Categories > Cartoons > Avatar: The Last Airbender > Ship Of Fools: The Avatar Cycle, Book 1: Water
Aang was staring. The boy had large eyes, Katara realized-- big and gray and amazingly - stunned? Surprised? She couldn't be sure of the look on him; it's one he'd never worn before. Was she really so odd looking?
"You know," Katara said, not enjoying the awkwardness of this encounter, "We ought to go catch up. I promised Ming I'd help out..."
"Oh!" Aang seemed to lurch back to reality. He laughed, high pitched and anxious, before he waved a hand. "Yeah, we're gonna have a party!"
"I know."
"And-- Katara?"
"Yeah, Aang?"
Aang hesitated, before blurting out, "You look great!"
+8+8+
"Well, that's... new."
Hua looked over as Zuko noted the women coming up in their finery, helping set plates full of food out. But his eyes were on Katara, dressed in borrowed clothes. Fire Nation finery looked odd on her, in Zuko's estimation.
"Her brother is going to have an aneurism," the prince said mildly.
"You'll enjoy watching," Hua replied.
"Life's small pleasures need to be savored."
Hua laughed at the prince, and then waved a hand. "Let's greet them, then, and wait for the engineering core to clean up and join the circus on deck, eh?"
"After you, Hua."
+8+8+
Katara's heart sank when she saw both prince and physician approach her; Hua beamed, Zuko just gave her a strange look. Sidling closer to Aang, she gave them a little smile. "Hello."
"...Katara." Zuko said, still searching for something to say. "You look... different."
Her face fell into a scowl. Aang at least knew how to compliment a girl. Some prince this was.
"Such a lovely pack of tigresses," Hua said, looking back at the other women. "And you, a darling kitten."
"Kitten?" Katara's scowl only deepened.
"Tsk! You've not grown into your claws yet, Katara."
"Wanna make a bet?"
+8+8+
Zuko, wisely, remained silent as the two worked themselves up. Aang joined him in quiet exasperation.
"Are they always like this?"
"You tell me. I know Hua's always aggravating, but I don't know Katara." Zuko said; he looked over at the last of the preperations - tables laden with food, the women laughing and teasing the men on deck.
"Hey."
He blinked, pulling away from his thoughts to look down at Aang.
"You've never been to a party?"
"Not like this," Zuko admitted. "Not that wasn't a function of state or something equally..."
"Boring?"
Zuko cracked a grin, and nodded. "Yeah."
+8+8+
As the sniping continued, Katara realized Aang wasn't there.
She turned her head abruptly - to find the prince and the Avatar at the railing; Zuko's position casual. Aang was... well, Aang. He hung from the rails and seemed to try and engage the wallflower with his antics.
"... Don't hold it against him," Hua asked, when her attention wandered. "He doesn't know what to do."
"What do you mean?"
"Zuko. He doesn't - get this sort of thing. He's a prince; all he's ever done at a party is sit at his father's side. He could sit still and smile for hours."
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Katara brushed away the thought of smiling Zuko to ask, "... were you at court, Dr. Hua?"
"Kitten, I was the Lord's physician for fifteen years."
Katara's jaw sagged. "You were - Fire Lord's--"
"I delivered both his children," Hua said with a smirk. "And saw them from womb to - well, now."
"But why are you here, then?"
Hua fixed her with a stare; his eyes were a paler blue then hers, almost like glacial ice. "Pondering on why a man would leave a cushy, well paying job to float on a boat on an endless, impossible quest?"
"Maybe a little."
"Hope."
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Sokka was so ready to crawl into a hole and die. First it had been quizzes, then practical work, and the tiny lunch brought down had done him no good.
NOW he'd been steered upstairs, told to bathe and then get above deck
When he reached deck...
... he was certain he was dead and this was Fire Nation hell. They were everywhere, laughing and drinking and eating. Most important was the eating and drinking. This meant food.
Sokka walked right past his sister and forgot all about everything but the food. He pulled up to the table, and dug in.
+8+8+
It just figured her one ally in the insanity walked right past her and started to stuff his face. Katara scowled and marched up behind Sokka as he began to shovel food into his mouth and tapped him on the shoulder.
When he turned around, she became grateful he managed to swallow before seeing her.
He looked at her, blinked, and then /screamed like a girl/.
The whole party went silent. Sokka was on his feet as Katara sprang backward like a startled cat, propelling her right into Hua.
"HOLY CRAP! MY SISTER'S A FIRE NATION PUPPET PERSON!"
Katara groaned.
+8+8+
"Is your brother always this observant?" Hua asked as Sokka stared at Katara.
"Yes," Katara replied.
Sokka didn't notice the exchange of sarcasm, or the approach of Zuko and Aang. He was too busy waving his arms. "Don't you see! They're changing you! Look at you! You look like-like-a Fire Nation hussy!"
"That is not true!" Katara began, but was surprised to see Aang's smaller form get between her and her brother.
"Katara looks /great/! I bet even Zuko thinks so but he's too dense to say it!" Aang said, jabbing Sokka in the chest. "So shut up!"
+8+8+
The party's course had already been wildly derailed; Zuko stood on the fringes as the siblings began to fight - Hua left Katara to circle the crowd and appear at the prince's shoulder.
"You do realize, this means peace is doomed," the prince said.
"No, it's just going to be rough. I think it's more that it's his sister and he doesn't like the idea of her pretty for boys than 'grr, Fire Nation bad'."
Zuko turned a skeptical glance to Hua, but then shrugged.
"I think I need a stiff drink."
"I think we all do."
They slipped below deck.
+8+8+
Once Katara and Sokka had been separated, things calmed. Sokka was banished to the table. He began to eat with angry gusto.
A few minutes later, Katara sat down next to him. Aang sat on the other side.
"You're being a jerk," Aang said.
"They just wanted me to not be outshined," Katara added, "when they got pretty and I had nothing but travel-dirty leathers."
"You're going to be a puppet person. Next thing you know, you'll make mook eyes at Zuko."
Katara snorted. "Again, how many times do I have to tell you I have /taste/? Not my type!"
+8+8+
While Aang was pleased that Katara said she had no interest in Zuko, he did notice the prince had vanished from the deck. "So much for the going away party," he said.
"Is that what this is?"
"Yeah. Hua told me all about it. It's - so Zuko knows that if things don't go okay, he still has a place to come back to."
"Do we know why he can't go home?" Sokka asked.
Katara chewed his lip. "He said he was a criminal, but he didn't say what he'd done."
"What, is being ugly a crime?"
"/Sokka/! That isn't funny."
+8+8+
When the meal was finished, music started; the women sought their lovers, fiancés, husbands - Katara watched them all pair off in silence as the first dances swept by.
Ji and Ming stole the show -- it was obvious that Ming was skilled, perhaps even professional, as she swept over the floor with her husband in tow. They were obviously in love, and that made the symmetry to their movement all the more potent.
It wasn't fair. She'd spent so much time thinking of them as dark monsters, beetle-shelled beasts... And here they dance, laughed, loved.
Just like Katara's own people.
+8+8+
Once the first round of dance had passed, men exchanged instruments - those that had played took the floor, and women went to men who weren't anything to them, so everyone got a chance to feel the music move them.
A girl tried to coax Sokka to the floor. A losing battle, but she gave it her all. Despite what he'd said, she still smiled and offered her hands. Aang was taken out to the dancefloor; wind was as much their partner as Aang was.
Katara sat and watched, wondering when one of them would be brave enough to approach /her/.
