Almost Married
(A Continuation after the Avatar Episode: The Western Air Temple)
As Aang and Katara went off to settle down that evening after the fight with Combustion Man, Zuko decided to follow the two back to their rooms in hopes to try and tie all the loose ends together. Mad as hell, Katara wasn't really in a peachy mood for chit-chat. "Why should we let Zuko be on the team? All he did was kick Combustion Man a couple of times! We were the ones who defeated the guy!"
"Well, Katara, I think that Zuko is just trying to be sincere, and we have to give him a chance. Besides, look at all of the good things he did: free Appa, saved me from capture, and a lot of other things, you heard." Aang tried to explain.
"The past is the past, and he did more bad than good and as for his track record, don't you remember anything about Ba Sing Se? He turned his back on us when we needed him the most. Do you think I am going to trust someone who can't make up their mind?" Enraged, Katara couldn't help but toss a precious vase at the door hitting Zuko smack in the face.
"Ouch!"
"What was that?" Aang and Katara whispered. They snuck up on the door, making sure that they couldn't be seen by anybody or anything that might be peering in. They walked to the back of the door and with one big airbending rush, slammed the door in the opposite direction, ambushing Zuko completely. He lay there on the floor, ashamed and in tears.
"All I was trying to do was… I mean….I…."
"YOU WERE SPYING ON US!!!! Get out of here! I never want to see your face again!" Katara threatened Zuko.
"Katara, just calm down, I'm sure all he wanted was to just say hi, and he didn't know how to knock!" Aang attempted to explain.
"Well…..Yeah…But…."
"IT DOESN'T MATTER!!!! I HATE YOU ZUKO!!! Stay far far away from me or else you are going to pay the price. Go on; run away before I decide to make that face of yours look a bit more symmetrical!" Katara screamed at Zuko as the burned prince ran off. His self-esteem had been scared and he had no place to go. He was terrified of the girl he once thought to be the kind loving mother-like member of the Aang Gang. He walked back to his room in silence.
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Zuko walked back in shame and when he turned the corner of the long and extensive hallway he heard strange and unusual voices. A whimper came from a room yonder.
"Ouch! That hurts!"
"Well, it has to be bandaged if you are going to walk properly because I am not going to carry you around anymore!"
"But...but…"
"I don't care if you can't see as well. I'd rather you'd be blind, whining, and running into things. Come on, think about my poor arms! I need them to fight, unlike you benders who just have to wave your arms around and you work your magic."
"Hey, our arms suffer too from holding them up for so long!"
"Well, it doesn't matter. You need to keep your feet bandaged!" Zuko peered through the door which he heard the voices emanating from and found Sokka yelling at Toph.
"I DON'T NEED YOUR HELP!!! I can help myself!" Toph yelled.
"I am only trying to help you, you know."
"I don't need anybody telling me what to do. Gees, you aren't my father. Oh my god, why didn't I see it: you are acting just like your sister."
"I only wanted to help you. Bossing you around was not intended, but you can be uncooperative at times. I only mean good when I say that you have to take time to rest and heal." Sokka tried to explain to Toph while attempting to bandage her feet without her knowledge. His stealth was not the best yet and Toph ended up noticing his attempt.
"JUST GET AWAY FROM ME!!!" Toph yelled. In her rage of fury, she ended up accidentally smacking Sokka in the face.
"I didn't mean…."
"No, it's too late. If you don't want my help then fine. I will go. Sulk in here for all I care." Sokka raged and walked away. Opening the door, he slammed it on Zuko's already bruised face. Zuko let out a yelp and took Sokka by surprise. A boomerang flew from Sokka's satchel and stared Zuko straight in the face.
"Were you eves-dropping on us? Who do you think you are? Get back to your room before I decide to hang you up by a branch and repeatedly pelt you with my boomerang!" Sokka screamed at Zuko.
"I'm sorry! I just happened to be walking by this room to get to my own and I heard strange voices. I just wanted to say….."
