a.n.

For those of you who have been reading Drown and wonder when I'll get my act together and write chapter three, I promise I haven't given up. Another fandom (Ace Attorney) has been calling me (along with midterms and projects), so I haven't been able to focus the right sort of attention on Drown; it takes a LOT of focus to write. I have the chapter all planned out, I just need to write it. This story/series of stories is completely unrelated and is just a distraction and a way for me to keep my ATLA writing skills up to par.

There's a site somewhere that provides you with random words, phrases, sentences, and paragraphs (there are probably a lot of them, actually, but the one I use is linked to on my profile). For this series of fics/drabbles/whatever, I'll be taking whatever random word pops up and writing a story about it. I'll probably get one out a week; I'll try and update every Sunday night.

Pairings include, but aren't limited to: Zutara, Tokka, Haki, Maing, Kyto, and whatever crack I decide to throw in. I'll mix them around on occasion, but those are my main ships. These will not all be romantic stories! But . . . probably the majority will be.

Without further ado, here's the first instalment.

Also, I don't own ATLA.

Random Word: Assign.

"Okay!" Zuko called over the chatter of the group of people assembled before him. They all glanced up at him, the talking died down, and he felt a sudden wave of awkwardness as seven pairs of eyes latched onto his face. He cleared his throat, trying not to betray his discomfort. "Okay," he said again, more quietly now that he had their attention. "As you all know, we're gathered here today to plan an extra-special birthday party for Toph." He cringed. Had he honestly just said 'extra-special'?

"Which is why we're in a hammock ten feet above the ground, I'm assuming?" Suki asked, sinking deeper into the mesh and settling her head comfortably on the nearest pillow-like object - which happened to be Haru's leg, sending a violent blush all the way from his neck to the tip of his ears.

Zuko nodded. "We had to be somewhere where Toph wouldn't be able to hear us through vibrations. Sokka designed this place, and he and Aang built it for us."

"I even tied the knots!" Sokka proclaimed proudly. Suki's eyes went wide and she immediately sat up straight again, sitting as gingerly as she possibly could. Luckily, Sokka didn't notice this; his attention was fixed raptly on Katara, who had flipped her long brown hair over her shoulder and was saying:

"Right now, Toph's getting an extra-special, intense pedicure." She glanced at Zuko as she spoke with a little twinkle in her eye, and he knew that she had picked up on his use of the hyphenated adjective and was making fun of him for it. He glared at her out of the corner of his eye and she stuck her tongue out at him before continuing. "She shouldn't be able to see anything for at least half and hour. But we figured we'd be careful."

"Good idea," Teo said, nervously. "But can we do this fast? If one of these knots break, I'm toast."

Several people mumbled in agreement, and Aang's hands tightened around his glider as he shifted slightly closer to the crippled boy, ready to be the hero if the net gave out.

"Alright." Zuko cleared his throat again. "The best thing to do would be to divide and conquer. Aang and Teo, you're in charge of balloons, fans, confetti cannons, anything involving machines and air." They nodded in unison, and Aang snapped his glider open. Teo grinned. "Haru, your job is to make that canyon we picked out as Toph-like as possible. Lots of rocks, boulders, multi-layered cliffs, whatever you think she'd like. Think back to Earth Rumble Eight, Ba Sing Se, all sorts of things. The Duke, you're helping Haru." The two boys slapped a cautious high-five over the rickety ropes. "Suki, you and Toph like all the same bands: you're on music." She saluted the young Fire Lord cheekily. "And Sokka, you're on gifts and guests: make sure only invitees are let in, and keep track of all the gifts and hide them until it's time." Sokka let out a whoop of joy and jumped to his feet. The hammock rocked dangerously and everyone cried out, grabbing onto the ropes for dear life. Zuko clapped his hands quickly. "Alright, everyone!" he shouted over the din. "Let's get to it!"

After all the others had extracted themselves (with some difficulty) from the net, Katara looked around and turned to Zuko. It was just the two of them left up there, and he was uncomfortably aware of how close they were.

"What am I supposed to do, Zuko?" Katara asked, tilting her head. Her hair brushed against his elbow and he felt a shiver trail up and down his spine. He hesitated a moment before answering, wondering if maybe he'd miscalculated.

"You . . ." His throat tightened and he coughed to clear it, feeling a blush rising on his cheeks. "You and I are going to bake the cake."

For a moment she stared at him, uncomprehending; then her face broke into the widest grin he'd ever seen on her.

"Thank you, Zuko!" she cried, throwing herself at him. They landed softly on the entwined ropes and she hugged him tightly. The blush was impossible to hide now, but he simply wrapped his arms around her and held her against him. They stayed like that for what seemed to be longer than was necessary (though Zuko wasn't complaining) before Katara pulled away and sat up.

"C'mon, Sparky," she teased, holding out a hand. "Let's get cooking!"

He took her hand and helped her out of the hammock, not bothering to suppress the self-satisfied smirk that he felt on his lips.

Who said he wasn't good at planning?

a.n.

Why is Zuko planning Toph's party? Why does it seem like there's a little bit of Teong going on?

I have no freaking clue. Just accept it and move on.

:)

NEXT WEEK'S RANDOM WORD:
Gang