Chapter Three:
A star
a lie
and a girl.
Zuko sits.
As Fire Lord, he has perfected the art of looking as if he's listening. His face is stern and serious, his gaze directed at papers, a stylus in his hand, prepared at any moment to jot down important memos.
It doesn't matter anyway. Every conversation is the same. We need more money for...
And where, exactly, would this money be coming from? The reserves his father bled dry as he threw money at the metal factories, the shipyards, the thousands of soldiers who now returned home maimed, broken, without a job and with too many mouths to feed?
"What do you think, Fire Lord Zuko?"
He looks up. The ministers are waiting. He has no idea what to say.
He opens his mouth.
The doors are flung open, revealing an Imperial guard.
"My Lord," he pants, "there been an — incident. Your presence is respectfully requested."
Zuko stands up, trying not to look too relieved.
"The meeting is adjourned," he says. The ministers bow low as he walks past and closes the door behind him. Once safely out of earshot, he turns to the guard. "What is it?"
The guard keep his eyes trained on the ground, not daring to look at him.
"My Lord, your father has — he — we discovered — "
"He's escaped," Zuko says, hands trembling a little as he clenches them into fists. He knew it. Even without his bending, his father is still impossibly strong, impossibly clever —
"No, my Lord. Your father has been badly injured."
Katara stands outside the palace physician's room with her friends and Iroh. Zuko is not present; nobody has offered an explanation for his notable absence. Conscious of the occasional servant passing by, they speak in whispered voices to each other.
"I could heal him," Katara says. Aang shakes his head.
"I'm sure if they need your help, they'll ask."
She falls silent. Toph speaks up.
"Anyone know what happened?"
"An anti-royalist supporter, disguised as a guard," Iroh says."They had hoped to murder Ozai."
"Anti-royalist?" Katara says, worrying at a loose thread on her sleeve. "They intend to target the whole royal family, then?"
"Including Zuko?" Aang demands. Toph folds her arms.
"No, Zuko's not royalty, he just worked in the kitchens and got promoted," she retorts.
"Don't get angry at Aang," Katara says defensively. "It's not his fault." She turns and paces the corridor. "I should go in. They might need help."
"If you're needed, they'll ask. How about a nice cup of wild rice tea?" Iroh says kindly, but Katara gives him a look.
"Is Zuko in danger?"
"Is somebody after Zuko?" Toph punches a fist into her palm. "Because I can fix that."
"Please, keep your voices down," Iroh says quickly. "It's true there are anti-royalists, but I'm working with others to...resolve the problem."
"With who? Those secret Lotus people?" Aang demands loudly. Toph growls.
"He said keep it down!"
"I'm going in," Katara says decisively, turning and reaching for the door handles. This conversation isn't helping at all. She needs to focus on doing something positive. Before she can open the doors, however, they are flung open by the physician's assistant.
"My brother," Iroh begins, standing up. The assistant nods.
"He'll be fine. He can return to the prison in a few days."
Iroh exhales slowly.
Katara and Aang swap looks.
"I think," Katara says to Iroh, "we'd like to try that wild rice tea after all."
They sit in one of the many receiving rooms of the palace, Iroh pouring each a cup of tea. Aang drinks his with enthusiasm; Toph sniffs at it suspiciously.
"What's really going on?" Katara asks, ignoring the cup Iroh pours for her. "Dad said it was just people complaining about money."
"They're saying that the Earth Kingdom is stealing their money," Toph interjects angrily.
"What?" the waterbender asks, taken aback.
"They kept talking about how Zuko gave the Earth Kingdom too much money."
Iroh nods. "They've been complaining since the war ended. We did give the Earth Kingdom a lot of money to compensate for the damage caused by the Fire Nation invasions. Especially with rebuilding the wall of Ba Sing Se."
Toph frowns. "Yeah. Well, they say it was too much money and that Zuko's too nice and that he's giving in to the Earth Kingdom."
"That's not true at all," Katara says angrily. She has no idea exactly how much Zuko gave the Earth Kingdom but it doesn't matter to her. What matters is the phrase 'giving in'. As though the war is still raging.
