Several rancorous clarifications later, Katara threw up both hands and snapped, "Your family is horrible!"
It came out half accusation, half pity. Basically Zukocide.
He instantly stiffened. "My uncle wasn't in on it," he said, sharp enough for a haircut. "So don't throw ice fangs at him either."
"Claws," she insisted.
"Wha-... who cares?!"
"Icewolf-style is claws!" Katara actually doubled down, swirled her hand to form a single one beside her from the steam still rising off the deck, alarming everyone present. And she opened both hands at it like it should all be obvious before declaring without a single blink, "it's my thing, it's cool, and I want the name I like to stick!"
Katara's eyes flicked to Iroh, who was starting to look dangerously close to having something to say, but he chose not to be perforated and kept his mouth shut.
And the thinly formed, hollow fang-or-claw-or-whatever plummeted to shatter into dust instantly.
"Uhh… Katara…" Sokka felt safe enough to mutter with the blade put away.
"What?" she shot back, hushed and not quite angry, but like she was scrambling for reasons to stay mad.
Sokka generously helped her out by saying, "wolves also have fangs."
"Whatever!" Katara declared, like that better be the end of it. She shot a second, far less murdery glance at Iroh. "I have no plans to claw your uncle, as long as he doesn't start doing Fire Nation stuff."
"That is very reassuring!" Iroh said like he got everything he wanted out of a treaty.
Raven was turned away, posture clenched up like she needed a hug from herself, and she was producing a keening warble that drew Katara's baleful gaze next, though it softened the instant she saw who it was.
"Katara, babe," she squeaked out, seeing the 'well what is it?!' all over the waterbender's face. "You're being such a dork about this right now," she continued, head slowly shaking as she slid her hand from her mouth, which showed her very genuine delight. "I missed you. For real."
"Your hair tells a different story," Zuko flatly stated from beside her. "She almost hit you."
Raven looked up, like that would actually help, and shifted her weight as she a bit frantically defended, "To save me!" and scoffed. "Not the first time, even! 'Cause she's a fuckin' awesome friend!"
Katara transformed. Before their very eyes, protective hostility turned to blatantly smug pride as she stood tall—for her—put hands to her hips and widely smiled.
"You're damn right I am!"
And after the boast, a quick and meek, "missed you too, Raven," chased it.
Zuko bristled a bit, however. Not quite gruff, he said, "just kiss already, why don't you?"
Katara instantly turned a very slightly redder brown, but her crystal blue wide eyes still gave her away. Raven chose to give him a look like, 'really, dude?' and he started looking a bit like he thought he was an idiot.
But it was interrupted when the same spearman who spoke before muttered in an unfortunately silent calming of the wind and waves, "I second that," to the guys right next to him, who looked back like he'd just signed their death warrants.
Everyone stared for a moment, but Zuko spoke first.
"Uncle, would ship operations be hampered if I throw him overboard?"
All the other soldiers stepped away from the loudmouth.
"Uhh… I didn't-" the man started.
Even Sokka, beside him, slapped his own forehead. "Dude, just shut up."
"Let us try to be forgiving," Iroh said sagely, his smile wider than an Icewolf claw. "In these difficult times, crew is not expendable."
Raven had picked up Zuko's discarded towel—she recognized it as his and was jonesing for some pheromones anyway—and finished brushing a full quarter of the metal shavings from her hair as if she thought she was done.
"Okay," she said, trying for composed but being taut as a garrote. "We are right behind my father—Lord Arza," she specified, like everyone needed a reminder she was better. "He's leading the Arzayan fleet to the Northern Water Tribe, and I would love to have you three with me when I try to explain… uh… I don't know what to call all of this."
"The Raven Saga," Sokka instantly suggested. "The Raveniad?"
Aang's whole body snapped upright.
"Wa-wait, what?" he blurted. "No! Absolutely not! Lord Arza cannot have Arzayanagi!" He pointed wildly, like he was expecting to find it, but realistically, it would be safely below decks. "Er… you have it, right Zuko? Your Fiery Highness? What do I call you?" he trailed off, but yanked himself back to attention. "After Omashu? No way! He tried to kill thousands of people with it!"
Katara stepped up like she was competing with Aang for most righteous indignation.
"The Arzayan fleet is going to invade the Northern Water Tribe?!" she demanded. "That's where we're going! Raven, you have to stop your dad!"
Zuko, to everyone's visible surprise, frowned at the horizon and said, "Invading the Northern Water Tribe right now would be insane."
He caught a slow blink from Sokka.
