Beneath The Alder Tree- Chapter 3: Understanding
Disclaimer: AtLA and all associated characters belong to Bryke, all plot contents and Nairn belong to me
Time began to move more quickly once again with both of my young humans back. After being separated, the two of them seemed to try and make up for lost time. They were in my field nearly every day whether it be only for a few minutes to say hello or for hours in which they would spar or lean against my trunk and talk about anything and everything. By the end of the summer, I knew almost everything about these two humans that there was to know, even more than they did probably.
The information you can gather from conversation is quite incredible. There are many subtleties in human language that tell so much more than what is being said. My favorite of these subtleties is tone. Depending on what is being said and how the speaker feels their tone changes. And when listening to the tone that Zuko and Katara used with each other I could tell that there was much more to be told than what was actually said. The tones they used when talking to one another began to change.
Both softened considerably, but Zuko's most of all. He no longer had an edge to his voice that bit through the air. It became a hushed murmur like the light crackle of embers from a fading fire. His words melted on the tip of his tongue. Katara's went from rushing and crashing waves that changed direction every second to a tone more similar to the gentle lull of the tide against the shore. And time marched on.
The seasons continued to change, summer fell into autumn, autumn froze into winter, and winter melted into spring. Zuko turned fifteen during the autumn months, winter festivals were celebrated in the Water Clan, and as soon as the sun warmed the earth enough spring broke from the frost that had held it at bay. The political turmoil in the Fire Clan continued. Ozai challenging Iroh at every turn, but Iroh still managed to stay a step ahead of his brother. The unrest between them leaked into the rest of the clan. Hushed whispers ran rampant, Zuko and Lu Ten ever on edge.
Soon another season cycle had passed. During this time a tension began to settle in Zuko and Katara's interactions. Politics began to enter their conversations more often. And they began to question. They questioned why their clans fought; they questioned whether there would ever truly be peace; they questioned whether what they were doing was right.
"Zuko?" Katara asked shifting her head on his shoulder, looking up into his golden eyes. They had just finished sparring and were resting. The two benders had taken to leaning against each other.
"Yeah?" he replied, lazily running a hand through his hair.
"Should we be here?" Her question was one they both must have thought about, but it took him by surprise none the less. His hand dropped and he sat up straighter.
"What do you mean?" he asked, not wanting to admit he knew exactly what she meant.
"Since our clans are enemies, should we even be here with each other? If our fathers knew…" she trailed with worry in her eyes.
Zuko paused as his eyes clouded in thought. They had been exceedingly lucky thus far to have not been followed.
"I don't think so, Katara. The war is in the past no matter what the others in our clans may seem to think. Even if they think the others are monsters, I know you're not, and I know your people are not. We're just two people, Katara. We are doing nothing wrong. If anything, we might be doing something right," he insisted.
"But Zuko, you know as well as I that tensions are rising. It's only time until the break," she whispered.
"We both know my Uncle and your father would never allow that," he quickly added.
"But we don't know how long they'll keep power."
"I don't want to talk about this anymore. We aren't doing anything wrong," Zuko was quick to change the subject. He didn't want to think about questions such as right and wrong or what repercussions could occur from a change in power in his clan. No, he wanted to be in the moment. To just be. They soon separated and went back to their respective villages. Even with a hug goodbye there was an ominous cloud on the horizon that neither wanted to acknowledge was looming ever closer.
The seasons continued on from that summer afternoon. Autumn came in on a breeze and left in a storm. Katara and Zuko managed even in the depths of winter to make it to my meadow. The invisible force drawing them closer and closer despite their clans drawing further and further apart. By the time spring came some part of them was always touching, whether it was simply a knee or they were holding hands. More than once they had fallen asleep leaning against my trunk, Katara's head tucked under Zuko's, his arm wrapped protectively around her, fingers entwined.
