(gawps) Wow, was my first chapter really that good?

By the time they landed, Zuko could feel the pain in his ankle all right, and it was causing him extreme discomfort. Instead of showing it, though, he put on a stony exterior, acting as if it didn't faze him.

Acting as if it didn't faze him until landing, that is. The bison hit a rock, which caused his ankle to jolt.

He couldn't help it. He gasped in pain.

Katara turned her head to face him. "I'm an idiot. I should have asked if you could feel your ankle yet. It must be killing you." She jumped off the bison. "You'll have to stay on Appa for awhile, Zuko. Let me just help get camp ready then I'll ice your ankle." The girl grabbed a bag and headed over where the others had set everything done.

He heard laughter at something the warrior had done. Zuko turned slightly to see what so funny.

Sokka had apparently fallen on a sticker bush because he was dancing around with the huge pointy barbs stuck to his shirt. Zuko had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing at the sight as he turned back around.

Moments later, Katara climbed back up on Appa's saddle. "I'm going to feel for the tender spots and see how badly your ankle is sprained. This is gonna hurt, but try not to fry me, okay?"

Zuko nodded and sat back to let Waterbender inspect his ankle. Gently, Katara poked and prodded, careful every time Zuko flinched. "Well, at least it's only a mild sprain. You'll be better in…a month, at the latest, two weeks at the earliest." She ducked as Zuko sent a small flame out.

"What?"

"I'm sorry, Zuko, but I can't heal sprains like that!" She snapped her fingers. "I can see if I can speed up the process, but no promises." She bent water from flask and formed a glove on her hand. Zuko watched, trying to hide his fascination, as she pressed her hand to his ankle and an eerie blue glow emitted from the water. She waited a few minutes, then sat back. She used the same water and froze it, wrapping it in a piece of cloth and placing on Zuko's ankle.

"Well, I hope that helps. No promises, though. Are you hungry?" Katara looked at him. Zuko was about to shake his head, wanting no more help from her than necessary, but at that moment, his stomach rumbled, so he nodded. "Good. I'll bring you dinner after it's done." She got down and scurried back to the fire, just a few feet away.

"How's Scarface?" Toph asked Katara.

"His ankle's sprained, but I put ice on it and used my water healing to see if I can speed up the healing process," Katara replied. "No promises that it'll work, but I tried. How's dinner coming?" Toph rolled her sightless eyes.

"Don't ask," she muttered, nodding to where Aang and Sokka were attempting to cook. What they were succeeding in was making a huge mess. It was just soup, and yet the boys had caused it to spill over. And the less said about the mess of chopped vegetables, the better. Katara sighed.

"Do you boys need help?" she called. Sokka and Aang looked up at her, turned to each other, and nodded furiously.

"Please!" Katara chuckled and headed over to save dinner. Toph shook her head and raised her voice.

"Hey, Twinkle Toes! Time for practice before dinner!" Aang looked up and ran over to Toph.

"Ready whenever you are, Toph!" Toph nodded, then led Aang away to practice Earthbending.

It was about an hour before Katara had finished cleaning up her brother and the Avatar's mess and finished dinner. As everyone else ate, Katara dished out another bowl and made her way over to Zuko.

"Here." Zuko took the proffered bowl and looked at it. In the dim light, he couldn't see all that well, but he smelled the aroma of the soup and his hunger outweighed his feeling of insult at resorting to peasant fare for food. (And it was better than what he had been eating by a long shot.) The exiled prince felt the weight of the ice leave his ankle. He dimly saw Katara gather cloth bundles.

"You need to elevate your ankle, Zuko," she said. Zuko nodded and moved his ankle to the pile of soft cloths. Katara checked for anything other than a sprain and nodded when she found nothing. "I'll be back right before I go to sleep to put more ice on your ankle."

"Why are you doing this for me?" His question clearly caught the young Waterbender off guard.

"What do you mean?" Katara cocked her head to study the prince.

"I chased you and your brother, along with the Avatar, for at least five months, yet you're seeing to my comfort and healing me," Zuko explained. "Why?"

Katara paused. "Well, you didn't look very threatening back at the abandoned village; you looked really pitiful compared to how you used to look." Katara scooted back, just in case Zuko decided to shoot a fireball at her. "And I'm a healer by nature. I just care for people in pain, unless it's those creepy Fire Nation girls or Ozai or Jet." Zuko wondered who Jet was, but decided not to ask.

"So what you're saying is that you're merciful?" Zuko asked. At Katara's nod, Zuko snorted. "Mercy will get you no where."

"Well," Katara said, sounding offended and looking around her as she got down, "I like no where better than anywhere else right now." She proceeded to climb off the saddle.

Thank her, you idiot. Zuko opened his mouth to thank Katara, but she had already left the bison to eat.

Short, yeah, I know. So sue me. It should get better as time progresses. (I hope.)