A/N: I'm on a roll people! I just had to keep writing. And thus this chapter. Enjoy!
Thursday morning dawned with the sun already shining warmly. Suki was disturbed from her very pleasant dream by the radiant beams shining on her face. Reluctantly she opened one eye and squinted in the direction of the offending light. It was just her luck that the sun had found a way past the thick curtains and was now aiming at her face. She groaned and turned to her side, away from the intruding light. But fate would have it that she was now wide awake. Grabbing for her phone on the nightstand, she checked the time. Half past nine. That's weird. She thought. Usually Katara wakes us for breakfast at nine. She looked across the room to her friend's bed and saw that Katara was curled up, slightly smiling, but still deeply asleep. I wonder where you've been last night. Suki had woken up in the middle of the night, for some unknown reason. Something must have disturbed her, but she hadn't known what. She'd been lucid enough to hear Toph's snores and had wondered how Katara managed to sleep through it. Upon glancing to Katara's bed, she'd seen it was empty. But too tired to care, she'd gone back to sleep.
Suki sighed and got up. There was no sense in lollygagging in bed with Toph disturbing the peace she might have had, had she been alone. She put on her dark green shorts and white tank top. If the sun was any indication, it was going to be another hot day. Passing the sleeping girls, she headed for the door and from there made her way to the kitchen, where she found Sokka and Aang in front of the stove.
"I'm telling you, you need to melt the butter before you pour in the batter! Butter before batter!" Aang said. "It's a mnemonic"
"What kind of mnemonic is that? Since when does the 'u' comes before the 'a'?" Sokka asked. "If you want to make it logical, you'd say batter before butter. Because the 'a' comes for the 'u'!"
"But who makes pancakes without first melting butter in the pan?" Aang argued.
"Ehm… Guys?" Suki cut in.
Neither of them heard her and continued arguing. Meanwhile, black smoke was rising from the frying pan on the stove. The smell of burned something reached Suki's nostrils and she knew it was time to step in.
"Move!" she yelled at Sokka and Aang while she ran for the stove and snatched the pan up. Next, she dumped whatever was in the pan in the garbage can and put the pan in the sink. "What did you think you were doing?" she coughed. She propped the kitchen window wide open to let some fresh air in.
Both males were looking at her, glanced at each other and then at their shoes.
"We were hungry" Aang explained.
"And Katara's not here yet" Sokka said.
"So we decided to make our own breakfast!"
"We thought pancakes might be nice"
"But we don't actually know how to make them" Aang confessed.
"I gathered" Suki raised an eyebrow. She looked at the bowl with batter. There were still lumps in it. And was that a piece of eggshell? She inwardly shuddered. "What did you guys put in here?"
"Ehm… Flower, eggs, butter, sugar, salt" Aang listed on his fingers.
Well, at least those were the right ingredients. Suki put her finger in the batter and tasted it. "Ugh!" this time the shudder was visible. "Did you measure out the ingredients?"
"Measure?" Sokka said with a tone of uncertainty.
"I don't think so…" Aang muttered.
Suki gave them both a look of exasperation. "Did either of you ever prepare a meal? No! don't answer that. I don't want to know"
"But… we were hungry…" Aang told his toes.
Sokka gave her a pleading look. "Will you make us some pancakes?" he asked in his most honeyed voice.
She looked up at him and felt her heart melt as she gazed into his eyes. She was about to say yes when her inner voice spoke up. Why would I make pancakes for them? "No" she said before her heart told her to do it anyway.
At her denial Sokka's face fell.
"But I will help you make them. If you do exactly as I say" she compromised.
At that announcement, Sokka became overjoyed. He came to her and put his hands on her shoulders. "You are the best-little-sister's-best-friend ever!" he concluded with a sound kiss on her cheek.
She felt her face heat at his nearness and quickly turned to grab to bowl of batter. "Well, this is honestly the worst batter I have ever tasted, so you better throw this away and start over" she pushed the bowl in to Sokka's hands.
While Sokka was cleaning the bowl, Suki instructed Aang how to measure out the ingredients.
"Are you sure we only need this little salt?" Aang asked.
"Yes, I'm sure. How much salt did you use?"
"About a teacup full"
"A full teacup?" she exclaimed. "No wonder your batter tasted so horrible!"
At her words, Aang's face coloured slightly.
"Bowl is clean" Sokka put the clean bowl on the table.
"Great. Now mix all the ingredients together. Make sure that you don't spill the eggshells in there. Unless you want crunchy pancakes. Then keep stirring until there are no more lumps" Suki instructed.
