Stormbenders

Summary:

Disclaimer: ATLA is the property of VIACOM, Nickelodeon, and Paramount. No profit is made by this story.

Notes: Special thanks to RedBrunja, who was the first to review!


There are some things you learn best in calm, and some in storm --Willa Cather


"You were testing us?"

Toph balled her little fists at the Stormbenders assembled around their fire. The group of twelve strangers watched her impassively. It was a surprisingly diverse group -- six waterbenders and six firebenders, with three men and three women on each team. But they wore black, not red or blue. Even the betrothal necklaces had different symbols, and one of the Fire Nation women wore one. All wore their hair short or tied back, the better to fit under their face-masking hoods. And the dancing shadows made them seem larger than they actually were -- now that Katara really looked, she saw that they were more slender and wiry than either Fire Nation soldiers or Water Tribe sailors.

"We wanted you to understand your weaknesses," an older firebending woman with iron-gray hair said. She had introduced herself as Xiao Zhi, and she seemed like the leader. For some reason, Katara felt as though they had met before, but every time she looked at the details of the older woman's craggy, sun-weathered face, she couldn't place her.

"You couldn't have sent a note?" Sokka asked.

A man with Water Tribe beads in his hair looked at Sokka. "You have no evacuation plan," he said. "You got lucky. The earthbender-"

"-her name is Toph," Zuko cut in.

"-alerted you to the threat, but what if her feet were injured?"

Zuko looked at the floor. Toph's lips thinned. If she could have breathed steam like a firebender, Katara thought, she would be doing so. "You shot lightning at us," Aang said. He glared at Zuko's uncle and pointed at the black-clad group. "You let them shoot lightning at us!"

Xiao Zhi held up a hand. "That was our idea. General Iroh opposed it." She cracked a wry smile at Zuko. "We had to be sure of your abilities and your loyalties."

"My loyalties?" Zuko threw his hands in the air. "What is it with waterbenders? You're all crazy!" He jerked a thumb toward his chest. "Ozai tried to destroy me when I defied him and joined the Avatar. And in case you hadn't noticed, I'm still here."

"Your dad did that?" Toph asked. Her blind eyes widened. "Wait. He is your dad, right?"

"In name only," Zuko said, crossing his arms and glowering at the floor. He leaned against a pillar, away from the light of the fire. Katara felt rather than saw Sokka's uncomfortable shift in posture -- the others pointedly looked away from Zuko. It was like those moments in the tents back home, when someone made a bad joke and no laughter came, just the sound of wind whistling past the skins and bones of someone's home.

"Well, uh, I don't know about waterbenders being crazy, but Zuko already proved himself to me a while ago," Aang said after a pause. "I even checked with the group first before he was allowed to join."

"Not the whole group," Teo said, holding up a gloved hand.

Aang reddened. He looked at the Stormbenders. "The point is that I choose my teachers, not you. Zuko saved us. And he apologized for everything. And he's a really good teacher!" Aang's grip tightened on his staff. "And that's good enough for me."

Iroh gave Xiao Zhi a look that was more than a little smug. Then he bestowed it on Zuko, who seemed to have shrunk even further into himself despite his odd little smile, as though he expected the praise to stream off him rather than sink in. "Be that as it may," Xiao Zhi said, "you still have a great deal to learn. And there is a great deal that we want to teach you."

"Let me guess, it involves the sneaky arts," Sokka said. "Why are you guys called the Stormbenders, anyway? Were you just mad that 'Dai Li' was already taken?"

Xiao Zhi gave Sokka the look she might give an insect before nodding at her group. "Mekai, Ju-Li, show them."

The Water Tribe man who had spoken to Sokka stood up, and a young woman stood up beside him. He bent water from the nearby fountain, and the woman raised her arms. They faced one another, crouched, and began an intricate circular weaving motion. The woman moved her hands in opposing circles, while the man used water to stir the air. Light sparked in the path the woman's fingers made. Suddenly water snaked outward and lightning joined it; they merged into a single ray of sizzling light. The pair directed the whole glowing, sparking, steaming beam and it split, expanding like a net that scorched the furthest wall and sent Momo hiding inside Aang's shirt. The room dimmed as the lightning fizzed away and the water withdrew to the fountain. The pair panted lightly, straightening, admiring the scars their weapon had etched on the stone.