"I know," Toph shrugs, "but they see it as Zuko taking money from them and giving it to their old enemy."
"What can we do?" Aang asks, glancing from Katara to Toph. Advice comes, however, from another source.
"There is nothing you can do," Iroh says quietly. "You must let this run its course. However...I have plans. If I can meet with the Order of the White Lotus, I can make arrangements. We could avoid a civil war."
Civil war. Katara's blood runs cold. Nobody's mentioned that yet. Rioting, and protests, but nothing like...civil war.
"What would happen to Zuko?" Aang asks worriedly. Iroh bows his head.
"As I said, I plan to meet with the Order of the White Lotus. Arrangements can be made."
"Zuko could do something," Katara argues, not liking the sound of that. What arrangements, exactly? "Or Aang. Aang's the Avatar, people will listen to him."
Iroh looks at her. "One man does not move people. Power and privilege does."
"But Aang has power." She doesn't understand.
"Only the power the people give him."
Katara feels defeated somehow. She lets the teacup rest in her hands, the heavy warmth soothing her slightly.
Aang looks at her, his expression greatly troubled.
Zuko doesn't have time for anybody these days.
She only sees him for fleeting moments at breakfast. He always arrives late, tired and distracted. There are so many ministerial meetings. There's always some important person — important in every way but personally — demanding his attention. Katara wonders how Mai can stand it and one night, in a rare moment where Zuko has managed to schedule in enough time to actually sit and eat dinner with them, Katara gets her answer.
He's picking at his food, as usual. The silence is awful. Aang isn't speaking. She knows he's thinking about the civil unrest lately, seen in the marketplace with the beggars and the angry crowds, the thin children and maimed soldiers returned home.
Somebody clears their throat. The sound echoes. Katara hates it. She wishes Sokka was here. All his noisy, stupid interruptions...he'd break this silence easily and bring a sigh of relief.
"Are you alright?"
Aang's voice is uncomfortably loud. Everyone pauses. Katara is aware of the stares, aware of the tears prickling at her eyes. She shakes her head quickly, as if to refuse her tears and dismiss her distress.
"Just thinking about Sokka. I miss him."
"Me too," Aang says.
Katara struggles for a reply. The silence is dragging her down like a drowning man. She glances at Zuko, surreptitiously trying to gauge his mood. She's not quick enough. He meets her eyes. They both glance away. He seems, as ever, to be in a gloomily contemplative mood.
Somebody breaks the silence and to Katara's surprise it's not her.
It's Mai.
"There was rioting in Omashu today. The Fire Nation colonies are not happy."
"I know," Zuko says. His tone is flat, his face unreadable. Katara realises she is holding her chopsticks so tightly that her knuckles are white. She consciously relaxes her grip.
"My father warned you about the civil unrest," Mai continues.
"And I told you, the ministers advised — "
"Of course. The ministers." Mai's face is blank.
"I'm trying!" Zuko shouts the last word. Katara tries to swap a glance with Aang but he's not looking at her. She follows his gaze. Beneath Zuko's hand, the wooden table is beginning to smoke.
"If you had followed advice from the start instead of wasting time during the celebrations, this never would have happened. You could have managed to salvage the economy at least — "
"Oh, and I guess you would've done a better job?" Zuko snaps. A scarlet handprint burns the table now.
"I would have dismissed that public relations minister, for starters. And re-organised the cabinet...those advisers were worthless from the beginning, they were all corrupted," Mai retorts.
"If this is about your father's promotion, I already told you I can't do that. It would be seen as — "
"It's a bit late to be worrying about what the people think, Zuko. Have you been amongst them lately? Have you heard what they're saying?" Mai pauses. Everyone looks at her expectantly but she appears to have finished, dismissing her boyfriend from the conversation. She is reaching for her chopsticks when Katara speaks, unable to keep quiet.
"I'm sure he already knows about what people are saying," she says.
"Presumably. I'm just reminding him," Mai says composedly.
"Yes, but he's already got enough problems!" Katara is furious with indignation. "I mean, look at Aang!"
Mai gives Aang an obligatory glance. He shifts uncomfortably.
