I'll Walk You Home pt. 61

Chapter 21

Home Again

Sokka was curled up, well about half of him was curled, well crammed, onto the bench of the small cart taking him and the Grand Duke up into the hills of the estate. He was asleep, having had a long busy night.

Grand Duke Lao seated on the opposite bench, shook his head in wonder. He smiled to himself, remembering how as a small boy he had slept on that same bench years before when he rode this same cart up this same track with his father.

The last time the Grand Duke had ridden in this cart he hadn't been a Grand Duke and he had fit the bench much better than his guest did today. Lao looked about him as they moved up the track into the wooded hills, following the stream. Those were the years he remembered most fondly. The years that he and his father had spent together.

But then his father had become more and more involved with the family business. And Lao had grown up and joined him in the business. And here he was. Decades later, wealthy, powerful, and alone. With servants but no friends. No that wasn't quite right. He had one friend now. The strange young man on the bench across from him. Perhaps he was a friend to the Grand Duke.

The cart came to a stop, and Sokka woke up, sitting up on the bench and scrubbing his face with his hands. He saw Lao across from him and gave the Grand Duke a goofy smile in the dim predawn light. The young man performed a long luxurious stretch accompanied by an enormous yawn.

"Is this the place?" The young man asked.

"It's a little ways from here to the stream." The Grand Duke explained, climbing down from the cart.

"Right." Sokka said jumping out himself.

The tribesman reached into the cart and pulled out the equipment he had placed there.

"What is that?" Lao asked pointing at the strange long stick the teen had in is his hand.

To the Grand Duke it looked like a long stick, as tall as the young man holding it. The end looked like a giant three tined fork with the two outer tines flaring out but having barbs on the end that faced in and back.

"Well you asked about our customs so I thought I'd show you how we fish back home." Sokka explained. "We fish mostly with spears like this. We also use drop lines from kayaks and canoes in deeper water but mostly we use spears."

"I'll be interested to see how it works." Lao said pulling his own fishing gear from the cart.

Once they were ready to head to the stream Lao ordered the two cavalry troopers and the cart driver to stay with the cart.

"Don't want you scaring the fish." He informed them by way of explanation.

The walk to the stream didn't take long, only about fifteen or twenty minutes. The air was cold, and the two men walked in silence through the tendrils of mist rising from the ground.

Lao led them to a spot where the stream came down from a small rapid and widened and slowed. The path leading to the water was almost invisible having been unused for so many years and heavily over grown. But the Grand Duke followed his memory more than the trail and the two were soon standing by the small mountain river.

Lao put down his supplies and began to assemble his fishing rod. Sokka unslung his sword and other weapons and hung them from the branch of a nearby tree.

"That sword." Lao asked, his curiosity finally getting the better of his courtesy. "Is that another watertribe custom? To always have it with you?"

The young man gave the older one an embarrassed smile and rubbed the back of his neck before answering.

"Aaaa… No. We don't really have swords back home." Sokka explained, touching the sword as it hung from the branch. "I lost my sword in the war and this one is actually my teacher's sword that he was kind enough to loan me until I can make a new one. I don't like having it out of my sight. I can't let anything happen to it, since it's not mine."

"Oh… I see." Lao told him, understanding now.

"Forgive me if I have been rude." The young man said with a bow. "By wearing it in your house. I felt no need for its protection and trust you and your family completely."

"I understand perfectly." Lao responded with his own bow. "And took no offence, since I could see that none was intended."

"You are a most generous and understanding host, your Grace." Sokka told him with his own deeper bow.

"Please, here alone, just call me Lao." The Grand Duke told the young man. "I thought we had settled that already."

"Yes of course… Lao." The young man said.

"Good." Lao said. "Beautiful spot, isn't it? I used to come here as a boy with my father."

"Very beautiful." Sokka replied looking out over the stream and the trees on the hill side.

The two men stood for a moment enjoying the cold morning air, and the forest and stream in the dim predawn light.

Eventually the two went back to their tasks. Lao finished assembling and stringing his rod. Sokka tied the tops of his boots close to his legs so no water could get in.

When Lao opened his tackle box Sokka came and looked over the older man's shoulder. The younger man had been fascinated by the complexity of the wooden box and its polished brass hardware. When Lao opened it levering up tray after tray the young man became mesmerized. He had never seen anything like this before.

Each tray was perfectly divided into a number of small compartments. Sokka decided then and there that he had to have one. He had no idea what he would use it for, but that really didn't matter. He had to have one, or maybe two, or three, well six or seven, perhaps an even dozen would be better.

Lao squatted down and began to search through the flies in the box. The lowest tray had the ones he had made as a small boy. Clumsy attempts at first but not bad by the end. The next tray held the ones his father had given him, all professionally tied and beautiful examples of the art. The top tray held the ones tied by his father and inherited by the son when his father died. These were old and wonderful and brought back memories and a time that Lao had nearly forgotten.

The Grand Duke chose one of his old spider/wasp flies and attached it to the end of his line. He closed the tackle box and checked his gear. Once he was ready he moved down to the edge of the bank. His old waders were much too small for him to use and he had not thought to have Hong get him new ones so he was confined to the edge of the stream.

Lao began to swing the rod back and forth a few times getting the feel for it. It was a beautiful bamboo rod, strong and flexible. It had been given to him by his father many, many years ago.

"Something you can grow into." His father had told him.

The Grand Duke had stolen a few hours from his schedule for the last few days to practice and he was surprised how quickly it had come back to him. He began to let out a little line.

Sokka watched the older man. He had never seen this type of fishing before. In the shop where he had bought his own rod and flies, the owner had described it to him but to actually see it was entirely different.

As the sun finally came over the eastern hills and the light streamed down onto the stream the fishing line disappeared. All he could see was the dark lure on the end of the line flitting above the surface of the water, joining the other insects as they flew about.

The skill and artistry of the older man impressed him greatly. The lure would land and skitter across the water of the deeper ponds, looking for all the world like an actual insect.

There was a bloop in the water and the fly disappeared. Lao yanked on the line and the rod bent. The sound of a ratchet told Sokka that the older man was reeling in the line.

As he brought the fish close, Lao unhooked the small net from his belt. Sokka loved the small net. He loved all the little specialized tools (toys) that came with this kind of fishing. They would all be useless back home. Worse than useless. But Sokka still loved them.

Lao netted the fish and with his rod held under his left arm pulled the hook from its mouth and returned it to the stream.

"Too small." He quietly told the younger man.

The Grand Duke examined the fly but it was undamaged. He pulled his rod out from under his arm and began the process again.

Sokka watched for a while just enjoying the other man's skill and artistry. Finally he moved upstream and started to look for a place to spear fish from.

The young man had not worn his throwing knives, not needing them for this, but he had the two travelers' knives and had pulled them out of his boots before tying them closed. He now placed the knives along with his sword belt with the rest of his weapons near a tree well away from the water.

With his boots sealed he picked up his fishing spear and waded into the stream. He found a good spot and lifted the spear over his shoulder and looked into the water.

Sokka didn't know the spirit of this river, but he knew that all water spirits were like La. They were tricksters. Hiding things you wanted to see, and what the spirit did show you were never where they appeared to be.

He positioned himself near a deep pool created by the eddying of the water as it came down out of the rapids. He was careful to make sure his shadow would not fall over the pool. He could see dark shapes moving in the water. He waited and watched, as had done so many times before back in his home.

Grand Duke Lao stole glances at the young man as he stood still, his spear raised and ready. The older man was surprised at how quiet the younger man was. Sokka always seemed to be in motion even when sitting. His head or hands in constant nervous motion. But now he was still, not tense, relaxed but ready.

The spear flashed, disappearing into the water. Lao was shocked by the speed of it. One moment the teen was just standing with the spear raised and the next instant most of the shaft had disappeared into the river. Sokka snatched the end and pulled the tip up clear of the pool. There was a fish on the end, and Lao noted that it was a beauty.

Sokka held the spear up and examined the fish he had impaled. It was a good catch. The fish was large and healthy. As long as his forearm, and heavy. It would make a good meal.

The young man was pleased. His spear had worked well. The tines spreading and catching the fish which still wriggled on the end. He sang the death song for the fish as he pulled it off of the spear and tossed it well up on the bank of the river. Once he was sure it could not fall back into the water he resumed his stance and looked for his next kill.

….

Liling waited patiently for the sunlight to move into the room. Her face still felt swollen but it didn't hurt any longer. She was glad that Madam Wang had not come into the suite this morning. She hoped she looked alright. It had been dark in the room this morning when she had been woken. Miss Cuifen had helped but it was all done with the light of a single candle.

Soon enough it was time to wake her mistress. She helped Toph up and removing the bandage checked the tattoo and the bandage, everything seemed fine to her eye. After her mistress had washed she applied a new bandage and helped her dress for the day.

…..

Toph ignored the weak soup that was placed before her and asked for strong black tea. She was groggy and irritable from lack of sleep and had been ignoring the long monologue her mother had been giving since she had entered the room. Without Sokka breakfast was boring and Toph would rather have slept in.

….

Lao leaned back against the tree he was sitting at the base of and gave a very contented belch. It had been a wonderful morning. He and Sokka had caught a number of beauties.

Lao had even tried to use the younger man's spear but he never really got the hang of it.

Sokka had tried fly fishing using his own equipment. He learned quickly and had even caught a few, though most he threw back since they were so small.

