I'm so excited to share this story that blends my two OTPs. I put all my heart into writing this fic. The rating might go up for sexual content in the future. Thank you so much to my beta, Neon Dandelion! I hope y'all enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.
"I don't want to do this," Azula exasperatedly said, her cheek pressed gently against the car window. "Why am I doing this? Oh, only because father forced me to go with you for inexplicable reasons."
"It's going to be good," Zuko replied and Azula rolled her eyes. "It's going to be easy and fun, and you know that Ty Lee is going to be there."
"That is why I don't want to go," Azula snapped. "Just because the girlfriend you can't stop fighting with wants to save your love doesn't mean that I want to go out into the wilderness to win back my ex."
"You don't have to win her back. She walked out fast and you two never even texted each other. You were together since middle school."
"And she wanted to try other people on for size," Azula retorted, her lip curled from disgust.
Zuko wanted to inform Azula that she had a major role in her breakup, but he wanted to fix his problems with Katara and Azula had to play along in order for the camping trip to work out. He knew he could keep his sister subdued, even if she thought no one could manipulate her.
Azula watched the city disappear and the landscape transform into a forest. She had never been camping before, nor even thought about doing so. It was not her idea of a vacation. But, of course, the first time her father ever agreed with Zuko was the time her elder brother wanted to take her out into the wilderness.
"Where are we even going? There's a campsite, right?" Azula asked as the wild engulfed Zuko's truck. The shift in the road made the car begin to rattle. She is certainly not in the city anymore.
"Kind of," Zuko said, turning onto an even rockier road.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Azula demanded.
"That Katara knows a good spot but it isn't an official campsite or anything," Zuko said, his hands now slipping on the steering wheel due to his sweat.
"We are going to die out here." Azula sighed and tried to accept her fate.
Down in the ravine that Katara had camped in thrice before, she nimbly set up camp. Toph sat on a boulder, not offering to lift a finger, as Katara expected.
Toph did not want to agree to this stupid trip, especially since Sokka was going to be here. She despised any drama and that man carried it with him like a virus. Mostly due to Suyin.
"It'll be fun," Katara insisted. She seemed to think that if she said it enough times, Toph would believe it. Defeated, Katara grunted, "You could at least help me."
"That isn't happening, Sugar Queen." Toph yawned. Katara rolled her eyes and kept setting up the third tent.
Toph heard twigs crack and the sound of bickering siblings. O, joy. They were going to make this fun.
Before Azula and Zuko could even say hi, Ty Lee pranced down. Toph recognized those airy footsteps too. She hated everyone here, mostly, and it could not be a more unpleasant trip.
She should never have agreed to this.
"Hi, Azula!" Ty Lee said brightly, hugging her tightly as if she never walked out of that door. "It's so nice to see you."
"You are a pitiful liar," Azula replied, pulling back and gently pushing Ty Lee away.
"Things are going so well already," Toph announced sarcastically. She uncapped her water bottle and drank from it, wishing she had some popcorn to enjoy this show.
Ty Lee looked wounded, as if she expected Azula to forgive her so easily. Katara glanced up as Sokka strutted towards the camp from the rocks. Biting her lip, Katara tried to think of a way to stop a brawl from breaking out.
"Ty Lee, come help me get firewood," Katara asked sweetly.
The two girls walked away from the campsite to find sticks and kindling. Katara wished she had thought through how to break the ice. It was a risky idea, and she knew it was, but she did not fully think through the consequences.
"Why are Toph and Sokka so awkward?" Ty Lee asked Katara as she picked up wet leaves. Katara grimaced and let Ty Lee think she was helping.
"They have a kid together, and I'm pretty sure they still have feelings for each other," Katara said and Ty Lee nodded, her eyes glittering with excitement about the gossip.
"I'm so…" Ty Lee pursed her lips. She didn't know what to think about that information, even though she wanted to talk about it. "I think it's sweet to turn them into a family if they have a kid together."
