Wandering Firebender

Seventy Eight: Great Friends

It was morning when Elio's airship touched down in the Fire Nation once again. The doors were opened and Elio's crew started making their way out. Elio's friends, including Toph, were among the last to exit the airship. They waited for a few minutes on Elio, who hadn't shown himself since last night.

"Man, I hate flying in these airships. Can someone tell Zuko that the Fire Nation needs to come up with a faster way to land travel?" Toph requested.

"Sure, I'll let him know so he can get right on that." Sri joked.

"Thank you." Toph smiled.

"It's kinda weird, having the Fire Nation be like our headquarters," Cindra commented to Alger. "It's almost becoming like a second home for us now."

"I have yet to feel that way, but I'm glad you're adjusting well." Alger said in reply.

"Are you all waiting on me again?" Elio asked as he came out dressed in full uniform, "You don't have to do that, you know." He commented.

"Yeah we know, but we just wanted to make sure everything's alright with you." Sri said.

"You sure do like to take your time, don't you, hotfoot?" Toph said.

"Fire Lord Zuko likes for me to have a written report of every mission delivered to him when we land. Plus, I do a walkthrough of the ship before I leave." He explained, tapping his hand against a scroll in his other hand.

"Oh, okay. Is everything good?" Cindra asked.

"Looks like it. As far as I know, we have another break period before our next mission, so feel free to get comfortable in your rooms. I'm heading straight to the throne room. I'll see you all later." Elio said, making his way past the group towards the palace.

"Hey, hotfoot." Toph called to him, hurrying to fall in step next to him.

"What's up, Toph?" Elio looked at her, slowing his pace slightly so that she could catch up.

"I heard about what happened before we left...sorry I gave you such a hard time." She quietly apologized to him.

"You didn't," Elio shook his head. "You were actually a major help. I'm sorry for letting my feelings get in the way of the mission. I appreciate you coming along and teaching Alger. We definitely need all the help we can get." He said.

"Oh," Toph sounded surprised by Elio switching stances like that. "Well...you're welcome. You ever need anything, let me know. Or, you know, let someone know."

"Heh, sure. Thanks. It was nice seeing you again. Next time will be better, I promise."

"I'll hold you to that." Toph said, punching him in the arm before the two of them parted ways, going down different hallways in the palace...

While Elio was meeting with Fire Lord Zuko, the others went to their rooms to unpack their belongings. While Cindra was returning to her room, she passed by Aang and Katara in the hallway. She was surprised to see them, of course, so she stopped them.

"Oh, hey guys! Where've you been?" She asked, trotting up to the two of them.

"Hey, Cindra!" Aang smiled and waved.

"We had a little spirit world problem to deal with on a small island just north of here, so Aang, Sokka and I went to check it out." Katara answered.

"Oh wow!" Cindra exclaimed.

"Yeah, being the bridge between two worlds is hard sometimes," Aang chuckled. "What about you? How'd your mission with Toph go?" He asked.

"It went well. It would've been a lot harder if she hadn't been there." She answered.