Zuko was this close to throwing up. The river they were floating through wasn't a river so much as just a stream of mud. And it smelled disgusting. When his nose had gotten so sensitive, he wasn't sure, but he found himself cursing it every day.
How Aang was playing in the sludge, he had no idea. He also didn't know why Sokka was trying to fish in it. Any fish in that river were probably long dead.
Aang flew back onto the saddle and looked down at himself. "Hey guys, I think this river's polluted." He took a deep breath and the mud flew off him in every direction. Including all over Katara, Toph and Zuko. Zuko had to force back a gag as he felt the bile rise in his throat.
"Aang!" he snapped sharply.
Aang cringed. Maybe a little too apologetically for comfort. "Sorry."
He blew a gust of wind over them that blew the mud away. It was effective, but messy. Zuko's hair was already mussed anyway, but he pitied Katara and her long locks.
"Well, that explains why I can't catch a fish around here." Sokka grumbled. "Because normally my fishing skills are… off the hook." He held up the fishing hook for emphasis to blank looks.
"Get it? Like a fishing hook?"
"Too bad your skills aren't on the hook." Toph shot back playfully.
Now that was funny. So was the pout Sokka gave them as they all laughed.
"It looks like we'll need to go somewhere else to get food," Katara said, "Assuming that'll fit into Sokka's schedule."
On cue, Sokka rolled out his long, colourful sheet of paper. "Hm… it'd doable," Sokka said, reading it over, "But that means only two potty breaks today."
Aang pointed across the river at a cluster of wooden buildings. "Hey, maybe we can get food there."
They pulled in on shore by an outcrop of mossy boulders. Appa settled down comfortably on the ground and Aang draped a sheet of moss over him. "Now you look just like a little hill with horns. Bye, buddy." Appa snorted a farewell and Momo peeked out from under his own moss covering with a curious chatter. Zuko pulled his hood up as they approached a small cliff edge. He tried to grimace too much.
"I don't feel anything." Toph said. "Where's this village."
"It's in the middle of the river." Sokka pointed redundantly.
"Sure is!" came a voice from below them. They looked down to see an old man standing on a boat at the tiniest dock Zuko had ever seen. If it could even be called a dock. "My name's Dock. Mind if I ask who you are?"
"We're, um, from the Earth Kingdom colonies." Katara lied.
"Wow, colonials. Hop on, I'll give you a ride into town."
Zuko didn't think he'd ever prayed for the sweet release of death more than he did on that boat ride. He sat with Katara and Aang behind him and Sokka and Toph in front. Which meant that no one could see his pale face or how much he was swallowing to keep his stomach where it should be.
"Why do you guys live on the river?" Katara asked.
"Because we're a fishing town." Dock replied. When he swooped his paddling stick over their heads, Zuko actually had to clap a hand over his nose and mouth to keep himself from throwing up. If anyone noticed, they said nothing.
"Or at least that's how it was before the factory moved in. Army makes their metal there. Moved in a few years ago and started gunking up our river. Now our little village is struggling to survive." Dock explained as they drifted past the hulking metal building spewing thick black smoke. Zuko flinched slightly. His people should not be having to live like this.
They reached the village quickly and climbed onto the wooden decking.
"Thanks for the ride." Aang waved to Dock.
Zuko gazed around with dread in his stomach. Everyone he could see lay lethargically around the village. They were pale and gaunt and so, so, so hopeless. Zuko was beginning to wish he'd already lost his stomach. Because this was heartbreaking and revolting.
"Look at this place. It's so sad." Katara murmured mournfully. "We have to do something to help."
"No, we can't waste our time here," Sokka dismissed, "We have a bigger mission that we need to stay focused on. These people are on their own."
Katara grabbed his shoulder. "These people are starving but you turn your back on them? How can you be so cold and heartless?" she demanded.
"I'm not turning my back, I'm being realistic. We can't go around helping every rinky dinky town we wander into," Sokka argued, "We'll be helping them all by taking out the Firelord."
Toph clapped a hand to his mouth. "Hey, loudmouth, maybe we should be a little quieter when we talk about taking out the Firelord."
"Come on, Katara, be reasonable about this. You know our mission has to come first."