With painstaking care Aang cracked the eggs and inspected the bowl closely to make sure there were no shell pieces in it. With a wooden spoon he began to stir. "Is this ok?" he asked after a while and presented the bowl to Suki.
Suki took the spoon from him and stirred a bit more, but could detect no more lumps. "This is perfect. Now, for the baking" she turned to the stove and the clean frying pan. "And Aang, you were right. You have to melt some butter in the pan before pouring in the batter"
Behind her back, Aang shot Sokka a smug look, which Sokka ignored. Suki poured some batter in the pan and showed how to bake a proper pancake. Then she gave the spatula to Sokka. "Now you try"
After taking the offered spatula Sokka turned to the stove and made his first ever pancake. The spatula was given to Aang for him to try and after three quarters of an hour, they had a whole stack of pancakes ready for breakfast. During the baking, Toph had wandered in to the kitchen, sniffing the air.
"Is Katara making pancakes?" she asked appreciatively.
"No, we did!" Aang said with a proud smile on his face.
"You did?" Toph's face turned suspicious.
"Don't worry. I made sure they didn't put something toxic in the batter" Suki joked.
Toph grinned. "Knowing their cooking ability they would need too"
"Hey!" Sokka exclaimed indignantly.
"Sorry Snoozles, but it's true"
Suki hid her laugh behind her hand at the sight of the two in flower covered faces who were giving Toph a deadly look.
"Well, you don't need to eat our pancakes if you don't want too…" Sokka shrugged.
The stricken look on Toph's face was cause for even more mirth.
"No, that's ok. I'm willing to risk it" she said.
When all the pancakes were done and the table set, there was still no sign of either Zuko or Katara.
"I thought those two were always the first to be up and about" Sokka observed.
"Katara at least was still asleep when I got up. Don't know about Zuko though" Toph said.
"We'll go check on them" Sokka said as he pulled Suki along.
Suki experienced a moment of exhilaration as she felt his fingers settle around her wrist. She held her breath as he towed her out of the kitchen and into the hallway where they were virtually alone. Something that didn't escape her notice. What also imprinted on her senses was the fact that he was so close. Sadly, the duration wasn't long, and before she wanted him to let her go, he dropped her wrist and set her in front of the girls' bedroom door.
"You wake up Katara, I'll take care of Zuko" his voice came from just above her ear in a whisper. She had to quell a shiver at the sensation of his breath caressing her ear. She braced herself and walked into the bedroom. Katara was still soundly asleep.
She gently shook her friend awake. "Katara, breakfast is ready"
Katara grumbled before opening her eyes. "What time is it?"
"Half past ten. You're wasting daylight"
Katara shot up in to a sitting position. "Ok, I'm awake"
"So, where were you last night?" Suki inquired.
"What do you mean?" but the colour of Katara's cheeks was turning slightly red.
"I mean, I woke up for a spell last night, and you weren't in bed"
"Oh, I was probably just getting some water" it was clearly a lie.
Suki raised her eyebrows, but received a don't- ask-I-won't-tell look from her friend. "Hmm… Well, breakfast is ready, Sokka and Aang made pancakes. So you'd better come before everything is gone"
"I'll be there in five"
Suki got up and walked back to the kitchen. In the hallway Zuko barrelled into her as he stormed out of his room. "Oh! Hey Zuko"
Zuko reached out to steady her and she noticed his touch didn't induce any of the feelings Sokka stirred in her when he touched her.
"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you. Is Katara up yet?" he asked in a slightly anguished voice.
"Er… I just woke her. She'll be along in a couple of minutes"
Zuko looked over her shoulder towards the door she'd just closed. There was a strange look of… longing? On his face. Thinking Zuko was about to step around her and enter the girls' bedroom unannounced, Suki planted herself more firmly in front of the door. Katara wouldn't like it if Zuko marched in to the room while she was only partially dressed. Luckily, Zuko caught on to her silent hint and after one last look at the door, walked to the kitchen.
What's his deal? Suki thought as she followed him.
True to her word, Katara joined them five minutes later and together they enjoyed the pancakes. In between bites, Toph asked what the plan was for their last day on Ember Island. They would be traveling back tonight.
"We've done all our school assignments" Sokka said. "So we can do whatever we want today"
"But we have to make sure the house is clean when we leave" Katara added. As everyone gave her a scowling look, she continued. "Other than that, you can do whatever we want" she said with slumping shoulders.
"I vote a day on the beach! We can build sandcastles and have a water fight!" Aang said with excitement.
