disclaimer: Mike and Bryan own the ATLA universe; Mariko belongs to me (: enjoy!

Friends, Romans... Naggers

Katara deadpanned at seeing both boys sporting a tall wig (courtesy of Sokka) and a wide beard (courtesy of Aang) made of the white fur shed by Appa; she rolled her eyes. "I'm just glad we finally have another girl in the group, because you two are disgusting." She said pointedly.

"Excuse me, does anyone have a razor? Because I've got some hairy pits!" Toph lamented as she folded her arms behind her head, exhibiting an excessive amount of fur tucked into her armpits, making the boys bust out laughing.

Aang sneezed on the fur and the force of his sneeze sent him to hit one of Appa's legs before flopping face-forward in the pooled fur on the ground, making them laugh harder.

Mariko giggled from her perch on the saddle, landing nimbly next to Katara as she also snickered at the scene. "Mind repealing that 'having another girl in the group' bit?" She elbowed her gently, chuckling.

It was a few hours or so later that they were setting up camp and getting comfortable when the waterbender noted the earthbender had kept to herself throughout dinner; she exhaled, going to take the high road and apologize for the sake of peace.

The firebender sidestepped when the airbender knocked the bison's saddle off his back with a touch of airbending, snickering when the saddle landed unceremoniously ontop of Sokka. She perked an ear at hearing the murmur of conversation from where Katara had walked off, tilting her head in that direction to see she was talking with Toph; the light expression faltered at seeing this.

God please don't tell me she's trying to sympathize with her…

"…Yeah, you do seem tired."

"I meant all of us."

"Well, g'night."

"…Night."

"From one sympathizer to another, a little advice. Let her come around on her own time, yeah?" Mariko pointed out quietly as she helped her unload the sleeping bags, pulling her bag off the saddle.

Katara scowled slightly in the direction of the dozing earthbender, looking at her. "But she needs to get used to how we run things; I'm only trying to nudge her towards maybe not being so stonewall towards helping out." She explained, meeting her gaze.

She glanced over at the earth-tent before letting her shoulders slump as she gave the younger girl a knowing look. "Kat, trust me, just let her come forward on her own. If you keep nudging, it's not gonna be pretty." She stated, shuffling inside the tent with her and placing her katana next to her sleeping bag.

"Fine…" She muttered, not entirely defeated, settling down next to her, turning on her side as the older girl stretched her arms and yawned. "You sure do seem to know a lot about how Toph will react to… order." She noted aloud once choosing the correct word regarding the earthbender.

She settled onto her back, arms folding behind her head. "That's because I was the same when I was twelve. Stubborn stonewall spitfire with a killer sucker-punch… at least that's how Zuko would put it." She smiled thoughtfully at the memory.

"Mari, I get the feeling that you weren't being entirely honest about Zuko… He was more than a friend, wasn't he? When you lived in the Fire Nation?" The waterbender prodded, lifting a brow, seeing her thoughtful expression drop with each word she spoke.

The firebender furrowed her brow slightly, amber eyes sliding closed. "That's a different campfire story for another night." She said dismissively.

"He was your boyfriend or something, wasn't he?" She pressed.

"Katara, unless you want two tiger-dillos maiming you for being bull-headed, drop it and go to sleep." She growled quietly, turning on her side so her back faced the waterbender and she closed her eyes tighter, snuggling into her sleeping bag.

She frowned at not getting anywhere with both girls, exhaling and turning on her side so her back was to her, closing her eyes. "Night."

::::::::dOb::::::::

"Actually, can you help us unload?" Tui and La, here we go again.

"Really? You need me to help unload Sokka's funky-smelling sleeping bag?" At the disgusted expression on said boy's face, she knew that alone confirmed volumes regarding his… body odor.

She scowled slightly, stepping forward, "Well yeah, that and everything else. You're part of our team, now, and…"

"Look! I didn't ask you to help me carry my own stuff; I'm carrying my own weight." She cut her off sharply, storming away.

And would she let it drop?

"That's not the point!" Of course not. "Ever since you've joined us, you've been nothing but selfish and unhelpful!"

