The ABCs of Zutara: LIARS

Written by Katie Jo aka AVidZktjo

"No, Toph. I'm not playing another one of your silly lie games."

"Why not? It'll be fun."

Katara crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes at the insistent earthbender. "N. O. No."

"Why not, Katara?" Toph asked again as she leaned back and folded her hands behind her head.

"Because, Toph," Katara said her name with force, "you always know when we're lying, you spill all our secrets, and I'm sick of you prying into our lives."

Toph shook her head and countered with an innocent flare, "That's not true. I would never do that."

Katara rolled her eyes. "Now who's the liar?"

"Hey, if you guys would just tell the truth, there wouldn't be a problem," the earthbender said with a shrug of her shoulders.

Though his mouth was full of food, Sokka still managed to get out his own opinion. "It's not that we don't wanna tell the truth cuz I'm all about being honest."

"Liar," Toph mumbled.

"It's that you ask all the questions we don't wanna answer."

Toph sat up straight and lifted her hands in surrender. "Alright. Fine. I'll ask easy questions this time. We can start with something simple like…" The earthbender tapped her foot on the ground in thought and then blurted out suddenly, "Oh, I got it! How about this." Focusing her internal lie detector on the suspicious waterbender, Toph asked, "What's your favorite color?"

"That's a ridiculous question, Toph," Aang butted in as he pointed at his waterbending friend. "It's so obvious that her favorite color is blue. She wears it all the time."

"So. It's the color of her tribe. That doesn't mean it's her favorite."

Lifting his dinner bowl to his mouth, Aang murmured, "It's still a ridiculous question," before taking a sip.

After shaking her head at Aang's pathetic statement, Toph's attention returned to Katara. When the stubborn waterbender didn't immediately answer the ridiculous inquiry, the earthbender jutted a piece of the ground into her leg, making her yelp. "Stop it, Toph! I'm not going to answer any more of your questions!"

"Oh, come on. It's an easy one." Clasping her hands together, Toph pursed her lips and begged, "Pleeeaaase. I promise I won't embarrass you this time."

With a sigh, Katara replied, "Blue. Alright. My favorite color is blue."

The lie detector programmed into her small body picked up on the waterbender's change of heartbeat and she grinned. "Uh-huh. Zuko?"

The fire prince looked up from his bowl and shook his head. "No way. I'm not getting caught up in this again. I haven't forgotten what happened last time."

"Sheesh. It was a joke. When are you gonna get over it?"

"When you stop forcing me and Katara to answer your stupid questions."

Toph waited for Zuko to take another swig of his stew before posing the question to him once more. "It's not that hard though. All I wanna know is your favorite color."

"No," he said between gulps.

"Oh, come on. It's easy."

Zuko shook his head.

"All it takes is one simple word. Green. Yellow. Blue. Red. Purple. White. Black. Which is it?"

Without taking his eyes from his bowl, Zuko stated, "Why do you even want to know what my favorite color is? It's not like you can see it anyway."

Everyone gathered around the campfire immediately perked up and turned their attention on Toph. She was sure to be angry at Zuko's last comment. But the earthbender didn't even seem to notice. Instead she kept badgering him for an answer. "It's your favorite color. I'm not asking you if you wanna kiss Katara or anything. I just wanna know which color you like best. That's all."

Zuko's fingers paled as they gripped tighter around his bowl. She wasn't going to let this go until he answered and he knew that all too well. But he also knew that once he answered, the little trickster would trap both him and Katara in another lie and turn it against them just as she'd done before.

"Come on, Zuko. What is it? Just tell me."

His anger was going to cost him. Throwing down the half empty bowl, Zuko yelled across the fire at the grinning earthbender, "Red! Alright! My favorite color is red! Are you happy now!?"

Toph's grin widened and the same sparkle of wicked trickery he'd seen three nights ago filled her eyes. "Yes. I'm very happy." Glancing between the two diverse benders, Toph delivered her verdict. "By the way, you're both liars. Katara's favorite color isn't blue and Zuko's isn't red. In fact, I'd be willing to bet that it's the complete opposite."

Zuko and Katara jumped to their feet at the same time and blurted out in unison, "WHAT!?"

Toph leaned back, folded her hands behind her head, and shrugged. "So you like each other's color. Big deal."

"No, we don't!" the two heated benders argued together. Once the words had exited their mouths, they looked over at one another and cringed. Could things get any worse?

