"How can he possibly be the son of that monster?" Katara wondered aloud.
"Well, when a man loves a woman very much..." Toph began. Katara let out an indignant squeak which may have been involuntary.
"All this time I thought he was wimpy, when he actually lived with that bunch," Toph said to get a conversation going. "You have to be strong to live past five in that place."
"One thing that bothers me is, well, one thing that bothers me the most is..." Katara started, clearly trying to change the subject. Then Aang came in.
"He was afraid you guys would have a problem with his family," Aang interrupted.
"The one thing that bothers me the most is his hygiene," Katara finished while trying to get away from the subject. "I like him as a person, but he doesn't take care of himself."
"I think he's homeless," Aang defended.
"That would explain a lot," Toph put in. "He smells like burned B.O and ashes."
"We will have to talk to him about that," Katara noted.
"I think the best thing we can do right now is offer him a bath," Aang suggested, he seemed very nervous. Who really knew if he watching?
"You never know," Toph said a moment before a half rotten tomato greeted her face.
"What was that?" Katara asked as she stared at the tomato seeds dripping off Toph's face.
"We are the most entertaining thing in the village," Aang explained while rubbing his back with stress. "So he tends to watch us."
"You could have warned me twinkle toes," Toph accused. "I can't see Zuko when he's on top of buildings."
Another tomato found its way to her face.
"What did I do now?" Toph screamed at the top of her lungs.
"You were being a little mean," Aang grumbled in return. "Or he could enjoy throwing tomato's at you."
"I don't think he like the way we talked about him either," Katara commented through clenched teeth. Then a pang of sadness washed over her. She hadn't realized how much she missed her brother until now-when he would have gotten nailed by tomatos. Tears threatened to fall down her face.
"Are you O.K.?" Toph asked quietly.
"I will be," Katara choked out softly. She kept quiet as she walked out of area and into her room.
"Why is she acting like this?" Toph wondered aloud.
"She left her brother and her entire tribe, which is so close they might as well be a real family, so she could come with me," Aang answered hopefully.
"Why hasn't she had a breakdown before?" Toph asked Aang.
"She usually has a very good hold over herself," Aang said almost wistfully.
"She's never going to fall for you," Toph said bluntly. "The best thing to do right now is move on."
"You say that like its easy," Aang sighed.
"It won't be," Toph corrected. "I know that for sure."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Katara sat in the same place she had when the butcher had gotten nailed by the cute little animals she didn't care to remember. Her puffy red eye's were visible in the desert night.
A few second after Katara's first sob on the swing Zuko swooped down.
"Go away!" She screamed, and he did. Katara turned around to glare at Zuko but stopped when she saw his face. It had a guarded look of hurt on his face.
"I just can't talk to anyone right now," Katara apologized.
"I know the feeling," Zuko said as he walked away calmly.
"Maybe you don't!" she screamed at him. Zuko started to back away from her slowly. "Sorry, it's just going to take a while to feel safe around you."
"That's why I never wanted to tell you," Zuko sighed. With that said he went away, and there on the roof tops he saw something from his nightmares. A small fire nation army was coming this way. Zuko swooped down into Aangs room.
"There is an army coming this way," Zuko said so fast that the words seemed to melt together. "And it's after me or you. I don't like it either way."
"Guys? We have to get our stuff packed," Aang announced nervously.
"They're at least four miles away," Zuko said reassuringly.
"Then we have enough time to give you a bath," Toph remarked while holding her nose.
"I'll get Katara!" Aang cheered-which only made Zuko feel worse.
"Something tells me this isn't going to be private," Zuko groaned.
ruler here
"Katara! We are gong to clean Zuko up!" Aang cheered as soon as he saw her.
"I'll separate the water from that well sludge," Katara called out. Toph dragged Zuko out into the streets and created a basin in the middle of the street, all the while he was protesting.
"We shouldn't be wasting time on this! We should be charging the army already!"
Katara ignored him as she separated water from sludge. Most sane people would wonder how the villager hadn't died of the water they had to drink.
Of course everyone in town had now become a spectator to what would be one of the most embarrassing moments in Zuko's life.
"It's the Ghost."
"Looks like their teaching him how to bathe."
"They should teach that blind girl how to bathe."
These were the more sensible murmurs coming from the crowd. Unfortunately some of Toph's followers were still active.
