A/N. I'm back after some days, sorry! Life happened, it was a bit crazy. But now, I'm back. The Path after the Battle will come tomorrow or the day after!
I don't own Avatar the Last Airbender.
Sitting on Appa's saddle, with Sokka holding the reins while Aang took a well-earned nap, Katara was looking at the earthbending girl.
It was late afternoon the day after they took her with them, and what she had told them didn't inspire much hope.
Lao Beifong was a well-informed man, meaning his family was too. They had spent the morning catching up on the latest news. Apparently, the official news coming from the Fire Nation was that the Princes Zuko and Iroh were missing after fighting in the siege of the Northern Water Tribe. That made her sad. Katara didn't feel any mercy towards Zuko, but his uncle Iroh had helped them, and seemed… different.
But the rumours in the western Earth Kingdom, under Fire Nation control, said the princes were disgraced, and had escaped their military by the skin of their teeth, in full view of a coastal town. That since then, no one had heard from them. It would explain why they hadn't run into them or the crew of their ship.
In other news, the Earth king had just celebrated his twenty-first birthday, officially coming of age to rule in his own right. And the war was going poorly, with the Fire Nation even coming as far as north of Goaling. For that reason, they were travelling east. Aang had told them about the lush rainforests around Chameleon Bay, and they were travelling towards them. To do that, however, their group had to traverse the rocky mountainous terrain east of Toph's hometown, and then a stretch of desert.
"So. What is the deal here?" Katara heard the eartbender's voice from her left. Turning around, she saw Toph had kind of invaded the waterbender's personal space. Creating some space between them, Katara answered.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, it is getting late, and this beast can't fly forever I suppose, so we will land." Toph said nonchalantly.
"His name is Appa. And he isn't a beast. He is a very intelligent creature, who deserves our respect. He has, more than once, saved our lives." Katara pursed her lips. She didn't like the tone of the blind girl.
"Alright. Appa will be tired. So, what are sleeping arrangements?"
"What do you mean? You've never camped before?"
"Hah! I've never spent a night camping! My parents only took me to Ba Sing Se once! And that was to meet with some idiotic guy, to see if we… matched." The girl sounded bitter about that. Katara could understand. In the Southern Water Tribe, this kind of matchmaking was largely forgotten, to be replaced by a kinder sort of matchmaking if two people already liked each other.
"Oh… Well, we camp if we don't have a guest room or a tavern available. But it is nice. Sokka can cook the most delicious fish, if he manages to catch some. Aang knows much about things like edible mushrooms and fruit, so there is always something nice to go with the food. Personally, I can bend most liquid, so when there is leftover fruit, I make us juice." Katara explained. When the girl wasn't trying to tease the waterbender, she was kind of nice.
"That sounds… nice. Nicer than anything I am used to. And what about sleeping arrangements?" Was it Katara's imagination, or did she see an amused twinkle in the milky eyes?
"Well, Sokka and I, we have sleeping bags. Aang sleeps wherever he is comfortable, meaning Appa. He doesn't feel the cold, he can warm the temperature of the air around him. He says it is an airbending thing, but I suspect it is more a mixture of fire and air bending… As for you… Well, I'm sure we have a spare sleeping bag around somewhere, you can borrow that one."
"Alright. And is there something I need to know… Like when I shouldn't put my feet on the ground, in fear of feeling… weird vibrations?"
"What do you mean?" Katara thought she had an idea of what Toph was saying, but in fear of being teased, she preferred to ask.
"I thought so. When are you going to tell him that you want to do him?"
"Sshh! Imagine he heard, or Spirits forbid, Sokka!" Katara whispered, afraid that any of the two would hear the blind girl.
"You're not denying it. Well, it isn't my business. But really, get a grip and screw him already. Not like he doesn't want to." Toph began to pick between her toes, and Katara was disgusted by all that the girl pulled from between her toes.
"Indeed, it is not your business." With that Katara returned to her scroll, hoping to have put an end to this… conversation. Spirits, this girl was really a handful.
But yet… She seemed to have a very good sense of when people lied, or what the hidden meaning behind words were. Aang had told Katara that he had a conversation with Toph before being captured by the Earth Rumble fighters. What had they discussed exactly? Had Toph… discovered something from Aang?