Bad approach, very bad approach… "What! Look here, Sugar Queen, I gave up everything I had so I could teach Aang earthbending, so don't you talk to me about being selfish!" Plonking down she quickly formed another earth-tent.

"S-Sugar Queen!?" The tent's door rose up swiftly, further irritating the already-catty waterbender. "Did you just slam the door IN MY FACE!?"

Mariko and Aang sweatdropped; the latter looked at the former, "Um, aren't you gonna try and, y'know, placate the… situation?" He asked, distantly hearing Katara yowling out insults and ranting as she pounded fists against the earth-tent, sweatdropping again. The former snorted, plopping down against the bison's legs, "Pssh, I was born at night, just not last night. Besides, I already warned her about this; best to let her stew."

After Aang tried to get a word in –to which Katara had screeched, "I'M COMPLETELY CALM!", therein spooking the poor boy into retreating with his tail between his legs (proverbially)—the trio kicked using a tent to lay under the stars and get back to sleep.

Irony rarely took human form but in this instance, it did… in the form of Katara.

Katara picked with a tinge of bitterness in her catty voice, "The stars sure are beautiful tonight; too bad you can't see them, Toph!"

"Tui and La, come on! That was a low blow…" Mariko groaned, covering her head with her arm as she turned so her back faced Aang (she was sleeping between him and Appa).

A loud 'thud' sounded as Toph had "lifted" Katara's sleeping bag (with her in it) into the air so she landed smack-dab onto her brother, a combined yelp of pain coming from the siblings.

"Hey, how's a guy supposed to sleep with all this yelling, and earthquaking!?" Sokka cried exasperatedly, glaring between his sister and the earth-tent.

"That thing is back!" Toph alerted them, lowering the door to the tent.

Mariko blinked back the rising sand and stood to look at the treetops, distantly hearing the older boy grumbling about getting back to sleep. "She's right; up, now, all of you." She amended grimly, helping Aang to his feet and grabbing her bag and katana from the ground, hearing Sokka groaning in unrequited sleep. "Sokka, GET UP!" She commanded, making him jump.

Once they were airborne again with Mariko at the reins (she'd decided to let Aang take a break from driving, seeing as he was a fellow pacifist in this situation), she heard Katara ask, "Mari, what do you think it is?"

She narrowed her eyes, steering the sleepy bison past a mountain ridge, glancing back at the billowing smoke coughing into the night air as it slowly became faint the farther they put distance between it and Appa. "Dunno, but if I had to guess, Fire Nation. Whether it's Azula or someone else, though, I can't say for sure." She answered.

Knowing the machinery that was hacking out that much smoke, there was no doubt that it was her.

::::::::dOb::::::::

Spooked birds flew up into the air from the loud crash the bison had made with the treetops, letting the five teens flop off the slumbering beast with the two siblings in the lead, their sleeping bags in tow.

"Okay, we've put enough distance between us and them; the plan now is to follow Appa's lead and get some sleep." The elder sibling rationalized tiredly.

His sister agreed, adding stingingly, "Of course we could've gotten some sleep earlier if Toph didn't have such issues."

"WHAT!?" Said girl screeched, jolting to her feet in outrage, not minding the older girl that groaned wearily from getting their bags off the bison's saddle.

"All right, all right! Everyone's exhausted; let's just get some rest…" The pacifist boy stepped into the oncoming argument, his tone indicating his patience was chipping away bit by bit.

"No, I wanna hear what Katara has to say! You think I have issues?" Toph cut him off, planting a fist on her hip and glowering in said girl's direction.

Katara was only (probably) seconds away from getting her ass kicked, "I'm just saying, maybe if you helped out earlier, we coulda set up our camp faster and gotten some sleep… And then maybe we wouldn't be in this situation!" She snapped the last sentence.

"For God's sake, ENOUGH! If you keep nagging about the damn chores I swear that I'm the one who's going to kick your ass, Katara!" Mariko broke in heatedly, glowering at the waterbender she had briefly surprised by her outburst, amber eyes burning.

