A/N: Kslamm, here's part two of my thank you gift. I'm a humble writer, who appreciates all the love that I can get, so big thank you again for the double love!

Disclaimer: I know what I can and can't do, and I can't deny the fact that I don't own anything related to Avatar the Last Airbender and Marvel's Guardians of Galaxy.

Zuko does believe that they will escape, but wonders if all of them will be able to leave the Draconian Mine Fields wholly unscathed. Shaking any traitorous qualms from his convictions, he reminds himself that he, at least, won't die before he has reclaimed his honor from Thanos. It is a vow Zuko made while recuperating in the infirmary. Hours lying on his back, wrapped in white-cotton gauze to hide his shame and pain. He was forever altered. He didn't end up dying from those extensive injuries, and he refuses to die today, too. Zuko stares out the front window, contemplating the best course through the mine field. After he accomplishes his original promise to Sokka and gets them to safety, he will obtain the sought after item that began this side adventure and complete his original mission.

Katara leans across the pilot console and cranes her neck to peer out the side of the front window. The windshield wraps around partly, but not fully enough to assess whether skippers are jettisoning out of the Flying Pig. Katara flops back in her seat. She glances at the console, the rear trackers aren't picking up any additional flying spacecrafts. Before she can feel thankful for small miracles, another blast is fired upon Shipie, rocking the spacecraft.

The intercom on the console sputters and crackles. Explosions resound in the background, muffling Sokka's yelling, "Stop messing around and get us out of here!" He slaps a rag at another fire which has sputtered to life, smothering the flames by beating down the mini-blaze. "The more I fix Shipie, the more you do things to destroy her."

Katara folds her arms and shrugs her shoulders at Zuko. She speaks hauntingly, "I would offer some advice, but you seem to know what you're doing."

Zuko whips his head to the side, narrowing his eyes upon Katara. "Does that mean your running commentary of suggestions will cease?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Katara's smugness is jolted from her as another blast is fired at the ship. The sudden force from the discharge causes her to slam against the side of the pilot cabin. Refusing to rub her sore shoulder, Katara snaps, "I thought you said you had a plan?"

Zuko's hands are frantically flipping switches and retorts, "If you stopped talking for once, you might have picked up there isn't a pathway through the mines."

Grabbing the co-pilot's gunner, Katara starts shooting at the mines. "Here's your pathway." The truth is the mines seem less of a threat than what is firing at them. The momentary instance of Zuko and Katara being united vanishes. She watches in horror, as the mines break formation and drift from their tightly locked lines.

The loose bombs ricochet into each other, creating multiple chain explosions. This triggers more mines to rebound and fly out beyond the designated rim. The bombs are instantly magnetically attracted to the nearest metal object. Slamming into Shipie, the spacecraft is knocked from its idle position. This action does manage to alter the Flying Pig's direct lock on Shipie. The brief respite from being bombarded by the bigger ship doesn't provide much of a break, since the mines detonate upon impact.

Zuko manages to straighten Shipie from drifting further off course. He dips and dodges trying to avoid the drifting bombs. Each movement to avoid the bombs is countered effortlessly by the magnetic mines.

Katara fires at the floating mines, exploding some of them before they can hit Shipie. Her quick shooting helps prevent a massive onslaught of bombs assailing their ship. "I can't believe I'm actually saying this, but get us into that mine field!"

Zuko glances slightly at Katara and almost laughs over the irony of her demand. He compresses his mouth to still the emotion of any potential merriment escaping. Mashing the intercom button, Zuko shouts, "Sokka, switch the poles now!"

"I'm kind of busy putting out fires," Sokka sprays carbon gas at another mini-fire that is flaring from one of the engine panels. "I'm literally putting out fires down here."

Katara leans forward, "Sokka, if you don't want to lose Shipie, you'll do what Zuko says."

Zuko almost smiles in appreciation, but tension makes his grin a thin line. Katara shrugs her shoulders sheepishly.

"Fine!" Sokka clips on his tether rope and rushes over to charred wall section. He swipes at the soot and murmurs, "Baby, don't let me down." Tossing over his shoulder, he yells, "Strap down, I'm doing it."

Zuko and Katara simultaneously click on their seat belts. Katara grabs the arms of her chair. Zuko tightens one hand on the steering wheel and the other on the throttle. Sokka closes his eyes and winces slightly as he flips the switch, hoping the action will actually alter the gravity and not destroy everything he built.

Immediately, things which are not nailed down float delicately upwards. It is the only sign Zuko needs to shove the throttle into its full upwards mode. He moves his hand to the free side of the steering handle. With the full force of both hands, he yanks the column to his chest. Shipie plunges into the field of star mines.

