o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o
"Okay, Sokka, I've been following you guys without question. Do you agree?"
Sokka stared at me, repeating my question in his head so he could decipher its meaning. "…Right?"
"That was a yes or no question Sokka." I stared into his eyes.
"Yes?" his brows wrinkled in worry and confusion. He looked at Toph for a hint, but she was smiling and didn't give him anything.
"Well, then I have a request, and since I've been so good this trip, I think I deserve this." I began.
"What is it?" he asked.
"When I see a town I deem suitable, I want to stop and rest for two days…Just two days." I kept my eyes locked onto his, my gaze deadly serious.
"I second that!" Toph piped in.
I smiled in triumph and began stroking Momo, who had just crawled into my lap. "There you go."
"Absolutely not." Sokka made a gesture with his arms and almost hit Zuko.
"I'm bringing this to a vote then." I crossed my arms stubbornly.
"No, you wont!" He yelled, his face red with anger.
"All in favor-"
Sokka cut me off and begged. "Come on Katara, we don't have time to-"
"Sokka." I calmed my voice and sighed. "Two days, that's all I'm asking for."
"But-"
"Please?" I pleaded with my eyes.
"But I-" his breath caught in his throat and he looked away. "Ok."
My eyebrows rose in question. I hadn't thought it'd be that easy to convince him. But hey, who was I to look a gift horse in the mouth?
"Thank you!" I squealed and crawled over to give him a big hug, practically pushing Zuko in the process. "Thank you so much!"
He grumbled something, but I couldn't make it out.
I continued. "I'll finally be able to sleep on a bed, an actual bed."
I could hear Zuko sigh. "Congratulations."
"Okay, Zuko, rain on my parade why don't you?" I folded my arms across my chest and shook my head at him.
I glanced back at Sokka to thank him again, but something was wrong. "Sokka…are you okay?"
"Hm?" He glanced up and then away again.
"Are you ok?"
"Yeah…fine…just-" Sokka sighed loudly. "Just thinking."
"About what?" I asked.
"Mom used to do that- that thing with her eyes- It was the only way she could get dad to eat his sea slug for dinner." He sighed and rubbed at his face tiredly.
My heart leapt into my throat and guilt washed over me. "Oh, I'm sorry. If you really don't want to stop we don't have to…"
"No…It's okay…" he smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes.
"Thank you." I whispered and had to look away. Sometimes it was hard to remember that Sokka could look so sad. After all…most of the time he was so goofy and happy! He was constantly joking and complaining so it was hard to think he could hurt so much.
Sokka was already mumbling to himself. "We'll have to land early and rent out a few rooms…Then we'll have to-"
Momo purred loudly and pushed against my hand. I smiled sweetly at him and resumed stroking him.
o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o
The next morning, we found the perfect place.
The town we decided to stop in was nice one, and it was also one of the last few stops we were going to make before we reached the Earth Kingdom shore, once our business was done there, we'd head off to the Air Temple.
This place had money, and that much was obvious. As we had first entered, guards were on us in a second and immediately started asking questions. What business do you have here? How long are you staying?
They had looked just about ready to send us away. I was pretty sure they would have too if they had known Zuko' identity, but like usual, he was covering his face with his hair. He was obviously trying to cover his nation's signature golden eyes, and his giveaway scar, but his rapidly growing hair was getting too long and already reached his bottom lip. Soon, he wouldn't be able to hide his face any longer without looking like a complete idiot.
It wasn't until Toph spoke up and told them who she was that they let us in. It had actually gave them quite a shock to find out that Toph Bei Fong was in their presence.
Sokka had been sent in earlier, although I have no idea how he could have gotten passed those nosy guards.
Zuko had informed me earlier that this region of the Earth Kingdom was heavy with mines that produce gems (of course he had to add that the Fire Nation had the most abundant mines with the purest and largest gems out of all of the nations). The buildings were large and grand compared to those of other towns I've passed through. I remembered that the town I met Toph in had been comprised of little more than shacks.
