Chapter 74: Sailing through the Si Wong

They'd been walking for a few hours, trying to cover as many miles as they could while it was cool. They'd had to stop though, they were exhausted; too many hours of walking, running, fighting, all done on little to no food or water.

Katara was the one that called them to a halt. "We should stop for the night."

They sigh as one, falling to the ground with a series of thuds and grunts.

Toph's voice was cracked and dry as she asked, "Is there any more water?"

"This is the last of it." Katara said glumly. "Everyone can have a little drink."

Zuko leaned over and breathed in her ear, "Split mine between Toph and Aang."

She frowned at him, whispering back, "Zuko—"

He shook his head. "I don't want it. I'm a Firebender. I can survive it a little longer than the rest of you."

Katara looked at him. She wondered if he was lying to her. She hoped he wasn't. She nodded.

"Fine." She whispered. While the others were distracted, she divided Zuko's share between Toph and Aang's and then stream the last of their water into everyone's mouth. There was barely a swallow of water, but it would keep them sated a tiny bit longer.

Katara wondered how Zuko felt. He'd gone well over a day without water. He seemed fine; well, not 'fine', but like he was managing in spite of everything. He could definitely handle the heat better than them. She really, really hoped he was telling her the truth and wasn't trying to make himself into a martyr.

Toph and Sokka quickly fall asleep. Aang lingers a while longer, but he eventually succumbed to his exhaustion.

Katara sighed and looked at her little family. She felt tears spring to her eyes, tears that she quickly wiped away before Zuko could see them. If he could be strong, then so could she.

Little did she know that Zuko was thinking the same thing.


Katara crawled over to Sokka's sleeping form, reaching into his bag and removing some of the maps he'd taken from the Library.

She crawled back to Zuko and spread them out on the sand. She squinted, trying to read them by the moonlight. Zuko made it easier by igniting his thumb.

She noticed that he winced as he did it. She asked, "Are you okay?"

He nodded. "My chi it's… well, I don't have much left in me, not enough to sustain any serious Firebending."

She nodded. "But you'll be fine?"

He smiled a little. "Yeah, Katara. I'll be fine."

She smiled back. She turned her attention to the maps, and Zuko did the same.

Katara consulted the maps and star charts that her brother stole from the Knowledge Spirit. She looked up at the sky and sighed.

Zuko asked, "What's wrong?"

She shook her head. "I don't know the stars here. They're all different. I only learned the ones in the South."

Zuko nodded. He said, "I know a few. Maybe enough to get us out but… I don't know. Who knows?"

He sighed lowly.

He stared at the map, ignoring the way Katara was looking at him.

She asked, "Have you ever been to Ba Sing Se?"

He looked up at her. He shook his head. "No. Always seemed too risky. Plus…"

He trailed off, glancing away from her. She put her hand on his arm. "What is it?"

He shook his head. "It's stupid."

He tried to pull away but she tightened her grip. "Please." She said. "Tell me."

He sighed again. "I don't like the thought of being in a city that big. That many people, all crushed together… it panics me. Makes my heart race, my hands sweat. I hate the thought of it."

She frowned. "But… I thought you wanted to go? You know, because of your—your vision? Of your Uncle?"

He nodded. "I do. If there was any truth to that vision, any truth to what Azula implied, and Uncle Iroh is alive, well, and living in Ba Sing Se, then I want to go and find him. I just wish he picked somewhere other than the biggest city on earth."

He said the last part with a strained smile. She squeezed his arm. "I'm sure you can handle it." She said. "Who knows, maybe you'll like being around all those interesting people?"

He raised his eyebrow at her. In a deadpan voice he said, "I doubt it."

She laughed quietly.

Her gaze fell back on the map. She sobered and said, "We should try and figure out where we're going. Any guesses?"

Zuko looked at the map too. He nodded. "If I had to guess, and it is a guess, I'd say that we need to walk in that direction."

He pointed off to the right.

She nodded. "Honestly, it makes as much sense to me as any other direction."

She glanced over at the others. "How long should we let them sleep?"

Zuko hummed. "I've been thinking about that. I think we should sleep until dawn and start walking. But I think we should try and sleep again around midday."

"Why?"

He pointed up at the dark sky. "The sun will be right over us then. You saw what it was like yesterday; it drained the life out of us. If we sleep when its hottest, then we might be more productive when it's cooler."

She thought about it and nodded. "That makes sense, yeah."

He smiled thinly. "In that case, we should probably get some sleep."

Katara began making herself comfy in the sand and asked, "How are we going to know to be up? Honestly, I could probably sleep for days."

Zuko smiled. "Don't worry about it." He said. "I rise with the sun."


Katara awoke to Sokka's paranoid ravings.

"Who touched my maps? Who took them? They're mine! Not yours, mine! All mine."

She sat up to see Zuko trying to calm the ranting, and still addled, Water Tribesman.

She watched as Sokka turned and began talking to empty air. "What? I didn't steal anything! You can't prove that!"

His voice dropped to a harsh whisper. "Who told you that? No one should know, and if they do, they shouldn't say. So, who told you?"