"You found a way to combine the elements," Aang said, all trace of defiance gone from his voice.

"And so can you," Iroh said. "Stormbending is a powerful tool shared between waterbenders and firebenders. It takes the best of both elements and blends them together in harmony. And that is why the Fire Lord will not be prepared for it."

"It's not the only thing you have to learn, Avatar Aang," Xiao Zhi said. Her gaze fixed on Katara. "You're familiar with bloodbending. Have you taught him?"

Katara stepped back. "Are you insane? Of course not! Bloodbending is wrong."

"What about when it's used to heal the sick or treat wounds?" a waterbending woman asked.

Katara's mouth opened, then closed. She had never considered bloodbending to have healing properties. She pictured those pretty flowers drained of all life and color, saw herself wringing the moisture from a tree and heard its dry, dead snap -- how could you help a sick person that way? But maybe, if you bent the blood to help it clot faster, or you bent blood away from a newborn baby's mouth just as it was trying to breathe… I think we'll call her Hope.

"And speaking of your healing abilities, have you taught those to the Avatar?" Xiao Zhi asked, starling Katara out of her memories. The older woman arched an eyebrow in her direction. "Have you even tried?"

Sokka stepped forward. "Hey now, wait a minute-"

"And what about your swordplay, Sokka? Or your steelbending, Miss Toph?" Iroh asked. His old eyes slid over to Zuko. "And have you instructed the Avatar in how to re-direct lightning, my nephew?"

"My control isn't strong enough," Zuko said, his expression darkening. "It's not safe."

"Then the Avatar still has much to learn," Xiao Zhi said.

"My teachers are great!" Aang said. He leveled his staff at the Stormbenders. "I'm working as hard as I can just to master all four elements! I don't have time for all kinds of fancy bending!"

"And the world has no time for your excuses," Xiao Zhi said. "Sozin's Comet is coming."

"That's it!" Toph stamped her foot, sculpted a hand of stone, and slapped it across Xiao Zhi's mouth Dai Li-style. "I don't care who you are, or how super-special your bending is. Nobody talks to Twinkletoes that way." She crossed her arms and blew air past her bangs. She spoke in her you're not our mom-voice. "We're doing just fine without you."

Iroh cleared his throat. He clasped his hands behind his back and stepped toward her. "I hope you will forgive an old man his impertinence, Miss Toph, but you escaped my brother's armies with only your lives. That is the difference between survival and success." He laid a hand on her shoulder. "Real victory, in battle and in life, means achieving your goals without losing what made them important in the first place."

Toph's brows furrowed. "What does that even mean?"

"It means we all started this journey for the same reason," Zuko said. He peeled himself away from the pillar against which he leaned. He stood beside Aang. "We want to help you restore balance to the world and end the war. How you do that is your decision. But I know what Ozai is. And if you want to defeat him, you need to bend lightning."

Aang frowned. He looked to Katara. "Katara, what do you think?"

She licked her lips. "I think you're a great waterbender, Aang. I think that you've come so far, so fast, that you surprise me every time I see you bend." Her hands twisted. "But I also think you've learned everything that I know how to teach you. And I think that I still have some things to learn."

"Can I get that in writing?" Sokka asked, holding up a hand. "I just want to record this moment. You know, for posterity." The others stared at him. Even Xiao Zhi paused her attempt to pry off the stone hand covering her mouth. Sokka pointed at Katara. "She said she had more to learn! That's like admitting she's wrong! Do you not understand how special this moment is?"

"Oh, it's pretty special, all right," a deep, familiar voice said from the shadows. Katara felt her stomach trade places with her heart. Her knees went to jelly. She turned and there he was, limping into the light, holding himself up stiffly and smiling with eyes rimmed by new shadows-

"Dad!"

