Disclaimer: I wish I owned Avatar, but I don't. Nickeloden does and I don't think they're gonna sell it. I only own the crew members, Doctor Zhi, and Rie. I am in no way connected to Avatar, execpt as a loyal fan. Any songs I may put in, and I'm not saying I will, are not owned by me unless otherwise stated.
Trying to kill each other Katara and Zuko were not. Trying to kill Rie for forcing them to share a room until further notice was what they'd have liked to do.
Quite needless to say, when Zuko woke up and saw the divider, he put two and two together. He had heard Rie say she was going to check on Katara before he fell asleep. He could only guess what had happened afterwards.
Katara wasn't that happy either. Rie had confiscated her flask and told Katara that she was on a Bending Ban, as was Zuko, until further notice. To make matters worse, the doctor was trying to force Katara into drinking soup that looked like gooey sulfur. Tasted rancid and smelled worse, according to Zuko. Katara wouldn't have admitted it, but she agreed.
Rie had awoken to sneezes and screams from the next room. Rie groaned and put her blanket over her head. "Not again."
It had been two days since the storm and each morning Rie had been rudely awakened by shouts, sneezes, and swearing. Shouts on Zuko's part, sneezes on Katara's, and swearing on Rie's. Finally, she had had enough.
As Rie emerged from her cabin, Zhi dashed by her. "Those two are refusing to drink the medicinal soup!" Zhi spluttered after Rie asked him what's wrong.
"Haven't they been taking it for the past few days?" Rie asked. "Their bowls are always clean."
"They've been tossing it out the window," a passing crew member said. "Hit me in the head yesterday." Rie sighed.
"Those two are worse than B-, uh, Be," Rie said, covering up her small slip. This is proving impossible, keeping my knowledge, and family, secret. "She'd never take anything with the words 'medicine' or 'medicinal' in the name without a fight. Let me see if I can get those two to cooperate with you, Doctor." Rie entered the "infirmary", as she called it. (Oddly enough, the ship didn't have a regular infirmary.)
If it hadn't been for the Bending Ban, Rie was sure that she'd have been hit with fire and ice upon entering. The divider was pulled back, since it was day, and the two teens did not look pleased to see her. Rie shrugged this off, but stayed near the door, just in case.
"What's this I hear about you two not drinking the soup?" Rie asked, thinking how much like her mom she sounded.
"That soup smells worse than my brother's socks and Appa put together," Katara said flatly, sniffing.
"I've eaten better rotten fish," Zuko said, coughing. "And why did you put her in my room?"
"There was no place else," Rie said. "And the faster you two drink the soup, the faster you two will be separated." What Rie didn't tell them was that the hold was rendered unfit for living. Those two would be stuck in the same room for quite sometime.
"I'd rather be tied to a rock and thrown in a lake with man-eating fish than eat that soup," Katara said.
"I can arrange that," Rie muttered. Obviously, that idea wasn't going to work. Bribery worked on Beth and Rie's dad sometimes, why wouldn't it work on Zuko and Katara? What could I bribe them with? Nothing, except money. "What if I paid you two to take the soup?" Rie asked, hopefully.
"Bribery doesn't work on me."
"You couldn't pay me enough."
Ix-nay on the bribery. That left only one choice…
Rie sighed mournfully. "Very well, you leave me no choice but to get you two to drink some soup the hard way."
"What? By force?" Zuko laughed, then coughed. "You're not big enough."
"Oh, no, not by force. But you're gonna wish I had forced it down you're throats by the time I'm through," Rie said as she left.
She met Iroh in the passage. "How is Zuko, Madam Rie?" he asked.
"Sicker than a dog and as stubborn as a mule, General. He, and the girl, refuse to drink the soup," Rie explained. "But I'm going to take a leaf from my grandmother's book and get them to drink it, and without force." Rie smiled mischievously. "I'll need a pot. A really big pot.
Two hours later, Rie returned to Zuko and Katara's room with a covered pot of something boiling. She was using Firebending to keep it hot. Iroh and Zhi were following with two bowls. "Since you two won't drink Zhi's soup, you can drink mine," Rie said as she lifted the lid.
A smell that is better left undiscribed filled the room. Both Zuko and Katara gagged and covered their faces. Rie, Iroh, and Zhi had their mouth and noses covered with kerchiefs of Rie's. "Gah! What is that?" Zuko gasped, eyes watering.
