Water

The Ice Pit

Uncle always seemed to think that Zuko was a pessimist. That his insistence on remaining tethered to reality was somehow excessively negative. And although there was probably a pinch of truth to that—Zuko did try to consider all the ways that things could go wrong so that he wouldn't be caught off guard when his plans inevitably failed—he preferred to think of himself as a realist. He could admit to himself when things were going well.

Right now, for instance, one part of his plan was going far, far better than he'd had any reason to expect. He'd only been in the city for an hour or two, and already he'd managed to find Katara. Or she had found him. Whichever of them had found the other, they'd at least reunited much quicker than Zuko had been planning. That was a good thing.

The less good part was—well, practically everything else. He'd lost almost half of his supplies in the frigid waters in the tunnels under the city, and everything he had left had been soaked through, and was now frozen into a solid block. Zuko had, after some effort, managed to bring his own temperature back up to normal, but his ribs still ached from the cold, and he was exhausted from both the journey and the firebending he'd needed to do to keep from freezing. To make matters worse, it was becoming increasingly clear that his clothes weren't enough to keep him warm on their own, and the few blankets that he had left seemed likely to shatter when he tried to unfold them.

Oh, and Katara had wrapped her hand around the base of his ponytail, and she was leading him around like he was on a leash. There was that too.

And her grip was surprisingly strong. If he really wanted to, Zuko could probably wrench himself free, but he suspected that he would lose a good chunk of hair in the process. He'd had enough unpleasantness for the day without voluntarily scalping himself. Besides, he didn't really want to fight Katara anymore. He was here to help. Which, unfortunately, meant that he didn't have much choice but to let her drag him around until she decided to let him go.

But it certainly didn't feel great. She was shorter than him, and while she could have reached high enough to allow him to straighten, she was making no such effort. Instead, she held his ponytail low enough that Zuko had no choice but to walk with his head wrenched to the side and his shoulders angled nearly perpendicular to hers.

"Any chance you're going to let go of me before my neck gets stuck like this forever?" Zuko hissed. Okay, so he wasn't going to fight her, but apparently he couldn't hold back his sarcasm. That was fine. Probably.

Katara scoffed. "How stupid do you think I am? Why should I let you go? So you can run away and do—whatever you came here to do?" She gave his ponytail a tug as she picked up her pace.

"Ouch. I already told you, I didn't plan that far ahead." He'd planned on having more time to plan. He'd planned to find Katara after a day or two so that he'd know what to tell her when they finally met. It wasn't his fault that she'd caught up with him when he was still trying to learn his way around the city.

"So you broke into the Northern Water Tribe without a plan? How was that supposed to be a good idea?"

"I did have a plan," he hissed. "This was the plan, okay? Finding you. Plan accomplished. I just didn't think much beyond this point."

"Why? Even you must realize what a stupid, dangerous idea that was. Even you must have had a reason for coming here."

He did have a reason. An excellent reason, if he said so himself. But when he was being dragged across the city by his hair, he felt a little less than eager to share that reason.

Clenching his jaw, he studied their surroundings from the corner of his eye. It was dark, but even the hazy sliver of the moon overhead made it relatively easy to see. The city, he had to admit, was impressive. All shades of blue and white, all formed entirely from snow and ice, and all sleek and rounded. The only thing he could say against it was that it was a little barren, a little cold and stark for his liking.

Most importantly, though, Katara seemed to be leading him away from the center of the city, farther from most of its people, and toward—something, probably. He just couldn't tell what that something was.

"Where are you taking me?"

"I haven't decided that yet."

"What do you mean you haven't decided?"

She tugged his ponytail, and Zuko swerved a few steps sideways. "Excuse me for not knowing what to do with you when you don't even know why you're here."

He scowled even though she wasn't looking his way. "It seems like you know where you're going."