At the last word, Zuko shot a look at Katara and found she was also looking at him. "But we better clean up first. Than we don't have to do it later on" and he needed to talk to Katara about last night. He shot her a look and prayed she understood. She caught his look and nodded ever so slightly, she understood. He exhaled in relief.
"Maybe this is a good idea: Suki, Toph, why don't you two clean our room and I'll clean the kitchen. But it would be nice if someone could help me" Katara gave Zuko a pointed look.
"I'll help you with the kitchen. Sokka and Aang can clean our room" Zuko spoke up before someone else could claim the spot.
Everyone murmured their consent as they finished their breakfast. Afterwards, Zuko helped Katara clear the kitchen table as the others headed to their rooms to clean up.
"About last night" Zuko murmured under his breath, not wanting the others to overhear.
She cast a sideways glance at him. "What about last night?" she said just as soft.
"I told you the story of how I got my scar, and while I feel somehow relieved that I finally told someone – something I hadn't expected – it was for your ears only. I would appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone else. I don't want anyone's pity"
"You think I pity you?" she asked aghast.
He looked in her eyes and saw a faint glimmer of exasperation , anger and shock. But no sign of pity. "No, but that doesn't mean others will feel the same"
She nodded. "I'm glad you told me your story. But that's just it, it's your story. It's not up to me to tell others. So you can rest easy, your story is safe with me"
Zuko relaxed his tensed muscles at her words. He hadn't expected Katara to be a tattletale, but it was reassuring to hear conformation.
At noon, the house was clean and all the bags were packed and stacked in the kitchen. There was no one left in the house, everyone was on the beach in front of the house.
"So what do we do now?" Toph asked. She was sitting in the sand, burying her hands.
"Let's have a sandcastle building contest!" Aang issued the challenge.
"Oh, I'm in!" Sokka yelled.
"I'm gonna kick your butts!" Toph jibed.
"Anyone else?" Aang looked hopefully at Katara.
Suki grabbed her best friend's arm. "We're going for a walk" she declared and pulled Katara along.
Zuko looked at them slowly walking to the shoreline. "I'm going to do some sketching" he held up his sketchpad. He settled himself in the sand, with a view of Sokka, Toph and Aang heaping sand together for their sandcastles. The sand mounted Sokka was creating was by far the largest, from which he fashioned a big, rather formless sandcastle. Aang was creating sand walls, but they weren't thick enough to stay standing for longer than the next gust of wind. Toph was actually doing the opposite of Sokka, digging in the sand instead of building a mountain. Zuko studied the scene in front of him and started sketching. From time to time, he looked up to see if there was any progress. After a while he was content with his sketch. He had captured the postures of all three builders to perfection. He turned in search for a different view to sketch. His gaze fell upon the two girls now sitting in the sand, with their feet in the water. From the looks of it, they were in deep discussion. He settled himself to capture them on paper.
The girls in question were completely unaware of their environment, too deeply engrossed in the topic of guys.
"Some walk" Katara commented dryly as Suki plunked down in the sand.
"Doesn't matter. No one's listening to us, that was the objection"
Katara sat down next to her friend. "So, what's up?"
"Indeed. What's up between you and Zuko?" Suki asked bluntly.
Katara felt heat flood her face. "What do you mean?" she started playing with the sand.
Suki looked over her shoulder to the guy in question sketching away on his pad. "Come on, Katara. I'm not blind. You two have chemistry"
"I already have a boyfriend, remember" Katara answered sullenly.
Suki looked back at her friend's face. "I know that. But be honest, haven't you even thought about kissing Mr. Delicious over there, now that Jet isn't here to see?"
The colour on Katara's face was answer enough.
"So you did!" Suki squealed. "And did you actually do it?"
Katara sighed. "No… but yes"
Suki gave her a confused look. "What does that mean?"
"It means I haven't kissed Zuko… here. He kissed me… Last week"
"He kissed you?!" Suki screeched, causing Katara's hand to fly to her friend's mouth to stifle the sound. Suki pulled the hand away and continued in a softer tone. "When? What was it like? Why didn't you tell me?"
"Er… Last Monday. Disturbingly amazing. And I wanted to figure things out for myself first" Katara answered all three questions.
"Disturbingly amazing? How can that be? You usually have good or bad"
"No, in the right order, you have bad, average, better than average, good, and lastly amazing"
"So where does the disturbingly amazing fit in?"
"It's a bonus when the guy you're kissing isn't your boyfriend, but is kissing better than said boyfriend" Katara educated her best friend. "And it wasn't even a real kiss!" Katara threw her hands in the air, showering sand down on them both.