"Arzaya killed Zhao—an admiral!—There's no way my father isn't planning to attack the Arzayans right now," Zuko went on, scowling harder. "He already hates them. If Raven's psycho dad gets his fleet and half his army stuck in the north, it's basically asking my psycho dad to declare war and seize the Glittering Isles while he's away."
Sokka squinted at him. "Also," he said, in the tone of someone deeply disappointed the obvious had been missed, "it would be wrong to invade the Northern Water Tribe."
Zuko snapped his head toward him. "I know that!"
"You better," Sokka said shortly, like he was still taking points off.
"Whaddya want me to kick your butt into the snow again, water peasant?!" Zuko threw up his hands, and gestured wildly enough at Katara that she lowered her stance. "Have your crazy sister make a pile, I'd be happy to!"
Katara barked back, "we're not peasants, our dad is the chief and he leads all the southern warriors, not that it should matter, Mr. Fancy… only Pants." She almost managed not to flounder and glance the shirtless prince up and down.
Raven made a disgusted little noise in the back of her throat.
The attention swung back to her so sharply it almost felt physical.
"What?!" she scoffed. "You all keep talking about my family's spear like it's up to you! I'm not giving it to Dad, okay?!"
"Not up to me?" Aang faintly protested, taking a step to balance along with everyone else as the groan of a larger wave hit Zuko's cruiser. "I'm. The. AVATAR, Raven! It's totally up to me to stop all families from using their cursed spears!"
"Hold on, everyone," Iroh interjected, a look on his face like he didn't want a round two on the deck. "Lady Raven has no control over what the Arzayan fleet is doing, and I suggest no one here blame her for the decisions of her father."
Raven turned with a distressingly—coming from her—bubbly smile.
"Thank you, General Iroh," she said like she hoped it hurt everyone else. "And everyone stow it, because you are not Arzayan and you have no idea what you're talking about. This argument is pointless."
Even the dead-spearman-walking leaned in for clarification.
"Explain?" Zuko tried to say nicely. He was very close.
Raven started pacing like it was required, arms crossed and shifting her gaze in a sudden sharing mood.
"It means," she said, speaking slowly like they were all uninitiated kids. "I did kind of already bring this up, but the Arzayans do not invade the water tribes. Never. When we've been… aggressive, it was raids on the Earth Kingdom. They have always respected the treaty with Koani. For like fifteen hundred years now?"
Silence.
"My dad was furious when he found out the Fire Lord sent raids to the Southern Water Tribe!" she added like they somehow ought to already know that.
Then Sokka, brows knitting tighter and tighter until they nearly met, asked the obvious question.
"Raven… then why is your dad taking a huge fleet to the Northern Water Tribe if not to invade it?" he said, planting the butt of his appropriated spear for emphasis.
Raven opened her mouth… but had to think.
"I'm serious, Raven," Aang said, voice going tight. "I trust you after Arzaya, but if you think I'm letting Arzayanagi go back to your dad like this, I'm throwing it in the ocean right now."
Raven cut him a glare. "You. Are. Not?"
"I super am!" Aang declared. "YOU threw it in the ocean, like a couple days ago!"
"And how'd that go, Avatar?" She pointed at him. "Don't touch my spear." And she whipped her finger to Iroh. "I'll feed you to General Iroh."
Iroh was caught totally flat-footed. "I… huh…?"
"Why do you even want it?!" Aang demanded.
"To blow up Zuko's bitch sister who murdered mine, obviously!" Raven ranted back, disbelief at everyone failing to read her mind.
Sokka made a face. "Uhh…" he began, but stopped, choosing to see tomorrow by not pointing out that Raven just called her dead sister a bitch by technicality.
Raven dragged in a breath that came back out with a few cinders, which only made Iroh smile. But after a couple more deep puffs, she more calmly admitted. "Look, dad's up to something. So is Arzaya," she admitted. "But he's not going to blow everyone up, she'd feed him to General Iroh for that."
"Hmm…" was all Iroh could manage.
"I dunno, he's probably trying to get them on his side in the war?" Raven offered with a shrug.
That bought a short, startled pause. Aang's fight was definitely draining, but Sokka's eyes sharpened.
"Have you been near Arzayanagi much?" he asked.
Raven frowned. "Obviously."
"But has Arzaya been yelling at you? Recently?"
Raven blinked. "She's been pretty quiet," she said. "It's nice, actually."
Sokka's face dropped.
"Raven," he stated like she ought to know better. "That means she's already getting what she wants."