They seemed to have everything in this town. I could see clothing shops that had fine materials and gorgeous gowns. There were countless tea shops and small cafes, all serving delectable delights native to the region.
"Sokka said he'd meet us at the big fountain…" Aang glanced around nervously. "But I don't see one."
I sidestepped a group of kids my age and smiled at Aang. "We'll be fine, don't worry. I bet Toph knows where it's at."
Toph glanced Aang's way. "You guys would be lost without me."
His face turned red and he pulled at his hat.
We followed Toph through the maze of the town until we finally found a large courtyard elegantly-crafted decorative fountain. Buildings surrounded the bustling courtyard, but the fountain was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. It looked like it was carved by master sculptors. And it probably had been, if any nation were to succeed in sculpting, it would be the Earth Kingdom.
Thankfully, we only had to sit around bored for ten minutes before Sokka finally decided to come and get us.
He was quiet and looked rather annoyed, but it wasn't until we trekked further into the town that I realized why. Every house looked extremely expensive; he must have had to pay a large sum in order to rent a house for two nights.
I nudged Zuko, who was at my side. "How can we afford this?"
He sighed. "I gave him all of the money I brought with me."
"Did he spend all of it?" I hissed.
"Who knows." He shrugged.
"Now I feel bad…" I sighed. "We could have used that money for something else…"
"Probably not."
I scoffed. "Yes, we could have."
He sighed. "Between here and the Air temple, there is only one more town. I doubt we'd spend all of our money at a poor ton like that."
"And we won't need money at the Air Temple…won't we?"
He looked down at his feet. "Thanks to my people, it's not exactly the best place to go shopping."
"Yeah, well I don't feel good about blowing all of it in one go."
He looked at me and shook his head. "We need this."
"Really?"
"I'm going to go insane if I have to spend another night listening to Sokka snore."
I snorted in laughter. "I agree."
"We're here!" Sokka shouted.
Zuko and I both glanced up at the same time.
My mouth dropped open in surprise at what my eyes saw. I had expected a small hotel like place with a stable and a saloon of some kind downstairs, like in the movies, but this was big. Really big.
"Hey, Sokka, aren't we staying at a hotel?"
"They didn't have any boarding houses available."
"Wow." Was all that I could utter.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah…" He waved me towards the door. "Just get in."
"This is an actual house…" I smiled. The room was very nice, decorated with expensive-looking art and furniture; the walls were painted a beige color, and the floors were made of a dark, hard wood that was polished to a shine. A large and intricate rug was placed in the middle of the room with a small table in its center.
"It smells weird in here." Sokka commented.
"Yeah, that's the smell of clean." Zuko grumbled.
"No, no…" He sniffed around more. "It smells like food."
"Yeah, these places usually come with a fully-stocked kitchen." Toph commented.
As soon as 'fully-stocked kitchen' was out of her mouth, Aang and Sokka ran to the kitchen.
I walked directly to a comfy-looking arm chair and jumped into it. It felt heavenly. "This is nice."
"Beats sleeping on the hard ground." Zuko added.
"No it doesn't!" Toph objected. "Now if you excuse me, I am going to walk around."
When Toph was gone, I turned to Zuko who was examining a piece of art. "I could get used to this…"
Zuko didn't reply, instead, he began to walk off.
It only took me two seconds to realize he was walking over to where the bedrooms were.
"Wait!" I yelled after him. There was no way I'd let him get the first pick of the rooms. As soon as he turned around, I shot up and ran past him.
He seemed to know exactly what I had planned, and as soon as I reached the door out of the room, he was right behind me. I ran up the middle of the hallway and took up as much room as I could so he couldn't squeeze past me. But Zuko, the human hamster, ducked under my arm and sprinted ahead of me. I reached out and grabbed the back of his shirt and pulled him back. With a laugh we rounded the corner and I used him to slingshot myself to the first room.
