Chapter 8

A/N: Chapter 8 of the series. A bit longer this time, and I'm at a crossroad here; not knowing how much, or if, I'll respect the canon of the final chapters. Who knows? Thanks again to Rosey for her help.

Disclaimer: Avatar…, belongs to Nickelodeon.

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Family Matters

"So now that we're this far away, what do you suggest we do?" Toph asked, holding on to dear life while sitting on Appa's saddle.

"We should get as far from the Western Air Temple as possible." Katara replied, her eyes lost in the horizon. "We don't know how long we have before we're tracked there."

"I honestly don't think Zuko would lead them there." Aang said, sitting as usual on Appa's head. "I'm sad to say he's not very welcome neither by his family nor his country."

"And it's so hard to figure why." Katara sarcastically said. "Who knows whose side he's on now, or what his agenda is at the moment."

"Seems you complain too much about sparky, princess." Toph said. "What's with you two?"

"Nothing!" Katara and Aang answered at the same time, and a faint blush appeared on the Water Bender's face.

"Uh, that didn't sound like nothing." Suki whispered on Sokka's ear. The boy merely shrugged and shook his head.

"Besides, because he disappeared again we had to split up!" Katara continued. "I hate being away from those I care about! I hate that because the Fire Nation, I have nothing!"

"Then what are we?" Sokka asked. "Sock puppets?"

"You know that's not what I meant!" Katara replied. "But here we are again, running away and hiding; because of Zuko."

"Like I said, we're not sure he's…"

"He's going to do what, Aang?" Katara interrupted. "Chase us? Betray us? Send an assassin to blow us up? Team up with his psychotic sister and try to fry you again with lightning?"

"Well, when you put it that way…" Aang merely lowered his head.

"Uh, I'm sorry for meddling in what seems to be family business, but why do you hate him so much?" Suki asked. "He did help Sokka to get his father and me out of that hell hole."

"He helped twinkle toes here learn how to firebend." Toph added.

"I'm trying to understand, Katara." Sokka said. "The guy seemed really remorseful, and he did help us a lot. We got to be with dad, even if it was for a short while."

"But it doesn't matter in the end, does it?" Katara asked. "We're back were we began! We don't know where to go! We don't know who's chasing us this time, and we don't know who to trust!"

"Let me get this straight, then." Sokka said. "You're telling me Zuko left his place as Crown Prince of the Fire Nation; he left richness and comfort, a girlfriend, and the chance to become Fire Lord just so he could double cross us? It seems just a little too complicated for him, don't you think?"

"He's done it before." Katara replied.

"And he really, really seemed to regret it." Aang almost whispered. "I honestly don't know what I would have done without him, guys. He's a really good teacher, and he's improved a lot from the first times we fought."

"Oh, that's so much better." Katara almost snorted. "Then I guess I should be grateful he didn't burn us to the ground. But wait a minute; he did burn Toph, didn't he?"

"That was an accident, Princess." Toph said. "And we all understood that after he explained and after he tried to stop that freak he sent to kill Aang."

"Do you even listen to what you're saying?" Katara almost yelled. "He's Fire Nation royalty! Everyone there is just like a bomb ready to explode!"

"I'm sorry, Katara." Sokka said. "But the only one who has burned you is Aang."

Tense silence appeared, and Suki and Toph seemed to be utterly and completely confused.

"That was a mistake." Katara muttered. "He wasn't in control."

"I know, Katara, I know." Sokka replied. "And I'm sorry for bringing that up, but accidents do happen, Sis. I messed up with Suki here when I met her, letting my pride get the best of me. Toph here was very hard to recruit and she tends to be a bit violent against all of us."

"Hey!" Toph protested.

"I'm not trying to open old wounds." Sokka said, his eyes fixed on Appa's saddle. "But we all have something to regret, and we've had each other to help us to get through. I don't think Zuko's had that chance, and the one guy he could have relied on, he betrayed. I guess that must feel pretty horrible."

"And we're supposed to feel sorry for him?" Katara asked.

"They guy's got a power freak as a father." Sokka said. "His sister is a powerful, psychotic bender. His uncle is a retired general who, as far as I heard, was once one of the most feared fire benders in the world."

"And that scar." Suki said softly. "I don't want to sound mean, but that makes him look so…"

"What? Like the enemy?" Katara scoffed.

"He's got a scar?" Toph asked.

"Come to think about it, how did he get it?" Sokka asked. "Has he told anyone how he got it? Or has he mentioned anything about his mother?"

"He mentioned something, once." Katara said, her eyes still lost in the horizon. "He said he had lost her to the Fire Nation as well."

