Disclaimer: No, I don't own Avatar, or any of the Avatar Characters. I do, however, own Lexi, Avirey, and Chito. No stealing them, please.
Warnings: On the slippery slope to a new ship.
UPDATE! Now with a brand new ending!
Lexi looked up bitterly from her cup of coffee she'd been drinking. From inside her secret base (hidden tent. Whatever) she could see that Katara had just walked out of her own tent to join Aang on cliff.
Avery was traveling with the rest of the gang undercover, but even though it'd seemed like a good idea at the time it meant that Lexi was left to lag behind with no one for company but Chito. Chito wasn't the best when it came to conversation.
Lexi turned her gaze to Chito who was gnawing at a half-peeled banana. Avery had obviously not noticed since she was nowhere to be seen. "I guess it's up to us then," Lexi declared airily. Chito looked up as Lexi slipped stealthily outside. Chito followed obediently, the banana still in his mouth.
Lexi dashed behind a pile of rocks immediately after she caught site of Aang and Katara standing under a tree. Chito waddled over at a painfully slow pace. "Mew!" he cried when he finally came over.
"Shh!" Lexi shushed him. She was trying to listen to the conversation, as hard as it was to hear since she was stationed so far away.
"I thought I was trying to be strong…running away…my feelings…family…" was all Lexi could here Aang saying.
"Mew!" Chito said again. He had finished his banana that he'd been chewing on; and had the peel clamped between his pointy teeth. Lexi rolled her eyes, annoyed.
"What do you want me to do with it? Throw it away!" she said sternly. Chito looked at her for a second with his big round animal eyes before he tossed the banana peel with incredible force over his shoulder. Lexi stared at it in awe as it landed, unnoticed, between Aang and Katara.
And just then, when the two of them lunged forward to hug each other, Aang stepped onto the peel. His foot flew out from under him and he jerked forwards. His and Katara's heads collided at the forehead, creating a sickening crack. Lexi flinched as if she was in pain too, even though she was grinning.
Both of the kids fell over backwards and landed painfully on the rocky ground as the banana peel tumbled through the air and dived off the cliff into the water below.
"Ow," Katara moaned. "What did you do that for?"
"I—I slipped on something—I think it was a banana peel!" Aang countered, sitting up with his hand pressed to his head. Katara glanced around, but failed to see anything that even remotley resembled banana peel. In fact, there was literally nothing on the ground where Aang had claimed he'd slipped on something. Lexi smirked in the background.
"I don't see a banana peel," Katara looked straight up, and it didn't take a genious to tell that she was irritated, "Where would a banana even come from? I haven't seen a banana in weeks." She was examining the branches of the tree to further her point. Lexi looked excitedly at Chito, wondering if there was any way that this day could turn out better. Holy rusted metal, Batman! She had something stashed in her tent that could make it ten times better!
"I'm positive that it was a banana peel. Why would I lie to you, Katara?"
"If you didn't want to hug me, you should have just said so," she told him darkly.
"But, I—" But before he could say another word someone emerged from behind the rocks that neither teen was expecting. A crude looking Zuko. He looked as if he hadn't showered in days and was in need of a good shave; all over his body. And that included on his clothes. "Zuko!" Katara breathed in shock. She looked like she didn't know whether to attack or to run or maybe (Lexi hoped) to hug him.
But in reality, it wasn't Zuko at all. It was Lexi in a Zuko costume. "What are you doing here, Zuko?" Katara asked defensively. She struck a waterbending pose.
"Well I...ahem!" Lexi coughed as she realized that her high, feminine voice just wasn't going to cut it. She tried something a little deeper. "Well I was just standing behind this rock here and saw what happened and wanted to say; You, Aang, are such a jerk for doing that to Katara. She deserves someone much better, who will not fake slipping on non-existent fruit just to get out of CASUAL contact. That's all a hug is, by the way. That's all. Okay. Bye."
And Lexi darted back behind the rock.
Of course Katara and Aang instantly made a move to follower her, and she anticipated that. She snatched Chito and booked her way down the beaten path until she was absolutely positive that they were no longer following her. Only then was she safe to take off her costume and give a congratulatory look to her animal friend.
"Good boy, Chito!" she exclaimed ecstatically, "Way to be a Zutara fan!"
