Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar, including any of the characters from the series. Nor do I own the song "Matchmaker" from Fiddler on the Roof.

Catch me a Catch

CHAPTER THREE

For Papa,
Make him a scholar

For mama,
Make him rich as a king

"I don't like this," Sokka mumbled, crossing his arms over his chest. He watched as his little sisters things were carried onto the Fire Nation ship. "I really don't like this."

"Relax Sokka," Toph said from beside the older boy, her hand tightened on his arm. "She's going for show, remember?"

"Yeah, but it's been two years since we've seen Zuko; he's older now."

"…So? He's only a year older than you," Toph pointed out.

"Exactly! He's twenty years old! That means he has twenty year old hormones!" Sokka exclaimed while throwing his hands in the air. "He might taint my pure little sister with his fire nation cooties!"

"…Cooties… Wow Sokka, are you sure you're nineteen?" Toph rolled her eyes. "What does Suki see in you?"

Sokka flexed his muscles. "I'm hot stuff."

A scoff came from behind them. Katara walked up and hit her brother over his head. Sokka let out a yelp and rubbed his head, glaring at his sister. Katara smiled and looked over at Toph. "The ships all ready Toph, General Iroh says we can leave whenever you're ready."

Toph shrugged and let go of Sokka, reaching her hand out for Katara to take. "Alight, lets go then."

Katara took the girls hand. "Don't you want to wait for Aang?"

Toph shrugged. "Why? The sooner we leave the sooner I get to real land. I'm sick and tired of holding onto you people!"

Katara let out a sigh and shook her head. "Well I want to wait for him. I also need to say goodbye to dad and gran-gran."

Toph hissed. "What is with you people? Whenever I leave home I just go; I don't waste my time with goodbyes."

"Exactly why there are crying blotches on the letters your mother writes you," Katara pointed out while giving the younger girl a condescending look.

"Whatever," Toph dismissed, crossing her arms.

Katara couldn't understand how Toph wasn't as nervous as she was. Even though she knew that her attending the Courting Ceremony was only for show, she still felt butterflies in her stomach at the thought of going to the Fire Nation and seeing Zuko again. Has it really only been two years since she'd last seen him? For some reason it felt like it's been longer.

Suddenly there was a huge gust of wind and Aang stood in front of them. "Okay," he said seriously, so out of character for him. "I've been thinking this over and I've decided that I forbid you two from going."

Katara stared at him in shock and confusion, not sure how to take the boy's suggestion. How was one supposed to respond? Katara cared for Aang deeply; he was like her little brother, her son even, she didn't want him to be upset and angry at her. She would not, could not, leave him in such a condition.

Meanwhile Toph looked at the boy with a raised eyebrow, obviously excited yet a little annoyed at the challenge. "Is that so, Twinkletoes," she said, crossing her arms. "And who, exactly, is going to stop us."

"I am," Aang said with confidence. "I am the Avatar and I will have obedience."

"…That sounded so cool," Sokka said, impressed with the young boy. He gave a smile and nodded in encouragement. "That's right Aang! You use your authority! Save my babysitter!"

"This is so stupid," Toph sighed, kicking at the snow. "I'm not going to stand here in the cold and pretend that I'm actually taking Fancy Feet seriously." As Toph began to walk toward the ship, Aang set his staff out and blocked her way, effectively stopping her from continuing. Toph growled. "You are so lucky there is no land here."

"Aang," Katara said gently, trying to reason with the boy. "You know that this is all a plan. Neither I nor Toph will have to marry Zuko."

"Yes, but this is the Fire Nation," Sokka said, joining the debate. "They probably have their own evil plan."

Aang nodded in agreement. "Exactly."

"…Katara, do me a favor and water bend these two idiots onto an iceberg," Toph mumbled.

"You two are much too young to join a Courting Ceremony," Sokka pointed out. "Katara is only eighteen. She's not even allowed near other boys until she's thirty…five."