Toph was constantly out to aggravate them. Neither one of them would ever forget the training incident where she threw them into each other's arms and locked them in that position with an earth blanket. Sokka wasn't too pleased about that one and neither was Aang. But that wasn't even the worst of it. Next thing they knew, Toph was asking them all these questions and letting the whole group know when they were lying, which led to a very unpleasant confrontation three nights ago. Toph had gotten both Zuko and Katara so angry at her that they blurted out their answers without even thinking about it, and, boy, did it cost them dearly.

"Admit it, Katara, you want to kiss Zuko," Toph had teased her.

And Katara was easily baited into answering. "No, I don't! Why would I want to kiss Zuko!? That's crazy!"

The earthbender had grinned with that teasing look in her eyes and replied with a shrug, "I don't know why you wanna kiss each other. Maybe it's because he's your prince charming and you're his princess. I dunno. But your accelerated heartbeats give it all away. You're both a bunch of liars."

"No, we're not!" they had rebuked her simultaneously.

And now they were at it again, only this time it was a stupid argument about their favorite colors. When would Toph's torment end? "Toph," Katara started while attempting to keep her voice calm, "Zuko and I like our own colors."

"I know you like your own colors, but that wasn't the question. The question was which color was your favorite and the answer is that Zuko's favorite is blue and yours, Katara, is red. Plain and simple."

Katara wanted to pull her hair out in frustration, but instead she tried once more to reason with her ex-friend. "Toph, you know that's not true. My favorite color is blue—"

"And mine is red," Zuko filled in for her. As he neared the imposing blind girl, he continued on in anger, "How many times do we have to tell you that there is nothing going on between us and there never will be. In fact, Toph, Katara hates my guts and I pretty much hate hers, too. So leave us alone already and drop this ridiculous notion that we wanna kiss each other!"

Zuko stood within inches of the relaxed earthbender and looked about ready to incinerate her on the spot. But Toph didn't even seem to notice. She just smiled and said, "I didn't even bring up the fact that you wanna kiss each other. You did that on your own." Zuko's palms blazed with fire but Toph wasn't done yet. While pretending to look at her dirt-covered nails, she added, "Oh, and by the way, your anger is just more proof that I'm right."

"That's it!" Zuko screamed as the fire in his hands rose higher. Everyone's eyes popped as Zuko took a fighting stance before his aggravating opponent. His menacing appearance would have made anyone rise up to defend themselves, but Toph didn't even move an inch from her casual position. Though she looked all sweet and innocent on the outside, Zuko knew how horrible and manipulative she could be. More than anything he wanted to strike her down with fire but he knew he'd be making a grave mistake if he did. So instead he punched his fists out above her head, sending a huge flame whirling forth from his fingertips. Turning on his heels, he then stomped off away from the group and into the depths of the Western Air Temple.

As he fled the scene, everyone watched the fuming firebender with rapt attention. Once he was out of sight though, all eyes turned on Toph. Aang was the first to open his mouth. "You need to stop teasing him."

"And me," Katara scowled.

The words didn't even seem to register with the earthbender for she went right along with her trickery. "You should go after him, sugar queen."

Now it was Katara's turn to get angry. "I'm not going after him!"

"Why not? You'll miss your opportunity to kiss your prince charming in secret."

"That's it!" Katara mimicked the fire prince, but she wasn't about to storm off as he did. Unlike Zuko, she wanted a fight. Bending the water from her pouch, Katara froze it into a dozen spikes and sent them hurtling toward the irritating girl.

Toph easily blocked them with a simple wave of her hand. "Your anger is just proof that I'm—"

"No, you're not!" Katara pulled the water back to her side and formed it into a water whip that lashed out at the earthbender. Toph dodged it with ease and then sent a boulder straight at Katara's stomach. The waterbender wasn't fast enough in dodging it and the rock hit its mark, sending Katara flying back into a column. Once she had risen to her feet, she circled the water around her, ready for another attack. But Toph just stood there with her hands on her hips and the same mocking grin on her lips. Katara hated that grin but she hated Toph's lie detector even more. "I'm not the only one who's lying. You're as much of a liar as I am!"

Toph threw back her head and laughed. "Then you admit it! You are lying!"

Seething with rage, Katara threw down her water in a huff, abruptly turned on her heels, and stomped off to her room, slamming the door behind her.

