The ABCs of Zutara: BATTLE
Written by Katie Jo aka AVidZktjo
"Whoo-hoo! That's another one for Toph!" Sokka victoriously exalted as he drew another line on the wall.
Aang glanced over his shoulder and yelled back to Sokka, "How much is she at now?"
"Sorry, Aang, but you're way behind."
"How bad?" Aang asked as his gaze returned to his opponent.
"Oh, not that bad," Sokka replied with a shrug of his shoulders and a tone of voice that said otherwise.
Aang wasn't convinced. "How bad?" he asked again.
"Eh. Fortyonetofive," Sokka muttered.
"What was that?" Toph yelled back at Sokka even though she had heard him. She wanted to make sure that Aang realized how badly he'd been beaten.
Reluctantly, Sokka clarified, "Forty-one to five."
"Ha! I guess the Avatar is not as masterful as they say he is," Toph teased.
"Well, if you'd just let me use my air and water bending, then I'd beat you in no time!"
Toph shook her head and simply said, "Nope. Sorry. This is earthbending practice only." Taking up her fighting stance, Toph engaged the Avatar yet again in a vigorous battle of rocks and dirt.
Meanwhile amidst the endless earth quaking combat, Katara was busy trying to cook a decent meal for the gang. Unfortunately, the frequent jolts of the ground weren't making it any easier.
"Would you like some help with that?"
If the voice had come from anyone else, she would have gladly accepted the offer. But as she looked up into those golden eyes, she had already made up her mind as to her answer. "No, thank you. I'm fine." She returned her attention to her work but was immediately jostled in her place by the shaking earth beneath her feet. Much to her chagrin, she lost her balance and would have toppled to the ground if it weren't for the gentle hand that grabbed her arm and steadied her. As soon as he'd put her firmly back on her feet, she yanked her arm out of his hand and picked up the spoon again. While stirring the broth, she mumbled, "Thank you."
"You're welcome," was Zuko's warm reply.
Katara kept her eyes focused on the meal she was preparing as well as the position of her feet. No way was she going to fall over again and be caught by that – that firebender! Ugh. She couldn't stand him. But he didn't seem to feel the same way toward her. He could have gone out to join the others in being spectacles of the masterful display of earthbending, but instead he chose to stay with her. Granted he could still see the battle from where he was standing, but why not get a closer look? Why stay near her? She couldn't quite grasp the reason.
Ugh. And now the fire was going down. She needed more wood. But before she could even glance around her, the flames blazed higher. Katara sighed. Now she would have to thank him again. Her courteous nature pushed for the words to exit through her lips but her disgust at his company kept her mouth shut. It was a dilemma she faced every day. Be nice to him. Don't be nice to him. She'd rather just douse him with water and be done with it.
"The Blind Bandit wins again!" Sokka's shouts of praise jolted her out of her vengeful thoughts and back to the task at hand. Lunch was almost ready. She just needed the broth to simmer for a bit and then it would be perfect.
"I'm done, Toph. I can't take any more," Aang was surrendering as he plopped down on the ground in a defeated slump.
"Oh, come on, twinkle toes. You'll never defeat the Firelord with that attitude," Toph teased as she sent another rock flying towards the Avatar's face.
Aang easily deflected it but it was clear he wasn't going to fight back.
"Suit yourself. I stand the undefeated champion!" Toph congratulated herself.
"Yeah, but Zuko's still got you beat," Sokka simply stated.
"What?" Toph and Zuko said in unison, their faces marked with astonishment. Katara was shocked as well at that remark. Toph had never been beaten. Even Katara could never get the best of her. It always came out as a tie, or worse, a muddy victory for her blind opponent.
Sokka leaned back on his hands and said with an uninterested tone of voice, "Come on, don't you remember? He burned Toph's feet. Fire beats earthbender."
The sound of rocks being crushed into dust made everyone turn to look at Toph. She was seething with rage and looked about ready to bury Sokka in a rockalanche. Zuko, to Katara's surprise, stepped in between them before the fight could begin. Good thing he did, too, for Sokka would have been buried in no time. "Then we'll just have a rematch," he said to the heated earthbender.
Toph immediately brightened at the suggestion and dropped all thought of crushing Sokka from her mind. She'd been looking forward to this day. "Alright. Bring it on, Sparky."
Zuko rolled his eyes at his nickname. Sokka had told him it meant he had finally been inducted into their gang, but he still wasn't too happy about it. Especially since a certain someone didn't seem to express the same welcome. But he had no time to think on that for a wave of rubble was whizzing through the air and aimed right at him. His instincts took over and he ducked to avoid the dirt bullets aimed at his head. He'd have to stay on his feet. His thought suddenly turned literal as he was thrown into the air. Man, she was good. But he had to focus.
As soon as Zuko landed, he took a fighting stance and focused on Toph's movements. She was masterful, just like his sister. But every bender, even the great ones, had a weakness. Taking the offensive, Zuko blasted fire at the seemingly helpless blind girl. She dodged them with ease and sent more dirt and rocks flying in his direction. She even made the earth quake and shift at his feet. But he kept his focus on her eyes.
She may have been blind, but her eyes still gave away her movements and Zuko was starting to catch on to them. But before he could get too close to her, she hurled in an unexpected move and he was thrown to the ground. He tried to get up but he immediately felt a rocky spike at the skin of his throat. She had him pinned and he knew he'd been beaten. Toph moved closer and stood triumphant over him with an exuberant grin. "Not bad, Sparky," she said as she threw away the spike and offered her hand. Zuko took it and she yanked him up to his feet.
"That. Was. AWESOME!!!" Sokka hooted and hollered as he jumped up and down. "Zuko almost had you there, but you took him down in a second. Toph, you rock!"
