A/N:

Hello lovelies!!! I keep forgetting to post my chapter updates on here because I get so much more activity on AO3! Here's another chapter for you all who silently read on this one...if you've been reading for quite some time, would you mind leaving me a little review pretty pretty please? 3

Shoutout to Matheus Bezerra de Lima for their review! I greatly appreciate the feedback! I'm so glad you are enjoying it! :)

BlondeBandit AKA Kim xx


Previously…

Gin broke out in laughter, eyes tearing up and gripping his sides.

The expression, once of shock, swiftly shifted into annoyance, his eyes and lips both affixing themselves into a straight line.

"Well," he said more seriously. "Did you?"

"Why would I do that?" Zuko retorted dryly, turning away to lift a crate. "We're just friends."

"So, you're traveling with that beautiful young lady, taking her back to her friends, I assume. And you're not together?" Gin continued behind him. "Why are you guys going back to Caldera, anyways?"

Zuko froze at the question, back still to the helmsman.

"Why does it matter?" He asked evenly, breezing by him to set the crate on the shelf.

Before Gin could press the matter anymore, Zuko disappeared.


Aang sat on the edge of the cliff, his feet dangling over the edge. The sea and night sky lay ahead of him, stars dotting the inky black.

He'd spent two hours tossing and turning in his bed roll, anxious thoughts consuming him.

Aang didn't know how he could possibly prepare anymore then he'd already tried. He seemed to spend everyday running, training, waiting — and they still hadn't found Katara.

So, the air bender crawled out of his bed and walked away from their camp to be alone with his thoughts.

The young boy craned his head to the starry sky, letting the glow of the moon illuminate his pale skin.

Katara.

Frowning ruefully, he rubbed his short, dark hair, still not used to the sensation.

Something blinked across the night sky.

A shooting star!

He straightened, eyes tracking the small blip of light until it blinked into nothingness further down the horizon.

Just like Katara seemed to have.

Shooting stars zoomed above them, the two sighted youths ooh-ing and aah-ing at the display.

"Ah, you seen nothing once, you've seen it a thousand times," Toph commented with a smirk from beside him, hands tucked beneath her head.

Aang glanced over at the blind girl with a wry smile.

"Oh man!" Sokka exclaimed from the other side of him, shooting up. "You've never not seen anything like that!"

A massive flash of earth and blue fire zoomed overhead and the impact that shook the earth let Toph know exactly what they'd been talking about.

"Was that what I think it was?" She asked, sitting up and turning towards the direction of the impact.

"It's on fire!" Aang pointed, arm going to grab Toph. "There's smoke! C'mon!"

The monk leapt to his feet, pulling his friends up with him.

After boarding Appa, they'd landed at a safe distance and the two benders rushed towards the blaze.

Red hot fire blazed deep within the crater, the flames already beginning to lick up the sides and spread into the earth.

"Toph!" Aang called. "We got to stop it from spreading! Bend a trench around it! I'll start bending water onto the fire!"

Toph jerked her chin in acknowledgment before taking off and getting to work.

Sokka watched on in jealous amazement as the two worked, quickly extinguishing the blaze.

Aang knew that his friend had felt useless, both with his lack of bending and his inability to find his baby sister.

The next day they'd journeyed into the nearby village and somehow stumbled upon a sword master, an older man named Piandao.

Sokka spent the better part of three days in the massive school atop the mountain.

With each passing day, his mood seemed to improve, much to Toph and Aang's relief.

As much as it could improve without knowledge of his sister, at least.

The third day had been the first they heard of Katara.

Piandao, after confronting Sokka on his real identity and helping him regain his confidence in himself, told them some exciting news.

"I knew from the beginning that Sokka was Water Tribe," Piandao said with a smile, taking the proffered drink from his butler.

Aang and Toph gaped at Piandao, eyes wide.

"You may want to think of a better Fire Nation cover name," he glanced back at Sokka who'd just picked himself off the ground. "Try Lee, there's a million Lee's…as a matter of fact, there was one traveling through just the other day."

Piandao handed his now empty tea cup to his butler. "He was traveling with another Water Tribe girl, interestingly enough."

