6-Zuko's Observation

Zuko awoke the next morning not knowing what to expect. He remembered Katara coming into his room the previous night. Despite the lateness of the hour, she had come, concerned. He didn't, however, remember her leaving. He opened his eyes to a vacant room. He didn't expect to feel so conflicted. He knew she was going to leave, but a part of him felt…disappointed.

He did not expect the earth king to arrive so early. He received the message only moments after getting out of bed, with the explanation that this was his most convenient time. Nevertheless, he made sure to dress hastily, yet with care. Like himself, this was someone in a high position, and he had to look presentable.

He did not expect his friends to approach him right after his meeting with the Earth King, insisting that he go out with them. They knew he needed cheering up, and figured a day out on the town would be the perfect remedy. He barely had time to change before he was dragged away from the palace. Truthfully, he didn't have to do anything, but he knew his friends had good intentions, so he followed.

The day seemed to be full of surprises. When he woke this morning, he did not expect to find himself trudging behind his friends in a nearby Firenation town; there, but just barely. He felt his mind wandering, no longer paying attention to the crowd that surrounded him. The people passed by him in a blur, the voices minimized to a dull hum.

The only thing that stayed within his range of sight were the backs of his friends' heads. It was odd how little time affected them; they had all kept in great shape even though they didn't have to fight very often anymore. All his male companions had grown, Aang was surprisingly taller. The women, he couldn't help but notice how shapely they had become over time. Even Toph now had some noticeable curves.

Katara, he suddenly noticed, was right in front of him. Being taller, he had no problem seeing over the top of her head, but his eyes kept wandering down observing her hair. In his hazy state, he felt himself getting lost in it. Its length, it seemed to wrap around her body in a graceful way, it flowed with her as she walked. The texture of it, it looked thick yet soft enough to run a few fingers through. If only he could feel it….

"Zuko!"

All his senses seemed to kick into high gear; all the sounds and sights came flooding back to him in an instant. He was no longer floating among the sea of people, everything focused and a curious Sokka was looking at him.

"You okay?" Katara asked. Everyone in the group was now staring at him.

"I'm fine," he said hastily. "Just…uh…thinking."

"You must have been thinking pretty hard," Sokka noted. "You looked completely out of it."

Zuko stayed silent, thankful that his thoughts remained in his head. He needed to wake up, what was wrong with him?

"Well anyway," Sokka continued. "I was saying that Suki wants to split up."

Zuko glanced around and spotted Suki eyeing a nearby dress shop. He followed the other two men in the opposite direction, noticing Sokka had a reddish tint to his cheeks as he watched Suki bounce into the store, the girls on her heels. He wondered what that was about. But just as quickly as the thought crossed his mind, it vanished again.

Katara and Toph followed Suki into the dress shop. Katara felt warmed by Suki's actions. There were few times that she had ever seen her friend this happy, this excited for the future. Toph trailed behind the two women. Her blindness prevented her from picking out dresses, but all the same, they were glad she was there. She blew her long bangs out of her face before saying,

"Wow, she's so light on her feet, it feels like I'm following Twinkletoes around."

Katara smiled. "Yeah, she's pretty excited about the wedding."

"I'm guessing that's why we're stopping in every clothing store in town."

"Oh, I love this fabric!" Suki exclaimed from the back of the store. They had just walked in and already she had searched through all the dresses and had a stack resting on her arm. "Guys come look at this one!"

Katara started to move to the back of the store, Toph close behind. As she walked, she couldn't help letting her mind wander, nor could she help those feelings of jealousy beginning to creep back up on her.

She looked at Suki, absolutely glowing at the idea that she was shopping for her wedding, one of the biggest days in a woman's life. A day that she has been waiting for, dreaming about. Every time she looked into Aang's eyes, she could almost see their future, him aging with her, their children growing up, learning to be benders like them. She wanted this dream to come true, with all her heart, but as much as she did, she also wanted to be supportive of Suki. She had to keep these feelings at bay. But if only it wasn't eating her alive…

"Wow its beautiful Suki," she said, her voice pleasant as always. "Toph feel this." She held it out, wanting to include her. Toph reached out and stroked the fabric.

"Feels nice," she said simply. Katara eyes wandered to Toph. Maybe she could confide in her, after all Toph may be blunt but she was a good friend. It was funny to think about how things had started between them, and how over time their relationship had grown.

But would Toph give her the kind of wisdom and support she needed with a subject like this? Katara could almost imagine Toph telling her to "suck it up" rather than think too much about the issue. No, Toph would not understand.

