A/N: Okay, I just wanna give a shout out to my awesome beta ZutaraFan4! And tell you guys that my story does partly follow the canon storyline of Ember Island Players, but of course, with some big differences, which you'll see next chapter! Thanks! R&R!
Chapter 3
The moon was already high in the sky by the time the gang arrived at the Ember Island Theatre. The building was a large structure, red of course, with two stories, one for regular seating, and a second level for balcony and booth seating. Wrapped around both levels of the theatre were balconies overlooking the ocean and wooded areas of the island. The showpieces of the building, however, were the two golden dragons flanking the building just outside the double door entrance. As the gang approached the brightly lit building, they could already see a line stretched outside, down the stone steps, of about thirty anxiously waiting people.
"Ugh!" cried Zuko as he noticed the line for tickets. "How can so many people actually want to pay to see these terrible actors? I'm serious, guys. We should just get out of here while we still have the chance." Zuko ended his sentiment by trying, for the umpteenth time, to flatten his bangs permanently over his left eye.
"Maybe Zuko's right…" agreed Katara as she looked around at all the people. "There's a lot of people here. Even if one person recognizes Aang or Zuko, or any of us for that matter, we're toast." Katara clutched a piece of her hair as her eyes warily scanned the crowd.
"Nah… come on sis!" replied Sokka as he slung his arm around his sister's shoulders. "Me and Suki were just in town this morning and no one said a thing!"
"Yeah Katara," agreed Toph from where she was standing, her back to the group. "Stop being such a wet blanket and have fun for once." Toph humphed and sat down on the nearest rock.
"I am not a wet blanket," Katara scoffed at the toe-picking earthbender. "And besides, the last time that we attempted to 'have fun,' we ended up in jail!"
Toph rolled her unseeing eyes. "That was because we were doing something illegal, Katara," Toph replied as if talking to a child. "Last time I checked, seeing a play was not illegal."
"Wait," interjected Zuko. "You guys did something illegal enough to get you in jail?" He was very intrigued by this. Although he and Katara did just recently break into a Fire Navy communication tower, he thought that Katara was just a one time deal, brought on by her rage over her mother's death which was directed at him. However, to find out that she had participated in other illegal activities before was very fascinating to him. To be honest, almost everything Katara did was becoming fascinating to Zuko.
As Zuko asked this, Katara turned red, whether from anger or shame, Katara herself didn't know, but she responded to his question anyway. "Yes," she muttered sharply as she looked at him. "But it was this," she piercingly pointed her finger towards the lazing Toph, "one's scheme, not mine."
"Okay, okay," cut in Sokka, unhappy that the conversation was leading away from the sure to be awesome, at least in his opinion, play. "We get it. Katara's a badass. Can we get in line for tickets now? I don't want to take the chance that they'll sell out!" Suki quickly took the moneybag out of the impatient Sokka's bag and told the group to wait for her inside.
"I'm the least likely person to be recognized as being in cahoots with the Avatar, so I'll buy seven tickets for the bunch of us, okay?" she asked as she began walking away towards the growing line of people.
"Oh, and Sokka!" she called out as she turned her head back. "Buy some pre-play snacks with that." Suki threw a gold piece over her shoulder and Sokka caught it, grinning.
"Come on, guys!" responded Sokka enthusiastically as he fingered the gold piece. "I hope the jerky and fireflakes haven't sold out yet." Toph and Aang hurriedly caught up with Sokka as he scrambled inside to the snack bar while Zuko rolled his eyes and Katara smiled knowingly, despite her head shaking from side to side in a disapproving manner.
As soon as everyone was satisfied with their snacks, and consequently Sokka already stuffing his face, the group went out onto a lower balcony where it was cooler and there were no people.
Although Zuko was always conscious of his scar, tonight he was extra careful, constantly pulling his hood further over his head and shaking his bangs in front of his face. "Zuko," Katara reprimanded. "No one's out here, you can stop with the freaking out. Take off your hood so we can all see your handsome face!" Zuko blushed as Katara reached out and pulled down his hood.
Toph sighed and Katara added, "Oh, right. Sorry, Toph," as she realized that, once again, Toph couldn't actually see.
"Hey, Katara!" called Aang from the balcony railing he was sitting on. Katara looked up and saw Aang with a bag of fireflakes in left hand, and his right hand flying at full speed as he stuffed them into his face. "Watch 'ow many I 'an s'uff in ma 'outh!" Sokka looked on with envy as Aang continued to stuff fireflakes in his mouth, while Zuko, Katara, and Toph, mostly because she couldn't even see what he was doing, ignored the gross display of talent as best as they could.
"Great, Aang," encouraged Katara with a grimace trying to become a smile on her face. "Um, could you turn the other way while you do that though?" Although Aang was mature in most aspects, he could act like such a little kid sometimes, a quality that Katara did not really like.
