꧁ chapter nineteen ꧂
smooth criminals

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"OK, I'M READY for some training" Aang spoke as he tied his headband over his eyes like a blindfold.

Meiluna used her waterbending to create shards of ice, sending them in the Avatar's direction. He quickly used his own bending to melt them before they could reach him.

Aang took a couple of steps forward before dodging three earth pillars Toph sent out of the ground.

Katara then sent a water attack his way which he easily redirected back to her before launching a boulder at Toph.

"Good job, Twinkle Toes. Visualise, then attack" Toph praised as she launched the boulder back at Aang.

He instantly burrowed into a hole using his earthbending, leaving the boulder to hit straight into Katara.

"Maybe you should take your own advice, Toph!" Katara said, annoyed as she brushed herself off.

"What's the matter? Can't handle a little dirt, Madame Fussy-Britches" Toph mocked.

Katara twitched in anger before sending a huge wave at Toph,

"Oh, sorry. Did I splash you, Mud Slug?"

She created an ice ramp while Toph created an earth one, both girls running straight into each other, the force sending them flying back.

"Oh boy" Meiluna sighed, watching the two girls get into another little fight.

"Are we taking a break?" Aang asked, still blindfolded.

Sokka started running towards Aang from behind him,

"Sneak attack!"

Aang simply created an earth wall, leading to Sokka crashing straight into it.

"Sokka, sneak attacks don't work if you yell it out loud" Aang sighed, taking off his blindfold and turning to Katara and Toph who were wrestling in the mud.

"Uh guys, I thought we were supposed to be training me" Aang asked cautiously.

"Very well pupil. I believe we've had enough training for today" Katara answered calmly, completely covered in mud, before turning to walk away.

"While Katara cleans up lets go have some fun!" Toph decided, using her eartbending to remove the mud from herself.

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"Look at all those messenger hawks!" Sokka pointed excitedly, "You know, I've been thinking about getting one for myself. That way I wouldn't have to talk to anyone. I could just send them messages"

"I gotta say I like the idea of not talking to you" Toph replied making Meiluna cover her mouth as she laughed.

"So, guys, what are we gonna get with our last silver piece" Aang asked, holding it up.

"We can get more money," Toph halted, "Right there" She pointed to to a small area where a man sat at a table, moving around some shells.

"This is where you seeing people are at a disadvantage. Everyone guesses wrong because the dealer moves the rock at the last minute. But I can feel it with my earthbending" She explained.

"You there," The scam artist pointed to Toph, "Wanna play a friendly game?"

"How can I possibly play?" She waved a hand in front of her face innocently, "I'm blind"

"You don't have to see to be lucky"

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"Where did you guys get the money to buy all this stuff?" Katara asked suspiciously, watching the four of them.

"Toph got us money!" Meiluna smiled, opening up a pack of fire flakes before popping one in her mouth.

Meiluna's tongue instantly burned as her eyes watered from the spice. She quickly grabbed her watermelon juice taking a big gulp to cool her mouth while moving to sitting down.

"She scammed one of these guys in town who moves the shells around all sneaky-like" Aang explained, taking a bite out of his apple.

"She used earthbending to win the game! Classic" Sokka laughed, taking a seat beside Meiluna.

"Oh, so she cheated" Katara spoke.

"Hey! I only cheated because he was cheating!" Toph defended, "I cheated a cheater, what's wrong with that?"

"I'm just saying this isn't something we should make a habit of doing" Katara told her.

"Why? Because it's fun? And you hate fun?" Toph prodded.

"I don't hate fun!" Katara insisted as she placed Momo on her head like a hat, "See? Fun!"

"Katara," Aang stood up, bowing before her, "I'll personally make you an Avatar Promise that we won't make a habit of doing these scams"

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"Guys, I think these scams have gone far enough. If you keep doing them, something bad is gonna happen" Katara warned.

"I don't see how this is such a bad thing" Meiluna smiled innocently.

Meiluna had never experienced the adrenaline rush she felt pulling these scams with her friends.

It wasn't like the Princess had a lot of time to mess around and have fun back home. She had felt so alive, like this is what her life would've been like if there was no war.

"Could you stop being such a sourpuss for once and lighten up?" Toph asked angrily as she tossed some coins at Katara.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Katara started to get frustrated and threw the money back at Toph, "You think I should be more like you? Like some wild child?"

"Yeah! Maybe! Maybe then you'd see how great we have it. I mean look at us," Toph gestured back to Sokka and Meiluna who had fallen to their hands and knees to pick up the fallen coins, "We're travelling around the world! Making easy money! Having fun! With no parent to tell us what to do!"

"Ah, I see," Katara spoke, "You're acting like this because of your parents"

"Whatever" Toph dismissed.

"They were controlling, so you ran away, and now you act like your parents don't exist. You act like you hate them, but you don't. You just feel guilty" Katara pushed.

"I do hate them" Toph fired back.

"I don't think so. I think you miss them, but you just don't wanna deal with that, so instead you act like this crazy person"

Toph stood up fuming,
"Look, I ran away to help Aang!"

"You know what? It doesn't matter. These scams put us all at risk, and we don't need that. We've already got some third eyed freak after us!" Katara yelled.

"Speaking of that third eyed freak," Sokka interrupted, "I think I've come up with a name for him. What do you think of sparky sparky boom man?" A silence followed, "Just think about it"

Meiluna looked at the others who stared at Sokka,
"It's a work in progress"

Katara turned back to face Toph, her face red with anger,

"We have enough money! You need to stop this!"

"I'll stop when I wanna stop and not when you tell me!" Toph yelled before walking away angrily towards her earth tent.

"Speaking of money, I'm off to spend some" Sokka announced, grabbing his bag of money and his sword.

As he was turning to leave he saw Meiluna awkwardly sitting in the midst of the tension between Toph and his sister. He walked back over, grabbing her arm to pull her with him,

"Luna's coming with me, okay, see you guys later!"

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"Fine!" Meiluna huffed, "I'll let you choose the name out of the kindness of my good heart" She said dramatically, placing her hand over her chest.

Sokka bowed mockingly in front of her,
"Thank you, your highness"

He then turned back the the messenger hawk on his arm,
"Hawky, welcome to Team Avatar!"

"Hawky?" Meiluna raised an eyebrow, "I never should've let you name him"

Sokka moved a hand to pretend to cover Hawky's ears,
"Please Luna, not in front of the baby"

Meiluna rolled her eyes as a small smile made its way on to her face.

"My name's Sokka and this is Luna, we're your new owners, and as such we should warn you that there's already a lemur in our group, so I don't wanna see any fighting"

Meiluna smiled, softly scratching the Hawk's stomach,
"Good boy Hawky"

Meiluna and Sokka started to walk out of the shop when they noticed a wanted poster with Toph's face plastered across it.

Sokka ripped the poster off, gasping in horror as Hawky let out a screech,
"You're right Hawky, this is bad"

Meiluna and Sokka ran back to their campsite, running up to Toph who sat alone, counting her money.

"Toph!" Meiluna called out, the girl perked up at the sound of her voice.

"We were in town and we found something you're not gonna like" Sokka pulled out the poster, putting in front of Toph's face.

"Well it sounds like a sheet of paper, but I guess you're referring to what's on the sheet of paper" Toph said, sounding bored.

Meiluna blushed in embarrassment,
"Oh, right. It's a wanted poster of you"

"They've nicknamed you the Runaway!" Sokka emphasised.

"A wanted poster?" Toph asked excitedly, "That's so great! The Runaway. I love my new nickname. Is there a picture of me? Does it look good?"

Sokka and Meiluna shared a look before observing the cartoonish drawing on the poster, then looking at Toph,

"Well yeah, actually, it does look pretty good"

"Really captures your look"

"But Toph you're missing the point. Maybe Katara was right. These scams are drawing too much attention to us" Sokka said, getting back on topic.

"Don't be such a worrywart like your sister," Toph brushed off, "Think of it this way. Now you've got plenty of money to help with the invasion plan"

"Well, that is true," Sokka pondered, "I had this idea of making armour for Appa"

"Here's a little extra," Toph handed Sokka a handful of coins, "Buy yourself a nice map of the Fire Nation. You know what?" She handed the entire bag to him, "Make it an atlas, and buy Meiluna some jewellery while you're at it"

"I do like expensive atlases" Sokka mumbled whilst accepting the bag.

Meiluna nodded excitedly,

"I saw these really pretty earrings while we were in town"

"That's why this wanted poster is going to stay our little secret" Toph spoke sharply, snatching the poster before walking away.

Meiluna looked up and noticed Aang and Katara walking up to them.

"Tell me you didn't buy a bird" Katara asked eyeing Meiluna and Sokka with an annoyed look.

"Not just a bird, a messenger bird," Sokka corrected, "Now we can send messages all over the world. Even to Gran Gran"

"His name is Hawky!" Meiluna added excitedly.

"Wow, how does it work?" Aang asked curiously.

"Hm," Sokka paused for a moment, "I never actually thought about that. Hawky, Gran Gran, South Pole"

Hawky ruffled his feathers.

"I think he gets it" Meiluna smiled, patting his head softly.

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"Well, look who decided to join us," Katara stood up, "Where have you four been? Off scamming again?"

"Yes we were" Toph answered, setting her bag down.

"And I supposed you don't think what you're doing is dangerous at all?" Katara asked.

"No I don't"

"Really?"

"Yes, really"

"Well then," Katara whipped out the wanted poster, waving it in Toph's face, "What's this?"

"Again I don't know! I mean seriously! What is with you people? I'm blind" She pointed to her eyes.

"It's a wanted poster of you!" Katara scolded, "The Runaway! Is that what you're called now? Are you proud of this?"

"Where did you get that?" Toph questioned angrily.

"It doesn't matter where I got it. The fact is-"

"You went through my stuff! You had no right" Toph cut Katara off.

"Your stuff was messy and I was just straightening up, and I happened to stumble across it!" Katara weakly defended.

"That's a lie," Toph pointed an accusatory finger at her, "You're lying, Katara"

"Fine!" Katara pushed Toph's hand out of her face, "It was a lie! But you've been so out of control lately, I knew something was up! I knew you were hiding something and you were!"

Toph proceeded to turn around facing away from the argument.

"Don't you walk way from me while I'm talking to you!"

"Oh really, mom? Or what are you gonna do? Send me to my room?" Toph sneered.

"I wish I could!" Katara yelled back.

"Well you can't! Because you're not my mom and you're not their mom!" Toph extended her arm toward Meiluna, Aang and Sokka who sat on a perched ledge.

"I never said I was!"

"No, but you certainly act like it! You think it's your job to boss everyone around, but it's not! You're just a regular kid like the rest of us! So stop acting like you can tell me what to do! I can do whatever I want!"

"I don't act that way!" Katara yelled defensively before turning to her brother, "Sokka, do I act motherly?"

"Hey," Sokka our his hands up in surrender, "I'm staying out of this one"

Katara turned to face the girl beside him,

"Meiluna?"

"Um" She froze for a moment under Katara's stern gaze, "No comment"

"What do you think, Aang? Do I act like a mom?"

"Well, I, uh" Aang rubbed his eye when Katara cut in,

"Stop rubbing your eye and speak clearly when you talk!"

"Yes ma'am" He instantly sat up straighter.

"I can't be around you right now!" Toph yelled.

"Well, I cant be around you!" Katara retaliated as both girls stormed away from each other.

Hawky let out a screech at the scene.

"I know, Hawky," Sokka pet the bird's head,

"Why can't they just get along?"

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"Hey, come with me, I've got an idea" Sokka whispered, walking up to Meiluna and Aang.

She nodded while Aang answered,

"Sure"

"I'm going to send a note to Katara and say it's from Toph, who wants to apologise," Sokka spoke quietly before smiling, "Then everyone will be friends again"

"I gotta say Sokka, you continue to impress me with your ideas" Aang nodded with a smile.

"It's a gift," Sokka replied coolly, "Dear Katara, sorry for everything. Your friend, Toph"

"Wait!" Meiluna whispered-shouted.

Aang and Sokka turned to the girl.