"Well I don't, and even if I did, I don't see any reason why I should tell you." She hesitated at a split in the street and then veered to the right. "And keep your voice down. Anyone else who finds you is going to be a lot less pleasant about it than me."

Zuko wanted to give a sarcastic response to that. He wanted to tell her that there was nothing pleasant about walking around with his head twisted sideways and a hand yanking at his hair every three steps. But he decided not to say anything. She probably had a point. There was a reason why Zuko had waited until after sunset to come out of the tunnels. It wouldn't take much at all for people to realize that he wasn't supposed to be here, and from there, it would only be a matter of time before they discovered that he was Fire Nation and decided that he was too dangerous to be left alive. Most people probably wouldn't use his hair as a leash, but then Katara probably wouldn't kill him. It wasn't a great trade-off, but he'd have to take it.

Zuko followed as she led him past the last of the houses, up a snowy incline, then back down to a broad, flat stretch of ice. They were more than halfway across before Katara finally stopped and released her grip on his hair.

"Do not try anything," she warned him.

He rubbed his scalp until the stinging started to subside. "Or what? You'll freeze my head to the ground?"

"Don't tempt me." But she wasn't looking at him, and she didn't sound particularly serious about that either.

Zuko stared at her, his brow furrowing as Katara turned in a slow circle, studying the ice beneath them. "What are you—"

He didn't make it any farther before she raised both arms in an abrupt swoop. In the same instant, the ice dropped out from beneath him, and Zuko found himself falling. He landed flat on his back, and all the air rushed from his lungs.

Ow. Landing on the ice would have been bad enough, but the pack on his back was still frozen solid. He may as well have landed on a rock. His vision swam a bit as he fought to refill his lungs.

"There." It sounded like Katara was dusting off her hands. "Now we can talk."

"Talk?" he croaked when he found his breath again. He pushed himself up until he was sitting. "Why would you have to knock me over to—" He stopped short. Katara still stood over him, but now, a ring of near-black ice towered over them both as well.

Zuko scrambled to his feet, forgetting the ache in his back and his ribs. "What did you do?"

She crossed her arms, looking smug. "I made an ice pit. I can get out, but you can't."

He narrowed his eyes. "You do realize that fire melts ice, don't you?"

"Try it. If you melt this ice, this whole pit is going to fill up with freezing water. We're in the middle of a lake, genius." Katara jutted out her chin. "Now tell me why you're here."

A stupid, stubborn wave washed over him. No. He hadn't gotten a chance to figure out exactly how to explain things yet. He needed a little time to think things through. If he blurted it all out now, without planning out his words, without finding a better way to express what had happened on Zhao's ship, then she would never believe him.

"I'm not trying to capture you or your friends, if that's what you mean," he said harshly.

"It's not, and I think you know that." Her eyes bored into him for a long, uncomfortable moment, then she sighed. "When did you get here?"

That was a safe enough question. "Just a few hours ago."

"How?"

"Well, unlike you, I didn't fly here."

"Zuko!" she snapped.

"By boat," he snapped right back at her. "How else would I have gotten here? Zhao's ship at first, then a stolen lifeboat, then I had to walk a few miles, then I swam through some of the tunnels under the city, and now I'm here. Are you happy now?"

Her expression didn't so much as twitch. "How many people did you bring with you? Where are they? And—"

"What?"

"How many people, Zuko? And don't lie to me. If you brought a bunch of firebenders here to hurt me or Aang or anyone else, I'll personally drag you out to the middle of nowhere and leave you for the polar leopards."

"What?" he repeated. "Of course I didn't bring anyone with me. How could I? They all think I'm dead. And even if they'd known that I was alive, no one would have agreed to go anywhere with me."

Katara's eyes widened, and she went very, very still. "Wait. Everyone thinks you're dead?"

He couldn't identify her exact expression. There was shock, certainly. But beneath that, there was something else too. Dismay, maybe? Or concern, or—something. It almost looked like she cared.

