A Lost Love Found

Chapter III

Zuko sat across from everyone, staring down at the ground over the edge. His hair flowed in the wind. Katara watched him from behind, waiting for something to happen while she had to stop herself from having thoughts of pushing Zuko off the edge of the saddle. Sokka inspected his boomerang for scratches or dents while Aang was upfront on Appa's head, seeing their next destination. Toph was sitting crisscrossed, staring sightlessly in front of her. 

Katara cautiously stood up, walking slowly to keep her balance between sitting beside the anti-social prince. She cleared her throat for him to notice her presence.

Zuko closed his eyes and sighed, "May I help you?" he asked, annoyed that she disrupted his thoughts.

"I'm still waiting for that thank you," Katara mentioned.

"Again with that? Just let it go! I don't have anything to thank you for. If anything, you made it worse," he sighed with an exasperated look.

Katara narrowed her eyes at him until finally, her vision became misty with tears threatening to fall, but she took a deep breath, and her vision cleared before talking again, "You're a real jerk, you know that?" She spat at him.

Zuko's eyes widened in shock at the sudden words thrown at him, "Excuse me?"

Katara gave him an emotionless stare, "Did I stutter?"

Zuko straightened his back and turned to face her, "You better watch it, you little-" He stopped himself, his fists clenched so tight. He slowly released the death grip on his hands and looked away from the Water bender, sighing in defeat. 

Sokka looked up from his boomerang to notice the tension between his sister and his enemy. "Hey! What's your problem, yelling at my sister?" He shouted across the saddle, pointing one of the ends of his boomerang at Zuko like he was a second away from smashing it in his gut. 

Zuko snapped his head around, "Stay out. This is none of your business!" he snarled.

Katara smacked him on the head, "Zuko!"

Zuko grabbed her arm only milliseconds after she hit him, giving her a warning glare, and she returned the look, not once breaking their intense eye contact. 

Sokka narrowed his eyes at him, "This is my business. She's my sister." He shot back and hurried over. Zuko growled, muttering a few inappropriate words, releasing Katara's arm. He wanted to smack the Water tribe boy in the face. Sokka glanced at Zuko and dug the end of his boomerang into his chest, "If you got something to say, then say it to my face; otherwise, your face will have to meet Mr. Boomerang!" His voice rose with each word until he yelled in the older boy's face.

In the next few seconds, Sokka fell into the ocean, being knocked out of the saddle by Zuko in one strike. Katara looked over the saddle, "Sokka!" she yelled down at him as he crashed into the water. Aang heard the screams and stopped Appa in mid-air. He quickly jumped off Appa head-first into the water without thinking, "I'm coming, Sokka!" He made an enormous splash and searched for Sokka, who was only a few feet behind him. "Aang! I'm behind you!" Sokka shouted, waving his hand like a madman. 

Aang sighed as he came in sight of the flailing arms and swam over. "Hang on tight, Sokka." He wrapped an arm around him while his other waved in a circular motion causing the water around the two to rise up. They went up a few feet before Appa swooped down to meet them halfway. 

Sokka jumped onto the saddle with not even a second gone by and began yelling at Zuko, "I  can't believe you actually pushed me off the saddle! The nerve you Fire Benders got is unbelievable! I mean, really? Do you really expect to accomplish anything with that kind of attitude—" he ranted on until a large gust of wind, coming from Aang, hit him, drying him off. Aang dried himself off as well before going to sit on Appa's head, continuing their journey.