A/N: I don't own ATLA.
Hurray! For Roots201, RenaJ159, Aipom4, and Gidon for being my first reviewers! You guys keep me hopeful, so virtual cookies all around!
Katara was actually in a good mood during dinner that night. After spending so much of the day keeping busy with chores, it was nice to sit back and relax for awhile. These dinners around the campfire always were her favorite pastime. She could feel the moon giving her more strength and smiled at everyone as they sat around the fire out on the balcony, eating dinner. Well all except for Zuko but he didn't really count. The sun had just set, casting shadows around the temple. The air had become cooler, making it more comfortable tonight.
"So how's Sparky's spark coming along?" Sokka asked Aang with a big grin on his face. "Get it? Sparky's spark? 'Cause he's a Firebender?" he began laughing without waiting for Aang to answer.
Katara gave Sokka an annoyed look but Aang smiled politely.
"Completely restored thanks to the Dragons. He said I'm learning pretty fast." Aang set down his plate and leaned back on his hands.
"Of course you are Aang. You're an excellent pupil." Katara's complement made Aang blush a little as he bowed his head slightly to her.
"I could still improve."
"Yeah you can," Toph exclaimed as she snagged the last piece of fish and set it on her plate. Katara noticed Toph made no attempt to actually eat the fish, just claim it before anyone else could.
"Can I have a lesson with you tonight Sifu-Katara?" Aang asked politely.
Katara was delighted that he was so eager to learn more about waterbending, "Of course. The moon is out so tonight would be perfect for some waterbending."
"What about your earthbending? You need more training in that too," Toph stretched out on the floor.
"We have plenty of time for all that," Sokka leaned over to his bag near the fire and pulled out a map of the Fire Nation. "We have several weeks before Sozin's comet arrives. This is a pretty good hide out from the Fire Nation so we can stay here for the time being. While we lay low, Aang can continue to master all the elements. It took us about five days to get here," he pointed at the Fire Nation Capital and moved his finger to the Western Air Temple, "so if we leave six days before the Comet comes then we'll be there in time to stop the Fire Lord and all his evil doings!" Sokka stood up with his fist triumphantly in the air.
"You make it sound so easy!" Aang fell backwards and covered his face with his hands.
Katara reached out to comfort him. She placed her hand on his ankle, the closest limb to her, and patted it reassuringly. "You'll be just fine Aang. You're practically a master waterbender already. You just need a little more practice."
Aang peeked out from under his hands, "You really think so?"
"Well, sure," Katara shrugged as she started cleaning her pots with Waterbending. "You've been practicing that element as long as I have."
"How hard could pushing around a little water be?"
Katara recognized Toph's words as bait. "Probably just as difficult as kicking rocks," she said calmly.
Toph laughed, "Touché." She dropped her fist down. As her fist left an indent in the ground a rock shot up from just below where her fist landed. The small rock was aimed at Katara but this was child's play. Katara made a smooth motion with her arm and her cleaning water moved up to bat the rock out of the way. Sokka yelped as the rock hit him in the head.
"Hey! No bending around non-benders," Sokka rubbed his head.
Katara ignored her brother and looked at the fish still sitting on Toph's plate. "Are you finished with that Toph?" Katara reached for the plate but Toph dug her foot into the ground and a small wall came up between Katara's hand and the dish.
"Nope."
Katara glared at her, knowing she couldn't see it. "If you're not going to eat it then let me pack it up so it won't go bad. You shouldn't waste food."
"Who said I'm wasting it?" Toph said angrily as she stood up. She kicked the ground and the plate flew up to her hands. She left without another word. Katara glared after her. She knew something was strange about that but she couldn't quite figure it out. Katara hated not knowing what was going on. She was half inclined to follow Toph to see where she was going when Aang interrupted her thoughts. It was just the same anyways, since Toph would know Katara was following her. She reluctantly followed Aang out to the balcony to start his lesson.
Zuko was in his room, staring at the ceiling. He had found refuge here for the past few nights since he joined them. He didn't feel comfortable around most of the people here. Mostly Katara.
