"You're awake!" is the first thing I can think of, and Judai promptly yawns.

"Not too sure about that..." he drawls and leans back, but he doesn't get the chance to hit the wall – his hand shoots up and he falls into a coughing fit. "Oh, turtle whiskers..."

"How are you feeling?" Katara asks before I can, the awkwardness from before all but forgotten.

"Apart from beyond frazzled, you mean? Just fine." Judai finally relaxes against the wall and crosses his arms. I really doubt the last statement, but I'm not permitted to dwell on it as Judai continues, "But what was that bang?"

The question turns eyes into the general direction of Katara and me, and my nerves bid their farewell. The others don't know what it was either, but I can't explain it to them now. What can I say instead?!

"Everything's okay," Katara replies easily, and I slowly release the breath I've been holding. "It was just a gust of wind slamming the window shutters."

"I see."

I send a silent thank you Katara's way, relief washing over me like a wave. Thank you, thank you!

Of course, Aang, Toph and Sokka know better, judging from their faces. The former have smirks plastered across their faces, Toph more so than Aang, while Sokka raises an eyebrow. I grin sheepishly, giving wordless confirmation, and when I turn back at Judai afterwards, he seems curious. But he doesn't comment on the silent exchange.

"Anyway," he begins instead, "I might as well stay up now. Is there something I should know?"

I look at everyone, then shrug. "Not really, no sudden enlightenment situations or other earth-shattering developments during the last thirty, forty minutes. And you? Can someone check on you now without risking collisions with airborne bedding?"

"Can I talk to you without risking collisions with that way of speaking?" Judai responds with a meaningful roll of his eyes, then pushes himself off the wall. "But fine. This is about Kari's water magic, right?"

Now it's Katara's turn to roll her eyes, while Sokka snickers. "It's not magic, it's waterbending," he says in a jokingly know-it-all manner. "It's an ancient art unique to Water Tribe culture, with three different styles and several application possibilities such as fighting, healing, and making snowmen."

I'm too busy gaping at Sokka to see how the rest reacts, though I can hear Toph laugh. The one to sum up my feelings is Judai however, with a dumbfounded "What...?" ringing out after a few seconds. Sokka keeps grinning, and I keep wondering where that speech was warranted.

"Right," Katara's irritated voice cuts through the astonishment and she purposefully strides over to Judai. "Lie down, please. Kuzon, please bring the water."

"Oh, sure!" Aang calls right back and dashes off to fetch the bucket while Katara and Judai choose the opposite direction. My feet itch to follow because... mommy turtle duckiness. Urgh, I can't...

Aang comes back with the water, and I tell myself to stop worrying. It'll be fine, Katara knows what she's doing and keeps proving it.

I end up borrowing Katara's abandoned comb to distract myself. I wonder what it's made of, since it doesn't feel like metal or wood. So I ask Sokka about it, cursing my curiosity all the while because I'm sure I'll regret it. The Water Tribe warrior says that I'm dealing with a whale tooth comb here, and while I don't feel the need to throw it across the room, I'm kinda grossed out by the idea to have something like that make contact with my hair. I wish I had my brass comb. Alas, it's sitting on my dresser at home, and it sits there snugly, without any intention to come flying in the near future.

I place Katara's comb on the table, then reach back for braiding when I remember that my hair tie is still missing, and I can't ask Judai where he put it right now. So I leave it and redirect my attention at the rest of the group. Not that there is anything interesting to see – Toph is relaxing on the bed while Sokka and Aang play earth-fire-water-air. I spontaneously decide to join them, and we quickly run into a little situation when the two boys use earth and I use fire, because Sokka whoops in triumph and leaves me with a raised brow.

"Is a draw that cheerworthy?"

"What are you talking about? Earth beats fire, so we win!"

"Since when does earth beat fire? Water beats fire, and earth beats water."

"Huh?" is Aang's final comment before we go on clearing up the confusion. Apparently, Aang and Sokka play with the rule that one element beats the next in the Avatar cycle where the rules I know are based in science: Fire burns air, air erodes earth, earth soaks up water, water douses fire. What does that tell us about the status of the Avatar in different parts of the world?

