Ch 1: Overhearing Girl Talk

AN: Don't know how long this will be, it just literally needed to get out of my head! I'm guessing something like 4 or 5 chapters...

Also...
let us just assume Katara is like 15/16 or whatever the age of consent is wherever you're reading this! It would make Sokka a year older at 17, Suki and Zuko also at 17. Aang and Toph can remain at 13.

Here you go, silliness part 1, featuring overheard conversations. I'm sure I've read a fic with a similar set up that probably inspired this particular chapter but I can't find it anymore to credit it! Anyway enjoy and as always drop me a comment if you like it :)

p.s. I am coming back to Blood, Chi, and Full Moons, don't worry! I'm finally getting around to having time to finish it! And I also have another fic in the works of which I'll probably post the first chapter soon...

"….and then we went to the prison to free all the earth benders because Katara had a massive crush on Haru - you remember him, from the Air Temple?" Sokka was saying, recounting in a rather exaggerated manner their early adventures for Zuko and Suki and Toph.

"I did not have a crush on him!" protested Katara, going red in the face.

"You so did! Anyway, stop interrupting! Where was I? Oh yeah…." Continued Sokka, unfazed by his sister's embarrassment.

"Toph, Katara, I think we need to have a chat in the living room," said Suki a while later, smoothly plucking the two girls from the room and shifting them to a more secluded spot.

Aang and Sokka were arguing about something to do with boomerangs and how to combine airbending with the weapon so as to reach high berries found in the fire nation. After a few minutes Zuko decided the girls were probably more entertaining and got up to join them.

"I can tell you're lying Sugar Queen," he heard Toph say as he approached the living room, "you sooooo had a thing with Haru!" Zuko didn't want to think why his heart stuttered a little bit at that.

"Fine! I fancied him just a little bit ok? Is that what you want to hear? But nothing happened!" Katara was getting defensive.

Zuko realised Toph must know he was hovering and so pushed his way into the room, trying to hide the irritation at that last comment.

"I didn't know you were into moustaches and beards Katara," he teased. Toph sniggered.

"He didn't have a beard when I first met him!" cried Katara, blushing furiously.

"Zuko, no offence but this is a girl talk, you should go back to your manly men," said Suki forcefully. Zuko snorted.

"Beat it Sparky, we're trying to figure out Katara's type! Important stuff!" Zuko sighed, but his gaze lingered on Katara's blushing cheeks before he retreated back to the boys.

"What are they talking about in there?" asked Sokka when Zuko joined them. Ah they obviously had noticed his absence.

"Something about trying to figure out Katara's type," he shrugged, dropping back down on the steps.

"Type of what?" asked Aang, suddenly interested. Zuko raised his good eyebrow.

"Type of man," he said, emphasising the word 'man' so that the kid would get the hint and stay away from her. Aang looked shifty.

"I…uh…I forgot something in the other room… I'll be right back…" he mumbled as he sped away. Zuko rolled his eyes.

"Suki will not be happy," Zuko muttered.

"Suki…" said Sokka dreamily. "Oh wait! Suki will kill him if she catches him eavesdropping!" snapped Sokka, jumping to his feet. "You coming to retrieve Aang?" he asked Zuko.

"Oh I am not getting involved," replied Zuko. But when Sokka was out of sight he jumped up and went to the floor above, grimacing at his own childish curiosity. He and Azula used to look through a hole from the floor above to watch what happened in the living room. He pushed those memories away, but made his way down the deserted upper corridor and lay down on the floor, putting his eye to the little spyhole carefully not making any noise. He knew that Toph couldn't sense him up here on the wood, and would probably not be listening out for him either, so as long as he stayed quiet he should be alright.

Zuko could see Aang crouched in a corner just behind the couch and Sokka on the floor on the corner of the door, just out of sight of the girls, trying to get Aang to leave. He also noticed Toph's lips twitch as she sensed them there, but they were deep in conversation. Toph did not look happy.

