Chapter 26 | The Rendezvous

We've cracked 100,000 words people, congratulations on making it this far. Remember back in chapter one, in our naivety, when we said this would be ten chapters? Oh, the folly of youth. It will definitely (maybe) be thirty chapters, promise (sort of). Brace yourselves for a very messy invasion and aftermath.

The Water Tribe Chief's tent was far too small for the invasion consultation, so the circle convened outside around a wide stone table (curtesy of Toph) upon which dozens of maps of the Fire Nation gleamed in the candle light.

The circle sat as follows: Bato and Sokka were seated either side of the Chief. Beyond Bato sat Haru (at his own request, something about an argument with Sokka) with Tyro, Jima and The Boulder (the latter casting the former covert glances), and Teo's dad, the Mechanist, beside them. On Sokka's right were Aang, Toph, Iroh, Piando, Jeong Jeong, and finally— slumped like school children in a classroom— Yun and Huu.

Truthfully, Hakoda had his doubts about some of the "soldiers," namely those armoured in leaves and twigs, but Sokka's glowing recommendation settled his disquiet. The boy had grown after all; he was a man now.

As the circle broke up, the volunteer invaders leaving in groups of ones and twos, Hakoda overheard his daughter's name on the Swamp Tribe Cheiftess's lips.

'…a day or two before we set on out for these here islands.'

'I see. And did she tell you why? A young lady has her secrets, but I can imagine a woman such as yourself would be wise to the ways of girls.' The former general certainly had a way with words. And women.

'Naw, we don't know why Cousin Katara was outta sorts. But her boyfriend left with her, and he'll be keepin' an eye on her.'

The old man was listening with the most peculiar gleam in his eye. 'Indeed?'

A feeling like ice churning in stormy seas charged through Hakoda's veins. It was all he could do to keep from slamming his fist into the table before him. He would have words with the Fire Lord's son when he finally turned up.

Unfortunately, Sokka had overheard the exchange also. 'Boyfriend?' the young man scoffed, stopping by General Iroh's side. 'Zuko? He's a fire bender, not a boyfriend.'

The tribeswoman's mild expression remained impassive. 'Sure, cousin, if you say so.'

Hakoda turned from the group, staring out beyond the cliffs just as the moon drifted from behind a cloud. Under the milky crescent moonlight, his anger turned to fear as his daughter's face drifted through his thoughts. Dammit, Katara, where are you?

- o -

It took four days for the battered swamp skiff to pull into the dicey waters of Black Cliff Cove. They had left their little island, name still undecided, the morning after learning to redirect lighting and discovering the secrets of swamp visions under pale moonlight. And somehow they'd managed to leave the island's sands and forests with much, much more than they'd arrived with.

As though the spirits themselves ordained their luck, Zuko and Katara had nothing but sunny days, strong winds, and not a Fire Navy patrol ship to be seen. Their luck made them lazy and they began to forgo keeping watch on the horizon. The electricity of the other's touch, whether ordained by spirits or their own doing, was nothing short of addictive below deck in the gloom of the cargo hold. Katara found herself wishing they'd another day or two alone on the little boat. The tiny space that had once felt like a prison was now a safe haven of soft touches and softer words whispered back and forth in the humidity of the Fire Nation's tropical seas.

'What happens when we get there?' she mumbled against Zuko's lips as the boy sketched his name over her hip.

'What do you mean?' He knew what she meant.

The lantern overhead threw long, dancing shadows. They twitched and swirled, casting darkness and light over their faces in equal measure. 'What do we say?' she pressed, holding the softness in his eyes all to herself for a few days yet. 'About this?'

He flashed into shadows. 'We don't say anything.'

'You don't want to?'

The shadow shifted and the flame again lit his face. 'I wouldn't deny it if someone asked,' he muttered, his hand stilling against her hip. 'Surely you know that?'

She nodded, waiting on the words she could see him struggling for.

'I don't think we need to tell anyone. Not in words. Let's just… let them figure it out for themselves.'

'You'll have to practice keeping your hands to yourself then,' she teased quietly, tracing the curve of his smile. 'You're always touching me.'

'And what do you call this?' he asked, looking pointedly at her fingers on his face.

She bit her lip to keep from grinning. 'I can control myself.'

A wicked spark that had nothing to do with fire bending lit the prince's eyes. 'I could prove that wrong in about five minutes,' he whispered, trailing a wide circle over her hip, across her back and down to…

Katara laughed and squirmed away from the touch. 'So, don't hide it, but don't flaunt it?'