Sokka darted past the others. Katara didn't feel her feet moving but suddenly she was there too, and her dad's arm was across her shoulders and his cheek was against her scalp. He smelled different, like coal and copper and sulfur and not the sea, and he grunted a little when they squeezed him too hard. He clothes fit oddly and he wore a thick coat of stubble. For the first time, Katara noticed a stray white hair on his chin.

The waterbending woman who had mentioned healing stood up. "Hakoda, you're not supposed to-"

"They're my children, Akna," he said. "I'll see them when I want to."

"You're okay," Katara said, wiping her eyes. "You're really okay."

"He's our dad, Katara," Sokka said, thumping their dad's shoulder and ignoring his grimace. "He's tough."

"Now I know where you get it from," said a younger, more tentative voice.

Sokka paled. He pulled away from their dad and watched as a thin, shy shape emerged furtively from the darkness. The girl wore the black clothes that belonged on a Stormbender, but she kept her brown hair long and loose. She bit her lower lip. "Don't you recognize-"

But Sokka had already covered Suki's mouth. His hands pushed roughly into her new long hair and he held her face in place, lips unmoving as though he could simply press more life into her through sheer force of will. They pulled away audibly and he was shaking: "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry…" His arms wrapped around her and he held her head to his shoulder. "I should never have left Ba Sing Se. If I hadn't gone I would have known and I would have found you, but I left and then it was too late and I tried to make her tell me where you were but I couldn't and we had to leave-"

"Sokka," Suki said, patting his back. "People are staring."

Katara looked and indeed, the whole group was staring -- aside from Toph, who seemed consumed by an insect bite on her elbow. Haru coughed delicately into his fist. Sokka turned several shades of red. "Oh, right. Yeah. Well. Dad, Suki. Suki, Dad."

"We've met," their dad said.

"Oh."

"You and I need to have a talk."

"Oh." Sokka seemed to shrink to a third of his normal size. Suki took his hand and he brightened. "Well, uh, then you're just in time for Aang's lessons in the manly arts," he said. "Sparky and I just taught him to shave."

"Manly arts?" Hakoda asked.

"Sparky?" Iroh stared at Zuko.

"Relax, Pops," Toph said, continuing to scratch her elbow. "It's just a nickname."

Teo pulled off his goggles and began polishing them. "It's gonna be a long summer."

Haru nodded. "No doubt."

Xiao Zhi finally succeeded in prying off the stone hand Toph had sent her way. She spat dirt and coughed. She hurled the hand far away and it crumbled against the wall. "Avatar Aang, do we have a deal?"

Aang looked at Sokka and Suki. His eyes lit on Katara and her dad. Hakoda leaned on her more heavily, now, and she felt his ribs in a way that she hadn't on the day of the eclipse. Like Suki, he had lost weight. "You rescued them?"

"General Iroh insisted," she said. She narrowed her eyes at the old man. "He also broke the terms of our agreement when he led Hakoda and the Kyoshi warrior here. We had hoped you would agree without extra encouragement."

"That's another lesson in the manly arts, Avatar Aang," Iroh said. "Always sweeten the pot."

"Don't think you're not in trouble, General Iroh," Xiao Zhi said.

Iroh rocked on his heels. "That is quite worrisome," he said. "No doubt you'll imagine satisfactory punishment-"

"Uncle!" Zuko hid his blush behind his hand. He cleared his throat and straightened his posture. "I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm ready for bed."

Toph yawned loudly. "You said it." She seemed to blink in the direction of Sokka and Suki. Then she offered a brittle smile and snapped her fingers. "Sparky, yip-yip."

Zuko rolled his eyes even as he began walking toward her. A smile tugged one corner of his mouth. "You're too big to be carried…"

"Payback is payback, Little Lord Jerkbender." Zuko crouched in front of her and she climbed atop his back. His arms settled under her legs and he adjusted her weight as he stood. He frowned at Iroh. "What are you looking at?"

"Nothing, my nephew. Nothing at all." Iroh clapped his hands together dryly. "This is all very exciting. I believe I need some tea to calm my nerves."

