Sokka ran at the wall, trying to pull away the debris. Standing up, Azara brushed herself off before lighting a flame. "Sokka, it's no use. We're trapped," Azara called out as a rock fell on top of Sokka.

"But at least you have us!" Chong shouted from behind her, causing Sokka to groan.

"We should keep moving. I hope Aang and Katara are alright," she sighed as Sokka climbed down from the rock wall.

"Oh, don't let the cave-in get you down! Don't let the falling rocks turn your smile into a frown! When the tunnels are darkest, that's when you need a clown, hey! Don't let the cave-in get you down, Sokka!" Chong sang as the nomads moved down the tunnel.

Sighing, Azara turned to Sokka, nudging him gently. "Hey, it'll be alright. We'll get out of here and then you'll never have to listen to them sing again," she smiled, holding up her hand for more light. Momo jumped onto her shoulder, wrapping his tail lightly around her neck.

"Sounds like a plan," Sokka nodded back before they walked together after the nomads. They walked for a few more minutes, reaching dead ends and having to turn around multiple times. Azara fell into step next to Lily as Sokka continued to draw his map.

"So, this legend. Forbidden lovers built these caves?" Azara asked, turning to Lily, who smiled and nodded as her husband came up next to her.

"Yes. The legend says that they were on opposing sides of a war. Their love was forbidden," Lily explained, gesturing around at the tunnels.

"They built these tunnels to escape. They would meet in here secretly, away from the war," Moku continued, walking up beside Azara.

"Because down here, the outside world doesn't matter," Chong nodded, strumming his instrument lightly, starting to sing about the lovers. Azara looked at the floor, her flame dulling for a moment.

"That must have been terrible. I couldn't imagine the pain of loving someone on the opposite side of the war," Azara commented, rubbing her arm. Glancing up as Sokka yelled out in frustration as they reached another dead end, Azara chuckled lightly, a small smile gracing her features.

"Oh, honey, I think you already know that pain," Lily sighed, placing a hand on Azara's shoulder. Azara's eyes widened at the statement, a light blush falling over her cheeks.

"I do?" Azara asked, her voice small as Lily nodded, Chong smiling from beside her.

"Sure, you do. You and that little arrowhead boy couldn't be more obvious," Chong pointed out causing Azara's mouth to drop open in shock.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"Shh, your secret is safe with us," Lily winked, before walking past Azara, who's mouth was still open. Her eyebrow started to twitch as she stared down the nomads

"I'm sorry, what?" Azara nearly shrieked.

"You obviously have feelings for him," Moku shrugged from beside her.

"I don't . . . oh my spirits. Aang and I are just friends! He's like a little brother to me!" she yelled, turning around, and waving her hands erratically.

"We understand, fire girl," Chong nodded, winking, and wriggling his eyebrows as Azara shook her head. Taking a deep breath, Azara opened her eyes into slits.

"Don't throw a fire ball at the nomads, Azara. It's not worth it," Azara sighed to herself, pulling up the rear of the group. "But it's not like anyone would know," she spoke to herself, but Momo chattered at her, causing Azara to slump and sigh again. "Alright, fine, Momo. Moral high ground it is . . . this time."

Another hour had passed when they reached another dead end. Azara sighed, rubbing her face tiredly as Sokka studied the map again. "Oh, great! Your plans have led us to another dead end!" Moku pointed out, staring down the dead end.

"Yes, thank you, Moku," Azara sighed as Sokka glared at the nomad.

"At least I'm thinking of ideas and trying to get us out of here, Moku," Sokka snapped defensively as Chong approached.

"Whoa, whoa, wait a minute. We're thinking of ideas? Because I've had an idea for, like, an hour now," Chong stated, as Sokka growled in frustration.

"Yes! We're all thinking of ideas!" Sokka shouted, throwing his hands in the air.

"Well, then listen to this: if love is the key to getting out of here, then all we need to do is play a love song!" Chong suggested, starting to play a song as Sokka and Azara shared equally unimpressed looks.

"Why don't we take a break? I think we're all tired," Azara asked, the nomads nodding and settling around a torch as Chong continued to sing and dance. Azara nudged Sokka and motioned for him to follow her to the other side of the tunnel, away from the nomads. Settling down, Azara held out her hand, the light shining around them.