+8+8+
The second and third rounds passed, and Katara found herself nursing her drink, looking confused. Not one person had dared to come to her, ask her. Hadn't Ming tried to teach her, so that she'd have an idea of what to do when it came time?
The music shifted tenor and the cook got up and sang accompaniment. It was some old love song, somewhat off-key. Women returned to their lovers, and now they went through slow steps in some foreign courtship dance
It was beginning to get offensive, this cold shoulder.
"Care to dance, Kitten?"
Hua, to the rescue.
+8+8+
Her hand in his, she found herself guiding the older man to the 'floor', and laughed as he settled comfortably into the lead position.
"I didn't think you'd dance," she admitted.
"Especially not a slow one, eh? I'm not capable of the others anymore. Though, I admit I haven't danced like this since my wedding."
"You're married?" Katara tried to not sound shocked.
He smiled, but it was brittle. "Divorced."
"Ah."
"My wife left me after I was crippled. She quickly remarried some general somewhere. Haven't seen her since."
"I'm sorry."
"It's not her I miss, really. It's my children."
+8+8+
It was hard to think of Hua as a parent; but it was plain to see that his blue eyes lit up when he talked about his son and the little girl. "We divorced shortly after the birth of my daughter. I named her for my mother, and that was the last thing I really got to do."
"How old is she now?"
"Oh, eighteen or so. My son's twenty-four," he answered.
She wondered what they were like; did they have blue eyes, dusky skin, and coarse dark hair? Or were they fair, dark eyed, with hair like black silk?
+8+8+
The dance ended, and Hua and Katara strode off the dance floor to where Sokka held his cane. It had been a small allowance, perhaps a peace offering for his outburst. But as soon as he relinquished his cane, the older boy got up and walked around the ship's command tower, vanishing from sight.
"What's his problem?"
"He misses someone."
"Should have warned him, then," Hua said. "Oh well."
"Why?"
"He's going to trip over Zuko any minute now. He's out back, watching the moon. Also, possibly, getting drunk"
Katara sighed heavily. Things could only get so much more complicated.
+8+8+
Sokka came back to the absolute rear of the ship, where there were only supply boxes covered in tarps and the hum of the engine. The din of the party was distant here and for that he was glad.
He looked skyward; the moon wasn't yet full. They were nearly through the month, now-spring was approaching. Katara's birthday would be soon, then his own.
A noise distracted him from his thoughts, and he turned.
Zuko leaned down from his perch atop the freight, and extended a bottle.
"If you're going to sulk, drinking is required. It is a party."
+8+8+
It was a strange thing; he was certain it was a leap of faith - or at least a clumsy climb up the freight to get onto a box an arm's length or so away from the prince.
Misery loved company.
"So, who has you sighing?"
"A girl."
"Someone back home?"
"No," Sokka said, finding it strangely easy to discuss. "No. Water Tribe, but - a Notherner."
"You left her behind?"
"She left me."
"What happened?" Zuko asked.
"She married the other guy."
Zuko extended the bottle to him again; it was camaraderie enough. To speak would have made it awkward, false.
+8+8+
"What about your uncle?" The question was blunt, but so was Sokka.
"What about him?"
"I haven't heard one bad thing about him, with the exception of some people thinking he was too soft on you," Sokka said. "It's like everybody loved him."
Zuko decided it was his turn for the bottle. "Everyone did. He was good natured, charismatic, wise. Everything the rest of the family isn't."
"Diamond in the rough?"
Zuko laughed. "He would have appreciated that sentiment, but disagreed."
Sokka glanced over. "Let me guess: He would have applied that to you, instead."
Zuko swallowed hard. "Probably, yeah."
+8+8+
There was one burning question on Sokka's mind; Katara had brought it up and now he wanted the answer. Zuko in the cups was probably the only way to get it.
"So. You're out here on a boat, with a bunch of sailors that decided you weren't totally a lost cause. Your uncle left everything behind to come with you. What the hell did you do to get sent out here on this wild goose chase, anyway?"
Zuko looked at the bottle, and sure enough, took another long pull. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."
"Try me, Zuko."
+8+8+
Sokka's question shook Zuko; he had to pause and consider his answer.
"I spoke against my father's war policy. I countered one of his general's plans with the suggestion it was inhuman. He took it as a personal slight."
Sokka couldn't help but wince. "Harsh."
Zuko laughed, but it held no humor at all.
"You could say that."
Sokka glanced over at him, studying his profile - the scar was black against his skin in the light of the moon like a stain on silk.
"He give you the scar?"
Zuko nodded, and hoped that would be enough to satisfy Sokka.
+8+8+
There was no crashing, no splashing, nothing that could be heard over the music. Katara danced a few more times, but - she began to worry. Were Sokka and Zuko fighting? Had they gotten stupid and fallen over board? Was Zuko drunk?
Hua watched her worry, before he finally slipped an arm into hers and gestured with his cane. "Shall we go make sure they haven't done anything stupid?"
"Yeah," she replied. "Aang? Are you coming?"
"Sure!" The Avatar spun out of his dance and skipped over, opposite Hua.
The three paced around the ship, wondering what carnage they might find.
+8+8+
The prince and the peasant had worked their way through one bottle of wine, and were now slowly passing the second back and forth. Conversation went with it; Sokka didn't ask anymore invasive questions, and Zuko didn't know to ask any.
Instead, it seemed as if they simply meandered through topics. Sokka was happy to talk about what he learned in the engine rooms, and Zuko gave little back. Sokka respected his privacy, at least.
But both heard the tap-tap-tap of a cane and went silent. Company was coming.
+8+8+
It was really the damndest sight. The prince was sprawled out on top of the freight, and not far from him, Sokka was sitting cross legged. Between them, an empty bottle lay on it's side; Sokka was passing one back to Zuko as the trio rounded the corner.
"Well, this looks - almost brotherly," Hua said, arching a brow. "You two getting along better?"
"Are we sure he's not a /puppet person/?" Katara asked dryly. "So it's not okay for me to get dressed up, but you can come get drunk with Zuko?"
Sokka had no answer for that, shrugging helplessly.
+8+8+
"So what are you two talking about, hmm?" Hua asked.
"The engines," said Sokka.
"The moon," added Zuko.
"How we make liquor," Sokka replied.
"And what liquor we /like/," Zuko tacked on.
Katara's hand was on Aang's shoulder the moment he took a step forward, and she shook her head. "When they're puking over the saddle, you'll be glad I stopped you," she warned him.
"Oh, we're not that bad. We split a bottle of wine."
"And a half," Zuko said, looking at the other one. "And Firebenders burn liquor out of their systems quickly. I know I'll be fine."
+8+8+
Hua seemed pleased by Zuko's statement. "Katara, what did I teach you about Firebenders and liquor?"
"That they dehydrate three times as fast and the hangovers are worse," she said smugly. "Best get Zuko a carafe of water to stave it off."
Hua waited till Zuko was drinking again before he asked, innocently, "So, you weren't talking about anything fun? Sokka, you should ask him for advice with girls. After all, he had a concubine."
As if on cue, Zuko choked on the drink and abruptly belched flame. The bottle erupted in a small fireball, exploding like a home-made bomb.
+8+8+
With the sudden loss of the wine bottle, Zuko was left with seared lips and a lacerated palm where glass had sliced his fingers. "/Dammit Hua/!"
"I was merely illustrating a point. Didn't expect you to turn the bottle into a bomb! Come down!"
