I'll Walk You Home pt. 55

Chapter 19 pt.2

Letters

Sokka had just pulled Ty Lee's letter out for a second time when the door to the library flew open and an out of breath Poor Girl came scampering up to the table.

"They… need you… in the… audience… chamber… sir." She panted out to the tribesman.

Sokka stood and bowed to the servant in reply.

"Please excuse me your grace." He bowed to Lao still at his desk. "It appears that I am needed."

"Of course." The Grand Duke replied with a rueful smile.

At the sound of the nobleman's voice Poor Girl suddenly realized where she was. This was his grace's library. Only Butler Hong was allowed to enter here freely. All other servants had to have a specific task and the butler's permission to be here. She had barged in without thinking.

The thirteen year old used all her considerable skills at being out of the way to try and disappear.

"Thank you, your grace." The young man bowed to his host.

"Better you than me." Lao said looking up from his work. "They probably want to measure you for your party clothes. I had to go through all that last week."

"Oh Joy!" Sokka said without any enthusiasm.

Lao gave a little laugh at the younger man's sarcasm. Then his eyes fixed on poor girl as she stood by the table.

"You're the young girl who works with Madame Wang, aren't you?" The Grand Duke asked the servant.

Poor Girl froze. She didn't know what to do. She tried to shrink farther into herself. She had never been addressed by the Grand Duke before. She began to shiver in freight. She had barged into the great personage's sanctum, nearly shouting, and then had ignored him, so intent was she on her mission. Perhaps he would have her executed. At the very least she would be severely beaten.

She tried to respond but her throat had clamped shut in freight, and no sound would come out. All she could do was bow as low as she could. She thought about actually falling to her knees and kow towing to the Grand Duke. But her knees were shaking so badly she knew she would never be able to get up again, if she did.

She felt a gentle touch to her elbow, straightening her up. As she stood she snuck a quick look to see the young man who was now at her side, smiling reassuringly at her. Her heart leapt in her chest for a different reason now.

"Yes your grace." She heard the deep voice of the handsome young man say.

Poor girl felt the touch on her elbow move up to her shoulder, and gently guide her forward to the desk occupied by the Grand Duke. The contact sent a warm shiver through her.

"Or actually…" Sokka continued. "… I should say no, your grace. Since she is now Toph's…"

He had to think a moment to remember the phrase that the Grand Duke had used at breakfast, then he had it.

"Toph's lady's maid."

"Ah, yes I thought so." Lao agreed from his desk.

Lady's Maid. Poor girl thought. Me? She of course had heard the discussion of the high born at breakfast, but she had never associated what they were saying to herself. She had expected they were talking about hiring someone new.

"I'll have Butler Hong go over your new duties and responsibilities with you." The Grand Duke went on. "And also your new circumstances, salary, and living arrangements, and such."

Poor girl didn't know what to say. This was all so new and frightening. She had no idea what the great man meant by salary, she had never been paid in her life, and as for living arrangements, she slept on a pallet in her mother's room. She fell back on the servants' timeless response.

"Yes your grace."

Agreeing was always the best course.

"Please forgive me." Lao requested as he looked poor girl in the eye. "But I don't remember your name."

"Of course your grace." The servant replied with a deep bow.

It was quiet for a few moments.

"I think his grace wants to know your name." Sokka finally said nudging the girl in the arm.

"My name?!" Poor girl asked.

My Name?! The girl thought. No one had ever asked her for her name before. She had a name, she was sure of that, she just wasn't sure what it was. No one had used it, not even herself for… well she could not remember a time when her name had been spoken aloud. She had always been called girl for as far back as she could remember.

"Liling!" She finally blurted out. "Your grace."

She was pretty sure that was her name.

"Ah… Well Miss Liling…" The way the Grand Duke said the phrase he made it sound like a title. "You now have a very important position in this house. A position of great confidence and trust. As you know my daughter is blind and it will be your responsibility to make sure that she is dressed properly and appropriately for any occasions."

"Yes your grace." Poor girl said with a deep bow.

"But it is more than just that." The father looked into the servant's eyes. "Being a Lady's maid, means that you will be privy to your mistress's personal thoughts. My daughter will tell you things that you must never repeat to anyone. You will be her confidant, the person she can tell anything to, and receive an honest reply. You must never forget that."

"I won't your grace." The servant answered in as serious a tone as Lao had used with her, giving him a formal bow.

"I'm sure you won't." The Grand Duke said with a warm smile.

"Your grace." Sokka suddenly spoke up. "Also as Toph's personal servant that means she would only take orders from her mistress, isn't that correct?"

"Oh yes of course." Lao answered. "Butler Hong or Madame Chen might ask you to help them at times but you would only take orders from my daughter."

"So if Madame Wang, or even your grace were to command Miss Liling…" Sokka gave a small bow to the girl on the use of her new title. "… She would have the right to refuse, is that not correct?"

Lao thought a moment but then nodded in agreement.

"Yes, she is Toph's servant now, and no one else's." The Grand Duke finally agreed.

"I understand your grace." Poor girl said with a bow.

"Good, that's settled." The nobleman said and with a nasty little smile he added. "Now you should take our guest to whatever his name is and have him sacrificed to the spirits of fashion and society."

"I was hoping you had forgotten about that your grace." The tribesman said with his own rueful smile.

"Oh yes your grace." Poor Girl said with a bow remembering the reason she had come in the first place.

"After you, Miss Liling." Sokka said with a small bow to the girl.

"Thank you sir." The servant replied with an answering bow, leading the young man from the room.

.

Master Weimin stood in the audience chamber and waited.

He realized this was a bad sign. If someone as desperate to be the leader in fashion as the Grand Duchess was, was making a designer of his status wait, this could be the beginning of his decline.

It was that bastard Deming's fault. The young up and coming designer with all his silly new "Peace Fashions". Weimin had even heard rumors that Deming's new collection was going to feature the new "Water Tribe" look that was sweeping Ba Sing Se's underground scene. His contacts had written to tell him that all the teens were copying it and it would soon be everywhere.

Water Tribe! The designer thought. That little shit Deming knows as much about the Water Tribe as I do!

Which the designer had to admit was absolutely nothing. This party was going to be the party of the year in Gaoling. He had to pull this off, make a real statement or he would be finished as the top designer. And there was nothing so useless, as a fashion designer in decline.

If he had another near disaster like Baroness's Xu's party where half the guests were in Deming's less is more creations, Master Weimin did not think he would survive till his spring collection.

Maybe I should just storm out! He thought.

Making a scene would enhance his reputation as an artist, if nothing else, and it would get him out of this ridiculous situation. Dressing a girl who had the audacity to grow, as the Grand Duchess's messenger had informed him, since the last time he had gotten measurements from her. And now with only three days left before the party he had to redo everything.

Yes, storming out might be his best option.

The designer and his three female assistants turned at the sound of the door opening. It was a servant girl entering and holding the door open with a bow.

"Master Weimin! " Poor Girl announced. "May I present Master Sokka of the Water Tribe, who will be the escort to Mistress Toph."

"Water Tribe?" His first assistant, named Huifen, asked.

"Tasty…" His second assistant, Huiqing whispered.

"Yum, yum!" His third, Meixiu, growled.

"Hmmmm…" Weimin hummed.

The young man was handsome enough, a little thin, for the designer's taste, he liked his young men with more muscles. But he could work with this. The dark skin and the blue eyes were exotic, and the odd hair style, the sides of the head close cropped, and the top pulled back into a long high pony tail were new and strange. The clothing in various shades of blue with worn white trim helped the look. And all the weapons hanging from the belt definitely gave the young man a barbaric look.

Yes…! Weimin smiled. "I'll shove the Water Tribe Look right up Deming's ass."

"Off! Off!" The designer commanded waving his arms before him. "I have to see what I have to work with."

The three women ran forward and began to eagerly undress the surprised young man.

With an epic struggle Sokka was just able to retain possession of his pants, but that was all. Soon he found himself standing barefoot and shirtless, on a small wooden platform, more of a box really, in the middle of the room. Two of the women were running cloth measuring tapes up and around him, calling out numbers to the third woman, who wrote them down in a small book. The young Water Tribe entrepreneur was happy to note that it was an NAT dry pen and note book.

Poor girl observed the entire operation with complete fascination and a small blush on her cheeks.

The sound of a quiet cough behind her, surprised her, and she spun around to see who had entered the room without her noticing.

"Butler Hong!" She said giving a quick low bow.