Katara hung her head. "I guess so." She sighed reluctantly.
Aang smiled comfortingly. "Let's just get what we need and go."
Agni, yes, please. Let's go. Zuko didn't know how much more of this damn nausea he could take.
Katara smiled back and they made their way to what seemed to be the centre of the village. It was definitely a market stall of some kind. Sokka poked the bell on the counter and Dock turned around to face them with a smile.
"Hey, Dock. You work here too?"
"I'm not Dock, I'm Shoe." The old man said. "Dock's my brother."
"But we just saw you," Aang said, "You're even wearing the same clothes. The only difference is your hat."
"Dock works on the docks. That's why they call him 'Dock'. And I work in the shop, that's why they call me 'Shoe'."
"I don't get it." Aang said.
"Me neither." The old man shrugged. It was definitely the same one though- the bland Beta pondweed scent was identical. He vanished under the counter and pulled out a box. "What can I get you?"
Zuko risked a glance inside. And immediately wished he hadn't. The clams and fish were grey, drippy and leaking mud. Toph grabbed hold of his arm as the other three peered in closely. He just let her cling.
"Hey. I'll give you a special deal. If you buy three fish, I'll throw in a clam for free." The old man offered.
Sokka hesitantly poked a clam. The mud the squished out nearly had Zuko gagging. Katara and Aang gave simultaneous groans of disgust and jumped back.
"We'll just take the fish," Sokka sighed, "Mind telling your brother we need a ride back to shore."
The old man handed the packaged fish to Katara, disappeared under the counter and popped back up wearing the hat he'd been wearing earlier. "Hey, colonials. My brother says you need a lift."
Zuko didn't know what was wrong with the old man and he didn't really care. Just as long as he got as far away from the river.
A little boy ran up to Katara and tugged on her skirt. "Can you spare some food?" he lisped.
Eyes gleaming with pity, she knelt down and handed him a fish. "I wish I could help more."
The boy grinned triumphantly and scampered across the deck to one of the huts. He knelt by a woman laid out on the floor and showed her his prize. She set a weak hand on his shoulder.
Zuko turned away.
When they got back to their campsite, the first thing Zuko did was bury himself in Appa's fur. While the bison didn't smell exactly nice, it was far better than the stench of the river.
Aang, Toph and Katara separated the mud from the water while Sokka paced with his schedule.
"Our detour into town today has completely thrown off our schedule," he complained, "It's going to take some serious finagling to get us back on track."
"Finagle away, O schedule master." Toph snarked.
"Well, for starters, it looks like we'll need to wake up 43 minutes earlier every day."
"43 minutes?" Katara repeated.
"Look, we don't have long to get to the Firelord in time for the invasion and the eclipse. Which, by the way only lasts for 8 minutes. So if we want to make up the time and stay on schedule, we have to wake up early."
Zuko didn't really care. He was up long before anyone else was. But he could see that not everyone felt the same.
"Well, I'm not waking up early." Toph said.
"Or we could just cut out all of our eating breaks." Sokka threatened.
"No way."
"What?"
"Forget it."
Zuko snorted. The one who would suffer most without out food breaks was without a doubt Sokka himself. It was an empty threat.
"I got it, how's this? From now on, we'll take our food breaks and potty breaks at the same time."
"Eww."
"Hey, it might be goss, but it's efficient."
"Not if we all die of food poisoning!" Zuko snapped.
"Zuko," Sokka groaned, "Either way, we have to leave here first thing tomorrow morning."
With that, he stalked off to sulk in a corner that no one was listening to him.
When dinner rolled around, Zuko couldn't bring himself to touch the fish and practically begged for some of Aang's meatless food. The Avatar was more than willing to let him but cast him a long concerned glance- that thankfully none of the others noticed. Sokka just teased him on his delicate, princely taste buds. Zuko just rolled his eyes. He was too exhausted to rise to the bait.
They were all very eager to go to bed if they had to get up early the next morning. Zuko found himself thankful of Sokka's rigid scheduling. Sleep did not come easy that night for him. His little secret was all too eager to make its presence known.
