FYI, this is now offically AU. Was with the last chapter. Oh well.
The only thing Katara remembered upon waking up was extreme pain in her arm and leg. "Ow!"
Everyone turned suddenly. "Nice to see you're awake," Aang said, sitting nearby. Sokka was at the reins still. "How y'feeling?"
"Like a rhino just did a jig on my bones," Katara answered truthfully. "Are they set?"
"Not yet. We were going to wait to see if you can water-heal them first," informed Aang. Katara shook her head. "Well, then, does anyone have anything to knock her out?" asked the young monk.
"A rock."
"A hit in the head."
"Good tea."
Zuko rolled his eyes as he pulled out a small bottle. Uncorking it, he waved it under Katara's nose. The young Waterbender instantly fell asleep. "There. Does anyone know field surgery?" Iroh nodded.
"I need some strong sticks, and bandages." Aang looked at Momo, who flew off to find the required sticks. Aang began digging through the stuff Iroh had packed to find something to use as bandages. He came up with only a torn cape and Sokka's old belt that had snapped.
"That will have to do," Iroh muttered. "Now we just need for the little lemur to return." Momo poked Iroh in the head with a stick. "Thank you." He nodded to Momo, who chirped in response. Gently, Iroh began to set Katara's leg and arm. It took about an hour, during which Zuko had to wave the vial of whatever under Katara's nose once or twice more.
"What is that stuff?" Toph asked when she caught a whiff of it.
"Some special herbs mixed with, sad to say, jasmine tea," Zuko replied.
"I wondered what happened to my jasmine tea all those weeks ago," Iroh muttered. "At least it's getting some use."
Sokka turned to face the others. "Where are we gonna go? I honestly don't think we can head back to Ba Sing Se, and Omashu is kinda...occupied."
"And as far as my parents are concerned," Toph added, "they probably think I'm dead or crippled or worse."
"What's worse than being dead or crippled?" Aang asked.
"Getting pregnant. I heard them talking one day. Most noble families marry their kids off, right? Well, Mom and Dad weren't going to marry me to anyone. Didn't want to risk having 'poor, defenseless grandchildren and a daughter who had been set aside because of her weaknesses'." Toph spat. "Hmph."
Aang smiled sadly. "Their loss." He looked over the side of Appa, Momo sitting on his shoulder. "Head for the refugee docks. We can camp a ways from there and practice. Maybe we'll see Suki again. Or we can always head back to the desert."
"Docks it is," Sokka said. "How's Katara?"
"Sore." Everyone turned to the groggy Waterbender. "That stuff is potent. Mind if I use it for sleepless nights?" Zuko shrugged.
"I don't care." Iroh looked at his nephew, then leaned over Katara.
"Do you have any water?" Katara nodded and fumbled for her flask. "Try freezing it into ice to help numb any pain." Katara did and wrapped the ice in a thin blanket.
"Someone tell me when it's been long enough to take the ice off," she said, trying to get comfortable. "Where are we off to?"
"The area around the refugee docks, or maybe even that oasis by the Serpent's Pass," Aang replied. "Maybe we'll find Suki or someone." Katara nodded.
"I think that's a good idea. We need another vacation after that little schpeel." Zuko frowned at the curious word.
"Schpeel? What on earth is a schpeel?" Katara giggled at Zuko's face.
"It's my word for a disaster, or a mess, or when Sokka tries to do something semi-intelligent," she explained.
"Hey!"
"I said 'semi-intelligent'. When you do intelligent things, then there's no problem. When you do something stupid, then it's just chaotic. When you don't do anything at all, it's perfectly fine. It's when you don't think everything out that we have problems," elaborated Katara.
"Huh?"
"Is he always this articulate?" Zuko muttered. Katara rolled her eyes.
"Only when I outsmart him," she mouthed. "So pretty much, yeah."
"I think the ice has set long enough, Miss Katara," Iroh said, interrupting what could have become a fight if Sokka thought about what Zuko had said hard enough. Katara nodded and melted the ice, bending the water back into her flask with her good arm.
"How long do you think I'll be laid up?" she asked. Iroh paused, doing some quick mathematics.
"Given the fact you're flying on a bison, in a crowded saddle, in rough environment, with frequent stops," Iroh mused, "I would say roughly a month before you could use both broken limbs well enough to move, and another two or three weeks after that before bending would be okay."
"That means you should be better in plenty of time for that solar eclipse," Aang remarked happily. Zuko's good eye widened and Iroh started muttering what sounded suspiciously like a prayer. "What I say?"'
"Solar eclipses are like the apocalypse for Firebenders," Zuko explained. "It's like lunar eclipses are bad for Waterbenders. I remember the North Pole incident."
"The only reason it affected us as much as it did was because that jerk, Zhao, killed the moon spirit. When the moon kinda dies, so does the bending," Katara quipped. "But, I see your point."
"Legend has it that the first solar eclipse came when La became jealous of the amount of time Agni had in the sky during the day and decided to shorten it by covering him up. Agni got revenge on La by causing the first lunar eclipse," Iroh explained.
"I know this is gonna sound funny," Aang said, "but I think I remember getting them to stop. At least, a past life getting them to stop fighting. I think they agreed to stop the fight only if there was something they could share in the sky at all times."
"The stars and the clouds," agreed the elderly Firebender. "The clouds can cover up the sun but still let it shine and the stars are little suns at night."
"Personally, I'm not remotely into that spirit-y stuff," Toph remarked. "Okay, obviously I'll go with the Avatar and that junk, but about everything else being controlled by a spirit? Puh-leeze." Aang grinned at Sokka.
"She sounds like you did before…you know, Yue." Sokka looked downcast for a moment, then smiled a small smile.
"Only she doesn't like science."
"I like things that give evidence of change now!" With that, Toph slammed her fist on Appa's saddle. "Science is too slow for me. Besides, it's all metal and dangerous." This particular conversation kept going for several hours until Sokka pulled Appa down to camp.
"Okay, do we have dried meat?" Sokka asked. Aang held up five bags full. "Do we have any form of vegetables or do any grow nearby?"
"I can feel some wild carrots, wild potatoes, and beans growing about half a mile from here," Toph informed him. "And we have plenty in the bags too."
"Good. Someone get a pot, fill it with water, and get back here. Aang?"
"Gotcha." The young Avatar grabbed one of the pots and went off to find some water.
"Could one of you two get a fire started if I get wood?" Sokka turned to the two Firebenders.
"Of course." Sokka nodded and left to get said wood. Toph decided to go with him, leaving Katara, who was still on Appa, alone with Zuko and Iroh.
"What does your brother have in mind?" Zuko asked Katara. He felt most comfortable talking to her, not to the others, for some reason.
"Oh, he does this occasionally. You wouldn't know it, but he's a good cook. He'll probably throw the meat into the pot with water and vegetables and make some sort of stew or something. I wonder if we have any spices left from Ba Sing Se."
"I packed as many cooking supplies as I could," Iroh said. Katara smiled; no more bland soups or tasteless rice, thanks to Iroh.
Sure enough, that was precisely what Sokka did. He let the meat tenderize in the pot for a while, then started actually cooking. "And you say cooking's a girl's job," his baby sister teased. Sokka stuck his tongue out at her.
"And I thought being a pain was a brother's job," he retorted. Katara returned his childish act, not noticing Zuko looking at them with a sort of confusion written on his face.
How can siblings act that way towards each other? How can they get along? he asked himself.
Grr...tell me whatcha think. Personally, it's too filler, but pfft.