"Miss… Liling." The butler replied with his own small bow. "And I am sure you know Miss Cuifen, her grace's Lady's Maid."

"Miss Cuifen." Poor Girl said bowing to the well-dressed woman.

"Miss Liling." The woman in her thirties replied with her own much smaller bow.

"His grace has informed me of your new position in the household." The butler went on. "And has asked me to explain your new circumstances and duties to you."

"Whoa! Hey!" The young tribesman cried, from atop the wooden stand.

"I have to get your inseam." A woman's voice replied.

"Perhaps it would be better if we continued this in the hall where we will have more privacy." Hong suggested, indicating the door.

"HEY! She just measured that!" The three heard the young man call out as they left the room.

"That was for the right leg, I'm measuring the left." A sultry woman's voice could be heard replying just as the butler closed the door behind them.

.

"Miss Liling, I took the liberty of asking Miss Cuifen's help in this matter once his Grace explained your new position in the household." Hong told Poor Girl once they were in the hallway. "As her Grace's Lady's Maid she knows far more about your new duties than I do, and she has graciously offered her assistance to you."

"Thank you Miss Cuifen." Poor Girl said giving a low bow to the woman who answered with a condescending nod.

"As to your new circumstances…" The butler went on. "From now on you will take your meals with the rest of the staff in the servants' hall downstairs. You will sit across from Miss Cuifen. Please be prompt."

"Yes, Butler Hong." Poor Girl answered with a low bow.

She knew where the servants' hall was, but had never sat at the long table with the rest of the staff. The young mistress until very recently had always taken her meals in her room and Poor Girl had always been given a small portion by Madame Wang after the meal was over.

"As to living arrangements…" Hong began, returning the bow. "As you are aware we are rather cramped with all the extra staff brought on for the party, but Miss Cuifen…" The butler bowed to the woman at the mention of her name. "Has generously offered to share her own room with you until after the party and more permanent arrangements can be made. I will have a cot brought in and you can move your things this afternoon."

Liling bowed again to the older woman, who returned the bow with a somewhat stern look in her eye. Poor girl was used to sleeping on a palate on the floor of her mother's room, so sharing a room would be no hardship for her.

"As Miss Bei Fong's Lady's Maid, you will get one afternoon off each week, at your mistresses convenience of course." The butler continued.

"Of course." Poor Girl agreed with a bow.

She had never had any time off in her life so the idea of having time during the day when she could do whatever she wanted had her wondering what she would do during that time.

"And finally you will be paid one and one half gold pieces each month starting from today." Hong told her.

Poor girl had never been paid, had never had any or ever used any money in her life. She had heard people talk about money, and she knew that gold was very valuable but that was about all she did know.

"Speaking of her salary…" Miss Cuifen added. "Perhaps it would be possible for Miss Liling to get a small advance on this first month's pay, to enable her to get some new clothes more fitting to her new role in the household. Also she will be helping Miss Bei Fong dress at the party and will need something appropriate for such a public occasion."

"Hmmm…" The butler thought for a moment. "Yes, I'm sure that can be arranged. I'll have the funds drawn by this afternoon."

"Thank you." Poor girl said with a bow, after a look from her grace's lady's maid.

"Well now that that is all settled, I will leave you in the most capable hands of Miss Cuifen, who can explain your new duties to you." Butler Hong said with a small bow to the two women and before they could rise from their answering bows had already turned and was striding swiftly yet decorously down the hall.

Poor girl turned to the older servant, who was giving her a stern look in reply.

"First…" Miss Cuifen said holding up a finger. "You're bowing too much and too low. You're not a servant girl anymore but a Lady's Maid. I haven't spent the last fifteen years establishing my place in this house to have you come along and destroy all my hard work."

"Yes, Miss Cuifen." Poor Girl said with a bow.

"You will only initiate a bow to those above you. All the maids and footmen will bow to you first and you will answer. Is that understood?"

"Yes Miss Cuifen."

"To myself and Madame Wang you will bow here." The older servant said holding out her hand to indicate the height of the bow. "To Madame Chen, the Housekeeper, here, to Butler Hong, here, to Miss Bei Fong here, to her grace here, and to the Grand Duke here."

"Yes Miss Cuifen." Poor Girl answered, bowing to the height she had been instructed to use.

"Oh yes…" Her Grace's Lady's Maid said thoughtfully. "There is also Miss Wu, the Grand Duchess' Secretary. She is neither a servant nor is she a guest in this house. She has no authority over any of us, but she often communicates instructions from her grace, and should be shown proper respect. You will bow to her here."

"Yes, Miss Cuifen."

"Very good." The older woman complimented her with a small bow of her own. "You learn quickly, don't forget it."

"I won't, Miss Cuifen." The younger woman responded with only a small nod this time, even though it felt very wrong and disrespectful.

"Next, you are a Lady's Maid now, even if your mistress does not have a title yet, technically she is the first born of a noble family, and if the stories of her intimate association with his majesty during the war are true, it won't be long before she has a title all her own. Never forget that you represent her and you must never bring dishonor, scandal, or worst of all, derision on her."

"Yes Miss Cuifen." Poor Girl answered seriously with a proper bow.

"You will only take orders from your mistress, her grace and myself. Is that clear?"

"Forgive me…" Poor Girl answered apologetically with a bow. "But his grace the Grand Duke instructed me that I was only to take orders from Miss Bei Fong herself."

That earned a dark look from the older servant.

"Well…" The woman finally said to the young girl. "If those are his grace's instructions then there is nothing else to be said on the matter."

"I will give you a list of shops where you can get some proper clothes." Cuifen told her, moving on to the next topic. "Tell them that I sent you, and of your new position and they will be able to dress you appropriately."

"Thank you, you are most generous." Poor Girl responded, genuinely grateful.

"Now…" The older woman said in such a serious tone that Poor Girl knew that they had come to the most important topic of all. "What do know about hair?"

"Hair, miss?" Liling asked in return.

"I thought as much!" Miss Cuifen answered defeated. "Well I'll teach you what I can in the time we have, but don't worry I'll do your mistress' hair for the party as well as her grace's. But don't forget you will owe me."

"Oh I won't forget." Poor Girl said with a proper bow.

"And if you do ever forget, don't worry, I'll be sure to remind you." The older servant said in a most serious tone.

.

Sokka was desperately holding onto the waist of his pants, while the two young women with the tape measures were industriously trying to pull the same waist band down.

"You don't need to measure that!" The young man decreed.

"We've measured everything else." Right side said through gritted teeth, while tugging with all her might.

"You want your pants to fit, don't you?" Left side grunted pulling just as hard on her side.

Just then a servant opened the door and announced,

"The Grand Duchess will see you now in her sitting room."

The young girl then exited the room and closed the door, but not before the occupants, who were frozen by her entrance, heard her giggling laugh.

Sokka found himself stumbling back out of the way as the wooden box was pulled out from under him, and the three women and one man grabbed up their various books drawings and sacks of material and rushed out the door. He breathed a sigh, got his clothes back on and made his escape to the quiet of the library.

.

Toph stood in her loin cloth and breast wrap, feeling grateful that she had been allowed to keep even this modicum of clothing, on the wooden box just recently pulled out from under her boyfriend. Being cut off from her element she had very little sense of what exactly was going on around her. She felt the cold hands on her skin, which was still stinging and warm from the depilation. And she felt the tape measures slithering across her skin, and heard the two women calling out numbers to the third.

As one of the women passed a tape around her chest, she heard the number called out, and more importantly, the tone in the woman's voice. The woman was obviously disappointed with the number.

"Yeah!" Toph thought. "No tits!

"Don't worry mother." She reassured the Grand Duchess in her mind. "There are plenty of men who will pay extra for no tits and no hair."

Where did that come from? The small bender asked herself.

It was crowded in the smallish room. Poor Girl was standing out of the way speaking quietly with Miss Cuifen; Miss Wu was standing near the Grand Duchess making notes in a book. Miss Gao and two of her spa girls were standing near the inner door in case they were needed, plus there was Weimin and his three helpers. The room was starting to get hot and close and Toph was starting to feel a little woozy standing on the box.

The measuring went on and on. They measured everything. They even measured her fingers and toes, and even to the tip of her nose. Finally Weimin declared that they were finished and the designer and his crew began to pack up their things.

