1. Dude Looks Like a Lady

_I couldn't help but come up with this title; it just fit so _perfectly_. This idea popped into my head while in one of my classes. I laughed. It was too funny to pass up an opportunity to write for! This used to be in Maiko100 for prompt #40, but I just didn't fit the way I had it. So I changed it up a bit and added it to The Gaang's Time Capsule. :3_

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_**Dude Looks Like a Lady**_

"Hey waiter!" the water tribesman called from across the room. He waved his arm in the air and grinned widely when the server looked his way. "How 'bout another one for ol' Sokka?"

The Monkey-Hare Pub in Ba Sing Se was well-known for its soju and Hite, both of which the young man had taken a liking to the last few days. Drinking helped pass the time, after all, and he happened to have arrived in the city a few days earlier than everyone else. The rest of Team Avatar would be showing up sometime this week.

Sokka leaned back in his chair, listening to its old wooden legs cry out in protest and smiling at the ceiling. He'd picked a beaten up table in the back of the bar so as keep mainly to himself, and he didn't mind the added perk of being able to see everyone that came in and out—mainly the women. Here in the Upper Ring, the ladies were all stunningly beautiful. Not as beautiful as Suki, of course, but still nice to look at.

When the waiter brought him his new drink, he thanked the man kindly and proceeded to down the mug in just a few gulps. It sent a tingle of warmth all the way from his head to his toes, and he smacked his lips in satisfaction.

"I would suggest not drinking it so quickly, sir," the waiter said, taking the now empty mug and looking at Sokka with a half-smile and quirked brow. "This stuff's pretty potent. And you've already had six."

Sokka waved off the comment with his hand, chin jutting out indignantly. "I drink far more than this down in the South Pole," he lied, ignoring the fact that his head was buzzing with hundreds of little happy buzzard bees. "We men of the Water Tribe are often admired for our tolerance of alcohol. I could have twenty more if I wanted to!"

What was he talking about again?

The man looked like he was trying to hold back a laugh, but Sokka couldn't see anything funny about—well, whatever he'd just said. Maybe he'd told a joke?

"Whatever you say," the guy said, turning and walking away, leaving Sokka to stare after him.

Somewhere on the other side of the bar, music started playing, and his thoughts moved to other things. Were Suki here, the two of them would dance to music like that. It reminded him a little of the sounds he would hear in The Jasmine Dragon—lilting, catchy. He could even swear he heard a Tsungi Horn somewhere in there. Suki liked the Tsungi horn.

He sighed, happy, and rested his chin on his hands. Suki would be arriving soon—maybe even tomorrow. He hadn't seen her in a while, not since she'd gone to offer her services to Zuko back in the Fire Nation some few months ago. The Fire Lord had wanted his soldiers trained in some of the ways of the Kyoshi Warriors for more diversity, or something like that. Sokka had to admit he hadn't exactly been listening when Suki'd told him—he'd been too upset by the fact that they would be separated.

He did like the idea of Zuko's men forced into dresses, though. The mental image made him chuckle a little.

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Sokka decided to leave the bar when he noticed that there were no more women to stare at. It was late and the only people left were surly-looking men who only seemed able to grunt and glare at each other.

It was difficult to get to his feet at first; his head swam and the room spun a little. He was able to walk, thank goodness, but it felt like he was sloshing through the Swamp he'd been in so many years ago. Rocks were in his boots and gravity seemed to be acting rather merciless.

As he made his way back to the Jasmine Dragon—where Iroh was generously offering him and everyone else rooms to stay in-Sokka noticed someone up ahead who was walking in the same direction. At first he couldn't make the person out, but then they stepped into the lantern light that lined the pathway and he caught sight of beautiful long black hair. She was wearing a stunning red robe that ran all the way down to her feet—and she was well-built.

A fine young lady if he had anything to say about it. No doubt her face was just as lovely, though he hadn't managed to see it since she was walking ahead of him.

_Strange. I feel like I've met her before,_ he thought, rubbing his beard in thought. Ah well_. Can't have a young lady walking by herself in the middle of the night unescorted!_

His heavy legs were suddenly light as air as he strutted over to this dazzling stranger. When he reached her, his hand automatically slapped her bottom companionably and he said, "A fine woman like yourself shouldn't be out alone—"

The "woman" had him flying through the air before he even knew what was happening, and he landed painfully on the gravel some few feet away.