He smiled his relief. 'Exactly.'

Outside, rain began tapping against their skiff, whispering through the timber of its hull. It's drumming lent the dimly lit cargo hold a melody to match its creak and the ocean's slosh. Like a blanket made of sound, the Water Tribe girl and the Fire Prince whispered about the end of the war.

'Does the Fire Lady have to wear red?' Will I have to give up the traditions of my people?

'What projects do you want to do in the South? How many nights will I have to sleep without you?

'Can we use one of those messenger hawks to write to each other? Will you forget me, and moments like these, when we're at different points of the compass?

'Will you visit?

'Will you?'

Zuko's scar was rough and smooth against her fingers, like the well-worn hides of her frozen homeland. Perhaps she wasn't quite as far from home as she thought.

-o-

Mere days later they stood at the skiff's prow, shoulders brushing, as Katara steered the ship towards one of the earthen docks in Black Cliff Cove. There were three raised piers, busy with a motley assortment of skiffs, sail boats, and warships. Her heart leapt into her throat at the familiar curved prow and blue sails of the Water Tribe ships.

'We're finally here,' she said quietly, ambivalence tearing at her.

'Hm.'

She pointed to the figures waving from the cliffs towering high above their heads. 'Who's that?'

Zuko craned his head, shielding his eyes against the sun. 'I don't— oh.' The figure leapt into the air, looping and gliding his way down to the pier. Zuko said it like a curse word: 'the Avatar.'

She glanced at him, grinning slyly. 'Don't sound too excited.'

But Zuko had gone the colour of eggwhites, eyes narrowing at the bald figure dashing along the earthen dock.

'You're here! You're finally here!' Aang leapt the last twenty metres, crashing gracefully onto the deck of the little skiff. 'Katara!'

Despite the strangeness creeping in her bones— could he see the change in her? The part of her sealed in flames?— Katara grinned at her friend. 'Aang!

The air bender sped to her side, and she hugged him tightly. 'Where have you been? Did you get past the blockade okay? How was the Swamp? This is a cool boat!'

Katara laughed and disentangled herself while Zuko pulled the boat into berth. 'I've missed you so much!'

Zuko pushed between them to tie the skiff to the mooring pegs, and Aang's grin flickered like a candle in the wind. 'Hi Zuko.'

The fire bender merely nodded.

Aang took her hand, urging her towards the shore where others were running. 'Come on! Everyone's so excited to see you!'

Katara glanced back at the figure crouched by the railing. 'I'll just be a moment, Aang,' she said with a smile. 'I just have to get my things.'

'I'll get them!'

'No!' Her blankets and bedding, twisted and tangled with Zuko's below deck, flashed through her mind. She caught the excitable air bender and gestured towards the figure that had just fallen from the pier into the water. 'Er, I think that was Sokka. Can you go help him? I'll just get my bag and meet you back here.'

Aang squinted into the sun at the flailing arms trying to climb back onto the dock. 'I think Toph's behind it; it's the third time he's fallen into the bay in two days.'

Zuko was already in the cargo hold, hastily rolling his bedding and buckling it onto his bag. His movements were stiff. Gone was the relaxed, easy boy she'd spent the last week with.

Katara climbed down beside him, kneeling by her bedding, and kissing him chastely on the lips. 'Come to me later tonight,' she whispered, smiling at him. 'After everyone's gone to bed.'

He blinked in surprise. 'Sure.'

Back up on deck, a dripping Sokka and a chortling Toph were waiting.

Sokka's expression lightened as he caught sight of her climbing from the hold. 'Katara!'

She wasn't prepared for the rush of love at the sight of Sokka, Toph, and Aang— together. Dropping her bag on the pier, she pulled them all into a back-cracking hug, burying her head in Sokka's neck.

'I missed you guys so much!' she exclaimed, sniffling faintly.

Sokka pat her back tentatively. 'Alllllright. We get it. You love us.'

'Yeah, Sugar Queen, you're breaking our hearts.'

Katara laughed and let them go. Toph and Sokka turned to greet Zuko, but Katara didn't catch their exchange. Her father— a little greyer around the temples, a little stiffer in his gait, but still sporting laugh-lines around his eyes— was marching down the dock towards her.

Safe. Alive.

Here.

'Dad!'