Toph felt a gentle hand on her arm as someone helped her down off of the small wooden stand. Once her bare feet hit the stone floor she breathed a heartfelt sigh of relief. Using her bending she felt that it was Poor Girl by her side helping her to a couch by the wall. The servant then helped the bender get dressed, which was an even greater relief, even if it meant she had to dress in front of all these people.

"I'll have everything ready for the final fitting for all four of you the day after tomorrow." The designer declared as they headed for the door.

Miss Gao and the spa servants were dismissed.

As Toph finished getting dressed Poppy came over and handed her daughter a pair of very thick wooden wedges with silk cords attached to them.

"Here, put these on." The Grand Duchess told her.

"What are they?" Toph asked, fumbling with them.

"They're shoes of course." Poppy told her with an edge to her voice. "You will be dancing in a pair like that so you will need to get used to them, especially with the dance practice this afternoon."

The blind girl gave a groan and sat down to put the clunky things on.

.

Sokka pulled Ty Lee's letter towards him and finally broke the seal on the scroll. As he unrolled it he noticed how elegant the calligraphy was. He was also fascinated by the little illustrations on the page.

"Dear Dreamy." The letter began, Sokka noticed that the character for Dreamy had little hearts drawn around it.

"You wrote me a letter! No one has ever written me a letter before. That is so nice! You really are a real Sweetie! Wow, your trip sounds a lot more fun than ours, what with battles with sea serpents and all."

Sokka had written her describing the fights in the Serpents Pass. It sounded that she had written after receiving his first letter. He had not included the trouble in the desert. The second letter had the fight in the restaurant and the faire and the Travelers.

"I would love to see a real sea serpent. We have not seen the Unagi yet but I hope we will soon."

"Our trip was not as exciting as yours. Once we got to the train station we walked to the harbor to board our ship."

...

The two Kyoshi Warriors walked down from the train station, Ty Lee struggling under the bulky weight of her two large duffels, though within only a few strides of the station two young men had volunteered to carry them for her, and the acrobat had sweetly accepted.

"You're so strong!" The young woman had remarked feeling the biceps of the young men was they walked along.

Suki snorted at Ty Lee's antics. Only Ty could be walking along heavily armed and in full armor with every bit of skin covered and still exude sex as if it were a fog streaming off of the young woman.

A third young man had offered to take Suki's small duffle bag, but she had politely refused the offer, and when the young man had insisted and unwisely reached for the strap on her shoulder, she grabbed his hand, twisting it into a wrist lock that drove the fellow onto the ground where he begged to be forgiven and released.

The rest of the trip to the docks was uneventful and fairly quick.

"Fire Navy!" One of the young men observed, when he saw the ship the two women were going toward.

"Yes!" Ty Lee said brightly. "They're taking us to Kyoshi Island. We're Kyoshi Warriors."

She said this last with a little hop into a very fierce pose, that seemed cuter then it was fierce.

"Can't say I've ever heard of Kyoshi Warriors before." The other young man commented. "But if they all look like you two, I hope to meet a lot of them in the future."

"That'd be fun!" The acrobat replied.

Suki just snorted again.

The two young men were turned away at the gang plank, but two Fire Navy sailors on the ship were more than happy to help the young woman with her baggage and even led them to the stateroom the two would share on the trip. Ty Lee thanked them and sent them on their way.

"I'll take the top bunk." She told Suki. "I love bunk beds!"

"Fine!" The commander replied.

…

"The trip on the boat was not very fun." Sokka read. "Poor Suki was sea sick every morning. But all the sailors and especially the officers were really nice to us."

….

Ty Lee stood out on the bow of the ship leaning back on the railing and looking up at the rigging of the cranes. It was a supply ship and had extensive cranes and cables to load and unload the cargo. She was thinking that it would be fun to run around on the cables, high above the deck.

She was in her pink two piece outfit. It was her favorite since it was pink and girly looking. It showed off her breasts nicely, which she felt were her best feature, even though her gymnastics coach had told her she would never get very far in competition because her chest was too big.

It also showed off her stomach and small waist, which she worked very hard to keep looking good but not too muscular. That was the problem with her arms and legs and she usually kept them covered. Because of all her training they were muscular and boyish. They were the reason she preferred to wear pink. So she would look girly.

"Pammy! What are you doing on board?"

Ty Lee looked to the cute young officer that had just addressed her. She hadn't noticed his approach because she had been staring up at the rigging.

"Hi cutie!" She answered leaning back on the railing a little more and pushing her chest out

"This is such a wonderful surprise." The young man said stepping in and placing his hand on her waist.

"Hello!?" The acrobat asked moving away from the hand.

"Pammy? What? I thought at Patel's party we had a connection." The officer replied moving in closer.

"I'm not Pammy!" Ty Lee said poking the boy in the chest with a surprisingly strong finger. "Oh….! You probably met my sister Pam Lee."

"But you look just like Pammy." The young man said looking confused.

"Well yes… but I'm Ty Lee." She explained.

The young man studied her face for a moment, then a look of understanding flashed across his face.

"Oh… Forgive me." The officer said with a bow. "I meant no disrespect my lady."

"Oh that's ok." She told him with a sad little laugh. "It happens all the time."

"Well if you will excuse me I have to return to my duties, my lady." The officer said with a second low bow.

"Oh sure." Ty Lee answered returning the bow.

The young man turned and walked quickly back to the main superstructure of the ship. The young woman turned and looked out over the bow, relaxing her stomach muscles, but tensing her glutes as she bent over the railing.

….

"The Capitan was especially nice." The letter went on. "Though he told me some things about how mean the Fire Navy was to the Kyoshiians."

….

"My lady?"

Ty Lee turned at this new voice. This was an older man, in his thirties probably. She had seen him before up on the bridge when the ship had pulled out from the pier the day before.

"Hi." She said with a little wave.

"I'm Commander Xu, captain of the Boarkipine Tusk." The officer said with a bow.

Ty Lee answered with a bow of her own and a furrowed brow. She knew the name of the ship so that made sense but she was confused by the man calling himself both a Commander and a Captain.

"I had no idea that one of our passengers was from such an exalted family. Please accept the offer of my own cabin in place of the small stateroom you are now in." The Captain told her.

"Oh no… Please, we're fine where we are." The acrobat told him. "And please can we keep my family connections quiet. It's so much easier if I'm just a Kyoshi Warrior returning to the islands."

Ty Lee had been trying to escape from her family for over a year now.

"About that, my Lady…" The officer said looking embarrassed. "You may not find the islands very welcoming for you."

"Why not?" She asked.

"Well, my lady." The Captain explained. "After the disaster at the North Pole when the Avatar destroyed the Grand Northern Fleet, the Fire Navy was desperate to try to restore our honor and show our worth to the Fire Lord."

"The Army had such great success in expanding the colonies and the capture of Omashu, as well as prosecuting the siege of Ba Sing Se, that we in the navy needed something to justify our need to rebuild."

"The Kyoshi Islands became the obvious choice, since they had no navy. A plan was devised to work up to an invasion and conquest of the islands. The Islanders had always relied on their Sea Serpent to protect them. So Phase one of the plan was to neutralize the beast."

"The few Capital Ships we had…" The Captain saw the confused look on his passenger's face, so he explained what he meant. "Large battle ships. They used their trebuchets, large stone throwers, to shoot large quantities of poison into the main harbor of the large island."

"We hoped this would have two effects. The first would be to kill or weaken the serpent by either poisoning it, or at the least killing its main food source, the giant koi. The second effect would be to force the Kyoshi fishing boats to go out to sea to maintain their catches."

"We knew that the Islanders relied on fish as a main source of food. Their fishing boats were small wind or oar powered vessels, and on the open sea they were easy prey for our small fast patrol ships. We soon captured or killed the crews and sank all the fishing boats."

"Once that was done we moved on to Phase Two. These were raids on the coastal villages and towns, much as the Southern Raiders did against the Southern Water Tribe. We actually landed troops and burned all the settlements along the coast. This drove the people inland, many of them injured, to strain the resources of the islands even further."

"Fortunately for the islanders the new Fire Lord ended operations before we moved on to the invasion Phase of the plan. I'm telling you all this to let you know that the islanders suffered greatly, and are still suffering due to the actions of the Fire Nation."

"It will be months before all the prisoners are returned, and it will be years before the coastal settlements and the fishing fleet is rebuilt. During those years the people will suffer famine and overcrowding which has already led to disease and even more deaths although the war is over."

