A/N: Not much to say going into this chapter. I'm just going to have to work harder to get this story done. I feel like I'm moving at a snail's pace...uggh. Anyway, as much effort as I put into this, I hope you find it to your tastes. Enjoy.

Chapter Thirty-Two: Pride Cometh Before the Fall

"All right! Dessert for breakfast!" Aang fist-pumped the air in victory before dropping down in front of the massive tray of sweets. "These people sure know how to treat an Avatar...!"

It had been a full twenty-four hours since the Gaang's capture, but man, did a day make a hell of a lot of difference. For the most part, the villagers were doing their damndest to make up for the whole "tying-up-the Avatar-and-his-accomplices-and-threatening-to-feed-them-to-a-giant-fish-monster" thing. In Aang's honor (well, actually in the honor of Avatar Kyoshi's current incarnation, if you wanted to get all techinical about it), the trio had been waited on hand and foot. As they feasted on lush delicacies that were the island's specialty (allegedly), Aang watched as two of the villagers buffed up the giant statue of Kyoshi.

Somewhere else on the island, Appa was getting the royal giant sky-bison treatment. As he was being groomed and fed the finest hay available, he lowed a happy bellow.

Even Katara was in relatively good spirits. She accepted Aang's offered sweet, nibbling it tentatively before her eyes lit up. "Mmmm..." she agreed. "Man, these are good."

"Sokka," Aang called over his shoulder. "What's your problem? EAT!"

As a matter of fact, the only thing that hadn't improved was Sokka's mood. At the moment, the Water Tribe warrior was hunched in the corner, a very sullen look on his face. His arms were folded as he stared indifferently at the adjacent wall.

"Not hungry," he mumbled.

Food was the last thing on Sokka's mind right now. Like a broken record, his thoughts kept jarring back to that humiliating scene yesterday. Every time he recalled the incident, the more incredulous he was that he had allowed himself to be ambushed by a bunch of girls. It was unforgivable. Just who did they think they were?

Especially that leader of theirs. Suki...or at least, that was what Sokka had heard Oyagi call her last night as they were getting them all settled in for the evening. She had to be the most arrogant girl he had ever laid eyes on, and that was saying something given all the time he spent around Katara.

He was so lost in thought he completely missed Aang's over the top reaction.

"What?" the monk exclaimed. "But...you're always hungry!"

"He's just upset that a bunch of girls kicked his butt yesterday," Katara commented offhandedly. Her words struck a little too close to home, as was typical for utterances of younger siblings. Sokka whipped his head up, annoyed.

"They snuck up on me!"

"Right. And then they kicked your butt."

"Sneak attacks don't count!" Sokka bellowed.

Enraged, he nearly tipped over his chair as he leapt to his feet. Katara and Aang watched in mild interest as their companion began pacing the room with nothing short of agitation on his face. Seriously, who doesn't enjoy watching a close friend get all worked up over a dent in their pride? The Gaang were no exceptions to the rule.

"Tie me up with ropes!" he ranted. "I'll show them a thing or two. I'm not scared of any girls."

Compulsively, Sokka began snatching sweets off the platter as he stalked around the table. It was as though his hands weren't attached to his brain.

"Who do they think they are anyway?" he muttered to himself. "And that Suki...uggh. She thinks just because she has a pretty face, she can boss a guy around!"

"Excuse me?" Katara spoke up, looking her brother's way for the first time. "I hope you aren't talking about that girl we talked to last night. She was nice. Polite. You were the one being the jerk."

"Of course she was being nice to you. It wasn't your manly pride she was trying to stomp into the dirt!" Sokka shook his head darkly. "She's a menace."

"I dunno," said Aang. "I think I'm going to have to side with Katara on this one. Suki seemed nice enough to me, and I'm a guy."

In response, the Water Tribe warrior gave them a sour look. At the same time, he stuffed a random sweet into his mouth, chewing with the tenacity of a garbage-disposal. He glared at them for a full minute before his expression dissolved into a mild epiphany.

