Previously, on Avatar: After The Firebending Masters, we had Dragon Days, where I only changed one tiny line so I didn't post a chapter for it. It's just at the beginning when Aang says, "One time, when I was a kid..." I took out the phrase, "when I was a kid," because Aang is still very much a kid. He might even still be the same age as he was in the story he's telling. The rest of the comic is the same. Then Sokka and Zuko dueled in Swordbending, and now we're going to see what the benders are doing during their field trip in No Benders Allowed. I'm not writing a whole section for it, but I also made one small change at the end for continuity. Instead of saying, "Free foot massages," Toph just says, "Free massages," since we know from actual episodes that she doesn't like people touching her feet.

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender. This comic originally written by Alison Wilgus.

Book 3: Fire; Chapter 21: No Benders Allowed

It was an intense day of sparring sessions. First, Toph and Haru sparred earthbending style. It was an easy win for Toph, but Haru was a fast learner and picked up a lot from her, both in fighting technique and in listening to the earth. In the meantime, Katara faced off against both Zuko and Aang firebending. They were hesitant to gang up on her, but she had insisted.

"The last time I was outnumbered two to one by firebenders, I got slammed into a pillar of crystals and knocked out." Zuko winced at the memory. "I can't let that happen again."

Aang and Zuko reluctantly agreed and the three benders took their positions.

"One more thing," Katara said before they started. "If you drive me away from the water, try to find a thicket with lots of vegetation. I don't want to hurt the forest too much while we're just practicing. That is, if you can avoid burning the vegetation..."

Aang got her meaning and nodded. "You got it," he agreed. Zuko was a little confused, but also nodded in agreement.

They began sparring and Katara successfully held them both off, but eventually they drove her away from the river – her source of water. She started to work her way back, but in the meantime she pulled water out of grass and saplings to fend off her attackers. Zuko looked around amazed, and the momentary distraction gave Katara the opening she needed. She dove past him toward the river and got close enough to summon a wave which she rode back to the water. As Aang and Zuko emerged from the thicket, Katara sent the wave crashing toward them, knocking them down. As they began to get up, she spun the octopus form around herself and sent out all 8 tendrils, wrapping around their hands and feet and keeping them on the ground. She then froze the tendrils into restraints before they could break free. Unable to bend, they were at her mercy, at least until the ice melted.

"Nice one, Katara!" Aang congratulated her. "Now can you let us up?"

Katara laughed as she unfroze the water and held a hand out to Aang to help him up. "You can waterbend, Aang, you could have done it yourself."

Behind her, Zuko had melted his own ice bonds. He stood and placed his hands on her shoulders. Katara nearly leapt out of her skin at the unexpected contact.

"Don't ever turn your back on your opponent," Zuko said. Katara whirled around to face him. "In the heat of battle," he continued, "I could have killed you right there while you were focused on Aang."

"Well in the heat of battle," Katara retorted, "I wouldn't be helping my opponent back up, would I? I'd have made my escape!"

"True," Zuko conceded. "But that's how I took Aang from you at the North Pole. I was frozen in the ice and you had your back to me when the sun came out. That's when I broke free and you turned just a moment too late to stop me."

Katara folded her arms indignantly with a, "Hmph."

Zuko pinched the bridge of his nose. "Ok, maybe I shouldn't have brought that up. But I'm just trying to help you improve as a fighter." Katara raised her eyebrows at him and Zuko realized he misspoke again. "Not that you need improvement," he backpedaled, "but everyone has weaknesses that—"

"Ok, ok," Katara held up her hands to stop his rambling. "I get the point. Thanks for the tip," she finished in a tone that made Zuko wonder if she was actually thankful at all. Perhaps if he told her how he learned this lesson, she would see that he wasn't being condescending.

"I fought Zhao in an agni kai once. I won the duel, but then I walked away and he fired at my back. My uncle jumped in to deflect the attack and that's when I learned to never turn my back on my enemy, because you can't expect an enemy to act honorably. I would hope that our soldiers would be more honorable than that, but it's not a safe assumption to make when you're fighting them."

"It's a good lesson to learn," Katara answered soberly.

"So, what's next?" Aang asked, ready to move on.

"Should we go see what Haru and Toph are up to?" Katara looked toward the cliffs above them.

Zuko followed her gaze. "Sounds like they're still busy throwing rocks," he said, as a rumbling sound reached their ears.

"Maybe I should go practice earthbending with them," Aang said. "You want to watch, Katara?"

"Uh," Katara glanced over at Zuko. Watching earthbending practice sounded more appealing than being left alone with him. "Sure. I'd like to see what King of the Hill looks like when you can all make your own hill," she laughed.

Aang laughed too. "Come on, Zuko!" Aang called as he formed an air scooter and took off up the hill toward Haru and Toph.

But Zuko did not take off running after Aang, and now Katara was left alone with him – exactly what she had been trying to avoid. They continued walking in awkward silence. Katara picked up her pace, trying to get ahead of him, but he matched her stride.

"You really gave us a run for our money back there," he said.

"You didn't make it easy," Katara answered. "I had to stay on the defensive the whole time."

"What good would it be if I pulled my punches? You still won." Katara smiled a little at that. "I'm glad we're on the same side now," Zuko dared to say.

Katara wasn't sure what to say to that. She still wasn't sure if she was glad he changed sides or not. Or at least, she wasn't ready to admit it. Some part of her was still afraid he'd betray them again. Instead, she decided to change the subject to something that she'd been curious about ever since he reminded her of their fight in the Spirit Oasis.

"Can I ask you something?" she began.

"Sure …," Zuko said, a little surprised that she wanted to ask him anything.

"You mentioned the North Pole." Zuko tensed in anticipation of more angry words. He knew he shouldn't have brought up their past battles. "I remember you looked pretty beat up that night. I was just wondering – what happened?"

Zuko didn't mind telling her the truth, but he hated to bring up another contentious incident from their past.

"Well," he began with some trepidation, "you remember the pirates." By the look she was giving him, she had a very clear memory of the pirates. "Zhao hired them to assassinate me."

"What!?" Katara exclaimed, with more concern than she intended to let show.

"He commandeered my crew, and then hired the pirates to blow up my ship while I was alone on it," Zuko elaborated. "I barely got out in time." Katara brought her hand to her face in disbelief. Zuko continued his story. "So I stowed away on Zhao's ship while Uncle joined the crew. From there, I rowed to shore and found an underwater tunnel that led to the Spirit Oasis. It was frozen over, so I had to melt through the ice with firebending. I almost didn't get through it before I ran out of air."

"You must have been exhausted," Katara reflected. She couldn't believe he hadn't even had his full strength when she fought him, and it had taken everything she had to stop him. "And here I thought I was such a strong fighter …"

"You were!" Zuko asserted. "I came up in the Spirit Oasis and took some time to rest before making my presence known. I had time to recover."

Katara gave him a long look, weighing her next words carefully. She couldn't say it to his face, so she looked straight ahead and started walking again. "I'm glad we're on the same side too," she said quietly.

"Does that mean we have a truce?" Zuko hardly dared to hope. It was not forgiveness or friendship – certainly not more than friendship, but it was something.

Be the bigger person, Katara reminded herself. "For now," she smirked.