Toph just shrugged her shoulders and said, "I know." It was clear to everyone that Sokka was no longer a fan of The Boulder. "Now write it down," she demanded of him, and Sokka started a new tally on the wall. Toph – one. Zuko – zero.
Sokka took a step back and looked up at the tally marks on the wall as he stroked his chin. "It looks like the only battle we haven't seen is Zuko and Katara."
Katara's eyes widened. No way was she going to fight Zuko. But then her gaze caught his challenging look and she thought better of it. I guess it wouldn't hurt to put the firebender in his place, she thought. "I'll need water," Katara voiced her request, and Sokka, Haru, and The Duke ran off to fetch the buckets of water they'd been using to wash up for dinner.
While the three boys were busy not only finding the buckets but hauling them over, Katara inched closer to Zuko. All the while that she advanced on him, their eyes were locked. It was like their minds were already at war. "You might need more water than just three buckets. My fire will consume it in a flash." The taunt came without warning from his mouth and Katara was taken aback by his jest for his expression remained unreadably calm. Was he even teasing her or was he serious? She couldn't tell. And yet she didn't care.
"Oh, don't worry about me. Fire can be extinguished as easily as water can. Maybe even more so." Katara grinned at her own joke and amazingly Zuko returned it. A mischievous glint sparkled in his eye and she quickly realized that he had been teasing her. His expression never seemed to give anything away, but the golden orbs that stared across at her were the key to his secrets. Her smile widened at the revelation.
Seconds later, Sokka and the other boys were setting down the rather large buckets by Katara's feet. As soon as they stepped away, the water flowed in a stream towards her hands and soon encompassed her arms. Her gaze never left Zuko's eyes during the whole motion, and the minute the pales were empty, she challenged, "Bring it on, firebender," and the battle of the elements began.
Zuko shot off the first blow, but Katara easily evaded it as she skidded to the right. She knew her small amount of water was of no use in the long range, so her first thought was to get closer to her rival. As Zuko blasted fire at her through his hands and even his feet, she tried to conserve her water and dodged away instead. But Zuko was quick to discern her intent and he jumped away from her. She would take two steps forward and he would take two steps back. It was like she was chasing him into the wall that rose up behind him.
And that's exactly what Zuko was doing. He knew from experience with fighting the masterful waterbender that if she had a huge resource of water, she could overpower him. He'd had it happen before. But then he also knew that if she had a limited resource, she had to get closer to her opponent. He would let her get closer. Eventually. But for the moment, he quite enjoyed the game of cat and mouse. Her expression grew more and more frustrated the longer the battle ensued. She tried to water whip him a couple of times but she couldn't quite reach far enough. And that made her angry. And her anger only served to amuse him. Her brilliant blue eyes had captivated him more than once, but it was when they were on fire that they truly shined.
As Zuko leapt about, he consciously brought them closer and closer to the massive back wall of the open courtyard. He could see it in her eyes. She thought she would corner him. Too bad for her. As a smile lit up his face, he made one last leap but this time in her direction. She wasn't expecting it and reacted too late. Before she knew it, she was pinned to the earth with his hands holding hers to the ground as he sat on top of her stomach and leaned over her. Her mouth fell open in shock but she quickly recovered and struggled to get free. Unfortunately for her, Zuko was strong and he held her there with ease. His smile only seemed to widen at her squirming and that made her even angrier.
But suddenly she took on another tactic. "You're burning my wrists," she said with a look of pain appearing on her face.
Zuko turned serious again but his voice still held a teasing tone. "You can't fool me, waterbender." He leaned in closer to her face and whispered for her ears alone. "Don't worry. You'll get over it."
"Get over what?" she whispered back. All thought of struggling escaped her mind as his eyes held hers in an unbreakable vice.
"Maybe you're just not as good as you think you are."
His mimic of her insult made her eyes widen in shock. Had he actually mocked her? How dare he! But before she could begin fighting against his grip again, he released her and stood to his feet. She quickly sat up and stared after his fleeting form and the sudden urge for a rematch consumed her. Without thought to his reaction, she bent the water around her and lashed out with a whip that struck him dead center in the back of the head. He stopped in his tracks and she heard Sokka go "Oooh, now it's getting good."
Zuko turned and faced her with a surprising smile on his face. She had been counting on his look of anger but his eyes held something more. What was it? Amusement? Or was she just seeing things? Surely he didn't actually enjoy this. And yet as he crouched down into a fighting stance and inched towards her, she became sure of it. Good, she thought as her own challenging grin made her eyes sparkle with delight, this is going to be fun. As the two elemental opposites crashed into each other once more, Toph smiled to herself. The battle may have been about their differences, but it was only revealing their similarities. And as much as she tried not to fight it, Toph couldn't stop her mind from conspiring against the firebending prince and the ice queen.
This turned out to be a lot longer than I had originally planned not to mention that it was all written in the moment. The Sokka tally mark idea was there along with the battle between Zuko and Katara, but the rest of it was just off the top of my head while I was writing. Oh well. It turned out great and I love it! It painted such a cute, funny picture of the glorious mess that is Zutara. LOL. Oh, and who doesn't love Toph? She rocks! Get it! ROCKS! *chirp chirp* Yup, I'm as helpless as Sokka.
So I'm really not that good at describing battle scenes. I don't know how to describe the jabs or anything. I just go with describing their emotions instead. I like it so much better anyway. Action and adventure and all that is for the movies. Books are for the emotions behind the actions. Thus, you have my thought-provoking Zutara battle! =D
Once again, I hope you ENJOY this! And PLEASE REVIEW!!! Thanks!
AVidZktjo
BTW, an idea for the letter C hit me last night and all I can say is it's gonna be gooooooood! Hehe. Stay tuned!