"So the question is what to do now."
"What do you mean what to do now, we stop and you have Toph teach you earth bending. Simple," Sokka states.
"Yeah but I feel like we should have a destination or something."
"Oh Twinkletoes you worry too much! It's almost time to stop and camp anyway, why don't we get you started on the basics? Practice with Katara tonight and then tomorrow the real work begins," Toph cracks her knuckles maniacally.
"So are we gonna land or what?"
"Yeah, yeah, Appa down boy." The descent begins and Zuko peers over the edge.
"Guys?"
"Yeah, what is it?"
"We're leaving a trail," Zuko states, his blood running cold.
"Of what?"
"From the looks of it, bison fur."
"Oh," Aang calls over his shoulder, "That's normal. It's part of spring, you know rebirth, flowers, shedding, the whole bit."
"Okay but we still need to stop from leaving a trail."
"Why?"
He stares at Sokka incredulously, "Why? My sister might be out there looking for us and we're leaving a trail, we probably have been since Gao Ling."
"Oh relax, she probably got caught up in Omashu and even if she didn't what're the chances that-"
"Pretty good. You don't know my sister and we're leaving a bison fur trail that a blind man could follow." He winces, "Sorry Toph."
"Eh, no worries."
"Zuko's right," She remembers the few things that he's told her about Azula and the one meeting they've had. She shudders at the thought of that girl being on their trail. "Aang, tonight we're not practicing, we're brushing out Appa."
"Aaw, do we have to?"
"Yes."
Aang almost replies when he thinks of her blue fire. "Okay."
"So what's so bad about this Azula anyway?"
"My sister's crazy. Think of every bad thing you've heard about the Fire Nation, make it worse and then put it into one person." Toph nods at his response, apparently satisfied.
Aang directs Appa to a small clearing near a river. Toph immediately launches off and hugs the ground. "Oh finally!" They'd been flying since last night, looking for a good place for Aang to learn bending and Toph's feet have missed solid ground.
Zuko helps Katara down. "How're you feeling?"
"I'm fine."
"Oh thanks," Sokka calls. "Not going to help me down too huh Princey?" Zuko rolls his eyes. Sokka gasps, feigning hurt.
"Okay guys," Katara claps her hands, demanding attention, "We have to brush Appa out. Let's get the campsite going and then start on him."
"Sounds good."
Katara bends water into the large pot and begins to add vegetables and whale jerky, setting aside a smaller meatless pot for Aang. Zuko gathers wood and starts the fire while Sokka sets the bedrolls on the ground and Aang get Appa comfortable. "Alright," Zuko brushes his hands together after igniting the sticks.
"Thanks," Katara smiles at him, not entirely why she's blushing.
He quickly looks away, still embarrassed from yesterday. "Um, I'm going to go help with Appa."
"Okay. Toph, would you mind -" Her eyebrows snap together. "Uh, Toph, usually when setting up camp we try to divide the work."
The earth bender nods from her spot laying against a boulder. "Okay, don't worry about me, I'm good to go."
"What I'm saying is that some of us get wood, some of us get water, someone has to get the bedrolls out."
"Katara, I'm fine. I can carry my own weight. I brought some food from home, I don't need a fire, and look my tent's all set up." She slams her fists down and a small rock tent springs up around her.
Katara has to resist the urge to pinch her nose. "That's great for you but there's still stuff to do."
"I don't get it, what's the problem?"
Katara squints, the girl really doesn't get it.
Zuko has been watching and calls out, "Katara, the soup is boiling."
"Oh!" She turns away from Toph and back to the soup, surprised that it's boiling so soon.
"So," Zuko looks back at Aang. "How do we brush him?"
The Avatar pauses. "That's actually a good question. Hmm, let's get him in the river and maybe we can wash most of the excess hair out." He leads the giant bison towards the water, his harness and saddle already off.
"Can't we just shave him?" Sokka asks tiredly an hour later.
"What!" Aang practically shrieks. "That'd be a disgrace to all sky bison ever. If we ever run into anymore they'd make fun of him." He hugs Appa's snout protectively. "I won't let the mean guy shave you buddy." Appa grunts appreciatively.
