She Asked For It

I thought I would take a break from my other stories since I have plenty of stories to post. So I'm working on a couple one-shots. This one is based around the time when Katara tells Zuko that she can help, and he just tells her to leave, so the gang leave Iroh and Zuko alone. Yes, I know, Iroh gets healed, but still, it would be fun to write... I'm a Zutara fan, but I had to leave it out to make this story seem real. I have vowed to work really hard on this one. I hope you like it. Gozar! Genieben! Appreicer! Godere! تمتع! Enjoy!

She stared at his back, her heart aching. Memories of her mother, laying on the snow-covered ground filled her mind, and before she could think about what she was doing, she called out to him.

"Zuko, we can help."

He held his head and ignored her offer, groaning with denial at his cursed life. At Katara's side, Aang felt helpless.

I'm the Avatar, I am supposed to help people! he thought to himself. He hated watching someone lose a loved one, even if that person had tried and killed him minutes before.

Katara took a couple steps towards him, and he didn't notice. She closed the gap.

"Let me heal him," she whispered, laying a hand on her enemy's shoulder. He flinched, but looked away, as if he really had to think about it. Katara looked down and realized that sh had used all of her water in the previous fight.

"Aang, Sokka, I need water," she said, looking to her brother and her friend. They looked ar each other and then nodded, each going a different way to look for some type of water source. She looked back down and noticed that Zuko was staring at his Uncle, his hand inching towards his neck to check for a pulse. Toph sat dwon opposite Katara, ignoring Zuko.

"I once almost killed a man, a rock broke through his skin, we need to get him on a table, its easier to heal, we don't have much time to stop the bleeding. He is still breathing normally, he just is-hey!" Zuko stood between Toph and the old man, refusing to let her near him.

"Get away from him," Zuko said in an eerily normal voice: pompous and angry.

"I suppose you're the nephew, huh?" Toph said in a bored voice. Zuko's eye twitched.

"What did you say?" he dared her.

"Yea, he told me all about you, he really loves you, ya know, and I bet you never have had tea with him. But I have-"

"Shut your mouth you earth kingdom peasant!" Zuko snarled angrily at her. Katara momentarily wanted to laugh. He had no good come-backs.

"Peasant!" Toph shrieked. She stomped her foot and Katara jumped a little from the shfit of rocks.

"Get away, both of you, I don't need your help," Zuko said, pushing the small girl out of the way. She let out a little, 'hey!' but he ignored her.

"You, get away!" Zuko snapped as he turned around to face Katara. Toph seized this chance and encased him in a pile of dirt. His muffled protests were ignored as Toph lifted Iroh with a table of earth and pushed Zuko's "hut" out of the wat. "Okay, they should be back with your water any time now. Then you need to wash out the extra blood, and then we can find something to cover them and stop the flow," Toph was busily making arrangments.

"Toph," Katara said.

"And then we can lift him down and-"

"Toph."

"-and 'winey' over there can come out of his little shell-"

"Toph! I'm a healer, I can heal him completely," Katara said, finally getting the girl's attention.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"I mean," Katara said patiently, "that some water-benders have healing powers, and they can heal wounds." Katara noticed that Zuko had stopped pounding on the dirt.

"Oh, and that's why you need water. Why didn't anyone tell me that?" Toph asked.

"I don't know," Katara said, shrugging, "I guess we would have told you when it came up. You have a lot to learn about us."

Toph nodded gravely, then looked down. Katara knew she was listening to the ground for Aang or Sokka.

"Twinkletoes, I mean... Aang, is on his way. He's running so I think that he's got-"

"Water!" Aang called. The old man moaned slightly, and Katara looked down. She could see his eye lids shifting.

"He'll awaken soon," Katara said to no one in particular.

"Let's make sure he awakes healed," Toph said.

"Hey, don't worry Toph, Katara is a-"

"Healer, I know twinkletoes, she already told me." Aand frowned and let it pass. Aang watched and Toph laid a hand on the man's shoulder to feel the vibrations.

"It doesn't work," Toph said, withdrawing her hand. "I can't hear him."

"Well, do you trust me?" Katara asked, holding the old broken canteen of water over her hand.