Sokka helped Zuko down from the crates - his fingers were raggedly cut.
"If you delay us for more stitches..." Zuko began, but Hua cut him off.
"Why don't we see what Katara's Bending can do?"
The prince cradled his hand to his chest as all looked at Katara.
"You want me to heal him? With /Waterbending/?"
+8+8+
Zuko stood there, watching as Hua and Katara seemed to go through some sort of ritual stare down. Finally, he cleared his throat and both blinked at him.
"Aang, go get some water."
"What about the sea?"
"I don't want to have to pull the salt from it," Katara said; it didn't matter - Aang had already sped away to get what she asked for.
She turned sharply to Zuko and extended her hands for his. Uncertainly, Zuko offered it.
Hua was already drawing a slender wallet of tools from his vest. "You want to pull the glass free first, Waterbender?"
+8+8+
Katara guided Zuko back to the crates and both sat; Aang arrived with a carafe of water as she deftly plucked the glass from his fingers with the tools Hua had provided.
"She did that with two fish hooks once," Sokka said with brotherly pride.
Katara ignored the compliment. Once Zuko's hands were free of the shards - there hadn't been many - she extended one hand and twisted at the wrist, almost beckoning.
The water leapt from the carafe like an eager hound attending to its master. Wrapping it around her hands, Katara looked at Zuko and offered a slight smile.
+8+8+
It was chill and alien and Zuko immediately didn't like the feeling of her wet fingers closing over his. Still, he remained motionless as she set his palm between hers, and only frowned when the water began to glow like she had somehow caught a star and held it to his hand.
But it was a tingle, and then it was over. She removed her hands, flicked the water away, tossing the blob, now pinked with his blood, over the railing.
"All better," she said.
She did not lie. His hand was untouched, clean of injury.
"Thank you," Hua said.
+8+8+
"I didn't do it for you," Katara said when Hua offered gratitude for Zuko. "I had my own reasons and none of them involved jumping because you told me how high!"
Hua's brows arched. "Didn't it now? Well, no matter. No stitches, you're still able to leave in the morning, everybody's happy!" He glanced to Zuko. "Now if only the prince could get hat 'I just fondled a slug' look off his face, we'd be fine."
"It felt - odd," Zuko protested weakly.
"But you're better now," Katara insisted. "/Right/?"
Zuko decided it was wiser not to disagree. "Yes, thank you."
+8+8+
Hua herded the youths to the party again, where they were warmly welcomed. This time, when a girl came up to Sokka, he finally permitted her to lead him to the dance floor, and when Aang whisked Katara away, Hua spoke to Zuko.
"Do you see what I see?"
"Pointless frivolity?"
"No, but you're welcome for our attempts, idiot." He pointed toward Katara and Aang. "Young love, my prince. Of a most dangerous sort. He's rather fond of the girl, and she seems mostly oblivious."
"So?"
"You know nothing of a young man's heart, despite possessing one, do you? /Moron/."
+8+8+
Zuko watched as the pair danced; Hua had tried to suggest Aang's fondness was a budding crush, but - didn't Aang like /everyone/? He even went out of his way to like Zuko, and no one could suggest that the boy had a crush on him.
At least, he hoped not.
But as he sat and snacked and watched the dance floor, he realized there was a certain something in the way the boy looked at Katara, an adoration that was reserved for her alone.
Dangerous, Hua said. In a war, giving your heart to anyone could be fatal, or worse.
+8+8+
As Katara and Aang swept off the dance floor, Ming approached them both with another young woman; the girl was on Aang shortly, sweeping the young Avatar back to the dancefloor with a bout of laughter while Ming slid an arm around Katara's shoulders.
"The prince hasn't seen the dance floor all night," she said, "And some of the girls are afraid of him. Can you imagine?"
Katara smirked. "He can be kind of temperamental. But why be afraid of your own prince?"
"Oh, no reason." She nudged her. "But you're not afraid. Might you coax him to the floor?"
+8+8+
Katara gave Ming's suggestion some thought.
Dance with Zuko: Give Sokka fits; watch Hua scrape jaw off the floor.
These were the pros.
Dance with Zuko: Dance with a prince of the Fire Nation. Allow him into an intimate territorial bubble. Try and act comfortable when she really wasn't. Hope he didn't bite her head off.
There were a lot more cons.
"I don't think I can," she said apologetically to Ming.
A furrow appeared just above Ming's nose. "Funny, I hadn't expected you to be a coward about a boy, Katara. He'll just have to dance with me, then."
+8+8+
Ming strode over to the prince like a huntress after a tiger. Katara watched as Hua seemed to see Ming and backed away from Zuko immediately.
Katara circled to catch him. He'd be relatively safe, wouldn't he?
He glared at her. "You couldn't just dance with the boy, could you?"
"Nobody wants to, why should I?"
"Because dancing with you he doesn't have to be dazzling, because you just learned and he can avoid being a /spectacle/."
"Well, I didn't want to! I don't li--"
The look Hua shot her hushed Katara, silently daring her to finish that sentence.
+8+8+
Zuko realized he was a target when Ming stood before him, offering her most polished smile as she said, "My prince, Katara is too shy to ask you to dance. She's having a small spat about it with Dr. Hua."
Zuko blinked. "Ming, you're a lovely lady, but I don't know what you're playing at. Katara's not shy about anything."
Ming's brow lifted. "You know her so well, then? I didn't realize your relationship had become so intimate, my prince."
Zuko choked/. "We're /not intimate in any sense of the word! I barely know her."
"Oh? But you just said..."
+8+8+
"You can say anything you want, Katara, so long as it's based in fact and grounded in truth. I'm the only one in this relationship that gets to lie through his teeth." Hua bit off the words shaply. "But you don't even know the prince, so you cannot say whether you like him or not. And if you boil this down to our country or your country, I'll - knife you in your sleep or something else particularly Fire Nation and mean."
Katara tried not to growl under her breath. "He's tempermental, he sulks, he broods, and he's not easy to live with. I'm trying/, Dr. Hua, but we're /not friends."
"Best not say that too loud because here he comes."
Katara groaned.
+8+8+
"Dance with me." It was not a request, Katara realized. It was a terse order from an angry young man. "I don't know what you said to Ming, but now she's chewing me and I hate this but /you're going to dance with me/!"
Katara looked at Zuko, and then at Hua. "Yet another reason to not like him."
"You did this," Hua said. "You could have just gone along with Ming in the first place."
"Did she put you up to something?" Zuko asked, growing more irritable.
"Prince Zuko," Katara grabbed his hand and YANKED, "shut up and /dance/."
+8+8+
Sokka came from the dance floor as another couple breezed by him. He dropped into a chair next to Dr. Hua, before he turned his head in a doubletake.
"Is that my sister with Zuko?"
"Yes."
"She doesn't look happy."
"Neither does he."
"Why are they dancing?"
"Someone put them up to it."
"You?"
"Hell no."
"She's stepping on his foot."
"On purpose."
"I stepped on my partner's foot. But not on purpose."
"That makes you teachable. She's just /willful/." Hua heaved a sigh, almost wistful. "If I were twenty years younger..."
"I'd have your nuts for a bait pouch."
+8+8+
It was a tense and miserable experience; Zuko knew that Katara couldn't be this graceless. It was like combat on the dance floor.
"Could you at least make this painless? I'd like my feet to be feet-shaped when we /leave/."
Katara glowered. "I didn't want to come out here with you!"
"Why?" He snapped. "You have nothing to be afraid of!"
