paradisalost | (no subject)

Through the door came a yell, though no one accompanied it in person just yet. "Hold on, I'm almost ready!"

Almost? How about not at all?

Sokka had been spending every moment since his sister had asked him to dinner with Zuko, worried and second-guessing himself. Was it smart to meet with their enemy? No. But Katara was going, and he wasn't going to allow her to do it alone.

Dressed in his traditional garb, the young warrior took one last look in the mirror, adjusted his warrior's wolf tail, and then answered the door. "Hey."

At first, he spied suspiciously in both directions, expecting to see Zuko, but finding no Fire Prince, he smiled tightly at his sister and non-verbally offered to take the basket. "C'mon, let's get this over with."

"Get this over with?" Briefly, Katara couldn't decide if she was irritated or amused, passing the basket over to Sokka and folding her arms behind her back as she lead him out of the castle and toward the lake. They were friends back home, and in Paradisa? They were all each other had.

She had made it her personal mission to reconnect them, to show Zuko that he had friends in them -- whether he liked it or not.

"We're friends, Sokka. Back at home, and we can be here, too. He should be waiting at the lake for us." Hopefully, at least. "Try to be civil?"

"Try to be--?!" He barely stopped himself from flinging the basket. "Last I checked, he was the one with the problem being civil. Or don't you remember when he--" Here he was counting on the fingers on his free hand as he precariously balanced the basket with his other. "--attacked our village, harassed Gran Gran and Aang, nearly burned Kyoshi Island to ashes, and chased us until we were blue in the face. And that was just our first impression of him!"

Sokka grumbled. "Look, I'll be civil, but I don't have to like him. I'm only going because you asked me to."

Katara whirled at him at that, throwing one hand up to stop him in the hall -- and to keep an eye on the basket. It wasn't as if she couldn't just wish another one up, but it wasn't like she wanted to go picking up rice and fruit and chicken from the floor of the hallways.

"Do you remember the part where he defected? Have you forgotten how he taught Aang firebending, and helped us train to fight the Fire Nation? He was confused, Sokka, and the spirits know I had enough trouble coming to terms with that -- but deep down, he's a good person, and he's not going to be happy until he finds that in himself."

Sokka balked, but as usual, he deflated a moment later. "I don't want to fight about this. I said I'd go, and even though I don't remember any of those things, I believe you when you say they happened. Just remember, he may not be the same person you remember, either. Some people put on a good act."

Just a warning from your friendly neighborhood Sokka. "Anyway, c'mon -- we don't want to keep his majesty waiting."

"You two are like children," Katara sighed, pushing the castle doors open and walking out onto the grounds. Zuko was visibly close to the lake; Katara used one arm to wave in a quick, friendly manner, employing the other to elbow her brother lightly in the ribs in a silent command to behave.

"Hey, Zuko!" she called, arranging a hasty smile. "I brought dinner."

Was it really any surprise that Zuko didn't wave back?

He turned at the voice and miraculously wasn't openly glaring, but he certainly didn't seem happy about this whole prospect. Talking with Natsuki had helped a little... but there was only so much that could be done against this level of stubbornness.

"Great." It was flat, halfhearted at the very best.

And then he glanced past Katara and eyed that brother of hers. Yep... just as he remembered him. It was funny how, even though Zuko hadn't seen him in months, the familiarity of it brought so much back. ...And not in a particularly heartwarming way. Now it was time to watch him closely as they approached, seeing if he was going to turn out just as crazy as his sister.

Feeling particularly aloof, Sokka barely nodded to Zuko before he put down their collective dinner and turned to Katara. "Do you need me to make a fire or something?" It would have been easier for Zuko, sure, but Sokka didn't exactly feel that idea was safe. He glanced slyly at the prince. "A small fire?"

It didn't escape Sokka that Zuko was younger than he remembered, or that he seemed less-than-interested in being there; a large part of him hoped the other boy would just leave. He knew better, because Katara wouldn't allow it, but he could still hope.

"I can collect some wood," he told his sister, "you can get some water, and we'll meet back here." Yeah, he was looking for just about any excuse not to hang out here with Zuko.

"We don't need wood. Or water. All of this should still be warm enough to eat." Katara dropped her voice briefly. "Quit trying to get out of this and just enjoy yourself." As she spoke, she knew it was an impossible demand, judging by his demeanor and tone, but that didn't stop her from wanting to try, at least.