"The Islanders' anger towards the Fire Nation is real and passionate. They will not let our ships, not even our civilian ships, land at their ports. If they find out that you are a daughter of one of the great families of the Fire Nation… I will fear for your safety, even your life."

….

"By the time we got to the island we were happy to get off the boat." The letter had a little drawing of an island in the distance. "Although when we got ashore it might have been better if we had stayed on the boat."

….

Ty Lee sat in the forward section of the small launch as it moved across the dark bay. The only sounds were the hiss of the boiler, the murmurs of the crew, the chug and clanking of the engine. She looked over the side at the grey cloudy waters. Nothing moved in them. The large bay was lifeless.

A groan from Suki, sitting on the bench ahead of her made her look up. They were both in their Kyoshi Warrior Uniforms. Even covered in the thick face paint, Ty Lee could see that her commander was not well. Suki had thrown up over the side once already during the trip into the village.

The acrobat looked toward the fast approaching shore. The white sand ending in lifeless burned out forest. The black sticks of charred trees standing stark against the mountain in the distance.

"Prepare to beach!" The officer in charge of the launch ordered.

The sailors began to move, the tempo of the engine slowed, and the hiss of steam increased.

Ty Lee could see the village now. It was small, only a collection of rude shacks made mostly from charred pieces of the houses that had once stood there. She could see people, their clothes covered in soot and dirt, until it was all a dark grey, moving, working, slowly to clear away the last of the burnt out homes.

The only color was the group of people in dark green waiting on the beach. It was the rest of the warriors who had arrived a few days earlier. Their uniforms and face paint standing out on the white sterile sand, as they stood in a semicircle waiting for the boat to land.

The acrobat jumped at the piercing shriek of the launches whistle. The sailors moved to their positions. The boat slowed even more. The people on the shore stopped their work and looked to the beach. There was a hiss and a lurch as the bow ran up onto the sand.

Suki jumped onto the beach and was caught by the waiting warriors. Ty Lee followed. A sailor handed over the duffels, which were taken up by three of the warriors. There was another blast on the whistle and the launch was backing away, pulling out into the bay.

The group in green walked up through the burnt out village.

"Don't worry everyone. Our great commander has finally returned to protect us." A villager called out to the warriors. "Too bad there is nothing left to protect!"

"Did you find all the glory you were looking for chasing after the Avatar?" Another called out.

"Chasing after her boyfriend you mean." A nearby young woman's voice added in an undertone.

Ty Lee looked to see who had said this last, she felt sure it was one of the warriors walking with her, but she couldn't be sure.

"Are you happy now?!" A woman called out from the crowd forming around the warriors. "You left and brought the Fire Nation down on us. My husband is gone but you're here!"

"Where's my mother?!" A young boy called out. "She's buried up on the hill! That's where! She got sick and died! But you're back!"

"And my son?!" An older woman asked. "Taken prisoner and yet to return! But they let you go!"

Ty Lee looked over the villagers for signs of trouble. The faces were angry, but also sad and grey, their eyes and cheeks sunken.

The warriors made a protective circle around their leader as the procession continued up the road. More people stopped what they were doing and came to join the crowd, anything was better than the mind numbing labor of cleaning up the burned out buildings.

As they moved up the hill deeper into the village the crowd grew and the calls to the leader more ugly.

"Because of you I have lost my home, my husband and two sons!" An older woman called out, shaking her fist at Suki.

The rest of the crowd shouted support for the woman. More fists were raised. Ty Lee singled the woman out as the first she would take down if it came to blows, which would be very soon.

"What's all this?!" An older man called out. "What's all the noise about?!"

An old man, his clothes too large for his shrunken frame, pushed his way through the crowd.

"Suki!" He called out in welcome when he saw the leader of the warriors. "Thank Kyoshi you have finally returned!"

The old man bowed to the warrior woman.

"Elder Oyaji!" Suki said in greeting, returning the bow. "I am glad to be back."

"Word of how you saved half the Earth Kingdom from fiery obliteration and destroyed the Fire Nation Air Fleet has reached us here." He said in a loud voice, more to the crowd than the warrior. "Let me offer my congratulations. Now when we receive aid from the Earth Kingdom it will be in repayment for your actions not as charity."

This small speech of the Elder had mollified the crowd of villagers. The resentment faded and an embarrassed silence took its place.

"Well…" Oyaji voice filled the void. "We all have work to do, best get back to it."

The crowd broke up with the villagers returning to the tasks they had left. With a gesture the Elder beckoned Suki to walk with him up through the village.

"We are having a council meeting tomorrow morning where my house used to be." Oyaji told her as they walked.

"I will be there Elder." Suki replied.

"Good! We all have much work to do. The earlier we start, the earlier we will be finished." The old man said.

"Oh NO!" Suki cried as they reached the end of the village.

"Yes, the statue to Avatar Kyoshi had to be cut down." Oyaji told her.

Ty Lee could see the base but no statue, just a charred wooden pillar on the ground nearby.

"But we will make a new and better one." The Elder consoled the warrior. "Just as we will build a bigger and better Dojo someday.

Suki's breath caught in her throat at these words. Finally she was able to respond.

"Yes Elder." She agreed.

Oyaji left them there and returned to the burnt out wreck of his once large house. The warriors proceeded up into the hills. Finally the group came to the end of the path. Ty Lee looked ahead and saw the burnt out remains of a building. Black charred timbers in a jumbled pile. Of the forest around the structure, there was nothing left but the blackened trunks of burnt trees sticking up against the grey soil.

The rest of the teenagers stopped, but Suki continued on, clambering over and through the burnt out mess that had once been her centuries old home and training center. Where she had been inducted into the ancient order she was now the leader of.

Finally when she reached the middle of what had once been the dojo she dropped to her knees and wept.

After a minute or so Akemi, the second in command made her way into the wreckage and stood by her leader. She placed a hand on Suki's shoulder and told her.

"It's alright. Just like the Elder said, we'll build a bigger and better Dojo. We can start in the morning."

"No!" Suki answered sharply. "Just the same, it will be just the same as it has been for centuries!"

The teenager wiped the tears from her face, smearing her white makeup with the black soot from her gloved hands as she stood.

"And we won't start in the morning!" She told her subordinate. "We'll start right now!"

"Kyoshi Warriors!" She called to her command. "Fall in, we have work to do!"

….

"Dreamy, you're smart, like 'Zula." Ty lee's letter asked. "Why do people have to be so mean to each other? I don't understand it. Why can't they be nice? That would be so much better."

Sokka wasn't sure if he liked being compared to the crazy fire princess, but he wished he had an answer for Ty's question.

"Well anyway…" The letter went on. "…Thanks again so much for your letter. I just loved it. If you could I would love to get another one, and if you write me I'll write you back and we could have a whole letter thing. Wouldn't that be fun?!"

The character for fun had little stars drawn around it.

"Yours truly, Ty Lee" The letter concluded, with a little sketch of the acrobat smiling and waving.

Sokka smiled as he rolled up the scroll. He pulled a piece of paper from the blank pile and began to write his reply.

.

"Mother, I'm not wearing them!" Toph insisted as she entered the dining room for lunch.

The 'them' were the heavy wedge shaped shoes being carried by Poor Girl who was rushing to keep up with the irate earthbender.

"Toph, you must wear them, the look of the outfit is based on those shoes. You cannot go barefoot!" Poppy declared following her daughter and the servant into the room.

Sokka looked expectantly to the Grand Duke who was standing at the head of the table. The two men had arrived a few minutes before Toph made her entrance.

The noble stood for a moment returning the tribesman's look and then realized the significance of it. Lao was the head of the household and as such he was the one to resolve any problems between his wife and his daughter. With a sigh the older man entered into the disagreement.

"Why can't you wear them Toph dear?"

"They hurt!" She answered bluntly.

"Oh as if that was a reason for a woman not to wear something." Her mother scoffed.

"Just look at them." Poor Girl held up the offending items for the Grand Duke to examine.

"They do seem a bit extreme." Lao observed.

"Nonsense!" Poppy declared. "They are very fashionable, and will make Toph look much taller."

"They make me feel like I'm sliding downhill, cramming my toes into the end!" the bender retorted. "I can hardly walk in them let alone dance."

"Toph sees with her bending." Lao heard a low voice whisper by his side, startled he turned to see Sokka had approached him during the discussion. "She can't bend with those on, it would be like you or I trying to dance blindfolded."

"Really?" The Grand Duke asked in his own whisper.

He was answered by a nod from the young man. Lao had never realized how his daughter used her bending.

