Zuko: I'm angry. I'm furious. I excuse myself from Katara, saying that I was extremely sorry but I just remembered some important matters I had to take care of. I stomp over to Toph's room, knowing that she didn't go with the rest because she isn't very personable and we were all getting kind of sick of this. I bang on the door and she opens it quickly,
"Oh, hey there Sparky." She says before walking into her dark room. I turn a light on as I follow her in there and slam the door with anger, "Whoa, take it easy there hot head, no one asked to come in here and break stuff. Why so pouty? Your heart rate seems extreme for someone who should be relaxing." Her sarcastic domineer does nothing for my anger and soon I find myself shouting,
"What did you say to Mai? Why is she saying these things, and When did you come to such a conclusion?" Toph smirks.
"You know," She begins, "You wouldn't be so mad if you didn't have anything to hide. Now just calm down there, Sparky." She sits on her bed and then jumps back down when she realizes she can no longer see me if she isn't touching the floor, and of course, she can't feel my heart beat, and God forbid that.
"Your girlfriend came up to and asked if I new anything that happened that could have drastically changed your opinion of her. She says that you have been keeping to yourself, which, if you ask me, is down right stupid since you aren't exactly filling over with emotions besides when your mad," I nod, deciding to forget that comment, and wait for her to go on, "So I said I didn't think so, unless you count Katara as something drastic, which I never do," My hand hits my face and I sit on her bed, "Now she freaked out, something about how you better not hurt her again or something. Did you cheat, Sparky?" She asks like a little kid asking for candy. I explain to her what I explained to Katara minutes ago, and she nods and grasps the gist of it all,
"So, why do you think something was going on between me and Katara? She couldn't stand the sight of me for half the time."
"Love and hate are two antlers on the same deer, Zuko," She says, suddenly sounding like my uncle, "Your uncle told me that one," figures, "Anyway, the heart beats were strange. It was like, fast, but irregular. And the way you two spoke, like you were constantly in on something no one else was, like you two knew something about each other that no one else did. I was probably the only one who noticed, the whole blind thing really does sharpen the senses you know." She says and I start to breath heavily. How could she say that to Mai?
Katara: Dinner was interesting. Mai and Zuko sat in silence, apart, which I almost expected, and Toph sat in the middle of them, saying stuff only to him every once and a while. Mai shot me a dirty look and Aang tried to hold my hand under the table, when I brought it back up, he thought it was an invitation for his own hand to do wandering, which I immediately stopped and Toph laughed at. I rolled my eyes, I hated how she always knew. I never felt it more than in this house. It's like you can't do a single thing without her knowing about it. Your heart can't race and your hands can't wander without her knowing.
As dinner continues, it becomes silent. I here people chewing and drinking and breathing. I look around the table and see people scraping food, chewing food, drinking water, drinking tea, wiping their face, scratching their arm. I can hear every thing and the noses seem to become louder and louder. I start to watch as everyone is blindly sitting at dinner and suddenly I am over whelmed. I feel my heart start to race and I feel anxious, like we shouldn't just be sitting here. There are things to do and people to fight and a world to save and things to learn. We have to start going or someone will find us. This isn't safe. We will be noticed. I think. Everything is so loud. So loud. I start to stand, I scoot my chair back which makes a noise indescribable and look at all the food which is in front of me. There is meat and bread and vegetables and everything is colorful. Everything looks great and tasty. I will want this later. No, I will need this later. I think of sneaking it into my bag but when I reach for it, I realize my bag isn't with me. I then realize everyone is staring at me. I then realize that we are in this palace because the war is already won. Everything becomes quiet again and I no longer hear the over whelming noises of dinner. I feel something on my arm and flinch, then see that Aang was trying to be comforting.
"Is everything okay?" He asks and I wipe my brow, not realizing it was moistened until then.
"Um, yeah… I just… never mind. I think I'm done with dinner." I say and look around, big eyed and embarrassed. What had just happened to me? Had I flashed back to the days in the tents? I shake my head and then just smile when I see everyone looking at me confused. I catch Zuko's eyes. There was always something about his eyes. They are gold, which is something I have never seen before him. And right now they look almost understanding, like he wants to help me. I decide it's pretty stupid to think anyone knows what just happened if I don't, and for him of all people to really care would be ridiculous. I walk away and out of the kitchen, which seems rude, and I feel guilty for a moment, but as I get further away from that room, I feel freer, and all around clearer. I can breath in the cool air and when I notice that a window is open. I want to be out of it. So I climb through the window and end up on the other side, which is my favorite part of the whole palace. There is a beautiful little pond where fish swim throughout stone and plants. Some are blacks and there is one plain white, the other's are orange and white. I watch them swim around. The stone they weave themselves through is nothing man himself could of made. I sit on the wooden bench set up so one can watch them when I hear footsteps behind me,
"Aang, I'm alright." I say without looking backwards.
"Oh… it um, it isn't Aang." I whip my head around and see Zuko coming towards me. He sits. We watch the fish quietly and awkwardly until we both try to speak, but running into one another's sentences, silence again. A few minutes go by until Zuko says,
"What happened?" I think about it for a moment,
"I guess I just… flashed back to when we were on the run. It's weird but I'm just not over it yet. This all happened so fast. Not even a week ago we were hiding in tents." I say.
"I get it. That's why I still practice every morning. It feels too weird not too. It's like I feel that any moment we could all be thrown back to how it was." I nod, really listening to what he was saying. I understood. I got it, and frankly I'm happy someone else did to.
"It's like everyone else just kind of… accepts it. I can't… or maybe I don't want to. I'm not sure. All I know is I'm too scared to not be expecting something." I respond and he looks into me like he truly knows every word of what I am saying. I smile. I like knowing I'm not the only one who's still a little tense about doing a complete 180 in three days. I don't realize how close we are until I feel his hand on mine. We look at each other and hug tightly, we were in this together and hopefully we can help each other get through this.