"…so he was just really sweet to me and… I don't know kind of rugged and rough around the edges but I thought he was fighting for the greater good…" Katara was saying, fidgeting with her shirt.

"Ok so, you liked the rough look in Jet," summarised Suki, "and the good heart," she quickly added at Katara's scowl. "Hey, that's nothing to be ashamed of! I'm totally into that too! That's why I like your brother - he's so brave and his heart is in the right place and he is fiercely loyal…" Zuko saw Sokka's expression soften and he stopped trying to get to Aang, instead listening intently. Zuko, instead, had a burning dislike of Jet which he had recently buried but which flared up even stronger. He breathed out and calmed himself down.

"What's it like, Suki? When you and Sokka kiss?" asked Katara, hugging her knees. Toph scoffed.

"Why on earth would you ask that Sugar Queen?!" she asked, "It's not like we need more reminders of what they're up to!" Suki threw a pillow at her.

"No… I mean… what do you feel when you kiss? I want to know what its meant to be like?" persisted Katara, big blue eyes honestly interested.

"Well.. there are lots of different types of kisses… at the beginning I was all fluttery in my stomach and it was like time stopped when we kissed and it felt so right! Like we were made to be doing that! But now there are other kisses too.. when one of us is feeling down there are kisses that remind you there are good things too, and when I'm tired he'll kiss me to give me a little bit of strength… and then there are the passionate kisses which you know… are sort of a promise of other things and they sort of consume you like fire so you don't know where you are anymore…" Zuko frowned. Was Sokka brushing a tear from his eye? What was this!

But inside Zuko thought that he'd had maybe some of the preamble kisses from Mai, but no comforting ones, none there to give him energy… they were mostly expectant kisses, leading up to something else…in fact he was pretty sure Mai had some sort of internal timer for how long they should be kissing before moving on to other things.. and time definitely didn't stop! What a silly idea!

"With Jet I was just really nervous. And he was a little… um… forceful? It was alright but nothing like losing track of time," frowned Katara.

"Maybe he just wasn't a very good kisser," offered Toph, "although from what you said it sounds like he had enough experience." Katara groaned and covered her blushing face with her hands. Zuko's eyes narrowed. He didn't like the sound of whatever else Jet had experience in. Sokka was probably thinking the same thing as his hand went to the boomerang tied to his side.

"No I think, you know, I know Sokka, so its special. Its nothing to do with technique or whatever - I had to teach him that -" Suki started, Toph interrupting her with a howl of laughter. Zuko could see Sokka's face going red up to the tips of his ears. "BUT," Suki continued, ignoring Toph as much as she could, "it means that I see him watching me and I can already taste what the kiss will be like and I just find myself pressed against him before I know what I'm doing. Its sort of magical. I don't think you can have that with somebody you don't really know."

"Yeah, you're probably right," answered Katara. Zuko thought of Mai again. How he couldn't tell what was going on with her at all - she could look at him with the same gaze she stared down anybody and then she would be leaning in for a kiss. He pushed it to the back of is mind. He noticed Toph shifting uncomfortably where she was sitting.

"What about when you and Aang kissed?" she asked.

"Oh well.. he kissed me really! And I think it was just from the relief you know, that we were still alive after the invasion. It was a little weird to be honest… he's like a little brother to me, and he's so young!" said Katara thoughtfully, flipping her plait to her back.

Unknown to her, Aang scooted out, tears in his eyes. Sokka followed a split second later, looking torn as to whether to stay or go after his friend. Zuko sighed. Oh Toph, he thought. But the little guy needed to hear it at some point, and this way Katara wouldn't have to break it to him - because Zuko seriously doubted whether she had it in her to break his heart to his face. Toph had clearly thought this through.

