On the first day that Iroh is well enough to leave the healing tent, Hakoda invites them to dinner.
Zuko does not want to go. The Water Tribe chief makes him uncomfortable. The way Hakoda looks at Zuko—with stern, weathered eyes—makes him feel like the chief can see right through him. Can see right through the lies. He keeps his mouth shut around the chief, as he finds it's a lot harder to lie when he's around. That's well enough anyway, the lies are of Iroh's making, and Zuko has no problem letting his uncle do all the talking.
He tries to convince Iroh to let him stay back, but his uncle is adamant. He refuses to even consider the idea that Zuko might not come.
"Prince Zuko," Iroh waggles his finger at his nephew, "It would be extremely rude to refuse this offer. Hakoda has been nothing but kind to us."
Zuko reluctantly tugs on a thick parka. He knows there is no arguing with his uncle when it comes to proper decorum.
"Besides," Iroh smiles wide as he slides his hands into mittens, "How could we say no to some traditional, home cooked Water Tribe cuisine?"
Of course his uncle,—a member of the Fire Nation royal family—who is trapped in a god forsaken frozen hell with a tribe of savages that have—in the entire history of the world—never gotten along with their people, can only be excited that he gets to try a new type of food. Oh no, of course Iroh doesn't lay awake at night, buried under twelve layers of fur and still shivering, thinking about the possibility that the chief might discover he is housing the crown prince of the damn Fire Nation. Of course Iroh doesn't worry that the chief might decide to sick his wolf warriors on the weakened Fire Nation royals and harpoon them to death.
Iroh doesn't worry about these things at all, because he thinks Hakoda is a good person.
Well, Zuko knows better.
It takes a cunning, deadly people to survive in a wasteland like the tundra. He will not underestimate this Water Tribe.
When they trek across the grounds, Zuko suddenly realizes that the snow is thinner. What used to crunch under their footsteps has, instead, become a watery slush. The sun shines brightly overhead, its light reflecting off the snow and ice.
It is getting warmer, Zuko suddenly realizes. Though, certainly not warm enough for his tastes.
Hakoda's tent is easy to pick out. Located on the far south end of the grounds, it is probably twice the size of most of the other family tents.
When they enter, the chief is there to greet him. There is a friendly smile on Hakoda's face, and he places his hand on Iroh's shoulder, steering him toward what looks to be the center area of the tent. There is a low stone table, with fur cushions set around it, and food piled high enough for ten people. Hakoda helps Iroh sit down, and then motions towards the cushion next to him. Zuko takes the hint and sits down next to his uncle, crossing his feet and staring into his lap.
He doesn't know what to say. Fortunately, Iroh does, and he immediately strikes up a conversation with the chief about their sister tribe in the north. Zuko listens at first, trying hard to look like he's paying attention, but after a few moments his mind—and his eyes—begin to drift.
The tent is rather bare. Unlike all the other tents he's been in so far, this one seems like it has separate rooms. There are a few flaps covering these separate areas, and Zuko can't help but wonder what's in them. Turning his gaze, Zuko's eyes settle on the table in front of him. He doesn't recognize much of the food…there appears to be a large pot of some kind of soup that smells very salty. There are also a few racks of ribs, though, what animal they came from, Zuko can't even guess. On the other side of the table are some plates of jerky, and one large plate full of bright red fish—
"Katara!"
Zuko acts before he can stop himself.
His eyes snap up, and he stares. He stares longer than he should.
She stands before the table, cradling dark bowls against her chest. Without her parka on, she looks so much smaller. Now the she is here, standing so close to Hakoda, Zuko can see the resemblance. She has his same brown skin, same eyes that are so pale they look like ice. Even her hair is thick and wild like her father's, though today she wears it in a braid.
"Finally." Hakoda sighs good-naturedly, "Now we can actually eat."
"Yes, well, maybe if you or Sokka actually helped me cook sometime you wouldn't have to sit around waiting for me." She huffs indignantly.
"Katara do you remember the last time Sokka tried to cook?" Hakoda shudders, shaking his head, "Unless you want him to end up chopping off a chunk of his thumb again—"
"Oh don't worry," Katara rolls her eyes, smiling, "I know better than to let him—or you, actually—anywhere near cooking food."
"Where is Sokka?" Iroh turns to ask, "I'm surprised he's not here…his appetite is legendary, so I've heard."
