Chapter 8: Reunion and the Vision
Aang landed Appa, and Toph eagerly jumped from the bison. As nice as it was to travel freely, Toph was unable to 'see' while on the bison. It was unnerving, especially in combination with the feeling of being in the air. Landing in the grass, she immediately felt their surroundings, and she smiled as her 'sight' returned. She felt Sokka on the ground near her, while Aang was still on Appa, handing Sokka their sleeping bags.
"Hey, you guys picked a great camp site," she told them. "The grass is so soft!" She bunched it between her toes, marveling at the thick, silky texture.
"That's not grass," Sokka corrected. "Appa's shedding."
"Oh."
"It happens every year," Aang said cheerfully. "Every spring and fall."
After a moment, Toph heard Appa sneeze, and felt his fur tickling all over. He must have blown it around. She heard Aang and Sokka laughing, and felt Sokka kneeling to the ground, scooping up a pile of the fur.
"What do you think of my new wig?" he asked Aang. Aang laughed as he leapt down from Appa.
"Not bad," Aang said. "How's my beard?"
Toph grinned at her new friends' antics. She was more than happy to join in. She quickly grabbed some of the fur off of the ground, stuffing it into her short sleeves. "Excuse me, does anybody have a razor? Cause I've got some hairy pits!" She raised her arms up, showing off the fur she'd stuffed in. She laughed along with Aang and Sokka. A moment later, Aang sneezed, blowing away all of the fur they had been playing with, but they still laughed.
Later, as Sokka and Aang set up the camp, Toph just hung out, hands behind her head. She had her things set as she wanted them; she was fine. She felt Sokka looking over at her every once and a while. Less frequently, Aang would too.
"Any reason you two keep looking at me?" she finally asked. They exchanged a glance before either tried to answer.
"It's just…you're just hanging out there while we're setting up camp," Sokka said. Toph felt him motioning to things with his hands. "Usually, we divide up the work. You know, like I'm doing the sleeping bags, Aang is setting up the tents…you're just sitting there."
What did they expect from her? "I can carry my own weight," she responded. "I don't need a fire, I've already collected my own food, and look," she used her earthbending to make a shelter. "My tent's all set up."
"But what about us?" Sokka asked.
"I don't understand what the problem is," she protested.
Aang intervened, stepping between them as he spoke. "It's just not how we're used to doing things." His tone was quiet, conciliatory. Toph felt him walk over to Sokka. "Sokka, it's fine. Let's not argue over how to make camp. Remember when you and Katara argued over how to set up tents?" Toph raised an eyebrow. "Do you seriously want to argue over chores again?"
She felt Sokka crossing his arms. "Fine," the older boy said grudgingly.
They continued to set up camp, and Toph sat in her earth tent.
It must have been an hour or so later, when Toph was trying to sleep, that she felt it. Her eyes shot open, and she sat up quickly, placing a hand on the ground to better feel the vibrations. What is this thing?
"There's something coming toward us!" she shouted as she ran out of her tent. Aang and Sokka quickly got up. "What is it?" Aang asked.
"It feels like an avalanche," she described, trying to think of how best to describe what she felt. "But also not an avalanche."
"Your powers of perception are frightening," Sokka sarcastically told her.
Aang shook his head. "I don't know what this thing is, but it's probably best not to wait around and find out. Come on, let's get our stuff back onto Appa."
"Seriously?" she heard Sokka mutter.
Before long, they were back on Appa. Toph, of course, now couldn't feel anything, but apparently Sokka and Aang could see whatever it was.
Eventually, they landed again. She could hear Aang yawning. They had barely had any sleep the night before thanks to Xin Fu and his knucklehead earthbenders, but now this thing was preventing them from sleeping the second night in a row.
She hopped off of Appa, onto the dirt.
"Land! Land, sweet land!" She stood up. "Well, see you guys in the morning!"
She set up her earth tent, and was ready to go to sleep. After a few minutes, however, Aang came over. "Uh, hey, Toph?"
"What do you want, Twinkletoes?"
He scratched the back of his head. "Look, I just want to say sorry. About earlier. It's just…we've always split up the work. Always. And Katara was really uptight about it, so I guess that's just what we're used to."
She crossed her arms. "Fine," she said. "But I don't expect you to drop you way to do what I do. Don't expect me to do the same!"
"Right," Aang acknowledged. He sat down outside of her tent. "Katara tended to be like the big sister of the group. And after we lost her, I think Sokka has kind of seen it as his job to take care of us. He doesn't always do so well, and his cooking is actually kind of awful."
"I heard that!" Sokka shouted from the other side of the camp.
"But," Aang continued. "He's really just trying to cope with losing her. And I think he kind of channels her sometimes." Aang laughed a bit. "You know, I think if Katara were here, she'd have put up even more of a fight. You'd probably drive each other crazy."
Toph smiled a bit. "So…they once fought over setting up tents?" It sounded like a funny story. Aang was about to tell her, when Toph felt it. Again. "That thing is back!"
"Well, how far away is it? Maybe we can close our eyes just for a few minutes…" Sokka sounded tired. Left alone, he probably would have fallen asleep in minutes.
"I don't think so, Sokka." Aang sounded nervous now, and once again, they hastily threw their things onto Appa's saddle and took off.
"How does this thing keep finding us?" Toph questioned. She was actually starting to feel pretty tired herself. This thing, whatever it was, was becoming a serious nuisance. Not to mention, Toph was starting to find that there was something disturbing about having something follow you around, suddenly appearing when you think you'd lost it.
"I don't know," Aang responded. "But this time, I'm gonna make sure we lose them."
Toph bit back a remark. How can we lose them when we don't know how they're tracking us?
