The Confrontational Approach

By Advocaat

Important update: This chapter received a major overhaul on 12/18/2016 and a second, lesser fixup on 06/25/2020. In order to preserve the integrity of the original chapter, I chose not to change some things that I would probably write differently today. Whether you're a first-time reader or a seasoned vet, I hope you'll enjoy this newly revamped chapter.

Unless you see a note like the one above at the top of the following chapters, know that they still exist in their original, unedited form and are therefore full of cheese. You have been warned.

Chapter One

A Wild Brother Appeared!

It was one of those days. The kind where the sun is shining and the birds are singing and the world just seems full and bright and brimming with possibilities. It was the sort of day where you wake up and stretch your arms high above your head and no matter what is happening in the world you think that nothing could possibly go wrong. Such was the day that the curtain rises on our tale.

A pleasant breeze offered welcome relief from the heat of midsummer as the sun rose over the Western Air Temple. Zuko woke Aang at the crack of dawn for a firebending lesson and the two spent the next few hours shooting fireballs at each other. As noon approached, Aang was released and he wandered off to find Toph for his recently established daily ritual of attempting to sneak up on her using airbending. It had become something of a personal challenge to see how close he could get to her before she noticed him. Predictably, this ended in Aang encased up to his neck in stone and treated to a happy helping of Toph-brand snark. "You've failed the last fourteen times you tried, but don't learn from that or anything. I'm sure it'll work next time."

Meanwhile, on the other side of the temple, Sokka sat with Suki and Katara in the large hall where the group typically gathered for meals. The blue-clad swordsman absently fiddled with his boomerang while he waited for his sister to finish preparing lunch. Hakoda had elected to go hunting, as according to his son, their supply of meat was worryingly low. Haru, Teo, and The Duke were off somewhere in the belly of the temple doing whatever it is inconsequential side characters do.

Zuko was the first of those not already present to arrive for lunch, freshly dressed after his session with Aang. He nodded to Sokka and Suki before looking over at Katara who carried on bending the contents of her pot while making a grand show of not noticing him. He stared at her thoughtfully for a moment, then began walking toward her with determined steps. Sokka, who had looked up from his weapon at Zuko's arrival, furrowed his eyebrows at the older boy's actions. His eyes followed Zuko as he stopped a polite distance from Katara and hesitated briefly before he cleared his throat and asked, "Do you, um, need any help?"

The whole room collectively held its breath. Why the reformed prince persisted in approaching the waterbender despite the near-certain likelihood of incurring her wrath, none of them knew.

But Sokka had his guesses.

Katara made no sign to indicate that she'd heard him, but Zuko maintained his position, undeterred. After a few tense moments, she finally looked up from her stew and met the male bender's gaze. To the enormous surprise of everyone present, there came no explosion of anger, nor even Katara's signature frosty glare. Instead of biting his head off as would be the reasonable expectation were this morning the same as any that had preceded it, she simply said, "We need bowls," and turned back to her pot. There was a short moment in which Zuko, along with the rest of the room, stared at her in astonishment, and then Zuko turned around and began to walk to the bags where they stored their supplies. As Sokka watched, he glanced back over his shoulder at Katara and a small, pleased smile appeared on his face.

Sokka's eyes narrowed as they took in the uncharacteristic expression his tentative friend now sported. Oh, no. The Water Tribe teen thought as he watched the older boy pad off to fetch their dishes. I don't think so.

oO0Oo

After lunch, Zuko headed for the fountain as he attempted to decide how he was going to spend his free afternoon. Normally, Aang would have another round with him before Toph stole him away for earthbending practice, but Aang had been working hard in his lessons and championing through multiple grueling sessions a day, such that even Zuko could admit that he deserved a break.

He arrived at the wide platform and absently noted the presence of Toph who was currently occupying a fallen chunk of rubble not far from the fountain. As he approached the fountain himself, he considered that since he'd suddenly found himself with free time, perhaps it would be prudent to get some training in with his Daos. They'd been sadly neglected since he'd joined the Avatar's group and, well, nothing kills badassery like mothballs.