"We could at least trim him," Zuko comments.
Katara pulls out another wad of hair. "I think that's a good idea."
"Guys come one, we're almost done, look!" There is a noticeable difference between Appa's front and where they work now.
"Someone downstream's gonna have fun," Sokka mumbles as they continue to pull clump after clump of loose hair out. Even Momo has joined in, carefully preening the bison. Toph however lazes in her stone tent, relishing her freedom.
By the time they've finished the sun is down and the stew is definitely cooked. Appa roars happily and scratches his back against nearby trees. The entire campsite is covered in bison fur but no one cares at this point. Everyone except Toph digs in to the food. "This is so good," Aang sighs.
"Mhmm, is real goof," Sokka says through a mouth full.
Even Zuko nods in appreciation. "Thanks."
"I'm glad you guys like it. Toph would you any?" Katara offers.
"Nope, I'm good. I already ate," She calls from her shelter.
Katara clenches her jaw, it was hard enough to keep her mouth shut while Toph did absolutely nothing while they slaved over Appa. Now she throws it in their faces that she's already eaten. That's too much. She opens her mouth to snap but thinks better of it. The girl probably misses her parents, that's probably what this is. Just breathe.
After that they eat in silence, everyone surreptitiously glancing at Katara.
Sokka stretches out, "That was great, sis. I think I'm going to go to bed now." He glance at Zuko. "You two just stay away from each other for the next hour or something please."
Katara rolls her eyes. "Whatever."
"You two are gross," he shrugs.
"There is no 'us two'," she comments. Zuko smartly keeps his mouth firmly shut.
From the stone tent Toph snorts. Katara freezes then rounds on the other girl. "What the hell is your problem?"
The sides of the structure drop. "What?"
"You heard me! It hasn't even been a full day and you haven't helped out at all!"
"Why should I help out? I've got my own stuff taken care of why is it my problem if you guys can't take care of your shit?"
"That's not the point! The point is we're all in this together and that means everyone helping out. Since you've joined you've been nothing but selfish and unhelpful and it's just the first day!"
Toph propels herself up, right into Katara's face, shouting. "I left everything so that I could teach Aang earth bending so don't you talk to me about being selfish."
"We all left our lives to teach Aang bending, we've all given up stuff so don't act like what you did is so important and so much better than what we did."
Aang tries to jump between the two girls. "Guys, guys."
"Stay out of this Aang!"
"I think I had a bit more to give up than you did. I've heard about the South Pole how there's absolutely nothing there."
"There may not be much," Katara jabs, "But at least we have a family that loves us." The moment the words leave her mouth she regrets them. Toph's face darkens considerably and a new rock tent springs up. "Toph, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to -" Her words are cut off by another sheet of rock spraining up, closing Toph off. Katara slumps. "Sorry." She turns around and everyone quickly makes sure that they're doing something else, pretending that they didn't just see or hear what happened. Sokka shakes his bedroll out and climbs in. Aang does the same. Zuko gathers up bowls and heads to the river.
She follows Zuko, plopping down on beside him. "I didn't mean to say that."
"I know," He begins washing the bowls until Katara snatches one away, handing it to him to dry.
"I just - she's so - ugh! How can someone be so self-absorbed and rude and just like that!"
Zuko raises an eyebrow at her. "You said pretty much the same stuff about me when we met."
"Yeah, but you're different. She didn't care that we were working hard on Appa and then she doesn't even eat with us. Did you know that she packed her own food? Her parents probably gave her all kinds of good stuff to eat while we're here eating roadside stew."
"I wouldn't bet on that."
"What do you mean?"
"I don't think her parents knew she left. Some of the stuff she said, the way her parents acted, I doubt they would have let her go. You saw her father, he's too controlling to let her go anywhere."
"Oh. So what, do we need to take her back?" Katara finishes washing and hugs her knees to her chest.
"No, she'd probably just leave again and Aang does need a teacher." He thinks back to the beginning of his banishment and how lonely he was. "Just cut her some slack."
