Part: One- The Lutdeo
Chapter: Thirteen- Dinner
Author: Fritters-4-Psi
Disclaimer: I do not own the show Avatar: The Last Air Bender or the related characters. Nor do I profit from this fanfiction. The only things of my creation in this fanfiction are the Koertan, Kashi, Risha, the concept of the grith coin, Vioniza, and Raven's Watch. Also, things that may possibly come in later chapters.
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Katara wasn't sure if anyone else noticed, but she had. Risha had that wide-eyed expression of being lost and alone. The expression that signified the line between keeping control and bursting out crying. "Is anyone else hungry?" Katara asked, and received nods, "Sokka, why don't you make dinner?"
"Wait. You want me to cook?" an unbelieving Sokka asked, "You know, I just eat the food, not make it."
She gave her brother a glare. "I mean, of course you want me to cook. I know how to make food, not just eat it," Sokka said.
"There's a cook book in the book case on the wall over there," Risha pointed, "You should be able to find everything you need in the house or in storage. Zuko, why don't you help him?"
The Prince started to argue, but Risha interrupted him. "The least you can do is get the fire started for him," she sighed.
While Zuko and Sokka swapped glares and began to argue, Katara took Risha off to the side of the room. "Are you going to be okay?" Katara asked.
Risha looked over to the kitchen area. Sokka was holding the cook book up to Zuko and pointing at the pages, saying something inaudible. She then looked over to the table and watched Aang and Iroh having an in-depth conversation about the different qualities of tea. The Fauna Bender let out a small laugh. "I think I'm going to be fine," she said.
"Either way, I think you should hold off on the rest of your tale until tomorrow. We can have dinner and then, I don't know," Katara said.
"After dinner, I always check on Kashi and see if the dogs have anything to report," Risha explained, "While I do that, all of you can probably stay here and talk. Zuko would have to come with me though. He's always true to his word, unless under extreme circumstances. I'm not sure, but he must have a better reason than all the other people trying to capture the Avatar. I haven't seen him in five, six years, but I've never seen him so determined."
Despite their differences, Zuko and Sokka managed to work together long enough to put together a decent meal. This, by no means, meant that they were friends. On the table, was a giant slab of meat from a Koertan cooked medium-rare, it, of course, was as far away from Aang as it could be. There was also a wide range of fruits and vegetables. In short, it could be described as a small feast.
Talk at the table started out with the normal topics. The weather, how the crops are growing, the price of things at market. The conversation took an odd turn when Risha asked Katara how she put her hair up like that. Everyone, except the Fauna Bender, laughed at the comment. "Seriously, though. How do you do it? It looks amazing," Risha stated.
"If you're not in too much of a hurry to finish eating, I can show you now. I can try to fix your hair the same way," Katara suggested.
Risha nodded excitedly at the idea and the two teenage girls went into Risha's room, where there was a mirror, and shut the door. "I've known Katara for the fourteen years that she's been alive, and I still don't understand her," Sokka said through a mouth full of food, "I don't know why either of them would let their food get cold just to fix their hair."
"You know, they say: 'What's good for the goose is good for the gander.'" Iroh stated a proverb, "But that isn't true when the gander thinks he has better hair than the goose."
"Hey, are you saying I've got bad hair?" Sokka asked suspiciously.
"There's no need to think it over. It's just a simple proverb. Have some tea. It will ease your mind," Iroh conveyed.
The general of the Fire Nation went to get a cup of water and heated it with self-created steam. "What type of tea would you like? My niece has ginseng, chai, thyme, anise, rosemary, basil, fennel, ginger, and bonset. She must drink a lot of tea to have so many kinds," Iroh said.
"I'd like bonset tea, please," Sokka stated.
Iroh crushed the leaves and let them sink to the bottom of the cup. With a spoon and some sugar, he handed the tea to Sokka, who added two spoonfuls of sugar. After stirring the tea, he took a sip. "You know, you were right, General Iroh. This tea did ease my mind," Sokka commented.
"Thank you, but there's no need to use titles now. Just call me Iroh," the general stated.
Sokka nodded and took another sip of tea. He saw Aang looking at him, so he offered the cup for him to take a sip. Aang shook his head and motioned over to Risha's bedroom door. There was Risha leaning against the wall. She was in an area with shadows so they couldn't see her hair. "Who knows how long it took you all to notice I was over here?" Risha asked, "I know. It was five minutes. It shames me to know how unobservant you all are."
Followed by Katara, Risha stepped out of the shadows, walked over to the table, and sat down. "Your hair doesn't look like Katara's does," Aang noticed.
Risha's hair wasn't put up at all. It hung a few inches below her chin. "As you can see, I have short hair. It's far to short to have it like Katara's is," Risha explained, and then continued to eat her meal, "Gah. My meat is cold. Katara, is your meat cold, too?"
The Water Bender nodded. Suddenly, there was fire in Risha's hand. Slowly, she lowered it next to her plate. The food instantly reheated. Katara handed her plate to Risha. Then Risha did the same as before. "Your Bending has gotten better since I last saw you," Zuko commented.
"I've had a lot of time to practice," Risha replied.
"Wait! What? I thought you were a Fauna Bender!" Sokka exclaimed.
"And that is a part of my story that shall be explained tomorrow," Risha said.
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A/N: Iroh's proverb's don't make any sense to me on the show, so why make them make sense in a fanfic? Am I right? And sorry for not updating sooner. Last weekend my brother hogged the CPU and all of the past week I've been sick.
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Chapter Twelve
Tallis Nightly: I'm so sorry that your dad died! -gives Tallis lots of chocolate- Zutara begins in next chapter!