- The volcano -
Everyone had agreed that Sokka's plan to get Aunt Wu to make a new cloud reading was the best way to save Makapu. Zuko had mentioned making trenches to divert the lava flow and also warned about poisonous gases from the ash cloud, but the villagers wouldn't even take action unless it was Aunt Wu approved.
So Aang had left to go pinch the cloud book, leaving Sokka, Katara and Zuko alone. Katara took a moment to unlock her side of the handcuffs and attach them back to Sokka, as per the original arrangement. She casually placed her hand on the Angry Jerk's shoulder and gave a little reassuring squeeze as she did this. Zuko leaned towards her and reached up to brush her hand with his fingertips before covering her hand with his own. Sokka coughed pointedly, loudly and disgustedly.
What in frozen hell was this?
Katara was impossible.
Two hours was all it took for her bleeding-heart, I-want-to-help-and-save-everyone-no-matter-how-big-a-jerk-they-are shtick to kick in! Any boy vaguely close to her age with sad eyes and a tragic story was like a magnet to Katara.
She gravitated towards that shit.
It always brought out her dangerous side too, and that was the problem. Helping-mode Katara had zero sense of self-preservation and was extremely attracted to danger (like getting thrown in prison for Haru and all days associated with that asshole, Jet).
Sokka had only left her alone with Zuko for two hours and now she was looking at the boy like she wanted to snuggle him, almost like she had forgotten completely that he was a firebender and firebenders were not snugly. Sokka had the feeling that if he ever left them alone again, snuggling would happen! Sokka knew that look in her eye. It was the source of much anxiety for him. There would be no snuggling of firebenders on Sokka's watch!
"Give me that!" Sokka said, snatching the other handcuff off her.
She glanced apologetically at Zuko before saying that she was going to get Appa ready for their cloudbending mission. She then glared at both of them in turn. "Be nice, both of you!" she said in a warning tone, pointing between them.
Be nice? To a firebender? Surely she was joking! Before Sokka could argue with her, she turned and flounced off towards Appa.
"So … what happened while I was gone?" Sokka asked, raising his eyebrow with a great deal of insinuation.
Zuko played dumb. "We went to get our fortunes told again."
"Aaaannd?"
A decidedly wicked grin came over Zuko's face. He turned slowly and looked Sokka dead in the eye. "Aunt Wu is amazing. She's a marvel. She just knows things."
He said this in such a deadpan tone of voice that Sokka couldn't tell if Zuko was being sarcastic and taking the piss or was actually serious. The poor bastard had to hang out with Katara for two hours and she'd dragged him back to Aunt Wu's? Maybe prolonged exposure to fortune-telling mumbo-jumbo had wrecked his brain.
"You know," Zuko added, "there is a real science to fortune-telling."
Sokka knew that last comment was just to annoy him. Zuko knew how much he liked science and now he was dragging poor science's name into the fortune-telling mud just to get a rise out of him.
"Shut up," Sokka said, giving the other boy a shove.
Zuko shoved him back. Sokka sighed. This was going to be his lot in life now. Chained perpetually to a moody, sarcastic firebender—as if Zuko was the physical embodiment of all Sokka's poor life choices. Aunt Wu was right about one thing only: Sokka did have a knack for bringing misery upon himself. He couldn't trust Zuko around Aang. He couldn't trust Katara around Zuko. He was just going to have to keep an eye on the bastard and assume full responsibility for his jerk-bending self all on his own.
"You are the worst prisoner!" he hissed at Zuko. "You know that right? The worst!"
"Really? Thanks. And I didn't even have to resort to the Annoying Song to beat you as the worst prisoner."
"Look, just shut up and tell me how these volcanic trenches work already."
Zuko raised his good eyebrow. "Shut up and tell you …"
Sokka just knew a comment was about to be made at his expense for his poor choice of words. In a fit of maturity, he poked Zuko in the shoulder in pre-emptive retaliation. Zuko swore explosively, called Sokka several choice names, and kicked him in the shin. Sokka grabbed his shin, hopping up and down and trying to rub it better. This commotion caused him to topple over and drag Zuko down with him. They ended up in a winded heap in the dirt. They lay in a mess of limbs for a moment, disorientated.
"Guys, I don't feel like you're even trying to be friends," came the cheery yet gently admonishing voice of Aang from somewhere above them.
-o-
Aang helped them disentangle themselves. He scolded them both in his Aang way, showed them the cloud book and which formation he and Katara were going to bend, then he scooted off to save the town.
Surprisingly, Zuko felt a little ashamed of himself after an Aang scolding. He didn't like Makapu that much and thought all the inhabitants were idiots, but it wouldn't be right to not help save them from themselves. It would make him an awful person if all these people died a fiery, volcanic death just because he couldn't get along with Sokka for five minutes.
Sokka seemed to be thinking along the same lines, because he listened without saying anything dick-ish for at least ten minutes while Zuko explained how some firebenders could train to become sensitive to the movement of hot magma within the volcanoes. There was someone assigned to monitor every active volcano on the home islands. In the Fire Nation, they normally had lots of warning before an eruption. There were several things you could do to protect towns from lava, but deep trenches to redirect the lava were the most common. Sokka said he assumed Zuko was going to try and use the trench for evil purposes, such as pushing everyone down into it, then escaping to catch Aang. They squabbled a little before getting back on track.
Sokka said that he hadn't seen any type of lava-destruction prevention as he climbed up the hill with Aang. Zuko thought it was probably because the volcano had been dormant for ages. When volcanoes went dormant, people got lazy and complacent. They forgot how destructive volcanoes were.
Sokka gave him a long, evaluating look. His eyes were the same deep blue as his sister's, but much more judgemental and calculating. Though Zuko went on about how Sokka was an idiot, he knew it would be a mistake to underestimate his intelligence.
Sokka said that as soon as Aunt Wu saw the new shape in the clouds, all the earthbenders would be willing to help build the trenches. That would make quick work of it; there were lots of earthbenders here, after all. Zuko agreed, but cautioned that they might not be sufficient. Any channels they whacked together would have to be really deep and wide, because there wasn't really time to build a complex network. They had to hope that the eruption was only small.