"Mmmm...this is tasty."

"There are plenty more where that came from," the young Avatar coaxed him. He pushed the tray at Sokka temptingly. "I mean, look at this. The villagers are practically giving us the royal treatment here."

Katara frowned. "Hey, don't get too comfortable. It's risky for us to stay in one place for very long."

Aang was about to reply when Sokka unexpectedly cut him off.

"Well, I for one am not leaving until I give those froo-froo warriors a piece of my mind," he declared. Absentmindedly, he took the entire platter off the table and carried it with him as he stomped out the door. The remaining two could only stare after him as the door slammed shut behind him.

"He...took all of it...!" said Aang quietly, his voice muffled in awe and regret. "Aw, man!"

Katara shook her head. "What is it with men and food?"

"What is it with men and food?" I asked Iroh as we sat down to dinner one evening.

Zuko carved into his fish with a righteous fury, as though he hadn't eaten in weeks. I had a feeling, though, that his mind was somewhere else as he stabbed relentlessly at the poor sea-creature, taking the time to disembowel it with his fork before taking the first bite. Call it crazy, but I was pretty sure he was still a little bit miffed about my gambling adventure the other day.

Just a hunch.

"I could say the same thing about women," Iroh joked, gesturing down at my untouched plate with his chopstick. "Your fish is getting cold."

I followed his gaze morosely, down to my dish. A whole fish stared up at me, its puffed lips pleading with me even though it was dead. At least...I hoped to hell it was dead. It was the most pathetic thing I had ever laid eyes on.

"It's staring at me," I told him. "How the heck do you eat something with eyes? And organs...?"

"Stupid peasant," Zuko muttered after swallowing his mouthful of food. "Are you trying to tell me you've never properly eaten a fish in your life? Its wasteful to throw out the organs."

I pushed my plate towards him. "Want mine?"

"You'll eat it and like it. You barely eat enough as it is," he added, much to my indignation. "You're too skinny."

I flushed angrily. Yeah, all right, I'll admit it. I'm flat-chested. I'm a twig. I don't have a figure and I probably never will. Was it really Zuko's place to bring it up all the friggin' time? I mean, I could just make a pointed reference to his scar every opportunity I got, but you didn't see me stooping to such lows.

...well, not every five minutes, at least.

"I eat just fine, thank you very much," I retorted hotly. "I just have selective tastes."

Zuko snorted. "You're picky."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Is it really so much to ask for the chef to cut the head off the fish before serving it? Or to clean the fish out first?"

"For you, yes; it is. You're lucky you're even getting this. You could be having the slop we give the commoners on the ship. Quit being difficult and eat your fish...before I lose my patience with you."

"What patience?" I quipped.

But Zuko didn't bother rising to the bait. He had resumed carving venomously into the remains of his dinner. I sighed and looked down at the plate.

"God has forsaken me."

Just then there was a quick knock at the door. I looked up in time to see the chef re-enter the room, a look of excitement painted on his face. He was rubbing his hands eagerly; at once I recognized the plot bunny for what it was. All right. It's off to Kyoshi Island! I had been waiting for this episode for quite some time, as it was one of my personal favorites.

More importantly, with Zuko sniffing after Aang's trail, he'd probably forget that I was in trouble for the whole gambling thing. At the very least, he wouldn't notice if I were too...erm...misplace my dinner. Like, say, over the side of the ship. I'm just saying, I'm not that into seafood.

"I have good news, General Iroh," he said, bowing at once.

I frowned over the top of his head. Huh. Why isn't he addressing Zuko?

"Is it about the Avatar?" Zuko demanded at once. I leaned forward eagerly.

"Um..." the chef fidgeted in discomfort. "No. Sorry, your Highness. Actually, I was told to report to General Iroh if a certain species of fish were to become available on the market."

Iroh's face lit up like a Christmas tree. "The incredibly rare rainbow dragon trout?" he exclaimed, rising from his chair. "You found one?"