Several hours later, Appa practically crashed down into the mountains. Aang, Sokka, and Toph were thrown out into the ground. This time, they didn't even bother getting their stuff out or making any sort of camp, opting to just move around, and use their sleeping bags as pillows. It wasn't particularly warm out, but it wasn't too cold to sleep comfortably. Especially considering how tired they were.
"So…does this sort of thing happen to you guys a lot?" Toph couldn't help but ask. Being followed around was a new experience for her, but Aang and Sokka only seemed annoyed that it disturbed their sleep.
"You have no idea," Sokka told her, exasperation in his voice. "If it can happen, it happens to us. Crazy earthbending kings, angry jerks with ponytails, pirates, admirals that want to kill spirits…" He shook his head. Aang frowned, and turned to Toph.
"I did warn you that it would be dangerous to be with us."
"I know," Toph acknowledged. "I guess I just didn't think we'd find trouble this quickly."
"We didn't find this," Sokka grumbled. "It found us!" As he said this, Momo began making noises, hopping up and down, pointing out towards the mountain. "Oh, don't tell me…"
"That's impossible!" Aang protested. "There's no way they could have tracked us." They had traveled farther; he'd been so certain that he had gotten them away from…whatever it was.
"I can feel it with my own two feet," Toph confirmed. It was that same thing again. The three of them ran up to see it coming. Aang could see it more closely now. It looked a little bit similar to a tank.
"Maybe we should face them," he suggested. "Find out who they are. Who knows, maybe they're friendly?"
"Always the optimist," Sokka said. Suddenly, the thing opened, and out came the three girls from Omashu.
Not friendly, Aang thought. Really, really NOT friendly.
The three girls were riding their mongoose-lizards towards him, Sokka, and Toph. Toph, at least, was confident.
"We can take them! We're the Avatar and the Blind Bandit!" She didn't understand why the boys were so worried about three girls. Hadn't they seen her beat all those guys from Earth Rumble?
"What about me?!" Sokka said indignantly.
"No bending," Toph said cheerfully.
"Two of those girls have no bending," Sokka said with irritation. "But they're still dangerous!"
Toph used her earthbending to create a wall between them. It was quickly blasted apart by lightning.
"Blue fire," Sokka grumbled as they all got onto Appa. "And now lightning. These girls are worse than Zuko!"
"Who's Zuko?" Toph asked as Appa took off.
"Just some angry jerk with a ponytail," Sokka told her.
"He's the Firelord's son," Aang explained. "He's been after me ever since I first got out of the iceberg." Toph frowned. "He chased us from the South Pole to the North Pole."
"So who're these girls, then? You guys have seen them before, apparently."
"In Omashu," Sokka said. "When Aang tried to rescue his friend, King Bumi. These girls were there, and they fought us." Toph crossed her arms.
"I still think we could've taken them."
Aang frowned. "The firebending girl is bad by herself. I mean, with the blue fire…I've never even seen blue fire before, and now lightning?"
"And the non-benders are dangerous, too," Sokka added. "There's the one girl with the knives, and then that one in pink basically paralyzed me last time we fought." He groaned. "Seriously, I never thought I'd miss the days of Zuko."
Aang frowned lightly. Once again, he found himself wondering whatever had happened to the prince.
Katara woke up slowly, a small smile on her face from her dream. She couldn't fully remember it, but she knew it had been pleasant.
"You're awake." Zuko's low voice brought her more fully to awareness. She opened her eyes and sat up, brushing a bit of hair from her face. She'd have to redo her hair.
"Good morning," she said. Then she blinked, looking to the horizon. The sun wasn't fully up yet. "Morning indeed." She stood up, doing a bit of a stretch. "So I know you firebenders like to wake up super early, but you know I don't usually wake up at this time, right?" They had, after all, spent weeks together.
Zuko offered her a bit of food, and the water pouch, which Katara noticed was fuller than it had been the day before. "Eat quickly," he said simply. "I want to be back on the ostrich-horse with the next fifteen minutes."
Katara raised an eyebrow. "Where'd you get the water?" she asked after taking a sip. And what was he in such a hurry for?
"I found a creek," Zuko answered, pointing. "It seems to be a more wooded area over there."
"Oh," Katara said. That made sense.
"Katara," his voice was serious, and Katara looked over as she ate.
"What is it?" He looked very serious.
He hesitated before speaking. "When I woke up this morning, I believe I saw the Avatar's bison."
Katara froze, food still in her mouth. Her eyes widened, and she slowly swallowed the bite, not taking another.
Aang. And Sokka, too. A small smile started forming as she realized that, finally, after weeks and weeks of being separated, she was finally close enough to find them. She could finally rejoin her brother and her best friend, assure them that she wasn't dead as they surely believed. She could finally get back on track to helping Aang save the world!
Her smile fell quickly as she looked at Zuko. Zuko. She sighed, shaking her head. "You're going after him again, aren't you?"
"Katara," Zuko said, again, looking pained. "You know why I have to."
And you still don't understand why you don't, she thought. She looked away. "Why tell me, then? You have to know, I'd never let you capture Aang."
"I thought you'd like to be reunited with your friends," he said.
She looked back at him, one eyebrow raised. "I would," she agreed. "What's your point?"
He scratched the back of his head. "Well, I'm the one that saw where your friends landed," he pointed out. "If you tried to find them by yourself, you'd just get lost. And I can't just leave you alone here, so…"
"So we'll look for them together, and then…what, fight over Aang once we find him?" Zuko gave a little shrug. "That has got to be the craziest plan I've ever heard," Katara told him bluntly. Then she shook her head, pinching the bridge of her nose. "But I suppose it's the only plan that could work out right now," she admitted. It wasn't a happy thought. She wanted to be back with Aang and Sokka. She didn't want to fight Zuko. She took a few more bites of food, and redid her hair. In another few minutes, she and Zuko were on the ostrich-horse, heading towards where he had seen Appa.
