Chapter Twenty One

Happy late Fourth of July, folks! If you aren't from America, that's okay too. Happy late Thursday!

So… there's good news and there's bad news. The good news is that I'm putting up a new chapter. The bad news is that I'll be gone for two weeks. You see, I'm backpacking for a week, and then the very next day I go to band camp. So I probably won't be able to post again for a while. Love y'all!

Fire is a direct symbol of passion, of lust. A fiery person is outspoken and brave. Sometimes fire can be misjudged; people are cautious of something so beautiful and mystical but burns to the touch. Fire spreads like a disease, consuming everything in its path. It devours and destroys, and can completely decimate a forest. But there is another side to fire. It warms people and cooks their food. Without it, human civilization could have simply not existed. It's two sided; like a double edge broad sword. A fickle and hardly constant thing; but you just simply cannot live without it.

There is nothing more rare, nor more beautiful, than a woman being unapologetically herself; comfortable in her perfect imperfection. To me, that is the true essence of beauty.

Steve Maraboli

Eyes opening, a room full of sleep deprived teenagers got up groggily. A bunch of mumbles coming from the group, they stretched their backs and groaned.

Katara was bouncing off the walls. "Rise and shine! We have a three day car ride in front of us!" Picking people up from their sleeping bags, she tried to usher her friends to the car. "Come on, we packed everything last night! Let's do this!"

Zuko rubbed his eyes. Walking over to the hyper Katara, he put his broad hands on her shoulders and looked down at her. "Katara. Shut up."

Katara smiled even more. "Come on, get in the cars!"

After a begging, pleading Katara managed to get Toph out of bed, everyone grabbed breakfast and squeezed into the cars.

Sokka groaned. "Why are we renting cars again?" He complained loudly, getting into the driver's seat with Suki behind him and Aang and Toph in the back. This is ridiculous. My car is way hotter than this.

Katara rolled her eyes. "Because this hybrid probably gets three times as many miles to the gallon as any of our cars and you know it." Slipping into the passenger seat, she smiled at Ty Lee in the back and Zuko putting the keys in the car. "You don't even know how excited I am to get out of here!"

Toph rolled her eyes. "This road trip is going to take forever, Katara. It better be beautiful."

As it turned out, the car ride was not extremely beautiful. The landscape was breathtaking, but there weren't too many stops on the way. They stopped in all of the big cities on the way, but there weren't that many to see. It was currently two in the morning, and Katara and Suki were driving their separate cars being very unimpressed with the late night scenery.

"Why again are we driving nonstop?" Zuko asked, head throbbing. They had passed a lot of farmland and forest. At first the snowy mountains and plains were gorgeous, but now it was getting old.

Katara sighed. Did he not know she was just as tired as he was? "Because we're too broke to buy plane tickets." Counting the stop lights was getting tiring. It was so difficult to keep her eyes open. "Isn't it Ty Lee's turn in about an hour?"

Zuko yawned. "Yeah, I think it is. But Suki's stopping right there." Pointing at a gas station, Katara slowly turned into the exit and stopped at the gas station. "Can… can you fill up the gas?" She said, yawning halfway through her sentence.

Zuko nodded. Getting out, he slowly pumped the gas alongside Suki. "How's it going, Suki?" He asked tiredly.

The cheerleader smiled, blinking behind her glasses. "I'm starting to miss my purple contacts and my pom poms." She joked, taking the gas pump out. "Uh… I think your girlfriends asleep."

Zuko looked back. Suki was right about one thing, Katara had passed out at the wheel. "She isn't my girlfriend!" He said, annoyed. Taking the gas pump out and paying, he slammed the buttons and then slammed the car door. Waking up both Ty Lee and Katara, he felt angry stares. "What? You both need to be awake. You're driving and you're going to be driving in an hour. So get up and follow Suki." He said angrily, crossing his arms and looking at Katara.

She sighed, too tired to be her usual fiery self. "Okay, Zuko." Starting the car and following after Suki, she could tell this was going to be a long trip.

Switching off with Ty Lee while Suki switched off with Aang, the road was eerily quiet. Of course, it would be at two in the morning. Getting in the back of the car, Katara raised an eyebrow at Zuko. "Well, aren't you going to get in the front?"

Zuko rolled his eyes."Why would I do that?" It was much more comfortable in the back of the car. Plus, you couldn't really get to sleep in the front. The chair wouldn't recline far enough for comfort. She can deal with it.

Katara smiled tiredly, realizing how thoroughly exhausted she was. "Hey." She said, touching his shoulder. "I know you're tired. It's not a big deal. Just get some sleep, okay?" Rolling up her jacket, she made a makeshift pillow and began to lull off.