"Apparently they're having an excellent breeding season," came the reply. "There's a glut of them in all the fish stalls. We'll be having fish every night for the next month at the rate they're being caught."

Oh, for the love of...

"Don't you have some other news," I spoke up, causing everyone to stop and stare at me. "Something that doesn't have to do with fish, maybe?"

The chef shot tentative looks at Zuko and Iroh, as though mentally deliberating the pro's and con's of answering me directly. All at once it came to me that he had no idea how he was supposed to address me. I mean, I was eating with the prince of the Fire Nation and the Dragon of the West (which had to meant I was somebody), but it was also common knowledge that I'm a peasant. It was clear that he didn't know how to handle this delicate situation.

"Um...no, miss Julie. May I ask what kind of news you were anticipating?"

I scowled at him. "Maybe something about the war. Or, like Zu said, about the Avatar."

Zuko shot me an indignant look.

"First of all, you will address me as Prince Zuko, not Zu," he said for the umpteenth time, trying and failing to inject some menace into his tone. I just rolled my eyes. "Secondly, since when do you care about my mission?"

"Don't sell yourself short," I replied evasively. "I mean, you may be a jerk a lot of the time, but at least you're more interesting than a bucket of fish. And if you're more interesting than a bucket of fish, imagine how interesting the Avatar is. Why, he might even beat out the entire ocean, as far as intrigue goes."

Zuko frowned at my blatantly sarcastic response. Thankfully, he didn't pursue the subject.

"Erm..." the chef's gaze flickered from me to the sulky bastard prince, hesitant to even continue this conversation (and rightfully so, given Zuko's notoriously short fuse). "Forgive me for saying so, but I just cook the meals. It isn't my business to stick my nose in politics; I wouldn't know any more about the Avatar than you would."

"If they knew how much you really knew about Aang," Ayla commented out of the blue. "I bet Zuko in particular would shit a brick."

Yeah...let's not test that theory, 'kay?

"Oh, but wait," said the chef, suddenly remembering. "There is one bit of news I heard that might interest you, miss Julie."

I looked up at him. "What's that?" I asked, lifting my glass of water to my lips. I was pretty sure that whatever the man had to say, it would be no big deal. I mean, he had interrupted us in the middle of dinner over a stupid fish. And, okay, General Iroh was asking, but still.

"It's Commander Zhao," he replied. "He's said to have made a miraculous recovery. He's on his feet and is actively resuming his duties as we speak."

The glass slipped out from between my frozen fingers. I think my heart stopped beating for a few seconds as water trickled off of the table and onto the floor. Iroh quickly dabbed it up with a napkin while Zuko just stared and stared at my face.

"Z-Zhao...?" I think my voice cracked a little. "Oh. That's..." I tried to swallow, but couldn't. "...what's he doing now?"

"I'm not sure. The most I heard was that he was alive and well."

I felt cold. I pushed my chair away from the table. "I'm not so hungry anymore," I said quickly.

I ducked my head and shoved my way past the startled cook and into the hallway. I kept my pace brisk and my mind focused on a mundane topic so that I wouldn't have to see Zhao leering at me in my mind's eye. Fish, I thought to myself. Think about fish. Only fish. It was embarrassing, but the man frightened me. I never wanted to see him again.

The weather was getting warmer as winter drew closer, something I found weird since I was from the northern hemisphere. Regardless, the warm air felt like ice in my lungs. Suddenly, I found myself on deck, utterly alone...or so I thought. I went over to the railing and hugged my arms to my sides, shivering.

"He isn't here," Ayla told me gently. "He can't hurt you."

"Be quiet," I whispered. "You're not real."

I felt her recoil from that and I knew I had hurt her feelings. I was too mixed up inside to feel any sense of remorse. I bit my lip and tried not to cry.

"Talking to yourself?" came a voice to my right.

I jumped. Shen-Long was standing there, a very nonplussed expression on his face. I flushed and turned away from him.

"No. I was...never mind."

"You look upset. Did something happen?"