But Zuko wasn't an idiot. He knew better than that. Katara was surprised and nothing more.

"Everyone aside from my uncle," Zuko said. He kept his eyes fixed downward. Maybe if he didn't look at her, he wouldn't get any stupid ideas about what she was thinking. "We couldn't exactly tell anyone that I'd survived when I was stuck on a boat with the man who tried to kill me."

Katara seemed to hesitate a moment too. "Why were you on Zhao's ship? Couldn't you have gone somewhere else?" Her voice was a bit quieter this time, but there was still a hesitant, suspicious edge to it.

He shook his head. "I didn't get much choice in the matter. Zhao offered my uncle a job, and there wasn't any way for him to refuse without looking suspicious. By the time I woke up, we were already on board."

"Hmm."

There was a long pause, and after a while, Zuko had to look at her again. Katara still stood with her arms crossed and her brows furrowed in thought. It was weird, though. Zuko had seen her confused plenty of times before—back on his ship, she'd always seemed to be puzzling things over, always seemed to be looking for more ways to get inside his head. But that had always felt more sharp, more calculating than this. Now—well, now it felt different. Almost like she was trapped in the same impossible, overwhelmed feeling that Zuko had gotten trapped in after the explosion. Back when the idea of Katara pulling him out of the water, the idea of her saving his life had been new and shocking.

Which was a ridiculous idea. Zuko hadn't done anything particularly extraordinary. Extraordinarily stupid, perhaps, but not extraordinary. Nothing that should have surprised her.

"Why? Don't believe me?"

She met his eyes. "Could you blame me if I didn't?"

It didn't escape his notice that that was neither a yes nor a no.

Katara planted her feet a little more firmly. "You swear that you came here alone?"

Zuko rolled his eyes, but he nodded.

"And you're still not going to tell me why you're here?"

No, that particular stubborn spot was holding strong. If he had to face the indignity of being dragged around by his hair, then he was going to at least take a little time to think through his explanation. He wasn't going to make himself sound any stupider than he did already.

"Great!" Her voice turned unexpectedly, suspiciously chipper. "Hey, you have your own supplies, right? I mean if you made it this far on your own, you must have some things."

Zuko narrowed his eyes. "Yes. They're all frozen solid from swimming in the tunnels, but—"

"Oh, that's easy." Katara motioned for him to hold still, then stepped around him. He watched out of the corner of his eye as she made a smooth, circular motion with her arms. The pack turned soft as the ice melted, then lightened considerably when she drew all the water away.

Zuko felt his back straighten a little, and he turned back toward Katara. She was getting better at that. It wasn't a particularly difficult bit of bending, as far as he could tell, but the ease and grace in her motions was noticeable. She must have been practicing.

But he couldn't understand why she would thaw out his supplies. It was helpful, for sure, but that didn't mean that it made sense. Something about her cheeriness put him on edge.

"Katara, what are you—"

She didn't give him a chance to finish. Instead, she released a large chunk of ice from the side of the pit, wrapped the water around herself, and launched herself, somewhat clumsily, out of the pit.

Zuko thought that his eyes were going to drop out of his skull. She could do that?

When she regained her balance, Katara turned back and shot a triumphant smile down at him. "I don't know about you, Zuko, but I've had a long day, and I think that I need a little time to figure things out. I'm guessing that you could use some time to think too."

Shit. She was going to leave him down here, wasn't she? "Katara, wait."

"See, I could do that. But if I stay out here much longer, then Sokka and Aang are going to start to worry, then they'll come looking for me, and they'll find you—it'll be a whole big thing. Sokka might even think about turning you over to Chief Arnook. And something tells me that you don't want that to happen."

His blood ran cold. No. No, he really didn't.

"So you're just going to leave me here?" he shouted, a harsh, frantic edge to his voice.

"I don't know." She seemed to be enjoying this. "I haven't decided yet. I really should sleep on it and make up my mind when I'm feeling fresh."

