DISCLAIMER: I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender, nor am I in any way affiliated with Michael Dante DiMartino or Bryan Konietzko. This story is purely fan-made.

"The important thing to realize about the Earth King," the Earth Kingdom Official - who had introduced himself pompously as Tai Shang - said as he, Sokka, Katara and Suki rode in the carriage, "is that he's just a man. A brilliant, brilliant man."

Sokka and Katara exchanged a look. Tai Shang worshipped the Earth King, that much was clear from his incessant chatter.

"We've met him before, actually," Katara said, smiling as though this would hide the irritation in her voice.

"Impossible," Tai Shang dismissed with a wave of his bony hand. "No one has ever really met the Earth King."

"Then you should go and tell him that there's a guy running around running the City behind his back, because we've met someone calling himself the Earth King" Sokka said scathingly, his patience waning.

Katara smiled to herself as Suki set a placating hand over her boyfriend's. She wondered how Aang was getting along with the villagers, and that small section of her mind she saved for worrying about Aang opened up. Was he safe? Was he drinking enough water? It had been sweltering hot in the desert when they had been there before, and that had only been springtime. Now, in summer, it must be overpowering. She should've gone with him. What if he was hurt? Toph wouldn't be able to heal him! She could hurl a couple of rocks around, sure, but she couldn't heal him!

"Worried about Aang?" Sokka asked, cutting into her thoughts in a tone that lilted in amusement. "I swear, you're more like his mother than his girlfriend!"

He and Suki laughed, and Katara summoned a weak smile. He was right, of course. And with her increasingly complicated relationship with Zuko, it was an issue she'd have to face up with. But not now.

"One of you will have to get out and sit with the driver when Fire Lord Zuko arrives," Tai Shang informed them, shuffling a stack of papers that he seemed to have pulled from a mysterious pocket. No doubt he believed that they made him look important. When no one answered, he glanced up and spluttered to see everyone glaring pointedly at him. "Well, I certainly can't!"

"Why not?" Sokka asked, leaning back and folding his arms. "We've all saved the world. All you've done is kiss the Earth King's-"

"Sokka," Katara cut in sharply, frowning.

Sokka gave his sister an innocent look. "I was going to say ring." He turned back to the Official and shrugged. "Either way, you're up front, buddy."

Tai Shang sat pouting in silence for the rest of the journey to the Jasmine Dragon, at which point the stepped out of the carriage and out of sight. Katara could only assumed he'd accompanied the driver and raised her eyebrows at Sokka and Suki.

"What's his problem?"

"I think we're stealing the limelight from his precious Earth King," Suki said, pressing her lips together to stop herself from smiling. "Whoops."

Sokka shrugged. "The guy has issues. Do you think there'll be food at this meeting thing?"

Katara was about to reply when the carriage door opened again. Zuko stood there awkwardly in his robes, muttering a thank you to the driver who bowed and disappeared.

"Get in," Sokka called to him, gesturing into the carriage. "You look stupid, by the way."

Zuko frowned. "Just last night you were telling me you'd date me." He smirked and climbed up next to Katara. "Just how is your head, by the way?" Color flooded Sokka's cheeks and Zuko nodded. "Yeah, that's what I thought."

"Never let me drink again," Sokka ordered Suki in an undertone as Zuko turned to Katara.

"Hey."

"Hi." Katara paused, and raised her voice to be heard over the carriage as it rumbled off. "I'm sorry I was rude this morning." She gave an awkward laugh. "I guess I'm not much of a morning person."

Zuko's eyes lingered on her and, for a moment, Katara feared he wouldn't accept her apology. Then he smiled slightly.

"It's alright. I can understand why you were upset. So," he continued, making his voice louder so the other passengers could hear, "do you know what the meeting's about?"

"Not a clue," Sokka answered, over the indignity of being reminded of his drunken antics by Zuko. "Can't be anything too serious though, or they'd have called Aang and Toph back from…" he scratched his chin thoughtfully, "wherever they are. I forget."

