The Blind girl sent another lump of earth his way; she was being very disagreeable to his plan. Aang on the other hand seemed all for it. The pair were battling to get a hold of the earth bender, she would retreat below ground, and Aang would follow, she would reappear, and Zuko would try to grab her, and avoid getting hit with a rock.

Sokka was cheering from the sidelines, shouting out things like 'to the left! No the other left!' or she's right behind you hothead!' and just as Zuko was about to give up on this chase and resort to a Sokka beating, Aang got a hold of her back and Airbended her some feet of the ground. Zuko effectively catching the girl in the decent.

The reason for this?

A few minutes prior…

"Just put the shoes on Toph"

"No! I can't see with them on! I don't want to!"

"But that's the point of this, you have to be able to use your other senses not just your feet" Zuko had implored

"I won't do it!"

"Get her!"

And thusly the chase began, but now with a good hold on the girl, she found a well padded pair of shoes put to her feet, Aang had called it Sweet revenge for his days of training with her, Zuko said it had nothing to do with getting back at people, and it was to do with training. Toph was now standing stock still, listening hard for any movement she could hear, and that when the noise started. Someone was banging on a drum, or pot, or something, she could not hear a thing over the din.

Zuko came behind her as silently as he could muster, without vibrations to warn her, Toph looked very unsure of herself, her face was panicked and her arms reaching outwards, truly blind again. She started when Zuko whispered to her ear, telling her to feel his flames, and put them out with her bending.

Toph couldn't feel anything; the only thing she knew was darkness, and the ghost of Zuko's breath on her shoulder. The terror was showing on her face, and Aang shifted where he stood, Both Zuko and he were creating flames, moving them slowly around Toph. Aang looked to Zuko waiting to catch his eye…

"Zuko, I don't think this is a good idea anymore… maybe we should stop this…"

Zuko stared at the Airbender and shook his head slowly; he raised a hand to Haru to tell him to stop beating the pot. This done he signaled to Sokka. It was a Cue for Sokka to throw his boomerang near Toph, she was meant to knock it out of the air. It soared past her and she stumbled forward with a slight scream.

"Zuko!" Aang began but the Prince spoke over him

"Did you hear where that came from?"

"No" Toph replied, steadying herself

"The Firenation have skilled archers, with Arrows that travel ten times the speed of that Boomerang, you need to be able to discern minute sounds over loud ones, and you need to learn to feel where the fire is, Can you feel the fire?"

"No!" The girl was getting Annoyed, and Aang shifted uncomfortably and Zuko began moving the flame closer to Toph.

"Can you feel it now?"

"Not really"

Closer

"Now?"

Toph turned towards the direction the flame was in

"How about now?"

As it drew closer again, only about 3 feet from Toph, she raised earth to snuff it out.

"There I put out your stupid fire!"

Zuko frowned

"You did, but it was very close to you… we need to work on this to build up your sensitivity" He nodded to Sokka again and the other boy complied "Listen for the boomerang and knock it out of the air"

Once more the boomerang passed right by her before she made a late attempt to hit it.

"Again"

The training went on like this for a few hours, and by the end of the first session the girl had developed a fair amount. She was snuffing fire out from six feet away and actually knocked the boomerang out once, much to Sokka's great worry, as he ran to retrieve it and cradled it like a child. Haru began the pounding again as Aang and Zuko both made to spar with the girl, in the confusion, Zuko received a dislocated shoulder, and Aang barely escaped a broken nose. But all in all, it was a good training session. For the first one anyway.

Right now the boys were sitting around the fire, Zuko was nursing his shoulder, and Aang was playing with Momo. Sokka was bending the Ear of the prince

"I don't see why I can't just… throw a stone or something, I know I know, you said its her element and all, but she can bend metal too so in a way, she can sense weapons right, so stones are just as good."

Zuko just looked at him disparagingly

"Why does it have to be my Boomerang, she could seriously damage my poor baby, I don't think you realize what this means to me"

"More then your friend being safe?"

The words hung in a dead silence, Sokka just sighed and shook his head, and Aang frowned slightly

"Zuko… I know you are doing this for the best… and I know what you are saying is sound… but, there is such a thing as being overly driven… if we push ourselves too hard, we will be burnt out before we even get to see the firelord…"

"If we don't push ourselves however, we will simply be burnt by my Father"

Zuko stood and walked away from the pair, not intending to wait for dinner, but the little earthbended had other ideas. A wall erected in from of the Prince and he whorled about to look at Toph

"You running away Sparky?"

"I don't run away" Zuko replied calmly

"Funny, feels like it's that way to me, seems to me we have an issue here. You don't understand the way this group works. We train, yeah, but we don't let it take over our lives. You need to learn to relax, before your fuse burns out, we don't was to see an exploding Fire prince, Combustion man was bad enough for a lifetime"

A ghost of a smile appeared on the older boys face, Aang and Sokka looked at the interaction from a nice safe distance, Haru and Katara stood off to one side, having just returned from retrieving the meat that Sokka and Zuko had provided. The air seemed to hang with a heavy tension, one broken by Zuko's words

"Then what do you suggest?"

Toph cracked her shoulders and pointed towards him.

"You and me! That's how we will fight, not sissy training, I want you to fight me properly, but no shoes. I get the principle of what your saying to me, and I will use it, but what's the good of it if I am standing still, I will train with you, but only if it's a real sparring bout, that way it will be fun for me too"

"Alright" Zuko replied simply.