She sighs, "Fine. I will."
"I know something that might help you feel better, blow off some steam."
She looks at him out of the corner of her eyes, "What?"
He grins, igniting his palm. Her eyes narrow and a small tendril of water rises to her hand. Neither move, daring the other to go first. The seconds tick by and the tension rises. They barely breath, seeing who will break first.
The riverbank explodes in action, water rising and flames roaring at the same time. The fire heads straight for her and a wave easily blocks it. She snaps her hands forward and he evaporates it. He kicks his legs out but she rises over it. The fires shoot and she avoids them at the last millisecond, washing his feet out from under him. A wall of flame blocks him off and he pushes it out. She retreats into the river. Each blow is parried and returned twofold.
. . .
"Go to sleep Aang," Sokka looks over at the boy watching the fires reflect off the dancing water.
Aang doesn't want to talk about it so he turns to the issue he should be focused on. "Do you think Katara will ever get along with Toph?"
"Yeah, just give them some time. Besides, I think it might just be because she's on her period."
"I meant to ask you last night. What's a period?"
"Why me," Sokka groans.
. . .
The fight ends with them both soaked, panting, and grinning from ear to ear. Katara places a hand on his chest. "One, two, three."
He turns his head, "What's that for?"
She smirks, "That means I won."
He growls, "Does not."
"Does too."
He rolls over onto her, effectively pinning her under him. She squirms but her hands are under his. "One, two, three, four, five, six. There, I've won." He almost says more but can't find the words. Her face is oddly flushed and he's suddenly aware of just how close they are. Her lips are parted and twitching ever so slightly. He quickly gets up, "I'm going to go put the bowls up." He walks off, realizing only once he's back at Appa that he completely forgot the bowls.
She lays there for a moment, her skin tingling where he touched her. She shakes her head at the memory of his body pressed so close to hers. It's just hormones, she tells herself.
Just to spite her hormones - and because she desperately wants his warmth on her back and stomach - they sleep together again that night. Each silently hoping that this becomes a permanent thing.
. . .
Toph doesn't speak to Katara the next morning. Katara tries to apologize but Toph just hmpfs away. Katara glares but is determined to try to be nice, at least try. They find a place perfect for Aang to practice and camp gets set up - again with no help from Toph. The plan is to start teaching Aang tomorrow so now she lounges in her earthen tent.
A knock on the side annoys her. "Hey."
"Sparky, if you're here to talk to me about Fussy Britches, save it."
He sits down beside her anyway, trying to think of what Uncle would say in this situation. He'd probably tell some long winding story that made no sense but somehow made you think. "I was on a ship for a long time."
"So?"
"So I had to deal with a lot of people. I thought acting like I was better than them and holing myself up in my room would make them respect me. I thought I was the only one who was important. Eventually I found out that they all hated me because of how I acted. When I started to get to know everyone, help out a little, the entire ship ran more smoothly. My men wanted to work with me and helped out instead of just doing the minimum necessary all because I decided to try and get along."
Toph raises an eyebrow. "So what you're telling me is that I need a ship?"
"No! That's not at all what I-" He stops at her smirk. "Very funny."
"I know what you're trying to say, but how could she say something like that? And I am pulling my own weight. I take care of myself."
"It's not just you you're supposed to take care of. We're all supposed to help out, that's part of being with this group, with the Avatar," he brushes himself off and stands. "And she really is sorry about what she said."
That night Zuko and Katara wash the dishes again. Sokka practices with his boomerang. Toph chews the inside of her cheek and Aang bounces up to her. "Hi!"
"Hey Twinkletoes, what's up?"
He rocks on the balls of his feet. "I was wondering since there's still some time left in the day if maybe you wanted to go teach me earth bending?"
She purses her lips then grins, "Sure, why not."
He beams, "Great! I'm so excited. You know I've pretty much got water down and I've just barely started fire but I always felt that I needed to learn earth before fire I don't know why but now you're here and," he rambles on and on, barely containing his excitement as he leads her to a rocky patch by the river bank. "Okay, what do I do now? Do I learn to split boulders with my head? What about make mountains?"
