Title: What If…
Summary: Drabbles based on prompts from various sources. Included are odd and well known pairings.
Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar or the characters. I don't make any money from this.
Warnings: This is my first ever Avatar fic…There will be some very random stuff here. This is rated 'M' because I'm exceedingly paranoid.

There will be no Kataang in this—yes, I know it's canon, but I don't care—I hate the Jacosta and Oedipus complexes in that.

-:-What If….The Gaang had been on Ember Island during 'The Beach'?-:- Zutara-:-one-shot-:-

Sand, smooth and soft and totally unlike what little visible earth there was to walk on back at the South Pole, pooled around her feet and slithered out and between her toes as Katara walked the edge of the wonderfully beautiful waves of Ember Island.

Unfortunately, she did not have the luxury of enjoyment from the place.

The sun was beating down on her already tanned form and the urge to just tear off her Fire Nation garb and waterbend the water into ice and wrap it around herself was getting harder and harder to resist. She had left the group to go and see the sights as the others decided to stay in the shaded tree area, away from prying eyes that would stare at Appa and possibly recognize him as the carrier of the Avatar. When she had left them, Toph and Aang had been playing about in the small sort of pool they had found, and Sokka had suggested while she was out that she should get them some food.

She had agreed, and now only wished she had kept her curiosity in check and was still in that shady spot, not being assaulted by the sun's rays.

"Sure Sokka, I'll get us some food…what with this being the Surface of the Sun, there should be plenty to offer up to us," Katara muttered to herself, climbing a small hill where the sounds of shrieking children and laughing teens, and happy parents could be heard.

"Ah civilization, how I've missed yo—"

The words (sarcastic though they were) died prematurely on her lips as a ball came flying at her face when she stepped over the slight incline; the leathery texture of the ball causing a stinging sensation as it struck her between the eyes, leaving a round imprint in its wake.

She growled under her breath, but opened her eyes to find before her a group of maybe a dozen tiny children, none possibly more than seven, looking up at her as though they knew they were dead meat before a hungry—or soon to be very angry—saber tooth moose lion.

With a mere look at such young children frightened of her, and seeing as they had not meant for the ball to hit anyone, she gave a tentative smile, bent down suddenly, and picked up the ball. She straightened and without preamble, tossed it to the closest little one, a boy that looked to be about six.

"Be a bit more careful with that," she laughed, lightly starting off towards what looked like a food stall further away from the water, surrounded by young women trying to get a tan and succeeding.

"Sorry about that, miss!" The boy she had tossed the ball to called, him and his friends heading back to the small play area with a tall net for their games before some teenagers took it over.

Katara gave a real smile, but didn't bother turning around, simply lifting her arm up to give a little backward wave. She wanted that shade provided by the stall and bodegas and sped up her pace; giving dismal looks at every other teen lying on their backs for more sunlight.

How could Fire Nation people stand this much heat? True, they were beings of fire and the sun was their best source of strength, but by Koh, she didn't understand how they weren't boiling to death. She missed the South Pole…

Almost skipping the last few paces to the closest bodega, she sighed in relief under the shade and relaxed enough to breathe in and out and just stand in that one spot, absorbing the coolness like it was her oxygen or sustenance.

A loud screech offset her happiness and she turned on her heals, coming face to face with red and black tabby parrot. It was about the size of Momo and was pointing with its talon at the bodegas merchandise, whiskers perking up and down as though to say, "What do you want?"

A little freaked out at the intelligence displayed by the furry thing, Katara never the less looked over the fruits, vegetables, meats and other such things supplied by the place. Lucky for her she had found the food Sokka had asked for by sheer dumb luck, rather than having to go searching from place to place and still under this ungodly heat.

"Um," she started, pointed hesitantly from one thing to another, the tabby parrot using its talons to bring out a handled box set off to the side for customers and then to pick up the items, wings flapping as it lifted to the higher shelves when needed, "Two melons, four pomegranates, two slabs of that—no, the other brown meat, thank you—and, um, do you sell candy?"

The beast tilted its head to the side a little and quickly flew into the back. After a few moments, it came back with a bag of red and white sweets, all circular and curved.

"Oh, thank you. Just seven, please," she thanked the little thing as it did as asked, counting the items and then perching atop the receipt holder. It quickly wrote up how much was owed, teeth holding the pen, and then gave it to her, the paper a little holey from the treatment.

She gave over the money and, as an afterthought, took her own pomegranate from the box. Biting into it, she pulled off a small piece and gave it to the animal, "Thank you. A little tip?"

Seeming more than happy to oblige, the tabby parrot took away the piece and downed it in a single gulp, wings spreading. It gave Katara an adorable little bow as she laughed, walking across the bodegas deck towards where she could see a vendor selling shaved ice. She would get one for herself, cherry flavored, and eat it with her pomegranate.

As she approached the other bodega, she heard…someone gloating, with a voice that—as was the last time she heard it—made a ball of lead appear where her stomach was.

