A/N: My first fanfic! It's AU. Katara and Zuko are part of Jet's Freedom Fighters and they wage their own war against the Fire Nation. Let me know what you think!
I
Quiet as air. Strong as earth. Swift as water. Fierce as fire.
Katara repeated the mantra in her head. Crouched hidden in the thick forest undergrowth, she watched as the lone soldier wandered dangerously close to her hiding place. He was lost. She could tell from the way his head spun to and fro as he tried to pick out a path or familiar tree that would lead him back to his encampment.
Quiet as air.
She took an arrow from the quiver on her back and nocked it in her wooden bow. The man was no more then ten feet away now. His metal armor clanked with each step he took. The Fire Nation insignia glistened on his breast.
Strong as earth.
She drew the string of her bow back and inhaled silently.
Swift as water.
As she exhaled, she loosed the arrow and it found its mark in the man's neck, where the armor proved weak. He fell to his knees, his hands at his throat as he choked on his blood. And then he fell to the ground with a final clank.
Katara smirked at her quick work. She had but a moment to savor her triumph before she heard a footstep behind her. Her smile vanished. In a fluid motion, she spun quickly and nocked another arrow in her bow. But she was one against three.
"Drop your bow," the man closest to her commanded.
He was armed with a sword and a menacing glint to his eye. His two comrades stood a step behind him on either side, each armed with a loaded longbow of their own. These men wore no armor to clank and clatter as they hiked through the wood. She hadn't heard them approach until it was too late. And now Katara was outnumbered.
He repeated his command and took a step forward.
Katara obliged, relaxing her arm and dropping the bow and arrow to the ground. She raised her hands over her head.
"There's a good girl," the man said, the corner of lips curling into an ugly smile.
It happened so quick that Katara barely had time to think. Two arrows came whistling from the treetops to bed themselves in the flesh of the two archers.
Fierce as fire, Katara reminded herself as the swordsman rushed at her.
He swung sideways, but she ducked swiftly and he ran past her. Before he even had time to turn, she pulled the dagger from her belt and flung it, her arm extending to guide the blade to its target. It buried itself between the attacker's shoulders, but that was not enough to stop him. He spun on her and swung furiously, each swing forcing Katara back as she tried to dodge each blow. Her back hit a tree and she slid to the ground just before the steel splintered the bark where her head had been not a moment before. She felt the bite of metal at her head but had no time to think about it.
Fierce as fire, she repeated as her leg kicked out and knocked the man's feet out from under him. He fell sideways and collapsed to the ground with a groan. Katara moved quickly, wrenching the sword from his grip while he was still too stunned to realize what was happening. She slammed the point down into his throat and it was done.
She fell back against the tree, breathing heavily, watching as blood spilled from the man's neck. She heard feet land on the ground next to her and jumped at the sound, but it was only Jet.
"Gods that was good, Katara," he said as he offered her a hand and pulled her to her feet. "That. Was. Good."
"I'm glad you enjoyed the show," she said, still trying to catch her breath.
Another pair of feet dropped from the trees. This time, it was Zuko. He picked up her bow from where she had surrendered it.
"You're hurt," he said as he handed it to her.
Just as he said it, she felt blood trickle down her brow like a tear. Her hand went to her head and came back bloody.
"Just a cut," she said.
They took what money, clothes, and weapons they could from the bodies before hanging all four of them in a neat row along a sturdy enough branch.
"Next time I want tree duty and one of you fools can take the ground," Katara said as they made their way back home.
"A king does not stoop to do a peasant's work," Jet teased, feigning a nobler accent than his own.
That earned him a punch in the arm.
They reached home just before nightfall. A stranger might have thought them mad for the way they sighed relief as if they'd finally made it to the hearth. But there was not a house or a structure of any sort within sight. It just looked like any other part of the forest. Tall trees grew from the earth, their thick foliage blocking out any glimpse of the sky. A blanket of leaves covered the soil, dead and brown. But when Jet whistled thrice, three ropes swung to the ground. There was a loop at the bottom of the rope where Katara placed her foot. She coiled the rope around her hand and gave it a strong tug and was pulled up into the canopy.
Far above the forest floor, a camp was floated atop the leaves. Planked landings wrapped themselves around the thick trunks of trees, connected by swaying rope bridges and stairs carved into the trees themselves. Small wooden houses were nestled lush beds of leaves. And in the middle of it all was a long platform where people were gathering with food and drink.
