Hope You Had Fun
I do not own Avatar, just using the characters for my own fun!
Parings: Zutara, Azutara, Some Kataang in the beginning
This is my first fan fiction so please don't hold back on the criticism! It takes place right after the Southern Raider. The beginning may seem like it comes out of nowhere, but future chapters will clear that up.
The sun had broken through the darkness, which sent away the moon, letting
the faint
rays of light stretch their legs. The rising sun signaled the start of the
day. Aang and Zuko were the first two to stir, therefore both of them ended up
crawling out of bed ahead of everyone and into breathing exercises; Suki soon
followed in consciousness. Like always
Toph and Sokka were the last two who remained asleep. Katara, strangely, had
yet to awaken, so Suki had gotten stuck with breakfast detail.
Katara opened her eyes to only shut them again. Her tired pupils were
sensitive to the bright morning light. She wasn't used to waking up so late
so she ended up squinting while wiping the sleepies away. She then heard
Aang's laughter outside which caused her to poke her head out to investigate. A moan escaped from her mouth as she felt her muscles tighten and disobey her, as she abruptly got up. She was back on her bed roll in a matter of seconds, giving her legs a much needed stretch.
'They shouldn't be up now,' Katara thought as she realized that
everybody was up and about, sitting around the fire, while poor Suki was stuck making breakfast in her place. They just sat there watching, not bothering to see if she needed help.
'Shit,' Noticing the time, Katara combed her hair hastily while scrambling
to find clean clothes, preparing herself for the verbal abuse that she knew
was heading her way.
"Hey Fan-girl you should stick to fighting, cause your cooking sucks!
Where's Sugar Queen?" Toph whined.
Katara slinked over to the camp site, after she finally found something suitable to wear,
hoping no one would notice her absence. She then took her seat next to Aang which
was always reserved for her.
"Morning, Katara! Why did you sleep so late? It's not like you."
Aang inquired.
'So much for stealth,' Katara thought with a sigh.
"Well, I, um, you see…" Katara stumbled.
"Her and I got in late last night, she insisted on staying up
until we were at least half way here, so odds are she over exerted
herself." Zuko interrupted her, which she was quite thankful for. She looked
at Zuko with pleasure as she lipped 'thank you.' to him. Zuko quickly
nodded as he looked away trying not to draw attention to them.
"Yeah and I'm not the only one who can cook around here! Would it kill
ya to learn how to be self sufficient? And where is the rule that says I
can't sleep in?!" She caught them off guard with her current complaint.
"Have you tasted Suki's cooking?! That's enough of a reason in
itself!" Toph exclaimed, making a face of disgust, then smirked seconds after.
After another 15 minutes of ranting from Toph, Katara had taken the dishes
and her clothes down to the river to be cleaned. Suki volunteered to help her out,
since she did, unseeingly, make quite a mess.
Katara and Suki had to trek all the way to the top floor of the temple just
to get to the door that would lead to the outside. After that, they had at
least another half a mile to walk in order to get to the river. Katara was
glad that Suki was here to help her this time, because normally she would've stopped
to take a break from the weight of all the dishes and dirty clothes. Katara
and Suki made small talk, but something was bugging Suki, she just had to
know.
"So, how was your little field trip with Zuko? Anything exciting, sad,
dramatic, Romantic, or action packed happen?" Suki questioned inquiring the
truth from her friend.
"What was that last one?"
"Action packed?"
"No before that!"
"Oh nothing big really, just curious if anything PG-13 or better went
on." Suki said casually.
"Suki!"
"What? You can't blame me for being curious. You seemed to be avoiding
Zuko and something must have happened between you two in order for that to happen."
"I'm not avoiding him!" Katara defended herself.
"Oh defensive are we?" Suki stared Katara down, after what felt like an
hour of her unwavering gaze, Katara got the hint that she could do this
all day, so to spare herself the agony and time, she caved. Katara looked down at the floor in defeat as she stated,
"Nothing is going on between us Suki! How could you even suggest that?
After all I just forgave him for what he did to me in Ba Sing Se!"