"Forget it. Like, I am going to listen to you and your advice. Your past is full of lies and deception, so anything you have so say is false and untrustworthy. You still have yet to make any sort of impression on me to the point where I'll trust your words." Sokka yelled. Zuko stood there puzzled and stunned.
He knew that he was a reject by everyone in the group. His honor and trust had been lost in the caves of Ba Sing Se when he was a prisoner of his sister's, Azula. He was imprisoned with Katara, and they had a close and personal encounter, but when he decided to betray the group, he scared not only her, but the others as well. The hopes of ever being accepting completely into the Aang gang had been thrown away that day, all because of an unwise and last-minute decision of loyalty and redemption. Zuko had sought the wrong redemption. He only redeemed his name and title, and nothing else. What was left for him?
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Zuko turned his head away from the threatening boomerang that had been shoved in his face and began to explain something that made Sokka understand the complex prince. "All the love I ever had, as a child, came from my mother. When I was no more than seven, my mother was taken away from me. All I can remember is her coming into my room and whispering in my ear that she would always love me. I have never seen her since. Now, the people that I care about I will never see again, and I regret ever being cross with them. My uncle tried and tried to show me kindness, but I only shoved it back in his face. He should've called me a disgrace, but instead he believed in me and kept on trying anyway. All I ever gave him was words of anger and hatred. Everyday I wish I could take back those cruel words. Everyday now I wish I could apologize for what I did, but I can't……because I waited too long.
I was a fool, even to the woman I loved. Now, I can never see her again and say the kind words I meant to say to her. I loved her, but took so much interest in myself and my inner conflicts, that I ignored her. Her words would comfort me, no matter how idiotic or stupid they were. She would ask me to do and say the stupidest things, but in the end, I knew all she was trying to do was comfort me. I just wish I had returned the favor in full. Instead, I have left her without saying goodbye. I just wish I had seen her one last time before she left, for everyday I regret the terms to which I left her at: in anger."
"And the point you are trying to make with this speech is…..?" Sokka asked with a hint of anger in his voice.
"All that I am trying to say is: cherish the ones you love and care about, for you don't know how much time you have left to spend with them. They are precious and should not be forgotten or discarded."
"You WERE eves-dropping in on our conversation! How dare you!" Sokka shoved the boomerang closer to Zuko's face. Panicking, all Zuko could do was whimper a bit more and fall to his knees, begging for forgiveness.
"But you do have a point. I guess you can walk away from this confrontation without any scratches, but if this ever happens again I'll rip your throat out!" Sokka protested. He began to think heavily on what Zuko had said and unknowingly broke out in tears. Confused, Zuko tried to ask Sokka why he was crying and attempted to cheer Sokka up by saying that there's still time to talk to the ones he cares about.
"That really doesn't help much Zuko, seeing as it stands you don't have any idea how problematic my past has been with girls. Every time I meet the right girl, she ends up dead or gone."
"I didn't realize…."
"No you didn't, so you wouldn't understand!"
"Try me."
"Okay, to start with: back when you invaded the Northern Water Tribe, you decided in order to get an upper edge against the waterbenders, you would eliminate the moon. You had no idea what you did and the consequences of those horrific actions! You killed the moon spirit."
"I did not condone that action. In fact, I tried to stop Admiral Zhao from doing any further harm to the tribe, but the ocean spirit ended up taking his life." Zuko tried to explain.
"It doesn't matter, you were still involved!"
"I was only after the Avatar….I mean Aang. I only wanted to capture him. I had no intention of helping with the invasion. I was only after him."
"You still endangered all of us. By taking Aang, you almost killed yourself and him and took any chance of overthrowing the fire navy, away from us. You were foolish and stupid and should not be trusted! We had to save you for crying out loud! You don't understand any of us! You don't even know what happened to her, Yue.
Yeah, she was the one that gave up her life force to become the moon spirit, and now I can never see her again. She was engaged when I met her, but she did not love the man she was betrothed to. She loved me, and she never gave me the chance to completely explain my feelings to her. Actually, I didn't have the guts to take it as a man. I was a coward. I tried to explain things, but it never came out quite right. I couldn't just plain tell her that I loved her. The same was for Suki too."
