Sitting on a freshly flipped, crystal clear ice burg, Katara sat all bundled up in blue with furs and meditated. She tried to still her mind against the constant flow of chaos, but the stillness she chased seemed far out of her reach tonight. Even as the Yue kissed the skin showing on her face as soft as a whisper, surrounded by all forms of her element she could not calm herself. Her attempts to meditate were the one thing that kept her semi-sane during all of these dreadfully long days and the impossibly longer nights of this last year. She fought against the thoughts and memories that wanted to bring her to chaos yet again. Those thoughts and memories were of the Avatar.
She and the Avatar had been in a tumultuous relationship that was particularly hard for the young water bending master. Due to the state of the four nations after the war, she and the Avatar traveled extensively. She began to fall into a hopeless and numb state that never really left her. She started eating less, she stopped keeping up with all of her letters as getting them was increasingly difficult with how much they traveled, and she stopped truly smiling. Sure, she smiled a lot but faking a smile is easy when you have practiced enough.
For so long she had put others before her own wellbeing and it was starting to take a toll on her. She felt like there was no one there to help her when she needed it and this made her feel so isolated and truly alone. So finally one fateful night in the Earth Kingdom, she decided that the feeling of guilt she would have after leaving the avatar could never be as bad as the despair and loneliness that she felt, even when Aang was there with her.
For her credit, personally she might have been taking the guilt of the breakup hard, but on the outside and for the nations she kept her cool. The four nations believe that and will continue to if she can help it, that the two had a peaceful end as well as mutual.
That, however, was far from the truth. They broke up because for too long she had put his needs and the needs of the nation before her own heart and her own wellbeing. During her relationship with the avatar and then after their breakup she had lost that spark and flair that she had during the war and most importantly before she started dating the avatar.
After her breakup she had retreated with haste to the south pole to be with her family, it had been so long since she had been home for more than just to visit for a day that all she wanted to do was be with them and seek comfort in their arms. Especially the arms of her father, Hakoda.
Her family had been great with helping her get better, but tempers are still flared up, Sokka and Hakoda still hold a sense of anger toward Aang. The Avatar had put himself, the nations and other people before Katara. Because of this her father and brother were waiting for the day where they could finally get to confront the avatar about his failing to provide for Katara, who to them was more important than anything.
Back on the iceberg Katara snapped herself out of her current train of thought, frustrated that she was getting nowhere in her meditations. She stood up from the burg and started heading toward the village, readying herself for unknown visitors. Since the breakup, she had had a visitor every now and again from the other nations. They were friends she had made along the way from traveling with the Avatar while they went to stop the war. Other people who stopped by were political allies of sorts, though Katara loosely considered them friends because her friendly disposition made everyone around her feel as if they were a friend to her. Today she received word that the unknown visitors were on an Earth Nation ship.
This news was greatly received by both Katara and her brother. Because for Katara, this could bring Toph and for Sokka, it could bring Suki. So, both of them knew that they had to be there with their father to receive the ship as it was coming to port here at their little part of the bottom of the world. So there they were with Hakoda and Sokka on either side of Katara. The ship pulled up and they waited for it to dock and for the gangplank to be lowered. Today as it turns out, was Sokka's lucky day. As he stood next to his sister and he caught a glimpse of that trademark face paint and he dashed with a huge grin of relief and happiness on his face as he shouted "SUKI" then he slammed into the Kyoshi warrior knocking them both to the floor of the gangplank as they hugged and kissed each other.
Katara smiled wide and walked up the gangplank after her brother. She got on the deck just as Sokka and the warrior had ended their initial reunion and gotten to their feet. Katara nudged her eager brother out of the way and hugged the warrior long and hard.
"Katara it is so good to see you, I have missed you so much since the last time I saw you. We have so much to catch up on." Suki said after Sokka had taken up his normal post just to the left side of the warrior and wrapped his arm around her waist. Katara then promptly nudged her brother away and the two girls hugged again, laughing at Sokka and his huffy reaction to being pushed away from his lady. When they pulled out of the hug Katara said smiling "Then tonight we will have dinner just us and we will catch up then". With a kiss on the cheek to Suki and a smile at her brother, she walked back down the gangplank, her smile still on her face and spirits lifting with having close friends here. Suki and Sokka disappeared into the ship, presumably to get some privacy.
Katara reached the bottom of the gangplank and began to walk to the healing hut, but her father came up beside her.
"I know you have been troubled, and I am sorry that the boat didn't hold who you wanted it to." Hakoda took a moment to sigh before continuing. "I know you have only been back home for a day but you have many letters that need to be gone through from all of the nations. More and more come in every day."