Satisfied with this plan, Zuko was just about to turn around and head to his room to grab said swords when he noticed the elder of the two Water Tribe siblings leaning against a pillar nearby. Sokka's arms were crossed over his chest and a scowl was planted firmly on his face; a scowl Zuko quickly realized was aimed at him. Zuko wracked is brain for anything he might have done recently to warrant the other boy's ire but came up blank.

"Hey, Sokka. Is something wrong?" he addressed his friend carefully.

Sokka pushed himself away from the pillar and strode over until he was positioned directly in front of the baffled firebender. "Oh, something's wrong alright," the boy answered, blue eyes narrowed in a fashion that to Zuko looked very much like he was about to be accused of something.

This feeling solidified when Sokka shoved his index finger into his chest and said, "Don't think I haven't seen the way you look at her."

Zuko blinked at him uncomprehendingly. "...What?"

Sokka's scowl deepened. "Don't you what me." He jabbed his finger harder. "You know what I'm talking about."

Zuko was genuinely dumbfounded. Contrary to Sokka's declaration, he didn't think he'd ever had less of a clue what someone was talking about. "Wait," he implored. "Back up a bit. Who are we talking about?"

"My sister, obviously." Sokka was now attempting to impale Zuko with his finger, an act that the firebender found decidedly annoying and uncomfortable. "These eyes aren't just for show, you know. I've been watching you. Closely."

There was a protracted moment of silence as the two looked at each other. Sokka with his eyes still narrowed, waiting for Zuko to either acknowledge the accusation as truth or defend himself. Zuko in stupefaction as his brain worked through what the other boy had just claimed.

Toph coughed.

Slowly, the blood drained from Zuko's face as he realized what the younger teen was getting at.

Sokka thought he….

He thought he….

Zuko could only grimace in the face of his friend's… terribly misguided accusation. Sokka couldn't really think that he harbored feelings of that kind for Katara—the girl who treated him like mud on the bottom of her shoe when she wasn't feeling homicidal—could he? Zuko didn't think ill of Katara. He'd given her good reason to mistrust him, after all. but he liked to think he had slightly better self-preservation instincts than to fall for a girl who wanted to see him decompose at the bottom of a cliff.

Zuko tried to soothe Sokka's ire with what he considered a reasonable counterargument. "Look, I'm not sure what you think you've seen, but even if I do look at Katara from time to time, that's only natural, isn't it? I can't not look at her."

Sokka's glare intensified. Zuko quickly realized how his words could be misconstrued and hurriedly tried to fix it. "I mean, we're all living together, so of course I have to look at her sometimes. But not the way you think!" He sighed at his own lack of eloquence and pushed a hand through his bangs. "Listen. Even if I was looking at her that way, you and I both know nothing would ever come of it. She hates me."

"So, you admit it!" The warrior exclaimed triumphantly.

"What? No! How on earth did you even come to that conclusion?" This conversation was derailing faster than a Ba Sing Se commuter train conducted by jackal-monkeys.

"Look, Zuko…" Sokka closed his eyes and reached out to lay a hand on Zuko's shoulder. "I respect you as a fellow warrior, comrade, and broseph…"

"Bro-what?"

"HOWEVER," he continued overtop the firebender, "Lusting after my sister… even thinking of touching her with your slimy Fire Nation hands—"

"My hands aren't slimy!"

"—is absolutely and irrevocably prohibited. Capisce?"

Zuko screwed up his brow in consternation. What even was this conversation? How had his morning turned into this? He'd been minding his own business—happily—just thinking about getting a little sword training in. He thought he'd been acting perfectly agreeably. Now here Sokka was accusing him of being some kind of…what? Sexual predator? Sister-stealer? Because he occasionally looked at Katara?

There was another lengthy measure of silence as the two just kind of looked at each other. Even though he stood by what he'd said about not being interested in Katara in that way, Zuko would be lying if he told Sokka he didn't find Katara aesthetically agreeable. He would also be lying if he denied that the desire for her to look upon him favorably whispered in his heart. It was only natural after the way she'd treated him in Ba Sing Se. Like a person. Like he was someone worth helping even though he'd never done anything to deserve it. He'd hoped that he could try again with her when he joined the Avatar's group.

He still hoped that.

In any case, Sokka obviously wasn't interested in hearing his protests, so instead, Zuko tried the next best tactic. Deflection. "What about Aang? Did he get the same warning, or am I somehow special?"