We keep playing along the Avatar cycle rule when I hear a yelp from the neighboring room and leap to my feet. My two playmates look up as well, but they don't seem particularly concerned. Not in a way which goes beyond the normal sympathy level. It's reassuring enough to keep me from running off and see what happened, but I'm still nervous when I settle on the straw mats again.

"Don't worry about Judai," Aang tells me with a comforting smile. "He's in good hands."

"I know..." I mumble in response. "I'm just..." I huff in frustration. Waiting can be truly horrible.

"Oh, come on, Fireflake!" Toph decides to cut in, brutal as ever. "Your Prince Pillow toughed out a lot more than Sweetness' ministrations, he's not going to bite it now."

I grind my teeth, but I can't think of a proper retort. I don't need one. Toph's talent of being infuriating and soothing at the same time is very unique, and there's nothing to add.

"I guess so..." I concede when suddenly the slide screen opens, admitting Katara. The solemn look on her face has it all come crashing down again and I stand up.

"What's going on?"

She perks up, the gloom disappears and is replaced by an assuring smile. "He's healing well, and the coughing is just a little cold." Then the smile fades and makes room for the broodiness again. "There's just..."

"Go on, tell them!" Judai's bitter voice calls from the other side of the slide screen. "It's not like it's going to hurt anyone."

Katara sighs in resignation, then raises her voice so everyone can hear: "Judai is a firebender."

Well, do tell.

"He is?" Toph asks and when I spare her a glance, I notice that the news even convinced her to bother with sitting up.

"Yes," Katara states firmly, though I think I can detect a hint of concern. "But..." Yup, that's concern, definitely.

"It's blocked?" I suggest, helping her along. What's the problem with saying it?

To my surprise, Katara's next words are "No. The chi paths are muddled and out of balance, not blocked. I can't tell what it means, but I think it's something he needs to work out for himself."

Out of balance, huh? Is that it? An issue of the mind rather than the body?

I push past Katara and chance a look – Judai is sitting on the bed, knees up, arms crossed on top of them, and scowls at nothing in particular. It makes my heart ache.

Following a sudden impulse, I pick up Katara's comb again and make my way over to the bed to hold it in front of Judai's nose. My friend recoils and blinks dazedly, but then he regains his focus and looks up warily. I try to smile.

"Here. You look like you could use something to do."

"Thanks," comes the listless response and I drop the comb into Judai's outstretched hand. He starts raking the teeth through the hopeless mess which could be mistaken for his hair and promptly winces from the twinge. The upside: It snaps him out of whatever depression he's in.

"You'll be okay?" I ask softly, causing a sigh on Judai's part.

"Yeah..." he says at length, fiddling around with the comb. "I'll be fine. Kari managed to drag up some unpleasantries I prefer not to think about, but I'll get over it."

"Did she ask odd questions?" I demand to know, disbelief throwing me for a loop. That doesn't sound like Katara!

"No!" Judai quickly denies and I calm down. "She only tried to fix my bending, but somehow caused a flashback instead. I don't know, it's all weird."

"I see... Is that why you screamed?"

Judai nods, once again busy fidgeting with the comb. "It was pretty painful. But at least I have an idea what's wrong now." Then he looks up again, eyes narrowed. "Would you sit down, please?" he half pleads, half commands. "You just standing there makes me edgy."

"Why?" I ask, peeved by the tone, but sitting down anyway. Judai pauses his worrying the comb for a moment.

"It reminds me of that earthbender, Guo Ping. It was his favorite intimidation tactic."

The words bring up some nasty memories of my first meeting with the slavers, of crying on the ground, feet fixed in place. Even in hindsight the scene doesn't lose its terror. "I know what you mean. I'm amazed you picked up his name, though. You have quite a memory."

"I get that a lot," Judai shrugs, breaks off for a cough, then goes on, "Memory training is kind of in the job description, for better or worse."

Before I can come up with an adequate response, there is a "Kamina, Judai?" and I turn around to spot Katara. "We're heading downstairs for breakfast," she informs us and I share a befuddled look with Judai.

"Uh, sure. We'll catch up later."