"Because this is supposed to be-fun or romantic, something you do with a boy you /like/."
He rolled his eyes. "You danced with /Aang/."
"He's /different/. I'd dance with Sokka, too."
"So, a lover, a friend, or - family."
+8+8+
Katara watched as Zuko's face seemed to close; his eyes hardened, his jaw set. She recognized the Prince that had chased them, wearing the same grim determination to see the dance through that he'd applied to pursuing Aang.
It was just another exile; he didn't belong with them and she'd just said it to his face. Not friends or family, and certainly not a lover.
He existed in limbo, unwanted, but not truly cast off.
Katara dropped her gaze from his face, and tried to squash the feeling of shame.
She stopped stepping on his feet, a wordless apology offered.
+8+8+
Hua watched the dancing pair, his own expression unhappy.
"Does your sister have much experience with boys, Sokka? I mean - not like a /woman with a man/, but - just boys."
"Not really," Sokka said, giving him an odd look. "I mean, there was Haru and she liked him and she totally went for Jet but he was a dick..."
Hua blinked. "Who are these people?"
"Haru was an Earthbender, and Jet - well, he was sort of a freedom fighter but I'd call him a terrorist."
"Aang?" Hua prompted.
"Aang's like our brother. He's even adopted into the Tribe and everything!"
+8+8+
Katara was escorted off the dance floor by a stiff-backed prince.
"I'm retiring for the night. Thank you all," Zuko said as graciously as he could. "We'll leave early in the morning, so I suggest you all turn in soon. And someone get Aang away from the girls or he'll be exhausted for tomorrow."
"He bounces back quickly," Sokka said, and waved as the prince went off. Then both doctor and boy looked at Katara as she stared at the prince's back.
"This is getting really complicated," she said simply.
"It's bound to," Hua said, offering her a small smile.
+8+8+
Katara fetched Aang from the dance floor and mother-henned him all the way to his room. There, she made sure all the things he needed were packed. New things had been added; the box of Zuko's toys sat atop a book she'd never seen before. But she shrugged and packed them as he turned down his bed, shucking his shirt.
"Aang?"
"Yeah?"
"Can you do me a favor?"
"Anything!"
"Remember you've got us, okay? No matter what, we're here for you. No one's going to leave you or forget you or throw you away. /Ever/."
Aang answer was his embrace.
+8+8+
Katara left Aang to sleep and caught Sokka coming down the hall. He stopped beside her, and they shared a look in silence.
"It'll be okay," he finally said to her wordless concern. "He's not totally worthless, and we've tackled bigger stuff than this, right? It might not be as bad as it looks."
His arm around her shoulders, he steered her as she leaned on him just a little. But what were big brothers for? His father had said 'protect her' and by the spirits, he was going to.
Even if he had to pretend to be the optimist.
+8+8+
When dawn came, the prince and the Avatar were the first down to the hold, leading an eager Appa out of into the sunlight.
"Oh yeah! This is gonna be great! Finally off that boat, right, buddy?" Aang said, clinging to Appa's shaggy head. The bison only groaned lowly as he stepped off the ramp onto the docks and ambled toward the port.
Fishers gaped and boatmen stared.
"Word will spread fast," Zuko said, always thinking ahead. "We'll need to travel quickly."
Aang nodded, and they started to strap their packs to the bison's saddle, working quietly side by side.
+8+8+
Katara found Zuko and Aang already packing, discussing routes and looking over the map when she made it out of the ship with her bag. Her guilt about the night before evaporated at seeing Zuko's relaxed manner with Aang.
"Nice to see you two got started without us," she said tersely. Zuko looked down at her from the saddle, before he offered his hands for her pack.
She tossed it to him with perhaps a little too much force, but he ruined her petty attempt at annoyance by catching it easily. Katara chided herself for the petty spite she felt.
+8+8+
When Sokka came down and put his pack in, Zuko vanished briefly back onto the ship. "To change," Aang explained, but neither youth cared. Katara was still annoyed, and Sokka wasn't worried about what Zuko did anymore, it seemed.
People began to filter out of the ship while they prepared. The engineers brought a book for Sokka, the women brought makeup for Katara, and Ji's children brought Fire Nation trinkets for luck that they'd made themselves.
But Ahnmeng, Ji's little girl, refused to give up Zuko's to anyone but the prince himself, so Ji and his family waited with them.
+8+8+
Zuko came out with Hua; the doctor was his usual cheery self, but Zuko was dressed in the plain linens of the Earth Kingdom. All three of his companions looked at him oddly.
"We're all conspicuous," Zuko said, already defensive. "Do you really think they're going to let you walk into Omashu with a Firebender?"
"I'm the Avatar! Of course they will!" Aang said.
"I don't think it's that so much as..." Sokka looked Zuko over, "green is so not your color."
Zuko groaned while they had a laugh. "Because you're such a fashion maven, I'll go change /right now/."
+8+8+
"Katara! Come here, kitten."
Katara glared down from the saddle. She'd just gotten comfortable and Hua was waving something at her. "What's that?"
"A going away present," He said brightly. "Come get it or I throw it in the drink, you irritable little chit."
She climbed down from the bison to be presented with a new bag, stitched carefully with pockets to hold medicine, bandages, and tools, and was already stocked from Hua's stores.
"Take care of them, and your friends."
"I will."
He smirked at her, all too knowing. "You'll punish yourself more than I could if you fail."
+8+8+
Zuko felt a tug at his sleeve, and looked down to Ahnmeng's small fist gripping it. He blinked at her her, before he knelt, giving the child a serious consideration. "Yes?"
She unfolded her other hand, and offered up a small trinket; two coins flanked a jade circle. "For you," she said, with guileless love.
Zuko managed a smile for her, something real and not faked. "Thank you."
"Aww, aren't you two so /cuuuuuuuuuuuuute/."
Zuko managed a very real glare for Sokka, too. He picked Ahnmeng up as he rose, and said, "Don't mind him. He's just /jealous/."
"Am not!"
+8+8+
Ming abruptly elbowed her husband in the ribs. He jumped and looked over and-blinked.
The prince was holding his daughter. Ahnmeng was giddy-she even put his pendant around his neck and patted it against his chest, before she beamed at her father with pride.
"Shall I take her off your hands, Prince Zuko?" the captain asked, looking a bit bewildered.
"Ah, certainly," Zuko said. Good luck - we'll come looking for you when it's safe. Keep everyone together, and try and avoid trouble, alright?"
Ji nodded, and Zuko clambered up into Appa's saddle, getting settled in with the others.
+8+8+
Katara glanced over to Zuko's new jewelry, and lifted a brow. "Not bad for a five year old," she said dryly.
"Like you never got help making anything when you were a toddler?"
"They gave me a stone fishhook," Sokka said. "I stuck it in my wrist-wrap."
"I got a bracelet of leather and beads," Katara said.
"What did you get, Zuko? I didn't see!" Aang called back
"A jade circle between two coins - minted the year of my birth," Zuko said. "What did you get, Aang?"
"A hat! With symbols for all four elements stitched right on the brim!"
+8+8+
Aang put his new hat on, and waved to Ji and his family. "I think we're going to go now!"
"Good luck to all of you. We'll be waiting for you!" Ji said, and saluted.
Aang nodded, before he looked over his shoulder at his family - recently expanded by one, yes, but he included Zuko in the sentiment. "Alright! Let's go-Omashu's waiting!"
