I do not own Avatar The Last Airbender. It is the property of Nickelodeon, and the creation of Michael DiMartino and Brian Konetzko.

Enjoy!

99 AG

South Pole

"Aang, where have you been? I have been searching for you."

"I'm sorry Monk Gyatso. I just went outside. I- I needed to clear my head."

Gyatso's eyebrow raised. "What for? What has been troubling you Aang?"

"Nothing, Master Gyatso. Everything's fine. I'll just be in my room."

As Aang left, Gyatso's mind turned. Aang had called him "Master Gyatso". Not "Monk Gyatso". He only called him Master when he needed advice.

That meant that something was bothering Aang. But he either didn't want others to know about it, or it was too serious to share with anyone except him. In either case, Gyatso needed to know what was bothering his pupil.

And he intended to help him however he could.

Earth Kingdom

"Who decided to crank up the sun? Cause I'm getting half a mind to throw something at it."

Zuko groaned as the girl who decided to attach herself to him decided to complain again. It hadn't even been a half-hour since her last tirade against something. Her last tantrum was about Druk flying too close. Apparently he made her feel warmer.

"Toph, I don't think the sun is going to cool down any time soon. And how would you even know how to throw something at it?"

"I'll just toss a rock at the sky. I'll aim for the spot that feels the hottest."

Zuko sighed. "Toph, I don't think that's going to help. Why don't we just stay quiet and keep moving?"

Toph snorted. "Where's the fun in that? Why would I bother coming with you two hillbillies if I can't have fun with you?"

"Ugh." Zuko decided to stop humoring Toph. The less he encouraged her, the greater the chance that she would stop annoying him.

"Is the opportunity for more insults the only reason you came with us, young lady?"

Dammit, Uncle.

"No. It's definitely a big one, but it's not the only reason."

Zuko perked at that. "Didn't you say another reason was to get away from your parents?"

"There's that. But I also wanted to get away from- all of it, really. The dresses, the manners, the priciness. It just doesn't work for me. I'm an Earthbender. A fighter. I don't belong there."

Iroh frowned. "But are they not your family?"

Toph just looked down. "If they were, they might actually understand me. They wouldn't try to force me to be something I'm not."

Zuko's eyes widened when he heard that. Her story... was hitting a little close.

"Well, you can relax with us. We know better than to force you to change."

Toph smiled. She pressed her face against Zuko's back. "Thanks, Sparky."

Iroh smiled at the display of affection. It was nice to see his nephew getting along with someone.

Something that wasn't so nice was the discovery he made when he reached into his bag.

"There is a problem."

Zuko turned to him. "What is it?"

Iroh pulled five coins from his page. They were all silver. "This is all the money we have."

"What?! How did we lose the rest?"

Iroh looked a little sheepish. "Well, there many possibilities. It could have been..."

"How much tea did you buy Uncle?"

Zuko looked at his uncle with a face of accusation. Toph only lowered her brow. Iroh could only chuckle nervously.

"Well, Gaoling had a wide assortment of flavors and spices for tea. It was a city of merchants. it seemed a waste to leave all fo those possibilities untasted."

"You know what else is a waste Uncle? Spending all of our money on TEA! AGHH!"

Zuko grabbed his eyes as he threw his face up. He knew his uncle loved tea more than any normal person should, but he was counting on the old man to be the reasonable one.

"What's the big deal? We can just get more money."

"Where? Do you know where we can find a town Toph? And there's another problem. How do we know they'd even want to hire any of us?"

"True, they probably won't hire me for anything, what with the whole blind thing I got going on. Honestly, I would be offended by that, but it just means I get to sit back and watch as you two have to work."

Zuko frowned. "You do remember that you're blind, right? How would you "watch" us work?"

Toph frowned. "Just shut up and find a job Sparky."

"Ugh, didn't you bring any money? You keep talking about how rich your overprotective family is."

"Didn't I already tell you? They never gave me any money. They never thought I would need any of it."

"Great! Now we're stuck wandering a desert with no money, little food, and a dragon that could probably eat a whole Sabertooth-Moose-Lion!"

Druk, who was flying above, suddenly had his stomach growl.

"Ugh."

"Nephew, please calm yourself. I know things seem difficult now, but we can prevail. All we need to do is find a town. We can manage our problems there."

"Do you know where we can find one Uncle?"

"I do," Toph said suddenly. Both eyes turned to her.

"Did you two forget that I can sense things on the ground?"

Neither of them said anything. They didn't want to admit it.

"The radius for my sense is a few miles. If we're close to a town, I'll be able to feel it. We just have to make a few stops every now and then so I can check the ground. And I'll let you two know if I feel anything."

Zuko smirked. "Well, what do you know? The blind girl is actually useful."

