The Kyoshi Warrior, a woman about Zuko's age named Hyun-Woo, fed them some congee with small dried shrimp. Katara marvelled over the congee, having grown up without rice. Toph attempted to make fun of Zuko for slumming it, but his recent memory of starving during his route through the Earth Kingdom plains dissolved her mirth.
They ate and waited. When the sun started to set, and neither Hyun-Woo nor Toph said anything about returning to camp, Katara started to get antsy.
"Would you spar with me?" She asked Zuko.
"Bending would not be a good idea." Hyun-Woo said quickly, her voice thin with anxiety.
Still facing him, Katara rolled her eyes and let out a sigh.
"Would you show me some techniques?" She asked.
"Ok I don't want to point out the obvious but." Zuko still shook out his hands, getting ready.
"You move like a Waterbender." Katara retorted. "Zuri said so and I saw it."
"I learned from the best." The words came quickly and Zuko winced. Katara gave a slight frown but shook her head, tossing her hair.
"I guess you two were close." She said shortly.
"In a way." Zuko cringed away from her tone and flinched when she narrowed her eyes at him.
"Well you and I aren't. So why don't you show me what the other me was so good at?" She demanded.
Firebending already included some spins and sweeps. Katara took to the arm movements easily, but the ones focused on the feet made her stumble. The legs in waterbending were mainly supportive, or else to affect water under the Bender. Using her legs and feet as if they were her arms and hands was foreign to Katara.
Zuko continued on and showed Katara what he had incorporated from his timeline. Much to his chagrin, these forms that had seemed like a game changer were beginner moves for Katara. Katara watched as he lifted his relaxed hands then laughed as he pushed into the empty air while letting out a breath. She mimicked him but after pushing, she swung her arms around. Moving like a serpent, Katara swayed through a circuit and her hands became a weight at the end of a rope. Zuko could imagine the water she had raised becoming a wrecking ball.
Feeling sheepish, Zuko took a stance with his arms up in defense. Katara smirked and took a similarly relaxed stance.
Stil without bending, they engaged in unarmed sparring. Katara kept her guard up and was good at deflecting his attacks, but couldn't find an opportunity to attack. Zuko pushed her, rapidly hitting her blocks and frustrating her. As her smile fell, Katara quickly moved into a more aggressive form.
Sokka had clearly taught her some things, but only enough to defend herself till she could either flee or bend.
After being repelled, Katara attempted one of Zuko's jabs. He caught her arm and twisted, flinging her to the ground. At her gasp when she hit the ground, Zuko stood up and looked at her.
"The only time I beat Katara was when she couldn't bend." He remarked. He held out a hand and Katara grasped his forearm. Pulling her up, Zuko kept himself from laughing at her scowl.
"She sounds great." Katara hissed and stomped away from him, heading toward the fire.
A lump formed in Zuko's throat and he stared after her.
How did he always ruin things with her?
But it wasn't really her after all.
Zuko sat down, looking back toward Suki's camp. The comfort he had wrapped around himself now melted away in the falling dusk. No one knew him, and half of the people who looked like his friends actively hated him. The other half certainly didn't like him.
Toph and Suki were the first ones to accept him. They had known the least about him and taken him at face value, once they got past the whole Fire Nation thing. Toph had even met Iroh and given Zuko the benefit of the doubt, forgiving him fairly easily after he burned her.
Sokka and Katara had changed after he had gone with them on those so-called field trips.
In this timeline, he hadn't betrayed anybody. He could understand why no one liked him based on his family, but Katara's change in behavior confounded him.
Now would be a good time to have a talk with his uncle.
But that was the root of this whole mess. That his uncle wasn't here.
The night fell with a breeze and Zuko shivered. The moon glowed like a gem in the sky, igniting the net of stars like diamonds in black velvet. When in the sky with the sun, the moon wasn't as resplendent. She shined better alone.
Feeling the ache of the night air, Zuko went to the fire, sitting opposite of Katara.
She chose not to see him.
Toph spoke to them both and surprisingly never asked Zuko about his life. Instead, she pestered him about the information he was withholding. After attempting to goad Katara into asking about her own trait Zuko was keeping back and failing to do so, Toph gave up. She started to build models in the earth, raising towns with her fist and flattening them with her palm. For the few seconds they existed, Zuko was absorbed by the level of detail.
They spent two days in idle boredom on the hill.
Katara didn't ask to spar with him again, and barely spoke to him. The shame wasn't a new feeling, but the panicked concern over fixing things definitely was. Even when Zuko had been desperate for Katara to like him in his own timeline, he hadn't felt this manic about it.
He paced around the camp, slinking after and around Katara. She spent a lot of her time practicing her forms and Zuko's chest tightened when he caught a few instances of firebending technique slip in. She had rejected him then, but not his gifts.
Just as Zuko felt like he was going to break, Toph slammed her scale model of Gaoling back into the earth.
"Suki gave the signal. We're going back." She stated. Hyun-Woo heaved a deep sigh and started to pack.
"Why did we have to wait so long?" Katara asked.
Toph stood and bent backwards to stretch, unleashing a series of pops from her spine. After cracking her neck, Toph stepped into horse stance.
"The camp was being watched. Now the Fire Nation guards are finally looking for the bandits." She said while lacing her fingers together and bending them to crack the joints.
"Please tell me we're not going back underground." Zuko said.
"If you're so scared of the dark Sparky, make a light." She replied. Short, sharp bursts of her hands made the ground snap open. Earth rushed away in front of them and fell down a ramp that led into darkness. Toph marched past them down the ramp and Zuko sighed. Spinning his hand around, a flame popped up in his palm. His other hand he held out.
Katara looked at him and then down at his proffered hand. Hyun-Woo, carrying a large pack, gently nudged Katara's shoulder as she passed.
Frowning, Katara took his hand and looked down and away.
"I don't want to lose you in the dark." He said gently. Her frown deepening, Katara met his gaze.
"It's a straight tunnel." She said.
"You're right." Zuko loosened his hold and started to pull away. Katara tightened her grip and Zuko felt his face warm.
"I guess weirder things have happened to you than getting lost in a one way tunnel." She added. Zuko smiled and his flame leaped upward as she smiled back.