"Don't you ever touch me again, you—" The stranger stopped, a heavy silence filling the air. Then it was broken by one word. "Sokka?"

That hadn't been a woman's voice. Oh no, not a woman at all. Sokka _knew _that voice, and the realization at who this person was and what he'd just done made him sober up that very instant. "Z-zuko?"

How was he supposed to have known that in the last four years the Fire Lord would have grown his hair back out?


	2. Soaring

_My attempt at the emotion "Love". My friend **likeacliche** is helping me get better at expressing emotion in my work. She pointed out that sometimes my work sounds like a textbook instead of a story-at least in terms of emotion other than angst and sadness and paranoia-and it's something I've noticed long before now. xD I'm not good with happy sappy stuff. This is my first Kataang piece and my friend gives it an A+! V_

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**Soaring**

The pile of crumpled papers was growing steadily larger with each passing hour. Aang stared down in misery at his newest piece; swirling clouds amid a bright blue sky. How on earth was he supposed to get his feelings down on paper? This was impossible.

He leaned further back into the soft comforting fur of his bison, the great mammal's forearm providing him with a soft sitting place. He held the paper up for him, and Appa opened one eye lazily to glance at it. "What do you think, boy?" he asked for what felt like the millionth time, and as with the attempts, Appa simply sighed.

Aang lowered the paper back into his lap and sighed, too. "Yeah. I don't like it, either," he said.

He hadn't seen Katara in over three years. but it felt like it'd been only yesterday that they'd been together, holding hands in the moonlight and kissing under the golden Maidenhair trees that lined the streets of Ba Sing Se. He could still see her eyes when he closed his own, eyes that held the ocean in them. After the war, they'd found themselves separated by responsibilities way beyond what they could control.

And now, at sixteen, he found his thoughts filled with her face even more than usual. His heart ached for her, for her smile. He missed the feel of her hands, how she made his heart soar higher than the clouds.

"What am I supposed to do?" he asked out loud, his voice echoing through the canyon. "How am I supposed to tell her how I feel?" He'd hoped he could tell Katara through a drawing, but it wasn't enough. Nothing was enough.

A loud grunt from Appa.

"How am I supposed to tell her that being with her is more wonderful than the first time I ever flew through the air and the clouds? That she's more beautiful than any sky, any_thing?_" He traced his fingers absentmindedly along the rims of the clouds he had drawn, thinking. "I've never felt anything like I do when I'm around her. It's like flying, only higher than any cloud, even higher than the stars."

Something big and wet and warm pushed against him from behind and pulled him up into the air before he felt back down with a slippery thud onto the cobblestones. Despite himself, he laughed, then stood and turned to Appa. He put his hand on the animal's big nose and smiled. "Thanks," he said, his voice low. "I guess I just miss her."

At this, Appa let out a bellow and got to his feet. The great animal stretched its muscles out slowly and flexed its tail, the noise of it slapping against the ground spanning through the temple. Then the bison turned his big brown eyes on Aang and tilted his head at him so that one horn was in reach.

Aang felt his heart within him leap and he found himself grinning widely in excitement. He scaled his friend's shaggy head and grabbed the reins. "I'll just tell her myself," he said in agreement. And with a loud, "Yip yip!" the two were off.


	3. The Secret Life of Sokka and Zuko

_For the ATLALAND lottery under the prompt "Ba Sing Se". It was meant to be for Avatar_500's prompt "Spontaneous" but ended up being far too long. IT TOOK ME FRIGGIN' DAYS TO FINISH THIS. Also, MAJOR thanks to likeacliche over at LJ . If it weren't for her nudges along the way, and help during writer's block, this fic would have been never finished and instead flushed down the toilet._

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**The Secret Life of Sokka and Zuko**

He was floating somewhere and had no idea how he had gotten there. Everything was black. Some person was pounding on his head with a rock, but when he tried to open his mouth to tell them off, he found that he couldn't. He couldn't move anything.