Katara hoped that Iroh caught up before they could fight.
They weren't traveling for long before they heard a noise. Zuko made the ostrich-horse stop, staying out of sight as he looked. Ahead of them, there was some sort of machine heading through the wooded area.
"What is that thing?" Katara asked. It wasn't like anything she could remember seeing before.
"Tank-train," Zuko told her grimly. "From my nation."
Katara blinked. Then Zuko wasn't the only one after her friends. Just perfect. "Uncle Iroh thought Azula may be going after Aang," she noted. "If he's right, then this could be her."
Zuko made the ostrich-horse start following the tank-train. "That wouldn't surprise me," Zuko said bitterly. "I wouldn't put it past her to go after my target just to spite me."
It wouldn't particularly surprise Katara either, she found. "My brother drives me crazy sometimes," she told Zuko. "But at least we aren't like you and Azula."
"At least this makes it easier to find them," Zuko noted. "You can't miss these tracks."
They continued, now followed the tracks left by the Fire Nation's machine. Something was now bothering Katara, though. Finally, she voiced her thoughts. "If we get there, and both Azula and Aang are there, then what will you do?" He didn't answer her for a moment, and she continued. "You can't fight both of them. And if you fight Aang, then I will fight you, too."
"I don't want really want to fight you," he admitted.
"I don't want to fight you, either."
It was quiet for a moment. "Azula is my priority," he finally decided. "If she's there."
Unseen to him, Katara gave a small smile.
They crashed.
Appa had fallen asleep as he flew, tired after the night of fleeing from the girls from Omashu. Aang, Sokka, and Toph had also fallen asleep, but thankfully the feeling of falling had woken them up, and Aang was able to wake Appa up. They still crashed through trees and hit the ground hard, but at least nobody was hurt. Aang looked at Toph as she got out of Appa's saddle. She hesitated for a moment, frowning at some shed fur she pulled. Aang couldn't help but feel sorry. He hadn't figured that they would find trouble so soon after she joined them, and she looked half-asleep.
"Appa's exhausted," Aang noted. They probably couldn't go any further if they wanted to.
"We've put a lot of distance between us and those girls," Sokka said, taking his sleeping bag and throwing it on the ground. "I think we should follow Appa's lead and get some sleep."
They only took a few more steps before Toph spoke again. "Wait. I don't think it's safe to do that," she said.
Sokka groaned. "Please, please don't tell me those girls have found us again?"
"Not yet," Toph assured him. "But I think I've finally figured out how they keep finding us." She stood next to Appa, and grabbed a handful of fur from him. "It's his fur," she told them. "Sheddy here has been leaving a trail everywhere we go!"
Aang felt suddenly, irrationally, angry. "You're blaming Appa!?" Sokka frowned as he began looking over Appa and the fur around him.
She crossed her arms. "He's got a lot of fur, and it's falling off as we fly," she continued. "If he's shedding anywhere near as much as he was earlier, then we may as well be leaving signs saying 'Avatar over here!' They're probably on their way here as we speak. We're never going to get rid of them while Appa's fur keeps leading them straight to us!"
"She's right, Aang," Sokka agreed, coming up to them. He looked between the two twelve-year-olds. "We've got to do something to stop them from following us." He let out a big yawn. "You know, unless we just want to keep being woken up."
Aang looked up, grabbing a handful of Appa's loose fur and letting it go. "I think I've got an idea." He looked back over to his friends. "It's time to give Appa a bath. A serious scrubbing and brushing. Hopefully we'll get almost all of his loose fur. I'll collect it and put it in a bag."
"Why collect it?" Toph asked.
"You guys can fly further away on Appa. I'll take the collected fur and make a false trail with my glider."
"Alone?" Sokka asked, suddenly more awake. "Aang, is it really a good idea to split up? If those girls would be chasing you…" Aang could hear the worry in his voice. He knew what was on Sokka's mind.
"I won't fight them," Aang told him. "I'll just make a fake trail, and then turn around and then take a different route to meet you guys."
"I'm with Twinkletoes," Toph said, and Aang smiled at her, even though she couldn't see it. "It's the best plan we've got. After all, we need to deal with the fur trail somehow, and get away from them. Unless you'd rather fight them," she added hopefully.
"I'd really rather not," Sokka said. "Alright, we'll go with your plan, Aang. But you," he said to Toph. "Are going to help us giving Appa his bath. You carry your own weight, we get it, but we need help here!"
Toph folded her arms, frowning, but she nodded. "Fine. I'll help. But you two better know how to wash him, cause I sure don't."
"You think this is bad," Sokka told her later as they worked together to clean off Appa's loose fur. "You should try cleaning between Appa's toes sometime. You wouldn't think that a flying creature would have such dirty feet."
"I'll take your word for it," Toph told him. They had given Appa as thorough a washing as they could in the stream. Aang used his waterbending to pour water on Appa, while Toph and Sokka scrubbed. Toph worked with Sokka, as she couldn't always tell if she was getting all of Appa's loose fur off. She didn't know how much fur they got off, but she knew that Aang was collecting as much of it as possible.
"You were right," Aang finally said when they finished Appa's bath. He was now carrying a bag full of Appa's fur. "Appa's fur was leaving a trail leading right to us."
"Told you so," she said a bit smugly, crossing her arms.
"Right, thanks. Anyways, now that he's clean, no more trail!"
"Except for your decoy trail."
"You're sure he's not going to crash again, right?" Sokka asked. "He fell asleep earlier, and I don't think he's really gotten enough rest since then…" She could feel him glancing at Appa.