Toph smiled warmly, despite her usual bossy mood, and nodded. Katara let the water spill over her hand and then bended it into a blanket. Sh laid it over Iroh's wound and he grunted. Toph gripped Aang's ankle, and Aang felt something mixed between sympathy and worry and something else he couldn't name. He pried it off her ankle and gripped her hand, and then slowly, with a flash of blue light, Iroh's wound looked like it was knitting itself together. It was amazing, but truly disgusting, watching flesh move on it's own like that. Finally, the water was lifted up and Katara let it fall to the ground, and she followed it. Aang rushed to her side.

"Katara, are you okay?" he asked.

"Healing," she breathed deeply, "Is a lot easier when you are doing it on yourself. That took a lot out of me." She sighed and closed her eyes.

"Katara?" Aang said, shaking her slightly. "Katara come back!" he called.

She opened her eyes and pushed him away, which didn't work on account of her being so weak.

"I am not dying, I am trying to rest!" she said, her eyes flashing with amusement and anger. Katara shuddered and closed her eyes, slipping into unconsiousness.

"Oh, sorry," Aang whispered, and thinking she was asleep, and moved over to where Toph was sitting. She sat, amazed, listening to the old man's breathing.

"She healed him," Toph said. Aang nodded, then realized that she couldn't see him.

"Yea, she did," Aang said, equally amazed at what had just occured. He knew she could heal, but he had never seen her do it before.

"He, he is so healthy now," Toph whispered, shaking her head. A piece of hair fell into her face, when she shook her head, and Aang slowly reached up to push it behind her ear. There was a crash, and Toph turned into a fighting stance. Aang still sat, bewildered at what he was just about to do, and then he hopped up and stood next to Toph, also in a fighting position.

"What," Zuko howled, "Did you do to him!" Aang noticed sparks flying around his hands, and he stood straight.

"Zuko, just listen."

But the prince had already moved past him and was kneeling next to his Uncle.

"Uncle," he called softly. He couldn't lose his last family member that loved him. Zuko lay his head down on his Uncle's big stomach. He had hurt him so many times, and now, he was praying for him to come alive?

I should have loved him when I had the chance, Zuko thought. Now he was on the brink of death. Someone lay a hand on his head.

"Go away!" he yelled at whoever had touched him.

"Well, nephew, I would, but it seems your head is on my stomach," Iroh said, chuckling to himself.

"Uncle?" Zuko said, his head snapping up to fast it popped. He didn't notice.

"Yes, I am alive, surprisingly. That Azula needs to go down," he said, and he smiled at Zuko. To his surprise, his nephew returned the smile, and even though it was obviously forced and very amusing, Iroh knew it was real.

"Uncle, I am sorry," Zuko said. Iroh didn't know why he was sorry, but he didn't ask him. He enjoyed his nephew's good mood, and knew it would change in a few mintues' time.

Maybe a few seconds.

"Leave us now!" Zuko yelled at the crowd. He looked for the water-tribe girl. She seemed to be the leader. He couldn't find her. With a scowl he looked back to his Uncle, but a flash of blue caught his eye. He saw her lying, on the ground, next to Uncle's make-shift table. Without thinking he moved around to the other side and he knelt beside her, feeling for a pulse. He turned her over, and he let his finger touch the necklace she wore. It was pretty, made of wood, and it looked like it took a long time to carve. He bent down to look closer. Then, two things happened. Katara's eyes fluttered open and she looked up to see Zuko holding her, not angry or uspet, but just 'okay' with it. Then, Sokka ran around a corner of an old building with some sort of basin, filled to the brim with water. But he stopped short when he saw that Zuko was holding his sister. With a crash, the bowl fell to teh ground, shattering into a million pieces. In a second, Sokka had his club raised, and he swung down. At that instant, Katara lifted her head off the ground, and the club hit her, instead of it's original target. Zuko had seen it coming, and he tried to move her, but it was too late. She fell back to the ground and Zuko gasped. Sokka dropped his club.

"Ka-Katara?" he whispered. He looked up at the equally surprised Zuko, and he immediately lunged for him, knocking him to the ground.

"You made me-"

Punch. "Ow."

