"Has anyone seen Toph?" Katara asked everyone who was gathered around the fire.
"After she stormed off the way she did I haven't seen her since." Sueh answered.
Katara groaned and placed herself next to Soana who stared at the flames, her head held high.
"I don't blame her one bit for her running off."
"Soana," Katara said, gaining the princess' attention for speaking so soft.
"I'm sorry for the way I yelled at you earlier. It wasn't right of me to speak to you with such ignorance, but you have to understand that Zuko isn't to be trusted."
"I understand your grudges with him. I see clearly." Soana spoke. "He was trying to capture Aang for the longest time and was willing to do anything to get him even if that meant he'd get his hands dirty."
Katara removed her gaze from Soana and narrowed it at the flames of the campfire.
"But you have to understand the way he was raised with his father being so narcissistic, his sister perceiving to be psychotic, and having no mother to nurture him throughout part of his childhood; It's truly terrible. I understand what it's like to grow up without a mother, Katara, and apparently you do too. You're always taking responsibility and never being able to have fun because you're just too busy being a mother figure.
However, after her disappearance Zuko had been burned and banished by his father for speaking out of turn at the age of thirteen. Aang's not even thirteen yet. Imagine being him and having to be casted out by the people you call family."
"That's not our problem." Katara growled.
Sokka stared at Soana across the fire.
"Yeah, we have our own lives to deal with. Zuko's just going to either slow it down or make it more complicated."
"Can everyone just shut up for five minutes about Zuko?" Reid rolled his eyes.
Sueh raised her brows.
"You're only seven. How are you already getting an attitude?"
"I turned eight last week." He remarked.
"About Zuko -I didn't trust him-, but I had to so I could get out of the volcano with Soana. He can be a huge jerk sometimes, but he was nice enough to let me stay with him when I thought everyone was dead, so I kind of trust him, I guess?"
Aang looked at Reid in amazement.
"I think I understood that, but I'm not quite sure?"
Reid sighed and kicked his feet out to the fire to warm his soles.
"I think Toph is right about what she said earlier. Aang needs a fire bending teacher, and it's not gonna be me since I'm just a beginner. I know Zuko is a master fire bender and I've seen him train before. If it was up to me, I'd ask him to help me reach master level, but,"
Reid glared at almost everyone individually.
"You guys are too butt-hurt to actually accept him for who he really is."
Everyone including Soana looked at Reid, astonished by his outburst.
"Sometimes I really think hard about who's the grownup here." He scoffed before getting up and leaving the warm fire to find Haru, Teo, and The Duke. "Later, losers. I'm exploring."
"Did we really just get shown up by an eight year old?" Sueh asked rhetorically.
Sokka hummed, liking Reid's moxy.
•
It was morning when Soana fluttered her eyes opened to the smell of rice. She inhaled it and sat up, making her think of the mornings in Ba Sing Se, pre-Zuko.
She was expected a wooden room to be enclosing her but instead it was a gaping temple that allowed wind flow to every crevice.
When she sat up, the wind pushed her hair back from her shoulders as she got up from her bed and followed the smell of food.
When she got to the fountain area of the temple everyone was awake.
Aang walked around with his staff like normal, Sokka looked like he was trying to break his back rather than stretch it as Sueh stared at his form horrendously. Haru, Teo, Reid, and The Duke we're huddled around Katara like it was the last supper.
"Morning, Soana." Katara greeted with a faint smile as she plopped molds of rice into a wooden bowl for each person.
"Morning," She said, yawning.
Katara saw how tired the princess looked so she grabbed an empty bowl and plopped a rice mold in it before handing it to her.
"Sueh told me you're a vegetarian like Aang which is very unusual for someone from the water tribe."
Soana rolled her eyes.
"What is it with you people and questioning my life choices?"
Katara chuckled before she looked around to see who all was left.
"Has anyone seen Toph?"
Soana furrowed her brows, taking in a small bite of rice.
"She didn't come back last night?"
Haru looked at Soana and shook his head.
Sokka stretched his back and spoke as he continued to stretch his arms and legs.
"I haven't seen her since she stormed off yesterday."
Sueh shrugged.
"Maybe she's just exploring the air temple?"
Haru seemed to agree with Sueh.
"There are some pretty fun spots to practice Earth bending."
"I think we should go look for her." Katara suggested.
