Disclaimer: Katara, Zuko, Sokka, Aang, Toph, Suki, and all other locations, objects, and charcters affiliated with Avatar: The Last Airbender belong to Mike and Bryan. They are the true masterminds; we just borrow their already well-developed characters and force them to do what we want as we warp the plot to fit our devises. What can we say? It's the way of the rabid fangirl. Enjoy.

Chapter Ten

Katara woke as the early morning sun was peeking through her window, its faint light outlining her room. Stretching her arms above her head and yawning, Katara stared up at the ceiling contently. A whole day of no chores, of being able to do whatever she wanted. What was she going to do with herself?

There was a soft knock on her door and it creaked open slowly; Katara glared at it and wondered if she could freeze it shut. "Katara?"

She recognized Suki's voice and stopped glaring as the girl's head popped around the door. "What is it, Suki?"

Suki stepped into the room and closed the door behind her. "Sokka told me to remind you that you're not supposed to do anything today." She smiled. "He told me that I'm supposed to make you sleep in."

Katara snorted. "I don't know if you can force someone to sleep in."

"Try telling him that," Suki replied with a giggle as she sat down on the foot of Katara's bed. "But you know what he's like."

"Overbearing, ridiculous, outlandish, over-protective—"

"But he is protective," Suki interrupted. "He worries about you. You don't see it but he's always watching out for you."

Katara frowned. "I've noticed. For so long, he had to fill Dad's shoes like I had to fill Mom's. I wish he wouldn't worry so much. He gets so annoying."

Suki smiled. "Tell me about it. But I think it's how he shows how much he cares."

Katara grinned. "I know. It's a family trait. We all worry too much."

"Speaking of worrying too much," Suki said, her smile faltering. "I think you should rethink not letting Zuko teach Aang."

Katara sighed. "He'll overwork himself, Suki. And then he could end up too weak to train Aang at all."

"Or he could surprise us all and take it slow. You'll never know unless you give him the chance." Suki rested a hand on Katara's shoulder. "Do you remember when we were crossing the Serpent's Pass?" Katara nodded. "Sokka was afraid to let me do anything by myself. You know how annoying it is for someone to worry too much. You said so yourself."

"But this is different Suki. Sokka cared about you—"

"And you're saying that you don't care about Zuko?"

Katara frowned and answered quietly. "It's not the same at all. Zuko, he's—well, I mean—Aang needs him if he's going to learn how to Firebend, Suki. And Zuko needs to be strong for that."

One of Suki's eyebrows arched questioningly. "So, if Zuko wasn't needed to train Aang—"

"I wouldn't care what he did," Katara finished so fiercely that Suki wondered who she was trying to convince, her or herself.

"I see," Suki said, standing. "Well, if I can't make you sleep in, you might as well get dressed and come down to breakfast. Sokka's taken over the cooking. Apparently, I burn the rice," she added with a small smile before closing the door behind her.

I wouldn't care, she thought bitterly. Would she really not care about Zuko?

She moved about the room, getting dressed.

But, she thought, pulling her hair back. I wasn't even thinking of Aang when I saw him in that cell. Perhaps that's what scared her the most, the idea that she cared for Zuko too much, that she'd never given Zuko's role in their group a thought. She'd only wanted to help him. It didn't matter that he'd be perfect to train Aang, only that he was set free and she could care for him.

After breakfast, Katara decided to explore the Air Temple. She hadn't had time since they'd arrived and it seemed like a safe way to avoid Sokka. Her brother had given her a list of things she could and couldn't do today, the list of things she could do being limited to sleeping, resting, Waterbending, and eating. She felt vaguely rebellious as she walked down wide corridors and entered dusty rooms; after all, walking wasn't on the list of things she was allowed to do.

She came to a narrow door that blended almost seamlessly in with the wall.

What is this, she asked herself, washing the crack framing the door clean of dust. Gingerly, she pushed against it. It didn't budge.

"Hmm." Katara tilted her head to the side and examined the door before pushing a bit harder. She tried again and again, each time applying more force until she was sweating, panting, and wondering why she didn't just blast through it with her bending water.

"I don't think it works that way."

She spun around, her face red with her efforts and her chest heaving, to see Zuko standing behind her, leaning against the wall. "Oh, and I suppose you have a better idea?"

He winced slightly at her snappish tone but started toward her nonetheless. "All I'm saying is that it looks like a secret door. And it's a secret door in an Air Temple. My guess would be that it can only be opened by an Airbender."