The young man had then cleaned the fish and built a fire to cook them over. Sokka was so hungry that instead of waiting he had eaten one fish raw. Lao had tried some but it did not appeal to the older man's taste. But the cooked fish had been delicious. And the conversation of the water tribesman had been entertaining and informative as Sokka told him about fishing at the South Pole.

To Lao it had all been almost magical. He had not thought of business or family obligations all morning. The sound of the wind in the trees, the birds singing, the sound of the water in the river, the smell of the fire and cooking fish had made him ravenous, and the taste had been all he could hope for.

He had eaten too much but it had all been so good. He thought about taking a nap. He should wash up first though.

Lao got up with a little difficulty and made his way to the stream and washed his face and hands. He looked for his companion and saw the young man farther up the bank squatting down and studying the ground. Curious, Lao shook the water from his hands and walked over to the tribesman.

He stopped when Sokka held up his hand.

"What?" Lao asked.

"Sign." Was the young man's reply, pointing with the spear to different spots on the ground.

The Grand Duke didn't see any difference from one part of the ground to the other.

"Sign?" He asked, squatting down himself.

"Platypus bear." Sokka said pointing to something. "He came down here, hmmm… Yesterday morning. Fished for a couple of hours, ate his fill and then moved back up the trail into the forest."

"Platypus Bear?"

"Webbed toes." Sokka explained pointing.

"He?" Lao asked now seeing the vague outline of a print in the grass.

"Size." Sokka explained, outlining the print with the tip of the spear.

"Yesterday morning?"

"Ground was wet from fog when the prints coming to the river were made." The tribesman explained, pointing with the spear. "And it was dry when he left the water and returned into the woods. There are small game and bird tracks on top of his."

Lao looked but decided he would have to take the younger man's word for all that. Sokka could obviously see a lot more than the Grand Duke could.

"He's young only about eight to ten years old." The tribesman said pointing to a muddy spot on the ground.

"Really?" Lao asked looking at the spot and seeing only a small depression in the dirt.

"His pads are still supple and not that lined." The young man replied pointing with the fishing spear.

"Oh…" Lao replied, nodding as if he understood even though he didn't.

"He ate his fill then dragged himself out of the river." More pointing. "He's already got his winter coat on." Pointing to a bush this time with a little tuft of something on a thorn.

The tribesman stood and taking a long step to avoid the, invisible to Lao, prints moved over to where his weapons were. Arming himself he began to follow the trail up the slope into the woods. Lao, fascinated, joined him.

"What are you looking for?" Lao asked.

Sokka held up a hand and brought a finger to his lips to silence the Grand Duke.

"Just following the sign." The young man whispered in reply.

"Why the weapons?" Lao asked in his own whisper.

"Don't like to leave them out of sight." Sokka answered in an even lower whisper.

The two moved farther into the woods. The young man silently, the older man with some rustling of dead leaves and twigs on the ground. Which forced the younger to turn back and bring his finger to his lips again in a shushing sign.

Lao nodded in embarrassed understanding and tried to do better.

Sokka squatted down and examined the tracks more closely. The bear had eaten his fill at the river. Probably many times in the last month. He was heavy, building up his fat reserves for his hibernation. In another month he would be underground starting his long sleep through the winter.

He moved farther into the woods. The young man was following the sign more out of curiosity than anything. He would like to see this bear, the chief of this forest.

After only a few paces up the trail he could just hear a low intermittent rumble. Felt more than heard. And he realized it was the great beast's snores. That's when Lao behind him stepped on a dry branch causing a loud snapping sound.

Sokka was an idiot. He realized that now. He was not leading a hunting party of experienced tribesmen but a business man, who was the father of his girlfriend, into a woods that he knew a very large and dangerous bear lived. Now would be a good time to leave.

The tribesman turned and with sign told Lao to go back the way they had come. The Grand Duke gave him a questioning look and was going to ask for an explanation but the look of terror on the young man's face stopped him before he could make a sound.

With more signs Sokka finally got Lao to start carefully backing up. And then the older man tripped and with a loud yell fell into a bush.

The sound brought an answering great roar from much too close ahead. No one likes being woken up suddenly, especially the king of the forest.

"Run!" Sokka said turning.

Lao was hopelessly tangled in the bush and would never get out without a lot of time and help.

"Fuck!" Sokka cursed under his breath and then turned to face the bear.

I wish I had a real spear! He thought drawing his sword.

You don't hunt bears with swords but it was the best weapon he had and he hoped he didn't have to use it.

Facing the oncoming bear he spread his arms and legs and stood up on his toes to make himself as large as he could, holding his sword out to add to his size. He filled his lungs and gave his war cry.

The great bear charging on all fours pulled up short at the sight and rising up on his hind legs spread his fore legs high and gave an answering roar.

The two stood less than ten paces apart.

Lao stopped moving paralyzed with fright.

The great beast was the king of this forest having driven off all other contenders years before. But now this strange smelling animal was challenging him, and he was surprised. He roared again, but the challenger did not run.

Sokka was shaking but he stood his ground willing himself to be bigger than he was. The bear was big, very big. On his hind legs the great beast stood taller than Sokka did, much taller. The tribesman gave his war cry again trying to look large and brave though he felt small and terrified.

If he could, Sokka would have backed away, but Lao was still caught in the undergrowth and the young hunter would not leave a member of the hunting party behind. He would never leave anyone behind even if it cost him his life.

"No choice." The young man thought.

Sokka launched himself off of his left foot throwing himself forward, the sword straight out in both hands, aimed at the great bear's chest. He had to hit the heart or neither he nor Lao would survive.

The blade tip easily pierced the skin but he was over extended and the sword only entered a hand span or so. Not deep enough.

The bear swung its great right paw at the attacker, while lunging forward on its hind legs. Sokka released his hold on the sword and tried to jump backwards but the claws caught his robe in mid jump spinning him and hurling him off to the side.

Lao, frozen in fright, could only watch as the huge beast landed on all fours just a few paces away from him as he lay tangled in the brush.

As the bear landed on his front paws the pommel of the sword struck the ground driving it further into the great animal's chest. The beast roared out its pain and pushed himself back up onto its hind legs again.

Lao knew that these were his last moments of life. The bear, mad with pain, would be on him in less than a second. He wished he could have told Toph one last time that he loved her. Then his vision of the beast was blocked by something in blue. The something was Sokka.

After being struck to the side the young man was back on his feet. His club in his left hand and boomerang in his right. He had jumped between Lao and the bear. Singing his war cry. Sokka threw boomerang which struck the side of the great beast's head and ricocheted off into the woods.

The bear roared in answer and launched himself forward. Sokka, standing his ground, swung his club with both hands and struck the beast in the same spot the boomerang had hit only a moment before, just as the great bear landed on top of the young tribesman.

Lao lay shaking on the ground, as silence descended on the scene.

"Sokka...?" The grand Duke whispered.

The young man was gone. Buried under the massive beast.

Lao screamed when the hands grabbed him.

"Are you alright, your Grace" A man asked him.

Lao found himself on his feet, being torn out of the thorn bush where he had been trapped. His legs were water under him. The only thing holding him upright were the strong hands of the two cavalry men that were holding him.

He tried to speak. His mouth moved but no words came out.

"Were you injured, your Grace?" The older soldier asked, looking the Grand Duke over, while still holding him up.

"We heard the roaring and came as fast as we could." The younger cavalry man explained.

"Just breathe, your Grace." The first soldier told him, reassuringly.

Lao did just that, finally getting control of himself and taking a deep inhale and slowly letting it out.

"That's it, your Grace." The first soldier told him.

Lao's legs began to function again, and he stood on his own, swaying only just a little. The younger soldier began to brush some of the leaves and dirt from his clothes.

"Sokka?" The Grand Duke finally was able to say.

"Your Grace?" The older soldier asked. "Oh your companion the Water Tribe boy. Where is he?"

In answer Lao pointed to the bear lying only a couple of paces from them.

Almost as if in reply the head of the great beast began to move, rising up slowly, its lower jaw opening as the head moved up.

At the sight the trooper whipped out his sword, and took a defensive stance. The older soldier spread his bare feet on the ground and brought his hands up in two fists. Lao felt the ground tremble under his own feet.

The three men stared at the bear. The lower of the great flat bill suddenly slapped shut with a loud clap. Then it opened again, slamming shut with another even louder sound. Then to the amazement of the three watchers the bill began to move in time to an odd little voice that seemed to be coming from the beast.

"A… Hi… I'm kind of heavvvvy." The small odd voice of the bear said. "You could say I'm a dead weight. Really dead and really, really weighty."

The three observes just stared wondering if this was really happening.

"Your buddy could use a little help here." The bear told them, the bill flapping in time with the words.

"SOKKA!" The Grand Duke suddenly shouted running forward.

The two soldiers jumped at the sound but then ran forward as well.

Lao was pulling at the head of the bear, and as he had thought, there were two dark hands underneath the head and bill. The three men began pulling and rolling the dead beast off of the young man under it, still in an embrace that would have meant death for him if the bear had lived only a few seconds longer.

"Careful with the sword." Sokka begged as the great weight was moved off of him.

Lao grabbed one of the dark hands and as the two troopers moved the bear he pulled his friend out into the air.

"Sokka…!" Lao said tears in his eyes as he helped the young man to stand. "I thought you were dead."

"Oh it will take more than a giant, incredibly ferocious, terrifyingly dangerous bear to kill me." Sokka said with a silly grin. "Not much more, but just enough for today."

"I owe you my life." Lao told him pulling the young man into a tight hug.

Sokka hugged the Grand Duke back.

Finally the two pulled apart, Lao wiping tears from his face, and coughing to clear his throat.

