A/N: Kslamm, you great reviewer you and what a sweet follower, thank you! I've been writing away and want to give you a double gift. This chapter and a soon-to-follow chapter 8. The few peeps I have, I love ya! So, big hugs to you all.

Disclaimer: It's been so long...I can't remember...oh wait, yes, I do NOT own any rights to Avatar the Last Airbender or Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy.

Rapidly blinking her eyes, Katara can't absorb the information Zuko has dropped on her like a Nova-razement bomb. His news, having the similar effect of the bomb's instant white-hot flash of light, eradicating all within its fiery radius, has made her mind an empty void. Normally, she would be sputtering rage.

Sokka is the one who usually receives the bulk of his sister's anger. Katara's brother may not have been given "magic" powers, but he is gifted with an abundance of charm. He can diffuse most situations with a well placed joke and has a knack of pacifying Katara's temper. This has been beneficial to Sokka's wellbeing on a multitude of levels, especially preserving his oldest sibling status with his hot-tempered little sister. Otherwise, he might be wandering around in the spirit world, pondering how clipping his toenails at the dinner table could be construed as not appropriate.

Zuko grips the steering wheel, pulling it closer to his chest to increase Shipie's momentum. He had lowered the lever from light speed into a normal acceleration. This action stilled the vibrating navigation column within his hands, relaxing Zuko somewhat. He wants a comfortable distance between them and the Flying Pig, but Zuko doesn't want to push Shipie past its patchwork limits. A blind engineer would notice that the spacecraft is pieced together with commandeered parts and reconfigured components. Glancing at the rear tracker on the console, Zuko watches the blip that is the Flying Pig, narrowing the space between the two ships.

Flipping several more switches on the pilot console, Zuko adjusts the thrusters. He resumes his attention upon his intended destination. The one place he knows which will be safe from the relentlessly pursuing Flying Pig. He sternly quiets any dissenting doubts that his impulse decision to head to the Draconian Mine Fields wasn't the most logical of choices for hideouts. His impulse solution did resolve the immediate problem of being attacked, and he concentrates on that important fact.

Katara's thoughts slowly began to glimmer awake; sporadic stars appearing in the purple and blue hued evening of her Southern Aquaquadrant mind. The Draconian mine fields, a vast network of bombs strung together, establish a clear division of space between the Draconian and Avatarian domains. A no-ship zone created in the latest peace accords between the two empires. A star of insight illuminates brighter than Katara's other known facts; no ship would be stupid enough to try to go through the mine field.

If the quadrants on the map screen are correct, the Draconian Mine Fields are quickly approaching. Katara has first hand knowledge of how the Drac subjugate worlds and other planets' inhabitants. A Draconian approach to conquering entails using modified weapons, which manage to inflict massive amounts of anguish and damage upon their enemies. Individuals are denied the bliss of instant death, lingering in agony until finally expiring. At least, a Nova-razement bomb is instantaneous; a being is already residing firmly in the spirit world, before the pain of death has been realized.

"Stupid," Katara shakes her head. Her blue braid whips back and forth. She turns to face Zuko. "I pegged you for cocky and even delusional, but stupid." Katara traces Zuko's profile, the slope of his patrician nose to the upward tilt of his strong mouth. "But I never thought you were stupid! Flying into the Draconian Mine Fields is most idiotic idea that I have heard."

Zuko grumbles, "Your vocabulary astounds me." He yanks back the steering column, jerking the ship.

The sudden movement causes Katara to brace herself against the pilot console. Zuko rectifies his irritated physical response to Katara's statement, and the ship steadies. He doesn't appreciate being questioned and especially by a peasant. His hands clench the leather on the steering bars. He slackens his grasp, reminding himself that the peasant has a name.

When Katara feels the spacecraft is at an even speed again, she waves her finger accusingly at him. "Well, your ability in trying to kill us astounds me."

Zuko rasps, "Last I checked, I was flying this jerry-rigged vessel. I'm not planning on dying today or anytime soon, so relax."

Katara's chest starts heaving. She balls up her fists. "That is beside the point, you…"

"It is very much the point. Why would I kill you or your brother, if I'm on the ship that is flying towards its supposed doom?"

Crossing her arms over her bosom, Katara grouses, "I know you're up to something." She fumes over Zuko's sensible answer; it irks her more than if he was flying them into a trap.

Zuko modulates the thrusters again. "Yeah, I'm up to saving your collective butts." Katara rounds on him. Her mouth opens to fire a comeback, but Zuko interjects with a half smile. "You're welcome by the way."

"I wasn't going to say thank you." Katara points her head away, while her braid flips with a snooty snap. She ignores her inner voice which has the familiar chastisement of her Gran Gran.

"Then what other form of gratitude do you people say to a person who is going out of his way in saving you?"

A universal phrase shoves its way past Katara's gritted teeth and pride. The words are spoken begrudgingly, "Thank you."

