They're back.
Back from a field trip to a sort-of nearby town for supplies and a day spent sightseeing at the town's market, and Zuko is trying not to glare at them because in his opinion they've wasted an entire day that Aang could have spent training playing around instead.
Katara knows why they overruled his protests this morning. He and Aang's personalities mix like oil and water when it comes to training, and as much as she hates to admit it, he needed a break from the Avatar, preferably before he lost his temper and set Aang on fire and Katara had to kill him for it.
Zuko didn't go with them. That much probably doesn't need to be said. Katara doesn't know what he did all day, but if anything he looks more frustrated when they return, and while he's always sulky, tonight at dinner it's so bad she wants to smack him.
Toph punches him in the arm, which would be almost as good except for the fact that instead of flinching, or yelping, or even glaring at her while he rubs his arm, he doesn't so much as bat an eye, which then puts Toph in a mood that nearly rivals his own.
He does help with cleanup without needing to be prompted. Katara will grudgingly admit that it didn't take him long to catch on that they generally alternate on cleanup each meal unless Aang has training, and then whoever isn't training and is next in rotation is responsible for cleaning.
It goes faster when he helps. Katara will admit that as well. It probably has something to do with him raising the water temperature to something just short of scalding, but since he always washes, and it doesn't seem to bother him, Katara has finally decided she might as well leave it alone.
Sokka's helping him tonight, and she can hear her brother trying to have a one-sided conversation with Zuko, and she still doesn't understand why. It's not working, though, and she can hear her brother's frustration growing with every attempt.
Sokka eventually gives up, and they finish in silence.
Katara finishes sorting through their earlier purchases. Food, bandages, replacement shoes for Sokka, and, against her better judgment, a blanket for a certain firebender who's too stubborn to admit that it's been chilly at night this past week.
Katara reaches the last object they bought during their shopping trip and feels the weight of it through the box the shopkeeper carefully packed it in back at her stall. She opens the box and picks up a small, cloth-wrapped figurine.
It caught her eye at the market simply because it reminded her of the painted lady. A closer inspection revealed that it looked like her as the painted lady. Sokka and Aang both agreed on that point, and if her brother had elbowed her and muttered under his breath that for all that Katara looked after everyone else in the group, she never bothered to buy anything for herself as if he knew that she suddenly wanted that tiny figurine, it had not necessarily been the deciding factor in the admittedly frivolous purchase.
But the figurine itself had been cheap. A trinket, the woman had said. Then she had laughed and said it was also supposed to be cursed, but the wink that had followed the declaration had been an invitation to laugh along at the joke.
Katara doesn't really believe in curses. Sure, they make for good stories, but that's all.
She carefully unwraps the tiny statue, allowing it to rest on top of its cloth wrapping in her hand for a moment before reaching for it with her other.
A slender hand knocks the figurine out of her own and sends it skittering across stone, and Katara is on her feet and glaring at him before she realizes what's happening.
She didn't even hear the firebender approach, but here he is, glaring back at her.
"What do you think you're doing?" She demands, and she's furious. Furious for giving him a chance, furious for not hearing him, furious that he thinks it's okay to just knock something out of her hands like that.
"Sokka said-"
"I didn't say to try and take it from her!" Sokka shouts from somewhere behind them. "I just said the shopkeeper said it was cursed."
"Here, Katara," Aang bends over to retrieve the fallen statue and Zuko throws fire in his direction without his gaze ever leaving Katara's face.
Aang reconsiders.
"It's clearly a tourist gimmick, Sparky," Somewhere to Katara's left, Toph's tone is mostly unconcerned with just a slight undercurrent of amusement. "Don't tell me you believe in that sort of thing."
Zuko resists the urge to break eye contact with Katara in order to look in her direction. He clearly knows he's messed up. "You don't believe in curses?" he asks, and he sounds genuinely surprised. Katara rolls her eyes.
"Really, Zuko," she huffs. Aang reaches for the statue again, and again Zuko throws a blast of fire at him without taking his eyes off the angry waterbender in front of them.
Maybe it's because he isn't looking where he's aiming, but this time, for whatever reason, the impact sends the tiny statue skittering once more across stone, past the edge of the courtyard, and over the ledge.
Nobody hears it land.
Katara feels her eyes fill with tears. Zuko is watching her, his own absent of any remorse. He's not sorry, not at all. Something in her snaps.
She slaps him. Hard.
He doesn't move. Doesn't breathe. No one does.
Something akin to betrayal flashes in his eyes for the briefest of moments, as if all this is her fault. It is replaced quickly by shame. There is, to her surprise, no anger. She doesn't really want to think about what it all means.
He turns and walks away without another word.
"Geez," Toph mutters.
"We could go look for it." Aang offers hesitantly.
Sokka watches her, and she wonders if that's disappointment in his eyes.
Toph shifts. "You know, if you tried that on me, I'd have put you through a wall," she says, nonchalantly, but her expression is slightly pinched. "Somehow I doubt Fire Nation nobility is more easygoing about that sort of thing than Earth Nation nobility."
Katara's a little surprised, given his temper and the way he goes on about his honor, that he hadn't challenged her to some sort of duel or something on the spot.
So neither of them handled this well.
"Fine," she huffs, but she knows by the way he looked at her, that it's even worse than her friends realize. "I'll apologize tomorrow. But he should apologize too."
Toph forces a shrug. "I wouldn't hold my breath. The way his heart was pounding in his chest before he knocked that thing out of your hand, he probably thinks he saved your life or something." She stands, stretches, and cracks her back loudly. "I'm going to bed."
She heads inside, and Katara knows exactly where she's going.
Toph's made a point of sleeping back-to-back with the firebender since he joined them, claiming that it was like having her own personal furnace, and that it was the least he could do after burning her feet. Katara isn't entirely sure how to feel about the situation, but Toph is both incredibly stubborn and fully capable of taking care of herself.
She'll admit he came in handy several days ago when the temperature dropped drastically and the wind had howled restlessly through the temple and keeping a fire going after several days of non-stop rain had been virtually impossible. They had gone to sleep with Toph against his back as usual, Aang a respectful distance from his front, and the siblings on the outer edges of the group. They had awoken in a pile of warm, almost steaming bodies with Zuko at the bottom of the pile, sweating, wide awake, completely pinned down, and not remotely happy about any of it.
Katara had woken up early, too warm for comfort, she remembers. And then she had left him like that, expecting he'd be a jerk and throw them all off him as soon as she was clear, but he had remained where he was for most of the morning, until the others had finally started to stir.
Katara doesn't want to think about that, though, because she doesn't want to think about him being nice, even if she does regret slapping him, just a little.
Aang goes to bed soon after, yawning and reminding them that Zuko's probably going to make him get up for sunrise meditation again, something Aang hates and Zuko doesn't particularly seem to enjoy either.
Sokka sits up with her for a while, but he's quiet. Pensive. She knows he doesn't like the way she handled the situation. She doesn't like the way she handled it. They've been taught that slapping someone is rude, disrespectful. Demeaning. She's been taught better than that. Until tonight she thought she was better than that.
She'll apologize tomorrow, she tells herself. She'll even mean it. And maybe she'll cut him some slack-just a little-for not blowing up on her when he probably would have been justified in doing so.
She can't get that look out of her head, though. Like a kicked polar bear puppy.
It takes her a long time to fall asleep.
Disclaimer: Avatar: The Last Airbender does not belong to me.