My apologies to those who have waited.
Before I begin, here is the excuse for being so late with update: I do have a life. And a very busy one too.
Surprising, no? Because of this, though I finished planning this story a long ago, I'll be updating slowly.
And... I'm thinking about changing this fic's title into 'Choice of Peace, Result of Chaos' because this story will focus on showing side effects&faults of Aang's aspects.
Would you care to vote wether:
(1) Remain with this title.
(2) Use the new title.
Right, I'll stop talking here. Now, let the story begin.
--
"Grrr..."
Toph growled through her greeted teeth. She was pacing up and down between the bookshelves, while Aang, Zuko, Katara, Suki and Sokka were reading through piles of scrolls. Reading wasn't her kind of thing. It wasn't because she did not fancy reading, but it was because she was blind. Everyone were at the topmost floor of Fire Nation Communication Tower. Sun was at the peak of the cloudless sky. It was such a nice afternoon. It has been a day since Zuko, Aang, Katara, Sokka, Suki and Toph had come to here to search for information about Mai's murderer after deciding that the symbol left by Mai was symbol of one of the Fire Nation armies('I have seen it somewhere, but I can't remember.' said Azula). Zuko had bit of problem with persuading the bookkeepers about letting everyone else search through Fire Nation's secrets. After promising that only Zuko would look at documents of Rank A and above, they agreed to let everyone else in as well. Sokka tried to complain about this, but since there was no other choice, they agreed on this. Ever since then, everyone has been looking through difficult documents. At first, Toph tried to help by putting documents back in their places, but since she couldn't see, she kept putting back in the wrong places. In the end, she gave up.
"Why is it taking so long to find the name of an army?" Toph finally bursted out. Everyone turned around to look at her, mildly surprised.
"Why don't you have control to all the armies in Fire nation Zuko? You're the king!" asked Toph, looking annoyed. She directed her face to where Zuko was, and everyone turned to look at him too.
Zuko seemed to be troubled by this statement.
"By the law of our country, the new emperor can only have secret divisions made by previous emperor only if he agreed to do so. And my father hasn't left me any. And... I'mnot proudof saying this, but Fire Nation is a country with long history of war practices. It wouldn't be strange if there were kinds of secret armies I didn't know." said Zuko regretfully.
"So could this mean that Ozai can be behind this incident?" said Suki so suddenly. Everyone turned to look at her.
"Not possible. I forbade everyone to meet him except Azula and my nanny. It's not likely that he could have been plotting something against me." said Zuko firmly. Then he went back to reading his own share of scrolls.
"Oh, come on Sokka. You've seen for yourself how much she had changed ever since the war. Let's get back to work." said Katara. Katara went back to her own pile of scrolls. Seeing this, Sokka shrugged and he and Suki resumed their own as well. Just as Aang, he too, was about to continue his work, Toph grabbed him.
"Let's go out." said Toph, pulling Aang.
"Why?" asked Aang, looking apprehensive. It seemed that he rather wanted to stay with everyone else than go out with Toph.
"Come on. You haven't mastered Earthbending yet and you haven't practiced it even once ever since the fight with Ozai ended." said Toph irritably. Sokka turned around to Aang.
"And yeah, who knows if this world will need saving again? Go ahead. We can handle this work by ourselves. Tough Toph needs some exercise." said Sokka slyly. Toph shot a what seemed like a glare to Sokka, as if she had been treated like a restless child.
"But... but... thid building id built on the rock, and there's hardly any ground we can stand on! And also..." Aang began to say, but to everyone's surprise, Zuko interrupted him.
"There's a giant cavern under this building that no one had used for years. You can use there." said Zuko, not turning around. There was no excuse for Aang to stay in anymore. He whined soundlessly as Toph half-dragged him out of the room. For several minutes, everyone worked silently. After a while, Sokka spoke.
"Hey Zuko. There's something I've been curious about ever since we came here."
"What is it?" said Zuko, not turning around.
"How come there are so few securities and staffs in this building when it's the nation's biggest information archive?" asked Sokka.
"Thinking about it, there were at least twice as many people as this when we came here last time." said Katara.
"Ah, that's because I gave half the staff holidays." said Zuko, still not turning around.
"Holidays?" said Suki, looking at the back of Zuko's head. Zuko turned around to look at them all.
"This island is isolated from the mainland so those who work here don't get to see their families often. And I've been working them overtime for last few months to find Mai, and they've got not much to do these days so I decided to give them some holidays, that's all." said Zuko, looking at Sokka and Suki.
"Ah, I see. It's pretty nice of you to give them some time off like that." said Sokka.
"Thanks." said Zuko, getting back to his pile. Seeing that Zuko is working so hard, Sokka gave up talking and went back to his work.
For next few hours, nothing interesting had happened. The sun had gone down and now the sky was filled with stars. The silence between the four was broken by sound of cry for food in Sokka's stomach.
"We...el... It's getting bit late now, isn't it? I'm going to go to look for Aang and Toph." said Sokka, standing up with slight blush on his face.
"I'll go with you. And let's get something to eat on the way back." said Suki kindly, standing up as well.
"Okay. Do be careful." said Katara, as Zuko nodded. Sokka and Suki cleared the scrolls they've already looked at away and walked out of the room together.
"Let's take a break for a while." said Katara, looking at Zuko. Zuko was reading through a particularly large and ancient book.
"No. I'm going to keep searching." said Zuko, not turning around.
"Come on, you've been working all day today. A bit of break wouldn't hurt. Besides, resting a bit can increase workspeed." said Katara brightly. