Book Four: Air - Chapter Eight

Appa let out a low grunt of exhaustion and Suki gave him a comforting pat, keeping one hand on his reins.  "We're almost there, Appa.  You're doing great."

The ocean stretched on around them for miles as far as the eye could see, but Suki had Sokka's maps and Katara's aerial knowledge of the Fire Nation to guide them.  Hawky flew at Appa's side, occasionally giving cries of encouragement to the sky bison.  

Suki watched the messenger hawk take a dive toward the ocean and she turned back to look at the waterbender.  "How much farther do you think it is?  Appa's getting tired."

Katara's face was lit with the soft glow of her waterbending as she passed a hand over her brother's bandaged chest.  Sokka, for his part, was sound asleep and had been for most of the trip.  He claimed he was merely conserving his energy for the fight ahead, but the girls weren't fooled.  The healing sessions were taking a lot out of him.

The same could be said for his sister.

Katara brushed sweat from her forehead and cast a critical eye over the blue expanse.  "There."  She pointed and Suki saw the first hint of a large volcanic island on the horizon.  "Head straight for the palace.  If everything's under control, that's where Zuko and Aang will be."

"And if everything's not?" Suki asked, keeping her voice low, though she wasn't sure who she was trying to spare.  Appa's ears flattened and Toph stopped lounging against the edge of the saddle, looking attentive for the first time since they'd gone airborne.  

Katara glanced from the earthbender to the Kyoshi Warrior and sighed.  "We'll figure that out when we get there."

Suki nodded and watched as Katara finished up the healing session and pulled her brother's tunic closed.  Sokka's sickness and injuries had taken a heavy toll and it was easiest to see in his protruding ribs and sunken waistline.  But he was alive, and Suki still couldn't believe how lucky they'd been.

"How's he doing?" Toph asked for the fifth time that day, trying to sound nonchalant.  In the air, her blindness was absolute and Suki could tell the young earthbender hated not knowing exactly how Sokka was faring.

"You can come over here and see for yourself," Katara said.  "I'm not going to bite."

There were no guarantees that she wouldn't, but Toph took the invitation and scooted toward the Water Tribe siblings.  Toph and Suki had both been on their best behavior around Katara, knowing that they were still on thin ice despite Sokka's attempt to smooth things over.  

It had made for a rather quiet ride, minus all the snoring from the sleeping warrior.

Toph slid her tiny hand over Sokka's and Suki turned back to adjust Appa's heading.  Eventually, Suki knew that she and Toph were going to have to sit down and have a talk.  It was an awkward position for both of them to be in, and it didn't help that Sokka seemed oblivious.  Suki had known about Toph's crush since the first time they met, but she'd never anticipated how much the young girl's feelings would continue to grow, despite their one-sided nature.  

"His pulse is strong," Toph said, and Suki could hear the smile on her face.  

"Yes, it is," Katara said and then lowered her voice almost to a whisper.  Suki had to strain to hear her over the wind.  "That helps, right?"

"Helps what?"  Toph asked, matching Katara's near whisper.

"Helps you see him," Katara said, sounding apologetic, "with your earthbending."

"Oh, yeah it helps.  The pulse creates vibrations that I can sort of turn to images and shapes in my head."  

"How clearly can you see him?  I mean, I can get a sense for what's going on inside someone with my waterbending.  But I only had a few lessons in healing and… well…"

Toph was silent for a moment and Suki glanced over her shoulder to see the younger girl place her free hand on Sokka's chest, directly over his heart.    

"It was a lot easier with some good ol' earth under me," Toph said, "but I can tell he's getting better, and his heart and lungs feel fine."

"Fine," Katara said, and let out a shaky laugh.  "I mean, that's great.  I'm trying everything I can think of to encourage his body to heal itself, but it's not as easy as it sounds."

Toph snickered and Suki couldn't help but smile at the joke she knew was coming.  "Encouraging Sokka to do anything is a chore."

Sokka snorted mid-snore and startled himself awake.  He blinked blearily and the two girls slipped out of his space, pretending they'd been doing other things as he yawned and stretched, stopping short when something besides his joints popped.  "Ow."

Katara picked up his old shirt and started sewing one of the many tears as though she'd been doing it all along.  "Afternoon, sleepy guy.  How you feeling?"

