Avatar The Last Airbender Fan Fiction ❯ Smile Because It Happened ❯ Chapter 17

Saucebender: Thanks for all the fabulous reviews and in depth observances. They've made me laugh and feel all warm and fuzzy. :) And I LOVE your screen name. <3

 

Chapter 17

 

Katara moved gracefully across the deck of the small ship, a ribbon of water swirling around her arms and body as she practiced her bending. “How did you manage to get us a ship so fast?” she called out to Zuko, who stood watching nearby.

 

He flushed slightly- he hadn't meant for her to notice he was there. Then again, she always seemed to know where he was. “I am the Fire Lord,” he reminded her wryly as he took a few steps closer. “It does have its perks.”

 

She shifted her feet and made a wide sweeping motion toward him. The water curled around Zuko's body a few times before floating back around her arms. “Such as the hordes of frightened people bowing and scraping to do your bidding?”

 

“No, such as being able to pay an outrageous sum in order for us to use this ship for our `special' trip to the North Pole.” He sighed. “At least the money will go towards the sailors' families.”

 

Katara glanced at him curiously, turning around and forming a five-spoke water-wheel. “Were you worried it wouldn't?”

 

Zuko folded his arms over his chest. “With some people, they take whatever money they can get- and leave their families to go hungry or worse. These guys know my… step…father… and they're honest, hardworking family men.”

 

She winced over his use of the term “stepfather.” “You don't have to call Tam that if you're uncomfortable with it,” she told him gently, shifting the water into a long ribbon again.

 

“It's… okay. He's a good man.”

 

She nodded. “Yes. Yes, he is.”

 

For a few minutes they lapsed into silence. Suddenly, Zuko grinned. “Hey- wanna spar?”

 

Katara turned quickly and stared at him. “What?”

 

“Come on. We haven't fought in ages. And you're a more worthy opponent than your boomerang-loving brother.” He moved into a Firebending pose. “Let's see how you've improved.”

 

She looked sorely tempted. She loved to test out her skills. “I… don't know, Zuko,” she murmured, bending the water back into the ocean. She gazed sadly at the blue-green expanse with more than a hint of longing. “Really, we shouldn't even be near each other.”

 

Walking to her side, he followed her gaze to the sea. “I know,” he whispered, barely audible over the wind. “But I can't seem to stay away from you.”

 

Tears filled her eyes and she bent them away and into the ocean below with the flick of a wrist. “I don't want you to stay away from me,” she told him sadly, “but I have to. For Aang's sake.”

 

“I understand,” was all he said. He turned and walked across the deck. “I'm sorry I bothered your training.”

 

The pain in his voice caused her to clamp her eyes shut and grip the railing hard. Quickly, she turned. “Zuko- wait!”

 

He paused. “Did you need something?”

 

She offered a tentative smile- but a genuine one. “A sparring partner. You game?”

 

Zuko's guarded look became a smirk. “Of course.” He moved back into a Firebending position. “But I won't go easy on you, Peasant.”

 

“Feeling's mutual, Fire Lord.”

 

He thrust a fist toward her and a column of fire shot at her. Dodging, she rolled to the side and bent water from the ocean back into her hands. “Don't call me `Fire Lord',” he told her, shifting so that her water whip barely missed his shoulder.

 

“Then don't call me `Peasant',” she retorted, bringing up her hands so that the water whip shaped into two walls on either side of him. The water tried to crash down on him but he did a front roll out of the way.

 

As his feet came down they produced twin jets of fire aimed at her head. She brought up her water and the flames evaporated it as it was extinguished. “I'll call you whatever I want,” he grunted, close enough now for actual hand-to-hand combat.

 

“Same here.” She threw a punch, which he blocked easily, but her other hand came up with a rapidly spinning ball of water. He tossed his head back, barely missing getting hit with the attack. “Would you prefer `Sparky'? Or `Zuzu'?”

 

“'Sparky''s taken,” he informed her, doing a fiery leg sweep. She flipped backwards onto her hands and landed in a crouch, breathing a bit harder. “Toph laid claim to that one. And don't you dare call me `Zuzu'. Come up with something original.”

 

“I could go with Sokka's favorite: `Jerkbender',” she mused. She separated the water into several balls and then froze them into icicles. She shot the icy daggers forward with a pushing motion of her hands, but he melted them back into water with a blast that looked like a flame shield.

 

“Still not original,” Zuko observed, shifting stances. He punched several fireballs in her direction, forcing her to dodge and move across the deck. “Come on- you're smarter than that.”