Together, Zuko and Toph groaned. Zuko hitched her a little higher on his back and left the room. "That's the Fire Prince?" Hakoda asked, watching them leave.

"Former Fire Prince," Sokka said.

Hakoda frowned. He was silent a moment before asking: "That boy shaves?"

"It surprised me, too, Dad."


Having three more people -- at least -- meant preparing three more rooms, so Katara found herself digging through old supply chests for the few remaining blankets not devoured by silk-eaters and cave-hoppers. Some futile searching convinced her that her best bet was simply to choose the linens with the fewest holes. As it was, the blankets she now folded over her arm looked as though they might crumble if she sneezed wrong. All the good ones -- the woven ones, not the quilts that leaked their bison fur stuffing -- were snatched up when the group first arrived here. Why couldn't the airbenders use sleeping bags, like normal people?

There's an idea. Smiling, Katara adjusted the blankets on her arm and headed down toward the bison stable. Most of the traveling gear was still there under the huge polished beams and mosaics, including the sleeping bags. It was too hot for them, really, but they might provide cushioning for Suki and her dad's aching bones. Katara had to admit that the airbender barracks, while neat and orderly, were a little bit lacking in the comfort department. She had slept on softer earth than those cots. She allowed herself one little pang of longing for their beds back in Ba Sing Se -- those big, fluffy, clean beds -- before hoisting the sleeping bags over her other shoulder and leaving the room. Appa grunted a goodbye as she shut the door-

-and bumped into a very large someone. "Please forgive me," he said, and Katara found herself blinking up at General Iroh. "You look like you could use some help."

"Oh, no, that's all right," she said. She held out the blankets. "But some of these are for your room. Here, take your pick."

"Your generosity touches this old man's heart," he said. He lifted off a couple of blankets and folded them neatly over one arm. "My compliments to the lady of the house."

To her horror, Katara's ears burned. "I'm just doing what my Gran-Gran would do…"

"Then would your Gran-Gran kindly direct me to my room?"

"Oh. Right. Sure." She started walking. "There are rooms near Zuko's, I guess you'll want to be there…"

"That would be very nice, thank you." Iroh followed her. "I hope that my nephew is being a good guest."

"Um…" Katara hadn't really thought about it. He taught Aang. He protected Aang. He had yet to hurt Aang. Those were the important things. The other things -- the way he heated Toph's bathwater, the way he blew on The Duke's tea to get it just warm enough not to burn his tongue -- she didn't really consider in the face of that one duty. "He is, I guess."

"He is doing his chores?"

She frowned. They didn't have a formal system for delegating chores. She told people how to help and they helped. She was the system. And she didn't talk to Zuko very much, if she could help it. "I suppose so…" Something occurred to her as they mounted the stairs. "He does make a full pot of tea every morning."

"Oh, dear," Iroh said. "I am very sorry to hear that."

Katara snorted laughter. "It's a little…"

"Bracing," Iroh said.

"Aang says it's to help them focus during morning meditation," she said. "Although how you could focus with that taste in your mouth, I have no idea. He worked in a teashop! How can he be so bad at making tea?"

"He has other talents," Iroh said. "His firebending has progressed-"

"Now that he remembers how," Katara said, rolling her eyes. "And let's not forget how skilled he is at chasing people down, tying them to trees, and stealing their stuff."

Iroh stopped short behind her. "Miss Katara."

She turned around. The old general's eyes met hers and something in her quailed -- he was like Master Pakku and Azula rolled into one, when his gaze bore down on her like that. He radiated disappointment, as though he somehow knew her well enough to expect better. Which he didn't -- they'd never formally met. Katara took a deep breath and braced her feet, as though beginning a battle with Iroh's nephew. "Don't tell me you've completely forgiven him," she said. "Zuko betrayed you down there, too. He let you rot in prison!"

The furrows in Iroh's face deepened even further. He blinked. "Do I look rotten to you?"

Her face flamed. "No. That's not what I meant! He…" She resisted the urge to stamp her foot. "He joined Azula. He let her hurt Aang. And that was after he chased us all over the world! You were there! You helped!"

