"The Gift Horse"
AN: I don't own Avatar. All materials are copyright their original creators.
The cast of Avatar receive gifts from their creators in recognition of all their hard work in Season 2. Toph is first in line.
Chapter 06 Summary: The group is reunited –but somehow, Aang still can't catch a break. What's an airmonk to do?
Warning: Embarassingly mushy opening scene & cartoon-ish violence throughout. I'm having an immature day, share with me! Oh, and as usual, misinterpretations galore.
Chapter 06: The Art of Losing Face (A.K.A. : There's no dishonour until you're caught)
ON THE ROAD
After her giggling fit, Katara'd fallen into a light sleep in the carriage, slumping over eventually to lean against Aang, not that her friend minded. He wanted to wake her up and share his anticipation with her, make sure she was as excited as he, see her smile at him, but he resisted the nearly overwhelming urge. It's so hard, he thought, biting his lip again as he reached out to push her up for the tenth time, trying to make her more comfortable. He brushed her braid away from her face and watched her sleep peacefully. He wished they shared more quiet moments like this together.
"Do you know how happy you make me?" he wanted to whisper in her ear. "How scared I was tonight? When everything started exploding and you ripped the water-dragons out of my hands, how proud I was of you?" He longed to tell her everything. Tonight, he promised himself, taking a deep breath and smiling a little to himself. I want to make you happy, too.
Katara slumbered on, blissfully unaware.
As Aang had made the accommodation arrangements for them earlier that day on his own, it was Katara's first time in the hotel itself when they arrived around 9:30 that night. Still groggy, she let Aang lead her by the hand and tug her through the lobby to the private elevators that led to the penthouse suites, while Zuko and Iroh followed behind them at a distance. The firebenders stopped at the main desk, each taking care of their respective business with the staff in separate private offices before catching up with Aang and Katara at the doors to Toph & Sokka's suite.
"Well, I guess this is where we leave you," said Aang hastily to the firebenders, his arm around Katara's back gently trying to steer her next door to their own room. Just a little bit further, he thought, almost there... "Have a great night, we'll see you in the morning!"
"Aang," scolded Iroh, watching the young man's swiftly-retreating form, "It's only polite to greet Sokka and Toph after such a long day. And I believe Sokka was quite concerned about his sister earlier. It is far better to shape a fresh sapling than try to bend the branches back once it is grown."
"I think he's right, Aang," said Katara slowly. She and Sokka had had a really angry fight earlier. She could stand to apologise, and knew it. "Was he really upset earlier?" she asked Iroh. The old man nodded.
While he had no clue what to make of the proverb, Aang felt he shouldn't protest when Iroh was already being so generous. Katara looked between the two, nodded, and walked back towards their friends' suite. Aang sighed & followed them, Zuko waiting with arms crossed and his customary frown on his face.
The prince had been attentive to the Avatar's actions with the waterbender, and was relieved his uncle had stepped in. He needed the girl nearby if his plan was to work, and he hadn't taken into account the young monk's potential threat to his success. An underestimate I won't make again, he thought, re-calculating his odds. Not that he felt threatened by the Avatar–oh no, definitely not. But definitely better to anticipate & prevent than be tricked and forced to react...
The rumbling increased perceptively, and Zuko felt it in his bones. He looked over and caught his uncle's eye.
Iroh, sensing the shift in fandom, too, peered at his nephew shrewdly. Something was definitely going on. But on who's side?
Zuko smirked, providing Iroh with all the answer he needed.
Merciful spirits protect us, prayed Iroh trying not to roll his eyes, the fangirls are on the prowl!
"Katara!" cried a very relieved Sokka, rushing to his sister and catching her in a hug– and promptly throwing her over his shoulder, hurrying to get her away from the rest of the group while she protested the undignified treatment.
"Sokka, what are you doing? Put me down, I'm not a sack of food! What's got into you?" she kicked at him and hit his back, finally bending a water-whip from a nearby vase of flowers and flicking him with it between his eyes. "Argh! Sokka, let me go!" she screamed in frustration.