"Or now," Judai declares, drops the comb onto the nightstand and bounces out of bed to throw on his robe all sloppy but speedy. By the time the rest of the gang has filed into the room, Judai can pass for 'good to go', and that's awesome. Breakfast awaits us, and I'm hungry!

The taproom is not quite as full as expected. We're obviously late, there are various foodstuffs spread out on the counter as a buffet, and a lot of them have been taken already. The innkeepers are nowhere to be found, but I don't care. I know it's impolite, but I grab a skewer anyway, with some meat and vegetables for my grumbling stomach. Sokka does the same, and we both get a rebuke from Katara for it. Then Toph steps up and Sokka hands her another skewer, showing Katara just how many figs we give. Judai is the next one to shrug and pick up a bun, leaving only an exasperated Katara and an uncertain Aang foodless.

"Come on, sis! We don't need to pay for it anyway."

"I still agree we should wait though," Judai says and takes another bite out of his bun, earning himself a couple funny glances. He remains unperturbed and adds, "And yes, I'm aware what this looks like."

"Rules are meant to be broken, Sweetness."

Katara groans, one hand on her hip, the other glued to her forehead. She's caving.

"Er..." Aang cautiously takes the word, "Maybe we should look for a table..."

Always the peacemaker, our little Avatar. I take a look around, then Sokka points at an unoccupied corner table and we weave our way towards it.

"Can you find Nila?" Judai asks me halfway, eyes roaming over the place. I follow his example, but I can't see her either.

"I guess she's in her room, wherever that might be. Speaking of which, do you know where Maila and Li Yu are?"

"They stayed with Kiran's family." Oh, okay. "I bet they get to sleep in."

"Well, and we get that awesome buffet, so stop complaining."

Judai sticks out his tongue. "I complain as much as I want."

Aang, who listened in on us, wants to know who Nila is, so I explain and then offer one of the grilled tomato carrots in my skewer. Katara can starve if she wants it so badly, but I don't want Aang to get himself involved because of his all too obvious crush. The little Avatar hesitates, but his stomach wins in the end. I watch him chew on the vegetable, and I can't help a content smile. A shame that Judai chooses this very moment to burst into yet another coughing fit and get all vexed over it.

"Bah! Colds should be banned!"

"That's why people generally use blankets," I deadpan, eyebrow raised. "You know, to keep themselves warm during the night?"

The death glare I receive is a very definite answer, and I lift my hands in a just saying gesture. "Come on, it's not the end of the world."

"Not for you, maybe."

"Ooh!" I cry dramatically and fan with my hand as if burned. "Miles out, miles out! If there's something you don't want to bear witness to, it's me with a cold."

Aang spontaneously chokes on a bite of bell pepper. "Yeah, I second that," he says and we share a look of commiseration. Great to have someone who understands, because seriously, airbender colds are not pleasant.

"Third!" Sokka's cheerful voice rises, reminding me that there are still other people around. We reached the table while engrossed in our three-way conversation, so Aang returns the skewer with the leftover meat to me and plops into the seat next to Katara. Judai snatches the chair on the other side of the little Avatar, and I end up with Toph again. But that's okay. I can live with that.

They need frozen wood frogs in the Fire Nation. Their unthawed form is apparently very tasty, haha! :D

But alas, they have an equatorial climate. Nothing freezes there. (Imagine what Zuko must have thought when Aang lost all the frogs and whined "Nooo! My friends need to suck on those froooogs!")

The year has 52 weeks, by the way. Fascinating how Zutara Week and Kataang Week coincide anyway. Maybe I'm a little pessimistic, but I already see the shipping war inflaming again. I've come across a great Zutara fic a couple months ago, but I was unable to read beyond chapter three because the writer's anti-Kataang A/Ns are very... passionate. Not saying that there aren't any obsessive Kataangers, but... No. Just no.

That's why I'm always very happy to welcome Zutarians here. I want to write the characters as close to canon as possible, which means the Kataanginess is unavoidable. So to every Zutarian who got this far and didn't run screaming: Applause to you, you're keeping my faith in humanity alive! Please, go on! :)

Let us all ship together in peace!