Author's Note: Ok, i've been getting personal comments about so many typos that i've made and i just don't want to hear them anymore. As long as you guys can understand them...I'm good! So, chap 7 is done and i hope you guys enjoy. This one has...some Toph humor in it, i hope. It might be a little funny, depending on your definition of funny. *shrugs*
Disclaimer: ...Forget it!
"I'm so excited. Oh, where are we going first?" Niani was obviously excited. She's never been out of the South Pole.
"Niani, calm down." I laughed. "It's going to be a while for us to get to where we're going."
"Can you at least tell me?"
I shook my head. "It's a surprise. Stay right here and be careful ok?"
She nodded and sat down, sitting still with a big smile on her face. I crawled out of the saddle and sat next to Zuko on Appa's head.
"So, where're we headed?"
He shrugged. "Where do you want to go?"
"I wanna show Niani Ba Sing Se."
He looked at me with an unsure look. "Are you ok with that?"
I took a deep breath and nodded.
"Ok, then to Ba Sing Se we go."
I smiled and climbed back in the saddle where Niani still sat. I smiled at her.
"You should get some rest, Niani. We have a long day."
She nodded and lay down. I grabbed a blanket and draped it over her.
"You're having her take a nap this early in the morning? She just woke up."
I turned around to see Zuko climbing into the saddle.
"She's full of excitement and needs all the energy for a place like Ba Sing Se." I looked at her. She smiled in her sleep.
"What are we suppose to do with her, Katara?"
I looked at Zuko. "What do you mean?"
"If we seriously are going around the world againdon't you think it's going to be hard with Niani around?"
I bit my lip. "I don't know. Niani's a good listener. She won't be out of hand…hopefully."
"Yeah, that helps."
I rolled my eyes. "I hope I made the right choice in taking her."
I felt Zuko's hand on my shoulder. "You did. What was she suppose to do if we didn't take her?"
"You're right. Niani's better with us." I pulled my knees to my chest.
I woke up just as the sun started going down. I stretched.
"How much longer?" I asked.
"We're almost there. I can't tell how much longer, but Appa should be getting tired soon." He crossed his arms and looked off in the distance.
"Are you ok? You seem distracted."
"Yeah I'm fine."
I crawled over to where he sat. I sat beside him. "Stop."
He looked at me. "Stop what?"
"I know what you're thinking about. We don't have to go to Ba Sing Se if you don't want to."
He shook his head. "I'll be fine."
I put my hand on his arm. "You look tired. Did you get any rest?" He shook his head. "Well, you need rest and so does Appa. I'll land him."
I climbed out of the saddle and onto Appa's head. I grabbed onto the reins. Appa started to slowly land. When we did I looked around our surrounding. Nothing but dirt and cliffs, and I could tell that we were near Ba Sing Se. This exact place seems familiar. And then I noticed that we were in a canyon. The same canyon where the drill had crossed to drill through the outer wall of Ba Sing Se. I climbed back into the saddle. "We should be safe here. Get some rest." I watched as Zuko fell asleep. Then I closed my eyes.
"Katara? Are you awake?" I opened my eyes to see Niani hovering over me. "Oh, yay you're awake."
"You ok, Niani?"
"Of course. I ate already and now I'm ready for an adventure."
I sat up. "Where's Zuko?"
She shrugged. "He said he'd be right back. Come on Katara, let's go on an adventure."
"Wait, Niani. We have to wait for Zuko. He didn't say where he was going?" She shook her head. "When did he leave?"
"About an hour ago."
"He should've been back by now. We have to look for him. Niani, I want you to stay with Appa ok. Appa's gonna take you up into the sky to see where Zuko is, ok? Understand?"
"Yes, Katara."
I smiled and kissed the top of her forehead. "Appa will bring you back." I jumped off of Appa and walked up to his face. "Appa, I need your help looking for Zuko. Niani's in the saddle so be careful." Appa groaned in agreement. I patted him and he took off. I waved to Niani and she waved back.
I started walking. "Zuko! Where could he be?" I looked around for half an hour before sitting on a rock. I looked up to see Appa coming toward me and Zuko was sitting on his head. I smiled. Appa landed and Zuko jumped off. I ran to him and hugged him.
"Where have you been?"
"I just…um…I…"
"Oh, forget it." I hugged him tighter. "I'm just glad you're ok." He hugged me tighter.
"If you two are done I'd like to go on an adventure now."
I looked up at Niani and smiled. "We should go." I let go of Zuko and got on Appa. Zuko smiled then got onto Appa's head. Then we took off.
A few minutes later we flew over the outer wall of Ba Sing Se. I stared in amazement. Even though I've been here it's still amazing. Then memories flashed in my head. The catacombs. Zuko and I. Trustworthy. Spirit Water. Azula. Betrayal. Lightning. I closed my eyes and shook my head.
