CHAPTER THREE
Revelations
The world outside of Zuko's tent was resting, but inside, a liquid fire continued to burn in his bones. The events that had happened just hours before had stirred him in strange ways. That girl, Hahn, whoever she was, had just offered him what he had previously thought was impossible; a chance to find his mother. Despite Toph's constant reassurance that she could not have been lying, his suspicious were not stilled. He made an unnecessary shift in his sleeping position, and began to gently claw the loose earth underneath his slender fingers. What might have been a striking face was ruined by Hahn's constant habit of wearing an annoyed expression, like things were never going according to plan. And there was that horrible and familiar smirk that she wore during occasional moments of contentment. Slowly, Zuko rolled onto his stomach and gently lifted open the flap of his tent. Hahn lay on the ground a few yards in front of him, her black hair spilled across the top of her sleeping bag. Luckily, her swords were not anywhere nearby. Zuko closed the flap and rolled onto his back. That smirk was the mark of someone with motives. And people with motives, like Azula, always lie.
The next morning, Katara awoke with the sudden realization that she was in incredible pain. Groaning quite audibly, she tried to move her neck from its current position to the other side, but failed. Slowly tugging her bending water pouch proved to be difficult with an almost-frozen neck, but she managed to collect it into silken pools that fitted her hands like gloves. After healing herself, she crawled out of her tent, and was surprised to see everyone up and ready, folding tents around a small fire. Katara trudged to the bathroom slowly, cleaned her teeth with some of the dental herbs the Duke had picked. By the time she came back, Sokka was happily filling bowls of leftovers from yesterday. She took a seat next to a very alert Haru, who passed her his untouched bowl of stew like it was a hot radishtato.
"I know how you feel" snorted Toph. "But I honestly can't take any of Ponytail's tears today. Eat up, 'Stache."
Haru reluctantly took back his bowl, and stared at it for a few seconds. "What about Katara?" he asked hopefully. "She needs something to eat, and we're pretty much out-"
"Don't worry, Haru!" said Aang, patting his back. "Katara can have some of mine." With a cheery smile, he passed Katara a dish of half of his stew. Katara smiled weakly. After taking in a few spoonfulls, she felt that she needed something to take her mind off of what she was doing.
"Wait" said Katara, suddenly looking around. "Someone's missing..."
A few minutes passed, and Zuko could be seen walking briskly toward the group from somewhere inside the temple.
"Gone" he grunted as he took a seat on the other side of Katara.
"What's gone?" asked Teo, setting down his bowl of stew.
"Her. And her swords. I wouldn't be surprised if she had stolen something as well."
The others seemed focused on their stew now, glancing around once in a while. Suddenly, they heard abrupt snapping sound.
Hahn was on the stone veranda, dusting herself off while she sheathed one of her swords. On the ground near her lay a broken vine, which she had lowered herself down with, and a good sized pile of chopped wood. Realizing that everyone had their eyes locked on her, she cleared her throat, and once again put on that exasperated expression.
"Wood..." she mumbled, gesturing toward the pile. "I thought that we would need more."
"You should have informed someone that you were leaving. It was foolish and irresponsible; you are a child." Zuko's statements had no inflection in their tone; it wasn't debatable, and it required no response. He shifted his body towards a bowl of stew in front of him, and ate.
Hahn stood silently, slightly frowning. The next minute, she had marched up right in front of Zuko, and kicked away the bowl of stew. She lowered her face slowly so that it leveled with his, his nose only a breath away from hers.
"I answer to NO ONE"she snarled. "I came here out of the kindness of my spirit-damned heart; but I'm starting to see that my decision, like you said, was pretty foolish. But you know all about foolish, don't you Zuko?" Hahn gently brushed the side of her hand against the rough and calloused skin that was his scar. Zuko felt her pupils burning into his; was that a hint of amber creeping into her icy-blue irises? She might as well have called him Zuzu.