He took up Appa's reigns in one hand, snapped them once and cried, "Appa! Yip-yip!" The bison lurched, hopped once and became airbound.
The sky and the future beckoned - Aang couldn't wait to see what came next!
"You know," Katara said, not enjoying the awkwardness of this encounter, "We ought to go catch up. I promised Ming I'd help out..."
"Oh!" Aang seemed to lurch back to reality. He laughed, high pitched and anxious, before he waved a hand. "Yeah, we're gonna have a party!"
"I know."
"And-- Katara?"
"Yeah, Aang?"
Aang hesitated, before blurting out, "You look great!"
+8+8+
"Well, that's... new."
Hua looked over as Zuko noted the women coming up in their finery, helping set plates full of food out. But his eyes were on Katara, dressed in borrowed clothes. Fire Nation finery looked odd on her, in Zuko's estimation.
"Her brother is going to have an aneurism," the prince said mildly.
"You'll enjoy watching," Hua replied.
"Life's small pleasures need to be savored."
Hua laughed at the prince, and then waved a hand. "Let's greet them, then, and wait for the engineering core to clean up and join the circus on deck, eh?"
"After you, Hua."
+8+8+
Katara's heart sank when she saw both prince and physician approach her; Hua beamed, Zuko just gave her a strange look. Sidling closer to Aang, she gave them a little smile. "Hello."
"...Katara." Zuko said, still searching for something to say. "You look... different."
Her face fell into a scowl. Aang at least knew how to compliment a girl. Some prince this was.
"Such a lovely pack of tigresses," Hua said, looking back at the other women. "And you, a darling kitten."
"Kitten?" Katara's scowl only deepened.
"Tsk! You've not grown into your claws yet, Katara."
"Wanna make a bet?"
+8+8+
Zuko, wisely, remained silent as the two worked themselves up. Aang joined him in quiet exasperation.
"Are they always like this?"
"You tell me. I know Hua's always aggravating, but I don't know Katara." Zuko said; he looked over at the last of the preperations - tables laden with food, the women laughing and teasing the men on deck.
"Hey."
He blinked, pulling away from his thoughts to look down at Aang.
"You've never been to a party?"
"Not like this," Zuko admitted. "Not that wasn't a function of state or something equally..."
"Boring?"
Zuko cracked a grin, and nodded. "Yeah."
+8+8+
As the sniping continued, Katara realized Aang wasn't there.
She turned her head abruptly - to find the prince and the Avatar at the railing; Zuko's position casual. Aang was... well, Aang. He hung from the rails and seemed to try and engage the wallflower with his antics.
"... Don't hold it against him," Hua asked, when her attention wandered. "He doesn't know what to do."
"What do you mean?"
"Zuko. He doesn't - get this sort of thing. He's a prince; all he's ever done at a party is sit at his father's side. He could sit still and smile for hours."
+8+8+
Katara brushed away the thought of smiling Zuko to ask, "... were you at court, Dr. Hua?"
"Kitten, I was the Lord's physician for fifteen years."
Katara's jaw sagged. "You were - Fire Lord's--"
"I delivered both his children," Hua said with a smirk. "And saw them from womb to - well, now."
"But why are you here, then?"
Hua fixed her with a stare; his eyes were a paler blue then hers, almost like glacial ice. "Pondering on why a man would leave a cushy, well paying job to float on a boat on an endless, impossible quest?"
"Maybe a little."
"Hope."
+8+8+
Sokka was so ready to crawl into a hole and die. First it had been quizzes, then practical work, and the tiny lunch brought down had done him no good.
NOW he'd been steered upstairs, told to bathe and then get above deck
When he reached deck...
... he was certain he was dead and this was Fire Nation hell. They were everywhere, laughing and drinking and eating. Most important was the eating and drinking. This meant food.
Sokka walked right past his sister and forgot all about everything but the food. He pulled up to the table, and dug in.
+8+8+
It just figured her one ally in the insanity walked right past her and started to stuff his face. Katara scowled and marched up behind Sokka as he began to shovel food into his mouth and tapped him on the shoulder.
When he turned around, she became grateful he managed to swallow before seeing her.
He looked at her, blinked, and then /screamed like a girl/.
The whole party went silent. Sokka was on his feet as Katara sprang backward like a startled cat, propelling her right into Hua.
"HOLY CRAP! MY SISTER'S A FIRE NATION PUPPET PERSON!"
Katara groaned.
+8+8+
"Is your brother always this observant?" Hua asked as Sokka stared at Katara.
"Yes," Katara replied.
Sokka didn't notice the exchange of sarcasm, or the approach of Zuko and Aang. He was too busy waving his arms. "Don't you see! They're changing you! Look at you! You look like-like-a Fire Nation hussy!"
"That is not true!" Katara began, but was surprised to see Aang's smaller form get between her and her brother.
"Katara looks /great/! I bet even Zuko thinks so but he's too dense to say it!" Aang said, jabbing Sokka in the chest. "So shut up!"
+8+8+
The party's course had already been wildly derailed; Zuko stood on the fringes as the siblings began to fight - Hua left Katara to circle the crowd and appear at the prince's shoulder.
"You do realize, this means peace is doomed," the prince said.
"No, it's just going to be rough. I think it's more that it's his sister and he doesn't like the idea of her pretty for boys than 'grr, Fire Nation bad'."
Zuko turned a skeptical glance to Hua, but then shrugged.
"I think I need a stiff drink."
"I think we all do."
They slipped below deck.
+8+8+
Once Katara and Sokka had been separated, things calmed. Sokka was banished to the table. He began to eat with angry gusto.
A few minutes later, Katara sat down next to him. Aang sat on the other side.
"You're being a jerk," Aang said.
"They just wanted me to not be outshined," Katara added, "when they got pretty and I had nothing but travel-dirty leathers."
"You're going to be a puppet person. Next thing you know, you'll make mook eyes at Zuko."
Katara snorted. "Again, how many times do I have to tell you I have /taste/? Not my type!"
+8+8+
While Aang was pleased that Katara said she had no interest in Zuko, he did notice the prince had vanished from the deck. "So much for the going away party," he said.
"Is that what this is?"
"Yeah. Hua told me all about it. It's - so Zuko knows that if things don't go okay, he still has a place to come back to."
"Do we know why he can't go home?" Sokka asked.
Katara chewed his lip. "He said he was a criminal, but he didn't say what he'd done."
"What, is being ugly a crime?"
"/Sokka/! That isn't funny."
+8+8+
When the meal was finished, music started; the women sought their lovers, fiancés, husbands - Katara watched them all pair off in silence as the first dances swept by.
Ji and Ming stole the show -- it was obvious that Ming was skilled, perhaps even professional, as she swept over the floor with her husband in tow. They were obviously in love, and that made the symmetry to their movement all the more potent.
It wasn't fair. She'd spent so much time thinking of them as dark monsters, beetle-shelled beasts... And here they dance, laughed, loved.
Just like Katara's own people.
+8+8+
Once the first round of dance had passed, men exchanged instruments - those that had played took the floor, and women went to men who weren't anything to them, so everyone got a chance to feel the music move them.
A girl tried to coax Sokka to the floor. A losing battle, but she gave it her all. Despite what he'd said, she still smiled and offered her hands. Aang was taken out to the dancefloor; wind was as much their partner as Aang was.
Katara sat and watched, wondering when one of them would be brave enough to approach /her/.
+8+8+
The second and third rounds passed, and Katara found herself nursing her drink, looking confused. Not one person had dared to come to her, ask her. Hadn't Ming tried to teach her, so that she'd have an idea of what to do when it came time?