Sokka scoffed and blessedly took a step back to stand at a more reasonable distance. "Aang is twelve," he counterclaimed, wagging a hand dismissively. "And he was raised by monks. He's probably doesn't know a thing about the sparrowkeets and the butterbees."

Zuko folded his arms over his chest and quirked his single eyebrow. "You think the Air Nomads wouldn't have given him the talk? Aang's a curious kid. He's bound to have had questions." He pegged Sokka with a meaningful look.

Sokka seemed to consider this for a moment. Zuko saw the gears turning in his head, processing. He waited.

"Come to think of it, Aang has been going off on his own a lot lately..." Toph contributed from her chunk of rock. She'd been listening silently up until that point, but the turn this conversation had taken was undoubtedly too spicy to remain an observer. "He won't tell me what he's doing, but I suspect he'd be perfectly happy to let Katara help him out with whatever it is."

Zuko's cheeks pinkened and he failed to fight off a grimace. Trust Toph to be perfectly on top of such an awkward and uncomfortable subject.

Sokka's previous look of contemplation changed to one of horror and Zuko watched as his eyes immediately began to dart around their surroundings nervously, likely trying to place his sister's and Aang's current positions within the temple. "You know what? I just remembered that I, uh, haven't talked to…Teo. About…the plan." He began backing out of the room. "You know how important the plan is. Good talk, Zuko."

Without wasting another second, he turned on his heel and fled the room.

Zuko rounded on the blind twelve-year-old. "Are you serious?"

Toph picked some dirt from under her fingernail and flicked it at him. "Of course not. That kid's as innocent as they come."

He let out a small, relieved sigh that, of course, did not go unnoticed by Toph.

"I just thought I'd help you out. Sokka was having a bit of a rant, and his rants can go on for a while. As much as I delight in watching you flail your way through awkward situations, I don't wish a Sokka-rant on anyone."

Zuko rubbed the spot between his eyes. "Um, thanks. I think."

Toph leaned forward, placing her elbows on her knees. "You know, Sokka doesn't actually disapprove of your little crush on Katara." She smirked when Zuko took a surprised step back. "He just doesn't want her to get hurt. Although, you probably should consider toning down your ogling a bit. I'm surprised nobody else has noticed yet. Heck, I'm surprised Katara hasn't noticed yet. You're not exactly subtle."

Zuko spluttered. "I don't have a crush on her! Seriously! And how would you even know if I'm ogling her or not? You can't even see me."

"Please," Toph snorted, "Don't look down on me, Spice Lord. I can feel your heart rate accelerate when you talk to her, and I sense your nervousness when you two are in a room together. Your heart beats faster than a scared rabiroo's. These feet don't lie." She lifted a leg and waggled her toes at him.

Zuko sighed. Of course she did. And of course she, like Sokka, completely misunderstood his relationship with Katara. "Anything else your feet feel like sharing?" He meant it to be sarcastic, but this seemed to be the question the tiny earthbender was waiting for.

"Actually, yes. You and Katara have been dancing around each other since you arrived here, and frankly, it's beginning to get weird." She removed her elbows from her knees and leaned back to rest on her palms, oblivious to the way Zuko's eyebrow twitched and his mouth pulled down into an insulted scowl. "Now, I haven't known you as long as the others, but from what I've heard this hasn't always been the case. I was told that you spent a lot of time chasing Twinkletoes and Snoozles and Sugar Queen across the globe before I met them. They talked about you a lot."

Zuko's scowl fell away and he interrupted Toph to ask, "Really? What did they say?"

Toph shrugged. "Oh, you know, a lot of things. Like how annoying it was that you always seemed to show up wherever they went, and how stubborn and angry a demanding you were..."

"…Oh."

"And Katara was pretty miffed at you because of something involving her necklace and some pirates."

Zuko shifted guiltily and scratched his right elbow with his left hand. "Right…that. I really do feel bad about tying her to a tree. I never—"

"Wait, wait, wait," Toph interrupted. "You tied Katara to a tree? Wow, that's... I mean...that just explains so much."

Zuko glowered at her. "I was desperate!"

"Whoa! Way too much information there, Sparky."

The prince blushed furiously and spluttered. Words were not on his side today. "Not like that!" he hurriedly corrected. "I was just trying to get information about the Avatar."