He smacked his lips.  "Hungry."  He rolled his head to Toph who relaxed, extra hard, against their supplies.  "Please tell me we've got some meat in those sacks."

"Did we have any the last ten times you asked?"

"No," he said, not seeming to get the point.

She reached into the closest bag and tossed him some fruit.  "Here, have an apple."

Sokka caught it with his good hand and pulled himself up, taking a huge crunching bite as he scanned their surroundings with heavy-lidded eyes.  He scratched his back, chewed, took another over-sized bite, and then finally noticed the Fire Nation mainland looming on the horizon.  

Chunks of apple even hit Suki in the back of the head as he sprayed his mouthful in surprise.  "I told you to wake me!"  He grabbed his sword and lunged for his gear, throwing his walking brace into Katara's lap.  "Put that on while I do the rest!" he ordered, frantic, and when Katara only blinked at him he flailed his arms like she was the one acting crazy.  "Put it on me, not you!"

"Sokka, chill."  Toph's no-nonsense tone snapped him to his senses, but he continued his preparations.

"We need to be ready for anything down there," he said, sliding his wolf mantle over his head.  "We're going in hot!  Weapons, bending, everything!"

"Sokka, we've got this," Katara said but Suki gave her a pleading look and the waterbender continued, awkwardly pretending she had more to say, "great plan."

He turned to her, oblivious as he was suspicious.  "What great plan?"

Katara gave him a nervous smile.  "Uh, Toph, tell Sokka about our great plan."

The earthbender leaned back and put one hand behind her head and shoved a finger up her nose.  "Oh no.  I am not bailing you out of this one."

"Leave the planning to the plan guy, Katara."  Sokka held up a hand to forestall any argument.  "We're going to work in teams.  Suki and Toph will go in first and we'll cover the rear."

Katara sighed in defeat and annoyance and didn't pay too much attention to what she was doing as she lifted Sokka's broken leg to slide the walking brace under it.  Sokka yelped and grabbed the wooden railing to keep from falling back.  

"Katara!  Would it kill you to be gentle, or are you just trying to kill me?"

Katara managed to keep her mouth shut as she tightened the straps on his brace, one by one, with exaggerated care.  Suki mouthed a silent "thank you" to the waterbender and began double checking her own gear.  It would have been better if Sokka agreed to sit things out, but Suki knew from recent experience that it was pointless to try and take him out of a fight.

Appa cleared the lip of the giant volcano and the Fire Nation capital stretched out before them.  Sokka pulled on his wolf's head helmet and stared over the edge of the saddle.  "Uh oh."

Katara looked up from filling her waterbending pouches with their remaining drinking water.  "Uh oh?"  

"Something's not right," Suki said and Katara took a look at the city.

"Where is everybody?"

"Take us lower," Sokka said, though Suki was already on it.  Appa descended with an unhappy grunt.  Tired as the sky bison was, even he could tell that something was wrong. The streets were empty and buildings were boarded up and deserted.  

"It looks like the city was abandoned," Katara said and Sokka shook his head.

"Not abandoned, evacuated.  Like they did on the Day of Black Sun."

"You think they all went underground again?"  Toph asked.

Sokka rubbed his chin and squinted off at the palace.  "It's possible.  Take us down, Suki.  We need to investigate."  

Suki and Katara exchanged glances, but neither of them could think of a reason not to go along with Sokka's orders.  Appa touched down and Sokka grabbed his crutch and swung his bad leg over the side, ready to dismount with all his old carelessness.  Katara caught him by the elbow before he fell.  "Toph?"

The earthbender might have been blind in the saddle, but she wasn't clueless.  She leapt to the ground and rose up on a platform of earth a second later, arms crossed, looking bored.  Katara helped Sokka to Toph and the three of them descended together into an empty courtyard.  

"What do you feel, Toph?"  Sokka asked as he leaned into his crutch.

Toph put her hand to the cobblestones.  "It's as dead as it looks," she said and then frowned.  "No, wait.  Over there!"  She got up and pointed down one of the side streets before rushing off toward it.  Katara hurried after her with one hand on her bending pouch and Sokka limped after them as fast as he could, hopping every few steps for added speed.

Suki urged Appa forward and the lumbering sky bison had no difficulty keeping pace with the wounded warrior.  

There was a muffled cry from the alley and Suki jumped off Appa's head and sprinted past her boyfriend to catch up with the benders.  Toph had someone pinned to a wall with earthbending and Katara was already returning her water to her pouch.  If there had been a threat, it was over, but judging from the look of the man, there hadn't been one from the start.

"Please don't hurt me!  I'm just a shopkeeper!"

Suki snapped her fans closed and glanced back to make sure Sokka was still managing.  He was panting by the time he made it into the alley with the rest of them and Suki could see a hint of frustration in his eyes as he caught his breath.

"I didn't do anything, I swear!"  

"He's lying," Toph said with a smirk.  "I caught him looting."

Sokka stepped forward purposefully and the heavy leather of his walking brace made an intimidating clunk against the rough stone.  "We just have a few questions and then you're free to go," Sokka said, and the man turned his fearful eyes to the wolf armored warrior.  "Where is everyone?"

The shopkeeper licked his lips.  "Gone.  Hiding.  Anybody with money to spare has fled to the countryside or Ember Island."

"What happened?"

"There was a… a battle," the man stammered.  "I don't know what happened but everyone says Ozai is back."

"And where's Fire Lord Zuko?"

The man's face paled.  "Gone."  

The word rippled through the four heroes until the silence was broken by the clattering of Sokka's crutch against the stones.  He lurched forward and grabbed the man's collar.  "What do you mean, gone?"

"Just gone!  Nobody knows what happened to him!"

"And what about Aang?"

"The Avatar?" The shopkeeper blinked in confusion.  

"He was supposed to be here!"

"I don't know!  Please, all I know is that word got out from the palace that there was trouble in the Royal Family.  Anyone who valued their lives has cleared out until things get settled."

Sokka threw up his hands.  "So everyone's just going to sit back until someone comes out on top?"  He pointed his finger in the man's face, making him go cross-eyed.  "That is so Fire Nation of you!  Don't you understand what Zuko's been through to try and fix your nation?  And then you all just abandon him when he needs you?"

Suki put her hand on her boyfriend's shoulder.  "It's alright, Sokka.  We'll find Zuko and Aang."

Sokka continued glaring at the Fire Nation citizen until the man started to sweat and finally blurted, "Everything happened at the prison!  That's all I know!  I swear!"

Sokka nodded once and shuffled out of the alley.  "Let's go."

------

Even from the air it was obvious there had been a sizable battle at the prison, but the outcome was anyone's guess.  

They flew in a wide circle over the area and Sokka leaned toward the tiny earthbender, pointing over Appa's saddle at a large rock formation that could have been a product of earthbending.  "Does that mountain look natural to you?"  There was a long moment of awkward silence and he shifted toward his girlfriend instead.  "Does that mountain look natural to you?"

"Not, really?  I guess?"  Suki said, unsure, and Sokka sighed.

"Toph, are you sure you can't just reach out with your earthbending?"

"What, like this?"  She reached out with her fist and nailed him in the jaw, managing to make it look like an accident.  "Oops, sorry.  Didn't see you there, Fuzzface."

"Ow.  Yup, I deserved that."  He grinned at her from ear to ear, cradling his chin.

Toph blushed, feeling his eyes on her.  "What?  I can hear you smiling like an idiot."

"Nuthin'," he said and went back to scanning the land around the Fire Nation prison.  "Just nice to know you aren't taking it easy on me anymore."

She puffed her bangs out of her face and turned away so no one could see her own smile.  A gust of wind blew by and Toph sniffed and then sucked more air into her nose.  "Do you guys smell that?"

"Bad Appa."  Sokka poked the sky bison while Katara and Suki both took experimental sniffs.

"I don't smell anything," Katara said and Suki shrugged.

"I smell smoke," Toph said.  "You guys are too distracted looking for signs of our friends."  Taking another sniff, she pointed off to the south.  "Smells like it's coming from that direction."

"Your nose is imagining things," Sokka said, squinting down the line of her finger at a few gathering clouds.  

"Is that a smoke trail?" Suki asked and leaned forward, staring intently.  "And an airship?"

"I don't see anything," Sokka said, "and I've got eyes like a messenger hawk.  Right, Hawky?"  

The bird made a pass overhead with a high-pitched cry and flew toward the south.  Katara pulled Appa around to follow him.  "That's definitely an airship."

"No, it's not," Sokka maintained as he pulled his spyglass from a pocket.  "It's just a cloud."  He put the piece to his eye and extended the telescope, paused, and extended it again.  He switched eyes, switched back, and finally lowered the device, totally mystified.  He covered his left eye and then his right.  "I don't believe this.  My vision used to be perfect and now my left eye is all blurry!"

