Book Four: Air

"You harpy," Sokka growled as he continued to struggle with her control over him. He hated being imprisoned and he hated the thought of Toph being forced to do whatever these people told her to do.

Kara's attention finally returned to Sokka. She smiled at him. "Sticks and stones, love," she said. She could feel her loss of control increasing, but that did not bother her. She still had him under her power for a few minutes more. "And, unfortunately, that won't save you."

"What about my other friends?" said Toph.

Maku pondered. Then he nodded. "Chan will escort them elsewhere, by boat. As promised, they'll be set free at some other point."

"I don't believe you..." snapped Toph.

The mercenary sighed. "We can always kill them now, you know. But I won't. And to show I am being honest with you, we'll let them go first. Sound good? You can't argue with that."

And Toph wouldn't. She would just have to hope for the best, and do as these people said.

"Throw 'em in another cell," said Maku, ordering Kara. "Chan and I will look for that other one. Return quickly, though. We might need you."

"Of course," said Kara.

Using her last scrap of bloodbending, she dragged Sokka and Toph out of the room and further into the ship. They returned to the brig-area, and to an empty, wooden cell that had not been destroyed or damaged. She shoved them both inside and locked the door.

"I hate being controlled like that," Sokka muttered as he stepped into the cell. He looked at Toph in concern, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine..." she muttered, her back to him. She felt more than a little humiliated. To have her secret made fun of, and in front of him, was enough to make her feel sick. "Just dandy. How 'bout you?"

***

IC: Kara

She returned to the storage room. Maku and Chan were currently looking for their newest passenger: Jerrel.

"Stay by the door, Kara," said Maku. "We don't want him leaving."

"As well as can be expected," Sokka said, looking at her thoughtfully. He didn't know what to say to her after this. He didn't know how he felt about her now that he knew that she liked him. She was still his best friend, but he felt something more after this, feelings like that strange feelings he had around her before.

Toph hated the silence. She couldn't help but sense him looking at her. She almost yelled at him to say something, anything, but she held her tongue. He had to be shocked. He knew the truth, and Toph, even as much as she wished he didn't, wasn't about to lie about it.

This wasn't the strong, invincible Toph, but rather the vulnerable girl she could be, the one she usually hid from the world. Her mind raced.

What would he think of her?

Could they even be friends, now that he knew she thought of him as more than that?

"Good," she said, at least. "I'm glad. I guess you're stuck with me for the long run, though. Got what you wanted after all."

"Yep," he told her, before coughing a little in nervousness and blushing a little. He spoke, "So, you like me, huh?"
Wow. Could that have sounded lamer?

Sokka might have hated how lame he sounded, but Toph took some comfort from it. It meant that, for a little while longer at least, he could still be himself around her. She had been afraid he would just ignore her from here on out.

"Weren't you listening before?" she said, still hesitant to actually admit it herself. "That waterbending witch pretty much said it all."

Sokka blushed and crossed his arms and reacted the way he normally did when she poked fun of his intelligence, "Hey, I was just making sure."
He looked away from her and asked curiously, "Why do you like me?"

"Why shouldn't I like you?" she shot back. "You're my best friend. You mean the world to me!"

Her face crumpled, and she turned away from him again. "Can we just pretend this never happened? It doesn't matter anyway. You don't feel the same way. I'd rather not embarrass myself anymore. Please..."

Sokka looked over at her, blushing a little. After a moment spoke hesitantly, "I don't know about that... I feel something for you other than friendship, but I don't know what. It's stronger than what I feel for Aang, Zuko, or even Suki. It's like, I don't know, like I'd do anything to save you. It's like what I feel about Katara but different. Way different."
He looked away, "I suppose what I mean is that I don't know what I feel."

Toph turned her face towards him. She still looked incredibly hurt and upset, even after his words. But, slowly, a half smile passed over her lips.

"See? You're way too nice for the likes of me," she said. "You could've just told me to dream on, it'd never happen, or something like that, but you didn't. Only you'd make some sort of rejection that's not really a rejection."

She sighed.