"Of course you were." She pegged him with more dirt, this time from between her toes. "Anyway, my point is that despite all you've apparently done to them and however mad they may have been at you, I didn't feel any serious hostility toward you from them before. No 'this guy is the spawn of Koh and we'd be doing the world a favor if we tied him to a steak and threw him into a pit of hungry moose-lions', anyway. That's why I was so surprised to hear Katara threaten you like she did the other night."

Zuko stopped patting at his clothes to remove the cruft Toph had flicked at him and paled. "You…heard that?"

"Yes, I did." She frowned seriously. "And I've never known Katara to act like that. Toward anyone. Ever."

Zuko sighed. It looked like he was going to have to do some explaining. "It's because I betrayed her," he said, his cheeks heating a little from shame. "She tried to help me and I thanked her by helping Azula nearly murder Aang. She has every single right to hate me."

Toph surprised him by scoffing at this. "Alright, don't get mopey on me, Lordling. Katara doesn't hate you."

Zuko looked at her in bafflement. "Huh?"

The small earthbender nodded with confidence "She's wary around you and she doesn't trust you, yeah, but she doesn't hate you."

It was Zuko's turn to scoff. "I think you need to get your feet checked."

"Let me ask you something, Zuko." Toph said, for once using his name. She crossed her legs and leaned forward as if to better observe him. "Do you hate Katara?"

Zuko stared at her dumbly for a moment, thrown by the question. "No," he finally answered. "I don't hate her."

Toph crossed her arms, and continuing on in her matter-of-fact tone, said, "Then why would you think she hates you?"

"...I don't follow."

Toph's brow twitched in a display of impatience. "Listen, Katara actively participated in keeping you from getting your hands on Aang, right? She taunted you and fought with you on several occasions. Katara, who to you must have come across as a hardly memorable Water Tribe peasant-girl, was a constant thorn in your side for half a year. From what I've been told, you're quick to anger and slow to forgive, and yet you claim not to hate her. She, on the other hand, always sees the good in people. She's irritable, sure, but she isn't the type of person who looks for enemies. Out of the two of you, don't you think it makes more sense for you to be the resentful one?" She leaned back on her left hand and held up her right imploringly. "Sure, you made a big mistake in Ba Sing Se and Aang nearly lost his life because of it, but this is war. Katara understands that."

Zuko frowned at that. He could see Toph's point, but he felt like the small bender didn't fully understand the situation. "I attacked her home," he argued. "I kidnapped Aang. I burned down her friend's village. I tried to bribe her with her necklace. I knocked her out and stole Aang from under her nose. I manhandled her grandmother, for Agni's sake." He looked down at his hands, and more to himself said, "Her grandmother. Who does that?"

Toph just cocked her head. "I see you've done a lot of reflecting on this. But I already told you that none of them hate you for those things. Katara's anger is from something else."

"Yeah," he agreed, spreading his arms. "Helping my crazy sister kill Aang."

Toph huffed. "But there's more to it than that, right? I mean, it shouldn't have come as a surprise to her that you'd side with your family. Your goal was always the Avatar, so why would she think you'd throw away a prime opportunity to get at him?" Her eyebrows scrunched up. "Something else happened under Ba Sing Se, didn't it?"

Zuko's own brow furrowed at that. "Wait…you mean Katara didn't tell you?"

The small earthbender shook her head. "She hasn't told any of us. All she said was that you talked about your mother and made yourself seem like you were a real person with feelings. But I know there's more to it than that. Katara is notorious for trying to solve everyone else's problems, but she's too stubborn to let others help her with hers. Makes it really difficult to get at the heart of the matter."

Zuko thought about this. He hadn't spent enough time around Katara yet to really get a read on her, but he thought that sounded in line with what he knew of her personality. She'd been the one to show him compassion when he'd done nothing to deserve it, after all. "She offered to heal me," he explained. "Before Aang and Uncle showed up. She was going to help me and then I turned around and threw her kindness in her face."

Toph looked confused. "You were hurt?"

He shook his head. "No, I mean my scar.".

Toph didn't look any less confused. "You have a scar?"

Zuko regarded her dubiously. "Um, yeah. A big one. It covers most of the left side of my face? Kind of hard to miss."