"Are you hurt, my lord?" The older trooper asked pointing to the tribesman's left side.

"Ah… Fuck!" Sokka cursed examining himself. "This was my last good top."

His robe had five long tears in it just below his waist. He pulled the top open and looked inside.

"Oh… yeah… That's going to hurt." He said more to himself than to any of the people around him.

"Oma and Shu!" Lao cried seeing the wounds and the blood running from them as Sokka pulled the robe off. "Going to hurt?!"

"When the adrenaline wears off your Grace." The older trooper explained quietly.

"Yeah… I'm starting to feel it." Sokka said in an unhappy voice.

"Ma!" The older trooper ordered the younger. "Get my first aid kit out of my saddle bags and bring it up here on the double."

"Yes corporal." The cavalryman replied taking off at the run.

"Oma! Are you going to be alright?" Lao asked fear making his voice quake.

"He'll be fine your Grace." The corporal answered for the tribesman. "The cuts are not too deep."

"Yeah, it's not like I'm tripping over my own intestines or anything, your Grace." Sokka told the Grand Duke reassuringly.

"Call me Lao." The noble told the tribesman.

"Right… Sorry." Sokka said with a little bow.

"Well…" The young man finally said, more to break the silence and distract himself from the growing pain, then for any other reason. "Girl's like scars right?"

"I can't speak for girls…" The corporal opined. "But to me they are badges of honor. They mean a man does and not just talks."

"Or doesn't…" Sokka replied with a goofy grin. "As in doesn't have the sense to get out of the way."

"Yes, my lord." The corporal added. "It seems you forgot the first rule of meeting a bear."

"Right!" Sokka said with a short laugh, followed by a long, "Owwwwww…"

"Don't make me laugh, it hurts." The tribesman said with a grin, gently holding his side. "And I'm no one's master or lord. I wish you would all just call me Sokka"

"That's not quite true." The corporal replied. "You were certainly the lord of this bear."

"Yes!" Lao agreed. "Bear Lord Sokka, seems like a title that even you cannot object too."

"I don't know." Sokka replied thoughtfully. "The bear was on top of me at the end."

"Just because the bear is on top at the end, doesn't mean you are not his lord." The corporal observed. "After all you are the first to rise again, Bear Lord."

Sokka wasn't sure what the corporal was driving at, but all he or Lao got in answer was a knowing grin from the burly soldier.

The sound of two ostrich/horses coming up at the gallop caught the attention of the three men as Private Ma rode up leading the corporals mount. The trooper jumped down from the saddle pulled open his saddle bag and tossed a package to the corporal.

The burly trooper pulled it open and handed a small phial to the tribesman.

"Drink that, it will help with the pain." The soldier said.

Sokka did as instructed. He could taste alcohol and something sweet in the potion. When he finished the corporal was already wrapping a large bandage around him. Private Ma came up with another kit and pulling another bandage also began to go to work.

As he worked the corporal snickered quietly.

"Really dead weight." The corporal said in a low sardonic tone.

"Nearly shit my pants when you did that." Private Ma said laughing and shaking his head.

All three warriors laughed. Sokka's was cut off with a strained "Ow."

"Don't make me laugh." He demanded, still chuckling quietly.

The two soldiers laughed even harder at the request.

Lao just looked on in wonder at the three of them.

The two troopers were well trained, and did their jobs quickly. Soon Sokka was tightly wrapped in bandages and the bleeding was stopped.

The potion started to go to work and Sokka, although light headed, had to admit that the pain was now just a dull ache.

"Ma…" The corporal ordered. "Ride ahead and let the surgeon know that we'll be bringing in wounded."

"Wait!" Sokka called. "I can't go back for a couple of hours. I have to skin and dress the kill. And we're going to need a wagon to carry the carcass back."

The two soldiers and the Grand Duke gave the young man shocked looks.

"What?" Sokka asked. "We can't let all this meat go to waste."

"You are more important than this beast." Lao declared. "You need proper treatment."

"Well then have the surgeon come out here." Sokka said compromising. "He can get here faster on orse back than I can get to him in the cart. And in the mean time I can take care of the kill."

"Your Grace?" The corporal asked.

"Alright, get the surgeon." Lao decided.

"You heard him Ma. Get the surgeon."

"Yes corporal." The private said jumping into the saddle.

"Don't forget the wagon." Sokka added as the trooper rode off at the gallop.

Private Ma waved his arm in acknowledgement of the command, and spurred his mount down out of the hills. As he rode away he could hear someone singing behind him. He couldn't make out the words. It wasn't a song of celebration, it was more a song of praise from what he could tell.

Butler Hong was in a hurry so he slowed down. As a good butler to a great man he knew he should never look hurried or flustered, so when he was in a hurry he always slowed down and became very deliberate.

He was hurrying to the drawing room of the estate. He had been informed that an important delegation had arrived wishing to speak to the Grand Duke.

As he entered and bowed to the guests he could see that it was indeed a special delegation. There were four people all dressed, or over dressed for such a fine day, in heavy blue clothes. They all had dark skin and blue eyes. Water Tribe to be sure.

"I am Hong, Butler to his Grace the Grand Duke Lao Be Fong." Hong introduced himself to the obviously too warm group. "I regret to inform you that his Grace is not in the compound this morning and will not be able to see you. Really the first opportunity he will have to greet you will be the day after tomorrow in the afternoon. I hope you will be able to return at that time."

"I am Dai, Herald to his majesty Chief Arnook of the Northern Water Tribe." The youngest of the party said with a most polite bow. "Actually we are here to speak to a fellow tribesman by the name of Sokka, on a most urgent matter. We were told by his sister that he would be here at his Grace's Estate."

"Oh… I see. Forgive me for assuming that you were here for an audience with his Grace." Hong said bowing lower in apology. "Yes, Master Sokka is a guest of his Grace, unfortunately he is with the Grand Duke at this time and is not available. If you were to return the day after tomorrow, in the afternoon, I am sure a meeting could be arranged."

This seemed to cause some upset in the two older gentlemen of the delegation. Even Dai could not entirely hide his disappointment. The only one who appeared to not care was the woman in the group.

"Do you have accommodations in the city?" Hong asked trying to salvage the situation. He did not want to be responsible for an international incident.

"Actually we came directly from the harbor and have not had a chance to make any arrangements yet." The herald explained.

"Unfortunately we do not have space here at this time for you. But allow me to make arrangements for lodging in the city for you. Also I will have a carriage brought round to take you to the city. And we will have a carriage pick you up the day after tomorrow for your audience with Master Sokka." Hong said in his most placating manner.

"Thank you. That would be greatly appreciated." Dai said with a bow and a diplomatic smile.

Toph woke up as the couch she was on was lifted into the air by the four burly earthbenders. The men were so large they would intimidate The Boulder if he were here.

This was part of the blind earthbenders grand entrance for the party. All Toph had to do was lay there and be carried around. Since she couldn't feel anything this far from her element she really didn't know what was going on.

Toph didn't have to do anything so she lay back down and went back to sleep.

Lao was sitting watching as Sokka butchered the kill. The young man was in just his loin cloth, his arms covered in blood.

The Grand Duke was nauseous at the sight. He had never seen anything like this before. He turned his eyes back to the stream trying not to think of what was going on nearby.

"Lao?"

The sound caused the Grand Duke to look up and see Sokka standing next to him.

"Yes." The older man replied, clearing his throat.

"As a member of the hunting party half the kill is yours." Sokka explained.

"I did nothing. I nearly got us both killed." Lao protested.

"No… I nearly got us both killed." The tribesman corrected. "Anyway half the kill is yours. Now I can't use all this meat. It will go bad long before I can eat it. So I was thinking maybe we could make a trade."

"What?" The Grand Duke asked confused.

"A trade, I'll trade you my half of the meat for your half of the hide, the claws, and the head." Sokka offered. "Does that sound fair?"

"Yes… of course… whatever you want."

"Ok?" Sokka said nodding and holding out his hand.

He must have washed his hands since they were now clean. Lao looked at the outstretched hand before he remembered. He stood and grasped the young man's forearm. The two men smiled and shook arms.

"I think the surgeon is finally here." The corporal called out from where he had been watching the trail from the compound. "No wonder it took him so long, he brought his ambulance."

"I think I see it!" Aang called out from where he was riding on Appa's head.

Katara put down her book and looked up. She stood in the saddle of the air bison and looked over her boyfriend's head to see the Be Fong estate in the distance.

"Finally!" She thought to herself.

They had been flying for most of the night and all of this day. They were very late. Originally they had planned to arrive around lunch time, but with all the excitement and political changes resulting from Kuei's return to the city, they had gotten a very late start. What had been planned as a leisurely trip had turned into a mad rush.

Appa gave a low moaning growl as they approached the compound. The great air bison was tired too.

"Are you sure this is the right place?" Katara called.

It looked very different from the last time she had seen it. There were too many buildings for one thing. Both inside and outside of the walled compound.

The bison moaned again.

"Appa says this is the place!" Aang replied. "And he's never wrong."

"If you say so." She replied, putting her book and the other things away that she had pulled out of her back pack to fight boredom.

"Look!" Aang said pointing down into the compound. "It's Wa Shi Tong's library!"

Katara looked down over the side as Appa banked over the main building, circling in to land. She recognized the library. It was much smaller than the original but it was there in the middle of an ornate garden, next to the main building. It looked strange with all the plants around it and not sand.

The waterbender saw people, very well dressed people, coming out of the largest building to the open area between it and the replica. She looked at her own clothes and felt very plain. She was just wearing her normal traveling clothes.

