Katara spent the next day examining maps and sending out messenger hawks. By the evening, the responsible young water bender had organized her and Toph's trip to Kyoshi Island. Not wanting to deprive Aang of Appa or bring him along on an errand that could compromise how quickly he could respond to a report of Azula or some other issue that needed the Avatar's attention, she decided that Aang would see them to the coast of the Earth Kingdom, and from there a ship would be ready and waiting to take them to the island itself.

"...and once we are there, we'll see if Ty Lee can help clear our Chi. Also, the sea voyage will force Toph and I ration our food, so maybe we'll lose a little weight,even if we're only going to be sailing for a few days!" Katara maneuvered her fleshy rear back to the her booth in the Jade Dragon, smiling at the chocolate cake and milk that was waiting for her. "Sounds like a plan, Katara!" Aang tried to sound enthusiastic to her without sounding too enthusiastic. The last thing he needed was Katara picking up "subtle" (read: non-existent in Aang's case) messages that he was eager to see her slim down or stop eating so feverishly. "I'm going to go do that stuff you asked me to...no, don't worry, I remember it all!" Aang waved and exited the tea shop, a little glad he didn't have to watch the girls scarf down food anymore...it was getting a little boring.

Katara knew she and Toph just weren't getting any thinner staying in Ba Sing Se. The combined sensation of starvation and the feelings of insecurity that came with blocked bending was hard to willingly accept, especially with the waves of elation that eating provided and the effortless bending that came afterward.

"That works out perfectly!" Toph declared as she spooned heaps of sugar into her tea. Katara's chocolate-smudged lips popped into an appreciative smile. Toph continued "...With you cutting back, I can eat your extra portions! Balances perfectly." Toph grinned, clearly satisfied with her flawless logic.
"Well Toph, there isn't going to be any extra! What I've ordered for the ship is what we've got." She only just finished the sentence when her stomach growled, unsure why her system was no longer being flooded with cake. Katara resumed eating.

"There better be a second ship's worth of food then! There ain't no way I'm going to eat anything less than thirty squares a day!" Toph looked genuinely agitated, and began pouring sugar directly into her mouth, skipping the liquid middleman. "Toph, we need to cut back! I think I've gained another five pounds just today. You're so much smaller and you eat as much, maybe even more than I do!"

Toph nearly growled at Katara.
"Look. I gave you my reasons. Yeah, I'm gettin' chunky. Yes, its harder for me to walk. But I can see so much better, and my bending is getting so effortless that I don't even know if I want to go ahead and get this Goofy Acrobat Punching Cure you are banking on."
Katara looked a little frightened. "Toph, if we let this keep changing us, who knows what we'll look like in another week, another month!"

Toph licked a finger to get at a few rogue grains of sugar inside the container as she transitioned into her trademark sarcastic tone. "Ok, so we buy new robes with the money we'll be making bending mountains and rainstorms with our pinkies" Toph put her feet up on the table to recline, her gut, now almost level with her head, hid half of her face . "But I won't make you take the trip alone, sweet cheeks. I'll go with you."

Katara unclenched a little and resumed her cake eating, figuring it would be easier to convince Toph after their mini-diet. "Thank you Toph." Katara murmured, spraying a few chocolate crumbs at her feet.
"Just...lemme know the name of the ship?" Toph inquired.
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Katara had just gotten a gander full of their ship's cargo. The ship was set to sail in ten minutes, and Toph had arranged a few changes in provisions.

"I can't believe you!" Katara screeched, bringing her head face to face with Toph, forcing her rear end into an extremely conspicuous position. Toph rested one hand on her corpulent stomach, which was starting to conspicuously attract the attention of gravity. "A girl's gotta eat!"

Katara glanced again at Toph's replacement provisions. "Pot after pot of oil, bricks of blubber, what looks like a ton of butter, milk, sugar, garlic, and that's it! We can't just eat this stuff for two days straight!" Katara's arms shot to her hips. Her fists dug into her fleshy sides.

Toph, round faced and thick-armed, rubbed her hands together, sending her upper body into small shakes. "Well, I probably can, but I know that Katara. You're going to waterbend and fish us as many elephant coy as we want; we are perfectly supplied for a two day fish fry that will go down in history!"

"But, but..." Katara noticed she was now spraying drool in Toph's face as she objected. Toph didn't flinch at this. In fact, she smiled, aware that Katara's body had surrendered their argument on her behalf.