"Zuko barely spends any time with him any more! I mean, they used to be best friends! But Aang never complains, does he? No! He never says anything because he doesn't want to make Zuko feel bad. Maybe you should think about doing the same!"
"You don't understand anything about Zuko or his life," Mai says, a slight heat beginning to tinge her cheeks. "I grew up with him, I've always been there — "
"Except when he was banished. Where were you then? He didn't even get a letter from you," Katara snaps. Oh no, don't say it, Zuko said those things to Aang in confidence...
"I didn't know where he was." Mai stands up quickly.
"Did you even try to find him?" Katara presses.
"I sent a messenger hawk."
"One hawk?" Spirits, she can't stop these horrible and angry words scratching at her throat, like hunting dogs begging to be let out. Mai stares at her for a moment, then turns and leaves. Katara is suddenly aware that she is standing up, her fists clenched. When did she stand up? She can't remember. She sits down again. Aang stares straight ahead and doesn't meet her gaze. She tentatively reaches for him.
"Aang..."
He stands up abruptly.
"I trusted you!"
"I'm sorry, Aang," Katara begins, but Aang shakes his head.
"I'm never telling you anything again! Now Zuko hates me!"
"Aang, he doesn't hate you..." She looks around. Zuko's seat is empty. Somewhere along the line he silently departed. She hopes it was before she brought up his banishment.
Aang takes a deep breath, apparently trying to calm himself. When he speaks again he does so quietly. "I'm going to go meditate. I'll — I'll see you tomorrow." And he is gone.
"So..." Toph says conversationally, "since we're on the topic, I just want to make sure — does Aang also tell you things about me?"
Katara slowly sits back down. "He says you're homesick and you've been writing letters to your parents, but you always end up throwing them away," she says at last. There doesn't seem much point practising subtlety now.
"That's so sweet," Toph says. "I think it's nice that you two share everything. Including private conversations with other people."
"Toph — "
But it's too late. Toph stands up and leaves, slamming the door behind her.
Katara slumps over the table, head in her hands, and for a long time she does not move.
The lights burn softly in the darkness.
Katara watches them, these strange flares of light in the distance. She sits alone by the banks of the stream. There is a solitary turtleduck who has woken and braved the night to come and investigate her presence.
"You'd be the boy," she says to it. The greedy one, eager for any morsel. He emits a single quack as if in agreement.
"Has Zuko shared his turtleduck theory with you?"
Katara stiffens for a moment, a momentary instinct seizing her hand and placing it upon her water flask. Then she relaxes slightly, although a tenseness remains in her shoulders and a slight flush arises in her cheeks.
Mai leans against the willow and looks into the distance. She has the same expression as Zuko, Katara decides. That look of distant contemplation, as though some trouble is always waiting on the horizon. The waterbender wants to apologise, to say sorry, but her throat holds the words hostage. They will not escape.
So Mai says it instead.
"I...regret allowing my temper to rise."
"Me too," Katara says with relief. They remain in silence for a while. The turtleduck wades sleepily for a time before giving up and slowly weaving his way back to bed. Mai moves slowly, step by step, until she is standing by the waterbender. Katara gets the feeling Mai wants to say something but is holding back.
"You must be worried about Zuko," Katara says, guessing at what is on the girl's mind.
"I am." Mai runs a finger along a curious crease in her sleeve. Katara realises there's probably a blade hidden there. "He doesn't always take things the way they're meant."
Katara suddenly understands what Mai is trying to say. The girl's way of offering support to Zuko is to give him political advice. Katara is overcome with an unexpected wave of sympathy for Mai. She fumbles to make her feel better.
"I'm sure he'll get it," she says lamely.
"I'm not sure he will," Mai replies.
They sit together for a long time and neither speak again.
Azula hears the footsteps long before the guards do. She stands by the cell door, attentively staring straight forward. Azula knows that sound well. The sound of footsteps haunts her dreams, the sound of someone running. Yes, running for something...for her, from her...she can no longer tell.
"Azula."
The princess blinks slowly. Somehow, the motherless girl has materialised before her. Azula can't separate her realities any more. She blinks. Sometimes this works. Sometimes it doesn't. The girl is still there. Azula doesn't like her eyes; they're too big, too blue. Like the ocean. She hates the ocean.