"Katara!"

She grinned and gave a quick, mittened wave. "I'll see you tomorrow, Zuko. As long as you don't try to melt your way out of the pit, you should be just fine." Then she spun, her braid whipping out behind her, and she dipped out of sight.

Zuko yelled after her a few more times before it became apparent that she was serious. She had actually left him behind.

With a final shout of frustration, Zuko kicked the icy wall, then dropped back, clutching his foot. Ow. Why was it so hard to make things right?


Considering—well, everything, Katara slept fairly well that night. It was weird to think that Zuko was out there, stuck at the bottom of an ice pit in the middle of Isux Lake. It was weird knowing that he was so close after weeks of separation, weeks of uncertainty and confusion. But it was a tiny bit satisfying as well. At least she finally knew where he was. At least she could finally ask all the questions that had been burning at the back of her mind ever since the explosion. And at least she knew that Zuko couldn't cause any trouble. He was safe out there.

And if she was just a teensy bit pleased that she could finally get even with him for the whole kidnapping debacle, there was nothing wrong with that. She didn't think so, anyway.

But the fact that she'd slept well didn't mean that she'd slept long. It was barely beginning to grow light when she crawled out of bed and tiptoed toward the door. She couldn't really hope for a better opportunity than this. She had plenty of time left before waterbending lessons began, and the boys were both deep asleep. She could easily sneak out to check on Zuko and be back to the house before the others woke or she had to leave for lessons.

And if she got to wake Zuko up early in the morning, then that was even better.

She jogged up the street, her braid bouncing against her back. At this time of the day, everything was still and quiet—a perfect time for some extra waterbending practice, if she was ever inclined to wake up this early when there wasn't a firebender to think about.

It was a perfect excuse, though. She hoped that she wouldn't have to use it, but if anyone asked what she was doing at the lake at this hour, at least she had an explanation ready.

All the way to the lake, Katara kept running, eyes fixed ahead on the point where the distant snowy hills met the pale grayish sky. She'd have to make this visit quick. She didn't want to tell anyone anything about this if she could avoid it. Any questions at all would lead people closer to the lake—to the place where Zuko was hiding. Katara wasn't ready to confront that yet.

She didn't even know how she felt about Zuko showing up at the North Pole yet. Beyond the fact that she didn't want to see him imprisoned by the Northern Tribe, she didn't have the faintest idea of what she wanted to do about him.

Arriving at the edge of the pit and seeing Zuko again didn't make anything clearer. He sat curled up against the wall of the pit, bundled under several layers of blankets, none of which looked substantial enough to ward off even a fraction of the cold. His head hung down, resting on his knees, and though he looked still, she could imagine him shivering. He wasn't dressed for the cold, and his hair was disheveled, sticking out in all directions around the stalk-like ponytail in the middle of his head.

Katara couldn't decide whether the hair was better or worse than it used to be. Definitely better suited for the cold, and better than the odd, stubbly mess that it had turned into a few times on his ship, but the combination of short, soft new growth, and the same old skinny ponytail was weird.

In any case, she had to admit that he made for a pitiful sight. Any wariness, any nervousness that she'd felt before drained away, and she dropped into the pit directly across from him.

"Morning, sunshine."

Zuko jerked, nearly hitting his head on the icy wall behind him. After a few bleary blinks, he scowled at her. "What are you doing here?"

Katara shrugged. "Checking on you. And making sure that you didn't try anything too stupid. Don't act so surprised. I did tell you that I was coming back." She folded her arms. "Did you sleep well?"

A scoff. "I didn't sleep. I'm not an idiot. Do you think I want to freeze to death?"

She raised an eyebrow. "This from the guy who went swimming through tunnels under the North Pole. As far as I'm concerned, anything is possible when you're involved." Her eyes were drawn downward to a glossy, round patch of ice just a little above the base of the pit, and her head tilted to the side. "What's this? Did you kick the wall?"