Thankfully, in Katara's opinion anyway, Suki walked out onto the balcony just as Aang was up to "twen'y-fou' 'ieces!"
"Hey guys! I got the tick—," Suki stopped mid-sentence as she stared at airbender bulging at the cheeks. "—ets," she finished lamely as she eventually tore her eyes away from the unpleasant site. "They're, um, balcony seats so we'll be less conspicuous," she added.
Suki handed everyone their tickets as the group went back out in the lavish main lobby and had their tickets checked. They walked up the right staircase, and entered their balcony seats.
"Sweet!" exclaimed Sokka as he and Suki filed in after the rest of the gang. Both sat down on the second tier of seats as Toph, Katara, and Aang walked to the first row from the left and Zuko from the right. As Toph and Katara sat down, Aang confidently strode up next to Katara. Suddenly, Aang's path was blocked by a tall, hooded figure as he was slightly nudged aside.
Katara looked up at Zuko as he sat down and she sarcastically muttered, "Don't worry. I'll shield your eyes if you can't take it." Zuko laughed shortly and suddenly noticed a capped figure staring at him.
"Hey, uh, I wanted to sit there." Aang pointed to Zuko's spot.
Zuko lowered his hood and looked back at Aang with one eyebrow raised. "Just sit next to me. What's the big deal?" Despite his question, Zuko already had a strong inkling of why he wanted to sit there.
Katara watched the commotion and decided to interject. "Just sit over there Aang. It doesn't matter." She knew somewhat about how Aang felt about her. But sometimes, she just couldn't deal with his clingy behavior. "Besides," she suddenly smirked, "I think Zuko needs the moral support from me right now. From what I've seen, Zuko might throw himself over the balcony before the play even starts."
"Ha ha," replied Zuko dryly as Aang continued to stare open-mouthed at Katara and Zuko.
"I was just…" Aang continued. "…I wanted to… Okay," he finally gave up and slumped down on the opposite side of Zuko, not nearly excited as he was before about the play.
Suddenly, the lights began turning down as Toph started to complain. "Why are we in the nosebleed section? My feet can't see a thing from up here!"
"Don't worry," replied Katara. "I'll tell your feet what's happening."
The lights were almost all down as Katara felt Zuko stiffen next to her and let out an exasperated sigh. She grabbed his arm and said, "But really, Zuko. Don't even think about jumping. Unless you take me with you that is," she added as Zuko smiled back at her.
"Seriously, Zuko," came Sokka's whispering voice from behind as he grabbed Zuko's shoulder. "If you jump, it'll be sure to call attention to us," he nodded seriously.
"Thanks, Sokka," Zuko whispered back. "I'm glad that if I threw myself over a balcony, your first concern would be your own hide." Suki giggled as the people in the next box over shushed the whispering gang.
And thus, The Boy in the Iceberg began. The red curtains drew up and a set of the South Pole appeared, complete with cut-out water and a wooden canoe. Sitting in the canoe were the actors of Sokka and Katara, though not at all in likeness. Sokka gripped Katara's shoulder from behind and motioned back and forth from the actors to themselves as Katara, despite herself, nodded excitedly.
"Sokka, my only brother," began the actress dramatically. "We constantly roam these icy South Pole seas and yet never do we find anything… fulfilling."
"All I want is a full feeling in my stomach! I'm starving!" replied Sokka's actor, earning a laugh from the crowd.
Katara and Sokka looked at each other in disbelief as Zuko sighed and cradled his head in his arms, muttering something that sounded very much like 'kill me.'
"Is food the only thing on your mind?" continued actress-Katara. "Well, I'm trying to get it out of my mind and into my mouth." Actor-Sokka pointed into his mouth. "I'm starving!" Once again the crowd laughed and Sokka complained that his jokes were 'way funnier' than his counterpart onstage.
The play continued on in this same manner, displaying Katara as a melodramatic cry-baby who talked about 'hope' all the time and Sokka as a stand-up food comedian in training. Finally, the actors got to the part where Aang was unfrozen from his iceberg (with an anticlimactic "waterbend, hi-ya!" from Katara).
Aang braced himself against the balcony railing as he looked on in anticipation while Zuko just looked bored. Suddenly, an actor jumped out from within the mist on the stage and landed gracefully in between the Watertribe actors.
"I'm the Avatar! Here to spread joy and fun!" was the high-pitched voice that came out of Aang's actor. He winked at the audience and pirouetted in spot.
"Wait… is that a woman playing me?" came the squeaky response from Aang as he realized the he was actually a she.