"Hey there Sparky!" Toph chimed as she threw back his door.
"You could knock, you know," he sat up on his bed to make room for her to sit down. Toph had been coming by almost every night with some food. It was nice to be able to skip dinner and still eat.
"That was me knocking." She dropped a plate of fish on his lap. "It's not very good tonight."
"Thanks," he took a bite. He was thankful for his months of starvation now; they helped him appreciate Katara's cooking better. It also didn't hurt to be practiced in ignoring hunger pains either. "It's not that bad."
"I can tell you're lying, but that's okay. We all think it's bad, but no one can do any better."
Toph waited for Zuko to finish off the fish before she started talking again. He set the plate down and leaned against the wall.
"Long day, huh?"
He brought his hand up to cover his eyes, "the longest."
"I think it's going to get worse before it gets better," Toph said sympathetically.
He glanced at the blind girl, "What do you mean?"
"I don't know what it is, but she's angry almost all the time."
"And that is different how?"
"Well before she would be angry, I can feel her tension and blood pressure and all. But usually it was just when you were around. When you left she would calm down but she doesn't calm down any more, and when she sees you she's angrier than I think I've ever felt." She turned to face his general direction before she finished, "All I'm saying is something isn't right with her and you should probably watch your back, if you get what I'm saying."
Zuko could feel his own blood pressure rise a little at the threat. He thought about what Katara had said to him that first night he joined them. He had always been able to hold up his own when fighting her, but in all his travels, he never saw anything more fearsome than an angry water bender.
"She's intense sometimes, isn't she," Toph said.
"Yeah."
"Well don't worry, I won't let her getcha," she said enthusiastically.
Zuko grunted, "I think I can handle my own, thank you."
After a few minutes of silence he asked, "Is she ever pleasant?"
Toph laughed and then smiled thoughtfully, "She can be." She remembered their time spent setting up the heist that went so terribly wrong. "She likes to play mother though, and sometimes she gets so caught up in taking care of everyone that she forgets how to have fun." Toph sat up suddenly and set one of her feet on floor, listening to something beyond Zuko's capabilities. Just then, Sokka barged into the room and shut the door hastily behind him. He dropped a sack of something metal that clanged when it hit the ground. He waited a minute before he turned around to face them.
"Hey guys," he said.
"What do you want?" Zuko asked impatiently, he didn't like surprises.
"Well, I am, uhh, sorta hiding out." His voice squeaked a little nervously.
"From who?" Zuko asked. Toph was already laughing but Zuko didn't get it.
"Katara's really angry today and I just figured the less I could get in her way the better. But she's running all over the place cleaning and, well, I just thought the one place she would avoid is here."
Zuko pinched the bridge of his nose, "Because of me." Toph laughed harder.
"You are pretty good at keeping her away, Sparky."
"It's a honed skill. One that took almost a year to perfect. I'm glad to see it come to good use." Zuko said dryly.
Sokka glanced between Zuko and a laughing Toph and then settled on Toph. "Did Sparky just make a joke?"
She smiled, "I think so."
Sokka's face turned deadly as he faced Zuko head on. In a smooth motion he pulled out his sword and pointed it just under Zuko's nose. "You better watch yourself, Zuko." He reminded Zuko faintly of Katara when she threatened him. Did everyone at the water tribe have that deadly serious tone?
Zuko imagined for a minute a young Sokka and Katara sitting with other children in a tent. An older woman standing over them saying, "Okay children, today we will be learning an ancient art. One that has been passed down from generation to generation." She paused as her face turned very grave. "The Water Tribe Scary Face."
"I'm the funny one around here," Sokka said as he fought off a smile.
Toph kicked the ground and a pillar shot up from under Sokka's hand, hitting it hard enough to cause him to drop his sword. Zuko caught it quickly before it hit the ground. "No one threatens Zuko," Toph shouted.
Sokka shook his hand, "What are you talking about? Everyone threatens Zuko."
Ignoring them, Zuko looked at Sokka's blade. It was unlike anything he had seen before. Black as the night sky and sharper than any sword he had ever wielded. He examined it closer, "What is this made out of?"
