Eventualities Are Inevitable - A Zutara Story
Meeoko
Summary : Whilst settling into every day Avatar routines at The Western Air Temple, Zuko and Katara must learn to get along in close quarters. But do they learn more than they bargained for?
Possible Spoilers : The Western Air Temple, The Fire Bending Masters and Burning Rock part one and two.
Authors Note : You guys have been really supportive whilst I've been writing this. Thanks for being patient and reviewing. Sorry for the delay. Will be updating a lot more often now that college is finished.
The sweltering heat of afternoon was slowly cooling down to a more mild evening temperature. Katara wiped the sweat from her upper lip and looked skyward from her private perch in a secluded corner of the Air Temple. She had decided to sit away from the manic fray of the day. Her training with Aang had finished for the day and she realised sadly, that all that awaited her back at camp was more cooking, mending and general motherly chores.
Why doesn't anybody else ever help with the work? She thought, a little bitterly.
So she had decided to crawl away for an hour or two and enjoy the solitude and respite from her work. Who'd have thought an abandoned air temple would be so...messy?
From her perch, she could see the general layout of the Northern Air Temple without being discovered herself. She also received the most luscious scent of pine needles, carried by a merciful wind from across the other side of the gigantic chasm that separated their small group from the rest of civilisation.
...and attack.
Arching her back and sprawling her legs outwards, Katara tried not to think of all the time they had wasted while staying at the Temple. Sure, there was security and a place to sleep without constant threat of the Fire Nation Army, but Sozin's Comet was soon to arrive. She wondered if Aang was ready. If they were ready to face the Fire Lord.
What if something goes wrong? What if we can't...don't win? She shivered, but not from the wind.
Her previously happy mood had now dissipated completely into silenced terror.
Katara shut her eyes for what seemed like a very long time. Breathing in the spicy scent of Fire Nation forestry, she tried to forget anything and everything that was bothering her. Perhaps it would all work out. Surely Sokka and her father had worked out some sort of attack plan by now?
When she opened her eyes, she realised that she had been sitting down for much longer than she had first planned. The sun was lower in the sky, with almost three hours of light left before darkness overtook them.
Slapping her forehead, she remembered that there wasn't nearly enough firewood left to cook dinner with.
I should have done that hours ago!
Grumbling to herself, she rubbed down her legs (as they had fallen asleep), got up and shivering slightly against the chilly breeze, headed for the campfire.
Trudging back to the campfire on heavy feet, Katara was greeted by a barrage of angry protest.
"Hey sis, where's dinner already?" Sokka whined.
"Yeah, Sugar Queen – I'm starving!"
"Where's the food?"
"I'm hungry!" The Duke clutched his rumbling stomach feebly.
Gritting her teeth, Katara tried to maintain a composed attitude. She took a deep breath before answering, directing her answer to her brother, as she could afford to act aggressive toward him without too much trouble.
"Well, as you're all so eager to eat, I wonder why none of you thought to gather any more firewood so that I can cook."
A giggle escaped from Aang. Katara immediately shot him daggers, now completely uninterested in pleasantries. "What?"
He stopped himself and looked insanely guilty and his cheeks turned red. He directed his reply to something particularly interesting that he had spotted on the floor.
"It's...it's nothing, Katara. I was just..."
"Just what, Aang?" she huffed back "Please tell me what's so funny."
"You...you just said 'can cook'. I thought it was...uhm, well...kinda funny."
"Yeah sis, Aang has a point." Sokka waved his boomerang around lazily in one hand, twirling it beteween thumb and forefinger. Behind Katara, Aang waved frantically at him, trying to avoid the coming crisis.
Shut up, Sokka. You're gonna get me in trouble!
She raised her eyebrow at him, willing her brother to continue.
"Well, you aren't exactly the best cook ever, Katara. So when you said 'can cook', it was kinda funny. Because...you know, you can't."
Katara's cheeks reddened. She turned to Aang with a face like thunder, who slapped his forehead.
"Is that what you think, Aang? That I'm a lousy cook?"
"No, Katara! You're cooking is very...different." A huge frown distorted her face and she stuck out her bottom lip.
"Well, if it's so awful, then why are you all staring at me like this because I haven't fed you my terrible cooking?"
She was greeted by silence. Just then, her father strode out from inside the temple. He looked quizzically and the unsettling display of completely silent teenagers.
"What's going on?" he asked.
"Nothing." Katara replied sulkily, staring individually at everyone present at the circle. "I'm just going to gather some firewood." She turned to walk away before Hakoda placed a hand on her shoulder to stop her.
"Not alone you're not. It's nearing dark and you don't know the lay of the land."
She tried to shrug him off, but he just shot her a stern 'Do As I Say' fatherly look, stopping her short.
"I can go by myself, Dad. It's just firewood."
"You aren't stepping foot out of here on your own." his gaze told her that he was serious. He had gone into over-protective father mode and there wasn't much she could do to change his mind. "Zuko, why don't you go with her?" he suggested, pointing to Zuko, sitting against a pillar away from the group. Katara hadn't even realised he was there. Zuko raised an eyebrow.