Sokka's mouth dropped open.

"What?!" He exclaimed the same time as Aang.

"A Katara," Piandao continued, a smile tugging the corners of his lips.

"Th-that's my sister!" Sokka's eyes bugged out of his head and he strode around to stand by his friends. "I-I have so many questions! Is she okay? Who was she with? Where—?"

Piandao held up his hand to request he stop.

"N-no!" Sokka protested after merely half a second of silence. "Master Piandao, please, you have to tell me what you know!"

The master slid his hands into his sleeves, silently walking past the trio of young people and back inside. As expected, they trailed behind them, chattering amongst themselves.

"I'm sorry, Sokka," he turned from where he'd briefly overlooked the courtyard. "I'm afraid I do not have much information I can give you. She was perfectly fine. They were headed to Caldera - the capital."

"Who was this Lee person? Did she act like she knew him?" Aang piped up. Then, to Toph and Sokka. "Why would Katara be going to the capital? She knows we were going to —"

Toph kicked his shin, blankly glaring at the monk.

"Ow!" Aang protested, but knew he'd almost said too much.

Piandao flicked his gaze from the two youths back to his pupil. "You must continue your training on your own, Sokka. I know if you stay on this path, you will not only become a great master, but you will reunite with your sister."

He put his palm above his fisted hand and bowed. Looking to Aang, he smiled gently.

"Patience will benefit you as much as it will benefit Sokka. You all must trust that Katara can take care of herself. The person she is with will protect her with his life. She is in good hands."

Despite Aang's still-present concern, he forced himself to bow back, Sokka mirroring the gesture.

Toph stood beside them, staring hard at where she knew Piandao stood. She had been listening to his heart the entire time and knew he was telling the truth.

"Well," she drawled. "I'm not worried about Sugar Queen. If she can make it this far unharmed, she'll be fine." Toph had offered Piandao a two-fingered solute before boredly picking her teeth.

They had left not long after, the butler running after them and giving them a small pouch.

Aang turned over the gifted Pai Sho tile in his hand, fingertips brushing the slight rounded edge of the petals. The butler had said it was something to remember Piandao by, though he felt that it surely had to be a deeper meaning.

He slipped it back into the pouch, fishing out the next small round object.

The blue of Katara's necklace glinted in the night light.

His heart squeezed.

If the news from Piandao had given him some semblance of relief and trust in the unknown, the necklace wiped it away entirely.

Especially considering from whom they got it from.

Aang gulped at the thought.

Please be okay, he whispered to himself.

"Aang?" Sokka's voice drifted on the warm night breeze. "Aang?"

Turning around, Aang squinted into the dark, waving his hand. "Over here."

Bushes rustled and a sleepy looking Sokka stumbled through.

"There you are," Sokka mumbled. "Aang, it's late, what are you doing out here?"

Aang rubbed his head again, sighing. "I couldn't sleep."

Sokka pressed his lips together.

"Worried about the eclipse?"

"Yeah," Aang turned back to the sea. "And Katara."

The elder boy plopped down next to him, feet scraping in the dry dirt. "I miss her too."

Sokka's stomach rumbled. "And her cooking."

Much to his surprise, the comment didn't even draw a smile out of the Avatar.

"C'mon," he said after a few minutes of silence. "We gotta get some sleep."

~0~

The next morning, Sokka awoke to a steady pounding.

"What is that?" He whined, pulling the covers beneath his nose.

"It's twinkle toes," Toph retorted, her voice muffled from inside her stone tent. "I tried to get him to stop…"

One of the earthen slabs rolled down.

"HEY!" She yelled.

Sokka followed the direction of her gaze, sitting up in his bed roll.

Aang aggressively punched and kicked a tree. He barely flinched at her shout.

"Twinkle toes!" She shouted again, bending a small pebble from the earth and smacking him upside the head with it.

"Gotta-" Aang flinched at the small rock pelting his head.

Bambambam.

"Train."

Bam

"Try harder," Sokka grumbled, flopping back down onto the floor, throwing his arm over his face. "The sun is barely even up."

