Coffin Up Old Enemies

In Toph's defense, she hadn't expected this to happen.

For once she was blindsided in every sense of the word.

In everyone else's defense, no one had expected to find Katara beating up some guy in a back alley either. Not even Katara.

But that's exactly what they found. The normally sweet Sugar Queen seething mad with a boy pinned to the wall with icicles. "Jet's back," she said dryly when Toph, Sokka, Aang, and Yue caught up to her. "You can't trust anything he says."

"Why?" said Yue, asking the question Toph herself had been wondering, and Aang leaned over to whisper the story in their ears.

Sokka, meanwhile, was looking Jet over suspiciously. "Why are you even here?" he asked.

"I don't care why he's here!" Katara snapped. "Whatever the reason is, it can't be good!"

"I'm here to tell you I know where the Water Tribe fleet is!" Jet called from where he was still pinned in ice.

If anything, that just made Katara and Sokka even more suspicious. "How did you know we were even looking for them?" Sokka asked.

"I didn't," said Jet. "But last we met, Katara said stuff about her father going off to war. I happened to see them on my way here, and thought you'd want to know where they are."

Toph didn't need to be able to read heartbeats to know he wasn't lying from the way Katara tensed up at his words, but he was being honest regardless.

And Jet just kept on being honest. "I swear I've changed. I was a troubled person and let my anger get out of control," Jet recited like it was something he'd heard a hundred times. "But I don't even have the gang now. I've put all that behind me."

"You're lying," Katara snapped. It seemed Sugar Queen could really hold a grudge.

Too bad she was wrong.

Toph pushed past the rest and placed her hand on the wall beside Jet. "He's not lying," she said to her friends.

"How can you tell?" asked Sokka in confusion.

Toph explained her ability to read heartbeats, and Katara reluctantly agreed to hear Jet out.

"I saw them on the west coast of the Earth Kingdom after I was kicked out of the Freedom Fighters," said Jet once Katara let him out of the ice. "Near Senlin Village."

"Senlin village?" asked Aang, wondering why that sounded familiar.

"It's where we met that panda spirit," said Sokka as he pulled out a map to pour over. "You know, the one who kidnapped me into the spirit world."

"Oh, Hei Bai," said Aang as he realized what he was talking about. Then his face fell, "Oh, but that's far."

"We missed them," said Katara, disappointed. As much as they had needed to get to the North Pole, to find out that if they had stayed in that one place just a little longer they'd see their dad must sting.

"They might not be there anymore," said Jet. "I didn't stick around long, but I overheard them talking about meeting up with the Northern Fleet at Whaletail Island to work out how they're going after the Fire Nation."

"Where's Whaletail Island?" asked Aang.

"Even farther," said Sokka, holding up his map for everyone but Toph to see. "It's close to the South Pole. We'd practically have to go back home to find them."

"That's a long way to go, but it might be worth it to get both Water Tribes to agree to our deal," said Yue. "Still, even on Appa, it would take weeks to get there."

"But you said if we could get them to agree, it'd put more pressure on the Earth King to help," said Aang.

"True," said Katara. "And we can always come back after we get that done."

"Perhaps we should return to our house and make plans and see how we'll inform the people we've met here of our plans," Yue said pointedly after taking a glance at Jet.

To Jet, it would sound like she was talking about telling their neighbors and guides they were leaving and when to expect them back. Everyone else understood she was actually saying they needed to contact her siblings, Mai, and Uncle to figure out how to go forward.

"I'll come with you," Jet offered, following them as they turned to leave the alley.

Team Avatar exchanged a dubious glance at hearing that. Jet may have been helpful, but they weren't about to invite him into their house. Not after three of them had been burned by him before.

"Yeah, no thanks," said Katara with more than a little bite in her voice.

"Katara, I've changed," Jet insisted, reaching out to catch her hand and stop her from leaving.

"Let go of me," said Katara, yanking her hand away.

"Please, I just want to help," said Jet, acting all sad and sincere.

Toph was already sick of it. "Take a hint already, creepo. She's not interested," Toph said snidely, shoving her way to stand between him and Katara.

Jet turned his attention to Toph and said, "I'm just trying to- ACK!"

Toph winced as recognition flashed through her mind, and icy dread filled her veins.

No…

No! No! No! No! No!

Not him! Anybody but him!

Behind her, Katara seemed to realize something was wrong and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Toph? Toph, what's wrong?"

It was then, Toph realized her breathing was coming out in panicked huffs.

Across from her, Jet was standing stock still, as if her triggering his memories had frozen him solid. "Little Blind…" he croaked out like he was being strangled.

Toph sucked in a breath at that hated old nickname but otherwise felt frozen.

What was going on? This had never happened before! Not to her!

Before either of them could recover, a cry of "Jet!" came out of left field, and a short kid came running over to throw her arms around the creep.

"What? Smellerbee?" cried Sokka, recognizing the new person.

"I thought you said your gang wasn't here!" Katara accused.

"Toph? What's wrong?" asked Yue in concern as Toph continued to silently panic and she struggled to breathe.

