title Dirty Linen and Other Lies
title Dirty Linen and Other Lies
author khushiyan
fandom; characters Avtar: The Last Airbender; Zuko/Katara
rating U
prompt 008. Liar vor
setting Set after Book 3; Chapter 12, "The Western Air Temple". Sort of spoilery...
summary She knows he's a liar. Everything he says is a lie.
When she looks at him, all she finds are his lies. There's nothing else for her to look at. His giant golden eyes look at her with a strange sense of innocence, a sense of guilt and her eyes flash. He's a liar. She knows this now, and she's not going to forget it soon.
Her hand clings to the pile of clothes she's carrying as she steps over a pile of mud. Not looking where she's going, she bumps into a tall and hard moving object. She bounces off it instantly, the clothes falling into the mud and becoming covered. "Damn," she pursed her lips.
"I'm sorry, it's my fault..." the object says to her and scutters down to pick up the clothes.
She's about to tell him that she should have been looking where she's going when her eyes lock with his. Zuko. Her eyes narrow and she sneers, "Yeah, it is your fault." She jumps up immediately and stomps away from him, leaving him kneeling in a pile of dirty clothes.
Hours later, when she's poking at the fire with a small thin stick she hears Haru berate Sokka for not thanking Katara for washing the clothes. Her brother complains that even if Haru does have a moustache, it doesn't mean he can order him about. Still, Sokka comes over and grumbles a thank you, all the while glaring at Haru. "What for?" She asks completely unaware.
"For washing the clothes and the cooking and the ironing and basically being this tiny mother to us all," he beamed, and squatted down next to her.
She furrowed her brow and glanced over to where Toph sat with the Duke and found a pile of clean and folded laundry. Even the creases had been ironed out. "Where's Zuko?" She muttered to Sokka.
"Last I saw him, he was washing his clothes in the river."
"Oh," she nodded and her jaw tightened as she watched him sludge back to the camp, carrying another large pile of laundry and placing it beside Toph before pulling his own clothes from the top.
"Did you do all the washing Sparky?" Toph asked him innocently.
"No, I'm just bringing them over. Katara left them by the river," he muttered and walked into the temple towards his room.
She shook her head. 'Liar'.
She doesn't look at him anymore.