Stars Chapter Two-Zutara

Chapter Two



“Bwaaaaar.”
“Shh. Quiet Bosco.”

Katara glanced over her shoulder at the Earth King and his bear.
Giving them a sorry look, she reached over to the food bag and dumped the contents into her lap. All she found were crumbs and a rock shaped nut Sokka had proclaimed, “might just be a rock.”

It had been two days without food-and while they had been through worse, the king and Bosco weren’t used to such conditions.
Their stomachs had been grumbling nonstop for the past five hours.

Raising the bag to eyelevel she dug through it thoroughly, hoping that perhaps something was stuck inside.
“I’m sorry Bosco. We’ll just have to find a market.” She said, continuing to search through the bag in vain.

“Oh no! We are not stopping at a market this near the city!” Sokka cried, whipping around to face Katara.
“We’re miles outside Ba Sing Se! What-are you planning on starving us until we get to the Fire Nation?!” she retorted, “Sokka we need food!”

“Well we’ll just have to wait! Azula probably sent the Dai Li after us a long time ago. They could be anywhere!”

“Actually;” Toph piped up, “I seriously doubt they could get there before Appa.”

Sokka wasn’t satisfied.
“But they could arrive while we’re ther-OW! Hey! “ He shouted as Katara threw the rock-nut at him; hitting him squarely in the nose.
“Your voice is loud enough to get us caught! Now shush!”
“Hmph!”
“Honestly!”

Lifting her face towards the sky, Katara began counting the stars.
‘Every star is a wish.’ Her mother had once told her. ‘And every time you count them there will be more and less out there. Because the star disappears whenever that wish is granted.’

Katara smiled at the memory.

‘What do you wish for Katara?’
‘Ummmmmmmm….a pet penguin!’ she had replied in a hopeful child’s manner.
‘Well then;’ her mother laughed, ‘lets write the number of stars in the snow and count them again when you get your pet.’
‘Yeah!’

206 stars.

The very next day, Katara had found a penguin with an injured flipper. She took it in and named it Puff.
That night she and her mother had stayed out, counting the stars. Sure enough, the dark sky was one less a light.

She had once heard that stars were really just balls of fire.

Which once again brought up the subject of Zuko.

What was he doing now? Being ordered around by Azula no doubt.

Katara had always picked up a vibe that Azula wasn’t exactly known for her loyalty, and was sure that just because Zuko had joined her side she wasn’t going to waste any time getting him to do her dirty work.

It seemed like after all Zuko went through, he was just being used. To capture the Avatar, to team up with a sister he hated, all in false hopes of restoring his honor.

And even after all he put them through….Katara felt slightly sorry for him.
From what he had told her back in the caves, she highly doubted he could get it back.

She really thought…he had changed…..

‘Zuko……..’

“Bowahhr.” Bosco growled, snapping her out of her daze.
“Oh. Hello Bosco.”
“Narrrrr.” The bear replied, resting his head on her shoulder.

Sigh.
“That reminds me;” Katara said, patting his nose, “ We have to find you a suitable hiding place your majesty. It’s too dangeress for you to travel with us. You could get hurt.”

“I was just thinking about that.” Said Aang from his place at Appa’s reins. “We’ll have to drop him off somewhere…with someone reliable.”

“Hmm….” Mumbled Toph, “well we could leave him with my parents. It’s almost exactly like his living style- minus the army and Dai Li. We could probably even afford to buy the palace (This earned an “Oh my” from the king, and a “No need to gloat Toph” from Sokka). But I think the guards would notice a ten-ton bison flying into the garden. Too bad.”

“Well……..how about Haru?” Sokka cried.
They all exchanged looks of agreement and nodded their heads.

“Haru it is then!” Aang said brightly, tugging at Appa’s reins. “That should take us about a week. Great!”
“Good time.” Toph agreed turning away from the king who was still staring at her in awe.

But a part of Katara’s mind still strayed on Zuko.

‘Can people really change so quickly?’ she mused, staring at the blackened sky.
‘Why not?’

The stars do.