'Shit, why is my mouth so big?' She complained to her inner self wishing she
could just knock herself out.
"Oh, what happened in Ba Sing Se," Katara stayed silent, as her eyes
challenged the Kyoshi to push for further details. Not taking the hint Suki poked and
prodded some more, "That look could only mean one thing…"
"Hey Katara come here, I want to show you something!" Aang called after
finally catching up to them.
'Thank the spirits for Aang's timing!'
"Coming!!" She practically sang in response. Katara ran off like there
was no tomorrow leaving Suki behind to carry all the stuff back. She felt
that was fit as a punishment for sticking her nose where it shouldn't be.
"Hey Katara don't think I'll forget about our little talk! I'll get
the details from you one way or another!" She yelled as Katara made the gap
between the two even larger.
'Damn why do I always miss the good stuff!?' Suki thought as she gathered
all the dishes, she was even nice enough to grab Katara's clothes.
"Hey, you got here quick!" Aang noticed as Katara came into view.
"Yeah, it sounded important so I got here as soon as possible!" Katara
lied, what she really wanted to say was, 'One more minute under Suki's
penetrating gaze and I would have been singing like a canary.'
"Oh ok, Zuko taught me some new firebending techniques and I wanted you to
be the first to see." Aang blushed, as he rubbed the back of his head.
"Awe, that's sweet Aang, but…" Was all Katara had a chance to say
before getting forcibly dragged off to Aang's previous practicing grounds.
The earth was
scorched and ripped to pieces. From the looks of it, Aang had to resort to
earthbending to protect himself.
There was no way a fire blast could make jagged marking in stone. Katara was too enticed by the patterns on the unearthed rocks, their winding and scattering, carved marks in the ancient stone, to notice Zuko standing right behind her. She quickly snapped out of her trance, acknowledging his presence with a simple nod.
"So what is it that you two wanted to show me?" Katara put on the most
genuine smile she could.
"It's a style only the royal family kno…" Before Zuko could finished
Aang jumped in.
"Only the royal family knows it! It's been passed down only to a select
few who were worthy enough to hold such ancient and great power! And…"
Aang continued on, while Zuko's blood began to boil.
"Aang!"
"Yes Sifu hot man!" Aang stopped mid-sentence to answer his instructor.
"Don't waste both our time, go into your stance now!" Zuko quickly
cut him off.
"But…But…!"
"NOW! And what did I tell you about calling me that!"
"Sorry Sifu hot… I mean Zuko."
Katara couldn't help but giggle, she had to admit, it was fun hearing them
bicker. No matter how much Zuko would deny it, Aang was like the younger
sibling he never had.
"What are you laughing about?" Katara just smiled and look as
innocence as humanly possible, when Zuko walked over to her.
Suspicion filled his eyes as he went to continue his story. Katara spoke
before Zuko had a chance to get a word out, "Aang looks like he's about
to cry from all the anticipation, show me the art style now and you can tell me
about it later, I need to talk with you anyways."
"Talked about what" Zuko's eyes glinted with suspicion and nervousness.
Katara picked up on it so she simply replied, "For me to know and you to find
out."
"Hey what's the hold up!" Aang called.
"Noth…Nothing," Zuko stumbled, quickly snapping out of his thoughts.
Katara could help but compare the two, as they got into their stances. Aang was slim and tone, but not to the extent of Zuko. Even under his baggy shirt she could see the muscles that rippled down his chest. I guess it's not fair to compare them, Zuko is 17, Katara thought.
Before they started Zuko walked over to Aang, whispered something in his ear, and by the looks of it, they were planning something devious. Katara was too busy arguing about how it was fair because Aang was the Avatar and should be as ripped as the ex-Prince, from bending all four elements, to even notice the two boys scheming.
"Hey we had a change in plans! Aang and I are hell bent on figuring out who is the better fire bender, so you are going to be the judge. Here the catch, who ever wins gets to fight you. I'm curious to know if water can stand a chance next to fire!" a very smug Zuko explained, "And who better to figure it out than the strongest water and firebender?!".
