Chapter 6: Unexpected Complications Part 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender.

"How long is this going to take?" Toph complained as she leaned up against a tree and blew some hair out of her eyes. "We've been here forever."

Zuko rolled his eyes and continued looking through his binoculars. "We've been here for a few hours, Toph. It takes longer than that to find a good place to sneak in."

Toph rolled her eyes in return and stomped her foot against the ground, hoping she could find some kind of hole in their defenses, but found nothing when an idea came to mind. "Why don't we just tunnel underneath their defenses? They probably wouldn't be expecting us to do that."

He shook his head and tried to offer her some schematics of the place, but then remembered that she was blind, something she had made sure to tell him over the little time he had spent with her thus far. "That's where you're wrong," he finally said to her as he looked over the schematics. "According to this, there's plenty of weapons and soldiers at the ready for anyone who might try to get in that way, not to mention landmines along the front of the perimeter. If we tried to go underground, we would just blow ourselves up."

"Fine," she huffed and crossed her arms over her chest. "So…" she started awkwardly. "Wanna tell me anything about yourself?"

He looked at her with a raised brow. "What do you mean?"

She simply shrugged in response as she sighed in boredom. "I don't know… we apparently have to get along, so we might as well at least pretend to be friends. Tell me about the man behind the gloomy sound in his voice."

"I wouldn't be so gloomy if I was with my girlfriend," he rolled his eyes at her before looking through the binoculars again, watching a few guards carrying a crate towards the center of the base. Raising a brow, he shook his head before he continued, "Well… I guess I can tell you some basic stuff about me."

"Feel free to, oh wise one," Toph grumbled and slumped against the tree.

Zuko was silent for a few moments, wondering what exactly he should say. Sure, he wasn't one to talk about the things he was feeling, but Toph didn't seem like she would judge him too much. In fact, it didn't seem like she cared at all. If nothing else, this could work well for getting some stuff off his chest. "I was born and raised in the Fire Agency," he started, choosing his words carefully as he went along.

"Oh really?" Toph asked sarcastically as she dug around in her ear with her pinky finger. "Wow, I hadn't guessed that. I never would have guessed that in a million years," she laughed, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

Rolling his eyes with a sigh, he decided to play nice and continue. "Wow, me neither," he responded just as sarcastically, making Toph unwillingly crack a smile. He noticed this and smiled a little to himself before he became serious again. "Anyway, I was raised from birth to be an agent. My father runs the agency. Has since his father died. Back when…" he trailed off sadly.

"When what?" Toph asked not unkindly, sensing deep pain in his voice. A pain that she recognized well.

He shook his head and looked down at his feet. "If it's all the same to you, I'd rather not talk about it. It's a long story…" He took her silence as agreement before he continued on. "Anyway, so my father has been running it for a while, which pretty much put a lot of pressure on me to be the best in the agency." He paused as his tone became bitter. "That was until my sister started making herself known."

Toph's brow raised as she 'looked' at him with a confused expression. "What do you mean? Did she beat you in the 'Who can be gloomier contest'?" she teased.

Zuko actually laughed a little, making Toph's heart flutter a bit, but she shut it down and waited for him to continue.

"No, that's not it," he assured her as he looked back at the fortress. "Before she was born, my father seemed so proud of me. Like everything I did made him the proudest father in the world," he sighed wistfully. "But then my sister was born, and from then on, something just changed. Father started paying more attention to her. I don't know what I did, but Azula was clearly his favorite. Now he barely even talks to me." He laughed a little bitterly and looked down at the fire insignia on his jacket, the one symbolizing his full status as an agent. "And if that wasn't bad enough, Azula proved to be a better agent than me. Not just in firebending, but… everything really. He was so proud of her, he had her perform for our Grandfather even though the oldest is traditionally the one who does it." He looked down at his feet sadly. "Ever since then, he only talks to me if he needs something. I just don't know what I did for him to just ignore me." And why mother had to leave me too… he thought sadly.

Toph was silent for a few moments, not entirely sure what to say. She definitely wasn't the kind of person you would go to for a pick me up. Hell, she was more likely to punch you in the shoulder and tell you to man up, but she understood Zuko's pain, but just in a different way.

"I think I know what you mean," she admitted, taking him by surprise as he looked at her in bewilderment.

"What do you mean?" he questioned.