Zuko felt a little guilty for being annoying. Why am I so bad at being good? Leaning his head back, he struggled to find a good way to sleep. You'll get to sleep eventually.

Faintly feeling the car stop, Zuko's eyes slowly cracked open. Seeing Ty Lee looking back at him, he groaned. "What is it, Ty Lee?"

Ty Lee giggled. "Look."

Wondering what she was talking about. Zuko looked down, and immediately understood. Somewhere in the time they were asleep, Zuko had fallen on top of Katara and she was literally in a crevice between Zuko and the car door.

"Your head was on top of hers. It was so cute. Your auras totally match, too." Ty Lee babbled on.

Zuko rolled his eyes. "You know I don't believe in that nonsense."

Ty Lee laughed. "Its okay, Zuko. Your aura is so red and bright, and hers is a really dark, deep blue."

Zuko couldn't help but smile. "Like the ocean." Moving off of Katara, he moved her shoulder gently until she woke up. "Katara, wake up. We're in… uh…"

Katara smiled sleepily, yawning. "Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Breakfast stop. Got it, Zuko. Let's grab some grub."

Nodding deftly, he got out of the car and walked into the small diner. "So what's for breakfast here?"

Katara smiled. "Everything."

Yagoda's Diner, as the sign outside the building stated, was a quaint little place tucked away in Sioux Falls. It was small, and it seemed family owned. At least it seemed to be, considering all of the waiters and waitresses had tan skin, blue eyes, and hugged Sokka and Katara tightly.

Katara smiled brightly. "Guys, this is Yagoda. She's excellent at what she does." After getting everyone to shake the old woman's hand, she ushered them to a table. "Let's do this quick! We don't have time to waste."

Toph rolled her eyes. "Look, Sugar Queen. I know you're excited for this trip, but you should be grateful I got out of the car. I will eat slowly and savor every bite." Looking at the confused waitress, she ignored the menu given to her. "Give me everything you'd recommend."

The waitress blubbered. "But Miss…"

Sokka smiled. Touching her arm, he got her attention. "It's okay, Nini. Toph is just a little special. Bring her waffles, please?" He asked politely. "And I'll have the monster pancakes with sausage links. Oh, and bacon. Can you just bring a plate of that?" He asked excited.

Nini looked on the edge of a break down. "Is that all?"

Sokka shook his head. "Can you bring us a thing of chicken?"

Nini blinked. "But it's ten in the morning."

Laughing, Suki shook her head. "Ignore him. Can you please bring four plates of waffles and four plates of pancakes, all with sausage and bacon?"

Nini let out a sigh of relief. Finally, someone made sense.

Aang pouted. "But I'm vegetarian."

Toph flicked him on the side of his head. "So Meat Head can take yours. We good here?"

Zuko scratched his head. "Where's Katara?"

Standing at the back of the store, Katara shuffled a picture of Ursa to Yagoda. "She went missing five years ago."

Yagoda stared disapprovingly, not sure whether or not to take the picture. "That is an awfully long time, Katara." They both knew what it meant when someone was gone that long with no explanation and no contact.

Katara kept the picture outstretched. "It repays the debt, Yagoda. If you do this for me, we will be even. What I did for you Irniq will be repaid."

Yagoda's eyes popped. "Katara, what you did for my son can never be repaid." Taking the picture, she scanned the woman's face. "I will do what I can. Have you talked to Jun yet?"

Katara smiled. "No, we will get into Nashville around midnight."

Moving her finger around the picture's edges, Yagoda let out a chuckle. "What better time to find her?"

Nodding, Katara fixed her hair back. It had really become a mess since she had gotten in the car yesterday.

Yagoda rolled her eyes. Clucking her tongue, she grabbed a brush out of a drawer. "Your hair is a mess! Let me do it for you." Setting out to conquer the thick brown locks, a thought came into her mind. "Who is the woman to you?"

Katara smiled wistfully. "She is my best friend's mother. Her name is Ursa, and she was married to President Ozai."

After leaving Sioux Falls, the car ride remained a monotonous view of farmland for a few hours. Then, the scenery changed. "Why are there so many state areas here?" Sokka whined. It was true, the entire place was one huge park and nature area. At least, that's what all of the signs said.

The place was still acres and acres of farmland, but there were many signs and exits with directions towards recreation places. "It's in the middle of nowhere, and it's all this public access." Suki commented, having almost finished her shift as driver. "Where are we stopping?"