"It's so beautiful." Niani looked left and right, all around.
"Down here."
I turned to Zuko. Appa landed in a grassy area, perfect for him. The three of us jumped down.
"Oh, Katara let's go. I wanna see the big city."
She grabbed my hand and started pulling me the direction she wanted to go. "Ok Niani, we will. Just slow down."
I picked her up and started walking.
"Wow Katara, I already love it."
I smiled. A shadow flew across the sky. I looked up. "No, it can't be." Zuko followed my gaze. "Is that…Aang?" Niani looked up. "He found us. He's gonna see Appa."
"Let him see. If he doesn't see us he'll take Appa and we can make new lives here."
I smiled at the thought. I kept looking at Aang. He circled the sky and spotted Appa. He flew down to him on his glider.
"We should hurry before he catches up to us."
"No, I need to talk to him."
I held Niani in my arms. A few minutes later Aang found us.
"There you guys are. Why would you run off like that? I mean seriously! Teenagers are so CRAZY!"
I rolled my eyes. "Don't blame Zuko, he was just making sure I was ok while I was…I don't know how to say it."
"Running away?"
"I guess."
Aang pointed to Niani. "When did she come along?" He raised an eyebrow.
"She's my friend. She's like a little sister to me. Don't worry."
"Oh, so why did you run away in the first place?"
"I was angry. Upset. Confused. I couldn't take it anymore. So I left a note hoping that you guys would find it that morning, but Zuko woke up and decided to come with me. I'm sorry if I got you guys worried."
"Actually I'm fine with it. It's kind of like that time you went to find the Southern Raiders. It's a journey you need you take. Take a break. So, I'm ok. It's Sokka and Toph who's acting weird."
"What's Toph saying?"
Obviously Aang doesn't know that Zuko and I are kind of together if he's this calm.
"She keeps babbling about um… something like yin and yang has gone in for the kill or something like that. Do you have any idea what that means?"
"I might have a hunch."
He shrugged. "Well, are you guys going to come back or…"
"I don't know, Aang. I'm still pretty mad at Sokka and annoyed by Toph."
"Well, everyone misses both of you."
I looked at Zuko and he nodded. "Fine we'll go back, but if Sokka gets me angry one more time I've already made my decision."
Aang nodded. I gripped onto Niani tighter. "Come on Niani, we'll see Ba Sing Se from above ok?" She nodded, a smile still spread across her face, but it wasn't as big as the first time.
We walked back to Appa, my heart letting out relief. No more memories. But you wanted to show Niani the catacombs.Too many painful memories. We got back to Appa.
"Where're we going next, Katara?"
"The Fire Nation Palace. Your new home."
We all got on Appa and flew home.
On the way I thought of what I did to Sokka. I felt bad, but I also knew that he deserved it. By the time the sun started to rise, we made it back. Appa landed and let us know that he was no longer moving from his spot. The four of us got down and I carried Niani inside. Toph was the first one to see us.
"Sugar Queen, back already?"
"I didn't plan on it." I set Niani down.
"Whoa, who's the little person?" Toph asked.
"Who? Niani? She's a new member of our group. Deal with it."
"Whoa, Katara. How long were you and Hot Head gone?"
"Not long enough. We really only stayed back home. My home. While we were there I picked up Niani."
"And how old are you?" She began laughing.
"Toph! Niani's only my friend. She's like a little sister to me."
"Ok, calm down. I was only teasing. Where's Hot Head? I wanna give him a good beat down."
"Don't hurt him."
She raised an eyebrow. "Someone's sticking up for their man." She laughed.
I stopped. The color drained from my face.
"He's not my 'man' or whatever. We're simply friends."
"More than friends. Katara, you can't lie to me so stop trying."
"Whatever. I'm gonna take Niani to the garden if anyone needs me."
I grabbed Niani's hand and we walked to the garden. "The garden?"
"Yes. It's beautiful out there. I go out there all the time."
She smiled and skipped. We made it out to the garden and I let her run around. She danced and laughed and jumped. I watched her. She reminded me of me when I was a younger. I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned around to see Zuko. "Having fun?"
"She is. Always the nature girl."
I turned my gaze back to her. She spun around and lost her balance. She fell into the pond.
"Oh, Niani." Zuko and I ran to her.
"Why does something like this always happen to me?" I smiled. Zuko pulled her out of the water. "Now I'm soaked."
I used water bending to get as much water out of her hair and clothes as possible. "Zuko, flame."
Zuko made a flame in his hand. I grabbed his wrist and brought his hand a little closer to Niani, just to dry her hair.