Suki raised her eyebrows and touched the side of his face, bringing him around to face her.  There were a few lingering bruises from his accident with Boomerang, all on the left side of his face.  A hard blow could damage an eye, and there was no doubt he'd been hit hard by his flying weapon.  He hadn't even been able to open his eye for days from all the swelling.  

He winced and probed his cheek, coming to the same realization, and Suki squeezed his shoulder.  "Maybe Katara could focus some healing and fix it?"

Toph patted him on the back, half-joking.  "Don't worry, Sokka.  I couldn't see the airship either."

"Doesn't matter," he said, shrugging off their sympathy.  "The important thing is, there's an unknown airship that's clearly been damaged in a battle.  Our answers are there."  He snapped his spyglass shut.  "Katara, bring us up behind them, but stay in their smoke so they can't see us coming.  We'll use it just like cloud cover."

Unfortunately, there was one major difference between smoke and clouds.  

"Turns out smoke is made out of fire and air," Katara said, coughing and trying one last time to bend a pocket of fresh air around them.  

"Not my best idea," Sokka said, speaking through the front of his tunic, "I admit it."

Appa rumbled a complaint and Toph raised her hand.  "I'm with the big guy.  Let's ditch this smokescreen and find another way to sneak up on them."

"I third that," Suki said, and stifled a cough.  "It's almost sundown.  We could hang back and wait for dark."

"Yes."  Sokka rubbed his scruffy chin and dropped into his Wang Fire persona, deepening his voice and jutting his jaw forward.  "We'll go in under the cover of nightfall."  He continued stroking his goatee while Katara guided Appa out of the smoke.

Suki gave him a wry look.  "You're not going to shave, are you?"  Katara and Toph both snickered and Sokka regarded them with his most imperious expression and continued playing with his facial hair.  

"I guess that answers that question," Katara said.

"It was more of an observation," Suki replied and the girls shared another laugh.

Sokka didn't seem to be paying them any attention.  "We'll need dark clothes for sneaking on board."

"Sneaking?"  Suki shook her head.  "You're not very stealthy at the best of times," she said, pointing at his clunky leg brace.  "You really think you could sneak up on anybody right now?"

"Hey," he said, dropping his hand from his face.  "I don't see you coming up with any plans."

"I suggested we wait for night," she countered and Sokka waved it away.  

"Yes, but I said it more dramatically."

Suki lowered her face and gave him one of her looks that seemed to say, "Don't push it, buddy."  Sokka ignored her and crawled toward their supplies, helping himself to the last of their provisions while he went through everyone's spare clothing.  

When he was finished outfitting them, the sun had fallen and they flew by the soft glow of the rising moon.  The lights on the airship were easy to follow in the gathering darkness and silent anticipation fell over the four of them as Appa closed the distance.

"Okay girls," Sokka whispered, "stick to the plan."

"Sneaking really isn't my style," Toph said and flipped back the hood on her dark cloak.  Sokka had tied a black bandana over her eyes, telling her it made her look more dangerous and somehow, it really did.  "Why don't we just storm in there like we did the last time we hijacked an airship?"

"Shhhh," Sokka hissed.  "We don't know who's on board.  It could be a trap, or they could have Zuko and Aang captured."

Suki had painted her face black, at Sokka's insistence, and wore all her dark Kyoshi Warrior armor and clothing.  "I'm with Sokka."

"Of course you are."

Suki ignored the blind girl's remark.  "Better to err on the side of caution."  And if they were careful, nobody had to get hurt.  Or hurt worse.

"Here we go," Katara whispered as Appa came in low under the airship's external walkway.  It took Toph and Suki both to lift Sokka and shove him up on the platform.  He grabbed them, one by one, and helped them up after him.

"Stay hidden, Appa, but stay close," Katara whispered and the sky bison rumbled what they hoped was an acknowledgement as he and Hawky dropped back.  Sokka had left his crutch behind and wrapped the bottom of his brace to muffle it.  Suki could tell that Katara was having a hard time allowing her brother to take unnecessary risks, but neither of them were going to tell him he couldn't help.  He seemed so confident and in charge, it was easy to forget he was still recovering.