"Wow, Toph, you're really mean," The Duke dared to speak up after the sound of the crashing door receded.

The grinning girl just smiled. "Thanks. I get that a lot. Now…who wants to answer my next question?"

The gang immediately dissipated and Toph frowned at their absence. "Fine! Be that way!" she yelled after them. But her smile quickly returned as she thought on her success. "Maybe now those two will finally quit lying to one another. If not," Toph rubbed her hands together, "then I'll just have to catch them in another lie." As her shoulders rocked in silent chuckles, the manipulative earthbender trotted off to her room, reveling in the brilliance of her future plans for the fire prince and his ice queen.

///A\\\

"You're worried about him."

Katara tried to ignore the horrendous girl seated next to her at breakfast but it was nearly impossible. She kept repeating the same thing over and over in her ear, and each time she said it, another part of Katara's sanity was chipped away and blown to the wind. The waterbender didn't know how much more of this she could take before her resolve was completely destroyed.

"Just admit it. You and I both know it's the truth."

A growl escaped Katara's mouth but she refused to form words.

"Of course, it's pretty obvious why you're worried about him."

Katara kept her eyes on the spot where Sokka and Aang had disappeared that morning in search of the fire prince. Toph held some truth to her words. She couldn't deny that she was a little worried about the firebender, but that was only because it was in her genes to worry. She always worried. It was just something she did in response to her caring nature. But that did not mean she cared about the firebender. She didn't care about him at all. She was just a little –

"You're thinking about him."

Katara felt her heartbeat quicken. Could Toph read people's thoughts now, too? With a sigh, Katara turned to face the chattering earthbender and decided that honesty was the best policy. "Fine, Toph. I'll admit that I'm a little worried about Zuko. Something could have happened to him. He may be hurt. But that's as far as my worry goes. I just want him to be alright. Alright?"

Toph's mouth widened into that teasing grin again but suddenly her smile vanished as she jumped to her feet. "Oh, no. Zuko's hurt."

Katara rolled her eyes. "Ha. Ha. Real funny, Toph. If you're trying to trick me, it won't –"

"I'm not kidding." Grabbing hold of Katara's hand, Toph yanked her up off the ground. "Come on! It feels like he's hurt pretty bad." Toph took off at a sprint in the opposite direction, beckoning for Katara to follow her, but Katara refused to believe the trickster of an earthbender. "Come on, Katara. He's gonna need your help," Toph tried reasoning with her stubborn friend.

"No, Toph. I'm not falling for it," she replied with a shake of her head.

"Ugh. Fine! Let him die then." With a pound of her foot that nearly threw Katara off balance, Toph fled around the corner and out of sight.

"Maybe she's telling the truth," Haru spoke up as he set his bowl down beside him.

Katara turned to face her optimistic friend. "Don't be ridiculous. She's lying."

"I dunno," Teo said, relinquishing his hold on his breakfast as well. "Toph may pull some tricks on us at times, but she has never lied about anything as serious as this. I think we should go check it out."

Haru nodded. "Agreed."

Haru, Teo, and The Duke set aside their breakfast and followed after Toph in a hurry, leaving Katara alone to wonder. "I'm not going to fall for it! I'm not!" she yelled after them. Plopping down beside her cooking pot, she picked up her breakfast bowl and started to eat. Once she was finished, she decided to clean up the mess that everyone had left behind. "If they want to play a trick on me, then fine. No breakfast for them." After all the dishes had been cleaned and the leftovers stored away, Katara sat down next to the diminishing fire and stared at the spot where Toph had disappeared.

Hours went by, or at least it felt like they did. How long were they going to keep up this joke? "Come on, guys, you can come out now," Katara tried to lure them from their hiding spots. But nothing happened. No one appeared. And she didn't even hear the sound of shuffling feet. What was going on? This had to be a joke. Zuko wasn't actually hurt…was he? The terrifying thought quickly wound its way into Katara's mind and she was up on her feet in a flash. Maybe this wasn't a joke. Either way, she had to find out.

But just as Katara was about to head for the temple, Sokka came running around the corner and about knocked her over. "Katara! We need you! What are you doing!?" he lashed out at her as he grabbed her hand and pulled her along beside him.

Katara's anger instantly returned and she yanked her hand out of her brother's hold. "What does it look like I'm doing!? I'm waiting for you guys to admit this is all a joke, that's what!"

