Disclaimer: On a scale from 1 to 10, the likelihood of me owning Avatar is negative point five. (In other words,I don't own it.)
"Are we there yet?"
"No."
"Are we there yet?"
"Not yet."
"Are we there yet?"
"No, not yet."
"Are we there yet?"
Toph, Aang, and Katara, who had each told Sokka "no" separately, sighed and said in unison, "No!"
Zuko sighed. Sokka's constant questions were driving him crazy. If he asked that question one more time, they'd be minus one traveling partner.
"Are we are there yet?"
Zuko rolled his eyes. "Yes," he said through gritted teeth.
"Really?"
"No!" Zuko spun around, glaring at Sokka. "And if you ask one more time, I'll throw you off the bison."
Katara tried to restrain from laughing. Sokka glared at her. "What's so funny?"
"You two. It's funny watching you two have at each other, especially when there's nothing else to do." Aang, who was sitting at Appa's head, smiled and nodded.
"She's right-hey!" He dodged another dagger. This one missed everyone. Everyone scrambled over to the edge of the saddle, even Toph.
The three girls from Omashu were down there, and the dark, creepy one was throwing more weapons. "We have land!" Aang called.
"What? Aang, do you wanna die?" Sokka croaked. Aang shook his head, but proceeded to land.
"Aang! What on Earth are you doing?" Toph asked, forgetting to use the nickname.
"We have to land!"
"No we don't!"
"Appa's tail got hit! I have to land!" Aang replied and landed Appa.
"Well, well, look at this, Mai. My bastard brother is traveling with the Avatar now," scorned the one who was obviously the leader. Everyone looked at Zuko, but the pink one's voice turned attention to the girls.
"Ha! I told you, Mai! Pay up!" Mai scowled and tossed the girl a small bag of coins.
"What do you want, Azula?" Zuko called, hoping he sounded bored.
"You have to ask, Zuzu?" Everyone giggled, silenced when Zuko glared.
"What do you want?"
"Stupid and weak," Azula said. "Very well. What I want, dear brother, are you and the Avatar in chains."
"Tough luck, you can't have Aang." Sokka threw his boomerang at Azula. She wasn't expecting it, so it hit her in the shoulder. "I don't care if you take Zuko."
Gee, thanks, Zuko thought bitterly. He ducked as Mai threw a shuriken his way. The fight had begun.
Both Aang and Katara sent water whips at the three girls, but Azula evaporated them. Toph jumped down from Appa, sending a large, localized earthquake at the girls. Only the pink one could keep her balance and bounded off towards Toph.
"Toph! Watch out! She's the one who can take away bending!" Katara called. Toph nodded.
"Gotcha." Toph caused a small earthen prison to surround the girl and topped it off with another slab. "That's one outta the way."
Aang came zipping by on his air scooter, sending various blasts of air at the other girls in hopes of knocking them down again. No such luck.
Mai kept throwing various sharp, pointed things at various people. "Do you want me to get Ty Lee out?" she asked in a bored voice to Azula.
"No. It's a pleasant change to fight without her constant perkiness. I say we leave her there." Mai just shrugged and continued the battle.
Zuko rolled his eyes inwardly. He really hoped Ty Lee heard that. Out of Azula's friends, she was nicer than the others.
"Hey! Let me out! I'm afraid of the dark and I'm getting kinda claustrophobic!" Ty Lee called. Toph grinned evilly.
"I'll let ya out when we're done here, Pokey!" Someone had told her Ty Lee could merely jab your arm and render it useless.
The fight went on for several minutes. Zuko's shirt was singed, as was Katara's braid. Sokka's throwing arm had gotten sore and Aang was nearly out of breath. Toph's feet were getting sore from her stomping and from Aang stepping on her toes when she was busy.
"Give up?" Azula asked, inspecting her nails. Aang looked at her, panting.
"Not a chance." Azula sighed.
"Very well. Mai, now."
Suddenly, Katara cried out in pain as Mai's flying blade scratched her back, leaving a deep cut. Aang saw Katara collapse in pain and entered the Avatar State.
"What the…" Zuko muttered as he watched Aang's anger take on a whole new level. This was a lot worse than when he had risen from the water back at the South Pole shortly after being found.
His thoughts were interrupted as Sokka tackled him to the ground. "What do you think you're doing?" he yelled.
"Hey, if you want to be caught in the attack Aang's about unleash on that brat, then be my guest. He entered the Avatar State and can't really control what he's doing!" Sokka explained, grabbing Toph's hand and pulling her down as well.
Azula saw what her attack had caused the Avatar to do; she knew that she was no match for a furious Avatar. She sent another bolt of blue flame and dashed off before Aang could harness it and send it back.
After Azula and Mai had run off, Aang left the Avatar State and stumbled over to Katara. Sokka stood and ran, Toph right behind him. Zuko trailed at the end.