She studied the people waiting for them. She thought she recognized Toph's parents but no one else. That worried her. She didn't see her brother among the people on the ground. That scared her.

Even since she had said goodbye to him, she had worried that Sokka would not be there. She knew it was irrational but she had this fear that she would never see her brother again.

She was still studying the people on the ground when she was startled by a screech beside her as a blur of white shot past her.

"Momo!" She cried in surprise, as the lemur dove towards the ground.

She watched as the lemur suddenly flared his wings and landed on the head of a soldier standing near Lao. He was standing next to a very fancily dressed young girl who was holding his hand. She knew he was a soldier from the green military tunic he was wearing. But there was something familiar about him. One his skin was darker than everyone else's. Also his hair was in a ponytail. No one else was wearing their hair that way. No it was not a ponytail but a warrior's wolf…

"SOKKA!" Katara shouted waving both her arms.

The young man looked up and waved back.

Katara threw herself out of the saddle towards her brother, just as Appa was landing.

He caught her in his outstretched arms pulling her into a rib bending hug as he spun her around and around in the air. She wound her arms around his neck and kissed him hard on the mouth. They broke after a moment still in the hug.

"It sounds crazy…" Sokka told her, his forehead against her own. "But I thought I'd never see you again."

Then he shifted his head and kissed her firmly on the mouth. She kissed him back, hanging from his neck, her feet never touching the ground.

"Hey Toph!" Aang said waving as he floated down from the head of the sky bison.

"Twinkle Toes!" The earthbender shouted with glee running up to the Airbender.

The two hugged in their turn.

The siblings broke apart slightly at the sound of Aang's voice. Sokka lowered his sister to the ground but they still held onto each other, afraid the other might disappear if they let them go.

The airbender and the earthbender joined the dark skinned pair in a four way group hug.

"Aang…" Sokka said leaning back to get a better look at the avatar. "…You've grown."

"So have you!" Katara said squeezing her brother, which got her a pained look from him which surprised her. "Just when I was starting to catch up."

"So have you Momo." Sokka said with a placating tone as the lemur, which had flown off with all the human activity decided now to land on the tribesman's head and chitter his need for attention.

"I think I shrank." Toph commented in an unhappy tone.

"No Toph…" Sokka told her with a squeeze of her shoulder. "…You stayed just the same since you can't improve on perfection."

"Ahhh…" Katara hummed appreciatively at the gallantry of her brother.

The smile on the waterbender's face churned into a dark frown when she saw the blind girl take Sokka's face in her hand and give him a kiss.

"…" Aang said, well he didn't say anything actually, because he was too shocked.

"That's a really pretty outfit, Toph." Katara finally said filling the silence.

"It's one my Mom had made for me." Toph explained. "I can't bend for shit in it."

"Toph!" Katara admonished her. "You shouldn't use such language!"

"It's a special occasion!" Toph defended her choice of words.

A quiet, polite, cough pulled the four's attention to the other people waiting nearby.

"Oh, sorry." Sokka said turning to see Lao and Poppy standing close by.

"You remember Toph's parents." He said indicating the two. "His Grace Grand Duke Lao Bei Fong and her Grace Grand Duchess Poppy."

Aang and Katara bowed to the two nobles. Lao politely bowed lower than the Avatar and not as low as the waterbender. Poppy did the same with Aang and hardly bowed at all to Katara.

Lao then held out his right hand to the waterbender. Katara wasn't sure what he wanted. She mimicked his movement, and he grabbed hold of her arm and shook it, vigorously. Then Katara understood and smiled awkwardly.

"That's a man's greeting." She explained. "Women greet like this."

She then stepped in and gave the Grand Duke a hug.

Lao was startled at first but then lightly patted Katara on the back before breaking the hug.

"Forgive me for my error." The Grand Duke apologized. "I'm still learning. And I have to say I prefer the woman's way, when meeting a woman as beautiful as you are."

Katara blushed at the complement, turning her face down.

"It's good to be here again." Aang told the Grand Duke, with a little edge to his voice. "I wasn't sure we would be welcomed here after our last visit."

"Of course you are!" Lao responded with a small bow. "That is all forgotten and I hope you will forgive our over protectiveness. After all, from what I understand, we are all nearly family."

That statement earned a surprised gasp from Poppy.

"Family?" Katara asked.

"And this is Captain his Excellency the Baron Rong." Sokka said introducing the officer and changing the subject. "He is a cousin to the Grand Duke, and was kind enough to loan me the use of this tunic."

"Captain Rong." Aang said bowing.

"Avatar." Rong replied returning the bow.

"Baron." Katara bowed, but she was still sneaking glances to the Grand Duke.

"The stories, no matter how outlandish…" Rong told the waterbender, taking her hand. "Do not do you justice. Actually seeing you in the flesh, I realize that no story even told by a great poet, could do your beauty justice, Lady Katara."

With this last he kissed the back of her hand, most gallantly.

"Ah… Thank you." Katara said blushing heavily at the grand compliment.

"Lady Katara…" Rong said with a low bow. "Please allow me to greet you in the Watertribe style."

Before Katara could respond the officer moved in and gave her a very tight hug, running his hands vigorously up and down her back.

Aang looked about ready to greet the officer in the traditional Air Nomad style, which looked like it would require a month's leave in the infirmary for the soldier.

"Why did you need to loan Sokka a tunic?" Katara asked breaking free from the Baron.

"My top got torn." Sokka explained stepping in to his sister and between the Avatar and the soldier.

He turned her away from Rong and pointed her to next person standing nearby.

"And you remember Hong." He told her. "He runs everything for the Grand Duke."

Butler Hong had only been surprised a few times in his life. On the whole he liked it that way. He did not like being surprised. He found it very upsetting. He was surprised now. He had never been introduced to a guest of the Grand Duke's before. Especially not in such a way that he might be confused as an equal in standing to that guest. He did not know what to do.

"Good evening Hong." Katara said bowing, glad to be free of Rong. "It is good to see you again."

"My lady." Hong replied with a deep bow.

"Oh please…" She said answering the bow with one of her own. "Just call me Katara."

Then with hardly a thought she stepped in and gave the servant a little hug.

Hong was at a complete loss. His face flushed deep red and be mumbled

"My Lady."

"Do you remember me?" Aang said stepping up after Katara had stepped back.

"Of course Avatar." The butler replied bowing deeply. "You are taller than I remember, I have to say."

"But I still haven't caught up to Sokka." Aang replied with a grin.

"And this is Liling, who helps Toph with everything." Sokka told his sister indicating the new Lady's Maid.

"Liling." Katara acknowledged with a bow.

Liling panicked and nearly tried to hug the waterbender before she found herself and bowed instead.

"Lady Katara." She said straitening up.

"Please just Katara." The watertribe woman told her.

"And just call me Aang." The Avatar said giving her his own bow.

"As you wish, Avatar." Liling replied with her own bow.

Sokka looked around for more people but all the guests had returned to the house. He didn't understand why.

"How did your top get torn?" Katara asked him in a concerned tone. "And what about your other robe. You had two when you left Ba Sing Se?"

"I wear that one." Toph explained.

"What?!" Katara asked.

"Did you bring my stuff from Ba Sing Sei?" Sokka asked trying to change the subject.

"Yes…" Katara answered in an exasperated tone. "You've got too much stuff, Sokka."

"Sorry…" Her brother replied, not sounding in the least bit sorry. "But I won't be back for months maybe a year and I'll need all of my stuff."

"Especially your Kyoshi stuff." Aang said slyly.

Sokka blushed at the Avatar's jab.

Katara was not surprised by her brother's reaction but she was surprised by Toph's reaction. The blind girl tried to hide her face and the waterbender could have sworn that the earthbender looked guilty, which made no sense to the dark skinned teen.

"Hong have someone move the Avatar's things to the room we have set aside for him." Poppy ordered.

"And have them move Master Sokka's to the guest house." Lao added.

"Guest house?" Aang asked intrigued.

"The small scale Library that Toph bent for him." Lao answered pointing.

"Why can't we stay with Sokka?" Aang asked getting excited. "It looks like he has plenty of room."

"There's just the one bed." Poppy explained. "And from what I understand it is very rough and lacks the amenities we have for you in the house. Perhaps your companion can stay in the guest house and you can use the room we have set aside for you."

"How big is your bed Sokka?" Aang asked

"Big!" He answered.

"We can all sleep in Sokka's bed!" The Avatar said growing more excited. "It'll be just like when we were Team BoomerAang. All sleeping together, it'll be even better since we'll have a roof over our heads. Toph can join us. How about it Toph?"

"Sure." Toph answered, though she sounded a little reluctant.

"You can't all sleep in the same bed." Poppy exclaimed in horror.

"Sure we can!" Aang exclaimed in delight.

"It won't be a problem." Katara said.

She had been sleeping alone for months now and missed sharing a bed with her brother, especially as the nights had grown colder.

"I don't think Appa will fit." Sokka said with a dollop of sarcasm.

The bison gave one of his sad moans at the news.

"Sorry buddy." Aang said. "But Sokka's probably right."

The lemur flew over and landed on the bison's head and chittered at him.

"Momo that's not nice!" Sokka called out. "Keep it up and you'll end up in the stables with him."

"Your Grace…" Hong inquired.

"It appears to be decided then." Lao observed. "So move everything into the guest house."

"Yes your Grace." The butler said with a bow.

"So Sokka, what happened to your top?" Aang then asked.

"Thanks Aang!" Sokka thought.

"It was an accident." Sokka explained. "No big deal."

