The Burning Truth-Harmony

Part 10~Thanks

"Do something!" Mung pushed his soldiers forward. They timidly stepped closer to Katara when the air rattled from below them where Isu was hiding. The soldiers ran off as Mung growled. "Stand your ground!"

Katara bent the water around her, sending two jet skis into a nearby cliff. She raised her hand to wreck further damage as the soldiers jumped on the remaining jets and sped off, leaving Mung alone.

"I'll take care of you myself." he bent an arc of fire at Katara that never touched her as Isu sent her high in the air and over the attack. Isu then broke the dock in two, sending Mung flying into the river.

He splashed and gasped for air, trying to swim poorly as Katara rose from the water before him. She raised her arms, pointing them at Mung threateningly. "Leave this village and never come back."

He swam away desperately, clambering on a stay jet ski and buzzing off.

Everyone gathered on the dock as the village clapped and cheered for Katara.

Dock appeared before them, a bright grin on his face. "Me and my brothers really owe you a lot." He paused, seeing the marks on Katara's face washing off in the water. "Hey, wait a minute. I know you. You're not the Painted Lady. You're that colonial girl."

Katara placed a hand on her face, realising what was happening.

"Yeah, you're the lady that gave me a fish," the little boy shouted as Dock grew angry.

"You've been tricking us. You're a waterbender."

The crowd turned hostile, shouting at Katara for her bending. Sokka jumped between them and his sister. "Maybe she is a waterbender, but she was just trying to help you. Because of her, that factory won't pollute your river, and the army is gone. You should be down on your knees thanking her."

"Sokka, it's okay." Katara calmed her brother, giving Isu a warning look before she could jump in too. "I shouldn't have acted like someone I wasn't, and I shouldn't have tricked you. But I felt like I had to do something. It doesn't matter if the Painted Lady is real or not. Because your problems are real, and this river is real. You can't wait around for someone to help you. You have to help yourself."

Dock paused an unsure look on his face. "She's right, but what should we do?"

"Maybe we can clean the river," Toph announced with a lowered voice.

"Yeah, we can clean the river." The crowd cheered as Toph smirked. "Thank you. You know, you're not so bad for a waterbender."

"You wouldn't mind keeping that a secret, by the way, would you?" Zuko gave Dock a pleading look as he chuckled.

"No problem. Keeping my mouth shut is a personal speciality. My brother Xu, on the other hand, he's a blabbermouth."

Zuko just looked confused.

"So, Dock, are you gonna help us clean?" Katara gave Dock a soft look as he snorted.

"No, ma'am. I'm going to get my other brother, Bushi. He loves cleaning rivers." Dock swapped his hats, not bothering to hide this time. "All right, I'm Bushi. Let's get some river cleaning done."

Isu gave him a look as she paused, turning around. "It is not my place to judge other people's beliefs. Come on, it's a large river, and Sokka is already pissed at how long we've been here."

Katara paused. "You know how to clean a river."

"Sure," Isu and Hachi answered together as Isu finished. "Chore 48, clean the temple river and make sure to take the water collected back to the top of the hill."

"Worse chore on the list," Hachi shuddered as Isu hummed.

"Nope, that goes to babysitting the children. Chore 109."

"I never did 109, and I am surprised they let you."

"I'm good with kids. You were not."

"They're just so mean."

"Come on, in the river." Isu pushed Hachi in, and he gave her an insulted look.

~~~

Hachi sighed as he collapsed by the fire, trying to dry off, but he had run out of clean shirts, and he doubted the village would appreciate him polluting the newly cleaned water.

"You look cold," Zuko chuckled as Hachi huffed.

"I am cold."

Zuko laughed, wrapping him up in a spare jacket and wrapping his arms around Hachi. "I'll help you heat up."

Hachi smiled, leaning into Zuko's side. Zuko summoned a small fire, turning it into a tiny sky bison and making them fly around Hachi.

"You're getting better," Hachi joked, a soft smile on his face.

"Iroh said that even though small fire control like this fell out of fashion ages ago, it's still good to learn."

"It gives you better control."

"And it's nice to remember not all fire is destructive." Zuko smiled as he looked at Hachi. The flying bison illuminated the boy, making him glow beautifully against the night drop.

"Tea," Iroh interrupted, making Zuko jump.

Hachi reached out excitedly, hoarding the warmth from the club as Zuko shook his head, snuggling down more and placing a kiss on Hachi's forehead.

~~~

Katara bent water into a large vat as Toph separated out the pollutants using her Earthbending, putting it in a large boat.

Isu stepped away, spotting Sokka hovering over his scroll. "You shouldn't worry about that so much. We'll make it in time, but stressing about it only makes you a tyrant, and no one likes a tyrant."

Sokka sighed, pushing the scroll away from him.

"Why is it so important anyway? You've never been like this before."

"I don't know, it's just," Sokka paused. "You're all benders. You all have cool fighting power or spiritual power or just badassery, and I'm just a guy with a boomerang. What do I do if I'm not doing this?"

"You're the one who keeps the team together."

"No. That's Iroh."

"Iroh keeps a person together. You keep the team together. As terrifying as it may be, you're the voice of reason. You're the genius inventor. You're the guy who has to think because you can't rely on bending. We want to be able to rely on you to solve any problem that arises. We want to trust that when Katara or I charge headfirst into a battle, you'll still find a way for us all to get where we need to be alive. It's stressful and probably unfair in how much you're doing compared to us, but it's the role you have. Want to talk through the plan with me? I'm no strategist, but I know geography."

Sokka chuckled. "Yeah." He pulled out a map and showed it to Isu. "Thanks for that."

"No problem. We're family right."

"You need to ask Katara out first."

Isu blinked a blush on her face. "That was not what I meant! I meant we're all family! Toph, you, Katara, Zuko, Iroh, Hachi and me. We're all family."

Sokka hummed. "Do you just say that so Toph isn't excluded?"

"Shut up!"

~~~

Katara wiped her brow as the sun began to rise. She sat on the riverbank, watching the fog on the clean river surrounding the lady.

"Thank you," she whispered as Katara stared in shock before she smiled back.