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And to ZutaraOwnzKataangSux69, fine, just because of you I won't be a freak about reviews :P but I still love them!
Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender, or any of its awesome characters.
The Reunion
Chapter 3
Katara and Toph woke up early the next day, and Katara felt more peaceful then she ever had after waking up. It must have been the gigantic, fluffy beds the Bei Fongs own, she thought. They ate a quick breakfast and packed up everything they would need for the journey to Kyoshi Island. For Toph, that was only another change of clothes and some gold pieces.
"Just in case," she said to Katara, who seemed confused.
As they were leaving the Bei Fong Estate, Toph was ambushed by her parents and squished by their hugs.
"Be careful, sweetheart! We'll miss you!" Her mother said to her, kissing her all over. Toph made a face, and wiped the lipstick off her pale cheeks.
"I'll be back in a week or two; don't start getting all emotional on me." Katara elbowed Toph, which did absolutely nothing to the strong earth-bender.
"Goodbye Mr. and Mrs. Bei Fong, and thank you for letting me stay here for the night," Katara said warmly. She waved and started walking out quickly, trying to catch the speed-walking Toph.
"Toph, why do you have to do that? Can't you see they love you?" She sighed.
"Well, I can certainly hear them, if that's what you mean," she scoffed, "it gets irritating though, they always treat me like a mindless baby. Sometimes I wish I lived on my own."
"Never say that!" Katara snapped, before she could think of what she said. Toph sensed the change in her mood, and frowned.
"Sorry Katara, I forgot that was a bad subject, but I don't mean it! I'm only angry; I say things when I'm angry! You know me, you know I don't mean it," she said, in an almost pleading way. Katara had to smile at Toph's first attempt at an apology. She put an arm around her shoulder.
"Yeah, Toph, I do know you. And I'm glad I do. Now, 'don't get all emotional on me', our boat is about to leave!"
The two girls laughed and ran over to the boat waiting for them at the docks. As they drove through the gentle waves, Toph looked back with her un-seeing eyes and let a small tear escape.
She wouldn't admit it aloud, but she did miss her parents, a lot, and she hoped they'd never stop getting emotional over her. She liked having proof that they still loved her.
Zuko was awake, of course. He always rose with the sun.
He was practicing his fire-bending, which had improved greatly since his Coronation. He didn't tell anyone, especially Katara, but it still hurt his chest a little when he bended.
Pain is what made me strong, it's made me who I am, the Fire Lord thought sarcastically to himself.
Right now, he was bending nature. Rather, fire in the shape of nature. He made a glowing orange tree, a lake with turtle ducks, and flowers blooming at the edge of the lake. The last thing he bended was not something found in nature; it was a human.
Who it was, he didn't know yet. Then, a second human appeared out of the flames, smaller than the first. More details started to become visible to him, and he could see that the taller one had long hair, and was walking with the little one to sit by the lake.
It was when the taller fire-figure put its arm around the little one's shoulder did he catch a glimpse of its face.
Her face.
His mother. And the little figure was Zuko as a child, sitting by the lake and feeding the turtle-ducks with his mother. One of the only memories he had of her.
Surprised, he stopped bending, and the fire relaxed into a light coating of soot on the ship's deck.
Zuko's eyes popped open as he heard a loud knocking at his cabin door.
It was a dream, just a dream.
"Fire Lord Zuko? I think you should come out and see this," the driver called from behind the door.
"Uh, yes, I'll be out in a minute," Zuko said, clearing his throat. He got out of his bed and pulled on a simple tunic and pants. He splashed some water on his face, hoping to get rid of his sleepiness, and walked out onto the ship's deck.
What he didn't expect to see was a giant flying bison lying on its back, snoring deeply. How could he have not heard that earlier?
A lemur flew by his head, chattering wildly. "Hi Momo," Zuko smiled, petting Momo's large ears. The lemur purred, and started to lick Zuko's hand.
"Eew Momo!"