Toph stomped over towards Aang, the bender's bare feet padding against the grassy earth.

"Hey," she said again, irritatedly. "Are you even listening to me?"

Aang eyes were lined with dark circles, his hair sticking up everywhere. Leaves and twigs littered his short hair.

Bambambam.

"Yeah," Aang panted. "Training."

Toph stepped closer, hand darting up and catching his wrist mid-air.

"Stop, you idiot!"

Aang turned to stare grumpily at the blind girl.

"No," he sassed. "The comet will be here before we know it! I'm no where near ready! We don't have a master water bender with us, I still don't know fire bending and we don't even know if Katara is okay! So I gotta train! Gonna have to do the work of two without Katara!"

Toph groaned, palm smacking her forehead. "Like the old sword guy said, Katara can take care of herself!"

Sokka, who'd unhappily gotten up and walked over to the pair, placed his hand on Aang's shoulder.

"I know you're worried about her, Aang. But you can't overdo it." He squinted at Aang's face. "Did you even sleep last night?"

Aang scoffed indignantly. "Sleep? No. Like I said, I need to get ready. There's no time!"

With another smack, his fist made contact with the bark.

Something vibrated in the tree above and Toph put her hand on Sokka, yanking him back.

Massive branches and leaves fell from above, smacking into Aang with a thud.

Sokka gawked at the branches, a strangled noise leaving his mouth.

"What?" Toph said. "At least he's asleep now."

Another uncertain noise leaked out of Sokka's mouth.

She smirked down at the branches covering the unconscious air bender and shrugged.

"Oh please, he's fine." Toph waltzed over to her bed roll, erecting the stone tent around her without another word.

The day carried on without much progression on the Aang front, the young Avatar's momentary 'nap' doing little to calm his frazzled nerves.

A random tree stump had began to take on the brunt of his nerves, the boy having carved an evil looking face into the side.

He then had began to mercilessly - and rather clumsily - begin attacking the stump in question.

Sokka, who had been hard at work at Appa's armor, let out a strangled scream, a blast of air knocking the forehead piece clean off.

"Hey!" He protested, whirling around to look towards Aang.

"Put 'em up Fire Lord!" Aang shouted, completely oblivious to his friend's protests.

Another blast of air from Aang knocked Sokka clear onto his rear.

"Momo, his defenses are impenetrable!" Aang continued, punching sheets of air.

Sokka clambered back onto his feet, watching on in confusion.

Aang landed on the balls of his feet and froze, turning to gawk wide eyed at his winged lemur.

"Momo did you hear something?"

The animal chittered in response, glancing over at the two normal humans curiously.

Sokka sent the animal a shrug, redirecting his attention to Aang, who had taken to purring and cooing.

Toph stood beside Sokka, scratching her head.

"Is he…talking… to Momo?" She asked.

"Yep…he's lost it," Sokka announced decidedly. "We've got to do something. Katara would kill me if I didn't intervene."

Toph groaned. "Aaaagghh. I guess. But what should we do?"

Sokka shoved his hands in his pockets, turning to stare around their little patch of forest.

"Let's try talking to him first." Sokka said, going over to the sleep-deprived boy.

"Aang, buddy!" Sokka greeted, throwing his arm around his shoulder. "How ya feeling?"

The Water Tribesman didn't wait for an answer.

"Actually, I think I know the answer to that! Listen. Let's see if we can relax you, get you ready for a nice, long nap."

"A nap?" Aang repeated. "I can't sleep! The invasion is coming! Why don't you get it!"

He groaned in exasperation, his hands raking down his face, pulling at his dark circles. "Katara would understand!" His face lit up. "You know, that's what I need. Katara."

The youth pulled himself free of Sokka's grasp.

"You guys stay here. I'm going to go find her!"

A wave of panic shot through Sokka and he reached back out and grabbed Aang.

"Aang. She's not here," he said gently. "You know that." He looked to where he had left Toph standing and was not surprised to see she had disappeared.

"We've just got to make it to the meeting point at the cliffs and hope we run into her along the way."