The clouds above them began rapidly changing shape. Sokka took that as their cue to take the cloud book back to Aunt Wu and point out the new formation. She told the town and, just like Sokka had predicted, they immediately started evacuating and organising. The earthbenders set to building trenches as fast as they could. This was good, but it was too little, too late.
Zuko felt the tell-tale rumble under his feet just moments before the mountain erupted. It was spewing a choking, blazing-hot dust cloud. The village exploded into pandemonium with shrieks and cries of panic as everybody began to flee into the valley. The lava oozed down the mountainside.
Zuko could see Aang airbending, trying to cool the lava from the outside and redirect the poisonous gases, but he couldn't concentrate on two things at once. Zuko knew how to draw heat from the centre of a lava cluster. He could help Aang there at least.
He moved towards the mountain, only to be yanked back by his wrist.
"Where do you think you're going?" Sokka shouted over the clamouring sound of the chaos all around them.
"Sokka, let me go. I can help Aang!" Zuko yanked at the chain between them.
"I don't believe you! You're going to do something bad, I know it!"
"Sokka, we don't have time for this! I'm a firebender! I can redirect the heat!"
Sokka looked like he wanted to argue, but was distracted by Katara landing behind him on Appa.
Zuko grabbed Sokka's arm firmly. "Look, I promise I'm not going to run off and stab you in the eye with a pineapple! But if we don't stop this thing, everyone in the town is going to die! You've got to let me go help!"
Sokka muttered something that sounded like "don't make me regret this" as he pulled out a key from one of his many pockets. The lock that had been weighing Zuko down all day clicked opened and he nearly sagged in relief.
He really was putting up with a lot of ridiculousness to go along with this kidnapping plan all in the hope that he would eventually get a chance to catch Aang. But being restricted and confined all day, not to mention not doing everything he could to escape, had really set his teeth on edge.
Now he was free.
He was free but in front of the blazing inferno caused by the volcano. The lava was streaming down the hill now, and the air felt thick and heavy with smoke and sulphur.
Zuko may have overplayed his hand a little with Sokka. Technically, he knew how to take the heat out of lava, but this was something he had never actually practised. Zuko felt the weight and seriousness of the situation hit him like a tonne of stone.
Zuko had a moment of uncertainty. This was stupid. The volcano in front of him was erupting! He should be running. He didn't know if he could stop a volcano. Why had he volunteered for this? To save the village? To get away from Sokka?
Surely, being chained to Sokka wasn't that bad. He hated this village anyway.
Zuko glanced behind him at the village, at all those people frightened because their home was about to be destroyed, and felt resolve stiffen his spine. He had to try.
Sokka and Katara were also still standing there with ash falling about them like rain, which kind of annoyed Zuko. Didn't those morons know to run? They should save themselves at least. He gestured for them to run away with his good arm before turning back to the hillside. Closer to the trench, he could see the lava lapping at the lip. It was nearly overflowing.
Once, Uncle had found a hot spring and had refused to leave for over two hours, insisting Zuko relax. Zuko had not wanted to relax. In fact, rather than relax, Zuko had put one arm in the water and extended the other one up over his head and into the air. He'd funnelled the heat out of the water until it was frigidly cold and Uncle gave a yelp of surprise. Zuko could try something similar here. He'd need both his arms to do this.
He wrenched his right arm out of the sling and gasped at the agony that sudden movement caused. He determinedly pushed all thoughts of the pain away. He couldn't lose his nerve now. He been hurt many times before and he'd always had to struggle and fight through it. It had made him strong.
He reached out towards the heat. He focussed his mind on pulling the heat up, through his limbs and along his chi pathways, and out. The bright, molten surface of the magma in the trench started to darken and harden. It was working!
Aang landed lightly next to him and started blasting the lava sloshing at the top with cold air. After what felt like only a few moments, the lava near the edge of the trench had hardened into a crust, keeping the rest of the magma at bay.
"We did it!" Aang said happily.
Zuko nearly collapsed in relief, feeling like he had no energy left after expending that much chi channelling the heat. He felt completely drained and so, so glad it was over. Though he always said he'd never give up without a fight, at this exact moment, there was very little fight left in him.
"Nice work, Aang," he said.
Aang gave him a huge, open smile. "Thanks for helping!" he said, cheerful as always, even after nearly dying from a volcano.
Zuko had thought the constant perkiness would annoy him, but he had actually gotten used to it.
You could grab him now. Everyone is busy with the volcano. You're untied and right next to him.
The thought occurred to Zuko right then. He felt, surprisingly, a pinprick of guilt and uncertainty. Before he had a chance to act on this impulse, there was a defining whoosh from above them as the mountain exploded with a secondary, enormous eruption.
They were screwed, Zuko realised with horror.
They were so screwed!
This town was screwed!
There was no amount of heat redirecting that could save this place now, especially without an adequate channel system built. The only thing to do was run for their lives.
Aang stared at the volcano in horror and awe and froze completely. Zuko reached out and grabbed him and gave him a shake to snap him out of it.
"Aang, we've got to get out of here!" Zuko shouted over the thunderous explosion from the summit of the mountain. "There's nothing we can do now!"
Aang continued to gaze at the mountain, mouth open like a fish. Zuko took Aang's arm and pulled him along. They ran down the hill and away from the lava. He hadn't got shot in Pohuai for Aang to now die staring gormless at a volcano.
Aang suddenly wrenched free from his grip with incredible strength, his tattoos glowing faintly. "I know what to do."
His voice sounded so unlike his normal self, like it was made up of many, many people coming from everywhere. It was old, ancient and wise. Aang flew up out of Zuko's reach and into the smoke.
Zuko ran down to the village where Sokka and Katara were still waiting like total idiots. The clouds above them began to move angrily again. Zuko heard a loud rumble from behind him.
They were all going to die here, horribly.
All of that had been for nothing.
Even Katara was going to die here, he thought sadly as he looked at her. She was the only one of them he could stand to be around for long periods of time.
It wasn't fair!
