A/N: Thank you to my reviewers, I'll make the next chapter longer, I promise! And if you hadn't guessed by now, this has turned into it's own AU, but I'll try and keep some of the things seen in 312 here. Loved the episode!
Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar
Chapter 5
They walked in silence and into the forest once more until the sun started to set. Zuko kept glancing skyward as they walked, but he saw nothing of the bison or the Avatar. They came upon beach as the last rays of the sun disappeared behind them.
"Any safe place around we could set up camp?" he asked the earthbender.
"Yeah, this way," she said and walked down the beach a bit. He followed her to a clump of palm trees. They created a small half circle, and their thick trunks were so close together that only small animals could get between them. The half circle faced the ocean, but slits between the trunks allowed vision all around.
"This looks ok," he said, smirking at her. She replied with a wry smile.
"It's a bit cold though."
"I'll get some wood."
He walked out to the beach and started picking up driftwood. When his arms were full of wood, he returned and saw Toph sitting in the half circle of trees, her arms wrapped around herself. She was rubbing her arms in an attempt to keep warm, and several small fruit lay next to her.
Zuko set the wood down to the side and quickly placed a few logs in the middle of the grove, igniting them with a small blast. He left to get more wood, and saw Toph still acting cold when he returned with another armful.
"Are you really that cold?" he asked her.
She didn't say a word, just tilted her head up as if she was looking at him before nodding and returning her milky gaze to the fire. Zuko sighed and moved around behind her.
"I'm just trying to keep you warm," he said as he sat down behind her. He scooted forwards, keeping his legs out until her back was up against his chest. He heated his body and hands slowly as he rubbed her arms with his hands.
She was shivering, and tensed at his touch, but relaxed as the warmth started to sink into her body.
"Rub your chest with your hands, you'll get the blood moving faster," he instructed her as his hands bumped into hers on her arms. She complied and relaxed further, and lay against his chest.
They stayed like that for a minute until she suddenly jumped up to her feet. Zuko jumped back quickly to get out of her way.
"They're here," she said as she stood in a horse stance with her arms held against her sides. Zuko stood and unsheathed his swords, moving beside Toph as he waited for the two girls to show themselves.
They heard reptilian feet and the slight jingle of harnesses before the mounts and their riders came into view. Mai and Ty Lee stopped their mounts before Zuko and Toph and the pairs studied each other.
"So this is your choice?" Mai asked Zuko, not even bothering to glance at Toph.
"Yes, my destiny lies with the Avatar." He kept his gaze on Mai, and saw her shoulders sag for a moment before she glared at him.
"You could have asked me to come with you."
"I know you would have said no."
Ty Lee glanced from Mai to Zuko and back, utter bewilderment on her face.
"Because of our history, I'll spare you this once."
Zuko nodded, and lowered his swords, but kept his stance.
"Thank you, Mai."
"That doesn't mean I won't try and kill you the next time we meet."
"I know."
Mai turned her mount away and Ty Lee reluctantly followed her.
"What are you going to tell Azula?" she asked her friend.
"We didn't find anything," Mai replied as she kicked her mount forward. Ty Lee looked back at Zuko and Toph sadly before following Mai.
Toph glanced at Zuko before straightening up and turning back to regain her seat by the fire. Zuko sheathed his swords when the last dust had settled from the mounts and placed another log on the fire before sitting next to Toph.
"We got lucky that time," she said as she scooted closer to him, picking up some of the fruit to eat it.
"I know," he replied as he ate the two small citrus fruits Toph had left for him.
Toph moved her hands up and two slabs of earth rose up behind and to the sides of the two, creating a triangular tent with the last third missing, facing the fire. The slabs left enough room for them to lie down and also left enough room between themselves and the fire to move around the fire.
"All this excitement has made me tired. Goodnight, Hothead." Toph said as she yawned and lay down with her back to Zuko, and her feet to the fire.
Zuko grinned at the girl before getting up quietly to throw a few more logs on the fire. He slipped off his swords and ducked back into the earth-tent and lay down with his back to her, using his arm as a pillow, laying his swords by his side. He smiled as he felt her scoot closer to him before he fell asleep.