Sokka looked up from his fight with Toph with pride in his eyes. "It's from a meteor we found in the Fire Nation. I made it myself."
That surprised Zuko, "When did you guys find time to forage a blade?"
Sokka shrugged, "In the rare quiet moments in between being hunted down by you and your family."
"I didn't realize we left you any 'quiet moments.'" Zuko handed the sword back and added, "That's a nice sword."
"Thanks," he sheathed it and then turned to Toph. "By the way Toph, could you help me with a metally project sometime?"
Toph sat up a little straighter, "Sure, what's the problem?"
Sokka opened up a bag and pulled out pieces of warped and charred metal. "Can you turn this back into a pot?"
Zuko moved closer to get a better look, "This was a pot?"
"Yeah, I sorta accidentally blew it up and I was hoping Katara might feel better if I could fix it."
"You mean if I could fix it!" Toph picked up the biggest piece and started examining it.
"Right," Sokka agreed.
"How did you blow it up in the first place?" Zuko picked up a smaller piece.
"Explosive peanuts," Sokka said as he leaned back, confident in Toph's work.
Zuko raised his eyebrow, "Is this why she's so angry?" He asked Sokka, hopeful that Katara's mood swings would be normal soon.
He saw a shadow cross Sokka's face before he answered. "No, it's not."
Both Toph and Zuko stopped what they were doing and looked at Sokka. Perhaps this is bigger than I thought, Zuko thought to himself.
Sokka looked away from their stares after a moment, resigning not to say more. Toph sensed the change and held up the blob of metal. "Okay Snoozels, here's the deal. We all want to know what's up with sugar queen and why she's so crazy all the time, so you spill what you know or I won't fix this," she pointed the blob a few feet over from where Sokka sat.
Sokka sighed and then looked at Zuko. "I guess I probably should warn you."
Zuko's brows came forward in confusion. "Warn me about what?" he asked impatiently.
"I should have told you sooner, I just don't really like to talk about it," he paused again. Zuko had to restrain himself from grabbing Sokka by the collar and demanding to know what was going on. It was obvious that whatever it was, it was affecting Sokka too, just not as severely as Katara. Sokka started again after a long sigh, "The anniversary of our mom's death is in a few days."
"That's rough," Toph said quietly after a moment.
"I don't usually remember it, I've never been too good with dates," he laughed half-heartedly. "But I always know when it's coming up because Katara gets like this. Usually she would disappear for awhile, cleaning up the whole tribe and gathering more food than anyone could ever eat." He looked absent-mindedly out the window. "It's worse this year, maybe because we're so far from home," he mused and then shrugged. He looked back at Zuko, "But anyways, I would avoid her at all costs if I were you."
"Why?" Zuko asked stupidly.
"I don't know what she would do if you pushed anymore of her buttons."
Zuko didn't like the hidden accusation. "It isn't my fault! I haven't done anything to her!"
"Really?" Toph asked sarcastically, raising her eyebrows. "Then why does your heart tell a different tale?"
Zuko's face reddened, "I'm not lying, I didn't do anything."
"Well you must feel guilty about something, because your heart is bouncing all over the place."
"Guilty?" He did feel guilty. That was part of the reason he put up with so much of her crap.
Sokka shook his head, "It doesn't matter. I'm just saying; if you want to live, steer clear of Katara for a few days."
Zuko couldn't believe he was doing this. It was childish and beneath him. But then again, he wasn't a prince anymore. Who could say that anything was beneath him now? And he did secretly admit to himself that he was having fun. It had been so long since he had had fun. He could vaguely remember running around the palace with Azula, back when his mother was still around. They would play spy, whoever could find out the juiciest bit of information without getting caught won. It was usually Azula, of course. Azula always won everything. He ran a hand through his hair, moving it out of his eyes while he crouched behind a pillar.
Toph said she would need more metal if she was going to fix the pot and Zuko got recruited by Sokka to help them find scraps. Now all three were rummaging through the temples looking for metal to spare. The fun part was that Katara was also rummaging through nonessential items. They had to sneak around her if they didn't want to get yelled at. At the end of the day, whoever had the most items, and the fewer water whip burns, won.