"What about slippers?" Sokka asked the young woman. "You could still use your bending; if you could get by in your snow boots you should have no problem with thin soled slippers."

"I'd rather be barefoot." Toph answered. "But… yes I suppose I could get by ok in slippers."

"Then why don't you wear the slippers." Lao suggested. "It would be much better for you to be comfortable, especially for the dancing."

"But I ordered those shoes especially." Poppy protested.

"I know dear." The Grand Duke commiserated. "But the slippers could be decorated with pearls and gem stones, with gold thread embroidery which would be very pretty."

"Well if everyone is against me I guess I have no choice." The Grand Duchess conceded with ill grace. "You can wear the slippers."

"Thank you mother." Toph said with a bow.

"And thank you father." She said walking up to him and giving him a hug.

"Excellent!" Lao said happily. "Now for some lunch, I'm starving."

"Me too." Sokka agreed.

"Meathead, you're always starving." Toph commented, though she flashed the tribesman a little smile along with the criticism.

Before the Grand Duke could ring, Butler Hong entered the dining room.

"Forgive me your Grace." The servant said bowing to the nobleman. "But the Baron and Baroness of Shanjia have just arrived, with family and attendants."

Poppy immediately brightened from her sour mood of a moment before at the news, Lao's mood, in compensation, seemed to sour in turn.

"Please show them in, and inform the kitchen that we will be having guests for lunch." The Grand Duke told the butler.

"Yes your grace." Hong, who had picked up on his master's mood, bowed and exited quickly.

"The Baroness is Poppy's sister." The Grand Duke explained to Sokka.

Soon the door opened again and Butler Hong stepped in.

"Your Graces…" The servant announced. "…May I present the Baron and Baroness of Shanjia with their daughter Jasmine and son Delun."

Sokka watched as a rather plump very well dressed man of average height, about forty came in, followed by a young girl around nine, then a boy around six, and finally a slim woman, also about forty and even more elegantly dressed than the man.

"Rose!" The Grand Duchess called.

"Poppy!" The second woman cried, dropping into a bow, but then rushing in to embrace her sister.

The two women hugged and then kissed each other on the cheeks.

"Your Grace." The man said with a bow to Lao.

"Baron." The Grand Duke answered with his own bow. "And may I present my daughter Toph."

"Well what a cute little thing." The Baron said, patting the young woman on the head. "I can see why you've been hiding her away all these years, she's such a sweet child."

Toph just growled and took a half step away from the man.

"And this is our guest Sokka, grandson of the chief of the Southern Water Tribe." Lao said indicating the young man.

"Water Tribe?" The Baron asked in horrified shock.

The tribesman bowed to the Baron in a polite manner. He noticed that the older man did not return the bow. Sokka watched as a number of emotions flashed across the man's face from surprise, to horror, and many other expressions but finally settling on a combination of mostly distaste with a healthy dose of hate on top.

Sokka had never seen anything like that look before and he was shocked by it. He didn't even know this man, yet apparently he was hated by him for no reason. It made no sense to the young man.

The tribesman caught of flicker of movement from the little girl and turning to look saw her whisper something to her brother who stared at Sokka as if the blue eyed teen had just grown a second set of eyes.

Strange family! Sokka thought.

"Poppy…" Rose hissed as she pulled her sister away from the table. "He's not actually a wet is he?"

"I'm afraid so." The Grand Duchess whispered back, the embarrassment evident in her face.

"And you're letting him stay here, in your house?" The baroness hissed, horrified.

"Oh no, we have him out in a guest house in the garden." Poppy whispered in explanation.

"Thank Oma for that!" Her sister whispered in relief, but then she added in confusion. "Then what is he doing here?"

"Lao keeps inviting him to dine with us." The Grand Duchess answered defensively. "I've tried to explain it to his grace but he just refuses to understand."

"You mean he eats here, at your table?" The baroness asked, she was so overcome with shock at the revelation that her voice was nearly audible to the others in the room.

Poppy, so overcome with mortification, could only nod.

"I won't pretend to understand how you can allow your daughter to sit at the same table as a wet." Rose hissed vehemently to her sister. "But I will not subject my children to anything so insulting as sitting next to some animal and forcing them to pretend it is a human being!"

With this last the baroness turned to the Grand Duke and announced into the quiet that had descended on the room,

"We will be taking our meals in our rooms."

"Excellent idea, my dear." The Baron concurred.

"If you will excuse us?" He added bowing to the Grand Duke, who politely returned the bow, followed by Sokka and Toph.

"Hong please show the Baron and his family to their rooms." Lao said with undisguised abruptness.

The butler bowed and led the family from the dining room.

Katara walked up the road toward the street of the book sellers. She had left late that morning for the middle ring to do some shopping for the trip to Toph's party. She and Aang planned to leave tomorrow evening, and fly across the desert at night when it would be cooler, and then stop for a rest and nap the next morning before arriving at Gaoling in the early afternoon.

She had already gotten a pair of presents for Toph for her birthday, as well as some dried fruit and nuts to snack on during the trip. Now she was heading for the book sellers to find something to read on the trip. Riding in the saddle all alone was boring and you could only look at so much scenery.

It was lunch time and she was getting hungry. She decided to grab something after she got her new book.

As she began to look at the tables set out in front of the stalls she heard the whispers start up. She was not surprised. Thinking about seeing her brother again in a few days had made her homesick and she had worn her water tribe outfit today. Any time she went into the city dressed water tribe she always created more comment from the citizens.

"Look! It's the Waterbender." A young woman said pointing towards her.

Katara was used to such comments. It used to upset her until her brother had explained that in a city of millions who had never seen anyone from the tribes before, let alone a waterbender, for the citizens of Ba Sing Se it would be like one of the siblings finding a snow flower in the spring, something strange and wonderful. The people of the city might even think of them as good luck charms of sorts.

Since then Katara just tried to ignore the stares and the comments, though she always made an effort to look her best when she went out.

As she moved down the shops she saw ahead that the largest store had a gigantic display. It even had a large colorful banner over the entrance announcing,

"It's Here! The Dark Twins by Lee Loo Ling"

Under the banner was a table stacked high with new books. On the table were signs reading,

"Based on True Events!"

"How the Avatar was really brought back!"

"A Must Read!"

"Best Seller"

"How the War Really Ended!"

"It has everything, Romance, Adventure, Action, Water tribe Magic, and Water Tribe Passion!"

The tribeswoman walked towards the table. She had to admit that she was intrigued by the 'Water Tribe Magic', whatever that was, and the mention of her boyfriend the Avatar.

"Excuse me?"

Katara stopped and turned. It was a young woman about her own age bowing to her. She returned the bow.

"You're the Waterbender aren't you?" The girl asked.

"I'm a waterbender." Katara answered.

"Would you please sign my book for me?" The girl asked holding out an open copy of "The Dark Twins" and a dry pen.

Katara did not understand, but she saw no harm in it, so she signed the girl's book for her.

"Your brother's not with you, is he." The girl asked looking up and down the street.

"A… no he's with a friend in Gaoling." The waterbender explained.

"Oh…" The girl sighed with a little pout taking back the pen and the book. "It would have been perfect if I could have gotten his autograph too. Well maybe on the next book."

"Maybe." Katara agreed, still a little lost.

"Thank you!" The girl said with a bow. "Everyone at school will scream when I show them this."

Katara watched as the girl ran off to her friends who actually did scream a little when she showed them the waterbender's signature in the book.

The tribeswoman just shook her head and continued to the table full of books.

Sokka was back in the library, working on his correspondence, after the rather quiet lunch, when the door burst open and a husky young man, probably in his thirties, with a long thin black mustache matched by a long thin black beard growing from the center of his lower lip, in Earth Kingdom armor, came striding into the room.

"Your Grace!" Butler Hong said coming in after the officer, trying desperately to not look like he was chasing the younger man, but walking very fast for all that. "May I present Colonel the lord Rong Hu, who has just arrived."

"Thank you Hong." The Grand Duke said rising and moving to greet the soldier.

"Don't blame Hong, cousin Lao." Colonel Hu told his relative. "He wanted to do it right but I was too impatient."

"You always are Rong." The older man answered the younger.

The two bowed to each other then Rong Hu embraced the Grand Duke, who was obviously uncomfortable by the familiarity.

"And this is our guest Sokka." Lao said indicating the blued eyed teen. "he is a friend of our daughter, Toph."