"After that, I will do that Buddy thing with Aang"

"What?" Aang looked over from the fire; he thought he had heard Toph saying she wanted to pair off with him.

"What's the matter twinkletoes afraid you won't be able to keep up?"

Sokka Looked at Aang and then at Katara, then he looked to Toph.

"I dunno Toph, I think Aang might work better with my sister, after all they have fought well together before… And you would work well with Haru."

"I thought…" Toph said haughtily "that the whole point of this system was defense and attack right? Well, maybe it's just me, but I was under the impression that mixing elements would work better for confusing the enemy"

Sokka sat with his mouth open for a moment, but then pointed to Zuko

"Then fight with Sparky"

"No I am fighting with Aang"

"Why not Zuko?" This from the Airbender

"He's too tall for me"

No really denying that but…

"Then you don't suggest that I fight with…." This was from Katara and she was looking at Toph with a furrowed brow

"You and Zuko are similar heights, and Haru would work best with Sokka, Teo and The Duke should try and think of developing a weapon that can take down the airships"

"I am meant to be doing the team pairings! That's my job!"

"Whatever you say Snoozles, but I am fighting with Aang"

Zuko was looking at the small girl also, not that he was bothered by her decided pairings but…

"Why Katara and I? And not Haru and Katara?"

Toph developed a smug grin and stretched interlaced fingers out in front of her

"Can you make a defense for Sokka? Flames are not very good at that, and if Katara was fighting with Sokka he would be too concerned for his sisters safety to do anything right, so they are the only pairings that make any sense. What's the matter Sparky? You afraid our sugar queen might drown you?"

Zuko looked apprehensively to Katara; she looked back at him, with annoyance written all over her face. Toph was right, the grouping was the best, and as loath as she was to face this, it would be best for her to pair up with Zuko…

"Fine by me, at least this way, I can keep a closer eye on you"

Zuko's frown grew slightly, but he nodded and turned away as though to return to his room. But as he stepped away from the first wall that had been erected, a new one sprang up in front of him, he again turned to Toph, but this time he barked at her

"What now!?"

Toph was still smiling

"It's dinner time Sparky, Don't you think its time you actually acted like part of this group. If you are going to fight with us, you could at least socialize with us first. You're eating dinner"

One deep breath later and Zuko found himself marching over to the fire to rejoin Sokka and Aang, Sokka made a whip motion with his hand, and Zuko punched him square in the shoulder, regretting it instantly as his own shoulder made a sickening popping noise, evidently the bone was not settled into the socket of his shoulder yet. He clung to his injury as Haru placed the meat to the other side of the fire on a straw mat.

Katara was setting up her cooking pot, but noticed the reaction too; she decidedly looked away from him and began preparing the dinner for the group.

Nothing eventful happened during dinner, but Momo made a new friend, as Zuko seemed to enjoy feeding the animal.

The moon was high in the sky, and Zuko was drifting in and out of sleep, he thought he kept hearing something outside his door, but whenever he stilled his breathing to listen for whatever it was, it would be gone.

Katara was standing outside Zuko's door; she was ringing out a cloth in her hands as she was trying to make her decision on whether to go in or not. She could hear his shallow breathing, she knew he was awake, but every so often his breathing would stop, and so would hers, for a heartbeat she would just listen, hoping that the hammering in her chest was not as loud as it seemed.

She remained there for what felt like hours, where in reality it was only a few minutes, she decided she was going to enter, she raised her hand in a motion to knock upon the door, but as her fingers came to there decent, she found the wood pulling away from her.

Zuko stood from his bed and stole over to the door, he was a light walker, no surprises there really, but he was also feeling a little paranoid, he reached for the door and drew it back towards him, he did not expect to see some one outside, much less Katara with her hand raised.

For a few heartbeats they only stared at each other. Neither speaking a word, and then Zuko turned his back on her and strode over to his bed, sitting to it before looking at her again. Katara took this as an invitation and sat beside him.

Not a word was spoken between the pair, nothing was said as Katara prodded his shoulder to see where it hurt, nor did the prince speak after he gritted his teeth in pain to her investigations.

They just sat in silence as Katara bended her water into glowing gloves, gloves that then spread over Zuko's shoulder, the relief was almost instant, and Zuko had never felt anything like this before, his eyes widened as the girl worked upon him. She did not make eye contact at all. Only sat there looking at the work she was doing.

After a minute or so, she brought the water back to the skin placed near her hip. Only then did she look at Zuko, and only then did she see the wonder that had filled his expression.

"Your… that was amazing…"

Whispered words from the princes mouth, as though saying them to loud would wake him from a dream he was surely having…

"I will check it tomorrow… if you need another session then…"

She found her hand gripped by his and she felt an involuntary color spring on her cheeks

"Thank you Katara."

The girl turned away and shook her head.

"You're no good to us if you're hurt, I was only doing what I would have done for anyone, there is no need to make a big deal out of it"

Zuko just smiled and let go of her hand

"I am still thankful none the less"

Katara stole a glance to him again before taking a breath and leaving the room. Why did he have to be so grateful? She was finding herself more and more confused by him, and it was getting harder to hold a grudge.

Don't be afriad to review I dont bite... often XDDD