He glanced around the pillar to get a picture of the situation. Appa was sleeping on the balcony and Katara was brushing his fur. She had a slight blind spot around another pillar but he knew it would be tricky getting from the pillar to the other side of Appa. He would just have to take his chance.
He had already collected a small amount of metal from his war balloon, mostly extra nuts and bolts, but he needed more. Sokka and Toph seemed to be steering clear of Appa, probably because Katara was here, but Zuko knew that the bison's packs had the best chance of having something useful. From what he learned on his travels, these kids liked to shop and the only sensible shopper was Katara. That left a lot of room for useless crap.
He moved stealthily to the pillar and peaked around the edge. He notice Katara's gentle face while she waterbended some clumps of hair off Appa. She looked serene, for the first time since…well, ever. As he looked back on all the times he spent with her he realized there really wasn't a time her face wasn't twisted up with anger. Except Ba Sing Se. He thought back with remorse on that day. He had made a lot of mistakes that day. But as he went over the memory he remembered the soft question in her eyes as she reached up to touch his face, his scar. He sighed softly, No wonder she hates me.
"Sometimes I wish I could be a flying bison," Katara sighed. Zuko became utterly still as he listened. "You can just pick up and fly off any time you felt like. You don't have to worry about who to trust or what chores need to be done or who hasn't eaten yet. Sometimes I feel like I have so much to do that if I slow down, even a little bit, I'll just fall to pieces." She sighed again, "Life's not easy. Not that anyone ever told me it would be. The South Pole was hard too. Just a different kind of hard I guess. I was used to it, I suppose. And that made it seem easier. I was excited to leave though. I wanted to see the world. To escape from my responsibilities and learn waterbending. And now," she laughed a little humorlessly. "Now I'm trapped in a nation I spent my whole life hating, with a person I spent, well not my whole life, but all the time I've known him, hating." She sighed again, "The real funny part of it is that I'm still trapped and I still have a family to take care of. I guess this was always my destiny. There's no point running from it."
She turned to pick up more water from the fountain behind her and Zuko took this chance to dive for the bison. He executed the move perfectly silent, until his foot hit a rock that skidded a ways away from him. He heard her stop bending and froze, too afraid to breath.
"Who's there?" She asked cautiously. She paused for a minute and then began to move around the bison.
Shit, he thought to himself. He had to think fast or he was going to be caught red handed. Not that he was doing anything wrong, besides eavesdropping. That probably wouldn't go over well with Katara, knowing her private conversation wasn't so private. He doubted she would ever admit this to anyone and the last thing he needed was for her to have another reason to hate him.
As if Appa understood the gravity of the moment, he rolled over with a loud yawn, successfully squishing Zuko in the process. Appa's yawn covered Zuko's little yelp as the air squeezed from his lungs.
He could see Katara's bare feet as she stepped around the massive bison. Zuko tried to suck in some air but he quickly realized struggling was futile. He wouldn't be able to move from this spot until Appa let him. He just hoped that would be soon.
Katara's feet moved closer to his face and he heard the ruffling of Appa's fur as she pet him. "Are you getting tired, big guy? I guess I should probably go to bed too. Not that I'll be able to sleep," she muttered as she left the balcony. Just as spots were starting to dance around his vision, Appa moved off him with a groan. Zuko matched that groan as he got to his feet. He leaned up against Appa's side while he caught his breath.
He was glad Katara had someone to talk to, even if Appa couldn't talk back. Zuko knew what it felt like not to have someone to talk to. After coming to the Fire Nation, it seemed no one had the time to listen. Even Mai only put up with it for a short time. She usually brushed him off, telling him how depressing he always was.
Appa distracted Zuko's thoughts by turning and licking him from his toes to his head. He was left with sticky and slimy skin and hair that stood straight up on one side. Zuko made a disgusted sound as he flattened his hair. "Thanks Appa, I needed that."
Toph was the winner. Not that it surprised anyone.
"You cheated!" Sokka pointed an accusing finger at the blind girl.