"Sokka?" The colonel mused examining the young man. "Are you water tribe?"

"Southern Tribe." The teen answered.

Colonel Hu stared for a few moments, then he became very serious as he said,

"Sokka Water Tribe."

The young man placed his left hand on the hilt of his sword at his side.

"Are you Sokka of the day of the Black Sun?" The officer asked, in a quiet and intense voice, with a hard look in his eyes.

The tribesman moved his right hand to his left arm, taking a slow half step forward on his right foot, ready to draw Spring Rain in an instant.

"Yes I planned and towards the end led the invasion on the Day of Black Sun." The teen affirmed.

"Lao, do you know who you have under your roof?" Rong asked his cousin.

"Yes, and he is a friend of my daughter's and a guest in my house." The Grand Duke said with great dignity.

"Guest! Guest?!" The officer nearly shouted.

Lao stepped back at the vehemence of the exclamation.

"Cousin, this is Sokka of the Day of Black Sun! Sokka of the Boiling Rock! Sokka the Black Sword! Sokka of the Air Ship Slice! This is the young man who saved the Earth Kingdom and won the war!"

The colonel became more and more excited as he spoke until by the end he was nearly dancing.

"Well Avatar Aang…" Sokka began to explain.

"The Avatar, he was just finally doing his job, he should have done it a hundred years ago." Colonel Hu said.

"You don't know what it was like, Lao." The officer went on before Sokka could object. "There was half a million of us, a half a million, the largest army ever assembled. And the news was all bad. First Omashu had fallen, then the big one. Ba Sing Se, betrayed by those traitorous bastards the Dai Li, and just given to the Fire Nation. On top of that the Avatar who had finally returned had been killed in the takeover. When we lost Ba Sing Se, and the Avatar, we knew it was over. We had lost the war, a half a million of us, and we couldn't do a thing. Troops were deserting by the thousands every day. We had given up."

The frustration and sadness was evident in the soldier's voice and face as he told the story.

"And then there was the eclipse, and the next day we start hearing the story. About how this kid, just a teenager, not even a bender, and Water Tribe on top of that. But he's got guts and brains, and he hasn't given up." Rong's voice became thick with emotion. "No he hasn't given up, so what does he do? He scrapes together whatever he can and he does something no one in the history of the world has ever done before. He fucking invades the capital of the strongest nation in the world. He lands his force right on the doorstep of the Fire Lord himself, on the one day that he has a chance. The Day of Black Sun. And he's got the Avatar with him. Who's not dead, it was all part of the plan."

"And what does the most powerful leader in the world do, when this kid shows up with this tiny ragtag force. The mighty Ozai hides in a hole in the ground shitting his pants. Scared out of his mind! And if it wasn't for the Dai Li the kid would have had Ozai. If we ever get our hands on those cock suckers, we'll make them pay."

"I found out later that it was agents of the White Lotus that had spread the story. At the time we didn't know if it was true or not, but just the idea of it breathed new life into the army. A few days later we heard that Bumi, all by himself had kicked the Fire Nation out of Omashu.

"We started to move again. Desertions stopped. And we began to fight, and as we took prisoners we found out that the story was true. All of it. And the army swore an oath, all half million of us. That like that Water Tribe kid, who wasn't a bender, all he had was brains, guts, and the will to fight on no matter what, that we would never give up, we would fight on no matter the odds, that even if it took us another hundred years we would win this war!"

"You don't have a guest in your house cousin Lao." The colonel said in all sincerity, with tears in his eyes, and giving a low bow to the young man. "You have the man who saved an army, turned the tide, and won the war!"

It was late afternoon before Katara finally returned to the house in the upper ring. She put her purchases on the table in the main room. She couldn't believe she had bought a copy of that silly book. Well it would give her something light to read on the trip.

It was a few hours later after she had finished all she had to do, and was sitting down to enjoy a cup of tea when she heard a knock on the front door.

Upon opening the door she discovered that it was early evening outside, and there was a well-dressed young man at her door.

"Yes?" She asked the stranger.

The young man studied her face for a few seconds, which was at least a change for the attractive young woman; she was used to men looking at everything but her face.

"Forgive me for staring." The man said with a bow. "My name is Kang Ma, an employee of Grand Duke Lao Bei Fong, and I have been tasked with delivering this letter to Katara, sister to Sokka of the Southern Water Tribe. I was just trying to identify you from the many portraits of you found in the popular press."

"So is it me?" Katara asked him.

"I believe so, but the artists have not done you justice." Kang replied with another small bow.

"How about this?" The waterbender asked, moving her hand fluidly through the air until a small drop of moisture hung from the tip of her finger.

Katara then flipped the drop into the air between the two of them, and with a breath froze it solid. She then, with a gesture, held it suspended in the air in front of the young man's face.

"Beautiful!" Kang exclaimed, holding out his hand.

The young woman let the ice drop fall into his hand, where he stared at it while it melted from the heat of his palm.

"Beautiful and talented, the stories about you are all true, Miss Katara." The young man bowed again, and as he rose up he held out a sealed scroll to the young woman.

"Thank you." Katara responded with her own little bow before taking the scroll.

"If there is a reply I would be happy to pick it up in the morning, if you would like." Kang told her with a smile.

"If there is I can just send it out with the normal mail, I wouldn't want to waste your time." She told him.

"Please it would be my pleasure to be at the service of someone as lovely and as unique as you are." He replied with a warm smile.

"Well… I guess it wouldn't hurt for you to check." She commented, giving a similar smile back to the young man in his turn.

Kang Ma bowed and left. This was the third and last scroll he had had to deliver this evening, and now he could return to his home in the middle ring. But he would be back in the morning. He didn't know if all the stories about Water Tribe women were true, but he now knew that at least some of them were, and he hoped he would find out about the rest soon.

Toph, barefoot, repeated the steps shown to her by the dancing master. They were very formal, precise and delicate. Not to mention boring and lifeless, which she actually did mention a number of times to her mother's horror, and the dancing master's anger.

The only good thing about learning the dance had been that she did not have a partner, so Meathead had not been subjected to the torture. The afternoon dragged on and on, until it felt like it would never end.

.

The afternoon passed quickly for Sokka. Lao had sent for tea and dumplings, and rice wine at Colonel Hu's request. And the three men had sat drinking, eating, and talking.

Sokka had insisted that Avatar Aang had been responsible for defeating the Fire Lord, and that it was Zuko that had ended the war when he became Fire Lord in his turn.

"Nonsense!" The colonel declared. "What choice did Zuko have? Our army was on the move again, and you had destroyed his air fleet, The war had turned thanks to you. He was smart to end it when he did."

"Ah yes, the Battle of the Air Fleet, I would like to hear more about that." The Grand Duke said, sipping his tea.

"Oh no!" Rong waved his hand at his cousin. "The story I want to hear is the one about the Boiling Rock."

"I haven't heard about this one." Lao observed. "What's The Boiling Rock?"

"Only the most secure prison in the entire Fire Nation, which means the world." Colonel Hu told the Grand Duke. "But they made a big mistake when they put our Water Tribe friend's girlfriend in it. So he infiltrates it and busts her out, the only escape from the Boiling Rock in history."

"Girlfriend?" Lao asked with a raised eyebrow to the young man.

"Yeah!" The officer crowed, laughing. "What was her name, Suka, Siko, or something. She was from Kyoshi."

"Her name was Suki." Sokka jumped in. "And I was trying to rescue my father, and Zuko helped. And we would have failed but Suki was there and she took the warden hostage. Plus Zuko's girlfriend sacrificed herself so we could escape."

"Girlfriend?!" Lao asked the young man, now with both eyebrows racing up his face.

"Ex-girlfriend!" Sokka amended. "We broke up, after the war."

LIAR! Sokka the Great shouted inside the warriors head.

We did break up; it's just that Suki doesn't know it yet. The young man told his older self. But the guilt was still there.

"Oh so you dumped her!" Rong said, sipping more wine. "You know the Water Tribes, change their girlfriends with the seasons."

"No it wasn't like that at all." Sokka tried to explain.

"Hey, you don't have to tell us, right Lao." The officer said with a laugh, while nudging his cousin with his elbow. "We're men of the world. After all a great hero is not like the rest of us. He's had lots of girlfriends, like what's her name the Ice Princess. He melted her frozen heart and she killed herself over him."

"No!" Sokka nearly shouted. "Yue wasn't my girlfriend, and she sacrificed herself to save the world!"