She couldn't move fast enough; in fact, she narrowly avoided following her brother's example and tumbling into the water. Hakoda, too, was running towards her and they sunk to their knees laughing and crying and hugging away four years of absence.

'Dad,' she sobbed, squeezing him so hard her teeth clenched.

'I'm here,' he assured her, holding her as though she were still the little girl he'd left on the ice. 'You've grown.'

She gave a watery laugh, but his words hit her like the white wash in a wave, something that wanted to unsettle the moment.

Over Hakoda's shoulder, a familiar face smirked. 'Jima?' she exclaimed.

The fisherwoman nodded with a brittle smile. 'Hey, kid.'

Katara drew back, Hakoda pulling her to her feet. 'What are you doing here?'

'Oh, just here for the sights.' The older woman rolled her eyes. 'What do you think?'

'The Boulder tried to dissuade the sassy woman from accompanying him, but she simply couldn't refuse The Boulder's charms.'

Jima's eyes were in danger of rolling so far back she'd see the inside of her skull. 'Yeah, I came with this idiot and his friends.'

Katara waved to the Earth Rumble VI team, the Hippo returning her wave so enthusiastically he nearly knocked Fire Nation Man off the dock.

Zuko's voice broke through the chatter of waves and friends reuniting. 'Uncle.'

Iroh strolled slowly up the pier, no longer dressed in dirty Earth Kingdom robes, but fine navy and silver ones bearing a white flower crest. His eyes were trained on his nephew, and when the boy tried to bow his greetings, the old man simply pulled him in for a hug.

Beyond their embrace slouched four partially naked figures. 'Hey! Yun, Huu! Due, Tho!'

Yun nodded. 'Cuz.'

Due merely dug in his ear with a disturbingly satisfied grin across his face. 'Lookie here, Tho! It's them kids what stayed with us. Hey, 'Tara!'

Hakoda's hand on her shoulder drew her attention back to him. 'I'm glad you're finally here.'

She glanced up at him, that strange vertigo of irritation and joy mixing uncomfortably within her. 'Me too.'

-o-

It was a mark of just how much Sokka had missed her that he voluntarily helped her set up her tent between his own and Toph's earth tent. Impatience might have also been a factor.

'Come on,' he whined, dancing from one foot to the other. 'Hurry up! You can unpack all your girlie things later!'

'What's the rush?' she demanded, spreading out her hastily stowed bedding. Where's my pillow?

'Only that we finally have the gang back together!' he said, offended that she hadn't realised. 'We want to hear everything, right guys?'

Toph yawned loudly. 'I want to find Sparky and practice my bending against a fire bender. The Order of the Old Guys won't spar with me.'

Sokka flapped his hand at her. 'Whatever, the angry jerk can come too. But let's go! Team Avatar!'

'What about Teo? And Pipsqueak and The Duke?' Aang asked, passing Katara a drink of water. 'And Haru?'

Sokka's face darkened. 'Not Haru!'

A look of consternation crossed Aang's face. 'But I already invited him.'

'Hey everyone,' Haru called cheerfully, Teo to his right.

Sokka made a pained face. 'Urg. Fine. Where are Pipsqueak and The Duke?'

'On their way,' Teo supplied, balancing his chair on just the two back wheels. 'Check this out!'

Only Aang seemed inclined to marvel.

'And Zuko?'

Toph took a deep breath. 'Hey! Captain Hotpants!' she shouted across the camp.

Katara glanced up in time to see Zuko walking at his uncle's side through the city of tents. He frowned at the little earth bender, but his uncle gestured to the group and, with a beleaguered sigh, the Fire Prince made his way over to them.

Toph sniggered under her breath. 'He's answering to Captain Hotpants,' she said gleefully.

The fire bender eyed the group cagily. 'What?'

Sokka squared his shoulder, throwing his chest forward. 'You are hereby cordially invited—'

'We're going to explore the island,' Katara interrupted, rolling her eyes at her brother's theatrics. 'Just the kids. Will you come with us?'

Her voice drew his attention as though she'd shouted. 'Kids.'

Aang nodded hesitantly. 'Kids and teenagers.'

Zuko glanced back the way he'd come. 'My uncle—'

'Has all his old, weird friends,' Toph said flatly, tapping her foot impatiently. 'We're just waiting for Sugar Queen here to finish unpacking all her knickers and—'

'Toph!'

'—then you and me are having a showdown.'

Zuko eyed the little earth bender cautiously. 'I thought we were exploring.'

