Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender

Author's Note: A lot of you thought that Zuko would easily cream Sokka. You apparently all forgot that, in The Chase, Mai launched about six knives at Katara. Sokka stepped in front of her and still had time to block all of them with a combination of his boomerang and machete. Those are some pretty impressive reflexes! Two broadswords are going to be a lot easier to see coming than throwing knives, so blocking shouldn't be a problem, as long as he allows for the added strength behind them. For those of you who'd like to see a little more of the sparring (you'll just catch the end here), I think this will become a regular "entertainment" for them, so I should have the opportunity to write more on that later.

Sparring, Traveling, Bending

As Aang, Katara, and Iroh made their way back down the side of the mountain, the ring of steel reached their ears. Aang and Katara exchanged glances, wondering what was happening. They hurried their steps as Katara uncorked her water pouch, forgetting about the older and overweight firebender behind them, who was having difficulty keeping up.

They burst into the clearing to find Zuko and Sokka dueling one another. Zuko was using his two broadswords, while Sokka had his machete in one hand and appeared to be using his boomerang as a kind of rigid parrying device in the other. Toph was "watching" them calmly, with Momo perched on her head. He was gesticulating and chittering madly, as though calling out advice or encouragement to the combatants. As they watched, Sokka trapped both of Zuko's swords in the angle of his boomerang, bringing the points to the ground. Almost as part of the same action, he brought his machete in a swing around the other side. Zuko twisted out of the way at the last second, barely keeping a grip on his weapons.

"What is going on here?" Katara demanded, hands on her hips. A puffing Iroh caught up and stopped beside Aang. Sokka backed away from Zuko and touched the flat of his blade to his forehead in salute. Zuko returned the gesture.

"Just a little workout, Katara," Sokka said placatingly. "You benders aren't the only ones who need to practice your skills, you know."

"I'm the official," Toph put in.

"Really?" Aang was instantly interested. "Who's winning?"

"Nobody. Neither one has managed to score a hit."

"None at all?" Katara sounded incredulous. "How long have they been at this?"

"How am I supposed to tell time?" Toph pointed out.

"Um, right. Sorry," Katara apologized. Meanwhile, Sokka was squinting at the sun.

"Less than half an hour," he decided.

"That's still a long time for you to not even touch each other!" Katara exclaimed. Aang was surprised, too. In his experience, most fights were done in about three minutes, or less. Even allowing for the fact that they were just practicing and might have been taking special pains not to hurt each other, half an hour was a long time.

"Zuko's offense is better, but Sokka's defense makes him untouchable," was Toph's analysis.

"I was wearing you down," added Sokka, addressing Zuko as he sheathed his weapons. "You were starting to get weak on the left side."

"So I'm right-handed," Zuko shot back. "It's not my fault you're ambidextrous."

"I was born that way," Sokka shrugged.

"Zuko has about 20 pounds on Sokka, but Sokka is just a hair faster," Toph continued her narrative. "I never knew a non-bending fight could be so exciting!"

"Was it?" Aang didn't really have much experience with weapons fighting.

"Well, let's just say I've learned to appreciate a pair of young men showing a display of their strength," Toph answered with a cheeky grin. All eyes turned to her as if wondering if she was really saying what they thought she was saying. "Still, I can't help thinking that these kinds of fights would be over a lot faster if they'd just go for the groin."

"What!" Zuko and Sokka were both so shocked that their voices actually broke into falsetto range at the exact same moment.

"That's like an unwritten rule!" Sokka exclaimed in a strained voice. "Guys do not hit each other there!"

"That seems like a pretty stupid limitation," retorted Toph. "You can down a guy in nothing flat with a well-placed hit."

"Well, yes, but – but--" Zuko could only sputter helplessly after acknowledging her point. Aang merely gaped until he felt an odd sort of bubbling coming from his link with Katara. He looked at her to find that her eyes were streaming tears with the effort of not laughing.

"That's not funny!" he exclaimed in consternation. After all, Aang himself had had a close encounter with a stalagmite in Bumi's castle not so long ago. He also knew that even a poorly placed hit could be effective. Katara gave up and began laughing aloud, holding her sides.

"I know," she gasped between giggles. She continued to try to speak through her laughter. "It's just…Toph…so blunt!" Aang stared at Katara as she sank to her knees, struggling to get control over herself. He supposed, when she put it that way, that the situation was a little funny. Still…

"Ah, perhaps we should be leaving?" Iroh suggested, having finally caught his breath. There was a general murmur of agreement, and everyone climbed onto Appa's back. Katara decided it was her turn to guide the bison, so she clambered up to the giant head, and they took off to the east.

"So, how did the lesson go?" Sokka asked Aang.

"Great!" Aang answered, looking to Iroh for confirmation.

"Indeed," agreed Iroh. "The Avatar is advancing quickly as a firebender."