"Let me write it so it looks like a girl's writing"

"Smart" Sokka nodded as he handed Meiluna the pen.

She began to neatly print the message on the piece of paper, and then handed it to Sokka who positioned the message on Hawky's holder before sending him off to his sister.

Katara received the note before angrily standing up from her spot at the edge of the cliff, pointing to Aang, Sokka and Meiluna,

"I know this is from you! Toph can't write!" She exclaimed as she tore the note up, "And she wouldn't dot her i's with hearts, Luna!"

Meiluna, Sokka and Aang shared a nervous glance.

"Ugh! You're all driving me crazy" Katara yelled before she stalked off.

"I can't believe we forgot Toph can't write" Aang groaned.

"Yup," Sokka agreed, "We're idiots"

"I guess Plan B is we send a note to Toph pretending it's from Katara" Aang sighed.

"I think we're going to run into a similar problem," Sokka said sadly, "Sorry Hawky. Looks like we're gonna have to do this without your help"

He turned to Meiluna, "I'll go talk to Toph"

She nodded in understanding before speeding over in the direction Katara stormed off in.

She eventually discovered where she was, finding Katara standing by herself in a lake.

"Katara?" Meiluna called out cautiously.

Katara whipped around, noticing it was only Meiluna, her feature visibly softened before she turned to have her back facing the princess once again.

Meiluna slowly walked in to the lake and swam up beside her friend,

"You're right, you know?"

Katara turned to face the Princess with a questioning look. Meiluna sighed before continuing,

"We got too out of control with the whole scamming thing" She looked over to Katara who had diverted her eyes to the water in front of her.

"Toph's whole life, she was constantly under her parents supervision, she's never had this kind of freedom. She reminds me of me like that"

"What do you mean?"

"My life back home was decided for me. I always had to do what my dad said was right for the tribe, what was right to do as a princess. People like Toph and I, we've never had freedom or fun like this. We've never been in control of our lives," She paused for a moment, "I know what we did was wrong now, but Katara,"

Katara met her gaze,

"We really do appreciate everything you do for us"

Katara stared doubtfully.

"Especially me, I don't know what I would do without you here to do my hair"

Katara let a shy smile appear on her face.

"I promise, even if we don't show it a lot, everyone loves you and everything you do for us. We wouldn't have you any other way"

Katara felt her eyes water slightly looking at the Princess who stared right back with a warm smile.

Katara jumped on to the girl wrapping her arms around her neck.

Meiluna breathed out in relief, hugging her back, hearing her whisper a soft thank you.

"So let me guess, you brought me out here to tell me that your sister's not as annoying as I make her out to be"

Meiluna and Katara heard Toph from the top of the cliff.

"Nah, she's pretty much a pain. She's always got to be right about everything and she gets all bossy and involved in your business," Sokka stated.

Meiluna rolled her eyes. Feeling Katara's shoulders slump, she held her closer.

"Yeah, I don't know how you could deal with it" Toph sighed.

"Actually, in a way, I rely on it" Sokka admitted.

"I don't understand"

"When our mom died, that was the hardest time in my life. Our family was a mess, but Katara had so much strength. She stepped up and took on so much responsibility. She helped fill the void that was left by our mom" Sokka continued.

"I guess I never thought about that" Toph replied softly.

"I'm gonna tell you something crazy. I've never told anyone this before, but honestly? I'm not sure I remember what my mother looked like. It seems like my whole life, Katara's been the one looking out for me. She's always been the one that's there. And now, when I try to remember my mom, Katara's is the only face I can picture"

Katara felt tears run down her face listening to her brother.

"The truth is sometimes Katara does act motherly, but it's not always a bad thing," Toph admitted, "She's compassionate and kind, and she actually cared about me. You know, the real me. That's more than my own mom," Toph stopped for a second, "Don't ever tell her I said any of this"

"My lips are sealed"

Meiluna turned to Katara who wore a smile, tears still streaming down her face.

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Meiluna sat beside Katara as she slowly patted Momo's head. The two of them sat in a comfortable silence before she noticed Sokka approach them with Toph by his side. Meiluna stood up to walk away with Sokka, allowing the two