"Well, good morning to you to, Mr. Fire Lord," a familiar voice called out, and he heard a gust of wind. He turned to see Aang lowering himself to the ground, and looked him over.
Aang had grown a few inches in the past year, and he still kept his head bald, 'wearing his arrow proudly', as he called it.
Aang now seemed like a mature, 13 year old boy, Zuko thought.
He quickly changed his mind when the Avatar rode his wind scooter over and knocked him down. "Boy, you sure are sleepy today, Zuko," the boy observed. "That isn't really like you."
Zuko groaned. "Well, it's perfectly like you to land your giant bison in the middle of my ship and wake me up."
Appa groaned in response, and Aang nodded quickly. "Appa does have a name you know. Sheesh, can't you show respect to your favorite air-bison?"
At this Zuko chuckled, something he hadn't done in a while (since humor wasn't really possible with Mai) and patted Aang on the shoulder.
"Good to see you, kid. You haven't changed a bit."
"Sooo, can we spar now?"
Katara spotted the outline of Kyoshi Island in the distance, but she knew there was still almost another hour of sailing to reach it. She moved her hand forward, pushing the water just a little bit to make the boat hurry up.
Toph must've sensed her growing impatience, because she sighed and put her feet up on a chair. "Give it a rest, Sugar Queen, the driver's only doing his job."
"I know, I just wish he'd do it faster! I mean, I really wanna see Sokka and Suki!" And Zuko, Toph thought, but didn't voice it, for fear of death involving water.
"Yeah yeah, we'll see Snoozles and his bride-to-be soon enough. But we're spending 2 weeks there, so what does an hour really matter?"
"I guess your right, Toph."
"What? I made you agree with me? That's amazing!" Toph yelled, and made pieces of metal explode like tiny fireworks in the air.
Out of habit, Katara shushed her. "Toph, somebody might see us!"
"You mean Fire Nation? Guess what, Sweetness, Sparky is the Fire Lord! Those newbies are under his control."
"Ugh, you're right again." Katara looked across the water again to see that they were fairly close now. Maybe about 30 minutes away. By boat of course, she thought glumly.
"Toph, I can't stand this! I can water-bend us there in a minute!" She cried out.
"Fine, I've had enough of your whining and moping! Let's go!" She yelled, throwing the boat conductor 2 gold coins. "Thanks Speedy, we're good to go now."
Katara lept off the boat, and landed on a patch of ice. She helped Toph on, since she couldn't see anything. She bent little dents in the ice to fit their feet so they couldn't slip, and began moving the waves behind them (*AN- This just looks like surfing, but on an ice board!).
They were going so fast that tears were running out of Katara's eyes from the wind. "Woo! This is FUN!" She screamed to Toph, who was digging her feet into the ice and hoping she wasn't about to bump into something. She hated being completely blind like this.
Well, at least Katara is actually having fun. That's probably one of the first times in her life.
"Oops, I can't slow this thing down, Toph! I'm going to drop us in the water!" Katara screeched, as the island was only a few meters from them.
"No, don't-"
Toph felt the ice melt from under her, and she landed in the freezing water. She started gasping, knowing she couldn't swim, and she couldn't see anything.
"Toph, calm down, there's Earth under you," Katara called out, calm as usual. Toph relaxed her feet until she could feel the ground.
"Aaah, wonderful land!" She walked to the edge of the island and started shaking her dripping black hair.
"Sorry Toph! I'll bend the water out of your clothes!" She said, and the liquid escaped from her clothes and hair, leaving her dry. But still cold.
Katara did the same to herself, and started shivering. "Ugh, I'm so stupid! Well, we did have fun!" She said sheepishly. But after noting Toph's light blue lips, she sighed. "Okay, now where the hell does Sokka live?"
^This chapter wasn't that great, I know, but it just filled in some details and I tried to show that Toph isn't such an angry little girl anymore and that she still has feelings for her parents. Plus, I wanted to show that Zuko hasn't found his mommy, and that he still misses her :( Chapter 4 should be up on Monday, for those of you who care :P