Zuko looked away and rested his chin on his knees. "No."

Well that was obviously a lie. There was no reason for him to sound so sulky if he were being honest.

"I hope you realize that I wasn't kidding when I told you not to melt your way out of here. It's not just the water that would flood in here. If you break the ice, the whole pit is going to collapse, and it could crush you."

"Yeah, thanks a lot for that." His tone was heavy with sarcasm, and his eyes—unexpectedly bright despite the dark rings around them—pierced through her. "Have you decided what you're going to do to me aside from sticking me in a pit that doubles as a death trap?"

"No, I haven't."

"So why bother coming here?"

"Maybe I was hoping that I could figure out what to do if I came out here." Katara sat cross legged across from him, and Zuko narrowed his eyes. This felt familiar. Very familiar. Except for the fact that there were no bars to keep them apart, for the fact that she could walk away whenever she chose, this felt very much like their meetings back on his ship.

"Well? What have you decided?"

She frowned. "Are you kidding me? Do you really think it's going to be that easy? You took weeks to decide to let me go. I think I'm allowed to take my time too." A pause. "And I'm still not sure that you actually changed your mind or if you just panicked because of Zhao."

"I did." His voice was stiff, and he became very interested in the edge of one of his blankets. "I changed my mind."

"Oh." That was the only thing she could think to say. Her hands tightened into fists.

Zuko's forehead twitched, and he still wouldn't look at her. "Is that why I'm down here? You're trying to get even with me?"

Katara had to think about that. Even if he had changed his mind—even if he'd realized that he'd been wrong to hold her prisoner, that didn't change the fact that it had happened. She shrugged. "What if I am?"

The creases in his forehead deepened into a scowl.

A sigh. "Zuko—even if I am, that's not the only reason. I can't take the risk of letting you wander around the city when I don't know why you're here. You could do anything, and I might not be able to stop it." She watched him open his mouth as if to protest, then added, "And I'm pretty sure the whole North Pole would lose their minds if they knew a firebender got in. Especially you." She waited for what felt like a long time, and when he didn't respond, "Could you please tell me why you came here?"

After another long silence, Zuko muttered, "I'm just trying to help."

"Who are you helping? And with what?"

He wouldn't answer. Instead, he pressed his lips into a tight line, and stared stubbornly at the ground between them.

Katara tried to wait. She wanted to know what Zuko had to say. She had to. But the sky was growing lighter by the minute, and as much as she needed to know why Zuko was here, she needed to keep this a secret even more. The boys would be waking up soon. If she wasn't back at the house in time, they would begin to suspect that something was going on.

"Fine." After several long minutes of silence, she pushed herself to her feet and brushed the snow off of her rear. "If you don't want to tell me, then I'm not going to make myself late for my waterbending lessons over it. Here." She dug through her pocket until she produced a small, cloth-wrapped bundle and tossed it his way. "You can have some seaweed rolls and dried mussels."

Zuko scowled. "I have my own food."

She shrugged. "Suit yourself. You don't have to eat it. I just thought you might want something that didn't get soaked yesterday."

She hesitated just a moment longer. Spirits, he looked tired. On an impulse, she slipped off her mittens and came just close enough to drop them by his side. If he was keeping himself awake to be certain that he wouldn't freeze, he was going to become very miserable very quickly.

"Keep your hands warm," she said quietly. "If you get too cold, your fingers will probably be the first thing to go."


Mornings were the absolute worst time for thinking. Until the sun was at least a quarter of the way across the sky, Sokka's brain felt fuzzy, and he preferred to stick to speaking in monosyllables.

He supposed that it made sense. He was a genius most of the time. It stood to reason that his brain needed to rest sometimes.

But today, he was proud of himself. Because today, despite the sleepy fog clouding up his head like normal, he could tell that something was off. He wasn't sure what, but there was something.

And then the door burst open, and Katara stepped inside. Ha. Thatwas it. Katara had been missing.