Katara smiled and said that she would go through them, after all, there could be some from her friends in the other nations. "How many do you think there are?"
Hakoda chuckled a bit and then said: "Well there were well over 50 letters as of yesterday, some are from before you came home and others have been arriving daily." He smiled coyly and side-eyed his daughter as he walked with her to the front door of the mail hut. "You know, a good amount of the letters have the seal of the fire nation on them. The new Firelord and his advisors must be very concerned about you." her father said in a light tone that implied he knew more than he let on to.
Katara looked at her father wide-eyed as he smiled at her and walked away and stood there for what seemed like hours but was more like seconds, trying to wrap her head around the news and her father's tone before she had to walk into the hut so that she could at least sort through the letters. As her father had said the letter from the fire nation far outnumbered the others, of the letters from the fire nation, many but not all had the imperial fire nation seal on them.
She picked one of those up and slid her thumb across the seal and images of flames filled her head, unbidden, she was pulled into a vision in her head of the flames in their deepest reds oranges and yellows. Then in her mind, she walked through the flames unhurt and to her surprise, she was smiling and laughing at something. She was pulled out of her own mind by her brother who said that it was time to eat. She didn't say it out loud but she couldn't believe that so much time had passed while she was in the hut with Zuko's letter in her hand.
The three old friends gathered in a big hut around a hot fire and began catching up. They, rather knowingly, avoided any conversation about Aang and Katara's breakup. They talked about everything from how the water tribe was doing and getting along, to the Fire Nations struggle with the Earth Kingdom, and how the people of both nations were reacting to the border dispute going on.
"So, how is the new Firelord doing?" Katara asked happily as she put her hands closer to the fire to warm them up, enjoying the heat as it rushed across her fingers up her arms and into her chest. Suki looked anxious and confused. She pursed her lips in a line, she had not expected Katara not to know about Zuko's situation. "What? Is he okay?" she suddenly regretted putting off reading through the letters until tomorrow. Suki sat straight up in her chair where she had previously been slouched, she looked nervous. Katara knew that is was not like Suki to act like this.
Suki advanced very cautiously but also trying to keep relaxed " Firelord Zuko is on a private island in isolation, he has had several attempts on his life by extremists that are still loyal to the Former Fire Lord Ozai. They first attempted to kill him at a small fire nation village for a harvest season festival that Zuko had been invited to. Then they attacked him on one of his regular outings into the city. That time Zuko, his guards, and I had killed his attackers. But his advisors and I think that this is only the beginning."
Katara and Sokka looked at each other and frowned. Over the years Sokka had grown to be great friends with Zuko. Katara and the young Fire Lord had also continued their friendship through letters and occasional visits. But the last visit had been forever ago, and the last letter he sent she had not replied to. But now, after hearing what Suki had said, she felt that she needed to go to him. Her gut instinct told her this and the realization hit her like a ton of ice right to her heart, she needed to go see him. In the back of her head, something took hold that held her frozen and cautious. "Where is the avatar for all of this?" She asked in a cold whisper but it stopped the gabbing between Sokka and Suki cold in its tracks. They both stopped and looked at her wide-eyed and shocked. Only moments later did Suki give Katara the answer.
"We think that the Avatar has secluded himself in one of the air temples after… well, you know" Suki said carefully not wanting to break any thin ice she might have found herself on. "I doubt he even knows about all of this"
Katara sat still in her chair, elbows on her knees and head hanging down, but still stretching her fingers and palms towards the fire. She thought to herself how the Avatar was acting. He was off in hiding while their friends were being attacked.
Zuko had been awake for some time, yet he leaned up against the headboard of solid wood that donned intricate carvings, and traditional fire nation colors. He was still dressed in loose dark red and gold trimmed pants that hung low on his waist and ended just after his knees. The young Fire Lord sat, ran his hands through his hair, and let one lazily fall to the scar on his chest, as he did most of the time when he was thinking. He thought about how today would go, as he did most mornings, which was not normal for him while he was here on the island. He figured today would be just like any other day, boring and always with guards close by.
As his mind wondered he thought of the guards stationed outside of his door by Suki, they were to be with him always. He walked over to the door and gave the guard outside three knocks to let them know he was awake and ready to start his routine, he didn't want the guard outside to worry that he was sleeping far past when he normally did. Although he respected the guard outside, Zuko hated being kept under such heavy guard, this was a place where he came to relax, not be constantly watched.
After getting ready for the day with a quick wash, a bite for breakfast in the kitchen and he was done. The first thing the young Fire Lord did to start his days on the island now was going to the beach and meditating. He loved doing this because it gave him a chance to get away from the part of his brain that had to always be on with the responsibilities of running a nation that right now in the hands of Uncle Iroh, is in such turmoil.