"Wow. I didn't know that." Toph said.

"It's not like he's very talkative, but, he could have mentioned something." Sokka replied.

"Seems strange that he only told you about that." Aang said, visibly upset. "When did this happen?"

"When we were prisoners in the caves beneath Ba Sing Se." Katara replied. "But he didn't explain more, nor did he say anything about his scar."

"Someone must have hated him a lot to leave that on his face." Suki said. "I feel sorry for him."

"Wait, it's on his face?" Toph asked. "Is he horribly disfigured and that's why Princess' heart jumps when she sees him?" The silence seemed to weigh even more above them all. Aang's head almost twisted unnaturally when he turned to look at Katara's face, but the Water Bender's eyes were closed and the Avatar felt something twist in his heart when she didn't deny Toph's words.

"Is that true?" Sokka asked. "Do you…Do you have feelings for Zuko?"

"It's complicated." Katara finally answered, but she did not turn her head to acknowledge them. "When I see him, I see the enemy. When I look at him, I remember the fear I used to feel when I thought he'd take Aang away from us. He's a constant reminder of what the Fire Nation did to us. Of what they did to me."

"You blame Zuko for what happened to our mother?" Sokka asked.

Katara seemed to shake for a moment. She took a deep breath and then turned to face them all.

"Yes. It sounds horrible, I know." Katara said, her face revealing deep sadness. "But I can't help it. I remember when Aang accidentally burned me, and I can't help but realize that's what happened to mom. I see Zuko and I know his family started it all, and I'm sorry, but sometimes I wish they had never been born."

"I never realized…" Sokka didn't know what to say, and it seemed everyone else was as at a loss for words.

"So please don't judge me." Katara continued. "I dared to trust him, and forget all the things the Fire Nation makes me feel, and in that moment of weakness, Aang was almost killed. I can't let myself forget that feeling again."

"We didn't know, Katara." Aang said, his eyes fixed on the path ahead. "I would have never let him get close to us had I known."

"Same here, sis." Sokka said. Suki and Toph only nodded.

"It's alright." Katara sighed. "Aang needed a fire bending teacher, and he's one of the best out there. It's just that I don't want to repeat the same mistakes over and over again. I'm tired of trusting those who are not worth it."

"Risking the fact you may want to throw me off Appa, I was kinda warming up to the guy." Toph said. "He sounded really honest, especially when he spoke of his uncle."

"Yeah, remember that time when Azula struck the old man with lightning?" Sokka said. "I'd never seen Zuko so frightened. Come to think about it, it's the only time I've seen him frightened."

"I guess after all he's been through, I don't think many things can impress him now." Suki said.

"I'm not sure." Toph said. "Princess here had that effect on him as well."

"What effect?" Aang asked, his eyes once again taken off the path.

"The whole heart jumping thing." Toph repeated. "I guess he found her to be the one most dangerous of all. You know, with the whole bloodbending thing and all."

"Could be, but that still doesn't explain why he took Katara's pendant." Sokka said. "Unless he plans on finding us later? Remember that girl who had the mole thing that could follow anyone with its nose?"

"You mean the thing that could also paralyze us with its tongue?" Katara asked, making a face. "Why would he want to find us again?"

"That's what doesn't make sense at all." Suki suddenly said. "If he wanted to do something to any of us, he could just have waited until we were all asleep and then strike."

Everyone remained in silence, weighing the words the Kyoshi warrior had just said.

"Wait, that's what you would have done?" Sokka suddenly asked.

"We were trained to fight." Suki said, blushing. "We try to disarm the enemy and use his own strength against him, but we've been trained, uh, to do several things."

"Then, uh, you know, have you, ah…" Sokka seemed unable to finish the sentence.

"No." Suki said. "Fortunately, we have never been in such a situation. But I wonder, now, if we will be in that situation."

"What do you mean?" Sokka asked.

"Let's face the facts." Suki said, her voice barely audible over all the wind. "We're supposed to be training to help the Avatar defeat the Fire Lord; but how exactly is he going to do it?"

"I'm not really sure how I'm going to do it." Aang honestly answered. "I was even considering if it would be wise to fight him when the comet arrives. It would be like suicide."

"You want to wait, or attack first?" Katara asked.

"I don't know." Aang replied. "Like you said earlier, it's hard to admit such feelings, but I'm afraid, guys."

"Hey, come on! You're the Avatar! What's to be afraid of?" Sokka said.