"And yet you seem to have forgiven me," Iroh said. "Did I not sit idly by Zuko tied you to that tree? Did I not help him send a bounty hunter after you and bring him to the North Pole?"

"That's different!"

"How is it different?" When she opened her mouth to reply, Iroh held up a finger. "Forgiveness is a seed that only grows in rich soil. Don't worry if part of you hasn't thawed. I seem to remember it getting very cold in the South Pole." He smiled. "Now, show me to my room."

"Um…sure." She pushed ahead of him and hurried up to Zuko's room. To her surprise, she heard his voice across the hall -- in Toph's room. She pulled up short and Iroh paused behind her as she listened:

"What's this one?" Toph asked.

"Fight," Zuko said. "Here, it goes like this. One…two…three…"

"When did Pops give this to you?"

"When I was your age," Zuko said. "Maybe a little younger."

"Was that before you got hurt?"

"…Yes. That was three years ago."

A pause, then: "You getting all this, Sweetness?"

Katara mentally kicked herself. Shutting her eyes, she said: "I was just delivering extra blankets to General Iroh's room, Toph, I wasn't-"

"I'm gonna tell your dad on you if you don't leave!"

"You were listening-" Zuko's head appeared outside the door. His good eye widened. "Uncle."

"Nephew." Iroh took Katara's elbow. "Let's be moving along, Miss Katara."

After all that, Katara was only too happy to lead Iroh to his new room, say goodnight, and shut the door. She found Sokka and Suki in Sokka's room -- she wondered what their dad would say to that -- and told Suki that she planned on laying down fresh linens in her new room. "I'll do it," Sokka said, picking his sleeping bag out of the pile as well as too many blankets. He made no pretense of moving, just held the blankets in his lap.

"It's good to see you, Suki," Katara said, growing steadily more uncomfortable.

"It's good to see you, too," Suki said. Sokka gave Katara a polite stare that said get out, we're busy. Nodding and trying to free her mind of the picture of her brother kissing anybody that way, Katara backed out of the room. She'd gone three steps before she heard Suki's giggle and the door being kicked shut. Wincing, she followed her father's voice to another room down the hall.

Hakoda lay on a bed with his feet up on a makeshift pillow, with the Stormbender Akna fluffing the one behind his neck. Katara watched the other woman bend over her father one more time, cooing something inane and comforting, before her jaw dropped and she said: "Dad!"

"Katara!" Her father's voice cracked in exactly the way Sokka's did when he'd been caught sneaking extra rations. "Are those blankets for me?"

"Yes," she said, marching into the room. She turned to Akna. The Stormbender was tall, lithe, and way too young for someone Hakoda's age. Dad's been Chief for long enough to know a power-hungry little polar rat when he sees one; how come he's not telling her to shove off? "I'll take it from here."

Akna pursed her lips. "Of course." She leaned around Katara and smiled. "Goodnight, Hakoda."

"Goodnight…"

Katara watched Akna sashay her way out of the room and stared ice-daggers into the other woman's back. Upon hearing a sigh from her father's direction, she swung her gaze on him. Hakoda instantly schooled his face to a more fatherly expression. "She helped break me out of prison," he said.

"She's younger than you."

"So was your mother."

Katara threw the blankets at him. "I refuse to have this conversation!"

His eyebrows lifted. "A grown-up conversation?"

Growling, Katara turned on her heel. "Do what you want! It's never stopped you before!"

"Katara-"

She slammed the door behind her and marched down the hall. Zuko peeked out of his room, winced, and stepped into the hall anyway. He stood directly in front of her. She did her best to breeze right past him, but he feinted right, then left, effectively stopping her in her tracks. "What is it, Zuko?"

He licked his lips. "I have an idea."

"Does it involve throwing that little stormbending hussy off a cliff?"

"Who?"

"Just spit it out, Zuko."

"Aang should sleep in Toph's room," he said.

Katara's eyebrow commenced twitching. "Did you drink the crazy tea, this morning?"

"What? No." He lowered his voice and looked at the stones surrounding them. "I don't trust these people. They attacked us."