"Toph, you're only sixteen," Aang said to the girl. "You have your whole life ahead of you!"

"For the last time," Toph said menacingly. "This is all for show. Nothing is going to happen to Sweetness and I. That said, you two need to go away and try to think of what you'll do with your miserable lives for the next month while Katara and I are away!"

"…Why is it I always come when there's a fight?" Hakoda asked himself.

For me, well,
I wouldn't holler
If he were as handsome as anything

"Dammit! Why did we have to be the ones to look after this girl?" Smellerbee said from her crouching position behind the bush. She looked over at Longshoot who looked deep into her eyes. "I know she's important to Jet! But all she does is cause trouble!" Another look. "Oh fine! But we're going to have to somehow find Jet and tell him. We're not going to be able to stop her."

"You know," came Jin's sing-songing voice. "I can hear you two."

"…Dammit!" Smellerbee said before jumping up and glaring at the back of the girl's head. "Ok Jin, this stops now. We know you're mad at Jet, but going off to get married is not the best way to deal with the situation!"

Jin said and turned around, her hands on her hips. "You just don't understand. You have Longshoot, the greatest guy in the world. He understands you and cares about you and tells you things. Me? I have a guy who doesn't even remember that it's our anniversary and instead tells me he's leaving for five months!"

"…Shit, it was your anniversary?" Smellerbee asked, looking at Longshoot. "I knew we forgot something!"

Jin sighed and turned away from them. "Well you weren't the only ones. Anyway I'm not doing this to get back at him… Well, okay, I am; but I'm also doing it so I have something to do while I'm waiting for him to come home. When I get back from the Fire Nation I'll only have to wait… four more months…" She finished the last part sadly.

"…Yeah, you're still not going," Smellerbee said.

Jin rolled her eyes this time and scoffed. "Like you two can stop me. If either of you harm me, Jet'll kill you."

"Not if we tell him it was to stop you from going to your wedding!"

Before Jin could reply, General Iroh walked up to the three teenagers, his wide smile in place. "Hello Jin," he said. "Are you ready to go?"

Jin smirked and picked up her luggage. "You bet."

"Wait! You can't take her General Iroh," Smellerbee cut in, giving the older man a stern look.

Iroh looked confused. "Why not?"

"Um… She's pregnant."

"What?!" Jin and Iroh were both shocked.

"I am not pregnant," Jin hissed, glaring at Smellerbee menacingly. "Now let's go before I commit murder." Jin handed her bag to Iroh and glided away from her two friends and onto the ship. She put her hands on her hips as she looked around, trying to find a familiar face and a large smile took over her face when her eyes landed on a young water bender. "Katara!"

The water tribe girl turned around and waved at her older friend. She ran over gave her a hug. "Jin! I'm so happy to see you!"

"I know. It's been, what, three years?" Jin said, pulling away but keeping her hands on the tan girl's shoulders. "How have you been?"

"I've been well," Katara replied, shrugging her shoulders. "I've been a little bored, though. What's been going on with you? I mean, in the last letter I got from you, you were still with Jet."

Jin gritted her teeth and scoffed. "The jerk is gone."

"He left you?!" Katara was appalled.

"No! A few days ago he told me he's going to be on a top secret mission for the Earth King and he'll be gone for three months!"

"That's awful," said Katara, giving the girl a sympathetic pat on the shoulder. "But, I mean, if it's for the Earth King it can't be helped…"

"He's known for four weeks but waited until the last minute to tell me! Not only that, he told me on our anniversary. I thought…" Jin let out a sigh again, and looked at the ground. "Never mind, it doesn't matter anymore."

Katara frowned. She opened her mouth press for more information but was interrupted but a shout of happiness and someone jumping onto her shoulder and then pushing off and jumping next to them.

"Jin!" Ty Lee shouted happily, pulling said girl into a tight hug.

