Southern Star

Chapter Ten: And the Storm Clouds are Thirsty

"Song," said someone.

Song grumbled and curled up tighter. She was laying on something soft...

"Song." It was Toph that was interrupting her sleep.

"What?" she said, though with the way that her mouth was pressed against her knee, it really sounded more like she said, "Rrurgh."

"Song, we spotted the boats. Well, Sokka spotted the boats. Well, Katara spotted the fog, and Sokka spotted the boats in the fog. Well, basically, it's time to wake up."

Song sighed and stretched out her legs. Toph, who was dressed in her Earth Kingdom clothes like she had been when Song had first met her, held out a hand and assisted in pulling Song out and up to her feet. "You ready?" the younger girl asked.

"No."

"Me, neither. Let's hope everyone else knows what we're doing."

Song and Toph made their way down the cliffs to the bay where they were meeting the invasion forces. There, Toph split away and went to join Aang in shoring up docks of earth with their bending. Song stopped and watched for a moment before she went to join Sokka and Katara, who were deep in discussion, and who were wearing their Water Tribe clothes. It was odd to see them dressed like that after she'd gotten used to their black and red clothing.

"Oh, hey Song," said Sokka, his eyes wide as he looked at her. "You look terrible."

Katara elbowed her brother in the stomach and ignored his 'oof.' "No she does not," she said, and then she smiled at Song. "How did you sleep?"

"Better. I only had a couple of nightmares. But I need less sleep than Aang does. I'll be fine."

"Hey, if this works, you can sleep for as long as you want," said Sokka, nudging Song's arm with his elbow. "And then you won't look like you just woke from the dead."

This time, Katara punched Sokka in the chest, and he stumbled backwards a couple feet without bothering to retort.

As soon as the middle dock was up, though, the two of them ran towards the boat that anchored there. A Water Tribe man disembarked, and Song watched as Katara ran at him and threw her arms around him, Sokka close behind her. "You made it, Dad!" she cheered. Song's stomach sank. She was happy that they got to see their father again, but she could barely see past her own loss.

Aang caught up with Song eventually. She may not have slept notably better than usual, but Aang looked more chipper than anyone she had ever met. He took her around, introducing her to people. After she met the people from the swamp, who were also waterbenders, she met an earthbender boy named Haru, who was the same age as her and only a couple inches shorter. Like Toph, he didn't wear any shoes. His father was with him, a man that was definitely taller than Song.

After them, she was introduced to two large men from Toph's past, also earthbenders, though ones that had fought each other for entertainment before deciding to serve the Earth Kingdom.

After she shook hands with The Boulder, one of the ships partially exploded. Katara and Sokka's father, whose name was Hakoda, ran toward it, with his children and Aang following close behind. Song tagged along, and they made it to the end of the ramp as a boy in a wheeled chair descended from the ramp, closely followed by a man with crazed hair and burned-off eyebrows. They, as well as two boys behind them, were covered in a brown paste.

"Was that the new invention?" Sokka asked them.

"Yes," said the man as two boys walked up behind him, "but unfortunately, the incendiary capabilities of peanut sauce proved to be a failure."