"Sorry…" The officer said apologetically, with a small bow. "I didn't mean to make light of her sacrifice."

"So you've had two girlfriends before now?" Lao stated more than asked.

"More than that!" Rong answered for the young man. "What about the Fire Princess? They say she fell in love with you before she ever met you. You're the only man who's on her intellectual level, and the way you kept one step ahead of her in the war won her heart, even though she would never admit it."

"Azula?" Sokka cried out. "She's crazy! She tried to kill me, more than once?"

"Love and hate, two sides to the same coin." The colonel observed with a wink to Lao. "And what about those two friends of hers, the acrobat and the knife thrower? They say that both of them were sweet on you."

The Grand Duke took a long hard look at the young tribesman.

.

Sokka found that dinner was much livelier than lunch had been, but he also found that was not necessarily a good thing. Even though the Baron and Baroness of Shanjia and their two children, continued to take their meals in their rooms, which didn't bother Sokka in the least, Colonel Hu, who was apparently also a Baron, more than made up for their absence.

The Grand Duke had insisted that the Colonel use less colorful language around Poppy and his daughter, but that didn't stop the officer from talking, and talk he did, especially when he was introduced to Toph.

"So this is the little girl you've had hidden away all these years." The officer said bowing to the earthbender. "I see now why you kept her secret. She is so beautiful that even as a little baby she would have broken every man's heart that looked upon her."

"Oh please your excellency." Toph admonished him, as she bowed to him in turn. "You are far too generous in your praise."

Although she sounded disdainful of the complement the young earthbender could not hide the color that came to her cheeks, or the small smile that graced her lips.

Sokka also thought it was over the top. After all the guy was old enough to be Toph's father, or grandfather for that matter. Well maybe not grandfather but he was really old, at least thirty, and much too slick for Toph.

"Oh please forget that excellency and my lord sh…" The colonel was interrupted by a cough from the Grand Duke. "Ah… non sense! We're related, just call me Rong, everybody does. Even my subordinates. Which really pis… tics off General Wu that tight assed old bitch."

The officer laughed at this last, but then he turned and pointed across the table at the young tribesman.

"But even she gets all choked up and teary eyed when she hears the story about you and your ice princess."

"Ice Princess?" Toph asked.

"He means Princess Yue." Sokka explained.

"Oh, yeah that was really sad." Toph agreed, remembering the play they had gone to and the story of the Northern Princess.

"You know about his first girlfriend?" Lao asked his daughter.

"I know about all his girlfriends." Toph told her father.

"She wasn't my girlfriend, well not officially." Sokka tried to explain.

"Wait!..." Rong said pointing first to Sokka and then to Toph.

The colonel was getting more and more excited, until he was hopping up and down.

"You're Tophsokka!" He said it as one word. "I'm such and idiot, I should have known. But you don't expect to actually meet great heroes. It's like meeting Oma and Shu."

"What?!" Toph asked him.

"You're the Toph, from the stories." Rong explained now almost jumping in his excitement. "And the two of you are Tophsokka! This is so great! I can't believe it. You two are famous! The army loves you two.

"There are even these two battalions named after you. One is 'Toph's Troublemakers'. And they mean it. Great fighters but always causing problems in camp and tearing up bars and restaurants. Then there is the battalion of mostly women earthbenders called 'Sokka's Sweethearts', that are almost as bad. The 'Sweethearts' even carry long straight swords in honor of your reputation."

"And let me tell you when those two battalions are camped near each other you don't want to get between them." The Colonel went on.

"The two of them fight?" The Grand Duke asked.

"Among other things." The colonel answered with a smirk. "They have contests sometimes. Even though I'm assigned to headquarters I'm proud to say that they made me an honorary 'Troublemaker' and let me compete in one of the contests. Which was a little embarrassing since I didn't measure up very high, but when the 'Sweethearts' added their own contest to ours I have to say it was very satisfying."

"These contests what are they about?" Lao asked curious.

"There mostly based on the stories that circulate through the army about you two." The officer explained.

"About us?" Toph asked.

"Yeah! All the stories are about the two of you as a couple!" The colonel explained. "They have a bunch of different names for the two of you. Tophsokka is the one I like but there are others. I don't believe all of the stories. I mean most of them are probably made up, after all some of them are silly and then there are the really dirty ones."

"Dirty ones!?" Poppy asked scandalized.

"Well not really dirty, but well… you know… two young people in love… with… well you know… sex and everything. I mean soldiers making up stories about two young lovers what do you expect?" Rong tried to explain.

"Lovers?" Lao asked shocked.

"Lovers?" Toph asked embarrassed, but intrigued.

"Lovers?" Sokka asked feeling lost and confused.

"Well yeah!" Rong answered as if it was obvious.

"Dinner is served." Butler Hong announced.

Everyone took their seats at the table.

"Hi sweetie!" Aang called out as he put his staff/glider against the wall and closed the front door to the house.

"Hey sweetie!" Katara called back. "I'll be right there."

The Avatar stumbled over and collapsed on the couch. The waterbender came in to the front room and sat next to him. They shared a little kiss, and he wrapped his arm around her shoulder.

"Sorry I'm so late again but the Ruling Council is just getting crazier and crazier. General Fong is just out of his mind." Aang told her, the exhaustion evident in his voice. "You may have to go to Toph's party by yourself. I don't think I'm going to be able to leave. If I do I think they'll take the chance to declare that the king is dead, and set themselves up as the hereditary rulers of the kingdom."

"I'll stay too." Katara told him, she tried to keep the disappointment out of her voice but was not entirely successful. "I wouldn't feel right leaving you here alone."

"I'll be fine." He told her in gratitude. "But I want you to go. I know you really miss your brother and it is Toph's birthday. At least one of us should be there. I've already arranged to move Appa up here in the morning. You and Iroh can go together."

"Is Iroh even going?" She asked. "He hasn't said anything to me about the party, and, as far as I can tell, he hasn't made any arrangements to leave."

"I would have thought he would have left already." He answered. "Maybe he's waiting for Zuko so they can go together. We should ask him when he gets home."

The two sat in silence for a few minutes. Katara slumped further down on couch so she could rest her head on the young Avatar's chest. It seemed she had to slump less and less each day. He was taller than she was now, only a little, but still enough for her to notice.

Suddenly she sat up and looked at him.

"I nearly forgot!" She told him as she reached into her robe.

It had been the telltale sound of the paper crinkling as she slumped that had reminded her.

"I got a letter from Sokka today, and it's just about what we were talking about."

She pulled the scroll from her robe and unfurled it.

"I had written him telling him about the problems you were having with the ruling council and he wrote me this in reply. During his travels down south he met Kuei. And he thinks the king may be returning to Ba Sing Se."

She pointed to a section in the letter and began to read.

"I'm not sure, but after the little talk we had I think he plans to return to the throne. Depending on how fast he travels he should be there in a week or so. I worry that some on the council may try to declare him an imposter and have him locked up or worse. Only the inner court has even seen his majesty so most people in the city won't recognize him."

"I think it would be a good idea if Aang was to meet him and declare him the true king. Everybody knows who the Avatar is, especially if he shows up on Appa. You have to admit that a ten ton flying shaggy monster wouldn't be missed by anyone in the city."

"If the Avatar acknowledges his legitimacy then the council would have to accept him or face a revolt of the entire population."

She handed the letter to her boyfriend so he could read it.

"That would go a long way to solve everything." Aang said grabbing the letter as if it were a life line during a storm at sea. "This is why I need Sokka here. He's great at dealing with people."

"I don't have any girlfriends!" Sokka insisted across the dinner table.

"Any?!" Toph asked pointedly.

"Well… I don't mean… Well of course you're my girlfriend!" The young man spluttered.

"And what about the Kyoshi girl?" Rong asked

"Well…." Sokka said avoiding eye contact with everyone at the table.

Toph was looking down at her plate even though she couldn't see it. They both felt their faces beginning to heat up.

"Suki is my ex-girlfriend. Toph is my current girlfriend. And that's it. No other girlfriends!" He finally declared.

"What about the acrobat?" The colonel asked, taking another drink of rice wine.

"Yes, what about the acrobat?" Lao asked.

"Yeah! What about Pinkletoes?" Toph asked.

"Hmmm?" Poppy asked from her end of the table.

"There are a lot, and I mean a lot, of stories about you and the acrobat." Rong told the table, refilling his cup.

"Ty Lee flirts with every guy she sees. We're friends that's all." Sokka insisted.

