ATLA Book 4: Ashes

Living For the Present

After some discussion, in which sand castle contests were mentioned, the group decided to head to the beach. Luckily, Zuko knew of a small, secluded beach off the western side of the capital island, so after loading Appa with their spoils, they had made a quick flight to their getaway destination. Prodded along by Sokka's moaning about how he was literally wasting away from hunger, they had quickly got a huge fire going and prepared their 'victory-feast', as Sokka and then Aang, kept calling it.

Between ravenous bites of food, the friends related the tales of their victorious exploits, though most of the dramatic storytelling was done by Sokka, unsurprisingly. Neither Zuko nor Katara said much about what had transpired to them over the last several days, but thankfully, this fact went mostly unnoticed in the excitement of their reunion. Just as Katara had predicted, Sokka's head seemed to swell up to twice its normal size for each compliment that she and Zuko gave on their friends' battles, and so she and Suki had took it upon themselves to "relieve" Sokka of his swelling, minding his injured leg, of course.

Once their appetites had been sated, Aang, Toph, Sokka, and Suki had insisted on continuing their sand castle building. Zuko had no inclination whatsoever in the activity, so he had politely declined their invitation, and Katara had soon followed suit. At first, Aang's expression had been one of extreme disappointment, but it was short-lived as Toph began to unceremoniously drag him to the water's edge. As their friends constructed their sand masterpieces by the light of the fire and the nearly full moon, Katara and Zuko spent their time chatting in front of the fire.

Sitting next to each other, but mindful to keep some space between themselves, they conversed with an ease that was still relatively new, but very satisfying. They touched on a variety of topics, from their favorite foods and activities to some of the wacky things that had happened to them while on their travels. A light, flirtatious undertone was present throughout their conversation, and it was apparent that they were both taking extreme delight in teasing each other.

"You mean to tell me that your uncle Iroh set you up on a blind date?"

"Unfortunately, yes. My ship was stationed at one of the more remote Fire Nation colonies at the time of the Fire Lily festival. For some reason, he had gotten it in his thick skull that the only way I was going to enjoy the festivities was if I was on a date. Needless to say, when I thought I was meeting him at one of the local taverns, I actually was meeting a local girl he set me up with."

"And she didn't mind going on a date with a banished prince?"

"She either didn't care, or she didn't notice. I tend to lean towards the latter."

Katara giggled at his dry assessment, and then realized something, "Um, no offense, Zuko, but how could she not notice who you were?"

A pained look appeared on Zuko's face as he reminisced about that night. "Probably because she was too busy non-stop chattering about her hair, her makeup, whether or not her dress made her look fat, what kind of dancing was going on that night.... Agni, the only time she was silent was the two seconds it took for her to shove food in her mouth. Add to the fact that she didn't have the cognitive capacity to think past her nose... well, I think you get the picture."

"That's kinda harsh, Zuko."

"It's the truth. I can't help it if it sounds particularly harsh."

"Come on, she can't have been all that bad."

"I suppose she was kinda pretty, in a way. But she definitely wasn't my type."

Katara smiled and coyly asked, "So what is your type?"

She was beginning to love that mischievous grin of his, "I guess you can say I go for the bossy and opinionated type."

"I am not bossy and opinionated," she protested with a huff, which caused Zuko to chuckle.