Of Firelords and Birthday Cakes (Zutara)

Traditions (arm-wrestling)

(A/N: Yay! Two chapters in one day. ^.^ Thanks for commenting everyone! Means a lot to me. :P)

"The second Tradition is learning how to braid." Iroh sat down outside the house. 

"What?" Zuko tilted his head, "Why braiding?" 

Iroh smiled as he motioned for us to all sit down, which we did. I sat down next to Suki, who folded her arms over her knees. 

"Just because." Iroh chuckled, "Besides, tradition." 

Zuko knelt down before his uncle, "Sooo, how do I go about it?" 

"You must successfully learn to braid someone else's hair." Iroh stated, "In a normal family setting, it would either be your sister, or a cousin."

"I'll do it!" Toph raised her hand, "I haven't had my hair braided in forever." she stood up and smirked, "I'll consider it payback sparky."

Zuko grimaced, then shot Iroh a look, "But I'll mess it up, I don't know how to braid!" 

Sokka cleared his throat, "Katara can teach you." 

"Sokka!" I hissed, but he didn't listen.

"She's considered a prodigy in our village for her braiding skills." Sokka elaborated, "She taught a fish to do it once." 

I gave him a glare, "That's not true." 

He shrugged as Iroh smiled at me, "If you don't mind Katara." 

"Sure, no problem." then giving Sokka a long glare, moved over to Toph and Zuko. 

Kneeling down, I patted the dirt for Toph to sit, then taking her headband off, let her long black hair fall down to her waist. 

I grimaced, "When was the last time you brushed your hair?" 

Toph laughed, "A week ago." 

I frowned, "This is not going to work if your hair is like this Toph." 

I started running my hands through her hair to try and get out some knots. I knew Zuko was watching my every move. 

I finally stopped, "Well, that's as good as it's going to get." 

I turned to Zuko, who quickly averted his gaze from me to Toph's hair, "So, you take three strands, like this..." 

As I taught him how to braid, the rest of them got involved in a conversation about fish. Zuko's hands were clumsy as he was obviously not accustomed to doing such a thing, but with a few pointers from me, he was getting better. 

I occasionally moved to correct him, and our hands brushed more than once, making my face heat up.

As he kept working, I watched him, and a strange memory of him erupted into my mind. His fingers were trained to shoot streams of fire, to be powerful and control the fire. 

And lighting too. 

I remember watching as Azula powered up her azure lighting to strike Zuko, and as he straightened out to take it, shoulders back, face like stone, fingers outstretched. 

Then her glance as her eyes flitted to me. 

Then her fingers pointed at me, and the lighting leaving them, electricity shocking the very air I breathed. 

I was sure I would die. 

For a moment in my brain, I panicked. I did not want to die this way. I had froze, even though a quick dive to the left would have been enough.