"He was saving my life." Lao said in explanation. "We were attacked by a Platypus/Bear, and Sokka jumped between it and me."

"A bear?" Katara asked becoming irritated.

This was just like her brother. To do something stupid and then try to cover it up.

"He was badly injured." The Grand Duke explained.

"You said it was just a scratch." Toph said accusingly.

"Injured?!" Katara cried out.

"I hope you didn't hurt the poor Platypus/Bear." Aang told him.

"Why were you bear hunting?!" Katara wanted to know.

"We weren't hunting we were fishing." Sokka explained.

"It was my fault." Lao told them.

"You said it was a scratch!" Toph accused the young man.

"This is a great story!" Rong crowed. "The Grand Duke told me all about it."

"It wasn't Lao's fault." Sokka tried to explain. "I was following sign just because I was curious. We weren't actually hunting."

Katara began pulling at his weapons belt.

"Get that off!" She ordered. "Get all this off and let me see what happened to you. You are such an idiot!"

Sokka undid his belt and dropped it onto the ground. He then pulled the borrowed tunic off.

"Father, are you alright?" Toph asked.

"What happened to the Platypus/Bear?" Aang wanted to know getting worried.

Sokka, with the tunic half off just looked as his sister, and rolled his eyes. She hit him in the chest in reply.

Momo, who was sitting on the Avatar's head chittered worriedly.

"I'm fine." Lao told his daughter. "Thanks to your young man."

"Her what?!" Katara asked, in a tone of surprise, shock, and quite a bit of anger thrown in.

"I don't understand?" Aang announced to no one in particular.

"Oh please!" Rong explained. "Everyone knows about the two of them."

"Where's your knife?" Katara asked with cold fury.

Sokka tossed the tunic on the ground, and pulled his knife from his weapons belt.

"Here." He said in a timid voice, apprehensively handing it over.

Katara knelt down in front of her brother and began to pull his pants down to expose the rest of the bandage. With the knife she began to slash through the linen exposing his skin.

"Wei Ling spent a lot of time on those." Sokka offered feeling embarrassed as everyone including Momo and Appa were staring at him.

"Who?" Aang asked.

"The healer, well I guess his correct title is surgeon here." Sokka explained sucking in his stomach to get it as far away from Katara and the big knife as she continued to slash away the bandages. "I don't think he gets to practice much here since he spent a lot of time patching me up."

With the bandage finally off Katara carefully removed the gauze pads covering the wounds themselves.

"Wow!" Aang said looking at the five horizontal lines on his friend's midriff.

"Oma and Shu!" Rong said having come around to see the injury himself. "That bear really opened you up."

"I will go in and check on dinner." Poppy told her husband.

She turned and walked to the mansion, holding a silk handkerchief to her mouth.

"Katara how bad is it?" Toph nearly shouted moving up behind the young man.

"Bad!" Aang answered.

"Nearly tore him in half." Rong elaborated.

"When the bear struck him he went flying through the air." Lao explained. "I thought he had been killed."

"Killed!" Toph did shout this time. "You Meathead!"

She punched him in the shoulder in her concern.

"Hit him again, Toph!" Katara demanded. "He deserves it!"

The earthbender complied with gusto.

"Oooww" Sokka moaned in complaint to the abuse.

"Sokka that healer sewed you up like an old torn tunic." Katara stated in a sad tone, examining the wounds.

"I thought he did a really good job." Sokka defended the surgeon.

"I'm going to need a lot of clean water." Katara said as she began to cut the stiches holding her brother together.

"Ow." Sokka said.

"Liling get some water." Toph ordered.

"Yes Miss." The lady's maid answered running to the big house.

Butler Hong lowered his head and began to massage his temples. One of his staff was running. Well technically Miss Liling was not actually part of his staff but still… running?

…

Madame Wang stood looking out through the curtains of an upstairs window watching the scene below. She saw that traitor bitch Liling run out of the big house with a pitcher of water. She watched as the female moved her hands and as the water sprang out of the pitcher and began to glow.

"Water witch!" The governess exclaimed in horror.

She watched, with disgust, as the female ran her now glowing hands all over the male.

"Animals!" She breathed in disgust, without realizing that she had spoken allowed.

The witch was a healer. That would change things.

….

Dinner was intimate. Just Toph, her parents, The Avatar, Rong, Katara and Sokka. The rest of the house guests decided to have their dinner in their rooms.

"In your honor Avatar Aang…" Poppy proclaimed. "All the dishes tonight are vegetarian."

"Ah mannnn!" Sokka whined quietly.

"How thoughtful." Katara responded for Aang. "You are most gracious."

The young Avatar had been very quiet and thoughtful after learning of the fate of the Platypus/Bear.

The food was served but conversation was still very sparse until Baron Rong finally spoke up, after his third cup of wine.

"Cousin Lao received word through his special postal hawks that his majesty has returned to Ba Sing Se. The news we have had has been very brief and lacking in details. Had you already left the city by that time or were you there for his Majesty's restoration to the throne?"

"We were there." Katara explained. "It's why we were late in arriving today. We got a late start due to all that was going on in the city."

"Katara was right there!" Aang said finally lifting his head from his food. "She even helped save Kuei from the Dai Li, when they attacked!"

"The Dai Li, but they had been outlawed." Lao said joining in.

"Apparently they had been released by someone in the army." Katara explained. "But most of them have been arrested again now that the army has left the city."

"What about the attack?" Rong asked, excited for a story of battle.

"I didn't do much." Katara explained. "General Minh had everything under control very quickly."

"General Minh?!" Sokka asked surprised. "Are you sure it wasn't General Ho and Sergeant Minh?"

"No it was General Minh for sure." Aang told him. "Ho didn't become a general until after Kuei was back on the throne."

"Odd…" Sokka observed. "I recommended that Ho be made the general."

Toph didn't say anything, she just had a private little smirk on her lips as she sipped her tea.

"She said she knew you." Katara said looking to her brother.

"Me and Toph had lunch with her a couple of weeks ago." Sokka told her, becoming interested in his noodles. "She was real nice."

Toph didn't say anything, but she did slurp her soup loudly.

"She told us to tell you thanks for all the help." Aang added.

"Kuei said to tell you thanks too." Katara added.

"Ho! Ho!" Rong crowed. "Must be nice to have the King owe you one.

"Do you have those letters, Aang?" Katara asked.

"I left them with our stuff." The Avatar explained, once he swallowed his mouthful of noodles.

"What letters?" Lao asked.

"Kuei gave us two letters, one for Toph and one for Sokka." Katara answered.

"If you will excuse me." Butler Hong said, taking a step towards the table from the serving buffet. "I believe that these may be the letters

With this last he pulled two small packages out of the sleeve of his robe.

"Shen found them when he was moving your things from the flying creature to the guest house." Hong continued. "Seeing as they were addressed to Miss Bei Fong and Master Sokka, Shen brought them to me and I kept them, meaning to deliver them to the addressees. I hope that was alright, your highness?"

Hong bowed to the Avatar and handed over the parcels.

"Great!" Aang nearly shouted. "I had forgotten all about them. You were right Sokka, he really does keep everything running smoothly."

The Airbender looked at the two packages and tossed one across the table to the tribesman who caught it easily. The second he threw diagonally down the table to the blind earthbender. Sokka shot half way out of his chair and his long left arm flicked out intercepting the package before it could hit Toph.

"I could've caught it." The earthbender said grumpily.

"Sorry!" Sokka said, tossing it to her.

Caught by surprise it bounced off her head before she was aware it was in the air.

"Thanks Meathead!" She told him grumpily.

"What's it say, Toph?" Aang asked

She retrieved it from her lap where it had fallen and held it to her ear for a second.

"Crinkle… Rustle…, that's about it." She answered.

"Sorry…" The Avatar said dropping his face in embarrassment.

"Here Meathead, make yourself useful." Toph said throwing the package.

Sokka who had been about to say something to Aang to rub in the Avatar's embarrassment was caught by surprise.

"What?" He asked turning to the earthbender just in time to be hit in the forehead by the package. "Ow!"

He reached down and picked up the parcel from the floor and cocked his arm back to fling it back at the twelve year old.

"Sokka…!" Katara said in a warning tone.

"She started it." Sokka said lowering his arm.

"You started it!" Toph proclaimed. "You hit me in the face!"

"That was an accident!" Sokka defended himself.

"Stop it both of you!" Katara ordered.

"But..." Sokka began to whine but was cut off by his sister.

"Sokka, shut up and read us the letter!"

He gave his sister a nasty look but then begrudgingly looked at the parcel.

"Toph Bei Fong, daughter of Grand Duke Lao Bei Fong of Gaoling." He read the address.

He pulled out his skinning knife and began to cut the package open.

"Sokka!" Katara said in her lecturing voice. "Why are you wearing your weapons at the dinner table?"

"That's alright." Lao answered for him. "He explained it all and has my permissions to be armed anywhere he wishes. After all if he didn't, we would both be dead now."

Sokka gave his sister a told you so look, which she answered with a role of her eyes.

He emptied the parcel onto the table.

"There's a passport." He said holding it up and showing it to Toph, quickly realizing his mistake he held it out to the rest of the people at the table.

"That's a royal passport." Rong said, impressed. "They're good anywhere in the kingdom."

He next held up a folded piece of fine paper. Opening it he read.

"My dear friend Toph. You present me with a very serious problem. How do I thank someone who has saved my life, given me freedom, and not just the freedom from a cell but from a way of life that had kept me imprisoned my entire life, but that wasn't enough for you, you then saved my people and my kingdom.