Longshot throws up his hands angrily after Sokka's ship is knocked from his line of fire. His brow glowers as he leans forward, attempting to lock again on the drifting ship which is dodging the loose bombs. Smellerbee understands his frustration. She was feeling almost better at the sight of Sokka's spacecraft getting fired upon repeatedly. She touches the lines on her cheeks. The dried blood feels rough to her fingertips.

Smellerbee refocuses and informs her captain of the latest insanity that has developed since they began this pursuit. "Sir, Sokka has fired into the Draconian Mine Fields, knocking the bombs from formation, and now the bombs are colliding, exploding upon impact."

Toph sniffs in disdain. "Figures the lily-livered wimp would avoid fighting and choose a coward's death."

"I agree, sir." Smellerbee was never impressed by Sokka's particular charms. She found him more of a goofy sidekick than a reliable crew member and much to Smellerbee's envy, often Toph's second-in-command. She glances slyly over to Longshot, who is narrowing his gunner again upon Sokka's wafting ship. Smellerbee never resented Longshot's status with Toph. He doesn't tell incredibly lame jokes or try to take all the glory. No, Longshot prefers to operate in the shadows, watch from a distance, and be supportive.

Longshot suddenly faces Smellerbee. She instantly shields her open emotions, donning an impassive persona. It takes her a fleeting moment to digest Longshot's silent message. His thick brows angle toward his nose, and his lips turn down in disgust. Smellerbee deduces from his demeanor that there has been a new development. She faces the large window and stares at the mine field. Watching in disbelief and against all odds, Smellerbee sees Sokka and his ship flying past the bombs unscathed.

Toph pauses and picks up on the jittery emotions of her pilot crew. "What is going on Smellerbee? I'm sensing there is something else, spill it!"

"It seems that Sokka is avoiding the bombs and flying into the mine field unharmed."

"What!" Toph's bangs blow with the force of her anger. "The bombs are attracted to anything metal that is impossible."

"I know, sir, but I'm telling you the bombs are drifting out in space, avoiding Sokka's ship."

Toph holds out her hand. "Are you telling me there are still loose mines?"

Smellerbee sees hundreds of bombs bump and explode and then redirect their position. "Yes, sir."

"You dunderheads! Get us out of here!" Toph slams her fist into her palm. "Those bombs are going to be attracted to us!"

Longshot begins to flip switches on the console and adjust coordinates. Smellerbee watches just as Toph had predicted that the bombs have alternated their course and locked upon the Flying Pig.

Smellerbee grimaces as she watches Sokka's retreating ship fly farther away from capture. "But sir, what about Sokka?"

Toph strides over to Longshot, gripping the back of his chair. "Forget about Sokka, he will have to answer to the Drac now." If her family has taught her one thing, she knows when to cut her losses and leave the gambling table with plenty of denarians in her pocket. "Longshot, get us as far from here as possible, pronto!"

As Shipie approaches, the bombs part for the flying spacecraft. A pathway is cleared and then the mines resume their previous positions after the spacecraft passes. Zuko guides the ship on a straight course, not totally trusting in deviating from this current clear passage and possibly triggering another chain reaction with the bombs.

Katara watches apprehensively as the mines seem to be repelled from the ship, nervous that at any moment the bombs will turn and detonate against the ship. Looking to the rear tracker, the larger dot that has represented the Flying Pig has vanished from the screen. Swiping the screen with her finger to a different display view, it shows a wider scope of the area, pinpointing the bombs changing positions as Shipie flies along.

"I can't believe it, but it worked." Katara looks over at Zuko. The lack of gravity has made his ponytail flap weightless behind his head. Katara bursts out laughing.

Zuko glances to his side and barks. "What's so funny?" His ponytail waves in a silky black flourish.

Katara's laughter comes harder over Zuko being oblivious to his comical appearance. It helps diffuse her tension, a blissful release from the series of stressful situations which she has endured in successive order. Tears are coming out of her eyes, lifting off her cheeks, hovering in the air in front of her. This only makes her laugh harder as she tries catching the little suspended salty balls.

Katara's laughter has a contagious quality, a lilting sound bouncing around Zuko, similar to the other loose items that are bumping against the cabin's walls. He wants to chuckle, too. He can feel the happiness in his gut, but it won't rise and flow out of him. His brow does relax, freeing some of the anxiety from his face.

Zuko attempts at some lighthearted banter, but it falls flat. "Are you going to tell me what is making you laugh, or have you finally succumbed to the insanity that is prone to your people?"