Katara stepped from her hempen transport to a wooden landing.
"I'm starving," Jet announced as he appeared next to her.
He wrapped his arm around her waist and they walked together across the bridge to the main platform.
They were greeted excitedly as they joined their companions at the table. The Freedom Fighters is what they called themselves. They were a ragtag group of fourteen, ranging in age from Duke (Or "The Duke" as he would so adamantly remind you) at ten years to Jet who was twenty and one. The table was low, so they sat on the ground. Katara folded her legs under her as she and Jet were bombarded with questions about that day's work. She answered their questions with a smile, relating the details of the fight, and perhaps adding a few details of her own. Concerns were expressed about the cut on her head but she assured them it was nothing and that she would clean it up once her belly was full. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Zuko enter and take a seat at the far end of the table where the yellow glow from the lanterns and the eager questions barely reached him. He smiled at her.
"Alright, alright!" Jet said, stepping onto the table.
The Freedom Fighters fell silent for their leader.
"You guys are making a big deal out of nothing," he insisted, but his confident grin was plastered onto his face. "All we did was take out a few Fire Nation pawns. Poor guys probably didn't even know where they were." He paused. The silence was one of anticipation. "But then we hung their bodies from the branches and now they know where they are!" The Freedom Fighters roared. "This is our land!"
"Our land!" the Fighters echoed.
"Our land!" Katara joined them, raising her cup.
They fell silent again. Jet began thumping his fist against his chest and the rest mirrored him. They started slow and steady and progressively got faster and faster until they erupted into triumphant howls.
"Let's eat!" Jet exclaimed as he hopped down from the table.
The Fighters helped themselves to rabbit meat stew, fish caught from a nearby river, bread baked with flour stolen from a Fire Nation camp, and an array of nuts and berries. Their cups were filled with water for the younger ones and Fire Nation ale for the elders. They ate, they sang, they were merry. One would never think that they were a group of kids caught in a war.
Katara stole away from the festivities early, making excuses about her head. Truthfully, she just wanted to escape for a moment of peace. She walked slowly back to the hut she shared with Jet, savoring the feel of the warm summer night. She pushed aside the canvas door to the hut and ducked inside. She lit a few candles so the small room was dimly illuminated. The low cot in the center of the room dominated most of the space. Aside from the bed, the only other pieces of furniture were two small tables fashioned from tree stumps. There were a hooks nailed into the wall where she hung her bow, quiver, and sheath belt. Then she went to the cot and pulled a box that contained her few belongings. Underneath her extra clothes, she found a blue necklace.
It was a simple thing, a circular pendant with waves carved into it strung on faded blue ribbon. But when she picked up the necklace, she felt a thousand memories of lost days rush back to her. She could hear the roar of waves, the crunching of snow beneath her boots, her brother's jests, her mother's singing, her father's throaty chuckle. Faint memories that grew fainter with each passing year. At nineteen years, she could barely remember the faces of her family, nor could she conjure up a clear picture of what her childhood home had been like. All she could remember was that she came from a place far from where she was now, where her people had lived on ice instead of in trees.
She fastened the necklace around her neck and then dug an old looking glass from the box. She looked at her reflection in the mirror, licked her thumb, and smudged away the dried blood on her brow. She studied her features, wondering if she had her mother's eyes or her father's chin. She wondered what they would think of her now. She hoped they would be proud. Proud that she was avenging their deaths with every Fire Nation soldier she slew.
"Do you miss it?" a voice asked from the door.
She tilted the glass to the side so she could see who it was.
"Zuko." She placed the mirror down and unfastened the necklace before standing to face him.
"I'm sorry," he said, glancing down at his feet. "I should have knocked. I wanted to make sure you were alright." He motioned to her head.
She smiled. Zuko had the look of a man; his features were hard, his amber eyes fierce, and he had a scar that spread across nearly half his face from a burn sustained as a child. He was intimidating to anyone who did not know his soft heart and shy disposition.
"I'm fine," she assured him. "What did you ask? Before…?"
"Do you miss your home?"
She sighed and shrugged. "To be honest, I don't think I remember it enough to miss it. And besides, this is my home now," she added with a smile.
He nodded in an understanding way.
"Do you need help with your head?"
"I'll manage. Thank you."
Another nod and then he left.
She sat on the bed and opened her fist to look once more at the necklace.
"This is my home now," she repeated to herself.
She placed the necklace back in its box and slid it under the bed.