Behind the mask, Rie smiled. "This? This is an old family recipe. My mother calls it Grandmother's Cure-All. Made from onions, peppers, fermented fish, various spices, pickled anything, vinegar, and water, this will cure anything except seasickness and sour stomachs, in which case it makes it worse. Smell awful, tastes even worse." Damn! I forgot how rancid this thing is, Rie thought when a small whiff made it pass her mask. "This could clean the hair from the Avatar's bison by the smell alone."
"I don't doubt that," Katara muttered, face hidden in her blanket. "Even with my cold I can smell that!"
Rie shrugged. "You're first, Prince Zuko. And don't say I ain't big enough, because you're uncle here says differently." Iroh handed her the bowl he had. Rie filled it up and handed it to the prince, who promptly gagged and paled.
"Maybe you'll have a stronger stomach, Katara," Rie said, filling up the bowl Zhi had.
"How is this bile going to make them drink my soup?" Zhi whispered. "This would put anyone off their soup for life!"
"No it won't. This was used against me many times and I still eat soup. Trust me, they'll be begging for that other soup."
"Is it at all possible to get you to take that vile mess away?" Katara asked.
"No," Rie said. "Only if you take the other soup will I junk this one."
Both bowls were immediately handed back.
Later, Rie was dumping the whole pot of Cure-All overboard. As she was disposing of the last bit, Iroh and Zhi came up from delivering the other soup to Katara and Zuko. "Amazing," Iroh was saying, shaking his head. "I have never seen Zuko take to cures so fast!"
Rie smiled. "Thank my grandmother. She first made the Cure-All."
Zhi looked overboard. "What medicinal properties does that cure have?"
Rie grinned even wider. "None. It's called a cure-all because, no matter how vile the cure is for whatever ailment you have, that stuff is always more vile." Zhi and Iroh joined in on Rie's laughing.
A few days later, Zuko and Katara were feeling better. Zhi said that a relapse was likely, so they still had the Bending Ban, but they weren't bedridden. Almost instantly, everyone wished they still were.
Crash! The sound of shattering china reached Rie's ears. "What the hell was that?" she muttered. (You'd have thought that being in the world of Avatar for about two weeks would change someone's speaking habits. Not so with Rie.) As Rie went next door, she heard screams emitting from the temporary sickbay. Rie groaned as another bowl crashed.
"What's going on-whoa!" Rie was forced to duck as a bowl broke right above her head. Katara had thrown it a Zuko, but it had missed. "Hey! If you two want to break my dishes, at least break the old ones, not my good bowls!" Rie stood up and brushed herself off. "Now, what in the world is going on here."
From what Rie gathered, Zuko had insulted Katara, who, in turn, had begun throwing things at him. Before much else could be said, Iroh came in.
"I was drinking my tea when I heard noises. Is everything alright?" the concerned general asked.
"Oh, those two are just getting a little bit stir-crazy is all," Rie said, unconcerned. "But they seem to be breaking my good china."
"Oh? I thought that Doctor Zhi had said that they shouldn't do anything strenuous," Iroh said.
"Oh, he did," Rie assured. "Excuse me for minute, but will you come with me, General?" Iroh followed Rie out of the room.
"Those two are going to destroy all of my belongings at this rate," Rie exclaimed once on deck. "I've seen better behaved three-year-olds! What can we do? We don't want them to relapse. I barely survived bout of colds!"
"Hmmm," Iroh mused. "I don't suppose that cure-all works for stir-craziness?"
Rie shook her head. "Sadly, no. Whenever my sister and I would argue, my parents would force us to sit in a room until we stopped fighting. Obviously, that's not gonna work here." Rie perked up. She had an idea that might just help her get those two to fall in love, and cure the craziness.
Rie led Katara and Zuko to the galley. "Since you guys like breaking my dishes, you are going to wash my dishes. Zhi has lifted his Bending Ban on both of you until these dishes are done. Katara, you'll wash using Waterbending.. And Zuko, don't think that because you're a prince doesn't mean you're getting out of this. You'll dry using Firebending."
"And to make sure you use your Bending for anything other than dishes, Madam Rie has consented to watch both of you," General Iroh said, coming up behind. "She will not help or hamper you in any way." At the door he left Rie and the two furious teens, muttering something about more tea.
Katara gaped at the piles of dishes. "When was the last time anyone washed these? Six months ago?"
"No, but last night was a big dinner," Rie said, sitting down on a chair. "I'll be over here, meditating while you two cooperate and get these dishes done."