"I did not-"

A kick to the side. "Oof!"

"You moved her head up-"

"I wouldn't ut a girl in harm's way for myself-"

"Oh ya right!"

"Guys!" Aang called, diving in to pull them apart.

Toph rolled her eyes, and then sent a column of rocks in-between them.

"We have two unconsious people, either we help them together, or we go our seperate ways!" Aang said, immediately getting to the point.

"I vote-" Sokka began, but Aang cut him off.

"Great idea! Why don't the four of us vote?" Aang hopped down.

"Everyone follow me!" Aang called as if there was a big crowd following him. There were grumbles, but they all did as they were told.

Aang drew a big 'T' in the dust. On the right of the T he put 'yes', and on the left he put 'no'.

"Okay, now, Zuko, you're up first, draw your line. Everyone, go around the building so that you can't see what he's putting. First, Zuko, then Toph, then me, and then Sokka."

"Why do I have to go last?" Sokka whined.

"Because, okay, c'mon Sokka, move!"

Zuko watched the Avatar herd them out of sight and he sat to think.

The first thought was "No," but then he thought of how the girl had somehow healed Uncle. What if they ran into more trouble?

What about father? What about my throne? Zuko thought to himself.

"What throne? It's Azula's," Zuko muttered to himself. He looked down at the T. Yes or No? He reached his finger out...

"Okay Toph, you're up!" Aang called cheerfully. Zuko sat far away from the other boys. There was an uncomfortable silence.

"I can't believe you almost kissed my sister!" Sokka shouted.

"I don't want to kiss your sister! She is so..." Zuko drifted off to think of what was wrong with her. Rude, nasty, ugly, but none of those were true...

"A ha!" Sokka yelled triumphantly.

"Sokka, shut up," Aang told him in a bored voice. Sokka, still smiling triumphantly, lay down on the ground. Zuko stared at him.

"I only take that as an insult, because you thought I had such bad taste in girls," Zuko said, smirking evily. Sokka stood up in a second and Zuko did the same.

"I know you aren't calling my sister ugly," Sokka yelled.

"Yea, I think I am!"

"Well, think again, because she is much prettier than any fire bending freak like your fire-nation girls!"

"Well, atleast the girls in the fire nation fight better than you!"

Sokka stared at him, and finally, he sat down, hurting his pride much more than he expected.

"Voting is stupid," Zuko stated plainly as he sat down.

Aang eyed him

"What was that?"

Zuko glared at him.

"I said, voting is stupid, and I don't see why I can't just capture you now and take you to my father," Zuko said, adding the last part.

"Okay. Go ahead," Aang said, looking back at the building.

Zuko's hands flamed.

Why couldn't he just go ahead and do it? His father would...his father would take the avatar, and lock Zuko in jail. He knew that. But why was it so hard to admit?

"Sokka, you can go vote," Aang said, with a huge sigh. With a grin, the boy ran around the building. He, unlike the others, had taken their time. Then, Zuko realized something.

"Hey, Avatar, you didn't vote," Zuko said. The kid was so stupid.

"No I didn't, I just am not voting," Aang said, shrugging. He hopped up as Sokka sat down.

"Alright, everyone come with me! Let's go see what's gonna happen to us!" Aang jumped around the group, playing the peace maker in all of them.

They came to the 'T' and stared hard at it. Then, almst simultaneoulsy, they all screamed, "What!" Except Toph, who was waiting impatiently for someone to tell her the votes.

"We are all traveling together, then," Aang said, rubbing the back of his neck, his mouth still hanging slightly.

"How many 'no's'?" Toph asked.

"Um, well..." the boy trailed off.

"One," Zuko muttered.

Zuko turned away and walked over to his Uncle.

"Hey, Sokka, that was really nice of you to vote yes," Toph whispered, "I think that that old guy needs our help."

Sokka stared at her, then at Aang.

"Well, I didn't," he said with a confused look on his face. "I voted no."

"What do you mean?" Toph asked, also wearing a confused expression.

"But that would mean..." Aang trailed off.

"...that would mean, that Zuko voted yes..." Aang finished. They all looked up to watch their two newest companions. It was a new beginning.