I closed my eyes. I didn't want to talk, so I just shook my head no. I was really hoping that Shen-Long would take a hint and leave me alone. My body posture indicated all the signs of a foul mood, but either he was oblivious or ignored them. Or maybe it was the fact that I hadn't really gotten the chance to talk to him now that I was Zuko's Energybending apprentice.

He moved so that he was standing next to me.

"Julie," he said slowly. "I just...I've been wanting to be alone with you for a long time. There's something I...something I need to talk to you about."

I wouldn't look at him. "Is it important?"

"To me, it is. And I'm pretty sure it's important to you too."

Something in his voice made me pause. Shen-Long didn't sound like his usual self. I was so used to his resiliency and his inexhaustable patience that his brusque tone of voice made him almost unrecognizable for a few seconds. He took a few steps closer and I instinctively tensed up in reaction to his closeness. Suddenly, Zhao was far, far away from my thoughts.

"What's the matter?" I asked. "Why...are you looking at me like that?"

His blue eyes were solemn. "Ayla."

I froze. That name...

"What did you say?" I whispered, shock almost robbing me of my voice.

"I said, Ayla. Does that name mean anything to you, Julie?"

I didn't know how to answer. All this time, I had been keeping Ayla a secret from everybody. If they had any idea I was hearing a voice in my head, they'd have me committed to the nearest asylum in a heartbeat. The fact that Shen-Long of all people seemed to know her name, the fact that he knew anything about this at all completely threw me.

"I...I don't know what you're talking about..." I lied.

"What about the Brotherhood?" he persisted. "What do they mean to you?"

I shook my head, confused. "What's with the twenty-questions all of a sudden, Shen-Long?" I demanded quietly. I'll admit, I was stalling for time. It was fruitless trying to figure out his intentions by looking at his face; and I had no way of knowing what answers he wanted...or why he wanted them.

Inexplicably, he looked tired. Impatient. "Just humor me."

"I...I think that they...that they're creepy as hell," I said slowly. "I know that they killed people on this ship...because they wanted to take me away. I don't know why."

"You do know. Don't lie."

It was almost unnerving how Shen-Long's face could be so gentle and cold at the same time. His eyes were pleading with me, soft with an unnameable emotion; but at the same time they were indifferent to my reactions, uncaring in regards to my own thoughts and feelings. It was a jarring contrast. I felt a tremor in the pit of my stomach that had nothing to do with me missing dinner, or even the memory of the gasping fish on my plate.

"Because I'm...an Energybender?" I tried.

"Why else?"

I blinked. "Zuko didn't say anything else..." I frowned, though, when I remembered something Kuba had told me when we had first met. "But...I heard that I look like someone important to them." Something clicked in my mind. "Ayla," I breathed. "Her name was...Ayla."

Ayla didn't say a word. She was listening carefully, and when I tried searching for her I found a mental wall separating us. I pushed against it for a second, perplexed. She doesn't want me to know what she's feeling, I realized.

Suddenly, there were footsteps. Shen-Long gave a start, turning around just in time to see Zuko appear in the doorway. The moment he laid eyes on the two of us he froze rigidly in place. Shock flitted across his face before dissolving into an unnameable emotion. It was something tense and bitter-looking, something I couldn't put into words. But I felt like I should have known that feeling.

"He's not mad at you," Ayla told me, seemingly relieved at the abrupt change in subject. "I think he's jealous."

Jealous? What for?

To my surprise, she just giggled, though I could hardly see what was so damn funny. "I didn't mean of you, Julie..."

Then who?

I waited for her to elaborate, but she never did. Instead, confusion ate away at my patience as the silence stretched infinitely onwards.

Slowly, the Fire Prince seemed to thaw out from his rigid posture as he crossed over the threshold. His golden eyes narrowed as they swept over us, his gaze lingering on Shen-Long's hands on my shoulders. He stared and stared at us; it wasn't until thirty seconds of this eerie quiet that I realized what it had looked like, the two of us standing so close to each other.