She just shrugged and started playing with her fingers a little, feeling unusually nervous. Although she was confident and tough most of the time, when it came to talking about this… it wasn't her favorite topic to talk about. But she could tell he needed someone to talk to, and she realized it might be a good idea to talk it out for her sake too.

"My parents," she started awkwardly. "They… They treat me like I'm helpless just cause I'm blind. They don't think that I can handle myself, but I can," she said a little angrily before she calmed herself down with a deep breath. "Do you know how long it took for me to start training to be an agent?"

Zuko shook his head, then realized that she couldn't see it. "No."

She leaned back against the tree and let out a long sigh. "It took me until I was thirteen." She laughed a little incredulously with a roll of her eyes. "Thirteen. I had to wait until I hit my period before I could talk them into letting me be an Agent." She let out a sigh and 'looked' down at her feet. "All because I was blind."

"Well at least you got attention from your parents," Zuko argued as he looked down at his hands. "My father barely even speaks to me anymore."

"Too much attention is basically no attention at all."

"How so?" Zuko questioned with a bewildered look at her.

Toph didn't respond for a moment, wondering how to put this in the best words possible. "Because… They weren't paying attention to the real me. They treated me like I was some fragile porcelain doll that could break at any moment. They never got to know the real me." She laughed bitterly. "They still don't know the real me. They think I'm just this helpless girl who stumbles her way into each mission and just barely comes out of it alive, but it's not like that. I'm the best agent in my agency, and they think that I'm some helpless girl." She huffed and crossed her arms angrily. "Trust me, they might as well be ignoring me. They're not paying attention to the real me, they're giving their attention to the daughter they think I am. My father still objects to me going out on missions, even though I'm an adult now."

Her words broke through Zuko's core, seeing her now as more of a kindred spirit rather than some random agent that happened to be on the same mission as him. She too had parenting issues, just as he did, just in a slightly different way. And she was right. If his father gave him lots of attention, but if it wasn't to who he really was, he wouldn't be satisfied with it either.

"Yeah… I guess you're right," he sighed and decided to sit next to her against the tree. The silence between them was a bit awkward, but not so much anymore. Knowing about their shared family problems seemed to have made the awkwardness between them lessen. He unconsciously looked over at her. "Wow, you're really pretty," he thought aloud, making them both blush and glance away from each other.

"Um… Thanks…" Toph smiled a little with her blush intact.

"No problem," he responded awkwardly as he looked away, but then looked back at her. He knew he shouldn't, but it felt like something was pulling him to her. Before he even knew what was going on, he started leaning into her, with her leaning in as well. They were inches away from each other. He could almost taste her lips…

"Zuko? Come in, Zuko."

Stopping themselves, they quickly pulled away and Zuko somewhat disappointedly pressed his earpiece. "Yeah, Aang?"

"Just wanted to let you know that me and Katara are in position," he explained. "It took us a little longer because Appa and Momo kept running off when they detected an animal. Have you found anything yet?"

"No, not yet," he admitted as he glanced over at Toph who was fiddling with her fingers. "I'll let you know if we find anything."

"Roger that. Call in if you find anything."

Zuko nodded, temporarily forgetting that they were talking on an earpiece. "Will do. Talk to you later, Aang." He pressed the button and let out a shaky breath. The silence was thick between them as both wondered what to say. It was pretty obvious they had almost kissed, but they each had a partner that they were currently with. He had loved Suki for a long time, but Toph… he seemed to have gotten some feelings for her, too. "So… about what just happened…"

"Never happened."

He looked up at her in surprise. "What?"

"Never happened," she repeated herself as she shifted a little nervously. "We were just caught up in the moment. Nothing happened, and nothing will happen. We don't have feelings for each other, and that's how it's going to stay."

"Right," he agreed reluctantly, feeling a familiar feeling in his gut: disappointment. He shook his head at himself. "Right. It was nothing. How about we go back to trying to find a weak point?"

She snorted and flipped over on her side with her face on her hands, doing her best not to show the confusion etched across her face. "Go ahead, Hothead. I'm going to take a nap."

Zuko wasn't sure about that, but he knew he needed some quiet time to sort through his thoughts anyway, so he agreed. "Okay. Sleep well, then." Toph was silent as he looked at the fortress again through his binoculars, wondering why he felt somewhat torn as he searched for something that would get this stupid mission over with.