"I've come to ask about Ursa."
Azula looks somewhere over the blue-eyed girl's left shoulder. Ursa.
"A star."
"What?" The girl is confused. Azula refuses to meet her eyes. In the distance, she hears the waves ebb and flow and she grits her teeth as the noise begins to grow louder. "Oh. Not...not the constellation. I meant your mother." The girl is nervous now. Azula can smell it, the fear emanating from her, and she prowls her narrow cell restlessly.
"Remember?" the girl asks. "When you and Zuko were little — "
"Zu-Zu."
The other girl winces. Azula notes it detachedly.
"Yes, your brother — "
"He's not here."
"No." The girl swallows audibly. Azula gazes at her through the bars. They're all she sees. They line her vision day after day, separate her realities into little scenes. She presses her face against them.
"He's really busy with his Fire Lord duties. I'm supposed to be helping him — " Here the girl stops abruptly, suspicion narrowing those eyes. Azula is relieved. Oceans, she thinks, oceans and oceans of blue, swirling up around her, splintering into ice and shattering her life. "I'm supposed to be helping him...with some stuff...but he's busy so I'm visiting you alone."
"He isn't Fire Lord." Azula's gaze subtly shifts to one of the guards. The girl looks around quickly. Like a nervous little rabbit, Azula thinks, and then she wonders where the fox is. The clever fox with sly eyes. Behind the guard, perhaps? Slinking outside? Or here, in her very cell, his golden eyes and rich, red fur slipping from the corner of her sight?
"Zuko is the Fire Lord." The girl tries to pin Azula's gaze. Do not look at me! Azula hears the ocean rising, rising to claim her.
"He isn't Fire Lord."
"He is. About your mother — "
"She's dead." The words fall without emotion. Azula waits. Her fringe falls across her face, a fragmented portrait of a princess.
"Where is she? Who told you that?"
Azula hears the waves crashing now, a crescendo of roaring blue, and she screams and closes her eyes just for a moment.
But perhaps not. When she opens her eyes again she is lying in the corner of her cell and all is quiet. Dusk brings weak light through the small grate. The smell of burning flesh lingers.
And she is alone.
Déjà vu, Katara thinks bitterly. She stares at her hands, the water rippling over them. Combined with the raw burns, it makes her skin look even more warped.
"Are you alright?"
She looks up. Aang is looking at her with concern. A rare moment alone with her boyfriend, and it's about to be ruined. She smiles ruefully.
"Azula burnt me."
Aang, predictably, fusses for a while. She lifts her hands from the stream to show him they are unmarked.
"See? All healed. Stop worrying."
But there's something under his concern. Something that lurks uncomfortably, a shadow across his heart. She knows what it is. He isn't sitting by her side any more. He is away in another place, standing in horror as she flees. He is lying on the ground, pinned down by a furious Sokka. He is vowing never to firebend again.
"All healed," she says again, trying to tell him it's okay. He manages a smile, swift and half-hearted. "I'm sorry about yesterday," she says after a moment. "I never meant — "
"It's okay," Aang says quickly. "Everyone's been so tense lately. I understand." He looks away. "Actually, I think I should be the one apologising. I have something to tell you."
"Why? What happened?"
"You know how Iroh wanted to visit the Order of the Lotus? Well, he got some information this week about...plans. A coup, he called it."
"You mean they're going to dethrone Zuko?" Katara's eyes widen. Aang nods.
"Yes, but Iroh says if he can talk to the Order, they can prevent it from happening. It's staged for the very last day of summer, so the sooner Iroh can leave, the sooner he can get back in time to stop it."
Katara nods. "Okay. So...I guess you'll be taking him there on Appa?"
"Yes. Toph is coming too — she wants to see her parents — but we need someone here to keep an eye on Zuko while we're gone." Aang immediately launches into apologies, but Katara waves them off.
"It's okay," she says. "I understand. Like you said, the sooner you leave..." She looks at him. "I was really looking forward to dancing with you at the midsummer festival, though. Will you be back in time for it?"
