I Told You So

Chapter 3: Friendly Competition

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Avatar and make no profit from this (nice as that woud be)

Zuko stood watching the sun set into the cliff face of the Western Air Temple. That day the gaang had arrived at the decision to head back into the Fire Nation, starting at Ember Island. Just as they had done originally for the invasion on the Day of Black Sun, the group had decided to split for the time being and join up just before the comet event. One group would leave tonight, the other on the following morning.

Aang, Sokka, Katara, Toph, and Suki were all going with Zuko to Ember Island. The Duke, Teo, Hakoda, and Haru were taking a different route. The decision to split had not been easy or without its fair share of arguments but in the end Zuko felt that they made the right choice.

That Aang, Sokka, Toph, and Katara would stay together was a given. Zuko was needed to continue Aang's training so he was included as well. It was then that the arguments started. Teo and Haru were the most vocal of the protestors.

"We're supposed to be a team!" Teo stated, "All of us contribute. All of us should go."

"He's right," emphasized Haru, "we have all been training our hardest, pushing ourselves past our limits for this. And now you want to cut us out?!" The normally quiet earth-bender had been in an uncommon rage. Knowing that his father was still among the Fire Nation prisoners only furthered his anger.

Sokka, who had come up with the idea, was having a hard time selling them on the idea.

A genius he might have been, but public speaking had never been Sokka's strong suit and his arguments reflected it.

"The plan makes perfect sense!"

"To who?" asked Teo, "cause it doesn't make sense to me."

"To everyone, it's logical."

"Dividing our strengths is logical? We need a combined force," put in Haru.

"Yeah genius, remember there's strength in numbers," said Teo, only slightly mocking.

"But…but…but…that's not the PLAAANNNN!!" wailed a frustrated Sokka, clutching his charts and maps protectively to his chest.

At long last Katara broke the stalemate.

"First of all, Appa can't carry all of us all the time without straining himself, so we'd be walking and never get there in time. Secondly, there's no need of two earth-benders in one group Haru," pinning the young bender with her crystallizing glare.

Much to his own surprise Zuko found himself backing up Katara.

"She's right, Toph is more than enough. It would be stupid to leave the others without the protection of a bender," and Katara glanced at him, her own shock evident in her face at his support, "in two groups we'll also cover more ground. While one group heads towards Ozai, the other can make contact with our allies and look for the rest of the people that were taken captive." His suggestion gave the two boys reason to stop their protests and set them on the track to freeing their fathers and friends.

The Duke, while also bothered about the apparent exclusion, was too young and optimistic to dwell on it overlong. When he heard the plans and discussions he just shrugged his small shoulders.

"I guess I was hoping we'd all stick together but at least Teo and I can still keep finding new things to explode."

Zuko wasn't sure just how Suki had ended up with them. He had assumed that she would want to join Teo and Haru in searching for the prisoners. After all, the remaining Kyoshi warriors were still imprisoned somewhere in the Fire Nation, and they had been there much longer than the others. He was aware of her relationship with Sokka but hadn't imagined it surpassed her desire to free her fellow battle sisters.

Hakoda had volunteered to go with the youngsters, saying their energy kept him young and he didn't want to intrude on the close knit friendships of his children. But Zuko knew how anxious he was to find the others despite his light hearted comments. He and the older man had struck up a rather odd friendship the past few weeks and everyone had taken to calling the older water tribesman Chief. Uncle Iroh had been the only stable parent figure in his life for so long and his absence created a void in Zuko. Hakoda had somehow managed to fill that void, treating him much like he did his own children.

Heaving one last sigh as the sun finally disappeared and brought about the twilight he turned to walk back into the temple interior when he heard a familiar voice calling him.

"Hey, Prince Charming, hold up a second," called Toph as she ran up to him. "All packed up for our next great adventure?"

"Yeah I guess, not that it's much."

"You haven't done laundry again have you," she asked with a wicked grin.

