Disclaimer: No, I don't own Avatar, or any of the Avatar Characters. I do, however, own Lexi, Avery, and Chito. No stealing them, please.
Warnings: After talking about Kataang too much, Aang is forced to...put a sock in it.
"Hurry up, Avery! They went in here!" Lexi called over her shoulder as she forced her way through the thick sea of bushes. Her friend Avery was lagging quite a ways behind her, as she pulled along a big canvas sack.
"I'm. Trying. Lexi, what do you have in here?" Avery complained.
"It's all part of the plan." Lexi assured her, but didn't directly answer the question. Lexi half turned away to look at the mouth of the large cave—and as she did so she noticed that Avery was untying the back to glance inside.
"Are you serious?" she cried a minute later, quickly tying the bag back up again. Lexi grinned as she waited briefly for Avery to catch up. A moment later, they were standing side by side in front of the cave entrance. "Got the stick?" Lexi confirmed. No wonder it had taken Avery so long to catch up—not only had Lexi made her carry the bag but a giant wooden stake, too. Avery gave her a wary look.
"I don't know what you're up to—but I've got the stick right here."
"Excellent," Lexi breathed before she descended into the darkness. She could feel Avery close behind her—and could even hear the faint breath of the person inside the bag.
"How are we going to find them in—?"
"How are we going to find our way out of these tunnels?" Aang's voice asked out of nowhere. Lexi gave Avery a smug, I-told-you-so look, which obviously, Avery didn't see in the dark.
"I have a crazy idea," a voice—that Lexi decided belonged to Katara—responded. Lexi reached over and grabbed Avery's sleeve. They had to act fast; before they were too late.
"Prepare the boy," Lexi murmured so softly that Avery barely heard. Avery obeyed obediently; she dropped the canvas bag on the ground, whipped it opened so forcefully that she tore it slightly, and yanked out the poor prince that was inside.
"He's unconscious!" Avery gasped, trying to make him stand up, "What did you do, Lexi?"
"Oh, just clubbed him once—twice tops!" Lexi replied as if it were nothing. Zuko swayed dangerously, and both Lexi and Avery had to catch him when he suddenly fell over.
"He's heavy!" both girls complained.
"I didn't realize it was such a horrible option! I'm sorry I suggested it!" Katara's shrieking voice rang out like a gunshot through the giant cave. They must have missed a large gap in the conversation—but Lexi had to admit that she was happy that they were yelling instead of being all sweet and sincere.
"No, no! I mean, if there was a choice between kissing you and dying…" Maybe poor Aang didn't even need their help. He was floundering pretty badly on his own. But the girls would take no chances.
"C'mon, Avery. We've got to go this way," Lexi whispered. Both of them began dragging the now half unconscious prince across the dirt floor. 'If its dark enough, then neither of them will be able to tell that we'll be standing in-between them and—' Lexi suddenly was horrified to see a light glimmering in the distance. Aang was holding it, and the orange light was just barely bright enough so that the girls could glimpse Katara standing at a reasonable distance from him.
"The light has got to go," Avery growled. Lexi nodded, pulling her friend backwards to ensure that they weren't being illuminated in the darkness.
"Wh—whatsuh goi'g onnh?" moaned the voice of the prince; and it was so unexpected that the two girls dropped him with a scream.
"Did you hear something?" Aang asked.
"No!" Katara shouted coldly. The boy shrugged sadly.
"I think we're going to run out of light," he said after a long pause. Lexi and Avery grabbed Zuko's arms and dragged him up off the ground.
"What are we going to do?" Katara sounded less hostile now and the dying light made it possible for Lexi, Avery, and the half unconscious prince to move forward.
"What can we do?" The light was nearly dead; and the boy and girl were standing a good few feet away from each other as they leaned forward, giving the girls the perfect opportunity.
Lexi raced between them, adjusted the prince so he was in perfect place in front of Katara as she leaned forward, expecting to kiss Aang.
Then Lexi quickly jumped back, leaving Avery to make sure he didn't collapse again. Lexi had one more thing she had to take care of; quickly! She reached out and grabbed Aang, covering her mouth with the palm of her hand. He seemed shocked.
Lexi located a tube sock in her right pocket, which she used to tie around his mouth. Then, she turned around and skipped away with him in tow, happy that they had successfully replaced the Kataang moment with a good wholesome Zutara one instead.
"You?" Sokka cried, Zuko who was standing right next to his little sister just outside the back entrance of the cave. Zuko and Katara, much to their amazement, had managed to stumble their way to safety. It was only when they were out of the darkness that they actually realized they were together...and that they had just kiss.
Sokka just stood there, still on top of the giant badger, with his mouth hanging opened. Katara and Zuko weren't faring much better.
But the good news was that combined with the heavy bout of embarassment he was suffering, and the fact that he was recovering from one (or two) blows to the head, Zuko hardly seemed concerned with finding the Avatar.
Katara ran over to Sokka instantly, but at least she wasn't behaving hostilly towards her enemy. As imperfect as the result was, in the end their behavior signified success.
"You let love lead the way, Katara? He's the enemy!" Sokka cried. Katara went red and refused to look over her shoulder. Zuko mumbled something incoherent. "And what happened to Aang?" he added. Ever since the light had gone out, Aang had just disappeared.
Suddenly, the cave wall ripped opened, sending dust and sharp pointy fragments of rock flying everywhere. By the time the dust had cleared, there were three figures standing in a giant hole in the cave wall. Well, two of them were standing, with an end of a thick stick resting on their shoulders. The third figure was bound to the stick by coils of loose rope. Upon seeing Sokka, Katara, and Zuko all together, he started talking immediately, but the sound of his voice was impossible to decipher since there was a sweat sock tied around his mouth.
"Aang?" Sokka asked. The two girls holding him were dressed completely in black garbs, and since they had large black hoods on as well, there faces were hidden in shadows. They immediately dropped the boy on the stick and disappeared. The only thing they left was a tiny note, taped to Aang's forehead. It read, "Zutara RULEZ!"