Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar or any related names. I own the fic, and that's it.
Day Six on the island, Eight Days since Siege of the North
I woke up long before my brother, so Sokka never knew I went to sleep. Zuko was already awake, which I'd figured he would be. He mentioned something about rising with the sun back at the Pole; I guess he meant it literally. I paid him little attention and set about getting breakfast ready. There was some fish, frozen courtesy of me, left from the boys' fishing trips, so I thawed that and began frying it.
"Fish again?" I smiled at Aang's whining.
"You and Sokka seem to be fish magnets; when you get something else, I'll make something else." Aang bended himself over to me.
"At least you can make it various ways," he said. I looked at him.
"I grew up in a place where the primary source of meat is fish. Of course I can cook it in more ways than one!" I bopped Aang with my spoon. "You think I'd spend fourteen years in the South Pole and not learn that?"
"I spent a hundred years and I never learned anything like that," Aang quipped.
"You were in an iceberg, for crying out loud! I'm surprised you didn't get serious frostbite," I said. Aang laughed.
"I'm the Avatar; we don't get frostbite." I shooed him away from the fire.
"Go practice Waterbending. You need to master that soon." Aang nodded and air scootered out.
"He was in an iceberg?" Zuko asked incredulously. "For one hundred years?"
I nodded. "Gran-Gran mentioned something about suspended animation, whatever that is. It kept him in a twelve-year-old boy's body, even though he's really one hundred and twelve. Kinda scary."
"What's scary?" I turned to my brother.
"You in the morning, bro." Sokka's hair had pulled loose of his usual tail, and it was a mess. "I think Momo got in your hair last night. It looks like it." Sokka felt his hair and groaned.
"Knew I shoulda eaten him when we found him. I'll be right back." He grabbed his pack and went off. I heard Aang's boyish laugh as he noticed the way Sokka's hair was.
"Shut it," my brother muttered to Aang. I cracked up. "You too, Katara!" I silenced, then broke into a fit of giggles once I knew he was out of earshot.
The fish finished cooking in a matter of minutes. Sokka returned to the cave in time to shoot Zuko a hate-filled glance before he began to eat. "Good fish, Kat." I winced. I didn't like it when anyone called me that. My mother had given me that nickname when I was about two. I used to pretend I was a cat, so Mom started calling me Kat for short.
"Don't call me that. It's Katara, Sokka. Only Mom could call me that," I said, pointing my spoon at him in an accusing manner. "I'll call you by your nickname if you call me that one more time; see if I don't."
Sokka got an evil glint in his eye. "Kat." I threw a rock at him.
"I warned you," I said. "Dirty Sock." Aang fell over laughing.
"Was he that bad when he was a kid?" he laughed. I nodded.
"Dad called him Sock for the longest, but when came home covered with blubber and oil, I, being only a baby, blurted out 'Dirty Sock!' The name stuck."
"You were not a baby; you were five," Sokka muttered, taking a bite of his fish. "You knew what you were doing." I smirked.
"Yeah so?" Aang laughed.
"Now I know what I was missing, being a monk!" I turned to him.
"You mean, you didn't know about your birth family?"
"Oh, I knew about them, but they, um, died…" Aang trailed off. "Gyatso told me that it happened during a major tsunami. We can stop hurricanes and tornados, but when it comes to tsunamis, Airbenders are useless." I smiled.
"That's a Waterbender's forte, not an Airbender's." I looked outside. "Okay, you two have kept me in here for nearly a week; I'll got find something for lunch other than fish. And don't try to stop me, Sokka," I added, seeing his expression.
"What happens if you get lost?" he asked. Aang piped up.
"She can take Momo. He'll fly back if she gets in trouble. And I think it's safe to untie Zuko now, Sokka. It's not like he can leave the island. If you remember, I was against keeping him tied up like an animal from the start." Sokka looked at Zuko, who was pretending to ignore us.
"Fine." He took out his boomerang, went over to the Fire Prince, and cut the rope keeping him in a sitting position. "One false move, and I'll tie you back up," he warned. Zuko ignored him and rubbed his ankle where the rope had been. He stood up, a little shaky (though he tried to hide it) at first, but he soon stormed out of the cave.
"Hmm, not so much as a thank you," I muttered as I got up. Momo jumped up on my shoulder and pulled at my braid. "Okay, I'm going. If I'm not back by lunch, assume the worse and come looking for me," I called to my brother and Aang.
"With Zuko loose, I won't have to assume," Sokka muttered. I rolled my eyes. Sokka was a little over protective of me at times. I set out in the direction I had gone several days before.
Once again, I saw various fruits and vegetables I know didn't grow wild. I picked some, putting them into the pack I had brought with me. Momo would steal some every so often.
I ventured farther this time, going past where I had last stopped and turned back. I wish I hadn't.
There were potholes and ditches all over the island. I couldn't count how many times I nearly twisted my ankle. "Geez, someone must have been a big fan of holes, huh, Mo- ow!" I fell in a pothole and winced. "Great. And my flask in back in the cave." I tested my ankle. It was twisted, sure enough, or sprained. Momo looked at me. "Don't just stand there! Go get help! There's no way I can walk back to the cave," I muttered as Momo flew off.
