The Sea of Ice (Sun and Moon Book 2)

Prologue - Urgent Message

Aang stared out over the rooftops of Ba Sing Se as the sun rose, smiling to himself. He was glad he'd chosen to stay here instead of returning to the South Pole with the others- he couldn't have faced Katara.

Not then.

Maybe not now, three months later.

Iroh hadn't told them anything, and Katara, when she'd gotten back, hadn't either. No matter how long and how hard they had grilled her. Sokka hadn't said a word through it all, as if he knew something, but he wouldn't say anything, either.

Aang was confused and angry and lost. And for a long time, he had hurt, deep inside.

But these few months with Iroh and Toph, helping the people of Ba Sing Se and relaxing, had helped him. Helped him a lot.

Katara, though she was and always would be his friend, was no longer his problem. His responsibility. And he couldn't spend his time worrying over her troubles when he had enough of his own. Like missing Appa; that had been the hardest part about staying here- letting the others take Appa. And such as the trouble who's soft footsteps were coming toward him- he didn't turn around. He didn't need to.

But his smile returned.

"Hey, Twinkletoes."

"Hey, Toph. It's such a beautiful day, don't you think?"

"Sure. It smells nice. I guess." Aang grinned.

"Yeah. That's what I meant. It smells like Jasmine."

"That's because Uncle's making a new batch of tea. Why are you in such a good mood all of a sudden?"

"I don't know. I just am." Aang laughed, without really knowing why.

"Come on, let's throw some rocks around! Best two out of three buys lunch?"

"You're on, Twinkletoes!" They raced to the the practice circle behind the tea shop, laughing and shoving each other. Then Toph dropped into a stance, raised her arms, and hurled three boulders at Aang. He lifted a rock wall to block them, then shoved it at Toph.

She crashed through it easily and pulled up a pillar, then sent discs whirring off it at Aang. He laughed and floated away from them, and Toph scowled.

"That's cheating! Get back down here where I can see you!"

Aang dropped right behind her and sent her flying through the air with a stomp of his foot, but she countered fast with a pillar that slammed into his gut. They leaned on each other for a moment, laughing and panting.

"That was low, Toph." The pretty earthbender just laughed.

"Get over it, Twinkletoes."

Aang raised his eyes to hers, a snappy comeback on his tongue- but it never left his lips. She couldn't see him, he knew, and it was rude to stare. But her long black hair had come out of its careful up-do, and hung around her shoulders in glossy waves. There was a smudge of dirt along one side of her face, and Aang reached out and smoothed it away.

Her soft glass-green eyes stared into where she knew his face was, and her smile slowly faded. She could feel every whorl of his fingerprint as he brushed his thumb across her cheek, and her breath caught.

What is happening to me?

Toph could feel Aang's heartbeat speeding up, could See him leaning closer, and she felt her own heartbeat rise to match his.

Their faces were inches apart- Toph could feel his soft, warm breath on her lips, and then-

Then the back door burst open, and Uncle Iroh slid into the clearing, shouting for Aang and waving a piece of paper in the air.

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Soo Yaay! The prologue! *grins* Hope you like. I"m taking this in a totally different direction than most fanfics after the Hundred Year War, because I don't like being normal, lol. I hope you like it, and... TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK!!

Lol, five comments and I"ll update Chapter 1... :)

-Eon