Chapter Five – Siblings

Avatar: The Last Airbender

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Ruifu sat in the infirmary, waiting for Sokka to wake so she could tell Kaitou. Aang had already awoken and been told the story, accepting it far better the Kaitou had thought he would. Sokka would be another story, everyone knew that much.

A groan came from the bed and Ruifu glanced up in time to see a hand move up to his forehead. Moving to help him sit up, she grabbed a glass of water from the table beside the bed. "Here, drink."

Sokka did as he was told before handing back the glass and looking intently at her. "What exactly are you?"

"Kaitou will answer that. Speaking of which, she wanted me to tell her when you've wakened." Ruifu stood and left before Sokka could ask who Kaitou was.

Coming upon Tian fighting against the waterbender, she walked over to sit next to Zhike was panting. "Man she's working hard. She almost beat the crap out of me."

Ruifu giggled at that while looking at the people watching the two fighting. Aang was captivated on the way they fought only hand-to-hand while King Borong had his eyes widened. They had been like that ever since he found out they were ninja-benders. Zuko looked almost bored, but if you looked close enough, you could see him focusing on Kaitou.

Tian glanced over at her before stepping back and calling a break. Kaitou nodded and came over to Ruifu. "Is he awake?" She was panting harder then Zhike and sweating in drops. The earthbender nodded, letting her leave while taking her place on the practice floor. Bowing slightly to Tian, they began to spar.

Kaitou opened the door, using a cloth to wipe off her face, and smiled stiffly at her brother. "How are you feeling? You've been out for about ten hours."

Sokka wasn't listening much. Instead was gaping at her. "Katara? Is that really you? Where in the world have you been? We've been looking everywhere for you! Why did you leave?" He probably would have continued with his questions—which were getting louder by the second—if she hadn't splashed his face with water.

"One, yes it is me. Two, I've been training. Three, you must not have looked everywhere for me, or you would have found me. And lastly, I left because you were being a stupid sexist. 'Oh, she'll come back by nightfall. It's not like she can be on her own for even a few hours. She's a girl.' Please."

Sokka blinked at her, confused for a moment, before his face dawned in realization. Guiltily, his shoulders rose. "You heard that?"

"Of course I did! You should have known that if I hadn't, I probably would have come back! But you seemed to think that girls are totally worthless! If you have forgotten, think about what I did before we started traveling with Aang! I cooked, I cleaned, I made weapons for hunting. I had thought then that during our stay in Kyoshi that you had learned that girls aren't as helpless as you think! Apparently I was wrong. Am I still?"

Surprised at her sudden outburst, Sokka sank back into the bed, not answering. Kaitou huffed and stomped out of the room, not caring she almost ran over Zhike and Zuko. The female firebender noticed Zuko turning red in anger and glaring at the door. "You go to Kaitou and try to calm her down. I'll bang some sense into his think head."

Zuko nodded, partially relieved at not having to deal with Sokka but partially frightened at going to the angry ninja. Of course, he also felt a little sorry for Sokka, having two of them down his throat, but didn't dwell on that. Taking a deep breath, he made his way to where Kaitou would most likely be.

He found her in a ball looking out at the ocean. She bowed her head slightly, showing she heard him, and he sat down next to her. Looking at him, she rose an eyebrow. "I had thought that Zhike would be the one to follow me."

"She felt like giving your brother another dose of whatever you gave. Of course she might have noticed my face and decided to not let me in the same room with him." He caught her inquiring eyes and smiled softly. "I don't like people who think they are better then anyone else."

Kaitou snorted. "This coming from the prince I knew so long ago?"

He scowled. "Alright, I don't like people like that anymore. Happy now?"

"Yes, very." She replied, still grinning slyly at him. He bumped her shoulder, making her rock. In return, she stuck her tongue out at him. They both laughed lightly—as Zuko would never giggle—and continued watching the waves beat against the shore. After a few moments of silence, she tilted her head in thought. "Tell me about the Fire lands."

Not expecting that question, Zuko looked at her in surprise. "What?"

"Tell me about the Fire lands. What did they look like?"

"Well, right now they are a blackened mess, but before it was beautiful. The tree's always made it look like it was autumn, showing off reds and yellows, but the leaves would never fall. The fields were a bright green, practically reflecting the sun's light. At night, you could see lights everywhere, but never stars. The sky was always darker then anywhere else because of the smoke, and you could never see much of the night sky." He trailed off, ending his description.

"That's too bad. I feel the stars are one of the best wonders of the world."

Zuko nodded in agreement. Then he asked, "What about where you grew up? What were the Water Tribes like?"

Kaitou sighed. "Oh, wonderful. It was mostly snow, but every once in a while it would melt. The wetness made the grass turn into the greenest color I have ever seen. If you looked at it close enough, you could see hints of blue. But during the snow days, it was like a painting. The snow would sparkle and if you came out on a clear day, it could almost blind you." She laughed. "The younger children would build small forts or men from the snow, or if it was falling, they would try to catch the flakes in their mouths. It was like a playground."

Zuko soaked this in. "That does sound wonderful…you must miss it."

She shrugged. "It comes and it goes. It was wonderful seeing the other places though. Each country has it's own perfect beauty, don't you think?"

Zuko nodded, though his eyes were distant. Kaitou felt he wanted to sort few a couple of thoughts so she just stayed silent, watching the shapes of the waves as the washed against the sandy beaches, smiling when she saw some of the young children building things from it much like they would back home in the snow. Glancing at Zuko, she reminisced at how much of a difference he was from before. Her smile forming into a wicked grin, she tugged loose a handful of grass and threw it on him.

Snapping out of his thoughts, he spit the grass from his lips and glared at Kaitou, or where she was supposed to be. Her laughter could be heard behind him as she ran back to the palace. Growling, he stood up to chase after her—knowing he'd never catch up to her anyway—, but was thinking about how he hadn't smiled as much ever since his banishment than when he had been with Kaitou.

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Flames erupted from Azula's hands. "How dare she! She should not have been able to beat me!" Turning, she blasted three of her soldiers with one shot. Facing another one, she was partial amused that he shrank back. "You! How much do you know about ninjas?"

"Uh…not a lot…only their skills vanished long before the war start–" He was cut off by a powerful blast of fire.

"Wrong answer!" Turning away, the fire princess shouted at all her men to find all there is to know about the ninjas. When the men had scattered, she faced the sunset. "Just you wait. I will find a way to beat you, and there will be nothing you can do about it."

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