The best thing about this chapter is that it's all one scene. It has funny stuff, serious stuff, fighting, bending, and fluff all together! It is seriously just all over the place as far as genre goes, but it makes sense. And I really like it. And it's long.
They had been walking in the woods for several hours now, the ostrich horse having been retrieved and following behind them, carrying their packs. Their list was five items long, the other seven having been either too far off or across water and therefore more suited to being acquired through flight of bison.
Katara had been thinking hard, rolling something over in her mind over and over again. It was kind of bothering her and seemed rather important, especially since she was now traveling with him alone.
Finally, it got to the point where she couldn't keep it in any longer and she just blurted it out:
"Hey Zuko, I thought you said you didn't have any honor."
Zuko swung around. "Who told you that?!" he demanded.
Katara's grip tightened on the ostrich horse's reins at the fury on his face. "You did."
Zuko jerked back as if he's been slapped. "Oh." And he turned around.
They walked on some more until Katara felt she had given him sufficient time to calm down.
"So then what did you mean by that?" she asked softly. "Did you really mean you have no honor? Or did you lie when you promised Sokka?"
Zuko stopped but didn't turn around. Katara stared at his back. In her mind, however, it wasn't her own, slim back she saw, but his large and muscular one. She could just see how it would look, stiff and rigid.
"You remembered," he murmured.
Katara snorted. "Of course, I remembered. You tied me to a tree."
Zuko hung his head to the side, not really looking at her but bringing his profile into view. His braid slipped over his shoulder and slid down his back.
"Sorry."
Katara blinked. "Um, it's okay. Um… apology accepted?"
Zuko nodded once and then walked on.
Katara trotted up to him, right behind his shoulder. The ostrich horse huffed and followed. Katara could see down on Zuko, the top of his head came an inch or two below her shoulder.
"Could you tell me about it?" she asked as delicately as she could. Zuko stopped and she just managed to keep from knocking him over. She was sure she would if she hadn't stopped in time – she was just so large and he was just so tiny.
A moment passed where she considered their heights as they actually were, switched, but she shook it off and continued.
"I mean, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to."
Zuko shook his head. "It's a long story."
"We've got a lot of time," Katara pointed out.
Zuko seemed to consider it. He whirled around and looked up into Katara's eyes. Katara watched, fascinated by the emotions that passed over his face. She could tell he was trying to figure out her sincerity, how much she wanted to know, how much he wanted to tell her.
His gaze drifted right and rested on the left side of her face. Katara could feel the warped skin around her eye and cheek prickling as he regarded it. His hand lifted and his fingertips hovered only centimeters above the flesh.
Katara took his hands – now delicate and brown – into her own new, rough and large fingers and placed them on her cheek.
Zuko's eyes widened and his gaze darted back to hers.
"Zuko…" Katara struggled to find the words she wanted. "We're kinda… it's almost like…" she sighed. "I don't know. We're almost like the same person now, you know? I mean, we haven't been through all the same stuff, but we've both been through a lot and most of it's been pretty recently and actually with each other. Maybe… maybe that makes us connected, you know, on a deeper level, even if we aren't friends."
Katara wasn't sure, but she felt like Zuko looked like he was about to cry. His eyes were wide and shining and suddenly Katara's chest expanded in sympathy. She dropped the reins and pulled Zuko towards her, wrapping her arms around his smaller body.
At first, he was stiff but he soon flowed into the hug, into her warmth and creeped his fingers around her stomach to hug her back. Katara made a note that Zuko had a sensitive belly as it leapt spasmodically under his hands, and tried to make the hug as comforting as possible.
Zuko's first thought was that it felt strange to be hugged. The last person to hug him had been his mother. His second thought was that it was strange to be hugged by himself.
His third thought was that he felt very safe.
It was a strange feeling because what made him feel safe was the strength in the arms around him, which was his own strength.