"Where is his horde of angry spirits?"
"Will the water wash away his skin?"
"You might want to keep your underwear on," Aang suggested. He didn't seem to notice the 'No duh genius' glare Zuko was giving him.
Zuko, embarrassed and disgruntled, refused to strip down to his underwear in the middle of a crowded street. And Zuko was also sure that the powerful smell of three years of grime and not being able to change his underwear in five months would have killed half the population of the town if suddenly unleashed. No, it was best to do this in a confined space so that he was the only one who suffered the first wave of stench.
As he turned around in search of a confined space that allowed privacy the town and the Avatar started talking. A man who reeked of politician approached Aang. He had a well pressed, boring colored, suit like thing that caused one to wonder where his handlebar mustache was.
"So, Mr. Avatar_"
"Aang."
"Mr. Avatar, I was wondering what you are going to do about this town once you are in control of the world."
"I don't want to control the world, it's that fire nation that does."
"Yes, but once you free this town how will you help it?"
"Um…it isn't under fire nation control…"
"What will you do to make this town love you?" He sputtered angrily. "You have to support me in the running for mayor! Otherwise this town will forget you!"
Aang started to back away slowly. Unstable politicians are very bad to be around; they might just catch you in their web of false campaign promises.
Zuko came out just in the nick of time, he was a sight to behold, and not the hot and unbelievably attractive sight that he should be. He still looked malnourished. His muscles were a little too thin and ropey, his ribs showed, and no one even dared to gaze at his tattered old boxers.
The poor man looked as embarrassed as a man could if he was standing out in public with all eyes upon him and was in his underwear only. If you looked carefully at his old clothing you could see that it wasn't just an ashy splotchy gray, but it had a rose tint to it. This may have been one of the reasons he never graced the public with his presence before, after all, no man wants to be seen in pink. But it is suicidal to turn up in an all red outfit. So his reasoning for not showing his face for three years is logical.
"Jump in skinny," Toph called out. Zuko looked around to see that Katara had a set of clothing ready for him to change into.
He reluctantly climbed into the makeshift bath. It was simple basin; Toph had the sense to pack the dirt into some form of rock so it wouldn't turn into a mud bath.
He was handed some soap that contained mostly dried up plant roots, there was no lye in the mixture to be smelled.
The moment he started washing most people noticed a drastic difference. He washed his hand first, and Zuko observed what he had almost forgotten, the color of his skin. It was a soft and creamy pink, he had no doubt that the pink would fade into another color the moment his skin dried.
His body was transformed from a pale and almost dead looking thing that resembled a corps, to a human being. He scar became a startling scarlet, and in contrast with his skin there was almost an unnatural beauty to something that should have been so ugly. His hair, while wet, was a sleek jet black.
He held his hand out for a towel; a towel was then handed to him by a shocked citizen of the town.
He wrapped his torso the moment in came out the ashy and soapy water; he walked toward Katara, and held his hand out for the clothing. She gave it to him with an apologetic look.
"We can get out of here quickly after this," She consoled.
He nodded with tone of thanks and left with his clothing, no doubt retreating to the place where he first had to undress.
The town's people didn't even know what to gossip about this time, nothing about their ghost being a sane person with a life had ever crossed their mind previously. However it is not to be doubted that the best gossips in the town were weaving stories of the Ghost that would delight children for years to come.
When he came out he was grateful to find that Appa was already out there waiting for him. He gazed upon the bison with confusion...how on earth was he supposed to get on.
"Aang?" Zuko called up.
"Just climb, he'll kneel down for you," Aang replied, as if reading his mind. Appa did just as Aang said and knelt down for Zuko to climb on.
He climbed on and the group set off for an epic battle against Zhao. Soon after this Aangs eye's and arrows began to glow faintly, then in the blink of an eye he crossed over to the spirit world.
May I say I am truly sorry for the long wait I have put everyone through, I could blame a lot of things but I won't. I was lazy, I will admit it.
This fan fiction if reaching its peak so this will go on a few more chapters, then there will be a sequel. This sequel will be put out as soon as I am nearly done with my other Avatar story, wheelchair bound. I've found that I can't handle more than one or two writing projects at once( as clearly evidenced by the agony I have put you through). I have also noticed that I am developing a different style, just to warn you.