"As in… No tongues?" Suki inquired, wiped sand from her person. When Katara nodded he blew out a breath. "Boy, if it's already amazing without tongues, imagine what it will be like if he properly kissed you" she waggled her eyebrows.
"Suki!" Katara yelled. "Who's side are you on?"
"Yours of course. I'm just saying…"
"I know, I know! But do you have any idea how confusing it is? Jet's an amazing boyfriend, I can't cheat on him with Zuko! He doesn't deserve that"
"So break up with him"
"I can't do that! Even if Zuko would want me as his girlfriend, I don't know him well enough for that" You know him a hell of a lot better since last night. Her inner voice commented.
"If? If Zuko wants you as his girlfriend? Katara the guy kissed you. I'd say that's indication enough he wants you as his girlfriend"
Katara coloured at her friend's words and looked over her shoulder. Zuko was still sitting in the same spot, but was now facing them. At that precise moment he looked up from his sketchpad and caught her gaze. She felt her face heat even more as she was unable to look away. She saw him flip to a new page in his sketch pad and he looked down again, busily sketching.
Suki cleared her throat and Katara looked away from Zuko. Her friend raised one eyebrow and gave her an I-told-you-so look.
"So how about you?" Katara changed the subject. "What exactly is going on between you and my brother?"
Now it was Suki's turn to blush. "What makes you think something's going on?"
"You laugh at his jokes" Katara said dryly. "No one ever laughs at his jokes"
"So you wouldn't mind if we started dating?" Suki asked casually.
Katara studied her friend for a while before replying. "Nah… As long as you two don't make out in front of me. And I wouldn't want to know what kind of kisser my brother is!"
"But other than that, you'd be fine with it?"
"I guess. But a word to the wise: you're not a couple yet. I don't know how my brother feels about you. And frankly, I don't want to know. But if you ask me nicely, I might be persuaded to inquire casually about his feeling for you"
"You'd do that?!" Suki squealed. "You're the best friend a girl like me could ever have!"
"You're welcome" Katara grinned as Suki threw her arms around her.
Back up the beach, Aang was finally finished with his sandcastle. He admired it with pride, he finally got the thin walls to stay standing. He looked at Sokka and Toph who were still busy building. Sokka's structure looked more like a big heap of sand than a proper sandcastle. Toph's construction could hardly be called a castle either. Instead of piling sand on sand, she had opted to remove sand so her construction was built in the ground, rather than on it. It seemed to be an entire city, complete with people and a… Was that a bear? He raised an eyebrow but didn't disturb her. He looked further along the beach and saw Suki and Katara sitting on the shoreline. For a moment he contemplated joining them. Anything to get closer to Katara again. But she hadn't run away for no reason the night before, so it was probably best if he kept his distance for now. Who knew, maybe next time, she would come to him. Cheered by that thought he scanned the rest of the beach. His gaze fell on Zuko, who was still sketching. Aang wondered what was on the sketchpad. He had often seen Zuko pull it out and draw things on it.
He wandered over to Zuko and cleared his throat to announce his presence. He saw Zuko stiffen and shuffling with the papers before he looked around.
"Oh, it's you" Zuko said with a tone of relief.
"Mind if I join you?" Aang asked.
"Make yourself comfortable" Zuko gestured to the sand next to him. "Done building sandcastles?"
"Yeah, I finally finished it" Aang dropped down in the sand.
Zuko looked over his shoulder to inspect the sandcastles. "Looks nice. What on earth is Sokka making?" he said as he looked at the heap of sand.
"No idea" Aang was more interested in the sketchpad in Zuko's hands. "Would you show me your sketches?" he asked.
Zuko looked at him for a spell. Then he shrugged and gave Aang the sketchpad. "Go ahead"
Aang took the pad and opened it on the first page. A coloured sketch of a flower greeted him. The heart of the flower was soft yellow, with white petals. The inside of the petals we striped red. A neat script beneath the sketch indicated the flower as the white jade flower. The next page depicted a similar flower, only with reversed colouring. Apparently that was the white dragon flower. Aang leafed through the pages and saw a few sketches he recognized. Their group sitting around the campfire, the Ember Island waterfalls, again the group sitting in the grass sitting by the waterfall. The next one made Aang blink. It was a picture of Katara, lying in the sand, sunbathing. The detail was incredible. The page after that was another drawing of Katara. This time it was a portrait, in which she was staring back at him from the page. He felt slightly jealous at Zuko's ability to draw so well. Even more so because Katara's seemed to be the only portrait Zuko had drawn. What was his deal with Katara? Did she know he had sketches of her?