"You've seen Zuko fight, Sokka." Aang replied, his head down. "You've seen Azula fight. They're two of the best fire benders I've ever known. I have been able to hold my own against Zuko in the past, but he's gotten much better. You know how my fight with Azula ended. I don't know how I'd fare against the Fire Lord, so yeah, I'm very afraid."

"But what about the Avatar thing when you get all glowy and you destroy everything in your path?" Sokka asked.

"I can't control it." Aang answered. "I've never been able to. I wasn't able to because of my own feelings and my earthly attachments. After Azula struck me with lightning, I haven't been able to feel that sensation again."

"Oh, boy. And you tell us now?" Sokka said, throwing his hands into the air. "What the hell are we going to do, then?"

"I don't know!" Aang yelled. "I'm tired of everyone telling me I'm supposed to be this great hero, the last hope of the planet! But I don't know what I'm doing! And everyone keeps pushing me and pushing me and they all say it's my duty to defeat the Fire Lord and bring balance to the world!"

"Hey, Aang, we're sorry if we've been piling all that on you." Sokka said.

"If you were so unsure, why didn't you speak about it before?" Toph asked. Only Katara remained in silence, looking at the back of Aang's head.

"You didn't want to run away, did you?" Katara asked. "But you don't know how to be what everyone expects you to be."

"I'm sorry, guys." Aang said. "I never wanted to be the Avatar. I still don't want to. Most of the times I don't know what I'm doing, and when I get into the Avatar State, I just lose control."

"Ok, ok." Sokka said, covering his eyes with his hands. "What are we going to do?"

"Let's face facts." Suki said. "Problem 1: We're on the run again. We need somewhere to hide quickly. Problem 2: The comet is coming and every fire bender in the world will become insanely strong, so we have to decide when we're going to strike. Problem 3: Zuko. What are we going to do about him?"

"We could go underground." Toph said. "Literally. Maybe underneath Ba Sing Se or Omashu. Since both cities are now under control of the Fire Nation, they wouldn't look for us there."

"That's an idea." Sokka said. "But we're not badger moles, and I don't know how far we'd handle being beneath the ground."

"But it's a possibility." Suki replied. "Is there any other Air Temple we could hide in?"

"There is another one." Aang said. "Full of bad memories, but we could hide in there for a while."

"Ok, two options." Suki smiled. "Problem 2: What are we going to do about the comet? Wait or attack?"

"I say we attack." Toph said. "Maybe if they're looking for us we won't have to face the entire Fire Nation Army."

"But if they're busy burning the rest of the world, it wouldn't do much good for us to storm the Fire Nation palace, would it?" Katara asked. "Besides, going against both the Fire Lord and Azula is practically suicide. Don't forget we only survived last time because of Zuko's uncle."

"That brings us back to problem 3: what are we going to do about Zuko?" Suki asked.

"What Katara said." Aang suddenly said.

"Huh?" Everyone asked.

"I survived last time because Zuko and Azula were distracted by their uncle." Aang said. "Maybe that's who we need to find, instead of Zuko."

"Hey, maybe that's what he's trying to do!" Sokka suddenly said. "Maybe he just left to find his uncle!"

"Without telling any of us?" Toph asked. "From what Princess said, I guess that man is on our side. And when I talked to him, I kinda liked him."

"Could be." Katara said. "But what tells us his uncle will welcome him when they meet?"

"That old man loves Zuko." Toph said, smiling. "When I spoke with him, all he talked about was his nephew."

"That's a start." Suki said. "The problem now is how to find that man?"

"He's a traitor to the Fire Nation, but Zuko mentioned his uncle had escaped the day of the eclipse." Sokka said. "So we won't have to go anywhere near the Fire Nation."

"Yeah, but how can we ask without raising suspicion?" Aang asked.

"We still have those Fire Nation costumes." Sokka replied. "We could use them to travel and ask if anyone has seen the traitors."

"Risky." Toph said. "Sounds good. Let's do it. Can we go down now?"

"In a bit, Toph." Katara said. "We should start with the people we know don't pose a threat to us; like King Bumi, Master Piandao, Master Pakku, Fortune Teller Wu, the people in Kyoshi Island, those kinds of people."

"Master Piandao is Fire Nation." Aang said. "I thought we said we wouldn't go anywhere near the Fire Nation."

"There's something that I don't understand about him." Sokka said, looking into his bag. "This paisho tile- what does it mean? What's it good for? He must have given it to me for a reason."

"Our two best options now are finding either Zuko's uncle or King Bumi." Suki said. "I guess it would be easier to find King Bumi. Maybe he knows what that white piece means."

"Sounds like a plan to me." Aang said. "Straight to Omashu it is."

End of Chapter.