Chapter 7: Close Attempts and Sibling Trust
Zuko took small silent steps towards the sleeping boy. He had woken up before dawn again and taken his bath, where he had once again dropped a bit of the potion into his bath water. Three days had passed, and his relationship with that water tribe idiot hadn't improved much, although the arguing and bickering had subsided to an eerie silence. The avatar had seemed to trust him more as the days had passed, and they had even made a small conversation yesterday. And the girl….how could one describe how she acted? She was the most annoying things at times…pestering him as though if she blinked…he would be gone. And then there were times, when she had been the only one who really listened to what he had to say. Even though he would never admit it, deep down, he also felt lonely when there really was no one to talk to. He was human also, and could feel just like normal people. He wasn't as heartless as some perceived him to be.
He stood towering over the sleeping boy, and his hands started reaching for the boy's collar. Now is the time he thought as his fingers wrapped around the avatar's shirt. His grip was gentle, so the boy would not awaken, yet firm, so that in case the boy did wake up, he would not be able to escape. Suddenly, there was a very soft snap behind him, and Zuko immediately turned around, dodging a boomerang swung at his head just in time. He jumped up into fighting stance, but relaxed visibly when he saw that his challenge was only the avatar's idiot companion.
Funny he thought I didn't know this boy could get up that early. This would be easy.
"What are you doing?" the boy hissed out as the boomerang came back into his hand. "I knew we shouldn't trust you!"
Zuko shrugged. He had two options. One: He could stay and fight and possibly give the water tribe peasant another good beating. Or Two: He could try to act innocent and then capture the avatar some other time. He decided to go with two. "What are you talking about?" he asked, his tone completely deadpan. "I wasn't doing anything."
"Don't play innocent with me!" the water tribe peasant yelled, his tone surprisingly menacing. "I saw you grabbing Aang's shirt!"
"Perhaps you need to have your vision checked," Zuko snapped back, "for I will repeat once again, I wasn't doing anything!"
"S-sokka? Koru? Could you two keep it down?" the avatar suddenly spoke up. Zuko turned around and saw the boy sitting up on the ground, with his eyes still half-closed.
"This guy was trying to kill you, Aang!" the water tribe boy said, immediately going over to the avatar's side.
Almost instantly, the young boy's eye snapped open as he whirled himself up into a fighting stance. He still looked dazed, but his eyes now held more vigilance. "Who! Where! Which guy!"
Sokka stood there like a gaping fish before finally returning to his senses and pointing an accusing finger towards Zuko. "Aang! Koru was trying to kill you!"
Aang finally noticed Zuko there, and he relaxed while letting out a little chuckle. "You almost gave me a scare there Sokka. I thought we were really under attack."
Zuko had to force himself not to smirk. The avatar thought it was all a joke! That meant that he would be safe…for now.
"W-what!" the water tribe idiot stammered out, shocked at the avatar's response. "I-it isn't a joke Aang!" He tried to reason, but the avatar had already lain back down in his sleeping bag.
"Wake me up when breakfast's ready," he mumbled out, ignoring Sokka's stammers of protest and already drifting back into sleep.
"I told you I didn't do anything," Zuko stated once more, his voice emotionless once again. "Now go back to sleep before you cause another commotion."
And with that, he left the embarrassed and furious boy standing there next to the sleeping avatar, as he silently retreated to his own sleeping bag. Stupid oaf he thought. I would have gotten the avatar if you hadn't interfered.
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Katara awoke to the sound of grumbling and scraping noises against the ground. It took her a moment to realize that the voice belonged to her brother's, but when she did, she groaned in protest and slapped a hand to her eyes. Why did Sokka have to be so loud?
It was no use of falling back asleep now, so she forced her body to move. The sun's harsh rays made her squint, but she could see Sokka a few yards away muttering incoherent words while using a stick and stabbing it at the ground. What was his problem?
"Sokka?" she asked, still half asleep. "W-where's Aang? And Koru?"
"They went to scout the area to see what food they could find and to see if there was any Fire Nation scum around," Sokka stated matter-of-factly, though his rough voice indicated to Katara that he was clearly angry or unhappy about something.
"What's wrong now," she asked, sending him a look that told him there was no point in lying.
Sokka let out a frustrated snarl, "It's that stupid Earth Kingdom guy! I swear Katara, he's a backstabbing liar! I woke up this morning and the first thing I see is the guy making a move to grab Aang's shirt! He was going to strangle him or something! I told you we shouldn't have trusted him!"
Katara blinked twice so she could gather her thoughts. What had Sokka had just said? Why did her brother still hold a grudge against Koru? Why would Koru even do such a thing? "Sokka," she began slowly, knowing that her reply would get a bad reaction from him. "Are you sure you saw him grabbing Aang?"
"WHAT!" Sure enough, Sokka was enraged. "You don't believe me Katara! You're my sister!"
"I know," Katara winced. "I-well, you just woke up so you weren't completely awake and maybe you just pictured it."
"I know what I saw!" Sokka shouted back, a desperate plea in his eyes. "Why don't you believe me?"
"I-what did Aang think?" Katara just couldn't bring herself to think as Koru as a traitor. There wasn't even a reason to why he would do such a thing.
"He…" Sokka paused, and stated begrudgingly, "He didn't believe me either."
"See?" Katara felt a pang of guilt watching her brother, but he could be so hard-headed and stubborn sometimes. And it wasn't exactly the first time he had made wrong accusations. "I'm sure Koru didn't do anything harmful to Aang. He's been behaving the past few days. Why would he suddenly change now?"
Sokka seemed to be on the urge of going all hysterical, and Katara wasn't sure whether to believe him or not.
"Is that how it is?" he suddenly stated coldly. Katara gasped. This was so unlike Sokka. Why was he acting like this? He continued, "You'll believe a boy that you just met over you brother. So much for sibling trust."
He stormed off into the forest, leaving Katara alone to regret what she had just said.
Did she really trust Koru over her own brother?
NO. She scolded herself. She trusted Sokka more. Right?
Coming to a conclusion, she vowed that she would keep a close eye on Koru for the next few days. If indeed Sokka's words were true, then Aang could be in danger.
At that moment, Aang and Koru came out of the trees. Aang was skipping happily, with Momo perched on his shoulders. Koru trailed behind, with a stack of firewood in his hands. Aang certainly did not seem to be in much danger.
Sokka had to be wrong…
I know this is a bit short, and maybe my writing isn't as good. This was sort of a filler chapter. Not much going on. Things will heat up next chapter. I promise!
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Thanks to:
Ridinstarr (anon.), DeafLizgon, Patience Halliwellcolorcrystals, Serena, The Fluffy Queen, kailiwolf12, Zukoscute2, melody, WolfGirl123vulpes of potestaslatafmodginkianp1618Miss Usagi, DOA3junkie, AtallaMidori AoiJunsui ChikyuuCaptain Jackie LovelyNightfall2525CelloSolo2007sheik101SeleneOfTheMoonDudettRin101
Anime Girl (anon.) : Ooc means 'out of character.' Well, recently I've been really busy and I've got a bit of a writer's block on what direction I want the story to go, so my updates vary. Sorry I can't give you an exact estimation.
Sorry if I left out anyone!
Please Review!