'Exploring, fighting. Same, same.' Toph shrugged.

'Hey, guys,' The Duke called from his perch on Pipsqueak's shoulders.

'Finally!' Toph and Sokka chorused.

Katara stepped out of the tent, trying to catch Zuko's eye. 'So, where are we going?'

Sokka resumed his impatient dance. 'This way!'

Aang grabbed Katara's hand, pulling her forward away from the others. 'Come on, Katara! There are the fuzziest, cutest koala-sheep you have to see!'

Detangling herself from the air bender's enthusiasm, Katara smiled at him. 'Lead the way.'

Haru dropped into step beside her, a foot taller and grinning. 'Hey, Haru. How are you?'

'I'm great. I'm here with my dad and some of the benders from our village. When we heard what Sokka was planning, well, we knew they'd want to help.'

'That's great, Haru,' she began, but Sokka appeared between them like a ghost rising from the earth, glaring accusingly at the older boy.

'Move along, pretty boy.'

Haru just shook his head, but fell back to talk with Teo, Pipsqueak, and The Duke.

Katara turned to her brother. 'What was that for?' she demanded as they started to descend into a shallow valley spotted with koala-sheep.

'Never you mind, sister,' Sokka said knowingly. 'I've got your back.'

'Urg, I've been back with you for an hour and already you're back to regular old Sokka,' she grumbled, glancing over her shoulder as Toph's booming laugh sounded behind her. The little earth bender was cackling while, beside her, Zuko looked less than pleased.

'It must have been hard for you without me,' he agreed.

Katara rolled her eyes but couldn't help the smile that slid up her cheeks. 'It was just torture,' she agreed.

'So, what took you guys so long?'

Katara stumbled on a tussock of grass. 'What?'

'You and Zuko? The Swamp guys said you went off somewhere on your own suddenly. Did you get word of Suki?'

Guilt stirred in her gut like autumn leaves in a breeze. 'Um, no. The Kyoshi Warriors weren't on Kyoshi.'

'I know that.' He flapped his boomerang at her. 'I meant did you go to try and find them?'

'Ah, not exactly.'

Sokka frowned. 'You went on a super-secret mission and you won't tell me? Katara, I love missions, especially the super-secret kind.'

She fidgeted with her necklace. 'It's not super-secret,' she said defensively, playing for time. 'It's just, you know how the Swamp is, well, creepy?'

The Water Tribe boy nodded knowingly. 'I seem to remember some creep. Go on.'

'Well, Zu—I mean I, uh, saw a vision of Mum.'

Sokka's eyes widened. 'What about Mum?'

Stiffness, steely as hardwood, crept into her voice. 'Something about the man who killed her.' Sokka didn't have a reply for that. 'And, well, Zuko knew the sigil I saw— the Southern Raiders— so we left the Swamp to go to a Fire Navy communications base to find where they're stationed.'

'What?!'

'Shhh!' She flapped her hands at him, the family resemblance uncanny despite her lack of a boomerang. 'Not so loud!'

He narrowed his eyes at her accusingly. 'You found Mum's killer?' he hissed.

Chagrin stained like tiger-seal blubber soup on white clothes. 'Not exactly.'

'Katara,' he implored as Aang ran ahead, chasing the sleepy koala-sheep.

'We didn't have the time,' she admitted, the shame she'd spent the last week trying to forget suddenly acid on her tongue. 'They're stationed down south, near Whale Tail Island. It would have taken too long on the skiff to get there and back again.'

Sokka considered her, his jovial expression more serious now. 'What were you planning on doing?'

'I don't know. Confront him, I guess.'

'And Zuko just went along with this?'

Her cheeks bloomed red. 'Yes.'

'Classic Fire Nation. He would.'

'Sokka,' she said with a frown.

'That was really irresponsible, Katara,' he said in a tone far too like their father's. 'You worried all of us, especially Dad. You could have told the swamp benders at least.'

Lectures on responsibility from her brother was the last thing she'd expected. 'Why do you think I called it off?' she said hotly, shooting him a hurt look. 'I knew I had to be here for the invasion. She's your mother too. I thought you of all people would understand.'

Hurt crawled along her brother's face like ant-mites over the earth. 'Katara…'

'I should have known not to tell you,' she said frostily, ignoring the bruise in her conscience; she knew it wasn't Sokka's fault. But somehow just knowing the man was out there and not being able to go after him… 'Sorry. Sorry, Sokka, it just sucks.'