"What!?" Sokka eyed Katara in disbelief and then shook his head. "We don't have time for this." Grabbing onto her hand again, Sokka dragged his sister around the corner and toward Zuko's room.

"Sokka, what's going on?" she asked while allowing his insanity to continue.

"Didn't Toph tell you? Zuko's hurt."

"What?" Now it was Katara's turn to shake her head. "He's Zuko. He can't be hurt."

"Well, apparently he can." After letting go of his sister's hand, Sokka flung open the door to the firebender's bedroom. "See!" he said while pointing inside.

The entire gang was gathered around the bed, and at Sokka's words, they all turned their attention on the doorway. Aang was the first to speak. "Katara! Where have you been?"

"It's about time you got here, sugar queen. Princey here needs some major healing."

"I told you Toph was telling the truth," Haru was the last to add.

Katara couldn't believe her eyes. This definitely wasn't a trick. There were bruises all along Zuko's right arm and even on the right side of his face. And the loose bandages around his leg had to mean that something even worse lay underneath. What happened to him?

"Katara?"

Aang's mention of her name snapped her out of her shocked state and she flew into action. Sitting down on the bed, Katara put a hand to the bruises on his face. This was going to take some work to heal. "I'll need water and lots of it." Sokka and Aang immediately sprung in to action and fled the room. "As for the rest of you, you all need to leave. I have to concentrate if I'm going to heal him."

"But, Katara, we want to stay," The Duke choked out amidst his tears.

Katara turned her attention to the small boy and gave him a warm smile. "Don't worry, The Duke, he'll be fine. I just need a few minutes to heal him and then he'll be as good as new."

The Duke nodded in response and then followed Haru and Teo out the door.

"Do you really think you can heal him?" Toph asked in a whisper as she stood up to leave.

Bending the water from her pouch, Katara began working on Zuko's arm. "I don't know, Toph. All I can do is try."

As soon as the earthbender had left the room, the two boys returned with buckets full of water. "Do you think you'll need more than that?" Aang was quick to ask.

"I'll let you know," Katara replied as she pulled more water onto Zuko's arm.

"You might want to work on his leg first. It looks like he might have broken it," Sokka suggested.

Katara poured the water back into the pale and then lifted the bandages from Zuko's leg. It was even worse than his arm. Looking back at her brother, Katara asked, "What happened?"

Sokka stared into his sister's eyes with a look of wonder on his face. "I still can't believe we were able to find him. He was buried under a ton of rubble, but, luckily, Aang spotted his tunic and we were able to dig him out." Sokka paused to shake his head.

"So…what happened to him?" Katara tried to get an explanation out of her brother.

"Well, it looked like the path he was walking on crumbled underneath him and he fell through. It was a pretty long drop. It's a wonder he's even alive."

Katara glanced over at Zuko's mangled face. How did he not see the broken path before him? How could he have missed that? And why didn't he just blast himself to safety? He was a firebender. Surely he could have saved himself somehow. So why didn't he?

"Be sure to let us know when he's up," Aang requested before both him and Sokka left the room and shut the door behind them.

Katara couldn't believe the damage to Zuko's leg alone. Running her hand along his pale skin, she sensed that he had at least three fractures along with an actual break in the bone. She had never healed broken bones before and the thought of healing him wrong made her heart race. "You can do this, Katara. It's just like healing any other injury. No big deal." Pulling a wave of water up from the buckets, Katara spilled the liquid over Zuko's leg. After taking a deep breath, the water began to glow and Katara went to work.

The fractures took some doing but they were repaired easily enough. However, the broken bone at his knee was not so easy to put back together. While using both her healing power and her bloodbending ability, Katara tried to push the bone back into place and make it reattach itself. It took a lot more work, but she was able to reposition the bone. Unfortunately, Zuko chose that moment to bolt upright in his bed and Katara immediately lost her grip. In a snap, the bone returned to its broken state and Zuko fell back with a cry of pain.

"Zuko, calm down. Calm down." Katara took control of the water around his leg, and in an attempt to silence him, she swirled the glowing liquid around his calf in a soothing motion. "It's alright. You're going to be alright. Just calm down."

