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In harmony.

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Zuko woke up Aang quite early this morning to work on firebending. Sun salutes or whatever. I know because I overheard Aang's rather reluctant progress from bed to going down the stairs. There was much ado and exclamations five more minutes and can't I have a cup of tea first. Zuko said there was something he wanted to show Aang and they had to go now. I don't have to get up and watch them because that would be stalky and I am no longer a stalker. I am planning to just lie in bed most of the morning and sleep.

-?-

Okay, so I know eavesdropping is bad. But I defy anyone to hear their name in conversation and not listen in! This morning I have overheard an interesting conversation between Aang and Zuko. They'd come back from the ruins of this Sun Circle that Zuko wanted to show Aang (For Avatarness! For firebending! For honor! etc). They were in the courtyard drinking tea and taking a break from fireball accuracy practice. I have been going through the house and opening all the windows to air it out. Anyway, I was just in the study behind them. I was just going to open the windows but Aang was talking about me and forgiveness. As soon as I heard my name, I was all set to eavesdrop!

Aang was talking a lot about the monks teachings and how he wants us (especially me) to understand their ancient wisdom and how he's the last of his kind and he has to keep the Air nomad culture alive. Zuko said that he respected Aang was in a tough position. He actually said being the last of your kind, that's rough buddy, which has got to be the understatement of the century. But then he added that Aang should try to understand that I wasn't an air nomad and if Aang kept harping on about forgiveness etc he would only push me away/ annoy me greatly. Aang said that I had always been interested in hearing about air nomad culture before (and I have been previously) and that Zuko was really lucky that Aang was all about forgiveness.

There was a small silence. Zuko didn't seem to know what to say to that.

Eventually he replied that he just thought it would be a good thing if Aang apologized to me/stopped harping on about forgiveness. He asked Aang to think about what he said earlier. I have missed the start of the conversation so I don't know what he said earlier. Aang thanked Zuko for his advice and he sounded sincere. But then he said that he had known me for a lot longer than Zuko and as a result he knew me better. He added that the last time he had followed Zuko's advice it had blown up in his face (rather dramatically) and that I had said Zuko was the worst person in the entire world to give out advice.

Whoops. I did say that, didn't I?

I wished I could go back in time and make a few amendments to my rant. I would say that Zuko will often be the source of bad ideas/advice, but every now and again he will be right about something. These moments are rare and fleeting and surprising. So, if in the future, Aang felt surprised by the amount of sensibleness coming out of Zuko, he should listen to that advice!

There was another small silence and then Aang said something that surprised all three of us. He said I can't believe I'm saying this to you… but can we stop talking about our feelings and maybe learn some firebending now?

This place should not be called Ember island. It should be renamed opposite land. Because everything here is backwards and inside-out. Zuko is giving out good advice and wanting to instigate/continue conversations about feelings. Aang is wanting to really work hard at firebending and not slack off. What is the world coming too?

-?-

I have just realized that it is my birthday the day after tomorrow. It's crept up so quickly! I haven't even noticed the time flying by. I reminded everybody at lunch.

Repeatedly.

Now no one has any excuse to forget my birthday.

Because it is in two days.

But I will remind everybody again this afternoon, just in case.

-?-

Suki and Sokka and Toph and I left Aang and Zuko to firebending practice and went to wander about the market at the centre of town. We had to pick up some supplies, especially cleaning supplies. Zuko says we don't have to worry about it.

Boys.

I am not living in the house where dust bunnies go to die without at least having a stab at cleaning it up. Seriously, there are dust bunnies bigger than Momo everywhere! I can't ignore that.

There is an enormous giant map of the firenation in the town square. Tourists were walking all over it and saying things like hey I can see my house from here. The tiles are raised and decorated intricately and the whole thing looked amazing. Every island in the archipelago was exactly rendered. There was so much detail. The raised orange roofs and green fields made a nice contrast. It almost looks like how things look from the air on Appa. They have added the miniature towns and mountains and even made the beaches sandy. The tiles for the water are a wavy and very glassy smooth and the land is rough and sometimes covered in tiny ceramic trees.