It was one of these days, when Katara was curled against him, that he watched her with sadness in his eyes. The sadness I could only guess at, but there was something else there. Conflict. As he looked at her I could see him warring with himself. They were older now, Katara was fifteen by then, Zuko seventeen. Not so naïve to their Clan's troubles, Zuko was coming more and more to realize something. Something that worried him. That he could no longer deny. I think he was beginning to understand how hard it was going to be to stay with the girl he had grown so close to. That whatever feeling I had noticed growing between them was a little too powerful for either of them to contain any longer.
It was with this concern he held her closer, his heart beat vibrating against my trunk. He kissed her head and her eyes fluttered open looking at him with a sleepy smile.
"What is it, Zuko?"
His eyes drank in her features, the soft curl to her brown hair, the smoothness of her skin, the slight blush from her sleep, and finally her cerulean eyes. He looked at her then as a man looks at the night sky, in awe as if he saw galaxies.
"I love you," he whispered.
She sat up straighter in order to face him directly, and she looked back at him, the depth of his eyes replicated in hers.
"I love you too," she whispered back.
Then their heads tilted towards each other. Coming closer, his hand reached up to cup her cheek. Their lips met, clumsily at first, then gaining confidence it deepened. I could feel blissful energy passing between them. This is when I learned the word for the emotion I had felt growing between them, but could never name. The emotion that I had heard in the whispers of trees and on the tongues of warriors. It was love.
This was the emotion that was so many others rolled into one. This was what I had been feeling in so many different ways pass between these two. I felt it in their highest joys and in their quietest exchanges. All of their interactions were tinged with it, but there was a small pit burrowed at its heart. It was the emotion I knew all too well. There was a fear, a fear that manifested all too soon.
It occurred later that summer. It was something that I really should have predicted, but I was too engrossed with this newly identified human emotion that I nearly missed it. My humans had been coming to my field so often someone in one of their clans was bound to take notice.
The day it happened was so similar to the rest. Zuko and Katara met midafternoon beneath my branches. Their happiness apparent as Zuko gave a kiss to Katara's cheek lingering there a little longer than necessary. That's when I felt that something was different. There was another presence that had just arrived, lurking at the edge of the wood. My roots tingled nervously as the benders took their stances to begin sparring.
Zuko began one of his attack sequences, an easy rooted routine that Katara knew well. They started their fights with basic forms and motions and transitioned smoothly into advanced ones.
Per usual they lost themselves in the intricacy of movement. They lived in a world unto themselves during these times, so neither noticed the streak of blue across the meadow's green-brown canvas, a warrior's yell tearing from his chest as he charged toward Zuko with an odd angled object flying ahead of him. And chaos erupted.
Zuko was just about to shift forms when the object aimed at him came near, but as he shifted Katara did as well and stepped in the way of the weapon. Reflexes as quick as ever, Zuko changed his momentum, pushing Katara out of the way while catching the angled weapon. Just as he caught it a boy about his age rammed him to the ground.
It was a display to say the least. Katara stood there dumb struck while the two young-men grappled with each other.
"Stay away from my baby sister, you Fire Clan scum! Katara, run!" The boy in blue yelled while struggling with the firebender.
It made quite the picture, the two boys rolling about with Katara standing there dumbstruck. It was the most excitement I'd had since Katara tumbled from my branches. The look on her face soon snapped from astonishment to bewilderment though. It registered. Her brother knew.
He knew she was here, who she was with. How many others knew?
"No! Stop, Sokka!" she cried out, running over to the boys trying to separate them.
Sokka and Zuko were evenly matched, both strong and cunning. At this point in their skirmish Sokka's sneak attack had lost its initial advantage. Both were struggling to keep the other pinned down more than throwing punches. Zuko had started to overpower Sokka when Katara stepped in.
"I said stop!" she repeated her plea.
"No, Katara. He was attacking you! I won't let this filth take you away! I won't!" Sokka snarled through gritted teeth.
"He wasn't attacking me. We were sparring!" Her words were punctuated by her failing attempts to pull the boys apart, but this was information was enough to distract Sokka for a second allowing Zuko to effectively pin him to the ground.