Katara huffed and crossed her arms over her chest, not wanting to admit that he was probably right and that she'd been wrong. "I know that."

He smirked and walked past her. "I'm sure you did."

She watched him turn the corner before bounding after him. "Hey, wait up."

After lunch, the two of them went to what Katara had come to think of as their clearing. She was slowly weaving the water around her body and Zuko was sitting on the edge of the fountain, watching her. At first, it had bothered her—his amber eyes were so intense on her movements—but she soon lost herself in the push and pull of the water, forgetting that anyone was watching.

"Katara?" His voice, though soft, startled her and the water faltered in its smooth dance. "Sorry."

"It's okay," she told him, the water once more under her control. "What did you want?"

He looked about to say something when Aang walked in.

"Hey Zuko, there you are! I was wondering if—" He noticed Katara then and paused for a second, looking away nervously before continuing. "If, uh, you guys wanted to check out something…on the other side of the temples?"

Zuko felt like slapping his forehead; that was the worst cover up he ever heard! Obviously, this kid wasn't very good at lying.

But Katara didn't look suspicious. "No thanks, Aang. I'm supposed to be resting." She mocked Sokka as she said it, making a face and crossing her arms. Aang laughed and backed away slowly, giving Zuko one last look before darting out. Zuko sighed—at least that was over—then he turned to Katara.

"You deserve it," he told her.

Katara turned and blinked at him. "What?"

"I said, 'You deserve it.' I'm glad Sokka told you to rest. About time someone gave you a dose of your own medicine," Zuko grumbled.

Katara's mouth dropped open. "My own…?" She stared as he stood up and walked away, leaving her alone in the clearing with her mouth hanging open and her eyes blinking slowly after him.

Zuko walked down the hall. That had been too close a call. One more slip up like that and Aang might as well say goodbye to his Firebending teacher; Katara would kill him. He shook his head, fighting down visions of the various ways Katara could do him in; each one was significantly less pleasant than the one before. Now he was off in search of Aang; he wanted to teach Aang some more forms. Not to mention he wanted to try some different things, like combining Katara's Waterbending forms with his Firebending. The thought itself provoked an odd sort of excitement. If he could successfully mix the two, Aang could be even more powerful—not to mention that Azula and his father would be caught off guard by the unexpected moves.

He found the young monk talking with Sokka as Sokka stirred the rice and added some sort of spice to it.

"This is how you give it a sweeter taste. Now, if we could just find some—"

"Sokka, you've only been cooking for a day," Aang reminded him, exasperated.

Sokka shook his head with a small smile on his face and he waved the ladle at Aang, bits of rice flying all over to land scattered across the ground. "Tut-tut, Aang, have more faith in your buddy!" Sokka flung more rice around as he lifted the spoon above his head and finished dramatically, "I think I've found my calling!"

Aang looked off to the side, shaking his head with a deep sigh. He saw Zuko walking toward them and smiled; Sokka went back to stirring the rice happily.

"Hey, Sifu Firebender!" Then he looked around nervously. "Did you lose Katara? Can we Firebend now?"

Sokka stopped his stirring and looked up. Pointing the spoon at Zuko and losing more rice, he asked, "I thought Katara said you couldn't Firebend yet?"

Zuko glared at Aang. When would he learn to keep his mouth shut?

Aang stammered. "Ah…but…well…um…Katara just decided that he could, you know, teach me. He's well enough!" He turned to Zuko expectantly. "Right, Zuko?" Aang gave a small laugh and bit his lower lip.

Sokka turned a questioning eyebrow to Zuko, who looked at the young Avatar for a second. He didn't want to believe that Aang would want him to lie to everyone; wasn't that against some sort of Avatar code or whatnot? Of course, it's not like you haven't been lying anyway. What's one more? 

"Uh, yeah, yes. We just talked to her and I wanted to start training Aang as soon as I could so, um…here I am!" Zuko said the last part enthusiastically, adding a cheesy smile.

Sokka looked at Zuko, then Aang, and shrugged, turning back to the rice. "Whatever. As long as my sister said it's all right, I won't stand in your way."

Aang bounded out the door, leaving Zuko to follow. As soon as they were out of the room, Aang smiled up at him. "That was close. I thought we were goners for sure."

Zuko nodded. A picture of Katara bending all the blood out through his ears flitted across his mind; he shuddered. "It was too close. I thought I told you not to tell anyone."