"He'll be fine," Aang assured him. "Just so long as we leave his saddle and our stuff here…"
"Whoa, what?" Toph's eyes widened a bit. "You want us to ride Appa without the saddle?" She looked vaguely green. It was hard enough to get used to with the saddle.
"It'll be fine. Just hold on tight to his fur." Toph still looked uncertain.
"I'll be there, too," Sokka reminded her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "If anything goes wrong, I'll catch you."
Now Toph found herself blushing. "You make me sound like some sort of damsel," she said, crossing her arms. But she got up on Appa with Sokka, clinging tightly to Appa's fur. When Appa launched up, she clasped the fur even tighter.
"You know," she said to Sokka. "I really didn't think flying could get much worse. I guess Aang just had to prove me wrong."
"That sort of thing happens to me all the time."
Their paths were all converging, now.
Iroh sat behind a boulder, observing the beginning of another sunset as he thought. He had quickened his pace after Katara had left, and had passed through a town that Zuko had passed through. The villagers had been wary of him. Apparently, Zuko had not only revealed himself as a firebender, but as the son of Ozai as well. It was moments such as that that Iroh felt weary, exasperated at his nephew's foolishness. Still, it had been interesting to learn that Katara had apparently defended him from the angry villagers.
Iroh had followed them as quickly as he could.
He had also seen the Avatar's bison, and felt certain that Zuko had as well. He would be in pursuit, Katara likely with him to rejoin her friends.
And now, he had seen the tracks of a Fire Nation tank. Someone was in the chase, and he was willing to bet that it was Azula. After Zuko, or after the Avatar, either way they would meet.
Their paths were all merging, and Iroh knew it would explode. He did not intend on allowing his nephew and Katara, to face this threat without him.
Katara and Zuko reached the stream in the forest, and Zuko hopped off of the ostrich-horse. The Fire Nation machine had been diverted, apparently after releasing three animals. Eelhounds or mongoose-lizards, Zuko had reckoned. Or a similar animal. He and Katara were following those tracks.
"They've split up," he told her as she got off of the ostrich-horse. He pointed. "Two of them have gone that way," pointing across the stream, where the trees seem to have been broken. "And one has gone in this direction." He knelt down, picking something white up. "The bison's fur," he noted. He offered it to her to see.
Katara took it from his hand. "It is spring, I suppose. Many animals shed during this time." She looked over to the trees, and then at the fur on the ground. "Weird. I would say that Appa was going in the way of those trees, knocking them down as he flew, but the fur trail goes this way…"
Zuko nodded. "I think you're right. It's a decoy," he realized. He looked back over to the trees. "If the bison is shedding, that's probably how my sister has been tracking him. If he realized this, then I bet he's leaving a fake trail."
"Doesn't seem like she fell for it," Katara said, frowning. "Since two of those animals were going in the direction Appa went." Sokka would be the one flying Appa, and now being chased by…who?
Zuko shrugged. "The Avatar would be the one leaving the fake trail, and my sister would have realized that. We go this way." He went to get back onto the ostrich-horse, but Katara quickly grabbed his wrist. She blushed, and withdrew her hand.
"Give me the water pouch. I can fill it up here."
"There's still enough water in there."
"Not for drinking." She rolled her eyes. "For fighting Azula. Waterbender, remember."
Zuko looked slightly embarrassed. "Oh. Right." He handed her the water pouch.
In another minute, they were back in pursuit.
"Oh no," Sokka groaned loudly.
"Let me guess," Toph said dryly, face still green. "The girls still managed to find us?"
"Yeah," Sokka said. He was at Appa's reins, trying to make Appa go faster. Sadly, it seemed that the bison was still too tired. "Not good, not good!" He looked ahead, thinking of how to get away from those girls. "We just need to make it across that river," he figured.
"And that's how far exactly?"
"Not far." Toph felt them hit something, probably a tree, and in a few moments after that they collided with the ground. "Did we make it across?"
"We made it! We're safe," he assured her. They both leapt off of Appa, and despite the situation, Toph felt relieved to be able to 'see' again. She felt across the river, the girls on the mongoose-lizards still coming towards them—the creatures were crossing the water.
"I think you spoke too soon!" She tried to block them off by raising the earth. Despite this, in a moment, Toph felt one of the girls landing nearby. "Fine," she said, frowning on concentration. "You want to fight? Good, cause so do I!" She moved the ground beneath the feet of the girl, but the girl was barely affected, her balance too good to be easily disrupted. The girl came closer to her, but Toph felt Sokka throw his boomerang. It hit the girl, momentarily sending her to the ground.
The other girl quickly joined them, throwing knives at them. Toph raised a barrier between them, and felt the knives hitting her shield. She tried launching it at the knife-girl. She felt the other girl coming back after her, getting in close. Before she could react, the girl had hit her in one of her arms. She quickly knocked her away by launching her with a bit of earth.
The arm that had been hit, however, felt numb, and when Toph tried moving it, it didn't respond. Oh, right, she recalled. Sokka did say that one of these girls paralyzed him last time they saw them.
She felt Sokka struggling with knife-girl, apparently getting himself pinned to a tree. The other girl came up close to Toph again, and Toph attempted to keep her from getting close again, but this girl was a near match for Aang in moving around in the air. Finally, the girl got through and hit Toph several time.
"Hey, what're you-!?" Toph hit the ground.
She couldn't move either of her arms now. But it was even worse than that. She couldn't feel the earth. She couldn't feel the vibrations, where the girls were. Moving her foot, she found the ground unresponsive. She couldn't bend.
For the first time in a long time, she really couldn't see.
