“Wow, camping. It really seems like old times again, doesn’t it?”
“If you really want it to feel like old times I could... uh..” Zuko broke a piece of bread, tilting his head thoughtfully. “...chase you around awhile and try to capture you.” Everyone laughed--well, almost everyone. Toph frowned to herself when she noticed, and then Katara did laugh.
“Ha. Ha.” It was low and no one else seemed to notice, but it made Toph’s frown deepen. Katara had been this way for days, and despite Toph’s outward harshness, she was worried about the Sugar Queen.
“To Zuko!” Sokka raised his cup in a toast, grinning. “Who knew after all those times he tried to snuff us out, today, he’d be our hero.”
“Hear hear!” Laughing with the rest of them, Toph punched Zuko’s shoulder playfully, but inside, her worry escalated.
Again, Katara was the only one who said nothing.
“I’m touched. I don’t deserve this.”
“Yeah, no kidding.” After those random words, Katara got up and stalked away.
“What’s with her?” Toph wanted to know the answer to that, too.
“I wish I knew.” Zuko stood and followed after Katara, disappearing into the darkness. Sokka’s voice became even more confused as he said, “what’s with him?”
But still, Toph didn’t have an answer. She placed a palm to the ground, listening as Zuko and Katara walked further and further away, toward the edge of the cliff. She closed her eyes and focused on the vibrations that echoed through the earth, and smiled when she found what she was looking for: the sound vibrations.
“This isn’t fair. Everyone else seems to trust me now. What is it with you?”
“Oh, everyone trusts you now?! I was the first person to trust you, remember, back in Ba Sing Se! And you turned around and betrayed me. Betrayed all of us!”
“What can I do to make it up to you?”
“You really wanna know? Hmm. Maybe you could reconquer Ba Sing Se in the name of the Earth King, or, I know! You could bring my mother back!”
Toph frowned again, waving goodnight to everyone before she bended an earth tent for herself and flopped onto her back. So that was it. Something had to be done--this was getting ridiculous. If Zuko and Katara didn’t make up soon, it could jeopardize everything. Toph wasn’t one to get involved in other people’s issues, but this time... this time, she might just make an exception.
~~~
When Toph woke up, she did her usual stretch and scratch routine, and then checked the surroundings with a palm to the ground. Everything was as it should be--and just her luck, Zuko and Katara were together, standing outside Katara’s tent! Toph stood up and dropped into a stance, breathing in and out slowly. Then, she moved, her feet sliding forward as her hands made quick jabs at the air, and then she brought them down on an exhale, opening a hole in the earth and then closing it again.
Where Zuko and Katara had stood, there was nothing--and deep beneath the ground, Toph could feel the reverberations of their confusion and panic. She grinned. If this didn’t take care of the problem, nothing would.
**__**
“What’s going on?!”
“Katara?”
“Zuko?! What by La...? Hey! Stop touching me! Let go!”
“I’m sorry! Don’t act like this is my fault!” Zuko wiggled around, trying to get as far away from her as possible, but they were wedged into the earth with barely enough room to breathe, let alone wiggle. Maybe if they could see... “Hold on, stop moving.”
“Why should I?”
“Well if you want to get burned...” He twisted until he’d freed an arm, and lifted it as high as he could before lighting a flame above his palm. The sudden illumination caused Katara to blink and shake her head, and the strands of her hair whipped across his face. Despite the stinging, Zuko caught himself thinking that her hair smelled great.
Wait, what? Great, now I’m losing my mind. Maybe this is all a crazy dream.
“Katara, pinch me.”
“I’d love to, but I’m a little stuck!” Her blue eyes glared fire at him, and Zuko sighed. He’d almost forgotten that she hated him. “Any ideas about what just happened?”
“You mean about the earth just opening up and swallowing us? Yeah, I’ve got one or two.”
“You gonna share them?”
“Why should I, so you can use them against me?”
Zuko sighed again, rolling his eyes. “Katara, how many times do I have to tell you I’ve changed before you’re going to believe me?”
“You could repeat it forever and it wouldn’t be--” she stopped talking, and her glinting eyes narrowed. “What did you say?”
“Uh... that I’ve changed?”
“No, before that. Before we got sucked down here. You said something about my mother.”
“Oh, yeah. That. Sokka told me what happened, and I know who killed her.”
Katara stared at him, blinking as if she didn't believe it. Then she started struggling again. “We need to get out of here! AANG! SOKKA!” Zuko flinched and tried to cover his ears, shaking his head. “Stop yelling! Are you trying to make me deaf?!”
“Do you have any better ideas, genius?”
“Uh... we could... try to talk out our differences?”
“Not a chance.”
“I thought you might say that.” His arm was falling asleep, and holding it up was becoming more and more difficult. And it was obvious that there was no way out, so they didn’t need the light anyway. Zuko let the flame go out, and dropped his hand, resting it against the wall and Katara’s shoulder. “Didn’t you say you had some ideas about what happened to us just now?”
