"Zuko, are you sure it's safe to stay here?" Aang asked hesitantly as he instructed Appa to land in the courtyard behind a unfamiliar beach house.
"Yes, like I told Katara, my father hasn't come here since my family was actually happy and that was a long time ago. This is the last place anyone would think to look for us." He explained as he slid off of the bison. His feet connected with the familiar stone ground; him and Katara would train out here during the summer months after discovering her ability.
"I used to love it out here." Katara commented as she swat away the hand Zuko had offered her. She landed next to him gracefully enough that she sent him a smug smirk as she turned on her tip-toes to grab the strap of her pack.
"You've been here?" Sokka asked bewildered.
"Well, yes. I was like their cousin growing up so I was invited on all the family vacations." Her gaze fell upon the empty fountain that sat in the middle of the courtyard. A bittersweet feeling ran through her as she sighed.
As the five of them proceeded into the house, Katara gasped.
"Are you sure it's safe here?" Aang asked again, taking in their surroundings. "It looks like it's been raided."
"Well...actually..." Zuko rubbed the back of his neck. "This is the work of me from the last time we were here. We needed things for a bonfire..."
The room that once looked like proper royalty now looked like a squatters habitat. Some of the crimson carpet was burnt, the couch overturned with its cushions nowhere to be found, a few chairs with broken off legs, and a few picture frames in a pile that no longer contained pictures.
"So you destroyed the place in a fit of rage?" Sokka inquired with a hint of amusement in his voice.
"Well-"
"Enough! Yes, Zuko, you completely destroyed the place, but it's all we have for right now. Everyone find a bedroom and make yourselves at home." Katara's motherly role kicked in as soon as Zuko was about to defend himself.
It didn't take long for everyone to locate a bedroom and unpack their few belongings. Katara ended up in her old childhood bedroom and smiled at the memories as she unpacked her few pairs of travel clothes. Zuko offered a training session to Aang so they made their way back to the courtyard while Sokka offered to go into town for some supplies - Toph very eager to assist him - and that left her to try and tidy up the living room.
She was muttering something about a temperamental firebender when someone cleared their throat behind her.
"What was that?" Zuko asked as he wiped down the back of his neck with a towel.
"How did you manage to burn the carpet, Zuko?" Katara was bewildered at the damage she discovered as she cleaned up the floor.
"Fire." Katara rolled her eyes.
"Right," She turned to face him. "And where did you get...such...a...nice...bo-" She found herself staring at his chest again and she silently thanked the twelve-year-old Avatar as he came galloping up beside Zuko, popping a fire flake into his mouth.
"Phew! That practice made me sweat. We should go get some ice cream on the beach!" He smiled excitedly at his idea.
"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea." She fanned her face. "It's hot in here as well."
If Zuko noticed the blush on her cheeks, he said nothing. Katara turned silently on her heels, leading the way toward the front door.
Most of the walk across the beach had been silent. Katara still felt embarrassed for getting choked up over Zuko's bare body, Zuko was thinking about the dangerous situations that could happen if anyone recognized the Avatar, and Aang was drooling over the thought of his ice cream.
After ordering, Katara felt little surprise to see Sokka sitting at a table, talking animatedly to Toph as he ate, who was laughing at whatever he was saying. Toph must have sensed their familiar vibrations because her head turned toward them with a smile on her face.
"Hey, Twinkle Toes, over here!" Toph waved them over once.
"You have got to try this flavor!" Sokka exclaimed right as they sat down to join them. He forced the spoon into Katara's mouth, who yelped at the sudden surprise, but smiled once her taste buds were washed over with an amazing flavor.
"That's good." She nodded as Sokka held out the spoon to Aang next.
"Were you able to stock up on some food?" Zuko asked, pushing his desperately-need-to-be-cut bangs out of his face.
"Yeah, and at a good price too." Sokka explained as he scooped up the remainder of his ice cream.
"How long do you think we should stay here?" Aang asked as he licked the bottom of his dripping cone.