"I wasn't attacking her. I could never attack her," Zuko stated with conviction looking full on into Sokka's large blue orbs.
At this, Sokka's arms went slack and fell to the ground, no longer pushing at the bender a top him. Zuko unpinned the Water Clan boy and stood up. Sokka slowly sat and rose to his feet, his face first flashing confusion then slowly morphing to anger. His brow was furrowed and a look of betrayal swept across his face. He made to grab at Katara's arm to pull her safely behind him, to get her away from the unpleasant being dressed in red. But he was thwarted. Zuko whipped Katara safely behind him not trusting the boy in blue.
"I thought I told you to stay away from my baby sister!" Sokka threatened, grabbing Zuko's shirt to force him away. Zuko acted in kind grabbing up Sokka.
"No, I said stop, Sokka! Zuko! Both of you! Just stop!" Katara called, once again trying to pry the two young men away from each other. At her plea, Sokka's focused switched from the Fire Clan boy back onto his sister.
"Katara, what did you mean by sparring? Fire Clan doesn't spar with Water Clan, they attack and kill." He released Zuko with a shove and faced his sibling.
"You're lucky I noticed you leaving the village today and decided to follow. You have to remember how dangerous it is in the border region," Sokka stated as if it was the most obvious thing the world while taking his sister's hand and turning to take her back to the village.
She jerked her hand away and stood by Zuko. "No, Sokka. It's not dangerous. He is not dangerous. I've known him for years now. Zuko is one of my closest friends."
Sokka froze and then turned slowly back to face his sister.
"Is this where you've been sneaking off to?" he asked pointedly. Katara's face blanched slightly.
"It is, isn't it? Oh, what? You though I wouldn't notice? How you seem to disappear at the same times on the same days? And to do what? To come here? To meet with him?" He gestured toward Zuko with disgust. "Katara, he's the enemy! The war may have ended years ago, but you know that means nothing to a blood thirsty clan like his!" Sokka's voice had escalated with each question and accusation causing Katara to flinch.
"If my clan is so blood thirsty, why haven't I killed your sister?" Zuko interjected. He had been standing silently watching them till that point. Then Sokka's eyes darted back to him. He slanted his body towards Zuko, arms crossed, sizing him up.
"You were clearly about to if I hadn't gotten here in time," Sokka glared back.
"If I had truly wanted to kill your sister I would have done it when my bending was stronger than hers, not practiced with her. If I wanted to kill your sister I would have fought you harder to get at her again, not block your… toy from hitting her. If I wanted to kill Katara I would have done so a very long time ago," Zuko said with a piercing seriousness to his voice.
"She wouldn't have been in the way if you hadn't moved!" Sokka rebutted.
Zuko couldn't seem to believe his ears from the look of disbelief on his face. Katara placed a hand on his arm, stopping any rebuke he had.
"Sokka, I told you we were sparring. We both know every single move the other makes. He can't actually beat me!" Katara tried to reason with her brother.
"No, Katara. Now come on we're going home and you are never coming back out here again," Sokka turned to leave, but stopped at his sister's next words.
"No, Sokka. You can't keep me from coming here. You don't understand," she pleaded with him.
Sokka turned back to her, disbelief on his face. From what I had discerned from her younger days in my branches from her stories was that it was very rare for Katara to completely go against her brother's requests.
"What? What do I not understand? Do I not understand what's so important that you can disregard your family and clan? No, I don't. Katara, how could you trust him? You put yourself in danger with complete disregard to us! How do you think I would feel if you just disappeared? If we found your body at the edge of the woods? No, I won't let that happen. This is enough. We are leaving." He emphasized every syllable of his last words.
Katara shook her head again. Sokka glanced at Zuko then set his eyes back on his sister.
"Why, Katara? Why are you fighting me on this?" Sokka gave her a cold stare. Eye's questioning her.
"We haven't hurt anybody. I don't see what's so wrong," Zuko cut in.
"I didn't ask you, jerkbender," Sokka's voice was all seriousness, his hand brushing Zuko off, eyes still focused on Katara.