Sokka crunched on a bag of chips he had kept in his pocket. The blazing sun was shining down on them, as they had no good shelter to cover themselves with. A bead of sweat made it down his face as he groaned, feeling more and more annoyed with his sister by the minute. Maybe if she hadn't insisted on them going to this spot, maybe they would be in a more shady place…

"Sokka?"

He snapped out of his thoughts and looked up to see Suki looking at him with an annoyed expression. "Yeah, Suki?"

"I was just talking to you about possible entrances," she explained with a roll of her eyes. "Were you even listening?"

"Sorry," he apologized with a sheepish smile. "I was thinking about how hot it is."

She still looked a little annoyed, but she sighed and nodded in understanding. "Yeah, it really is hot outside."

"Can't we just take our jackets off? It feels like we're in a sauna," he complained.

Suki laughed a little and shook her head. "You know we can't. If someone saw us, our identities could be exposed. Not to mention that our agencies would kill us for doing something so stupid."

He gave her the best pleading eyes he could muster. "Please? Just for a little bit? We're far enough away that no one can see us, and I don't know how much longer I can take this stupid heat," he nearly begged.

After a few moments of consideration, she let out a long sigh and nodded. "Okay… but only for a little bit. If anybody catches us-"

"Yeah, yeah, the Agency will kill us," he interrupted her when a question popped in his mind. "Wait a minute, didn't you leave your agency?"

Her eyebrows raised in surprise. "How did you know that?"

He shrugged and leaned back against a tree after taking off his jacket, making Suki's eyes slowly rake over his muscular body before her attention went back to his face. "I overheard you talking to your boyfriend last night." She gave him a confused look. "You sleep-talked to each other," he explained.

"Really?" she asked in surprise.

"Yep," he laughed a little, his eyes widening as she took off her jacket, revealing her beautifully defined curves, making his jaw drop a little before he looked back up to her face, only to have it drop again as he realized how beautiful she was. "Uh… Yeah," he squeaked, making her laugh.

"Well that's good to know that I sleep talk," she said with a smile before she looked back at the fortress. They sat there in silence for a few moments before Suki suddenly looked back at him. "Am I the only one who's nervous about this mission?"

Sokka raised a brow at her. "What do you mean?"

She shrugged and looked down at her feet as she leaned back against a tree and let out a long sigh. "I don't know… It's just… This mission is more serious than the other ones I've been on before. If we don't do this right, well… It could literally be the end of the world."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Sokka admitted as he thought about it. "Well, as much as I want to say that I'm not scared at all, I would be lying if I said I wasn't. This is a big deal, and honestly, I'm kind of scared of messing it up."

"Me too," Suki agreed with a sigh before she looked over to him. "But we can do this… right?"

He gave her a reassuring smile. "Of course we can. We're the best agents in all the four Agencies. We know what we're doing, and if we all work together, then we'll get this done and go home in no time." He chuckled a little. "Besides, you seem like a girl no one should mess with, so I'm not too worried if you're helping us."

She smiled back at him. "Thanks. I think I actually needed to hear that."

"No problem," he grinned and looked into her eyes as she looked into his. Snapping out of it, Suki grabbed her binoculars again and looked through them, hoping to cover the blush that had found its way onto her cheeks. What is going on with me?

"Any luck?" Sokka asked as he moved next to her.

Laughing a little nervously, she shook her head until she saw something that caught her eye. One of the soldiers guarding one of the sections looked around and bent a part of the fence down while stepping over it and putting it back into place. "That's it!" Suki exclaimed excitedly.

"What's it?" Sokka asked in confusion as he took out his own and attempted to see what she had seen.

"There's an open part of the wires that we can get into!" she told him with a wide smile.

"Really?" She nodded. "Great! Then we can go in and get the information!"

She tackled him in a hug, both smiling as they enjoyed each other's embrace before they realized what was happening. Laughing nervously, they pulled away and looked anywhere else but at each other.

"Um… so…" Sokka began, unsure about what to say. They were saved from an awkward conversation as Suki's earpiece started buzzing.

"Hello?"

"Hey Aang," Suki sighed in obvious relief, grateful to have a distraction as she walked a little bit away. "What's up?"

"Just checking on how you guys are doing. Any luck so far?"

Suki nodded, but then remembered they were talking on the earpiece. "Yeah, actually. We found a small part in the wires that we can sneak into."

"Great!" Aang exclaimed excitedly. She heard something that sounded like a whisper and a small chuckle before he continued, "Well, if we have a way in, we should head back to their safehouse and figure out the plan. Sound good?"