He motioned Suki forward and then Katara, having designated them the advanced stealth team.  Toph would cover their rear and be ready with heavy metalbending backup.  As Katara passed the tiny earthbender she whispered, "Keep an eye on him."

The blindfolded blind girl gave her a thumbs up and Suki and Katara exchanged worried looks.  There was a very serious possibility that they were making a mistake, but there was no turning back.

Suki lifted the handle on the airship's entrance and opened the door without a sound.  Katara slipped inside, walking lightly over the grated floor, and Suki followed on her heels.  After making sure the coast was clear, Suki waved the other two forward.

Sokka made his way with assistance from the railing, and managed to keep his thumping steps quiet.  Toph came behind him with her hands in her pockets, looking bored despite the potential danger all around them.  

They made it in to the bomb bay without incident and Suki signaled for the others to stop while she crossed the open floor and made her way up the ladder on the far side.  She cracked the door and made sure the next hallway was deserted before giving the all clear signal.  

Katara slipped across and was up the ladder before Sokka had made it halfway across the bomb bay floor.  He stopped at the bottom of the ladder and stared at it like he'd never seen one before.  

"What?" Suki mouthed down to him and he met her gaze, shaking his head.  He stood there until Toph came up behind him and pulled him down to whisper something in his ear.  He nodded, took a deep breath, and hoisted himself up.  It was slow going as he couldn't bend his left knee properly and had to take it one rung at a time, but Toph waited patiently until he'd reached the top before she climbed up after him.  Sokka eagerly accepted Suki's help to clear the ladder, but only shook his head when she gave him a questioning look.  

Katara had been keeping an eye on the door and she waved, motioning for everyone to hide.  They tucked up against the wall, holding their breath as Katara took cover behind a collection of empty water barrels.  

A Fire Nation archer with a red facial tattoo stepped through the door, deposited an empty drum with the rest of the used containers and left.  Katara crept out from her hiding spot and joined them, breaking into an intense nonverbal discussion with her brother that Suki could only watch, feeling both amused and impressed by the range of communication that the two could convey with facial expressions and gestures alone.  

Toph grabbed the front of Suki's armor and pulled her down to her level.  "What's going on?" she hissed.

"Katara thinks Sokka should wait here.  He disagrees.  And something about their grandmother and his fourteenth birthday and a barrel of sea prunes."

Toph paused.  "You can tell all that from some hand gestures?"

"Yeah."

"Remind me never to play guessing games against the two of them."

Katara finally exhaled through her nose and gave Sokka a measuring look, shook her head, rolled her eyes, and turned back to the door, peeking through.  Sokka motioned for Suki to move and the Kyoshi Warrior let her stealth training take over as she slipped through.  

The hallway went right and left and ended shortly both ways in a ninety degree turn.  Suki went left and Katara waited until she reached the first corner before following.  If someone came up on the right side, they'd be spotted.

Realizing the precarious position they were in, Sokka poked his head out of the door and looked left, then right, then left, and back to the right.  Suki waved him forward and he did his best to be both stealthy and speedy.

Two steps into the hallway, his brace caught on the grated flooring.  He didn't so much trip, as catapult himself directly into the floor, like a door slamming shut.  His weapons and armor made a horrible clatter and even the non-earthbenders could feel the vibrations rattle through the ship.  

The response was immediate.  Voices, shouting, pounding feet.  Katara and Suki rushed back to Sokka's side as Toph came forward and placed herself protectively beside him.  

"Why not just hit the alarm next time?" Katara hissed as she tossed the bottom of his cloak aside and tried to figure out which part of his brace was stuck.  One of the buckles had come loose and wedged itself firmly into the grating.  Katara tugged while Suki and Toph prepared to fight and Sokka remained motionless, facedown on the floor.

Toph pulled a section of the metal plating off the wall and crumpled it into a giant ball.  As the sound of running footsteps grew louder she tossed the heavy projectile and sent it ricocheting around the corner and into the oncoming soldiers.

"Whoa!" A very familiar voice called out in surprise and a blast of air filled the corridor, causing Toph's hood to blow back.  There was a painful sounding impact punctuated with an "Oof" and another gust of wind.  

"Oops," Toph said and Katara got to her feet, forgetting all about Sokka.

"Aang?"  