"I didn't tell anyone," Aang replied, smiling guiltily.

Zuko looked down. "Maybe not but you could've worked on your timing. How do we know Sokka won't go blabbing to Katara?" He imagined what it would feel like to be forced to repeatedly hit himself upside the head, Katara bending his blood to her will. "She's going to kill me if she finds out."

Aang chuckled. "You worry too much. Katara couldn't hurt a Rhinofly. Not really."

Zuko remembered the look in her eyes in the catacombs under Ba Sing Se. She'd been determined that night as she fought with both Azula and him. He had the impression that she could cause serious damage when given the proper motivation.

"Zuko?" He blinked down at Aang. "Are you okay? You went pale. Well, paler than usual."

Zuko shrugged. "I was just thinking."

"Don't hurt yourself."

"What?"

Aang jumped out of his reach and through a doorway. "Nothing."

Zuko followed after him, ignoring the feeling that he'd just been made fun of.

Katara was back at the secret door, eyeing it moodily. Where did it get off denying her access to what lay beyond it? All she wanted was a little peak. Was that too much to ask?

Her hands twitched at her sides from the desire to try it again. Looking down the hall in both directions and seeing no one, Katara opened her skeins, bending water through the thin crack outlining the door with a little smile. She'd show that door who was in charge around here.

When she could feel the water on the other side, she pulled it to her in a forceful motion. Much to her surprise, that was all it took. The door swung open easily and Katara was hit in the face with her water.

Muttering under her breath, she blinked against the assaulting dust and stared into a black hallway. Stale, dusty air danced around her, as if it was excited to finally be free. Katara started through the door before thinking better of it and taking a step back. She didn't really want to go alone. And it was awfully dark. She'd find someone to go with her, someone who could help her see in the dark…

…she found Toph lounging on a rock in the sun, her hands under her head and legs crossed at the ankles. "Toph," Katara exclaimed, excited that she'd finally found someone. "Want to go on a bit of an adventure?"

Toph sat up and turned toward her. "Where're we going?"

Katara told her about the secret door. "And I don't want to go alone."

"Why don't you take Sparky? He'd be able to help you see, you know, him being a master Firebender and all."

Katara shook her head. "Zuko wouldn't be able to help me if the tunnel collapsed. Plus, I bet you'd have a blast ramming your way through those rocks." She didn't add that she had thought of taking Zuko with her but hadn't been able to find him; Toph would read something into it.

Toph grinned. "One Earthbending tunnel digger coming up. Count me in, Sugar Queen."

"No, Aang, like this." Zuko showed Aang the form again. "You've got to feel the power inside and force it out through your limbs."

Aang nodded and tried again. Like before, a puff of smoke floated out from his outward facing palm. His shoulders slumped in defeat and his head hung low. "Why can't I get this right?"

Zuko sighed. It hadn't been going well. Everything he showed Aang, the Avatar did correctly; his forms were impeccable, not a single toe out of line, but he couldn't feel the power yet. "It'll just take some time."

"If you could just show me, maybe…"

He trailed off as Zuko shook his head. "I'm already going against Katara's orders by just showing you the forms. If I were to actually Firebend—"

"She'd kill you," Aang finished, his nose crinkling before a smiled slightly. "She'd think of something creative, too. Like making the blood explode your veins or forcing water up your nose." He shuddered.

Zuko blinked at him. "She can really do that?" The image of his body exploding outward in a shower of red made him feel slightly sick to his stomach. How did such an innocent child come up with that thought?

"I don't know actually," Aang answered again, moving through the form Zuko had just taught him with the same frustrating result. He sighed and dropped his hands. "I know she can Bloodbend though."

"Bloodbend?" Suddenly the idea of going against Katara seemed much more dangerous.

"You know, she can control your body. She just reaches inside you and takes over."

"Has she done it to you?" Zuko tried to picture Katara doing something like that to Aang and failed.

Aang shook his head emphatically. "No, of course not. But there was a crazy old lady named Hama who did it to me and Sokka. She had Sokka trying to kill me with his sword."

"So how do you know Katara can Bloodbend?"

"She stopped Hama," Aang said simply. "One minute Sokka was running at me with his sword and the next we were back in control. I remember the way she looked; so frightening and determined. But the worst part were her tears; she couldn't stop crying," Aang finished softly. "She hated Bloodbending."