With Katara's proper issue of appreciation, Gran Gran's voice has folded its arms, contentedly settling somewhere back within the recesses of her grand daughter's mind. Katara seethes over Zuko gaining the last word. Whipping her legs around in her chair, she averts her face, refusing to acknowledge Zuko's triumph. Her silent fuming is quite evident, with her tense body and irritated tap of her foot. She doesn't need to say anything for Zuko to be very aware that he has bested her.

Needling Katara invigorates Zuko's chi, a strange feeling of warmth, starting low and permeating his blood. He has experienced a similar sensation before, but it was derived from anger at being usurped by Azula. Yet, it isn't annoyance or fury flowing through him. This new emotion is odd and seems to pulsate with a buoyant synergy throughout his body.

Switching to the auto-pilot on the console, Zuko rotates in his seat, attempting to rationalize his choice. "Katara…"

Shock over hearing the syllables of her name issued with Zuko's tenor, Katara drops her pouting demeanor and turns. "You said my name?" The anger that had made her blue eyes sparkle with radiant intensity now settles into a tranquil azure. "You actually said it and not peasant, but my name."

Face to face, Zuko is mesmerized over the state of change in Katara's eyes. "You asked me to address you properly."

"Thank you." Under Zuko's intense examination of Katara's delicate features, a bloom of pink flushes upon her high cheekbones.

"You're welcome."

Katara wonders how Zuko's face would have looked without his disfigurement. She glances at his unscarred side; it is striking and gives him a decided regal air. "You don't know what you're doing, though, by heading into the mine fields." Her eyes flit back to the rough skin which pulls at his left eye, making it stretch into a suspicious slat. "Entering the fields will notify the Drac we are here in a big way. They won't be happy and will think we are coming to attack. This won't end well for any of us. The Drac make sure they always win, no matter what the cost or who they hurt."

Zuko's yellow eyes narrow upon Katara. Her innocent statement reminds him of who pays for the Draconian need in obtaining power and dominance. He knows his decision was correct and tries to justify his reasoning. "I'm trying to get us out of this mess. Would you rather be subjected to the Flying Pig? Poking the hornet-vulture nest that is the Beifong family can be a deadly business."

Katara hugs herself, rubbing her arms. The idea of heading into the one place where she is the most vulnerable chills her blood. "Toph Beifong is hard enough to deal with, but the Draconian Mine Fields of all places within the universe to go for protection is madness itself."

Zuko's voice dips into timbres of pride. "Before I became Thanos's son, I was Drac. I know how they think." Katara opens her mouth and Zuko holds up his hand. "There is a way to get through the field without setting off the mines."

Katara shakes her head vehemently. "The Drac hate anyone who isn't them. And Sokka and I, as Southern Aquaquadrant, have the special distinction of being particularly despised by the Drac. What do you plan to do after we find ourselves in Draconian air space?" Katara refuses to think about what the Drac would do to all of them, if they discovered that she is the long sought after prodigy. Kya's sacrifice can't be for naught. "Please, Zuko, I'm begging you to show mercy."

The word mercy infuses Zuko's mouth with an acrid taste. That sentiment is abhorred, drilled into him as a Drac and later by Thanos as only a source of derision. He looks out beyond the front of Shipie into the blackness of space, dropping his head on the back of the pilot seat. His brilliant idea hadn't factored in what would happen after they crossed beyond the mine field. The initial plan centered on the certainty that the Flying Pig wouldn't dare pursue them through the network of bombs. Leaning forward his shirt rips free from the tape on the back of the chair, the sound making him angrier. His mission should have been a simple fetch and retrieval, now he is embroiled within the complicated lives of people that he didn't want to know. Grabbing the steering column, he yanks it toward his chest, while crossly switching off the autopilot.

"I have a plan." Zuko can see the mine field approaching.

"Do you have a full plan or a partial plan?"

Zuko's cheek twitches. "I have a plan, alright."

Katara snorts and throws up her hands. She leans back in the chair and props her feet up on the console. "You obviously don't need my common sense, so I will sit back and watch this great and almighty plan unfold before my disbelieving eyes."

Gripping the wheel tighter, the muscles in his forearms flex with tension. "Thanks."

"You're welcome."

Zuko's mouth tightens with anger over Katara tossing back his previous last words. Seeing his reaction, Katara suddenly feels immensely better. She's still petrified about what awaits them at the mine fields, but slightly mollified over any victory, no matter how tiny and insignificant.

Zuko pushes the speaker button. "Sokka, when I tell you to switch the magnetic poles of the spacecraft…"

Sokka's voice crackles and pops over the speaker. "I do not know of said spacecraft which you speak of?"

Zuko groans and wants to slap his forehead in frustration, but instead speaks through his constricted mouth, "Fine, when I tell you to switch the magnetic poles of," he enunciates with a low growl the spacecraft's name, "Shipie, do it!"