"I think I learned my lesson the first time actually," he said with a snort. Zuko had spent two days in a ridiculous mix of Haru and Sokka's extra clothes before they managed to get him some new things.

"I just wish I could have seen it. Great as Snoozle's description might have been, it just wasn't the same."

"At least things between Katara and I are better now. Nothing like a bit of public humiliation to soften her up. For awhile there it looked as though she would never forgive me."

"Sweetness wasn't gonna hold out forever. It's not in her nature. Heck, even after she caught me conning half the Fire Nation, she wasn't able to stay mad at me for more than a week."

"It must have been some week."

"That it was, Prince Charming; that it was."

"Well come on, we might as well go and say good-bye to Hakoda and the others."

"I'll race you!" and with that Toph took off towards the others with Zuko following a step behind. They were like two little kids trying to be first in line for festival; pushing shoving, and tripping each other up.

"HEY! Cheater: no earth-bending!"

"You snooze you lose buddy!" she called off rushing past him as she used her bending to propel herself down a newly created earth-slide.

They arrived just as the small group was loading the last of their things on Appa. Despite Aang's protest Zuko had convinced him that the giant flying bison was simply too conspicuous. There was no way they would have been able to hide him on Ember Island with no one noticing. So Teo, Haru, Hakoda, and the Duke would take Appa while the rest of them traveled to the island in the war balloon they had stolen from Azula at the Boiling Rock.

"You made it," said Teo, "for a moment there I thought you were going to let us leave without saying goodbye."

"No way," replied Toph, "as if I'd miss saying goodbye to my favorite mechanist. I'll miss the chaos dude, you made life interesting." Toph and Teo had also gotten closer over the weeks. Their apparent disabilities as well as the effort they put into making up for it had given them much common ground on which to base their friendship.

"Too bad. Now I'll have to get Haru to make earth-ramps when I feel like tearing it up with my wheels."

So began the final good-byes and farewells. Hakoda was hugging Katara and Sokka, murmuring his goodbyes into their ears. Aang was reassuring Appa that everything would be okay feeing him some last minute snacks. The Duke ran to everyone, hugging and fighting back his tears. Haru was saying his respectful goodbyes to his earth bending teacher, preparing to solemnly shake Toph's hand when she suddenly boosted him forward with jut of rock and gave him a hug. For a moment he was tense, as if he expected one of her tricks at any moment but seeing that the ground beneath him stayed the same he relaxed and returned the gesture warmly.

"Oowww!" Haru yelled jumping back suddenly. A thin spike of rock had just skimmed the tip of his nose.

"I just couldn't resist," grinned Toph, lightly punching his shoulder.

"Guess I should have been expecting it," he said ruefully, though he couldn't quite hide his smile.

"Damn straight."

Before long everyone was on board except for Hakoda who was talking with Zuko.

"Be safe my young friend," he said, clapping the young man on the shoulder.

"I'll try Chief, but you know how much trouble I can into," Zuko replied with a grin.

"Don't I. But please, help keep them safe and they'll do the same for you."

"I will, Chief."

With a final handshake, arms clasped in the style of warriors going into battle, Hakoda mounted up on Appa and the group took off into the last vestiges of daylight.

"Weeellll guess that just leaves us then," drawled Sokka, hands supporting his head as he looked at Appa's retreating figure, "so who's up for some chow?"

"Oh Sokka can't you think about anything other than food," said Suki. Though she hadn't known the others for very long it was painful to see them go. Knowing that they would be looking for the prisoners and possibly the Kyoshi warriors made it doubly hard though she was determined to stay by Sokka's side. This war had already separated them once and she vowed not to let it happen again. "I don't think anyone is much in the eating mood right now."

"But its dinnertime! You have to be in an eating mood."

"We're not all bottomless pits you know."

"I'm hungry," he pouted.

"Sokka!" was Suki's warning reply. Abruptly Sokka was quiet and went stomping off on his own to the kitchen muttering something about temperamental, hormonal women. "What was that?!"