"You've got to start with the basics. Watch this." She sinks down into an earth bending pose and kicks up the rocks around them. "Now you try."
Aang mimics her movements but nothing happens. There isn't so much as a dust cloud.
"No, try it like this," Toph shows him again.
"Ow!" A yelp comes from up river. Toph smirks but Katara just grumbles something under her breath and goes back to her conversation with Zuko.
Aang tries again to no avail. "You've got to really feel the earth. Focus on the rocks beneath your feet. Think of what you want to do and bam!" She slides her foot to the side, rocks rising in a direct path out. Katara falls into the water.
"Could you not see me there?"
Toph turns her blind eyes towards the sopping water bender. "No, I can't see anything actually."
"Hmpf," Katara dries herself off. "You still think I should cut her some slack?" She snaps, glaring at the blind girl who pretends not to notice her. Zuko opens his mouth, but ends up only shrugging. Katara glances over her shoulder just in time to block another 'stray' rock headed her way. Water slashes up, decimating the stone. "That's it! If you're going to hit me at least have the decency to do it to my face!"
"Oh sorry Sugarqueen, I didn't realize you couldn't stand a little earth!" Toph retorts.
"Now, let's not get ahead of ourselves. Toph why don't you just-"
Sokka grabs Aang's elbow, dragging him away from the girls. "Just let them go at it." Even Zuko is smart enough to scramble up from his spot and retreat.
"I already apologized for what I said yesterday but I'm not taking back the fact that you're a selfish, spoiled, child!" A wave three times the height of Toph attacks.
A stone pillar raises Toph over it. "At least I'm not bossy and can take care of myself unlike you!" Katara dodges spikes rising from the ground.
"I can take care of myself, I just want you to actually help out!" She whips out, a tendril of water wrapping around Toph's feet.
Stones break it off. "Just because I don't wash your dirty dishes doesn't mean I don't help!"
"You're hopeless!" Katara lashes out and she swears for a moment she can feel the blood pumping through the little girl's veins.
"Well you're prissy!" Toph shouts. Katara pulls the sweat off of Toph's forehead and smacks her solidly with it. Toph growls. The insults stop in favor of harsher methods. Katara dodges and rolls while shooting out whips and small cyclones. Toph raises walls and sidesteps while moving earth and throwing rocks.
The three boys stand back, Aang is worried, Sokka is mildly amused, Zuko is wide-eyed. Any sparring has been friendly, at least friendlier than the one in front of them since she became a master in the North Pole and she hasn't released some of these techniques on him. "You're sister is terrifying."
Sokka nods smugly. "Absolutely."
A scream - not a shout, not a shriek, but a legitimate scream - fills the air. "Help! I can't swim!" Toph flounders in the center of the river and the boys jump into action. Katara quickly raises her arms, depositing the girl on the shore before rushing over. They all crowd around her.
"Are you okay!"
Toph chokes, shaking.
"I think she inhaled some water!" Sokka begins vigorously thumping on her back. Toph coughs.
"Sokka stop!" Katara pushes her brother off. "Hold still." She focuses for a moment, concentrating on the liquid in the girl's lungs. Tough hacks. Katara's pulls the thin line of water out of the earth bender. "There, you should be better."
Toph stops coughing, the shaking replaced with shivering. "Th-thanks, you saved me."
"I'm so sorry! I didn't know you couldn't swim."
Toph shakes her head. "Didn't tell you, not your fault."
"Here, let me get you dried off." Katara starts but Aang is already pulling the moisture out of her clothes.
"Is that better?"
"Yeah, thanks Twinkletoes," She smiles weakly at him and sits up. She's still shivering whether from the cold or from the near death experience he isn't sure. Aang grabs her hands and holds them up to his mouth. His rudimentary understanding of his inner fire comes in handy then as he breathes warmth onto her fingers. She smiles, her entire body warming, "Thanks."