"Are you okay, Sokka? You're a little tense," Azara questioned as Sokka continued to stare at the map. Taking a deep breath, Sokka's shoulders lowered as he tossed the map away.

"We're lost," Sokka grumbled, placing his head in his hands.

"I think we figured that out," Azara joked, before sobering. Placing a reassuring hand on Sokka's shoulder, Azara leaned closer to him. "Sokka, don't be so hard on yourself. You're doing the best you can."

"Yeah, well the best I can never seems to be good enough," Sokka huffed, leaning back on the wall of the tunnel.

"Where is all this coming from?" Azara asked, looking concerned. Sokka looked over at her, staring into her worried eyes before sighing and staring at the ground.

"Nothing, don't worry about it."

"No, I am going to worry about it. What are you talking about?" Azara pushed as Sokka continued to stare at the floor.

"It's nothing, it's just . . . ever since my dad left, I've always felt the need to protect Katara. It was my job. And then we left the South Pole and then I felt responsible for you and Aang too. And I've done a pretty bad job lately at protecting you guys."

"Sokka, we've talked about this. I chose to jump in front of Zhao," Azara tried to reason with him.

"Well, what about the fight with Fong? I thought I lost Katara . . . and I thought I lost you again." Dropping her hand and letting the flame die, Azara lurched forwards to wrap her arms around Sokka.

"You'll never lose me, okay? You're a great leader and warrior, Sokka. I've never doubted you, and you shouldn't doubt yourself. Promise?"

"I don't know, there's a lot of—"

"—Promise?" Azara interrupted as Sokka chuckled to himself at her insistence.

"Promise," Sokka sighed, wrapping his arms around her, a small smile gracing his lips. Pulling away from Sokka, Azara suddenly noticed how close their faces were to each other.

The light from the nomad's torches gave them enough light to see the outline of each other's face. "You think love can actually guide us out of here?" Sokka asked suddenly, causing Azara's eyes to widen and a light blush to fall over her cheeks.

"I don't see why not," Azara replied quietly as Sokka sat up straighter. Azara held her breath for a moment as Sokka leaned in closer. Her eyes fluttering closed for a moment, Azara leaned in as well.

"Hey, I have another idea!" Chong suddenly yelled out, standing directly in front of them, which caused Azara to jump back in surprise, falling onto her back.

"What? What is it?" Sokka hissed as Azara sat up awkwardly, rubbing her head.

"I . . . oh, I forgot," Chong laughed, shaking his head. The other nomads nodded, smiles on their faces and chuckles slipping out of their lips. Sokka, on the other hand, looked madder than a Komodo rhino. Azara picked herself of the ground, dusting herself off and relighting her flame.

"I guess we should keep moving," she shrugged awkwardly as Sokka nodded. Walking off to collect the nomads, Azara left Sokka and Momo alone. Sokka turned to Momo, who stared up at the Water Tribe boy with his big eyes, his tail curling behind him.

"Don't even get me started, Momo," Sokka huffed, standing, and allowing Momo to hop onto him before following after Azara and the nomads. Azara walked at the head of the group, hoping the darkness hid her flushed cheeks. Had they almost? No, they couldn't. She shook her head, glancing back at Sokka, who was busy arguing with Moku.

As they continued walking through the tunnels, Sokka caught up with Azara, the two of them walking side by side at the front of the group. "So . . . uh," Sokka attempted to start a conversation, rubbing the back of his neck. Azara stopped, looking up at him as he tried to gather his thoughts. "Uh . . . I . . ."

"Yeah . . ." Azara spoke, her voice equally small. The two stared at each other until the rumbling of the tunnels shook them out of their stare off, growls reverberating off the tunnel walls. "More wolfbats?" Azara suggested, holding up her flame. Suddenly, wolfbats flew towards them, forcing Sokka and Azara to swat at them. However, the wolfbats didn't fight back and continued to fly down the tunnel.

"Hey! You guys saved us!" Chong cheered, walking over.

"No, they were trying to get away from something," Sokka shook his head, as Azara raised her hand again.

"From what?" she asked as two badgermoles burst into the tunnel. Azara's eyes widened as the badgermoles earthbended around them, blocking the exits and splitting the ground between the nomads and her and Sokka. She fell back as the tunnels rumbled, the badgermoles encircling them.