Jin returned the hug. "Hello Ty Lee, still as hyper as ever I see."

Ty Lee laughed and nodded. "You bet!" She leaned in closer. "So how's the yummy piece of man meat of yours?"

Jin growled. Why was Jet always brought up? She was her own person! Jet wasn't all there was to her! "He's a jerk and I don't want to talk about him for the rest of the month."

Ty Lee let out a laugh and backed away, putting her hands up in surrender. "Alright, alright, so how has everything else been?"

Jin shrugged as she, Ty Lee, and Katara walked. "Not much. Ba Sing Se is the same yet…different. There's still the upper, middle, and lower rings, but the city is a lot more open and there a lot more jobs so the poverty and crime has gone down…"

"I never liked how Ba Sing Se had the upper, middle, and lower rings; it just didn't seem right. Are you still living in the lower ring?" Katara asked, showing her concern that her friend lived in such a dangerous part of the city.

Jin shook her head. "No, I moved into a house in the middle ring with Smellerbee about a year or two ago. Um, Jet didn't want me living in such a dangerous place and asked the Earth King to add the house to his contract…"

Katara smirked. "That was nice of him."

"Yes, he's a saint," Jin growled. "Now enough about me, how are you Katara? Excited to see Zuko again?" Jin nudged Katara while giggling.

Ty Lee laughed. "Oh please, Katara's giddier than Mai when she sees a newly sharpened knife."

Katara sighed. "Oh shut up. I am excited to see Zuko; he is, after all, a valued friend, one of which I haven't seen in a long time."

"A hot valued friend," Ty Lee put in. "…No pun intended…"

"Though I hate to evil lantern lighting jerk, I must agree with Ty Lee; Zuko is rather handsome." Jin said.

"Why do you hate Zuko, again?" Katara inquired.

"Oh you know, fire bender and all," Jin shrugged nonchalantly. "I guess I'm still a little racist like that."

"…Yeah, sure," Ty Lee said, rolling her eyes. "Speaking of jerks, though, I ran into the biggest one while on my way to meet the ship! First he wouldn't stop and give me a ride and then he got a total attitude when I immobilized him and hijacked his cart!"

"I heard that could happen," Katara said dryly. The girls walked into the small room that would serve as their courtiers until they got to the Fire Nation. Toph was sitting on the lower bunk of one of the two bunk beds in the room. She raised a brow when she heard the door open. "Hey Toph, Jin's here."

"Alright, crazy girl with the dress and bonnet; things are going to get even more amusing."

Jin let out a laugh and walked into the room, giving Toph a peck on her forehead, though the younger girl tried to swat her away. "Hello Toph, it's nice to see you again too."

"Yeah, I know it is. So how were you talked into joining this thing?"

"Oh, you know, revenge," Jin replied, smiling. "How about you?"

"Oh, you know amusement and sabotage."

"Ah Toph, you're one of a kind. Which makes me somewhat hope you'll really become the Fire Lady."

"I'd stay in the Fire Nation for good if that happened," Ty Lee added.

"Toph would look good in red." Katara put a hand on her chin and made it look like she was deep in thought.

"Not as good as you, though, Katara." Jin smirked.

Katara chuckled and shook her head. "Blue will always be my color."

"I always thought blue made you look fat," Toph said monotone. She "examined" her nails.

"What?!" Katara was appalled. She looked at the other girls, pleading for an answer. "It does?"

"…How long have you and Toph been friends again?" Ty Lee asked, scratching her head.

It took Katara a few moments to realize what they meant before she scowled and folded her arms. "Dangit Toph! Stop doing that."

Toph shrugged. "I need to do something for entertainment."

"Unfortunately it's at the expense of others," Katara mumbled. "How long until we get to the Fire Nation, again?"

Make me a match,
Find me a find,
Catch me a catch,

"Land!" Toph shouted as she fell back and made an earth angel. "Wonderful, beautiful, delightful dirt! Oh who I missed thee!"

