Zuko woke up with a sore neck. It was nighttime and they were still flying. He looked at the sky and realized it was actually almost dawn. He must have fallen asleep on Appa, along with everyone else, he registered when he saw Toph and Aang curled up next to each other and Ty Lee slumped in her seat. Where's Sokka?

He looked towards Appa's head and saw Sokka's warrior's wolf-tail sticking out. Zuko attempted to move, but something heavy was on his arm.

Looking down, he realized that Katara had fallen asleep leaning on his arm. Zuko groaned. Waking her up just to move his arm was stupid and overall rude. So, with a sigh, Zuko allowed Katara to use his arm as a pillow.

He wasn't about to admit he didn't mind having the girl so close to him; he didn't know it himself.

A few hours later, everyone was awake and moving, except for Katara (it hurt for her to move much) and Ty Lee (who was tied up). "Where are we going?" Ty Lee asked Zuko.

"Don't tell her that," Sokka snapped. Zuko rolled his eyes.

"It's not like she go anywhere," he muttered. Sokka glared at him.

"Y'know, how do we know that you're on our side and this isn't some big elaborate plan to capture Aang?" he questioned. Zuko, close to losing it, dug into his pack and pulled out a piece of paper.

"Read that and then tell me this is some plan, you stupid peasant," he snapped. Sokka took the paper and read it aloud.

"Wanted dead or alive for high treason to the Honorable Fire Lord Ozai, retired General Iroh and Fire Prince Zuko. They are not to be approached without professional assistance. General Iroh is usually unarmed, but always dangerous. The Fire Prince Zuko is not nearly as powerful as his uncle is, but can still pose a threat. Price for Iroh alive is 8,000 gold pieces. Price for Zuko is 4,000 gold pieces. If dead, both are worth 3,000 gold pieces.

"Long live Fire Lord Ozai!"

Sokka put down the paper, shocked. Everyone was quiet in shock.

"I told you it was a wanted poster we saw at Ba Sing Se," Aang muttered.

"Okay, so you're not plotting against us," Sokka said once the shock had worn down. "Still, don't tell her anything." He turned back to steering Appa and ended the conversation.

"Is he always like that?" Ty Lee asked Katara. Katara, still a bit wary, but slowing warming up to the acrobat, nodded. "Is he related to you?"

"Don't answer that, Katara!" Sokka called out. Katara rolled her eyes.

"He's my brother," she whispered. Ty Lee giggled.

Zuko closed his eyes. His thoughts about girls he had had as a child were being proven every moment he spent in the presence of the Avatar's female companions and his sister's friend. They were weird.

Katara winced as she attempted to get comfortable. She hadn't moved from position near Zuko since she had woken up; Katara had only moved her head off of his arm. Zuko noticed her movements and the wince.

"Here." He gently took her arms and helped her adjust. Katara looked at him, slightly confused at his gentleness.

"Thanks, Zuko," she said softly, studying him. Before he could make a comment on her staring, she turned to Aang. "You wanted to tell me something the other day when we were working on your Waterbending. What was it?"

Aang looked up from the scroll he was studying. "Oh! Lookit what Toph showed me!" He pulled out some small rocks. "I wanted to show the bigger version, but this will have to do." He bent the rocks so that they were floating, touching each other. Then, he pulled back one and sent it back.

The three rocks in the middle didn't move, but the fourth one did. Aang smiled. "I'm not even bending them to that!" he said proudly.

Katara smiled. "That's cool, Aang." Katara didn't see it, but Aang nearly died from her praise.

"Stop flirting, Twinkle Toes," Toph whispered.

"What?" Aang asked, trying to play innocent and failing.

"You're not Sugar Queen's type," Toph said simply and went back to doing nothing. Aang rolled his eyes and sighed. Toph could be a little weird at times. (But then, most girls were.)

"Hey Katara, mind if I try cooking something? I think I've gotten better at cooking," Aang asked as he helped set up camp.

From her position on Appa's side, Katara looked at him. "Nothing big," was all she said before slowly getting comfortable. Sokka and Aang had refused to let her do much of anything.

"No cooking, no cleaning, no Waterbending, no yelling, no fighting, basically nothing that could cause you pain in any form, way, or fashion," Sokka had said when they had landed. "Aang, Toph, and I can do everything for once. And Zuko can help, if he wants," he had added with a look towards the Fire Prince. Saying nothing, Zuko stood and began to help. Sokka blinked at him, then turned to Katara.

"Is he the same guy who chased us for months?" he asked. Katara sighed in frustration.

"Doe he look like the same guy who chased us for months, Sokka?" she asked, waving a hand at Zuko. "He's been traveling with us for two weeks now and he hasn't once done anything evil."

"You never know, Katara," Sokka pointed out.

"You weren't the one who saw him in Ba Sing Se! He sure didn't seem evil there, and he's not evil now," his sister said.

"About that. How'd you find him?" Sokka looked at her expectantly.

Silently, Zuko sighed. The others knew that Jun's pet had attacked him, but only Katara knew what had been next to him as he lay on the ground. He hoped she wouldn't say anything.

"I followed the smoke and the crowd of people who wanted to know what had happened to the cabbage stand," Katara said simply.

"Uh-huh. And what possessed you to call us over and get him?"

Katara gulped slightly. "I, um, well you saw him! He was paralyzed and injured! I couldn't just walk on by and let him get killed!"

"You and your sympathy," Sokka muttered, shaking his head and walking on.

Zuko looked at Katara, who was glancing out the corner of her eye at him. Silently, he mouthed the words "Thank you". Katara nodded and settled back on Appa.

Ty Lee looked down from Appa's saddle. "Hey, could someone let me down? I kinda hafta do something!" Sokka rolled his eyes and nodded to Aang to bend her down. "Hey hey hey! Usually when I fly through the air, I have a trapeze bar to hold on to!"

"You were in the circus?" Aang asked excitedly. Sokka looked at him, and Aang blushed, muttering, "What?"

Sokka sighed and untied Ty Lee's legs. "Toph, make sure she doesn't try to run off."

"Got it." Toph turned to Ty Lee. "Okay, Pokey. Go take care of business, then come straight back. I can see where you are by the earth, so get any thoughts of going AWOL out."

Ty Lee rolled her eyes and dashed off to some trees. When she got back, Sokka retied her legs. "You're kinda cute, y'know that?" Ty Lee said absently.

"Wha…?" Sokka asked, dumbfounded. Katara and Aang cracked up. Even Zuko was having a hard time holding back his laughter at Sokka's look.

"I said you're kinda cute."

Whump! Sokka fell to the ground in shock. "Wha…? Huh?" Toph giggled.

"Sokka, I'm blind and I can still tell you look like an idiot," she informed him. Aang walked over and helped Sokka up.

"Close your mouth; you're going to catch bugs," he said. Sokka closed his mouth, and then opened it again to speak his mind about the whole scenario.

"It's not my fault some peppy, poking pink acrobat thinks I'm cute!" he said, walking away from Aang…

And walking straight into some tree.

He had done this just as Katara was taking a drink from one of the canteens, causing her face to go red as she tried not to spew water every where. Zuko noticed and started to laugh. Katara swallowed and joined in.

She has a wonderful laugh, Zuko thought before shaking the very idea out of his head. Those types of thoughts were becoming more and more frequent and he had no idea why.