Toph was completely entranced and kept running her hands over where the islands met the sea, the tiny clay towns, the mountains. I guess this is the only sort of map that Toph can see. Sokka thought it was brilliant because now he could see all the terrain properly in a way that you don't get from paper. They were both such keen beans for the giant map that I didn't want to drag them away from it. We still had a bunch of stuff to get and so Suki and I left them there and said we'd pick them up on the way back.

-?-

We wandered around and Suki asked me what I wanted for my birthday. I don't know - a fun day. Not having to cook or wash up and for us all to relax together and enjoy each other's company.

And for everyone to do what I say. No arguments!

Back home, my birthday falls in summer, so it's not a very relaxing day because there is so much that we need to do during the quick polar summer. But for one day everybody has to do what I say and I get my own way with everything and at night we all sat around and I didn't have to cook or do any chores and everybody would tell my favourite stories and sing my favourite songs.

We talked a bit about South Pole songs and stories. Suki wanted to learn some for my birthday. I told Suki that I wouldn't mind hearing more about Kyoshi Island and some more Kyoshi songs. I loved the song she'd sung the night the boys got very drunk on sake. I felt bad to say this, but I don't exactly miss the South Pole. I miss Gran Gran immensely and I miss the village and the feeling of community we had, but I don't miss the monotony and hard work that was life down there.

Suki has promised to sing me many Kyoshi Songs. She also said having mixed feelings about home was normal. I asked her if she missed Kyoshi at all and she said that she mostly missed the other warriors and that they were a real family unit. She'd been a real leader there and had been almost an older sister to all her warriors. Now she wasn't quite sure what to do with herself without them.

I remembered overhearing that conversation between Zuko and Toph (ages ago) about how hard they had found it to integrate into our tightly knit group. Did Suki feel the same? We have mostly seen Suki as Sokka's girlfriend and not as a warrior in her own right. We'd been friendly, Suki and I, but I knew so little about her that I didn't know if we were proper friends yet. Even so, I could tell she was homesick for her tribe of lady warriors. I said she could feel free to be an almost older sister to me. Suki smiled in thanks and threw and arm around my shoulder and gave me a squeeze. Then she told me to be a good younger sister and tell her something that she and Sokka could get me as a birthday present. I told her to surprise me.

We wandered back to the map with our baskets full. Toph and Sokka weren't there. We waited for a little. I just as I was starting to feel a little worried and cross, Toph and Sokka sauntered over looking pleased with themselves. Toph had found another fancy lady day spa and had book us in at the last minute (using her Bei Fong wiles/money).

The three of us would all go and get a spa treatment on my birthday Toph announced. She said that she knew I had enjoyed the last one immensely and thought a girls day out would be a great present. She said it kind of bashfully. Toph will never admit to liking anything girly (the horror!), but I knew she loved our day spa day back in Ba Sing Se. I gave her a hug and said it was a great idea. After all, I only really wanted us to have a fun day and relax together for my birthday (as well as everyone doing what I say, but that goes without saying) and I couldn't think of a better way to do this than for us all to have a girly, pampery day together. I think it will be awesome. The three of us don't get much of a chance to hang out without the boys.

-?-

After lunch me and Suki and Sokka got started on cleaning the house (the other three where still training). I say Sokka helped, but mostly he 'supervised the library'. We found a library on the ground floor and Sokka was in book love. He has spent most of the day in there exclaiming over titles and dusting them and reading them and 'suggesting' titles he thinks I will like. There is an exceptionally soppy looking novel called 'love amongst the dragons' which Sokka thought would be totally up my street because it's about love and hope and soppy girly stuff. I have whacked him with my mop in retaliation. He protested at the mop whacking and I pointed out that the only reason why I had a mop was because I am actually being productive. Sokka did not take my hint.

I am a bit of a rummager. I know I gave Sokka a hard time at Hama's for going through all her stuff, but this is different. Zuko doesn't seem to mind if we go through the house and there are just so many nooks and crannies and little rooms to explore. This house was just made for rummaging! It's an explorer's delight. We only tried four rooms today and found a veritable treasure trove of entertainment.

Me and Suki cleaned the kitchen and the living room and then had a big explore. One room was locked and one room was Toph's (already in a state of haphazard mess), one rooms didn't have much in it (aside from Sokka and many books). We hit the jackpot on the fourth room we tried. It was a music room. There is literally an ass-ton of instruments in here. I can't play anything except the drums (it's the only instrument we had back home at the South Pole) but here there were horns and mandolins and flutes and all sorts of other things. There were some instruments I didn't even recognize.