Aang and Katara both stared at him like he was a genius.
Katara admitted, "he has a point, Raven. For once."
"I have lots of points!" Sokka protested, flailing his own spear around. "Think about it! Every time closet goblin doesn't get what she wants, she starts goblin screaming through spear of doom! If she's not goblin screaming, that's… probably bad for everyone else." He paused, then added with growing dread, "Might actually be a really good idea to turn around and go literally anywhere else and see if that makes her mad. Sail in the loudest direction, I say."
"Closet… goblin?" Iroh quietly wondered.
Raven ignored it. "I can't do that."
"Why not?" Sokka demanded.
"Because I have to clear Zuko's name," Raven shot back. "I am not gambling his life on your theory."
"It's a pretty good theory," Sokka muttered.
"Arzaya hasn't told me to give it to him," Raven tried, getting so frustrated she was looking a bit nervous, and glancing at the door.
Just as Aang started to open his mouth, Katara instantly snapped.
"I'm not putting up with bringing Arzayanagi on Appa again if you're thinking of grabbing it and running off with it, Aang," she said flatly. "I'd rather stay with Zuko than do that."
"What, do I stink?!" Zuko recoiled like she had slapped him with a fish. "You're not exactly invited after biting a hole in my deck!"
"Claw! Not fang! No bite!"
"What-EVER!"
Iroh cut in. "She did believe Raven was in danger, Prince Zuko." It was like he was trying to remind his nephew that royalty ought to have a little poise, at least.
Zuko looked like he wanted to argue, but went back to his spot at the gunwale to cross his arms and stare with regularly scheduled eye twitching.
Without looking, he grumbled, "she still damaged my ship. Not like there's harbors here to get repairs at, Uncle."
Katara lifted her chin at Zuko, conflicted about the accusation. It was starting to sink in that she almost made a frosty Raven-kebab from head to toe in her reckless Icewolf-style assault.
"And she got weirdly good at bending in like... three days," Zuko muttered, like he'd fire any shot he had available if it was aimed at Katara.
Katara went very still. It was only for a moment, but it was there. A tiny hitch. A tiny shift in her eyes, as if something in her had flinched before the rest of her could cover it up.
Her fierce glare had become remarkably shifty and pouty. "I've been practicing."
"Practice doesn't usually make giant toothy cloud things happen overnight," Zuko shot back. "Why wolf? It looked like-"
"You're just jealous!" Katara snapped.
Zuko actually looked back from his brooding angle for that, head tilted and eyebrow raised. "I'm not even a waterbender!"
"Hmph. We all have our flaws," Katara snooted.
"I… Katara?" Raven tried, actually laughing a bit at how weirdly bitchy she was being. "Are you…? No way…" she began very quietly, but refused to finish the thought out loud that she was the one that seemed jealous of something. She looked over at Zuko instead, a bit dicey in tone to request, "Could you two please stop fighting? This is a ridiculous thing to bicker over, and I'm Lady Raven Arza."
Sokka took the brief pause to glare at the death-row spearman's sudden crack of a smile, and he muttered, "quiet, you," before the man could say anything else suicidal.
Aang, who had been staring at the spear like it might jump up and bite the moon, rubbed the back of his neck with a shaky hand. "I still really, really hate the idea of Arzayanagi going anywhere Lord Arza can get to it again."
Katara cut in. Weirdly fast, weirdly firm. "Well, Aang? Raven said she'll keep it and won't let him use it and he wouldn't anyway. I believe her!" She was already looking past all of them, toward the northern horizon, and strutting vigorously towards Appa. "We should go! Right now! Every second matters, right?!"
But Raven hurried up to her and took her hands gently despite all the weird tension.
Katara froze in unreadable horror, but when Raven said, "I really, really appreciate that you came in swinging to save me," the poor waterbender melted.
Eyes moist instantly, Katara nodded and gave a weird little peep.
The condemned spearman had a look like dreams really did come true sometimes.
Raven leaned in close, stated just above her breath, "even if I wasn't actually in danger. If I thought you were, I'd absolutely do the same thing." And it was clear she really meant it.
Katara's shoulders eased by an inch. Then another.
"Well," she muttered, looking anywhere but Raven for a second, "yeah. I know you would."
Raven huffed a tiny laugh, like she couldn't quite believe it, and backed away with her feet shuffling rapidly on the metal deck, over to Zuko as some kind of impromptu peace offering.
"Okay," Aang said at last. "Fine! Let's just go." And he hopped thirty feet into the air to land on Appa like it was nothing.