"Katara?" Suki's voice sounded, snapping her back to the present. She turned her attention back to Suki and one of the many pieces of fabric she was holding. "Which color should I wear? Traditional blue right?"

"Well, that all depends on the kind of wedding you want. Have you and Sokka decided on whether you want a water tribe wedding, or something more related to Avatar Kyoshi?"

Suki paused a moment. "I guess I should've thought about that," she said giggling. "I just saw the dresses and I had to go in."

Katara smiled back, amused at her friends excitement. "C'mon, you guys hungry?"

"Yeah, I'm starved," Toph said, showing more enthusiasm at the prospect of food.

"Okay, let's go," Katara responded, leading her two friends out of the dress shop.

"Guys lets go in there," Sokka suggested, pointing towards a shop at the corner of the street.

"What's in there?" Zuko questioned. He looked at Aang, who shrugged.

"Weapons," Sokka said excitedly. "I hear they have some good products."

Zuko said nothing to this, and followed Sokka to the corner. This shop was fairly large, despite its appearance on the outside. There were numerous rows and walls full of weapons of all shapes and sizes. Zuko had to admit, he was impressed. He glanced around; Sokka had disappeared, already immersing himself in one of the rows, Aang stayed near the front, glancing out the doorway.

"Aren't you gonna look around?" Zuko asked him. Aang looked distant, like he was eyeing something.

"Uh…no, I'm gonna check out the tables outside," he left swiftly before Zuko could respond. Not that he wanted to; Aang was a weird kid sometimes. Even though Aang was technically an adult now, he would always consider him a kid, being three years older than him.

He wandered over to the swords, feeling nostalgic about the days when he used to wield them. Back when he was another person, a different person. But still those swords were good weapons, sometimes even better than his firebending. He considered for a moment about getting another set. Being Firelord, he had seemingly endless money. But then he rethought the action, swords weren't so much of a need these days.

He continued wandering down the row, the swords becoming knives, the knives becoming daggers. His heart fell at the sight of them. Lately everything seemed to remind him of Mai. Even walking through this town made him recall a memory of a time when he came there with her. It was years ago, but he remembered it as if it were only yesterday. He had tried to keep his mind numb, but the memories always came flooding back despite his effort. He could almost see her in this very shop, looking at those same daggers, thinking of what to get. It stung, so much that he felt the air in the room growing thin. Walking quickly, he left the shop, an absorbed Sokka not aware of his disappearance.

He stepped out onto the pavement, the heat hitting his face, the glare from the sun making him squint his eyes. They adjusted to the sunlight, and he focused on the people. He leaned against the shop wall, blending into the shadows and watched the families passing by, the elderly, and the guards. His eyes found Aang, who was where he said he would be, at one of the nearby tables. He was examining the necklaces laid out, interest crossing his face.

Must be something for Katara, he thought, almost taking his eyes off of Aang, but something stopped him. A woman approached Aang then, a look of awe on her face. She bowed to him, not bothering to hide her huge smile. She appeared to be some fan of the avatar; Aang got that a lot, and he loved the attention.

But this seemed different…

The woman lingered, longer than Aang's normal fans. She was an attractive woman, with long dark hair that she didn't bother to hide. Even from the distance, Zuko could tell that she was flirtatious as well. And Aang wasn't bothering to conceal his own charming nature. How did he know her? She looked unfamiliar.

Zuko couldn't look away; they already seemed to know each other. Rather than just a nod and a smile like Aang normally did to his fans, he took the hands of the girl, making her blush furiously. She said something, inaudible to Zuko's far away ears, then leaned up on her toes, coming closer to his face. Were they….?

They didn't, Aang gently pushed away before she kissed him, but not before allowing her to get dangerously close. Instead she settled for a hug, and moments later she was walking away smiling and waving at him. With a large smile and reddened cheeks, Aang waved back then started walking back towards the shop.

Zuko went back inside, not wanting to confront him. It looked like Aang was flirting with that woman, but he didn't want to jump to conclusions. Still it seemed out of touch for Aang, he was always so dedicated to Katara, so much that it was difficult for to picture him with anyone else. Yet, his eyes didn't lie to him.

By the time Aang walked back into the shop, his face was clear, as if nothing had happened in the past few minutes. Zuko said nothing as Aang passed by him and went to one of the rows of weapons. He wouldn't know what to say, even if he wanted to.