They had picked up fast food on the highway, and no one had really needed to stop and get out of the car for the entire time. They were reaching their fifth hour of straight driving, but most of the teens were too tired to care anyways. "I think we're stopping in Kansas City. Katara said that we should be sitting down for dinner around six. I don't know where, though."

Sokka rubbed his stomach enthusiastically. "I hope it's a buffet."

The Fusion Buffet in Kansas City was the gods' gift to Sokka. With Chinese, Korean, and Japanese food all fused into one huge buffet line, it was the perfect place for seven hungry teens. They had barely gotten in the restaurant before Sokka trampled over children to get to the buffet line. Seeing his sister's disapproving glare, he groaned. "What? I'm a growing boy. I need it more."

Always the giver, Sokka was. "Please get in the back of line like the rest of your civilized friends, Sokka." Katara said, gritting her teeth. All this time on the road was making Katara want to throw sharp objects at her brother. Actually, almost everyone was on the verge of murdering at least person on the trip. Maybe we need a break. Sitting down at a large table, she thought it over. "What do you guys think about us taking a break tonight and renting a hotel room?"

Toph looked she was about to cry at the idea of having an actual bed to sleep in. "That's the most beautiful idea I've ever heard, Katara." Sniffling a little, she let a smirk go across her face. "I call sleeping with Aang!"

Aang's eyes widened before he thought about it and smiled back. "I think that's fair."

Sokka smiled and moved slightly closer to Suki. "Well, if our rooms are going to be co-ed, then I think that I'll be sleeping with Suki."

Ty Lee pouted. "Aw, Sokka! I wish you would room with me." Seeing Suki's glare, she smiled sheepishly. "What? He's really cute." Picking out a suspicious piece of squid, she wrinkled her nose. Calamari is supposed to be raw, right?

Katara laughed at Ty Lee. "Hey, watch it. Little sister here!" Grabbing a few egg rolls off the buffet line, she nudged Zuko in the stomach. "I guess that means we'll be in a hotel room… all alone." She whispered sultrily.

Zuko nearly choked on the piece of chicken he had just snuck off his plate. Laughing uncontrollably, he put his tray down and shook his head. "You are a piece of work."

Shrugging, she grabbed a dumpling off his plate. "Without a doubt."

Sitting down at a table, the group began to eat their well deserved meals. In a flurry of plates, steaming food, and chopsticks, the food was easily attacked. Sokka was trying to explain to Aang how to eat food. Apparently, there was a certain order of spiciness that you had to eat dishes in. In the meantime, Suki was glaring at the gymnast who was leaning a little too close to Sokka. Who does Ty Lee think she is, anyways? The girl had her long braid swooped over her shoulder, and her pink crop top shirt's collar hanging very low. She had this habit of speaking very loudly, but then speaking very close in her target's ear and rubbing her fingertip on their arm. The technique was working extremely well on Sokka, much to Suki's chagrin. Having had enough of this, she grabbed Sokka's ear. "Hey babe, focus on your food. We don't have to have girl boy rooms you know."

Sokka paled. Nodding, he scooted away from Ty Lee and ate another piece of spicy tuna rolls.

Toph laughed. Watching the three of them fight was almost as good as watching Katara and Zuko. "Sokka, Suki has you whipped."

The ponytailed boy opened his mouth to argue, but was jabbed in the side by Suki. Seeing that she had her don't-you-say-anything-or-I-will-kill-you face on, he sighed. "Yeah, I guess she does." He muttered, trying to ignore the laughter around him.

Korra cracked her knuckles, flexing and rolling her shoulders. Shifting quickly on her feet, she sprang into action. Taking a wide step to the side, she hit a few punches at the weight bag before dropping to the ground and rolling back. Wiping a bead of sweat off her tan forehead, she shook out her arms and smiled. "How was that?"

Bolin smiled enthusiastically. "Excellent, Korra! You're doing really well." He had to admit, Korra was adapting extremely well to the techniques. She was beginning to look like a real threat. Not that she didn't always, though. The girl was solid muscle, and had a real passion on the floor. "We should spar sometime."

Korra grinned and nodded her head. Bolin wouldn't go easy on her, but he'd be able to give her more tips. "Sure, why-"

There was a loud crash in another room. Korra and Bolin both snapped their heads around, looking curiously at the source of the noise. Bolin was the first to move, rushing over. Korra followed afterwards, still confused as to what happened. Did someone's weight drop?

They were almost to the room when Hasook, a vaguely familiar face to Korra, stormed out of the room followed by Mako. The guy looked extremely angry, and was ignoring all of the words Mako was saying. "Ridiculous, man! You haven't been giving it your all. If you aren't going to put everything you have into this, you need to stop. You're bringing Bolin and I down."