"Isn't that the name of the prisoner that Azula took?" Zuko asked.
"WHAT!! YOU KNOW WHERE SUKI IS!!! TELL ME OR ELSE I WILL KILL YOU WHERE YOU STAND!!!" Sokka grabbed Zuko by the throat and thrashed him up against a nearby pillar. Zuko spoke whilst being choked half to death.
"I only know that my sister tortured her every now and then for information on you guys. When I had returned to the capitol, Azula would talk about her "special prisoner," but after about a month, she never spoke of her again." Sokka proceeded to choke Zuko further, making it harder for Zuko to breathe and talk. In the midst of Sokka's anger, he demanded a further explanation.
"The last I heard from my sister is that the prisoner gave up and that Azula could no longer interrogate her. Azula's words were: 'She had been burned, thoroughly, to a crisp'."
"HOW DARE YOU!!!"
"Please."
"I LOVED HER AND NOW YOU ARE TELLING ME THAT THERE'S NO CHANCE THAT SHE'S STILL ALIVE! WHERE IS SUKI?"
"I don't know. All I ever knew was the information my sister bragged about. I believe what she was doing was cruel and inhumane! You should have gotten another chance with her, but instead, my crazed family, who does not deserve to be running the fire nation, decided that any enemy of the fire nation should be captured and destroyed. I think that's wrong!"
"ENOUGH WITH THIS PRATTLE! IF YOU DON'T TELL ME WHAT I WANT TO KNOW, YOUR LIFE WILL END!" Sokka screamed.
"If I knew, I would not hesitate to tell you, but I can promise you...no…..I swear to you that I will stop at nothing to try and find out what happened to her. Even if that means killing my sister, I will. Please!" Zuko pleaded. Sokka loosened his grip and Zuko gasped for air.
"You must swear it on your love which you speak of." Sokka demanded.
"I swear."
"Good, and don't you go back on your promises or else you will regret ever meeting me!" Sokka threatened. Relieved, Zuko tried to regain his trust by returning to the point to which he was originally trying to make.
"Sokka, I still think that you should not hide your feelings for those you care about, especially from what you've told me. You have to cherish every moment you have with them. I have not known you or Toph for very long, but I can see that you both care for each other. Tell her how you feel. It'll be the best thing you ever did and you won't regret it." Zuko tried to explain to Sokka, but was replied in a manner of angry growling and threatening eyes. Zuko immediately took off running down the hallway, in hopes to save his own neck from the Aang gang. His only hopes were that they understood that all he meant for them was help and goodness and that he was a changed man.
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Sokka watched Zuko run down the hallways and laughed. His laughing soon turned into crying and he head-butted the pillar. "Why? Why does everyone I care about ever disappear from my life. I love them and I never get a chance to say so. What is wrong with me? I must be cursed! I guess I should take advantage of what time I have left with the ones that I care about and try and make amends with Toph." Sokka wiped the tears from his eyes and looked at Toph's room.
The door had been earthbended shut. Apparently in the midst of Sokka's screaming, Toph became frustrated by his behavior and sealed up the door so that way he wouldn't come stomping in on her. She just wanted to be left alone and to do as she wished. Sokka walked up to the door and knocked softly on the door. "Toph, I'm sorry about earlier. Please let me in and let me explain."
"Why should I let you in? You are only going to try and tell me what to do and boss me around!"
"No, only explain what I should have and meant to say. I was wrong and you did not deserve to be treated as a blind girl. I know that you can take care of yourself and I respect that. I guess I wasn't showing any of that respect though. I was stupid. Please, let me apologize to you and not to a closed door."
"Okay, but you better be brief and to the point!" The door suddenly came loose and Sokka was able to open it. He stepped in to see Toph lying in bed in the opposite direction which Sokka was facing. Sokka walked over and sat on the bed next to her.
"It isn't my place to be telling you what to do. I only wanted the best for you." Sokka began to explain.