She was quiet for so long that Zuko thought she might not answer, but finally she sighed and spoke. “It has to be Toph, who else could it be?”
“Why would Toph trap us down here? That doesn’t make sense.”
“Do you have any better ideas?”
“.... no.”
“I didn’t think so.”
Zuko ignored the smug tone in her voice and moved on. “So what do we do now?”
“Tell me who killed my mother.”
“The Southern Raiders. Sokka said there were sea ravens on the flags of the lead ship, and they’re the symbol of the SR. If we can find where their fleet is, we can find the man who took your mom.”
“How do we find their fleet?”
“We’ll need to find a Fire Navy communication tower. All the Navy’s movements are coordinated by messenger hawk, and every tower has to be up to date on where everyone is deployed.”
“So once we find a communication tower, we bust in and take the information we need.”
“Not exactly. We need to be stealthy and make sure no one spots us. Otherwise, they’ll warn the Southern Raiders, long before we reach them. But first, we have to get out of here.”
“Yeah, that’s the part I’m having trouble with.”
“Maybe Toph will let us out soon?”
“Why would she do that, Zuko?”
“I don’t know. Why would she stick us down here in the first place? If we knew that, we could focus on fixing the problem. As it is, we’re stuck.”
“Yeah, I got that.”
“Of course you did.” Zuko sighed again, leaning his head back against the rock. His body was already cramping up, and it hadn’t even been that long. This was not going to be fun.
**__**
“Hey Toph, have you seen Katara and Zuko?”
“Aang, I’m blind. Of course I haven’t seen them.”
“...well... you know what I meant.”
“No, I haven’t felt them since this morning.”
“This morning?”
“Yeah, they went off somewhere together. Who knows, maybe they’re fixing whatever’s up with them.”
“Yeah... maybe...” Aang walked off, muttering, and Toph popped a cherry in her mouth with a grin. The late afternoon sun was warm and she was comfortable, and it was the perfect time to check on her prisoners. She placed a palm against the ground and focused on the feel of the earth, until she could ‘see’ Katara and Zuko, deep beneath the ground.
At first, Toph was confused--and then she was annoyed. Instead of talking or even trying to get out, they were pressed against the walls, as far away from each other as they could get, and Zuko was asleep. Narrowing her eyes, Toph decided it was time to up the ante.
She stood, and with a few quick motions, her work was complete. Try sleeping now, Sparky.
**__**
Zuko woke to rumbling, and then suddenly his arms were grabbed by shackles of rock and yanked up, then lashed together. Katara yelped as the ground rumbled and shook, and when the dust had settled, there was a bit of light in the tiny space, filtering in from high above.
And instead of being stuck in the same cramped position as before, now they were stuck in an even more awkward position: Zuko’s arms were around Katara’s waist, and Katara’s arms were around his neck. “... this is awkward...”
“When I get out of here, I’m going to kill Toph!” Katara struggled, yanking at her arms, but all it was doing was putting his neck out. “Stop it, it’s not going to work.”
“Then what do you think we should do?”
“I don’t know! This isn’t my fault so stop acting like a spoiled brat!”
“Excuse me?! What did you just say to me?!”
Zuko closed his eyes, breathing deeply and trying to calm his temper. “Just forget it. Why do you hate me so much, anyway?” He hadn’t meant to speak the words, but once they left his mouth he couldn’t take them back. Katara was silent for a long time, before finally, she sighed and leaned her forehead against his shoulder. “I don’t hate you, Zuko.”
“You could’ve fooled me.” He kept his voice quiet, afraid to break the sudden truce. She chuckled faintly. “I know. It’s just... you betrayed me, betrayed all of us. I trusted you and now... how can I just trust you again? How can I be sure you won’t betray me again?”
Zuko stared into the gloom, unable to see her face, but in his mind’s eye he could see her just as she’d been that day in the Crystal Catacombs. She had trusted him then, she had offered to heal him. She had given him a hope that he’d never even imagined he could have. “You betrayed me first.”
“What?!” Her head shot up, but he met her shocked, angry blue eyes with a calm certainty. “You offered me a hope that I’d never even imagined, and then you took it away like it hadn’t meant anything to you.”
Her eyes widened as she realized what he was talking about, and suddenly all the anger was gone from her gaze. Sadness filled her beautiful blue eyes, and it almost seemed as if she would cry. “Zuko, I...”
“Don’t. It’s okay. I forgave you already, a long time ago. You couldn’t have known what it meant to me. I just...” he sighed, his eyes studying her face in the near-darkness. “I was so confused. I thought that if my father accepted me, that would make everything okay again. But it didn’t. I was wrong. I made a mistake and I hurt you, and I’m sorry, Katara. You were the last person I ever wanted to hurt.”