Both ends of the hallway suddenly filled with a mix of tattooed archers and face painted Kyoshi Warriors, all with weapons drawn.  The three girls raised their hands and Sokka lifted his head to see what was going on and then put his face back to the floor, pulling his hood up in embarrassment.

"Don't shoot!  It's us!"  Katara pulled off her black mask and one group parted to let a short, bald figure through.

"You really need to teach me metalbending," he groaned and leaned into his staff, giving them all a weak smile.  "Hey Toph.  Hey Suki.  Hey Ka-"  Before he could finish, Katara bounded the short distance and threw herself into his arms.

"Aang!  I'm so glad you're alright!"

Aang hugged the waterbender.  "I was doing really great until two seconds ago."

"Yeah," Toph said, almost apologetic.  "You should have just dodged it."

Katara pulled back and took one of Aang's hands.  "I'm sorry I abandoned you.  I promise I won't do it again."

He squeezed her hand and smiled.  "Don't worry about it, Katara.  I understand why you did."  He looked past her and noticed the unmoving pile on the floor.  "Um, is Sokka dead?"

The warrior's voice drifted out from under his hood.  "I wish, Aang.  I wish."

"Oh, hey Sokka."

Ty Lee stepped forward out of the gathering crowd of painted warriors and gave Suki a quick hug.  "Glad to have you back, boss."  Then she skipped over to the fallen warrior.  "Need a hand, tough guy?"

"No, Ty Lee.  I'm good."

Suki finished greeting her warriors and then knelt down to extricate her boyfriend.  It was tricky, but she finally got him free and helped him sit up.  He grimaced and massaged the top of his bad knee with both hands.  

"Can you stand?"

"To be completely honest?"  

He winced and Suki frowned in concern.  "You must be hurt if you're not even going to pretend you're fine."

Katara and Aang came over and the waterbender put her hands on her hips.  "I told you this was going to happen."

"Ouch, Sokka," Aang said, taking in the warrior's visible injuries.  "What'd you do to yourself?"

"You should see the other guys," Sokka said and the boys grinned at each other.

"Nice."

Katara slapped the Avatar's shoulder, lightly.  "No, not nice.  You don't know what he was like when I found them.  He's lucky to be alive."

"If he was lucky," Aang said, "don't you think he wouldn't have gotten hurt in the first place?"

Sokka aimed his broken fingers at the airbender.  "That's what I've been saying."

Suki and Katara levered Sokka up to his good foot, supporting most of his weight between them.  "Do you have somewhere we can take him?" Katara asked and Aang nodded.

"We've got an infirmary."

"Infirmary?" Sokka whined.  "That sounds so… boring.  And clean."

Aang laughed and led the way while Toph brought up the rear.

"So Aang," Sokka said between hopping, "what are you guys doing on board an airship?"

"It's General Iroh's."

"And who are those archer guys?"

"The Yu Yan.  They were working for Ozai, but they're with us now."

"Ozai!?"  Sokka almost lost his footing and Suki and Katara steadied him, glaring sidelong at the distracted warrior.  "Did you stop him?  What happened?"

"That's kind of a long story," Aang hedged and pushed open a door, motioning them through into a sterile smelling room.  

"But you saved Zuko, right?"

"Um."

"Aang!" Sokka dragged the girls to a stop before they could deposit him on a bed with crisp white sheets.  "We've got to help Zuko!"  

The unnoticed occupant in the room leveled his uneven stare at the warrior.  "Help me what?"  

"Help rescue you," Sokka said, matter-of-factly, and then did a double take.  "Zuko!"

Zuko swung his legs to the edge of his hospital bed and repositioned his arm in its sling, looking uncomfortable from the sudden attention.  "Hi.  Everyone."

"Are you okay?"  Katara asked, dropping her brother into bed so she could go to the young Fire Lord's side.  The half of Zuko's face that wasn't scarred was covered in bruises and scrapes.   

"Yeah, buddy.  You look terrible," Sokka said, and he couldn't have sounded happier.  

Zuko glared across at the warrior as Katara checked his forehead for signs of a fever.  "Have you seen yourself lately?"

Sokka shrugged and kept grinning as Suki set his weapons aside and removed his cloak and armor to make him more comfortable.  "Don't burn the messenger."  

Katara bent a glove of water from her pouch and held her hand over Zuko's shoulder.  "It's nothing," he tried to tell her, but Katara was already soothing away his pain.  Zuko relaxed visibly, with a sigh.  