"Ow! Whatdja do that for?" he complained, rubbing his face but still refusing to release his precious cargo. The others had left the siblings to argue and had moved through to the sitting room. Aang hung back, close to the entranceway so he could offer assistance (not eavesdrop, that was rude of course). Zuko nonchalantly moved to wait across from the Avatar, on the opposite side of the doorway.
"What are you doing here? Go away," Aang hissed crossly at the firebender.
"It's rude to eavesdrop, you know," said Zuko lightly, smirking at the Avatar's blush.
"I'm not eavesdropping, and even if I was, you're doing it, too. Or are you planning on kidnaping Sokka and Katara now, too? I'm here to look out for my best friends, especially Katara. She's exhausted you know, and may need my help in dealing with Sokka."
"I don't think she needs your help," said Zuko drily, watching as Katara chased and water-whipped her brother around the entranceway. (He'd put her down but a moment before, under what had obviously been duress.)
"You what!?"
Sokka mumbled a reply, though with far less confidence than before.
"You've been going around all day letting people think I'm some kind of loose floozy?!" they heard Katara shriek at her brother. The air- and firebender winced at Sokka's pitiful attempts at explanation as Katara descended on him like a vengeful demon.
"Ow! No, I didn't - ow! - mean it that way! I - ow! Was worried someone would take - ow! Owwww! - advantage of you!" he said, covering his head with his hands and ducking behind a piece of furniture. A piece of decoratively-carved wood thudded heavily to the ground beside him as Katara just missed his skull and instead took off part of the chairback. "Meep! Katara, please listen, I only had your best interests at heart!"
"No, you had your own selfish ones at heart, Sokka!" Another slap! as her whip connected with a table, knocking it over in an attempt to trip her brother. "You wanna know who had my best interests at heart today? Aang. Iroh. Heck, even Zuko! Not you. How could you go around spreading rumours about me like that?" she screamed at her big brother, not only angry, but deeply, deeply hurt.
Aang and Zuko felt both pleased and slightly guilty hearing Katara defend them. Each had glared at the other in challenge when she'd called their names, though.
"And you've been hanging out in this lavish hotel room all night, I bet! Who's the lucky girl who's treating you with her money tonight?" she lashed out at him. (Zuko & Aang were cringing a bit behind the doorway now, unsure of how to help th poor watertribesman who cowered, nearly in the fetal position by this point, at Katara's feet.)
"What do you mean, 'lucky girl'? It's Toph!" he said simply.
That idiot, thought Zuko and Aang in unison.
Everything went silent as Katara's breathing stopped, her face grew purple, and her eyes bulged.
"You. Amoral. Pedant-!" she began in quiet, mounting fury.
The men were fairly sure the paint was stripped from the entranceway walls during the waterbender's subsequent tirade.
"Wow, even I'm impressed by Sugar Queen this time," Toph commented blithely to Iroh in the sitting room as Sokka let out a chilling scream. She offered the teapot to the gentleman across from her. "Freshen your cup?" she asked, in a tone similar to that of inquiring about the weather.
Iroh carefully accepted the pot and poured for himself, trying to ignore the thwacking and angry yelling from the next room. "Thank you, Toph. Is this ... a normal occurrence between the watertribe siblings?"
She shrugged. "Meh."
A loud crunching noise, a slump, and then quiet.
"Ooh, that's gonna leave a bruise come morning," came Aang's voice into the silence after a brief pause.
"Stupid water peasant," added Zuko.
Toph slurped her tea, utterly unconcerned.
He fidgeted. How long were they expected to stay? He was almost sure Katara had calmed down. In fact, she looked pretty spent and was rubbing her shoulder like it was sore. (Not surprising, considering the damage she'd caused when she lay waste to her brother, he thought.) Aang stood and casually walked to Katara's side, offering her a cup of tea. He prayed she didn't notice the teacup rattling on the saucer.
"Thank you, Aang. You ok? You look kinda pale." Katara gratefully accepted the tea after renewing her hair loopies, her cheeks still flushed.