"It's probably just an errand or something. Nothing to get dressed up over," Katara added with a sly look sideways.

"I'm the Fire Lord now, making lunch is something to get dressed up over," Zuko told her irritably. "Trust me, I'd rather keep it simple. I got the message about the meeting and then got told to dress accordingly."

"Suki didn't get Kyoshi'd up," Sokka pointed out.

"I don't rule a Nation," Suki replied with a shrug.

Much to Toph's annoyance, she and Aang hadn't resolved anything by nightfall and were invited to stay overnight in Siyu. Aang agreed almost instantly, while Toph remained in a sulky silence. She wanted to solve the conflict as much as Aang did, but everyone in the town took Aang seriously. All they saw when they looked at Toph was a little blind girl. It was like being back with her parents.

"If one more person refers to me as 'your little friend' then all that'll be left of this town by morning will be a pile of rubble," she threatened as she closed the door to Aang's bedroom at the inn they had been offered.

"As much as I'm taking that threat seriously, don't you have your own room?" Aang asked, his lips quirking up.

"I do," Toph replied, collapsing onto Aang's bed.

Aang raised a finger pointed upwards as though he was about to say something, sighed, and then lowered it again. "Okay. Make room for me."

Toph concealed a smile as she scooted over and felt the mattress dip beside her.

"Are there stars out tonight?" she asked, feeling a breeze blowing through a nearby open window.

The weight beside her shifted as Aang peered out into the night.

"Yeah," he answered, settling back down. "There are a lot of them."

"I try to imagine what they'd look like, sometimes," Toph admitted, her blank eyes turned towards the ceiling as she lay flat on her back. "But it's difficult. What are they shaped like?"
"The stars?" Aang shrugged. "They're dots. They're really bright dots."

Toph reached out a hand to the ceiling. "I know that if I could just touch one, I'd have an image in my head. It's like the moon and the clouds, if only they were reachable or solid..." The hand faltered and slowly drooped. "But I guess that's stupid."

"It isn't," Aang assured her, taking her hand in his and stretching it back to the ceiling. "It isn't stupid."

Toph grinned, both at his words and at his warm touch. He always knew the right thing to say. And even when he didn't, it was okay, because she knew that he was trying to find the words, and that meant everything to her.

"So, there are some blockheads in this town, huh?" she asked, punctuating the silence that had descended with a joke, like the blockhead she was.

Aang let go of her hand and grinned. "I guess you could call them that. I see where they're coming from, though." Toph sensed the grin sliding off his face. "I can't imagine how awful it was for everyone. All the while I was just sleeping. I can't believe I was so selfish, running away from the monks. From my home."

Toph bristled. "Sometimes it's gotta be done."

Aang sat up quickly. "I didn't mean…your situation was totally different!"

Toph sighed and rolled over. She rested her head in the soft pillow and lifted a shoulder listlessly.

"I know. I just miss…" she stopped and forced a laugh, trying to conceal how weak she felt. It failed when the laugh turned into a half-sob. "I really miss my parents. But I don't want to leave you. And Sokka and Katara and Zuko," she added quickly. "And I'm worried that if I go back to them, they won't let me leave again."

Aang settled a gentle yet somewhat awkward hand on Toph's shoulder.

"Like we'd let them keep you," he told her, and Toph knew that behind the joviality was a firm resolve.

"Thanks, Twinkletoes."

"No problem, Rocky."

Toph turned to face him, her eyebrows raised. "Rocky?" she echoed.

"Just something I'm trying," Aang explained with an easy smile.

"Well, don't. Leave the nicknames to me."

Aang nodded as he lay back down next to her. "Will do. Rocky."

"So, you guys remember when Aang died and Ba Sing Se fell?" Sokka asked, reclining as much as the stiff wooden chair he sat on allowed him.

Zuko and Katara exchanged a cautious look.

"Yeah…" Katara replied slowly. "What about it?"

Sokka shrugged, then shifted about in an effort to get comfortable.

