Disclaimer: Grr. If I owned Avatar, Zuko and Iroh would have joined up with Aang and them a loooong while ago (like, first episode, second season?). Have they? No, so I don't own Avatar.

"Agh!"

Katara flinched as she pulled the thorns from Sokka's arms and back. "I'm trying to be careful, Sokka, honestly."

Aang came over and winced at the marks on Sokka's skin. "Oh, that's gonna leave a mark," he muttered.

"Hey, mind not just making comments and help here?" Sokka asked. He had fallen in another thorn bush, having slipped on a wet rock when he had left the protective covering of the tarp for food.

"We have a tendency to have injured people in this party, don't we?" Toph asked, lounging around. "And, oddly enough, they're usually Sokka."

"Hey! I didn't get hurt in the desert! Ow!" He looked at the spot where the thorn had been pulled from his skin.

"You call being drugged on cactus juice uninjured? Sokka, you were talking to a mushroom cloud of sand," Katara pointed out, "and then started singing."

Zuko sighed as the warrior began to protest. How could they do it? How could they live with each other day in and day out for weeks and not snap? (Though, by the sounds of the latest conversation, the boy had either never been completely there or had snapped from it all.)

Suddenly, Zuko heard something behind him. Slowly he turned his head so his peripheral vision could see what happening behind him. Of course, that was rendered completely pointless as a dagger flew past Zuko to bury itself in Katara's shoulder.

"Ambush!" Zuko cried as Aang scrambled to Appa's head and grabbed the reins. Sokka forgot about his thorns and knelt by his sister, who had collapsed.

"Appa, yip yip! Yip yip!" Appa groaned and took off, Momo flying behind them. Everyone saw the three girls come rushing out and heard the distinct cursing of the leader.

Katara was gritting her teeth as her brother gently removed the dagger. "Ouch!" Sokka held up the dagger.

"That had to hurt," he said, taking a rag and cleaning the blood off it. He inspected. "Hmm, not a bad blade."

"No joke, Sokka!" Sokka blushed when he realized he had almost forgotten that same blade injured his sister.

"Will you be able to heal it?" he asked. Katara nodded and reached for her flask. It had rolled over by Zuko in the take off and she couldn't reach it. Zuko noticed and handed it to her. As she reached for it, their hands touched slightly.

Katara pulled away as if she had been burned, but then slowly took her flask from Zuko. "Thanks," she murmured, uncorking the flask and healing her shoulder. Zuko shrugged and sat back, wincing when his ankle jolted.

Katara hit her forehead and froze some water into ice for Zuko. It wasn't much, but it would be enough to numb his ankle. "As soon as we land, I'll see if I can find some plants that work as pain killers so I don't cause any tissue damage," she said. Zuko nodded, watching Katara. (He had become an observant person after two years on a ship with little else to do.)

Katara clearly felt his gaze on her because she focused on de-thorning her big brother, glancing his way every so often and fidgeting slightly, as if she was trying to avoid his gaze.

Hours later, they stopped for the night. "I'll be right back," Katara said, leaping from Appa and running off into the surrounding woods.

"Where'd she go?" Toph asked Aang. The young Avatar shrugged and started taking the tarp down. Sokka limped over to help him, still a little a sore from the thorns. Toph stayed on Appa and started throwing the packs down. As she reached for Zuko's, he stopped her.

"Don't touch that," he snapped. Toph held her hands up in submission.

"Fine, keep your pants on. It's not like there's anything useful in there anyway," she said. Zuko snorted. If she only knew just how useful his few belongings were…

Just then, Katara came back with something clutched in her hand. Sokka stopped her. "What are those?"

"As-prin weed, tyllenoll seed, and ibuprofenn plants," she said. "Pain killer plants for Zuko. His ankle must be killing him."

"Yeah, so?" Sokka asked, blinking. Katara rolled her eyes and swatted her brother.

"Sokka, just because Zuko tried to capture Aang and tied me to a tree doesn't mean I'm not going help him! Besides, do you want a furious Firebender on our hands? Trust me; that pain would cause even the most sweet-natured person to snap," Katara said as she started boiling water to turn the plants into a tea.

Zuko watched as Katara not only minded the water, but also made dinner with the food Sokka and Aang had gotten. While she did that, Toph and the boys set up as decent a camp they could. No tents in case Azula caught up.

About thirty minutes later, the tea finished and Katara dished some out into a cup. It was a bit complicated, getting up Appa without spilling the tea, but Katara managed.

"I'm warning you," she said as she handed it to Zuko, "it might not taste the best. Those plants are a bit on the bitter side." Zuko merely nodded and took the tea, ready to do anything to dull his pain. He took one sip and promptly gagged.

"'Bitter' is putting it mildly," he said after swallowing the drink. Katara shrugged.

"I warned you," she said sheepishly. Suddenly, her brother's voice distracted her.

"Hey Katara! Is the food done yet?" Katara sighed and clambered down, leaving Zuko with his tea.

How did his uncle drink this stuff? It was worse than that ginseng tea he once drank. Zuko paused when he thought of his uncle. If only he hadn't…he shook. Shut up, Zuko. It's no good thinking like that.

But it was his fault!

No, it's your wench of a sister's fault. She gave him the injury, not you. You can't bend lighting, so how could you have done it?

His common sense had a point, again. (Where was it three years ago? Ever since his banishment, his sense had spoken when he didn't want it, but it had remained silent in war room.)

Zuko sighed, tired. He attempted to get comfortable, feigning sleep when Katara brought him his dinner. He wasn't hungry.