Katara pushed away the feeling of her own blood freezing inside her body. They shot lightning at Aang. They bent our blood. How are they still here? She frowned and folded her arms. "What does that have to do with Toph?"

"She sleeps on the floor," Zuko said. "She'll feel it first if someone tries to sneak up on Aang."

To her chagrin, Zuko had a point. Toph had sensed the intruders first. She would know the minute someone tried to hurt Aang. "But your uncle brought them," Katara said.

"My uncle has been wrong before." He grimaced. "He has a preference for strong women, and-"

"Stop. Please. I get it. My own dad is…" She shuddered, then squared her shoulders. She drew a slow, grudging breath. "With everyone so… distracted…it's probably a good idea to keep another pair of eyes on Aang." She coughed. "So to speak."

Zuko couldn't suppress a smile. "You tell Aang. I'll tell Toph."

She nodded, her expression curdling at the irrepressible smile on Zuko's face. "Good luck. I hated sharing a tent with my brother."

"Did he ever smother you as a joke?"

"Huh?"

"Never mind. You wouldn't get it." He moved toward Toph's room. "Aang should be with Appa."

"I know where he is, Zuko," she lied.

He shrugged, and knocked on Toph's door. Toph stuck her head out. "Twinkletoes and I are bunking together. Got it." She shut the door. A second later, it creaked open again. Toph pointed at the stretch of wall nearest Katara. "And quit lying!"

From behind Iroh's door, a very soft snort of laughter could be heard.


Katara had never appreciated the fact that they had a routine at the Temple until their "guests" interrupted it. Before her father and General Iroh's arrival, things proceeded at a leisurely-but-workable pace: she woke up, found the tea Zuko made, tried to stomach it, made breakfast, and watched the others filter in to eat. Then Zuko and Aang went off to shoot fire at each other, Sokka, Haru, Teo and The Duke tried new recipes for homemade blasting jelly (or whatever it was they did; she was never too clear on it), and Toph took what she called "the mid-morning nap." Then Aang and Zuko returned, did their physical exercises (Toph usually woke up around then to sit on Zuko's back as he did push-ups), bathed, ate lunch, and Aang was either Toph's or Katara's for the afternoon. Katara had him help her with domestic waterbending -- cleaning vegetables, washing Appa, doing laundry -- and interspersed it with the martial forms they knew. When he belonged to Toph, she foraged for food. Then dinner, then cleaning up, then maybe a bath, then bedtime -- that was a good day.

She tried to take the sweet, strong tea waiting for her the next morning as an omen of good days to come. Then she noticed the pack of Stormbenders picking at her carefully-measured rations, and everyone's tea froze inside their cups. "I just wanted to make some breakfast for your father, Katara," Akna said, stirring up a pot of something sweet (and wasting all the honey in the process).

"I know exactly what you want to do," Katara said in a low voice. "And quit using that spoon with that pot! You'll ruin the glaze!"

"She gets like this sometimes," Sokka said to Suki.

"Sometimes?" Teo asked.

Things failed to improve after that. Her father stuck to his room like the invalid he was -- where he could be looked after by Akna the Healing Hussy -- and avoided Katara, and Sokka and Haru decided it was time they join Zuko and Aang's workouts. So now she had four dirty, hungry boys -- she didn't count Iroh, Iroh was a man -- who reeked of sweat and ate twice as much lunch as before, and refused to wear shirts "on account of the weather." (Even Toph snickered at that poor excuse, as Haru tried strutting his stuff for some clearly-amused Stormbender girls.)

Then Aang said it was time for waterbending practice, and she gratefully changed clothes and headed for the fountain. Where her father -- miraculously roused from his bed by Akna's healing powers, no doubt -- promptly chewed her out for wearing the wrong thing: "Go back to your room and change, young lady!"

"No! These are my waterbending clothes!"

"They're underwear!" Grimacing, Hakoda drew himself to his full height and pointed at her. "I know you're used to your freedom-"

"You're right! I am! And you're not going to take it from me!" Katara listened to the ensuing silence and wondered when exactly she had started sounding like Toph. Light footsteps sounded in the hall and she saw Zuko wandering down toward the fountain, empty sack in hand. He took in the scene before him, blinked, and began turning away.