And strangely, Zuko felt a massive weight lifted from his shoulders, although he wasn't sure why exactly. It was obvious she didn't feel the same way towards Aang as he felt to her, but there was still some doubt in Zuko's mind. And that was getting in the way of training. Yeah. That was it. Can't train a delusional, love sick puppy in firebendng! Maybe now Aang will have some power behind his punches. Yeah… that's why he was relieved… no other explanation for it!

Below him they were talking again. Zuko listened in.

"Oh God, Sugar Queen! Spit it out!" Toph was saying.

"Okok, I just wanted to ask if you … you know… touch yourself… like at night…" Zuko blushed so hard he felt the tip of his good ear go red.

"Oh nah I don't. They talked about it a lot at the Earth Rumble but don't really feel like it…" Toph replied, completely unfazed. Zuko wondered exactly how much Toph knew about everything, because she seemed pretty well informed for somebody so young!

"Oh sweetie, Toph, you're a little young! One day you'll try it and it will be good! But just do it when its natural for you alright? Katara, for your age its completely normal. Amongst our warriors we actually have scrolls teaching us the best ways to bring pleasure because we train in independence. Sometimes men use that kind of pleasure to control our loyalties. So we need to make sure our girls know they can do everything themselves!" Suki said, proudly.

"Really," gasped Katara, "That's a pretty cool thing to do! I just sort of… fumble around… I don't really know what I'm doing most of the time…" admitted Katara.

Suki clapped her hands. "Well girls, listen in and I'll give you some tips!" she sounded excited to be sharing her information, and both Toph and Katara leaned forward.

Zuko decided this was probably way past the time for him to leave, so he quietly picked himself up and lightly tiptoed to the wing of the house with the bedrooms, careful not to make a sound.

He scowled as he shut his door behind him. He couldn't deny that a certain waterbender doing those things wasn't a tad arousing, but he needed to calm down and keep it under control. He knew that as soon as he admitted being attracted to her to himself he would have to admit to how long that attraction had been happening… and whether it was indeed just attraction….He breathed out smoke and walked out onto the balcony. There he could see Sokka running around trying to talk to Aang, but the little airbender was kicking up a real storm of sand, trying to keep Sokka away. Eventually, he snapped open his glider and flew off. Zuko ground his teeth. Now was not the time to be running away. He better be back by morning firebending practice or so help him.

Zuko ran a hand through his hair before flipping off the balcony and striding out to meet Sokka.

"Hey Sokka," he greeted. Sokka jumped, still looking at the patch of dark sky Aang had disappeared into.

"Oh hey Zuko!" he said, all too casually.

"Why has Aang flown away?" asked Zuko, seriously.

"Oh well… you see…" Sokka started, clearly looking for an excuse, but stopped at Zuko's no-nonsense expression, "See its like this… we were eavesdropping on the girls' conversation and Katara kind of admitted she wasn't into Aang - and you know how Aang follows her around all the time! He didn't take it too well…"

"You think he had no idea?" asked Zuko, genuinely interested.

"Thats what I said! I mean its not like she's falling into his arms or anything! To be honest its been getting on my nerves a little bit…" trailed off Sokka looking a little guilty.

"Yeah," agreed Zuko, "she mothers him too much. And how could she be sexually attracted to a twelve year old! That would be strange."

Sokka's eyes went wide. "My sister isn't sexually attracted to anybody!" he cried, jamming a finger into Zuko's chest for emphasis, "but… yeah… especially not a little brother like Aang. She treats Aang like she used to treat me… expect better cause, you know, he's the Avatar and needs to defeat the Fire Lord blah di blah di blah. Honestly Zuko, you're the only one Katara doesn't mother!" Sokka sighed, looking into the sky again. Something fluttered in Zuko's chest

"He better come back," growled Zuko.

"Yeah he will, Aang just needs some time to himself, that's all," said Sokka but not exactly convinced himself.

"I'm going to bed," announced Zuko, turning on his heel. He didn't exactly want to have a heart to heart with the Avatar over the heartbreaking realisation that the girl who mothers him doesn't share his little crush.