Suddenly, the box was full of laughter as Aang stared at his actress in humiliation. "Did I mention I'm an incurable prankster?" came the next line out of her mouth as she crossed her legs in a very ladylike manner.
Aang was very irritated and embarrassed. "I don't do that!" he denied. "And…I'm NOT a woman!"
Although Toph couldn't actually see what was going on, she seemed to be the one enjoying Aang's discomfort the most. "Oh, they nailed you, Twinkletoes!" she laughed as she put her arms behind her head.
Eventually, actor-Zuko (complete with scar on the wrong side) and Uncle Iroh were introduced. Iroh seemed to be pretty in sync with Zuko's real life uncle, while Zuko on the other hand, had a more whiney and demanding attitude than the real Zuko.
"Ugh!" came the reply from an annoyed Zuko. "They make me look totally stiff and humorless."
"Well, it seems really realistic to me," huffed Aang as he sat crouching in his seat. He was still upset about the whole girl thing and wasn't in a good mood. Zuko scowled at him as he tried to ignore the play.
It continued on however, next, with Suki's introduction, in which Sokka's butt looked big in the Kyoshi uniforms, as the actor so helpfully pointed out. Sokka blushed at this and King Bumi was introduced, very realistically in fact.
Suddenly the scenery shifted and a giant pirate ship could be seen painted on the backdrop fabric. The lights began to dim as actress-Katara walked out on stage. She began to waterbend, which really just consisted of her waving around blue ribbons. The giant stolen waterbending scroll was open in front of her as she twirled around in a most ungraceful and unbecoming fashion. Suddenly, a snapping sound was heard, as the actress spoke, most dramatically, "What was that sound? I hope it isn't any pirates or firebenders."
Zuko and Katara peeked at each other out of the corner of their eyes as they knew what was about to come. A scarred pirate appeared from offstage as the actress fluttered her ribbons at him and he soon fell with a rather large thud in the middle of the stage. Meanwhile, actor-Zuko appeared from offstage to the right as actress-Katara backed away, straight into Zuko.
"I'll save you from the pirates," came the actor's voice as he grabbed her wrists and spun her to face him.
Zuko and Katara blushed from their seats as the audience whooped at Katara's capture.
"Sorry," mumbled Zuko as he recalled that memory. Although he remembered, vividly in fact, tying Katara up, he felt as if that Zuko was a completely different person than the one sitting next to the waterbender today.
As the scene went on, Zuko and Katara noticed it was much more… 'come-hither,' than they realized at the time.
"Now," started actor-Zuko as the continuously crying Katara was finally tied up to tree. "I need my honor back! Tell me where the Avatar is and maybe I'll give you a special surprise," he taunted, whispering into her ear. Suddenly, a sparkling necklace appeared out of Zuko's pocket as he showed it to Katara's widening eyes.
Aang looked on at the actors with shock written on his face. Before he could question Zuko on his actions, Sokka beat him to the punch.
"Are… are you…seducing my sister?!" he loudly whispered over Zuko's shoulder as Katara and Zuko turned their beet red faces towards him. There was a pause as Zuko tried to come up with the words that wouldn't make him sound like a creep.
"Oh, Prince Zuko!" actress-Katara started up again as Zuko paused to think of his answer. "It's…it's so beautiful!" She, once again, began to weep in earnest. "The Avatar and my brother are just over there," she divulged as Zuko placed the necklace around her neck.
"Is that how they found us?!" Sokka whispered loudly again as he looked back from the stage to Katara.
Katara turned and saw Toph smirking to her right, Suki looking mildly curious at the scene, Sokka with his mouth agape, and Aang with an angry scowl.
"Guys, I swear that's not what happened," Katara hastily said as she looked around at her companions. "Zuko was just…" Katara looked to her right and saw Zuko with his hood back over his head trying to ignore the whole situation.
"Let's just watch the play guys," interjected Suki as she saw a confrontation about to occur between Katara, Zuko, Aang, and Sokka.
"But—" started Sokka with his finger raised. Suki shushed him with her finger against his lips and pushed him lightly backwards so his back was once again resting against the bench.
Luckily, by the time their discussion was over, the scene was too. The backdrop had changed from blue to red and actress-Aang could be seen tied up between two giant golden dragons as Zuko and numerous Firenation soldiers stood guard over him.
"My hero!" yelled actress-Aang as the 'Blue Spirit' suddenly appeared from offstage and fought off Zuko and all the guards. She jumped on top of his massive tiki mask and together, they ran offstage. If possible, Zuko and Aang became even more uncomfortable than they already were with the play and the girls giggled at the implication of a 'romance' between girl-Aang and the Blue Spirit. Aang and Zuko grimaced and Aang slunk down further into his seat.
