Chapter Text
Zuko brushed bits of fur off his shirt. A fruitless process when the Avatar’s lemur kept trying to make itself a perch on his shoulders and neck again. He huffed, but gave up trying to dislodge the little beast altogether. It seemed it was going to get its way no matter what he did. Its claws were sharp enough that Zuko decided the scrapes he’d get weren’t worth it.
“So, we’re going to your ship?” Toph asked, her nose wrinkling at the thought of another drawn out trip on the flying beast, “I thought they didn’t want to go there because they thought it was a trap? What happened?” she asked. One of her hands hiked over her shoulder in the approximate direction of where Sokka and Katara were loading the remaining items of the campsite into the bags that lined the bison’s saddle and securing everything for flight.
A non-committal hum left Zuko’s lips, “Must have changed their minds, I guess.” He had no desire to give the little earthbender any details she didn’t need. But her features narrowed in suspicion.
“You’re not telling the truth, Barks. You know why, so tell me.” She put her hands on her hips. Pebbles scattered around her feet as she rattled the ground just enough to irritate Zuko into giving her the answers. Her pale eyes gleamed, a cackling peal of laughter echoed through the clearing as she doubled over, “So, they trust you because they caught you cuddling with some animals?” She wiped tears out of her eyes and caught her breath.
"Den prokien tainoram," [ Fuck off ]. Zuko said, flushing through his neck.
“Watenali, tainoser steeli ehn beastem enbraceni.” [ Whatever, you’re still an animal cuddler. ]. She grinned and strode away from him before he could get another word in.
“Tell her not to go too far, Zuko,” Katara called over. “We’ll be leaving soon.”
Zuko shrugged, ignoring the yowl from the lemur when the motion through his shoulders disturbed its perch ever so slightly. He rolled his eyes and took the lemur back over to the bison. The prince managed to coax the lemur onto the saddle, massaging his shoulders as he was freed from its weight.
“Everything okay?” Sokka asked. Zuko raised his eyebrow, but nodded slowly. “You two just seemed like you were fighting,” the Water Tribe male explained.
He shook his head. “Not fighting. Just talking.”
Sokka’s gaze narrowed, “Okay, if you say so, Zuko.” It was obvious the Water Tribe male didn’t believe him, but he’d already seen that there were lines Zuko didn’t appreciate being crossed. If Zuko said it wasn’t a fight, it would be left at that. “Well, we’re ready to go, if you want to go get her.” Zuko didn’t move. Sokka gave him a knowing look, “Or, I can go get her if you want?”
Zuko swept his hand in Toph’s direction in an obvious invitation. Not that he thought Sokka’s attempt to help would be all that productive. Sokka’s limited vocabulary and reliance on gestures to supplement his shortcomings wouldn’t lend itself to getting his message through to Toph in the slightest.
“Tophem, den bisem time,” [ Toph, go bison time,] Sokka announced with far more confidence than he should’ve had in the situation. The earthbender snorted, cocking her head to the side like she didn’t understand. But the gleam in her eyes was enough for Zuko to know that she did. It wasn’t the worst translation, either. “Assisten den bisem,” [ Help go bison ], he tried again.
She snickered, no longer bothering to pretend she didn’t know what Sokka had said, “Assisten eht bisem gen wat?” [ Help the bison do what ?], Toph asked, crossing her arms. A self-satisfied smirk curling through her lips.
Sokka scratched the back of his neck, glancing back at Zuko, “She’s messing with me, isn’t she?”
“Ge,” Zuko agreed. Seamlessly changing his dialect to the Earth Kingdom language, he called over, “Teasing them isn’t going to get us to my boat any faster. Get over here.”
“Maybe not, Barks, but it keeps us on the ground a little longer,” Toph shot back. She crossed to the bison, stomping her foot to coax a rough set of stone steps to construct itself between her and the bison’s saddle.
Zuko followed behind her, settling himself against the curved rim of the saddle and bracing himself for the take off. It wouldn’t be nearly as painful thanks to Katara’s healing, but he doubted it was going to be that comfortable either. Toph tucked herself against his side as the reins snapped and the bison took off with a rib-rattling rumble that reverberated through Zuko’s chest.
The pangs through his side settled by the time the bison had risen between the clouds. He let out a soft, steadying breath through his nose. Zuko glanced at Toph, taking in her pale and greenish cheeks. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders. It was all the permissions she needed to press herself even closer against him.
“Feeling agni, Zuko?” Sokka asked. Zuko nodded. “What about your friend?” Sokka raised his eyebrow.
Zuko shrugged, thinking of the right wording. “Air…ill?” he asked, in a faltering question.
“She’s air sick?” Sokka clarified. Zuko nodded, grateful he wouldn’t have to stumble through any other words or gestures to get the message across. The Water Tribe male’s lips pursed in thought. His eyes went round as if something struck him. “I might be able to help with that.” He grinned. “We don’t have a lot of air travel in the South Pole, but we have plenty of sea travel.”
He rummaged around in one of the packs as he explained and fished out a packet of some misshapen strips. “Not a lot of us get sea sick, but all the elders swear that if you chew on a piece of this the worst of it will be over. Here.” He held it out toward Toph. “It will assisten,” he offered, “At least, I think it should help, anyway.”
“Wat?” Zuko asked, eyeing the strip suspiciously.
“It’s jerky. You know, like dried meat?” Sokka explained. “The salt assisten with the air sick.”
Zuko took the strip for Toph, passing it to her with a simple explanation. “Sokka brought you something to eat. He says it might help.” The girl wrinkled her nose, but accepted the offering. She hesitantly nibbled on a corner of the strip before more enthusiastically tearing into the jerky.
“It helps a little,” she mumbled around a half-chewed mouthful, “Tell him thanks,” she said.
“Tell him yourself, he knows those words," Zuko prompted.
“Graten taino,” she said between bites, turning her head in his general direction.
“You’re welcome?” Sokka asked, catching Zuko’s eye for the translation.
“Taino sen invitani,” he said, slowly to give Sokka a chance to take it in.
“Taino sen invitani,” Sokka repeated. He smiled gently, and although the earthbender couldn’t see the expression, she mirrored it back.