Zuko's cries eventually dimmed to groans as Katara massaged his leg, but she could still tell he was in great pain. Along with the squinting of his eyes, his fists were clenched so tightly that his hands had gone whiter than a ghost. Glancing over at his face, Katara could see that a cringe had permanently etched itself onto his brow, turning his features into a mask of torment. She almost felt sorry for him. Almost. "You know this is all your fault. If you hadn't run off in an angry fit, you'd be just fine right now."

Zuko's groans turned into a deep growl. "Well, maybe…if that earth – ah!"

"Quiet! You don't want to scare everyone." Katara centered her water on the break and then looked back at Zuko. "Now hold still. I'm gonna try to get your broken bone back into place. It may hurt a little."

"A little?" Zuko said through clenched teeth as he tried to sit up.

"No." With a gentle touch, Katara placed her hand on his chest and pushed him back down. "Stay put. This will just take a minute…or two."

"Great."

While Katara worked on positioning the bone back into place at his knee, Zuko tried not to think on the pain. But then what was he supposed to think on? The accident? It had been downright stupid of him to wander the temple in the dark. It was old and decrepit. No wonder he fell through the floor. Of course, if it hadn't been for Toph's constant need to irritate him, this would have never happened. He wouldn't have run off in anger and he wouldn't have been too occupied with his rage to pay attention to his footing. All in all, it had been a lousy night and his morning wasn't shaping up to be any better. He had fallen, broken his leg, and now the only one who could heal him was the bitter waterbender. Things couldn't get any worse.

"We heard yelling. Is everything alright?"

Anyone but her. Anyone but her!

"Yes, Toph. I'm just working on his leg but I need to concentrate," Katara replied without turning from her work.

"Alright." Zuko's gaze met with eyes of green and he scowled at her. "Don't worry, princey, you'll get your revenge," Toph responded with a grin. "Take good care of him, Katara. Real good care of him." With a wink in his direction, the earthbender closed the door behind her.

"I swear…when I get out of here…I'm gonna strangle that girl," Zuko promised through gritted teeth.

Katara countered with a smart remark. "Not if I get there first."

A smile began to form on Zuko's lips at her joke, but it was quickly taken away the second she snapped his bone into place. Zuko slammed his fist down on the bed and tried to stifle his groans. This was like the day he'd received his scar. Although nothing could ever compare to the burn on his face, this came in at a close second. At least this time he had a waterbender by his side, even if she was a bitter one.

After a few more minutes, Katara looked up from her work and turned to the firebender. "There. Your leg is as good as new."

"Good." Zuko pushed himself up from the bed into a sitting position. "Now I can go find that earthbender and teach her a less –" Zuko gripped his side and grimaced.

"Looks like you have more injuries than just your leg. Here. Let me have a look." Katara took hold of Zuko's arm and moved it out of the way. Then she reached for the sash that bound his tunic and unraveled it. Pushing aside the fabric, Katara stared down at several deep bruises running along the right side of his abdomen. "You must have hit the ground on your right because there doesn't seem to be any bruising on your left." With a water-covered hand, Katara ran her fingers along the bruises and concluded, "Nothing seems to be broken. You just took a heavy fall is all."

"Is that all?"

Katara ignored his sarcasm and tried to fade the bruising. She couldn't do much with it, but Zuko's pain did seem to reduce somewhat for his breathing evened out more. "It will take a while to heal fully, but you should be able to move better at least." With her hand still in place on his torso, Katara looked up into his steady eyes. "Is there anything else?"

For a split second, Zuko forgot that the waterbender hated him. Her brilliant sapphire eyes were so captivating that he even lost track of what she'd asked him. What had she asked him? It took him a minute to recall, but once he did, he lifted his arm before her baby blues and said, "Just this."

"Oh!" Katara had forgotten about that. Taking hold of his arm, she gave it a once over inspection. "Nothing seems to be broken. It just looks like you have some bruises." Bending more water from the buckets and into her hands, Katara covered his forearm in the glowing liquid and helped speed up the healing process.

While she worked, Zuko's anger receded along with the pain and all that was left was the waterbender. "Thank you, by the way, for doing this," he voiced to her as the bruising on his arm faded.

"They would have forced me to heal you anyway," Katara replied while her focus remained on his arm.

"So you weren't worried about me then?" Zuko dared to ask.

Katara was quick to answer with a "No."

"Not even a little?"

"Nope. Not at all."

A teasing grin crossed Zuko's lips. "Liar."