Soon, the ridiculous lemur was back. "Good boy," I said, scratching behind his ears. "Did you bring Aang and Sokka?"
"No." I looked up to see Zuko. That was Momo's idea of help? Well, at least it wasn't a giant shark bird. "What happened?"
"I fell down in a pothole, what's it look like?" I replied. "I think my ankle is sprained or twisted. I tried getting up, but I can't put weight on my ankles, either of them." Zuko rolled his eyes.
"Clumsy Water peasant," he muttered, leaning down to help me out of the hole.
"Hey, you try keeping an eye on a flying lemur and watching where you're going. It's not easy," I retorted. Rubbing my left ankle, I winced. I had lost my shoe in the hole; Momo had it in his hands.
"Definitely a sprain," Zuko said. "You can't put weight on it?"
I shook my head. "There's this sharp pain right above my ankle," I said. Zuko stood up.
"What were you doing out here anyway?"
"You were in the cave," I pointed out. "I was getting lunch." I tried to stand, but fell back down. "And I can't get myself back to the cave. If I had my flask, I could heal this stupid ankle, but I left it by mistake." I made a silent vow to never leave my flask behind again. Then I wouldn't have to rely on a stupid Fire Prince with an obsession involving my best friend.
Suddenly, Zuko lifted me into his arms. "What the heck are you doing?" I asked. I would have demanded he set me down, but I would have fallen and broken my ankle; I can only heal small fractures, not breaks.
"Well, since your brother and the Avatar are busy, it looks like I'm the only one who can get you back to that cave," Zuko muttered. "It's not that far." As I shifted to make it easier on Zuko, I realized I felt…different. I hadn't felt anything like this in years.
"What are Sokka and Aang doing?"
"Fishing," came the abrupt reply. I sighed. Sokka assumed I wasn't going to get lunch, that I'd chicken out. I swear, even though the Warriors of Kyoshi set him straight, Sokka is still sexist at times.
Zuko soon found the cave and set me down. Sadly, Sokka spotted him. He took one look at me, turned to Zuko, and threw his boomerang. Instantly, I froze it in ice. "Sokka, what are you-" He didn't let me finish.
"Katara! What did you do that for? I'm going to kill him! What did he do to you?"
"Nothing! I fell down and sprained my ankle. I sent Momo to get help and he brought back Zuko. You two were apparently busy, so Zuko had no choice but to bring me back here," I explained. "Now, can you give me my flask? I left it here by accident and I need to heal my ankle." Sokka glared at Zuko, but tossed me my flask. I healed my ankle and stood up, getting my shoe back from Momo. "Much better. Thank you, Zuko."
The Fire Prince nodded. Sokka continued to glare. "Thanks. Now get away from my sister. Zuko turned to Sokka. I was afraid that something was about to explode, but Zuko simply left. I turned to Sokka.
"That was completely uncalled for, Sokka! He helped me!" Sokka snorted.
"Yeah. And three gold pieces as soon as you go out again, he'll take you and use you to get Aang. You're not leaving the cave until we go!" I sighed in exasperation.
"Sokka, you are such in idiot! Why would he do that? It's not like he could get off the island if he had Aang!" I threw some frozen water crystals at my jerk of a brother. "And if you think that just because you're sixteen now gives you right to control me, you're wrong!" I stormed off, my ankle perfectly fine.
"Stupid brother. I love him to death, but he's getting annoying," I muttered. Suddenly, I realized that I gone down to shoreline, unaware of where my feet were taking me. And I wasn't alone.
Zuko was standing a bit farther down. I ducked behind some rocks as he came closer. He seemed to be searching for something. I guessed he was looking for signs of uncle. Finding none, he just stood there, gazing out into the sea. I had never seen the Fire Prince like this; he seemed…sad. For some unknown reason, I felt sorry for Zuko. Thinking quickly, I silently left the circle of rocks, backtracked my steps, and began to mutter loudly, walking forward the entire time. (Thus making it look like I just got there.) Zuko turned around.
"What are you doing here?" he asked.
"One, this is a free island. I can walk wherever I want. Two, my brother was behaving childish and I wanted to apologize. He can be a jerk when the mood takes him," I replied.
"Which would be all the time," Zuko muttered. I giggled.
"True." I paused. "What're you looking for?" I asked. Zuko looked me funny.
"What do you mean?"
I pointed farther down the shore. "Your footprints. People only walk that way when they're looking for something," I said, pausing. "Or someone."
Zuko turned away. "None of your business." I waited, and when I didn't get an answer, I left him.
I didn't sleep well that night. I kept thinking about whoever must have lived here, which brought on thoughts of my fall. That brought up images of Zuko, the shore, and his expression. I curled into a ball against Appa, who was doing okay. (His leg was still wrapped. No more biting at it, though.) A sudden thought jerked me awake.
When Zuko had carried me back to the cave, I had felt something I hadn't since who knows when. I had felt safe.