"That's better, show some respect buddy." Sokka's voice coos and speaks in a gentle tone, "Shipie, don't worry about that big old cranky sloth-bear. Zuko isn't familiar with your superior brand of beauty and magnificence." Clearing his throat, Sokka states flatly. "Now for the insanity that you suggested, why would I switch the magnetic poles?"

Katara holds out her palm and gives Zuko a pointed look, which he pointedly ignores. "If you do not want to die, you'll do it."

"It will alternate the gravity." Sokka darkly thinks of a new nickname for Zuko, but reframes from uttering it in mix-company and triggering his sister's ire.

"Then strap down, but if you want to get out of here alive and not find yourself in the spirit world, when I tell you to switch the poles, you'll do it." Zuko releases the button, shutting off Sokka's string of protests to the contrary.

Toph marches back and forth on the bridge deck of the Flying Pig, arms folded behind her back. "Status report, now!"

Smellerbee revolves around. "We are gaining ground, sir, but are still significantly behind."

Toph pauses in her pacing, "Because you bucket heads let Sokka get the best of you."

"Sokka can't maintain light speed without breaking apart." Smellerbee enjoys the picture of Sokka floating in a million pieces, leaving only a scattered, annoying smug-trail in space.

"Underestimating Sokka is the reason why," Toph raises her voice and her bangs billow out with her increased volume, "we're chasing him!"

Longshot holds up his hand and then points to the monitor. His motion catches Smellerbee's attention, and she directs her eyes to the indicated screen. A restricted line in space delineates the division of empires, Draconian and Avatarian. It shows Sokka's ship heading toward the "no-ship" area. Smellerbee's eyes widen in shock. She knew Sokka was a Dodo-snail, but she didn't think he was a Lunatic-bird. She grabs Longshot's hand, nodding to him her understanding of the situation.

"Sir, Sokka and his ship are heading straight for the Draconian Mine Fields."

Toph rubs her hands together with glee over the news. The situation went from maddening and blossomed into an absolute delightful side trip. Nothing made her twitter more with happiness than a good old fashion, stand-off. A massive space battle would turn her sour day into one that is bursting a similar Technicolor light show used in advertising her family's gambling casinos.

"We've got them." Toph does a little jig. "Sokka won't be stupid enough to enter that mine field. The bombs attract to anything that is metal, instantly exploding upon impact." She straddles her legs. "Put me on the intercom!"

Smellerbee flips the switch, "Yes, sir." The light turns green. Smellerbee notifies her blind captain. "Sir, the crew of the Flying Pig is awaiting your command."

Toph moves closer, maintaining her powerful stance. "Crew, listen closely, we are heading to the Draconian Mine Fields, when we get there, what that mine field doesn't do, I'll make sure to finish off." Her coat billows out, revealing the glowing tip of the arrow.

The Draconian Mine Fields loom closer. The endless rows of star shaped bombs, networked together in a tight configuration, stretch before Shipie in breadth and scope. The visible boundary appears endless and clearly establishes a designated division between the predominant galactic powers, Avatarian and Draconian. The discernible bargaining chip was a mutual concession in the peace accords. For the Drac, it solidified its status as a worthy empire; and for the Avatarians, it managed to stymie the needless slaughter of its citizens.

The bombs begin to glow as Shipie draws nearer, pulsating in yellow flashes. Katara grips the chair's arms. The tension of being idle, unable to fight or shoot, builds anxiety at a throbbing intensity within her, a similar response, like what the bombs are currently projecting in rapid yellow warnings. The flashing mines are a threatening reminder as to what Katara could still lose; and for Zuko, it is a jarring statement to the place he is forbidden to call home. Sokka, deeply entrenched in battening down the spacecraft's hatches, is blissfully ignorant of the imminent Draconian Mine Fields.

Katara's eyes flit over to the monitor. She groans inwardly, noting that the Flying Pig has gained significant space ground since Shipie had downgraded from light speed. Reaching up, Katara clutches onto Kya's necklace. She rubs the pendant and closes her eyes, praying to her mother for protection.

Zuko notices Katara's subtle gesture; her lips silently moving in some type of supernatural invocation. He has been drilled and learned through his own unanswered prayers that the spirits ignore your pleas for help. The only thing Zuko has ever been able to count on his life is a fierce determination to not greet that indifferent spirit realm without knowing he went down fighting; and even in his last breath, he will still refuse to give up and surrender to death.

Glancing at the rear tracker, Zuko barely utters the obvious statement that is firing upon them in heavy blasts. "The Flying Pig is here!"

A/N: It wasn't as long as my last chapter, but I am actually a couple of chapters ahead. I've been writing away and not spending time on editing. I'm use to having other editors, but this space operation is riding solo. See you soon in the next realm (chapter).