"Fine bring it!" Katara began to blushed when he said 'strongest water bender' until she saw Aang staring at her with confusion written all over his face. Last thing she needed was for him to get the wrong idea, therefore she turned her head hoping that wasn't what he was skeptical about. Aang glanced away, just blowing it off as nothing.
Katara watched as Aang and Zuko took their places at the far end of the court, each on opposite ends. Katara looked on from the side lines eyeing the two boys, curious as to what they were doing she asked, "Aren't you suppose to look at each other during a fight, not be on one knee facing the other way?" Before Aang could speak up, Zuko intervened, "When two fire benders fight, it is called an Agni Kai. Normally people duel an Angi Kai for lost honor or even something as simple as to see who the better bender is, take today for example. Often you will hear that men will die before surrendering to defeat, because there is nothing more shameful…" Zuko was going to continue until, might I add for the third time today, Aang interrupted him. While Aang was talking, Zuko felt a ping of shame and dishonor tug in his chest. The conversation brought up many painful memories.
"Yeah but the same rules apply no matter what the cause of the fight is. It's tradition that each bender must go to separate sides of the sparring ring, each to represent the sun's beginning and end. The one who challenges the other man goes to the east, because he represents how the sun is going to begin a new day or how he has risen to the challenge of renewing or gaining honor. Like today if I defeat Zuko then it will prove that the student has become the teacher, and there is nothing more honorable than kicking your mentors butt! Visa versa, the challenged must go the west for several reasons, and it varies on what the Agni Kai is being fought for." Aang explained, pride enveloping his voice.
Katara was beginning to grow weary of the plethora of talking and lack of fighting, therefore she raised her hand and spoke in her most exasperated tone, "Can we please skip the history lesson! Sheesh, you to can bore the firelord to death with your never ending gibberish and save us all the trouble of actually fighting him!!"
Katara got matching looks of disgust and hurt pride. If looks could kill, I think I'd have four very sharp daggers in lodged in my torso. Hey at least it shut them up!
The two benders got back into position, Aang to the East, Zuko to the West. There was silence, not the awkward type, but the serine kind that you can only experience right before a battle. Very few people have ever truly witnessed it, in that moment you feel safe, calm, until all hell breaks loose or an impatient woman yells for you to hurry the Fuck up! Zuko and Aang just ignored her, but under his breathe Zuko muttered, "So she just puts up the façade of Miss Goody Goody."
Zuko was the first to attack as always, being it was the natural thing do from his years of fire bending. No way in hell was he going to go easy on Aang because the stakes are just too high, the last thing he need was to give Katara another reason to make fun of him on, a silver platter. He could hear it now, "O the mighty Zuko couldn't beat a 12 year old boy with his own element. Want to know what is even sadder? That Aang has been doing this for a total sum of 10 days, while you been bending fire your whole life!! Ha!
Zuko's temperature began to rise, fueling his every move with dangerous fury and unbearable rage. Seeing this Katara took the water from her waterskin and dumped it on Zuko, steam stared to emerge from his body as she replied to his enraged face, "Cool it hot head your going to hurt Aang!" Zuko snapping his attention back to the fight before scowling at her.
He moved out of the way of a barrage of fire blasts and a surprisingly accurate roundhouse kick to his head. Zuko luckily raised his forearms up to his head to absorb and push back the on coming attack. Aang lost his balance and Zuko took advantage of those few precious seconds he had, grabbing the Avatar, putting a foot behind Aang's ankle and pushing up on the kid's chin violently. Aang quickly analyzed the situation, taking his free hand and sending it up towards Zuko's head before he fell. He made sure to extinguish the flame in his hand before making contact with Zuko's face, the last thing the prince need was another scar. Zuko stumbled back, feverishly shaking his head from the blow's impact. Aang had a smirk on his face that Zuko was more than willing to wipe off.
"Don't get cocky 'cause you landed a good blow!" Zuko exclaimed.