He sifted through the rest of the sketches until finally the last one, another portrait of Katara. "These are good" Aang murmured as he studied the rough sketch. It was clearly recently drawn. Very recently. "You have a lot of sketches of Katara" he said lightly.
"Just a few" Zuko answered.
A few? Aang thought to himself. Out of the twenty sketches, seven were pictures of her. He knew, he had counted them. "More than from anyone else" Aang commented.
"I like to draw beautiful things. Katara happens to be a beautiful girl" Zuko defended himself.
"Does she know you have so many pictures of her?" Aang was beginning to sound accusing.
Zuko didn't answer, which was answer enough for Aang. Zuko reached out and took back the pad and closed it.
"You know she has a boyfriend, right?" Aang was now really accusing.
Zuko gave him a cold, uninformative stare. "What makes you think I don't know?"
"Your sketches indicate you fancy her"
Zuko rolled his eyes. "I just told you, I like to draw beautiful things"
"So you're not into her?" Aang said sceptically. How could anyone not be into Katara?
"No!" Zuko lied through his teeth. What was Aang's problem? Why this interrogation? "Are you?"
Aang blushed ferociously and looked away.
Zuko raised an eyebrow. "You know she has a boyfriend, right?" he repeated Aang's earlier statement.
Aang gave him an angry scowl. Then the expression on his face turned smug. "For now. But I bet that will change soon"
"What do you mean?" Zuko asked suspiciously. "How would you know?" he hated himself for being so obvious, but he had to know.
"Oh nothing really. It's just, I kissed her. So she might have second thought about her current boyfriend" it was all bluff and wishful thinking on Aang's part. But it was enough.
Enough for Zuko to see red. He kissed Katara? What the hell! My Katara? It took great effort not to strangle Aang on the spot. Greater effort still to keep his tone light and uninterested. "You kissed her? How did she react?"
Aang shrugged. "She kissed me back"
"When did this happen?" Zuko ground out from between gritted teeth.
"Last night" Aang shrugged again.
Zuko kept himself completely still. He didn't dare move one muscle. If he did, he might turn extremely violent towards Aang. He felt betrayed. He had been with Katara last night, he had held her in his arms, had told her the story of his scar! He didn't see anything but red. He didn't even notice Aang getting up and leaving. It took time and great effort to calm down. She is not mine. He berated himself. She can kiss whoever she wants. It's not my place to beat that guy to pulp. Although it would make himself feel much better if he could hit Aang.
"You ok Zuko?" her worried voice broke through his inner debate.
He looked up into her gorgeous eyes and realised he couldn't possible stay mad at her. What she did with other guys was none of his business. Even though it hurt like hell to hear about it. If luck would have it, he'd be the guy she settled for before too long. Hopefully.
"Zuko?" she crouched down in front of him and put her hand on his bent knee.
"I'm fine" he smiled. He loved the way she casually touched him. No one else did. But then again, he wouldn't let anyone else touch him casually.
"I was wondering…" she blushed slightly.
When she didn't continue he prompted. "You were wondering..?"
The blush intensified. "Oh god, this is going to sound so childish! But I was wondering if you'd like to sit next to me on the bus ride home. Suki decided she wanted to sit next to my brother. So I'm looking for another bus-buddy"
"So Suki is into your brother? I was wondering about that" and she was asking him to sit next to her, not Aang. Maybe Aang lied? His inner voice remarked hopeful. "As for sitting next to you… There are worse things in the world" he joked.
She smiled at him. A heart-stopping-drop-dead gorgeous smile. "Great!"
That evening everyone was gathered on the parking lot, waiting to enter the bus and go home. As agreed, Zuko and Katara caught a seat together. Zuko took the window seat and let Katara scoot in on his right side. She looked up at him from beneath her lashes. As she studied the non-scarred side of his face she felt a thrill of sitting next to him wash over her.
Before long, they were on their way home. Katara suddenly felt tired, which wasn't surprising considering she had been on the beach last night, instead of her bed.
She leaned back her head and closed her eyes. Shifting around a bit, she tried to find a comfortable place for her head to rest. In her shifting, she landed with her head on Zuko's shoulder. She didn't know whether it was the overwhelming urge to sleep, or the fact that she actually wanted to sleep against Zuko that made her stay there, but she didn't care either way. She left her thoughts drift and was asleep within minutes.
A/N: Hopefully the roll will continue and the next chapter will be here before long. But in the meantime, R&R please. I'm always open to other people's opinions.