"I'm great!" he said, too quickly. "Really, super. Is your shoulder ok, though? Want me to help rub it out for you?" he tried not to sound overly hopeful.
Zuko snorted quietly from his post by the doorway.
"I'd love that, Aang, but it's ok," she smiled at him sympathetically, appreciating the monk's gesture. Then her eyes grew wide and she smacked herself in the head. How could she be so stupid? Again!? "Oh, and now that that's out of the way, what did you want to do for the evening? I'm so sorry I got... carried away with Sokka, Aang, especially when I'd promised to hang out with you tonight! Forgive me?" she apologised, reaching out & catching his hand. "We still have time, what did you want to do? Movies? Games? Music?" she asked him expectantly.
(Zuko twitched faintly at the last suggestion, but held quiet.)
"Actually, I'd love to help you out with your shoulder. We should see to that first. I'll go run some water so you an heal it," he offered helpfully.
Katara immediately remembered her burns. He'd definitely see them & panic if she uncovered her shoulder. "Oh, it's ok, Aang. Really. I'm sure it'll be fine," she insisted, looking away. "Let's go grab a seat with Toph and Iroh and have more tea, ok? Wanna eat & then go for a walk or something?"
Zuko noticed her evasion immediately, while the Avatar just nodded and followed her happily into the next room, practically hopping on her heels. Glancing at the clock and assuming he still had a few minutes before the rest of the packages arrived, the prince nodded the steward over. Let's get the ball rolling, he smirked to himself. He needed the waterbender relaxed first, though.
"You're here to what?" asked Katara when their lovely, tall, dark-haired guest was admitted. Katara hoped she'd heard the girl incorrectly.
"Service you," repeated June lazily, eyes on Katara. "Come on, we're going next door where it's more private."
"Oh no, we're not, we're staying here. I promised to hang out with Aang tonight," she said desperately.
"Yeah, she promised!"
"June's a registered massage therapist, waterpeasant. Your shoulder's messed up, right? So she'll fix it for you," Zuko said disinterested, from the balcony.
"Did you do this?!" she whirled on him.
Zuko ignored her. Katara growled.
"Fine, have it your way," conceded June in a dismissive tone, hands on her hips. "Take off your clothes, then, and let's get started."
Katara's eyebrows shot up to her hairline. So did Aang's.
"We'll go next door," Katara quickly amended. Aang looked so disappointed she nearly cried when he looked at her with puppy-dog eyes. "Just for ten minutes, though. Ok, Aang? Ten minutes."
Aang was going to grumble, but realised that if it made Katara feel better, it couldn't be such a bad thing. He smiled at her. "Ok, but I'll be there at the eleven-minute mark."
"Deal." They smiled at each other before Katara and June left.
Sokka groaned as they passed by on their way to Aang's suite.
"Who did this?" asked June, indicating the moaning watertribesman on the floor. Katara blushed and looked away, mumbling something about sibling rivalry, ashamed of her earlier loss of control.
June raised an appreciative eyebrow. "Nice work."
June gave Katara some privacy so she could change, and Katara scrambled to heal the burns on her back & shoulders with some water from the sink. It was enough to close the skin, but the deeper muscle damage and overall soreness were still there. She returned to the master bedroom where June had set up her cart of massage supplies, and stretched out on the towel the other woman had laid down. After a few minutes of attempting to dissuade the other woman from her task, Katara found herself on her tummy, hands under her chin, praying she didn't lose the skimpy towel that covered her lower back.
"We'll talk if you want, you'll relax, and then you can rejoin the party again," assured June leaning forward, tossing her hair from her eyes as Katara nodded a bit. June went to work immediately, and Katara instantly decided she should have said fifteen minutes, not ten. She groaned in pleasure as June's hands found a knot in her back she hadn't even realised she'd had. Ok, maybe thirty or forty five...
No wait! I'm supposed to be angry! I'm supposed to hang out with Aang tonight! She was having a hard time holding on to her temper, though, as more knots eased.