Grabbing her wrist firmly, he felt anger rising in his chest, and flowering outward as a fireball erupting from his lips. Hahn ducked and tumbled onto the ground, showing for the first time an expression of terror.
As the Avatar, it was Aang's job to maintain peace and tolerance between those around him. Mediating for feuding earth kingdom tribes, however, was nothing compared to resolving the disputes that broke out between Hahn and Zuko. It took nearly an hour of yelling and arm-flailing, mainly on Aang's part, before everyone had calmed down. Despite their calm behavior for Aang's sake, Hahn and Zuko both still looked as if they were silently coming up with ways to kill each other as their eyes reduced to opposing slits from across the circle. The others chose their words carefully, as if one wrong syllable had the potential to reopen a furious jar of locustworms.
"Hahn, why don't you talk to us about how you got started? What inspired you to look for Zuko's mother?" asked Katara, an an overly-airy voice. She quickly glanced at Zuko and then back at Hahn.
Hahn shifted uneasily. "My uncle and guardian was a servant of Lady Ursa. It is a servant's duty to ensure the safety of their master or mistress." With a smirk, she added, "And what better way to mess with the Fire Nation than to deliver someone they screwed over to someone in the process of screwing them over?"
This drew a couple laughs from everyone present, with the exception of Zuko, of course, and the Duke, who just looked around puzzlingly.
Hahn cleared her throat and pulled out a singed and crinkled piece of parchment from the many layers of her clothing. As she unfolded the paper, it revealed to be a letter painted with fine lettering; a sign that the writer hailed from a high place in society. A good portion of the letter was burned, leaving many sentences cut off or unfinished.
"I found this in the royal archives while...investigating for leads. I'm assuming that its from your mother, unless you can show me something indicating otherwise." Hahn handed the letter to Zuko. His eyes scanned the page hungrily.
**
-------------o,
The turmoil you feel now is quite understanda----
---nd so is your anger. Remember, I will be her---
for you. Send your reply to the Avani c--------------
Never forget who you-----------------------------------
---------------er, Ursa
**
When he was done, he began to examine it from top to bottom, possibly for other visual clues. After a few minutes, he set it down gently.
"Zuko, is that from your mother?" asked Katara slowly.
"I don't want to make hasty conclusions" he murmured.
"The letter is addressed to someone who's name ends with the same character as yours. If it was a formal letter, it would also contain a more elaborate signature" said Hahn, gesturing at the burns.
Zuko remained silent. Aang stood behind Zuko and began to read the letter.
"Avani? Zuko, do you know where that is?" asked Aang, prodding him in the shoulder.
"Avani is a Fire Nation colonial town in the eastern Earth Kingdom." Everyone turned to see a now-alert Haru, who was stroking his chin thoughtfully. "My dad had passed by the place when he went to visit a relative of ours. It's supposed to have great soil, and is located by a couple of beautiful rivers. Just the kind of place Fire Nation colonists would want to ruin."
"Or the perfect place to vacation!" interrupted Hahn, who was now wearing a faint smile.
"What are you suggesting?" asked Zuko, eyes reduced to slits again.
"I'm suggesting that we find your mommy, hotpants" scoffed Hahn. "This has been a productive day and all, but I'd like to get some breakfast before I start asking ridiculous questions."
Toph made an aggressive move toward Hahn, but stopped as Duke gently patted her back. She shrugged her shoulders and walked off, a few berries in hand. Teo handed Hahn a large and uncut fruit, and rolled back towards the temple. Zuko stood up rather quickly, and began to fold his sleeping bag. Soon, the others followed. Seeing that Haru was having some difficulty stuffing his sleeping bag into a cover, Katara stopped to help him. As they rolled both ends of the tough cloth together, Haru fumbled with it until it rolled out flat again. He seemed to be staring at something directly in front of him, and not really focusing on what he was doing. Looking up, Katara saw Hahn licking the juice off of the sword she used to slice her fruit, being sure to get every speck off. Haru was totally engrossed. With a broad grin on her face, Katara playfully elbowed Haru in the chest and finished folding his bag.