"We'll leave in a few days, but we won't be back until after the midsummer festival," Aang says apologetically. He studies her for a moment, then leans forward and kisses her. "But when I get back, I promise we can dance as much as you want. Maybe even see the underwater beaches."
Despite his light-hearted tone, Katara catches the worry in his eyes. "I'll be fine," she says. "It's only a week or so, right? I'll be fine. We'll all be fine. Like you said, nothing's happening until the last day of summer."
"I know. But...just be careful anyway, okay? Just until we get back."
"Okay."
He puts his arm around her, and together they sit for a while.
It's a few days later when Katara decides to seek out Zuko. She should apologise, although she feels awkward about it. She's left it too long and apologies do not come naturally to her.
Toph — who, in light of her upcoming trip to the Earth Kingdom, seems to be in an oddly benevolent mood and has forgiven Katara — gives her directions, albeit difficult ones to follow.
"And where the floor gets more solid — "
"What do you mean, more solid? The floor is always solid."
A brief argument ensues before it emerges that Toph is actually referring to the fact that the flagstones in Zuko's room are made of rock with higher iron deposits. Katara is not impressed but nevertheless thanks Toph and manages to find her way to the Fire Lord's room.
She passes the door several times before deciding it must be the right one. She remembers another room of Zuko's in a certain temple, where she had stormed in and made a death threat against him. She resists a smile at the memory. Zuko's expression had been priceless.
As she raises her hand to knock, however, she hears muted voices from inside the room. She frowns. It's morning, just before breakfast; who would visit him so early besides his close circle of friends? She doesn't recognise the voice.
"I don't want to wear that. It's uncomfortable." That's definitely Zuko, Katara thinks. He sounds almost petulant, an unhappy child standing on a chair while his mother fusses around him with pins and thread.
"But my Lord, traditional Fire Lord regalia is required when meeting the senior Fire Sage. And the appointment with the Omashu colonies representative has been pushed forward to mid-morning, my Lord, and — " The voice pauses, then takes on a faintly reproachful tone. "May I remind his Lordship that the cincture is a compulsory part of the attire?"
Zuko makes a disgruntled sound. The voice continues on.
"And at midday his Lordship's presence is requested at a public assembly — "
"Not another one!"
"The public assemblies are a very important part of the Fire Lord's schedule. It is vital — particularly in these turbulent times — that his Lordship is seen with the public, dedicating time to personally ensure their contentment."
"But they're not content," Zuko begins. "They won't stop going on about the Earth Kingdom rebuilding funds and the North Pole compensations! Everyone wants more!" His voice rises with each word and for a moment Katara is transported back to her first meeting of Zuko: an aggressive teenager gazing at her with eyes as intense as the flames that danced at his fingertips.
"Which is why these public appearances are so important, my Lord," the voice says smoothly, apparently unaffected by the firebender's anger. "May I suggest another pair of shoes for his Lordship?"
"What?" Zuko snaps. "What's wrong with these ones?"
"Oh, nothing, my Lord. Merely a suggestion." The voice acquires a slight affliction of distaste. There is a pause, then a snarl. Violent rustling indicates that a greatly annoyed Zuko is following the voice's advice.
"I'll meet his Lordship directly after the public appearance to discuss the afternoon schedule." There is a silence. Katara realises too late what it means as the door is flung open. A tall, thin man glares down at her. He has a short grey beard and the sort of expression that Sokka might wear after one of his small warrior charges has had an accident.
"Do you have an appointment?" he begins snappishly, but to her great relief Zuko peers over the man's shoulder and rescues her.
"I've got time," he says, gesturing for her to come in. The man tries to intervene.
"We must not keep the Fire Sages waiting, my Lord. A meeting for personal guests may be scheduled in later — "
"Thanks for the advice," Zuko says before promptly shutting the door. He turns to Katara and exhales slowly before speaking. "Is everything alright?"
"Uh. Maybe now isn't the best time." Katara can't help but take in tiny details: clothes scatter the floor, apparently discarded at random. A portrait is propped up on his bedside table.
Zuko laughs, a short and humourless laugh, and crosses his arms. "Would you like to make an appointment?"
