The Lies of the Phoenix

Chapter 4

~Aang's Perspective~

"Toph, wait up!" I shouted, running after my friend. When finally managed to catch up with her, huffing, I got a good look at her. "Wow! You look terrible! What happened?"

She shrugged. "Couple of kids thought it would be fun to try and rob me. Didn't go so well for them," she said, smirking.

"You didn't, y'know, use your bending, did you?" I asked her, whispering concernedly. Toph was the only one of my friend's who was at the middle school with me in seventh grade. Katara and Sokka were both at the high school and the two of us wouldn't be there for another two years or so.

I couldn't lose her.

She rolled her eyes. "You're like my parents. You worry too much."

I sighed. "Okay, but did you?"

"Nah," she said. "Another kid came and took care of them. I might not be able to see but from the way it felt, he beat 'em up real well."

"Really?" I asked. "Who?"

She shrugged. "Some new kid. His name was like, I dunno, Kuzo or something. No, that's not it. It was, um, oh! Zuko! Yeah, that was it! But the weirdest thing was that after he sent those guys packing, he knelt down and asked me if I was an earthbender. I told him I was, but, Aang, how could he have known?"

"You're right," I said. "It's definitely worth looking into."

"Hey, you wanna meet up after school to see if we can track him down?" she asked.

I blushed. "Well, um, well, I- I'd love to, but, well, Katara and I, we're going on, y'know, a- a- a d--"

"Okay, okay! I get it!" she said, throwing her hands up. "No need to make it that awkward. Anyway, if you change your mind, I'll be at the Jasmine Dragon."

"I'll be sure to keep it in mind," I said.

Inside, I was dying. Because the Jasmine Dragon? Well... that was where Katara and I were going.

This was going to be interesting.