Panic bubbled in my stomach; I immediately put as much distance between me and Shen-Long as I could before I found my back against the railing. Though why it should bother me so much that Zuko would get the wrong idea was something I just couldn't understand.

"Return to your post immediately," Zuko ordered in a lethal rasp.

The two locked gazes. I was surprised at the unstated violence that seemed to shroud them as they stared at one another. What made things worse was that I had no idea who I should have sided with. Maybe the underdog? Shen-Long was older than Zuko by a few years and possibly had more experience in a fight, but Zuko...well...come on. He was freaking Zuko. Neither relented for a tense moment.

Shen-Long gave me another quick glance. "Julie...do you want me to leave?"

Zuko stepped forward. "Don't make me repeat myself, soldier," he snarled quietly. "Leave the peasant alone...or else." He stared at Shen-Long intently, waiting for him to make a decision.

I blinked in confusion. What the hell was the matter with Zuko, anyway? Why was he acting like this? I mean, sure, he had his bouts of sour moods, but nothing like this. It just wasn't like him to get so riled up over...well...nothing. Besides, Shen-Long wasn't an enemy he had to protect me from...so why was he treating him like one?

And what about Shen-Long? How did he figure out about Ayla? And why did he care so much...? There had to be a reason why he was acting like this...something Ayla must know, if the absense of her blithe chatter was any indication. Gut instict told me it was.

"Zuko, wait," I said quickly. "It isn't...it's not what it looks like."

But he wouldn't look at me. My stomach twisted in a knot as I remembered the hard, angry look on his face from yesterday when he had been "worried" about me. It occurred to me all of a sudden that Zuko's reaction to Shen-Long wasn't so much defensive as it was...challenging.

They stared each other down for another beat.

"There you are," said a loud voice suddenly, causing us all to freeze like a bunch of graffiti artists caught in the headlights of a cop car.

Bo-Fen came sauntering forward, her eyes bright and her stride unaffected by the tense postures of everyone present. Seeing her, Shen-Long reluctantly loosened his stance and moved away from me. I saw the siblings exchange knowing glances, but Bo-Fen's had an ounce of sterness. Zuko scowled at her, and quietly stepped aside as the ticking timebomb was diffused.

"Did you forget, Shen?" Bo-Fen continued, jabbing him in the arm with what was meant to look like a friendly punch. But I saw her brother wince. "It's your turn to clean out the latrines. We drew straws last night, remember?"

Shen-Long tore his gaze away from his sister to give me one last parting look. Then, without another word he followed her back down into the bowels of the ship. I noticed that he wouldn't even acknowledge Zuko as he moved past him. The Fire Prince returned the snub without another word, letting them escape unscathed. Which was good since I didn't want them fighting to begin with.

"That was scary," Ayla whispered to me. "I don't know why, but something about that Shen-Long just...makes me nervous. Like that room in the Southern Air Temple made me nervous before I met the Avatar..."

Wait, wait, wait a minute...WHAT?

But before Ayla could reply, Zuko was suddenly towering over me.

"Did he hurt you?" he asked in a low voice.

I blinked up at him in bewilderment. Why was it that every time he turned those intense eyes upon me, I couldn't move? It didn't make sense for all words to elude me from a mere gaze. There was no reason why his closeness should make me forget to breathe the way it was doing. And then, the way his quiet voice made me feel hot and cold simultaneously...that was probably just my imagination. I couldn't actually be feeling that way. It wasn't...rational.

I could only shake my head, no, in response.

"You're face is pale," he observed. "You were frightened."

"Was not," I countered automatically. "I just don't feel well. I told you that before when I left the room."

"Actually, you said you weren't hungry, not that you weren't feeling well. You can't lie to save your life, can you, peasant?"

I hesitated. Timidly, I met his gaze.

"Am I...really that obvious?"

Zuko frowned, some of the anger ebbing away. "Only when you're trying to hide something. So, why don't you rethink that answer...? Were you frightened just now?"