With that said Zuko charged at Aang, fire dagger in hand, twisting his body mid-air to get momentum for the dagger to hit its target with enough force to break bone and skin until Katara intervened. Thinking on her feet, she quickly froze both boys within inches of hitting each other, soon after she ran up to them and in her most compelling voice said,
"How bout you two just sit here and cool of a little bit, for Angi's sake it's just a competition not an all out battle to the death!" Katara stood between the two frozen statues that were once her friends which
were now just fancy frozen lawn ornaments, and thawed only their heads.
She felt the temperature rise near Zuko and she quickly added, "If you thaw
yourself out then I'm going to have to go through all the trouble of having
to freeze you again and next time I won't unthaw your head!"
Zuko looked into her eyes for any hint of playfulness, but only found a hint
of the twisted pleasure this situation gave her, the only time he ever saw a
look like this was when Azula was up to something, this scared him a bit.
O great just what I need another Azula in a cute compact waterbender!
Zuko looked at Aang as he quickly dropped his body temp back to normal, and
saw that he had just noticed that same look. Zuko laughed inwardly because he
saw that Aang
was now scared shitless.
Poor kid hasn't realized that dream girls usually become real, and with
that they are never what they seem. 15 minutes later Katara smirked, "I think you two learned your lesson, anyway the sun is setting we'll finish this fight some other time. I'm starving how 'bout you?" Katara said nonchalantly.
Zuko couldn't wait to be unfrozen the ice was unbearable against his body
he could feel his muscles contracting and becoming paralyzed in a numb
sensation. He tired to breathe because it became harder and harder to do, the
ice was so constricting. With the way things are going he new he would have
frost bit by the end of the night in places that he cherished the most.
Katara melted Aang's icy prison first, when he was out Aang let out a long
hard
breathe, slowly warming up his body with his firebending, leaving Zuko to
endure the throbbing pain of his icy chrysalis as it stuck pins and needles
through him. Zuko was jealous of Aang, but he knew if he raised his body temp,
even a little she would know.
Just as he was contemplation that thought, he saw Katara walk over to him,
looked him straight in the eye and said, "Have you cooled down long enough,
or do you need some extra time? Hum Zuko?" Katara's eyes had that same
spark of sadistic pleasure in them.
Soon noticing this Aang spoke up, "Just let him out already, sheesh,
you've been acting really weird today Katara!"
With that she snapped out of her trance; a shadow of guilt passed over her
face, and then she looked up at Zuko and told him, "I'm sorry I don't know what came over me, here let me get you out and get you a blanket and some hot food in your stomach. I think I owe you that much."
Katara with as much grace as she always has, quickly unfroze Zuko, "Hey let's go get that blanket." Katara had a smile on her face but her eyes told a different story, they were filled to the brim with guilt and disappointment.
"Hey I'll meet you guys back at camp I need to sit near that nice
warm…fire." Aang dragged out.
Then all of a sudden Momo popped out of nowhere and landed on the monk's
head. Aang giggled as he grabbed his glider and flew off with the lemur. Zuko
was still standing in the spot Katara froze him in, but soon followed as she
cocked her head to come on. That blanket sounds really good right now…wait I
can just heat myself up! He told himself through chattering teeth.(Yes teeth
even chatter in you) Zuko slapped his forehead, and Katara giggled, "What was that for, Hm?"
"Nothin'," Zuko just turned his head hiding his blush as they continued to the camp. Shit, why was it now she decided to look at me! Zuko began to raise his body temperature, but to no avail, he could still feel the frost biting at his chest.
Zuko was about to blow fire into his hands and Katara chose that was the opportune time to actually talk to him in private, "Hey can we talk?" Zuko nearly burnt his hands from how much fire he exerted from his mouth. "Don't do that! Spirits I almost lost my hands!"
"Stop being a drama queen this is serious!" before he could interrupt her again she continued, "Zuko about last night…"
"Katara you don't have to do th…"
"Just let me get it off my chest!" Zuko shut up, Katara kept her voice low because they were close to the camp, but Zuko sensed the anger and desperation it held, "It was just…I was so grateful I…I got caught up in the moment and acted out of impulse." She took a deep breathe and continued, "I'm, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have." Before Zuko could respond she turned around and walked back to the camp site. "Good night Katara." Zuko slowly walked back to his tent.