Chapter Text
"Goodbye, Zuko." His Mom hesitates, a stutter in the moment, before leaning down over him in bed and pressing a soft kiss to his forehead. "Remember your heart," she says before rushing out his open bedroom door. The gentle illumination from the hallway sends her into shadows from where he's tucked into bed, he can only make out the sway of her dark hair before she's gone. He reaches out, a soft sound breaking the near silence of night in a too large house, and his fingers brush against nothing but cold air.
Zuko wakes up with a gasp in a much smaller bedroom than his dream. Right, he's staying with his Uncle right now. He rubs his eyes then props himself up on his elbows to look around. The shapes of this room are familiar, similar enough to the ones that took up his dorm rooms the past few years. His guitar, acoustic despite his requests, is on it's stand by the desk his uncle had taken three hours too many to set up because he lost the instructions . His dirty laundry is in it's hamper, but there's enough that it's starting to overflow. Yes, he's in his Uncle's home, in his own generous full size bed, and it's been six years since his Mom disappeared in the middle of the night. He plays the dream back, picking at the blurry edges of her face until he feels satisfied that he remembers her. Although, he ignores the quiet hissing when she speaks, chalks it up to nightmares warping the memory that was already hazy from being woken up to make it, and instead focuses on the shape of his name when she says it. He settles back under his summer comforter, light enough to breathe, heavy enough to feel it on him, and slows his breathing until he falls asleep again. His Mom doesn't reappear that night, and when he wakes up in the morning he immediately grabs his phone to chase away the faces that did.
When his heartbeat slows and the dreams disappear he pauses his video to listen. Uncle is neither an early or late riser, but by now Zuko can hear a cupboard banging open and a tea kettle start to whistle on the stove. Breakfast time, then. He doesn't bother with socks or slippers, only cringing a little when his bare feet move from the area rug to hardwood. Despite it being summer everything is still cold in the morning. He does take the time to tug a hoodie he'd left draped on his desk chair over his head before heading downstairs.
He sits at the little kitchen table with a puff of air. Uncle sets a cup of tea in one of his faux nice cups in front of him. It's pretty, but Zuko knows it was cheap. Or thrifted, which Uncle would smile at and remind him that the thrift store doesn't always know the value of something that was donated to them, and if he got it for cheap why should he care if it was worth more? Ginseng, he decides off the smell, and Uncle's recent kick of having it every morning.
"Did you sleep well?" Uncle asks from across the kitchen where he's now crouched in front of the pots and pans cupboard.
Zuko waits the moment it takes for Uncle to pull out the skillet before responding, "Yes." It wasn't exactly a lie, he slept better than many nights before. The kitchen doesn't fall into silence, Uncle singing a song Grandmother apparently used to sing when he and Father were small as he makes pancakes. He doesn't know what the words mean, he never learned Chinese after all. He takes a sip of his tea finally, it's still just a touch too warm, and settles into his seat to wait.
——
Sokka doesn't want to wake up this early, but he has to, work calls. At least at work he'll see Suki, even as he exhausts himself taking care of other people's lawns. He's gotten good at it though, planting, mowing, watering, raking, everything he could possibly be asked to do. He'd hope so, it has been two years after all. He pulls on an outfit by feel, knows the feeling of work jeans and t-shirts in the dark now. In the bathroom he pulls the long hair on top of his head back, the only way he styles it, splashes his face, brushes his teeth, pisses, and then heads downstairs. Dad isn't up yet, neither is Katara or Bato. He prays GranGran is getting some sleep, but these days he can never be sure when her pain will wake her up.
Downstairs he makes coffee by the little kitchen window. The sun is up at this point, but it hasn't been for long. He can still see dew shimmering on the grass, and fog hovering on the mountains. Something darts across the edge of their yard and the woods, probably a cat, maybe a fox. Finally, finally the pot is done brewing. He pours himself one of those to-go mugs with what Dad always calls way too much milk and sugar, having let himself sleep in as late as possible, and puts the still mostly full pot back where it goes. Dad and Bato will want some soon, as they slowly wake up together before work.
He grabs a hoodie off the coat rack, willing to bet there's still a damp chill to the air this early, before his keys and heads out the door. He starts his truck, but sits there for just a moment to take a sip of still too hot coffee before pulling out and driving the ten minutes to work with the radio blasting.
