Blueeyeddevil06, thank you for being my beta. Also, thank you for working this story out with me. It makes it so much more fun to have engagement from people. Reviews matter and getting to know you better while we discuss this too is so important to me. Love you!
Akal was asleep on Appa. He'd ridden on him since he was a baby, and it always made him sleepy to fly on his back. There was a time when Katara begged Aang to visit when she desperately needed sleep. Appa was happy to fly through the night, sleep during the day, and lull him to sleep. Ever since then, he fell asleep when he was on him.
Zuko chuckled, "I guess flying doesn't bother him."
"He did wake up screaming last night." Katara cast him a worried look. "Maybe he couldn't get back to sleep."
Sokka shrugged, "Whatever it is, he drools. Who's telling him? Please, let it be me." He begged with his eyes with his hands clasped. Suki rolled her eyes and smacked his arm.
"You're just sore because he said your first girlfriend became the moon spirit to get away from you," Zuko chuckled.
Toph laughed, "Mystery-boy got you there." At the same time, Suki said, "The moon?"
Sokka deflated, "Gee, thanks. Way to bring that up."
"Mystery-boy?" Aang asked.
"No, don't derail this. I really want to hear what happened." Suki looked at him expectantly.
Toph was loving adding to the confusion of the situation. "Well, he drools like a kid for one. Also, something's off about him. He gets nervous at odd times. I can feel his heartbeat speed up."
Katara looked at her in shock, "Do you think he's dangerous?"
Toph scoffed, "After Sparky here, I think we showed we're pretty tough. Plus, I said it was at odd times. It doesn't feel like he's working against us." She didn't say that his heart rate sped up every time that Zuko and Katara were near each other. She thought it was an odd thing for him to be excited about.
Katara shrugged, "He said he was fighting for his loved ones."
Sokka added, "He told us his mother died. He has an odd reaction to it. He refuses to grieve and move forward. Do you think that has anything to do with it?"
Momo jumped up on Sokka's shoulder and started digging through his pockets. Sokka scolded him, "No! Momo, that's my food." He then shooed him away. Momo went off to pout.
"I wish Uncle was here." Zuko sighed out loudly. "He'd have something incredibly confusing to say and get him to tell his whole life story. Hmm. Like, 'Young man. You seem troubled about your mother's death. Do you see that cloud? It has a dark side and a light side, and in between, there is a silver lining. It's like the meat in the cloud sandwich. Focus on the meat."
Sokka stared at him. "What the hell are you saying? That made zero sense."
"My Uncle never does," was Zuko's response while he shook his head.
Toph scoffed. "No, you're just too dumb to understand him." She laughed when he gave her a dirty look. "Hey, I just call it as I see it."
"Funny, Toph, you can't even see!" Zuko shot back.
Katara tried to redirect their argument. "Back to Akal. He says my name weird. Did anyone notice that? It's like he emphasizes it every time."
Toph chuckled, "Maybe he has a crush on you. Ooh! I can add him to my list."
"What?" Katara looked at her in shock.
"I have a list of the guys who like you. It's pretty long. It would be longer if Jet didn't die." Toph made kissing noises at Katara.
"He turned out to be such a jerk. I can't believe I dated him!"
Toph smirked, "Apparently, you have a thing for the bad boys."
"I do not!"
"One word, Jet."
"Shut up!" Katara crossed her arms and frowned. "I didn't know he was a bad guy."
Aang and Zuko both looked uncomfortable. Zuko realized that it must have sucked for Aang to watch her date Jet.
Suki crossed her arms and scowled, "Back to you dating the moon, Sokka." She glared at him. "Don't think I forgot."
Sokka blushed and scratched the back of his head. "Um… I dated the girl who became the moon spirit." He trailed off at that.
"Is that why you won't kiss me under the full moon?!"
Zuko burst out laughing. "Tell me that's not true!"
Aang nodded adamantly, "Oh yeah. He dated her, and she gave her life to become the moon spirit."
"That's not why…." Sokka tried to protest.
Suki crossed her arms. "Really?"
Sokka visibly deflated, "Yea... That's why."
When Akal woke, he smiled at his mother. She was sitting next to Toph and laughing. He didn't see the suspicious look Aang gave him. However, he did hear his question. "You like her, don't you?"
Akal turned and looked at Aang. "I admire her. I'm not romantically interested in her at all."
"Sure…"
When Akal realized where they were heading, he grew pale. They were headed to the palace on Ember Island. He swallowed hard. He hadn't been there since his mother was alive. He didn't know how he was going to face it.
He remembered running through the halls laughing on rainy days, racing his father who, although he gave him a head start, Zuko always beat him. He claimed it would prove that when he beat his father, it was real.
His mother always rolled her eyes at that, and Zuko would point out that, "Iroh never let me win." It wasn't a secret that Zuko based his parenting on Iroh.
He was brought out of that memory by Zuko. "You okay?"
"Yea. I was just thinking about something. Sorry I was distracted."
"No problem… Um… sorry, but she wants me to ask. Can you tell me anything more about you?" Zuko looked uncomfortable.
"Katara?"
"Yeah."
Damn. Now he was going to have to share something. He wanted his father to be the one to bring her what she wanted. He was going to have to make it good too. He wanted her to keep going to Zuko for help. "My mother was killed saving my father's life. I miss her a lot. Katara reminds me of her a bit." There. Now maybe his father wouldn't think he had a crush on his mother.
"Wow. That must be so hard on your dad."
Akal teared up. "It is. He held on for my sister and me."
"Sounds like a great man."
"He is."
A short time later, they landed at the palace. Katara looked around nervously. "Doesn't it seem kind of weird that we're hiding from the Fire Lord in his own house?"
Zuko shook his head, "I told you, my father hasn't come here since our family was actually happy. And that was a long time ago. It's the last place anyone would think to look for us."
Akal's stomach dropped. That was precisely what happened with them. His father had no intention of ever going back to Ember Island.
Aang and Zuko were practicing Firebending when Sokka walked up with Suki.
Sokka and Suki walked up to everyone with Sokka holding a poster. He said, "You guys aren't gonna believe this! There's a play about us!"
Suki chuckled and said, "We were just in town, and we found this poster."
Katara looked at the poster, and sure enough, it showed her, Aang, Sokka, and Zuko on it. "What? How is that possible?"
Sokka said, "Listen to this, 'The Boy in the Iceberg' is a new production from acclaimed playwright Pu-on Tim, who scoured the globe gathering information on the Avatar from the icy South Pole to the heart of Ba Sing Se. His sources include singing nomads, pirates, prisoners of war, and a surprisingly knowledgeable merchant of cabbage."
Suki added, "Brought to you by the critically acclaimed Ember Island Players."
Zuko groaned. "Ugh! My mother used to take us to see them. They butchered Love Amongst the Dragons every year!"
Katara looked skeptical, "Sokka, do you really think it's a good idea for us to attend a play about ourselves?"
Sokka begged, "Come on, a day at the theater? This is the kind of wacky time-wasting nonsense I've been missing!"
Akal wondered just what this play was going to be about. They loved Katara in the Fire Nation, now. What did they think of her before the war ended?