"No reason. I'm just trying to remember that there have been worse moments in my life than this."

'This' was the waiting room for guests before they entered the royal visiting rooms. There were no windows, no portraits, no decoration of any sorts aside from the large half-completed Fire Nation insignia painted meticulously onto the off-white wall opposite the row of uncomfortable chairs. A pair of doors faced each other on the walls that didn't contain chairs or the insignia.

Katara rolled her eyes before narrowing them at her brother. The four of them (Tai Shang had mercifully disappeared) had been stuck in the small room for an hour now, and everyone was getting on everyone else's nerves.

"Yes, Sokka, there have been worse moments in your life than this," Katara said, her tone hard. "I could probably make a list for you. Let's see, first mom died, then-"

"Katara," Zuko murmured, touching her hand briefly. It worked; she looked up at him, albeit reluctantly. "Don't."

Katara looked at him for a moment more before nodding. She turned to her brother and sighed.

"I'm sorry, Sokka."

Sokka shrugged and offered his sister a smile "No, I shouldn't joke about stuff like that." He fidgeted a little more before standing up and stretching. "Screw this. I'm going to see if I can get us something to drink." He turned to his girlfriend. "You coming, Suki?"

Suki could say 'yes' fast enough, and was out of her chair like a shot. She gave her friends a sheepish look.

"Sorry, but this place is driving me crazy. See you later!"

She took Sokka's hand and led him from the room, as though leaving had been her suggestion.

"You mean we can't come with-?" The door closed with a firm click. "You." Katara finished flatly. "Alright." She turned to Zuko with an awkward smile. "I guess it's just us."

"Guess so."

Don't say it, Zuko advised himself. Don't say it, don't say it, don't say it.

"We fell asleep together, it's not like it was anything illicit," he said, his mouth twisting in annoyance as his conscience face-palmed itself. "I'm trying really hard not to make you feel uncomfortable, but everything I say seems to make it worse. Tell me what I can do."

Katara was quiet for a long time, her eyes fixed on the insignia opposite her. Her eyebrows were drawn together and her lips were slightly pursed, and this was the expression that Zuko recognized to mean that she was deep in thought.

"I want you to not complicate things," she told him slowly. "I want you to not make me question the things I thought I knew." She scoffed. "It's stupid! You don't even know me that well."

Zuko frowned. "I know you pretty well."

Katara raised her eyebrows. "Really? What's my favorite color?"

"Judging by your wardrobe, pendant, eyes, element and pretty much entire culture?" Zuko paused and then smirked. "Blue."

"Okay, so maybe that was a stupid question."

"Maybe?"

"Shut up. Like your favourite color isn't red?"

Zuko smiled to himself. "Actually, blue's growing on me." His eyes lingered on the half-finished insignia, obviously begun when he and Azula had conquered the City and hastily abandoned once Ba Sing Se regained its rightful leader. "You wouldn't believe how much I've grown to hate red and gold."

"Don't let any of your citizens hear you say that," Katara joked, trying to lighten the mood and instantly wishing she hadn't. She wasn't effortlessly funny, or sarcastic enough to pull off humor.

Zuko did her the courtesy of smiling grimly. "Probably shouldn't." He shook his head and looked at Katara. "So, go on. What makes you think I don't know you well?"

Katara could tell he was trying to start a new topic, and was more than wiling to go along with it.

"Because I don't know you well," she responded.

That made more sense in my mind, she decided, but before she could rephrase, Zuko was talking again.

"The three people who know me are Uncle, Azula and you. I'm not talking about memorising facts about me or names or anything," he added when Katara opened her mouth to argue. "Knowing that stuff doesn't mean you know the person. It just means you know about them. Uncle and Azula know me because I grew up with them." His face hardened. "That's Azula's secret weapon. You can have all the weapons and defences in the world, but if she knows how your mind works then you might as well admit defeat. No one can manipulate like Azula." He shook his head again then continued. "Uncle's listened to the reasons behind my stupid plans over the years, he knows my motivations and my goals. You…you've seen me at my best and at my worst."