He didn't want to die like this, surrounded by blazing hot lava, burned all over. That would be like … it would be worse than …
He tried to brace himself for horrible, fiery oblivion.
But the fiery oblivion never came.
There was an enormous blast of icy cold air that seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere all at once. It slammed them all backwards with an incredible force. They all lost their footing and were momentarily carried through the air, ending up in a pile together against the wall of a shop. The clouds rushed crazily around them for a few moments before vanishing. The sky was clear and the sun shone through. A strange, eerie silence settled over the town.
Zuko opened his eyes to see that the lava had been frozen solid to obsidian, formed by the strongest air blast Zuko had ever felt from Aang. It arched above the town like a graceful wave glittering in the sun. It was beautiful.
"Wow, sometimes I forget that kid is one powerful bender," Sokka observed as he looked at the newly created rock formation.
"What did you say?" Katara asked, turning to look at her brother curiously.
"Just Aang is one powerful bender."
"Well, he is the Avatar," Zuko said, feeling like he was stating the obvious. "Aren't they all meant to be powerful?" Being a powerful bender was the whole point of being the avatar. "Thank goodness he could use his powers here."
He knew they all would have been dead if Aang hadn't used his Avatar powers to stop the volcano. Zuko had not thought very positively of Aang's Avatar powers in the past. Aang's Avatar powers normally meant a great deal of destruction was coming for Zuko. Now he confessed that there were definitely benefits to Aang's abilities.
"Why do you say that?" Katara said, turning to him and sounding alarmed. "Did he go into the Avatar State?"
"No, I don't think so, but his tattoos were glowing a little, and when he spoke to me it sounded like it was the voice of a hundred different people."
Katara relaxed a little after his explanation. Aang had done that before? Spoken like he was a hundred different people? And that was considered normal? Weird.
For a moment they all rested against the wall together in an exhausted silence. Even Sokka was quiet, which was a rare miracle. They were watching Aang as he landed some way up the hill. He wandered around his obsidian arch with open delight.
"Hey, guys!" he yelled happily to them. "Do you see how cool this is? Did I do this?"
Aang found so much joy in everything. Zuko couldn't even remember the last time he'd been as happy as Aang seemed to be on a random Tuesday morning. Right now, after saving a town and making a crazy obsidian creation, his smile was brighter than the sun. He seemed so innocent and happy.
How could anyone ever want to hurt a kid like that?
Zuko had a moment of discomfort, thinking about how relentlessly he'd pursued them across the world and not ever thinking of things like personal safety (his or theirs). He hadn't been lying when he told Katara that he hadn't actively wanted to hurt Aang before, but he had been determined to catch him, whatever the cost, without really thinking what would happen to Aang afterwards. He hadn't really thought about anything beyond catching Aang, really. Aang was a means to an end—the only way to get back home.
Katara suggested that they all get up and help the town. Sokka grumbled about how his whole body was sore. Zuko fired back that Sokka hadn't really done anything. Sokka flicked a little rock at him. Zuko flicked it back lazily. Sokka tried to flick it back, but Katara caught it mid-air.
"Let's go help," she said more firmly.
Aang landed next to her and reached down to pull her up. "Katara, did you see me? Did you see what I did?"
"I did, Aang. You were amazing."
She rubbed his bald head affectionately and gave him a little kiss on his forehead, like a doting mother. Aang blushed bright red.
Sokka and Zuko exchanged a look, then Sokka rolled his eyes in Aang's direction and made a face.
Zuko grinned back. "Your talk didn't work," he whispered.
Sokka shrugged, indicating that he wasn't going to tilt at the windmill that was Aang's perpetually obvious crush on Katara again today. "I'm letting him have it," he whispered back.
They both turned to see Aang almost glowing in joy from Katara's motherly fussing. Sokka snickered.
Katara turned grumpily towards her brother, though her words were aimed at Aang. "I was just telling these two lazy-bones that we should go help out in the town."
"Na-uh, I'm not moving," Sokka declared. "I'm waiting for the feast and celebration to come to me."
"Feast and celebration?" Zuko asked slowly.
Not moving did sound good. He was exhausted. He wasn't lazy for thinking that! He had just re-directed the heat out of a butt-load of lava. That was exhausting!
"Whenever we save a town, they normally throw a feast and celebration for us!" Aang explained. "I guess you haven't had too many feast and celebrations when you come into town because you're Fire Nation and nobody likes the Fire Nation much at the moment." He sounded a little sheepish towards the end, but he recovered quickly with a bright smile. "Anyway, there's always great snacks for Sokka, Katara normally makes a speech, and I get to show everybody this!" Aang pulled a marble out of his sleeve and made it spin around between his hands.
Zuko looked at the spinning marble. It was mesmerising, but the little whooshing sound it made was a little irritating. However, Zuko wasn't going to expend energy getting grumpy at Aang about that after the kid had just saved them all. Besides, Zuko felt vaguely unsettled about something Aang had said. There was something he should be worried about right now, but he couldn't put his finger on it. Maybe he was just disgruntled because, as Aang had accurately summarised, no one had thrown a celebration for Zuko in a very long time.
Aang seemed to be looking at him expectantly, waiting for a response. Zuko realised with a start that he was still doing that stupid party trick. Zuko had been about to say "that's a really good trick, Aang" when he became aware of footsteps from close by.
"He's Fire Nation?" a voice demanded.
It was the calm man from the forest, the first one from this stupid village they had met. A crowd of villages had been following the man, shuffling up the hill to see the Avatar and thank him for saving the town (and also to get a closer look at the new, cool rock formation). Zuko lifted his head and looked at them. They looked back at him with open hostility and fear.
"He's got the eyes of one," someone said, pointing at him. "Look at 'im!"
"I heard the girl say he was Fire Nation this morning in the marketplace," came another voice from the crowd, a woman this time.
"I heard him tell the Water Tribe boy that he was a firebender just before!" another declared.
Zuko pushed himself to his feet, anger giving him a surge of strength. "Only so he would let me go so I could save your stupid village, you idiots!" Zuko snarled, forgetting his fatigue and too furious to be afraid.