And besides, there was something fuzzy in his mouth. Something _really_ fuzzy, like a rabbit-cat. It was sucking all of the moisture out of his mouth and making his tongue feel like it was in a barren desert. Maybe the person trying to crack his skull open had put the animal there as some sort of joke.

Well. It _wasn't_ funny. He was going to have to banish whoever it was. If only he could move…

A groaning noise from somewhere started up. It made the blackness swirl in front of him, made his entire head spin around on his neck, and as the spinning grew worse, the noise became louder.

"Wuzzat? Morning?" A heavy and warm object pressed into his shoulder, then snored loudly.

It took a few minutes for Zuko to realize that the incessant groaning was coming from himself, and then another few more for him to realize that the reason he couldn't see was because his eyes were closed. When he opened them, a light so blinding it made his head split in two was there to greet him and he quickly shut his eyes tight to fend it off.

What in the blazing spirits was going on?

He tried to move again but it felt like a thousand thick blankets were pressing down on him. Then the blankets moved and he realized that they weren't blankets at all, but a _person._

"Git….git offa me…" he managed to croak out, his attempt at sounding threatening failing miserably.

The person nuzzled further into his shoulder and gave off a strange purring sound. "But yer so soft."

He struggled weakly. "'m not. Now … Urrg.." A queasiness grabbed his stomach like red-hot pincers and he leaned forward, the other person falling over with a thump and a moan. The movement of his body made his eyes open again and this time the light wasn't as bad.

He was staring at dirty cobblestones. And something that could have been his robes, but his vision was blurry and his robes came off beige instead of crimson, so he didn't know for sure. Were those high heeled shoes on his feet?

A glance to his left showed that the person who he had thought was a criminal of some kind was actually Sokka. The man was curled up in a ball on the ground, head resting in a giant puddle of water that was forming around him. His wide-opened mouth showed the water to be drool, and the snores he was making were ear-splitting.

Not to mention he was wearing a dress. A long flowing green dress with yellow trimmings and golden bows.

Zuko blinked blearily at his friend for a moment, mouth hanging open, then looked down at himself again, only to cry out in shock.

"Wha—Sokka! Wake up!"

Through his aching head and spinning thoughts, Zuko crawled toward the other as quickly as possible without falling over. He grabbed Sokka's shoulder and started to shake him. "Wake up, Sokka!"

Sokka groaned, then rolled onto his back. "Shtop yellin', Katara." He put his finger to his lips. "Headache."

Oh, spirits. How had they ended up like this? Where were their real clothes? Whose clothes were they _wearing?_

"Sokka!"

"… Hm?" The water tribesman opened his eyes into a squint. "Oh. Hi, Zuko. What—are you wurring makeup?"

"We're in an alley somewhere in Ba Sing Se," Zuko was saying to himself as he paced. "In dresses." It was hard to think when it still felt like his brain had become a badgermole and was now trying to dig its way out of his skull. Plus, it was hard to stand when the world still felt like it was spinning. "How are we going to get back to The Jasmine Dragon without being seen?"

"I dunno, but I—" There was a retching sound and Zuko turned to see Sokka throwing up again on the cobblestones. A few more heaves followed before the water tribesman wiped his mouth on his arm and wibbled a little. "I want to die."

Personally, Zuko already felt dead, but he wasn't going to say that. What kind of Fire Lord was he, to go out and get drunk the night before a Peace Council? He didn't even know what time it was now, and if he was late that would be _very_ bad news. But it couldn't be worse than showing up hung over and in a dress, could it?

He gave up thinking about it when his pacing turned into a throwing-up fest at his feet, and when he thought his sides were going to burst from excessive heaving, it finally stopped and he fell onto his knees, gasping for breath.

Sokka, who was now lying spread-eagle on his stomach with his face planted into the ground, grunted and said in a muffled voice, "I shay we jusht high-tail it to … Jasmine Dragon and …"

"Just shut up, Sokka."

"If it makesh you feel any better… your hair is pretty when it'sh up in a headdressh like… like that."

Zuko moaned and hid his face in his hands.

The dash back to the Jasmine Dragon was more like a hobble, with several stops along the way so that Sokka could throw up in a bush or behind a tree. They kept to the shadows as best they could, and luckily no one was out in the streets to see them; most likely because of the huge meeting that was going to take place soon. A meeting _he_ was supposed be at.