"He's off on a seal hunt with the rest of the younger men." Hakoda sighs again, though this time he sounds more dejected, "First time I decided not to go with them…"
Katara begins to move around the table, setting down the bowls in front of them.
When she gets to Zuko, he forces himself to look up at her. Katara reaches out and she bends down, gently setting the bowl onto the table.
"Katara, this is my nephew, Lee." Iroh breaks the silence.
"Yes, we've met." Katara's voice is curt as she leans back.
Zuko waits for her to say more, but she doesn't. She merely walks around the table, sitting down next to her father and directly across from Zuko.
Fortunately, Iroh and Hakoda seem content to carry on the conversation. The two older men talk throughout the meal, in between shoveling down food. Iroh's eye light up with delight as he eagerly tries a small amount of every dish on the table. Katara remains next to silent, picking at her food as she stares at her plate.
Zuko gets the distinct feeling that she's just as uncomfortable as he is. Every once in a while, her eyes dart up and meet his, and then they both look away quickly.
At first Zuko is hesitant, but his rumbling stomach soon demands food. He tries the soup and finds it so salty that he wonders if they boiled it from seawater. But it is hot, so he decides to drink it down anyway, enjoying the feeling of the warmth sliding down his throat and settling in his stomach. After much persuasion, and quite a bit of reassurance from Hakoda, he decides to try the red fish. Slipping a small bite into his mouth, Zuko chews slowly. To his surprise, the seared fish is actually quite delicious. After he swallows, he reaches over and slides more into his bowl.
Hakoda and Iroh seem to greatly enjoy each other's company. Hakoda speaks of all the different types of fish and other sea things his people eat, while Iroh listens with rapt attention. Towards the end of the meal, Iroh begins to tell Hakoda about all the fruit in their homeland, how delicious their vegetables are, and how this island in the southern Fire Nation just has the most delicious stuffed peppers…
Then Hakoda asks what a pepper is, and the two men laugh outrageously.
"Katara," The chief continues to chuckle, turning toward his daughter, "Do you think you could do some old men a favor and get us more hot water? There should be some brewing in the back…"
Katara nods and rises silently, turning and heading toward the back of the tent. She disappears behind a fur flap into what must be another room.
"Lee," Iroh's eyes shift towards his nephew, "Why don't you go help her?"
Zuko's eyes narrow, and he scowls deeply at his uncle.
Iroh smiles back at him, and Zuko forces himself to stand up, heading to where he saw the girl disappear to.
He ducks under the flap just like she did, and when he sees her he finds himself locking in place.
The back room is small, with an opening cut in the top part of the tent. The sun that shines down lights up the entire room. The girl has her back to him, but she turns around, holding a large stone jug. It is so big that she has to hold it with both hands. The damn room is so small that he is standing close in front of her, maybe only a few feet away.
They both stare at each other.
Up close, he suddenly realizes that she is much shorter than him. At least several inches. Were all Water Tribe women this small?
"Why are your eyes yellow?" She blurts out, suddenly breaking the silence.
He is so surprised by the question that at first he doesn't answer.
Her cheeks go red, "I-I'm sorry, that was rude. I've just…I've never seen someone with yellow eyes before."
"It's fine." He shakes his head, "I've never seen someone with blue eyes before."
"Really?" She tilts her head to the side, looking up at him, "Nobody in the Fire Nation has blue eyes?"
She sounds skeptical. He supposes that he can't blame her.
"Actually…I don't think anyone but the Water Tribe has blue eyes." Zuko says slowly.
She goes quiet in response, staring at him with searching eyes, as if trying to decipher if he was lying or not.
"What color eyes does everyone have, then?" Katara asks after a few moments of thinking, "Yellow? Like yours?"
"No." He shakes his head again, "Gold eyes run in…my family. Only some people in the Fire Nation have them."
It's not a lie, just half the truth. Only those nobles who have traces of the royal blood running through them have the signature golden eyes.
"Oh." She nods as if this makes sense, "What about everyone else?"
"Um, they're usually brown…or gray." He shrugs, wondering how on earth he ended up in the South Pole talking about eye colors with a Water Tribe girl, "A lot of people from the Earth Kingdom have green eyes."
Her own eyes widen, as if the thought of someone having green eyes never occurred to her.
Zuko suddenly realizes that she's probably never left the Southern Water Tribe.
"They're probably wondering where we are." Katara tightens her grip on the jug, heading back toward the fur flap. She walks past Zuko calmly, though he can tell she is watching him from the corner of her eye.