Toph frowned. "Sparky, I know I said you can make blind jokes, but don't push it. I'm still a better earthbender than you."

"And I'm a better firebender than you. I think I'd win."

"Want to test that?"

"Go ahead. I'm not afraid of you."

"Now, now you two. Perhaps you should save the fighting for the swamp. I don't think fighting on an Ostrich-Horse or in a town is a sound plan."

Reluctantly, the two stopped bickering. Though they would occasionally elbow each other for fun.

Iroh saw this. And smiled.

It took many more hours before Toph sensed something. Once she did, they all had to find a place to hide Druk first. It would be dangerous for anyone to see him. As one of the last dragons on earth, it would be all too plausible for someone to try and profit off of him. Firebenders would want to kill him for glory, while the Earth Kingdom might try to sell him for money.

It took some time, but they were able to find a secluded cave for Druk to rest in. It was close enough to the town for them to occasionally check on him, and there seemed to be some animals inside of it, so he wouldn't go hungry.

"You'll have to stay here for a while Druk," Zuko said as he rubbed his dragons head. "But we'll come to check on you. And we'll all leave together once we get settled. Ok?"

The dragon on rested its body on the floor, clearly eager for a nap. Zukow would take that as a yes.

"Let's head to the village."

Iroh, Zuko, and Toph got on the Ostrich-Horses and headed to the village. Even from a distance, it was clear that it wasn't the best place to be in. A lot of it was dirty, some of the houses were run-down, and most of the men had weapons. There were even men in soldiers' uniforms coming out to meet them. The man in charge had long hair with a balding head.

He also had a grin that reminded Zuko too much of Zhao for comfort.

"Hold up. Who goes there?"

Iroh had a speech prepared. Toph didn't like the plan at first, but she came around. Especially when Irho agreed to go with a certain name.

"Why, hello there! My name is Mushi!"

Toph snickered silently.

"These are my niece and nephew. Go on you two. Introduce yourselves."

Zuko just frowned at the soldiers. "Lee."

"Yeah, he doesn't talk much. He thinks glowering at people counts as a conversation," Toph joked. "I'm Luanshi, by the way."

"So we got a Mushi, a Lee, and a Luanshi. Mind telling us why you're all out here?"

"We are mere travelers seeking refuge. We hoped this village could oblige us."

The man grins. "Why of course. This village would be happy to hold refugees. So long as you're willing to work, of course."

"We would not have come otherwise," Iroh said flatly. The man just kept grinning.

"The names Gow. I'm in charge of keeping the town safe. If I catch a whiff of any of you causing trouble, you'll be answering to me."

Zuko just glared at the man. "Noted."

Somehow, now even that took away Gow's grin. All he did was pull to the side.

"Enjoy your stay."

Sensing Zuko's irritation growing, Iroh spoke up.

"Thank you very much. Come along you two. We should get settled before dark."

The trio pulled up to the entrance of the town, leaving Gow and his goons behind.

"I don't trust them, Uncle."

"Me neither. I kept getting bad vibes off of them."

"I agree with both of you. But we did not come here to cause trouble. We just need to secure money for food and supplies. Once we do, we can leave. Until then I don't want either of you to cause problems. Am I clear?"

"Yes, uncle." Both Zuko and Toph said that at the same time. All three of them stared blankly at that.

The silence was only broken when someone's stomach growled.

"Let's find some food first."

"Agreed."

"Yes."

South Pole

Gyatso did not wish to be cruel, but he needed answers. He had spent all day looking through the archives of the temple. But nothing he read or saw gave any indication of being similar to Aang's visions. The spirit Aang had described was feminine, blue, and kite-like. None of the scrolls gave any descriptions remotely close to that.

And then there was Aang's new attitude. His jovial outlook and dedication to having fun was stifled. He seemed downtrodden, upset. And Gyatso truly hated seeing his pupil that way.

Which was why he had walked into Aang's room in the middle of the night was shaking the boy.

"Aang. Wake up."

The young airbenders eyes slowly opened, and he spoke in a groggy voice. "Monk Gyatso? What...?"

"It is late Aang. I know you should be sleeping, but this is far too important. You must tell me what is wrong so that I may help you."

"What's wrong? I didn't say anything about that."

"That is true. You did not say anything was wrong. I deduced that by how you were acting. Now please tell me Aang. I don't want to see you hurt."

Aang was only silent. It was clear that he wanted to tell Gyatso. His crestfallen face made that evident. But he either could not do so or did not know how to do so.

Gyatso was going to speak again, but Aang beat him to it.

"I went out to see Katara today."

Gyatso's eyebrow raised.

"Aang, are you telling me that these negatives emotions are coming from her? Did she reject you?"