Hasook rolled his eyes. "I don't need this, and I don't need your stupid MMA team. I'm out of here." Taking off his arm guards, he threw them on the floor and stomped out.

Mako squinted his eyes and crossed his arms. "Fine, just leave! We're better off without you!" Kicking the arm guard laying on the ground, he groaned. Damn it, Hasook!

Bolin put a hand on his brother's shoulder. "Easy there, bro. We'll make it work." Looking at Korra, he smiled. "We have Korra, right? She's doing really well. You should give her a chance."

Looking up and down at Korra, Mako it back a groan. This girl? We're really picking her up? She's a fine roommate, but really? "No way, Bolin."

Korra bit her tongue, aware that she had to deal with this guy for the next six months if they got in a fight. He's your roommate, Korra. You have to deal with him. "You haven't even seen me. I've been working with Bolin a lot while you were off sulking."

"I was not off sulking!" Mako yelled, stomping his foot childishly. "I've been very busy."

"With what, exactly? Acting like you're better than everyone else?" Korra said, poking him in his chest. She continued jabbing him, backing him up. "come on, pretty boy. Hit me."

"Korra!" Bolin yelled, breaking them apart. Seeing the two of them glaring at each other, he sighed. "What is the problem with you guys? Take a breather."

Mako groaned. "She started it!" Why on Earth had they taken in the crazy girl?

Having managed to drive another six hours after dinner, the Gaang finally arrived in Nashville. Walking slowly into the dinky little motel, the seven exhausted teenagers made their way towards the three rooms. Shoulders slumping over, they were all extremely grateful that they had left their bags in the cars. Finding their way to the side by side rooms, they fiddled with the keys and unlocked the rusty doorknobs. Ty Lee sprang into the room, still quite energetic. "Well, the rooms have character!" She said positively, doing a cartwheel before stopping abruptly. Holding her stomach, it let out a large groan.

Immediately, Ty Lee's face went green. "I knew that squid tasted funny." As she dashed into the room's only bathroom, Katara and Zuko winced at the sound of her hurling.

Katara walked slowly into the bathroom, finding Ty Lee curled around the gnarly toilet. "Are you gonna be okay? I can go find a drugstore…" She offered, rubbing the gymnast's back. Poor kid, she'll probably be here all night.

Ty Lee shook her head before more of what used to be dinner came out of her mouth, much to her chagrin. "No, I'm okay. I guess I'll be taking the couch, though."

Zuko's back straightened out a little. "Absolutely not!"

Katara glared at him. "It's okay Ty Lee, I can stay up with you if you want."

Ty Lee smiled. "You're so nice, Katara. I wish I was like you." Feeling another wave coming, she vomited into the toilet again. "This is so nasty. Can you guys please just go to sleep?"

Katara had to admit, the idea was extremely appealing. Leaving the bathroom and closing the door slowly behind her, she took off her shirt and walked towards the bed. Please don't have bedbugs. Seeing Zuko was already in bed and nestled under the blankets, she noticed a problem. "I sleep on that side."

Zuko raised an eyebrow. Here Katara was, in a strapless undershirt and pajama shorts, trying to tell him that he had to move because he was sleeping on her side? If she was trying to intimidate him, her plan wasn't working very well. "Well not tonight, you don't."

Letting out a huff of frustration, she crossed her arms. "Fine, but I'm not getting in bed if you're just going to-" Out of nowhere, Zuko had leaned across the bed and pulled her into it. Hand wrapped around her waist, she was dragged, albeit gently, into the motel bed.

"Shut up and go to sleep." Zuko murmured, digging his face into his pillow.

For the first time that day, Katara smiled. "If you insist, Mister grumpy face." Slipping under the covers, she could feel the heat radiating off Zuko. It was spring break, but it was still cold up in the North. He's like a personal fire. Pretending to close her eyes, she feigned sleep.

About half an hour later, Ty Lee left the bathroom and fell asleep on the couch. Hearing the constant, rhythmic fall of her chest, Katara realized that it was her chance. Throwing her shirt back on, she grabbed the car keys off the nightstand and slid back into her shoes. Slowly opening the hotel room door, she snuck out into the hall. Time to pay a visit to Jun.

Finding Jun wasn't especially hard. She was, of course, at her favorite bar. Besides, there weren't many people that looked the same way Jun did. Upon seeing Katara, the heavily tattooed and pierced woman stood up and smiled. "Katara! Long time no see." Finishing off her beer, she slammed it down on the bar. "Two more, please." She said, holding up two fingers for the bartender.

Katara shook her head and smiled. "After all these years, you still buy me alcohol. Didn't last summer teach you anything?"