Sokka approached his sister and sat across from her beside Soana.
"Let her have fun with her rocks. I'm in no rush to hear her yell at us again."
Reid looked at The Duke.
"We can go check for her."
"Yes!" The Duke cheered, hopping down from his place on the edge of the fountain.
"Yeah, I wanna ride that tunnel down to the hall of statutes again. It'll work a lot better now that I fixed my brakes." Teo said, cranking the brake handle on his wheelchair.
The four boys sped off in the opposite direction as Soana feasted.
Not a second was wasted before the five heard a rumbling noise than a crash, causing a bunch of rubble and dust to expel from the cement wall of the temple.
In response, Soana dropped the empty bowl that held her breakfast and turned her attention to the scene.
The five quickly went to check it out only to find Toph crawling her way out of a gaping hole in the wall.
"Toph! What happened!" Katara exclaimed, seeing her friend still on the floor.
"My feet got burned." She replied.
Katara went to Toph's feet to examine her inflamed soles.
"Oh, no! What happened!" Katara panicked.
Toph cocked her head.
"I just told you, my feet got burned."
Katara narrowed her eyes at Toph.
"I meant how."
Well," Toph's voice got higher.
"I kind of went to see Zuko last night."
Sueh coughed.
"Why!"
Aang spoke angrily.
"What!"
"Zuko?" Katara questioned.
Sokka released a throaty gasp as if he was disgusted.
"His wife is literally right here!"
Soana just stared at Toph like she had two heads. Why would she visit him?
"I just thought he could be helpful to us, and if I talked to him maybe we could work something out." Toph said as Katara bended water on her feet to use healing.
"So he attacked you?" Sueh questioned.
"Well, he did and he didn't. It was sort of an accident." Toph stammered.
Aang straightened his posture.
"But he did fire bend at you?"
She sighed and closed her eyes.
"Yes."
"See!" Sokka exclaimed.
"You trusted Zuko and you got burned...literally! Am I right, Soana?"
Remembering the burns on her arm from when Zuko accidentally burned her the day before their wedding, she looked across Sokka to glare at Sueh who averted her gaze purposely from the princess.
"It's gonna take a while for your feet to get better. I wish I could've worked on them sooner." Katara warmed Toph as she bended her water back into her pouch.
Toph frowned.
"Yeah, me too."
Sokka put a finger to his chin.
"Zuko's clearly too dangerous to be left alone. We're gonna have to go after him."
Aang bowed his head.
"I hate to go looking for a fight but you're right. After what he did to Toph, I don't think we have a choice."
Soana shook her head.
"It was just an accident. I know I wasn't there but he was only trying to protect himself. I know it."
Sueh looked at the princess.
"Soana, he hurt Toph with fire when she was defenseless. Not only did he hurt her but he also hurt you before. He has to learn to control it. If we capture him then we could contain it."
Sokka nodded.
"He's crafty bit we'll find a way to capture him."
Sueh and Sokka went to Toph and lifted her to bring her to the fountain so she could soak her feet in the cool water.
"Maybe just invite him back here. He's already offered himself up as a prisoner once." Toph said.
"Yeah...get him to come back and say he will be our prisoner then we jump him and really make him our prisoner. He'll never suspect it."
Sueh chuckled as Katara, Aang, and Soana followed.
Katara spoke sarcastically.
"You are a master of surprise, Sokka."
"Ahh!" Toph sighed, satisfied when Sueh and Sokka placed her at the edge of the fountain with her feet soaking.
"That's the stuff. Now I know how the rest of you guys feel. Not being able to see with your feet stinks."
Sueh chuckled as her and Sokka took a seat next to Toph while Katara sat on her other side. Aang went to fetch a towel for Toph when Soana struck a conversation.
"I'm sorry if we have been butting heads about Zuko, but seeing it from both points, I understand your pain, but it also doesn't hurt to give him another chanc-"
Bang!
An explosion had it the top of the temple causing chunks of rocks and pebbles to fall followed by the smell of smoke.
Rattled by the intrusion, Sueh and Sokka grabbed Toph by her arms and feet to get her out of the fountain as Soana heard a voice in the distance.
"Stop!"
"Zuko!" Soana saw the prince approaching a tall, burly man with an iron arm and a third eye on his forehead.
He was in a high area that was apart of the other temple, making it better for him to get a good aim at Aang and them.