"Did not," she folded her arms and leaned against the wall of Zuko's bedroom. She had a very decent pile of miscellaneous metallic items. Most of it looked like pieces of Teo's inventions.
"Did so," Sokka shouted, "you used your feet to feel the metal AND you could tell where Katara was at all times." Sokka's pile was less impressive. He had a shinny rock, that was graphite, not metal, and some nuts. Real nuts, not the metal ones Zuko found, but the ones typically used to feed Momo.
"So what? You used your eyes didn't you? Why can't I use mine? Besides, I've never seen metal before, but you know what it looks like."
"Actually, I don't think he does." Zuko picked up one of Sokka's nuts and held it up, "Did you really think this was metal?" Toph snickered while Sokka scratched the back of his head. "Sometimes there's metal in the rocks, I thought maybe Toph could bend the metal out."
"I probably could, if I had a big enough piece. But that's an acorn." Toph laughed harder and even Zuko couldn't hold back his smile.
"Fine! Whatever, so I brought you an acorn. Do you have enough to make the pot?" Toph used her bending to move Zuko's pile closer to her. The only metal he found in the packs was a cup and some random jewelry.
"I don't know whose bracelet that is, so we may not want to use it," Zuko added while Toph examined it.
"I'm pretty sure Aang bought those. I don't think he would mind," Sokka said as he slid down to look at the pile with Toph.
"Why would Aang buy a bunch of jewelry?"
Sokka shrugged, "He really likes trinkets. Hey, this one is from Kiyoshi Island! Look it has a little fan and everything." He held up a green bracelet with a little fan charm hanging off it. Zuko noticed Sokka's face turn sober as he examined the small fan. He silently put it on his own wrist. Toph placed her hand gently on Sokka's ankle. Zuko could tell they were communicating something important but it was lost on him. He just didn't know them well enough.
The air turned tense fairly quickly. Zuko could see tears bead up in Sokka's eyes and forced himself to look away, moving his gaze to his legs folded beneath him. Sokka stood up briskly.
"It looks like Toph has enough metal, probably in her pile alone. So good job guys, mission accomplished," his voice cracked ever so slightly on the last word. He took a deep breath and then quickly said good night, stating he would come back tomorrow to help Toph with the bending if she needed it. Toph made no comment on how he couldn't bend so his help was useless, or how she knew what a pot looked like and didn't need to be baby-sitted. She just said good night and let him leave.
The minutes ticked by as she continued to examine the metal silently, making two piles, one for the pot and one to be discarded. She left most of the jewelry out of the pot pile, but used everything else he brought her. She set down the cup and blew out a big breath.
"Fine, I'll tell you."
Zuko looked up, "You don't have to share any secrets."
"Don't worry, Sparky. It's no secret. Sokka's got a thing for one of the Kyoshi Warriors that was captured by Crazy."
"Crazy?"
"You know, lightening, weird blue fire, totally unstable? I'm sure you've met," she added, her tone dripping in sarcasm.
"Azula? You nicknamed Azula as Crazy?" He said incredulously. "I hope for your sake, she's never heard you call her that." He chuckled softly while shaking his head in dismay.
"Psh," Toph waved her hand dismissively, "I can take that double-crossing, crazy ass Bit—"
"Toph!" Zuko interrupted. "You shouldn't even know those words, let alone be using them."
She jutted her chin out in defiance. "Bitch," she pronounced the word carefully. "In a world full of war, there's no time to hang on to innocents. You either gotta grow up fast or die."
Zuko laughed humorlessly. He knew about growing up too fast. "Trust me, I know all about that."
Toph smiled, a little sad. "Everyone here does. I think it took Sokka awhile. He had Katara to take care of him, but they both still went through a lot." Zuko nodded as he thought of Ba Sing Se again. Katara kneeling over, crying over her lost mother.
"Aang still has a lot of innocents left. Too much, actually."
"He's so full of hope, it's hopeless. Katara's like that a lot too but even she has her limits." Toph thought to herself for a minute before she laughed quietly. "Although you should have seen him before the Day of Black Sun. He was a total quack! All that pressure got to him eventually."
