Aang's back and growled at Sokka's messenger hawk, which ended with both the fiery red messenger hawks to hissing at Momo. Momo saw the number of messenger hawks and knew he couldn't take on both of them. He then cowered behind Aang's head.
"I think they just told Momo to back off."
Less Than An Hour Later
Sokka and Toph went back into town to pull off a few scams and earn more money for themselves. They were never met by Fire Nation soldiers, nor were they followed.
After returning to camp, Toph was met by a frustrated Katara, who tried to warn her about the dangers of scamming. But, her words fell on deaf ears of the blind twelve year-old blind girl. She thought of Katara as an annoying person who acts like a parent. Aang, Sokka and Zuko sat on the sidelines, listening to them argue, with their respected pets on their shoulders. Except Appa, who was lying on part of a cliff.
"You're not my mom, so stop acting like it!" Toph yelled.
Katara grumbled. "I don't act that way!" Her head then shifted towards Sokka. "Sokka! Do I act motherly?"
Sokka flinched when Katara called his name. "I-I don't want to be apart of this."
"Aang? Do I act motherly?" Katara asked as she looked to Aang.
Aang rubbed his left eye. "Well, I..."
"Stop rubbing your eye and speak clearly to me!" Katara ordered.
"Y-yes ma'am!" Aang stuttered as he answered Katara.
"Well, Zuko? Do I act motherly?" Katara then turned to Zuko, whom was quiet.
"I wouldn't put it as motherly, but..."
"But, what?"
"I think that you are caring far too much-and there's nothing wrong with that." Zuko added.
"Says the guy who says lay low until the solar eclipse." Katara mumbled as she crossed her arms.
"I don't want to be around you, right now!" Toph yelled as she walked away from Katara.
"Well, I don't want to be around you, either!" Katara turned her back from Toph's direction. Then walked off to a corner of a cliff.
Sokka's messenger hawk, Hawky squawked.
"I know, Hawky. Why can't they just get along?" Sokka questioned.
"Because, they're strong." Zuko answered.
"Zuko?" Aang looked at Zuko.
"They're both determined to prove themselves right. They're both masters of their respected bending elements and they've came a long way to help end the war." Zuko stated.
Aang sighed. "You're right about that."
One Minute Later
Sokka suddenly thought of an idea as he sat and watched Toph and Katara sit still in two different corners of the cliff.
"Hey, Aang. You wanna test my messenger hawk with me? I have an idea." Sokka asked.
"Sure." Aang easily replied.
Sokka then moved closer to Aang's left ear. "I'm gonna send a message to Katara-and say it's from Toph, who wants to apologize. Then, everyone will be friends, again."
"I gotta say, Sokka. You continue to impress me with your ideas." Aang smiled.
"It won't work." Zuko said, while standing behind Sokka and Aang.
"Zuko?" Aang looked behind himself to see Zuko standing.
"Katara's smarter than that."
"How do you know?"
"Because, she's Sokka's sister." Zuko glanced at Sokka, knowing that Sokka is intelligent. "And also, Toph can't write." Zuko added.
"Oh yeah... Toph can't write. I forgot." Aang rubbed his head with his hands.
"Yep, we're idiots." Sokka said.
"Looks like we can still use Plan A. We can send the letter to Toph and pretend it's from Katara." Aang suggested.
"That won't work, either. Toph can tell who wrote the letter with her Earthbending." Zuko stated.
"Man, Zuko. For someone who joined our group, you know a lot of how the girls think." Sokka pouted.
"I do. Most times. I tend to stay close, that's all." Zuko
Zuko's hawk Summer squawked a bit.
"Alright, what do you suggest we do?"
"Try talking to Toph. She might want to listen to you." Zuko suggested.
Sokka stared at Toph's backside from a mile away for ten seconds. "Maybe you're right." Sokka then got up and walked towards Toph.
"Wow, Zuko. You're getting good at this stuff." Aang complimented Zuko.
"I guess..." Zuko shrugged a bit. "Anyway, let's continue training." Zuko told Aang.
"Okay!" Aang jumped up and followed Zuko to the training grounds. "So, what are you going to teach me?"
As Zuko and Aang prepare to train again, Sokka talks approaches an irritated Toph, sitting on a rock.
Toph could easily feel her presence. "What do you want?"
"Come on. We need to talk." Sokka said.
Toph grumbled and blew the hairs in front of her face.
Thirty Minutes Later
The sun was setting. After Sokka and Toph had talked about Katara and their backgrounds. Unbeknownst to the both of them, Katara was listening the entire time. After she finished bathing, she waited patiently for Toph and Sokka to return. As soon as they returned to camp, Katara immediately approached Toph.
"Hello, Toph. I-"
"Stop." Toph cut Katara off. "You don't need to apologize. I was the one being stupid." Toph confessed, then hung her head downwards feeling guilty.
"Actually... I wasn't gonna apologize. I was gonna say I "Wanna pull a scam with you." Katara smiled.
"W-what!?" Zuko jumped with a shocked look.
Aang and Sokka didn't say a word as they looked completely shocked.
"What? You want to pull a scam?" Toph asked in a bit of confusion.
"I do." Katara nodded. "But not just a normal scam... the ultimate scam."
As Sokka and Aang looked at each other and fainted, Zuko clasped his face with his right palm. As he had a feeling that something was gonna go wrong.
"Just you and me. What do you say?" Katara asked.
Toph thought about pulling a scam with Katara for a moment, then smiled. "Nope! Not this time. Maybe later." Toph walked elsewhere.
Katara's face turn red out of irritation and being let down. "What? You don't think I can pull a scam?" she asked as she followed Toph's direction.
"It's not that. I'm all pooped out for today. It's getting late and the Greatest Earthbender in the world needs some rest, you know." Toph mentioned.
"C'mon! Since when did the Greatest Earthbender preferred resting over scamming?" Katara asked as she followed Toph.
"Since now." Toph answered.
As the two female Benders kept yammering on, Zuko, who was watching the girls walk off talking had smiled and was ultimately relieved to see Toph and Katara getting along, again. His messenger hawk, Summer had squawked a bit, which caused Zuko to pet his head with his fingers.
Later That Night
The sky was dark, the moon was crescent and the group was resting. Zuko, Aang, Sokka were sound asleep.
Toph lied down on her back, with her face towards the dark clouds. She had a sudden feeling that Katara was awake. "Katara? I need your help." Toph said as she just sat up.
Katara, who was lying next to Toph had sat up and yawned. "What is it, Toph?"
Toph pulled out a scroll. "I need you to write some things for me."
"What is it?"
"I want to write a letter to my parents. I want to let them know that I'm okay." Toph said.
Katara smiled. "Sure." Katara then wrote a letter for Toph to the Bei Fongs. She rolled up the letter, placed it in Hawky's cap and sent Hawky flying off towards the Earth Kingdom. In the far East towards Toph's home.
Moments after Hawky flew away, Sokka had woken up as he felt a disturbance in the universe. As he had waken, Katara and Toph were already asleep. "Hey, where'd Hawky go?" He looked around to see his pet messenger hawk was gone. He then woke up Zuko. "Zuko. Zuko."
Zuko grunted as he woke up. "What?"
"Do you know what happened to Hawky?" Sokka asked.
"No. Now go to sleep." Zuko said as he turned over to sleep.
Sokka than thought of a question. "Can I borrow your messenger hawk for a day, at le-" Sokka asked.
"No." Zuko said immediately. Shutting Sokka down in the process.
No Combustion Bender in this chapter, but the GAang will encounter him, soon enough.