"I don't know…" The colonel mused. "The stories going around the army about you two are pretty graphic. All about her chi blocking and how flexible she is and especially about your enormous Water Tribe…"

Rong stopped suddenly realizing that he wasn't telling stories in a mess hall full of rough soldiers but at a noble's table in front of a family.

"Enormous Water Tribe what?" Poppy asked suspiciously.

"Enormous… Dark…" Rong thought desperately.

"Yes?" Lao asked

"Sword!" Rong finally answered.

"Oh yeah!" Toph said looking up. "His sword is really long. He let me play with it a few times during the war."

Rong laughed so hard at the comment that he fell out of his chair.

Iroh hurried through the front door into the main room of the house in the upper ring. The Avatar and the waterbender were sitting together on the couch after cleaning up from their dinner.

Before the old general could even close the door a furry blur streaked through the room and landed on his shoulder chittering hopefully. The old man often brought a treat or two from his tea shop for the lemur.

"I'm sorry little one, not tonight." Iroh told the beast.

Momo chittered unhappily and flew off out the garden window to search for more insects.

The old man walked over and dropped into his chair by the couch with a tired sigh.

"Forgive me for being so late but I had much to do this evening." He explained to his housemates.

"What's going on?" Aang asked concerned. "Is there a problem with the shop?"

"No, no!" The firebender replied reassuringly with a wave. "But I received a letter from your brother, young Katara, which explained many other reports I have been receiving lately."

"Oh White Lotus business." Aang observed sitting up.

"Sokka wrote me too." Katara said sitting up as well.

"Yes he mentioned that he had written you and one other as well." The retired general said with a dark twinkle in his amber eyes. "Your brother is a master player of the Great Game, young master waterbender."

"Sokka always liked Pai Sho." Aang observed.

This earned him a little rumbling laugh from the one time prince of the Fire Nation.

"Yes, but I had to scramble to get all the pieces in place for young Sokka's strategy to work." The old man said with a smile. "He really is a master, but he made one miscalculation, but either through karma, or fortune, or perhaps design he was able to adjust for it, and I have hopes he will have a great success."

"Is this about his maj…?" Katara began but was stopped by Iroh holding up his hand to silence her.

"Walls may have ears." The Dragon of the West explained in a quiet voice. "Let me just suggest that you, Young Avatar, even though it is rather late, might want to move your ten ton shaggy flying monster up to the house tonight instead of waiting for tomorrow. I think it might be a very busy morning for all of us."

Sokka was in his loin cloth, under the covers, sitting up in bed reading. It was an actual bed. Hong and (crap he couldn't remember the young man's name) must have set it up that morning. It was on the sleeping platform but it was a wood frame rope bed with a thick straw mattress, covered in real sheets and blankets and with real soft pillows.

The servant had also added a wooden door to the entry way, a wash stand, a mirror, and a wardrobe. They had also covered the windows with curtains to keep the cold wind out, and had added a bronze pagoda stove with a supply of wood and some spark rocks.

All in all the guest house was much more inviting thanks to all the work they had done, though Sokka thought it could have used a lot more animal pelts and hunting trophies, not to mention some snow to make him feel really at home.

"Is that a bed?" Toph asked as she walked into the room.

She was dressed for bed in his old Water Tribe top. It was late at night and she had checked to make sure she could leave her room unseen.

"Yeah!" Sokka answered putting his book down.

"I hate beds!" Toph proclaimed as she launched herself onto her boyfriend.

The bed creaked and groaned at the sudden addition.

"Yeah but it's soft." The young man said after he had caught her in a tight hug.

"I can't bend in a bed." She told him straddling him.

"I'll have it taken out tomorrow." He assured her.

"Good!" She told him, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him.

The kissing went on for a few minutes after that, with some shifting and leg tangling. Finally they settled down with Toph resting her head on Sokka's chest, listening to his heart.

"I love you." She finally told him.

"I love you." He told her.

"Even if you don't have a girlfriend?" She asked in a scathing voice, poking him in the side.

"I explained all that." He said defensively. "And what was with Rong Hu? 'You're so beautiful even as a baby you would have broken hearts'. The guy's old enough to be your grandfather."

"He's not that old!" Toph insisted.

"Yes he is!" The young man insisted. "Too old to be flirting with you."

Is Sokka jealous? Toph asked herself.

A little smile crept across her face.

"Well he is really nice." She told her boyfriend. "And I bet he's really handsome. I've never met him but mother says he's always got a new girlfriend and will never settle down. But maybe I could change that."

"He'll never change!" Sokka insisted with some vehemence. "You can tell he's a total flirt and womanizer. You should stay away from him."

"Oh yes sir!" Toph responded.

"Sorry." He told her chagrinned. "But he just seems like one of those guys who, well fools around a lot. And I don't want you to get hurt is all."

"I can take care of myself." She told him, hiding her grin. "Why was he laughing about your sword at dinner?"

"I think he was drunk." He answered. "He had been drinking all afternoon and all through dinner. I have to say, even with all his faults I prefer him to your aunt Rose."

"I've never met her." Toph said, letting him change the subject. "Mother loves her it's me she can't stand."

"Don't be silly. Your mother loves you." He insisted. "She just hasn't figured out that what makes her happy doesn't make you happy. But she will eventually."

"I doubt it." She insisted, her hands curling into fists and her teeth grinding together. "I just don't want to turn into her when I get older."

Talking about her mother had that effect on her.

"Don't worry you won't." He comforted her, with a little hug.

"This party is going to be awful!" Toph told him.

"Nahh… No matter what they have set up, the two of us will have fun. I guarantee it." He reassured her. "We'll get Rong drunk and make him tell dirty stories about us."

"Yeah!" She laughed. "That would be fun and mother would have a fit."

"See it will all be ok. Besides Aang and Katara and your friends will be there. It will be a good time." He told her.

"I guess." She grudgingly admitted, though she didn't sound that positive.

"Move over." He told her pushing her over onto the free area of the bed.

"Why?" She asked suspiciously.

"Cause I wan'ta give you a back rub." He said.

"Well I guess that's ok." She responded lying on her stomach.

Kneeling, he straddled her thighs. He started by working the tension out of her neck. Then to the shoulders, down her back to her hips, and then back up again. It was long and luxurious and wonderful. He finished with a glorious back scratch that would have had her purring, except that she was nearly unconscious already.

"It will all be better tomorrow." He told her as he kissed her cheek. "Good night."

"Goorite." She mumbled as she curled up against his warmth, her head in the joint of his arm and shoulder.

He pulled the covers over the two of them, wrapped his arms around her, and soon joined her in sleep.

To be continued:

Disclaimer: "Avatar the Last Airbender" the characters and the world were created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko and owned by Nickelodeon and Viacom or Paramount or some huge corporation. This is purely a work of fan fiction because I wanted to play in their world and I love the characters that they created.

Author's notes:

Hi All,

Too many months between updates. I apologize profusely. And this chapter is so long I hope it doesn't get tedious for you, if anybody is still reading this story.

I hope the flash backs of Suki and Ty Lee work. I wanted to give some background so you will know what's happening when Sokka eventually reads Suki's letter in the next chapter.

Yes you can expect some excerpts from "The Dark Twins" by Lee Loo Ling in the coming chapters.

And no, I am Colonel Hu is not going to go into detail about the contest he entered.

And yes things are about to get interesting in Ba Sing Se.

Thanks so much for reading.

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FanART; Sicksketch has done some wonderful sketches over on Tumblr. Please take a look, just search under the tag "ill walk you home" and you will find them.

There is also fanart for the story on DeviantArt; Totalfanboy21 has a great picture of an older Toph and Sokka inspired by the story and Abi-chan14 and Cutubulla as well as Kawayui-Kage have created Fanart for the story. I am really honored that talented artists have liked the story so much that they have actually made art based on it. Please check them out.

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Thank you all so much for sticking with my story.

I have to thank everyone for the really generous and kind reviews. You guys keep me going and I really appreciate all the support. I always try to answer all reviews. If I missed any one please forgive me.

I'd like to thank all the guest reviewers for their criticism and support. I really am trying to get better at this and need all the help I can get.

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Once again thank you to all those who have added this story to their alerts and especially their favorites, and a very special thank you to all who have added me to your author alerts and favorites. That is a real honor for me. I hope I have not disappointed you with this chapter.

Thank you to all for reading

All comments and/or criticisms are more than welcome.