Katara's eyes met with Zuko's in an instant. "I'm not –"

"Yes, you are," he interrupted as he narrowed his eyes at her. "I may not be Toph, but I can tell when you're lying and when you're telling the truth. And right now…" Zuko leaned in closer to her and whispered, "You're lying."

Katara mimicked his peering eyes. "Yeah, well, two can play at that game. I can see through your lies just as easily as you can mine."

"Really?" The smile abruptly dropped from Zuko's face and his expression became serious. "Toph was right, you know. I do want to kiss you."

For a split second, Katara believed him and her eyes popped open in shock. But then she caught on to his game and lightly punched him in the shoulder. "Ha. Ha. Very funny."

Zuko followed along with her playful attitude, but behind the smile, his seriousness remained. He hadn't been lying. Toph knew the truth and so did he. He was attracted to the waterbender and there had even been a time when he'd actually fantasized about holding her in his arms. Unfortunately, the little trickster of an earthbender had called him out on it. But even though he had said otherwise on that night, the truth still lay dormant within him. But who would ever believe it?

"Would you like me to heal your, um…well, you have some bruises on your face, too."

Shaking the thoughts from his head, Zuko turned his attention back on his healer and automatically nodded in response. After bending water into her command, Katara scooted closer to Zuko and lifted her hands to his face. While one hand was placed over his scar for support, the other glowed over the skin of his right cheek where several bruises had formed. As his healer worked her magic, the firebender's golden eyes fixed themselves on her face. Katara, however, kept her gaze trained on her glowing hand and her mind focused on the healing process. But it wasn't long before the simple task became harder than it looked. If only the firebender's eyes weren't so distracting, then she could concentrate better.

She was so beautiful. Toph had been right about that. In fact, the annoying lie detector had been right about everything. But what did it matter? He would never admit it. If he did, then all hell would break loose. The Avatar would kill him for even thinking about his girl in that way. Sokka would help. And Katara…she would probably look at him with disgust and then freeze him in a block of ice for all eternity. Either way, the truth was a bad thing. A very bad thing. If only the blind earthbender could see that.

"Done," Katara declared as the water flowed back into a bucket and her hands dropped into her lap. "You still have a few marks here and there, but they should heal in no time. The biggest thing right now is your leg. I think you need to stay put for at least the rest of the day to make sure it's gonna stay in place."

Katara was about ready to rise when Zuko's warm hands covered hers. "Thanks again, Katara." Zuko shook his head at his own coming confession. "You were right about this being my fault. If I hadn't run off like that and if that…little…" Zuko sighed. "Maybe things would have turned out differently."

Before she knew what she was doing, Katara had pulled one her hands out from under his and placed it atop his own. "I shouldn't have said that before. I was wrong. This wasn't your fault at all. It was Toph's. She's the one to blame." Katara's face became riddled with anger and she yanked her hands away from his, displaying her rage through more than just words. "Why can't she just mind her own business and leave us alone! I hate that girl! She's so…so…frustrating! She says we're the liars but really she's the one who's been lying!"

Zuko nodded his head in agreement. Opening his mouth, he was about ready to slander the earthbender right along with her but he was stopped in his tracks by an unexpected revelation. If you two would just tell the truth for once, then this whole problem you have with one another would go away. Zuko hated to admit it, but the little trickster was right. She'd been right about everything. All the lies that she'd called them out on had been the truth. He still wished she had been a little more discreet about it, but maybe that was just her way of showing them that she cared. Either way, the blind girl had seen everything and she was right about it all. It was time for the truth.

"Actually…" Katara wrinkled her brow at Zuko's calm voice. "Toph has been right about everything."

"What!? No, she hasn't!" Katara automatically defended herself.

"Then tell me something." Zuko placed his hands over Katara's once more. "Were you lying last night? Is blue really your favorite color or do you like another color more?" Katara opened her mouth to reply but with a serious tone to his deep voice Zuko quickly added, "Be honest."

Katara's mouth closed. What was she supposed to say? The truth was absurd. Blue wasn't her favorite color. Toph had called her out on that one. But telling the truth would have been even worse than lying. Toph loved to manipulate everything Katara said into something totally off base, so she couldn't tell the truth. But Toph wasn't around. It was just Zuko. But could he really be trusted with such information? It was worth a shot. "Toph was right. My favorite color isn't blue." Staring up into Zuko's warm golden eyes, Katara couldn't help but spill the truth. "It's red."