When he walks back out into the dining area, she is already pouring Hakoda and Iroh their water. Zuko takes his seat next to Iroh, settling down in silence. To his surprise, Katara does not return to her own seat. Instead she bows to her father, and he nods at her. She turns and heads toward the tent's exit, bending down to scoop up her parka off the floor.
"Where is she going?" Iroh asks, turning to Hakoda.
"To the tundra." Hakoda shrugs, lifting his cup of steaming tea, "She likes to go out there."
"Alone?" Iroh frowns, "Isn't it dangerous?"
"Katara has always been able to take care of herself." Hakoda says with a small, sad smile. He brings his cup to his lips, tilting it back to drink.
Zuko watches as Katara pulls up the flap, dipping underneath it.
The rest of the time, as Hakoda and Iroh drink their water, Zuko sits and wonders what the Water Tribe girl could possibly be doing out in the frozen tundra all by herself.
"Dad."
"No Sokka. I have made up my mind."
It's been two full weeks since the Fire Nation men arrived, three days since Sokka and the rest of the boys got back from their seal hunt, one hour since Sokka asked Katara if she wanted to go spear fishing, and about four minutes since Hakoda demanded that they bring the scarred Fire Nation boy with them.
"Dad, he probably doesn't even want to spear fish!" Sokka groans, throwing his hands up in the air dramatically.
Hakoda has his arms crossed against his chest, and that look on his face.
That look that means his mind is set and Sokka is wasting his breath.
"All that boy does is stay cooped up with his uncle." Hakoda shakes his head, lips set in a tight frown, "He needs to get out. There's no way staying in that healing tent all the time is good for him."
"Dad, he stays in the tent because he wants to." Katara says evenly, placing her hands on her hips.
"He only wants to because he's terrified of everyone!" Hakoda growls, glaring back and forth between his two children, "Imagine how you would feel…in a completely new place, surrounded by foreign people you don't know, just recovering from almost dying."
"Ok yeah, that's all sad and scary and stuff, but what does that have to do with spear fishing?" Sokka continues.
"He needs to get out of that tent." Hakoda scowls, pointing a finger at his son, "Some time with kids his own age will do him some good."
Katara has to suppress the urge to remind her father that she is twenty and her brother is twenty-two. Hardly kids.
Sokka looks extremely exasperated. When he turns to Katara, she shrugs. She honestly doesn't care either way if the Fire Nation boy comes along or stays…but really, he probably doesn't know how to spear fish…
"Dad," Sokka pleads, turning back to his father, "Come on, do we really, seriously, absolutely have to—"
It is at that moment that a Fire Nation boy comes stumbling into their tent, almost tripping over his own feet.
If Katara didn't know any better, she would've guessed that someone shoved him in.
"Um, hey, Lee here." The boy reaches up, awkwardly rubbing at his hair, "My, uh, uncle said I had to—I mean, he said you wanted me to go…spear fishing or something?"
He's all dressed and ready to go, wearing a full winter parka and thick, water proof boots.
As it turns out, even Sokka doesn't have the heart to tell him no.
The water is a deep, dark sapphire, and their small canoe cuts through the waves silently. The sun is bright overhead, telling of the coming summer. Ice floes bob to either side of them, with the tundra stretching out to the south and the vast ocean to the north. Even the sky above them is clear, with not a single cloud in the sky.
Despite the gleaming sun and open sky, the fur lined parka and insulated underclothes, the Fire Nation boy is still shivering.
Katara can't help but pity him. He wouldn't last one winter in her homeland.
Sokka steers the craft expertly, easily dodging any rocks or ice that came in their path. In the beginning, the Fire Nation boy looked afraid—or nervous, at the very least. But he relaxes quickly, and then soon his obvious fear vanishes. As they come to the mouth of the river, the boy turns and looks behind them, his eyes on the quickly receding coast. He stares for a few moments, before turning back around, lips set in a frown.
"Where are we going?" He asks, looking at Katara.
She is sitting in the bow, facing the two boys, her back to the ocean and her front to the coastline. Because they had an odd number, only two needed to paddle. She had initially taken the bone paddle in hand, but the Fire Nation boy had shot her an offended look. She had taken the hint, and asked if he wanted to paddle with Sokka. He hadn't answered, but took the paddle from her and sat in the middle of the craft, between the two siblings.
Sokka refuses to ever let anyone else steer. Plus the boy doesn't know where they are going…and he was so inexperienced, he'd likely drive them into an ice berg.