"Cheater!" he yelled as I yanked the first door open.
The room was very generic, cozy, but generic. It had a soft-looking bed resting against the wall and a few chairs set in front of a window. The view overlooked what seemed to be some sort of factory.
I immediately shut the door and looked around; Zuko had made it to the next room. I groaned, but a second later…I saw it at the end of the hall. Two double doors with fancy looking carvings. Those doors could only mean one thing…the master bedroom.
Zuko hadn't noticed it yet, so as fast as I could, I ran towards it. I threw open the doors and closed them behind me. As loud as I could, and without a single thought, I yelled out. "Dibs!"
It was a damn good thing too, because as soon as I glanced around, I gasped.
The first thing I saw was the view. My room overlooked what seemed to be the whole town. People bustled around, shopping, walking, and kids chased each other around, weaving in and out of the adults legs. But that wasn't what shocked me, although it was very nice, the majestic mountains that outlined the sunset were the most beautiful things I've ever seen.
I tore my eyes away from the windows and found the bed. A thick and soft white blanket covered one of the biggest looking mattresses I've ever seen. And it didn't look like it was stuffed with straw either (which had been my main fear). Dozens of fluffy pillows covered half the bed and the sight made me squeal. You always saw stuff like that on TV, but this was my first time ever seeing it in person. There were tables on either side of the bed that held countless candles and one single red rose.
Right across from the bed was a fireplace...An actual fireplace! Next to it was a wardrobe twice as big as the one in the first room. This probably would have made me happier if I actually had more than one outfit.
I nodded in satisfaction and smiled. I definitely chose the right room.
I couldn't help but do a little spin, and when I stopped, I saw the door.
I smile crept on my face, I already knew what that was. It was a bathroom. I rushed into the room and smiled. There was a bathtub in here. It was a far cry from the bath tubs that I was used to, but it would definitely do. To my surprise, I also saw that there was a nozzle that would give me water. I had half-expected that I would have to fill it up bucket by bucket and drag Zuko in here to heat it up.
"Indoor plumbing…" I breathed out.
I heard a grunt and turned to see Toph standing in the doorway.
"Indoor plumbing!" I yelled in excitement.
"Well yeah…" Toph rolled her eyes.
"I'm so relieved!" I smiled widely and did another spin.
"I'm glad." A smile crept its way onto her face. "But you know…I'm staying in here with you."
My smile fell. I had been looking forward to some much needed peace and quiet. "But the bed isn't-"
She rolled her unseeing eyes. "I don't want to sleep in that stupid bed."
"Oh…"
"There are only three rooms and I am not sharing with Sokka."
"Have Sokka share with Zuko then!"
"Zuko already called dibs on a room, even I respect his call."
"But I called dibs too!" I yelled in frustration.
Toph smirked. "Yeah, I said I respect his call."
"Fine." I grumbled.
"Don't worry, Princess, I'm sure we'll have fun."
I brightened at the mention of fun. "Yeah, we can go to a spa or something!"
"Oh…Spa." Toph rolled her eyes, but she was still smiling.
"You know that sounds good." I nudged her with my elbow. "I just hope Sokka has some left over money we could use."
"Money?" Toph scoffed. "I'm a Bei Fong, I'm all the money you'll need."
"Cool." I put my arm around Toph and made our way out of the house.
"I'm still set on finding a spa or something, I've never had a massage before." I gushed.
"I'm sure we'll find one." Toph spoke offhandedly.
"Great, and then we can get our hair and makeup done." I continued with excitement.
"Great." She sighed.
"Oh, come on. "Toph, you know you want to be pampered."
Her voice was a monotone. "Yeah, sounds great."
"Oh, I'm sure we'll have a great time."
A few hours later Toph and I emerged from the spa feeling like new people. At first Toph had been resistant, but after that massage, even shewas excited for the mud bath (although I think it had more to do with the mud than the actual bath). We had gotten at least five different types of massages, soaked in a few different kinds of mud's, and even gotten our nails done (Toph had absolutely refused to get a pedicure). Then, we decided (actually, it was my idea) to get our hair and makeup done.
