Pairing: Azula/Katara
Rating: PG
Warning: AU
Word count: 3128
Disclaimer: The usual - I don't own Avatar and make no money with this.
Comment: Written for the "avatar_contest" community on LiveJournal. The challenge was to write a fic inspired by the picture "Avatar" by "Black-Red-Escape" on deviantArt.
"Katara!" She ignored the startled cry. "Katara, wait!" Normally, the pleas of the Avatar would have caused her heart to skip a few beats. This time, however, all she felt was the dull ache in her right arm. "Sifu! Please!" She wiped a few tears away and kept on running through the forest, trying to ignore the voice.
Eventually, she stopped at a large clearing, sure that she was out of shouting range. "Damn." A look at her arm made her cringe. Get a grip, a voice in the back of her head scolded her, it's not that bad. Even without using your Bending, it's just a light burn. It should heal within a week or so. Katara shook her head, as if in defiance. "Still," she muttered, "this went over the line."
The sound of footsteps behind her made her freeze, but Katara relaxed slightly when she heard her brother's quiet panting. "There you are! Man, why'd you have to run so far?"
She turned around to face him, her eyes narrowed slightly. "You know why."
Sokka crossed his arms in front of his chest and sighed. "Yeah, I know. I'm also touchy about fire." Her brother frowned lightly, and Katara knew that he was remembering the way the Fire Nation had used flames to invade their homelands. All the damage they had caused. All the casualties. He finally shook his head. "But this was an accident! There wasn't even any Bending involved!"
"I know... I know..." Katara sighed and sat down on the ground. "It was just... a reflex. That burning log hit my arm and I just... ran." When she noticed her brother's look, she grimaced. "No, I'm not afraid of fire. It can be beautiful. Full of life and grace. But I guess..." She frowned lightly and looked up at the night sky. "I guess I'm just afraid of being burned."
A puzzled smile played over Sokka's lips. "Are we still talking about fire or about our dearest Avatar?"
Katara blushed crimson. "I- That- I mean-" She shook her head, but it didn't make the mental image of the Avatar disappear, and her inner voice used the chance to chime in again. That lithe, yet powerful body, the long, black hair... the way you have never seen anybody use Bending in such unique ways during all your time away from the South Pole... "It's complicated."
"It's Azula." He shrugged. "Of course it's complicated."
A sigh. "True, I guess."
Katara's mind traveled back to the day the raid of the South Pole by Fire Lord Ozai's personal fleet had taken an odd turn. It had apparently been one of the Fire Lord's few "vacations" - a trivial raid led by the ruler of the nation. And he had brought his daughter along with him, likely to see a military triumph from up close. Of course, he hadn't expected a Waterbender to be in the village. Especially not one with so much determination or rage. Her ice projectiles had flown in just the right way to impale Ozai on the spot. And the ruler of the Fire Nation had actually been too surprised to react. Imagine that. Regicide during a vanity raid. I would have achieved what entire nations had failed to do! But then, the impossible had happened: The projectiles had stopped in mid-air, inches away from the Fire Lord's chest. And all eyes had been on Azula, the girl with the outstretched hand and the most surprised expression ever.
What had happened next was considered by most a series of unfortunate impulses, with the most notable ones being Ozai's sudden order to put his daughter in chains and Azula using her Firebending mastery to incapacitate most of her would-be captors. Oddly enough, her - at first sight stupid - decision to flee into Katara's village had probably saved it from total extinction. If just because the Fire Lord chose to abort the raid so he could make a big show of exiling her instead of, oh, I don't know, doing the smart thing and talking things over. Which left him with TWO children in exile. How can the leader of an entire nation be such a failure as a father?
Over the months, Katara had formulated many reasons why she had talked Sokka into joining Azula on her quest to learn the other Bending arts. Most of them - like "We should protect the Avatar so that she can eventually defeat the Fire Nation!" or "I can teach her Waterbending and improve my own skills along the way!" - actually sounded quite convincing, even to Sokka. But deep down, Katara knew the real reason why she left her home to follow this young woman. And it was-
Katara blinked when Sokka snapped his fingers in front of her face. "Wha-?"
"I said," her brother started dramatically, "that you should tell her how you feel about her."
"I... what... I mean..." She rubbed the bridge of her nose in frustration, glad that he couldn't see her blush. Gathering her thoughts was rarely easy when talking to Sokka or about Azula, and talking to Sokka about Azula was pretty much the worst that could happen. "No," she finally replied, then waved her hands, as if Waterbending in slow-motion. "It's... it's not going to work... I think..."
"You're afraid of getting burned," Sokka echoed what Katara had said earlier.
"I don't want to tear our team apart. Azula needs us, and we need her."
"You need her," the Water Tribe warrior countered, and Katara sighed deeply.
"Yes. Yes, I do." She stood up again. "But I will not let my selfishness ruin our one big chance of turning this war around."
"Look. Sometimes, you need to take a risk. You won't get far if you always play it safe." For a few seconds, Sokka looked as if he was going to argue further, but in the end, he simply sighed. "In the end, it's your call, though."