"No, that's..."
"Stupid?"
"Well...yes." Katara struggles to find the right words. "Look...I just wanted to say that I feel bad about dinner the other night."
Zuko shrugs and glances away. Katara waits, but when it becomes clear he isn't about to break the silence, she speaks up instead.
"Is that your mother?"
The firebender looks up, startled. Katara goes to pick up the portrait from the bedside table and then stops, unsure of how welcome the gesture is.
"Yes."
"She's really pretty."
Zuko doesn't reply. Katara wonders if he's sulking. Ever since becoming Fire Lord, he's gotten more and more difficult to read. It frustrates her sometimes.
"I visited Azula again, but I didn't get any information out of her," she says, deciding to omit the fact that Azula tried to give her a few skin-deep souvenirs from the meeting.
"You shouldn't visit her alone."
Well, you don't seem to have any time to spare these days...She forces the words to stay behind sealed lips.
"I should forget about her, anyway," Zuko continues. "There's more important stuff I should be focusing on." The words sound forced, as though he's learned them by rote and recites them now from bitter memory.
"Zuko, if there's a chance you could find your mother — "
"I need to sort out all this stuff first." He hesitates, and when he next speaks he sounds tired and defeated. "Being Fire Lord is a lot harder than I thought it would be."
Katara can't think of anything to say.
"I'd better go," she says at last, trying to at least summon a smile. "Aang wants to go to the markets with me." She turns and walks through the doorway.
As soon as she closes the door she stands in the empty corridor for a moment. The smile fades.
Katara wishes she hadn't gone to the markets. The stares are heavy upon her and Aang; whispers rise and fall around them like a bitter tide. She pretends to be completely absorbed in selecting the ripest mangoes as Aang stands beside her, trying unsuccessfully to chat to the owner of the market stall. The merchant stares stonily at Aang, not answering any questions. The whispers wash around them.
"...the Avatar..."
"...Fire Lord's honoured guests..."
"Living off the royal purse for months now, I hear..."
Katara holds up a mango, trying to summon up a smile for the merchant.
"How much for the mango?"
"One silver piece," he grunts. Katara's eyebrows rise.
"But I just saw you sell a mango to that woman for three copper pieces!"
"Take it or leave it," he says, turning away. Katara hears a murmur from behind her.
"The Fire Lord's having a feast, I hear. A feast, while we starve..."
"These money-grabbing foreigners — "
The waterbender whips around.
"Who said that?" she snaps. Aang tugs on her sleeve.
"Come on, let's just go," he mutters.
"No!" Katara turns to the crowd, addressing them boldly. "If you've got something to say, say it to my face!"
"I said," a woman steps forward aggressively, "I'm sick of money-grabbing foreigners." She pronounces each syllable with deliberate precision.
The crowd hushes. Katara stares at the woman, who meets her eyes unblinkingly.
"Zuko's doing all he can for you people! Why are you being so ungrateful?"
"Katara!" Aang pleads. "Please, let's just leave — "
"And she says we're ungrateful!" the woman says, turning to address the crowd and ignoring Aang. "Ungrateful! What should we be grateful for? The bread we don't eat? The money that doesn't pass through our hands?"
"Your armies bullied other countries and took whatever they wanted," Katara says heatedly. "It's only right you should pay them back now. I'm sorry if it means you have to go without, but think of the many Water and Earth Kingdom families that — "
"You hear that?" the woman calls. "The foreigner thinks it's right that she should take away our hard-earned money! We deserve to suffer!"
The crowd jeers wildly, drowning out Katara.
"Let's just go," Aang says, glaring at them. "They won't listen to us."
Katara gazes at them for a moment. She takes in their cold, glittering eyes, their lips twisting cruelly, their knuckles white as their fists clench.
Then her shoulders slump and she turns.
"Okay," she says. "Let's go."
They walk away from the mob, their eyes cast downwards. Aang whispers to Katara.
"See, they're everywhere now."
"Who?"
"The anti-royalists."
Katara twists her neck round and gazes over her shoulder. The people are silent now, resuming their shopping. Only the woman still stares at her, with eyes as hard and cold as pebbles.