"Cooperate? With a peasant?" Zuko said, disbelievingly. "You're kidding."
"No, I'm not. And you'll cooperate if you want to get to sleep before midnight, Prince Zuko," Rie said. "Now, shut up and get busy. I'm not pretty when I don't get to sleep until late."
It was silent for the first half hour. Then, Rie fell into a trance.
Roku suddenly popped right in front of her eyes. Rie stumbled back. "Roku! Do you always do that?" Rie asked, catching herself on a cabinet.
"Yes, Rie, I do." Roku looked over to where Zuko and Katara were. "I want you to watch what happens. They don't think you can see them right now, being in a trance, so they'll take a break. You can't very well see what happens with your eyes shut, so watch." Rie obeyed. She saw Katara sit down.
"What are you doing?" Zuko spat.
"Stopping for now. She's either asleep or in a trance," Katara replied, pointing to Rie's body. Zuko looked at Rie, and satisfied at her unconsciousness, sat down on a barrel.
"This is crazy," Zuko muttered under his breath. "I'm being forced to wash dishes with a Water Tribe peasant."
Katara, who had heard every word, replied, "Yeah, what would your father think?"
Zuko shot Katara a venomous look. Turning away, Zuko muttered, "He'd think I deserved this."
"What?"
"Nothing," Zuko said quickly, glad she hadn't heard him. Suddenly, he winced. The sudden turn of his head had aggravated a cut on his neck. Katara saw and looked at his cuts, as if noticing them for the first time.
"What happened? How'd you get all those scars?"
"Does it matter?"
Katara sighed. "I'm stuck on this ship with you, your uncle, and a crazy Seer."(Hey! Rie thought.) "I think it matters." Zuko thought about it, and, assuming she was right, explained.
"Before I reached the North Pole, Admiral Zhao tried to kill me and hired those pirates to blow up my ship. That's why my uncle and I are on this ship." Katara looked as if she was about to ask what pirates was he talking about, then remembered the scroll.
"Oh. How did you get that scar on your face? The one you had before Zhao."
"That's none of you're business," Zuko snapped.
"Looks like a burn."
"That's because it is, you ignorant peasant."
Katara raised her voice. "Will you stop calling me peasant? I have a name, plus I'm a Master Waterbender now, remember?"
"How can I forget?" Zuko asked. "I'm still sore from our last encounter."
"Serves you right. You shouldn't have moved Aang's body from the oasis. I still don't see why you even want to capture him," Katara asked.
"I need the Avatar so I can- you wouldn't understand," Zuko said, frustrated. "How could you understand? You're just like my sister."
"Sister? You have a sister?" Katara was in awe.
"Yes, and you are every bit like her. A Master Bender, born lucky, someone everyone likes, accepted," Zuko snapped, whispering the last word.
"Accepted? And you aren't?"
"Why do you think I'm out here on the ocean? My father will not let me return to the Fire Nation unless I have the Avatar." Zuko turned away once more. "He was the one who gave me the scar."
Beside Roku, Rie carefully watched Katara's expression. At first it was sympathy, then changed to confusion. "Madam Rie told me that you and your father hadn't gotten along in two years. I guess I know why now. You know, I'm Healer as well as a Master. If you want-"
"I don't want your help!" Zuko snapped. Katara lapsed into silence, as did Zuko. Finally, Zuko broke the quiet.
"I see you still have that necklace. What's so special about it?"
Katara's hand went to her necklace. "It was my mother's. She was killed in a Fire Nation raid when I was about ten." Katara suddenly looked sad. Shaking her head, she said, "If we want to get to bed at a decent hour, we had best get these dishes done." Zuko nodded and they went back to work.
Rie was staring at them, open-jawed. "Oh, my, freakin', gosh. I cannot believe I just saw that happen!"
Roku smiled. "Why not?"
"Water and fire, not trying to do the other in? This defies so many laws of nature, it ain't funny," Rie said, obviously in shock. "Was this all?"
Roku shook his head. "I thought you should know that Iroh has been listening through the door the entire time. And that there has been a pool for how long it takes for the two to fall in love. Smart money is on a month."
Rie laughed. "At that moment, you reminded me of my sensei, Koru Ratava…" Rie looked at the spirit next to her. But before she could ask, Roku was gone and Rie was back in the chair.
Okay, so far, this is my favorite chapter. I don't mean to rush the whole Zutara, but I had to make it look like Rie was getting something done. And if you can't tell who the sensei is, good.