——
Aang wakes up with Toph's hair in his mouth, her elbow in his ribs, and his leg twisted over her own. She's snoring right next to his ear loud enough that it's starting to ring. She's been sleeping here as often as her parents allow since graduation, Gyatso really not caring after hearing a bit about how they treat her. Aang knows he's planning on offering to move her in with them after her birthday this month and he's really excited. Him and Toph have been friends since forever, living together is going to be fun! He shoves her off of him and she wakes up with a shout.
"What was that for, Twinkle Toes?" she demands.
"You were snoring."
"Like that's new."
He huffs a little as she goes to sprawl out again. "C'mon," he says, "now that we're both up we should go get breakfast."
"Five more minutes," her voice is already going quieter as she pulls the blanket they're sharing up again.
"You know if we get up early enough Gyatso will make us cinnamon roll waffles." When he says that she's up in a hurry and is tugging at him, demanding he get up quicker. He doesn't blame her, Gyatso's cinnamon roll waffles are another level of delicious. They race out of his room, not bothering to make themselves look as if they hadn't just rolled out of bed, and nearly tumble down the stairs at break neck speed. Toph shoves him into the wall at the bottom of the stairs with a thud before taking off towards the kitchen. He follows after her, but is unable to catch up to her on foot. She tumbles into one of the dining chairs with a loud shout, boasting herself victorious. "We never even declared it a race," he complains as he takes his own seat.
"Didn't have to, it always is."
Gyatso appears then, laughing to himself, probably at them. He's still got his morning robe on, but he seems wide awake already. He's probably been up for awhile, then, just taking today slow. He glances at the time, 9:51 AM, and yeah, that certainly means today is a slow day. Gyatso gets himself a glass of water before saying anything, his easy smile still plastered to his face. "Well, I take it it's time for waffles finally?"
"Yes!" Toph exclaims.
—
It's solidly evening by the time Aang and Toph meet up with Sokka and Katara after the two of them get out of work, but the sun isn't set yet. Sokka is sat shotgun in Katara's shitbox of a car already when the two of them roll into Aang's driveway, the bass announcing their arrival before anything. Toph and Aang are already on the stairs by the time Gyatso pokes his head in the front door and yells for the two of them. He'd spent the day gardening, and cleaning up after Appa now that the week is over, and usually Aang would be out there with him but Gyatso had insisted he spend the day with Toph this time.
Toph, as always, doesn't slide shoes on before heading out the door, leaving Aang to fumble with his own and follow her out a moment later. The two of them climb in the back of Katara's Camry and buckle up before their driver can start nagging. It's a lesson they learned about their friend quick, the car isn't going anywhere until they're all buckled. Still Into You is blasting from the speakers as they pull out of Aang's gravel driveway, the tires crunching until they hit the road.
Conversation is easy between the three as they head for the river. Music is blasting so they have to shout over it, but they've gotten good at that since Sokka got his license. It's a bit over a thirty minute drive if Katara was actually following the speed limit, that being said, they get there in about twenty. Dust flies up behind the car as they turn to follow alongside the river to the pull off for the island and the trails. She whips into an imaginary parking spot, there's no other cars in the dirt pull off, and certainly no lines, so it works. Aang and Sokka are the first out of the car, Toph very quickly next. The four of them hit the bottom of the trails first, mostly to see if any of the campsites are taken already, but also to work up a sweat before going for a swim.
The moment they pass the trail head Aang misses Toph's movement and trips over the raised earth. With his breath he blows himself back up to standing rather than letting himself face plant. Sokka and Toph are cackling into the quiet of the woods at him, and it's infectious. He finds himself laughing with them quickly. They don't keep track of the trail markers on the trees, the track well-worn, and all of them familiar with it.
Finally, as Aang is finally ready to complain that he's drenched in sweat, they come up on the first campsite. It's thankfully empty, not a tent in sight. The fire pit is cold too, which is really the best sign that there would be no one here when they came back.
"Alright gang," Sokka shouts with all the fake importance of a general, "time to head down to the river and swim! And do freaky water magic, I guess." And so they turn on their heels and bound down the trail, which is a lot easier than going up it. Toph easily dodges Aang's own attempts to trip her, just as he expected in all honesty.