The music shifted tenor and the cook got up and sang accompaniment. It was some old love song, somewhat off-key. Women returned to their lovers, and now they went through slow steps in some foreign courtship dance
It was beginning to get offensive, this cold shoulder.
"Care to dance, Kitten?"
Hua, to the rescue.
+8+8+
Her hand in his, she found herself guiding the older man to the 'floor', and laughed as he settled comfortably into the lead position.
"I didn't think you'd dance," she admitted.
"Especially not a slow one, eh? I'm not capable of the others anymore. Though, I admit I haven't danced like this since my wedding."
"You're married?" Katara tried to not sound shocked.
He smiled, but it was brittle. "Divorced."
"Ah."
"My wife left me after I was crippled. She quickly remarried some general somewhere. Haven't seen her since."
"I'm sorry."
"It's not her I miss, really. It's my children."
+8+8+
It was hard to think of Hua as a parent; but it was plain to see that his blue eyes lit up when he talked about his son and the little girl. "We divorced shortly after the birth of my daughter. I named her for my mother, and that was the last thing I really got to do."
"How old is she now?"
"Oh, eighteen or so. My son's twenty-four," he answered.
She wondered what they were like; did they have blue eyes, dusky skin, and coarse dark hair? Or were they fair, dark eyed, with hair like black silk?
+8+8+
The dance ended, and Hua and Katara strode off the dance floor to where Sokka held his cane. It had been a small allowance, perhaps a peace offering for his outburst. But as soon as he relinquished his cane, the older boy got up and walked around the ship's command tower, vanishing from sight.
"What's his problem?"
"He misses someone."
"Should have warned him, then," Hua said. "Oh well."
"Why?"
"He's going to trip over Zuko any minute now. He's out back, watching the moon. Also, possibly, getting drunk"
Katara sighed heavily. Things could only get so much more complicated.
+8+8+
Sokka came back to the absolute rear of the ship, where there were only supply boxes covered in tarps and the hum of the engine. The din of the party was distant here and for that he was glad.
He looked skyward; the moon wasn't yet full. They were nearly through the month, now-spring was approaching. Katara's birthday would be soon, then his own.
A noise distracted him from his thoughts, and he turned.
Zuko leaned down from his perch atop the freight, and extended a bottle.
"If you're going to sulk, drinking is required. It is a party."
+8+8+
It was a strange thing; he was certain it was a leap of faith - or at least a clumsy climb up the freight to get onto a box an arm's length or so away from the prince.
Misery loved company.
"So, who has you sighing?"
"A girl."
"Someone back home?"
"No," Sokka said, finding it strangely easy to discuss. "No. Water Tribe, but - a Notherner."
"You left her behind?"
"She left me."
"What happened?" Zuko asked.
"She married the other guy."
Zuko extended the bottle to him again; it was camaraderie enough. To speak would have made it awkward, false.
+8+8+
"What about your uncle?" The question was blunt, but so was Sokka.
"What about him?"
"I haven't heard one bad thing about him, with the exception of some people thinking he was too soft on you," Sokka said. "It's like everybody loved him."
Zuko decided it was his turn for the bottle. "Everyone did. He was good natured, charismatic, wise. Everything the rest of the family isn't."
"Diamond in the rough?"
Zuko laughed. "He would have appreciated that sentiment, but disagreed."
Sokka glanced over. "Let me guess: He would have applied that to you, instead."
Zuko swallowed hard. "Probably, yeah."
+8+8+
There was one burning question on Sokka's mind; Katara had brought it up and now he wanted the answer. Zuko in the cups was probably the only way to get it.
"So. You're out here on a boat, with a bunch of sailors that decided you weren't totally a lost cause. Your uncle left everything behind to come with you. What the hell did you do to get sent out here on this wild goose chase, anyway?"
Zuko looked at the bottle, and sure enough, took another long pull. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."
"Try me, Zuko."
+8+8+
Sokka's question shook Zuko; he had to pause and consider his answer.
"I spoke against my father's war policy. I countered one of his general's plans with the suggestion it was inhuman. He took it as a personal slight."
Sokka couldn't help but wince. "Harsh."
Zuko laughed, but it held no humor at all.
"You could say that."
Sokka glanced over at him, studying his profile - the scar was black against his skin in the light of the moon like a stain on silk.
"He give you the scar?"
Zuko nodded, and hoped that would be enough to satisfy Sokka.
+8+8+
There was no crashing, no splashing, nothing that could be heard over the music. Katara danced a few more times, but - she began to worry. Were Sokka and Zuko fighting? Had they gotten stupid and fallen over board? Was Zuko drunk?
Hua watched her worry, before he finally slipped an arm into hers and gestured with his cane. "Shall we go make sure they haven't done anything stupid?"
"Yeah," she replied. "Aang? Are you coming?"
"Sure!" The Avatar spun out of his dance and skipped over, opposite Hua.
The three paced around the ship, wondering what carnage they might find.
+8+8+
The prince and the peasant had worked their way through one bottle of wine, and were now slowly passing the second back and forth. Conversation went with it; Sokka didn't ask anymore invasive questions, and Zuko didn't know to ask any.
Instead, it seemed as if they simply meandered through topics. Sokka was happy to talk about what he learned in the engine rooms, and Zuko gave little back. Sokka respected his privacy, at least.
But both heard the tap-tap-tap of a cane and went silent. Company was coming.
+8+8+
It was really the damndest sight. The prince was sprawled out on top of the freight, and not far from him, Sokka was sitting cross legged. Between them, an empty bottle lay on it's side; Sokka was passing one back to Zuko as the trio rounded the corner.
"Well, this looks - almost brotherly," Hua said, arching a brow. "You two getting along better?"
"Are we sure he's not a /puppet person/?" Katara asked dryly. "So it's not okay for me to get dressed up, but you can come get drunk with Zuko?"
Sokka had no answer for that, shrugging helplessly.
+8+8+
"So what are you two talking about, hmm?" Hua asked.
"The engines," said Sokka.
"The moon," added Zuko.
"How we make liquor," Sokka replied.
"And what liquor we /like/," Zuko tacked on.
Katara's hand was on Aang's shoulder the moment he took a step forward, and she shook her head. "When they're puking over the saddle, you'll be glad I stopped you," she warned him.
"Oh, we're not that bad. We split a bottle of wine."
"And a half," Zuko said, looking at the other one. "And Firebenders burn liquor out of their systems quickly. I know I'll be fine."
+8+8+
Hua seemed pleased by Zuko's statement. "Katara, what did I teach you about Firebenders and liquor?"
"That they dehydrate three times as fast and the hangovers are worse," she said smugly. "Best get Zuko a carafe of water to stave it off."
Hua waited till Zuko was drinking again before he asked, innocently, "So, you weren't talking about anything fun? Sokka, you should ask him for advice with girls. After all, he had a concubine."
As if on cue, Zuko choked on the drink and abruptly belched flame. The bottle erupted in a small fireball, exploding like a home-made bomb.
+8+8+
With the sudden loss of the wine bottle, Zuko was left with seared lips and a lacerated palm where glass had sliced his fingers. "/Dammit Hua/!"
"I was merely illustrating a point. Didn't expect you to turn the bottle into a bomb! Come down!"
Sokka helped Zuko down from the crates - his fingers were raggedly cut.
"If you delay us for more stitches..." Zuko began, but Hua cut him off.