"Stay out of this, Mariko!" Katara snarled.

"No, Sword Girl's right! You're blaming me for this!?" Toph joined in hotly, storming closer to her, to which the waterbender dropped her sleeping bag to gesture she come closer.

Aang groaned and stepped forward, "No, no, she doesn't blame you!"

"Oh I'm blaming her!" Katara fired hotly.

Toph tossed him aside as if he weighed nothing, "Hey, I never asked you for diddly-doo-da; I carry my own weight! Besides, if there's anyone to blame it's Sheddy over here; you wanna know how they keep finding us?" At ignoring the outburst from the airbender, she stepped closer to the bison's side and yanked some of the loose fur off his right flank, letting it float into the soft breeze, "he's leaving a trail everywhere we go!"

Mariko had calmed to realize this argument was going in the wrong direction very fast, "Um, Toph…"

"How dare you blame Appa!? If there's anyone to blame, it's you! You're always talking about how you carry your own weight, but you're NOT! He is!" Aang exploded, gesturing wildly to the bison, "Appa's carrying your weight! We never had a problem when it was just the four of us!"

"I'm outta here." But instead of arguing with him in Katara's place, Toph just stared at him blankly and then turned away, kicking the ground with a heel to summon her bag from the ground near Mariko's feet to be hoisted over her shoulders; even when Sokka tried to stop her from leaving she just shrugged him away with another bit of earthbending, continuing in silence.

Mariko watched her go until she disappeared from sight before exhaling and flicking the airbender's ear, eliciting an 'Ow!' from the boy she delivered a sharp look at. She shrugged her own bag and katana on her left shoulder, following the earthbender's trail.

"You're not leaving too!" Sokka dove to stand infront of her, looking at her in disbelief.

"No, I'm going to bring Toph back, lunkhead. Until then, both of you," she turned a glare at the water and airbender (respectively), amber gaze stern despite the light bags under her narrowed eyes, "Better calm the hell down before we get back." Turning on her heel, she stormed after the earthbender into the wood.

Once spotting the bobbing head of black hair only yards ahead of her (she'd covered at least a mile between the clearing and where she was now, thanks to being accustomed to trekking), she jogged the last few yards between them, slowing when she sidled to her right side.

"Don't tell me you're trying to be the bigger person by dragging me back."

"No, that's Katara's job. Mine is sympathizing with the object of her naggings."

"An 'object'?"

"…You know what I mean."

Toph set her mouth in a thin line caught between a pout and a defeated expression, earning a smile from her walking partner. "Is she always like that, nagging to the point where you wanna sock her for it?" She asked dryly after a few moments of silence passed between them.

"Just when she's trying to figure you out. I already went through that hazing process months ago, so I know how it feels. I'm not telling you to embrace her mannerisms, I'm just trying to keep the peace because Aang needs a teacher, and because as far as I'm concerned, I was under the impression we were friends." Mariko exhaled air that blew strands of her fringe upward before they fell back in place, glancing at the shorter girl. "At least I hope."

"You, I can actually stand because between the two of ya, you're calmer than that Sugar Queen in most situations, but y'sounded pretty pissed earlier when she made that smart-ass comment about my being blind." She heard the older girl chuckle slightly at the earlier event, smiling wanly. "So yeah, we're friends... Just don't hug-tackle me for it." She added with an uneasy look.

She felt a tingly feeling in the pit of her chest at hearing that, especially from a stonewall earthbender like Toph, smiling warmly and punching her arm in light playfulness. "Tough cookie."

"Heh, and don't you forget it." She smirked in jest and slugged her in return.

Both girls continued walking before the younger tugged on her elbow to halt her; the older girl tensed slightly at her sudden halt, lifting a hand to the hilt of her katana before the younger girl acted. Body shifting, the earthbender sharply dragged her foot inward to send a rift at a nearby boulder, creating a small blast of dust and a muffled 'OW!' to come from the other side of the boulder.

"Oh… that really smarted my tailbone…!"