He awoke with the dawn as was his custom and edged out of the earth tent slowly. A smile tugged at the edge of his mouth as he saw her frown at his departure, but she kept sleeping. He put the last driftwood log on the coals, and sat on the beach, gazing out at the rising sun and ocean.
Thoughts and memories of Mai ran through his head as he watched the sun start to rise. He was sorry he had left her, but he had told her the truth. She would have said no. He heard stirring behind him but kept his gaze straight ahead as Toph sat down next to him.
"What's it look like?"
"Huh?" Zuko asked, stirred out of his thoughts by the girl.
"The sunrise, what's it look like."
"The sun is brilliant, like a large ball of fire, almost white. It's resting just above the sea, turning it to a shade of gold, like a muted red. The light starts to lose strength as it travels through the sky, turning the sky from gold around the sun to pink, that's a light red. That then fades to blue before going to the black of night. A few stars are still out, and are trying to fight the rising sun, but they'll lose eventually, only to return tonight."
Toph leaned back so that she rested on her elbows. "Thanks."
Zuko noticed the water. It was calm and serene, and it gave him an idea.
"You want a first lesson?"
"Huh?" Toph asked, her turn to be surprised out of her thoughts.
"The waters' perfect. You can have your first swimming lesson now if you want."
Toph frowned and turned her head down. Zuko smirked at her before taunting her.
"Unless you're scared."
Tophs' head shot straight up and she glared at him before standing up.
"I'm not scared of anything!"
"Fine, then take off your outerwear and follow me."
He stood up and removed his shirt and walked to the edge of the sea. It was low tide, and the waves gently lapped at his feet, not coming in more than a foot after breaking. He was surprised by the mild sea until he looked down the beach in both directions and saw that they were in a large harbor, protected against the waves of the open sea.
"Ok, I'm here, what now?"
Zuko looked back at Toph. She was just outside the water's range and had her arms crossed in front of her chest with a frown on her face. She had taken off her green robe, and wore white shorts and a light green shirt. He walked back to her and took her hand before leading her slowly into the water. She balked as the first small wave hit her feet, but Zuko just led her in deeper.
"Don't worry, we'll only go waist deep," he told her as they reached knee deep water. "Any time you get too frightened, just stand up."
Toph nodded, but remained silent with a frown on her face as she let him lead her deeper into the water. He stopped her when the water started to lap at her waist. He stepped up to her and placed his other hand on her back.
"First lesson: you can float. I want you to lie down onto the water, and relax. Keep your breathing normal. Don't flail you limbs about, or you will sink. Just breathe and relax, I'll be right here."
He saw her nod and took his hand from hers and placed it on her chest. He gently pushed her back until she was mostly lying on the water. With a wry smile, he noticed she still had one foot on the sea floor.
"It won't work if you're still touching."
Her frown deepened, but she lifted her foot off of the sand and he placed both hands under her to keep her steady as she started floating. A grin crossed her face as she lay there. Zuko slowly lowered his hands until she was floating without support. A shadow crossed them and he looked up to see the bison descend onto the beach.
The Avatar jumped off and ran out, frowning, but Zuko merely smiled at him and held a finger to his lips. Aang stopped and watched the prince and earthbender from the shore. Katara rose from the saddle, and seeing Toph floating in the water next to Zuko, started shouting the girls' name.
"Toph? Toph! What did you do to her?!" She screamed at Zuko, who merely frowned at her as Toph let her feet drop and stood up.
"He didn't do anything, Sugar queen, so quit you're yappin!"
Toph turned back to Zuko, a small smile on her face.
"Thanks for the first lesson, but I think that's our cue to go."
"Yeah," he agreed and followed the earthbender out of the water. He walked past the waterbender who was still glaring at him and went to the campsite to pick up his shirt and swords.
When he returned, Katara was fussing over Toph's burn and Aang was grinning at the exchange between the girls.
"Is everyone ok?" Zuko asked the Avatar after he had put his shirt on and was strapping his swords onto his back.