"Well you think the best for me is to be a helpless, whining, clumsy girl that needs everybody else to take care of her? You even said yourself that you'd rather see me running into walls and complaining all the time! What were you thinking?" Toph screamed back at Sokka.
"I just wanted to help you get better, and if that means having you be helpless for a few days instead of weak for a couple of weeks, then let it be. I only wished for the best for you."
"Well, I can take care of myself, thank you very much!"
"I know and respect that, but I just don't want to see you get hurt!"
"Well, I won't get hurt! I don't need anybody to take care of me. I can do things on my own and I don't need a baby sitter!"
"I wasn't trying to be a baby sitter. I was only trying to help."
"Why? I don't need your help!!" She turned around in her bed and shouted at Sokka's face.
"Because I….."
"I'm fine!" Toph interrupted.
"I know, but I care about you Toph!" A brief silence filled the room and the two spoke at the same time.
"But why?" Toph started and was immediately overpowered by the words of Sokka.
"I love you!" Sokka said. Toph stared in silence after hearing those words over hers. All of the emotions of hated and frustration with Sokka were overrun by the realization that Sokka cared about her. She had always liked him, but never really told him. She knew that he had had two other girlfriends and that one of them might still be alive, so she didn't bother to try and initiate any sort of romantic relationship with Sokka because of her respect for him. She had been so angry with the fact that she respected him and he never respected her that by hearing that Sokka loved her overwhelmed her.
She began to shed tears and focused all of her earthbending on Sokka. She was trying to map out Sokka's face to see what he looked like. Sokka sat there waiting for a response. Toph concentrated harder and harder. She began to see the slight curves and details on Sokka's face. She could almost sense Sokka's entire face when a miracle happened. She bent the earth so much and she was focused on trying to just see Sokka so hard that color began to appear and all of a sudden, she actually saw Sokka. She saw his face. It was only for a brief moment, but she burnt that image in her mind. She had done the impossible. She gained actual sight for one moment. It was brilliant. Her mouth dropped open and she burst out into complete tears.
Sokka saw her tears and took that as a sign that she was upset at what he had said. He began to tear up and he stood up.
"I'm sorry. I guess I'll get going now." Sokka said as he began to walk away.
"NOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Toph screamed and she jumped out of bed and ran towards Sokka. Sokka turned around and at the same time, Toph bended a bit of a step stool so that she could match Sokka's height and she kissed him. She intended to kiss him on the cheek, but being even blinder that usual, she missed. Instead, her lips had ended up locked with his. They were both overwhelmed with emotions and armed locked each other in an eternal bond. Sokka briefly stepped back and stared at her.
"Has anyone ever told you that you are beautiful? You may not be able to see, but you really are a light in the darkest tunnel." Sokka said. He leaned forward and proceeded to kiss her deeply. They were locked in an eternal kiss, unaware of any of their movements and eventually lost their footing and both fell down. Sokka then proceeded to pick her up in his arms and carry her to his room where there were actual blankets. Toph was cold and had been whining about it earlier, so Sokka decided to take her to his warm bed.
He reached his room and set her on his bed. She immediately wrapped herself up in his blankets. As she was wrapping herself up, she wrapped up Sokka and dragged him down into bed. They began to kiss again. Eventually they both laid down and Toph earthbended so that the door would just barely shut.
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The morning came and then sun was brilliant in Aang and Katara's room. It blinded the two as they awoke. Groggy, they both eventually got up and made their beds, after running into each other a dozen times. "Well, I don't hear any of the others walking around, so I guess we'll have to go and wake them." Katara said. She looked back at Aang, hoping to see a smile of approval, but only to see him lying on the ground asleep again and grueling. She knelt down and kissed him on the forehead in hopes to wake him, but after she was finished, Aang replied with an obnoxious snore. "AANG GET UP NOW!!!!" Aang jumped up and airbended a small whirl wind. It threw Katara off of her feet and into rage. "OOOH!! You are impossible sometimes you know that?"
"Sorry, I guess I didn't sleep very well." Aang replied.
"I certainly heard all night!"
"Did I snore?"