"Let you go? So you admit it: you're their Fire Nation prisoner!" a man said from further back. The crowd was getting bigger now, angry and jostling.
"I knew it!" someone else shouted. "You didn't accidentally handcuff yourselves! That's how they're stopping you from killing us all!"
"He's probably the real reason the volcano went off! He woke it up with his firebending! He nearly destroyed the whole town!"
Zuko gaped incredulously at the idiot. They were blaming him for the volcano because he was a firebender ...
He felt strange kinship with Sokka for the boy's ongoing frustration with this idiot town and his strange mission to make them "see the light" about the importance of science. The urge to correct these idiots and tell them "that's not how volcanoes fucking work, you morons" was so strong for Zuko in that moment.
Katara moved to stand in front of him, hands out. "Everybody, calm down!"
A large rock sailed past her, hitting Zuko hard in the sternum with enough force to lift him off his feet. He collided painfully with the wall behind him, hearing a crack that he really hoped wasn't his bones. His head spun and dark spots danced before his eyes.
"Get him!" someone yelled.
Then the mob did what mobs do.
-o-
This was total chaos! This was awful! There was so much violence and anger. This was so against everything the monks had ever taught him. Aang didn't know what to do. He didn't want to hurt anyone, but those people sounded like they wanted to kill Zuko just because he was Fire Nation, not even because he had done anything wrong.
The monks had explained to him that the other nations saw fit to kill people when they had committed what was considered a serious crime. Though the monks disagreed with taking a life, it was not their place to meddle in the way other nations upheld their laws.
Zuko hadn't even broken any laws in this town, as far as Aang knew. He'd just helped them save the town. It didn't make sense.
Aang threw an air blast at the mob, dislodging a few people. His first blast wasn't enough to stop them. The monks had always told him to never wound when you can heal the breach in other ways. If he could just calm them down and talk to them. Make them listen.
A blur of yellow caught Aang's attention. Aunt Wu's robes swished around her. She was red-faced as she rushed up the hill into the melee. It was as if she had come in answer to Aang's unspoken plea to the spirits. The villagers would listen to her.
"Aunt Wu, do something!" Aang pleaded.
"I will get their attention and you use that moment to save your friend," Aunt Wu huffed, trying to catch her breath. Then she stood up straight and held out her arms. "Citizens of Makapu! Leave the firebender and lend me your ears, for I have had a great insight into the future today …"
Amazingly, the villagers all looked up, distracted by Aunt Wu and her words. They had always had so much faith in her in the past.
Katara had been the closest to Zuko and took full advantage of the distraction to pull him out of the fray. Sokka helped her. They ducked down the nearest alley and kept running. Somehow, they all made it onto Appa without alerting the villagers and starting another riot. As they took off, Aang spared a moment to look down and saw a crowd around Aunt Wu as she gestured to the sky and his beautiful obsidian arch.
They had seemed like good people. He had wanted to help them. The monks had always said that everyone should help each other and then the world would be a better place. Zuko had helped, but the villagers would have killed him just for being a firebender. Aang didn't understand at all.
-0-
The cold radiated from his chest. Ice, he realised. Someone was holding ice against his skin. The pain came from everywhere, though, in many different flavours. He felt dull and aching pain, like a purpling bruise, and also sharp-pointed pain, like that pinprick of agony that was his shoulder. He groaned and tried to open his eyes.
"Zuko, can you hear me?"
He heard a soft voice from somewhere above him. Katara. The feeling of cold momentarily withdrew. He tried nodding in response.
"We've got you on Appa. You're safe now," she said, and the cold returned. "You're going to be okay."
Zuko didn't think he was going to be okay in that moment, but he didn't think Katara was trying to lie to him.
"I'm going to check you over, okay?" It sounded like she was asking his permission.
He nodded again. Her fingers, cold but gentle, touched him so lightly it was almost a caress. He sighed gratefully at her touch, unable to suppress it. Though there was pain, her fingers were soothing as they glided over his skin. It had been so long since anyone had touched Zuko this softly.
There had been three people in his life that Zuko trusted not to hurt him when they touched him. His mother, Uncle Iroh and Lu Ten. Katara was the fourth. He opened his eyes and watched her as she sat beside him, observing the serious expression on her face and the careful way she went about her task. She looked up, aware that he was watching her. She held his gaze and scooted even closer, placing her hand softly on his good shoulder. It was one of the few places where he wasn't hurt.
"I'm so sorry," she whispered, "It wasn't fair what happened to you."
Zuko nodded in acknowledgement before he had to look away. That simple statement took his breath away. Sometimes unfair things happened and they weren't his fault. Zuko found he couldn't look at her face any more. She made him feel things, and sometimes it was just too much. He was quiet, compliant as she went about the rest of her task.
He helped her take off his shirt so she could examine the network of purpling bruises that were blooming across his chest. When her fingers ghosted over his ribs, he couldn't help but inhale sharply, but he tried not to let on how much it hurt. Katara made a disapproving sound and frowned at his chest. She said that he'd been hit pretty hard by the first rock. It might have fractured some ribs.
Great. Just perfect, Zuko thought bitterly, clenching his fists in frustration.
Katara looked up, noticing his change in mood. "You okay?" she asked softly.
Zuko had to bite back a hard, mean laugh. Was he okay? What kind of stupid question was that? Of course he wasn't okay.
Then he glanced back down at her face. Her blue eyes were wide and her brow furrowed in concern, like she actually cared. He felt those spiteful, angry comments subside. It wasn't Katara's fault his life sucked. He shouldn't take it out on her.
"I'll be okay," he said gruffly.
Strangely, he found himself wanting to reassure her. He wanted to wipe the worried look off her face. He didn't want her to worry. He had liked it better when she had been laughing in the sun over fruit, gently teasing him and Sokka.
"I'm pretty tough, you know," he added.
Then she did the strangest thing. She was a strange girl, always surprising him, and not always in a bad way.
It wasn't a bad surprise when she smiled and leaned over, abandoning her medical examination for a moment. She placed her hand against his unmarred cheek, thumb tracing the soft skin under his eye. "I know you are," she whispered.