"Sokka, you do realize this is why even at peace we are still at war, right? Because to you they are no longer people. They are monsters. Well look at him. Zuko is no monster," Katara said to her brother sternly.
Her statement was a realization Zuko and Katara come to some time ago. The realization that the vestiges of war clung to people far longer than the war lasted. And these vestiges would steep in the pit of the stomach growing into a hate for the people that they had stopped warring with, but would never stop loathing. They would never forget. They would never forget the sadness, the despair, the anger, the need for vengeance. They would always hold on because to forget would mean the war was unjustified. And no one ever fights an unjust war.
Sokka looked down to his feet. The truth biting at the edge of his consciousness, but he was still unwilling to let it in.
"Katara, do you not remember what they have done to our people? Did all of the stories that Gran Gran and dad tell you go in one ear an out the other? What about mom?" There was desperation in his voice. "Are you forgetting that his people took and killed our mother during the raids when this war was supposedly over?!"
"Never think for a second, Sokka, that I would forget about mom!" Katara shot back, tears springing to her eyes.
"Then why are you with him?!" Sokka challenged her.
"Because I love him!" I could tell she immediately regretted her words. She knew that her brother would never understand the affection that had grown between her and the firebender over the years. How hesitant they had been and then how they had grown and learned to accept each other. He would never understand and never accept.
Sokka was taken aback by this. He paused. This news was harder to digest than the fact the two of them met to spar.
"And you think he truly loves you? No, Katara. That's not possible. He's tricking you!"
"Never," Zuko shouted, "question my love for your sister."
At this sudden outburst Sokka turned back towards the unwelcome intrusion that had appeared in his life.
"Why should I ever trust the word of a firebender? I've watched my sister since she was born and I will protect her at all costs. What makes you think I would ever allow someone like you to hurt her?" He asked forcefully, holding a steady gaze with the firebender.
"Katara has brought out my best. Before I met her, I couldn't hold my head up. We learned our elements together. She improved my bending skills tenfold. Her mind is quick and sharp. She challenges me mentally and physically. She has a beautiful, nurturing soul. She is the source of my inner fire," Zuko said each word unflinchingly challenging Sokka's disapproving gaze.
Sokka turned to Katara. "Your jerkbender has a way with words if anything , Katara. He certainly makes a case for his devotion," he said shaking his head.
"But tell me this, what's going to happen if I let you continue to come. What if someone else takes notice? What if it's from his clan next time, Katara? We know there's political turmoil happening there. And you said your name was Zuko?"
The firebender nodded in confirmation.
"Then you're Ozai's son, are you not?"
"Yes," he replied with another nod.
"Sokka, I already know whose son he is and the politics. He explained it to me. I don't need you to go into clan politics," she sighed.
"Katara, if one of the Fire Clan members had found you instead you would most likely be dead. This is too dangerous. You can't expect me to let my only sibling walk repetitively into danger, no matter how," he paused and looked to Zuko again, "-well-meaning- the other party may be," he finished and then turned back to Katara.
"We're both still going to come. This changes nothing," Katara said with determination.
"It will if I tell dad," Sokka replied. He was obviously through with the circular fight. He didn't want to hear anymore. He began to walk away.
"You can't," it was Zuko who spoke this time, desperation in his voice.
"Please. No one from my clan has noticed. I've come here since I was small. They all ignore my odd retreats into the woods. You're the first to have ever followed. You can help us. Please," Zuko was not use to asking favors of others. His voice strained.
"You can help make a difference, Sokka. Maybe we can eventually make our clans see eye to eye," Katara offered.
This idea was not new to me. Zuko and Katara had spoken of trying to bring their clans together many times before. Forming so many ideas of how to do it, but nothing seemed like a solution. I could tell Katara saw this as a step. If her brother could agree, then maybe they weren't so crazy and something could work.
Sokka sighed and looked between the two benders. Even though he was a warrior, a request from his sister was one he could never easily turn down especially if it was in the name of peace.