Mariko lowered her hand once recognizing that familiar voice, looking at her friend and nudging her to cease fire. "Cool it; it's okay…" She stepped around the rock to see a familiar portly man with gray hair and a beard framing his round face, gold eyes blinking against the throbbing pain. "Uncle Iroh?" She said.

The retired general focused on the girl with wild black hair framing a pretty face with amber eyes and blinked one more time before putting on a warm smile. "It has been a while since I've seen you, Mariko."

He blearily opened an eye to see his uncle's familiar sight standing at his side. "Uncle…?"

"Get up." He pulled him to his feet.

A wide flamethrower screamed in the direction of the princess, being diverted with a flick of her wrist; the prince perked up at seeing the blast, a streak of black and maroon lunging at his sister, orange and blue flames deflecting and colliding viciously. "Mariko!"

Finding an opening, Azula's right foot shot out to kick her opponent's ribs and send her skidding back; she sent a wide jet of azure flames screaming at the admiral's daughter.

A blast of air diverted the flames, dust flying from the collide, surprising the princess momentarily before she darted away at the reminder that she had been outnumbered.

Mariko and Aang shared a nod, keeping the princess on the defense until they backed her into a proverbial corner between two buildings that opened into a narrow alley.

Azula made to counter when the ground jerked under her feet, knocking her off her footing, and she glared at meeting the fifth teenager of the group.

"I thought you guys could use some help." Toph smirked, easing her stance a smidge.

Katara smiled, "Thanks."

Mariko blocked her hasty blast of azure fire with an orange blast of her own, hot on her heels as the princess bolted down another alley, slowing her pace at seeing her bump face-first into her uncle's belly.

Now cornered by the group of seven, Azula glowered at each of them, regarding the stony looks on not only her family members, but the Avatar's group, her brother's girlfriend included. "Well, look at this: enemies and traitors, all working together." She raised her arms in surrender as she added, "I'm done; I know when I'm beaten. You got me… A princess surrenders with honor." She flicked her gaze briefly over the seven faces that were opposing her once again.

Honor doesn't exist with your standing.

It only took a split second for the inevitable to happen, to which it did: faster than lightning, Azula shot a thin jet of flames in Iroh's direction, hitting him in the chest and cutting him down.

"NO!" Mariko and Zuko's combined bellows sounded before hell broke loose and twin blasts of flames joined with a blast of water, earth, and air plus a boomerang as the offensive attack encircled the azure flame shield the princess put up, creating an explosion that rang in her ears.

Black smoke chugged up slowly from the blast, revealing their target had slipped away unscathed, which didn't surprise the two firebenders in the slightest.

Mariko fought the angered tears rising to the rims of her eyes, turning in his direction as the prince dropped to his knees at his uncle's side, grimacing at the angered groan that came from her friend. "Zuko," she began softly, noting the others took a step closer just as she did.

He was too livid and upset to realize that she was the one who spoke, whirling around to shout, "Get away from us!" He noticed a tic in her left cheek, a grimace returning.

"Zuko, I can help!" Katara took another tentative step, the caring side showing prominently despite the pissed prince.

"LEAVE!" A thin wave of flames lashed out from his hand, missing their heads as they ducked.

The quartet reluctantly turned to leave, but the admiral's daughter lingered; she looked down, pulling out a roll of bandages she'd saved from Omashu, noting they were still in good condition.

He didn't notice she had stayed until feeling her smaller hand clasp on his right, pushing a roll of bandages into his palm she gingerly upturned.

Pained gold burned stingingly into soft amber.

She offered a small faint smile, pulling her hand away, and rising from the crouch she'd dropped onto as quietly as possible. "Be safe… For me." She stood to hurry after her friends, fighting the urge to turn around and throw her arms around her oldest friend even as the stinging tears seared at the rims of her eyes until they slowly fell down her cheeks, but she kept going.

Uncle would survive and she would see Zuko again… She had to keep telling herself that, she just had to.

A/N: this was an amusing episode to cover, overall. the fight at the end was dramatic, but hey when isn't a fight dramatic? lol anyway, hope you guys liked. not much else to put so later!