Slowly, near painfully so, she turned to face back towards the waves of the beach. That ball of lead in her stomach seemed to harden viciously; where the little children had previously been playing, were a group of teens, among which were the four of the most dangerous people of the Fire Nation she had met. Azula and her two second hand warriors and Zuko—without his shirt, but looking like he was in a less than happy mood—playing volley ball.

On instinct, she brought up her box of food so if they looked over they would not be able to see her face. She looked pretty ridiculous to anyone nearby, but they were far away, so they couldn't really make anything of it. Supposing they even stayed on that side of the beach…damn.

Now, she wouldn't be able to get back the way she came without them spotting her! And she had to get the others out of here before those four noticed—with her group's luck—Appa's fur in the water, or Sokka walking into plain sight to find her, or Aang and Toph setting the island into tremors while practicing earthbending!

Groaning, she walked back over towards where the tabby parrot was, but kept her eyes focused over her shoulder, just in case.

"Excuse me," Katara called attention to the animal, though with a whisper now, as the group of teens started back to where they had been sitting by the bodegas, "Sorry to bother you again, but do you know a way back towards the forest without walking along the beach?"

The tabby parrot tilted its head questioningly, though at the hesitant smile Katara directed at it, as though begging for help from such a small creature as itself, gave a little squawk and fluttered to the back of the bodega. She was about to groan as she spotted Zuko getting up from under the umbrella he had been sitting under with that Mai chick, looking a little more sour than usual—spirits help her—but the tabby parrot came back, a small map of the island clutched in its talons.

It unfurled the map out in front of her and pointed with its sleek wings from where they were standing, to the path most likely to get her into the forest without crossing through the beach again.

Unfortunately, the only way she could really go, was around the shaved ice bodega she had been heading for—the one just behind Zuko and Azula's group—and through the tall bungalows that the people of Ember Island resided in. Tall bungalows that she could escape among if that group saw her, possibly even hide within if she had to, or walk back the way she came and possibly be seen by a sour Zuko and Azula and her crazy little followers?

The tabby parrot chirped up at her, interrupting her thoughts and bringing her head up from where she had been staring at the map, her box still beside her head and making her look like a crazy person.

A light cough sounded off behind her and she stiffened, the small animal doing so as well as it noticed it had a costumer when it was focused on this nice lady who had given it a snack.

"Excuse me, but do you have a problem with that box?" The voice behind Katara asked, the voice itself causing her to tense up as it was a familiar voice. The sound had previously brought her fear and the possibility of friendship and back again.

'Zuko…'

"Do you need help with it or something?" The Fire Prince asked, not having a clear view of the other's face, but curious all the same at why anyone would hold a box of food like that. He started to even move to assist and help her put it down, but was met by her dropping it altogether and bolting across the bodegas deck and around the hut like she was possessed, the little animal that worked the stall giving what might have been a worried squawk.

If he had been looking at the box and its contents, he would have noticed that nothing crushed or splattered or slid across the worn wooden deck of the small shop. All of the fruits just sort of rolled less than an inch from the box, and the meat stayed within the confines, like fate was trying not to ruin perfectly good food. But, Zuko wasn't looking at the food, he was looking at the long brown hair and the tan skin and the scared blue eyes he had seen what felt like a lifetime ago…running away from him again.

It seemed like his bad mood left him in the time it took for him to recognize the Water Tribe girl, and without much hesitation—other than to make sure his sister and her friends weren't watching him, for some reason caring if they saw what or whom he was interested in chasing after—he swiftly picked up the food, stuffed it back in the box and took off after…Katara.

He completely ignored the reason he was chasing after his enemy, he didn't even knowwhy for that matter, and put in extra effort to up his pace as she already had a head start and was up to twenty feet ahead of him; dashing around the poles that held up the island's bungalows like a spirit or entity of her own element, and only looking back to be sure he wasn't close enough to…burn her, catch her, kill her. It was anyone's guess.

After another five minutes—five minutes of jumping around oddly placed poles, jumping over old ladies hanging up their laundry and avoiding small children, and apparently, once the situation caught up with him, having fun doing it, he found his voice. He called out to her.

"Wait! I'm not going to do anything to you—wait!"

She acknowledged him by turning her head, but obviously didn't believe him, as she grabbed the bow of a poorly tended tree grown near a particular bungalow to…add to the décor of the place or something…and pulled it just enough to bend it and swing it into his face. It missed, though, and he bent backwards, adding momentum to his movement in a jump. He then used his bending and added even more momentum, spinning in mid-air like a bird or a kite, landing right in front of her.

She would have bowled right into him, unable to stop—because of all of the damn sand!—but did a little flip of her own. Landing less than gracefully on her right foot (which bent painfully at the ankle) and her left knee so she was looking up at him. She held up both of her fists, but he didn't do anything. He just looked…what the hell?

Smiling. He was smiling!

"I…uh, you dropped this," he started, bending down to her level and tentatively holding before her the food she bought, actually making her think of a little kid that was in trouble with an adult and trying to make up for it with a present made from clovers and daisy chains—why was she thinking of him like that?