"So did the jerk put you up to this?" growled Katara, but it came out muffled due to the pillow she was facing.
"The jerk?"
"Prince Zuko."
"Oh, you mean your boyfriend?" Katara sputtered and would have flailed in indignation had she not been so terrified of losing her measly towel.
"Wow, you really tensed up. Ex, then?"
"No," said Katara coldly. "Just... very, very no."
June smirked. "I guess he really isn't very bright then." Katara ignored or just plain didn't acknowledge June's implications. He's such a jerk!
"Argh! Why are boys so stupid?!" she asked in exasperation. Boys had been her problem all day. She was actually kind of grateful to be able to let off steam with another woman around, now that she thought about it. (It just wasn't the same with Toph.)
"Well, how else are we supposed to get what we want from them?" countered June smoothly with a small, secret smile as she moved up Katara's back to her shoulders. Katara winced a bit, but immediately let out an appreciative sigh as she felt her muscles deeply kneaded.
"Oh man, I'm getting you recruited to the Aang-gang for Season Three, just for your hands," said Katara, but when it came out of her mouth it sounded more like "Oh God, don't stop..."
"Well, Angry Boy knew enough to recognise your shoulder was hurt when he called in for me earlier tonight before you guys got back. Stupid and not stupid, that one."
"Uh huh, right," mumbled Katara, paying no attention. Her back was in ecstacy. "Oh, just a little to the – that's it! That's the spot! Oh sweet spirits, yes!" Katara's eyes rolled back in her head. "You have magic hands, June," she sighed approvingly, all cares erased from her mind.
June smirked again and chuckled, but a moment later tensed and straightened. Had there...? She looked around. A little wary, she scanned the room a second time before turning back to Katara. Must be the wind, she thought, and continued drawing moans and mewls of pleasure from the waterbender. Hey, she was good at her job.
Aang had nearly fainted listening to Katara's exalted cries. He'd 'wandered' into the suite to offer Katara more tea (and see if she'd like to talk, offer help with the massage, anything they needed, really) and had been stopped dead in his tracks by the noises from within the bedroom. To an inexperienced young man, hearing such things (particularly from the woman he loved) was quite... educational.
"Oh God, don't stop..."
His eyes widened and he swallowed, trying to clear his strangely dry throat. He didn't know what was going on, but he started thinking it was wrong to be listening like this. And yet, his feet wouldn't move... What I'd give to know what was–
"You're a bad monk, eavesdropping again like this," stated Zuko softly from directly behind Aang. Aang gasped and nearly jumped out of his skin from fright, about to defend himself when Katara suddenly cried out, "-that's it! That's the spot! Oh sweet spirits, yes!" in throaty tones. "You have magic hands, June."
Aang's eyes rolled up into his head. Faces purple, feet rooted to the floor, the boys stared at the door to the other room.
So she's a screamer, huh? Some distant part of him noted. Good to know, good to know– wait, what!? Ew, no no no! You're going to end up in the special 'reserved' section of hell for even thinking that!
The sounds in the other room had paused and they stood stock still for a second, listening. "June, don't stop! It feels so good..." The symphony of happy female voices started up all over again.
Zuko cleared his throat, coughing quietly and looking away. Stupid hormones! He looked at Aang's enraptured face and prayed he hadn't mirrored it a moment prior. The Avatar swayed, nearly fainting, and Zuko panicked & grabbed the young man to prevent the noise from giving them away. There may be no honour in eavesdropping, but there was even less if you got caught for it.
"You're out of your league, Avatar," muttered Zuko, moving them both back towards the exit. "You need to learn a little self-discipline first." He half-carried, half-dragged the now quietly-protesting airbender out of temptation's reach.
He didn't get very far, though, when the bedroom doors flew open and slammed against the walls, June standing boldly in the doorway, hands holding a whip at her cocked hip.
"Did someone say... discipline?" she asked languidly. Her eyes glittered in anticipation. "And I really hope you did."
Both boys froze in terror.