Aang frowned, squinting at the non-bender. "The cliffs? She doesn't know to meet us at the cliffs."

Sokka sighed. "I know. But she'll figure it out!" He said brightly.

After continuing to talk Aang down off his 'adventure to find Katara' perch, he managed to get him to sit in front of the small fire and wait while he attempted to cook the boy some food.

"Agh!" He groaned, hand yanking back from the hot pan. "A little help here, Toph?"

The girl grumbled, pulling her attention away from picking at her toes. She flicked her wrist and the pot shot out of the air, a pillar of earth rising with it.

"Why don't we make him a bed?" She mused uninterestedly. "There's a whole bunch of koala-sheep just over the hill," Her arm shot out and pointed towards a hill ahead of Sokka.

"Guys?" Aang uttered in a scared tone. "Are you seeing what I'm seeing?"

His pale, tattooed hand pointing to where Appa and Momo relaxed.

Sokka's brow furrowed in confusion.

Oh yeah. He needed to sleep.

"Stay here Aang," he said gently, glancing to Toph. "Let's go."

After nearly two hours of sheathing koala-sheep, the two had returned with a huge pile, the fluff fitting neatly inside Appa's saddle.

Dusk was upon them and Sokka guided Aang to the makeshift bed.

"C'mon Aang. Time to sleep."

"But, the nightmares!" Aang protested, rapidly shaking his head.

"Nightmares?" Toph echoed.

"Yeah!" Aang whined and began to go into great detail about his dreams.

Katara being taken by flames, Toph without eyes, Sokka suffocating in black smoke and a meteorite slamming into the earth and plummeting the world into fiery hell.

"We still have a few days until you have to face Ozai," Sokka explained. "There's still time to find Katara and train. You need to sleep. None of those nightmares are real. They're just that- nightmares."

"I still have so much to learn though," he argued, raising his fists.

His tired body lulled side to side sloppily. "I need practice, hurry Toph, hit me!"

Toph raised a fist, a sly smirk crossing her face.

Sokka quietly placed his hand on Toph's shoulder, who with a pout, lowered her hand back to her side.

"Sokka is right," she said begrudgingly. "Besides, Katara wouldn't want you up for this long worrying about all this."

Blinking sleepily, a yawn overtook him, tears springing to his eyes.

"It does look comfortable…" he mumbled, slowly heading towards it.

He swung one leg over before unceremoniously tossing himself into the middle. He sighed at the soft squish beneath him, curling up into a little ball, hands tucking beneath his head.

"Yeah…" he yawned again. "This is nice."

Toph and Sokka silently walked over to their camp, plopping down on the ground.

"Do you really think we'll find Katara?" Toph asked quietly, turning her face to the fire Sokka had just stoked.

Firelight danced on his face. "I'm not sure." He said honestly, turning his face to peer up at the moon. "I hope so."

~0~

North, somewhere on the sea, Katara stood out on the Akagi, forearms pressed against the railing. Her hair blew around her in dark waves. She'd taken it down from her usual top knot, her scalp silently thanking her for the break of carrying the weight of her hair.

The moon high in the sky, she let the soothing light soak into her skin, her element all around her.

Sokka…she thought, that same homesickness rising up. Where are you?

They'd been traveling but southward for two days now.

Thankfully, things seemed to go quickly back to normal with Zuko that morning. The first day was a bit strained, though based on the cold shoulder he was giving Gin, she figured it wasn't something to do with her. Katara had asked what he was upset about, but Zuko stoically dismissed the question, coming up with some sort of excuse to leave not long after changing the subject.

The deeper they traveled into the Fire Nation, the more concerned she got with the possibility of them actually being able to meet up with their friends before the eclipse. She had lost count somewhere along the way exactly how many days she had left until the day of Black Sun, but she slowly was attempting to come to grips with the fact that she may not be able to be there for them. The realization made her feel like she would be failing her friends, though their separation wasn't really any fault of her own.

Her thoughts went to Zuko, somewhere inside.

Well, she thought. If I can't find my friends, I may as well go with him to help him find his uncle.

That brought a small, bittersweet smile to her lips.