"…That's it?" Katara almost shrieked, snatching the box from him, causing him to bend a bit too far back and land undignified on his rear. His smile had faltered, gone away as she stood over him, energy radiating fury and the promise of painful death. And she would do it, too!

"…Yes?" He answered, hands out behind him as she bent further in towards him, her teeth grinding.

She sighed, a little worn out after running and worn out from it, the adrenaline in her system giving out on her and making it so she was a little dizzy, but unfortunately did nothing to help the ache now forming in her ankle. Besides, if he was going to hurt her, he would have thrown a large fireball at her while running or worse—called his sister and her friends…urgh. And anyway, now that she looked at him, for the first time since he'd gone back to living with his family, he looked much, much less threatening. And he was still cowering in front of her, so she could assume he was not planning to attack her at the moment.

Straitening, Katara moved the box to her hip, her head tilting back and her other hand offered down to the prince of the Fire Nation, "So…If you had no intention of doing anything to me, why did you chase me?"

Taking her hand—extremely pleasant to hold onto as it was a few degrees cooler than his own—Zuko pulled up, but mostly used his own strength to do such. He could see some swelling around her ankle and for some reason that he still couldn't explain, didn't want her to hurt worse, "Well, you dropped your food for one thing, and, uh…I don't know…it just seemed like I should follow you."

"You're not even going to try and capture me?"

Zuko gave another tentative smile, shrugging, "No. I'm on vacation. A forced vacation, but still. And, anyway, I'm not an idiot."

When she opened her mouth to give a retort to that, he held up his hand to continued, "Or, at least, not enough of an idiot to fight you now. We are on an island, surrounded by water, and I'd rather not drown today, thank you very much."

At another bout of awkward silence, Katara peered back over her shoulder, toward the beach and then back at him, an inquisitive look in her eyes, "Forced vacation? But you brought your sister and her friends, so isn't that…"

"Crazy?" He filled in for her, scratching the back of his neck, "Yeah, I know. But, technically, Father forced only me and Azula, plus one guest each. My sister brought Ty Lee and I brought my girlfriend."

Starting to walk through the bungalows, as though silently saying she had to get further away from his sister without any words, she raised her brow, head tilted to point out he could walk with her. Though, her walk was more of a light step-and-limp, but she paid no mind and questioned, "You have a girlfriend? But I didn't see anyone else with you…"

"Uh, I'm dating Mai now," he offered, walking on her right side on an instinct, just in case she tripped and fell.

This was followed by her giving him a wide mouthed, wide eyed look that sent his eyes directed in another direction, blushing immanent.

"The dark, gloomy girl who uses lots of sharp weapons and sighs a lot?"

"She doesn't…sigh a lot," he attempted in defense, but failed horribly.

"And now she's your girlfriend?"

"I think so, but…"

"But?"

"Well, lately, she just doesn't seem interested. I could be wrong, though. This is my first relationship, after all."

Katara smiled a little at the admission. Sure, talking about a thing like this with a traitor was not something that would happen after she and everyone else got off the island and far, far away from the people most likely to kill them, but for the moment, she would embrace the strangeness. It was sort of nice, in a really weird way.

"Well, do you kiss each other?" Katara prompted, careful as she stepped over a rather poorly placed rock garden, Zuko actually holding her shoulder before she tripped on some rather round stones.

"Yes," the scarred young man answered, blushing worse.

They continued on through the bungalows, the sun still relatively high in the sky, and them chatting amiably, though quietly. It was bad enough that they were talking to the enemy, but it was worse with Katara being deep, deep, deep into enemy territory, and Zuko not calling in reinforcements to help put her down. Speaking quietly would not ensure this simple safety, but it was sort of instinctual. And, they were fine with it, really.

Nearing the forest, where she was supposed to go, Katara could not help but ask, unable to help it at this point, as they might not see each other again as…whatever they were at the moment, in no uncertain terms, "Have you ever said that you love her?"

They stopped at the edge of the trees and he knew that this was where he would have to leave her, now before she ran off, and before his sister and companions noticed he was gone, but he answered, truthfully, "…I told her I don't hate her."

She was quiet a moment, and when she spoke again, she was right in front of him, trees shading her against the sun's rays, and him bathed in light, polar opposites, but equals, "I hope that that's enough for you two. Maybe you can make it work."

He was quiet at that. She was sincere, but it was rather obvious in the reflection of her eyes that she was as unsure as he was on the matter.

Nodding, he was about to turn back, allowing her to slip away without him being able to pinpoint exactly where she was going, but she lightly grasped his shoulder, drawing his attention back. The box was still settled on her hip, and the hand that was not touching him was holding the bit into pomegranate in an offering.

"Could you give this to that little tabby parrot shopkeeper?"

He smiled at the blush spread over her at such a silly request, but nodded, taking the fruit and giving her one last look; not sad, not hollow, not cruel. Just himself to her and light.

And then she was gone.

The fact that she was still limping disconcerted him, but he made back for the beach, absently tracing the bite mark in the pomegranate with his thumb.