"Sounds good," she agreed. "See you back at the safehouse." The line went dead and she looked over to Sokka who was staring awkwardly at his feet. Clearing her throat, she grabbed her jacket and put it back on. "So, you ready to go?"

"Yeah," he agreed quickly and put his back on. "Let's get out of here." She simply nodded and led the way when she was so distracted by her thoughts, she tripped on a tree branch and landed with her back to the ground. Sokka, however, had been tripped as well and ended up on top of her, their faces inches apart.

"Um… hi?" he laughed nervously.

"Uh…. hi," she laughed nervously back, unconsciously staring into each other's eyes before they remembered themselves again.

Sokka hastily got up and offered a hand. "Come on. Let's get out of here."

"Yeah, let's," she agreed and took it as he pulled her up and brought them once again face to face, making them both a little nervous before they walked quickly to the safehouse, hoping to get these conflicting thoughts out of their minds.

Aang smiled at Katara as they laid back against a tree. This day turned out to be getting better by the moment as he held her in his arms. First he got to spend some alone time with her, then he introduced her to his 'pets', and now Suki had found a way into the fortress. Everything was looking up for him, and he just hoped that it would stay that way. Though he had to admit, something didn't feel quite right… Almost like… something had happened. He didn't know what, but he supposed he would just have to wait and see.

Katara let out a content sigh as she leaned up to kiss his cheek. "I wish we could stay out here for a while. It would be nice to just have some time together without having to hide from your friends."

He smiled and squeezed her tighter. "Yeah, I wish we could too. But if we did, my friends would get suspicious. And honestly… I don't know how they would react to finding out about us…"

"What do you mean?" Katara asked with a confused look on her face.

"Well, for one thing they think that I'm pretending to be your ally to kill you," he explained as she raised an eyebrow at him. "I had to do it to make them think that I was still on with the mission. If they saw that I didn't want to kill you anymore, they would know that something was up," he explained.

She thought about it for a moment and nodded in thought. "Okay, that makes sense." Looking up at him, she asked a little cautiously, "When are we going to tell them about us?"

He thought about it for a moment. "I don't really know," he admitted, thinking it over. "As much as I would love for them to know, I'm not sure how they'll react. I'm supposed to kill you after all." He looked down into her eyes. "No way that's going to happen though."

"Really?" she asked with a wide smile.

Laughing a little, he kissed her head and rested his head on hers. "Kat, I don't think you understand. Back out there in the jungle… when we fought and I was about to kill you… when I saw you, there was just no way I could. Killing you would've killed me, too," he admitted, making her smile even wider. Unable to hold herself back, she turned around in his arms and kissed him passionately, making him smile against her lips as he kissed her back. Katara just sunk into the bliss he gave her, unable to think with how good she felt with his lips on hers. She was reminded of her previous train of thought. Did she love him? Considering how happy she felt whenever he was around, it sure felt like it, but she had no point of reference to go off of. She knew she liked him a lot, but… did she really love him? Her mother had told her some clues to know if she was in love. What were they?

Flashback

"Mommy!" a young Katara said excitedly as her mother walked into her room. "Come check this out!" She put on a bracelet that turned into a dart shooter.

Kya's eyes widened and walked quickly over to her. "Where did you get that, Katara?"

Katara looked confused while looking at the object in question. "Sokka gave it to me. He took it from the gadgets in the lost and found." She blushed when she realized she had given herself and her brother away. "Oops."

Amusement danced in Kya's eyes before she held out her hand. "I'll take that, please," she requested politely. Katara let out a little sigh and reluctantly handed it over. "Thank you. Now, why don't we get you to bed?" Katara smiled as Kya picked her up and brought her over to her bed.

"Mommy?" Katara asked a little shyly.

Kya smiled warmly at her daughter. "Yes, my little Water bender?"

"Well…" she started nervously, a little hesitant to ask this question.

"What is it sweetheart? Is everything alright?" Kya asked in concern as she felt her motherly instincts start to kick in.

Katara nodded quickly, not wanting to worry her. "Yeah, it's just… How do you know when you're in love?"

Kya was more than a little surprised by this question, but she shook her head and decided to answer with a question of her own. "Why? Have you fallen in love?" she teased gently.

"No," Katara shook her head quickly. "It's just that… I've been reading these fairy tale stories and the two people in them fall in love when they first see each other."