"I'll stay here and wait a little longer," said Sokka. Zuko nodded and headed off. He supposed that if Sokka didn't get Aang under control they would need to admit to the girls they were eavesdropping. And that little tidbit of information was sure to cause a stir.

As he passed the living room, he couldn't help himself hearing what was going on… although he didn't pause his step for fear of Toph's wrath.

"Come on Sweetness, who is it you think about when you have Sugar Time?" came Toph's mocking voice. Zuko frowned. Sugar Time! Argh!

"Oh nobody…" said Katara. He could almost hear the blush in her voice.

"Ooooh is it somebody we know?" asked Suki with an excitement only rivalled by Ty Lee.

"No, nobody you know," said Katara. Zuko was almost out of hearing.

"Liar!" cried Toph.

Zuko went to his room, trying not to think that through. It was going to be a very hot and stuffy night.

Zuko couldn't sleep. He would not be giving in to all the images overhearing that little talk had given him, but neither could they damned well leave him alone! Eventually he got up to make himself some chamomile tea.

When he arrived at the kitchen though there was light spilling out. He turned in and saw Katara sitting at the table, a teapot and cup in front of her. His heart leapt to his throat. She looked up and her eyes widened slightly in shock, before quickly looking away.

"I… I couldn't sleep," he said in explanation. "Can I come in? I wanted some chamomile."

"I actually just made some I was waiting to brew, if you want," she replied, gesturing to the one on the table. Zuko nodded and crossed to pick another teacup from the cupboard and sat down at the table with her. They were silent for a while, waiting for the brew to finish, and then Katara gently poured them both a cup. Zuko still said nothing Something was obviously worrying her and she would talk when she was ready.

"Can I ask you something Zuko?" she said finally, fixing him with timid but inquisitive eyes. Zuko nodded. "You've... you've had sex right?"

Zuko's good eyebrow rose. He was not expecting that - but in retrospect it would be obvious that was on her mind. Spirits it was on his mind enough!

"When you... kissed... was it... was it you know... magical?" she asked, blushing, and he understood that she meant more than just kissing. He thought back to Suki's answer earlier and he sighed.

"No, not really. It was nice. Fun. A little awkward." Zuko wondered how on earth he had now been drawn into girl talk! Katara hummed pensively.

"See, that's it was like with Jet! Oh I mean the kissing. Not the sex. We didn't... you know... anyway, Suki said that with Sokka its sort of like magic and time stops," she blabbered, clearly a little uncomfortable with the discussion. Zuko decided two things: he hated Jet and he had no pity for her. He would not be helping her out of her awkwardness. She had started it.

Alright maybe he had a little pity.

"I think," he said kindly, "that Sokka and Suki have something really special."

Katara suddenly made eye contact with him, large blue locking with his eyes for a few heartbeats, before lowering to observe her tea.

"Yeah, I guess so." She took a sip. "Have I ever told you how Sokka and Suki met?" she asked, suddenly more upbeat. Zuko shook his head, taking a sip of the chamomile.

Katara launched into a tale of Sokka's disregard for the female warriors and how he had been forced to wear a dress to make up for his lack of skills and had trouble with the makeup - how Suki had kicked his arse on multiple occasions only to turn around and offer to train him in Kyoshi ways. Zuko thought he could listen to the sound of her voice all night. He found himself laughing along with her descriptions and found how she used more swear words and crude descriptions when she spoke to him as opposed to when she spoke to Aang. Not quite Toph standard, but somewhere more like Suki in her directness.

"Its just so strange you know? That at the beginning of it all he was a useless fighter while she was already trained but he never gave up against her anyway. And they had completely different takes on the war and he managed to change her mind to get involved. I mean they pretty much hated one another at first! She even tied us all to a pole the first time we met! Sokka was not happy about that at all!" she giggled. The laughter died on her lips when she realised Zuko was no longer laughing with her.