Zuko walked out of the house and b-lined to the beach an intricate candelabra in his hand, he never meditated without his element close by. He walked the beach until he found a spot that he liked, he sat the candelabra down. Standing a moment he dug his toes into the sand and looked out across the water and like every time he was near the water, he smiled as the tide inched closer.
With guards spread out and some ways behind him, he sat in the lotus position, the candles in their holders before him. He straightened out his spine and he closed his eyes. He focused his mind on the 7 flames, their heat, the fluid way they danced. He breathed in, the flames leaning towards their master, he breathed out feeling the power in the flames as they retreated from him. His mind stilled as he connected to his element. He reached out with his mind and felt the flames, the sheer romantic shape of them. The colors that rolled like kaleidoscopes of dark and bright reds, vibrant yellows and oranges, hot blue, and even hotter white.
He made all of the flames before him dance in unison, the tips of the flames flowed smooth and whip-like. The flames before him rose in heat and took on new colors, each flame danced with reds, then oranges, and then yellows, but soon each flame burned a bright blue. He was burning the candles brighter and faster than he normally did, but he didn't even think to care. Today he found comfort in the intensity of the blue flames. His mind latching onto the flames and their new color as if his sanity depended on it.
While he was lost in his meditation with his candles, his mind not as still as it should have been. An unsure voice behind him brought him out of his reverie and the candles returned to their normal heat and color. The Fire Lord opened his eyes slowly and noticed that the candles in the candelabra were short and that the wax was dripping down the holders into the sand. The voice spoke again.
"Pardon me my Lord" a guard had stepped closer to Zuko and out of normal formation. Zuko Looked up with a stern gaze that fell on the same guard that had been by his door this morning.
"Yes" was all Zuko said waiting for the guard to make his point known.
"We should go inside, there is a ship on the horizon." the guard finished quickly, interrupting the Fire Lords meditation was something that every guard dreaded and hoped they would never have to do.
"Thank you" was all the young Fire Lord said. Zuko sent a nod to the guard, that sent him back to his formation. Zuko stood up off the beach, looking out over the water before him, the tide had come in quite a bit since he sat down, without thinking much about it he took a few steps and stepped into the tides just enough for the cold water to tumble over his feet and ankles. As he looked up across the horizon as he had done before he sat down, he could see the smoke that inevitably meant one of two things. Either Suki was returning from her trip or, much to his disdain, possible trouble for him and his guards.
He hoped that the ship contained Suki, while himself and his personal guards were more than competent enough, they were noticeably weaker without the warrior's presence. He remembered the day that he sent the letter to Kyoshi Island asking for his friend's assistance. After the death threats started coming in and crime sprang up in the capital he was desperate, though he would never admit it to anyone. She answered his call and he was grateful.
Some while later he was in the kitchen beginning to make a pot of tea when a guard walked into the doorway but stopped there, "my Lord".
The Fire Lord looked up from his tea production to see yet again the guard from earlier "yes?"
"we have news of who is on the boat, it is Master Suki and she is all well, no one is aboard with her beside normal crew" he ended the message and stood still waiting for a command.
Zuko breathed a sigh of relief "very good when she gets here will you be sure that she knows I would like to see her immediately" he paused before dismissing the guard "what is your name? I have seen you around here a lot today and I realized that I do not know your name"
"My name is Zhen, my Lord." Zhen bowed at the end of his statement and left as soon as Zuko gave him permission.
Zuko was walking around the gardens when he heard Suki's voice in the hall he turned with a smile to greet her.
"Zuko it is so good to see you are doing well. " she bowed to him and he bowed in return. "I couldn't dig anything up in the Earth and Water kingdoms about threats towards you. Which leads us to believe that the threat is coming from inside the Fire Nation." Suki laughed " In fact, the only assignation that I heard about was for some farmer who always shouts about his vegetable wares if they're even slightly bumped."
" I think I met that guy on my travels." Zuko mused to Suki who only laughed harder. Moments later when they were both drinking tea Zuko Spoke up again. "So you went to the water nations?"
"Well, really just the southern water tribe" She spoke lightly and tried to make the next part seem effortless and nonchalant. "I went to see Sokka, Katara was there as well so I was happy to see them."
Zuko sat back in his chair and wondered if he should indulge in his temptations to ask how Katara was doing. Suki it seemed didn't need to be asked, he hoped that his face wasn't showing all the worry that he had been feeling for her.
"She seems to be doing better, she seems lighter and... "Suki put a hand on Zuko's forearm and continued. " She said that she was going to come see you, and soon"