"Yeah, they're safe at the temple. We had a little trouble finding you, sorry we're late," Aang replied.
"Stop it! I'm healed, I'm fine!" Toph yelled at Katara. Zuko smirked and walked up to the bison.
"I think we're ready to go," he told the Avatar as he easily jumped up, grabbed onto the saddle, and climbed on.
"Definitely," Toph said as she scrambled up after him. He bent down and grabbed her wrist. She grinned up at him and used his arm to pull herself onto the bison's back. Zuko noticed Katara and Aang give each other a glance before climbing up themselves.
"C'mon Appa, let's go back. Yip yip," Aang told the bison from the front of the saddle as he started to move his arms and hands in a flowing, circular motion. Appa let a low bellow out as he lifted off. Zuko closed his eyes as he felt his stomach plummet and hung onto the saddle rim until the bison wasn't climbing any more. Once his stomach returned to its normal place, he opened his eyes and was startled to see the bison and all that rode him enveloped in a cloud.
"What's..?"
"We'll let the cloud go once we're above the natural ones," Katara said from her position across from him.
She was studying him intently, as if he might not be as dangerous as she had once thought, but still dangerous. The cloud surrounding them flew away and Zuko stared out at the sea of clouds, anything to keep his attention off Katara's gaze. The sun had risen above the clouds and the clouds looked like the ocean, except it was white.
"So, Toph, what happened down there?" Katara asked. Zuko turned away from gazing at the clouds and watched the two girls.
Toph had her knees pulled up against her with her arms encircling her legs. She frowned and it looked like she didn't want to talk to the waterbender after being fussed over.
"C'mon, you can tell me," Katara said sweetly. She had an innocent look on her face, but Toph only frowned more and turned her face away from her.
Katara sighed and glanced at Zuko, pleading with her eyes. Zuko simply frowned at her.
"I don't want to tell it twice. We might as well wait till we meet up with everyone else."
Katara frowned and looked at the Avatar as he sat down. "Aang, can you convince them…?"
Aang smiled at her, but shook his head. "Zuko's right and they must be tired. We're almost there Katara, it can wait."
"Humph," Katara said as she frowned at Zuko and crossed her arms over her chest. She got up and walked over to sit next to Aang as Zuko turned his gaze back out to the clouds. He heard them talking in low tones, but couldn't make out what they were saying. He felt Toph slide next to him and looked over to see her resting her head against the saddle with her arms hanging the edge.
"Thanks for the save," she whispered.
"No problem," he whispered back, smiling. He turned serious as he thought of Katara. "Is she always like that?"
"Motherly? Yeah, most of the time. But in a good way. She's motherly over the real you. Snoozles said it's because she lost her mom and took that position with her family and tribe."
Zuko remembered that Katara had told him that she had lost her mom when they were trapped in the crystal catacombs together. He knew his own turmoil at losing his mother, and thought about the turmoil that Katara had gone through, and still she was so strong.
"I guess it isn't that bad then," He whispered as he shot a glance at the waterbender. She had a blush on her cheeks as she looked at her hands in her lap. She looked up and was surprised to see Zuko looking at her.
Her blush vanished as their gazes locked with one another. She quickly turned her attention back to Aang, and Zuko sighed and leaned back against the saddle rim. He definitely didn't understand girls. He would have to make his peace with her and her brother, but he'd have to find the right moment for that. He lost track of time as they flew on.
They suddenly descended into the clouds and when they exited the sea of white, Zuko saw a large plateau and cliff face. Under the plateau shelf, a city stood, but upside down, hanging from the ceiling. Elaborate towers were everywhere, and rivers and vines descended from the plateau, creating an ambiance of peace.
"What's that?" he asked, sitting up as they headed right for it.
"That," Aang proudly stated, "is the Western Air Temple."
"It's beautiful," Zuko whispered. He had never seen the Western Air Temple from this angle, only from inside it years before. Katara glanced back and looked at Zuko in an appraising way while Aang beamed at him.
A/N: Again, 5 more reviews before I post the next chapter. Thank you!
