So here's the thing… we're catching up to the great chasm of unwritten territory quicker than my update-happy arse realised. Yikes. I had assurances from both my Brain and my Better Judgement that it would be a matter of a mere 5000ish words until the finish line.
Turns out both those hoes were lying because I'm midway through THE most unexpected side quest (for reals, no one asked for this) and the end still seems like its miles away. At this stage, I am as in the dark about the ending as you (well… I have ideas but this train is practically driving itself at this stage so who knows). I'm gonna see this thing through til the end though so feel free to strap your emotions to the train tracks by mine!
Master Piando I
Zuko warns them against it.
Zuko tries to make them understand deeply Fire Nation ideas around honour and loyalty and a master swordsman's duty to his Firelord, but his new friends smile with a confidence he doesn't think he'll ever feel and respond with notions of belonging, of fairness: they've each of them trained with a master and believe Sokka deserves that same privilege.
'It's dangerous,' he attempts once more when he's alone with the waterbender. They're surrounded by lush jungle forest, and her hand in his is a tempting distraction he's slowly failing to resist. 'None of you understand what it's like here. I know Master Piando, he's an honourable man, which is exactly why he can't find out who your brother is. Or who's travelling with him!'
She tugs his stiff body forward— hurry up, it seems to say— and the skirts of her Painted Lady outfit whisper over the damp ground. 'Sokka will be fine, Zuko. He's smarter than you give him credit for.'
The former-prince wants to argue. He wants to take her in his arms and whisper the true root of his fears: that he's come to respect the Water Tribe boy more than he'd care to admit, that he's frightened for him because he can't trust his own people anymore, that he would do anything to save her mourning the loss of another family member at the hands of his nation.
He doesn't though.
He just grips her fingers tighter.
Master Piando II
Katara misses the firebender as soon as she, Sokka, and Toph set out to meet the master swordsman. Here in the Fire Nation, Zuko's face is too recognisable, besides Aang has new firebending forms to learn, the eclipse is mere weeks away.
Ahead, Sokka is dancing impatiently from one foot to the other. 'Katara! Come on!' he whines, shaking his hands as though they're being attacked by spider-mites.
At her side, Toph yawns deliberately. 'Can it, Snoozles. We'll get there when we get there.'
The boy huffs, glowering at the earthbender, but marches determinedly down the road. In the split second he turns away, he looks so like their father that it takes Katara's breath away.
Idle Days I
The first few hours they spend together while Sokka is learning the art of the sword, are diligent, purposeful things. Aang trains with Zuko mid-morning, Toph late-morning, and Katara midday. By then, the boy is sorely in need of rest and the group follow his example and lay under the shade of a bamboo grove.
Aang is asleep in minutes.
'You two were too hard on him,' Katara reproves, eyeing the lightly snoring monk across the grove in concern. 'He's still recovering.'
Zuko, stretched out on her right, frowns at her. 'He's going to face my father in a few weeks. He has to be ready.'
'He's right,' Toph pipes up from her left. 'You were too easy on him, princess. With all your just do what feels right, Aang and move gently with the flow of the water, Aang. Urg, I wish all bending was like earthbending.'
'And I wish I could cram a little waterbender wisdom into your thick head! He was in a coma for two months!'
'He can take it,' Toph fires back, leaning up on one elbow to glower in Katara's general direction. 'He doesn't need you mothering him all the time!'
Katara shoots upright, indignation— hot like lightning— in her throat. 'Mothering?!'
Idle Days II
The whisper-yelling has stopped, but the stony silence between the two girls is about as comfortable as a cactus bush.
Zuko nudges Katara imploringly.
'What?' she snaps.
'Don't yell at me! You should apologise to Toph.' The waterbender's outrage is matched only by the earthbender's smugness. 'And she should apologise to you. You should apologise to each other; you're both training Aang your own way. There's no honour in criticising each other.'
The two girls sulk.
The two girls sniff.
Toph reaches around Katara to punch Zuko in the arm. 'Ow!'
'Shut up.' She turns back to Katara. 'I'm sorry for what I said. Your bending's different to mine and I should have respected that.'
A faint smile the earthbender will never see lightens Katara's face. 'Me too, Toph. You're a great teacher, Aang's lucky to have you.'
Peace returns to the gently swaying bamboo grove.
Idle Days III
As the muggy day wears into afternoon, Katara dozes. She closes her eyes for what feels like mere minutes and wakes up curled into Zuko's side. The firebender's breathing is deep and steady and he's drawing circles over her shoulder.
Movement at Katara's back wakes her halfway back to alertness. 'Where are you going?' a husky voice asks, resonating against her cheek.
'Elsewhere,' Toph replies flatly. 'Somewhere I'm not the third wheel.'
The husky voice doesn't respond, but when the loud footsteps disappear, a kiss is pressed to her forehead. It's soft, like hesitant rainfall in the off season and, like the rain, the earth of her body welcomes it with joy. She stretches, flexes upwards like a seedling searching for sunlight, and a second kiss brushes her cheek.
RHI trivia #3: Your author wrote the final drabble in this chapter last year while her husband was away, and she and the dog were laying around eating chocolate and pig's ears (respectively) whilst missing him. Lonely fluff writing is real and deliciously indulgent.