"However long we can," Zuko offered. "I don't know where else we could go."
"Hopefully Azula doesn't decide on an impromptu vacation as well." Sokka shuddered at the idea of running into her before they chose to attack.
After a few minutes of silence, Toph snickered as she looked up at Katara.
"What is going on with you, Sugar Queen? Your heart is beating so fast!"
Everyone turned their eyes to Katara, who was looking out at the beach with her mouth agape.
"Ruon-Jian..." She whispered, her eyes locked on a figure down a ways on the beach.
"Oh Agni." Zuko muttered under his breath. He crossed his arms over his chest and shot a disapproving look at Katara.
"Who's Ran-Jan?" Sokka asked, eyeballing his sister.
"Ruon-Jian is a friend of mine. I'm going to go say hello. You guys should head back to the beach house...if they spot Aang our cover here might be blown." Katara explained as she stood up from the bench.
"Why are you going to go say hello?" Zuko hollered, standing up from his seat as well. His eyes narrowing in on the waterbender suspiciously.
"For a distraction! Last time we were here, Zuko, Azula tried getting friendly with Chan. I don't know what happened between them so he might tip us off." She hissed as she watched the boy ball his hands into fists at his sides.
"I can tell you're lying!" Toph snickered at the vibrations the two of them were sending off.
"Okay, maybe not for a distraction," She muttered, "But last time I was here I didn't get to catch up with him because Zuko was too busy being Mr. Temperamental."
"He was talking to Mai!" He threw his hands up in the air.
"So what? Your girlfriend never shows an interest in anything, I highly doubt Ruon-Jian was going to be the first thing to break that." Katara yelled, turning on her heels and stalked off toward the beach.
"You two have a seriously twisted relationship." She heard Toph say before they were out of earshot.
The moon was high in the dark sky when Katara made her way up the walkway to their house. She was swaying as she walked; her body language matching how her mind felt. Her mind was spinning and she let out a content sigh as she leaned against one of the white pillars for support.
Her eyes closed as she brought her hand up to her lips. A smile formed as she felt his lips connecting with hers all over again. Once she opened her eyes, she felt her heart sink as she looked at the double doors.
Burnt.
"Oh, Zu-zu." She muttered as she walked up to the charred front door. She pushed them open slowly, trying not to make any noise, but soon realized it was a wasted attempt to sneak in once she spotted the figure standing with their arms crossed in the foyer.
"Welcome home." He said bitterly.
"Is that new? The burn mark on the door?" She asked as she leaned back against the closed door. She was in no mood for a fight. All her eyes wanted to do were to close and let her body let her body be engulfed into darkness.
"I may have punched it."
"With fire?" She asked.
"With fire." He nodded.
He stepped into the light that was provided by the moon and she noticed that he was still shirtless. Her gaze lingered down to his chest as she broke their eye-contact.
"Why?"
"I'll ask the questions around here. What are you doing, Katara? We are here to train Aang and get ready to face my father. Not run off with old flings! Coming here was a bad idea. You're just going to be distracted."
"Sorry for being a teenage girl at the same time!" She growled, trying her best to stand without swaying as she took a step forward. "I can't work with what I've got."
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"Let me see...Sokka is my brother. Aang is a child even if he were trapped in an iceberg for one-hundred years, and you...well...that would be weird." She stumbled over her own feet as she tried to take another step forward and Zuko grabbed her forearms to steady her.
"Have you been drinking?" He asked, his voice low and raspy.
"Although..." She looked up at him through her eyelashes. Her azure eyes stared into his topaz ones.
"Katara, you're drunk. We need to get you to your room so you can lay down and rest."
She placed a hand on his chest to stop him from moving. Her gaze was burning holes into his head as she bit her bottom lip.
"Have you ever thought that maybe the friction between us isn't from anger? But sexual?" She swayed as she leaned into him; closing the remaining distance between them.