"To the ocean." Katara answers, "Were looking for a leopard-sturgeon. They're only in the deeper waters."
"Oh." The boy says, turning and looking out towards the ocean, "Do we…do we have to go far out?"
"Why," Sokka snickers, "You afraid of a little water?"
"No." The boy growls in response, the good side of his face turning red, "I just…this boat seems too small to go out very far—"
"We're not going out far." Katara interrupts, "The leopard sturgeon stay close to the coast to feed off the smaller fish. They don't go up river very often."
The boy doesn't say anything in response, but he continues to shove his paddle in and out of the water.
The wind picks up suddenly, and Katara has to reach up and push a few strands of hair out of her face. The boy draws his arms in, and then his body violently shakes. He's wearing a thick, fur lined parka, and—judging from what she can see—Katara thinks he is wearing long undergarments. Even his boots are the thickest the Water Tribe have available, and still the boy looks like he's freezing…
Katara can't help herself, she begins to giggle.
The boy's yellow eyes snap up at her, "What's so funny?"
Sokka answers before Katara can: "She's laughing because you're wearing winter clothes in the summer, and you're still cold."
"Summer?" The boy groans, "Are you serious?"
"Well, actually it's just the start of summer." Katara says with an apologetic smile, "The official first day of summer is the next full moon…in five days."
"Does that have something to do with the new tent they're putting up?" The boy asks, tilting his head to the side as he continues to look at Katara.
The look he gives her is calculating, curious.
He must've been wondering for the past few days. Honestly, she is surprised that he noticed the poles that were being put up…like her father had said, the boy hardly ever came out of the healing tent. He must've been more perceptive than she realized.
"Yes, that's for the summer celebration." Katara nods slowly.
"Summer celebration?" Now that the boy has started talking, he seems to have a lot of questions.
Katara begins to suspect that he has had a lot of questions all along…just nobody to answer them.
"Yeah, yeah," Sokka answers, "The summer celebration is just a big excuse to get drunk and dance around the fire—"
"Sokka!" Katara puts her hands on her hips, glaring at her brother.
"Get drunk?" The boy perks up at this, pausing in his rowing to turn around and look at Sokka, "Dance?"
"Yeah everyone drinks all the vodka we have left and then we take off our clothes and dance around the fire pit." Sokka grins, a gleam in his eye.
"You take off your clothes?" The Fire Nation boy's yellow eyes widen.
"It's a symbol of the beginning of summer." Katara interjects, not wanting him to get the wrong idea, "Everyone goes to the celebration wearing their winter clothes, and then after the feast we take them off and dance in our summer outfits. It's the only time of the year that it's warm enough for us to do that."
The boy doesn't say anything, but he looks thoughtful, his eyebrows furrowed and mouth turned into a curved frown.
Sokka finally calls them to a halt. They are far enough from the coast that it looks like a simple white streak against a blue backdrop, separating the pale sky and stormy ocean. The canoe bobs up and down gently, and Katara is thankful that it is a calm day. She'd been out with her brother before when it was so rough that waves would slap them in the face as they fished.
Bending over, her brother rummages through the gear that they brought, pushing aside a hand woven net. He picks up a fake bait fish, a frilly green thing that is the size of his hand. Katara cannot help but smile as Sokka begins to tie their fishing line onto it, looping the string several times around the bait.
The scarred boy blinks in confusion, then turns around to look at her, "Don't you…don't you use hooks?"
She shakes her head, "Not for this kind of fish."
"We'll drop the bait in close to the surface," Sokka says, eyes still focused on his tying, "Then, when the leopard sturgeon comes up to bite it, we'll spear him."
The boy frowns again, "That seems…difficult."
"Its really not." Sokka finally looks up. He picks up one of the bone spears, raising it up to eye level and pointing it towards the boy as he speaks, "The leopard sturgeon is really big. We only need to catch one…actually, we could only fit one in the canoe. Katara will hold the bait, and when it comes up, you and I can spear him."
He holds the spear out, offering it.
The Fire Nation boy grabs it slowly, pulling it up to his face so he can inspect it closer.
"It's tied to rope." Sokka points to the blunt end of the spear, "Wrap it around your hand before you spear the fish, that way you can hold on if it tries to swim away. But, if both me and you spear it good on our first try, it should die pretty quickly. Then all we have to do is haul it into the boat!"
"But…but what if I miss? What if I miss spearing it?" The boy asks, doubt in his voice.