"Hey!" Aang looked back and forth between Katara's room and the front door. "Where were you? I thought you were still in bed."

Katara flushed. "Just—out. I woke up a bit early, so I decided to take a walk and get in a little extra practice time."

"Oh. You could have woken me up too. I would have gone with you."

Katara smiled, but Sokka thought it looked forced. "Maybe next time, okay? I didn't want to wake you without knowing that you were okay with it."

That seemed good enough for Aang, but Sokka glowered. "If either of you wake me up when you're going out for your early morning practice, I'm gonna—" He paused, searching for words. When he couldn't find any, he settled for, "I'm not gonna be happy."

"And how is that new?" Katara tossed her parka aside, then reached around him and stole a strip of seal jerky. Sokka wanted to protest, but words seemed difficult, so instead, he just curled his arms around his meal and fixed her with a glare. She rolled her eyes at him, then flounced across the room and sat on a separate pile of furs.

Aang spun to face her. "You must have woken up really early. I was up before sunrise, and I didn't hear you leave."

"Mmm. I guess it was early."

"Did you have fun?"

"Um—well, I don't know if fun is the right word for it. But I have a lot to think about now."

"Like what?"

"Aang."

"Hmm?"

"Can I eat my breakfast, please? We have to leave for Pakku's lesson in just a few minutes."

Sokka stifled a groan. If they were about to leave, then he didn't have much time left before his lessons either.

He didn't really want to go. Somehow, Hahn was making himself even more insufferable than usual recently

But Katara and Aang took off for their lesson, and Sokka grudgingly left a few minutes after them. Though he didn't want to go, it wasn't like there was much else for him to do around here. And besides, he would never be able to properly beat Hahn if he didn't master northern style combat. Spite seemed as good a motivator as anything else.

The problem was—well, one of the problems was—that it was hard to actually learn anything when Hahn was making an obnoxious ass of himself. The gloating alone made Sokka see red and feel like punching Hahn in the face. Which, unfortunately, was a little counterproductive when Sokka was meant to be improving his punching abilities.

He trudged all the way to class and placed himself carefully at the back of the group, next to the scrawny kid he'd practiced with on his first day. If Sokka could just keep his distance from Hahn, this whole experience might be a little less irritating and a little more productive.

Maybe. Short of tying Hahn to a pillar somewhere, that was the best way that Sokka could think of to make lessons tolerable.

For a little while, it worked. They were working with spears today—though Sokka still thought that the stupid things would have been better suited as harpoons—and he was doing well with it too. He hadn't even whacked himself once.

But of course Hahn couldn't possibly last a whole day without making himself a nuisance. Midway through practice, Sokka saw Hahn swaggering his way over, and looked away with a grimace. Unfortunately, there didn't seem to be any way to avoid this.

"I won."

Hahn sounded so smug that Sokka felt that same old urge to punch his lights out. Inhaling deeply, he clenched his hands tighter around his spear and feigned interest in the row of other boys working on target practice in front of him. Yue liked Sokka because he was a better person than Hahn. That was reason enough to fight the punching urge.

"What did you win?" Sokka grudgingly asked when it became apparent that Hahn wasn't going to leave without a response.

"Princess Yue, of course."

Sokka's eye twitched. "And what gives you the idea that she's some sort of prize I was competing for?"

Hahn scoffed. "It's not like you ever had a chance. But I'm not stupid. I could see how bad you wanted her." He leaned uncomfortably close. "That was never going to happen. Princess Yue has standards."

"So then why is she engaged to you?"

"Listen here, you little piece of—"

Sokka rolled his eyes as he stepped forward to the front of the target practice line. It was almost sad that it was that easy to insult Hahn. With an ego that overinflated and delicate, the guy would be lucky to last a week in a real position of authority. He'd break at the first hint of criticism, and Sokka couldn't even pretend to feel sorry about it.

