Toph narrowed her eyes as she stomped on the ground, focusing closely to the ripples before she shook her head.
"All clear for the mile," she reported and Appa touched down, Aang hopping from the riding saddle while Toph helped Katara and Suki get the supplies off.
"I'll check and see if the Fire Nation aren't using their new blimps."
"Stay safe," Katara spoke with a concerned look and Aang nodded, taking off into the air as Toph plopped down with a groan.
"Toph, you still-" Toph just punched the ground and Katara paused, a smile on her face as stone tents grew from the ground. "Thank you."
"You're welcome. Suki, stop glaring. It's messing with my sleep."
"Don't worry about that. It's just my resting bitch-please face," Suki replied, sitting down next to Appa as Toph chuckled.
"Hey, while it's just us girls, can I ask you something?"
"I'll say no, but knowing you, you're not going to listen."
"Of course, but what I want to ask you is from woman to woman."
"This is going to involve Toji, so let me get my water ready," Katara muttered, already opening her gourds as Suki narrowed her eyes.
"Ask away."
"Would you forgive him if he handed the fans to you?"
"...What does that mean?"
"Well, not as in 'would you fall in love with him again?', but more like 'would you be able to travel together with him?' Either or works for me, but I've decided to focus on what works for the team."
For a moment, Katara focused on Suki as the Kyoshi Warrior leader stayed silent, Toph tapping her fingers against the ground to sense the woman's heart beating steady with a slight stutter.
"If he handed them back, I'd take them and thank him for it..."
"But?"
"But forgiving him is out of the question," she finished Katara relaxing slightly as Toph raised an eyebrow.
"Why's that?"
"Despite how I may act like a hard-ass, Toji is the first man that made me feel like a woman and not just a warrior. He was the first man I truly fell for...and he tore my heart out before tossing it to the side when he stole the fans from under my watch.
We may make up and we may even become friends, but forgiving him for tearing apart everything I stood for is out of the question."
"...He really messed you up, huh?" Toph whispered, feeling a bit of pity for her friend as Suki nodded with a frown.
"Yes and I'm not going to pretend he didn't."
"But you're not scared of him?"
"Spirits no. I'm not a fragile little girl that is terrified of a man when he tosses me to the side," she replied with a scoff, making Katara smile as she heard Toph's giggles.
"Right. Well, I'll try to see if he won't give back the fans. The rest of the stuff is off the table, however."
"That's okay. I only want the fans," Suki replied with a shrug, to which Toph hummed befroe they looked up to see Aang dropping down.
Making a stone shield in front of her, she was not surprised by the dust that kicked up as the teen landed, lowering the wall to see Suki covering her face with cloth.
Katara cleaned the water she had used to block the impact before sucking the water back into her gourds, raising an eyebrow at Aang as he gave a sheepish smile.
"Do we need to have another discussion on why that's always a bad idea?"
"N-No, I'm good.
"Another lecture or are you two just going to flirt with each other again?" Toph asked, snickering as Katara and Aang turned to her with bright red faces.
"We're not-! I'm not-This is-!"
"Toph!" Aang groaned and Toph smirked as she gave a shrug.
"Relax. If you two start making kissy noises, I'll just bury myself underground 'till you're done."
"That might just be the greatest gift you could give the rest of us, honestly," Suki snorted and Toph flicked a pebble at her that she smacked away with a smirk.
"Watch it, Fanless. I might just decide not to ask Toji for them."
"Bold of you to assume I won't steal them."
"Oh, please. Toji and I could hear you coming from a mile away."
"Can we not go back to threatening each other?" Katara muttered with a sigh, but they turned when Aang cleared his throat with a nervous and tense expression.
"Uh, about threats, there's something you guys might want to know first."
"Soldiers? Machines? Komodo Rhinos? What did you see?" Toph asked straightening as Aang sighed.
"The Fire Nation is definitely testing out their new blimps and they're not going one by one either."
"Let me guess. They're flying in packs?" Katara asked, sighing as Aang nodded.
"Yeah, it's only five blimps a group, but there are three groups about six miles that way and they're slowly heading in this direction."
"Well, it's been two weeks since we left Ba Sing Se. It's only safe to assume that they would find us after so long," Toph replied, standing up as Suki did the same.
"Yeah, that's not all. There's also about two dozen tanks on the ground and at the front is...well, I don't know what he is, but it's some tall guy with a metal arm and leg."
"...Seriously?"
"Oh, and he has a tattoo on his forehead," Aang added, making the three women look at each other before they shrugged.
"Aang, you're with me on blimp duty. Toph, you take care of the tanks while helping Suki deal with...whatever this metal arm-leg-guy is."
"Gotcha. You ready, whiner?" Toph asked, grinning as Suki rolled her eyes while flicking her collapsible shield open.
"Born ready," With a stomp, the ground under them caved in before erupting upwards, a piece of the ground carrying them through the sky.
Aang and Katara were not too far behind as they hopped onto Appa, the bison letting out a roar that made Momo jump in fright as he took to the side.
Flicking his staff's wings out, Aang jumped out and flew through the air, delivering another gust of wind to the bottom of the solid rock that Suki and Toph flew on.
The platform shot through the air, Toph grinning as she stomped on the platform and cracked it. Suki on the other hand narrowed her eyes as she saw the figure leading the army.
The man's eyes immediately snapped up to them and her eyes widened as he took a deep breath before a concentrated pulse of air rippled from his forehead.
"Toph! Front, thirty degrees down!" With a grunt, Suki grabbed onto Toph as the shorter woman kicked the platform down, which connected with the pulse of air that was fired at them.