"I'm only doing this for my sister," he replied, finally relenting. "But if she gets hurt in any way at all, I'm holding you personally responsible," he stared at Zuko, a figure pointing in his direction.
"Now come on Katara, let's go," and he turned to walk away.
Katara offered a small smile to Zuko and hugged him quickly before following her brother back into the woods.
The firebender watched them disappear before sighing and looking up to my leaves. He closed his eyes briefly, feeling the wind skim across his cheeks and then turned and headed toward his side of the forest.
True to their words, Zuko and Katara continued to come, but there was a new unease. My branches had been their sanctuary. And it had been broken. Their small world had been intruded upon and it could be felt. They still sat by each other and talked, but their exchanges were shorter and they began to spar less. Mentions of love were few and far in between although I could still feel it pass between them as strong as ever, for who can speak of love with the fear of being found ever in the back of the mind.
Another change occurred that I was the only one aware of. Sokka began to occasionally follow Katara out to the field. Never fully trusting Zuko. Not making a sound he just watched. Zuko and Katara never saw him. Zuko began to sense him and would occasionally turn to where he hid, but never caught him.
The young man seemed to have caught onto their schedule quickly. I began to recognize his traits. The boy had a warrior's haircut and always carried that odd angled weapon with him that he had thrown the first day. His blue garments matched Katara's, but were slightly darker in color. He had a familiar twinkle in his blue eyes that reminded me of his sister. It was about two weeks after he started following them that he arrived before they did and stood leaning against my trunk facing the Fire Clan side, arms crossed, waiting.
Zuko came first that day. He approached me looking hopefully across the way to where Katara would emerge from the wood. Then he saw the boy in blue, and froze.
"What are you doing here, Sokka?" he asked, voice on edge.
"You need to stop seeing Katara," he replied looking at him with a cutting gaze.
"Why? We've already had this conversation. I said I wouldn't let anything happen to her," he countered.
"I'm sure you've noticed, Zuko. Don't play stupid with me. You know all of the politics as well as I do. You know the peace is close to a breaking point," Sokka hissed back.
"We don't know that yet," Zuko replied, the denial in his eyes.
"You're right. We don't, but it's headed in that direction, and I don't want my baby sister caught up in it. So you had better make the right choice." With that Sokka gave him one more look. Zuko nodded in understanding and the Water Clan member ran back off into the woods before his sister appeared.
Zuko remained uneasy that afternoon never fully relaxing, not even with Katara curled by his side, a look of worry constantly shading his face.
"What's wrong, Zuko?" Katara asked taking his face in her hands forcing him to look at her. Of course she had noticed his stiffness and the uneasiness about him that day.
"Nothing, it's just a festival is coming up and I'm not looking forward to it," he replied awkwardly.
Katara gave him a questioning glance, but did not pry. She understood when to push and when to let him be, and this was a time to let him be.
His worry was justified. Just as Sokka had said, the uneasy peace they had lived in for so many years was breaking. It was only a few days later that their conversations became hushed and urgent. They didn't come to the glen as often and stayed for shorter and shorter intervals of time. Their villages were preparing to fight once again. The small world that they had built beneath my branches was falling apart.
A/N: And the plot thickens. Sorry this took me a bit longer to get up, but the chapter's a bit longer too! I finally took my big test and now school is going to be starting up next week. I will do my best to get a chapter up every two weeks, but I have a pretty intense schedule coming up. Thank you all sooo much for reading! And please review, I really want to know your answer to the review question (and what you think of the story thus far)! Like a lot, I will let you know how I imagine his voice in the net installment!
I also would like to give special thanks to SoapDuck, storyoftheunkownfangirl, BountiesandShirshus, adorkability, Addie-Chi, and blueaoineechan for reviewing!
Review Question: What do you imagine Nairn's voice is like? Is there an actor's voice it's close to, or is it something completely different? (I really wanna know!)
And remember: Stay awesome because you are! Have a great day/afternoon/evening or whatever time you may be reading this. Harky out :D