Spirit Day

Chapter Two

Toph threw herself at the first branch she could reach and hoisted herself up. She didn't know how long her strength would last and it made her feel truly weak not relying on her bending. She climbed, her nails clawing at the damp wood of the elder tree while Aang yelled at her to escape.

"I will have her, Avatar!" the spirit yelled. "In this life and the next!"

Toph felt a presence behind her as she climbed and shied away from the laughter that echoed behind her. She felt the prick of Koh's focus on the back of her neck as she climbed faster, the light above her growing closer and closer. Suddenly, Toph felt the points of his legs on her back, dragging her down. She screamed and kicked in the direction of Koh's face, too frightened to see if she was even hitting him.

Aang leapt towards Koh, grabbing his back legs and yanking him hard away from Toph, but he was stronger than Aang expected. He fell backwards, still hanging onto the legs as Koh howled in pain.

"Come get me!" Aang taunted. Koh turned from Toph to lunge for Aang who still hung onto his back legs. Aang got into a fighting stance, more relying on his staff than lack of bending. He steadied himself and stole a glance at Toph who disappeared through the gaping hole in the side of the tree. Aang looked back at Koh who swung his body, hitting Aang in the torso and sent him flying backwards. Aang gasped for breath and rolled onto his stomach to make for the exit.

"Going so soon?" Koh roared. "We're just getting started!"

Toph pushed her way through the hole that was barely big enough to fit through. She winced as the rough texture of the tree scraped her legs and stomach. She went toppling head first down the side of the elder tree. She grabbed hold of a ragged branch before she fell to her death, and began slowly lowering herself down. Inside, she could hear Koh yelling. It killed her to run away instead of helping, knowing Aang might not even survive. She walked towards the front of the tree, jumping at the sight of a monkey with no face sitting at the entrance. Toph backed away from it, running towards the murky water where they first entered the spirit world.

Aang felt Koh drag him back towards the center of the tree while trying to turn him over.

"Come now, Avatar. It's not polite to avoid looking your host in the eye."

Aang kicked, pushing Koh back far enough to crawl from beneath him. Aang dove for the twisted roots inside the tree, burying himself in them and gagging at the rotting stench of flora that had died long ago.

"You can't hide forever, child," Koh teased, flattening his body wickedly to reach him. Aang crawled back farther, pushing his body against of years of collected bracken until he was wedged with no way out. Aang struggled against the broken twigs and clumps of rotting wood, clawing and digging as Koh followed him inside.

"Get back here!" Koh yelled, centipede limbs flailing sickeningly as he struggled in the rotting mess to get to Aang's panicked face. Aang dug faster, throwing the debris in Koh's direction to cover the angered spirit's head. "I'll have her, Avatar! I've had her before and dozens like her!"

Aang shoved his hand thrugh the fist sized hole he created and clawed for something to grab onto. He gripped the roots tightly and began pulling himself free with one arm.

Koh roared behind him. "No! I'll get her one day! I've taken her from you hundreds of times! If it weren't for that damned Avatar Kuruk, you wouldn't have even known."

Aang kicked against the ground, shoving his body through the hole and freed himself from the twisted branches. He grabbed his staff and ran towards the gaping entrance.

"I'll get all of them, Avatar! And you'll have to sit back and watch as the world burns!"

Aang moved his legs faster, leaping over the roots that threatened to trip him. He sprinted out of the elder tree and back to the swamp where he yelled frantically for Toph.

"Toph! We need to go now!"

He kept running, colliding with a mess of brown hair and pale skin. The fell forward into the putrid water and sat up, untwisting their limbs.

"Watch it you- Aang! You're alive!" she said, throwing her arms around his neck.

He hugged her back, standing them both up before letting go and looking for a dry patch of land. "I barely made it out," he said, pulling them towards a dry hill on the edge of the water.

"Sit," he ordered, folding his legs into the lotus position. "Clear your mind and concentrate."

"On what? Aang, how did you get out?" she asked, looking behind them for any sign of Koh.

Aang sighed out of annoyance and turned her face towards him. "He's trapped, but not for long. I need to get back to the physical world to warn everyone. Focus, Toph."

"How do we do that?"

Aang opened his mouth to speak, but no sound came out. "I'm not entirely sure. The last time I was here from meditating. I don't know how to bring people with me, or get them out."

Toph panicked. "So, I'm stuck here while you get to go save everyone? What if that thing comes back?"

Aang stood up and looked around. "I have a friend who can help us. Come on."

They ran as fast as they could through the muddied waters of the swamp then dodged roots and fireflies in the forest. Aang helped Toph over a massive fallen log in their path, and on the other side was a plane of bamboo with fog so thick the thin green trees barely shone through. Aang pulled them towards the mist.

"Oh no," Toph said stopping. "I'm not going in there. What if it's another spirit? The meat-eating kind? What if we get lost and Koh finds us?"

Aang sighed and pulled Toph close. "I promise you," he said, pressing his forehead to hers, "that nothing will try to hurt us here. Please, Toph, we don't have much time."

Toph stared at the mist and bamboo tentatively before nodding and letting Aang guide them in. He held tight to her hand, barely able to resist walking into a few bamboo trees himself.

"What are we looking for?" Toph asked, peering into the white mist that surrounded them like a suffocating blanket.

"A friend. He helped me out of the spirit world the first time, and now that I know how to go back, maybe he can help you."

"What's his…." Toph trailed off as a large black figure appeared west of them. It seemed to grow larger with each step and Toph resisted the urge to scream. It got clearer and she realized the creature was both white and black, with bear like features.

"Hei Bai!" Aang said, as if greeting an old friend. He let go of Toph's hand to run towards the creature and hug it.

"This is my friend Toph," Aang said, waving for Toph to come closer.

She walked towards it, angling herself behind Aang as if waiting for an attack. "I've never actually seen one of these things before," Toph said. "They're much more frightening than the vibrations."

"Toph and I need help getting back to the physical world," Aang explained as if the bear could hear him. It groaned in response and gestured it's head behind him. Aang turned to Toph. "He wants us to hop on."

Toph crossed her arms. "Absolutely not. I haven't been on Appa in years. I don't know what it is with you wanting me to ride every animal we come across but this is where I draw the line."

Toph watched as Aang and Hei Bai exchanged a look, then Aang reached forward and threw Toph over his shoulder with ease. "Let's go!" he said anxiously over Toph's protests of vengeance.

Hei Bai ran fast through the different realms towards the circle of trees that made the energy point to enter the spirit world. The flying colors made Toph sick and she shut her eyes, willing her feet to work while the whistling wind cleared her nauseous head. Hei Bai trotted to a stop and Aang jumped off, helping a dizzy Toph down from the fur of the panda's back.

"Thank's Hei Bai!" Aang said. He sat down on the ground, motioning for Toph who simply fell onto her back. Hei Bai aimed a beam of pure energy onto her body, making her appearance grow thinner until she disappeared. "See you soon," Aang promised as he closed his eyes and let his spirit travel home.

Aang felt his spirit return to his body with a whoosh of air that left him breathless. There was an annoying poking sensation on the side of his head. Someone's finger, he guessed. Toph's frantic voice was in his ear.

"Wake up, Twinkle Toes! We've got to move!" she said. Aang steadied his breath and stood, running with Toph through the alley towards the town square where a sungi hornist played as a woman sang. Toph hoisted herself on stage and removed the instrument from the man's arms as the woman looked on in frustration.

"Sorry to break it up," Toph said, tossing the heavy instrument to the glaring woman. "Official Avatar business; you wouldn't understand."

Aang smiled sheepishly and apologized to them as they walked off the stage. He turned towards the crowd who looked on in confusion.

"Uh, hi everyone. There's a bit of an emergency going on, so if you could-"

Toph pushed him from center stage. "Alright, listen up you drunken bastards! There's a pissed off spirit arriving any minute. Go home, ditch the masks and keep calm!"

There was a moment of silence before the crowd burst into laughter.

"We're serious!" Aang yelled.

A man in the crowd threw a bottle. "Nice costume! Get off the stage!"

Aang breathed deeply, motioning for Toph to take a step back. He felt himself go weightless as the voices of his past lives filled him.

"Enough," he said, silencing the crowd immediately. "The spirits are not to be joked with. Go to your homes now. Koh is seeking revenge. You have been warned."

The energy flowing through him dropped rapidly, but he held his composure as the crowd quickly dispersed, leaving the chilling masks behind them.

"Well, that worked," Toph said, hopping off stage. She felt the vibrations of four people running towards them and almost fell to the ground to kiss the earth. She loved having her "sight" back.

Katara reached them first. "What happened?" she asked, alarmed.

Toph kicked a mask from beside her foot. "Koh's coming."

"What's a Koh?" Sokka asked, scanning the scattered people for signs of danger.

"Wait," Suki said. "You mean Koh? The old man in the story? That was just an old earth tale used to get kids to go to bed on time."

Aang jumped down from the stage. "Koh is real. The story doesn't compare to how evil he really is. It didn't do him any justice, so now he's coming back to make himself look stronger. And he's kind of after Toph."

"What?" they yelled in unison.

Aang started gathering the painted masks discarded among the ground. "He's had her before. As a past life, I mean. But what I don't understand is how. If you're taken by Koh, you're trapped. You won't be able to reincarnate into your next life."

"Technically, you can," Suki said. "The story is different across the Earth Kingdom. Here they tell the story as if you'll be kidnapped. On Kyoshi Island, they say the old man will steal your head to keep you from thinking bad thoughts. You'll go the rest of your life headless until you die."

Toph gave up on gathering the masks and began earth bending them beneath the stage. "She's right in a way. He's the face stealer. The rest of your body will be fine."

"Until you suffocate," Zuko spoke up. He rolled his eyes when the group stared at him. "No nose or mouth. No eyes, you'll be dead within minutes."

Aang scratched his head. "If that were the case, Toph would have been born a few years before I was."

"Not exactly," Katara said. "Our life cycles are different from yours, Aang. When an Avatar dies, he's immediately reincarnated into the next nation so the world will never have to be without one. But with everyone else, our spirits wait for some time. As if taking a vacation between lives."

Toph bended the rest of debris underground, making everyone jump. "He said he had me before. What the hell does that mean? Has he taken my life before?"

"I think…" Aang started. "I think you were Ummi."

Sokka growled in frustration. "Alright, who's Ummi?"

Aang kicked a pebble from his path. "Ummi was Avatar Kuruk's wife to be. She was stolen by Koh on their wedding day, and Kuruk's been hunting him ever since. Something Koh said troubled me…I don't know what he meant."

"What did he say? Toph asked.

Aang shrugged. "We need to focus on how we'll defeat him once he gets here. Everyone get ready, I need to talk to my past lives."

Toph picked her toes that were masked by her stockings Katara forced her to wear. She felt Sokka's vibrations coming behind her and Aang sat in a meditative pose farther down north. Sokka sighed as he sat down, instinctively taking out his sword and inspecting it.

"Who's Aang talking to?"

"No clue," Toph said, leaning back against the cold hard ground. "Past lives, probably. I swear this is the last spirit day I celebrate. I always thought it was a stupid holiday. We've already got the summer and winter solstices, the spring festival, the autumn festival, Lover's Day, Child Spirit day, and a crap load more." Toph banged her fist on the ground, causing an abandoned cart full of cooling candies to slide towards her. She grabbed a bag of them and handed one to Sokka.

He emptied the bag into his mouth and began talking over it. "I think Aang's not telling us something."

"You got that, did you?"

Sokka shrugged. "He's my friend too, Toph. Ummi's your past life, right?"

"Looks that way. Why?"

Sokka smiled devilishly. "That means you and Aang were about to get married- OW!" Toph punched him in the back with her free hand, causing the candies to splatter against the ground.

"This is serious, Sokka," Toph said, turning to hide her blush despite the darkness.

"Don't act like you haven't even considered the possibility of-"

Toph glared in his direction. "I will end you."

Sokka smiled and threw an arm around her shoulders. "I know you will. It's not fair for things to be unrequited for so long. But if he ever breaks your heart, I'll strangle him."

"Thanks, Snoozles."

"No problem. What are big brothers for?" Sokka reached a palm out to capture the white bits that floated from the sky. "Why does this Koh person or thing want you so bad?"

"I'm not sure… but I don't think Ummi was the first."

"What do you mean?" Sokka asked, stealing Toph's bag of candy.

"I think Koh has been taking someone dear to Aang's past lives as some sort of game. I think that's what Twinkle Toes is trying to figure out."

Aang took a deep breath, feeling heat swell in his chest as Avatar Roku parted from him and appeared.

"Hello, Aang. I hope one day we will meet when there isn't impending doom."

Aang smiled at his mentor. "Avatar Roku, has anyone ever gone missing? I mean, someone close to you? And you had no explanation of where they went?"

Roku closed his eyes as he spoke. "One of my closest friends from childhood. She was a skilled bender and guided me where she could have ridiculed me. I was only ten when she vanished. Sozin was always jealous of our friendship, and I questioned if he had her banished. He said he hadn't, but I didn't believe him. It wasn't until her family began searching for her that I realized she'd been taken. Years passed and no one knew what became of her.

"Aang, you must stop Koh before he takes another life. Only you can break his vicious cycle." Roku disappeared into the wind. Aang was so numb he didn't notice the dropping temperature or the falling snow. Aang hardened himself, feeling the stubborn earth beneath him as he called Avatar Kyoshi.

"Aang, it's been so long since we've spoken. I was beginning to think you no longer needed my guidance," Kyoshi smiled.

"Avatar Kyoshi, has anyone close to you disappeared without a trace?"

Kyoshi 's form stared down at him with a passive face. "A man new to my village, a carpenter. He arrived some time before my Avatar training was complete. When I returned, I hated him instantly. He was arrogant and stubborn, and after time, we became close friends. I began to think our relationship was becoming more romantic, when he disappeared. There was a girl in a small town just off the peninsula where we lived that seemed to have a liking to him. I always thought they'd run off together.

"I didn't bother searching for him until I learned the girl still lingered. I exhausted myself coming and leaving the spirit world in search of some sign of him. Aang, you must defeat Koh by any means necessary. He cannot be allowed to live."

Kyoshi's blue spirit form vanished before him, leaving Aang in a daze.

"I knew I shouldn't have asked Kyoshi."

Aang skipped Kuruk, fully knowing the story and his connection to Ummi. Aang buried his head in his hands. All past lives had someone go missing….someone they cared about. Someone, with enough time if they didn't already, loved. Aang rubbed his temples and let his natural element fill him as he called Avatar Yangchen.

"Good to see you, Aang," Yangchen said.

"Good to see you," Aang repeated. "Avatar Yangchen, did you ever lose someone close to you with no knowledge of where they went?"

Yangchen smiled. "There was a bender around my age who went missing just before they announced me as the new Avatar. We loved each other, you see. Those were the best times of my life."

"What did you think happened?" Aang asked.

Yangchen sighed. "I always thought she became frightened. Or maybe had second thoghts."

"Wait, she?"

Yangchen smiled. "Yes, young Avatar. The monks did not protest alternative relationships like other nations."

Aang blushed. "I know that, but it's still…unexpected."

"You must once again be asked too much of your age. It is your duty to maintain balance." Yangchen disappeared as swiftly as the others, leaving Aang to thin about his choices. He could reason with Koh. After all, Aang wasn't sure how to kill a spirit or even if they could be killed. Or he could try to kill him before he got to Toph. Aang's heart sped up at the mere thought of her name. He closed his eyes and meditated, looking for some answers that had nothing to do with the fate of the town. Why wasn't the spirit after Katara? They weren't as close as they were before, but they still loved each other.

Aang banged on his head with his fists. "This is impossible!"

He sighed, watching his breath condense against the icy air. He unfolded his stiff legs and brushed the snow off his pants. "What the hell am I going to do?"

There was an ear-splitting crack that echoed through the town center.

"Aang!" Toph yelled. He resisted the strong urge to be at her side. "We've got company!"

Aang circled his staff around him, throwing the cyclone of air against Koh's form. It knocked the spirit side ways, slamming him against the brick wall. Koh staggered to his many feet, some of which were missing, and began looking for his attacker.

"I knew I'd find you, Avatar. Do you really think you can trap a creature in his own home?" Koh said, lunging for Aang who stood ready. A pillar of earth blocked Koh's path, causing him to slam helplessly into it with a crunch. Aang thought about what Kyoshi told him as he watched Koh struggle back to his legs.

Aang's feet slid forward as Katara bended the fallen snow into a sheet of white above her, then sharpened it into daggers and sent them flying towards Koh. They clattered against his shell and fell to the ground.

"I can't break through!" Katara yelled, focusing more on freezing the ground beneath the monster into a deadly slick surface.

"Energy!" Aang exclaimed over the sound of Zuko's flames hitting the exoskeleton of Koh's back.

"We could use a little help here!" Sokka yelled, cleanly slicing a diagonal line through three of Koh's legs.

"He's already weak from coming to the physical world!" Aang yelled. He ran towards him, jumping easily over Koh's body that lashed out to strike him. The pointed legs were a breath away from cutting through the meat of Aang's face.

Aang landed in a crouch on Koh's back, bending a funnel of air to guard him from the rain of fist sized rocks that pummeled them from all sides. It was similar to taming Appa whenever the sky bison saw something that resembled a cave. Aang stopped himself from soothing Koh, and instead hung on for dear life. He pressed himself against the smooth armor when the glint of a golden fan whizzed by.

"Move, damn it, I almost cut your head off!" Suki yelled, readying her other fan.

"Sokka, I need your sword!" Aang yelled, gripping the raised edge of Koh's back as be bucked beneath him.

Sokka hurled the black blade at Aang who caught it with ease. Aang didn't flinch as he brought the gleaming sword down, slicing Koh through the middle. The beast howled as he kicked and flailed. The lower half twitched violently until it stopped while his upper half thrashed, causing Aang to hold on.

"The bigger something is, the more energy it needs to reach the physical world." Aang handed Sokka back the sword that was dripping with a deep green liquid. Sokka grimaced but took the sword back, moaning about just having it cleaned.

"Kyoshi was taller than all of us, so she got tired easier. It's the reason I used to faint going into the Avatar state. I was relying on energy to get there-"

"But using energy to come back," Katara finished. "Energy you hadn't controlled yet. That's amazing, Aang."

Aang turned back to Koh who had gone still. "We can't kill a spirit. They're pure energy. But we can change that energy, weakening them so they can't cross the bridge into our world."

Aang walked up to and stared into the face of the first doll. "As long as there is an avatar, you are no longer allowed in our world. Even if the cycle is broken, once you try to cross to the physical world your spirit energy will be depleted and you will cease to exist."

"You damned child!" Koh spat. "She's always been mine. I'll get her back one day, Avatar. And you'll do nothing to stop me." The spirit slowly vanished, leaving it's odd colored blood and dismembered limbs as the only evidence he'd been there.

Sokka, never letting a dead dog lie, broke the silence after the threat with a terrible joke.

"Looks like Team Avatar squished that bug!"

The sounds of a Fire Lord pinching his nose, two girls slapping their hands to their foreheads, Aang shaking his head and Toph groaning was quickly taken by laughter.

Katara leaned against the barn, watching Toph and Aang shove each other playfully in the snow. Toph threw her head back and laughed loudly at something Aang said; probably a threat.

Sokka came up and joined her, sighing at the content scene. There was barely an inch of snow on the ground when it stopped, leaving the town in a blanket of white.

"You know what?" Katara said, staring at her two youngest friends. "I think it's going to be okay. I mean, I'm okay."

Sokka nodded in agreement as Aang lifted Toph from the ground and heaved her over his shoulder, spinning them while Momo grabbed her ankle and swung along.

"I think you're right," he said. "Who'd ever think….out of all the people, two exact opposites get together."

Katara chuckled and shook her head. "Opposites, yeah."

Sokka hooked his arm around her and rested his head on top hers. "Another day saved, little sis. Who do you think will take over once we get old and grey? We can't do this forever."

Katara hummed as she thought. "I'm sure some amazing new team of benders will come along and pick up where we left off." She wrapped her arm around Sokka's waist. She laughed when Momo became too dizzy and flew from Toph's ankle to the ground, leaving a trail behind him from where he slid against the snow. Katara stopped when she heard an odd noise.

"Are you sniffing my hair?" she asked pulling back.

Sokka's face became dark. "Why do you smell like smoke? We've been out here for hours!"

Katara gulped and took off running, using the snow on the ground to propel her out of Sokka's reach.

"Tell Zuko he's dead!" Sokka yelled, out of breath.

Katara laughed and turned to say "What are big brother's for?"

I'd like to thank the first two reviewers, MelonLord28 and Heartless Demon Wolf, who let me know someone actually read this on Halloween night. I'm stuck in my dorm, missing Charlie brown Halloween to write you all this story. But I don't mind. Know why? Because I LOVE WRITING! Anyway, yes, it did snow a couple days ago on the east coast. I took a picture in it. (Because I'm crazy) Review, my darlings! I don't own Avatar. Happy Halloween! ^0^ it's a bat.