"Speaking of calls," a voice suddenly spoke up from behind them, "I should note that I sent out a few since our last meeting."
Katara's eyes widened. No... this can't be. Not him. Not now. Her hand automatically reached for her bag of water, only to find it missing. Must've left it at the camp! Stupid!
She gave Sokka a quick look, and he nodded. "On my sign, run for it," he whispered even as his hand dropped to the boomerang that was hanging from his belt. Then he took a deep breath, getting ready for the decisive move.
"Before you get any ideas..." the voice started, and Katara could hear him snapping his fingers. All of a sudden, she could see movement at the edge of the clearing, and countless flames lit up all around her. "I suggest you drop your weapon, Sokka."
Katara slowly turned around, her eyes having narrowed into slits. "Zuzu."
Azula's brother shook his head in frustration. "You shouldn't parrot everything the Avatar taught you, Katara," he complained, but she could tell that he was still in a good mood.
"And you should get a new look, Prince Ponytail!" Sokka shouted, doing his best to make a bad situation even worse.
"I see you made a few new friends, Zuzu," Katara quickly added, hoping to get some information out of him before the situation turned pure taunting. He had been almost alone last time! Where does an exiled prince get a small army from?
"One of the perks of being Crown Prince of the Fire Nation again." Zuko smirked and held out his arms, as if to give the Firebenders a hug. "And this is just a small part of the army I now command."
Okay, this is bad. Apparently, the Fire Lord has finally come to his senses and invited his son back with full honors. So now we have to deal with a smug jerk who commands an entire army just to capture his sister. "So what's your brilliant plan, then?"
Zuko shrugged nonchalantly. "I like to keep it simple. We will use you to get the Avatar to surrender."
Katara mentally noted that Zuko apparently refused to address his sister as anything other than "the Avatar", but that was the least of her worries at the moment. Much more important is that there is nothing we can do right now! She sighed quietly. Great, just great. And all of this just because I had to run off like a little girl!
She was still cursing herself when two men approached them to bind their wrists behind their backs.
Much to her surprise, Zuko didn't drag her and Sokka back to the camp. Instead, he took them farther away from it, and out of the forest. "Okay... that is not good," Sokka whispered when he saw the giant circle of tanks waiting for them.
"This isn't a hostage situation," Katara whispered, "this is an execution site."
"Don't be ridiculous," Zuko scolded her, obviously having heard her remark. "My mission is not to kill the Avatar. However, I want to make sure that she won't try any silly rescue attempts." And with that, he waved at a group of Firebenders. As one, the team sent flames high into the night sky, alerting everybody in the area of their presence. "And now we wait."
It didn't take long for Zuko to finish his preparations, and not that much longer for Azula to arrive on the scene. Katara and Sokka were standing in the middle of the circle, a large Fire Nation soldier holding them by their arms to ensure they couldn't make a run for it. Everybody else was either inside the tanks or close to them. Zuko, of course, was standing on one of them, ready to deliver some sort of speech.
Azula could have used any number of maneuvers to sneak around or sabotage at least part of the army, but instead, she walked straight out of the forest, stopping about a stone's throw away from them. Katara smirked when she realized that Azula had even taken the time to get completely dressed, even wearing her blood-red coat with the four Bending art symbols on its back. "Well now, dear brother. You've got my attention..."
Zuko scowled, not happy with the seemingly relaxed way his sister had approached the situation. "Turn yourself in, and your-" he hesitated, "friends will be left unharmed."
"Don't make me laugh," the Avatar spat. "You have harmed us all way too much already!"
"Turn. Yourself. In." Zuko clenched and unclenched his fists, as if getting ready for a fight.
"Let my friends go, and I will not break your new toys!" Azula shouted, and Katara couldn't suppress a quick grin when she saw several of the soldiers squirming. Sure, Azula hadn't mastered all Bending arts yet - not even to mention that she wasn't able to consciously trigger the Avatar State - but even at her current level, she was able to inflict endless amounts of pain.
"You must be joking." Zuko shook his head. "You have shown that you can use Firebending and Waterbending, and that's it! How do you plan to fight against an army that has you surrounded?"
Azula frowned lightly, and then her eyes met Katara's. "Do you trust me?" the Avatar suddenly asked, just loud enough for her to hear.
Trust her? What's that supposed to mean? Why ask me that- She froze, then glanced at the guard restraining both her and her brother. He was holding each of them with one hand, and the hostages almost completely shielded him against anything Azula might try to throw at him. Almost. Katara looked down at her arm and spotted a small opening between her and Sokka. There was a gap, not much wider than the length of her hand, and flanked by her left arm and Sokka's right one. She can do it... but if she misses... The Waterbender shuddered. No... don't let her do it. There's got to be another way! She looked up at Azula again, only to notice her genuinely concerned look. And then she remembered Sokka's words. Sometimes, you need to take a risk... She bit her lower lip and clenched her fists.
"Completely," she finally replied and took a deep breath, knowing full well what Azula was planning.