Sokka nodded knowingly at his reaction.  "It's good, right?"

"Yeah," Zuko said and slipped his other shoulder out of his tunic, revealing a wrap of bandages around his abdomen.  Katara pulled his shirt back and checked his injury.  

"Zuko, this looks like a lighting burn," she said, focusing her healing on the tender spot at the base of his spine.  "What happened?"

Zuko frowned.  "Azula happened."  Katara stopped and Sokka's self-satisfied smirk dropped as Suki looked over and even Toph tensed.  "But it's not what you think," he continued.  "She's… changed.  Ozai had the Dai Li brainwash her…"

"That is just so…" Sokka trailed off as a look of pain crossed his face.  

"Thanks, Sokka.  It means a lot that you can care, even after everything my sister did."

Sokka blinked and looked at the firebender with clouded eyes.  "What?  No, I mean, sure.  Azula.  Right."  He winced and grabbed the top of his leg with one hand and his gut with the other.  "Oh man."

Suki grabbed a bucket.  "Katara?" she said and a second later her boyfriend emptied the considerable contents of his stomach into the pail.    

Aang jumped back and Toph pushed herself off the wall where she had been leaning.  "Okay, that's our cue to exit."  She snagged the back of Aang's robe and dragged the Avatar from the room.  "C'mon Baldy, it's crowded enough in here."

Sokka burped and grabbed the bucket before sending another round splashing into it.  Suki rubbed his back.  "Just let it all out."  He heaved a third time, but his stomach was empty.  A long trail of sticky saliva hung from his lower lip and he growled and spit until it was gone.  He pushed the bucket to Suki and flopped back on the bed, covering his eyes with a forearm.  

Katara undid the wrapping and the buckles and straps on Sokka's brace.  She peeled it away from his bandaged leg and gasped.  "Sokka!"

"I know," he croaked.

"You should have said something!"  Katara covered both hands in healing water and went to work.  "Do you have any idea how dangerous this kind of swelling is?  You could have lost circulation from that stupid brace!"  Sokka could only nod and Katara turned to the other girl who stood by, ready to do anything.  "Suki, I need a wet towel."

The Kyoshi Warrior turned around and Zuko pointed her to the supply cabinet.  She dipped a cloth into a wash basin and returned to the waterbender.  

"Cover his leg," she said and after Suki did, Katara took a breath and leaned over, blowing on the wet cloth.  Ice crystals formed at the edges and the towel stiffened as it froze, perfectly wrapping the swollen limb.  She grabbed a few extra pillows and Suki carefully lifted Sokka's leg so they could prop it up.

With the same efficiency, Katara scooped up the tangle of leather and metal, went to the windows, opened one, and tossed Sokka's brace through.  His jaw dropped and Suki watched the thoughts flicker across his face, all to be dismissed as he realized Katara had him completely beat.

And she was furious.

"What were you thinking?"  Sokka clamped his mouth shut and watched his sister pace dramatically back and forth at the foot of his bed.  "Oh wait, I suppose you weren't thinking.  Is common sense too common for you?  Is that your problem with it?"

"Katara," Suki interceded and Sokka winced in anticipation, knowing it was a bad idea to interrupt one of his sister's rants.

"I get it, Suki," Katara said, holding up her hand to silence the female warrior.  "I know you've been trying to keep his spirits up, let him think he's helping.  But he's not helping anybody, least of all himself!  Right now, the only thing he needs to worry about is recuperating."  She rounded on her brother.  "You're going to stay in that bed until I say otherwise!  You got that, mister?"  

She grabbed Suki's wrist and led her to the door, turning back once more.  "Rest!"  And then she faced Zuko, who flinched at the smoldering rage in the waterbender's eyes.  "Same to you!  Why are men so fragile, anyway?  Huh?"

She shut the door with more force than was strictly necessary and the two battered young men glanced at each other.  

Zuko coughed into his hand.  "That was…"

"Awkward," Sokka finished with a grimace and settled back into his pillow for the long haul.  "My little sister just grounded me."

"Well, hey," Zuko said, trying to sound reassuring.  "Just be happy you have a sister who puts you together and not one that's trying to take you apart piece by piece with lightning."

Sokka thought about it for a minute.  "Y'know, you're getting better at cheering people up."  Zuko beamed and Sokka smiled back, innocently.  "Is now a bad time to mention I really need to pee?"

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