 

Katara huffed. “Why can't I just call you `Fire Lord'? It's who you are.”

 

He ducked under her counterattack and seemed to appear in front of her. She paused, surprised at the glow in his golden eyes.

 

“I'm just Zuko,” he whispered, slightly out of breath. “I'll always be Zuko to you.”

 

Her heart was pounding, and she wasn't entirely sure it was only from the sparring. “How come you get to have a nickname for me, but I can't have one for you?” she murmured back.

 

He chuckled softly, looking for all the world like he were a dragon… and he were about to devour her. And La above- she somehow wanted him to. “Because I'm the Fire Lord.”

 

“Make up your mind. That's not fair.”

 

“Of course not. If life were fair, you'd be in my cabin, wearing nothing at all- and that includes that damned necklace.”

 

Her whole body shivered, but she wasn't cold. Quite the opposite in fact. “Zuko…”

 

“Katara!” Sokka's voice broke the spell Zuko's voice had woven around her. “What're you two doing?”

 

Zuko backed up and ran a hand through his hair. “Just a little sparring.”

 

Sokka walked over, suspicion written all over his face. “Sparring, huh?”

 

Katara nodded, aware that her cheeks were flushed- but she hoped her brother would attribute it to the workout. “Yes. Just some sparring. And I won.”

 

Zuko gave her a skeptical look. “Excuse me?”

 

She pointed at the wet stain on his chest- proof of a successful attack with her bending. “If you were still the enemy, you'd be dead.”

 

He smirked. “If I were still the enemy, would you be as attracted to me as much as you are?” he asked so that only she could hear, his meaning clear in his tone.

 

-“I'll save you from the pirates.”-

 

Bristling, she stalked over to him and poked him hard in the chest, her cheeks flaming. “Don't get so cocky,” she scoffed loudly- almost as if for the benefit of her eavesdropping brother.

 

“Yes, ma'am.”

 

Throwing her hands up in obvious frustration at his sarcasm, she stomped off toward her cabin. Sokka watched her go, then turned to the Firebender. “What did you say to her?”

 

Zuko shrugged as if he didn't care. “Just that she needs more practice.”

 

“Dummy. Of course she's going to be pissed now.” He slapped his forehead with his hand. “Now she'll be a bitch for the rest of the trip.”

 

The young Fire Lord smiled. “I'm sure I can turn her mood around.”

 

Sokka snorted. “Good luck to ya, pal. I am staying far, far out of this entire mess.” He, too, walked away, leaving Zuko by himself on the deck. “I sure can't wait for her to get married so she can get the hell off my back.”

 

.o(O)o.

 

Aang glanced over at the petite Earthbender lounging nonchalantly behind him in Appa's saddle. “Toph? You okay back there?”

 

“What would you do if I said I wasn't?”

 

Dropping the reins, he turned around and scrambled over the bison's furry head and landed gracefully in a crouch (on his toes, no less) in front of her. “What's wrong? Are you airsick? Do you need to stop?”

 

She waved a hand negligently. “Relax, Twinkletoes. It was a hypothetical question. I'm fine.” She swallowed, and he noticed her skin tone was a tad green- and it wasn't due to the green tunic she wore.

 

“No, you're sick. I'm taking us down.”

 

“I told you I'm fine. Just… get us there. Okay?”

 

He continued to stare at her, concern evident on his face. “Toph…”

 

The smile she gave him was nothing he had ever seen from her before- soft, sweet, and downright cute. It kinda freaked him out. “Just out of idle curiosity- if you're back here, who's steering this flying furball?”

 

He chuckled. “Appa knows the way. I don't need to be up there necessarily.” He sat down on his rear and crossed his legs. “Can I ask you something?”

 

“Yes, they're real.”

 

Aang blinked several times, utterly confused. “What?”

 

“Never mind. What did you want to ask?”

 

He rubbed the back of his neck. “Why… why did you volunteer to come with me? I mean, we both know you hate flying.”

 

“We've been over this. I don't hate flying- I hate not being able to SEE.” She stomped one bare foot on the floor of the saddle a couple times, light enough not to hurt Appa. “Can't really see much up here.”

 

“Then… why?” He blushed, not that she'd realize it. “Is it because of… how you feel? A-about me?”

 

She snorted- but he noticed her cheeks were pink underneath those long bangs of hers. “Don't flatter yourself too much. I just didn't want to be stuck on a ship with Snoozles again. He gets way too cranky.”

 

Aang chuckled lightly. “He does seem to get edgy if he's not in command, huh?”