~0~

When Sokka and Toph woke up the next morning, Sokka decided it wouldn't hurt to go and check on Aang. The sun was already pretty high in the sky and found it unlikely that he would be able to sleep though the bright light.

It was a miracle he'd been able to.

Toph, on the other hand got very lucky with her rock-tent's solid roof.

Yeah. They needed Katara around to keep them on a schedule, he would admit.

"Well, how do you feel?" Sokka called as he got closer to Appa's saddle.

Wait.

Where was Appa's saddle?

He turned to look down both ways, half expecting to see the large white animal curled up.

Oh no.

Momo chittered from…somewhere, and Sokka scratched his head.

"Aang?" He called, getting closer.

Momo popped his head up from behind a boulder, a fist full of bugs.

Glancing back to the indentation where Appa's saddle once was, he noticed a crumpled up piece of white beneath a small rock.

I'm sorry. I have to at least try and find Katara on my own.

I promise I'll meet you at the rendezvous point in time for the meeting.

Take care of Momo.

Aang

Cursing under his breath, the young man crumpled the parchment in his fist.

Dang it, Aang.

~0~

Katara smiled across the table at Zuko, his face covered in sauce.

"Would you stop laughing at me." He grumped dryly.

"I'm not!" She insisted, hand hiding the mouthful of food and the smile that had risen to her lips.

He scowled, wiping his face vigorously with his napkin.

Her eyes dropped back down to her food and she finished her meal.

"Do you want to spar?" She asked after swallowing the last bite. "I could try to use a sword or staff again."

A snort sounded from across the table and she glanced up at him again. "What? I could use some more practice."

Picking up her empty bowl, she went into the kitchen, Zuko a few steps behind.

The morning had been significantly warmer then days past, and Katara had donned less layers than usual.

She wore her red tank, with a skirt and short combo, the fabric breezy and hitting just above her knees. Her hair had been put up in her usual top knot.

Zuko found his eyes drifting down her slim body as she walked ahead of him. The sliver of thigh that peeked out was noticeably lighter than the rest of her skin, as it usually was covered by the clothing.

When his eyes trailed back up to her pretty face, he found her staring expectantly at him.

Had she said something?

"What." He said, staring blankly.

She furrowed her brows at him, still smiling. "I said, are we sparring or not?"

He rubbed the back of his neck, a blush rising to his cheeks. Zuko was thankful she'd not commented on his clear distraction.

"Fine," Zuko mumbled, continuing around her to put the dish in the sink, hair falling over his red face.

Being cooped up with her for this long was growing more difficult by the day. No wonder he'd always noticed the Avatar making goo-goo eyes at her.

Once they made it onto the deck, Zuko stripped off his shirt, two long staffs in his hand. He'd discovered them the day prior in the storage area, tucked away in the back.

"Here," he stuck a staff out to the water bender.

Katara took the proffered weapon and wiped a bead of sweat off her brow.

"Could it get any hotter?" She resisted the urge to bend sea water onto her fully clothed body.

The pale skin of Zuko's toned torso shone brightly in the sunlight and a flicker of jealousy at the socially acceptable lack of clothing went through her.

If they were on the beach, she could simply wear her sarashi wraps.

Did she feel confident and comfortable enough around Zuko to strip down to just those—?

Something swatted into her calf, and she hissed, stumbling back.

"Earth to Katara," Zuko said huskily, staring at her with those yellow eyes. He was staring at her from beneath his fringe of sweat slicked hair, amusement dancing across his features.

"Sorry," she managed, bringing her staff up defensively.

Zuko charged her without notice.

The two trained for hours. Laughter and the clatter of staffs filled the Akagi's deck, alongside the occasional grunt or exclamation of pain.

The staffs eventually were forgotten about and thrown to the side, their bending becoming their new method of offense and defense.

By the time late afternoon rolled in, their muscles were thrumming and warm, their bodies covered in sweat and both seemed to forgo any lingering awkwardness in efforts to have a fun fight.

A fire blast whizzed past Katara. She danced to the left, summoning tentacles up around her from the slightly damp floor.