Then the tears did spill, dripping from her eyes onto his shirt. “I’m so sorry, Zuko.”
His heart twitched oddly at the sight of her crying, and he shook his head quickly. “It’s okay.”
“No, it’s not. For so long, I thought that you were this horrible person, and I treated you so badly. How can you even look at me?”
Zuko smiled down into her eyes, thinking that he’d rather look at her than anyone else. But those were feelings he’d tried to keep buried for a long time, and the last thing he needed was for to see them now, when things were going so well. So he just smiled. “That’s what friends do, right?”
And slowly, she returned his smile.
Suddenly, the ground shook, and then both of them were rocketing upward, and the sunlight blinded them, and they blinked up at Toph, who stood grinning above them. “It’s about time! I was getting sick of all this moping about.”
Then she walked off as if nothing had happened, leaving Zuko and Katara gaping at her back.
**__**
A FEW DAYS LATER
It was too late to be awake, but Katara couldn’t sleep. She walked along the beach, staring out over the water. The full moon shone beautifully on the waves, but they weren’t the focus of her thoughts. Despite the horribleness of the play, it had made her think. She knew she wasn’t all that focused on ‘hope’ and the actress who played her didn’t know the first thing about the Water Tribe, but...
But something had stuck with Katara, resonated somewhere inside her. It was keeping her awake, making her mind twist in circles. The idea was impossible, but she couldn’t let it go. It writhed inside her, begging for absolution and closure.
Or maybe not closure. Maybe what this idea, this desire, needed was... to be set free. But could she? What if it didn’t work out? And what if she was wrong?
Katara sighed, wrapping her hands around her elbows. She had no idea what to do. If she could just talk to him... but he was so busy practicing. The comet was just around the corner, after all, and without him, the world was doomed.
He was making everyone practice extra hard--going to the play was the first fun thing they’d done since getting to Ember Island.
“What would you do, Yue?”
But the bright, full moon was silent, and after a moment, Katara sighed and turned away from the ocean. She made her way slowly back to Zuko’s beach house, hating herself for the confusion and doubts. She was almost there when she heard a noise from behind, and she turned quickly, narrowing her eyes. The moonlight outlined a person, standing in the shadows of a huge boulder. She frowned. “Who’s there?”
“It’s me. You couldn’t sleep either, huh?”
His voice sent a shiver down her spine, and she relaxed, smiling ruefully. “No, I... was thinking about something.”
“Oh.”
Now was her opportunity, her chance to get her crazy emotions out in the open, to figure out if they were real or... if she was insane. But she’d clammed up, she couldn’t find the words. She was stuck staring at him in the darkness, and suddenly she was filled with so much want, want for things she couldn’t have. “Well, see you.” He started to walk away, toward the beach, and she was losing him, losing her chance, and she couldn’t even say his name.
A lonely cloud scuttled across the moon, causing the light to flicker, and then Katara had an idea. A crazy, stupid, downright mean idea... but she didn’t think twice about it.
She stepped forward, and raised her hands, and focused. She focused on the water all around her, and the water inside him.
She heard him grunt and say her name, but she was completely focused on the action of moving him, moving him closer, turning him around, until he was floating toward her, his beautiful eyes wide in the moonlight. “Katara, what... what are you do...”
Finally he was close enough, and she tilted his head with her bending, pulling him closer and closer until she was kissing him.
In a moment her concentration slipped, and he fell against her, his arms wrapping around her waist and his mouth pressing harder against hers, as it felt like she’d been waiting her whole life to kiss him. If she could stay in this moment forever, she’d die happy.
Eventually though, the moment ended, and he pulled back--though he didn’t go far. He brushed her hair out of her eyes, his fingers trailing along her face. “What was that for?” His voice was quiet but intense, like his eyes, like the way he felt pressed against her. She smiled, breathless, hoping that she wasn’t crazy.
“I... I really like you, and I think you like me too, and I--”
His lips were on hers again before she could finish, and it was all the answer she needed. Katara grinned, and buried her fingers in his hair, and kissed him back. He spoke through their kisses, breathing as heavily as she was, “Katara, do you even know how long I have wanted to do this?”
Blinking, she pulled back, staring up at him in surprise. “Why didn’t you?”
“I thought you were with Aang. Plus, you hated me.”
“I didn’t hate you, Zuko. I was just... really really mad.” She traced his scar with her fingertips, smiling softly at him. “I’m not mad anymore.”
“Good. It was starting to get old.
She laughed, and he kissed her again, and the moon began its descent over the sea.
_____
Wow, guys, I know it's been forever and I am SO SO SO SORRY!! I've had the worst writer's block EVER. I've had this little short in the works for almost a month, and it's taken me that long to finish it. I just want you to know that I am working on stuff, but I'm lucky if I'm able to write more than two or three sentences at a time. :( I promise I haven't abandoned you guys, though! Thank you so much for sticking with me!