The Avatar nodded once and then raised her right arm, pointing at the guard with two fingers. "Last chance, Zuzu!"
"You're willing to kill your friends?" Zuko laughed. "That is low, even for you."
Katara forced herself not to twitch. She had seen Azula practicing her Firebending, and she knew that Azula was capable of things few other Firebenders would even dream about. Normally, it would be practically impossible to create a flame long and thin enough to pass through the gap, but Zuko was underestimating his sister in more ways than one. The only question is how far Azula will have to go.
"Time's up," Azula finally whispered, her eyes narrowing into thin slits. At first, Katara thought that nothing was happening, but then she felt the sudden burst of heat right next to her arm. Only when she knew what to look for did she notice the thin, almost transparent blue flame that had its origin in Azula's fingertips. Unlike most Firebenders' normal flames, this one was focused into a thin, powerful stream - a small display of Avatar-level Firebending.
The guard fell backwards with a loud scream, letting go of his prisoners in order to clutch what was surely a small but deep burn wound. Katara didn't bother to verify this, however, as her first priority was to dash towards Azula. "Okay, let's go!" she shouted, keeping an eye on the tanks that were now undoubtedly filled with activity as their crews were scrambling to deal with the sudden turn of events.
"Run back into the forest!" was Azula's only reply.
"What? No!" Katara stopped next to her, and Sokka did the same once he realized his sister wasn't with him anymore.
Azula gave Katara a thin-lipped smile. "Zuko prepared all this to make a point. So it's only fitting that I make a point, too." She held up Katara's water bag and nodded gravely. "You might want to take cover."
Thousands of thoughts raced through Katara's mind. She had a very good idea what Azula was up to, and she knew that it was risky and highly experimental. She gave Azula an almost longing look and opened her mouth to protest, but the Avatar quickly placed a finger on her lips and leaned in close.
"Don't worry, I'll manage," Azula whispered, and Katara moaned quietly when she felt the Avatar's lips on her cheek. The kiss lasted only a moment, but Katara suddenly knew that it was little more than a taste of things to come. "And once this is over, I will properly apologize for hitting you with that log."
Katara opened and closed her mouth. She knows... she must have noticed... and she loves me, too? For a few seconds, the tanks were completely irrelevant. All that mattered was the woman in front of her. "I... I'll..."
"KATARA!" Sokka's shout brought her back to reality, and she immediately turned to look at the forest's entrance. By now, the tanks had almost completely closed the gap they had initially left, and she knew that she would have to leave now or never. With a heavy sigh, she followed her brother and ran past the moving tanks. It helped that the attention of the soldiers was focused only on Azula at this point, and after a few more steps, the two Water Tribe members were hiding behind the first trees. "Glad to see that you and Azula have come to terms," he immediately whispered, "but what is she doing there?"
The Waterbender frowned deeply, keeping her eyes focused on Azula. The Avatar calmly let the tanks move in closer until they were almost within firing range. Finally, she opened Katara's bag and emptied it on the ground in front of her.
"Azula!" Zuko roared, still standing on his tank and addressing his sister by her name for the first time this night. "I don't want to kill you, but unless you surrender, I will give the order to fire!"
Ignoring her brother's words, Azula reached under her coat and drew two thin, long swords. Almost immediately, the water on the ground turned into fine mist. "She's going to Airbend," Katara finally answered Sokka's question.
Airbending was a lost art, thanks to the Fire Nation's systematic raids of all Air Nomad temples far in the past. And with no Airbenders left and no guidebook to fall back on, there was no way to learn the ancient Bending art. But while Zuko simply assumed that the Avatar would have to settle with three Bending styles alone, Azula had not given up that easily.
She had reinvented Airbending.
The mist now rose as it was slowly drawn towards the sword in Azula's left hand. Zuko was frowning deeply by now, but at long last, he decided not to let Azula finish whatever she was trying to do. "FIRE!" he roared, gesturing at the tanks.
Azula swiftly raised the other sword and swung it at the incoming elemental projectiles. Her Firebending assumed control of the flames and forced them to follow the course of the blade. Nobody fired after the initial salvo, the tank crews likely too confused by the odd display of two Bending arts side by side.
The blades moved through the air in wide circles, and Katara looked up when she heard the leaves of the trees rustling softly in the wind. Wind! She is actually doing it! She grinned. The discovery of the link between warm air, cold air and wind had been one of the key insights into Azula's understanding of Airbending. Instead of creating something from scratch, the Avatar had chosen to derive the lost art from the two styles she already knew: Hot air on one side, cold air on the other one, and wind all around her. Wind she could control.
Azula held the swords closely together now, and the wind quickly turned into a storm. Then she swung both swords at the tanks in front of her, and Katara's jaw dropped when she saw the vehicles flying through the air as if they were made of straw. "WE NEED TO MOVE!" Sokka screamed into her ear, nodding at the trees around them, which were now moving in the wind.
Following her brother's lead, the Waterbender started to run, but even in the middle of this elemental nightmare, she couldn't help but smile. Playing it safe around Azula? What have I been thinking?