Zuko's eyes widened in shock. "Red!? Your favorite color is red? Why?"

A sigh escaped the waterbender's lips. "I know it sounds crazy and I don't know why it is. But for some odd reason I guess I've always liked that color. But do you see now why I couldn't tell Toph? If I had told her the truth, she would have assumed that I…that I liked you or some nonsense like that."

"And if I had told her that my favorite color was blue –"

"Blue!? Your favorite color is blue? Why?" Katara imitated Zuko's surprise.

With a shrug to his shoulders Zuko answered, "I think it's because my mother loved the ocean and would always take me there. It was her favorite place to relax and I guess it became a part of me as well."

Katara shook her head. "This is crazy. I can't believe that Toph was actually right." Dropping her eyes down to her lap, Katara realized for the first time that Zuko's hands lay over hers. Her heart instantly picked up its pace. "Do you think…I mean, is Toph…is she right…about everything?"

Lifting a hand to her chin, Zuko raised her eyes until they met with his. "There's only one way to find out." Zuko's heart raced a mile a minute as he leaned in toward the waterbender. He could see the surprise in her eyes and he knew a slap to the face was sure to be his reward for this treasonous act. But he didn't care. With only a breath between them now, there was no turning back.

"Zuko." Her faint whisper of his name was silenced by the gentle touch of his lips and she closed her eyes in acceptance of the unexpected kiss. The sensation she felt was nothing at all like before, in fact, it was better. It was clear to her in a microsecond that the airbender couldn't hold a candle to a kiss from this firebender. His lips were so warm and gentle, soothing and inviting. His touch overwhelmed her, making her body melt and her heart flutter. She had never felt anything like it and she was sad to see it go. Had the kiss really lasted only a few seconds?

"I told you I wanted to kiss you."

Zuko's soft words cut through the tender moment like a knife and Katara's eyes popped open in a hurry. She couldn't believe he'd done that! Reacting out of instinct, she yanked her hands away from his and slapped him clean on the face. Zuko didn't even act to defend himself. He just received it like he'd known it was coming all along.

After cringing from the impact, the fire prince turned his attention back on the furious waterbender and tried to explain himself. "I'm sorry. I just wanted to show you that Toph has been right about everything. I know I shouldn't have done that. It was wrong and it was stupid and I was –" What in the world!? Zuko couldn't believe his eyes or his lips. She was actually kissing him back!

There had only been one thought in Katara's head as Zuko had pulled apart from her. She wanted more. But she wasn't about to let him off that easily either. So after firmly jamming her hand into the scarred side of his face, she came to a simple conclusion. Kiss him back. So she did. And it was even better than the first time. Once Zuko finally got over his shock, the kiss turned into a prison of fire and passion that would take some time to unlock, not that either of them wanted to find the key.

Wrapping one arm around her waist and putting another at her neck, Zuko pulled Katara closer to him and deepened the kiss. This was amazing. She was amazing! Her mouth had tasted good the first time but this…this was something else. He'd never felt anything like it. He wanted to scream and dance and laugh and cry all at the same time, but how could he when his tongue was busy in battle against hers, a battle that he hoped would rage on forever.

"How's it going in there?"

Zuko immediately relinquished his hold on the waterbender and reached for his robe. Hurriedly he tied it back into place and matted down his unruly hair in the same beat. The minute Katara heard the voice through the door, she leapt to her feet with a muffled yelp and attempted to comb through her hair while smoothing out her wardrobe. It wasn't going to help though for the person on the other end knew exactly what was going on.

"I'm sorry. Did I interrupt something?" the intuitive earthbender asked after opening the door and leaning up against it.

"No!" Zuko and Katara practically shouted. Then Zuko went on to explain, "Katara was just finishing up."

"Yes, I was just finishing up," Katara repeated while continuing to comb through her hair. When Toph didn't answer right away, Katara added, "In fact, I was just leaving."

"Not so fast, sugar queen," Toph said as she shot out her arm to stop the fleeing waterbender. "Something is definitely going on."

Katara was quick in her reply. "No, nothing's going on. Nothing at all. Why would anything be going on? I hate Zuko. Always have and always will."

"And I hate Katara," Zuko instantly agreed with her. "So you see, Toph, there is nothing going on and nothing will ever be going on because there's absolutely nothing that could ever, um…go on?"