I closed my eyes, hugging my arms to my sides. For the next couple of minutes, I wrestled with myself, trying to decide whether I could allow myself to trust Zuko with the truth. It wasn't even something I had acknowledged to Ayla, who seemed to be a part of me. Could I really tell Zuko what it was that had made me so afraid?

"Maybe a little..." I admitted quietly, turning my back on him. I stared out at the ocean, letting the sea-breeze catch the strands of hair that had fallen into my eyes. My hair was getting longer, something I hated, and it was a relief to be able to see clearly. "I try not to feel this way, but I...I can't help it. When the chef told me that Zhao wasn't going away, I just..." I trailed off, shuddering quietly.

Zuko's hands were on my shoulders. I tensed, but he didn't move.

"When I asked if you were afraid, I meant of Shen-Long," he told me in a low voice. "He looked like he was threatening you just now. Or that he was trying to get you to do something you didn't like."

"W-what? No...he wasn't..." I sputtered, completely taken aback by the accusation. I wheeled around and gave him a startled look. "Shen-Long and I are friends."

"Friends," Zuko repeated in a flat voice.

"Yes, friends." I scowled, not liking the suggestion in his voice one bit. "Why would you think that he was trying to hurt me, Zuko?"

He didn't answer me. Not right away. He just gave me that same, solid stare that rendered me motionless in all senses of the word. I think he was trying to convey that the answer should have been obvious enough for him not to tell me, but I wasn't giving him that satisfaction. Finally, he just sighed.

"Are you dense, peasant? I would have thought that even you would have noticed what everyone thinks of you now after the Brotherhood invaded the ship."

I had been trying not to notice, as a matter of fact. Most of the time I had been sufficiently distracted, my entire time being actively consumed by Zuko's outrageous training regimen. However, there were times when I would run into someone...times when I had been given looks so hateful that if I hadn't been with Iroh or Lieutenant Jee, they probably would have been followed up with something...violent.

It suddenly made sense why Zuko hadn't been letting me have a single moment to myself anymore. I hadn't understood it until now.

"You...you were..." I shook my head, practically speechless in the wake of this discovery. "You think Shen-Long is like the others? Is that why I haven't been allowed to see him and Bo-Fen? And Kuba? You think all of them want to hurt me?"

"I didn't want to take any chances. I'm surprised you would after you almost died...both during the Agni Kai, and then afterwards..."

"I don't need you to protect me!" I snarled.

I pushed against his chest with both hands and shoved him backwards. The motion surprised him, and he didn't resist as I stalked out of arm's reach and over to the adjacent rail. I grabbed it to steady the wave of anger I felt. I was so mad I was blinking back tears.

"You don't even understand what I need protecting from," I spat. "You're the one I want to hide from! I can never trust how I feel when you're around me...! I hate it!"

Zuko froze. His jaw set itself in a firm line.

"What is it that you feel?" he asked quietly.

I didn't look up. I was gripping the railing so tightly that my knuckles were a bloodless white. Below us, the sea churned and tossed the ship around in the arms of the unpredictable waves. The phrase tempest-tossed crossed my mind even though my thoughts were nothing more than an angry fog during a storm. It seemed strange to me that the sky could be so clear while there was all this turmoil inside of me.

"Angry..." I whispered. "Confused...afraid..."

Zuko's footsteps echoed in my ears as he approached me from behind. "You're afraid of me?"

No one said a word as the waves pushed the boat back and forth. I couldn't tell if we were moving forward or backwards anymore.

"And Shen-Long is any better?" he demanded suddenly, unable to take my silence. "You think he's more trustworthy than I am? Just what has he done for you, lately, peasant? Is he the one who fought off the Brotherhood when you couldn't even move to defend yourself? Has he ever cared so much about you...about where you came from? Has he ever wanted to get to know you as much as..."

He stopped short, gritting his teeth in a smoldering rage. His rant had startled me so much that I had let go of the railing. I turned slowly and gave his face a searching look, but this time he was the one who turned away from me. The sight of his back was like staring at a locked door.