"Ahem, ahem!" came a loud, intrusive and incredibly judgemental sounding cough from the other side of the saddle.
Sokka was watching them, eyebrows raised so high they were nearly climbing off his face. Katara withdrew her hand and Zuko felt saddened by the absence. No one had ever really touched him gently just because they wanted to comfort him.
It had been nice.
-o-
Katara was the worst. She really was. Sokka watched his sister fuss over Zuko. Zuko was also the worst, to be honest. He was only encouraging this particular brand of stupidity. This was the worst part of kidnapping Zuko: watching them making moon eyes at each other while Aang made moon eyes at Katara.
This was a cursed circle of moon eyes and Sokka had to find a way to stop this nonsense.
Not that he was deliberating trying to ruin boys for her, mind. He knew if he ever expressed a desire to meddle in Katara's love life again without being explicitly asked (as was the case with Aang), then a whole lot of angry waterbending, and feminist rants were coming his way. Sokka wanted to avoid both.
Previously, it had been easy.
Aang's crush was painfully obvious and kind of sweet, in a weird way. Sokka's teasing lightened the mood. He knew, for all her grumbling about Sokka "being nice" to Aang, Katara appreciated it. It made the crush seem ridiculous, which it was. She was very clearly not interested and had started practising spontaneous deafness whenever Aang tried to bring it up with her. Sokka always found that hilarious.
Haru just hadn't been that into Katara. Either that or he'd been too shy to make a move on her. Sokka really didn't have to do much to ruin it for her there. She'd liked him, though. Sokka could tell.
Then there had been that fuckwit Jet, and Sokka hated that dick.
Jet was the worst!
Jet was probably worse than Zuko.
Probably.
That was a close one, actually.
The worst thing about Zuko was that he was Prince of the Jerk Benders, which was pretty bad. But, admittedly, Zuko wasn't trying to hide this fact from them, unlike how Jet had hid the fact that he was a lying, scheming psychopath who didn't see anything wrong with blowing up a town and murdering a butt-load of people.
Katara had fallen for his sad eyes, luscious hair and smarmy charm hook, line and sinker. She had refused to listen to Sokka, even though Sokka had seen all the warning signs of something being askew with their new friend. When she had finally realised who Jet was, Jet had been on the receiving end of angry, ranting waterbending. That had been great.
Sokka wouldn't mind if Katara had a boyfriend. He wasn't going to be a possessive dick about it. Katara had previously ranted about Sokka being a possessive, over-protective big brother during the Jet Incident. And while Sokka still felt it had been warranted in the Jet Incident, he could see why Katara was upset with the idea of Sokka thinking he had the right to choose her boyfriends.
Sokka wouldn't begrudge her a boyfriend. They both hadn't had anyone around their age back home except each other, and that kind of sucked in the finding a girlfriend or boyfriend department. It was natural she'd be into good-looking dudes who weren't related to her. She'd helped him out with Suki, after all, and only teased him a little bit when he'd made moon eyes over Suki for days afterwards.
So, yeah, Sokka didn't mind the idea that Katara was going to get a boyfriend one day; he only hoped that this boyfriend would be NOT: a) a psycho, b) a vegetarian c) a fucking fire bender!
Jeez, maybe they should fly south and hit up Haru's village again.
The worst thing about Zuko was that he was still going to be with them for at least a couple more days. Who knew what ideas Katara would get into her head during that time? Also, aside from the notable exceptions of being both Prince of the Jerk Benders and determined to catch Aang, there wasn't anything really wrong with Zuko.
Sokka had to grudgingly admit that the other boy was useful in sticky situations and surprisingly funny (in a dry, sarcastic way that Sokka appreciated). It was kinda nice having a boy around his own age who he could tease and mess about with. Sokka liked having someone around who would fire stupid jokes and comments back at him rather than just take it, because pacifism, and also because it probably sailed over his head (Aang) or scold him to "be nice" (Katara). Zuko was also so stupidly honest, which made things easier. Zuko couldn't lie to save himself, and that was a mercy at least. They wouldn't have a repeat of the Jet Incident.
Sokka felt bad for Zuko. This was the very worst. Sokka felt like he'd almost been tricked somehow, because he was feeling sorry for a firebender. In the past few days, nothing but bad shit had happened to the guy. Aside from being a firebender, he hadn't done that much to really deserve it. He'd been shot, crushed by rocks, had the shit beaten out of him by a mob. Poor bastard had even been taken to a fortune teller twice.
That scene in Makapu had been horrible. The villagers finding out Zuko had been a firebender even after he'd tried to legitimately save the town … it had brought out something ugly in people that Sokka wasn't used to seeing. He'd seen that kind of blind hatred from Jet, but he had liked to think that Jet was a one-off.
Sokka knew it was childish, but he clung to the idea that the Fire Nation were the bad guys and everyone else was naturally meant to be the good guys and never do anything terrible. Today had made him question that deeply held belief. Sokka wasn't comfortable with that.
Sokka needed to get Zuko back to his uncle, and quickly. He didn't like being confused about what was the "right thing to do". He'd always just known before what was right and wrong, but he'd felt nothing but confusion since Pohuai. Honestly, he was over it. They should have just left Zuko by that outpost station, but Sokka had judged it too risky and made a choice, and now here they all were.
To top it all off, Sokka was absolutely sure that Zuko still wanted to catch Aang. He was like one of those dormant volcanoes. Just because he seemed harmless right now didn't mean he wasn't going to metaphorically explode one day and take them all with him (or maybe just try to take Aang with him). When Zuko had explained earlier about people getting complacent around dormant volcanoes and how that made disasters worse, Sokka had wanted to crow, "Yes! Exactly that! That is why I will never trust you, you big, dormant volcano!"
Katara wouldn't even let him tie the other boy up tonight because he was "too injured". They'd had a small argument about it. Katara had lost all of her previously held enthusiasm for tying Zuko up, and Sokka mourned this loss of her paranoia.
She asserted that there was no point in tying him up tonight because he'd probably broken some ribs and tying him up would make that worse, but also because there wasn't really much point. Even if by some miracle Zuko scraped himself together enough to try and grab Aang, one quick poke to the chest would bring him down.