Zuko, always on the offense with her, strode closer and closer, fists held high.

She'd been able to break his offensive tactics for longer than expected, having realized long ago that fire benders relied on precise foot positioning. Katara found it quite funny it had taken her sometimes egotistical traveling companion as long as it had to see what she'd been doing.

Katara snickered when he'd realized on his nearly fourteenth time of having his stance broken.

Huh, Zuko thought with a wry smile. Perhaps she can be on the offense after all.

Katara leveled clear blue eyes on Zuko's piercing amber ones as he stalked her in semi circles, pushing her further and further toward the bow of the ship.

After a few more paces backwards, away from the pursing man, Katara decided she was tired of running.

Enough avoiding.

Screwing her feet into a wide stance, she summoned the tentacles she'd allowed to slip down up, sending one flicking out to just kiss Zuko's cheek.

The tendril left a wet feeling across his scar, the liquid trickling down his neck and chest.

Zuko wiped away the droplets, a devious lopsided grin taking over.

He threw a punch in response, his fist making just the slightest contact with her before the next tentacle gripped his wrist and yanked it back.

They continued their close dance, a flurry of fists and water. Before she knew what was happening, she lost her footing.

Katara's hand shot out, grasping desperately at something - anything - to keep her upright. Somehow her fingers managed to wrap around Zuko's forearm and down he went with her.

Air whooshed out of Katara's lungs as she slammed into the ground, the weight of Zuko against her only serving to press the air out quicker.

Zuko grunted against Katara, his head bonking against hers.

Katara had only just caught her breath when she broke out into a fit of laughter, not yet aware how close the two were.

"Does this mean you win?" She said in between giggles, eyes cracking open to peek at him.

Her laughter gradually subsided, gaze caught in the snare that was completely Zuko.

His deep reddish scar only served to darken his face. The boy's pupils were so dilated, the permanently squinted eye seemed to be solid black.

Nervousness rushed through her veins and her lips parted.

"It's a tie," he rasped, having noted their closeness long before she had.

A smile quirked her lips and the motion drew his gaze down to the plump pink skin.

Her cheeks flushed, tongue darting out to moisten her lips self-consciously.

Zuko swallowed, gauging her reaction.

Oh, how he wanted to kiss her.

So badly.

Little did the teen know that nearly the same thoughts were rushing through Katara's mind.

"You fell pretty hard," he murmured, rolling slightly off of her, weight on his arm. "Are you okay?"

She didn't respond, simply stared up at him with that look. After a moment, her head bobbed in conformation.

He had just started to move down towards her, when something behind him, high in the sky, caught Katara's attention.

She let out a loud gasp and seemed to forget herself, forget Zuko.

"Aang!" She began urgently shimmying away from Zuko. "Appa!"

Annoyance flicked through him.

Of course.

Craning his neck to the sky, a large white flying bison - the same he'd spent so long perusing - glided across the clouds above, in the exact direction they'd been going.

Curses flicked through his thoughts.

Was she going to leave him? A small voice wondered, deep inside him.

"Are you sure it's him?" He said, instead.

It was the Avatar - and his bison - anyone with a pair of eyes would be able to tell.

Zuko wasn't sure what exactly about the young bald boy made him feel so…so…

"It's him!" Her exclamation prevented him from completing the thought.

Katara had gotten to her feet at some point and had taken to bending massive sheets of water into the sky.

The droplets rained down on their boat, the cool water misting their bodies.

A rather desperate and shoddy attempt at a signal.

"Aang!" She called again. "Toph! Sokka!"

If the Avatar or his bison heard her or noticed any of her displays of water-flares, they made no indication.

"Gin!" She yelled, glancing up at the tower before turning and running towards the door.

Her voice faded as she rushed inside, presumably to tell Gin to follow the white cloud-shaped bison.

Gin had swiftly obliged with her requests, cranking up the engines to pursue her friends.

Katara hurried out onto the balcony as the ship picked up speed, eyes scanning the horizon for any sign of the sky bison.

~0~

Meanwhile, Sokka, Toph and Momo pushed through another patch of forest, having been following the tufts of white koala-sheep wool that'd fluttered off Appa's saddle for nearly the entire day.

