Standard disclaimer applies.
An Urgent Need to Leave
Katara sat by the fire mending Zuko's torn clothes. What a far cry from the fineries that he must have worn in the past. Who was the peasant now she thought? His life certainly had taken a turn over the past few months. But then she had seen the wanted posters alongside those of the Avatar. What a crowd she ran with now. Traitors and enemies of the Fire Nation just as his sister had said. She couldn't imagine how it would feel to be an outcast from your own nation. And now with his uncle gone Zuko was completely alone.
She thought back to their encounter after he woke up. How strange it had been. She was still reeling from the fact that he had apologized to her for losing his cool. And then as if that weren't enough, he actually thanked her for healing him. The wonders never ceased. She stared over at him now as he slept. She felt bad for him. He wanted to help his uncle so much, but he couldn't. She knew though that as soon as he could he would chase after him. That path would probably get him killed, after all these same soldiers almost killed him once already. But that was his choice.
She finished Zuko's pants and was about to start on his shirt when Sokka came running up. He stopped to catch his breath and then quickly blurted out, "We have to get out of here, now!"
"Sokka, what's going own." She asked.
"Back at the village… Zuko's sister and those two girls…they're looking for Aang…maybe Zuko and his uncle as well…we need to leave before they come here!"
"Why would they come here?"
"Because he's here," He pointed at Zuko. "It's just a matter of time before she hears about what happened to him and comes looking around here."
"Did they see you or Aang while you were there?"
"No we were at of sight, but who knows what they'll find out. We need to go. Start packing your stuff and I'll load Appa."
"I'm going to need help getting Zuko onto Appa. He was awake for awhile, but he's still pretty weak."
Sokka stared at her as if she had grown another head. "We're not taking him anywhere. Have you forgotten that he's the enemy? Leave him here for his sister to find."
"Sokka we can't do that. She'll kill him."
"Yeah, well if he goes with us it will be our necks on the chopping block. He is way too dangerous to take with us. You need to think about Aang and his mission. Zuko is no longer our concern."
"You're wrong Sokka. He is our concern. He is defenseless right now. Give him some time to heal and then we can drop him off somewhere else."
"No way Katara, we are not taking him!"
"Not taking who?" Toph asked.
"She wants to take Zuko with us. Tell her she's crazy."
"Katara I hate to have to agree with Sokka, but he's right. This guy has been after you ever since you found Aang. You can't really think that he won't try to take him once the opportunity presents itself?"
"Toph, I'm not that stupid! I know we can't trust him, but we can't leave him here to face his crazy sister alone."
"Katara's right", Aang said as he approached the group. "Zuko's sister is mean and she has no love for him. When they fought at the abandoned village I thought she was going to kill him. She wouldn't hesitate now, especially since he's injured. We need to take him somewhere safe."
"Aang how can you say that?" Sokka interjected. "He has gone after you every chance he's ever had. And he won't stop now just because Katara did her healing thing. He will be trouble."
"I know that Sokka, but I owe him."
"You owe him! How could you owe him? He has attacked you so many times that I've lost count."
"It's a long story and we don't have time to go into it. We need to load up Appa and get out of here."
"Long story," Sokka muttered, "Fine don't listen to me, but we'll all be sorry. I guarantee it." With that he stormed off to load Appa.
Katara turned to Aang, "Thanks for agreeing with me. We'll be ok. We can just drop him off somewhere after he's mended a little more. Besides he's looking for his uncle now. For once I don't think you are the priority."
"Let's hope not." Toph spoke up. "I'm ready. Let's get prince charming loaded and get going."
"Zuko you need to wake up. Come on, we need to go."
"I thought I was too sick to get up." He mumbled still half asleep.
"Well things have changed." Katara said impatiently. "We need to go now."
"Unless you want to wait her for your sister." Her brother added. With that his eyes flew open.
"Azula is here?"
The brother started to laugh. "Boy, I didn't think you were afraid of anything, but I guess I was wrong."
"Sokka now is not the time to start trouble. We need to go. Look Zuko, Sokka and I are going to help you get up and onto Appa's back. But we need to hurry. She could be here at any moment."
He glared at her brother. Sokka, was it? How dare that coward imply that he was afraid of Azula. He wasn't afraid of her. He just had a healthy appreciation for preserving his life. A thought she didn't share with him. "I don't need his help!" He grumbled. "I'll get up myself."
"Now is not the time to be prideful. You need both our help and you are going to get it whether you want it or not!" she yelled at him.
"I am not an invalid. I can get up on my own!" he yelled back. "I don't need help."
With that he rolled to his right and started to push himself up. Before he could get very far he felt her hand under his left arm guiding him to a sitting position. "Don't be so stubborn." She said in a calmer voice this time. "You know you need our help. Just ignore Sokka's stupid remarks and let's get going."
He turned to look at her, their faces only inches apart. Their eyes made contact and he immediately felt foolish. Again he had let his temper get the best of him. "You're right," He said softly, "I could use your help. And I'll try to ignore the fact that your brother is an idiot."
She smiled and said, "I didn't say he was an idiot, just that he says stupid things."
"Same thing." And before he could stop himself he felt himself return her smile. He noticed her blush and look down. Suddenly he felt another hand under his right arm, this one not as gentle.
"Alright, enough already, as if having him here isn't creepy enough, you two don't need to start getting all mushy with each other. If I had known that my remark would have started all this I would have kept it to myself! Katara back off. I can do this without you. Why don't you go prepare a nice, soft spot for our guest, on Appa's back and I'll be right there."
With that he felt Sokka move to adjust his entire weight and help him stand. Once on his feet he felt a little faint, but it quickly passed. "Before we go anywhere we need to get you dressed. Katara mended your pants, but the top still needs work. Let's at least get them on so that we don't give her a show, not that she hasn't seen too much already."
Zuko could feel himself blush at the thought of her seeing him with only his undergarments for cover. He hated being weak like this. He preferred to do things for himself and needing her to care for his basic necessities and then her brother's assistance just to get dressed was embarrassing.
Putting on his clothes took a little more effort than he would have thought but soon he was dressed and Sokka asked him if he was able to walk. "I'm fine," he replied. "Let's go." Slowly they started walking toward the bison. After a moment he said, "For your information I was not being 'mushy' with your sister earlier."
"Yeah, you just go on believing that. But I will be watching you. You know I'm not as dumb as I look."
"Yeah, you just go on believing that." He said back.
They reached the bison and Zuko looked up. The thing was enormous! There was no way that he was going to be able to crawl up on that thing. "How am I supposed to get up there." He remarked.
"I can help." Came a familiar voice. The Avatar! Once again luck was on the boy's side. Even if he had wanted to, he would never have been able to take him in his present condition. He looked up at the boy and to his amazement the monk smiled at him. "You just need a little boost." And with that he was lifted up into the air and gently placed on the animal's back. It still amazed him whenever the boy would air bend. He was used to water and earth bending, but the air benders hadn't existed in his world for his entire life. It was such an unassuming ability, but yet when he wanted to this boy could perform some pretty amazing feats with air. He had experienced his unique fighting style one too many times as well. He vowed that he would not underestimate him again. But now was not the time.
Sokka climbed up next to him and the Avatar hopped on the bison sitting on his head. He looked back towards their camp and said, "Almost forgot. Appa do your stuff." With that the giant animal slapped his tail down on the ground and sent any reminder that they had been there flying into the air. "Best to not give ourselves away." The boys said and then, "Yip, Yip."
At once the bison was flying through the air. Flying. He was actually flying through the sky on the back of the Avatar's bison. Sokka was right about one thing. This whole situation was a little strange.