A corner of Toph's lips tightened and then she let out a huge, put-upon sigh and pointed at her eyes.

Zuko stared at her in confusion for all of half a second and then face-palmed. "Oh. Right. I'm sorry, Toph. Of course you didn't know. I had a bit of a Sokka-moment there."

Toph cracked a grin. "S'okay. It happens to the best of us. Sokka's stupidity likes to express itself through other hosts from time to time. It's like a contagion. Symptoms include increased gullibility, bad humor, and inhibition of the brain's common-sense receptors. Experts are working around the clock to find a cure, but the lack of progress thus far has been discouraging."

Zuko's lips curled upward in amusement. "Sounds serious. I'll put my best apothecaries to work on the matter when I become Fire Lord."

"Please do." Toph smirked. "So, you have a scar on your face? What's it look like?"

Zuko tensed. "It's big and ugly and it covers most of the left side of my face," he said quickly. "Look, can we not talk about it? I thought you wanted to know what happened in the cave."

Toph raised an eyebrow. "Listen, Hotman—" that earned her a grumble, "—I don't see the way you do, so I can only imagine how the physical characteristics of a person affect the way other people think of them, but your scar can't be that big a deal-breaker."

"What do you mean?" he asked, skeptically.

"I mean that according to Suki and Katara, you're plenty good looking."

Zuko's heart quickened, which seemed to attract Toph's attention as she scooted forward in interest.

"They talk about you a lot, you know," she continued. "Just last night I overheard the two of them before dinner. Katara was complaining about how distractingyou are to have around and then Suki told her 'it's perfectly natural to be distracted by such a pulchritudinous specimen of the male persuasion'. Katara tried to deny it, of course. She said that being pretty didn't make you a good person and that she wasn't referring to your looks in the first place, but even Suki could tell that she was lying. She said, "Really? Have you tried imagining him without clothes?" Let me tell you, that shut Katara up pretty quick."

Zuko was mortified. His cheeks burned and he found himself opening and closing his mouth like a fish, wanting to speak but not quite managing to form any sounds. Fortunately, Toph seemed to feel that reducing him to a flustered, gaping mess was satisfaction enough. "Anyway, back to the matter of you and Katara," she said, pulling their conversation back on track. "Apparently you have a nasty scar on your face, and Katara offered to get rid of it, but obviously she didn't if you still have it, and you joined your sister against us. I still don't see what she's so excessively mad about. How about you just start at the beginning and tell me exactly what happened."

Zuko willed the heat to fade from his face and rubbed the back of his neck. "Sure, I guess… If you think it'll help."

Toph nodded and he walked over to the chunk of rubble to take a seat next to her. Zuko took a deep breath and exhaled long and slow before beginning his story.

"It started when my uncle and I were running a teashop in Ba Sing Se," he began. "We'd been making a name for ourselves and pulling in good business and one day we received a summons from the palace. Of course, the summons turned out to be a trap laid by Azula. I was captured and she had me thrown into that cave. Katara was already there, although I never learned why. She got really mad when she saw me. She thought I was there as part of a plot to capture the Avatar. At the time, I was irritated by her accusation. I had just been tricked, captured, and shut in a cave. Being harped at by an angry waterbender wasn't exactly improving the situation."

Toph chuckled. "You don't need to tell me twice. I know how Katara gets when she's feeling self-righteous."

Zuko cracked a smile at that. Toph's understanding was comforting in a way. "She told me what a terrible person I was for following them around and trying to take Aang, but what would I care, I'm the Fire Lord's son. Spreading war and violence and hatred is in my blood."

Toph whistled at that. "Wowwee. Doesn't mince words, that one. But you know, your family does have of a history in that department. Not that I think you're like that, but in a fit of Katara-brand righteous fury it makes for a pretty good point."

Zuko sat back on his hands and crossed his ankles. "But she wasn't wrong," he confessed. "I used to always say that all I cared about was regaining my honor, and nothing else—nobody else—mattered to me. I was even ready to put my crew in danger if it meant getting a shot at capturing Aang. I always considered it my destiny to find the Avatar and bring him back to my father. But I never thought of myself as the bad guy…not until I lost my ship and crew and started traveling around the Earth Kingdom. During those months, I really saw what my country was doing to the rest of the world and I began to feel ashamed instead of proud. When Katara reminded me that it was my own family that had hurt so many people, it was like a slap in the face. All I could think was 'you're wrong. I'm not like that. I do care.' But she was right. I was like that. I had become like that. And I realized that I hated it, so I got defensive and told her that she didn't know what she was talking about."