"I'm gonna kill twinkle toes when we catch up with him!" Toph announced, fisting a handful of soft wool. "I was planning on finding a mud-spring to relax in today!"

Sokka was silent, still leading the silent trudge through the woods.

They'd been headed north for quite some time. Aang had said he would meet them at the rendezvous point - and that was west. How did he expect them to be able to keep up with him if he'd taken their only means of transportation they had?

It was official, Sokka thought as Momo perched on his shoulder for the umpteenth time that day.

"I'm helping," he finally responded to Toph, glancing sidelong at the earth bender.

Toph pressed her lips together firmly and nodded, cracking her knuckles.

"We're getting closer to the sea." Her misty eyes turned towards the warmth of the sun, peeking through the trees. "Not much longer now."

Sokka hummed in response and the two continued on.

~0~

High in the sky, Aang, perched on Appa's head, toyed with the leather straps of the reigns.

"I know buddy," he cooed to the great beast, who'd been grumbling at him for the past twenty minutes. "We're almost back to land. You can take a break then."

Appa groaned in response.

The air nomad craned his neck to the late afternoon sun, the warm breeze ruffling his short hair. Guilt flared up inside him at the thought of landing without his friends.

Sokka wouldn't have let him go off on his own. He'd taken to becoming the over protective big brother to Aang, now that Katara wasn't there.

The older guy had tried the big brother act with Toph only one time, before the blind girl had simply laughed in his face and did what she wanted anyways.

Aang sighed, opening his eyes to stare at the expanse of blue sky ahead of him. He'd hoped so badly to find Katara somewhere on the southern part of the island, close to where they'd been camping.

But after flying aimlessly for hours, Aang made the decision to start flying over the ocean, heading towards the northern peninsula. His flying bison had nipped that decision in the bud quite quickly, turning around in a gradual circle despite Aang's protests.

He had been up for nearly two days prior to his six-hour nap, after all. Maybe it was a good thing Appa made that decision for them.

Little did the Avatar know, it wasn't exactly the distance that got Appa to turn around.

It was something - or perhaps someone - else entirely.

Sunset had arrived by the time the duo landed on the steep green cliffside, the great sky bison landing in a rather strange location.

Appa, facing the watery horizon, seemed hell-bent on remaining right where he'd landed, his big brown eyes scanning the waters.

"C'mon buddy," Aang said, patting his cheek. "Let's get back a little."

The bison groaned in response, not moving an inch.

Aang huffed a sigh, crossing his arms.

After a few more futile attempts to lure the animal away, Aang plopped on the ground beside him, finally noticing his friend's gaze across the sea.

"What is it?" He asked, stroking his furry cheek affectionately.

Turning his gray eyes back to the massive expanse of darkening sea, something wavered on the horizon, in the distance.

He squinted at it, rubbing his eyes.

Was he seeing things?

~0~

Katara refused to leave the helm's balcony after Appa disappeared into the horizon.

"No," she'd insisted to Zuko. "I'm staying right here. I'm not losing him again. You've got to understand."

Zuko left without saying a word, returning not long after with a chair and a cloak.

Turning to take the cloak from him, she met his moody gaze.

"Hey," she said softly, their fingers brushing atop the cloak. "Are you alright?"

He frowned, eyes shifting away from hers.

He didn't even have to respond for her to know the answer to that.

She pulled away first, the evening chill having crept into her skin long ago.

"Zuko."

She said, as he'd started to retreat inside.

The stubborn man continued towards the balcony door and she trotted after him, hand catching his wrist, pulling him back to face her.

"Talk to me," Katara caught his eyes once more. "Please?"

He sighed, removing himself from her grasp as he went to lean on the railing.

The pair stood in silence, the only sound the wind and water slicing by their fast-moving vessel.

"I won't let them… judge you," Katara murmured after a while, just loud enough for him to hear.

She didn't look at him.

"You're different, Zuko," she continued. "I know it'll take them time to see that, but I know they'll see it, too."

Out of her peripheral, she could have sworn he dropped his head.