But it wasn't even just that, really. It was the wholeness in the hug. The feeling Katara was emitting, that she wanted to keep him from being unhappy, that she truly cared. It felt really good to be hugged like that and to accept the hug.
Unfortunately, his nose began to run and he sniffed. Katara pulled away and looked down at him.
"You're crying?" Katara looked completely bewildered.
Zuko was furious. "I am not!" he shouted, back away. His hand reached up without him realizing it and wiped the wetness from his face.
"What the…" he looked down at the moisture on the back of his hand. He looked back up at Katara, his blue eyes hard.
"Why am I leaking?" he demanded. "Your body is leaking!"
Katara had a strange look on her face as she looked down at him. The look only made him angrier, like she thought he was being weird or something.
"You're just crying, Zuko. I didn't make you do that."
"Yes, you did!" Zuko felt hysterical now. The tears were coming faster and more easily and the knowledge of that as they dripped down his cheeks and nose made him even more churlish. Why weren't they stopping? What was wrong!?
"Oh gods." His voice was strangled now and he wiped at his face with both hands. "What's wrong with me?"
Katara reached out but Zuko took a step back, still rubbing at his face. Her hand hung in the air for a moment and then fell to her side.
"It's normal, Zuko," she said quietly. "You're upset. And yeah, maybe it is my body's fault a little bit. I do tend to cry a little when I get upset. But it's normal."
"This isn't normal!"
Katara put her hand on her hips. "Yes, it is."
"No, it isn't!"
"Shut up, Zuko!" Katara shouted. Zuko froze in his spot at her outburst and she continued. "I said it's normal and it is! I don't know why you feel like you've got to tell me what to do all the time! I'm telling you now, so suck it up!"
Zuko stared at her, his hands paralyzed in the air near his face. Katara glared at him, a little surprised at herself but unwilling to give in. What Zuko did next shocked the both of them to the core of their roots.
He broke out into tears afresh.
It was then that the situation – the cause and the silliness of Zuko, the hard-faced, rough-tempered Fire Nation prince, trapped in a girl's body, unable to control or stop his own crying – it all got to her and she laughed.
First, it was a giggle. Zuko didn't notice.
Then, it was a chuckle, from the back of her throat and she lifted a hand to her mouth to stifle it.
But it didn't work and soon she was laughing outright.
"It isn't funny!" Zuko rubbed at his eyes.
"I'm sorry, Zuko," Katara wheezed, bending over and trying to catch her breath. "But it is!"
"It's not!"
"You're a…" Katara kept laughing. "You're a little girl!"
Zuko stomped his foot. "I am not!"
"Ha ha… yes you are!"
"No!"
Zuko ran over and pushed her and she fell back to the ground. There, she continued laughing, a hand on her flat stomach and her eyes closed in mirth.
"Stop laughing!" Zuko shouted. By now, he was no longer crying. Fury had swept over him, pure and fierce. It was nice to know that this body could be angry just as strong as his own body could.
Without thinking, his right hand went to his hip as his left thumb flicked open the top of the water pouch that hung there. His fingers drew together and pulled back, his wrist flicking at Katara.
Katara sat up suddenly, her face sopping.
Zuko stared, his blue eyes wide, his stance in the correct position, naturally.
"You just…" Katara was dumbfounded. "You just waterbended at me!"
Zuko stepped back, out of the fighting position, but his hand still at his hip, his stance still wary.
"Well, you can't blame me," he told her, watching her warily. "You're the one who started it! You laughed at me."
Katara used the bottom of her shirt to mop up the water. "It's not that really… it's just… insulting, frankly. I'm the waterbender. You're the firebender."
"What? You thought I couldn't do it?" Zuko was affronted.
Katara rolled her eyes as she stood up. "That wasn't really you, Zuko. That was muscle memory. You didn't even think about it."
"Or maybe I'm just so amazing at it that I don't need to think about it!"
Is that what I look like when I'm being righteously angry? Katara wondered to herself briefly. Zuko was standing with his arms crossed and his nose in the air, but in her body. It was a position she recognized as something she did a lot when she was arguing with Sokka, convinced she was in the right.