"I was at a loss for what to do. But then a mutual friend, gave me the perfect idea. It seemed all I needed was the female perspective. And just to let you know it comes with an annual stipend of five thousand gold pieces a year."

Sokka was stopped by the sound of Rong sucking in his breath.

"Is that a lot?" Aang asked.

"Yes." Lao said simply.

Sokka looked up to see if the conversation was going to continue. Aang looked guilty for interrupting, so the tribesman finished the letter.

"I only hope that you will enjoy this reward as much as I enjoyed giving it to. Signed your friend Kuei."

Lao held out his hand and Sokka gave him the letter.

"A personal letter from his majesty." Lao said in wonder looking at it. "It may have been written by his own hand. We will have to cherish this and save it as a family heirloom."

Sokka unfolded the last item in the parcel. It was a large piece of heavy paper.

"Be in known." He began to read.

"A royal proclamation." Rong said sitting up. "They always start with 'Be it known'."

"What's the difference between a decree and a proclamation?" Sokka asked.

"Well…" Rong began but was cut off by the waterbender.

"Who cares?!" Katara declared in frustration. "Just read it."

Rong shrank in his chair, and took another drink of wine. Sokka Shot his sister a frustrated look but then turned back to the document.

"Be it known, that I Kuei, fifty-second ruler of the Earthkingdom… It goes on like that for a while." Sokka said tracing his finger down the page. "Ah… here we go. I do proclaim that Toph Bei Fong in reward for her many heroic deeds and sacrifices for our people and our kingdom is hereby elevated, with all the rights, privileges, and duties to the rank and title of Princess of the Royal Court of Ba Sing Se. As the only princess of the Earthkingdom her form of address will simply be Princess and should be used on all occasions."

"Princess!" Poppy said barely hiding her desire for the title.

"Princess!" Rong said full of wonder.

"Princess!" Katara said full of delight and excitement.

"Princess?" Aang said full of confusion.

"Princess!" Lao said full of pride and happiness for his daughter and his family.

"Princess." Sokka said with a raised eyebrow and small grin.

All eyes in the room, even the servants, which was a terrible breach of etiquette, were on the young girl sitting at the table.

"That Bitch!" Toph said with barely controlled rage. "I'm going to kill her!"

"Toph dear!" Lao said in a placating tone. "This is a great honor, not only for you but for our entire family. I can't remember when there was a Royal Court Princess. As a court princess you are not in line for the throne, and your children will not inherit the title, but you will still receive all the honors due to a princess."

"I'm going to bury her so deep…" Toph said ignoring her father. "No… I'll crush her between two rocks, slowly."

This last she illustrated with her hands slowly grinding them together in front of her.

"Toph!" Katara said admonishingly.

"Shouldn't that be Princess?" Sokka corrected his sister, with a growing grin.

"Shut up Meathead!" Toph ordered, reinforcing her decree with a hard punch to his shoulder. "This is all your fault!"

"My fault?!" Sokka protested.

"If you hadn't stopped me I could have killed her outside that restaurant, and none of this would have happened." Toph told him, giving him another, even harder punch.

Sokka dropped out of his chair and knelt by Toph's side, his head humbly bowed in supplication.

"Please forgive my rudeness, Princess."

Toph stomped her foot onto the floor and Sokka disappeared from sight.

"Idiot!" She said.

….

Toph eventually calmed down, but it took a while. She even pulled Sokka out of the floor at one point, only to order him to pack his things so they could leave in the morning for Ba Sing Se.

"What about your party." Sokka asked.

"Fuck the stupid party." She replied.

"Toph!"

Both her mother and Katara had cried, admonishing her use of language, though neither actually knew what the word meant, they just knew it was bad.

"Now Toph…" Her father said in a calm reasonable tone. "Whether you… confront this person…"

"Sergeant Soggy Pants!" Toph proclaimed with much heat.

"This woman." Lao had said. "It won't change anything. His Majesty has elevated you to this rank and he will not take it back. This was meant as a great honor and a truly noble reward for all you have done for the king and the kingdom. You should accept it as such even if it is not… exactly what you would have wanted."

"It also comes with five thousand a year." Rong had added, refilling his cup.

"Besides we have all these people coming to the party." Lao had gone on, shooting Rong a look. "You can't disappoint them all."

"Alright!" Toph finally conceded. "But if I ever meet that bitch again..."

"Toph!" Katara and Poppy both admonished her.

"…She'll pay." Toph finished.

Dinner was quiet after that.

"Sokka what was in your letter?" Rong finally asked.

"Don't know." The tribesman answered looking up from his dish.

"Well open it!" Katara ordered, in exasperation.

"Ok, ok." Sokka replied trying to placate his sister.

He cut the package open. Inside was a passport and a letter.

"Sifu…" Sokka read.

"Really?!" Katara asked shocked. "Sifu?"

"But you're not a bender." Aang commented. "How can you be a teacher?"

Sokka just gave the two a tired look.

"He is a master swordsman." Toph defended him. "Even if he is an idiot."

"Master?!" Katara asked skeptically.

"He saved my life with his sword." Lao said in a tone to close the conversation. "I will vouch for his mastery of his weapon."

"To have the king call you his teacher is a great honor." Rong intoned supporting his cousin. "Please keep reading."

"Sifu…" Sokka read shooting a look towards his sister and her boyfriend.

Katara had her skeptical look on her face. Aang was playing with something on his plate.

"… I owe you so much. My life, my kingdom, my throne. And apparently I also owe you a lot of money since you financed my return to the palace. That I can repay with a stipend of five thousand gold pieces a year. Which will be delivered to wherever you direct. As for the rest, I will never be able to repay you. And in place of a reward I fear I will be punishing you.

"I am here on the throne saving my hundreds of villages but I still need you to save each village one at a time. Towards that end I give you this passport which gives you freedom to travel wherever you want in the kingdom.

"I am also creating a new position in my realm, Royal Master of the Sword. You have authority over all my subjects. The passport orders all members of both the civilian and military authorities to obey your orders as if they were my own.

"Along with the title you have my authority to enforce all the laws of the kingdom, you may pass judgment, and execute justice anywhere in my kingdom. This should give you the freedom and the right to save each village that needs to be saved.

"I know that your own people have claims on you, as do the other nations of the world and even the Avatar. But I do hope that even after all you have done for the Earthkingdom, you will still return when you can to help us again and again.

"And please return when you can to the palace. I need your advice and your courage. If I could I would have you here all the time. I need my sifu if I am ever to learn, not only to be a swordsman but to be a king.

"Thank you, my master."

"And it's signed your student, Kuei." Sokka finally finished.

He began to fold the letter but Lao held out his hand.

"May I see it?" The Grand Duke asked reverently.

"Sure." Sokka said, handing over the letter.

The teen looked at the passport. It had royal stamps and a description of him. He thought the part about his eyes being the color of deep mountain lakes that you could fall into was a bit much, but all in all he felt it was an accurate description.

"Royal Master of the Sword of the Earthkindom." Rong intoned seriously. "That makes you the king's own law enforcer, judge, and executioner."

"Congratulations." Katara said with no trace of humor or disdain. "The first thing you should do is hunt down that murderer the Black Lotus."

"The Black Lotus is a hero!" Poppy objected. "Haven't you heard the songs and stories about him?"

"We got reports about him in the Ruling Council." Aang told her. "He's some sort of maniac that kills benders."

"The Ruling Council!" Toph scoffed. "The Black Lotus saved… people, he saved a whole village. The only benders he killed were trying to kill him or… other people."

"Do you know that for a fact?" Katara asked angrily. "Or are those just the stories you've heard."

"I know more than you do!" Toph proclaimed. "Which is nothing new, is it Sugar Queen? And you should be very happy that you didn't have to find it out the way I had to."

"What's that supposed to mean?" The waterbender demanded.

"Just that we met someone." Sokka answered his sister. "A young woman about your age, maybe a little older, from a village called Chosen that was saved by the Black Lotus. She knew more than any of us about him. I think Toph was talking about her."

"Do you mean Yun Hee?" Aang asked. "We met her. She was with Kuei. She didn't say anything about the Black Lotus."

"You met the princess of Chosen?" Poppy asked excitedly. "What was she like?"

"Very nice." Katara answered. "But she had a sadness about her."

"I'm with the Grand Duchess." Rong said. "We've had reports at headquarters. The Black Lotus has almost ended the slave trade in the Si Wong and liberated a village from a gang of deserters. I'd buy him a drink anytime."

"We didn't hear about that in the Council." Aang said thoughtfully. "Just that he killed benders."

"Who gave you the reports?" Lao asked.

"Well it was General Fong." Aang conceded.

"Well that explains it." Rong said "Fong the f…."

The last word was said under his breath.

"What was that Baron?" Lao asked. "Do you know this Fong?"

"Just by reputation." Rong answered. "And his reputation is of a General who is not above enhancing the truth if it's to his advantage."

"That does sound like Fong, Aang." Katara said doubt beginning to enter into the certainty she had before.

"Yeah…" The Avatar said. "I never did trust Fong."

"But even if the Black Lotus has helped people." Aang conceded. "He still kills people, which is wrong."

"The world is a different place than it once was, Avatar Aang." Lao advised. "We've just spent one hundred years killing each other. Killing is common now. The strong have become cruel and selfish, or perhaps even worse they have become indifferent. At least this Black Lotus uses his strength to protect the weak from the strong."

"Well maybe…" Aang said thoughtfully.

Katara didn't say anything, but she did reach out and stroke the Avatar's arm in comfort.