"I do too. If they didn't have feelings for each other, I wouldn't, but I know my brother, and I know he still loves her," Katara said, tucking the firewood under her arm. "Zuko told me about you and Azula. You still love her, don't you?"
"Maybe." Ty Lee blushed and leaned towards the way back to camp. "I love your idea for this hopefully romantic getaway but I really don't know if we'll ever be able to get back together."
Katara grabbed one last stick and beckoned for Ty Lee to follow her back to camp.
That was unhelpful.
When Katara and Ty Lee returned, the camp was shrouded by uncomfortable silence. Everyone in it made a distinct effort to avoid being friendly with each other. Katara swallowed and quickly glanced around.
"Who wants to go swimming?" Katara asked loudly, smiling with sparkling cobalt eyes.
No one protested, but they were not enthused either.
At a crystalline, undisturbed pond, Katara dove off of the cliff into the water below, screaming excitedly. Zuko watched for too long before looking away. She plunged deep into the depths and then swam to the top, gasping for breath and laughing.
Azula watched Ty Lee test the water again and again from the sidelines. She watched Sokka get in the water. Toph stayed outside; she could not swim and was just listening. Zuko jumped in to impress his little girlfriend.
Ty Lee kept giving Azula puppy dog eyes and it made Azula want to scream.
"I'm not going in!" Ty Lee finally decided. She saw that the people inside were having fun, but she could not bring herself to enter the ice cold pool.
Azula left the shade of the forest and entered the clearing surrounding the swimming hole. Her eyes widened when she reached the edge of the rocks and her mouth opened from shock. She could not peel her gaze away from the water. Zuko, Sokka and Katara all suddenly looked nervous.
"What's that in the water?" Azula asked, as if she had just stepped into a horror movie. "Seriously, what is that? Look out, ZuZu."
"What's in the water?" Sokka asked loudly as he looked frantically around himself.
"It's…" Azula smirked. "My ex-girlfriend."
She shoved Ty Lee off of the rocks with no concern about how dangerous it was. Ty Lee shrieked before the water silenced her. When she swam back to the surface, she coughed and glared while her teeth chattered.
Ty Lee grabbed her smug ex by the leg and pulled her into the water before she could save herself. When she resurfaced, she splashed Ty Lee and swam backwards to lean against the rocks.
Toph never wished she could see as much as she did right now.
The six young adults built a campfire near the water and tried to dry themselves off and warm up before they got hypothermia. The night was very cold and dark, but the sky glittered with a thousand stars, which made it all worth it.
Katara gazed up at the full moon, transfixed by it, and then looked to Zuko. The rest of the group was pretending to listen to Sokka's fishing trip story.
"This isn't going as well as I thought it would," Katara admitted, frowning at Zuko. She wondered if they had any chance of fixing their relationship with each other while dealing with the severe issues the other two couples face.
"I don't want to say I told you so but—"
"Then don't," Katara snapped. She shook her wet hair again and looked away from her boyfriend.
"Why do you hate me?" Zuko asked, as if he was completely free of flaws that ended their engagement.
"Well, I did hate you for years. I…I sometimes wish that one night stand never happened," Katara admitted, gazing at the moon again.
Zuko sighed.
He did not want to voice how much he agreed.
The trip was dreadful from the social issues, but it took a turn for the terrifying when they returned to their camp. Katara kept conversation going on their way back, even if Zuko was pissed off – as usual – and Toph wouldn't address Sokka and vice versa, and the same for Azula and Ty Lee.
That awkwardness stopped when Ty Lee screamed.
"What is it?" Toph asked. She could sense the panic around her, but she could not see what was wrong.
No one answered her.
They were stunned into silence by the state their camp was in. The tents were torn as if they were attacked by claws, the food was ripped to shreds but uneaten, and everything they owned was strewn like a tornado swept through.
"What did this?" Katara whispered.
"I hope a cougar," Zuko replied.
It was definitely not a cougar.
Thank you for reading. Please review if you have the time.