"Oh uh, hi... We came... to see if you wanted... some... tea...?" asked Aang weakly, clearly intimidated by the woman. He went pale beneath his furious blush.
We. Are. So. Dead. Zuko's mind flashed, and he suddenly envied Sokka.
"Try again."
"Room service?"
"Forgot your food."
"... We came to warn you! There's an escaped killer from a nearby high-security mental ward! He has a hook for a hand and he's headed this way!"
"No wonder Sokka's your idea guy," sighed the bounty-hunter-slash-massage-therapist, tilting her head a bit and re-appraising them.
"Aang, is that you?" called Katara from the bedroom. She hadn't even had a chance to blink before June had leapt to the bedroom door, throwing a spare towel to cover at her as she kicked open the doors. Katara was sitting up, wrapping herself up as best she could. "What are you doing here? Is my time up already? Oh, I'm sorry if I'm late, I'll go change. I'll be right there!"
Aang barely caught a glimpse of Katara before June stepped in front of him, discouraging his view. His brow furrowed in frustration and he huffed a bit.
"It's ok, you have another five minutes, actually. These two were just trying to peep at you," said June easily, tossing her hair over her shoulder and glancing at the two young men in disdain – and amusement.
"They were what?!"
Until that moment, Zuko'd been silent since June's appearance on the scene.
Pride overruled commonsense during the exchange that followed.
"How dare you speak of the Crown Prince of the Fire Nation in such terms, you beast-riding peasant!"He proclaimed arrogantly, squaring his shoulders and stepping forward to challenge June.
Painfully overruled.
June slowly unravelled the whip, a predatory smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.
"Don't make me enjoy this, boy," the woman countered sweetly.
Zuko's face darkened, brain froze, and mouth opened...
It was all violent crashing and howls of pain escaping from the adjacent room, as Aang barely had time to duck and all Hell broke loose.
Iroh sighed good-naturedly as Toph sipped her tea and graciously accepted the one hundred dollar bill he slid across the table to her.
TBC...
/end ch06 –
/AN: Whoa, still crazy-long Author's Notes this time around... Sorry!
/AN: Many thanks to my reviewers for your comments – I've taken a few under advisement and will try and accommodate those I can if it doesn't seem like it'll upset the story too much. Then again, I admit this is already a pretty cracked story, so maybe more will just improve it...
/AN: June's characterization I based partly on my sister, and partly on a character from a Catherine Coulter novel (unfortunately, I don't have the book under hand at the moment). I thought giving June a slightly twisted personality with a bent for 'discipline' would be fun. I've been wanting to do this for a while. Oh yeah, and June's being a massage therapist just kinda made sense to my warped mind – good with her hands, and strong, and immediately knowing what people needed/wanted. (Ever had a really good massage after a hard day's work? Worth every red penny.)
/AN: I hadn't realised that I'd more or less beat up Sokka in every chapter until I re-read the first few chapters I wrote. I'm sorry! I'll try and have him conscious again soon!
/AN: Someone left me a PM saying I was a pervert for writing about Aang, Zuko & Sokka as if they thought with their dumb-handles. I guess that's a personal failing – most of my guy friends, when we were teenagers, DID think with their dumb-handles, and I just wrote things that way since it made sense to me. If it's really inappropriate, leave a comment and I'll try and curb it. Or post edited versions here, and more colourful versions on some other site. I did at least try to show that the guys realised it was their hormones leading them, though. Sorry, didn't mean to offend anyone!
/AN: I've made Katara incredibly violent. Again, this is a personal shortcoming – I hadn't realised how violently I'd portrayed the characters. Even though Avatar is a violent programme, I did go overboard. I guess I'm not challenging myself enough to find better ways of incorporating humour! I'll try harder!
/AN: Next up, Chapter 07!
/AN: Always, thank you to my reviewers! As a first-time writer, your criticisms are very helpful to me.
/AN: Something has come up here and it may take me a bit longer than I'd expected to finish this story. I'm very, very sorry!