"But if that's the way it is, let's still just go ahead and pretend none of this ever happened. Once we're out of this mess, you'll be back with Suki, and you'll know I'm just another one of the guys to you. Your best friend. That's all it'll ever be. I just have to accept that."

"It wasn't meant as a rejection, though," Sokka told her as he looked at her again, "I honestly don't know if I like you that way or not."
He had a confused expression on his face, as though he wasn't sure what to do next.

"Then don't think about it," said Toph. "We both know how it'll turn out anyway, so we might as well just save us both some grief. You and me? Together? Ha! Yeah right."

She lay down, still turned away from him.

"I'm tired. I'm going to rest for a little while."

***

IC: General Narrative / Suki

She and Aang had parted ways from Zuko, and were now on the wide-ocean heading towards the Earth Kingdom. Suki kept looking across the deck and all around her, hoping for some sign of Appa or the others.

She was worried.

She was also worried about the upcoming council. Zuko had not been kidding when he said it was a dangerous place to be. There was no telling what threats they would have to face just to try and bring about peace in the colonies.

Zuko

Zuko's ship docked at a place near the Fire Nation capitol. Teams had already been dispatched to look for the Fire Lady and Ozai, but the reports he had gotten had not revealed anything. "Will someone find a girl named Ty Lee? She's supposed to be in the Fire Nation now, and it's vital I find her." He never thought he'd ever say that about Ty Lee, but it had happened.

IC: General Narrative

"As you wish, Fire Lord," said a young woman. Dressed as a homeland soldier, she bowed. "I will return as soon as I am able to locate her."

"Until then, sir, perhaps you would like to rest? You have had a long journey," said another soldier, this one a man. "We can fill you in on the details then as well, if you like."

Zuko

"How can I rest when my wife is missing, and my father is free," Zuko snapped. "Sorry, I've had a long ride with nothing else to think of. Please, fill me in on the details."

The soldier sighed.

"There were signs of some sort of ambush, in the area where your wife, our Fire Lady, was last seen," he said. "It is rather strange, however. It did not seem as if too many people could be involved."

He cleared his throat.

"On the matter of your father, there have been unsubstantiated reports of a cloaked figure loitering near the prison in the days following up to his escape. We have not been able to locate such a person, but the witnesses seem quite certain of what they saw."

Zuko

"I thought the area around the prison was kept clear of people so this kind of thing doesn't happen," Zuko said. "Make finding the cloaked figure a priority, but less than my father or Mai. Chances are we'll find the figure with either of them." Mai wouldn't be taken down easily, so this meant that whoever was with his father was powerful.

((AH FRAK! I've got to remember to sign ino my own bloody profile! My bad! - Plaguewalker)

IC: The Voice

She glanced over at Ozai as he emerged, before nodding quietly at him. "Of course, my lord. I will stop in the next village and aquire you one." She gave a quick crack of the reins, urging the aged Komodo Rhino to move faster, and the beast grumbled as it picked up speed.

"Might I ask for what?"

Jerrel watched with amusement as the mercenaries searched the storage room as he barely slipped through the top of the door just as the one called Kara returned. So, there are others being held captive on the ship. Jerrel used the shadows of the ships ceilings.

IC: Ozai

Ozai turned the Fire Lady crown over in his hands, bringing the pointed end up to his finger. He pricked the skin, causing a drop of blood to form. He smeared the blood across the crown and held it up for his orange eyes to see.

"To ensure my son and the Avatar understand."

The soldier saluted. "Very good, sir."

He almost left, but hesitated. He looked into his Fire Lord's face. Wetting his lips, he spoke again.

"Do you think, as we do, that this may be the work of the rebellion? The General has been stepping up his work as of late. Perhaps Ozai is part of that grand scheme..."

Zuko

"It may be. I think it's very likely that the rebellion has something to do with this," Zuko said. "No one else would want to release that monster." The rebellion and the colonies, with those two factions it seemed Zuko had very few loyal citizens.

Sokka nodded and looked away from Toph, feeling rather confused. His heart plummeted at her words, but he didn't know why. Did he like Toph or was he concerned about her feeling hurt. He leaned against the wall and closed his eyes to rest.