"You are an airbender. You didn't just snore, but you bent a hole in the ceiling with your airbending snores!" Katara yelled. Aang looked up at his ceiling artwork.
"Oops! I guess I can't control my bending when I'm asleep. I just didn't sleep well and can't seem to stay awake this morning." Aang said.
"Well, maybe waking everybody else up will help to wake you up more." Katara suggested.
"Maybe, but I am not waking Zuko up."
"Me neither. Maybe we can get Toph or my brother to do it."
"Yeah, let's go wake up Toph first. She seemed like she wanted to try and be friends with Zuko, so maybe she won't mind waking Zuko up." Aang said. They both agreed to the idea and set out to Toph's room.
They walked the long corridors and discussed the coming fire bending lessons that Aang was to receive today from Zuko. When they reached Toph's room they knocked on the door.
"Time to wake up Toph. Toph…..TOPH!!!" Katara screamed. She got angry and frustrated in a matter of seconds and took water and blew the door open with some impressive waterbending. Aang and Katara peered in to an empty room.
"Hmph. Where do you think she could've gone?" Aang asked.
"No matter. Let's go wake my brother and it's your turn to wake somebody up." Katara insisted. They walked along and arrived at Sokka's room. Katara stood on the side of the door, anticipating jumping out of the hallway and into the room to surprise Sokka. Aang opened the door slightly.
Inside, Toph and Sokka were sleeping, but the sound and vibrations of the door awoke Toph and she moved and hit Sokka who awoke in bed to be staring at the opened door with Aang's silhouette staring at him. Aang's jaw dropped to the ground and his eyes bulged out of his skull as Sokka sat up, half-dressed, and Toph was revealed behind him. To Aang's eyes they both looked completely naked and in bed together, but really, the covers were just up to Toph's neck and she was fully dressed, and Sokka was just in his night ware, which happens to be his underwear. Aang saw a completely different picture and just stared into the room in silence and awe. Katara began to get impatient with Aang.
"It's really easy to wake him up. All you gotta do is shout his name really loud and he should……" She turned the corner and peered into the room to see the same picture as Aang. Her jaw also dropped and her eyes popped out.
"I do not want to know!" Katara shouted.
"No, it's not what it looks like. We were only just making out…. I mean we were just trying to stay warm together…..I meant to say we were just spending time together…..oooooh….CAN'T TWO PEOPLE GET SOME PRIVACY AROUND HERE?" Sokka tried to explain. In doing so he stood up to reveal his evening wear. Aang immediately fainted and Katara came storming in and slapped Sokka across the face. Toph responded by latching onto Sokka's back, waving her hand in front of his face, and trying to smack the now void space which Katara used to be.
"Get away from him! He did not do anything to me. We were just talking and spending some time with each other. I mean, you and Aang shared a room, so why couldn't Sokka and I have a room?...Oh man, that seriously came out wrong!" Toph said.
"Yeah, you bet that came out wrong! Are you accusing Aang and me of sleeping together?" Katara yelled.
"Well you are certainly accusing Sokka and me of doing that, so what is stopping you two and what is your problem?" Toph responded back.
"What is my problem? What is yours? You two certainly don't look innocent!" Katara shouted.
"Well, we are! We weren't doing anything stupid!...That also came out really wrong." Sokka tried to explain.
"Shut up! I know that kind of things you men think about in your spare time. You certainly aren't innocent Sokka and neither are you Toph! You two should be ashamed of yourselves!"
"How about you and Aang? Hmm! You guys do share a room." Sokka said.
"OOH don't you bring that up again!" Katara attacked Sokka and Toph.
Fighting broke out, which was the worst time for Zuko to walk up, revive Aang, and eves drop in on the ongoing battle. He saw a similar picture to what Aang saw with the relentless attacking of Katara, disregarded what he just saw, and offered help.
"Hey guys, can we all calm down and focus on the real problem?" Zuko suggested.
"ZUKO!!!! GET OUT OF HERE!!!!!!!!!!" Katara, Toph, and Sokka shouted at him. They turned red and chased him away, trampling the half-conscious and really confused Aang on their way out the door.