The rest of the night is uneventful. Katara hovers over Toph who is using Aang as a heater before they all eventually retire to their beds where Katara has her own heater to curl up next to.
. . .
The next morning Toph has breakfast with them.
"Alright," Toph stretches, "Let's go get your Avatar butt in shape earth bending style."
Aang grins and follows after her like a puppy. "Okay! Are you going to teach me how to do a rockalanche, oh what about a rock tornado? I know yesterday was rough but I'll do better today I promise!"
Toph snorts "Let's just start with moving a rock."
Sokka stands, "Well as much as I love whale jerky and all, I need something different to eat."
Katara gasps, "You're actually sick of jerky, I thought I'd die before that happened."
"No, no not sick of it. I just want something a little juicer. I'll be back in a bit." He slings his boomerang over his shoulder and wanders off.
"So," Katara glances over at Zuko. "Aang and Toph are busy with bending, Sokka's busy hunting. Even Momo is busy doing who knows what. What are you going to do today?"
He shrugs. "I don't know. What do you want to do?"
"Well, I need to make dinner, Sokka needs his belt fixed and Aang needs a few things patched too. I figured I'd do that."
He tilts his head, the image of the fierce warrior he knows she is not quite fitting with what she's saying. "You should do something more valuable with your time."
"Excuse me?"
"No, I just mean that you shouldn't have to do stuff like that, that's work for someone else."
She rolls her eyes. "Your prince is showing. There's no one else here to do it and it needs to be done."
"But- " he flounders before lighting on an idea. "We passed over a town on the way here, it's pretty close. Why don't we go and get the stuff fixed there and maybe even pick up dinner?"
"We have next to no money."
"I do."
"I know but I you need to save it for emergencies."
He shakes his head. "No, Uncle gave me a lot before he left the North Pole. Besides, I need to buy some stuff that I forgot about in Gao Ling."
"Just how much is a lot?" He rubs the back of his head, she's noticed he does this whenever he doesn't want to say something. "Zuko?"
"About sixty gold coins," he mutters. "The seamstress overcharged us like hell but the town we passed looked small so getting everything fixed and getting dinner shouldn't even cost a full coin."
"Sixty gold coins!" Katara's eyes widen. She'd never even seen that much and he's perfectly willing to spend it. She gawks at him as he walks over to where Aang is trying - and failing to learn earth bending.
"Do you mind if Katara and I take Appa? We're going into town."
Aang looks over his shoulder, "Sure." He promptly gets a rock to the stomach.
"Pay attention Twinkletoes!"
. . .
The first stop is depositing the clothes that need to be fixed at a tailor. "Here, this one has a hole in it right on the shoulder," Katara holds up one of Aang's shirts, "And another one on the seam here. Oh and this-" She holds Sokka's belt "- needs to be repaired. And-"
"I'll find the holes, don't worry dear," The elderly seamstress smiles. "Come back in a few hours and everything will be fine."
Katara bites her lip, "Okay, but -"
"No buts, go enjoy some time with your boyfriend," she waves them off.
"He's not - we're not - no!" Katara stammers, looking from Zuko's beet red face to the seamstress with a raised eyebrow.
"Okay," the woman shrugs it off, "well go enjoy your day then you two."
Katara stalks out of there, blushing. "Where did she get that idea! We're not dating!"
"I don't know."
"It's not like we have anything going on!" She huffs. "So what did you say you needed while we were here?"
"I need to find the blacksmith."
"Why? What are you getting?"
"You remember the swords that hung up in my room?" She thinks back to the time spent on that ship, trying to place the swords he's talking about. She never really payed much attention to them but she can vaguely remember something pointy being on the wall. She nods, wondering why she never even thought to use those. "I'm getting another set."
"Why?"
"I don't think it'd be a good idea for me to be fire bending in the middle of the earth kingdom, but I still need to be able to fight."
"Ah, okay. I think I saw a blacksmith back that way," she drags him towards where she saw smoke billowing earlier.
"Perfect!" They enter the shop attached to the forge. A variety of weapons hang on the walls and on racks. Katara gulps. Knives gleam in rows.