"I just…" Zuko huffed frustratedly, hand coming up to rake through his fringe. "I don't want to have to convince someone else that I'm good! It was hard enough to convince myself!"

She let herself glance over at him.

"I've made so many awful mistakes in the past! It was a miracle that you trusted me, and I still don't fully understand that, but how are they supposed to trust me, let me continue to travel with you? I know we only talked about traveling together until we got you back to them, but if I'm going to help you guys restore balance to the world — help Aang —"

Katara's hand on his shoulder cut him off successfully.

Guilty eyes slid over to meet her sympathetic gaze.

Turning him gently, she gave him a hug.

Katara didn't have a clue if it was what he wanted or needed, but she did it anyways.

Her arms wrapped around his middle and she squeezed tightly.

A little sigh escaped from Zuko's lips at the motion, but he didn't return the gesture.

Pulling away, Katara frowned. She'd hoped that would have helped him more then it did.

Boys were so difficult sometimes.

Zuko stared out at the horizon, working his jaw moodily.

"Wait," he uttered, squinting. "I think I see land."

Almost on cue, the Akagi slowed beneath them.

Zuko was correct, the dark mass that was the southern peninsula came into view as no more then a blurb on the horizon.

"Yeah!" Katara gripped the railing, resisting the urge to pace excitedly. "We're getting close!"

~0~

Aang's eyes widened as the small cruiser got larger and larger.

"Oh no!" He gasped, leaping to his feet.

The cruiser was one he'd became all too familiar with.

It was Zuko's.

But wait! Part of him interjected. That ship was destroyed months ago!

He frowned, looking to Appa worriedly.

If it wasn't Zuko's ship, then whose was it?

"Appa, we've got to get back from these cliffs! They'll see you!" Aang began tugging on the bison, urging him to back up.

Appa shot the boy an annoyed gaze, large brown eyes side-eying him with a grumble.

"Appa!" He said again, firmly.

"Aang?" A familiar voice broke through the air.

"Sokka?" Aang whirled around to see Sokka and Toph break through the tree line.

"You must have a death wish!" Toph grumped, stomping over to the monk. "I could have spent my entire day relaxing! But no! You just had to go and take our only means of transportation and make us hike miles across this dang island!"

Aang's mouth opened and closed like a fish.

"How did you-?"

Sokka held up a fistful of white fluff.

"We followed you all the way to the coast. Took us a couple hours to get this far, but then by the time we made it, I saw you land here from way down the coast. As we got closer, Toph could see you, too."

Aang groaned, face palming. He'd not even thought about the fluff.

"Look, I'm sorry I ran off, but we've got to get out of here, there's a cruiser ship coming towards us right now!"

"You can't just run off like that, Aang!" Sokka continued angrily, before processing what the air bender had said. "Wait, did you say a cruiser? What kind of cruiser?"

The earth shook as Toph bent herself a chair. "Oh no, I'm not moving. We can take one measly ship."

Sokka approached the cliff to look out at the sea, where the ship had grown dangerously close.

"Besides," Toph said from her earthen chair. "I can feel how steep this cliffside is, it would take them hours to make it up this far."

"We probably should get Appa away from the edge like that," Sokka said to Aang. "He sticks out like a sore thumb."

Aang shrugged. "He won't move. I've tried."

Sokka frowned, rubbing his chin. "Huh. That's weird."

"Maybe he's mad at you too," Toph offered. "You did make him fly around all day."

Appa bellowed in response.

"Wait," Aang said, looking towards the ship. "Is that…a water whip?"

Sokka ran beside Aang, eyes desperately trying to focus in the dim lighting.

"Oh my — Katara!" He whooped.

Sure enough, a small dark haired blip stood on the deck of the cruiser, whipping a water tendril around in the air.

"Katara?!" Aang repeated.

Without a second's hesitation, Aang bent himself off the cliffside, sliding down on a large earthen chunk.

"Hey!" Sokka's indignant voice barely reached his ears from above. "Take me with you!"

Seconds later, the Water Tribesman had the earth bender out of her chair and had her taking them down the cliffside as well.