"Any ideas!" Azara yelled as she dodged a blind swipe from the badgermoles. Sokka backed up, his hand resting on a string of Chong's instrument, a singular note reverberating off the walls. Azara watched in amazement as the badgermoles stopped, tilting their heads to the side.

"Hey, those things are music lovers!" Chong pointed out as Azara stared at Sokka.

"Play something!" Sokka played a few notes, pulling the strap to the instrument on and over his shoulder as he stood up.

"Badgermoles coming towards me. Come on guys, help me out," Sokka pleaded, glancing back at the nomads, who quickly stood up and began performing.

"The big, bad badgermoles who earthbend the tunnels, hate the wolfbats, but love the sounds!" Chong sang as Azara moved to stand next to Sokka.

"You think we can ride these out of here?" Sokka asked, looking over at Azara as he continued to strum the instrument.

"I don't see why not," Azara smiled as Sokka approached one of the badgermoles.

"Hi, friendly badgermole. Do you think we can hitch a ride out of here?" Sokka attempted to sing, but the badgermole seemed to get the idea, lowering itself down.

"Hey, we can ride these guys out of here!" Azara called to the nomads, who nodded and began to climb up onto the back of the other badgermole.

"Need a hand?" Sokka offered, a small smile on his face. Azara smiled back, grabbing his hand, and hauling herself up. Momo curled up in between them, holding onto Azara's shirt as the badgermoles started to earthbend their way through the mountain. After a tense few seconds, light cascaded into the tunnel, causing Azara and Sokka to exchange excited expressions.

"We made it out!" Azara cheered, holding her hands victoriously in the air.

"Sokka! Azara!" Aang and Katara yelled out, running over. Azara and Sokka slid off the badgermole to run over to their friends.

"How did you guys get out?" Azara inquired, hugging both of them tightly.

"Just like the legend said, we let love lead the way," Aang smiled sheepishly, a light blush dusting his cheeks.

"Really? We let huge ferocious beasts lead our way," Sokka shrugged as they turned and waved at the badgermoles.

"Why is your forehead all red?" Katara asked, pointing at the red mark on Sokka's forehead. Admittedly, Azara had not seen the red mark due to the darkness, but she had heard Sokka face palm at least twenty times that day.

"Nobody react to what I'm about to tell you. I think that kid might be the Avatar!" Chong whispered, glancing over at Aang. At the comment, Sokka face palmed again, enlarging the red mark. Chong looked at him in confusion as Azara hid a laugh behind her hand.

"So, are you guys going to come to Omashu with us?" Aang questioned as the nomads gathered.

"Nope," Moku said simply.

"Okay. Thanks for everything, Moku," Aang waved as the nomads started to walk off. Chong approached Sokka and Azara, placing leis around their necks. Azara and Sokka grunted as Chong pulled them into a tight hug.

"Sokka, Azara, I hope you learned a little something about not letting the plans get in the way of the journey," Chong stated, as Sokka and Azara stared at each other, a light blush falling over both their cheeks.

"Just play your songs," Sokka sighed as Chong pulled back.

"Hey! Good plan!" Chong noted, pulling out his instrument. "Even if you're lost, you can't lose the love because it's in your heart. Da, da, da . . ." Chong sang as he walked off with his other nomads, leaving the four teenagers reflecting over their day.

After another short ride on Appa's back, they finally reached the outskirts of Omashu. "The journey was long and annoying, but now you get to see what it's really about: the destination. I present to you the Earth Kingdom city of O . . . oh no," Sokka gasped as the rest of the group caught up with him. Azara's eyes widened at the sight of Fire Nation banners decorating the city. She exchanged a concerned look with Sokka as the smoke from the factories drifted up and over the city.

A.N. Okay, so I'm a little evil. Azara and Sokka didn't kiss (thanks Chong), but there's a few more hurdles for them to overcome before that happens. The first, Azara's family, is coming up next in the Return to Omashu episode. And to clarify, I don't have a set schedule for uploading these. I kind of just write when I feel inspired, which varies a lot, so updates will be sporadic in the future. Thanks to everyone for voting, commenting, and reading!