"No, you listen, Hahn. I'm well aware of the fact that you're marrying Princess Yue. I don't get why anyone thought that was a good idea, but I guess anyone can make a mistake. What really doesn't make sense is why you'd bother me about it." Sokka paused for effect. "Unless you're feeling threatened." He launched his spear, and it struck just a little to the right of the target's center.

Hahn laughed. "Threatened? What, by you? Please. Even that little freak you call a sister is more threatening than you."

Sokka's vision flashed red. That bastard. Only Sokka had the right to make fun of Katara. That was one of the privileges that came with being siblings.

"That's not the insult you think it is. Katara could kick your ass to the Earth Kingdom and back." And Sokka could probably just kick Hahn's ass to the Earth Kingdom and leave him there.

"Polar leopard shit."

Sokka grabbed a new spear and wound up for his next throw. "You think so? Tell that to the crown prince of the Fire Nation." This spear hit the target a bit low and to the left. Sokka looked back over his shoulder with a smirk. "Katara punched him in the face and got away with it." He had to admit that he enjoyed gloating about that again. Now that Zuko was out of their lives for good, bragging seemed like fair game.

"Then I bet he's a fucking weakling," Hahn sneered. "Either that or he's got such bad taste in girls that he thought your sister was worth pursuing."

The eye twitching resumed. "I watched you hit on my sister, you worm."

"Anyone can make a mistake," Hahn echoed. "Besides, anyone who's anyone knows that it's a stupid idea to count on these things before they're settled. I may be engaged to the princess, but I'm not giving up on the other girls entirely until we're actually married."

What? Was Hahn cheating on Yue? Why would he do that? More importantly, why would anyone tolerate Hahn long enough to let him cheat?

"You should know that," Hahn continued. "If you're really the son of the Southern chief. Not that I believe you are. What kind of chief would let his kid wear a training parka to a royal banquet?"

What kind of arrogant asshole needed more than one parka? Though Sokka's vision kept flashing red, he did his best to keep his temper under control. Yue liked Sokka better. He had to keep reminding himself that. At least until they were somewhere other than warrior training, surrounded by a bunch of other kids and Hahn's dad. If Sokka was going to fight Hahn, he was going to at least wait until they were somewhere he wouldn't get caught.

He stalked off to retrieve his spears from the target, and Hahn followed, still sneering.

At that, Sokka began to get an idea. Maybe he couldn't fight Hahn, but that didn't mean that he had to roll over and take the insults. He just had to be careful and make this look like an accident.

When he pulled the first spear from the target, the blunt end flew backward, slamming into Hahn's groin. And then, at the pitiful whining sound that followed, Sokka spun in mock surprise, whacking Hahn hard in the face with the side of the shaft.

"Holy shit, Hahn. I didn't realize you were there!"


Author's Note:

This odd balance between 'I don't trust you' and 'absolutely nobody else is allowed to hurt you' is so fun to work with! Although part of me is thinking ahead to what I know is coming in the future and sort of wants to let Zuko and Katara skip ahead to the stage where they're close friends who can rely on one another for everything, I think we're all aware that that wouldn't make much sense yet. They have to actually talk about some of the tough things they've been through together! And if they can be awkward as hell and bicker about things while they're learning to trust one another, then all the better!

Sokka's scene at the end here might possibly seem a little random and out of place, but I promise that it has a purpose! Also, you've just got to love the irony of him thinking, Ah, yes, we're never going to have to deal with Zuko again, so he can just be a funny story to tell people now, especially since all of that came up TODAY of all days. The confidence is admirable, at least.

That's about all that I have to say this time! NaNo is going fairly well (and I'm posting daily updates and sneak peeks on my Tumblr if you're interested in getting any vague ideas of what coming in... 13+ chapters from this point), so the end of Book 1 is getting a lot closer now. I'll see you back here for another update next week, and in the meantime, reviews are always appreciated!