"I'm going to wait outside."
He shoots her a look. "You okay?"
"Yeah," she forces out a smile, "Fine. There's just a lot of people in here, that's all."
He looks at the five other people in the entire store and she mentally kicks herself. "Okay?"
The door swings shut behind her and she breathes a sigh of relief. That wasn't as bad as it could have been. It could have been a lot worse. At least this time there's not panic attack. She distracts herself with the flowers growing along the building and the butterflies landing delicately on the petals. He is taking forever! She wanders over to the shop next door and goes inside. Heavy scents hit her in a wave. The apothecary has everything she could possibly want. She flits from stand to stand, admiring the garlic cloves at one, the fresh lavender at another one, the little bunches of queen's lace at a different one. Behind the counter more serious herbs are suspended foxglove, nightshade, and red root along with a plethora of others.
"Looking for anything?"
"No, just looking around, thanks." She smiles openly at the man. She looks down at the queen's lace, surprised at just how small each of the tiny white flowers that make up the bunch are.
"Katara?" the door bursts open and Zuko stands there, relief washing over his face. "Oh thank Agni you're okay. You weren't outside and we're in the middle of a new place and I just, well I was concerned," he finishes lamely, trying to act as if he hadn't been freaking out moments before.
"I'm fine."
"Next time tell me, someone might have abducted you. We don't know what the people here are like." The herbalist quirks an eyebrow and Katara just gives him a look that speaks volumes. He's one to talk about people abducting her. "You know what I mean!"
She rolls her eyes and bows to the shop owner. "Thanks for letting me look around."
"What did you get?" Katara looks Zuko once they're out in the street. He turns around for her to admire the dao swords strapped to his back. She can't see much of them but the hilts are lovingly wrapped in soft leather and the sheath is good quality. "And you know how to use these?"
He gives her a withering look. "I'll have you know I rescued Aang from Zhao using only these."
"Oh!" Her face lights up. "Alright then!"
They continue to look around the town, enjoying the sunlight and the peace. Every now and then she loops her arm through his to pull him towards an especially fresh fruit stand. She pauses at a jewelry booth, gently touching her own necklace before smiling widely and pulling him to the next place. His stomach growls loudly as the pass a small cafe. "Come on, let's eat." This time it's him pulling her inside though she happily follows. It's bright and airy with white stone floors and light wood tables. They're quickly seated by the window by a bored boy about their age.
"What can I get for you?" He drawls.
"Uh?" Zuko looks down at the complete lack of a menu.
"Whatever the special is today." The boy nods and retreats. Katara folds her hands in her lap, suddenly unable to think of what to say. "So, nice weather huh?"
"What, oh, yeah. It's really sunny."
"Yeah." Silence stretches painfully between them.
"So-" They both open their mouths at the same time.
"You go first."
"No, you. I really wasn't going to say much."
"Oh, uh okay then." Zuko stammers. "You think the food will come soon?"
"We just ordered."
"Yeah, you're right." Another pause. He sighs, "We should be out there!"
"What do you mean?"
"We started this, the rebellion, the riots," he hisses, "They started because of us."
Katara bites her lip, "It would have happened eve-" She pauses as the waiter comes up, two large plates balanced on his arms. "That was fast."
"The special isn't made to order. Here're two ostrich-horse teriyakis." He sets them down and Katara leans forward again.
"The rebellions would have happened eventually. The men on your ship were proof enough of that and they didn't even see action that much but they hated the war. It was only a matter of time before something sparked them."
"But we're what sparked it. We caused this, we're responsible."
She pinches the bridge of her nose and shoves lo main noodles forcefully into her mouth. "Well what are we supposed to do? Leave Aang with Azula on the loose? We can't do that and you know it."
Zuko mutters something under his breath. "I still want to do something."
She reaches out and squeezes his hand. "Training Aang is doing something."