"Your Grace…" Butler Hong's voice broke the silence at the table. "The reception?"

"Oh yes. Thank you Hong." Lao answered. "Avatar Aang we have taken the liberty to arrange a small reception for you with the guests for the party this evening. That way the guests will already have met you and you being at the party tomorrow will not detract from Princess Toph's entry into society."

"Oh sure, that'd be great!" Aang enthused. "I like meeting new people."

"We'll have to change sweetie." Katara said laying her hand on his.

"Actually…" Poppy said. "We thought it would be best if it was just the Avatar at the reception. I'm sure you would rather spend the time with your brother then at a boring reception."

"Oh yes of course." Katara said trying unsuccessfully to hide her disappointment.

"Actually sis I was going to ask you to help me with the hide." Sokka told her. "I've still got a lot of work to do on it."

"Of course I'll help!" Katara said brightening. "I haven't cleaned a hide in forever."

"What are you going to do?" Toph asked.

"We're just going to clean the hide and get it ready for tanning." Sokka explained.

"This is something you do back in the watertribe?" Lao asked.

"Yes, we use the hides for clothes and for blankets, tents, boats, well everything." Katara explained.

"Can I help?" Toph asked.

"Do you really think that is appropriate?" Poppy asked her daughter. "You doing… That sort of thing."

"Mother please." Toph answered.

"It is messy and hard work." Katara warned.

"Fine I'll change first." Toph responded.

When Toph walked into the guest house Sokka had already spread the Platypus/Bear skin out onto the large open floor. With her bending she could sense that the two siblings were undressing.

"What's going on?" She asked

"Easier to clean skin then it is to clean clothes." Katara answered casually.

Toph who rarely washed her skin and had never washed her clothes wasn't sure of the truth of Katara's statement, though it sounded like one of those Watertribe sayings that usually ended in 'and die'.

"It's just the way we do it back home." Sokka explained. "You don't have to do it if you don't want to."

Toph thought about it for a second. She had come to learn watertribe ways so that he would know that he could live wherever he wanted and still be with her. She started to pull her own clothes off.

She wasn't sure how much skin was going to be involved in this. She could sense that Sokka was already down to his loin cloth, she was used to that. Katara was already down to her complex chest wrappings and was pulling her pants off. Toph didn't mind undressing in front of Sokka so much. He had seen her pretty close to naked, now that she thought about it, he had actually seen her naked, which caused her to blush with embarrassment, and maybe a little of something else.

It was undressing in front of Katara that intimidated her. She knew that the waterbender was pretty, or even beautiful, from the way boys acted around her. The way boys never acted around Toph. And to be compared to Katara was a little frightening.

Katara had just reached up to her chest wrap when she stopped.

"Sokka?" She said waiting for her brother to respond.

He looked up and she began to gesture with her hands, almost as if she were bending, but without using her body, just her hands. Sokka watched her and then when she stopped he gestured back.

Toph had seen this before a few times. It was as if the siblings were having a conversation, but instead of speaking they used hand gestures.

She wasn't sure what they were 'talking' about but she thought Katara had pointed at her at one point. Then Sokka pointed at his eyes and made a gesture.

The waterbender thought about it for a moment and then reached for her chest wrappings again, only to be stopped by her brother clapping his hands together. When Katara looked up, Sokka placed his hand flat on his forehead and began to dance around in a wide legged, awkward way that reminded Toph of Aang when he was being silly.

Katara gave a sharp intake of breath and lowered her face in an embarrassed fashion. Then she looked up and nodding her head made another hand gesture, which earned her a no big thing wave from her brother.

Toph wondered just how undressed the brother and sister would have gotten if they had been back home. She herself was down to her under tunic and shorts. She thought a moment and then began to pull off her tunic, which would leave her in her shorts and chest wrapper. Luckily it was one of her old chest bands, and not one of her new two pieces of cloth and some strings wrappers.

"Here Katara." Sokka called from the other side of the bear skin. "I saved some for you."

He tossed something over to his sister who caught it and looked at it for a second.

"Fresh meat!" She said looking at the strip of raw meat in her hand. "I really shouldn't."

"Don't worry I won't tell Captain Vegetable." He reassured her.

Katara reached down into the neat pile of folded cloths on the bed and pulled out a half moon shaped knife. She took one end of the piece of meat between her teeth and used the knife to cut it away from the larger chunk.

"Oh… Mmmmm" She moaned, enjoying the taste as she chewed it. "I haven't had fresh meat in months."

"Do you want some?" She asked offering Toph the meat and the knife.

The earthbender was surprised but took the offered items. She held the meat between her teeth as she had just sensed Katara had done, and cut off a chunk. She felt that she had been successful since she still had her nose and her lips.

The meat was raw and sticky with drying blood. Toph fought to not gag on it, chewed dutifully, and handed the blade and remaining meat back to the waterbender.

"Mmmm… Good!" She managed to get out sounding almost as if she meant it.

Katara tossed the remaining scrap of meat into her mouth and licked first her hand then her knife clean.

"What did you do with the rest of the meat?" She asked her brother out of curiosity and perhaps desire for another piece.

"I gave it to Toph's dad." He answered.

"You gave all the meat of a great kill to Toph's father?!" Katara asked suspicion, not so much creeping into her voice as kicking its way in at a full run.

"Traded!" Sokka quickly corrected defensively. "I traded my half of the meat for his half of the hide, claws, and head."

"He said he was stuck in a bush, and had no part in the kill." Katara shot back at him. "Which means the kill was yours alone."

"He was part of the hunting party." Sokka explained. "Besides what was I going to do with all that meat? Even I can't eat a whole bear by myself. Lao has a family, and a clan, and is giving a party with guests and all. He needs a lot of meat and it will get eaten before it goes bad."

"I guess…" Katara conceded.

She looked at the hide on the floor then held out her ulu, examining it. She licked a last bit of blood off the blade.

"Toph's going to need a knife." Katara finally said by way of letting the subject go.

Toph wasn't sure why Katara cared what Sokka did with the meat. It seemed like a good solution to the earthbender. She swallowed the chunk she had been chewing, grateful that Sokka didn't have any more.

"Catch!" Sokka called.

Toph panicked, she had been distracted by her thoughts and hadn't sensed where Sokka was throwing the knife.

"Great!" She said. "Throw the knife at…"

"Got it, thanks." Katara said catching it easily.

It was Sokka's heavy skinning blade. Katara offered it to Toph who reached to take it.

"That's really lovely." Katara said gesturing towards Toph's chest with the handle of the knife. "When did you get that?"

"What?" The blind girl asked.

Toph's hand jumped to her chest where the bandage covered the tattoo. She had forgotten all about it. As she touched the area between her breasts she could feel that her breast band completely covered the bandage and what was under it. She began to breathe again. She didn't know why but she really didn't want to explain the tattoo to anyone, especially Sugar Queen right now.

"Your necklace." Katara said leaning in to get a better look and pointing more specifically this time. "It's beautiful."

Toph had forgotten all about the jade coin hanging around her neck. She never took it off and had gotten so used to the feel of it that she didn't even notice it anymore.

"Oh… Sokka gave it to me." She told her friend happily. "It even has a boomerang on the back."

"SOKKKKAAAAA!" Katara called out.

The sound of his sister's voice calling his name in that tone sent a lightning bolt of terror up the young man's spine.

"Yeesss." He said carefully.

"We need to talk!" Katara ordered. "Toph will you excuse us for a minute?"

"A… sure." The young girl said not sure of what was going on.

"You!" Katara proclaimed pointing to her brother. "Meet me outside."

The waterbender handed the skinning knife to Toph and stalked out of the guest house. Sokka followed her with his head held high as a man going to his execution.

When he got outside he could see by the light spilling from the large windows of the great house that Katara was waiting for him over by the garden fountain.

He had a pretty good idea what this conversation was going to be about and he dreaded having it. He did not know why. He had told Lao how he felt. He had told Toph how he felt about her, and that had taken more courage than he thought he had. He didn't understand why it would be different with Katara, except that it was Katara.

"So, what's going on between you and Toph?" She demanded, as he approached. "I saw her kissing you when we got here, you gave all the meat of great kill to her family. And now I find out you've given her a necklace with your sign on it?!"

As she said this she touched the stone hanging from the ribbon around her own neck, and with such and intensity that the water in the fountain began to splash over the edge.

"LIE!" Sokka's ten year old self screamed in his head.

"Tell her it's none of her business!" Sokka the Great ordered.

Then Sokka heard a new voice in his head. One he had never heard before. It came from a young man wearing a black loin cloth and in black war paint, his face painted like a ravening wolf.

"She deserves the truth." The young warrior said simply. "And a man should only speak the truth."

"I love her." Sokka replied to his sister. "And she says she loves me, and I believe her."

A wave of water jumped out of the fountain and struck him on the side of the head, drenching him.

"What are you thinking?" Katara asked in barely controlled rage. "She's just a kid."

"She's the same age as Aang." He answered, wiping his face.

"Aang's different!" She told him.

"Oh don't give me that hundred years orse shit!" Sokka threw back at her. "He's twelve just like Toph."

"He's thirteen." Katara said defensively. "Besides he's mature for his age."

"Oh right!" Her brother replied doing his impression of Aang doing his octopus dance.

He stopped when another sheet of water hit him.

"You're too old for Toph!" She told him folding her arms.

"I'm a year older than you are." He shot back. "If I'm told old for Toph you're too old for Aang."

"There's only a year difference between Aang and me." She said defensively.