Toph whistled. "You're a brave but very foolish man, Sparky. Katara really doesn't like it when people say that to her."

Zuko chuckled a little awkwardly. "Yeah, I kind of set her off. She said that I had no idea what the war had put her through. Then… then she told me about her mom. How she was killed by the Fire Nation. I lost my mother when I was ten, so I understood her anger. To be perfectly honest, I felt a sort of kinship with her. More than that, though, I felt terrible because she started crying and I was somehow responsible and what are you supposed to do when a girl cries?"

"Apologize, usually," Toph supplied.

Zuko cracked a smile at that. "I did. I'm sure that was the last thing she expected from me, of all people." In fact, Zuko had surprised himself with how easily the apology had slipped from his lips. Save for his uncle and father, he never apologized to anyone. His pride hadn't let him. "She didn't say anything back," he continued, "and I just sat there feeling foolish and uncomfortable and wondering why I was even having that conversation with her. It's not really like me to talk about myself and I don't exactly have a rich history of caring about how other people feel. It wasn't like there was anything to gain from talking with her. I mean, what would she care that I lost my mom? She probably thought I deserved to suffer."

"She did care, though." Toph predicted.

Zuko nodded slowly. "I had just about given up on our conversation, but then she apologized for yelling at me. I thought, why is she apologizing? Wasn't her tirade completely justified in her mind? I guess that's just the kind of person she is. Anyway, she said that whenever she would imagine the face of the enemy, she thought of my face. She was referring to the fact that I had chased them all over the globe, but I misunderstood her and thought she was talking about my scar. It's pretty hard to miss, after all." Zuko unconsciously brought his hand to his warped eye. "I guess you wouldn't know because you can't see it, but when you have a large scar on your face it can be hard for people to look past it." He lowered his hand back down to his side.

"So, what happened after your little misunderstanding?" Toph asked. "You didn't freak out or something, did you? If all this drama between you and Katara is because of that, I'm gonna be really disappointed."

Zuko wasn't sure how he should feel about Toph deriving entertainment from the events leading up to what he considered one of the biggest mistakes of his life, but this was Toph. Disregarding social courtesy was her thing. "No, I didn't 'freak out'." He used air-quotes for emphasis, then remembered that Toph couldn't see him and immediately felt foolish. "We just talked a little about it and that's when she offered to heal it with her special oasis water."

Toph frowned. "You mean the water she used to heal Aang after Azula got him with her lightning?"

Zuko nodded. He'd had a feeling that's how Aang had survived. "Yeah. She said that she didn't know if it would work, but it was worth giving it a try. Honestly, I didn't know what to think when she told me that. Having a whole face again was something I'd dreamed of but I never thought it was actually possible. My scar was meant to be a permanent reminder of my shame and weakness and now an enemy was offering to heal it—an enemy who had no reason to want to help me; who I'd hunted and fought and taunted; who I knew next to nothing about. Part of me expected it to just be a cruel joke." Zuko wondered why he was telling Toph this. He was saying things that he'd barely admitted to himself, but he couldn't stop. It was like a dam had broken and the words were just flowing out unchecked. "But she looked actually sincere. It's like helping others is the most natural thing in the world to her."

Katara's kindness and compassion had moved him that day. The sight of her standing in front of him unguarded and trusting and bathed in the soft light of the crystals had stilled his fear. He'd surrendered all control to her to do anything she wanted. She could have struck him or maimed him or even killed him, but when he felt her hand touch his face, he knew she wouldn't. It was like he could sense her desire to help. She was the only person who he'd ever let touch him like that.

"But before she could do anything, Aang arrived with my uncle," he continued. "Katara ran off with Aang and I didn't see them again until the battle with Azula. That was when I had to make the choice of whether I would side with Azula and finally be allowed to go home or reject her—and by extension my father and my country. Uncle tried to get me to see reason, but when push came to shove and I was put in a position where I had to choose between what was right and what I believed was my destiny..."