We looked damn good…But there was only one problem. What were we going to do now?
This is the most downtime I've had since I came to this world.
"Want to go walking?" I asked Toph.
"Why not?" she seemed completely indifferent.
"Cool, let's-" I was cut off when something hard hitting me and knocked me to the ground. My stuff scattered and a sharp pain ran through my elbow as it hit the cobbled road.
"Well, that came out of nowhere." Toph commented dryly.
"Oh!" Hands grabbed my arms and lifted me up. "Are you ok?"
I straightened myself and looked at the man who ran into me. He was a kind-looking man, middle-aged, slightly balding, nothing to really make him stand out from the crowd. The only thing different about him was the large bag full of scrolls that hung from his shoulder. His large brown eyes stared down at me; they were filled with worry and embarrassment.
When I didn't reply, his face took on a worried look. "Ma'am, are you ok? Did you hit your head?"
"No." I shook my head and rubbed at my elbow. "Just my elbow."
"Oh my, I'm so sorry!" he grabbed my arm and examined my elbow. "I'm a doctor; let me take a look at it."
"Doctor?" I questioned.
"Yes." He whipped a pair of glasses out of his bag and perched them on his nose.
I pulled my arm out of his grasp and grabbed him by his shoulders. "Really, I'll be fine. Did you say you were a doctor?"
"Yes, yes." He furrowed his eyebrows at me. "Now will you please-"
"Can you teach me?" I was practically shaking in excitement.
He didn't even glance up. "What?"
"Teach me." I repeated.
His face was still full of worry. "I can't just-"
"Please?" I begged.
"First let me examine youre-"
I cut him off. "My arm is fine!" My voice was annoyed, couldn't he just let it drop? It hurt, a lot, but I wasn't going to die or anything.
"I would feel much better if you would just let me look at it." He reached for my arm and I let him take it, the quicker he shut up, the sooner I could convince him to teach me. I would love to learn more about the body so I could be a better healer. As of now, I always feel nervous about healing someone, it would be great to go into it feeling confident and knowing that I'd be able to heal anything.
"Fine." I grumbled.
"Oh my…" he murmured.
That got my attention. "What?"
He prodded me elbow painfully and made a tsk-ing noise. "This is going to swell; I'll have to wrap it for you."
"Oh, she'll be fine. Come on…let's go." Toph began. "I heard there was going to be some kind of bending tournament…I think its time for the return of the Blind Bandit."
"Yeah, no need to worry." I was growing more and more impatient. "Now, can you teach me?"
He was glancing between my face and my elbow with worry. "Ma'am, I must attend to your arm. Besides, I can't just teach you…it takes years and years of practice and study to learn. And I must say, you are way too young."
"I am fine. And I'm not asking you to make me a doctor; I want you to teach me." I whined. "And forget about my arm."
"But-"
"Okay, fine!" I yelled and pulled a globe of water from the water skin, which I always kept hanging from my hip. As soon as I placed the glove of water on my elbow, it began to glow. "Now, can you-"
"You're a healer?" now it was his turn to grab my shoulders.
"Yeah, now I need to-"
"Why didn't you tell me earlier?" his smile was huge, the excitement on his face was as clear as day. "This is amazing…an actual healer right in front of me!"
"I told you I would be fine." I grumbled.
"This is great! I've only read about this!"
Toph grumbled, sounding annoyed. "That's it, I'm out of here."
I glanced back at Toph's retreating form. "Crap…" I mumbled, she was the one who knew the way back.
"You must come with me now!" he jogged away without giving me a chance to decline.
I glanced back at Toph, but she was already gone. With no choice, I ran after the doctor.
"Wait!" I yelled after him.
He turned around and after a second of being shocked that I wasn't right behind him, he waited reluctantly.
