When Worlds Collide: Book Two, Earth

Chapter Ten Part 2

The Bei Fongs were letting us spend the night in their home, so we were sleeping in the living room.  

Appa came into the living room window, and as Aang was wishing him goodnight, Toph came in. Aang freaked, getting into a defensive stance. I rolled my eyes at him, sitting next to Sokka on the couch.  

"Relax," Toph said. "Look, I'm sorry about dinner. Let's call a truce, okay?"  

Aang relaxed, looking confused.  

"Why don't we go for a walk?" she asked him, and he nodded.

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An hour later, Aang and Toph still hadn't returned, and Toph's parents were getting worried. We were worried too, but knew that Aang could take care of himself... most of the time.  

So, to ease all our minds, we made our way to the court yard, where we found two patches of earth, and a sword impaled into the ground. Realization dawned on us, and Toph's parents began to cry.  

Sokka freed the sword from the ground, and found a rolled up piece of parchment. "Whoever took Aang and Toph left this," he said.  

He held the parchment out to me, but I stared at him. After a few seconds, Sokka blinked, shaking his head. "Sorry," he said sheepishly, handing the paper to Katara while we both chuckled.  

Katara unrolled the parchment, and read aloud. "If you want to see your daughter again, bring five hundred gold pieces to the arena. It's signed Shin fu and The Boulder."  

"I can't believe it," Sokka said. He ripped the parchment from Katara's hand, and held it up proudly. "I have The Boulders autograph!"  

Katara and I rolled our eyes, staring at Sokka.  

"Master Yu," Mr Bei Fong said from behind us, "I need you to get my daughter back."  

Katara turned to them. "We're going with you," she said firmly, and I nodded.  

"Poor Toph," Mrs Bei Fong said, kneeling next to the two patches of earth. "She must be so scared." She cried, so I went to comfort her until we left.

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Half an hour later, we arrived at the arena. In the center was Shin Fu and The Boulder. Hanging in the air were two metal boxes, with little peep holes, showing us Aang and Toph's faces.  

As soon as Mr Bei Fong saw his daughter, he shouted her name, and the two men turned to face us.  

"Here's your money," Sokka said, holding up the bag of gold pieces. "Now let them go." He dropped the bag, and Master Yu used earth bending to make it scoot across the ground over to the two kidnappers.  

Shin Fu picked it up, and counted the money. When he was done, he waved his hand, and one of the two metal boxes began to come down. When it hit the ground, Toph burst out and ran to her father.  

"What about Aang?" I asked.  

"I think the Fire Nation will pay a hefty price for the Avatar," Shin Fu said, unraveling another parchment. "Now, get out of my ring."  

We didn't move, instead getting into fighting positions. Before we could act, however, five other men came out of nowhere. We hesitated, looking at each other.  

"Go," Aang called. "I'll be okay."  

We slowly backed up, going back to the tunnel that Toph, Master Yu, and Mr Bei Fong had disappeared into.