The Water Tribe boy flipped his boomerang, catching it. 'Yeah. It does.'

They spent the afternoon down by the koala-sheep field, sharing their stories and adventures from their time apart. Aang's modesty about learning to access the Avatar State with a guru at the Eastern Air Temple surprised them all. He barely spoke about his training and avoided Katara's curious questions as he shared the circumspect details of his time there.

Sokka made up for it by monologuing for nearly an hour, turning minor skirmishes with Fire Nation soldiers into epic tales that he bullied Zuko, Toph, and Haru into helping him act out.

'And then I— no, Toph! You're a fire bender, not an earth bender here; put the rock down!— then I used a sneak attack, like hiiiiiya!' He made to strike at Zuko, but the fire bender dodged and disarmed him easily.

'How did you take anyone down like that?' he asked in disgust.

'You weren't there, Captain Hotpants!'

'Stop calling me that!'

Toph shook her head at the two of them and turned to Katara. 'What about you? Anything exciting happen in the Swamp?'

The older girl shrugged nonchalantly. 'I had a vision,' she offered, glancing at Aang. 'About you,' she told him.

'Me?' The air bender grinned. 'What was it?'

'The Swamp Spirit— the Spirit of the Banyan-grove Tree— told me you need to find balance within yourself before you can bring balance to the world.' She tilted her head, considering. 'But from what you said of your lessons with Guru Pathik, it sounds like you already have.'

The boy's face tightened. 'Yeah,' he said with second, more strained smile. 'I'll get there.'

Katara returned it. 'I know you will.'

'Why don't you show us these fancy new Avatar powers?' Toph suggested with a wicked smile. 'We've got a perfectly good fire bender for you to glow at.'

Aang's dismay shadowed his sunny disposition like an overcast day. 'Didn't you see enough of it at the Eastern Air Temple?'

'I never tire of Fire Lord butt-kicking displays,' the little earth bender retorted.

Katara leaned forward excitedly 'Come on, Aang! If you show us what you learned, I'll show you some anti-fire bending techniques Zuko taught me.'

'How nice of Zuko,' the air bender said stiffly, but his tone melted with a sigh. 'Sifu Iroh has been teaching me basic fire bending forms, but I don't think they'll be much use during the eclipse. Learning some anti-fire bending would be great.'

'You first,' she encouraged, disheartened by the absence of the boy's jovial nature.

For the first time, Aang looked severe. 'The Avatar State isn't a gimmick. Roku wouldn't want me using it for fun.'

Toph sighed. 'Ever since guru-training, you've been such a wet blanket,' she muttered, lying back against the grass. 'Alright, Sugar Queen, show us your stuff.'

Katara took Aang's hand; it was small and lithe like a tiny bird. 'It's okay, Aang, I understand,' she said, smiling gently. 'Maybe you can learn something from this. After all, water is your strongest element when it comes to taking down fire benders.'

'Pfft,' Toph scoffed. 'Oi! Hotpants! You're up!'

Zuko— watching Sokka prod at an angry Haru's upper lip with equal amusement and irritation— glanced over, catching Katara's eye. 'Up?'

The water bender stood, dusting herself off. 'You, me, bending battle.'

'Bending battle?' Sokka asked, fondling the hilt of the sword at his hip.

'Bending battle!' Teo and The Duke chorused, scurrying out of the way back beside Aang.

Zuko's frown asked her why.

'I want to show Aang those offensive water bending moves we worked on,' she told him, a grin edging up her cheeks. 'And since he hasn't had a water bending lesson in weeks…'

'Hey! I practiced!'

'Barely,' Toph called, tapping her feet against the ground.

Sokka glared at Zuko. 'Did you fire bend at my sister? After I explicitly handed you the supreme responsibility of her safety?'

Katara clicked her tongue in irritation. 'Sokka, I'm alive, aren't I? Now sit down!'

The warrior turned his nose up. 'Fine, but after you're done splashing Zuko with puddles, I want some sword practice.'

No one bothered arguing.

Zuko sighed— too long away from the gang's antics had worn away his tolerance for their quirks—shed his jacket, and turned to face Katara. 'You may want to move back,' he advised their audience, breathing deep into his stomach to stoke the flames there.

The group shuffled back several metres; it would have to do.

Katara uncorked her canteen and summoned a large globule of sea water from below the jagged cliffs. It froze in the shape of rough sea swell, ready to be drawn upon should the water bender need it.