"What is your name?" I asked as we made our way to where I presumed his office was.
"Xin Fung." He answered with a smile and paused so he could hold out a thin hand.
I shook it with a smile. "Nice to meet you, my name is Katara."
He smiled back and pressed forward. "This is incredible! An actual healer!" he gushed.
I smiled and patted him on the back. "Thanks for all of this."
"Not a problem at all!" he continued. "From the state of your clothes, I can tell you're a traveler, will you be staying long?"
"We'll be leaving a day from now." I admitted.
"What?" he seemed angry. "But there's so much I can learn from you, how can I-"
"I doubt there's anything I can teach you." I told him with a blush.
He seemed to scoff at the thought. "Oh, I doubt that."
"Really, I haven't had much practice."
"No need to worry, I have mountains of scrolls dedicated to Water Tribe healers."
"You do?" I yelled in excitement. I could sense people giving me strange looks, but I didn't really care.
"Yes, and here we are." He gestured to a large house, not too unlike the one we were staying at, but once we got inside the similarities ended. This wasn't a house for rent, this was an actual home. Personal items were all over the place, cloaks flung over the backs of chairs, open scrolls littering the tabled and floors, and cold tea still sitting on a desk. In short, this place looked lived in.
He walked through the room, throwing his bag of scrolls into a chair, and then walked to a closed door.
He threw it open and it was like I was transported into a different world (again). It was definitely an office, but it was more. It was practically a library. The room was full to the brink with shelves and shelves of scrolls. Some were yellowed with age, and some were crisp and new.
"This is my assistant, Lee." He pointed to a small boy that looked to be Aangs age.
"Hello." I muttered, embarrassed that I didn't see him when I first came in.
He glanced up, showed his freckled face for a few seconds, and then went back to his scrolls. "This is what took you so long? You went off to pick up girls?"
Xin blushed and threw a scroll at the young boy. Lee dodged it easily and I got the idea that he was used to dodging the things.
"I was not picking up girls, I was shopping, I told you. That was only one time." He looked frustrated. "but that doesn't matter, look! I've found a healer!"
He didn't seem impressed. "So? We've got plenty of them floating around town…"
"No!" he yelled. "A healer. A Water Tribe Healer."
"What?" he perked up.
"Yes, and actual Water Tribe Healer!" He froze and looked at me. "Northern or Southern?"
I paused and remembered Sokka. "Southern."
"Oh, even better!" he cried.
Lee shot to his feet. "This is way cool!"
"'Way cool' is right!" they looked ready to hug each other.
"And to think I was planning on ditching lessons today…" Lee muttered.
"Why is southern better?" I asked, bringing the conversation back.
"The two most known healers were from the Southern Water Tribe."
"Really?" I asked.
"Oh yes. They traveled the world healing people!" he went behind his desk and sat down. "Now young lady, my house is open to you. You may read whatever you wish. The scrolls concerning healing are on the shelf to your left."
I smiled brightly and grabbed the first scroll I saw.
I have no idea how long I sat there and read, or how many scrolls I went through, but the entire time I sat, I was completely engrossed. So when the front door to his house banged open, it gave me a start.
"Xin!" I heard a voice yell.
The door was pushed open and in charged a large man. He practically took up the whole doorway.
Xin seemed to recognize the man. "Oh no…not again. How bad this time?"
"Pretty bad. Some idiots were playing around and nearly sliced their arms off!"
He growled, but turned to me to explain. "This is Ginli, he owns a weapons shop down the street."
I nodded in understanding and followed both men out of the shop while Lee ran at my side.
The shop was large, but I had no problem finding the injured due to the sound of them moaning in pain. They were both boys that I could tell were older than me, but they looked to be still in their teenage years. One was sitting in a corner with his head between his knees, moaning and clutching his wadded up shirt to his arm. The second wasn't nearly as tough. He was rolling on the floor and screaming in pain.