Glancing back at the fire prince, Katara gave him a look that said she wanted to bury him alive to which he replied with a sheepish grin and a shrug of the shoulders. Katara rolled her eyes. It was hopeless. Anyone could see that they were lying. Why did she have to kiss him back anyway? She could have lived without another kiss from the firebender. Look, another lie! Oh, that was beside the point. Turning back to the earthbender, Katara decided that the truth was most certainly not the best policy in this situation. "Toph, there is nothing going on between us, you didn't interrupt anything, and that's the end of it."

The young girl narrowed her blind eyes at Katara and asked, "Are you telling me the truth?"

Even though Toph couldn't see it, she could feel it. Both the fire prince and his ice queen swallowed hard and then answered in unison, "Yes." The earthbender's grin widened at their shared testimony. This was going to be fun. Taking a deep breath, Toph opened her mouth to speak but then abruptly closed it. She knew they were lying. Anyone could see that. But was now the right time to reveal their lies? To their surprise, and to hers, she decided to let the truth be silenced. Dropping the grin from her face, Toph shrugged her shoulders and said, "Alright. I believe you."

She wished she could have seen the look on their faces. It was sure to be a doozy. But their racing heartbeats were enough to satisfy her wicked desires. Whatever happened between the two of them was going to make for great laughs later in the week. But for now, Toph was going to let them off easy. So with a pleasant smile on her face, she bid the couple farewell and closed the door on her way out. Her ears, however, couldn't help but linger.

"I can't believe she bought that," Katara marveled.

"Uh, I don't think she did."

Toph's infamous grin returned. She didn't need to see to know what had happened. Her plan had been an utter success for their mouths had wound up in an unexpected lip lock. But their next words made Toph sigh in defeat. They were lying to one another again. Would it ever end?

"Katara, I –"

"No, don't even say it. Nothing has changed between us. Nothing. Okay?"

Zuko's voice didn't sound too pleased about that. "Yeah, sure." But it wasn't his voice that Toph was fixed on.

Words had come to mean nothing to her once she'd discovered her lie detector abilities. Everything she ever wanted to know was hidden in the vibrations that people gave off. That's where the real stories were buried. And the story here was an easy one to unearth. With a bounce in her step and a plan already forming in her evil little mind, the earthbender trotted off to her room with only one word springing forth from her grinning lips. "Liars."

REVIEWS? YES, PLEASE!!! ^_^

***Be sure to check out this picture called By The Fire by some1ders13 on DA. It goes along perfectly with the moment right before the steamy Zutara kiss. Go see for yourself.***

I gotta say this first: obviously, my original plan of getting these stories out one day at a time is not working…in case you didn't figure that out already. LOL. Sorry. I will (or plan to) have at least one story posted a week. That's pretty reasonable I believe. Sometimes I might post more than one. It all depends. But I'm not gonna make any promises. I like to take my time in my writing and I believe that is the best thing for me. It allows me more time to think and to edit. So…that's the plan from now on. Just thought I'd let you all know.

As for this story – YOU GOTTA LOVE TOPH!!! She and Iroh are like the biggest Zutara supporters ever! They both rock! (no pun intended) I loved messing around with Toph's internal lie detector. It had to be done. I could easily see her using Zuko's and Katara's every word against themselves and each other. Haha. Too funny. The whole color idea was a fun one to come up with as well. The idea that they liked each other's color actually formed in my head in a totally romantic way. Something like this:

Z: Did I ever tell you that my favorite color isn't red?
K: What? Then what is it?
Z: (puts a hand to her face and stares deeply into her eyes) Blue.
K: (breathless) Really? Why's that?
Z: (smiles as his thumb caresses her cheek) No reason.

And then, of course, Katara tells him somehow that she likes red and then they share this totally sexy kiss under the moonlight and all is well in the Zutara world. =D Yup, that sounds so romantic. But as I was thinking up ideas for LIARS, the whole color thing hit me in a new way and I decided to approach it through Toph. Being the wicked trickster that she is, I knew it would be fun. Gotta hate that she interrupted them though. Hehe. But she had to. Oh well. Toph will just have to get them together some other way and we all know that she can. ^_^

Yup. I think that's it. MYTH is next. The idea for M was the first one to ever form in my head when I thought up this series, so it will be nice to finally get it all down on paper. Can't wait! I'll get started…tomorrow. =D

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