Jun smiled. "Yeah, it did. It taught me you're a hilarious drunk, and that I should bet on you in drinking contests. Unless it's against me, of course." Letting out a burp, she nodded at herself, as if to say good job, that was a good one. "So what are you here for? I know that you aren't in Nashville just to see me."

Katara blushed. Jun was always so good at finding people's ulterior motives. Picking up her beer that the bartender had just sat down, she sighed. "Is Nyla still in commission?"

Jun perked up noticeably, which clashed with her dark makeup. "Of course she is. We're always up for a good job. Who are you looking for?" Spirits, it had been a while since Jun had a decent job. She hated to admit it, but she was going to lose her touch if she didn't track someone.

Katara rubbed the back of her head. "Uh, it's Ursa. We need to find her."

Jun's eyebrow raised. "We need to find her? We? Alright, Katara. Who are you working for? And whoever it is, you can tell them to screw off. I've had half a dozen people try to find her, and there's nothing. No scent, no trail. Everything's too old for Nyla to smell."

Katara tried to not let Jun get too her. "I'm not working for anyone, Jun. The Painted Lady," she said, dropping her voice low so no eavesdroppers could hear who she was, "does not take orders from anyone. I'm doing it for my friend. Would family blood be enough to get a scent?"

Jun shrugged. "It depends. If she wore a lot of perfume, probably not. If they were extremely close- a daughter, her father, I don't know- then there's a chance. A small chance, though. I don't usually push Nyla too hard."

Katara grabbed her beer, noticing that it had been refilled. "It's her son. It would mean a lot to him and his sister." And me.

Jun noticed the way she looked at her drink after finishing her sentence. "And to you." Seeing Katara try to disagree, she rolled her eyes. "Save it. I can read you like a book, Kat." Looking at a burly man in the back corner, she smirked. "Tell you what. If you can beat that guy in arm wrestling, I'll do it."

Katara smiled. Chugging the rest of her drink, she slammed it down and sauntered over to the huge man. "Excuse me, sir? My friend and I had a bet. Can we arm wrestle?" She said, batting her eyes widely and jutting out one of her hips.

The guy smiled, stroking his beard. "Okay, miss. But I'm warning you, Arm wrestling isn't the only thing I'm good at." Clearing off his table, he noticed they had drawn a crowd.

Katara smiled. "I'm sure you're a man of many talents." Rolling her shirt up, she put up one sleeveless bicep. Feeling Jun's eyes staring at the back of her neck, she lowered herself a little, exposing some cleavage. "Are you ready?"

The man grinned, putting up one of his arms. "Okay, ready? One… Two… Three." He said, planning to slam her hand down. Nope. Much to his horror, the girl was beating him. His eyes widened ad his hand bent back at more of an angle. Pushing against her hand, his face contorted as he tried anything he could do to beat her. Alas, his hand hit the wooden table with a thud.

For a second, there was silence in the dinky bar. Then, a drunken roar cascaded over Katara and she was given a few slobbery kisses on her cheek. Taking the surprised and beaten man's beer, she smiled. "Thank you very much." Walking back to Jun with the guy's beer, she smirked.

Jun laughed. "I knew you would beat him."

Katara gulped down the last of his drink, nodding. "Oh, I know." Putting the glass down and reaching for her own, she glared at the bartender. "Don't you even think about cutting me off!" Seeing Jun's glare, she shrugged. "Last one, I promise."

Jun raised her beer, touching it to Katara's. "Fair enough. I'll catch up to you about Ursa after the break, okay? Enjoy yourself before you drag you and your boyfriend through hell."

Katara opened her mouth to argue, but no words came out. Putting a twenty beside Jun, she shook her head. "He's not my boyfriend."

Jun smiled. "Whatever you say, Kat. Have fun."

Katara entered the hotel room, a little louder than she left. Slipping off her shoes, shirt, and shorts, she put the keys down and dissolved into a puddle beside Zuko.

Zuko's eyes cracked, watching a very awake Katara slip back into bed. "Where were you?" He asked, checking the time. It was four in the morning. How long was she gone?

Katara rolled her eyes, getting into the bed sheets. "I was just in the bathroom."

Zuko frowned. "You smell like cheap beer."

Katara giggled. "I'm going to sleep."

Sighing, Zuko rolled back over. It was better not to question her actions.

And for the first time the whole trip, they fell into a dreamless sleep.

So Korra and Ursa are both starting to become a real part in the story! Do you like it? You should tell me. Do you hate it? Then you should tell me. Either way, review!

Love y'all, thanks for reading.

R&R!