"I thought when Ty Lee and I finally caught you guys, it would be more exciting," she heard one of the girls saying in a near monotone. "Oh, well. Victory is boring." As soon as this girl said this, Toph heard Appa growl and heard the girls scream as a gust of wind went through the air. Judging by the splash, the two of them had been tossed into the river.
"Ha!" she shouted. "How's that for victory, huh?"
It still felt a bit empty, though, considering that she was on the ground, unable to move, unable to 'see' her surroundings. She heard Sokka struggle to get himself unpinned from the tree. Finally, he succeeded, and in a moment, she was lifted up.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
"I can't move," she told him. He pulled her up, leaning down and flinging one of her arms around his neck.
"It'll pass," he promised. "That girl, Ty Lee, did the same thing to me back in Omashu. It'll wear off in a few minutes." Toph was still silent, and worry still ate at her. Would her bending return? What would she do without it? "Is something else wrong?"
"My bending's gone," she told him in a slightly panicked voice. "One moment I had it, and then when she hit me, my bending disappeared."
Sokka was speechless for a moment. "I didn't know that was possible," he finally said. "I mean, I know benders can lose their abilities under certain circumstances, like certain eclipses and things. But a person taking bending away?" Sokka was quiet for another moment. "It isn't permanent when she paralyzes you, I doubt this bending-blocking she does is permanent, either."
"What if it is?"
"It won't be," Sokka assured her. "Let's just give this a few minutes." He pulled her up onto Appa.
"There were only two of the girls here," Toph noted. "The firebender went after Aang." She knitted her eyebrows together. "Do you think he'll be okay?"
"He wasn't going to fight her," Sokka said. "The plan was to lead her away, and then come back to us."
"Does he always follow a plan exactly?"
Sokka was quiet for a moment. "We'd better go look for him," Sokka finally said, and Toph could hear the concern in his voice. It hadn't been too long ago that he had lost his sister. "I'll hold onto you, but do you mind if we start flying?"
"Go ahead," Toph said. "I'll just be lying here, not moving, like a bag of unbendable dirt." They took off on Appa, Sokka holding onto Toph. After a few more minutes, Toph began feeling her hands again, and flexed her fingers slowly. "I think some feeling is finally returning."
"Told you so. What about your bending?"
"I don't know," she said. "Once we're on the ground, I check by throwing a rock at the firebender." She frowned. "I suppose I can't discount non-benders ever again," she admitted. "Bender or not, that girl is the most dangerous person I've met."
"Thank you," Sokka said.
"Well, I didn't say you were dangerous…"
Aang knew the plan was to make the trail, and then return to Toph and Sokka, but he was done with running. These girls had followed him all the way from Omashu, and he wanted to know who they were. They were Fire Nation, and that was probably why they were chasing him. That was clear enough. But that firebending girl seemed vaguely familiar. So instead of returning to his friends, he sat and waited.
The girl came, as he knew she would. She had a cold, satisfied smirk as she got off of her mongoose-lizard. "Alright, you've caught up with me! No who are you and what do you want?"
"You mean you haven't guessed? You don't see the family resemblance? Here's a hint." She covered her left eye with her hand. "I must find the Avatar to restore my honor." She was Zuko's sister, then. Or so Aang figured. She seemed the right age, unless Zuko had cousins. He knew she had felt familiar, and he supposed this was why. "It's okay. You can laugh. It's funny." Not really, he thought.
"So what now?" he asked.
"Now," she answered. "Now, it's over! You're tired and you have no place to go. You can run, but I'll catch you!"
Aang stood up. "I'm not running." Zuko's sister smirked. He held his staff, prepared to fight.
"Do you really want to fight me?"
Suddenly, an ostrich-horse ran between them, two people jumping down from it.
"Yes, I really do!" a familiar voice said. Zuko. He stood between Aang and his sister, on Aang's right.
Aang's eyes widened. "Zuko?!" He hadn't seen the Fire Nation prince since the North Pole. I knew he was alive, somewhere. But now he wanted to fight his sister?
Aang looked to the other person that had been on the ostrich-horse with Zuko, and Aang's eyes felt as though they were about to pop from their sockets. It can't be…
"I was wondering when you'd show up, Zu-zu," Zuko's sister said. If it weren't for the fourth person there, Aang may have laughed, but his attention was too focused on the other new person. Long—though not as long as it had been—brown hair, pulled back into a ponytail. Brown skin, adorned with green Earth Kingdom robes.
Aang recalled his vision from the swamp. Katara. But it's not possible…is it?
Zuko's sister turned to the girl (Katara?). "I see you brought your pet," she said viciously.
"You know," the girl snapped, and Aang took a step forward as he recognized the voice. Katara. It really is her. I don't know how, but it's her. "I've never actually wanted to slap anyone in the face in my life−and then I met you!"
"Katara?" Aang called. She looked back, and the two of them both smiled for a moment.
"Hey, Aang."
He had so many questions. How was she alive? How did she and Zuko's sister know each other? Why was she with Zuko? But those questions, it seemed, would have to wait.
"Back off, Azula!" Zuko took a fighting stance, facing his sister, now identified as Azula. "He's mine." Aang raised an eyebrow, taking his own stance. Katara was already in hers, facing Azula. She didn't seem too concerned about Zuko, even after his declaration that Aang was 'his'.
"I'm not going anywhere," Azula said. Zuko glanced back and forth between them, Azula, Aang, and even Katara. Katara was mostly focused on Azula, but she once looked at Zuko, and gave him a slight nod.
Zuko made the first attack, sending several balls of fire to his sister. It did little, it did nothing. She dispersed it with ease, and made her own attack, sending Zuko into the ruins of a building. Katara took water out of her water pouch, slapping Azula once, before having to dodge a rather large blast. Aang also attempted to fight, being blasted away. Azula made a large pillar of fire that she brought down, separating Katara from Aang and Zuko. What occurred over the next few moments was, in Aang's opinion, nothing short of crazy, as Azula went back and forth between throwing fire at Aang and Zuko, as they threw air and fire at her.
