The Forgiven (Zutara)

The Secret Army

We moved to a different, bigger part of the Earth Kingdom somewhere we could stay until we talked to the king, to give him our plan of invading the fire nation. The house was big enough for everyone to have a separate room. Appa even had his own barn to sleep in filled with hay, vegetables, blankets and other things for him. He didn't like leaving Aang so often times Aang would sleep with him. We were supposed to be staying there for a month but as the days passed everyone got impatient. We all began to wonder if we'd ever get a chance to talk to the king, not to mention our guide Julie was acting kind of weird. One night everyone went out and it was custom for us to have to bring Julie along, so we did. Zuko and I sat together he went to kiss me, but she flipped out and made us go back home.

"What was that about?" My father asked.

"Maybe not everyone wants to see that." Aang replied purposefully trying to be rude. I sighed as he walked up the stairs slamming his door. I looked over at Zuko who was only ever saddened by this. Toph scoffed.

"Well he has a point. You know he's head over heels in love with you and you don't even care. You don't acknowledge it." She said. I sighed.

"What am I supposed to do? Break his heart? If I choose to ignore it then it's not breaking his heart or leading him on." I shrugged.

"Katara, you're not only his first love but also the first person he's been able to call family for 100 years." She said. Before I could say anything to that she continued speaking. "Two guys were talking about a ball in town today. It was invitation only and the king would be there." She said. My eyes widened.

"We could sneak in! We could talk to the king!" Sokka exclaimed. She laughed.

"No. We couldn't. These are all nobles that are going. Nobles and royalty. You don't even know how to not be disgusting. Katara and I are your best bet. I've been to these things. Katara is the most civilized person here other than Iroh. It'll be me and her." Toph said. I gave a quiet acknowledgment.

"What?! I'm a prince for Christ's sake! Why can't I go? If anyone knows about these things it'll be me." He said obviously upset that he couldn't go with me.

"There's multiple reasons we can't have you there. One is because you're royalty. You'll be recognized then that surely won't get us anywhere. Two is because you won't like Kataras role." Toph said. My eyes went wide.

"Role? What role am I playing?" I asked.

"Well not so much role but we're going to dress you in the showiest dress we've got. All the men will flock towards you and hopefully it'll be a good enough distraction for me to talk to the king." She said. I scoffed.

"you're blind! What makes you think my body could serve as a good enough distraction?" I asked.

"I mean-" Zuko started smirking and blushing. I shook my head and pulled the good over his head, turned him around and pushed him towards the door. He laughed wholeheartedly.

"Anytime you guys move it creates a vibration throughout the ground. This makes me almost able to see you. I can tell you've got curves Katara. Please this is the best plan we've got." Toph said stomping on the ground as if that could make her see me. I sputtered for a minute.

"No! That's the dumbest idea you've ever had!" I scoffed.

"Well it's the only one anyone seems to have now isn't it?" She said. "Please if someone's got a better idea speak up." She stood up off the wall spinning around as if to address everyone of us. No one spoke up. I huffed.

"And where do you expect us to get a dress like that?" I asked.

"We've got a closet full of dresses we'll pick one that looks best on you then make a couple well placed holes and you can sew stuff around them." She said. I looked over at Zuko who seemed to love the idea. I stomped up the stairs going into the main closet and grabbing a handful of dresses coming back down and holding all of them up.