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Chapter 24

"They've gotta be close by," I mumbled to myself. "Hopefully."

I was searching the forest, mostly via tree, although that was very hard. Especially the first couple of jumps. But just searching the ground wouldn't be helpful though. If they were flying not only would they not be visible from the ground but they'd be faster. The only reason I'm even still searching is they probably didn't leave that long ago, or even at all.

I stopped, coming up to a large clearing. Lo and behold, there they were, cleaning everything up. I let out a sigh of relief and grinned, dropping down. Almost immediately I was encased in rock. "Wait-"

Everyone jumped up, brandishing some form of weapon.

"....Y/n?" The rock fell away, dropping me on the ground.

"Yeah, it's me," I said, getting up. They all brought me into a hug. They, much like me, were all wearing Fire Nation clothing. "Nice haircut Aang," I giggled.

"We were so sure you were dead, where were you; and where did you get those clothes?"

"I was being held in a prison at the capital. With the help of a friend, I managed to use my firebending to escape." I looked down at my outfit. "And in the process, grabbed these clothes that were hanging up."

"Well," Toph said beside me, "it's good to have you back." She punched my arm and walked away. I rubbed it, staring at her.

"So how'd you find us?" Katara asked.

"Pure luck honestly. I found that wanted poster, followed all the directions I was told you went in and..." I motioned to the area around me, "here I am."

"Are you okay? Did they do anything to you while you were there?" Aang asked.

I shook my head. "I'm fine... mostly. There are a few things I've discovered I gotta uh... Take care of. But other than that they just served me horrible food." My stomach growled. "Speaking of which, I haven't eaten anything since I've left, other than nuts and berries."

"Here," Katara grabbed a loaf of bread from Appa's back and handed it me.

I smiled while taking a bite of it. "Never had I thought something so... bland, would taste amazing."

"Alright well, let's start leaving, we're so close to the rendezvous point." Sokka climbed on Appa, pulling out a map. Everyone finished cleaning up the camp and we all left.

"So... what's going on?" I asked.

"We're going to meet up with Hakoda, and plan an invasion against the Fire Nation. We're doing it during the eclipse, when they'll have no powers."

"The Eclipse, already? I didn't realize how close it was."

The sun began to set over the horizon as we landed. "This is it, the official rendezvous point for the invasion force," Sokka said looking at his map. He stuffed it away in his bag, and set it on the floor.

"How did you pick this place?" Toph asked, walking past me.

"Before we split up, my dad and I found this island on a map. It's uninhabited, and the harbor surrounded by cliffs seemed like the perfect secluded place."

"Nice choice Sokka. And we're here four days ahead of schedule," Katara said as she set up her bed. I set up mine nearby, watching Toph as I did.

"Wait," Aang shot out of his bed into the air, "four days! The invasion's in four days!"

Sokka yawned and waved his hand dismissively. "Whatever. That's like... four days from now." He laid down. "Let's just calm down, and..." He began snoring, already asleep.

"Sokka's got the right idea Aang. We're here, we're ready." Katara laid down on her mat too, along with Toph and I. "The best thing we can do now is get plenty of rest." I nodded in agreement as I rolled over and slept.

I woke up with a gasp, pushing my blanket off of me as I did so. I looked around seeing Aang awake and training, but he didn't seem to notice me. Quietly, I left and went into the surrounding forest.

"You're fine Y/n," I whispered to myself, pacing around.

"Here we are again," Toph said. I jumped back, knocking myself into a tree.

"Ow..."

"Sorry." She walked over to me. "What are you doing awake anyway?"

"I just... couldn't sleep." I continued to pace.

"And why not?"

"Because..." I stopped for a second, facing her. "If I do, if I stop moving and lie down or do anything else," the pacing continued, "I get this feeling."

"Feeling?"

"Like... hands, crawling all over me."

"Why would you feel that?" She sat down on the ground.

"It's like an echo memory or something. I've experienced it so much that... it's something my mind automatically creates as a feeling. Especially after nightmares. It happened the first time my pacing woke you up... and every other nightmare I had after that." I sighed, sitting down on the ground, only to shake my head and continue pacing again. "You know believe it or not, getting sold to the Fire Nation wasn't the worst thing that happened. My own mother sold me, imagine that, selling your child. And at first I thought I was okay with it, that it was something I had come to terms with.

"Well that was a complete lie, apparently. Seriously, what kind of mother sells your own child!" I stopped for a second, wiping away some tears, and continued. "...The people she sold me to would use my body, and sell it." I hugged myself. "And they could do anything they want but god forbid I try and go against it! That was almost as bad as what the people would do. Oh god." I wiped away more tears. "And then the Fire Nation soldier came, and upon hearing that I couldn't bend bought me. He was practically a saint right then and there. Up until the experimenting came. And it was all just so horrible-"

Suddenly Toph grabbed my hand and yanked me down the ground. I stared at her shocked. She only reached up, feeling around my face, and wiped some tears away. I sobbed, hugging her and burying my face into her shoulder.

We sat there for a while as I slowly stopped crying. The whole time she was humming a tune, one that I couldn't recognize. I pulled away from the hug, sniffing and wiping away the rest of the tears.

"We should get back..."

I nodded and stood up, she followed me and began walking back to the camp. "Um Toph... look about what I said at Ba Sing Se, before all of this happened."

Toph turned around, facing me. "Did you mean it?"

"Huh?"

"When you said you loved me, did you mean it?"

"Uh, y-yea-" I was startled as Toph grabbed my face and pulled me forward into a kiss. A sloppy one, but a kiss nonetheless.

"Let's get back," she said, grabbing my arm and pulling me along.