"Thanks Zuko and Katara." She went back to running around.
"That girl is a mess."
"Hm…now I know who she reminds me of."
He looked at me. I glared at him and pushed him into the pond then walked away.
I sat on my bed as I brushed Niani's hair. Someone knocked on the door. "Come in." Niani said as she laughed.
Zuko walked in smiling. I smiled back and looked at Niani. "Um…Niani, go find Sokka."
"Ok." She ran off laughing, her hair let out and flying behind her.
"What did Niani eat to make her so jumpy like this?" Zuko asked.
I laughed and stood up. "Maybe it's all the fish she's been eating. It tends to make you…energetic."
Zuko walked closer to me and threw his arms around my waist. "Well, she's finally out of our way."
"And what does that mean?"
"I can do this."
He leaned in and kissed me. I smiled under the kiss, but I had to remember that we were back in the palace. We'd have to be careful. The kiss was passionate, like nothing I've ever felt. I pulled away and stared into his golden eyes. My eyes searched his face before I went in for another kiss, but was interrupted by a voice down the hall.
"Katara?"
Zuko's arms fell from my waist and I backed away.
"Katara, are you in here?"
"Sokka?"
Sokka walked in with Niani holding his hand. Zuko and I turned our gazes to Sokka.
"Oh, um…I didn't know…he was going to be here uh…"
"He can be here if he wants and stop stuttering. Now talk."
"Uh…I want to apologize for my behavior the last time. I'm sorry."
Zuko was just about to speak but I set my hand on his arm. "Sokka, I was never really mad at you, just frustrated. I should be the one apologizing for what I did to you."
Zuko looked at me. He was about to argue when I covered his mouth with my hand. "Just shut up." I whispered to him.
"Katara, you don't have to apologize."
I walked away from Zuko and walked toward Sokka. I hugged him tight and didn't let go.
"Ok now, that's enough sisterly love from you."
"No, I owe you."
I gave him one last squeeze and backed away. "Now if you want me to stay you won't get me frustrated anymore. Deal?"
"Deal." He smiled.
Niani tugged on his hand. "Come on, Sokka. I'm hungry."
"Um…I was gonna take Niani into the market to get something to eat."
"Ok, just be careful." Niani dragged him away.
"Why'd you give in to him like that so easily?" I turned to Zuko.
"He's my brother. I'm suppose to forgive him."
"You didn't forgive me so easily."
I walked to him and kissed him on his cheek. "I'm kissing you aren't I?" He smiled. I was about to kiss him again when we were interrupted.
"Welcome back, Love Hog-Monkeys!"
"Can you ever keep down?" I turned around to face Toph.
"No I can't. Oh, since Hot Head's pretty anxious I'll let you kiss him. But for like two seconds before I interrupt again."
She turned her back to us. "Go on."
I kissed Zuko on his cheek again.
"Alright, enough smooching and more talking in the details."
Toph turned around and walked to my bed. She sat down on the edge.
"What details?"
"Details about your trip."
"There are no details. So just leave it be."
"How long are you two going to keep this up? You'll have to tell everyone sooner or later. And it's both worse if I tell them or if they find out themselves. I mean…you got to admit you two are I good couple."
I grabbed a pillow and threw it at her. "Hey! I'm just saying, don't opposites attract?"
"Do they? Since when are Zuko and I different?"
"You're seriously asking that question? Other than your elements…you're sweet and gentle. Zuko's totally the opposite. Don't even have me go there. I don't know how to tell you this instead of making you guys feel awkward…but you should've hooked up a long time ago. Again just saying."
"Leave, Toph."
"Why, it's not like I can see. And besides even if you kick me out and close the door I'll be able to tell if you two are standing really close."
"Just get out and go find Aang or something. Anything but spying on us."
"Whatever, but don't forget."
She stood up and walked out the door. I closed it behind her.
"Finally. She never stops talking." Zuko said. I laughed. He walked up to me. "I should go. I have a few things I need to do."
"Like what?"
He kissed me on my forehead. "Things I don't want to do, but I have to."
I smiled as he walked out of my room.
Author's Note: What do you guys think? Is there enough fluff out there for you...fluffy-people? (fluffy-people? 0_o) Anyway, this is still only the beginning of a beautiful relationship. This is gonna be cool.
So, Katara's thoughts aren't really helping her, are they? They just get in the way. And Aang...wrong timing. He always comes in on the wrong time, just like in the catacombs. If anyone should come in on the wrong time, it's Sokka. Like in the one episode when they were all gonna separate in Ba Sing Se, Aang waas gonna tell Katara that he loves her then Sokka interrupted? I loved tht part. It was funny. Ok, enough talking. I like , and i'd lyk them even more if more ppl reviewed. lol.