Jet, who had almost recovered from his shock, stiffened all over again at contact with Smellerbee, and Toph could literally feel the moment Smellerbee's excitement turned to horror.

"It's you," Jet breathed like he couldn't believe it.

Smellerbee's gasp sounded as scared as Toph felt as she tried to jerk away, but Jet grabbed her arm before she could move, keeping her in place.

"Let me go!" Smellerbee said, still trying to pull away, but Jet's grip was like a vice.

"Now why would I do that when I finally have you back," said Jet, his voice shifting from his previous tough-guy tone to a more childishly malicious one.

There was only one person Toph knew who he was desperate to get back. "D-Dàozháng?" she asked in a small voice.

Smellerbee's head snapped over to look at Toph. Maybe it was her eyes, maybe it was her tone of voice, maybe she'd happened to hear what Jet called her before she grabbed him, maybe she as Toph still looked enough like her past life to be recognizable, but whatever the case, Smellerbee seemed to recognize her. "A-Qing?" she said in shock and fear. "A-Qing get out of here! Run!"

Run? And leave Xiao Xingchen again?

Toph didn't move.

Couldn't move!

Why can't she move?!

Seeing things getting more and more tense and relishing a chance to pummel Jet again, Katara let loose another burst of water to knock Jet back and force him to let go of Smellerbee.

Smellerbee fell over and was caught by another newcomer who was so silent Toph almost didn't notice him. But the moment they made contact the newcomer tensed and Smellerbee looked up at him in awe. "Song Lan?" she said.

The reincarnation of Song Lan gently reached out to cup Smellerbee's face and rub his thumbs underneath her eyes, no doubt in awe that she even had them.

Jet, meanwhile, got back to his feet and was stalking back towards them. Katara tried to blast him again, but he let out a sharp whistle, and a burst of dark energy cut through the water and sent it splattering against the alley walls.

Seeing this, Smellerbee jerked to her feet and stepped back. "Song Lan, Longshot, he's… he's…"

"He's who?" asked Aang, wondering why they were freaking out.

Toph barely managed to voice it. "He's Xue Yang!"

That made the rest of Team Avatar tense up as well. They'd all heard stories about Xue Yang from Mai and Ty Lee. Aang and Katara may have gotten a more sanitized version than Sokka and Yue, but even they knew Xue Yang was a threat.

But still… something was strange.

Everyone else who remembered their past lives still acted like they did in this life, just with a little more perspective, maturity, and the occasional lingering grudge.

But Jet was not acting like Jet anymore. It was as if the lovable rogue personality he'd been showing since he met them was gone, swallowed up entirely by the persona of Xue Yang. Even his footsteps were different. As A-Qing, she may not have had her seismic sense, but wandering around Yi City as a blind and mute ghost she'd had to get very familiar with the sound of Xue Yang's footsteps so she could avoid him. Now, all of Jet's confident swagger was gone, and in its place were the familiar stalking steps that always told A-Qing to run the other way.

She wanted to run now too! Why? She was strong now! She could take him! She was strong! She was the greatest earthbender in the world! She was… she was…

The memories were so clear. Her mouth full of blood where her tongue once was. The indescribable pain where her eyes used to be. The feeling of life draining out of her as he taunted her one last time. And the greatest pain of all. Feeling her very soul SHATTER! All because of this one person.

… She was scared!

Shewasscared!Shewasscared!Shewasscared!Shewasscared!Shewasscared!Shewasscared!Shewasscared!Shewasscared!Shewasscared!Shewasscared!Shewasscared!Shewasscared!Shewasscared!Shewasscared!Shewasscared!Shewasscared!Shewasscared!Shewasscared!Shewasscared!Shewasscared!Shewasscared!Shewasscared!Shewasscared!Shewasscared!Shewasscared!Shewasscared!Shewasscared!Shewasscared!Shewasscared!Shewasscared!Shewasscared!

"Dàozháng," Jet said with a whine. "I thought you were happy to see me. It's a new life, don't I deserve a second chance."

Smellerbee shuddered and huddled closer to Longshot.

"What's wrong with you, Jet?" Katara demanded. "Why are you acting like this?" Looks like Sugar Queen noticed the same personality change Toph had.

Jet turned to look at her, and from the way she tensed behind Toph, Katara was unnerved by whatever she saw on his face.

"Jet?" he asked. Then, he laughed and reached up to tap his head. "Oh, Jet's not here. Those Dai Li guys suppressed him so much there's barely anything left of him in my head. Just enough there to puppet him into getting you brats to leave. Sucks for him, but all the better for me."

Hearing that, Smellerbee let out a sob in the back of her throat, and Longshot's shoulders dropped like he was disappointed.

Seeing that reaction, Xue Yang turned his attention back to them. "What? Are you sad? Did you like him better than me? I don't think he was all that better a person. The only difference is you were more willing to go along with him."

"We were going straight!" Smellerbee protested vehemently. "And of course, we like Jet better than someone as disgusting as you."

Like when he killed A-Qing, that word seemed to set off something in Xue Yang and made him all the more dangerous.