"Nothing," he corrected swiftly, before turning tail and bolting away as fast as he could, Suki at his heels yelling.

"Come back here! You want to deal with hormones and temperaments; I'll show you hormones and temperaments!"

"Guess I'd better get over there too, before they take it out on each other," sighed Aang as he turned away from the building edge and started after Suki and Sokka, who were still at it. Toph went as well, though she seemed more interested in helping Suki catch Sokka rather than wanting to help them settle.

Zuko and Katara were left standing, staring off into the skies. Katara was battling a wave of emotions at the moment. It seemed as if her childhood had come back to haunt her and suddenly it had been like the South Pole all over again. Her father leaving her behind with Sokka; leaving a young girl to deal with the emotional baggage of all the recent losses, just as he had when her mother died.

No, she thought, it's different now. I'm different now. We're just as involved in the war now. I'm a master now; I've learned to be strong. Still, she needed to do something to settle her nerves. Glancing around her gaze came to rest on Zuko standing a few feet away. A small smile began to form at the corner of her mouth.

"Zuko, care to go a few rounds while there's still some light out?" she asked. Sparring with Zuko was something she tended to enjoy; it gave her a valid excuse for using her water-whip against him. These days there was less malice behind them, and vice-versa, but it still provided a good work out.

"Sure you're up for it?"

"Yeah. I need a release right about now, and you're the only one around."

"Way to make a guy feel good, Katara."

"I'm not in the mood for your sarcasm Zuko, lets just fight. It's what we're good at," and with that she started walking away, grabbing the skins holding her bending water from there place by a fountain, and making her way down the canyon to their training area.

"Fine then," he muttered under his breath, catching up his Dao swords and following her down.

They had only been at it for a few minutes when Zuko went out oh his fighting stance and suddenly.

"What's the deal Zuko," exclaimed Katara, hastily pulling back an attack that Zuko would have blocked otherwise.

"There's no sense in continuing."

"What are you talking about?"

"We are too evenly matched. At this point in our training our skills are at a plateau. We keep doing the same things over and over, getting the same result. It's insane."

"So now what. That's it, no more sparring?"

"No, just a different method."

"Like what?"

"I don't know. I'm thinking."

"Think faster."

"I don't see you spilling out ideas."

"Well I'm not the one who had a problem with our current training," she huffed. They both lapsed into a period of silence as they thought of possible solutions.

"I've got it!" Katara exclaimed, "how about a contest?"

"Alright. What kind?"

"Who ever can take out twenty warriors the fastest wins," she was referring to their training dummies. Toph had come up with the idea of using stone pillars to simulate soldiers, now pieces of the 'warriors' littered the canyon ground. "Just a little friendly competition."

"Sure but we'll have to get Toph down here."

"No problem, I'll be right back," she called as she took off like a shot. Soon afterwards she was back with Toph in tow.

"You two, ready for this?" she asked.

"Whatever."

"Definitely."

That said she quickly erected twenty warriors in a rather haphazard circle.

"Alright, you're up Prince Charming," as he went to unsheathe his swords she added, "bending only, no weapons." He laid his swords to the side and stepped into the center of the circle setting up his stance.

"GO."

Zuko began his dance. Most of his techniques still relied on brute force and sheer power; his arms and legs spun and kicked furiously in a vicious circle. Occasionally he used slashing maneuvers that brought the flame down like a sickle on the stone, slicing cleanly through. His face was a mask of concentration blocking out all distractions, focused only on the next 'opponent'. As the last warrior fell, compliments of a spinning flame kick, the dust settled and Zuko was left in the center, still in fighting stance, chest heaving from the exertions. A long whistle broke him from his trance.

"Impressive," said Katara.

"I'll say!" said Toph, who had sensed each warrior go down before Zuko's onslaught, "You did that in forty seconds flat, way to go. So Sugar Queen, think you can beat that?"

"As if. Just watch me," she said breezily, taking her place in the circle and assuming her own stance. Twenty more warriors appeared out of the ground.

"You asked for it. GO!"