"'Tara..." His voice trembled slightly, and if she hadn't been drinking, she would have caught it. He was worried about what was going to happen next.
"Let's face it: I'm not the little girl you last saw over four years ago, and you're not the skinny boy I last remembering seeing either." Her eyes dropped to the hand on his chest and she made moved her finger in a light circle. He shivered involuntarily to her touch.
"Katara! Stop it!" The grip on her arms tightened and he forced her to take a step back.
"You can't say you haven't noticed me." She hissed, pulling her arms out of his grasp.
"Yes...so...that doesn't mean that I...that we...no! You're my best friend."
"Message received." She spat, pushing past him as she headed toward her bedroom.
She made a point to slam her door shut hard enough for him to hear it from where she knew he was still standing in the foyer.
A knock on Katara's door was what woke her the next morning. Her head was throbbing and she pushed down the urge to retch as she sat up in her bed.
"C-Come in!" She yelled, her voice hoarse.
"It's Sokka, are you decent?" He asked as he pushed the door open slightly. Katara smiled at her brother and nodded but realized he couldn't see it.
"Yeah, you can show yourself." She laughed.
He pushed the door all the way open and came into view with a cup of steaming tea.
"Whoa, no wonder you were still asleep. It's dark in here!" He walked over to the curtains and pulled them to the side with his free hand as he extended the other toward her. She took the tea and offered a smile in return.
"Thanks, Sokka."
As she sipped the tea, Sokka sat on the edge of her bed.
"Hey, sis, can I ask you something?" He fiddled with the string that kept his blue vest closed and met her gaze.
"Of course." She smiled slightly and set down the cup of tea.
"Growing up with Azula, would you be surprised she turned out the way she did?"
Katara surprised him by breaking out into a fit of laughter.
"I'm sorry...no...no, you wouldn't. She was a dark child. Iroh sent her a doll once and she was disgusted and set its head on fire." Sokka shuttered.
"Can I ask you something?" She picked up her cup and took another sip of the usual bland tea.
"Yeah! What's up?" He turned excited, crossing his legs as he faced her.
"What's it like back home?" Katara had constantly wondered how life would be in her natural habitat compared to the Fire Nation.
"Well, there's a lot of snow. Our tribe lives in a village that consists of a bunch of tents and igloos. We live off of the hunting and gathering lifestyle. It's always cold. You have to bundle up which I'm sure you wouldn't be used to since the Fire Nation is always extremely hot."
"Wow...well, I'm sure I could adapt. I've always wanted to visit at some point in my life." Sokka's smile grew at her statement.
"After this you should come back to the South Pole with me! You could meet our grandmother! She would love to meet you." His eyes were shining as he imagined bringing back his sister to their homeland.
"Really? I wouldn't...scare people off? They all assume I was murdered too.." Katara shook her head of the horrible incident.
"Don't be ridiculous! Everyone will love you. They'll probably tell you you look just like mom too."
"Do I?" Her voice fell to a whisper.
"Yeah, you do. You're both beautiful." Sokka offered his sister a smile.
"Thanks Sokka." She tucked a piece of hair behind her ear.
"No problem, sis. Now come on, the reason I came to get you is because lunch is about ready."
They both stood from her bed and as they made their down the hallway, Katara was hit with memories of last night.
"You can't say you haven't noticed me."
"You're my best friend."
Katara's stomach lurched and she covered her mouth with her hands.
"Oh...my...Spirts.." She stopped at the edge of the dining room and Sokka turned to look at her.
"What's wrong?" He furrowed his brow.
"Where's Zuko?" Her voice cracked.
"He's training with Aang." Toph called from the pantry in the kitchen.
"Oh, okay."
"Why? What's wrong?" Sokka pressed again.
"I think I made a mistake."
"I'll say, you're giving off some serious anxiety right now, Sugar Queen."
This time Katara couldn't stop her stomach from coming up.
A/N: Sorry for the wait. I'm not sure how I feel about this chapter but it was needed for the progression of the story. Thanks for reading!