The water they splash into is cool. The current here is gentle, the faster part on the opposite side of the island they're wading towards. Sokka is in front of him holding the bag with all their towels above his head even though they all know at the deepest point the water will maybe reach his upper thigh. Katara has the cooler bag of sandwiches Hakoda had made, and labeled, and Capri Suns clutched under her arm. Toph is holding onto his arm, the soft nature of the river bed making it harder for her to 'see'.
The four of them hit the soft sand on the island and Aang immediately tosses his shirt to the ground before diving back into the water. Toph stays in the shallows for now, sitting in the water and letting the minnows nip at her. Katara and Sokka splash in just moments later and soon enough the four of them are having fun in the water and slowly, very slowly, dying daylight.
—
Back at the campsite with the sun officially set and the fire roaring they sit and chat as they finally eat their sandwiches. Hakoda has long since memorized what everyone's favorites are, ham+turkey with a slice of cheese and mayo for Sokka, turkey with a slice of cheese, some chips on it, and mayo for Katara, peanut butter and strawberry jelly for Toph, and a tomato sandwich for Aang. It's delicious, if soggy, as always. Not that any of them really aren't.
With his sandwich devoured and Capri Sun downed Aang needs to take a leak somewhere in the woods. Not the outhouse, though, who knows what he'll find in there. So he stands and walks off with one of the flashlights, the heavy metal one, Katara's car flashlight. He wanders a little further in than he usually would, but really not by much, the fire is still easily spotted through the tree trunks. He pans the light around him as something heavy and cold settles into the base of his spine that isn't his long since dry swim trunks.
The beam of light flickers out.
He smacks it hard against his hand a couple times until it sputters back on. He swears this thing is as old as Katara's car, which is far too old to keep a flashlight around for. The light catches on something white jutting out of the ground. What? He squeezes his eyes shut, and yeah, it's still there. He steps a little closer, the reason he wandered off long put out of his mind. This is the woods, surely it's just a deer or something that unfortunately got caught or something. His stomach rolls over as that cold in his spine reaches a painful high. That's, that's definitely not a deer. No. The two skeleton's hands are clutched together, fingers interwoven. The one on the left small, a child, the one on the right much larger. Their parent?
He screams. It's high pitched and breathy, and a wave of nausea fights it's way up his throat with it.
His friends come bursting into the woods in an instant. The racket of their crashing through the underbrush is almost louder than his scream, but certainly isn't louder than Sokka's. "Is it, are they human?"
"Are what human?"
Katara audibly swallows and stutters through a few sounds before she finally says, "There are, um, two, two skeletons on the ground. And yes, they're human."
"Oh, that's what those things are?"
"Yeah…" Sokka agrees weakly.
They stand there quietly for a minute, staring at the poor souls in front of them. They must have been here awhile, bones clean, but a little too white with nothing covering them. He hates it. He doesn't know what to do now. Call the cops, obviously, but his gut twists at the thought of it. He almost wants to say the bones will disappear if he does.
"What the fuck do we do?" Sokka hisses finally.
"We call the cops, what the fuck do you think?" Katara smacks his shoulder.
"I don't know…" Aang says, a little too quietly.
"Katara we have no service," Sokka counters.
Aang takes a little breath, "Guys, I'm not so sure-"
"911 works without service, dumbass," Katara rounds on Sokka then, finally looking away from the bones.
"HEY! Listen to Aang you two," Toph shouts, too loud in the dark of the woods. The silence rings after her voice dies out, and the two siblings turn to look at him.
He smiles hesitantly a little, "I just, it doesn't feel right. Like, they look like they've just been placed here. I swear they're going to disappear the moment any cops show up, just a gut feeling."
Sokka stares at him, jaw a little dropped, and Katara's eyebrows are pinched. "I say we listen to Twinkle Toes," shrugs Toph, "he's in-tune with all the spiritual stuff anyways."
"Being the Avatar means basically nothing anymore, you know this," Sokka tries to argue against that, mouth flapping open, but Toph just cuts him off with a hand in his face. "Look, let's just go for the night. We can talk about this more tomorrow." She grabs Sokka and Aang's hands and tugs them along, trusting Katara to follow along.