Kya motioned for her to continue.

"I guess what I'm asking is… can that actually happen?" she questioned curiously.

Taking a moment on how to word this as carefully as possible, Kya finally responded, "It can be possible, but it's very rare. Some people think that it's love at first sight, when really it's just what we call an infatuation."

"What's an infa, infat…"

"Infatuation?" Kya asked to which Katara nodded. "Well, do you know what a crush is?"

Katara nodded quickly. "Yeah! A crush is when you like someone, but it's not as strong as love."

Kya smiled, her daughter was very smart at such a young age. "That's right. And the difference between infatuation and a crush is that it's very short. But love, love lasts for a long time. And when you find the right love, it will last forever."

"Okay… but what does that have to do with if it actually happens or not?" Katara wondered.

Kya smiled a little and sat down on the bed. "Because it's important to understand the difference between infatuation and love, dear. Infatuation fades quickly, but love lasts. Always remember that, okay?"

"Yes mommy," Katara smiled before another question popped into her head. "How can you tell that you're in love, though?"

"Well…" Kya started as she laid down next to Katara and gathered her in her arms. "When you're in love, you'll be willing to do anything for them. Their pain is your pain, and their happiness is your happiness."

Katara looked confused as she snuggled into her mother. "Anything?"

"Anything," Kya agreed with a smile. "Just like I would do anything for your father."

"Oogies," Sokka shuddered as he appeared at Katara's door, making her glare at him. "Go away, Sokka!"

He crossed his arms and shook his head. "This is my room, too! You can't make me go away!"

Kya laughed a little and took him into her other side as he came up to her. "It's alright, Katara. I want him to know this, too." Katara still didn't look happy about it, but she gave up with a sigh. "Now, even though I know you guys are a long way from it, one day you two will fall in love with someone out there, and I want you to know that no matter what, remember this: When you love someone, if you are willing to do anything for them, anything to make them happy, that is how you know you love them. Okay?" They nodded in response. "Good."

Katara let out a long yawn as Kya smiled. "Well, it looks like it's your bedtime." She picked up Sokka and set him in his bed and gave him a kiss before giving Katara one as well. "Goodnight, my little angels."

"Night Mom," Sokka yawned before he turned over in his bed and quickly fell asleep.

Kya smiled and looked to Katara who was starting to fall asleep. "I love you, Mommy," Katara murmured before she fell into a deep sleep. Kya smiled and kissed her head again before letting them get to sleep.

End of Flashback

They finally pulled apart as her mother's words came back to her, making her think them over as she stared into his eyes, feeling his smile warm her to her very core. Would I do anything for him? she wondered. She surprised herself as she found that she would do anything for him. Whether it was something as small as kissing him or sacrificing herself to make sure that he lived, she would do anything for him. I love him, she thought in amazement.

Aang looked concerned as Katara didn't say anything for several moments. "Kat? Is everything okay?"

Katara snapped out of her thoughts and nodded quickly with a nervous smile. "Y-yeah. I'm fine. Why?" she asked as she tried to avoid his gaze.

Frowning a little, he took her cheek in his hand and forced her to look at him again. "Katara, what's wrong? You know you can tell me anything, right?"

She didn't respond for a few moments, unsure of what to do. Of course she wanted to tell him that she loved him, but what if he didn't feel the same? What if she told him and he freaked out and didn't want to be with her anymore? Even if they had only been dating for not even a full day yet, she couldn't bear the thought of not being with him.

"Katara," Aang whispered gently, breaking her out of her thoughts as she looked at him. "I don't know what's going on, but I can see that you need some alone time, so I'll just start heading back to the base." He set her gently on the ground and started walking away when Katara sprang to her feet and ran over to him.

"Aang, wait!" He stopped moving and waited for her to say what she wanted to say. "Look, I…" She struggled with her words, still scared as to what he would say, but she took a deep breath and decided to just get it out. "Okay… look, this is scary for me to say but… I…" she trailed off nervously with her eyes glued to her feet.

Aang took her reluctance to mean what he feared. "Oh. I get it. You don't like me anymore," he assumed, making her eyes widen in surprise as he refused to look at her. "It's fine. I understand. I'll just leave you alone."

"What? No, Aang!" she tried to stop him, but he had already taken off faster than she could comprehend, making her curse herself for being so stupid. "I need to find him," she muttered to herself before she took off running, worrying that she might lose her love before she even got to tell him how she felt.