It was pitch black when he realised he couldn't hold back anymore. He staggered upright and stumbled as far away from the camp as he could before he doubled over. Acid scorched its way up his throat, and he retched forcefully, as if his body was getting vengeance for keeping it together for so long. Tears were brimming in Zuko's right eye as he coughed again. Panting haggardly, he spat out the last traces of bile.
At least his stomach was calm now.
He groaned and trekked back to the camp. They were all still asleep. Except- Katara's sleeping bag was full of moss. That definitely wasn't her there. But she hadn't followed him, so where was she? He glanced around and squinted at the lake.
There was a figure gliding across the water. Of course. She'd gone to help the villagers. Zuko sighed; too exhausted to care. He just wanted sleep. He curled up in his sleeping bag and let sleep finally claim him.
Regretfully, he still woke with the dawn. The others were still fast asleep. Katara was back in her sleeping bag. Zuko was very tempted to wake Sokka up to annoy him, but then Sokka might wake everyone else up and he did not want to have to deal with a grumpy Toph.
He felt less nauseous than the day before, but still not great. He was probably at least a little hungry as well. It was hard to tell when absolutely nothing was in any way appealing.
It didn't take too long for the others to wake. Zuko allowed himself to fade into the background: in no mood for company. He pointedly ignored the looks Aang was sending his way. Fortunately, the Airbender was distracted from Zuko by Katara fussing over Appa.
"What's the matter, Katara?" he asked.
"I think Appa's sick."
On hearing that, Zuko shot to his feet and strode over to the bison. Appa was curled on his side and let out an occasional groan.
"What, Appa's sick? That's awful!" Sokka cried, practically sprinting over to the bison's side.
"Wow, Sokka, I didn't realise you cared so much." Toph snarked.
"Of course I care. I might as well throw our schedule away now."
"Sokka!" Zuko growled, alongside the others' disapproving glares.
Sokka whimpered nervously and nuzzled against Appa's face. "And I'm concerned because my big furry friend doesn't feel well."
"He must've gotten sick from being in the polluted water." Toph said.
"He doesn't look sick," Aang frowned, "Are you okay buddy?"
Appa groaned. Aang reached into his mouth and pulled out his tongue.
"His tongue is purple!" Aang exclaimed, "That can't be good. Katara, can you heal him?"
Katara shook her head without even trying to heal him. "It looks like he needs some medicine. Maybe we can find the right herbs in town."
Aang pulled Momo off of Appa's tongue then nodded. "Yeah, sure. Let's do that."
Zuko could not face another trip like that. "I'll stay here with Appa. So he's not left on his own."
Aang nodded happily. "Thanks Zuko. That's really sweet of you."
Zuko couldn't tell if Aang knew about his ulterior motive or not. He didn't care either way. And he didn't miss the subtle nervousness in Katara's eyes as they walked away, as Sokka complained loudly about his schedule.
As soon as they were out of earshot, Zuko turned to Appa and ran his hand down the fuzzy face. "Guess you're not feeling well, either? You and me both. At least you'll get better soon."
With a grunt, Appa rolled over onto his front and gave Zuko a solid lick. "Eww, Appa!" Then he caught a whiff of fruit. "Oh, I see. You're not really sick, are you? Someone's just been giving you zazzberries. And I bet I can guess who."
Appa grunted affirmingly. Zuko sighed and slumped against the fur. "I guess it's just me who's feeling awful then?"
Appa grumbled sympathetically.
"I just- I don't know what to do. I don't- I don't have time for a baby. This is a war. They need me at my best, not fat and useless. And I don't even know how to take care of a baby anyway! But… but it's my baby… How- how can I turn my back on my own child?"
Appa groaned and licked him again. Zuko laughed. Or tried to. It quickly dissolved into sobs and he buried his face in Appa's fur. Momo slunk over and settled himself in Zuko's lap, nuzzling his hip. Zuko just sobbed even harder.
When his tears were finally spent, he croaked out. "I wish you could tell me what to do. Because… I really need help. I wish Uncle were here. He would know…"
Appa just grunted again.
"Thanks, Appa. Thanks, Momo. I really appreciate this."
He received another grunt, and some chitter. He felt lighter than he had since the Sun Warriors. It was cathartic, allowing himself to rid himself of the shock and confusion. Now all he needed to do was figure out a way ahead. He could only hide it for so long and he could only ask Aang to hide it for so long. But he still had time. He would tell them once he figured out what he wanted to do.
