Zuko awoke feeling very dizzy. Looking around, he realized the edges of his vision were blurry and his mouth tasted funny.
"That stupid peasant must have drugged the soup or something," he muttered.
To make sure you had painless sleep, probably. She doesn't seem the type to drug people without a good cause, his common sense (which never seemed to be around when he needed it) interjected.
Zuko realized his brain was right and sat up, trying to throw the last remains of the drug off his senses. When he was himself again, he noticed it was almost dawn and the Avatar and his friends were still sleeping. And where had that rock tent come from?
"Lazy," he muttered with a derisive undertone in his voice.
"Oh, really?" He spun his head around so fast he got a crick in his neck. Katara was awake, and looking up at him from the ground with her arms crossed across her chest.
"What are you doing up?" Zuko spat.
"I couldn't sleep. I can only take so much of Sokka's snores before all hope of sleep is lost," Katara said casually. "Besides, someone has to get breakfast ready before they get up. And since I'm the only one who has any cooking skills in the slightest, it's up to me."
"What about that other girl? Toph?" Katara waved a hand in front of her eyes.
"She's blind, and it's not safe to let her near fire," she reminded him. "She knows recipes, but she can't cook them."
"Why did you drug me last night?"
"Well, drugging you seemed the easiest way to make sure your ankle didn't wake you in pain."
"Why did you drug me without telling me?"
"You slept well last night, didn't you?"
Zuko tried to come up with a comeback, but couldn't. Katara noticed and smirked. She'd won this round. She climbed up on the bison and inspected the Firebender's ankle. Upon finding the swelling had receded slightly, she froze more water and put ice on it.
"How does it feel?"
"Like a Komodo Rhino trampled it." Katara giggled slightly at his comment. As she made her way back down, Zuko stopped her. "I never thanked you last night for helping get me out of Ba Sing Se, Katara."
Katara paused. Zuko knew what she was thinking; the former Prince of the Fire Nation had thanked a Waterbender and thanked her by name. She probably didn't think he was capable of the simple act.
A moment passed, and Katara nodded. "You're welcome, Zuko." She climbed off.
Another rock flew by Zuko's head, causing him to duck. "For the Avatar, that kid has poor aim," he muttered. It was a few hours after his "talk" with Katara. Toph was attempting to teach Aang Earthbending, but he kept losing control of his rock.
"Sorry, Zuko!" Aang called for the tenth time.
For the tenth time, Zuko muttered, "No, you're not." He wouldn't be at all surprised if that stupid Water Tribe warrior was telling the Avatar to try to hit him.
Zuko noticed Katara standing off to the side, watching Aang and Toph practice, arms crossed. She seemed genuinely interested in what they were doing while she waited for something.
"Agh!" Aang collapsed to the ground, clutching his shoulder. Katara rushed over, Toph right behind her.
"I'm sorry, Aang! I couldn't see you!" Toph exclaimed. Katara shook her head as she inspected Aang's shoulder.
"That's what you get for floating half an inch off the ground during Earthbending practice, Aang," she reprimanded. She drew out water from her flask and began to heal the bruised limb.
"I'm sorry. The ground's hot here and my feet get burned when I stand on the sand too long," Aang complained, wincing when Katara touched his shoulder.
"Well, you're in luck," Toph said. "That's the end of today's lesson in Earthbending."
Aang nodded and ran back to where he had left his shoes, quick to put them on. He looked up…
And was promptly washed by a sudden downpour of rain. "Head for cover!" he cried, rushing to the packs and digging out a tarp. Toph bent a small rock slab as a makeshift umbrella and ran as fast as she could to Appa. Katara and Sokka helped Aang spread the tarp over the saddle, covering everyone, including Zuko.
"We just got out of a desert and we're getting thunderstorms?" Sokka muttered. Toph laughed.
"If you don't like the weather in the Earth Kingdom, stick around. It'll change," she replied.
"I liked the Water Tribe a lot better. There were only types of weather," Sokka complained.
"Yeah. Cold and colder," Katara pointed out. "I like it here. It's warmer and there's color."
Zuko dimly remembered the white and blue color scheme of the South Pole. It was like the red and black scheme of the Fire Nation. Fourteen years of looking at it would get boring.
"Where did this tarp come from?" Zuko muttered to Katara. She seemed to be the only one who was semi-civil to him.
"Um…hey Aang, did Bumi give us the tarp or did the king of Ba Sing Se?"
"Bumi."
"We got it from Omashu on our first visit. Bumi is an old friend of Aang, literally," Katara explained. "He's a little…eccentric, but he's a nice guy. He said that if we were in the Earth Kingdom by spring, we'd thank him for this later." Katara looked out at the rain. "Looks like he was right."
It continued raining for several hours. Katara began to dig through her bags to find something edible that didn't need cooking. Seeing the bags made Zuko remember something.
"Did you get my things before you left the ostrich horse in Ba Sing Se?" he asked, still annoyed that they'd left his horse, albeit a stolen horse.
Katara nodded and pointed to the longer package with the sword handles sticking out slightly. "What do you keep in there? A Spider Elephant?" she remarked as she handed it to him. Zuko rolled eyes and felt the bundle to make sure it hadn't been messed with. It hadn't.
"Well, it looks like we're gonna be here for a while," Toph said. "It's the start of the seasonal rains." Zuko groaned inwardly. He hated rain almost as much as he hated Azula. It weakened his bending and made his hair stick to his face.
"How long do these rains usually last?" he asked. Toph turned her sightless eyes to him.
"A week at least, and when I was about ten it rained like this for two months," she replied.
Zuko nodded, but inwardly moaned. He was stuck on a giant flying beast with the Avatar and his companions in the middle of a thunderstorm, with a sprained ankle. Life couldn't get any worse, could it?