"Lee," Sokka chuckles, "It's a really big fish. Trust me, you won't miss."
Katara can't help but smile quietly to herself.
Her brother may insist that he can't stand that 'Fire Nation scum'…but he seems to really enjoy explaining spear fishing to him.
It helps that the boy—Lee, Katara reminds herself—is listening with rapt attention. His eyes are narrowed in concentration, and he is examining the bone spear as if he is actually, truly interested.
Wrapping the rope around his hand, he looks up and nods at Sokka.
Her brother then hands her the bait, and Katara turns, tossing it into the water and dutifully hanging on to the end of the line. She pulls it gently every few minutes, and this leads to Sokka explaining to Zuko that it is meant to mimic a swimming fish. Then that turns into a conversation about how the leopard sturgeon's favorite meal is a type of winged fish that commonly swims at the surface. And of course, this causes Sokka to explain that this is why they use this technique with this fish.
They sit for two hours before Lee asks how long it will take. Katara notices his wincing when she tells him that sometimes it can take up to six hours.
Sokka, at least, seems to have warmed up to the Fire Nation native. He eagerly explains their various fishing techniques, and then Lee begins to talk of how the Fire Nation catches fish. After the third hour of waiting, the two boys eventually begin to compare Fire Nation and Water Tribe food. By the fourth hour of bobbing in the ocean, Katara suddenly realizes that her brother and the boy do not have any difficulty talking anymore, and—spirits, her father won't be able to believe she's admitting this—the Fire Nation boy is actually quite amiable. Once he opens up. Which takes a while, Katara has discovered.
Perhaps he really was as lonely as Hakoda thought.
"There!" Katara cries out suddenly, halfway through the fourth hour.
To the right side of the craft, barely visible through the sapphire water…are spots.
"Is that it?" Lee is leaning over the side, both his good eye and bad eye squinting.
"That's it!" Sokka leaps up, spear in hand, "Get ready!"
Everyone in the boat tenses, all three pairs of eyes diligently staring into the water. Both the boy and her brother are gripping their spears tightly, knees bent in a ready crouch. Katara faithfully holds onto the line, tugging it every now and then, trying hard to keep it close to the boat.
There is a break in the water. A flash of white, foamy water…then a sharp, black fin…
"Now!" Sokka shrieks, stabbing his spear forward.
A lot of things happen very quickly.
Katara turns to her side, wrapping the line over her shoulder, teeth gritting as she holds on as hard as she can. Lee and Sokka both shoot their spears forward with such speed that Katara doesn't even realize they've hit the fish until the water turns crimson. The boy's spear has hit the fish directly towards the top of its head, and Sokka's spear pierces right through the beast's side. The thing flaps back and forth violently, its great spotted body convulsing as the fish's life spills out from it.
All three of them pull as hard as they can. The fish begins to slow down, it's tail twisting clumsily. With each passing second the creature grows weaker and weaker. As they pull on the ropes, hauling the thing from the water, it gives one last violent swish of its tail…
Splashing salty water onto all three of them.
Lee turns and sputters, but—to his credit—he does not let go. They pull and pull and pull, and then they finally have the thing out of the water. They pull one last time, and then the fish tumbles into the boat. By now it has gone mostly still, its gills not even moving anymore. Its tan body is covered in circular black spots, and its black fins quiver weakly as they pull it onto its side. The leopard sturgeon snaps at Katara a few times, but it is so disoriented that she easily dodges its razor sharp teeth.
After only seconds, it finally goes completely still.
The three look between each other.
They are all panting and dripping wet. Sokka has a piece of seaweed stuck to his neck. Katara's hair has mostly come out of its braid, tangling around her face. Lee's got a big pink mark on his cheek from where the fish struck him with its tail. They are all shivering, covered in salt and bleeding at the hands from holding onto the rope.
Sokka begins to laugh. Then Katara laughs.
The Fire Nation boy doesn't laugh, but he does give a small smile.
Thanks so much to everyone who's reviewing! I seriously appreciate it, reviews are just pure awesomeness!
A couple people asked about Toph and Aang. I'll tell you this: the next big chunk of the story takes place in the Southern Air Temple. After that, the story moves to the Fire Nation, then the Earth Kingdom, then back to the Fire Nation. So...you can probably guess at what points certain characters will be introduced. Yeah, Aang's coming up, but we got a while before Toph comes in.
Zutara starts next chapter! Woohoo!