"Two years." He told her with finality. "And only three years between me and Toph. Mom was five years younger than dad."

"And What about Suki?" Katara asked. "Did you forget about her?"

"Suki and I broke up." Sokka answered.

"When?!" She demanded.

"She sent me a letter." He told her.

"When did you get the letter?!" She asked slyly, feeling she had won this point.

"When I got here." He replied guiltily.

"So you were chasing after Toph before you broke up with Suki!" She proclaimed.

Another wave struck him in the head.

"That's Enough!" He told her.

The sound of his voice more than his words stopped Katara, and made her heart skip. It was deep and full of command. It was not her brother's voice but her father's.

"Now you know and I know that Suki and I were over long before we left Ba Sing Se." He told her in the same serious tone. "The letter was just a formality."

His eyes were stern and bright as he looked at her. She dropped her eyes to the ground. He was right and she knew it.

"What is your problem with me and Toph being together?" He wanted to know. "Is it Suki, or what?"

Katara gave up then. Her shoulders dropped and she collapsed sitting down on the edge of the fountain.

"No." She answered. "I always thought that Suki threw herself at you and that you were always trying too hard to please her. That you never really loved her."

"Then what is it?" He asked seriously, sitting beside on the fountain.

"It's just that…" She started, but then paused looking for something, anything to say.

"What?" He asked, putting his arm around her shoulder.

"It's just that, with Suki, I don't know. It just didn't seem serious somehow." She finally admitted. "But with Toph… I always knew that she had a thing for you. The way she was always shy and rough with you. The way you too were always together. I knew that if you ever actually became a couple it would be… well… serious."

"So?" He asked a little surprised.

"And well…" She continued. "I just don't know. Toph has never really liked me. And I knew if you two ended up together, well that would mean the two of us would… I don't know… grow apart. I'll probably never see you again."

"Toph loves you Katara." He reassured her, squeezing her shoulder.

"No she doesn't." She said sadly. "At best we've had a sort of truce."

"That's not true." He tried again.

"Yes it is." She affirmed. "And her seeing with her earthbending meant that if you were with her you would never come back home again. Our family would never be together again. And that scared me."

"Katara…" He said as he moved off the fountain and squatted down so he could look her directly in the eye. "I love you. You're my sister and nothing will ever change that. And I love Toph, and nothing will ever change that. But that doesn't mean I have to choose one or the other. I choose both."

"Can you have both?" She asked earnestly.

"Do you love Aang?" He asked in reply.

"Yes, yes I do." She answered.

"Does that mean you don't love me, or dad, or Gran Gran?" He asked.

"Of course not." She told him.

"Well there." He told her firmly. "We're watertribe, we just love more than anyone else." He explained.

Katara smiled at that. She leaned in and kissed him then.

"Watertribe!" She said proudly.

"Watertribe!" He said holding out his arms and giving the hand sign for their clan, the wolf's head with each hand.

….

Toph was sitting on the mattress on the floor that Sokka was using as a bed when the brother and sister walking hand in hand came back inside the guest house. She got up and walking casually over to Sokka gave him a hug.

"You're all wet." She told him.

"Yeah…" He responded darkly, but with a smile. "Funny how that happens."

Toph then gave Katara a hug.

"I really love you Katara." She told the waterbender.

"I love you too, Toph." Katara responded a little surprised. "Wait a second… Were you listening to our private conversation?"

"No! Of course not." Toph replied, though a little smile moved across her lips when she said it.

"Maybe we should get to work on the bear skin." Sokka suggested hoping to change the subject.

It worked at least temporarily, and Katara explained to Toph that they were going to clean the hide.

"We'll use our knives to scrape the skin clean of any fat or meat." She explained kneeling down onto the hide.

"You have to be careful that you don't scrape too much off." Katara continued, using her ulu to clean the skin. "And you don't want to make any cuts either."

Toph knelt down beside the waterbender and Katara had her feel where she had just cleaned. Toph began to scrape the hide, going by feel.

Katara checked what she had done.

"You can go a little faster and it doesn't have to be that clean." She explained to the blind girl.

The two continued to work on the skin, making their way from the top to the bottom. Katara using her ulu and Toph using Sokka's skinning knife.

The work was messy, and the stink of blood and raw meat and fat made Toph a little sick. She tried to block it out and concentrated on doing a good job.

Toph noticed that Katara kept licking her knife. It surprised the earthbender at first and she worried her friend would cut her tongue, but Katara never seemed to.

They continued working.

"Let me have your knife a second." Katara said at one point.

Toph handed it over and using her bending sensed that the teen was licking the edge. Once done Katara handed the knife back.

"Why did you do that?" Toph wanted to know.

"You need to keep the edge clean to do a good job." The waterbender explained.

Toph carefully felt the edge and could feel that it was clean now. From then on she would check the edge every so often and could feel there was a slimy build up on it. She carefully licked it clean. The taste and feel turned her stomach but she continued to do it. She was going to get this right if it took her all night.

"Lick away from the edge." Katara advised. "Right Sokka?"

"Yes." He grudgingly replied, which earned a little laugh from his sister.

"When he was little he cut his tongue once." She explained to Toph.

"You did a good job of skinning." Katara called out to her brother to make amends.

"Thanks." He acknowledged.

Toph could hear sounds from across the room.

"What's he doing?" She asked.

"He's digging the claws out." Katara told her.

"What for?" She asked.

"So he can decorate himself for all the girls." Katara told her.

"I'll wear the claws on my arms and legs." Sokka told her.

"And the teeth?" Katara asked.

"Necklace." He answered.

"He's going to look very pretty." Katara sniped.

"Ha, ha." Her brother replied.

"You'll have to watch out Toph." She advised her friend. "When he goes to a dance the girls are going to be all over him. They'll even offer you gifts to laugh with him."

"Ha, ha." Sokka added sarcastically from his side of the skin.

Toph wasn't sure what Katara was driving at. Sokka was really funny and girls laughed with him all the time.

The three continued to work for about three hours. The two girls taking turns making fun of the boy, who defended himself the best he could.

"So are we finished?" Toph asked stretching to relive her tight muscles and her stiff back.

"No." Katara said stretching herself. "Now we have to pee on it, and wash it out. Then we can dry it. Then we rub the brains in to make it supple again."

Toph wondered if Katara was making fun of her, what with the pee and brains, but the waterbender sounded serious.

"Come here and I'll clean you up." Sokka called from the other side of the room.

Toph, using her bending, had sensed Katara licking her hands and knife clean. The teen put her half-moon shaped knife into its scabbard and taking Toph's hand, led the girl over to where Sokka was sitting cross legged on the floor.

Sokka took hold of Toph's arm and began licking it. Which sent a hot thrill through the earthbender. Katara took hold of Toph's other arm and licked it. Which to the twelve year old sent a different thrill, a much creepier one, through her body.

Toph guessed this was normal, that licking each other was the way the watertribe people cleaned each other.

"Princess?" A timid voice asked from the doorway.

"Liling?" Sokka asked between licks.

"Yes, master Sokka." Liling said coming into the main room.

The Lady's Maid stood for a moment watching the three lick each other.

"Princess…" She finally said bowing to Toph.

"Don't call me that!" Toph insisted.

"I've been told I have to, Princess." Liling replied. "It's a royal decree."

"Well I'm ordering you to call me Toph." Her mistress commanded her.

Liling was lost for a second. She could not disobey her mistress, but she also could not disobey a royal proclamation.

"Perhaps you could call her Toph in private." Sokka suggested. "But in public you can use Princess."

"I guess that would be alright." Toph conceded.

"Yes… Toph." Liling said.

"What do you need?" Sokka now asked the servant.

"Oh yes, the reception for the Avatar is ending." Liling told them. "I thought you would want to come to your room so I could get you ready for bed, Toph."

"I'll be sleeping down here with my friends, tonight." Toph told her. "So you should just go to bed yourself. You can come and get me in the morning."

"Yes, Miss Bei Fong." Liling said bowing her way out of the room.

"I should hide the hide." Sokka said standing up.

The three of them picked up the heavy bear skin and Toph used her bending to make a room large enough to hang the hide from the wall where it could dry and be out of sight.

Soon after they had finished Aang came in, with Momo sitting on top of his head. There must have been food at the reception since the lemur's stomach was badly distended and instead of flying off the Avatar he mostly fell off of the airbender onto the bed and just lay there.

"How was the reception, sweetie?" Katara asked walking up to and hugging her boyfriend.

"Boring!" Aang said hugging back.

"What did you expect?" Toph asked. "They're my relatives. I'm the only interesting Bei Fong."

"She got all the interesting and left none for the rest of the family." Sokka said hugging Toph from behind.

Aang gave Katara a questioning look.

"I'll explain later." She whispered to him.

Aloud she said.

"I'm ready for bed. I could sleep forever after all that traveling."

Aang pulled of his robes and pants and the four of them climbed into the large bed.

They were soon asleep. Toph had a restless night though. She and Katara kept crawling onto Sokka who was the warmest thing in the bed. Which meant they kept pushing each other off of him. Katara and Sokka didn't seem to notice. They were used to it from back home, and slept peacefully through the night.

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,

I apologize most sincerely and hope you will find it in your hearts to forgive me for my long absence.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter, though it is very long and I think I tried to cram too much into it.

Thanks so much for reading.

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FANART

There is wonderful work done by ASKNEKOLE on Tumblr, she also has a DeviantArt account as "mLegend24" Please check out her wonderful work.

I am so honored by all the fanart done for this story.

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.

Fanart on Deviant Art; There is 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.

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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.