"You two again?" he yelled at them. "Last month it was a broken leg, but now this? I have half a mind to leaving and letting you bleed to death."
Both heads shot up and stared at him in a silent plea.
Xin sighed. "Your lucky I am a man of reason…"
Even though seconds earlier he had been threatening to let them die, he sprung into action and called for Lee to bring his bag. He knelt next to the boy who was rolling on the floor and grabbed his shoulders to still him.
I stood there, silent and useless, contemplating whether he needed me or not.
After a few seconds, I wandered over to the other boy who was still sitting in the corner.
With a lot of awkwardness, I asked him "May I take a look at your arm?"
He stared up at me, his dark green eyes staring into my blue ones. He was probably a few years older than me, if not Zuko's age then older. He was very attractive, even though he was sweating pretty badly from the pain. He had a strong jaw and straight nose, giving him a noble look. "Who are you?" he finally asked curiously.
"I'm Xin's assistant for the day." I glanced back at toe doctor and saw that he was cleaning the boy's wounds and berating him for getting injured so often. "I think I can help you."
"Alright…" he seemed reluctant, but he held out his arm anyway.
I removed his wadded up shirt and cringed. The cut was pretty deep, practically to the bone. "Wow." I placed his shirt back on his cut and applied more pressure.
He flinched in pain. "I know…it's bad."
"Nothing that I can't fix."
He smiled at me, but I could tell it was hard for him to maintain due to his arm. "Good."
"How did it happen?" I asked and pulled water from my flask, as quickly as I could; I removed his shirt and replaced it with my haling glove.
He sighed and his eyes were filled with respect and wonder. "I think I prefer you over Lee."
I smiled and blushed.
"That idiot over there was playing with a sword and hit himself. Don't ask me how, I don't know myself."
"I understand, I have a brother." I smiled knowingly, Sokka hurt himself a lot.
"Well, he stumbled into the display and knocked a sword into me!"
"Ouch." I muttered and continued healing him; it was deeper than I thought.
He chuckled. "Yeah, it was quite a surprise actually."
"Done!" I smiled happily and put the water back into my flask. His arm was smooth and unblemished now, his muscle forming a straight line to his wrist. "Not even a scar."
"Wow." He looked his arm over and flexed his muscle. "Thank you. I didn't know there were any waterbenders in town."
"Oh, I'm just passing through." I admitted.
He looked at me for a second and then smirked. "That's a shame."
It took me a second to realize he was flirting with me.
I cleared my throat and blushed. "Yeah, I like it here."
"Really? Have you done anything yet?" he stood up and offered me a hand.
I blushed again and took it, allowing him to help me up. "Not really…"
He glanced over to his brother and shook his head. "They whole broken leg incident was his fault too you know…but what can I do, he is my little brother…"
I smiled at him. "Yeah, I bet it was."
He smiled. "Well, it was my fault too, but the majority of the blame rests with him."
I rolled my eyes goon naturedly. "Whatever you say."
"What's your name?" he asked me.
"Katara." I answered holding out my hand. "And yours?"
"Hanako." He answered and took a hold of my hand.
I blushed again when he neither shook it or let it go, he just held it in his warm hands.
"OW!" Hanako's brother screamed loudly.
I jumped and jerked my hand away like I was a kid caught pilfering cookies before dinner.
"There, now I don't want to see you again for at least a few months…" Xin told his other patient and then stood up. "Ok, whose next."
"Um actually…I took care of him." I announced shyly.
His mouth gaped open. "You healed him and I missed it?"
"What?" Lee yelled in annoyance.
"Sorry." I mumbled and Hanako laughed.
"How unfortunate, I was hoping I could watch…" he let it drop. "Never mind…we must head back, there is much to do."
I turned to Hanako and smiled. "Well, it was nice meeting you."
He was staring straight into my eyes. "Yeah, it was great meeting you too."
They way he said it made my heart pump. "Bye."
He bit his lip. "Bye."
