Okay, I made a small mistake. Instead of soltice, chaps 1 &2 should read "Seige of the North". So all the next chapters will read "Seige of the North" or something like it.
Day Five on the Island, One Week since the Siege of the North
I was alone in the cave, waiting for Aang and Sokka to return. Ever since I told them what I suspected, they seemed reluctant to let me out, on the off chance I'd find something…unpleasant. So, while they did all the gathering, I sat in the cave, tending to Appa, alone.
Well, except for Zuko.
I had assumed that Zuko would yell and get mad, demanding I untie him, but he surprised me by being withdrawn and quiet. Of course, whenever he saw Sokka, he'd start hollering and demanding, but when I was the only other one in the cave, he was actually human. Shocking.
Appa tried to bite the tarp off for the tenth time that day. "Appa, no boy! I know it itches, but the infection would itch worse." Appa moaned and stopped. "I wish there was some way to make you stop biting at the tarp," I muttered.
"Coat it in a spice, like ginger." I turned to Zuko in surprise. "Most animals don't like the spicy taste of ginger. Coating the tarp in it will make that beast stop eating it."
"One, his name is Appa," I said. "Two, how do you know this?"
"The stable master in my father's court. He had one Komodo Rhino who would eat away at the leather saddles until Chun Li coated them with ginger." Zuko shifted. I assumed the rope was chafing his ankle.
"Thanks. Now, if we only had ginger or something else spicy. I wonder if there're peppers anywhere on this island," I mused.
"Why?" I turned to see Aang and Sokka returning.
"Appa keeps trying to eat his makeshift bandage," I explained. "Zuko told me that coating it in something spicy would help." Sokka turned to Zuko, clearly suspicious.
"He did, did he?" Zuko glared back. I saw where this was going and got between my brother and the prince.
"Yes, he did. What's more, I believe him. I had heard of people doing that before, but I forgot about it. So no killing!" Sokka put his boomerang back into the sheath. "Now, did you guys see anything spicy while you were out?"
"Peppers, a whole lot of them," Aang perked up. "Enough to cover Appa, not just his bandage. I can go outside and get some, if you want."
"Would you? Thanks. Sokka, you might want to go along." Sokka looked ready to protest, but I gave him a look.
"You look just like Mom used to when you do that, Katara, you know?" he muttered, walking out after Aang. The mention of Mom made me instinctively reach for my necklace. There were times I really missed my mother, especially now.
"What was that for?" Zuko's voice startled me back to earth.
"What was what for?"
"When your brother mentioned your mother, you reached for that necklace," Zuko said. "Why?"
"Does it matter?"
"You were the one that made a big deal about it when I found it," he shot back. I fumed. Grrrrr…
"If you must know, it was my mother's," I said, turning away from him and focusing on making dinner. (Zuko surprisingly didn't eat as much as I would have guessed, so it wasn't that much harder that making dinner for three.) "My grandmother gave to her, and then she gave it to me before she was killed." I cut the carrots Aang had found a bit too finely. Sighing, I threw those out and chopped up the remaining three. Why was I telling Zuko this? For the love of the Avatar, he was my enemy! He had no need to know this.
What the prince said next completely threw me. "I'm sorry," he muttered, barely loud enough for me to hear. I stopped cutting the carrots. Did I hear him right? I looked down at the carrots. They were too fine again.
"Forget those," I muttered. "Sokka can live without his carrots for one night." I threw the remains of the carrots to Momo, who slipped as he attempted to get them. I laughed, as did Zuko. His laugh shocked me, but I didn't let it show. Instead, I rolled my eyes at Momo and shook my head. "You are truly Aang's pet, Momo," I said, dumping the decent sized vegetables into the soup pot. "Only you could fall and slip on dry stone."
The lemur looked at me, cocked his head, then turned to his carrot pieces. Suddenly, I heard Aang come up behind me.
"Got the peppers you wanted, Katara." I turned to the young Avatar.