"I guess you can't run from your problems forever." It hung in the air after he said it, bouncing between both of them, bringing up old memories and a fresh sense of foreboding. The conversation died as they both became lost in their thoughts. It was easy to forget everything sometimes, pretend this is a normal life with a normal family. He felt more at home tonight than he had all week. Everyone was polite to him at least. Well everyone except Katara. Toph was always more than nice. Well she was mean, but in a nice way. Like the little sister he never had. And Sokka seemed to be coming around too. Even if he did only seek Zuko out because he knew Katara never would.
That sent a pang of regret through him but he refused to think about it anymore tonight. Katara brought up his mistakes enough for the both of them.
Zuko glanced over at Toph as her head bobbed down to her lap. He slid next to her and pulled her into his lap. Toph reminded him of Azula at times. Not the crazy Azula that he knows today, but the younger one, the not so evil one. He sighed and leaned against the wall, trying to push the good memories away with the bad. There had been so many bad times that the good ones were only torture now. He needed to keep all that in the past and look to his future with the Avatar. It was all he had left.
Zuko woke up that morning like he always did when the sun started to rise. Though he noticed this morning was a little different. First of all he wasn't in his bed, and second there was a sleeping earthbender next to him. He sat up slowly, trying not to jostle her awake. Although, he suspected that his attempts were unnecessary. By the way she was snoring he didn't think he could wake her if he needed to.
He sighed as her snoring seemed to penetrate the sound barrier and scooped her up. His limbs were dragging a little as he carried her to her room. Sometimes waking with the sun was convenient, today it felt more like torture. After all, he couldn't have gotten more than a few hours of sleep. Concentrating on the floor to keep from tripping on his own feet, he didn't see Katara turn the corner until they bumped into each other.
"Sorry," she mumbled quietly and then she noticed who it was, "oh it's you." Her eyes narrowed in suspicion, "What are you doing up so early?"
Zuko blew out a breath of exasperation. It was too early for this. "I'm always up this early." She glared at him for a moment and then her gaze moved down to Toph, noticing the sleeping child for the first time.
"What's wrong with her?" She asked as her anger turned into concern. He couldn't help but wish she would make that face in regards to him some time. But as far as he was concerned, she only had room for hate and that hatred consumed all her other emotions for him. He could feel his own anger settle inside him, singeing away at him slowly, just like a disease.
"For the love of Agni! I am not doing anything wrong. I haven't done anything wrong in quite some time so please, for both our sakes, just leave me alone," he was almost shouting and he had to remind himself of the sleeping girl in his arms. "Look," he spoke softer but the anger in his voice was just as clear. "I know you're upset by something horrible that you had no control over, but you and I both know I had nothing to do with it." There was a nagging voice in the back of his mind that told him he had gone too far.
Katara took a small step back. Her eyes were wide and glossy. Only then did he notice how puffy and red they were. She had been crying recently, and by the looks of the bruises forming under her eyes, he suspected she'd spent most of the night crying. She took a quick step forward and slapped him so hard he had to take a step back to regain his balance. She stared at him for a short moment, searching for the right words. He waited for the screaming to start but instead she just shook her head slightly and pushed past him. He stared after her as she took off down the hall, not quite able to move. Maybe if he just stood still long enough, he could reverse this and take it all back.
"Real smooth, jerkbender," Toph said as she wiggled out of his arms and moved down the hall to her room. He stared after her for a moment before he couldn't stand the silence any longer. He shouted, fire screaming from his lips and moved his fist into the wall with all his strength. Pain shuddered through his arm and down to his toes but did little to make him feel better.
A/N: Again, thanks for the reviews, I truly enjoyed reading them (so much that I read them all twice).
I know I still haven't gotten into the main plot yet but don't worry, it will come up soon. I have all these ideas that I needed to get down first because, well let's just say once I get far enough into the story, there's no turning back. But I'm all for your opinions, let me know if you think I'm taking this too slow or something (be warned though, if I skip to bigger plot lines then lots of awesome Zuko/Katara interactions will be sacrificed -_-).