"I guess so." He pauses, looking down at their hands. His fingers start to squeeze back but she withdraws a moment too soon. His stomach growls again and he quickly heeds it, chowing down on the meal. "He still doesn't really let me teach him. I've tried but each time he blows me off and goes and lights a little -" Zuko glances around, making sure no one's close enough to hear them, "- flame in his hand and plays with it. He's going to loose control and burn us all if he doesn't start listening to me."
"That's not good. I'll talk to him about it. Maybe you could hold off for a bit though, just until he gets earth down with Toph? Besides, I could always use some more sparring practice."
"You're already good. Aang's the one that needs practice."
"Thanks but if he's not listening nothing will make him start. He's stubborn."
Zuko scoffs, "So I've noticed."
"So, how are you? Everything's been happening so fast and, well, I want to make sure you're okay."
"What do you mean?"
"Azula, all of Omashu, the dragons. How are you holding up?"
"Really, I'm okay." He chews thoughtfully on a piece of the meat. "I know what I'm meant to do now and I can do it."
Katara smiles widely at him, "Good, I'm glad."
"So what did you eat in the South Pole?"
"Huh?"
The words had just tumbled out of his mouth without thinking. "I mean, well what did you like to eat? I really don't even know what you guys ate down there."
"Well, there was Gran-Gran's five flavor soup and boiled sea cucumbers."
"Wait, what?"
"What?"
He stares at her, "Why does a soup need five flavors and what the hell is a sea cucumber?"
"Really, you lived on a ship for how long and you've never heard of a sea cucumber?"
"Well it's not like we did a lot of fishing."
"Whether you did a lot of fishing or not you lived on the sea so you should know about it."
"Do you know all the animals in the Earth Kingdom?"
"No but what does-"
"I don't want to hear it then!" Zuko rolls his eyes.
"I've hardly even been here long and we don't have these animals back home so I never even learned about most of them!"
"And we don't have stupid sea cucumbers back home so I never learned about them."
Katara opens her mouth to sharply retort but stops, a smirk pulling at her lips. Soon a full-fledged laugh erupts from her.
"What, what's so funny?"
"We're really doing this, sitting in an Earth Kingdom diner arguing over sea cucumbers. Oh man, that's great."
Zuko's scowl is slowly replaced by a snicker. "Yeah, I guess we are." He glances down at their empty plates. "Come on, let's go and argue about five flavored soup outside."
"Or about the necessity of fire flakes."
"Katara, we've already argued about that."
"I know," she grins, "But it was such a good argument."
They pick up a razor for him and some fruit and even bread for dinner before heading back to the seamstress to find all the clothes perfectly repaired. Katara smiles widely at him and for a terrifying moment Zuko sees what might have started Uncle's frivolous spending.
. . .
Toph is at the campsite, casually picking her teeth. "Fussy Britches, Sparky." She nods in their general direction. Zuko raises an eyebrow at the name and Katara just grits her teeth.
"Where is everyone?"
"Dunno."
"Can't you see them with your feet or something?"
"Ugh, fine." Toph sighs and stomps a foot down. "What the!" She jumps up, running off, the earth rolling with her - in what they can only assume is the right direction. Zuko and Katara run after her.
By the time the pair catches up dust is settling. Sokka looks thoroughly mussed, his hair stuck in awkward angles and he's slightly shaky. Katara bolts to his side, "What happened, are you okay?"
"I was stuck in a hole, a tight claustrophobic hole. Katara I totally understand why you hate it, it was ack."
She laughs, everything's okay - she's okay - right now so she can. "Good to know I won't be the only one terrified now."
"Never again." She hugs him tightly before Aang pulls her attention to him.
"Look what I can do!" He flashes his goofy grin and shoves his arms out. A large rock nearby splits.
"Oh good job! That's fantastic!"
Toph smirks. "Taught him everything he knows."
He runs to Appa, "Appa look I can earthbend now!" Momo lands on his shoulder as Aang shows off his new talent.
"So, how did you do it?"
"Do what?"
"Get him to earthbend, he couldn't do anything last night and now," Katara leaves it hanging.
Toph cracks her knuckles. "Turns out Twinkletoes just likes to be told he can do it."
Katara smiles.