Zuko's heart was beating faster than normal. Sokka and Suki's story… it seemed like a miniature version of his and Katara's. He had a strange feeling in the pit of his stomach. Was it hope? Why would he hope? He tried to shake it away, but realised his hesitation had made her stop laughing and was regarding him with an odd look. He studied his tea for a while.

"Its good… that they found each other… in the midst of war," he said eventually. There was another silence as he thought about when he'd tied Katara to the tree. He knew she was thinking about the same thing by the way she played with her necklace.

"You know, I didn't know… about your necklace… I'm sorry," he murmured. She looked up, surprised he'd read her thoughts so easily.

"I know Zuko, its alright. I never thought I'd see it again when I lost it anyway," she replied in a low, sincere voice.

"Just, if I'd known I wouldn't have used it. That was not… honourable," he insisted, running a hand through his hair.

Katara snorted. "A lot more honourable that what I thought was going to happen," she said offhandedly, pouring herself another cup of tea. "Being bribed with my mother's necklace was really quite a relief!"

Zuko frowned at her. The he replayed the scene in his head and realised what it would have seemed like. His whole face went red.

"Katara I didn't… I didn't think that… I would never… I couldn't do something like that… that's… what… no… " he spluttered. She waved a hand to cut him off. "I'm sorry I scared you like that," he said after a deep breath.

"Honestly, its alright Zuko. I've forgiven you for it already. I'm not stupid, I know how those things work and I was scared… but you didn't even try anything and I think, at least for me, that's when I started trusting you. Because I knew that for all you were awful and doing the wrong thing, you didn't actually want to hurt us. You weren't like the pirates or Zhao or the others who took pleasure in the pain of other people."

Zuko let out a humourless laugh. "I tie you to a tree, try to bribe you with your mother's necklace and you started trusting me? Because I didn't try to rape you? Ha! That's a pretty low standard right there!"

Katara shrugged. "There's a war. I was alone. I hadn't even mastered bending yet," she pointed out.

"It doesn't matter what I'd done, you wouldn't have told me where they were, wouldn't you?" he asked quietly, spreading his fingers out on the table, trying to relax them from the fists he had been clenching. "You were ready for anything."

Katara made eye contact then, intense blue immersing his vision.

"I protect my friends," she said simply. She reached out and grabbed his hands from the table, holding them in her own. For some reason the contact made Zuko jump and he noticed the same little reaction from her before she frowned and spoke. "Please don't beat yourself up about this Zuko and go all moody! We can't be focusing on that right now."

Zuko opened his mouth to retort that he wasn't moody, but he saw the sincerity in her eyes and he just nodded. She gave his hands a light squeeze and let go. Zuko missed them.

"Well this has gotten far too serious," she said after a while of contemplative silence. "Would you rather… eat sea prunes or the hottest fireflake ever?"

Zuko's lip curled up in a half smile "Hottest fireflake. No question," he replied quickly. Katara play hit his arm.

"Sea prunes aren't that bad!" she replied, smiling.

"You know, this is a drinking game?" he said after a few more rounds.

"Is it? How?"

"Well every time you get asked something you have to drink before answering. The idea is you'll be more truthful or something," he replied. He remembered some of the kids they'd met at that infernal party doing something similar. His crew occasionally used to play. Zuko never participated. However, playing with one smiling water bender might be quite… fun.

"Huh. We'll have to play some time," she said, smiling.

Aang returned late that night, after Zuko and Katara had finally gone to sleep. Sokka was dozing against a rock on the beach when he head the sound of Aang's glider snap shut. He was on his feet in a moment.

"Aang, how's it going buddy?" he asked quickly, patting him on the back.

"I'm ok Sokka! I've decided that maybe if I tell her how I feel she might see it makes sense for us to end up together! Good night!" called a jovial Aang, already heading to his room on an air scooter.

Sokka's jaw dropped. Oh boy was that kid in for a nasty surprise. Sokka tried to brush as much sand off as he could and went to sleep too.