I turned to leave, but Hanako grabbed my arm. "I know we just met…but…"
"Yes?" I prompted.
"Would you like to go out with me sometime tomorrow?" he asked quickly, staring at the floor.
"Katara!" Xin yelled through the doorway. "We must get moving!"
"I would love to." I answered with a smile.
He smiled in relief. "Great, so Tomorrow night, around six, ok?"
I nodded and gave him my address.
Tomorrow was going to be fun.
o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o
"Sokka!" I ran through the house in search of my brother. "Sokka!"
"Katara?" Sokka yelled back and I was able to follow his voice back to the courtyard.
He was sitting under the shade of a tree sharpening his sword with a stone. Zuko was on the other side of the tree, lying on his back and staring up at the clouds.
"Guess what?" I bounced on my heels in excitement.
"What?" he didn't look up or put down his sword.
"I found a doctor!" I yelled. "And he taught me stuff that I could use to heal you guys!"
He finally glanced up. "Cool."
"More than cool. He showed me a diagram that had all of the major blood vessels, and where the organs were…and he showed me all of the pressure points in body, and he let me read any of his scrolls that I wanted to…and…you don't care, do you?" Sokka seemed more interested in his sword, than what I was saying, and Zuko…well, he looked like he was sleeping.
Sokka sighed and looked at me. "Its not that I don't care, its just…I have no clue what you're going on about."
I sighed. "Fine."
That's the last time I try to talk to him about that kind of stuff.
"You were gone the whole day, were you with this doctor the whole time?" he stretched and stood up.
"No, Toph and I were together for a while…"
"So she's not with you?"
"No."
"Well then where is she?"
"Ladies and gentleman!" Toph rounded the house and announced.
"Speak of the devil…" I muttered.
All of us looked up at Toph. Her newly washed and fixed hair was in disarray and her clothes were covered in dirt, even her usually clean headband was filthy. "Look whose back!" her smile was huge.
"Uh…Toph?" I asked, stating the obvious.
"No…" she cleared her throat and pulled something large from behind her back. "The Blind Bandit if back!"
"Is that your new belt?" Sokka asked.
"Yeah…is it better than the last one?" she asked.
This new belt was a lot more detailed than her original one, it had a gold design on it that resembled a mountain on both sides, and the design met at the middle and formed into the Earth Kingdom insignia.
"Yeah, I like it…" I commented.
Sokka looked to be drooling over it. "Its awesome!"
Zuko's head poked out from behind the tree curiously. "Nice."
"I'm glad to see you are all so excited." Toph mumbled and retreated into the house.
"I'm excited!" I yelled after her.
"You're always excited!" he screamed over her shoulder.
"I am not."
"Yes you are." Zuko interjected.
"Shut up Zuko." I said and then followed Toph into the house. Maybe if I just got dinner done now, I'd be able to get everyone off to bed and then I'd be able to kick Zuko's ass during out nightly spar. And trust me, his ass will get handed to him.
o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o
"No!" He practically yelled. "Do it like this!" He kicked out with his leg and froze mid air. "Look at my leg; you need to keep it at this angle. Who are you planning on kicking? A child?"
I rolled my eyes. "It's hard to kick that high."
"Well your opponent's head is going to be up here, so you need to aim that high."
"I don't think I plan on kicking him in the face…"
"It doesn't matter, I'm the teacher, so do what I say." He growled in annoyance.
I scoffed. "Yes Master Hot Head."
He narrowed his eyes at me. "Just do it."
I smirked at Zuko. We had decided that since we were in the middle of a town, bending might not be the best (or smartest) thing to do. With nothing better to practice, we decided that hand to hand fighting was just as important as bending, especially since I wouldn't always have water, and so here we were, with Zuko yelling at me, and me considering kicking him in the face.
I kicked as high as I could, but before I pulled back, Zuko grabbed my leg. I lost my balance and grabbed onto his arm to steady myself. "What?"