So Sokka had gone back over to the camp where they'd left Zuko alone after sending Aang off to get some herbs per Katara's request. Zuko had actually fallen asleep, but Sokka had woken him. He'd asked Zuko to get up. Zuko did this very slowly and with much exaggerated groaning. Sokka then poked him in the chest. This was just to check Katara's theory. He didn't trust his sister to make sound judgements when it came to Zuko, after all.
Zuko doubled over in pain, swearing explosively and calling Sokka all manner of vile obscenities. Sokka was abruptly reminded that the other boy had spent at least three years on a ship surrounded by old, crusty, swearing sailors. Honestly, some of those phrases were just disgusting!
Katara shouted at Sokka for an extended period of time. Sokka then magnanimously informed Zuko that he wouldn't be tying him up tonight. Zuko told him to go fuck himself sideways. But at least Sokka could be satisfied that Katara's theory was sound. He'd been worried that proximity to Zuko was melting her brain.
Aang returned and Katara made some kind of paste with the herbs he'd brought back. It was meant to help the bruising. They'd already gone through the entire contents of the first-aid kit Zuko had brought (which had to be some kind of record. They'd had this jerk with them for less time than they'd been hanging out in Jet's tree house of dickishness and Jet had only succeeded in roughing Sokka and Aang up a bit.)
Katara went over to Zuko. They did that thing where they just looked at each other for a long time, like they were trying to see into the back of each other's skulls. She said something softly and he nodded. Then she went around behind him and started rubbing her concoction into his back gently. Zuko closed his eyes almost blissfully as Katara's hands moved across his back.
Gross. Sokka wondered if he should he make comments.
No, better not. He was still in the bad books from the chest poke. There was only so much of Katara ranting and being called a hedgehog-buggering fuckwit he wanted in his day.
The weird thing was that despite Aang's massive crush on Katara, the kid didn't even seem to notice when Katara started crushing on someone. But, then again, Aang hadn't noticed with Haru and Jet either. Maybe the little guy was just too down in the dumps tonight. Aang had been staring into the campfire dejectedly for a long time.
Katara asked him if he was okay. He wasn't really. He was very melancholy and disbelieving about how the village could turn on them so quickly. Zuko pointed out that they hadn't turned on them, only him. He then pointed to the mass of bruises on his chest (though, to be fair, he could have really pointed anywhere on his person at this point).
Aang got cross (but not really at any of them) and said that didn't make any sense. It was against what the monks had taught him. It didn't make sense for them to treat Zuko that way after he had tried to help save the town just because he was a firebender.
There was a delicate sort of silence. Zuko looked between Sokka and Katara questioningly before turning back to Aang.
"Aang, you do know there's been a war going on between the Fire Nation and the rest of the world for a hundred years, right?" he said slowly, like he thought Aang was simple.
Ah, Aang. This was the downside of having Aang come from what sounded like a gloriously peaceful time.
A lot had changed in a hundred years. Katara and Sokka were frequently put in the awkward position of explaining how things were now. His sister had always tried to sugar-coat things for Aang, tried to make them sound less terrible. But today he had seen more raw hate than his little vegetarian brain could understand. There could be no sugar-coating this afternoon's events.
The tough-love-honest-no-sugar-coating-to-be-had conversations were always left up to Sokka.
Sokka tried explaining more in depth about the pain the Fire Nation had caused people and why some people felt the way they did. He brought up things that Aang had seen: Haru's village and the cruel way the earthbenders had been imprisoned, the destroyed forest, Suki's village (he made sure to glare directly at Zuko as he explained about that one), even Jet's village, and all the refugees they kept seeing.
Aang was looking at him, wide-eyed, and Sokka felt a little mean. Even though he'd been there, it was almost like Aang just glided above them all, happy and cheerful, and just not seeing all the bad in the world. It made Sokka feel horrible. He always had to be the bad guy and bring Aang crashing back down to earth. Aang was staring at him like he was a kicked puppy and Sokka was a big pair of stomping reality boots.
So was Zuko, come to think of it, and that surprised Sokka. Zuko seemed to have a much better grasp of their reality earlier. He had certainly been kicked by horrible reality boots frequently during his life. Zuko had seemed to understand, though it obviously riled him, why the village had acted as they did, but now he was also looking at Sokka in open astonishment.
"My whole village was raided again and again until there was so few of us left," Sokka continued to explain. "They kidnapped and murdered all our water benders, and that's why there was no one to teach Katara. Our father had to leave to go protect us … after our mother was murdered in the last raid."
Sokka paused to look over at his sister. She'd finished rubbing in her tincture at some point when Sokka was talking. She sat between him and Zuko, poking the fire steadily with a stick. She had let Sokka do all the brutal-truth talking. She normally did. She was the optimist and he was the realist. She had her eyes cast down, away from him, her mouth set in a firm line.
"We've lost so much, Aang," Sokka said. "That's why people hate the Fire Nation. It won't matter to them that your friend Kuzon from a hundred years ago was a great guy."
People felt the way they did because they were hurting, not because they were automatically bad people.
"I even lost my mother's necklace because of them," Katara added softly, reaching up to touch the empty space at her neck. "It was all I had left of her."
"But I made you a new necklace," Aang started to say, forlornly, as if a new necklace would make everything better.
At his words, Katara smiled overly bright. "I know you did, and it was beautiful, but it unravelled when we were walking," she said, trying to soothe his obvious distress.
"I'll make it for you again," Aang offered.
She smiled that bright, brittle smile again before looking away.
Zuko reached over and put his hand on her shoulder to get her attention. "It's a blue chord with a carved, blue stone, isn't it?"
He spoke so quietly that Sokka and Aang had to strain to hear him. Katara nodded.
"I still have it on my ship," Zuko explained softly, like he only wanted Katara to hear him. "I am really sorry about using it … before. I didn't know it was your mother's."
Zuko looked a little shame-faced. Katara gazed at him in open astonishment.
"You're sorry?" she asked, sounding puzzled. She was looking at Zuko like he was a particularly challenging math problem and she was trying to figure him out.