'When you fight the Fire Lord,' Zuko said to Aang without taking his eyes off his opponent, 'your air bending won't be safe.'

'Why not?' the young monk asked indignantly.

'Because air makes fire grow,' the prince replied patiently. 'And if I know my father, I'll bet he will have figured out some way for your air strikes to make his stronger.'

The image was uncomfortable: a stronger Fire Lord.

'Your best element to use would be water, or even earth,' Zuko continued. 'Water is the natural opposite of fire, and its bending style is perfect for turning a fire bender's energy back against him.'

'There won't be any energy to turn if you just crushed him with a rock,' Toph told Aang in a stage whisper.

All the time he spoke, Katara maintained her tidal wave stance, waiting.

'You can't crush him with a rock, he's too fast,' the fire bender told Toph. 'But you can turn his attacks against him, make his offense yours.'

The strike came quickly without any of the tightly controlled fire bending forms she was used to. It burst from Zuko's fist in a succession of molten balls aimed at the place he knew she protected least, her centre. The water almost sung as she spun it in messy figure eights to catch each blast, hissing as the flames fizzled away to nothing.

With a grin, she drew on her frozen reserve and sent a wash of sea water at the fire bender's legs. Zuko flipped forward, only metres from her, and bent fire in a whip, slashing towards her. The defensive move came without thought. Arms raised and wrists flicking, water rushed towards her like the tide, raising, catching the attack and crashing down over the Fire Prince's head.

She had him now. Working quickly, she lunged and bowed, her arms wheeling in a well-rehearsed dance to the tune of her breath. But the water rushing around her opponent trembled and broke as Zuko spun, flinging fire from his feet, his legs, his mouth.

Katara backpedalled with a snarl, drawing her dispersed element close around her and raising two tentacles to engulf her arms. She caught Zuko's renewed attack, noticing with satisfaction the way he was favouring his left arm. She'd got him!

Her watery limbs plucked his attacks from the air with ease and again she sent thin ribbons after his feet. You should try to break my root, my stance, he'd told her under the hum of humidity and cicadas. Power in fire bending comes from the breath and having a strong root. He ran at her, leaping the reaching tentacles and formed a large disk of flames, hurling it towards her.

She dodged it by mere millimetres. The heat against her cheek stole her breathe and she barely spared him a glance before responding with a series of icy arrows, sharp and deadly.

But he was getting closer.

She had to move; she never won once he turned the fight into a wrestling match. Well, except for that one time…

'Argh!' Zuko's cry nearly unbalanced her from the ice slide she bent to escape him. He was clutching his thigh, glaring after her. Flames plumed from his nose with his exhale. The fire he shot at her was like shooting stars with trailing tails. They flew wide but caught the grass around her, sizzling and evaporating her water as she skated past.

She stumbled and fell, hard, as the water ran too thin to hold her weight. Her hair caught on something and yanked, bringing tears to her eyes and cascades of brown to her shoulders. With a savage shout, she sent the water at him with enough speed that it would feel soft as a boulder when it landed. But he knew her well now after so long fighting against each other in battle and training. He dove under the wave, rolling to break his fall, and sprinting for her.

Katara drew water from the very grass, shouting with the effort. Ice grew between her and the quickly approaching prince, spikes as sharp as knives, turrets as tall as his chest. They slowed him down, but she had to twirl to dodge the flaming fist aimed at her shoulder.

Water again encased her arms and she fought like a storm to keep those flaming hands at bay. Once she managed to repel him with a blow to the gut, long enough to grimace over the burns and welts swelling on her forearms, but he came back snarling, sending fire over her shoulder, so close she heard her hair singe.

With a shout, Katara drew more water to her, covering herself in its cool fluidity. For a second she floated, only her eyes and mouth open to the air, but before she could finish the move, Zuko tackled her around the middle, sending them sprawling in the ashy, muddy grass.

She shifted her weight, turning the momentum of his attack so she could twist away, scurrying to her hands and knees and drawing a shield of ice to her arm. It caught his next attack before she'd finished forming it, clenching her teeth and pushing more ice into the rapidly melting shield.

Moving into the wide tsunami stance, one knee still on the ground, she shot a tendril at his left arm, coating it in ice and pulling him off balance. He grunted as he fell on his injured leg but kept her from standing with a spray of fire, just above her head.

