"Well, this is the place," Sokka said uncertainly, peering at his map and then looking around, "but there's no one here."
They had landed in a deep ravine, surrounded on all sides by high cliff walls, with several a small passes leading out from a main clearing, all but one of which dead-ended into the mountains. The other trail lead down to a swift stream; also nestled deep in the canyon.
Toph was sprawled on the ground, relishing the feel of the earth; Iroh was digging through his bag looking for his tea, while Zuko waited patiently to see if this was where they intended to rest for the night.
"Surely you didn't expect someone to be sitting here waiting for us?" asked Katara sensibly.
As Sokka's face fell somewhat, she realized that he had indeed been hoping someone, a particular someone, would be there.
"No," he admitted, "but I sort of hoped…" Sokka's voice trailed off for a moment, then he gushed anxiously, "What if she never made it? Maybe we should scout around and-"
"We can't," Aang interjected as he hopped down from Appa. "We're too close to Omashu to go wandering off. The only way into this canyon is by flight or earth bending. We need to stay where we won't be seen."
"And I'm sure Suki is fine," Katara added. "Besides, we're more than a day early. They probably don't even know to look for us yet."
"You're right," Sokka agreed dolefully.
"Come on," Katara prompted, patting him gently on the shoulder, "let's get camp set up."
Assured this was going to be their campsite, Zuko slid down Appa's side and went off in search of wood. Katara noticed this out of the corner of her eye, and even though she was used to him going off as soon as they landed, she still could not repress her worried frown.
A short while later, Aang and Iroh were in one of the side ravines working on the Avatar's fire bending lessons, mostly breathing and meditating. Meanwhile, the others were almost done setting up camp. Katara was getting food prepared, Sokka was unloading the sleeping bags, and Toph had just finished making a semi-circle of rock tents around the already lit campfire.
"Okay, shelters are up!" she declared. "And now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to make sure Twinkle Toes isn't too singed to earth bend."
"Thanks, Toph," Katara called distractedly. She was engaged in searching the area around the fire, apparently looking for something she had misplaced.
"Sokka, have you seen the kettle?" she asked. "I could have sworn I had it out…"
At that moment, Zuko came walking back into camp with the cooking pot, filled with water, and set it down next to her.
There was an awkward silence as Katara merely stared at the kettle. Sokka watched covertly as the prince seemed to wait a second before going over to the saddle and pulling his swords out of one of the bags. Without a word, Zuko left the camp and headed back to the stream. When he was gone, Sokka turned to Katara with a disapproving scowl.
"You know, it wouldn't kill you to be a little nicer to him," Sokka admonished.
"What did I say?" asked Katara, looking up at her brother with a guiltless confusion.
"Nothing," he scolded, "In fact, you haven't said a single word to him since we left Bìmíng three days ago. He always collects the firewood, starts the fire, and today he even fetched the water, yet you can't even manage a 'thank you."
"I was…busy," she said lamely.
"You weren't too busy to thank Toph," he pointed out.
Katara opened her mouth to make a retort, and then closed it when she realized he had a point. She hadn't so much as acknowledged Zuko in days, and even she had no idea why. Looking down at the water, she sighed.
"I suppose I haven't been very polite, have I?" she said quietly.
"That would be something of an understatement," he scoffed.
She nodded glumly. "I'll go talk to him as soon as I get the food started."
Katara found Zuko near the water, practicing his fire bending. Not wanting to disturb or interrupt him, she instead simply stood silently and watched. She couldn't help but be impressed by the originality he displayed. It seemed to be a weird mix of styles, and it took her a moment to realize that he was incorporating the techniques that she and the others used with their bending into his own.
She recognized Toph's rock-wall defense, except his was made of fire that rose up from the ground near his feet, and she nearly gasped as he pushed the entire barrier forward a few yards before it dissipated. Next, he formed a flaming sphere in his hands, using almost exactly the same motions that Aang did when creating a ball of air for his scooter. This too Zuko shot out in front of him, blasting it across the small stream and into the side of the canyon.
Finally, two fiery dagger blades sprung at odd angles from both ends of his fisted right hand and he flung the searing weapon out in an arc, releasing it into the air. It spun out over the water, and with a shift of his weight and a pull of his arm, it started circling back toward him…only to flicker out before it could return. Zuko dropped his stance and let out a short sigh of disappointment.
"Wow," breathed Katara in awe, "that was…really impressive."
Zuko turned, clearly startled; he had been unaware of her presence. Looking away, he frowned slightly.
"It still needs work," mumbled the prince vaguely.
"Maybe it would help if you tried it out on an opponent?" she asked with a shrug. "Tell you what. How about a sparring match?" she suggested brightly, "you and me."
Zuko flashed an uncertain glance at her before reaching down to pick his tunic up from the ground.
"I'd rather not," he replied uncomfortably.
"Come on," she challenged good-naturedly, drawing up some water from the stream and settling into a stance, "show me what you've got."