Aang's face became beet red. "No! No, nothing like that. I just talked to her today. About the world and stuff."

"The world?"

"Yeah. She talked a bit about the war. And the Avatar?"

Gyatso pondered that. Why would the two discuss the extinct savior of the world? And why was that relevant?

"I see. And what came out of this talk?"

Aang shifted uncomfortably in his bed. "I- I learned something."

"What did you learn?"

Aang was silent.

"Aang, I need you to..."

"Can I get a cup of water?"

"Aang, having a drink will not..."

"It's not to drink. It's... I need to show you something. I need water for it."

Gyatso paused. He wanted to know what was bothering his ward. This was apparently the only way to do so.

"Very well. Give me a moment Aang."

Gyatso left the room and went to the cleaning room. They had a contraption built that produced clean water from the ice. Gyatso didn't understand how it worked, but he was not going to question it. He simply poured a cup of water and walked back to Aang's room. When he arrived he saw that Aang had already gotten up was waiting for him.

"I bought the water here Aang. Now could you explain the issue to me?"

"Yeah. Could you just close the door? I don't want anyone else to see this?"

Gyatso checked to ensure the coast was clear before he closed the door. Aang took in a deep breath afterward.

"Alright. I discovered I could do this after Katara left. I saw her trying to waterbend earlier, and..."

Aang stopped talking as he assumed a kata. But it wasn't an airbending kata. It was slightly more rigid, and it was more flowing than freeing. It resembled a waterbending movement.

"Aang?"

Instead of an answer, he saw as Aang moved his arms in a smooth arch.

And the water followed his movements. It moved up, escaping the enclosure of the cup. It moved higher as Aang's hands moved higher. It was following the boy's movements.

"I- I can waterbend."

Aang looked scared. His body was trembling, and his eyes were becoming watery.

"Monk Gyatso? What's happening to me?"

Gyatso quickly engulfed his pupil in a hug. He didn't want to see him in pain.

"It is alright Aang. There is nothing wrong with you. It's alright."

Gyatso rubbed Aang's head as the boy began to quietly sob. Both of them knew that this could not be ignored. Aang could bend a second element, and there was no telling if he could bend more. If he could, what did that mean?

If he was... the Avatar, then he would not be able to stay here. He would have to travel to learn the other elements. He would have to face the war. He would have to face the Fire Lord.

And even if he wasn't the Avatar, then he would not be able to stay here. To be unable to bend would be to damage the spirit of a bender. Aang would have to learn to waterbend properly. And he would still have to face the effects the war has had on the world.

Only one thing was clear. Aang's life could no longer remain as it was. A great change was now inevitable.

But Gyatso said none of that. All he did was comfort the young boy in his arms.

"It's alright."

Gaoling

Within his office, Lao Beifong finished making his estimate. He had to be willing to spend as much money as possible if he wanted this to succeed.

"Sir?"

The servant was waiting, and Lao was not a person to waste more time than necessary.

"Take this to the city capital. I want everyone to be aware fo the bounty. I don't care who finds my daughter, so long as they bring her back."

"At once, my lord."

As the servant took the letter, Lao was left to reflect on that night. He had hoped that his family could spend the new year together. His daughter had been surprisingly distant as of late. Perhaps a celebration could have bought them closer together.

Instead, he was awoken that night to the news of two of his Ostrich-Horses being stolen, and his daughter missing. She had to have been kidnapped.

He did not care what he had to do. Who he would have to work with. The order was open to any bounty hunter who would take it. He would get his daughter back.

By any means necessary.

For anyone who thinks that Aang's crying at the fact that he can waterbend doesn't make sense, think of it like this. He's a kid. He's in the age range of 10-11. He just went to the Spirit World on accident, a spirit merged with him without his consent, and now he can bend an element that isn't the one he was born into. That would be a lot for an adult to handle, it's a lot to adjust to. For an emotional young kid? I think that Aang's reaction is appropriate. That's probably how I would feel. Incredibly confused, and more than a little scared.

Moving on from that, I had fun writing those moments for Zuko's group. I enjoyed having all of their different personalities clash with each other. I also feel that Toph is really the little sister that Zuko deserves. She might get on his nerves, but she isn't trying to outright sabotage or kill him like Azula. She is actually helpful and supportive of him. And I think he needs that.

Speaking of Toph, her fake name (Luanshi) means pebble. I just thought it was funny, and I went with it.

Also, Lao being a bad dad who thinks he is a good dad is fun to write. Looking forward to where that continues.

Anyway, the next chapter will be very much like Zuko Alone, but with a twist.

Anyway, please leave reviews, let me know what you guys think, and I will see you all next time.

Bye!