Katara wasn't a fool. She knew since the Cave of the Two Lovers that Aang liked her. The conversation about the Air Nomads had made it clear to her that he wasn't only interested in the physical part of a relationship. But… Yesterday, before discovering Aang's disappearance, she had opened the chest on Appa's saddle. She hadn't meant to go through the airbender's belongings, but Aang had said she could look whenever she wanted.
In the chest were the objects for the rituals, a sewing kit, several other items that she didn't know the meaning or the use for. But also, various scrolls. She had unfurled several that she couldn't read, because they were in a language she didn't understand. But several words, she recognized from the lullaby the airbender had sung to Tom-Tom, the baby at Omashu.
One scroll was different. The one she was reading now. It had been in the common language and had treated on the views of Air Nomads on life, death and love. Most of the things she read in the scroll was how Aang had described it. No rules, only what people gave themselves. Their views on life had been foreign to her, but she could understand, because Aang had taken great care to explain why he didn't eat meat. Their ideas about death were not at all clear, saying it was more a passage, and not a final destination. To the water tribes, death was the end of one life, and the beginning of another, reincarnated in another living being.
But when she had read the views on love, Katara had been surprised. Yes, as Aang had said, there were no rules, only those a couple gave themselves. But what he had failed to mention, was the fact Air Nomads only took one partner. One. During their lives, the Air Nomads would search for that one person, and if they didn't find him or her, they would never get in a relationship. Or have children.
That idea scared her. If the thing that was hanging between them resulted in him loving her, but not the other way around, she wouldn't forgive herself by doing that to the airbender. Of course, it was possible that what the scroll said was an idealistic version of the reality. Maybe airbenders did cheat, or have multiple partners. Katara wanted to ask Aang, but at the same time, how could she talk with him about it without… talking about the two of them?
Turning the scroll around, she was surprised by the fact that there were notes. Someone had scribbled things around the text. She tried to decipher them, but it was written in that language that she didn't understand. The waterbender supposed it was the language Air Nomads had used. And only one person existed who could know what the notes meant. Aang.
It wasn't his handwriting. She had seen his writing at the North Pole, when Pakku had given him homework. This hand was different. The edges of each letter were rounded, and it seemed like the man or woman who had written it was used to make notes.
"People! There is a place with trees, and if I see correctly, a pond! I'm going to send Appa down!" Sokka shouted from the head of the bison. Aang opened his eyes at the sound, and stretched his arms and legs. Katara had to look away. As she had predicted, the new clothes of the airbender didn't help her concentration…
Appa touched the ground. Jumping down, Katara landed on something soft, and white. From the other side of the bison, she heard Toph.
"Hey guys, you picked a great campsite! The grass is so soft!"
Grass? There wasn't any in miles around… Only this white stuff, that seemed very familiar.
"That isn't grass! Appa's shedding!" Sokka shouted from the saddle, clearly amused. He also jumped down, and began to take the stuff for camping that Aang handed him.
"Gross." She muttered. Katara had thought Appa's fur was too thick, and frankly, he had begun to stink. But when asking Aang about what they could do about it, he had cryptically answered Appa would resolve that himself. She was standing in fur that hadn't been washed since before the North Pole. Yay.
"Oh it isn't gross! It is a natural part of spring, rebirth and flowers blooming. And Appa gets a new coat!" Aang said cheerfully.
Simple to say. He had seen spring before. But for her, each new thing she saw was a revelation. The trees were getting blossoms, and the idea of spring was just... Foreign. On the South Pole, they had two seasons. Cold, and colder.
Appa sneezed, clearly having inhaled some of his own fur. The wind whirl from his nose made the fur around him blew up, and some got in Katara's nose and mouth. Coughing, she was not so sure she would like this new season. Spring sucked.
"Look Katara, it isn't that bad! It makes a great wig!" Her brother laughed. Turning, she saw him stand in front of her, with the most ridiculous hairdo she had ever seen. Shaking her head, Katara still smiled. It was good to do silly things.
"And a great beard."
At that, she snorted aloud. Aang had put some fur around his face, making it look like he had a very bushy beard. The combination of a bald head and a long beard was not a good look.
"Let's just be glad to have another girl in the group. It will cancel out your antics." The waterbender laughed. But that quickly ended.
"Excuse me. Do any of you have a razor? Because I have some hairy pits!" Toph cackled, showing how she had put the fur under her arms. Katara sighed, and apparently, the earthbender heard it.