She turns away, but she can still feel that hard gaze boring into her back.
That night, Katara cannot sleep. Thoughts rush through her mind like ceaseless tides, catching and snagging on her conscious, pinning worries to her heart. She remains restless, her eyes unable to close. Eventually she quietly makes her way to the gardens and sits by the bank.
She wishes she didn't. She knows she'll miss these banks. The smell of jasmine, the softness of the grass against her open palm. And, of course, the turtleducks and their curious ways. She smiles sadly as the male duck glides over and gazes inquisitively at her.
"I really should have learned by now," she tells him. "Next time, I promise I'll have bread for you."
He turns pointedly around, as though reproaching her and her thoughtless ways. She looks out across the stream and observes the lights flaring in the distance, on the edge of crater. Strange, soft glows. Those lanterns again, she thinks. But who would be out this late? And they disappear so quickly. She imagines people standing in the dark fields, covering their lanterns with their cloaks and allowing the light to shine occasionally. An unlikely scenario, but certainly a fascinating one.
The duck quacks. Startled, Katara glances around in time to see a shadow silently slipping through the trees.
"Hey!"
For a moment she is certain her eyes deceive her. The shadow blends with the patterns the moonlight throws over the scene, the warped myriad of dark and light. Zuko seems part of the background before he reluctantly detaches himself from the darkness.
"Sorry," he says. "I didn't want to interrupt your walk."
She realises he must have been here first, by the banks, and then chosen to leave as she arrived.
"That's okay, you don't have to leave," she says. "Anyway, I want to ask you something." She takes a breath. She wants to ask him about the rumours of unrest in the Fire Nation, the rioting in the colonies, if he has time to spare to see Azula, if he's seen Iroh lately, if...
But then she looks at the tired expression on his face and changes her mind.
"The lights." She points. "See? In the distance. They flare up like little lanterns, and I've been trying to figure it out for months now — what?"
Zuko is smiling. It's the first real smile she's see upon his face for many days.
"I can show you, if you like," he offers, still smiling. She suspects he has a trick up his sleeve and is thoroughly enjoying her bewilderment.
"Well...alright..."
They pick their way across the gardens and emerge from the palace gates. Katara frowns.
"I didn't realise they were so far away."
"Not that far." Zuko disappears swiftly into the shadows and the waterbender is quick to hurry her steps. After a few minutes, she reaches forward as the moon is blotted out by a cloud, darkness encompassing her world for a moment. She is completely lost. Then her fingers settle on Zuko's sleeve.
"Where are we going?"
He doesn't answer. How is it that he can be so completely silent? Only the thin material slipping across her palm indicates his presence. Her eyes adjust and she sees the buildings around her take form under the thin moonlight. They're walking quickly along streets. From the way they're ascending, Katara thinks the edge of the crater is their destination.
After a long while of walking she's beginning to tire and is about to ask Zuko to slow down. But then something changes. They're up and over the cusp of the crater. The land is uneven now, rough and grassy. Her feet squish into damp soil. Is he leading her into some kind of marshland?
"Zuko — " she says, just as something flares up beside her. She gasps and reels for a moment as the glowing light reaches skyward. As it dies away, another lick of fire appears to her left. She stands for a while and watches the strange and fantastical light show, simply observing it all before turning to the teen beside her. His expression is softening as he watches the lights materialise before them.
"What are they?" Katara asks, stepping back and marvelling as a yellow flame stretches up between her and the firebender.
"There's an old legend that calls them the sun nymphs," Zuko explains. "They steal sunbeams and then release them during the night to guide the way for weary travellers."
Katara reaches out hesitantly. The heat from the flame is real.
"But the ground here is dry peat," Zuko adds. "Some parts of it are used in blasting jelly, since it ignites when it's exposed to air. It's probably the real cause of the flames."
"Oh." Katara gazes across the marshy field, watching the lights flicker and die. "I think I prefer the sun nymphs."
"Yeah. I always liked listening to those stories when I was younger."
Katara smiles at him and the two of them stand in silence among the unexpected flames, the lights dancing around them like falling stars.
