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Did Boomerang come back?

-Toph

No, Suki did!

-Sokka

Boomerang, Come Back

"Lieutenant Shian!"

"Yes, Captain!"

"Which ship is that?"

Lieutenant Shian, an elite firebender under the command of Captain Yuzen in Airship Eleven, looked out the window. One of the airships had broken out of formation, and was hovering between the flagship and the rest of the fleet. "I… believe that it is number Fourteen, Sir!"

"Why has it left formation?"

"I do not know, Sir. Mechanical problems, perhaps?"

"If they were having mechanical problems, they would have let out a signal flare, not shot ahead of the fleet." The Captain paused, his expression inscrutable under his helmet. "Keep your eye on them."

It was only a moment later that Lieutenant Shian let out a yell, as the rogue airship turned and began slamming into the other ships, ripping open their air compartments. "Sir! Airship Fourteen is ramming the other ships, Sir!"

"Evasive maneuvers!" snapped the Captain. "We need to-"

The inhabitants of the cockpit were quickly thrown to the ground by a great tremor, as the tattered remnants of Airship Fourteen crashed into Airship Eleven. Getting to his feet, Captain Yuzen ordered Lieutenant Shian to the top of the framework, to assess the damage. Shian saluted, and left.

But when he reached the gas compartments of the airship, Shian was surprised to find a young girl there, looking extremely out of place. He paused. A stowaway? Or a sabotager?

The girl turned and ran, and Shian moved into firing position. "Halt!" he shouted, and when the girl didn't, he fired a roaring blast of flame at her back. She ducked behind a metal column, which began to twist and melt under the heat of Shian's comet-strengthened assault. Advancing as he maintained the fire blast, the lieutenant came forward and reached around the column, seizing the girl. She looked barely of age, with dark gray eyes and short hair. She might have been Fire Nation, but he couldn't be sure.

"Who are you?" Shian demanded. "What are you doing aboard this airship?"

The girl's only response was to grab his helmet and slam it into the partially-melted column. Shian cursed and staggered as the girl took off again. After a few moments, he regained his sense of balance and took off after the mystery girl. As he ran, he reached down and ignited a sheet of flame along the floor, sending it at his opponent's feet. But at the last second, the girl disappeared down a ladder, the fire blasting harmlessly over the opening. He heard a thump, and a yelp.

Rushing to the ladder, Shian looked down to see the girl being held, kicking and writhing, by another soldier.

"Sir," the soldier said. "What do you wish me to do with her?"

Shian looked at the girl, who appeared to be intent on bashing in the soldier's armored kneecap with her heel. He grimaced. "Imprison her in the cabins, and securely. We can interrogate her after the mission is over."

The girl glared at Shian with undisguised hatred as she was dragged off. Ignoring her, he turned around to report back to the Captain.

Then, the lieutenant heard a yell, and turned around to see that the girl had slipped free of the soldier's grasp and was running down the hall. He frowned deeply. Enough of this.

The soldier turned to look at Shian for orders, and the lieutenant nodded. He sent a blast of comet fire at the girl's back, and in the narrow corridor there was nowhere for her to hide.

Shian sighed, looking at the burning, writhing figure in distaste. Well, crisis averted. Some Earth Kingdom rebel getting in wasn't really that much of an issue. The ship could still fly, and that was what mattered.

Footsteps rang along the catwalk, and Sokka stared at the row of firebenders, fists aimed for him. Toph's hand had become damp with nervous sweat, and slipped from his grasp. At the last second, he caught her fingertips, feeling like his arm was about to be pulled out of its socket.

"I don't think boomerang is coming back, Toph," he said, his voice a mix of resignation and fear. "It looks like this is the end."

Tears welled up in Toph's eyes. She couldn't feel anything but Sokka's pulse, racing, racing…

Then, the benders fired.

The flames were immense, almost white-hot, and engulfed the young warrior entirely. If he screamed, the sound was lost in the roar of the inferno, and his hand reflexively let go.

Blind.

Blind.

Blind.

No feeling. No sense of mass or texture or volume, no dependable solidness that whispered to her of all its secrets. No stone. No rock. No dirt. Nothing but heaving terror and cold wind and waving limbs and a dark, dark, empty nothing.

She fell, too breathless to scream.

And the earth took her.

A/N: This bothers me a lot. How did Suki, who was unarmed, take control of an airship full of comet-fueled firebenders? Makes no sense.