"You joined Azula."

Zuko sighed and looked down to escape Toph's uncannily piercing milky eyes. "Yeah. I told myself my decision was the right one, but when I found myself facing off against Katara, I couldn't suppress this horrible, guilty feeling telling me I'd done something awful. She'd tried to help me, and there I was, attacking her as if the kindness she'd shown me meant nothing to me." He uncrossed his ankles and folded his hands in his lap. "You know what happened next. Azula shot Aang with lightning and I went home."

Both benders were silent as Toph digested all that she'd been told. Zuko wondered what she was thinking. He knew that she, like everyone else, condemned his decision. If Aang had died, he'd have no one to blame but himself. Azula may have fired the fatal shot, but her intention had always been to take the Avatar out. She was certain death from the beginning. The one who'd had the power to stand between Aang and her was him, and he'd chosen to deliver Aang to that fate.

"So, that's it, then," Toph said at last. "You and her bonded while you were trapped together and she did what she usually does; blindly trust someone because she feels sorry for them. She made a dumb decision out of compassion and got burned and now she thinks you're going to go and do the same thing again. Makes sense."

Zuko cocked his eyebrow at her. "That's one way of putting it…"

Toph closed her eyes and stretched her arms above her head. She looked suddenly bored, like his story had been no more interesting than listening to Sokka talk about his boomerang. "Look, Zuko," she said, her sightless eyes now pointed at the ceiling. "Have you ever considered just telling her what you told me? You've apologized over and over, but have you ever actually tried explaining yourself?"

Zuko frowned. "I don't want her to pity me."

Toph rolled her eyes. "Sure. I get it. Manly pride. But are you really okay with allowing her to continue to be angry at you for the wrong reasons?"

"Her reasons aren't wrong. I did betray her, and I did help my sister nearly murder Aang."

Toph turned her face toward his general direction and her features screwed up into what could only be described as a withering look. She sighed in a very dramatic and put-upon fashion. "I'm seriously beginning to wonder who's really the blind one around here," she grumbled under her breath. Out loud, she said, "Look, just talk to her. Nothing's going to change until you do."

Zuko looked down at the cracked floor and considered the small earthbender's advice. Maybe she was right. Toph had listened to his story and didn't appear to think less of him. Perhaps explaining himself to Katara was what they both needed. "I'll think about it," he conceded.

Toph grunted and turned her face back to the ceiling; a silent indication that the conversation was over. Zuko rubbed the back of his neck and turned away himself to look back at the entrance to the chamber. Although he'd been planning to practice with his swords, he suddenly didn't feel like it. Laying himself bare to Toph had sapped his energy.

What a very odd series of confrontations he'd found himself subjected to this otherwise perfectly ordinary morning. He'd never suspected that the members of the Avatar's group paid so much attention to him. This, he supposed, was just another part of what camaraderie entailed. He had a lot left to learn about working alongside others.

He smiled. That was okay. Being noticed—being included—wasn't a bad thing at all. And maybe Toph was right. Maybe if he explained himself, he could start down the path to earning back a bit of the trust he'd lost. It wouldn't be a big step, but it would be a step all the same, and every journey was made in steps.

His smile faltered. More likely, Katara would just yell at him again. Who was to say that a road to redemption even existed for him as far as she was concerned?

He sighed and forced his legs to start walking. Maybe a trek around the temple would provide some insight on what to do about their vindictive waterbender.

oO0Oo

Author's Note: Remember when Sokka was like "u sent combustion man after us!1one" and then Zuko was like, "well, that's not his name..."

I asked Zuko. His name is Derek.

That being said, congratulations to you, who have made it to the end of chapter One!

This story started as a simple humorous dialogue between Sokka and Zuko that I wrote on a whim half a year ago, but recently I decided to expand it into a proper story. I don't know yet how many chapters there will be, but it will certainly be much longer than my older poopy stories.

I love the Avatar-verse and all of its wonderful characters. This show just tickles me in so many ways, and I've read tons of wonderful stories and seen so much amazing artwork. The avatar fandom is large and a bit cultish, but full of interesting people and ideas. It is my hope that The Confrontational Approach provides some entertainment/drama to spice up a boring day.

See you in chapter two!