"Does my daughter wear these clothes every time she practices?" Hakoda asked.

Zuko froze mid-step. "I wouldn't know," he said, not turning around. "I don't stick around to watch."

"You don't?"

A pause. "No, sir."

"You should ask Twinkletoes," Toph said, biting into an apple. "He's the one who trains with her."

Hakoda's eyes swung on the Avatar. Aang reddened considerably, and Toph looked distinctly pleased with herself. Katara shot her a look she knew Toph couldn't see. "The dress," her dad said. "Now."

"Or what?"

He gave her his I'm not hearing arguments look. "Or your friends will learn some very charming stories about your little girl years."

Growling, Katara did her best to stomp down the hall. It was surprisingly difficult, in bare feet. Zuko glued himself to a wall as she passed. He was gone when she re-emerged wearing her Fire Nation clothes -- surely her dad couldn't object to a nice silk robe, could he?

"What a lovely color," General Iroh said, when she returned.

She looked at her father. "See? General Iroh likes it."

"General Iroh likes a lot of things," Xiao Zhi said, from her position near a pillar. She lit the tip of her finger, and applied it to a long pipe. Katara smelled sweet, flowery smoke.

Iroh turned to the Stormbender. "I especially enjoy wild orchid tobacco."

"Nice try, General."

Iroh leaned around Katara, spying Zuko with his sack. "And where do you think you're going, my nephew?"

"Out," was Zuko's answer.

"Not today, you're not," Xiao Zhi said, exhaling smoke. "Stormbending is something waterbenders and firebenders do together. Your afternoons belong to us from now on." She looked at Katara. "And so do your mornings, Painted Lady."

Katara's jaw dropped. "How did you…?"

Xiao Zhi flipped a Pai Sho tile in the air. "I have ears like a wolf-bat."

Iroh piped up: "On the contrary, Xiao Zhi, you have beautiful ears."

Katara heard Zuko's palm make contact with his face. Staring at the older woman, Katara again had the sense that she should know her, but had no clue why. Sighing, she listened to the sound of birds calling far away. Those birds had it made -- when things got awkward, they could just fly away. And she suspected that bird-parents didn't make unexpected visits on their bird-children's nests that totally threw everything in their little bird-lives for a loop.

"Did you hear what I said, Katara?"

She startled. "What was that?"

Xiao Zhi nodded toward the fountain. "The Avatar is waiting."

Aang smiled as Katara joined him. They both drew water to themselves, leaning in and out as they traded volleys of water. Aang made a penta-pus, she made ice-arrows. Like the good old days, really, back when it was all koi-riding and Fire Days festivals and dressing up in Avatar Kyoshi's clothes. She felt her nerves recede gently with the familiar motions. Aang made two water-whips and used them as blades to make tiny cuts in the stone: "Good job, Aang!"

"That's enough," Xiao Zhi said.

Katara dropped her water. "Excuse me? I'm Aang's teacher, I'll say when-"

"You're holding back." Xiao Zhi exhaled smoke. "You've gotten complacent."

"You think I'm lazy?"

"Katara's not lazy," Aang said. "She works really hard!"

"She works very hard to take care of you and the others, not to train you," Xiao Zhi said. "She is a master waterbender wasting her gift on housework. It's no wonder she didn't think to put her bloodbending to good use on the Day of Black Sun. She was worried about whether you had a hole in your socks."

"I'm right here, you know," Katara said, hands shaking with rage. "If you have a problem with my bending, just say so."

Xiao Zhi blinked, lizard-like. "All right. I think your bending is simple and uncreative. I'm beginning to wonder what truth there is to the stories I've heard."

"What have you heard?"

Xiao Zhi's pipe flared orange. "That you're the best."

Katara flushed. "Well, I've never said that-"

"She is the best," Aang said, his fists tightening.