A surprised grunt escaped her lips as the platform exploded upon impact with the pulse, a dozen of Toph's marbles dropping from her satchel before combining into one below them.
Then, she swung her arms out, creating a thin platform that carried them halfway down, both dropping off as another pulse of air impacted their platform and exploded.
Falling the rest of the way to the ground, the sand caved in as Toph landed, softening the impact for Suki while unleashing a shockwave across the ground.
The ripples flipped some of the tanks over before Toph pulled her fists back and the ground pushed them back up.
Yet, she narrowed her eyes as he sent out another pulse of air, Suki immediately rushing in and dodging the attack as Toph created a stone wall to block it.
She grunted as the explosions was powerful enough to shatter her wall, but with a twirl, the stone fragments around her gathered before she punched them towards the man.
He in turn readied himself as Suki sprinted towards him, running low to the ground as the stone fragments flew overhead.
The man narrowed his eyes before he lunged forward, Suki's eyes widening as he punched and unleashed a storm of flames that pushed the fragments away.
Lunging to the side, she slid and threw her shield low to the ground, the man's iron arm smacking it to the side as he took a deep breath.
The tattoo on his head had a faint glow to it as Suki partially unsheathed the katana at her side, ducking to the side as a shockwave barely missed her.
It clipped her shoulder and she gritted her teeth as she felt a burning pain in said limb, but the man raised his arm to block the swing aimed at his neck.
Deflecting it to the side, he lashed out with a high kick at her head, which she slid under with a grimace before hopping to her feet behind him.
At the same time, Toph punched the ground and the earth below the man exploded upwards, the earthbender ripping her satchel open and letting dozens of iron marbles fall to the ground.
With a grunt, each twisted into a needle-like shape before shooting upwards, a frown on her face as the man punched out a burst of flames from his flesh arm and flipped over her attack.
At the same time, his chest expanded with a deep breath, Toph immediately thrusting her hands to the sky as a devastating shockwave eruped from his forehead.
A pillar of solid stone erupted out from below Toph as she leapt back, meeting the pulsating air and exploding with a deafening boom.
Stone fragments rained down on everyone as Suki landed beside Toph, who crossed her arms and created two stone covers above them.
"Okay, I'm beginning to hate the forehead lasers!" Toph coughed, Suki nodding with a grimace as she rubbed her sore shoulder. Pulling the walls back underground, they stared down the explosion man as he landed in front of them with a stoic expression.
Neither side said anything as Toph cracked her knuckles, Suki readying her katana as the man narrowed his eyes.
Suki's eyes widened as the air around his head distorted from the heat while the sand at his feet glowed. "Toph, move!"
The blind woman didn't need any further invitation as she lunged tot he ride, Suki going the other way as a concussive pulse of scorching hot air skimmed past them.
Stomping the ground, it opened beneath her and let her drop as another concussive wave barely missed her. Suki lunged forward and raced across the sand, picking up her shield along the way as the man spun to her.
A burst of flames from his non-metal foot launched him towards her and he swung a kick at her head, Suki ducking under it while unsheathing her katana in one swift motion.
Aiming a slash at the exposed cables of his metal limbs, the man blocked it with a frown, swinging a punch at her head. Suki narrowed her eyes as she let go of her katana, holding her shield up and deflecting the blow away from her.
At the same time, she kicked forward, the man stepping back to avoid the blow aimed at his knee.
That was all Toph needed as she slammed both palms into the ground, a column of stone erupting from beneath the man's feet in response.
He narrowed his eyes as it launched him upwards like a ragdoll, but he turned and punched behind, unleashing a burst of hot flames that pushed him forward.
"Down!" Toph exclaimed and Suki complied, leaping away as another blast ripped through the air and exploded against a stone wall she formed.
The Kyoshi Warrior leader aimed and threw her shield in an arc, Toph grunting as she clenched her fist before pulling her fist down.
As the shield curved through the air, the man's eyes widened as it twisted past his fist and impacted his chest, delivering a deep gash along his chest.
As he fell to the ground, Suki was sprinting across the sand, each step accelerating her further and further as she sheathed her katana.
Narrowing her eyes as the man's eyes snapped into focus and he flipped, she lunged to the side as he threw a heavy punch, unsheathing her katana and delivering a vicious gash parallel to the first.
At the same time, Toph opened the ground below him, the man falling in before she clapped her hands and the earth snapped back up.
"Toph! Suki! Let's go!" Katara shouted as Appa flew past, Aang flying beside her while the blimps that were formerly in the air fell in pieces to the ground.
With a grunt and a stomp, Toph launched both herself and Suki up into the air, Aang catching Suki and carrying her to Appa while Toph landed on the air bison's back with a groan.
"Think that was enough?" Suki asked and before Toph could answer, they watched as a devastating explosion ripped the ground open.
Climbing out of the pit was the man, now having light burns on his body while his eyes glared at them balefully.
"Well, that answers your question," Toph murmured, Suki herself frowning as Appa flew higher just above the clouds. "Hey, Loops. We going to Location No.2?"
"That's the plan," Katara replied as Aang landed on the saddle beside them, Momo plopping down on said saddle as Appa began to speed up.
'He was good,' Toph thought to herself, recalling the explosion bender's capabilities before her eyes widened and she groaned.
"What? Metal-guy's coming after us?" Aang asked and Toph shook her head before her response made Suki face palm.
"I could have metal-bended his limbs."
A/N: And we end it off here~! A bit of a side-quest for the GAang while Sokka, Toji and June go on their own hunt.
Next chapter: Meet up and Old Foes.
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Ba-Bye~!