Katara smiled fondly at her friend, remembering a time she had the same reaction when they had been lost in the desert.

"Welcome ladies," said a monotone, familiar voice. The girls turned to see Mai standing there, her face as impassive as ever. "The Fire Lord would like to extend his welcome and his pleasure that you all accepted to participate in the Courting Ceremony."

Ty Lee smiled and cart wheeled up to her long time friend. "Hey Mai! How's life as a Fire Nation servant?"

Mai scowled. "I'm an advisor, Ty Lee, not a servant, get it right."

"Why aren't you part of the ceremony, Mai?" Toph asked, crossing her arms. "Didn't you have the hots for Fire Breath?"

"Mai's already engaged," Ty Lee drawled, her eyes shining with mischief.

Katara gasped in shock. This was news to her. "W-Who?" she asked, not believing that the emotionless girl was going to be married.

"A kin folk of yours, Katara," Ty Lee said slyly. "A mister Sangok of the Northern Water Tribe."

"Sangok?" Katara explained. "Sangok and Mai…are getting married? But Sangok and Mai are so…so…"

"Different? I know! They met during the last battle, when she and I were sent by Azula to take care of the Northern Tribe troops that had just landed on shore. He was actually a challenge for her. I think he had something to do with her turning on Azula during the battle. I thought it had been much too easy to talk her into it…"

"Shut up," Mai said, glaring at her friend.

Katara's eyes were still widened in shock. Sangok? Yes she remembered the boy. He had been one of the Master Pakku's and a very boring opponent. She had taken him down without him landing a single blow. How could a power house like Mai fall for a shrimp like him?

"If you ladies will follow me," Mai said, turning around and walking up a long pathway. "I shall bring you to your rooms; there you will get ready for the opening ceremony where you will be presented before Fire Lord Zuko, the Council, and the Nobles."

"Do we have to get all dressy and crap?" Toph grumbled as the followed the weapons master.

Mai nodded. "Yes, you will also be made up. The dresses are, of course, of Fire Nation culture, but we picked out dresses that we believe will look lovely on you all."

"…I look awful in red," Jin mumbled under breath.

Night after night in the dark I'm alone
So find me match,
Of my own

Zuko let out a woeful sigh as he sat on his throne, waiting for the girls to come out. His already sour mood darkened even more when his uncle had refused to tell him the girls he had brought.

"I hear that one of the girls is from one of the Water Tribes," a maid said as she and another maid passed by Zuko with bottles of wine for the Council.

Zuko perked up at this. A Water Tribe girl? Could it be…No, it couldn't and there was no reason to hope. He would not be lucky. His uncle was the matchmaker and most likely got four girls who would make his life miserable.

The red curtains that led to another room opened and out walked Uncle Iroh, a smile on his face. At his appearance the room went quiet, anticipating what was to come.

"Hello everyone!" Iroh said cheerily. "I would like to bestow my thanks to you all for waiting so patiently."

'Just get to the girls, uncle!' Zuko wanted to shout, but kept his anger in check.

"I also know that you are eager to see the four girls I have brought, one of which might someday by your future Fire Lady." The Dragon of the West smirked.

Cheers erupted.

"So, let me introduce you to the first lady, Miss. Ty Lee of the Fire Nation."

The curtains were pulled back once again and the hyper acrobat walked into the room. Zuko could hardly believe his eyes. He had never seen Ty Lee in an outfit that did not give her room to do summersaults. She'd be lucky to attempt even a split in this dress. The red material stuck to her like a second skin, adding more to her toned muscular body. There was an opening on the side of the dress with a slash over it, giving some view of her firmed, yet tasteful abs.

The girl walked gracefully to Zuko, her eyes brimming with excitement at all of the attention. She bowed as low as she could, which wasn't all that low considering the dress. "Fire Lord Zuko, it is an honor." He could hear the merriment in her voice and Zuko knew he would be on his toes for the next month.