"In the Catacombs…"

"That was when you saw me at my worst. When I betrayed Uncle. And you."

His voice had gone very quiet, and Katara felt she had to speak in a whisper for her next question. She found herself unwittingly leaning in to hear.

"And at your best?"

A ghost of a smile played on Zuko's lips. "Saving you. I didn't know getting shot by lightning was so painful, but somehow knowing I was doing it to save your life made it hurt less." He lifted his eyes up to meet Katara's, the smile coming into full fruition. "I don't I've ever worked so hard to gain anyone's trust and respect than I did with you."

"You earned it," Katara answered with a small shrug, before returning his smile. "I would've given up way before you did."

"Some things you have to work a little harder for, but they turn out to be the most worthwhile." He paused. "Or something. I don't know, it's what Uncle says."

Katara wound a lock of hair around her finger thoughtfully. "I suppose that means you know me as well, then. You've seen me in moments I'm not really proud of. I came face to face with that…man who killed my mother and I was so angry…"

"You wanted to kill him."

"You would've let me."

Zuko ignored the defensive edge to her voice and simply nodded.

"I would've. I know how it feels to face the man who took your mother out of your life. I had to face him every day of my life and I didn't even realize it." His eyes wandered back to the insignia of the Nation he had used to love so much. "I wanted to kill him. But that was Aang's destiny, not mine."

Katara looked at him sharply. "You think it was Aang's destiny to kill Ozai? You don't he did enough by defeating him and taking away his bending?"

It wasn't an accusatory question, she genuinely wanted to know. And when Zuko's eyes - still fixed on the symbol of his homeland - narrowed, she worried she had upset him.

"I don't trust my father with anything as long as he's still alive." His gaze finally dropped to his clenched hands. "Like I said, he'd be dead by now if it wasn't someone else's destiny."

Katara wasn't entirely sure why she did it. She offered comfort to those in need of comfort and, well, Zuko seemed to need it. She shuffled closer to him and, with only a moment of hesitation, settled her head on his shoulder.

Zuko froze for a moment before relaxing his own head to settle on top of hers. He pushed all concerns to the back of his mind (he had never once worried if his head was too heavy up until this point in his life) and closed his eyes. He was enjoying the moment, their closeness, and he knew it would come back to haunt him.

"What do we do when Aang gets back?" he asked reluctantly. It wasn't as though he wanted to spoil the moment, but being himself meant he was predisposed to.

"I don't know," Katara whispered.

"We're not doing anything wrong," Zuko told her, trying to convince himself just as much as he was trying to convince her.

"Not yet," Katara replied, and before she realized what she'd said and hastily tried to retract it, a little hope was restored to Zuko.

"So I don't want to sound cruel," Toph began the next morning as she, Aang and the Town Leaders sat in the Town Hall again, "but get over it."

There was a sharp intake of breath from the men and women sat on the platform, and Aang closed his eyes. There was a reason he hadn't really wanted Toph to give her own special brand of 'advice' in the meeting.

"Young lady, I don't know who gave you permission to speak-"

"Aang did when he made this a free country again," Toph cut in. "Now…I'm sorry, I've forgotten all of your names…but I'm pretty sure you don't know mine, so it doesn't matter."

"Toph," Aang muttered, but Toph ignored him.

"A lot of bad things happened to your towns, and I'm really sorry about that," Toph continued, getting to her feet and facing the platform. She could feel the heartbeats of a lot of angry people, but it only spurred her on. "But stop being so selfish. My friends lost their mom and Aang here lost his entire race. Fire Lord Zuko kept screwing up and picking the wrong sides but in the end he came after us and, in a nice change of pace, didn't try to kill us. We gave him a chance and here you are a few weeks later, not under the control of the Fire Nation. And you never have to be again."