"Why don't we see what Katara's Bending can do?"
The prince cradled his hand to his chest as all looked at Katara.
"You want me to heal him? With /Waterbending/?"
+8+8+
Zuko stood there, watching as Hua and Katara seemed to go through some sort of ritual stare down. Finally, he cleared his throat and both blinked at him.
"Aang, go get some water."
"What about the sea?"
"I don't want to have to pull the salt from it," Katara said; it didn't matter - Aang had already sped away to get what she asked for.
She turned sharply to Zuko and extended her hands for his. Uncertainly, Zuko offered it.
Hua was already drawing a slender wallet of tools from his vest. "You want to pull the glass free first, Waterbender?"
+8+8+
Katara guided Zuko back to the crates and both sat; Aang arrived with a carafe of water as she deftly plucked the glass from his fingers with the tools Hua had provided.
"She did that with two fish hooks once," Sokka said with brotherly pride.
Katara ignored the compliment. Once Zuko's hands were free of the shards - there hadn't been many - she extended one hand and twisted at the wrist, almost beckoning.
The water leapt from the carafe like an eager hound attending to its master. Wrapping it around her hands, Katara looked at Zuko and offered a slight smile.
+8+8+
It was chill and alien and Zuko immediately didn't like the feeling of her wet fingers closing over his. Still, he remained motionless as she set his palm between hers, and only frowned when the water began to glow like she had somehow caught a star and held it to his hand.
But it was a tingle, and then it was over. She removed her hands, flicked the water away, tossing the blob, now pinked with his blood, over the railing.
"All better," she said.
She did not lie. His hand was untouched, clean of injury.
"Thank you," Hua said.
+8+8+
"I didn't do it for you," Katara said when Hua offered gratitude for Zuko. "I had my own reasons and none of them involved jumping because you told me how high!"
Hua's brows arched. "Didn't it now? Well, no matter. No stitches, you're still able to leave in the morning, everybody's happy!" He glanced to Zuko. "Now if only the prince could get hat 'I just fondled a slug' look off his face, we'd be fine."
"It felt - odd," Zuko protested weakly.
"But you're better now," Katara insisted. "/Right/?"
Zuko decided it was wiser not to disagree. "Yes, thank you."
+8+8+
Hua herded the youths to the party again, where they were warmly welcomed. This time, when a girl came up to Sokka, he finally permitted her to lead him to the dance floor, and when Aang whisked Katara away, Hua spoke to Zuko.
"Do you see what I see?"
"Pointless frivolity?"
"No, but you're welcome for our attempts, idiot." He pointed toward Katara and Aang. "Young love, my prince. Of a most dangerous sort. He's rather fond of the girl, and she seems mostly oblivious."
"So?"
"You know nothing of a young man's heart, despite possessing one, do you? /Moron/."
+8+8+
Zuko watched as the pair danced; Hua had tried to suggest Aang's fondness was a budding crush, but - didn't Aang like /everyone/? He even went out of his way to like Zuko, and no one could suggest that the boy had a crush on him.
At least, he hoped not.
But as he sat and snacked and watched the dance floor, he realized there was a certain something in the way the boy looked at Katara, an adoration that was reserved for her alone.
Dangerous, Hua said. In a war, giving your heart to anyone could be fatal, or worse.
+8+8+
As Katara and Aang swept off the dance floor, Ming approached them both with another young woman; the girl was on Aang shortly, sweeping the young Avatar back to the dancefloor with a bout of laughter while Ming slid an arm around Katara's shoulders.
"The prince hasn't seen the dance floor all night," she said, "And some of the girls are afraid of him. Can you imagine?"
Katara smirked. "He can be kind of temperamental. But why be afraid of your own prince?"
"Oh, no reason." She nudged her. "But you're not afraid. Might you coax him to the floor?"
+8+8+
Katara gave Ming's suggestion some thought.
Dance with Zuko: Give Sokka fits; watch Hua scrape jaw off the floor.
These were the pros.
Dance with Zuko: Dance with a prince of the Fire Nation. Allow him into an intimate territorial bubble. Try and act comfortable when she really wasn't. Hope he didn't bite her head off.
There were a lot more cons.
"I don't think I can," she said apologetically to Ming.
A furrow appeared just above Ming's nose. "Funny, I hadn't expected you to be a coward about a boy, Katara. He'll just have to dance with me, then."
+8+8+
Ming strode over to the prince like a huntress after a tiger. Katara watched as Hua seemed to see Ming and backed away from Zuko immediately.
Katara circled to catch him. He'd be relatively safe, wouldn't he?
He glared at her. "You couldn't just dance with the boy, could you?"
"Nobody wants to, why should I?"
"Because dancing with you he doesn't have to be dazzling, because you just learned and he can avoid being a /spectacle/."
"Well, I didn't want to! I don't li--"
The look Hua shot her hushed Katara, silently daring her to finish that sentence.
+8+8+
Zuko realized he was a target when Ming stood before him, offering her most polished smile as she said, "My prince, Katara is too shy to ask you to dance. She's having a small spat about it with Dr. Hua."
Zuko blinked. "Ming, you're a lovely lady, but I don't know what you're playing at. Katara's not shy about anything."
Ming's brow lifted. "You know her so well, then? I didn't realize your relationship had become so intimate, my prince."
Zuko choked/. "We're /not intimate in any sense of the word! I barely know her."
"Oh? But you just said..."
+8+8+
"You can say anything you want, Katara, so long as it's based in fact and grounded in truth. I'm the only one in this relationship that gets to lie through his teeth." Hua bit off the words shaply. "But you don't even know the prince, so you cannot say whether you like him or not. And if you boil this down to our country or your country, I'll - knife you in your sleep or something else particularly Fire Nation and mean."
Katara tried not to growl under her breath. "He's tempermental, he sulks, he broods, and he's not easy to live with. I'm trying/, Dr. Hua, but we're /not friends."
"Best not say that too loud because here he comes."
Katara groaned.
+8+8+
"Dance with me." It was not a request, Katara realized. It was a terse order from an angry young man. "I don't know what you said to Ming, but now she's chewing me and I hate this but /you're going to dance with me/!"
Katara looked at Zuko, and then at Hua. "Yet another reason to not like him."
"You did this," Hua said. "You could have just gone along with Ming in the first place."
"Did she put you up to something?" Zuko asked, growing more irritable.
"Prince Zuko," Katara grabbed his hand and YANKED, "shut up and /dance/."
+8+8+
Sokka came from the dance floor as another couple breezed by him. He dropped into a chair next to Dr. Hua, before he turned his head in a doubletake.
"Is that my sister with Zuko?"
"Yes."
"She doesn't look happy."
"Neither does he."
"Why are they dancing?"
"Someone put them up to it."
"You?"
"Hell no."
"She's stepping on his foot."
"On purpose."
"I stepped on my partner's foot. But not on purpose."
"That makes you teachable. She's just /willful/." Hua heaved a sigh, almost wistful. "If I were twenty years younger..."
"I'd have your nuts for a bait pouch."
+8+8+
It was a tense and miserable experience; Zuko knew that Katara couldn't be this graceless. It was like combat on the dance floor.
"Could you at least make this painless? I'd like my feet to be feet-shaped when we /leave/."
Katara glowered. "I didn't want to come out here with you!"
"Why?" He snapped. "You have nothing to be afraid of!"
"Because this is supposed to be-fun or romantic, something you do with a boy you /like/."
He rolled his eyes. "You danced with /Aang/."