"Forget it, then. Forget everything. I knew it was pointless trying to waste my time with you."

My voice stuck in my throat as he stormed away. I felt something shatter inside of me as the door slammed shut behind him.

"Julie...why didn't you stop him?" Ayla murmured, as shocked as I was. Only for different reasons, it seemed. "Why did you let leave before you could tell him how you really feel?"

"I wasn't lying," I whispered to the darkness. "I really am afraid of him..."

It was true. But secretly, what I was really afraid of was this feeling twisting in the my gut, wrenching it and pulling it in several different directions. Things that he made me feel.

"He thinks you hate him...that you can't stand him..." she continued, aghast at my behavior. "Don't you care?"

I didn't answer. If I had told her that I didn't care...well...then I would be lying. And I didn't want to have to make that realization. I wanted to believe with all my heart that I didn't care what Zuko thought or did.

Deep down inside, I knew the truth. And I didn't like it at all.

Sokka was a man on a mission.

Having been kindly informed of the whereabouts of these so-called "Kyoshi Warriors," he had dragged his manly self about a half a mile through the forest until he came across what could only be described as a dojo. His eyes narrowed as he stared at the small house, knowing that inside, his adversary was waiting for him. Suki...that arrogant female, the one who had caused him such unnecessary embarrassment. He would show her just how they did things in Texas...

...er...I mean, the Water Tribe.

Tentatively, he crept to the door, peeking around the frame. Inside, the "girls" were going through their drills, their movements graceful even in Sokka's somewhat biased point of view. But he skimmed through the crowd, looking for his foe.

He found her. Suki was standing off to the left, supervising her warriors with a keen eye. She didn't even notice him hiding...er...waiting, in the doorway. Smiling to himself, he put out his hands and strode across the threshold.

"Sorry, ladies," he said arrogantly. "Didn't mean to interrupt your dance lesson. I was just looking for somewhere to get a little workout."

As he spoke, he started stretching his arms and waist, making sure that Suki was watching him flex his muscles. That's right...get a good look. This is what a warrior looks like. His smile grew broader as she stepped forwards.

"Well, you're in the right place," she said.

Sokka glanced up as he bent his knees and saw the green-clad girl standing over him.

"Sorry about yesterday. I didn't know you were friends with the Avatar."

He smirked. "It's all right," he said flippantly, standing up to his full height. "I mean, normally I'd hold a grudge, but seeing as you guys are a bunch of girls, I'll make an exception..." A puff of the chest here...a rotation of the shoulder blades there...perfect.

Suki merely quirked an eyebrow. It was the very same look Bugs Bunny would give to Elmer Fudd seconds before his gun was due to explode in his face. Sokka had no idea just how swiftly the rug would be pulled beneath his feet. He probably wouldn't even see it coming.

How could he? His nose was sticking too high up in the air for him to see his shoes.

"I should hope so," she replied smoothly. "A big strong man like you? We wouldn't stand a chance..."

A/N: Simultaneously, we see two separate interactions between Julie and Zuko, and between Sokka and Suki. I thought it would be fun to draw some parallels between the two pairings, but they ended up showing contrasting issues. Sokka's problem with Suki is more of an external issue, drawing from blurred gender roles and a genuine need to prove himself as a man.

Julie and Zuko's issues, on the other hand, deal more so with internal conflicts. I found it interesting that as all of this turmoil is brewing around her, the thing that worries her the most isn't the countless enemies that seem to be looming on the horizon (the Brotherhood...Zhao...just to name a few); even Shen-Long unearthing the truth about Ayla's presence takes a secondary role in light of her (still confused) feelings for Zuko.

She isn't in love with the guy yet, but she's dangerously "in like." That alone is something that will make her head spin for some chapters to come. And, of course, Zuko's reaction to Shen-Long isn't helping matters.

Don't forget about the Zhao plot bubble I threw in here. It hasn't quite popped yet. (Evil grin) So...reviews, anyone? REVIEW!