He rolled his eyes and pushed my knee straight. Unfortunately, he over estimated how flexible I was…my other leg buckled and I fell on my butt.
"Jerk!" I yelled and rubbed my sore but.
"I told you to practice stretching; it's not my fault you didn't listen." He retorted.
I ground my teeth together and got to my feet. "You're lucky you're my teacher."
"Sifu." He corrected.
"I'm not calling you Sifu."
"Well then I'm not teaching you."
"Okay, Sifu Zuko." I practically spat the word.
He smirked. "Good. Now we need to work on your punches."
"My punches are fine." I crossed my arms over my chest.
"Show me."
I punched out as hard as I could, but he was able to catch my fist seconds before it made contact with his face.
I didn't even see him move, I blinked once and he had his hand on my elbow. "I could break your arm right now."
I jerked my hand out and made a sound of anger. "Will you stop doing that?"
He rolled his eyes. "I wouldn't have to do it if you would just listen to me."
"I do listen to you!"
"No you don't!"
"I listen, but whether I'll obey is a different story."
"You're such a child."
"Oh yes, and you're the beacon of maturity."
"Only around you." He commented dryly.
I rolled my eyes. "Let's just get on with it."
"Alright, now come at me again, but do it right this time."
"Always so encouraging." I commented.
"Just go." He gestured at me to come forward.
I swung my best roundhouse kick at him and he jerked back, bending at the waist to get out of the way. I punched out as he came up again. He spun out of the way and off to the side.
He swung his arm out and hit me in the back with his forearm, knocking me forward. As I stumbled, he put his foot out, effectively tripping me.
I landed on my hands and knees and rolled out of the way as he kicked.
I jumped to my feet and turned, lashing out blindly. I felt my fist connect with a hard wall of muscle and heard a surprised "oomph."
"HA!" I yelled proudly.
"You learn fast." He grunted. "But I'm still better."
He was so fast I didn't even see it coming
He locked his leg in mine and jerked it back, making me lose my balance (yet again) and grab onto him for support. I expected that we looked like a dance couple performing some kind of intricate dip. I looked into his golden eyes, his face inches from mine, and my face turned red.
Molten gold. I was drowning in it. His body was hard and muscular. I wanted to run my hands down every plane of his body, I wanted to run my fingers through his hair. I wanted to taste his skin. I wanted-
No attachments. Don't start liking him or anything. Get out of this position now.
The only thing I could think to do was use my other leg to trip him, reasoning was that he would let go so that he wouldn't fall. I would most likely fall as well, but it was better than being pressed against him like this. With one sweep of my only free leg, I kicked out, making contact with his knee.
He grunted and stumbled in surprise.
Time seemed to slow.
He landed hard on top of me, knocking all of the air off of my lungs. When I was finally able to gasp in a breath of air, I froze.
Zuko smelled good.
Really good.
He smelled like dirt, sweat, and forest. But underneath that, there was something else…something I couldn't name…it was the smell of a man.
Something inside of me, deep inside, answered. It was new to me, something primal that I've never experienced before. But my inexperience didn't matter; my body already knew what to do.
And it scared me. A lot.
Boys from my time didn't smell like this, they showered everyday and wore cologne, masking their natural, masculine scent. But this wasn't manufactured. This was him.
This was the scent I'd wake up to every morning if-
Wow.
Back it up Katara, what the hell were you thinking? If you what?
Zuko exhaled. I inhaled. He shifted. I didn't dare move.
Zuko's skin was how, too hot, I had to get him off of me.
I pushed at him. I had to get him off me now. I needed to catch my breath, dunk my head into a bucket of ice water, and do something to cool myself down.
Time sped back up.
I breathed in a shaky breath and pulled water from the fountain. In one smith motion, I flung the water at him and knocked him off of me.
With a burning red face, I sprang up and ran off as fast as I could.
If I'd ever be able to show my face to him in the future, I'd consider it a miracle.
o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o