Family dinners must be awful in their family, he noted.
Finally, Zuko was blasted again, but Azula's leg was pulled from under her by Katara, who Aang saw looked furious. Despite momentarily being grounded, Azula kicked a ball of fire at Aang, knocking him upwards, into the old buildings.
Jumping back up, Azula launched a huge blast of fire at Katara, who tried to form a water shield, but the fire was too large…
Zuko, up again, pushed her out of the way while dispersing some of the flame.
Aang blinked. This must be the weirdest fight I've ever been in. And that's saying something.
Azula was preparing another blow, but Aang quickly blew a strong gust of wind at her.
"I'm over here!" he shouted at her. He momentarily considered sticking his butt in the air. But, he figured as he dodged more fire, that's not necessary. And it would probably end painfully.
Aang was blasted through another building, and as he was on the ground, he noticed Zuko fighting his sister. She blasted him to the ground, and from what Aang saw, Zuko was unconscious. She turned her attention back to him. Aang hopped to the top of a building, but she sliced through it with her fire, and he fell to the inside. She came in, surrounding the room with fire.
Just when Aang thought he was done for, Katara appeared in the doorway, pulling at Azula's hand with her water, and releasing Aang from the debris pinning him down.
"Katara!"
She momentarily grinned at him, before running as Azula turned her attention to her. Aang got up, following them out, and blasting Azula with a gust of wind. Azula threw fire in return, but Katara quickly extinguished it.
In another moment, Azula experienced the unpleasantness of being hit in the head with a boomerang. She punched another bit of fire at Katara before running off. Aang and Katara turned to look at Sokka, who was looking in shock at his not-dead sister.
"Is this another hallucination?" he asked quietly.
"Sokka!" Katara's grin was large, but she quickly turned over to follow Azula.
"Do you see that?" Sokka worriedly asked Aang.
"She's real," Aang confirmed. "She's alive!"
"She is alive," Sokka's voice was now happier, though still stunned.
They followed Azula, and Katara made the first move, throwing several sharp icicles her head. Grabbing her attention, the three of them tag-teamed her. Aang couldn't help but smile a bit. It had been so long since it had been him, Katara, and Sokka. Now, the original team was back together.
It felt sort of lucky, and for the first time since they'd noticed they were being followed, Aang suddenly felt certain that this would end well. Suddenly, the ground moved from beneath Azula, throwing her into the dirt. Toph walked up, smiling.
"You were right, Sokka," she said. "My bending is definitely back." She smirked. "Back and ready to kick some firebender butt!" Aang blinked. Back? What did that mean?
With the four of them against her, Azula began running away. Aang and his friend pursued her. Her attempt to flee was halted when she ran into an older man. Aang blinked. It was the other Fire Nation man, the general who was with Zuko. Aang remembered how this man had put his foot down when Zhao wanted to kill the Moon Spirit at the North Pole. And now, here he was again, with Zuko, who was conscious once more.
Six of them, now. All against Azula.
It was a strange moment. It occurred to Aang that all nations were represented here, and bender and non-bender alike. Even the Fire Nation was fighting the Fire Nation today.
Aang briefly wondered what it meant that the Firelord's children were fighting each other.
The six of them had Azula cornered. "Well, look at this," she said. "Enemies and traitors, all working together. I'm done. I know when I'm beaten." She raised her hands in surrender. "You've got me. A princess surrenders with honor." Nobody made a move. After a few moments, though, Azula struck the Fire Nation general down. Aang heard Zuko and Katara both let out sounds of shock and anger, and they all turned to attack Azula at once, everyone attacking with their element, or in the case of Sokka, boomerang. It was something of a satisfying moment, Aang supposed, in that all four elements were combined in one attack.
But it didn't work.
There was only an explosion, and when the dust settled, Azula was gone.
She would come back to trouble them on another day.
Katara momentarily glared at the spot where Azula had been just moments before. That girl seemed to get worse every time Katara saw or heard of her. And now…Iroh. Katara was ready to turn to see if she could heal him when she was nearly knocked down by her brother. Sokka grabbed and hugged her tightly, so tightly she could barely breathe. He actually picked her up, and put her back down.
"We thought you were dead," he said in her ear. There was a crack in his voice. He finally stepped back, and she could see tears in his eyes. "We searched all over for you, but we couldn't find you. We were sure you had died." He hugged her again, and she returned it. It was so good to see them again—if only it had been under better circumstances.
"Oh, Sokka. I'm so sorry," she found that her throat hurt a bit.
"How did you survive?" Aang asked, coming forward and hugging her. "And how did you end up with Zuko?"
"What?" Sokka asked. He looked to Aang. Then he looked to Katara, and then back to Aang again. "What do you mean, with Zuko?"
"She and Zuko showed up together," Aang told Sokka. "On the same ostrich-horse."
Sokka looked horrified. "What? Katara, what happened? Did he hurt you? Hold you hostage?" She could see him glaring at Zuko over her shoulder.
"Sokka, I'm fine," Katara told him. "Actually, you have Zuko to thank for me being alive."
"What?!"
She nodded. "After I got caught in that wave, Zuko rescued me. I've been with him and his uncle ever since." She frowned. "I originally intended on meeting up with you guys at Omashu, but…"
"Conquered," Sokka finished. He scratched his head. He was smiling again. "I'm still expecting to wake up. This just seems too good to be true."
Katara hugged him again. "I'm real," she assured him. She hugged Aang again, too. "I'm so sorry to cause you so much grief."