By the time the other four returned, he didn't obviously look like he'd been crying anymore. Appa rolled back onto his side with a feeble groan. Aang rushed over to the bison's side.
"How's he doing?"
"Uh, he's- I think, sleeping it off." Zuko stuttered. That sounded believable, right?
It was good enough for Aang. "And how are you doing, Zuko?"
Zuko narrowed his eyes warningly. "Fine. Why wouldn't I be?"
Aang got the hint and sighed. "You might want to stay clear of the fish again. It's… bad."
Sokka scoffed. "Come on, it's not that bad." He held up the fish for emphasis. Zuko nearly threw up right there. It had not one, but two heads oozing sludge. What kind of fish had two heads? Definitely not any he wanted to eat.
"Yeah. I'm going with Aang on this one." He rasped.
Sokka just grumbled about how men needed meat.
Zuko finished his dinner as quickly as he could without making himself sick so he could retreat to bed. Even without such bad nausea, he was still exhausted. Was that to with the baby as well? Probably, but what did Zuko know? He hadn't been given as much Omega information as he felt he should've been; especially not the ins and outs of pregnancy. He'd been too young for much of it when his mother disappeared and his father- well according to his father, an Omega heir was useless, a mark of weakness. He sighed. Eyes closed tightly, he begged for sleep.
Unfortunately for him, just as he was starting to drift off, someone go up. He cracked his good eye open to see Katara stuffing her sleeping bag with moss. She must be going back to the village again. She could take care of herself. He shut his eye and settled back in his sleeping bag. Someone else could deal with her. Tomorrow.
Appa's tongue was still purple the next morning. So they were sticking around the river of horror for yet another day. Zuko wanted to bang his head against a rock. Once again, he stayed behind with Appa and Momo while the others went into the village. This time, instead of uncontrollable crying, he filled the time with manic pacing.
"So I can't… get rid of it. They others would find out and I- I don't think I could do it anyway. So I have to- to-" he gulped nervously, "Carry it to term. But this is war. I could die tomorrow. And if we fail, nowhere will be safe to hide it. Just- argh! I have no idea what to do!"
Appa huffed sympathetically.
"Thanks, Appa. Very helpful." But what was Zuko expecting from a bison? Comprehensive life advise? Why not, his life was strange enough.
He was still no closer to making a decision when the others returned; tense and awkward. Especially between Katara and Sokka.
"Did something happen?" he asked tentatively.
"It's fine." Katara snapped.
Zuko flinched back at her harsh tone. Sokka put a hand on his shoulder, glaring at her. "Don't worry about her, Zuko. She's just being grouchy because she's wrong."
"You're the one being heartless, Sokka!"
"Realistic." Sokka corrected testily.
"Is- is this about the village?" Zuko asked.
"Yes, this is about the village. I'm glad someone remembers it." Katara said, sarcasm dripping from her voice.
Zuko flinched again and Sokka glowered. "Leave him alone, Katara. He didn't do anything."
"Both of you shut it!" Toph barked, "You're scaring Sparky."
"I'm fine!" Zuko shot back. But he didn't feel it. He was tired and sick and stressed to breaking point. And, yes, watching siblings argue was uncomfortable for him, but that wasn't the point.
The only reply he got from the Earthbender was a dismissive hum and a look of curiosity on her face. He didn't miss the reproachful look Aang was giving Sokka and Katara either.
The Water siblings both softened.
"I'm sorry, Zuko. I shouldn't have snapped at you." Katara said.
"Yeah. I'm sorry, too." Sokka echoed.
"It's fine." He rasped.
Dinner was a quiet affair that night. No one wanted to start another fight. Zuko didn't even have to ask for meatless portions. That was nice. He slunk off to bed again, hoping for a good night's sleep.
Which of course, Katara had to ruin. Once again, he woke to her filling her sleeping bag with moss and slipping away. Maybe he should go with her. He had an uncomfortable feeling that she was going to do something stupid. Momo started chattering and he heard Aang's sleepy voice.
"What's the matter, buddy?"
Oh good. Aang was awake.
"It's her."