 

“Edgy is the least of it.”

 

Awkward silence, at least on Aang's part. “So… it's not… because you wanted to be with me?”

 

“Does it really matter?”

 

“Kinda.”

 

Appa bellowed. Aang stood up abruptly and peered over the bison's head. “What is it, buddy?”

 

The Eastern Air Temple slowly emerged from the clouds in the distance. Aang grinned. “All right! We're already there!”

 

Toph placed a hand on her queasy stomach. “Thank the gods…” she muttered.

 

.o(O)o.

 

The young Avatar helped his Earthbending teacher down from Appa's saddle, his attention focused on her more than it had been during any of the years he had known her. How small her waist was. How petite she really was compared with his impressive height. The pale mint-green of her eyes…

 

“Why are you staring at me? Do I have something on my face?”

 

He blushed furiously. He'd forgotten that now that she was on solid ground she'd be able to see him again.

 

“No, I was… I was just thinking that… that you're…”

 

“Short? Blind? An Earthbending/Metalbending genius?”

 

“You've gotten really pretty, Toph.”

 

Her whole face went beet red. She pulled away from him as if he had burned her. “I-I wouldn't know,” she stammered, turning away. “Let's go find your Guru guy.” She started walking purposefully towards a large stone stairway, leaving Aang to gaze after her, his heart in confusion.

 

Why am I just now noticing these things about her? I mean, she's always been cute, but she's really… matured. Katara… she's always been mature. Taking care of me and the others, protecting us, even scolding us. Well, scolding us more than anything else, it seemed.

 

He frowned. The more he thought about it, the more he realized that Katara did treat him more like a son or a brother than like a lover. He winced as he remembered that awful play by the Ember Island Players they had gone to right before the Sozin's Comet battle- and how they had viewed his relationship with Katara in that very light. Not to mention they thought I was a GIRL…

 

Toph had also treated him like a brother, but she had never been overly motherly to him. Quite the opposite, if he had to be honest. She was always telling him to grow a backbone and do things for himself, where Katara would often cater to him.

 

Did he really want Katara viewing him like that for the rest of their lives together? Especially when she obviously wanted to be with Zuko instead? He had seen the pain and aching in her expression when Zuko had rejected her- for Aang's sake.

 

He grabbed his head with his hands and groaned in frustration. “Aaaarrrrgh! I don't know what to do! I'm so confused!”

 

Toph paused in her tracks. “You wouldn't be human if you weren't confused most of the time, Twinkletoes,” she pointed out, “but right now you should be focusing on finding this guy.”

 

He waved her off. “Just follow the scent of bananas and onions.”

 

She grimaced. “I don't think I want to know.”

 

“No, I don't think you do.”

 

They reached the top of the stairs and stopped. Aang's blood froze at the scene before them.

 

Burnt foliage and scorch marks littered the terrace. Guru Pathik lay on his side, bruises and burns littering his dark skin. Toph and Aang ran to the old man's side, carefully turning him onto his back.

 

Guru opened his eyes a crack. “A-Avatar Aang,” he croaked weakly. “How g-good to s-see you… again.” He coughed roughly and a trickle of blood appeared at the corner of his mouth. “I am s-sorry… I am n-not able to welcome you p-properly.” He smiled faintly at Toph. “And y-your young… lady-friend t-too.”

 

“What happened?” Aang gasped.

 

“A y-young female F-Firebender,” he replied, involuntarily wincing as pain shot through him. “I b-b-believe you know of h-her.”

 

“Azula,” the Airbender growled. He punched the stone next to him with enough Earthbending force to crack it.

 

Toph tilted her head curiously. “But why would she do this? This old man is hardly a threat to anyone, least of all her.”

 

Guru hacked again, spitting more blood. “S-She wanted i-information… on the A-Airbenders.”

 

“What about them? They were wiped out over a century ago,” Toph murmured.

 

The old man turned his eyes to Aang. “N-No. And you… you have l-learned of those who are bringing b-balance back… to the world… yes?”

 

Aang didn't bother to hide his surprise. “You knew I would. You knew about Air Nomads being sent to other countries because they couldn't Airbend.”

 

Guru closed his eyes, affirmation enough for Aang. “I knew. And… I knew… you would c-come asking… questions.”

 

The young Avatar's head dropped. “Then it's true. I'm not the last Airbender.”

 

“…Not… any…more…”

 

Toph shifted slightly. “Twinkletoes…”

 

Aang glanced up- and saw that Guru's eyes remained closed. “Guru Pathik?”

 

His only reply was from the wind.