Zutara - Their Spark

Chapter Twelve- Journey (Day 1)

The air was cold, unsurprisingly as they flew through the sky. Zuko was unfamiliar with the feeling, he was usually too warm to notice. But now, on Appa's back, he couldn't exactly light a fire. Toph shivered across the space and whined, "How is it so cold in the middle of summer?" Zuko wondered briefly if anyone would tell her it had gotten dark out, that there wasn't any sun at the moment.

"We'll land in a little while, I think I see a village a ways away." Aang hollered from his position at the front.

"Finally." Katara muttered next to him. "I'm starving."

They'd packed food so they wouldn't have to stop in the middle of the day but it was gone long before noon. Sokka was asleep on Zuko's other side, slumped against his shoulder. Completely knocked out and in a food coma. He snored loudly and Zuko looked over to Katara. He was about to say something mean about her brother but stopped to see her covering her grin with her hand. He couldn't stop his own smirk.

"This is not funny." He said firmly, trading his smile for a fake scowl.

"I'm pretty sure that's exactly what this is." She laughed and Toph grumbled.

"Wish I knew what was so funny."

"Sokka is asleep and laying on Zuko." Katara explained, her laugh dying out.

"He's very unpleasant like this. I almost prefer him awake." Zuko grunted, but Katara noticed that he still made no move away. This time she smiled warmly.

"It's nice of you, to let him sleep." Katara curled into a bawl and watched her brother snore. "He's been worrying about Suki lately. Ever since Azula and her friends posed as the Kyoshi warriors. We aren't sure where they are, if they are safe. He's been asking the Council of Five to send a small deploy out to Kyoshi Island but they keep saying no. Not to mention that our father might not even be here. We have a location but the time wasn't confirmed according to Sokka. This trip could all be for nothing."

"We can only keep making the right decisions for the big picture. We are all apart of something bigger than ourselves right now. I'd say we are doing pretty good. Aang is making progress in training, we have more resources for the invasion everyday, and once we get your dad and his fleet we will have the upperhand in numbers." Zuko tried to point out all the positives he could see. "It's gonna he okay." He reaches out and squeezed her hand, reassuring her.

"I hope you're right." She said, squeezing back.

A few minutes later and they were on the ground again.

"Uh. Huh. Oh! Where are we? Who's attacking?" Sokka yelped from his spot still on Appa. The others had already gotten tents up and a fire going. Zuko and Aang practiced in a small clearing a few yards away. Small stuff to maintain control and build muscle memory. Nothing to gain attention from neighbors nearby.

"No one, bean head! We're stopping for the night, although you were already asleep half the day." Toph yelled up at him, her feet kicked up by the fire to warm them.

"When did we land?" He asked as he fumbled his way down, taking up a spot next to her.

"Probably a half hour ago."

"How close are we?" He was still groggy from sleep but knew he could go right back into a tent and not wake until morning.

"I think Aang said we should get there tomorrow around noon if we leave first thing."

"Good. That's good." He yawned and slumped against a tree behind him.

Toph didn't say anything as she listened to his breathing grow heavier. Soon he was asleep again.