"I also need it another place. But I don't this Miss prissy over there would like that!" The blind girl laughed. Sokka and Aang looked at each other, and began to laugh, holding on to each other. Yay, she not only had two irresponsible guys now. But three. Thanks Spirits.
Setting up camp was like a routine, and they quickly fell into it. While Aang was putting a tent up with Sokka, Katara was bending water inside the cauldron, thinking of what they could make. Maybe just some rice with those vegetables she had purchased in Gaoling. Sokka would grumble about the "food fit for rabbit-squirrels" but she didn't care. It was not like there was anything to hunt around them.
Only… Toph was sitting against a rock, without a care in the world. She wasn't even helping with something. Of course, she was blind, but Katara had seen how the girl defeated several rather good earthbenders without even lifting a finger. Setting up camp wouldn't be too hard in that case, would it? And she had asked the waterbender about what each one did during camping. Katara had assumed that she asked so that she would know what to do.
"Hey Toph. Usually, when we set up camp, we divide the work. Some fetch water, others pitch the tent, or set up the fire."
"Sounds good! Don't worry about me! I'm good to go!"
Good to go?
"Even Momo puts in his fair share." The waterbender muttered, when the lemur landed on her shoulder, holding nuts and berries. If even the mischievous lemur-bat could do that, why wouldn't Toph?
"I can carry my own weight! I have food, I don't need a fire, and look!" The earthbender stumped her foot down, causing the earth the bend in the form of a tent above her. "Even my tent is set up."
Why was she acting up like this? On Appa's saddle, it had seemed like she cared about it, and wanted to participate. She had given the impression to really wanting to help.
"Forget it." Katara muttered and walked over to the fire that Aang had started. They would eat and go to bed. Maybe tomorrow would be better.
Dinner was an awkward affair. As per usual, Sokka, Aang and herself were eating around the fire, talking. Normally, there was laughter and shouting, but now it seemed more subdued. Maybe because Toph didn't join them but ate in silence in her little earth tent. Katara found it sad. Not only because she had hoped for more friends, but also because it seemed Toph hadn't had any one to tell her how to behave normally with people.
Standing up after dinner, she walked over to Toph. If the girl wouldn't make the first step, then the watebender would try.
"Hey, I wanted to apologize for before. I think we are all just a bit tired and on edge."
"Yeah, you seem pretty tired." The blind girl responded. Sorry? Here Katara was, trying to talk to her, give her a way in, and the only thing Toph could say was that she was the problem?
"I meant all of us."
"Alright. Good night!" With that, Toph lay down and went to sleep.
Muttering to herself, Katara walked away. What an ungrateful brat.
When she came back to the campfire, she noticed Sokka had gone to the tent. They had lost one of the tents in the swamp, so now, she and her brother were sharing. Which wasn't to her liking at all.
"How is she?" the voice of the airbender came from the shadows. He had gone to meditate after dinner but seemed to have gone through it quite quickly.
"Spoiled. She just sat there while we did all the work. That girl needs one week in the Southern Water tribe. Where the rule was if you don't work, you don't eat." She answered, sitting down with a sigh.
"Ah, it was the same in the Air Temple. But there it was If you don't do your chores, you don't get any fruit pie." Aang laughed, falling beside her.
"Well, surely she will learn. She'll have to." The waterbender said, while prodding the fire with a stick to make it flare up. She wanted to get some reading done before going to sleep. Pulling the scroll out of her bag, she realized, too late, that Aang was next to her.
"Where did you get that?" He sounded alarmed.
"Oh… Sorry! You told me that I could look inside the chest! I'll put it back! Sorry!" She could have hit herself. Of course, he just had said that to be polite. Of course, she wasn't supposed to go poking around.
"Oh, you can read it! No worry!" Aang quickly spoke, putting his hands in front of him.
"Thanks… maybe… We could discuss it? After I finish it?" She suggested, shyly. That would be a good way to find out what he thought about those things. Making it about his culture, and not about the thing that was happening between them.
"We can. Just give me a sign when you're through."
With that, the airbender walked to Appa to sleep.
Answers :
Gabriela N. Gonzalez : So, the changes are beginning after the chase!
CoyoteLemon ; Really ? lol! Well, I hope you also dig this chapter!
Ashley Barbosa : Oh Toph is going to have a field day at the part of Bitter Work, I can asure you that!