Chapter Seventeen

"Sokka…I…" Katara's voice faltered. She didn't know what to say. There was no lie she could tell that he would believe, and the truth wasn't looking very appealing. She was at a loss for words.

"What have you done?" Sokka hissed, staring at Zuko, his eyes flashing dangerously.

"Sokka it's not what it looks like." Katara said, her voice barely above a whisper. "I…just-"

"Just what!" Sokka shouted. "Are you telling me that you let him into your room? That you wanted him to be here!"

Katara nodded slowly, her gaze on the carpet. Zuko took a step forward and started to say something but Sokka cut him off.

"I don't want to hear what you have to say! You low-life scum! I should have known something was going on when you helped rescue us but I was too stupid to see it! I can't believe this!" His cheeks were glowing with anger.

"Look if you would just stop yelling-" Zuko tried again but he had no better luck than the time before.

"Stop yelling? Stop yelling! Why should I stop yelling!" Sokka took a step towards Zuko, pointing at him accusingly. "You good for nothing, lying, little-"

"Sokka, please!" Katara said in frustration. She was angry at him for ruining the moment and anger at herself for not telling him about it from the start. "Can't you just be happy for me? This is more than just a passing friendship, it means something to me!"

Sokka's jaw dropped and he started at her like he was seeing a completely different person. "Be happy for you?" he said, still in shock. "Be happy for you!" his voice rose as he got over the surprise of her last statement and his anger returned. "For you! You've been here playing lovey-dovey with the Prince while me and Aang are out getting captured, saving you from the Fire Nation when you went on your little soldier charade and we should just forget all that and be happy for you! Aang is in the next room, under constant threat of losing his powers and running the risk of getting himself and everyone he cares about killed every single day of his life because of him" Sokka pointed at Zuko again, "and you want us to be happy that you're living it up with the traitor. Fine then. Have all the fun you want. I'll be back in my room telling Aang what a wonderful friend you are." Sokka turned on his heel and marched out the door.

"No!" Katara ran after him and tackled him before he could open the door to the room that he and Aang shared. They crashed to the floor. "Sokka, please! Don't tell him yet!"

Sokka glared at her and started to say something. Katara cut him off.

"I know, I know. I have to tell him. And I will, but can we please wait until after we sort out everything with the artifact and the temple? Please Sokka. It'll just upset him and he needs to be clear headed to fight Zhao. I don't want him to get hurt."

"Since when do you care about him getting hurt?" Sokka said, still glaring at her. "Fine. I won't tell him yet. But if you don't tell him after this whole mess is over then I will." Sokka pulled himself to his feet and marched into their room, slamming the door behind him.

Zuko knelt down and helped Katara up from where she was still sitting on the floor. She sighed. "This isn't good."

"No." he muttered. "It's not. Don't worry, he'll get over it."

"I hope so." Katara said, looking at the closed door, but she seriously doubted that Sokka would be willing to forgive her anytime soon. They turned and went back to Katara's room. They sat in silence, thinking.

After they had been there for some time there was a knock at the door. "Prince Zuko?" Iroh's voice called.

"Yes Uncle?" Zuko asked, as Katara smiled in spite of herself at the fact that Iroh had come to her room first instead of Zuko's to look for him.

"We're approaching the island. I believe it would be wise for us to assemble a strategy and it might be a good idea to share what information you have on the artifact and its powers with the rest of your…er…the others." Iroh finished, unable to think of a proper word for the unlikely group.

"Alright." Zuko stood up and Katara followed him out of the room. She stopped to knock on Aang and Sokka's door. Sokka opened it and frowned.

"Are we there?" he asked.

"Yes." Katara said, not quite meeting his eyes. "Zuko is going to explain what our strategy is. Where's Aang?" she asked, realizing for the first time he wasn't in the room with Sokka.

"I'm here." A voice behind her said. Katara turned to see Aang standing behind her. "I was…exploring. It's a really big ship."

They turned and followed Zuko down the hall to the room where Katara remembered the weapons and armor were stored in. Aang hung back from the group as he walked slowly behind them. His gaze followed Katara and he had a sad expression on his face. He glanced back at the room she had been staying in and at the room beside it where he had been hiding, listening to every word Katara, Sokka, and Zuko had said.

A/N: next chapter will be up soon promise! it'll probably be short since i need a fill-in chapter to explain the whole artifact thing but that just means i can get the the dramatic climax dun dun dun! of the story faster. it's all planned out in my head so wish me luck!