"Is that so?" Xiao Zhi said. "Is that why you failed under Ba Sing Se? Because of your waterbending teacher?"

Aang blushed. "I…"

"Hold on," Zuko said, straightening. "The Avatar didn't fail. I failed him. Azula hurt him and that's my fault. Aang didn't do anything wrong." He glanced at Katara quickly. "And neither did she," he added.

One of Xiao Zhi's thin, silvery eyebrows arched. "So you have heard the stories, too?"

"I didn't hear the stories. I am the story." He pointed out to the chasm. "I've been up one side of this world and down the other. I've faced benders from both Poles. I know what I'm talking about." When Xiao Zhi said nothing, he pointed at Katara. "She fights like a demon! You haven't seen it! You have no idea-"

"Show me," Xiao Zhi said.

"Excuse me?"

"We've seen her spar with the Avatar. Let's see something new."

"It's nothing new," Katara said. "It hasn't even been that long."

"A few weeks," Zuko said. "I'm good, now; I'm trying not to-"

"Then it shouldn't bother you to practice with her," Xiao Zhi said. "It should be an academic exercise, nothing more. It's not as though you're fighting for your honor anymore, is it?"

Zuko's lips firmed. "Fine." He turned to Katara and spoke through his teeth. "Will you please do me the honor of dueling with me?"

"Oh, the pleasure's all mine," she said, rolling her eyes. They assumed starting positions.

"Uh, you guys might want to step back," Aang said. "This could get messy."

"I certainly hope so," Xiao Zhi said. She clapped her hands together. "Begin!"

Katara wasted no time. She bent a thick rope of water at Zuko's ankles. He leapt up and forward, somersaulting across the floor and firing from a lunging position. She raised a shield of ice, then spliced it into a dozen spears; he gloved his hands in fire and batted them away like cobwebs as he advanced. She slid one foot out and made him slip on sudden ice; his legs scissored up through the air and created a ring of fire -- she had to jump up just to avoid it and then he was right up under her guard, his flaming fists narrowly avoiding her ears. They wove around each other -- she tried grabbing his fists with water and missed twice -- until she made a gauntlet of ice and punched him right in the mouth. He reeled backward, more stunned than hurt, holding his jaw. They stared at each other, panting.

"Not the face," he said, and started running for her.

Katara grinned. She made stairways of ice for him and he jogged right up them, not slipping an inch, flipping off them with a foot that trailed fire. She caught one of his feet with a sleeve of water and grabbed his hand with the other one; making him hop on one foot the way his sister had when she first tried this trick. Then he smirked and threw himself on the ground, started rolling himself in ropes of water, dragging her to her knees. He barreled right under her. "You're all tied up," Katara said, tightening her hold. "Too bad there isn't a tree nearby."

"Duck."

"What?"

Fire bloomed inside his mouth and she dodged away from it just as it streamed away from his lips. She relinquished her grip and water splashed across both of them as she fell across Zuko, shielding her face. She felt the muscles in his torso relax when his breath was finished, and poked her head up. Her hair was wet, as was her robe and therefore her stomach: "Great. Now I'm soaked." She sat up and wrung out her hair.

"Good show," Xiao Zhi said, smiling around her pipe. "Now if only you could bend that way all the time."

Zuko propped himself up on his elbows and looked at Xiao Zhi. "It was better last time." He steamed his clothes dry. "We were…angrier."

"That is sometimes known to happen," Iroh said. He smiled at both of them.

Hakoda' stared open-mouthed at Katara. His hand wrapped around the other man's arm. "I just forgot something I wanted to ask General Iroh about."

"Oh, dear," Iroh said. "I was afraid you'd say that."

"What's he talking about?" Aang asked.

"No clue," Zuko said, watching the two men leave.

Xiao Zhi smirked. "Up and at 'em, kids. Daylight's wasting."


Note: I just want to thank everyone who reviewed. You guys rock!

Some readers may wonder if the stormbender Xiao Zhi is the same woman as the one found in Ozai's Vengeance. They look exactly alike, and are very alike character-wise. There is one significant difference between the two, however, and you will likely discover it in the next chapter.