ZuTara - Catch You Catch Me

It was a normal night for the GAang. Everyone was sitting around the campfire, eating. Appa snoozed not far off, and Momo chattered as he flapped from shoulder to shoulder. Sokka sat with Suki, and Katara, as usual, wouldn't speak to Zuko.

Just why she wouldn't speak to him, had always been a mystery to Toph. Couldn't the two see that they were just made for each other? Why is it that I'm the blind one, but they're the ones who can't see something right in front of their faces? she thought to herself. She knew she would just have to hook them up, somehow. She was just looking for the perfect opportunity.

That night, as Toph lay in bed with her arms under her head, an idea came to her. A devious grin stretched across her face. Oh yeah, she thought. It's perfect!

She went to sleep with the satisfying thought of her plans for the next day.

~~~~~

During the quiescent hours of the morning, when the sun had just poked its face over the horizon, and a crisp chill was in the air, Toph stumbled out of her bedroll to execute her master plan.

She tiptoed past her sleeping comrades until she reached Appa. After swallowing her dislike for the animal, she nudged his face in an attempt to wake him, whispering, "Appa...come on, wake up."

With a groan, the ten ton flying bison awakened and lifted its head to give her eye contact.

"Hey, Appa. Come on, let's go."

Appa yawned in protest.

"Come on, before someone wakes up!"

With one final nudge, Toph managed to convince Appa to his feet. The blind Earthbender then proceeded to guide him into the fields next to camp. Not too far away, just far enough that anyone who went in there would be out of eyeshot and earshot of the camp.

When she felt their location was sufficient, she stopped. "Stay here, Appa."

But Appa wouldn't heed her request. When she started to leave, he followed her, confused.

"No, Appa, stay here," she repeated, with a shove on his nose for emphasis. It took some convincing, and a mound of moonpeaches, but finally, she convinced the stubborn animal to cooperate.

Satisfied that the first bit of her plan was complete, Toph began her next move.

She began running back to camp, trying her best to look frantic, her feet pounding against the earth with each step she took. When she arrived at camp, she began yelling, "Guys! Wake up! I can't find Appa anywhere!"

To her left, Aang was curled up in his bedroll with his back to her, but hearing her cries, he stirred and slowly sat up, groaning as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. "Ugh...what?" He asked, dazed.

"Appa is missing!" Toph repeated.

The young Avatar used airbending to thrust himself to his feet. "What do you mean??"

"What do you think I mean, Twinkle Toes?? I can't find Appa!" Why is he being so difficult?

By this time, the whole GAang was up and on their feet, ready to assist.

Katara piped in. "Well, let's go find him!"

"Where should we look?" Suki asked.

Sokka jumped in: "We should split up, cover more ground. We'll divide into teams. I'll go with Suki."

Katara scoffed. "Oh, you'd make that sacrifice for the group, Sokka dear? How sweet of you." Next to her, Zuko grinned.

Sokka ignored her and went on. "Aang, you go with Toph. And Zuko--" He stopped, realizing that only Katara was available to accompany Zuko, and that was so not a good idea. All they would do was fight. "Well, maybe Zuko can go with--"

Of course, for Toph's master plan to work, Zuko and Katara had to go together, so she interjected. "Let's just go! Don't worry about the teams!"

She began pointing out where each team should look, strategically making sure each team went just where she wanted them to go.  "Aang, you and I will go that way. Sokka and Suki, why don't you look over there? Zuko and Katara, go you look over that way."

And with that, the GAang split up to look for the missing sky bison.

~~~~~

As Toph walked underneath a gliding Aang, she was sure to keep close watch on Zuko and Katara. She wanted to know just when to do her thing.

Finally, she deemed it safe and, using vibrations picked up by her feet to sense the pair's location, the blind earthbender sent a rock to jut out of the ground at just the right time and place.

~~~~~

Katara trudged through the dry, yellow field, not the least bit pleased that she had to be with...ugh...him. Of course, she was sure to keep a fair distance away. She hadn't said a word the whole time. What was there to say that she hadn't made painfully clear at the western air temple? He knew enough to not try and start up a conversation, and she--

With no warning whatsoever, a rock suddenly appeared out of nowhere, right in her path. It appeared so suddenly; she didn't have any time to walk around it. With her next step, her foot smacked against the rock at a weird angle, and she felt a pain in her ankle. She lost her balance and started to fall, but was surprised when strong arms caught her. She looked up to see a shocked Zuko looking down at her with golden eyes. His eyes seemed to be asking her a question: "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," she said. She pushed herself off of his chest and tried to stand, but immediately fell again and felt herself land once again on Zuko. Her ankle was throbbing; she knew she couldn't walk on it.

Thought she hated to do it, she swallowed her pride. "I...I can't walk, Zuko. Would you...help me back to camp...please?"

"I--sure," came the response from the startled firebender. Then he regained his composure. "Of course."

Zuko tentatively wrapped his left arm around Katara's shoulder in an attempt to support her.

At first, Katara stiffened at his touch, but then remembered her predicament and leaned into him, allowing his strength to make up for her own.

She tried to hop on her good right foot, while Zuko's arm made up for her injured left foot. The two awkwardly began half hopping, half walking back to camp.

Katara had never really paid attention to it before, but now that she was upheld by Zuko, she noticed that he was quite strong. Nestled in the crook of his arm, she blushed as she caught herself glancing at his biceps. She admonished herself and determined to keep her eyes straight ahead for the whole awkward procession back to camp.

Zuko did his best to hold Katara up firmly, but he felt very uncomfortable. He knew he would probably hear about this from her later. He couldn't help but notice the way she leaned into him, relying on his strength. Despite himself, he felt slightly pleased at the notion. He made up his mind to not let her fall.

~~~~~

Meanwhile, Toph, who had "seen" the whole thing, was feeling pretty proud of herself. "Mission accomplished," she muttered smugly.

"What?" Aang asked from beside her. He looked perplexed.

Toph suppressed a laugh. "Oh, nothing."