"I said no," he reiterated evenly, not bothering to look at her.
As he continued to gather his things, Katara's resolve to be kind and cooperative began to disintegrate, and indignant rage boiled up in its place. The water dropped to the ground, her focus lost in the heat of her frustration. Here she was, trying to be friendly and make a show of trust, and he was throwing it back in her face.
"Oh, so it's perfectly fine to fight me when you're trying to capture Aang," she fumed, "but if we're not trying to kill each other, there's no fun in it?"
He whirled on her so suddenly that she instinctively took a step back in alarm. Zuko's eyes blazed with fury, but his voice was low and steady.
"I didn't want to fight you then," he growled, "and I don't want to fight you now. If you're that eager for combat, then spar with Aang." He snatched the twin dao hanging from the branch near her head as he finished more calmly, "He needs the practice more than I do."
With that, he brushed the shocked girl aside and started heading back to camp, passing Sokka coming down the path as he did so. The water tribe warrior noticed the scowl on Zuko's face, and turned to watch the troubled fire bender as he went by.
Looking back to his sister, he asked curiously, "What was that all about?"
Katara hung her head guiltily.
"Is everything alright, Nephew?" asked Iroh when Zuko got back to the camp.
Zuko started re-piling the firewood into a neater stack, despite the fact that it didn't need it, and replied tersely, "Everything's fine."
Of course, as soon as the words left his mouth, he remembered Toph's 'lie detecting' abilities and immediately expected her to call him on it. So he was somewhat surprised when she addressed Aang instead.
"Come on, Twinkle Toes," she said, getting to her feet and walking over to Aang, "Let's get some practice in before dinner."
Aang looked at her quizzically. "But we just got done with-"
"-taking our break, and now it's time to work on those advanced moves," she finished smoothly.
Aang continued to stare at her in bewilderment until she jerked her head meaningfully in Zuko's direction.
"Oh!" exclaimed the boy as he finally caught on to her ploy, "right! Um…we'll be back in a little while," he told Iroh cheerfully. And the two 12-year-olds headed off down a side ravine, leaving the fire benders alone in the camp.
"Come have some tea, Zuko, and tell me what is troubling you," Iroh requested gently.
Abandoning his nervous activity with a resigned sign, Zuko went and sat down by his uncle, numbly taking the teacup the old man offered. Staring listlessly at its contents while Iroh poured his own cup, Zuko waited for his mentor to speak.
"So what seems to be the problem?" asked Iroh kindly.
"Nothing," Zuko spat. "Aside from the fact that I can't sleep, can't meditate, we're both wanted for treason, my sister wants me dead, my father doesn't want me at all, and I'm traveling with the people I spent months chasing all over the world" he ranted bitterly, "everything is just peachy."
Iroh sighed. His nephew was truly justified in his level of frustration, and the old man knew it. The question was where to start the process of helping the boy work through his extensive dilemma. He gave this some serious consideration for a few moments as he sipped his tea.
"Let's talk about your meditation," he finally suggested.
"Uncle, shouldn't meditating be the least of my worries right now?" snapped Zuko incredulously.
"On the contrary," Iroh began thoughtfully, "I think perhaps if you can solve that, then your other concerns will fall into perspective."
This earned the old fire bender a skeptical glance from his nephew, and seeing it Iroh went on to explain.
"Zuko, the purpose of meditation is not to merely calm the mind, but to enlighten it. If troubling images present themselves, you should not attempt push them away."
Iroh paused as he noticed Zuko's surprised reaction to this statement. Apparently, he had hit the nail right on the head with his suspicions regarding why Zuko couldn't meditate. Emboldened by this confirmation, he continued.
"You need to learn to let those thoughts come. Do not dwell on them, but let them come. They are appearing for a reason, and you need try to understand what they mean."
"But they're…painful," Zuko admitted with difficulty.
"I know there is not much to reflect on in your life that isn't painful," Iroh acknowledged sadly. "But you have the opportunity to move beyond that now," he added fervently, "The Avatar and his friends do not hold your past against you…and you should not hold it against yourself either."
The banished prince looked at the old man with obvious doubt, but said nothing, and only stared back into his teacup as he pondered his uncle's words.
"Let me get this straight," Sokka said as reasonably as he could, "you offered to spar with Zuko, and when he said 'no', you yelled at him."
"I didn't mean to," Katara responded defensively. "It's just…well I can't understand what the difference would be," she finished with a helpless shrug.
"Katara, did it never occur to you that maybe Zuko feels like he's fought with all of us enough for one lifetime?"
"You know," she said irritably, "I would have expected you to be the last person to stick up for Zuko."
Sokka gave her a long hard look as he contemplated what she said. At last, he just shook his head and turned toward the path back to camp, pausing to call disappointedly over his shoulder before he left.
"And I would have expected you to be the first."
Katara stared at the empty trail for several minutes before sinking to the ground in shame.