Breathing hard, dripping, Katara tried to finish it, to freeze him to the ground with the mud slick against his back. But Zuko was wily, and he was fast. And he was a fighter to the very last.

Some feat of athleticism and control and he was crouching, leaping towards her. Despite the slippery mud coating his hands, he held her firmly, a wild grin sneaking up his cheeks. Surprised, Katara didn't respond in time. Before she knew it, he had her pinned. Ice shielded arm twisted underneath her front, face pressed into a patch of lifeless grass. Above her, crouched the prince, pressing her down firmly.

For a moment of suspended silence, only the gasps of their lungs and the roaring of her pulse in her ears broke the tension. Then the cheer rose like the tide, bellowing and whooping.

'Shame about the audience,' Zuko whispered darkly in her ear before releasing her arm. It was a moment longer before he rolled to the ground beside her, panting just as hard as her.

She unfroze the ice around her other arm and turned with a wince onto her back. 'That was…'

The breathless chuckle from the fire bender coloured her cheeks. 'You're covered in mud.'

She joined his laughter. 'Have you looked in a mirror?' She reached out, wiping away the chunk on his chin.

'That was incredible!' Sokka reached them first, his fists clenched, eyes shining. 'Katara you were all, woooooo, splash! Shing! And then Zuko was like hiiiiya! Stupid bending power! Woooosh!'

Katara laughed weakly, sitting gingerly. 'Thanks, Sokka, you really have a way of capturing the whole thing.'

'Incredible?' Aang had a face like a rabid platypus bear. 'Incredible? That was dangerous! You nearly killed each other like ten times!'

Zuko tried to sit but fell back with a grimace. 'My side.'

She didn't hesitate to pull up his shirt and run her fingers over the gash there. 'Ouch!' she muttered, drawing fresh water from over the cliffs again. 'Sorry, I shouldn't have made them so sharp.'

He flinched as she pressed one hand to his side and the other sought out the cut on his thigh. 'No— ah!— no, you were great. I would have lost if you hadn't broken your focus when you injured me.'

'Yeah, Katara, you should have finished him off!' Everyone turned to Sokka sceptically. 'You know, in the battle. Not kill—'

'Anyway,' Toph said loudly, crossing her arms over her chest. 'That was a great fight! My feet could hardly believe their eyes.'

Katara chuckled breathlessly, finishing the cut on Zuko's leg and turning her focus to his side. 'Thanks, Toph.'

'You should be more careful,' Aang insisted, crouching by her side. 'Look at your arms.'

He had a point. Her forearms were the texture of thick cake batter, swelling in some places, reddening in others. Now she noticed it, the dull pain began building into something sharper. 'Right, ouch.'

Zuko sat, his hand resting over hers against his side. 'I'm sorry,' he said in that voice that berated the speaker with self-loathing. 'The Avatar's right, I shouldn't have been so—'

'It's fine,' she said firmly, drawing the water to her free hand and laying it over the burns. She groaned in relief at the cool, soothing push-and-pull feeling of the healing. 'You didn't do any worse than I did to you.'

Anxiety was discernible in the tightness of his frown and his rigid shoulders— she could practically hear the internal scolding— but at her words, it eased somewhat, like sailing into the eye of a storm. The softening of his expression, his gratitude, brought a smile to her face.

But above them, Sokka was glaring. 'Um, Katara. Why is Zuko holding your hand?'

She glanced down at the fire bender's pale skin covering hers, then up at her brother's purpling expression. 'Why are you so bad at making battle sound effects?' she replied, her grin widening. 'Some things we'll never know.

'Um, not to interrupt, but shouldn't we get going?' Haru suggested hurriedly from Katara's other side.

Toph shrugged. 'Don't ask me. Ask the Plan Man.'

'Where are we going?' Katara asked, siphoning mud from her face with Toph's help.

'There's some fancy invasion meeting tonight of Snoozle's creation.'

'Of course, there is,' Katara sighed.

Fluff bending, mud bending, brother's-prying-questions bending— it was all in there. Next is Sokka's Super-Secret Council of Anti-Fire Lord Plots, Plans, and Schemes, aka SSSCAFLPPS (working title) or Scaff-lips as Toph loving dubs it. Where Zuko has to step up, Katara has to put the invasion first, my own concerns about children going to war are aired, and we get into the nitty gritty of the invasion plan (hint: it's going to be ever so slightly more complex than canon's "YOLO let's attack in submarines" plan).