"Great! I'll cover Appa's tarp in the juice while you two keep an eye on the soup. And no sneaking bites!" I added, looking pointedly at my big brother. He ignored me.
I walked up to Appa. "Steady, boy. Now, this may sting a little, but it'll help later." I carefully coated the tarp with the pepper juice, making sure I didn't touch the wound on his leg. Appa nipped at it, tasted the pepper, and instantly withdrew. "Whaddya know, it worked," I muttered.
"You're telling me that that prince was right?" Sokka asked incredulously. "No way."
"What's wrong with me being right?" Zuko asked. Sokka turned to him.
"You're the enemy! Enemies aren't supposed to be right!" I laughed. My brother was such an idiot sometimes.
"Sokka, to him, we're the enemy. Grant you, the general population believes his whole nation is the enemy, but everyone has opinions." Sokka harrumphed and started to sulk.
"Yeah. Some people think conceited jerks are okay for a princess to marry," he muttered. I rolled my eyes, but felt sorry for my brother. He really missed Yue, and hated Han, the idiot who Yue was going to marry.
"Hey, Katara? Is the pot supposed to be boiling over?" Aang asked. I ran over.
The pot was starting to boil over, all right. There was soup everywhere. I swore. "Great. Help me move this away from the fire if you two want dinner!" The thought of no dinner got Sokka going faster than greased lightning. He lifted the pot up and moved it away. I quickly doused the fire, plunging us in darkness.
"Now what?" Sokka asked. I heard him set the pot down. Suddenly, there was fire coming from somewhere. I turned to look at Zuko.
"Hmm, that's useful," I muttered, watching the flame in his hand. Aang popped up beside me.
"I think dinner's done," he said cheerfully. I smiled and rolled my eyes.
"Apparently, Aang. Get the bowls will you? Sokka, back off!" My brother was attempting to sneak some soup. He dropped the wooden spoon and stepped away.
Despite some of the vegetables being burnt, dinner was good. No one complained, not even Zuko. (He never seemed to stop surprising me.) "Okay, whose turn is it?" Sokka asked, nodding to Zuko.
I sighed. "Sokka, do you really think he's gonna escape? The only way off this island is on Appa, and he's in a bandage. Besides," I added looking outside, "it's raining again."
Sure enough, rain was pouring down in torrents outside the cave. "If you're so sure," Sokka said, "you watch him, Katara. G'night." He got into his sleeping bag and was asleep in two seconds. Aang stuck his tongue out at the lump that was my brother.
"I'll do it, Katara." I shook my head.
"That's alright. Sokka's just moody; I'll do it to humor him. Though I'll probably fall asleep anyway." Aang laughed quietly and climbed up on Appa.
"G'night."
"Night, Aang." He was soon asleep, leaving me awake with Zuko.
It was a full moon, and it was raining, so I decided to practice my Waterbending for a little while. I got up and stood by the cave entrance. I had been practicing for about twenty minutes when a really big jolt of lightning, followed by an even larger roll of thunder, shocked me. I jumped away from the cave mouth faster than I knew I could. I heard Sokka move, and I saw Aang's dim form shift in the dark. A voice near me made me jump even more.
"Are you alright?" Zuko asked. It wasn't his voice that got me; it was the concern (though he tried to hide it) I heard in his voice.
"Yeah, just a bit startled. I didn't see that one coming." I dusted off my dress and turned to Zuko. Even in the dim light, I could tell that the rope my brother had tied around his ankle was too tight. I felt a twinge of pity for Zuko, and against my better judgment, I moved a bit closer.
"Stay still. I'm going to loosen this knot. Sokka gets a little carried away when it comes to people he doesn't like." I loosed the rope just enough to stop the chafing. Zuko rubbed his ankle.
"Thank you," he muttered. I shrugged and had to stifle a yawn.
"I don't think Sokka will mind if I 'accidentally' fall asleep," I said, going back over by the door. "See you in the morning. And don't try to escape. I'm a light sleeper." With that, I lay down and went into blissful unconsciousness.