Zuko did not enjoy being in a dress. He was used to the heavy robes of the Fire Nation, of the thick material in Earth Kingdom tunics, but this was terrible. He felt _exposed_. There was only thin material here, two layers at the most, and it caused a very uncomfortable breeze to drift between his legs as he ran. It was also hard not to trip in his current lethargic state-of-mind, and the loose-fitting clothes didn't help the matter. Sokka was even worse for wear, lumbering around like a grumpy and aged gorilla-rhino and tripping every so often with loud curses.

Zuko's heart lifted when the Jasmine Dragon loomed into view, closed and seemingly unoccupied; perfect for the two of them to rush up to the building and climb in through the windows to their rooms without being noticed. But just as he was about to quicken his pace, Uncle decided to step out of the front doors with a group of Fire Nation soldiers.

"I've told you that I have not seen him," Iroh said. "Not since yesterday."

"Sokka, hide," Zuko hissed, halting in his tracks and grabbing the back of Sokka's dress when the soldiers went to turn around.

"But we're almost-" Sokka didn't get to finish as Zuko shoved him behind the nearest building."Ow! Just who do you think you are, pushing me around? If I could lift my arms properly, I'd—"

"Sh!" Zuko held a finger up in the other's direction as he peeked around the edge of the building. The guards seemed to be taking their sweet time leaving the courtyard, footsteps slow but deliberate and armor clanking as they filed past. By some stroke of luck or will of the gods, none of them noticed the two men lurking in the shadows just to their left.

His entire staff was probably scouring the city looking for him. He wanted to kick himself for doing something as stupid as he had; wandering off in the middle of the night without telling anyone simply because Sokka had persuaded him to. And _spirits_; the thought of what Mai would do to him when she found him made his insides turn to ice.

Uncle stood watching the men until they were out of sight, then sighed and shook his head. Zuko watched as he turned to go back inside, breathing a sigh of relief that the cross-dressing torment was about to end, only to suck the breath back in when Iroh stopped in his tracks as if he had heard him. What would he do if _Uncle_ found him like this?

_Go back inside, _please_ go back inside_.

And, just like that, Iroh stepped in through the doors and closed them behind him.

_Thank Agni._ "Let's go," he said, ears straining for the sound of any other people approaching. He turned to Sokka.

Only to find him fast asleep.

He did _not_ need this. Nor did he feel that he particularly deserved it. He was tempted to just leave him there, but a sense of spite kept him from doing so. If he had to suffer through all of this, then so did Sokka.

The water tribesman definitely looked as miserable as he felt. Dark shadows under his eyes, his face sunken in. The bright red blush on his cheeks and green eye-shadow on his closed lids did nothing to help. Zuko was definitely going to kill him when they were both feeling capable of moving again without gravity pulling at their limbs.

"Damn it, Sokka, wake up!" he said, grabbing the other by his frilly collar and shaking him vigorously.

Sokka's eyes shot open as he gave a loud yell, arms flailing. "You can't have my seal jerky!" he cried. He blinked his blood-shot eyes in confusion when he saw Zuko, then narrowed them. "You don't have to try and rattle my head off my shoulders every time you wake me up, you know."

Without answering, Zuko turned and headed out into the courtyard again. He heard Sokka scrambling behind him, cursing as he tried to get to his feet. Then he heard him gasp and say, almost lovingly, "Water."

Sokka was running toward the fountain before Zuko had a say in the matter. Before he knew it, the other had his face completely submerged in the basin, loud slurping noises heard along with several happy humming sounds. Zuko had to admit that water sounded great, the glimmering liquid that his friend was so greedily sucking up like a vacuum looking almost heavenly, but he held back. No way was he going to drink out of a dirty fountain. Even if his tongue was practically pleading for it.

"Get out of there," he snapped. "That's disgusting."

Sokka had either chosen to ignore him, or had passed out face-first in the water. Because the slurping had ended, Zuko was going with the latter. He sighed miserably and stalked over to the other, grabbing the back of his golden headdress and pulling his head out of the water.

"It feels so nice," Sokka murmured. Makeup and water dribbled down his face and onto his dress. "So cool. You should try it, Zuko."