"It's okay," Aang said. "You're here again, and you're alive." He smiled. "It's more than we could've asked for."
"So…I'm guessing you're Sokka's dead sister, who apparently isn't dead?" the earthbender asked. She looked around Aang's age. She nodded.
"Katara," she introduced herself, offering her hand to the girl. Katara couldn't help but notice her eyes, which appeared clouded over.
"Toph," the girl introduced, taking Katara's hand. If she is blind, Katara noted, it sure doesn't slow her down any.
"Well," Sokka said cheerfully, taking Katara's hand and attempting to drag her. "Now that we've all hugged and everything, can we go now?"
Katara blinked, and pulled her hand away. She hesitated, looking over to Uncle Iroh and Zuko. Iroh was still unconscious on the ground, and Zuko was kneeling over him. Azula was every bit the firebender that Iroh had said she was, and he had paid the price. The only good news was that Zuko was still at his side; Iroh was still alive, but he was seriously injured. There was no nearby town to help them. Katara shook her head, sighing.
She closed her eyes.
For weeks, she had been trying to get back to Sokka and Aang.
Now, the moment finally came where she could leave with them. But she couldn't.
"I can't leave them," she said quietly, looking back to her brother and friend.
"What?" Sokka's voice was so disappointed. Katara opened her eyed, looking straight at him. He looked as heartbroken as he sounded, eyebrows furrowed above almost watering eyes. "What do you mean you can't leave them?"
"Exactly what I said, Sokka. I can't leave them. At least not right now."
Sokka shook his head. Aang took a step toward her. "But we just got back together!" He sounded incredibly hurt. He looked like he was about to cry. The last thing Katara wanted was to hurt her brothers, but she had to make them understand… "Now you're going to leave us again!?"
"I never wanted to leave you to begin with!" Katara reminded them. Aang's eyes widened, and he took a step back, blinking. Something in her words had stunned him.
"But now you're choosing to leave us!" Sokka shouted. "How can you choose…them over us?!"
"I am NOT choosing them over you!" she matched his tone. "And what makes you think I have to 'choose'?"
"They're our enemies, Katara!" Sokka seemed to lose it. He was motioning desperately as he spoke. "We are talking about Prince Zuko, the angry jerk with the ponytail, and his uncle, the two of whom chased us from one pole to the other! Royals of the Fire Nation! The people who we are fighting! Why don't you understand this?!"
"You don't know them!" Katara thought of all of her experiences with Iroh and Zuko, everything she had come to know and understand about them. She thought of Iroh, who secretly supported Aang, and hoped to guide Zuko onto the same path. "They may be Fire Nation," Katara said firmly, but more calmly. "But they are good people. I know we've fought in the past, but Zuko is…Zuko is honorable, and he has a sense of justice. He gets confused sometimes…"
"Confused?!" Sokka's tone was indignant.
"But he's ultimately good-hearted," Katara concluded, ignoring Sokka. "And Uncle Iroh−"
"Did you seriously just call him uncle?!" Sokka looked scandalized. Aang still remained silent.
"You try spending weeks with him without coming to care about him," Katara responded. She balled her fist. "Iroh is the kindest, wisest, friendliest man I have ever had the fortune to meet." She pointed behind her. "And right now, he's badly hurt! But I can heal him. I won't leave them right now," Katara declared. "I'm not leaving them until I know they're safe." Sokka still looked flabbergasted, but at least his anger seemed to be dying down. He just shook his head silently. Toph hung out behind the boys, arms crossed, listening, but not offering her opinion on the situation. Aang looked like he had realized something. He stepped towards her, looking behind her at Iroh and Zuko.
"Are you friends with them?" He, at least, didn't sound upset about it. He didn't look angry, or hurt about it.
Katara thought of her time with Iroh and Zuko. Talking about plays, and their mothers, and how they had saved her life. There was trust between them now, and a bond which drove her to stay, even as she had the opportunity to leave them to be with Aang and Sokka. "Yes," she said softly. "We are friends." Aang looked slightly mystified.
He smiled. "I'm glad," he told her, and Sokka made a scandalized squeak. "I once asked Zuko if we could be friends. He just shot fire at me."
Katara raised an eyebrow. "Would this be after he rescued you from Zhao?"
"What?" Sokka asked. "That never happened." He blinked, looking at Aang. He shook his head as Aang didn't deny it. "You're telling me about this later," he told Aang. Katara raised both eyebrows now.
"Sokka," Aang said suddenly. "This is my vision. The one from the swamp."
Sokka's eyes widened.
"Vision?" Katara questioned.
"Aang had visions of you and Toph while we were in a swamp populated by people that don't wear pants and eat bugs," Sokka bluntly summarized. "You know, the usual sort of stuff." Sokka was joking, but his arms were still crossed, his voice tense, and he was avoiding her eyes.
"I saw bits of this conversation," Aang told everyone. "I never understood what the vision was supposed to be telling me. But now I think I understand." He turned to Sokka. "I think Katara is supposed to stay with them."
"No!" Sokka rounded on Aang. "How can you say that?! Don't you want her back?!"
"Of course I want her back! You know how much I missed her. But she doesn't want to come back now. Not until those two are safe." He pointed at Zuko and Iroh.
As Sokka and Aang exchanged heated words, Katara teared up. Distressed, she looked back to Zuko and Iroh. Zuko was now trying to move Iroh, probably to find better shelter as he tried to treat Iroh's wound. I can treat it better, she knew. She looked back to her brother and Aang, taking a step forward. "They need me, Aang," she said calmly, looking also to her brother. "He needs me. I can't leave them now."
"This is my vision," Aang said. "I'm telling you, we're supposed to let Katara stay. The vision was telling me to let her go."