"Great, so now I've got three of you to deal with," Sokka commented, leaning back and putting his hands behind his head. Momo curled up on his chest. "If someone had told me a year ago that right now, I'd be traveling with three firebenders, I'd have said they were crazy." He paused, and his face took on what Aang had begun to think of as his "idea" expression. "You know, Zuko said something earlier that gives me an idea," he said slowly.

"Hang on," Aang interjected. "You're actually agreeing with Zuko on something? Am I dreaming?"

"They're really more alike than either of them like to admit," Iroh put in.

"Just hear me out," Sokka snapped, though Aang noticed that he and Zuko were being quite intentional about not looking at each other. "Now that all of Aang's teachers are traveling with him, we could probably find the time to go visit Dad, couldn't we?" He was trying not to act too excited, but it was nonetheless obvious that he was, and Aang felt a little emotional leap from Katara's direction as well.

"We have to go to Ba Sing Se," she reminded her brother.

"Of course, we'll do that first, but – where's that map?" he sat up rather abruptly, dumping an irritated Momo off of him unceremoniously, and began rummaging around in his bag. Momo squeaked indignantly before finding a new resting place in Toph's lap. "The city shouldn't be too far from where Dad's fleet is. I mean, if they're still there." He unrolled the map Bato had given them and studied it. Aang looked over his shoulder. Then, he went and got his world map out to compare its locations with the directions to the Water Tribe warriors. Iroh and Zuko now crouched near them to see what they were looking at, but Toph merely sat leaning on the edge of the saddle, looking bored and petting Momo, who was practically purring.

"You're right," Aang agreed, finding the place described on his map and pointing. "And look, it's pretty close to the Eastern Air Temple, too. Maybe we could stop by, see how it looks?"

"Isn't that the place you didn't want to go?" Katara wondered from her perch.

"Well, I didn't mind going there," he clarified. "Appa was born there, actually, and it's where we bonded. I just didn't want to live there." He looked up to find Zuko and Iroh gazing at him curiously. Even Toph was looking interested. However, Aang had no intention of going over again all the things he had confided to Katara during that big storm. Sokka had been filled in later, but that was a set of memories Aang just didn't want to revisit at the moment.

"So, what's the verdict?" Sokka asked the group at large, seeming to catch Aang's discomfort. "Can we go?"

"Well, if nobody minds, and we still have time after our business in Ba Sing Se, then I don't see why not," Katara decided. Iroh, Zuko, and Toph all shrugged. "You two boys will just have to figure out who goes first."

Aang took in Sokka's hopeful expression and knew what answer he had to make. Sokka and Katara were actually trying to find a live person, while all Aang would be visiting was a set of empty buildings.

"We can visit your dad first," he offered, speaking to both siblings.

"Yes!" exclaimed Sokka, and in an uncharacteristically effusive display of emotion, he actually hugged Aang before realizing that he was a man and a warrior and that his action was probably unsuited to either designation. He let go quickly. "I…uh…"

"You're welcome," Aang tried to head off any further awkwardness. He didn't really mind being hugged all that much, and it made him certain that he'd made the right decision. After all, it wasn't really costing him anything to wait, and the smile Katara gave him as he turned to glance at her would have been worth a whole lot more.

Towards evening, Katara found a nice site to spend the next two days and landed them there. There was a moderately sized river running through it and a large, rocky space nearby for earthbending and firebending. After setting up camp and eating dinner, she and Aang practiced waterbending for a while, just reviewing things they'd already covered. It was nice to be bending with him again, especially now that she understood that their techniques blended so well because they loved each other.

The following morning, Katara decided to watch Aang's lesson with Toph. Iroh and Zuko were working on firebending a short distance away, and Toph had placed some boulders to sort of partition them off. Sokka had gone hunting or foraging; exactly which would likely be determined by what he came back with.

Katara quickly realized that she had not seen Aang earthbend in quite some time. He was showing remarkable progress for the short time he had been studying. It still took him longer to learn new skills than it had with waterbending, but he was doing very well. As the end of the lesson neared, Toph began throwing things at Aang and expecting him to counter. He did so competently, but the surprising part to Katara was her own reaction. Something about the confidence and energy Aang exhibited in these movements caused Katara's body to respond in a rather uncomfortable way. On the one hand, she was amazed that she could just sit still and watch, but on the other, she felt fixed to the spot, eyes following Aang dazedly and almost without blinking.

Finally, the exercise ended with Katara still struggling to act normally with what she was feeling. Toph decided that she wanted to stay and observe the firebending for a while, but Aang wanted to clean up at the river.

"I want to get some of this dirt off me," he explained as Katara fell into step beside him. She noticed that he was covered with a layer of dust, some turning to mud as it mingled with the sweat running down the sides of his face and streaked across his forehead where he had already wiped at it.

Katara sat down on the riverbank, and, to her surprise, Aang jumped into the river fully clothed. He laughed at her expression when he emerged from the water.