"Did she ever show you?" A plan was forming in Zuko's mind, a plan that could help the Avatar win against Firelord Ozai.

Aang blinked up at him. "She hated doing it. Hated. I wasn't going to make her go through that again just so I could learn a new trick."

"It's a trick that could save your life," Zuko told him. "My father and Azula will need to be caught off guard and this is the way to do it. I doubt they've ever even heard of Bloodbending and, if they have, it's the last thing they'd expect from you."

"Because it's sort of cheating, isn't it?"

Zuko nodded. "But you can expect that they will be playing dirty so why not us? Sometimes you have to fight fire with fire."

Aang frowned as he turned away, effectively dropping the subject, and moved through the form again. This time a small spark danced away from his hands.

"That was an improvement," Zuko said as Aang's face brightened slightly. "Now try this…"

"Katara, why did you want to come down here anyway? There doesn't appear to be anything but stairs," Toph complained from in front of Katara. "Lots and lots of stairs."

Katara held a torch high above her head as she followed Toph down the stairs. They had been going down for a long time now and it didn't appear that they would be leveling out anytime soon. "It seemed like a good idea at the time. And maybe it'll lead somewhere important."

"You should know better than to lie to me," Toph said; Katara could hear the smile in her voice. "I'll bet you just didn't know what to do with yourself on your day off. I told Sokka that you would go mad without chores but did he listen? Nooo…"

Katara didn't know if she should smile or be upset that Toph was right. She had been slowly going mad without her chores. That was part of the reason. The other reason was that, when she let her mind run idle, it jumped to Zuko and the way she'd been treating him like a child recently. She hated to admit it but Suki had been right. Zuko deserved the chance to prove that he could be responsible.

"Toph," Katara said slowly. "Do you think Zuko's ready to begin training Aang?"

She heard Toph scoff. "Of course he is, Katara. Zuko's not the invalid you think he is. He's stronger than you give him credit for."

Katara blinked at the back of her head. "What do you mean?"

Toph stopped and turned around. "You mean you haven't noticed? All that time you've been spending with him and you haven't seen it? And they say I'm the blind one!"

"I don't understand, Toph."

Toph eyed her curiously. "You know, I honestly believe that you don't have a clue." And she turned around, started down the steps again.

"What don't I have a clue about?" Katara hurried after Toph. "Toph, this isn't fair. Tell me what you're talking about."

"You and Sparky."

"What about me and Zuko?"

"Well, you two do spend an awful lot of time together," Toph hinted.

"Oh no, Toph," Katara said, shaking her head. "Tell me you haven't been thinking like that again."

"I'd be lying."

"Toph, there's nothing there. I'm his healer and he's my patient. That's it. End of story."

"Uh-huh. Right. I don't know what I was thinking. Of course it's natural for a healer's heart to race when her patient walks into the room. I can see I clearly don't understand these things."

Katara scowled and muttered under her breath. "My heart doesn't speed up."

She heard Toph laugh in front of her. "Of course not. My mistake."

"That's right."

Suddenly Toph stopped, causing Katara to run into the back of her. The torch fell out of her hand and landed in the dirt under her feet, the flame going out. "We're there," Toph said softly as Katara grabbed for her shoulder.

"Where? I can't see a thing!"

Toph pushed against a wall of rock and it moved out of the way. Late afternoon sun flowed over them and Katara blinked into it. "I think we just found an escape route, Katara."

Authors' Notes:

Simatra: Okay, so Chapter Ten. Zuko is starting to re-think his decision to train Aang behind Katara back and is thinking. Hopefully he doesn't hurt himself, of course, if Katara finds out, he won't have to worry about that!

Lurisa: Yeah, she'll just kill him...KEEL HIM!

Simatra: Not Zuzu! Also, this is bash Katara chapter!

Lurisa: Poor Katara. She can't help it that we're warping her into a crazy, chore obsessed person who tries to show secret doors who's in charge. Control issues much?

Simatra: Are you making fun of Katara! No! She's awesome! Anyway, so Katara learns that when pushing a door doesn't work...try pulling.

Lurisa: And then she gets owned by a door. And it's fun.

Simatra: Yeah...And Toph ain't blind! Note: Katara was looking for Zuko before she found Toph. Lucky for Zuko she couldn't find him!

Lurisa: Hehe That'd be fun...or graphic...

Simatra: Lurisa, are you talking about bloody graphic or...nevermind...Well, expect the great Chapter Eleven next week! Some interesting things will start to form!