"Hey!" Katara stops, glaring at Zuko. "You sure know how to ruin a good mood." She pushes back her hair, noting that her braid is also hovering behind her head. It makes her chuckle again, but Zuko's pinched look quells her laughter. "I'm sorry, but I saw your ponytail…"

"It's a Phoenix Plume." Zuko flicks his head, and unintentionally gives his plume a friendly shake behind his head.

Katara swallows her giggles and replies seriously, "Yes, well, your Phoenix Plume is waving behind your head, and it struck me as funny, okay." She lowers her chin and gives Zuko a fierce look. "Now about your crack concerning my people, what makes you think they are crazy?"

"Anyone that wants to live on a frozen dead world must be insane."

Katara sputters with anger, "Why, you, arrogant, clueless pig-dog! It wasn't always a frozen tundra world; and besides, it's our home!" She tosses her hand at him. "Not all of us are so cavalier about where we come from, some of us show allegiance to the places that we call home."

Zuko's brow furrows with renewed tension. "What is that suppose to mean?"

"Truth hurts obviously, you are Drac but don't claim them as your people."

Zuko's voice rumbles deeply with irritation in being reminded of his slavery status. "I told you before that I belong to Thanos."

"Ha," Katara scoffs, "likely story, you probably have been stalking Sokka and I from the beginning, trying to capture us."

"Why would I want to capture two nobodies? The only thing I want is that item you stole."

Katara almost unclasps her seatbelt to get up and stand in Zuko's face. Her hands still on the buckle when a plate, bobbing in the air, bounces against her arm reminding her about the lack of gravity. Her irate stance would lose its effectiveness if she began floating around the cabin, too. She narrows her eyes suspiciously. "I know you are lying."

Zuko clenches the arms of his seat. His knuckles whitened due to the intense grip of his pent-up anger. "I don't lie!"

"Fine, then, Mister Truth and Honor, what do you plan," Katara stresses that particular word, hinting over Zuko's previous lack of forethought, "to do after you get us out of this mine field?"

Zuko ignores the obvious jibe concerning his prior lack of a fully functioning plan. "I'm going to get that item from you; that's my ultimate plan."

"Oh really," Katara tilts her head, rolling her eyes. "That will be interesting to see."

"What?" Zuko can't believe that no matter how much he has proven he speaks the truth, Katara doubts him. "You don't think I can get it?"

Katara pretends to contemplate, tapping her finger against her cheek. "Now, give me a moment on this, I'm working out the particulars of this scenario you're convinced will happen." She ticks off her hand her various points she is outlining. "Since I'm new to this whole honor concept, being an honorless bounty hunter and all, if I'm following logic and," She holds out her palm to indicate that she could be mistaken. "To be fair, Sokka is usually the one who comes up with all of the plans in our little homespun operation; that said, it would seem kind of difficult to get what you want when you promised you wouldn't harm us while we are on this ship."

Zuko, not so silently seething, adds coldly. "I only promised I wouldn't attack you." He leans forward. "You're going to give me that item, trust me."

Oh really," Katara presses a hand against her chest. She glances around the cabin and even under the pilot console. "Now, who is the insane one?" She lowers her chin and stares at Zuko. "Why would you think I would give you anything?"

Zuko knows he only has to figure out a way for Katara to give him the item without breaking his vow. This seems fairly easy in concept, but in Zuko's experience, nothing has ever been easy for him. If things worked out simply, he wouldn't bear a scar, a mark that defines him and guides him to his very core. It sets him apart and reminds him that he will always be alone, and that he can only count on himself.

Katara watches anger and intense emotions flash across this complex stranger's face, who sitting across from her. "Zuko, you know, you do intrigue me."

Startled, Zuko is jarred from his plotting thoughts. "How so?"

"This blind devotion to honor, what has honor ever gotten you?"

Zuko recoils. "Without honor, you have no purpose in life."

"I have a huge purpose, a purpose in protecting my family"

"Family," Zuko spits bitterly, "will only betray you."

Katara replies fiercely, "Sokka would never betray me."

"It will happen, if he wants something bad enough." Zuko resists the temptation to touch his scar. "Honor is the only thing you can trust."

Katara shakes her head sadly. Her braid waves meekly behind her. "I'm sorry for you that you are so delusional that you think that loving someone else is weakness."

Zuko bites out, "Don't feel sorry for me. Weakness is believing that they love you at all."

A/N: Oh poor Zuko, he always reminds me of a little abused and lost puppy. I do love writing Katara and Zuko's tiffs. Of course, no one can beat Sokka's lines, trying to stay true to the show, he had to best one-liners. Well, my international reading public, I would love to hear from you. Please drop me a line, let me know that someone cares. That said, again my few and loyal followers, I love you tons and bunches! I gotta work on my paying job; so may be a bit until another chapter post, unless someone leaves a review...:)