We check over the instruments and most of them were in pretty good condition -except for the mandolins which were, apparently, woefully out of tune. Or so Suki said. Suki made a face as she strummed her fingers over the strings. Suki can play the mandolin and set to work on tuning one up. She offered to teach me how to play one and I thought that would be a great idea. She said I should look for some sheet music, so she can teach me better. Water tribe drums don't require sheet music and neither Sokka or myself can read it. I started going through the draws on the other side of the room. There were lots of songs that looked ridiculously complicated. I was in search of one that didn't have as many dots and lines.

I found a certificate from the Ember Island Orchestra Summer Program for Zuko. Zuko is apparently an expert tsungi horn player. Who knew? I dusted it off and took it out. I looked about the room and wondered which one was the tsungi horn. I could hazard a guess that it was the giant horn shaped one. I wonder if he'll play for me, if I ask nicely.

-?-

Soon Suki had tuned two mandolins and I found a piece of music that didn't seem too complicated. It was called four seasons. She was able to play it skillfully after a few minutes and showed me how to hold the instrument and the chords and how to move my fingers and strum. It was really tricky. My fingers didn't move as deftly as Suki's and it took a long time for me to be able to play the song through once. Together we managed some semblance of the song. Suki started singing the words. It was a pretty song.

Sokka came in, drawn in by the sound of the music and the idea that somewhere sillyness and fun was going on without him. Sokka can't be having that. He dusted off a set of drums and joined in! Sokka is a boisterous drummer, so 'four seasons' took on a faster tempo. We were playing it quite loudly which attracted the attention of the others. Aang yelled that he loved this song and grabbed a long flute like instrument that I didn't recognize and joined in. When we reached a pause Aang said that he was great with woodwinds and Suki made an exceptionally lame pun regarding woodwinds and airbending. And added the bah-boom-cha noise at the end, incase we didn't get that she was joking. Toph patted her rather patronizingly on the head (Suki was sitting) and said she should leave the jokes to her and Sokka.

Toph can play a few instruments herself. It's a side effect of being posh- her parents wanted to make sure she was accomplished. Toph loves big instruments with lots of vibrations, like the giant drums and the big horn, but she can play the other 'more lady-like' instruments as well, like the yueqin and the flute. There was a part for the yueqin, but Toph wanted to be a drummer like Sokka and got another drum for herself and started bashing merrily away.

Zuko claimed we were butchering one of his uncle's favourite songs (in truth what we were playing now had varied wildly from the initial four seasons that Suki and I were practicing). He tried in vain to get the others to return to training. Judging from the gusto with which Toph was whacking the drums and Aang was playing his flute, all attempts to get them to cease and desist their…err…music making would meet with failure.

I told him to stop being such a spoilsport and to play the tsungi horn for us. He looked a bit startled and asked me how I knew he played the tsungi horn and I revealed his old music certificate and waggled it about and said that he couldn't deny his musical talent because apparently he was an expert. Zuko said that they just gave that out to every kid who attended, but he look the certificate and smile a little and said I can't believe she kept this quietly. I almost couldn't hear him over the din- the sounds that everybody was producing now did not qualify as music. I don't know who the she was that he was referring to but I think it's his mum.

I asked him to play for us (me) and he was a bit resistant because apparently he hadn't played in ages. I told him I'd never played anything but the drums before and I'd picked up four seasons on the mandolin quickly enough and I'd really like to hear what a tsungi horn sounds like. He was a bit surprised that I'd never heard a tsungi horn (because apparently it's the best instrument ever). I told him I didn't even know which instrument it was. I reminded him that it was a firenation instrument anyway. When would I have encountered a tsungi horn before? Zuko said I couldn't go through life never hearing a tsungi horn and picked up the big horn (it was the one I guessed) from where it hung on the far wall. He dusted it off and blew on it once really loudly to get everyone's attention. He told us he would play four seasonproperly for us so we could know what it was supposedto sound like. He said this with a pointed look at Toph and Aang who had been merrily playing their own tune in the corner.

It sounds really beautiful on the tsungi horn. Really melodius. Zuko's actually really good. I wonder why he'd been so reluctant to play for us. I mean I know he can be a bit shy and it can be embarrassing to perform for a bunch of people, but we're his friends and he's really talented with that horn. I could listen to him play four seasons on the tsungi horn all day.