"I'll pass."

"I think I'll just stay here for a little—Hey!"

Zuko had him by the back of his nape and was dragging him toward the Jasmine Dragon before he could finish.

"Fine, _fine_. I'm coming. Just let go of me!"

It hadn't been that hard to find the window looking into Sokka's room. He had contemplated using his own, but with the chance that Mai might be there, Zuko had decided to try the other. Suki wasn't there in Ba Sing Se with them, making the privacy of Sokka's room ideal for their current ordeal.

The only problem was that the window was rather high, and Sokka, although more awake since splashing off a little, was still incapable of using his limbs properly. It made it even worse that they were in dresses.

And so Sokka had come up with the "genius" plan of climbing in first by having Zuko all but shove him in. Which worked well for the most part, except that Sokka was as heavy as he looked, and it was hard for Zuko not to get caught in the loose fabric of his clothes, and his stupid headdress kept getting in the way. Heaven forbid he look up and see something he did _not_ want to see.

He knew Sokka made it in when the weight finally lifted from his aching shoulders and he heard a loud _THUNK!_ from inside the room.

Now it was his turn, and he was not looking forward to testing the climbing limits one had when in a dress. How did girls wear these? They were impractical. Nonetheless, he managed to grab the sill of the window and anchor himself in and over with his arms, slumping to the floor on his belly like a worm. The first thing he saw when he stood up was Sokka already curled up on his bed, asleep. The second was something he only had time to register as a red and golden blur before he was up against the wall and unable to move.

Then he saw what it was—or more precisely, _who_.

"Mai!" he squeaked. He struggled weakly against the knives that held him, but this entire day had drained him of what energy he had left. The spirits hated him for some reason.

The tightness to Mai's mouth showed that she was furious, and yet there was also a glint of—what? Amusement?—in her eyes. "You thought you could just run off in the middle of the night without telling anyone where you were going?" she asked.

So many excuses flooded into his head at that moment. _Sokka tricked me. He said we'd only be out for an hour. _But the only thing that came out of his mouth was a feeble, "I'm sorry."

She smiled. A smile that made his heart sink down into his almost-settled stomach. "You have a meeting in half an hour," she said. "No time to get dressed." She came up to him and ran her finger along his chin, making him shudder in longing despite himself. "Though I'm definitely going to have to help you redo your makeup. Purple just isn't your color."

Yes. The spirits definitely hated him.


	4. Foundation

_This popped into my head out of the blue and I just had to write it. It's a bit rough around the edges, considering how quickly I typed it, but I like it. Tokka is adorable._

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The earth had always been Toph's throne, her foundation. It was solid and dependable, steady and unwavering. Through it she saw and interacted with the world. There was nothing better than nestling her toes down under its surface and feeling at one with it. When she was standing on earth, nothing could stop her.

Being separated from the earth was like having a vital limb torn from the body. Everything dimmed and blurred together, became meaningless and indecipherable. The world suddenly became too big, too overwhelming. She never felt more lost and more blind than when she was not connected with the one element that made up her very blood.

Air was the opposite of her element. It was not solid, could not be clasped or fondled or felt. It was a ghost, a phantom. In the air she was away from her world, lifted into a completely different universe altogether where nothing made sense and everything was nothing but blackness and death. She always felt her soul ripped away from her as she soared higher and higher. It would not join her up in the clouds, but instead waited for her back down in the safety of rock and dependable footing. One wrong move would send her plummeting into a black void where there was no return.

And so, when flying through the skies, she grappled for anything that resembled an earthly purchase, desperately grasped anything she could find that was sturdy. But then again, nothing was truly real unless it was on the ground.

Her first time aloft had been the most terrifying thing in her entire life, and she'd almost lost her resolve. The bison had leapt and she had started, her hands flying out. The world had felt as though it were about to end.

But then something warm and stable had materialized out of nowhere, had placed itself in her outstretched hands and stayed there. She had clung to it desperately and not let go.

An arm. And just through intuition she knew whose arm it was.

She'd never thanked him, never said anything about it, but she knew that he knew how much she appreciated it. From then on, she did not care about flying as long as he was there with her. In the air, he became her foundation, her earth. And she felt _safe._


End file.