For some reason, he was furious at Mai for attacking Katara. Watching the Waterbender collapse like did something to Zuko, he just didn't know what.
When reached the others, they had Katara on her side, Aang and Sokka inspecting the wound. "Is it poisoned?" Sokka asked Aang. He shrugged.
"If you let me out, I could tell you!" Ty Lee called from her prison. Toph turned to Sokka and Aang.
"Should I let our guest here out?"
"If she knows anything that could help Katara, yes, by all means, let the little creep out," Sokka said as he took Katara's water skin and soaked a rag in the water to clean his little sister's cut. Katara whimpered in pain when he touched it.
"One, I'm not a creep," Ty Lee said as she headed over to Katara. (Not that she could run if she wanted to. Toph had her hands cuffed in rock behind her back.) "My name's Ty Lee. And if Mai attacked her, then it's probably not poisoned. She may be a little…dark at times, but she's okay." Ty Lee inspected the cut. "She'll be fine once it heals."
Sokka nodded and pulled Ty Lee up. "Thank you." He turned to Aang, his grip on Ty Lee tight. "What do we do with her? We have one Fire Nation scum ball already; I'm not traveling with two of them. They might team up."
Aang was kneeling by Katara, cleaning the wound. "I dunno. Ask Zuko." He looked at Katara. "Could you heal this?"
Katara shook her head. "I can't reach that far on my back, and I need to actually touch the cut to heal it, according to the classes I took in the North Pole. There are some bandages in my bag."
"Got 'em." While Aang set about getting the bandages, Sokka turned to Zuko.
"You know her?" he asked, nodding towards Ty Lee.
"She's friends with my sister, and has been since they were kids," Zuko said emotionlessly. "Between my sister, Mai, and Ty Lee, Ty Lee not nearly as sadistic as Azula, and is considerably, er, brighter than Mai."
"What do you want to do with her?"
"I'm right here, you know," Ty Lee said. Both boys ignored her.
"I don't know!" Zuko exclaimed, waving his arms around. "I don't know if I trust her not to run back to Azula as soon as she realizes where we're going!"
"Hey! I've known you all my life, Zuko!" Ty Lee interjected. Zuko glared at her. "You're not nearly as scary as Azula."
"So what do we do? Keep her with us, tied up?" Zuko took a deep breath and held his head in his hands.
"Sure. Just keep all knifes away from her, and make sure she can't jab anyone. She's a kyusho jitsu master," Zuko warned. Sokka rolled his eyes.
"I know." He thrust Ty Lee at Zuko and started digging in his bag for rope. He found the rope he had stolen from Zuko at the North Pole and cut rather long pieces from it. He first tied Ty Lee's ankles together. "Toph, can you get rid of the rock bracelets you gave her?"
Meanwhile, Aang was wrapping Katara's back and stomach, trying his hardest not to blush. Katara winced whenever he hit the wound. "Sorry."
"It's okay."
Zuko was watching from the corner of his eye. Aang was wrapping the bandages all wrong. It was going to make Katara very sore.
"Aang," he said, using his first name for the first time, "let me do it. You're going end up making her sore." Aang looked crestfallen, but stepped aside for Zuko to take over.
"Whoa whoa whoa. Just what do you think you're doing?" Sokka asked as he finished tying up Ty Lee.
"What does it look like? I'm wrapping your sister's bandages," Zuko said, not looking up.
"No. I'll do it."
"Sokka," Katara grunted, "you don't know how to wrap bandages properly. Let Zuko do it. He won't hurt me."
"If you say so, sis."
Zuko helped Katara sit up so it was easier to wrap the bandages. "Hold still."
"Like I'm going to do otherwise," she muttered. She gasped in pain.
"Sorry," Zuko murmered, taking care not to jolt her again. In a matter of minutes, the process was done. "Can you walk?" Katara attempted to stand, but gasped in pain.
"Don't think so." Zuko stood, then helped Katara up slowly. She leaned up against him for support.
They attempted to walk back to Appa, but Katara couldn't go that far without wincing. Before Zuko could think, he had picked her up and carried her to the bison.
Sokka glared at Zuko, but didn't argue. He took Katara from Zuko and set her down gently next to Ty Lee.
"Hi," the prisoner acrobat said. Katara scooted as far away as she could. Even though Ty Lee was tied up, she might have another way to take away bending.
Zuko clambered up Appa's side and sat down next to Katara. "I don't think Ty Lee can do much of anything right now, Katara," he said as he sat down. Katara nodded, but stayed where she was.
"Everyone ready?" Aang asked from Appa's head. Sokka looked around, then nodded. "Okay. Since we have a first time flyer, let me remind everyone to keep all hands and feet inside the bison at all times. Appa, yip yip!" Appa groaned and took off.
If the coversation at the beginning sounds familar, I'm sorry, I was watching Shrek 2 at the time.
And for those who might be wondering, this is taking place after the unseen new episode.