"I'm with Twinkletoes," Toph suddenly spoke up. Katara blinked. Twinkletoes? "Look, I'm new to these adventures you guys seem familiar with, but Aang did say his vision of me helped you guys find me. It led him to me. Now he had this vision of Katara? I think Aang knows what he's doing here, Sokka. And if you're worried that she'd be in danger," Toph added. "Don't be. She's been with them this long, and they haven't hurt her yet. Plus, from what I've heard, Katara is more than capable of handling herself." Toph sent Katara a smile, which Katara returned.
"Thanks, Toph." She turned to Sokka, who now seemed to be the only one unconvinced.
He shook his head sadly. "Dad told me to protect you," he said sadly. "I already failed once. How can you ask me to let you go off with a pair of firebenders?"
"I know Dad asked you to protect me," Katara said, taking her brother's hands. "But now I'm asking you to trust me. Trust that I know them, because I do. Trust that I can protect myself."
Sokka's eyebrows were pulled together, and he looked like he was still about to protest, but finally, he looked away, and gave a tight nod.
"When will we see each other again?" He looked to her again. "If I have to let you go now, then I need to know that we will be reunited again."
Katara looked over to where Zuko was moving Iroh again. She recalled talking to Iroh about his plans. "Ba Sing Se," she told her brother. "It's a long story, but those two are fugitives of the Fire Nation now. They're going to go to Ba Sing Se as refugees, and I'll stay with them until then, where they'll be safe. Meet me there. And then we can regroup." This time, at least, they knew each other was okay. And they had a place to meet up.
Sokka nodded, and then pulled Katara into another tight hug. She returned it, holding onto her brother for a few long seconds. "I can't wait to see you again," he told her. Pulling back, he offered a small smile. "Keep out of trouble, okay? And if those two give you any trouble, kick their butts for me."
She smiled, almost laughing. "Take care of yourself, Sokka. And our friends." He began to walk away. Aang came up next, also hugging her. "Thanks for backing me up, Aang," she said. "I'll miss you."
He offered her a smile. "It won't take too long to get to Ba Sing Se," he told her. "This'll be nothing compared to thinking you were dead for almost two months." He looked over to Iroh and Zuko contemplatively, then looked back to Katara. "This is destiny. I'm sure of it." Then he went to join Sokka.
Toph stayed behind. "Good luck," the young earthbender said. "And I'm glad you're alive. I haven't known those two for long, but I could tell they missed you."
"Are you teaching Aang earthbending?" Katara questioned.
"Haven't gotten the chance to teach him anything," Toph said. "But that's the plan. Anyways, see you in Ba Sing Se." She frowned as she turned. "I hate cities," Katara heard her mutter as she left to join Aang and Sokka.
Katara watched for a few moments as they left. For so long, her goal had been to reunite with them, and now she chose to stay with Zuko and Iroh. She had done so before, she knew, but this was the first time she had actually acknowledged them as friends. If one had asked her a few weeks ago if she would ever choose to stay with Iroh and Zuko instead of going with Aang and Sokka, she would have told them never.
How things change, she noted as she turned to go catch up with Zuko.
Zuko found a building on the outskirts of town, facing the sunset. He put Iroh down, taking off Iroh's top. They had bandages, at least, and he took them out. He looked at the wound, wincing as he looked at the burn.
All firebenders learned the basics of treating burns when they were young. Of course they did; it would remarkably foolish not to, given how dangerous even the most basic of training accidents could be. But Zuko wasn't sure that he was cut out for this sort of wound.
"I can help," an unexpected voice came. Zuko's eyes widened as he looked at the door opening.
"Katara?" He couldn't believe it. But there she was, and she came in. "What…what are you doing here?" He had thought she would have left with the Avatar and her brother.
"I can help him," she said quietly. She took some water out of the water pouch, and surrounded her hand with it.
"What are you doing?" he asked. She knelt down, and placed her hands onto Uncle Iroh's wound. To Zuko's astonishment, the water began glowing blue. "W-what?"
"Some waterbenders have healing abilities," Katara told him. "I happen to be one of those."
Zuko's eyes widened, and he looked back down to his uncle. The two of them were silent as Katara worked on Iroh's wound. After a while, she took the water out, putting it back into the pouch. "I think that's about all I can do for now," she said. "But I think I was able to heal a lot of it."
Zuko look at the wound. It was mostly healed. What had previously been a dangerous burn, straight through Iroh's skin and organs, now appeared to be just a little worse than a bad sunburn. "You really did," he noted, amazement in his voice. He looked back to her, impressed. "Thank you, Katara. Thank you so much."
She offered a smile, touching his hand with hers. "I'm glad I could help."
"What about your friends?" he questioned. "If you're here, then does that mean…they left without you? You chose to stay here?"
"I did," Katara confirmed.
"But why? I thought you wanted to be back with your friends."
"I did. And I still do. But I couldn't rejoin them when I knew that my other friends needed me."
Zuko's eyes widened, and he once again looked to her. It felt unlike any of the past times—more like he was seeing her for the first time. Suddenly, she wasn't just the waterbender he saved, or the friend of the Avatar, or the girl who refused to go along with him stealing. This was Katara, his friend, who he cared about, who cared about him. Who traveled through the desert and defended him against the village he had helped. Katara, who understood the loss of a mother.
Katara, who had the chance to leave him for the Avatar and her brother, and instead chose to come back and heal his uncle.
They set up what they could, identifying where there was food and water in the nearby area. They made Iroh as comfortable a place as they could.
As they worked, Zuko kept glancing at Katara. Once, he even smiled a little.
Whatever came next, he was glad to have Katara there with him.
End Part 2
Just one revised chapter to go, then onto the new stuff!