"He's /different/. I'd dance with Sokka, too."
"So, a lover, a friend, or - family."
+8+8+
Katara watched as Zuko's face seemed to close; his eyes hardened, his jaw set. She recognized the Prince that had chased them, wearing the same grim determination to see the dance through that he'd applied to pursuing Aang.
It was just another exile; he didn't belong with them and she'd just said it to his face. Not friends or family, and certainly not a lover.
He existed in limbo, unwanted, but not truly cast off.
Katara dropped her gaze from his face, and tried to squash the feeling of shame.
She stopped stepping on his feet, a wordless apology offered.
+8+8+
Hua watched the dancing pair, his own expression unhappy.
"Does your sister have much experience with boys, Sokka? I mean - not like a /woman with a man/, but - just boys."
"Not really," Sokka said, giving him an odd look. "I mean, there was Haru and she liked him and she totally went for Jet but he was a dick..."
Hua blinked. "Who are these people?"
"Haru was an Earthbender, and Jet - well, he was sort of a freedom fighter but I'd call him a terrorist."
"Aang?" Hua prompted.
"Aang's like our brother. He's even adopted into the Tribe and everything!"
+8+8+
Katara was escorted off the dance floor by a stiff-backed prince.
"I'm retiring for the night. Thank you all," Zuko said as graciously as he could. "We'll leave early in the morning, so I suggest you all turn in soon. And someone get Aang away from the girls or he'll be exhausted for tomorrow."
"He bounces back quickly," Sokka said, and waved as the prince went off. Then both doctor and boy looked at Katara as she stared at the prince's back.
"This is getting really complicated," she said simply.
"It's bound to," Hua said, offering her a small smile.
+8+8+
Katara fetched Aang from the dance floor and mother-henned him all the way to his room. There, she made sure all the things he needed were packed. New things had been added; the box of Zuko's toys sat atop a book she'd never seen before. But she shrugged and packed them as he turned down his bed, shucking his shirt.
"Aang?"
"Yeah?"
"Can you do me a favor?"
"Anything!"
"Remember you've got us, okay? No matter what, we're here for you. No one's going to leave you or forget you or throw you away. /Ever/."
Aang answer was his embrace.
+8+8+
Katara left Aang to sleep and caught Sokka coming down the hall. He stopped beside her, and they shared a look in silence.
"It'll be okay," he finally said to her wordless concern. "He's not totally worthless, and we've tackled bigger stuff than this, right? It might not be as bad as it looks."
His arm around her shoulders, he steered her as she leaned on him just a little. But what were big brothers for? His father had said 'protect her' and by the spirits, he was going to.
Even if he had to pretend to be the optimist.
+8+8+
When dawn came, the prince and the Avatar were the first down to the hold, leading an eager Appa out of into the sunlight.
"Oh yeah! This is gonna be great! Finally off that boat, right, buddy?" Aang said, clinging to Appa's shaggy head. The bison only groaned lowly as he stepped off the ramp onto the docks and ambled toward the port.
Fishers gaped and boatmen stared.
"Word will spread fast," Zuko said, always thinking ahead. "We'll need to travel quickly."
Aang nodded, and they started to strap their packs to the bison's saddle, working quietly side by side.
+8+8+
Katara found Zuko and Aang already packing, discussing routes and looking over the map when she made it out of the ship with her bag. Her guilt about the night before evaporated at seeing Zuko's relaxed manner with Aang.
"Nice to see you two got started without us," she said tersely. Zuko looked down at her from the saddle, before he offered his hands for her pack.
She tossed it to him with perhaps a little too much force, but he ruined her petty attempt at annoyance by catching it easily. Katara chided herself for the petty spite she felt.
+8+8+
When Sokka came down and put his pack in, Zuko vanished briefly back onto the ship. "To change," Aang explained, but neither youth cared. Katara was still annoyed, and Sokka wasn't worried about what Zuko did anymore, it seemed.
People began to filter out of the ship while they prepared. The engineers brought a book for Sokka, the women brought makeup for Katara, and Ji's children brought Fire Nation trinkets for luck that they'd made themselves.
But Ahnmeng, Ji's little girl, refused to give up Zuko's to anyone but the prince himself, so Ji and his family waited with them.
+8+8+
Zuko came out with Hua; the doctor was his usual cheery self, but Zuko was dressed in the plain linens of the Earth Kingdom. All three of his companions looked at him oddly.
"We're all conspicuous," Zuko said, already defensive. "Do you really think they're going to let you walk into Omashu with a Firebender?"
"I'm the Avatar! Of course they will!" Aang said.
"I don't think it's that so much as..." Sokka looked Zuko over, "green is so not your color."
Zuko groaned while they had a laugh. "Because you're such a fashion maven, I'll go change /right now/."
+8+8+
"Katara! Come here, kitten."
Katara glared down from the saddle. She'd just gotten comfortable and Hua was waving something at her. "What's that?"
"A going away present," He said brightly. "Come get it or I throw it in the drink, you irritable little chit."
She climbed down from the bison to be presented with a new bag, stitched carefully with pockets to hold medicine, bandages, and tools, and was already stocked from Hua's stores.
"Take care of them, and your friends."
"I will."
He smirked at her, all too knowing. "You'll punish yourself more than I could if you fail."
+8+8+
Zuko felt a tug at his sleeve, and looked down to Ahnmeng's small fist gripping it. He blinked at her her, before he knelt, giving the child a serious consideration. "Yes?"
She unfolded her other hand, and offered up a small trinket; two coins flanked a jade circle. "For you," she said, with guileless love.
Zuko managed a smile for her, something real and not faked. "Thank you."
"Aww, aren't you two so /cuuuuuuuuuuuuute/."
Zuko managed a very real glare for Sokka, too. He picked Ahnmeng up as he rose, and said, "Don't mind him. He's just /jealous/."
"Am not!"
+8+8+
Ming abruptly elbowed her husband in the ribs. He jumped and looked over and-blinked.
The prince was holding his daughter. Ahnmeng was giddy-she even put his pendant around his neck and patted it against his chest, before she beamed at her father with pride.
"Shall I take her off your hands, Prince Zuko?" the captain asked, looking a bit bewildered.
"Ah, certainly," Zuko said. Good luck - we'll come looking for you when it's safe. Keep everyone together, and try and avoid trouble, alright?"
Ji nodded, and Zuko clambered up into Appa's saddle, getting settled in with the others.
+8+8+
Katara glanced over to Zuko's new jewelry, and lifted a brow. "Not bad for a five year old," she said dryly.
"Like you never got help making anything when you were a toddler?"
"They gave me a stone fishhook," Sokka said. "I stuck it in my wrist-wrap."
"I got a bracelet of leather and beads," Katara said.
"What did you get, Zuko? I didn't see!" Aang called back
"A jade circle between two coins - minted the year of my birth," Zuko said. "What did you get, Aang?"
"A hat! With symbols for all four elements stitched right on the brim!"
+8+8+
Aang put his new hat on, and waved to Ji and his family. "I think we're going to go now!"
"Good luck to all of you. We'll be waiting for you!" Ji said, and saluted.
Aang nodded, before he looked over his shoulder at his family - recently expanded by one, yes, but he included Zuko in the sentiment. "Alright! Let's go-Omashu's waiting!"
He took up Appa's reigns in one hand, snapped them once and cried, "Appa! Yip-yip!" The bison lurched, hopped once and became airbound.
The sky and the future beckoned - Aang couldn't wait to see what came next!
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