A/N: I don't own Avatar, Toph, Aang, Zhao, or any other character from the show. (Which is awesome, by the way, not that you nice readers need me to tell you that, of course.) No profit will ever be made by me off of it... unless they hire me as a scriptwriter. But that seems unlikely, so... anyway, this is the sequel (part 2/5 that I have planned, more or less) to Fly like a rock. It's 6 years and a couple of months since the end of the War. If you haven't read the previous Fic, you may not get what's going on. As far as timeline goes, the events in chapter one occur about one week after the end of Fly like a rock.

Brief recap for those that need it: Sokka died during the final battle with Azula and Ozai. (They are also dead) Katara, overwhelmed with grief over her brother's death, seduced Aang after returning home, (not a hard task, all things considered, even considering their ages at the time) then ran him out of the village. Six years passed since then, which is when the first part begins. Toph injures Aang by accident, literally knocking his spirit out of his body and preventing him from returning. He is healed at the verge of death by Yu the plant bender. Stuff happens. They return to the Southern Water Tribe, where Katara dies a couple days later.

Zuko took over the Fire Nation and totally revamped it. For 6 years they had almost no contact with the outside world, until Aang and Toph arrived.

One last piece of advice: None of the plot-important clues were mentioned in the recap, so if you want to know what's going on, I was serious about reading the other one first.

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Heart of Fire

Chap. 1

I thought we were done fighting Fire Nation soldiers?

Frustrated, angry, and more than a little impatient to get on with their journey, Toph stomped hard on the ground, simultaneously slapping her hands together. The six warriors in front of her and two on each side suddenly sank to their knees into the ground and she leapt back a few feet out of range of their sodegarami.

Thirty feet away, Aang was shaking his head slowly, asking their attackers why they never learned. Toph grinned, knowing that her lover would go much easier on his opponents than she would, even tough he was even more tired of fighting them. In this group, there were thirty or more soldiers, but not a Bender among them, and almost no threat to the pair.

With another powerful stomp, Toph sunk her foes deeper into the stone around the, and suddenly they were trapped waist-deep. It was possible they could escape on their own, but not anytime soon. The turned leisurely back to the Avatar, stepping toward him casually. He was whirling his hands in circles, and the roots of a nearby tree were wrapping themselves around the soldier with the finest-looking armor, holding him against the tree. The others were nowhere to be seen, but the crashing from the forest suggested Aang had hurled the lot of them into the trees, and they were still trying to get back.

"Don't you guys know the war's over? The Fire and other nations are at peace, even allies again. Why did you attack us?"

The soldier said nothing, but continued to struggle against the vines, which kept pulling tighter until the man was almost motionless against the large tree. "Got anything useful out of him, Twinkletoes?" Toph asked quietly, forcing herself to return to a calm state now that the battle was essentially over. Aang shook his head once, his face falling. Toph took a few more steps past the Avatar, reaching up to pull the soldier's helmet off.

Aang stepped back suddenly with a sharp intake of breath. Surprised now herself, Toph took a cautious step back, resuming a combat pose, but asked quietly, "Aang? Who is it? I don't recognize him."

"It's... Zhao? But..."

"Zhao? Admiral Zhao? Wasn't he... didn't he die in the North Pole?" Toph asked, confused.

Stepping back a couple more times, Toph could hear his heart pounding, his breath uncertain. "I... I thought he did. I was in the Avatar State, sharing my power with the Ocean Spirit. I'm sure... he had to have died. No one could have survived that."

It almost felt like the Avatar was lying, but the blind woman couldn't imagine why he would.

"Believe it, Avatar," the man against the tree said with a snarl, "you failed yet again. I survived you in the Avatar state, I can survive anything you can throw at me."

"That's crazy," Aang blurted out, but Toph shook her head.

"He's... not lying, Aang. But we have another problem. Six of his friends are a little ways into the forest whispering quietly. Want me to take them out?"

The young man thought for a moment, and said in a firm voice, "No, I want you to bring them here, conscious. We need to have a talk with the Admiral here."

"OK Toph, I've got the message ready. Tell me what you think," Aang said late that night, "Ready?" There wasn't any response. He looked over to see her eyes closed, a faint smile on her pale face. The full moon and the faint light from the dying fire cast an odd mix of orange and white highlights on her white skin. A stray lock of black hair, now clean and shining, had fallen across her nose, and as Aang watched it twitched until with a grunt, the young woman reached up to pluck it away.

"Poor Toph. She's been sleeping so much, ever since we left the Fire Nation. I wonder what's up with her?" With a wistful smile the Avatar pulled her blanket a little higher and ran the back of his hand across her cheek before rolling his parchment and tucking it underneath his backpack. "Good night Momo, Good night Appa. Good night Fire Nation soldiers!" he called last, before flopping onto his back and putting his arm lightly over Toph's and closing his eyes.

Fire Lord Zuko, son of Ursa. Though we have had our differences in the past, you have proven yourself to be a man worthy of the highest respect. I count you among my greatest friends and supporters, and I hope you would say the same about me. However, it is not as a friend that I send this message. It is as the Avatar.

I am sending a similar message to the leaders of each of the four nations, including the lesser kings and tribal leaders, from Hakoda of the Southern Water Tribe to King Bumi, General Fong, and even some of those of the Fire Nation that I know are trustworthy besides yourself. I am requesting a council of world leaders to meet in a neutral place four months from this date. When the location has been decided on, I will send another message. I have discovered a matter that will require the attentions of all of us. Please respond with the utmost urgency. Please send your reply to Omashu, in the care of King Bumi. That is where we will await the reply from each invitee.

"What do you think?" Aang asked again over breakfast.

Toph picked at her fruit for a moment before responding, "It seems kind of... wordy. Formal. Really not your style, is it?"

Grinning, his cheeks a little pink, the Avatar rubbed the back of his head and murmured, "Yeah... you're probably right. I'll rewrite it tonight and we can start sending them out when we get to Kissi Village. Appa should be back soon."

Toph nodded, eyeing her fruit for a little longer, then setting it down almost untouched. "I'll be right back, Twinkletoes."

'Toph!" Aang's voice rang through the woods, but at the moment, the Earthbender was a little busy. For two days it's been like this. I hardly ever get sick, even when I was a little girl. Now I can hardly eat anything. Her thoughts were interrupted with another round of retching, her already-emptied stomach trying to purge itself further. Ugh... he sounds pretty worried. I guess... I should go see what he needs.

"What is it, Aang?" she called, stepping out of the forest a little clumsily. The Avatar noticed at once she seemed a little distracted, but had more pressing concerns just then.

"It's Zhao! His soldiers are gone, all of them. And him too! The cage we made is still intact, they just aren't in it. Did you let them go?"

"Of course not," she answered, suddenly annoyed, "You know I wouldn't do anything like that, especially without telling you. So... were there any tracks? And how did they sneak by without waking me up anyway? Nobody can do that except you." She folded her arms across her chest, leaning against the massive form of Appa.

"I... didn't look. I'll be right back."

Toph sighed, but as soon as Aang had wandered off into the forest, Toph clutched her stomach again and doubled over, gasping in pain.

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A/N: Sorry the chapter's kind of short. Work+the novels I'm working on take a lot of time. I'll be updating as often as I can, but it's most likely to be irregular. As always, reviews (especially constructive ones) are always appreciated.