"I am happy that you accepted," Zuko said. Ty Lee glanced at him from her bowed head and he knew that she could tell he was lying and that she very much enjoyed the fact. She straightened and walked to the long table in the middle of the room where she and the other girls would be sitting for the night.

"The next young lady is Miss. Jin Ko of Ba Sing Se," Iroh said with a glint in his eyes.

Zuko's eyes widened in shock and fear. His uncle had to be joking. He would not be evil enough to invite that girl into the palace where she would have easy access to sharp knives and his bed chamber.

To Zuko's dismay, when the curtains were pulled back, the pretty girl he had met back in Ba Sing Se walked into the room. She was twice as beautiful as the last time Zuko had seen her; therefore, she was twice as dangerous.

Jin's dress was also tight, making her curves even more noticeable. The dress had a slit from the middle of her thigh down, giving everyone a better look at her long, sleek legs. The low cut of the dress gave a teasing view of her cleavage, which had also grown twice as it since the last time he saw her.

When Jin was standing in front of him Zuko had to stop a shiver from running down his spine. She was smirking at him! Not only that, it was an evil smirk! He would need to wear armor for the rest of the month.

"Fire Lord Zuko," she greeted smugly, bowing down.

Zuko coughed. "Jin Ko of Ba Sing Se, I am pleased to see you again." When she joined Ty Lee at the table, Zuko couldn't stop his sing of relief.

"Toph Bei Fong of Gaoling is the next you lady." The was a murmur of approval throughout the room.

Zuko watched as Toph walked into the room. This time he choked on the wine he had just taken a sip of. Toph…in a dress? Not only a dress but…a red dress? He must be dreaming. But he wasn't. Toph's was a little more modest than Jin's, but still low cut. Since when did Toph have breast? And…and are those curves? Also…since when did Toph travel without Aang?

Toph walked up to Zuko with her usual air of "I'm better than you and if you disagree I'll earth bend you into next year."

"Hello Fire Lord Hot Head," Toph smirked, not caring when everyone stared at her in shock.

"Hello Toph," Zuko replied. "Where's the Avatar?"

Toph scoffed. "I don't know; back in the South Pole?" She joined the other two girls at the table.

"And last, but certainly not least, Katara of the Southern Water Tribe," The glister in Iroh's eyes brightened ten fold.

This time Zuko could not hold back his shock of surprise when Katara walked into the room. She looked even more lovely than she had when he last saw her three years ago. The dress she had on was the fairly modest; the most provocative part of it was that it showed some of her cleavage. Waterbending all those years certainly helped with her figure, her body looked firm yet…soft, in a way. You could see her defined muscle on her tanned skin, but her blue eyes made her look somewhat fragile. In short, she was gorgeous.

She was the only one of the girls to walk over to Zuko with a smile. She bowed. "Hello Fire Lord Zuko, it's wonderful to see you again."

Zuko pulled at his collar nervously. "Hello Katara, you look…well…"

She let out a soft laugh. "Thank you. You do as well."

For some reason, Zuko felt disappointment pull at his heart when she left him to sit with the others.

Iroh grinned. This would be the most entertaining month he's had since the war.


Author's Note: I know, its been a long time, but I've been very busy. If you want to see the dresses the girls wore this chapter, I have links to them in my profile.

Okay next chapter we will have Zuko being tortured by 4 girls. 3 doing so on purpose will the 4th doing so unconsiously. The other boys are dealing with problems of their own. Sokka's not to happy with the fact his little sister is at the hands of a homonal fire bending boy. Aang doesn't know how to deal with his conflicting feelings with Toph being in a Courting Ceremony. Jet goes into rage when Longshot and Smellerbee track him down and tell him exactly what "his girl" is doing while he's gone.

"The course of true love never did run smooth." Act 1, Scene 1 of A Midsummer Night's Dream.