And he'd seen Katara. Brilliant. Aang could deal with that and Zuko could go back to sleep. In hindsight, if Zuko hadn't been so tired, he would have known that Aang was the worst person at getting people to stop doing stupid things. But he was exhausted and was content that they would look after each other.
He regretted that when he woke the next morning to both Aang and Katara missing. Heart jumping nervously, he shook Sokka's shoulder. Hard.
"Sokka! Sokka! Wake up!"
"Huh?" Sokka mumbled dumbly, still half asleep. "Wha' 's it?"
"Aang and Katara are gone!"
"Huh?" That snapped Sokka awake in a blink. "What do you mean, they're gone?"
"I mean, Katara has been sneaking out to heal the villagers and now she and Aang are gone."
Sokka groaned. "Of course she has. Why am I not surprised? How come you didn't mention this earlier?"
Zuko bit his lip. "I- I know you're right about it not helping the villagers in the long run, but she wasn't in any danger and it was making her feel better and it made me feel better too; that someone was caring for my people and helping them when their own nation was killing them and there was nothing I could do and I'm really sorry I didn't tell you and-"
Sokka held up a hand. "Okay, I get it. I'm not mad at you, Zuko. You're right, Katara and Aang can look after themselves. Let's just wait here for them for now. They'll probably be back."
Zuko nodded. "Okay."
"Toph-"
"I'm already awake, dumbass. You two are loud."
"Sorry." Zuko cringed.
"Toph! Open your mouth!" Sokka exclaimed.
"What, why?"
"Your tongue is purple." Zuko said.
"Oh."
"Not 'oh'!" Sokka cried, "You've got whatever Appa has!"
"Zazzberries." Zuko said.
"Huh?"
"That's what Appa has. Katara's just been feeding him zazzberries to make it look like he's sick, but he's fine." Zuko explained.
Toph laughed. "Yeah, I did help myself to a little midnight snack last night. Needed something other than that disgusting fish."
Sokka looked ready to explode.
Katara and Aang did return not long after the others woke up. Zuko folded his arms, feeling worryingly like a disapproving parent.
"Hi… Sokka," Katara grinned sheepishly, "We were just out on a morning walk."
"Oh, really?" Sokka drawled, "A morning walk?" He tipped up Katara's sleeping bag, watching the moss fall out.
Katara and Aang's faces fell.
"I know you're the Painted Lady. I know you've been sneaking out at night. And I know you've been lying about Appa and feeding him purple-izing-tongue berries."
"Zazzberries." Zuko corrected quietly. He was ignored as Toph stuck out her purple tongue and held up the bag of berries for emphasis. Momo jumped on them greedily.
"Katara, what you did put our whole mission in jeopardy. We're leaving right now."
Katara and Aang slunk past miserably.
"And how long did you know about this?" Sokka asked Aang.
"Hey, I just found out this morning." Aang defended before scurrying off.
They were packing up their camp when the sound of motors drew their attention. Zuko gasped as a dozen small Fire Army boats whizzed past. Heading straight for the village.
"What's going on?" Toph asked.
"Fire Nation soldiers are heading to the village." Aang replied.
"What did you do?" Sokka snapped at Katara.
"I kind of destroyed their factory." She muttered.
"Katara." Zuko groaned despairingly.
"You what?" Sokka yelled.
"It was your idea." She snapped back.
"I was joking," He retorted, "I also said to use spirit magic and funny noises. Ugh, did you even think this through? The army's going to blame the villagers. They're headed their right now to get revenge."
"Well what was I supposed to do?"
"Leave! Do nothing!"
"No! I will never, ever turn my back on people who need me! I'm going down to the village and I am gonna do whatever I can."
With that she stormed away. Zuko was a little in awe of her ferocity and determination. Sokka, on the other hand, looked downcast. Cautiously, Zuko put a hand on his shoulder.
Sokka smiled and nodded. And ran after his sister. "Wait," he said, clasping her shoulder, "I'm coming too."
"I thought you didn't want to help."
"You need me, and I will never turn my back on you."
"Sokka, you really do have a heart."
They ached warmly. Zuko's chest ached with what could have been. Tears coursed down Aang's face. "He really does have a heart, doesn't he?"
He earned the punch Toph gave him with that one.