"I don't want you hunting the Avatar anymore!" Zuko jumped in front of him to put a stop to it.
"The mission is off! I'm ordering you to stop!"
The man pushed Zuko out of the way as everyone gawked at the sight. The man took in a deep breath and shot an explosion from his third eye to make the top of the fountain explode into pieces of rock.
Soana shielded herself from the falling rock as everyone took cover against the outside of the fountain.
"If you keep attacking, I won't pay you!" Zuko threatened.
Zuko tried to throw a ball of fire at the man but he stopped the prince without any effort. He grabbed Zuko by his shirt and breathed deeply.
"Alright! I'll pay you double if you stop!"
The man sent another explosion their way only to miss the building structure. Frustrated with Zuko, the man turned to the prince, pushed him away and took a deeply inhaled to send an explosion his way.
Zuko defended himself by making a sheild of Fire but it was too late. The force of the man's explosion cause Zuko to be pushed off of a part of the temple.
"No!" Soana gasped before the smoke cleared to reveal Zuko hanging on the bottom side of the structure by a vine.
Relief had washed over the princess to see her husband still alive.
She quickly looked towards the combustion man who inhaled then shot in her direction. She was close to ducking until Aang saved her by bending a funnel of air and sending it his way.
Immediately, Sueh and Sokka brought Toph to cover as Katara and Soana protected themselves from his shots.
Soana then realized something that became important. Something that she could try that she didn't like doing.
The princess poked her head up from the cover she had only to get an immense stare from Katara.
"Soana! What are you doing?"
She sighed.
"Something I absolutely hate." She then got into position, hearing the rumbling of the temple continue. "When I tell you, get to cover."
She deeply breathed and placed her hands out, one over the other.
Concentrating on the man, she moved her arms specifically, making the man stop and stiffen his body. He struggled at first but the more strained Soana grew, the more movement the combustion man gained.
"Go, now." She said, grunting while trying to control every vein in his body.
Katara listened and ran to her brother, Aang, Toph, and Sueh who used the safety of a concrete wall.
The princess gritted her teeth until she couldn't hold him back anymore. She let go since he was far too strong for her to handle.
After the man had regained his movement, he stared at Soana and took a deep breath as she started sprinting towards the spot the group was.
Before she could make it, the man sent an explosion her way, making dirt, debris, and rubble cover Soana entirely.
She coughed and sputtered as she search her way with her hands.
Fortunately for her, she had caring people nearby.
"Soana! Listen to the sound of my voice!" Sokka called towards the cloud of dust and dirt.
"It's hard not to!" She coughed, crawling towards Sokka's voice.
When she felt a pair of hands grabbing her arms and bringing her behind the concrete wall, she felt safe again.
"Here." Katara sighed as another explosion was heard.
She splashed a small amount of water on Soana's face who wasn't expecting it at all.
The princess coughed as some of the water traveled to her nostrils but mostly it wiped the dirt from her.
"Thanks for the warning." Soana blew bits of rock and mud from her nose.
"Sorry!" Katara said as the temple shook violently.
"We need to do something before he blows this place up!" Soana said.
"I can't water bend at him without getting blown up and I don't have a good enough angle from here." Katara said as Sokka perked up.
"I know how to get an angle on him." He said, reaching for his boomerang.
Sokka poked his head out carefully as another explosion shook the temples. He followed the explosion with the end of his weapon before his readied himself for the shot.
"Alright, buddy. Don't fail me now." Sokka said to his boomerang before chucking it.
A moment had passed before a loud thud could be heard and Sokka smiled and cheered, heading out to grab his weapon.
"Yeah! Boomerang!" He celebrated as his weapon came back to him and caught it with ease.
Everyone gathered around Sokka and celebrated with him until they looked over to see the man getting up from the laying position Sokka's boomerang had put him in.
"Awe, boomerang!" Sokka poured before the entire group fled to the safety of the concrete wall for the second time.
After getting to their little hideaway, they heard another explosion and braced for impact but nothing happened. Instead they heard the other temple collapsing into the foggy valley below.
Soana carefully stepped out to no longer see combustion man, only Zuko climbing his way through vines to find a way to not result in him falling o his death.
The princess grinned, seeing her husband who miraculously survived despite everything that had been thrown at him, but after thinking about it she started to growing angered by the actions he did before they left the capital.