Zuko opened his mouth to respond when Sokka wailed, "Oh, Spirits! You know! You know I'm a thief!"

Katara saw his face scrunch up, as if he were crying. She sighed and said, "Sokka, we were all there with you. That's how we know."

She noticed that Sokka was clutching the maps and charts so tight that he was crumpling them. She pushed herself up and approached him cautiously, a disarming smile on her face.

She managed to ease them out of his tight grip. She smoothed them out and rolled them back up neatly. Then, with Sokka's intense gaze watching her every move, she placed securely into his bag.

She handed the bag to him and he held it to his chest, stroking it.

She turned and saw Zuko staring at her. He mouthed, "Thank you."

She nodded back.

She didn't realise Aang was awake until he said, "Those maps are useless. They won't help us get Appa back."

She saw a weird mix of anger, sadness, and frustration play out on Zuko's face.

She turned and said to Aang, "No, they won't. But they will help us get out of the desert and on our way to Ba Sing Se. We'll be in a much better position to find and help Appa once we've done that."

Aang said nothing, just stared morosely at the sand.

She walked over to Toph and gently shook her awake. The girl slurred, "Wha'?"

"Zuko and I think we know which way to go. We need to start walking now, then we're gonna rest again at noon. We'll travel while its cool and rest when its hot. Now, come on. We need to start moving."

To her credit, and Katara's surprise, the Earthbender just nodded and rubbed the sleep from her eyes.

They started walking, following the path that Zuko charted.


They hadn't been walking long when Toph remarked, "Yesterday my mouth tasted like mud. Now it tastes like sand. I never thought I'd miss the taste of mud so much."

Aang glowered at her but said nothing. He turned away and then gasped loudly.

"APPA!" he shouted.

Sokka looked in the same direction as Aang. In a confused voice he said, "Appa? But why would Princess Yue need him? She's the Moon!"

He made a noise that sounded like a cross between a giggle and a sob before falling silent.

Katara leaned over to Zuko and hissed, "How long does cactus juice last?"

The Firebender sighed. "Way too long."

Aang raced forward and then stopped. Katara walked up behind him.

Aang, face dejected, said, "It was just a cloud. It looked just like him."

Katara nodded. "The desert plays tricks on us. Cruel tricks."

The Airbender nodded.

Then Katara gasped. "Wait a minute! A cloud!" She grabbed her flask and shoved it into Aang's hands. "Here, fly up there and bend the water from that cloud into my flask."

Aang glared at her, but took it and did as she asked. He made several trips through the cloud, collecting moisture.

He returned to the ground and threw the flask at Katara. She caught it with a frown and peered inside.

She said quietly, "Wow… there's hardly any in here."

Aang exploded.

"I'm sorry, okay! It's a desert cloud; I did all I could! What's anyone else doing? What are you doing?"

He pointed his staff at Katara, practically snarling at her.

Zuko snapped at the boy, "You need to calm down!"

Katara looked shocked. She whispered, "I'm trying to keep everyone together."

She shook her head and said a little louder, "Let's just get moving. We need to head in this direction."

As she walked past him, Zuko saw her wipe tears from her eyes. Toph was silent as she led Sokka after the Waterbender.

Zuko turned to see the Avatar glaring at returned it full force.

He growled lowly at the boy, "If you've got a problem, Aang, now's the time to say it."

There was a part of Zuko that wanted the Avatar to say something, to do something. He wanted to fight the boy, physically and verbally. He didn't like the voice that was telling him all the ways that he could hurt his friend.

Aang just walked away, though, face still set in a glare.

After a moment, Zuko followed.


They'd not been walking long when Toph yelled, "OW! Damn! I am so sick of not feeling where I'm going! Who buries a boat in the middle of a desert?"

Katara perked up. "A boat?"

Katara hurried over. Toph replied, "Trust me, I kicked it hard enough to feel plenty of vibrations."

Aang stepped up and said, "Stand back."

Katara led Toph back out of the way. Aang swept his staff around, blowing the sand clear and revealing a sand-sailer.

Katara laughed, high and relieved. "It's one of that glider things the Sandbenders use! Look! It's even got a compass on it."

Zuko said, "A sand-sailer. We'll need someone to power it."

Katara said, "Aang, you can bend a breeze so we can sail it. We're going to make it."

She heard a childish laugh behind her and turned.

Sokka was merrily burying Momo up to his neck in the sand.

She frowned and shook her head, though it didn't wipe the relieved smile from her face.


Aang bent a strong breeze into the sails, sending the sand-sailer through the dunes.

Katara had one of Sokka's maps clamped to her knees as she leaned over the compass. Occasionally she shouted directions to the Avatar. Sokka was laid along the length of the sailer, seemingly unconscious. Toph and Zuko were huddled at the rear of the boat; she was leaning against him and he had his arm around her.

She muttered to him, "This is almost worse than flying. Almost."

He nodded. "I know. I'm sorry."

She shrugged and huddled closer to his side, her hand positioned over his heart.