She closed the distance between them and Zuko, tugging a small blanket from a satchel resting it on her hip and flinging it out flat against the grass. "We can sit here and eat. And.. talk about the castle. And home." There was a definite grain of hope in her voice, as if she were praying that this from this seed of civility that friendship would grow.

In exchange for that glance, Sokka got a pair of narrowed gold eyes and indignantly crossed arms. As if rooted to the spot, Zuko lets them come to him, watching as they begin to set up this ridiculous dinner. Hopefully, they weren't expecting any sort of help or initiative in this department.

And, speaking of hope, Zuko only barely managed to repress an eyeroll at Katara's wishes.

"Hooray, my favorite topics."

It must be noted that while Sokka didn't often agree with his sister, nothing brought them closer in mind than someone taking the opposing stance. In this case, Katara's suggestion put Sokka in agreement simply because it would drive Zuko nuts. "Hey, it works out great, then -- that way you won't feel like we've got nothing to talk about or nothing in common at all!"

"We could talk about other things, then," Katara insisted, taking the basket from Sokka and thanking him quietly, before kneeling down onto the blanket and neatly spreading out the meal. "Neither of you believe me when I tell you that we're friends. But I know there's a good guy inside there somewhere, Zuko, and there's nothing you can do to convince me otherwise."

She snapped the lid off of a bowl of rice, casting a meaningful look to Sokka, then Zuko. "You saved my life. Now both of you sit down and eat." She paused, then affected the motherly tone that she was oh-so-good at. "Without killing each other, please."

You know, he was planning on just sitting down and cooperating, until Katara started that whole accusing him of being a "good guy" thing... and claiming he saved her life? What do you even say to that?

He didn't sit. Not yet, anyway.

"--I did what?? ...You're even crazier than I thought."

"See, that's what I said, but she just kept telling me--"

Ahem. Sokka clammed up, not about to venture a look at his sister. She was boring into him with her angry eyes, wasn't she? He just knew it. He feared the backlash from agreeing with his mortal enemy on this matter (sorry Zuko,) might be worse than the enemy himself.

To save himself having to answer for his transgression, he attempted to change the subject. Quickly. "Quick-I'm-hungry-let's-just-eat." And then, somewhat tentatively, he added, "Before it gets cold, I mean."

Katara held her breath for a moment and resisted the urge to smack the both of them with a whip of water from the lake. "Have you two forgotten that I'm from a different time that the both of you?" she snapped, unwrapping the chicken and dumping out some of the rice onto a plate.

She pointed to Zuko then, tone severe.

"Sit."

...

He told himself that if he cooperated, this would all be over sooner. He told himself that having Sokka almost-agree with him made him feel a little better. He told himself that getting into a fight over this would be even more annoying.

He told himself a lot of things. And he finally sat down.

This was already the worst dinner ever.

"I haven't forgotten." How could he? Since arrival, he'd been bothered by how different his sister's memories seemed to be from his own.

Zuko's concession caused Sokka to scootch away, sitting just a little closer to his sister than the Fire Prince. Sokka had a bad feeling; this could only go well for a little while, right? Because as far as he was concerned, he and his sister had nothing in common with Zuko.

Aiming to change the subject, he addressed Katara while gathering up some food. "I've been working on a hut -- it's out in the woods, so it's secluded. I'll show you later... when we don't have company."

Sokka was trying not to grumble. It stuck in his craw that Zuko was so close. This guy was still dangerous, right? And being trapped would only make that worse.

"Then don't be rude and bring it up now, Sokka." Katara leaned over, dumping some vegetables and food into her brother's bowl and pushing it toward him, hoping that the gesture and the pleading look that she shot him would soothe his nerves a bit.

'Give me twenty minutes. Please?' she mouthed, and then hastily turned to serve Zuko as well.

"I hear Iroh and Toph used to be here, too," she addressed the firebender as she passed him the bowl. "Were you around for either of them? It was before I arrived."

Nothing about Zuko's demeanor was doing anything to dispel Sokka's assumptions. Except maybe the fact that he wasn't actively setting something on fire. In Zuko's mind, the fact that he was even sitting there in the first place was effort enough. The glowering, the suspicious glances, the fact that he'd only muttered a handful of words-- that was just to be expected.

At least Katara's question begged a real answer. He couldn't get away with just glaring it off.

As he took the bowl from Katara, eyeing it dubiously, "They were all here when I arrived." The water tribe siblings, the Avatar... even his sister.