"You still think I'm disgusting? I'll show you what's really disgusting! This whole city is disgusting! Huh? Know why?" Xue Yang asked, sounding utterly deranged. "Because I know where they hide the bodies!"

Since the moment she'd triggered him, Toph had been rattled. Wracked with A-Qing's petrifying fear at the man who destroyed her so utterly. It was a feeling of terror and helplessness she'd never felt as Toph. But no matter how powerful Toph was, A-Qing's trauma was stronger, and that made her sloppy.

That is why she didn't react in time to avoid it when Xue Yang stopped his rambling and lashed out.

"TOPH!" "A-QING!" came several screams around her as Toph realized there was a knife in her gut.

No! Not again! She was supposed to be stronger this time! He can't do this to her again!

Toph lashed out back with her earthbending, flinging Xue Yang away from her as she fell to the ground in pain, she vaguely felt the sensation of Xue Yang bolting away as he landed even as her friends, Smellerbee and Longshot crowded around her in alarm.

Katara had her water out in a heartbeat, and Toph could already feel the cooling sensation of her healing starting to work. Whatever she felt as she did so had Katara sighing in relief.

"The knife didn't hit anything vital," she said. "I can heal this, but Toph's going to need to rest to recover."

The relief hearing that was palpable, then Sokka shouted in outrage. "He's getting away!"

"He's after the bodies," said a quiet voice from Longshot, startling everyone. Probably because he hadn't spoken before.

Smellerbee gasped. "You're right! The Dai Li arrested Jet, and Xue Yang said they were the ones who suppressed him. If the prison where they did all that was near their execution grounds…"

"It would be the perfect spot to use demonic cultivation to raise an army!" said Yue, sounding horrified.

"We have to stop him!" Aang said as he took off after Xue Yang, probably not fully understanding what he could do, but knowing bad news when he heard it.

"Go," Yue agreed. "I'll tell my siblings."

Sokka, Smellerbee, and Longshot moved to follow, but Toph forced herself to speak despite her pain.

Because like hell was she letting that bastard get away with this again if she could still do something about it!

"WAIT!" she said, making the three of them pause. Reaching her earthbending into the ground, Toph searched for the crystals she'd often felt down there and dragged them to the surface, reshaping them as she did. She'd been practicing this for a while for Sokka but had been waiting for a chance to give out the final product.

Sokka, Smellerbee, and Longshot all gasped as recreations of their cultivation swords sprang up from the ground looking like they were carved from green diamonds.

"Use these," Toph grunted out, ignoring Katara's scolding her for moving. "And give that shitty bastard a whoopin' from me."

Smellerbee grabbed the recreation of Shuanghua and pulled it free from the ground. "You focus on recovering," she promised as she took off after Aang and Jet. "We'll take care of Xue Yang."

Longshot nodded in agreement, grabbed his sword as well, and raced after her.

"How do you even know what Suihua looks like?" asked Sokka as he grabbed his own and started to turn and follow.

"Met your kid once as a ghost. Saw him when I possessed Spooklee to do Empathy," Toph grunted. "Heard him say his sword used to be yours."

Sokka did a double-take but didn't have time for more. "I'm getting that story when I get back," he called over his shoulder as he ran.

Left behind, Katara and Yue moved Toph to a more secure location before Yue took Appa and left as well.

Toph hoped Yue could reach her siblings in time for them to help. Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji were the ones to take down Xue Yang before, she had no doubt they could do it again. The real question was if he could be stopped before there was more tragedy.

But under Sugar Queen's fussy watch, there wasn't anything else she could do until she was patched up.

But if Xue Yang hadn't been taken care of by then, then he'd better watch out.

Because this would not happen again. She may have frozen this time, but next time she'd be ready. Toph would be coming for him, and when she did, she'd take him down personally.

She just hoped next time it wasn't a lie.

A/N Sorry for the delay, the holidays have been super busy.

I'm probably going to get some flack for this. Toph is a badass from her personality to her earthbending. A-Qing is also badass with a sharp tongue and street smarts. But under that big tough-as-nails personality, Toph is a 12-year-old girl, and Xue Yang tormented, mutilated, and murdered A-Qing, and then later he tried to destroy her soul. That shit is traumatizing. So for all she talked up crushing Xue-Yang when she saw him again, the fact of the matter is she froze. But while she's out of the fight for now, she's not about to let Xue Yang have the last laugh. That's where the swords come in.

Also, kudos to the people who guessed Smellerbee was Xiao Xingchen, Longshot was Song Lan, and Jet was Xue Yang. The last was the easiest to guess. Those three being those particular reincarnations just resonated best with me. Smellerbee is the friend who tries to steer Jet down the right path, but he doesn't listen. Longshot is the quiet and loyal friend who follows them to the ends of the earth. And Jet, with his inability to let go of a grudge, his desire for revenge at all costs, and his uncaring of innocent people being hurt in the process made him a clear Xue Yang.

Though him becoming entirely Xue Yang after remembering is on the Dai Li. To control Jet they suppressed his personality, and that kept the personalities from mixing and let Xue Yang have full control. Needless to say, this will not end well.