After he'd played it once all the way through, Suki joined in on the mandolin and Sokka on the drums and by the third run through Aang and Toph both joined in and by the fourth time, I had a go on my mandolin. It was a nice afternoon with all of us just playing in harmony together. I want to always remember this. It was just lovely to sit there with the five people I adore and just make music with them. We don't get many afternoons to just relax all together like this

-?-

I was in the kitchen making dinner and Aang came up to me and without any preamble or awkward dithering, he apologized to me. He said he was sorry for forcing the forgiveness thing and making me angry. I dropped the veggies I was peeling in surprise. I mean I wasn't expecting such a direct and blunt apology. I wasn't expecting an apology at all. It had sounded like he didn't think he needed to give me one when he was talking to Zuko this morning. I gave him a hug and said that I accepted his apology and we shouldn't talk about it anymore. I don't want to dwell on jug-smashing unpleasantness after all. He snuggled me back and I rubbed his bald head affectionately. I've never liked being angry at Aang.

I'm glad we're all friends again.

-?-

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Authors note:

Lovely readers! You've reached the end of another chapter and I hope you have enjoyed in harmony. Sorry it has been a little longer between updates! Real-life has been a little hectic for me (but in a fun and very time consuming way). I thought I'd post this chapter to tide you over until I get to post all of Katara's birthday shenanigans. I'm super sorry to all my lovely reviewers who I haven't got back to! You guys know I love ya and I love your reviews! Thanks for all your comments and encouragement!

In this chapter I wanted all the gaang to get along again (be in harmony- geddit?) and what better way to do that than with an afternoon jam session/sing song. Seriously, joint singing is healing!

Zuko and Aang's conversation: Zuko wants to help in his Zuko way. Aang and Katara are good friends and don't like fighting with each other or having grumpiness between them. He wants the people in his new circle of friends to get along and he wants Katara to be happy. He knows that Aang dropping the forgiveness stuff will make Katara happy. While we don't get to see much of it, because this fic is from Katara's POV, I do think Aang and Zuko have a sort of older brother/kid brother friendship, so I think Zuko would hear Aang out with re: airbender philosophy etc before telling him to ease up on it a little. Aang dismisses Zukos advice at first because the last time he followed Zuko's advice it blew up in his face with the great sea prune debacle. But after the afternoon session he realizes how much he misses just hanging out with Katara in a friendly way and takes the path of least resistance (apologizing and dropping the forgiveness stuff) to get back into her good graces.

In a few chapters we will get the wonderful return of the girl's day out. This time with the added bonus of Suki!

Sokka loves libraries and I can tell you that someone will read love amongst the dragons during this fic, because I have a very silly idea for it.

Instruments: this is a royal family holiday house and I figured that there would have been a room for musical instruments. Being musical is pretty popular in the firenation (all those kids at school could play an instrument) and I imagine the royal family would be no exception. I always got the impression that Ursa was musical. I just did. Zuko's ability on the tsungi horn gets mentioned a fair bit in season 1 and I figured he must have been pretty good at one point, but probably gave it up after his mum disappeared. He's a bit shy and embarrassed to play it in front of everybody because he doesn't think he's that good at it as a result of not playing for so long. But Katara uses her wiles to get him to play for them.

Drums seem like the most common instrument for the Water tribe. Toph lived a fairly posh life before joining the Gaang so I figure she would have had some musical instruction. I imagine Aang would have picke dup how to play a few instruments during his travels with monk gyasto. He doesn't know how to play anything expertly, but he can play chopsticks etc on a few different instruments. Kyoshi seemed to be modeled on Japan and the kyoshi warriors seemed to be a group of communal living lady samurai to me. Samurai had to be scholars and poets/musicians as well as warriors so I figure it's not out of the question that Suki could play an instrument quite well.

Mostly I just wanted them all to chill together and I thought four seasons was a nice, little, easy harmony for them to learn together and the song also emphasizes the harmony between the four seasons/elements.

More rooms will be rummaged through/more secrets will be discovered in the coming chapters, but the next one will focus on the preparations for Katara's birthday – someone will give her a lovely early birthday present.

Til then lovely readers…