"And then what? They just disappeared? Went home?" Sokka wasn't so much interested in what Zuko had to say on the matter, personally speaking, but he was interested in the workings surrounding Paradisa. "Because if they found a way to go home, I'd really like to know."

He glanced at Katara, hoping he wasn't making her feel bad. Sokka knew she'd found friends there, knew she really wasn't as put out as he was about being stuck, but he couldn't help wanting the best for the both of them. "I really think the best place for us is home." And then a glance to Zuko, his expression softening slightly, even for the other boy. "All of us." Evil or not, Zuko was certainly feeling alone, just like everyone else.

Katara cast a sidelong glance at Sokka, quiet for a moment. She'd made acquaintances here, but he wasn't the only one that wanted to go home. Without Aang or Toph or her dad - Sokka arriving made it easier, but her heart ached for Zuko. She had watched him earn his redemption once before, and it pained her to see him pushed back to before that.

"We were all here?" She isn't sure if that excited or disappointed her. Sure, it pointed toward an eventual way out, but if they just kept getting pulled back... "Did you ever talk to any of us?" She started to take a bite of the rice and paused, lowering it back to the bowl.

"As soon as I got here, they started disappearing." The bitterness over being left behind was impossible to hide. They'd all gone home and gotten a break, while he sat around in this stupid cage and just waited for them to come back. "...Uncle was the last to go."

He took a stab or two at the rice, but didn't eat any. Iroh's departure was still too recent to talk about without anger and a little bit of despair welling up.

"If I knew how or why they left, I wouldn't be here anymore."

Without waiting, Sokka was most of the way through his rice before Zuko finished explaining. Through half-chewed food, he spoke up, "I don't think I've seen Iroh anywhere but at your side, if he can help it." It was a statement of fact, not Sokka trying to make Zuko feel better, right?

Still, there's a pang of inexplicable sadness there that Sokka tried to swallow down. He couldn't remember that he'd once been friends with Iroh and Zuko, but ever since arriving at Paradisa, he had felt an unexplainable yearning for quality when faced with brewed tea. Which, in turn, made him think of both Iroh and Zuko and the tea shop in Ba Sing Se he'd known them both to work in.

As an addendum, once his mouth was empty, he looked at his sister and added, "He probably left against his will, right?"

"Iroh wouldn't have left Zuko alone if he could help it." The statement was directed more to Sokka than Zuko, but was easily audible to both, and she shot Zuko a briefly sympathetic look before finally taking a bite of some of the steamed vegetables. "He's not that kind of man."

She had only met him briefly, even in her time, but the times she had had been profound.

"Oh, well. Maybe me and Sokka coming back was just a fluke. Hopefully the Castle will realize what it's doing and just send us all back soon, right?" Because hope springs eternal from the mouth of Katara.

He was quiet as they both went on, the bits of sadness and sympathy only serving to get under his skin, reminding him of all the reasons he hated being trapped in this place. He should have been able to find some comfort in the fact that his uncle wouldn't have left if he'd had the choice, but instead he couldn't get past the Castle tearing them apart in the first place.

And so, it is this thought that causes him to snap a little at Katara's question.

"The Castle knows exactly what it's doing! It works to make you as miserable as possible, without ever telling you what it wants from you!"

And by 'you' he of course means himself, since the Castle is obviously out to get him.

Sokka bristled, immediately on the defensive. "Hey, don't yell at her -- it's not her fault you're here, and it's not her fault that your uncle's gone! If you want to be all angry prince, then you can direct it at the castle or me, but not Katara."

He was having a hard time not pointing and glaring, but at least he didn't up and get right into a brawl, right?

"Sokka!" And one of Katara's hands flew out without looking, grabbing his wrist and trying to calm him. The calm on her face was incredibly strained, and she struggled keep her words peaceful.

Baby steps, Katara, she told herself, before squeezing her brother's arm and releasing him.

".. this place is really hard on all of us. You've been here the longest. I really don't know how you've done it, Zuko. I was so lonely before Sokka showed up that I could barely stand it, and at least I knew you were here.. you didn't have anyone, did you?"

She took a bite of her rice, chewed thoughtfully, swallowed, before - unable to help it - commenting to Sokka: "Though I heard he burned an entire floor of the castle down when he got angry once."

Zuko glared at Sokka because... well... he was presently the most obvious thing to glare at, but his words were much more general.