"We can't make you sign any treaty or trust the Fire Nation," Aang jumped in, after Toph gave him what she thought was a gentle nudge (in reality his arm would probably blossom into a bruise quite soon.) "But you'll become the enemy if you don't accept the peace we're offering. Fire Lord Zuko isn't responsible for the crimes that happened in your town. There's a whole new generation of soldiers out there now, returning home to their families, their wives and children. Don't blame the future for the past's mistakes."

The Town Leaders stared at the two children in front of them, each wise beyond their years. Aang met each of their eyes in turn, whilst Toph stood with her head held high, staring blankly ahead.

Qin, Siyu's Mayor, propped his elbows onto the desk in front of him.

"We will need time to discuss," he announced. "Avatar, friend of Avatar-"

"It's Toph."

"- we appreciate you coming down here," Qin continued as though there had been no interruption. "However, as we mentioned yesterday, this isn't a conflict that can be solved with words, heartfelt as they may be."

Aang got the feeling he was being mocked, but merely stood up, nodded and bowed.

"Thank you for your hospitality," he answered carefully. "We'll inform the Earth King of your reservations and I'm sure he'll deal with you appropriately."

It hadn't meant to come out as a threat, but concern lit up in each pair of eyes regardless.

Well, good, Aang decided. I won't help people who won't allow themselves to be helped. It's stupid, and I have the rest of the world to sort out.

"What would the Earth King do?"

Lehnah spoke to her husband in an undertone that still managed to carry across the space to where Aang and Toph stood.

"He can't forceyou into a treaty," Toph assured them. "Although…well, I mean, he really wants peace. I don't really know how far he'd go." She paused for effect before taking Aang's arm and turning away cheerfully. "Anyway, see you!"

"Wait!"

At least three voices had chorused that word, and Toph turned in smug satisfaction. Aang had to admit, he was proud of her.

"Stay for dinner, won't you?"

Lehnah was offering a forced smile that didn't detract from the nervous quiver in her voice. Toph had spooked the Town Leaders into deliberating a little more, and that could only end in some form of treaty.

"We can throw a feast!" one of the twins (Xai? Xei?) added, strained enthusiasm lining his ancient face.

Aang turned to Toph, his lips pursed in exaggeration. "What do you think, Toph?"

"I think it depends on the food," Toph answered, straight-faced.

"We'll stay," Aang told the Town Leaders. He bowed and Toph did the same. "We'll leave you to discuss."

The children were silent until the door to the Town Hall closed behind them, at which point they burst out laughing on the empty walkway.

"That was excellent!" Aang whooped, throwing his arms around Toph, who paused before returning the hug awkwardly. "You had them running - well, sitting - scared! We'll be back in Ba Sing Se by tomorrow night but until then…"

Toph stopped listening as Aang rattled off a long list of things that they could do in the town. She wondered how Zuko and Katara were going on, and somehow knew that Zuko was having much more luck than she was.

Stupid Fire Lord.

A/N:

Happy New Year! … A week ago. But close enough (:

Hope you enjoyed the chapter, it was more of a relationship-building one than anything else. Thank you very much for your reviews, they're greatly appreciated (:

So it's been incredibly snowy across Britain and the north of England has just been ridiculous. I was slipping and sliding down my street on my way to work last week, praying that I suddenly became a Waterbender. It didn't happen, but at least I didn't slip in front of a bus full of people.

Oh, wait. Yes I did.

Just a little rant here: I'm rewatching Avatar Season Two and tried not to hate Mai as much as I do. It didn't work. She didn't care when her baby brother was kidnapped by rebels (or so she thought) and then she put his hands in the life of Azula?! Even by the end of the episode she didn't care what had happened to Tom Tom because she's so convinced her life is terrible. Yeah, look outside your window, sweetheart, and you'll see the oppressed citizens of a city that was great until your Nation came and pwned it. Stupid cow. I will never understand Maiko. /rant.

Question four: based off your skin tone and hair colour, what Nation would you be from if you lived in the Avatar world? (example: I'm pale skinned and dark haired, so I'd be Fire Nation.) If you're blonde or a redhead…sorry, you don't exist :P

Have a great rest of the week,

- Momo