Scars of the Past (An Avatar the Last Airbender Fan Fiction)

Chapter 4

"Man! After all that swimming, I'm beat! Get it Sokka? Beat? You know from the..."

"Yes, Aang we get it. You're hilarious." He glared at him, "Maybe once we defeat the Fire Lord, you can have a career as a standup comedian!"

"You really think so?" Aang excitedly took his place around the campfire.

Zuko threw a flame into the pit, as Suki and Katara started gathering the supplies to make dinner. Katara bent some water into the pot above the fire to let it start boiling. "What's cooking?"

Katara rolled her eyes as she looked at Sokka, "So that we do not have a repeat of this morning... we are having fish, and mixed vegetables."

"YES!" he got up and started dancing, "Fish is like, one of my all-time favorite meats! Although I do love lizard-chicken... and deer-beef is also delicious... oh and how can I forget..."

"Ok, we got it!" Toph knocked him on the head, and he fell to the ground.

They all sat peacefully, not saying a word as the food continued to cook. Earlier, Sokka and Toph had gotten into a sand fight, whatever that was supposed to mean, which resulted in all of their clothes becoming filled with sand. Toph could have easily bent the sand out of their clothes, but Katara pointed out that they also probably needed to be washed. So instead, they left them all in a pile to be dealt with in the morning. Leaving all of them to sit around in their swimsuits. And leaving Zuko's scars on full display.

Before they had come back to camp, Zuko had gone off to use the bathroom. In those few minutes, while he was away, they agreed that they would stay up after he had gone to bed last night and talk about what to do next.

"Is it done yet?"

"No."

"Oh ok... how about now?"

"No."

"Right right... now?"

"Yeah, Sokka. It's done. I just hope you like sushi!"

"Ok ok, I'll quit asking..."

Once the food was finally ready, everyone dug in.

"So, what are we doing tomorrow, Sifu Hotman?"

Zuko swallowed his bite of food before thinking for a moment. "Well, we are going to have to make up for the time we lost today, so I'd say we should do double our normal regimen."

Aang groaned, "Even Katara and Toph don't work me that hard!"

Zuko rolled his eyes, "You've had months to practice with Katara and Toph. You and I are on a time limit. If you think this is tough, you should have seen the ways I was taught fire bending."

Katara gave him a confused look, "You aren't teaching Aang the way you were taught?"

He quickly shook his head, "No I... I could never put someone through that... I'm teaching him the way that my uncle taught me once I was banished."

"You were banished?" Toph asked with surprise.

Now it was his turn to look confused, "Well, yeah..." he didn't seem to get what part she didn't understand, so he didn't elaborate. The group fell quiet once again.

Sokka looked up, and they all winked at him, "Boy... I sure am tired! I think I'm going to hit the hay!"

"Yeah... me too!" Suki chimed in, "I'm exhausted!"

"Same here!" Katara added.

Aang and Toph each let out loud yawns and rubbed their eyes.

Zuko looked at them in confusion, "You're going to bed already? You all never go to bed this early."

Aang shrugged, "What can I say? I'm pooped! Plus, if you and I are going to be doing extra training tomorrow, I need all the sleep I can get!"

"Ok..." he still didn't seem completely convinced but he got up with everyone else as they went to their rooms. They all said their goodnights as they closed their doors behind them.

A few minutes later, everyone minus Zuko, snuck out of their rooms and made their way back to the campfire outside.

"Alright..." Aang relit the fire. "There are some things we need to discuss..."

(A/N - Hey guys thanks for reading! Flamio Hotman!)