Author's Note: We will be entering the realms of the Ships within a few shots. Happy Reading!
Disclaimer: Not mine.
Can't We All Just Get Along?
Things settled down after the excitement of the prison break which Sokka retold with relish to the other members of the gaang. Hakoda and Chit Sang left together to rendezvous with the Water Tribe. Chit Sang so he could go home to his family and Hakoda to work out the next attack strategy with his surviving men.
Hakoda gave Zuko his seal of approval because of his courageous behavior during the Boiling Rock escape. He could see and appreciate the change in the once haughty prince. Because of what Zuko had done for Sokka and Katara the others trusted Zuko much more than before. The crew were laughing and joking around with Zuko when Katara suddenly got up and stormed away. Sokka and the others shrugged confused as to why Katara was so moody. Zuko understood. He got up and went to her.
"Katara, I've been trying really hard to prove to everyone that I'm trustworthy. Why won't you trust me now?" Katara gave Zuko an incredulous look.
"Zuko, I was the first to trust you, remember? I gave you a chance all the way back in Ba Sing Se when you didn't even deserve it." she spat and turned away the hurt feeling as fresh as the day it happened. It hit Zuko like a brick. She was right. His face fell.
"What can I do to make it up to you, Katara?" he asked humbly. Katara blinked. This guy was clueless! Her tone dripped with sarcasm.
"Well, let's see. How about you stop being Fire Nation? Or maybe you can restore everything taken from my people? Oh, I know. How about you give me my mother back!" Katara shouted and stormed off. She briefly noticed the look of shock and despair on Zuko's face at that moment but didn't care. There was nothing he could do to "make things up" to her.
Later that evening, Zuko tapped on poles of Sokka's tent. Sokka bade him enter and was lying on the ground with a flower in his mouth in a semi-romantic pose definitely for someone else.
"Oh hello, Su—ko! What are you doing here right now, buddy?" Sokka asked squinting in momentary discombobulation. Zuko chose to ignore the fact that Sokka was only wearing his tunic and his wolf's tail was down in preparation for whatever Sokka and Suki were planning to do.
"Would you tell me what happened on the day your mother was killed?" Zuko asked solemnly. Sokka's face was unreadable for a moment and he was so silent Zuko thought he wouldn't say anything, but Sokka lowered his eyes.
"It's not pretty," he said but proceeded to tell Zuko everything he could remember about the day he and Katara's life changed forever.