Avatar, The Storm Book 2: Blood Drifts

Chapter 4 Most Common Lie

When Toril re-entered the house, she was clearly deep in thought. She frowned when she saw Toph, Aang, and Sokka sitting at the table, a piece of paper in front of the latter.

"Well, I tried giving him an old fashion back pounding, but that didn't work. Then I suggested acupuncture and then Twinkle Toes ran away." Toph stated with a shrug.

"That's because you grabbed a porcupine!" Aang protested, bringing a hand to his back as if he remembered the pain of the rocks smashing into his back.

"Okay, so that's a negative on the back pounding and probably the acupuncture, considering I doubt any of us know how to actually do that." Sokka remarked.

"What are you guys doing?" Toril questioned, an eyebrow raised. Sokka looked up at her.

"Oh, we're trying to figure out how to help Zuko. Right now we're going through the things that we did to try and help Aang, talking about what did and didn't work." Toril sat down at the empty seat.

"Did anyone suggest convincing him to get a hot stone massage?" Sokka pointed at her.

"That's a good idea!" Toril threw a hand in the air in exasperation.

"You guys do realize that no matter what you do, he won't let you help him, right? He's too stubborn. He'll just deny there's anything wrong with him, as always!"

"She's not wrong. The lie I've heard Zuko tell the most is 'I'm fine'." Toph spoke up.

"If you knew something was up with him then why didn't you tell us?" Sokka asked. Toph shrugged.

"Who am I to pry into his personal life?"

"You're Toph Beifong, prying is what you do best." Sokka responded. Aang sighed.

"I don't get it, why won't he just tell us what's bugging him?"

"Because that's how his father raised him." Toril spoke up, looking away. "It's how a lot of the high ranking Fire Nation officials raise their children. Made them feel that asking for help makes them weak. That's why." She cleared her throat, looking up. "But nonetheless, we need to get him some help, like professional help, and fast." Aang stood up.

"I think I have an idea. If Uncle Iroh couldn't get through to Zuko there's only one other person who has a shot at it."

"And who would that be?"

"Me." Everyone looked at Aang in confusion. "Well, sorta. Technically Roku, but he is my past life."

"That.... Could work." Toril remarked, thinking hard as if she was trying to find something wrong with his plan. But before she could, there was a loud thud from the next room.

"Uhh, what was that?" Sokka asked. Everyone stood up and quickly moved to the next room.