Finally came the scene where Katara and Jet had their 'moment' and Zuko subsequently exclaimed, "You actually liked that jerk?!" Katara suddenly became very interested in her split ends as Toph cackled like she knew something too good to be true. Eventually, the acting-Gaang finally flew over the Great Divide; Sokka and Yue had their good-bye scene to which Sokka began crying as Toph told him to, "grow up and be a man!"; and the giant Ocean Spirit-Aang defeated the Fire Navy at the North Pole.
As actress-Aang tripped over her own feet and fell in her costume, the curtains finally drew closed and the rest of the crowd, including Toph, began to cheer wildly. The rest of the gang however just sat there in shock as Sokka face-palmed his forehead and Aang groaned, flinging his body downwards into his seat.
"Hey!" started Katara as she spoke to Aang and Sokka. "You two were the ones who were most excited to see the play in the first place! So don't complain, because this is all your fault," Katara sulked.
With Aang and Sokka unable to think of any good response to that, Katara got up and began walking out of the theatre. Zuko soon followed suit, along with everyone else as Aang had to drag Toph out because she was still clapping and yelling, "Bravo! Bravo!" to the drawn curtain.
Katara led the way back out onto a balcony and sat down with a huff on the top step. Zuko sat down next to her and grabbed a piece of jerky from Sokka's hand as he passed them with Suki. Aang came in last, still dragging the uncooperative Toph and they leaned against the stair railings.
"So far, this intermission is the best part of the play," began Zuko to Katara as he bit down on his jerky. Katara was toying with a loose thread on her skirt angrily.
"You know what?" began Katara suddenly as she looked at Zuko's close face. "We should just leave now; say we're going to get something to eat and then just sneak off as intermission ends." Zuko looked into her bright blue eyes shining with excitement as he grinned back in agreement.
"Oh no you don't!" yelled Toph from the railing. She had heard them whispering with her sensitive hearing. "You guys have to watch the rest of the play! This writer's a genius! Plus," she added, "I haven't even been introduced yet! You guys aren't going to seriously bail on me are you?"
Katara looked guilty as Zuko scratched the back of his head. "Okay, okay," agreed Katara, albeit reluctantly as she sighed and slumped forward, leaning her body and face into her arms. Zuko patted her back a few times as Aang and Toph began talking about how Aang really was "more in touch with his feminine side than most guys." Aang, of course, denied this vehemently by stomping his feet in a very mature fashion.
Zuko looked over to his right and saw Sokka begin explaining to a very amused Suki that he had lots of good jokes other than meat ones and began to list them, one by one, on his fingers. Seeing that everyone was absorbed in their own conversations, Zuko asked Katara the one question he had been dying to ask.
"Did you really go out with Jet after he flooded a town for you?" Zuko didn't really know why he was so interested, but his stomach made an uncomfortable flip as Katara snapped her head back out of her arms.
"No, I did not," she said angrily. Zuko visibly relaxed. "Jet was a huge jerk back then." She looked up as if that settled the matter. "Wait," she added. "How did you know Jet?"
"Well," began Zuko uncomfortably, "I… sort of… helped him steal food from a… a captain on a refugee boat into Ba Sing Se, and then, he tried to get me join his group… the Freedom Fighters, I think he called it." Katara nodded and Zuko laughed. "Could you really see me fighting along side with Jet?" Katara thought of that mental image, and didn't think it would look half bad, but of course didn't mention this to the handsome Fire Prince.
"Anyway," he continued, "then he happened to glimpse my uncle firebend his tea to make it a little warmer, you know, and all of a sudden, we were mortal enemies."
"That sounds like Jet," Katara scoffed as Zuko began to speak again.
"Yeah, so then he started a fight with me in the middle of a teashop and street, trying to get me to firebend."
Katara gasped. "What happened?" she whispered as she covered her mouth with her hands. Zuko smirked. "Well, I had my broadswords with me and so I beat him that way," he ended cockily.
"Boys will be boys, I guess," she sighed and Zuko grinned and nudged her shoulder. Despite herself, Katara smiled.
"Listen, guys," suddenly came Toph's loud voice as Aang and Sokka were now glaring angrily down at her tiny frame. "It's obvious that the playwright did his research. I know it must hurt, but what you're seeing up there on that stage is the truth."
She turned her body in Zuko and Katara's general direction and winked as Aang and Sokka began arguing with her once more. Zuko and Katara refused to meet each other's eyes in fear of the other seeing each other's their blush.
"Calm down, sweetie," placated Suki as she got up from her step and went to drag Sokka away from the petite earthbender. "You too, Aang," she called over her shoulder as she marched Sokka up the stairs. "I think intermission is almost over anyway," she called as she peeked through the red curtain separating the balcony from the lobby.
The gang reluctantly, besides Toph and Suki, trudged back to their seats and awaited the second round of hell.