So began the water-benders turn. Where Zuko had been all power and strength, Katara was the embodiment of grace. To Zuko's eyes the water seemed to be an extension of her own body, completely in sync with her movements. With amazing control and poise she whirled and danced among the pillars, her movements blurred by the speed. Water sliced through stone as easily as a hot knife though butter. Finally the last warrior tumbled to the ground in a puddle of sliced disks and Katara was left in the center letting her arms drop to her sides.

"So how did I do?"

"You're not gonna believe this. You and Zuko got the exact same time," Toph grinned, finding the irony of the situation hilarious beyond measure.

"What!" the young contenders shouted in unison.

"Yep. Looks like you're more evenly matched than you thought."

"So now what," said an exasperated Katara, "if we aren't improving any then there no point to even training anymore."

"We could always work on improving our times," suggested Zuko.

"BORING," drawled Toph, already settling down to pick at her toes now that the matches were over. "you're both too well matched. Used to happen all the time at the Earth Rumbles. You'd have two great fighters that always put on a good show but there was never a clear winner. It got old real fast. Never happened to me of course."

"Of course," muttered Katara, though she understood the point the blind girl was making.

"So, Oh Queen of the Earth Rumble," said a sarcastic Zuko, "What is your suggestion."

"Fight together," she replied with a shrug.

"That's crazy," retorted Katara, "I can't fight with him."

"You're gonna have to eventually Sweetness, or have you forgotten we're on the same team now."

"But our styles are so…different."

"All the more reason to combine them."

"But…but.." sputtered Katara, still not wanting to concede the point. Privately Zuko agreed with Toph, but he knew his opinion carried little weight with Katara as of yet, and he gave an inner sigh, that's life I guess, he thought. He wasn't sure that he and Katara were the best choice to try it out due to the animosity between them, but the idea was interesting.

"Look here Sugar Queen. Your style is all about grace and movement, which works great for you, but you lack sheer strength. Prince Charming is all about the power, but he's got about as much grace as a flying hippo. Together you'd be perfectly balanced."

"Fine," said Katara, finally giving in, "what about you Zuko?"

"Yeah. Actually I kinda like the idea."

"Well just don't go making more of this, clear?"

"Transparent."

"Right then if you two have settled that then we can get this party started," Toph jumped up, her toes forgotten for the moment and set up a new ring. Zuko and Katara walked in and took their stances back to back. "Ready. Set. GO!"

It was like they had rehearsed it. Hearing Toph's signal they had both sprung into action simultaneously, a mass of sweeping arms and roundhouse kicks. From her position Toph could sense the harmony of their movements and they fought circling around back to back. When Katara sliced up with her water, Zuko would swoop down, fire bursting from his feet as he kicked out a base. So it went, ducking, rising; dancing in perfect unison. All too soon it was over. The two benders stood in the middle, gazing at their handiwork slightly surprised that it was over so soon. The sound of clapping brought their attention over to Toph.

"That was so COOL! Fourteen seconds! And you guys thought I was crazy."

Stilled somewhat stunned at their success the others simply starred back at Toph, slightly dumfounded.

"Wait, wait, wait," said Toph, jumping up and down in her excitement as she came towards them, "I've been dyin' to say this: I TOLD YOU SO!" and with that she headed back towards the temple above. They could here her going up continuing in her chant, 'I told you so. I told you so."

Left alone in the canyon Zuko and Katara looked at each other rather sheepishly, caught by their own trap.

"So I guess we make a good team after all," ventured Zuko.

"Yeah, I guess we do," she replied, a grin starting to emerge at the corners of her mouth.

"Race you back?"

"You're on"

Nothing like a little friendly competition to smooth things over.

Sorry it took so long to put up this chapter but I hope you enjoy it, its a tad longer than the others. To everyone who has been reading and reviwing, thanks a million, you kept me coming back. :) This wasn't my original idea and at times it's a bit fluffy I still really enjoyed writting. Next one to be up sooner. Hopefully. :)