"I've been here for eight months, so yeah, I'm a little bit angry."

There was a brief pause at the mention of his biggest temper tantrum. ...News really did travel around here, didn't it? Whatever regrets he had over that event were pushed aside for now though, and he crossed his arms hard over his chest.

"--I was trying to get its attention."

"Maybe you did, and that's why it's keeping you here -- to punish you." Truth be told, Sokka was feeling a little like that would be justice, though he didn't outright say that. Being so close to the enemy was a challenge, and it already felt like they'd never get along, but Katara had her hopes set on civility, at least, so he stopped himself from adding that he thought it was deserved.

He looked to Katara, shrugging. "I mean, I'd be mad if a bit of me got burned, too, and from what I've heard, this stupid castle's got a reputation for a temper. And a sense of humor. And all sorts of emotions a building shouldn't have."

"I get worried sometimes, you know. Asking this place for things. It's already taken so much from us." Her fingers tensed. She missed being able to heal -- not that there weren't other healers in this place, but it was still something that would have helped out. "What if it wants more from us? What else is it going to take?"

She tossed a slightly worried look Sokka's way, before eating a mouthful of chicken and leveling Zuko with a serious look.

"We're powerful allies to have, Zuko, whether you like it or not. Just try to relax. We're not going to pounce on you and force Water Tribe history down your throat. It's just dinner."

He wasn't about to openly admit that Sokka's theory made an unsettling amount of sense, especially given the loss that set in immediately after the previous outburst. Maybe the Castle was watching even closer than he thought.

Between Katara's reassuring, and the sobering topic shift, Zuko did calm down a little. His glaring turned to scowling, and he stabbed more meaningfully at his food.

"This place doesn't just take things away... it hurts people. It doesn't act like a building because it isn't one. It's evil. It learns what is important to you, and then it strikes."

Glancing up, he met Katara's look with a steely one of his own.

"So keep that in mind when you go looking for 'allies.' It would be easier for everyone if we just stayed enemies."

Sokka rolled his eyes. "No, it would be easier for all of us if we weren't enemies at all, but we're not doing a very good job of that, either. You're right, though -- we share a common enemy here, if it's really the castle making all this happen."

Now that his gears were turning, it was going to be difficult to stop him from thinking over the situation, and probably over-thinking it, too. "From what I've heard, people aren't all treated the same here. I met a lady who couldn't touch red paper anymore, which sucks, but it's nothing like losing a piece of yourself like some others here.

"I mean, someone has to be deciding these things. Spirits, maybe? I've heard there are ghosts, but they're not really the type to meddle. Spirits, though? Spirit's definitely like to meddle."

"Do you think the spirits would do something like that? I guess they'd have the power." Katara sighed then, doing her best to keep it from sounding like a completely defeated one. She had slipped into a routine here, was trying to make friends -- did that mean she was forsaking her home?

She shook her head briefly, clearing her mind of the thought. There was nothing wrong with doing as much as you could with the opportunities presented to you.

"I wish Aang were here." Katara let that hang for a moment, realized how melancholy it sounded, and then continued: "But Sokka's right, Zuko." His steely look was matched with a softer gaze. "I can't force you to be friends with us. But if something happens to me or Sokka.. I'd like to know that there's someone watching our backs. Like we're willing to watch yours."

Zuko actually took a bite of food, but more out of thought than hunger. The pessimism was crushing, but he at least had obnoxiously strong willpower on his side-- it just barely kept him from throwing his hands in the air and demanding to know how they could possibly watch each others' backs against an all-powerful magic castle. ...Just barely.

Instead, he frowned down toward his food and focused on the other part of their conversation.

"This place acts like one big evil spirit. It never speaks, but it's obviously listening, and it keeps us and the town all trapped in its world. The Castle is at the center of it all-- the changes, the bubble of power, the ghosts --so, it's as if the Castle itself is the spirit."

Sokka had made some real progress on his food while everyone else had been dawdling, so he took a moment between bites to fill in his thoughts. "If it's the castle that's got the problem, why hang around? It doesn't work to stay outside?"

He thought over what everyone had already told him, and none of them had mentioned what happened if a person avoided the castle all together. "I mean, isn't it strange that it knows our names and puts us each in a place and people just blindly accept it?"

Sokka leans forward, pointing at nothing in particular. "Seems to me if it's really as smart as you guys are making it out to be, then that's the worst thing a person could do. You know -- give in and let it have its way."