"Me?" he asked stupidly.
"Yes you." Hakoda replied, but with a gentle smile "I know you'll watch out for her. After all your help at The Boiling Rock, I think I can trust you."
Zuko wasn't sure wether to be overjoyed at his acceptance into the group or to quail in fear at the look Katara was giving him.
"I don't know. Maybe Sokka should..."
"Yeah dad. I'll be fine."
But Hakoda insisted.
"Nonsense. It's getting dark and Zuko can provide you with some light. Plus, he knows exactly what to expect and avoid around the countryside."
Katara glared at her father horribly, but he seemed not to notice.
"Just make sure you're back before it gets too dark." he chided, in his fatherly tone. Katara rolled her eyes, and Zuko blushed slightly as the entire party watched them trudge away from the campfire with hunched shoulders.
"And bring back some meat!" Sokka shouted after them as they strode away.
They walked through the dank catacombs of the Temple to reach the surface. The catacombs involved a series on hidden passages, tunnels and secret switches activated by air. They walked in complete silence, Katara furious and impassive and Zuko uncomfortable and unwilling to test the woman scorned.
Several times, they found themselves losing their way or meeting a dead-end. There was once instance where their path had been blocked by an Air Nomad door, that needed an Air Bender to open. As none of them had the ability to use Air Bending or to even create the illusion of it to fool the door into opening (Zuko tried using steam and Katara tried mist), they had to re-direct themselves in an entirely different direction until they found a way out.
When they reached the surface, they realised that almost an hour had passed since they set out to gather the wood in the first place. This didn't help to improve Katara's already miserable mood.
"Perhaps we should find a different way up next time." Zuko suggested. Katara completely ignored him, still in a silent fury from her father unjust 'orders' and the gangs childish attitudes.
What am I, their mother?
The entrance of the catacombs opened up into a small rounded clearing in the surrounding woods, strewn with the remnants of old stone structures and statues of the Air Nomads. Katara thought that if she saw one more decoration, painting or sculpture of a Flying Bison, she would go insane.
"You'll find the driest wood inland. The recent rainfall wouldn't have been able to reach it under the canopies."
Katara's reply was a monosyllabic grunt and shoulder shrug. Zuko tried incredibly hard not to roll his eyes – or at least when she was looking.
Lighting a tiny flame in his palm, he walked toward an opening in the woods. Katara had no choice but to follow him.
He led the way into the tree's, parting any obstructions with a swift slice from one of the double swords strapped across his back, the tiny flame delicately balanced in the centre of his other hand. He seemed to jump and swerve so quickly between the tree's, slicing and hacking, not even breaking a sweat.
Why does he have to be so good at everything? Katara grumbled inwardly, following raggedly behind with short breaths and crossed arms.
She watched him sidestep roots easily and clamber among higher branches to strike down any hanging vines or obstacles. Other than their light source, he didn't use his Fire Bending. Creating any larger fire in such a dense forest would be idiotic and more importantly - suicidal!
Show-off. She thought.
Finally, they stopped. Zuko seemed to have dubbed it worthy to collect, Katara thought spitefully.
It's just firewood! What does it matter?
Spreading out, they began to gather large handfuls of twigs and logs. Katara noticed grudgingly that the wood was completely dry. The rain hadn't been able to reach this far down into the tree's.
Neither of them spoke. In fact, nobody had said a single word since leaving the mouth of the catacombs.
Although she didn't want to have to, Katara tried to stay within ten feet of Zuko, as he held the only source of light glowing in his palm. After a while, clutching her bundle of firewood, Katara tried to judge how much time had passed. But when she looked upwards, she realised that the sky just wasn't there. She couldn't see a single thing through the large bulk to leafy treetops above. There was no way of knowing how much time had elapsed until they left the woods again.
Katara cringed inwardly at the thought of her father running into the woods all gun-ho like a mad man, hell bent on rescuing her from the wrath of the scary wood spirits.
Suddenly, they heard the snap of a twig from inside the forest. They both tensed, dropping their firewood and immediately taking up their bending poses.
"Zuko?" she whispered, rigid with worry.
Zuko raised a finger to his lips, the flame in his hand still alight as Katara silently uncorked her water skins, letting her silky weapons swirl in midair. She worried the sparkling water might direct unwanted attention.
They stood, completely tense for what seemed an eternity. They each strained their ears and eyesight to pick up any source of surrounding life.
Please don't be Azula. Katara pleaded to a silent force. Just be an animal. Please don't be Azula.
It was then they were attacked.
Authors Note: Ooh, what's going to happen? Dun dun duuuunnnn! Guess you'll just have to wait and find out, huh? Hope you guys liked this chapter. I thought it would be un-realistic of Katara to be in a happy mood all the time (as we all know how short a temper she has), so this chapter really deals with the worries of Sozin's Coment, Aang's training etc.
Plus, Hakoda's unwanted 'suggestion' lol.
Parents...