"I am. Once I'm back on the ship, I'll make sure you get it back," he said awkwardly, taking his hand off her shoulder and rubbing the back of his neck.
"Really?" Katara sounded hopeful and vulnerable.
"Of course. It's the least I can do."
"Thank you," Katara whispered back.
Frozen hell. Now they were just looking at each other again!
Gross.
Sokka wasn't a waterbender, but he wanted to pour cold water all over this cursed, moon-eyes situation. He resorted to throwing his cup of water over the two of them. "Oi, stop that, you two!"
Zuko swore explosively again and some very colourful insults were directed at Sokka. Katara made an indignant squeal before bending the water off them and making it into a snowball, which she then threw in Sokka's direction.
"Don't throw snow at me. I'm just saying we've got to concentrate on getting this jerk—" he pointed in Zuko's direction "—back to his ship first, so don't go getting your hopes up."
There was a disgruntled silence. Sokka took this to be a temporary truce from his sister on the snowball front.
"It's pretty obvious to me that we can't just drag him around through the Earth Kingdom willy-nilly," Sokka began.
"Yeah, I'd really appreciate it if you guys didn't do that," Zuko said, sounding much more like his usual grumpy self and not someone who was nearly crushed by a mob earlier.
"But he looks so obviously Fire-Nation with his stupid eyes and his stupid face," Sokka continued, ignoring Zuko's insulted look. "I propose we keep him in disguise when go into towns. He can borrow my spare shirt."
"What? Your shirt? I don't want your shirt. All your clothes still smell like fish!" Zuko interjected.
"It's either a fish shirt or a likely repeat of today's incident," Sokka said crossly.
"How would your fish shirt be a disguise? People can still see my face."
"Nah, it'll make you look Water Tribe. Everyone will think we're cousins or something," Sokka explained.
"Wait, how would that work? How could I possibly be Water Tribe? Am I adopted?" Zuko wrinkled his nose in confusion.
"No, your side of the family is just super pale. Whiter than the snow," Sokka replied.
"Why?" Zuko asked, looking at Sokka in open astonishment again.
"For camouflage. You'd be almost invisible in the ice," Sokka said mildly, even though he knew that wasn't what Zuko meant.
"No, idiot … just, after everything you just said about how much you hate the Fire Nation, why are you being nice to me?" Zuko asked him directly.
Aang and Katara were looking at him too.
Sokka felt like he was being put on the spot and squirmed self-consciously. He tried to make light of it. "I'm not really that nice to you, you know. I kidnapped you, got you shot, and I handcuffed you all day. You really need to up your standards on what you consider nice."
"Maybe I do, but that still doesn't explain why," Zuko said, unwilling to let the subject drop.
"Well, you're not as bad as Jet, I guess. You're … not the worst person I've ever met. Don't go thinking I like you or anything, but I don't want you to get killed either."
Frozen hell, everybody was just looking at him now.
Sokka turned to face the group. "Look, I just want to see his stupid face back to his stupid ship without having his stupid self murdered by an angry mob or his own people. Is that too much to ask?"
"Who's Jet?" Zuko asked, clearly picking up on what he thought was the most important bit of what Sokka just said.
Jet was obviously the most important thing, Sokka thought sarcastically to himself.
"Katara's boyfriend," Sokka said, smugly. Feast on that firebender. You aren't the first guy she's made moon eyes at.
"He was not my boyfriend," Katara said crossly, and moments later a snowball hit Sokka in the face.
"You were making moon eyes at him right until he blew up that dam!" Sokka contested, wiping the snow off. He turned to Zuko. "Jet was this good-looking guy we met. Like, really handsome and athletic. Charming, too."
Sokka paused for a second. He had been hoping to make Zuko jealous and insecure by talking up Jet's few good qualities (hotness and charm). However, judging from the perplexed look the other boy was giving him, Sokka had only succeeded in making it sound like he was the one who'd had the crush.
"But he was a total psycho," Sokka added quickly. "Katara was all like my strong, manly hero, you are so great!" Sokka lifted his pitch to mimic his sister's infatuated voice.
"Oi! I never did that! I don't sound like that!" She looked like she was seconds away from rolling another snowball.
"Jet convinced Aang and Katara to use their waterbending to fill up this reservoir to maximum capacity so he could flood this nearby town. I pointed out to both of them that Jet was shifty as fuck, but neither of them listened to me, because they were so taken in by his dashing good looks …"
"It sounds like you were the one who was taken in by his dashing good looks," Zuko muttered, sounding amused.
Sokka flicked some of the slush from his hands at him. Zuko moved to dodge and then winced terribly and carried on a bit. Sokka ignored this and continued his tale of heroics during the Jet Incident.
"Then I had to go and save the town. I went down and warned everybody and helped them evacuate so when the dam did explode, at least nobody was hurt. But the town was ruined, so that sucked," he finished.
"Wait," Zuko said. "I heard about this. Was this Gaipan? Are you telling me you are the mystery hero of Gaipan?"
"Yep," Sokka said, feeling oddly satisfied. Mystery hero of Gaipan, eh? He liked that.
"Well, good on you for saving the town then." Zuko turned to Aang and Katara. "But shame on you two for wrecking the town," he added sternly.
Katara pulled away from him abruptly, looking insulted.
Yes! Sokka crowed inwardly. Bringing up Jet was reaping the desired results. Good to know that asshole was still good for something: ruining other boys for Katara.
"We never meant to wreck the town!" she said crossly.
"Well, that town still got wrecked," Zuko responded.
"Give us a break," Aang started to say. "We didn't intend—"
"Give you a break?" Zuko cut in, sounding pissed off. "I didn't intend to harm Kyoshi and you guys never give me a break about that."
Aang started to say something back. Sokka sensed that a squabble was brewing, but not a squabble between Zuko and Katara, which was what he had been aiming for. Time to put an end to this. He still had one more point to make.
"Well, what do you know? I am the only person here who hasn't accidentally wrecked a town," he said loudly, cutting over the top of both Zuko and Aang. "And this is why you should all listen to me and trust my instincts."
