Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar... I wish i did.
A/N: This is also on my Deviantart page:Lockhiminacage.
On with the story!
Aang tapped his chin thoughtfully watching the two teenage benders from across the room. Katara fixed a glare at Zuko with her ice blue eyes. Zuko, it seemed, was trying to ignore the icy gaze of the pretty waterbender and eat his breakfast in peace.
Aang finally spoke up to Toph, "Okay… We've got to do something about this."
"By this I assume Katara and Zuko? Well then I agree. But what should we do?" she muttered under her breath as Sokka and Suki headed towards them with bowls of rice.
"OoOoh!" Sokka exclaimed, "Are we planning something? I do love planning."
Toph elbowed him in the ribs, nearly causing him to drop his breakfast, "Sure Sokka, let the world know."
Sokka winced and rubbed his ribs, "We are planning something right?"
"It's Katara and Zuko," Aang replied, "We need to make them get along or something. Her glares are getting rather scary and this whole not trusting him business is getting old. I trust him, Toph trusts him, and you trust him."
"I don't," Suki interrupted, "but I do see that he is a good person. He risked everything to help us escape the Boiling Rock. So he's gone up a few points in my book. What has he done to aggravate Katara so much?"
Toph shrugged, "I have no idea. All I know is that I think it has something to do with them being trapped together in Ba Sing Se. She's never actually talked about it."
The whole time Sokka sat with his hand on his chin, looking deep in thought when his head snapped up, "Okay. I got it! The perfect plan!" He exclaimed not noticing Aang making crazy "hush motions."
"What's the perfect plan?" Katara asked, standing directly behind her older brother.
Sokka squeaked, "Erm… the perfect plan to …err... catch the biggest fish," he stuttered.
Katara cocked an eyebrow and crossed her arms over her chest, "Riiiiiight. Good try Sokka. What plan?"
Suki took this as her cue to step in, "Hey Katara, I have nasty bruise on my back that just doesn't want to heal. Can you take a look at it?"
Katara's eyes flashed suspiciously, "Okay," she turned to look at each of them in turn, pointing her finger in each of their faces, "I will find out what you're planning."
Finally Suki managed to drag Katara away, Sokka turned to Toph and Aang, "Okay," he whispered, "Here's the plan…."
Katara scowled. She had no idea what Toph, Aang, and Sokka were planning but she would bet an entire week's worth of cooking that it had something to do with all the accidents that had been happening.
So far today she had nearly fallen off a cliff when a huge gust of wind blew, she'd nearly fallen into a pot of boiling water when the earth suddenly shifted, she's gotten whacked in the head with Sokka's boomerang, and learned never to spar with Suki. She was aching.
She never really noticed that all of the accidents she'd saved herself from happened only whenever Zuko was near.
"Okay," Sokka announced later that afternoon, "So the plan isn't exactly working the way I thought it would. I forgot Katara had such fast reflexes."
Toph rolled her sightless eyes, "That and the fact that Zuko is never anywhere near when we need him to be. Oh and your plan sucked. Put her in mortal danger? Psht."
"Hey!" he exclaimed, "I thought it was genius. Katara in danger. Zuko saves her. Katara will thank him. They became best friends. All our problems solved!"
"Sokka I am amazed at how your brain works," Toph yawned.
Sokka frowned, "It functions like a normal brain!"
"Okay guys," Aang interrupted, "I have enough on my plate trying to make Zuko and Katara; I don't need to worry about you two."
"Katara is too smart for her own good," Suki pointed out, "She's taken to running away whenever she sees one of us coming."
"I say we just lock 'em in a room. It's old-fashioned but it generally works," Toph stated.
Katara was getting tired of sneaking quietly around every corner in case she should happen to run into one of the gang, but she continued to do so. She poked her head around the corner and was delighted not to find Aang or Toph waiting for her.
She quietly stepped down the hall, trying not to make any noise when she crashed right into her brother's chest, "Katara!" He exclaimed,"Just the girl I was looking for!" He slung an arm across her shoulders, "I need your help with something."
Katara tried to slide out of Sokka's grasp, "Err…I'm busy right now…. You know trying to avoid you guys."
Sokka continued to chatter on about something, his arm around Katara's shoulder.
Katara groaned, hoping the task he expected her to perform had nothing to do with pain…. She was in a lot of it at the moment. She never noticed he was leading her to one of the abandoned rooms at the back of the Air Temple. She didn't notice Toph standing by the entrance either, or the fact that Aang was in the room talking to an incredibly confused Zuko.
Sokka shoved her, none to gently, into the room and hightailed it out of there, followed closely by Aang. For once Katara's reflexes were not quite fast enough as she spun in her heels to chase them and was greeted by Toph's smiling face as a wall of earth rose from the ground.
"You two aren't allowed out until you kiss and make up!" she called, laughing.
Katara stomped over to the rock wall and began to bang on it, "TOPH BEI FONG YOU WILL LET ME OUT OF HERE RIGHT THIS INSTANT! I AM NOT IN THE MOOD FOR THIS!"
Katara heard Toph laugh (actually it was more of an evil cackle), "I don't think so Sugar Queen."
Katara threw her arms up in frustration.
Zuko took it upon himself to talk to the angered waterbender, "Katara?" He whispered.
Katara's back stiffened and she slowly turned to look at him. "You know my name?"
"Of course I know your name silly girl," He responded.
Katara let out a huff; she was seriously NOT in the mood for this.
"I don't hear any talking!" Toph called in a sing-song voice.
"Shut it!" Katara yelled.
"Boy do I feel sorry for you Sparky," Toph cackled.
"I'm not the one she's going to murder when she gets out of here," Zuko replied.
Katara spun around and glared at him, "Yeah…I'm going to murder YOU now!" She reached for her water skin and realized she did not have it. "Phooey."
"Come on, Katara, would it kill you to try and talk to Zuko?"
Katara looked thoughtful, "It might," she stated stubbornly.
Zuko had had just about enough. He tried, really tried, to get Katara to notice he wasn't so bad. He managed to get Aang back from the sun warriors' temple in one piece; he even helped Sokka plan an escape for their father. Why didn't she get that he wasn't that person anymore?
He let out a long sigh, "If you aren't going to talk to me will you at least listen to what I have to say?"
Katara looked at him, his face was calm. She nodded silently.
"I'm not a bad guy," he began 'I've done plenty of good things. I rescued Aang from Zhao."
"You did that for your own personal gain," Katara interrupted, "Just because you've done some good things doesn't mean they outweigh the bad."
Zuko looked down sadly, "I don't think anything I could ever do would counteract the things I've done, but I'm trying, Katara," He pleaded, voice breaking, "I'm trying."
Katara looked at him, " I don't want to trust you again," She whispered, "You hurt me."
Zuko stepped forward catching her arms, "I'm trying to prove that you can trust me. Aang made it back from the sun warriors temple in one piece. I helped Suki and your father escape the Boiling Rock. I risked my life for them. I'm a different person now…Please just-"
He was suddenly cut off by a pair of lips crashing against his. Katara was kissing him…how did that happen? He heard Toph giggling on the other side of the wall calling, "You guys will never believe what my feet see!" This was followed by the sound of the wall slowly sliding back into the earth.
Toph and Suki stood with mischievous grins on their faces while Sokka and Aang looked on with pure shock.
"When I said Kiss and make I didn't mean it literally," Toph laughed.
Katara pulled away quickly, flushing, "He was talking to much."
"Sugar Queen, you lie," Toph laughed, "Kiss and make up some more."