"Are you making plans to leave for Avani?" asked Aang as he walked towards Hahn, who was wiping juice off her face. Gradually, everyone rejoined the circle.
"I suppose so. I will need some more supplies before the departure, and of course, Zuko."
Zuko stepped forward and crossed his arms. "I suppose you have a plan, then?"
"Definitely." Hahn pulled out another piece of paper from another one of the many compartments hidden away in the folds of her clothing. It was a map, with the words "Territories of Interest" written at the top in bold letters. Of the many places marked were all the air temples, and several cities in the Earth Kingdom, including Avani.
"I say we arrive on the outskirts of the city early in the morning, to take care of last-minute details before we begin."
"And how exactly do you plan to find one person in a densely populated area?"
"I say we wing it, unless you have better ideas. I've tried to think this through."
Zuko looked startled for a moment, but returned to his usual demeanor. "Transportation? We can't just swim there."
"Take Appa!" Aang almost shouted. "I'm sure he's dying to get out of the temple, and it's the only practical way."
"Aang, I can't just drag Appa along with us. What if he gets hurt? It's a Fire Nation colony" said Zuko, wearing a concerned look.
"In that case," said Aang brightly, "bring Katara too." He nodded towards Katara.
For a few moments, Zuko stood silent, eyes cast on the ground. Then he stepped towards Aang and firmly placed his hands on his shoulders.
"No, Aang. Katara belongs here. She belongs with you. If given the choice between putting you all at risk or staying, I'd rather not go."
Aang politely shook his head and smiled. "Zuko, for the first time in a long time, we're in a place where we're not constantly having to run or fight off the Fire Nation. You chose to give up everything to come and teach me, and I think it's about time you got something back; something that you really care about. And Katara isn't someone that I make decisions for. She makes her own choices. I have to accept the fact that I remain...unattached. I'll always love her, and she'll always belong to me here" - he patted his heart - "no matter what she decides to do."
The instant Aang had resumed speaking, Zuko pushed his body into his own to form a warm embrace. Katara smiled and gave a reassuring nod to Zuko as he surfaced, before clutching his hand tightly. "I'm going."
"Wonderful. We leave at dawn tomorrow" said Hahn curtly, hands now on her hips. "You know, that's two elements. Anyone up for a third?"
"Why not?" asked Katara, as she pushed Toph towards the other three. Toph gave a resisting shove to Katara, and pushed her bangs out of her face, revealing eyebrows that were arched in amusement.
"Thanks, but no thanks, Sugar Queen. Someone has to save Twinkletoes when he screams like a girl for help. You'll have to settle for number two. Oh, and, you're welcome, 'Stache" She jabbed her finger at Haru, who was nervously running his fingers through his hair and looking somewhere into space.
Sokka looked eager to talk as well. "It's settled then. Haru, Katara, Jerkbender, and you go to the Earth Kingdom, and the rest of us stay here. Meeting adjourned!"
Hahn began to walk toward the vines that dropped from the edge of the cliff above the temple. "I'll be off to get more supplies" she said over her shoulder. Suddenly, the Duke ran up to her and tugged on her shoulder.
"What?" she asked, looking down.
"Have you ever head of low-strength blasting jelly?"
"No." She pulled her way up a fine. Duke ran back to the group with a mischievous look on his face as he eyed Hahn's sleeping bag.
Thanks so much to xxX-VioletFire-Xxx, suchsmallthings, suchsmallthings, dmhgfanatic, Sareon, and the black kitty!
I know that it has been a while, and I know this time is kind of short, but a lot of things got in the way. Anyway, I think the new chapter is a starter for developing Hahn as an interesting character foil for Zuko. Let me know what you think.
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