There was a short, offended silence from the other three.
"When we trusted your instincts, we ended up walking right into that Fire Nation camp and meeting Jet," Katara said, sounding unimpressed.
"At least my instincts don't lead to random destruction of property!"
He received another snowball to the face for this.
-o-
Lovely readers!
One million billion thanks to the gorgeous Boogum for fantastic beta reading!
If you are reading down here, then thanks for sticking with this fic! I hope you enjoyed Chapter 4. So much love and enormous thanks to everyone who reviews. I do love feedback. It feeds my creative engine.
Today I would like to ramble about:
1) the fortune-teller and powerful benders.
2)I'm sorry, Zuko getting hurt again was necessary for the plot!
3) Sokka's attitude to Katara and boys.
4) The necklace.
So Aang is still the powerful bender who saves the town, because he is the avatar. The avatar is, by default, meant to be one of the most powerful benders in the world. Sorry to everyone who was hoping it would be Zuko. But take comfort in the fact that Aang is not the only powerful bender in the world, let alone in this chapter.
Zuko is also quite a powerful bender and he will definitely be acknowledged as such by Katara at later date. I honestly think Katara acknowledging "the powerful bender" for herself is a little more meaningful than a throw away line from Sokka, tacked on to the end of an anti-k taang ep. YMMV.
Zuko helped a lot here, with his heat re-direction, and his knowledge of volcanoes would have been very useful. I always wondered how Sokka knew so much about volcanoes in the show (as the are not a geological feature of the south, as far as I can tell). But then I realised its was probably Aang, remembering travelling in the Fire Nation with Kuzon, who came up with the ideas in this episode.
Zuko helping was important because I do think he would. He was always a good person, who had been indoctrinated into a warmongering and brutal culture, rather than a bad guy. I think it was important for the Gaang to see that he was a good person in his own right, even if they will still be at odds about the Aang catching issue.
Poor Zuko. He suffers a lot in my fic. But it is plot-necessary suffering. I needed to incapacitate him in some way, because I couldn't see the Gaang dragging along a fully healthy Zuko around the Earth Kingdom. Mob violence isn't fun, but I promise he's going to be a better person for it. I can also tell you that he will not be injured next chapter, but will be shown some love and care instead.
This allowed me to bring some of his growth from season 2, Zuko alone, forward (but he doesn't have to be alone this time, so yay). He got to really understand some the terrible things the Fire Nation has done. All the things that Sokka was talking about would have been things he would have seen with his own eyes from following them, but he would see them from a new perspective. He also got to experience doing the right thing, but having people unable to look past his nationality.
He also got to be saved by three kids who can look past his nationality, and who are becoming his friends. I think the Makapu incident would really help all of them bond. Nothing like a bit of crazy life or death drama to create a bond between people. Like Harry, Ron and Hermione in book 1, fighting the troll. There are some things you can't go through together without becoming friends.
The why-everyone-hates-the-Fire-Nation conversation was super crucial for everyone, because it really cleared the air about the war and where everyone stands. Aang needed to hear all that as well. I love precious season 1 Aang, but he had such a childish outlook, and was so sheltered by Katara. This is not good for him in the long run. Perpetually sheltered Aang will think that showing Firelord Ozai his baby pictures in Sozin's comet is an acceptable plan of action. Goodness me!
Katara is the sugar coating optimist, and Sokka is the sarcastic realist. This no-holes-barred, realities-of-war conversation was always going to fall to him. But Aang needed to hear it. Aang needed to see that blind hatred, to better understand what he is up against and how the world has changed. The stakes needed to be real, and it couldn't have been something he could 'quick and clever' his way out of. Hence mob violence.
The Gaang also needed to see that just because someone is from the Fire Nation, it doesn't automatically make them the bad guy, and just because someone is from the Earth Kingdom didn't make them the good guy. One of ATLA's strengths was always how nuanced an approach they had to representing the different nations. There were bad people and good people in each nation in the show.
Sokka is a protective older brother, this is true. Sometimes, in fic, he gets portrayed as this boorish, over-bearing type who wants to have control over Katara's love life. But I don't think that is true. Areaph wrote the most beautiful meta about Sokka and his journey towards becoming a man, understanding his what his own idea of masculinity is and how he unlearns the Water-tribe's sexism. Sokka's journey is actually extremely well-written and consistent.
Sokka knows Katara. He knows he has no chance of controlling that dynamic force-of-nature. He also knows her well enough to know when she is crushing on someone. The girl is not subtle. I also think his main objections to any blossoming feelings between Zuko and Katara would be out the external issues (War, Zuko's nationality) rather than an objection to Zuko himself as a person. His objection to Jet is that Jet is, in Sokka's view, a manipulative psycho. His objection to Zuko is that Zuko is Fire Nation, not that he thinks Zuko is a bad person.
Sokka is a practical person. He would know that inter-racial relationships in a war-torn world are going to be extremely difficult, even before you add in the complication of being on the opposite sides of that war. He does not want to deal with the drama-cursed-circle-of-moon-eyes will lead to.
The necklaces are also a metaphor for love! They join papaya from the last chapter.
The fishing-line/woven necklace Aang makes dissappears in the middle of the Fortune-teller in the show. It most likely unravelled or Katara unravelled it herself to give Sokka back his fishing line.
That necklace is not meant to last. It was not built out of suitable necklace material – just like the Kataang relationship did not have a suitable foundation. I even would argue that Aang's Air Nomad beliefs, such as the rejection of the traditional family unit, would make him equally unsuitable as a husband in Sokka's eyes.
Zuko can give Katara something she values, a connection to her family. More importantly he understands why she would value a connection to her mother in the first place. He understands that so much. He feels guilt about his necklace dangling in the pirates episode. He can give her something lasting, meaningful and real.
He also really needed to apologise for necklace dangling. Let's get that checked off, right now.
There is a Doug Judy reference thrown in for all of you B99 fans!
Next chapter, the Gaang will be travelling together through the forest on their way to Bato of the Watertribe. There will be bonding, sarcasm, shenanigans, several meaningful conversations and hand-holding.
Til then, my lovelies.