"My clothes were dirty, too," he pointed out with a shrug. He quickly dried himself with an air blast focused around his body. Secretly, Katara was glad he had stayed dressed. In her current mental condition, seeing Aang nearly naked might have been more than she could handle while keeping her composure. Even thinking about it now…

"Are you okay?" Aang's question snapped Katara back to the present, starting a little guiltily at having been caught in her slightly naughty contemplations. "I've been getting something from you that I can't quite place." Katara swallowed hard as she considered how to answer him. It was something of a relief that he didn't recognize the emotion or whatever you wanted to call it, and she was tempted to deny it and shrug it off. On the other hand, love was based on trust, and she thought perhaps she owed him the truth, or at least as much of it as she could manage to spit out.

"I'm fine," she assured him. "It's just that watching you earthbend, well, it was kind of…sexy." She felt herself blushing as she looked up at him through lowered lashes. He stared at her for a moment, but then, a slow smile spread across his face.

"So that's what that is," he mused aloud. He sat beside her, absently picking up small rocks with earthbending and tossing them into the flowing water. Katara knew she probably shouldn't ask the question that was on her mind, but her vanity simply wouldn't let it go.

"Why haven't I felt…that…from you?" she asked curiously.

"You haven't?" Aang seemed genuinely surprised. His brow furrowed as he seriously considered her query, and Katara began to regret saying it.

"You know, you don't have to--" she began, but he waved her concern away, the gesture making him momentarily appear much older than he was.

"Well, for me, that is sort of always there," he said thoughtfully. "It might just feel like background to you."

"Always?"

"Pretty much, yeah," now it was Aang's turn to blush. "Especially when you're around."

"Always?" Katara found herself fixated on this point. Was that normal? How did boys function? Aang cast her a sidelong glance.

"I'm almost thirteen," he said by way of explanation. "It seems to go with the territory. Do you think we could talk about something else?" His face had taken on a slightly pained expression, and Katara shook herself.

"Oh yeah, of course." She steered them into safer waters by asking him about some of the bending techniques she had just seen him use. It didn't help her much, but it seemed to make him more comfortable.

--

Member of the Boomeraang Squad: charleegirl, Jesus.Lives, Liselle129, and honorary member SnakeEyes16

Author's Note: I do know a little about fencing. A rigid parrying device might be a small shield or a Kyoshi fan, so I used the boomerang. This is in contrast to a non-rigid parrying device, which would be something like a cloak or blanket. It does appear that Sokka is ambidextrous, since we have seen him writing with his right hand and drawing with his left, and he doesn't seem to favor one hand when fighting or eating. And in medieval fighting rules, a groin hit is considered a "kill." Of course, I just had to throw the sexy earthbending in there somewhere.

Review responses: More than 100 reviews now!

pinguinolatino: Yeah, I just couldn't resist putting that Aang kissing Zuko thing in there.

A Great and Terrible Beauty: I meant, of course, sensitive to vibrations. Although I suppose her special senses could make her sensitive to things like moods as well.

charleegirl: That's all the sparring I'm showing for now, but there might be more later.

SnakeEyes16: I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter and that it lightened your school week. Thanks for the Christmas wishes! Yeah, I'm busy, but these ideas keep crowding me, so…

MormonMaiden: Technically, one of them is kataangfan, but yeah. There was also a guy called avatarkataang who used to review my stuff, but I haven't seen him around as much lately. It does make sense that people who use kataang as part of their screen name would like my work. I can't watch youtube anymore. They've forbidden streaming video at work, and I only have a dialup connection at home, so it doesn't usually come through very well.

Tech-Man: I do have a couple of ideas about going more into what that spiritual bond can do, maybe having it develop a little more.

kataang93: Wow, thanks for the flowery compliments.

frozenheat: I'm glad you liked it. By the way, is there a problem with the last couple of chapters of Boys & Girls that you haven't been reviewing? Just wondering.

Jesus.Lives: Yes, it does show when an artist loves her subject, doesn't it? Sokka's a piece of meat? I've never really thought of him that way (despite being a bit of a fangirl – are you joining me there?), but I guess several girls in the Avatarverse would agree.

TTAvatarfan: Some people agree with me and some don't. I guess we'll find out.

Durins Bane: Aang's breakthrough with firebending was sort of the core of the chapter, though the conversation between Sokka and Zuko is turning out to further the plot some as well.

MyOtherName: Yeah, I understand what you mean about reviews that just say things like "great job." I do like the long ones. In writing this, I realized that we haven't really seen Sokka lately in melee combat, except against Ty Lee. I think she took him by surprise the first time. The second, he could have theoretically blocked her with his weapons, but he could have taken a hand off that way, which would be really messy. We know he's killer with thrown weapons, even improvised (I'm thinking of Avatar Day, when he took his bubble pipe and threw it directly onto the tip of a flaming arrow – incredible aim with an object he'd presumably never thrown before).

Chocolatecovered…: Well, let me know what you thought of the Sokka/Zuko matchup. I would really like to see that happen in the show, but it seems pretty unlikely now.

Kataang's-Loyal…: Yes, the metalbending would have been nice before.