They snuck as close to the shore as they could, hiding behind rocks as the soldiers boarded the village decking. Zuko couldn't hear what they were saying; but he could definitely imagine. He winced as they started burning and demolishing the houses.
Maintaining smoke was something Zuko had never tried before. It took a surprising amount of concentration to create thick smoke but no flames. But it seemed to be working. With the thick cloud of smoke and mist, Sokka's eery tune, Toph's thudding rock and Appa's threatening growls, the atmosphere was perfect for a vengeful spirit. He just hoped Aang and Katara could pull of the rest of the ruse.
The boats crashing into the cliff gave the impression that they were.
So did the retreating soldiers pulling the commander out of the water.
Zuko breathed a sigh of relief. He allowed Sokka to pull him onto a boat with him and Toph to join the others on the village. Toph clung tightly to his arm the whole way. They stood to the side while Katara stood before the village in her Painted Lady regalia.
"I knew you'd come." The little boy grinned.
The old man- wearing his 'Dock' hat- stepped forward. "Thank you."
"Painted Lady, you're the best!" someone in the crowd cheered.
"Me and my brothers really owe you a lot," the old man squinted and then his eyes widened in realisation, "Hey, wait a minute, I know you. You're not the Painted Lady. You're that colonial girl."
Katara reached up to touch the smudged paint on her face.
"Yeah, you're the lady that gave me a fish." The little boy added.
"You've been tricking us," the old man continued, "You're a Waterbender."
"She's a Waterbender!" someone in the crowd echoed.
"How dare you act like our Painted Lady!" another voice called out. Soon the whole crowd was grumbling and complaining.
Sokka shot out between his sister and the villagers, leaking defensive, protective Alpha pheromones. "Maybe she is a Waterbender, but she was just trying to help you. Because of her, that factory won't be polluting your river and the army is gone. You should be down on your knees thanking her."
Katara placed a steadying hand on his shoulder, her scent like a balm to his. "Sokka, it's okay." She stepped forward and removed her hat and hood. "I shouldn't have acted like someone I wasn't, and I shouldn't have tricked you. But I felt like I had to do something. It doesn't matter if the Painted Lady is real or not. Because your problems are real, and this river is real. You can't wait around for someone to help you. You have to help yourself."
"She's right. But what should we do?" the old man asked.
Toph slipped into the crowd and called out, "Maybe we can clean the river."
"Yeah, we can clean the river."
The crowd cheered and started dispersing.
"Thank you," the old man said, "You know, you're not so bad for a Waterbender."
"You wouldn't mind keeping that a secret, by the way, would you?" Sokka asked.
"No problem," The old man agreed, "Keeping my mouth shut is a personal speciality. My brother Shoe, on the other hand, no, he's a blabbermouth."
Sokka groaned and facepalmed.
"So, Dock," Katara said, ignoring her brother, "Are you gonna help us clean?"
"No, ma'am, I'm going to get my other brother, Bushi. He loves cleaning rivers." He pulled off his hat to reveal a green hat underneath. The green cap expanded out into a wide brimmed straw hat. "Alright, I'm Bushi. Let's get some river cleaning done."
"Ah ha, I knew it," Aang declared, "I knew you were the same guy. You're the shop owner and the boat guy."
"Oh, you must be talking about my brothers, Dock and Shoe."
"No, I just saw you," Aang argued, "You switched hats and called yourself a different name."
"Oh, you know who does that? My brother Dock. He's crazy."
Aang was seconds away from exploding as the old man walked away laughing.
While the others worked on the river, Zuko slunk back to Momo and Appa. He wasn't very useful anyway. Now that the adrenaline and the danger was gone, he was right back to all consuming nausea again. And he wasn't sure how the villagers would react to a hooded stranger in their midst. Perhaps they wouldn't be able to identify him, living so remotely, but he didn't want to risk it. It was just safer to wait onshore for the others to finish so they could finally leave.
Zuko felt infinitely better in the air and away from the phantom stench of the river. Katara hadn't stopped smiling all morning. He turned to her, ducking his head shyly. "Katara? Thank you."
She blinked in confusion. "What for?"
"For caring. About my people."
She smiled warmly. "Anytime, Zuko."