"That's not amazing, Zuko," she waved her hand in the air dismissively. "That's muscle memory. I'm the one who worked so hard to get my body to do that."
"I think you're just jealous," Zuko disagreed. "I think you're upset that I'm a better waterbender than you and I'm Fire Nation!"
"Fine!" Katara scoffed, her temper starting to get the better of her. "Then you be me for the rest of your life and I'll be you! I think being a prince would suit me!"
"Oh yeah?" Zuko glared at her.
"Yeah!" Katara stood up straight. "I'm tall, I'm strong. I can firebend pretty good and I'm not half bad-looking when I'm not scowling."
Zuko stared at her, his mouth hanging open.
"Yeah!" Katara concluded, looking really pleased with herself. "I like this idea! I can do it!"
"B-But…"
"Except…" Katara lowered her eyes. "Except we can't leave Sokka and Aang like this. It wouldn't be fair. Besides. Could you imagine Sokka as the Avatar?"
Zuko regained his composure and scoffed.
"I wouldn't mind," he retorted. "It would be a lot easier to catch that buffoon."
"Are you still on that?" Katara glared,luhgsgdg. "Do you realize how bad that would be? If you captured the Avatar? How much the world would suffer?"
Zuko's eyes flashed. "At least I would have my honor!"
"Stuff your honor!" Katara yelled. "Even your uncle knows better and he's been Fire Nation longer than you!"
Zuko turned away. "Uncle is a fool," he murmured.
Katara scoffed. "Yeah, he'd have to be." Zuko whirled around to glare at her – he was still his Uncle, not hers! – but she plowed on, ignorant of his outrage or uncaring.
"I mean, he's put up with you, hasn't he? He obviously cares a lot about you, loves you even, and all you ever do is yell at him." Katara tossed her head back like she was flipping an imaginary braid over her shoulder instead of the short bristly hair she had now.
"I've seen you." She continued on. "You're all bluster and temper. I can't imagine why he'd stick around unless it was because he actually liked you, except even then I can't imagine why. It's not like you're grateful. I mean, he obviously doesn't like the idea of you capturing Aang and upsetting the balance, but he helps you anyway. Here's this guy who would choose you and what you want over the entire world and all you do is yell and act like a brat! I don't think even Sokka would put up with me if that's how I treated him!"
There was silence in the forest as both of them mulled over what was just said. Katara knew that Sokka would never abandon her, no matter how bratty she acted, and she felt kina bad about saying he would, even if she knew it wasn't true. But still, she felt she had to make a point.
Zuko was thinking. He was reflecting on the past two years and beyond, about how much his uncle had doted on him, supported him and followed him, both before and after his scarring. He had once said that Zuko was like a son to him, and Zuko had to admit, at least to himself if no one else, that Uncle Iroh was like a father to him.
Maybe even more so than his own real father.
Zuko lifted his chin and set off purposefully down the trail. He walked past Katara and the ostrich horse that was eating greens off the side of the path.
"Wait!" Katara called out. "Where are you going?"
Zuko responded without turning his head back to her.
"To get the ingredients," he said. There's no way you're getting my uncle, he thought.
Katara stood, her hands at her sides as she stared after him. Shaking her head like a dog trying to remove water from its ears, she scooped up the reins to the ostrich horse and hurried to catch up with him.
Walking behind him, Katara smiled to herself, wondering if she had ever sashayed quite so confidently when she was in her own body, and if Zuko realized how feminine his indignation was manifesting.
Now that summer's here, I will definitely be finishing. And this will be a good story, I can feel it. And you know what else I feel like doing? Writing a lemon. So I think there'll be one of those in here too. Good luck with that. I've never done it before! Hopefully it'll be good. It's just that this tension... so yummy.
Now the question is, should they be in their own bodies when it happens or each others? ;)
Review, please:)
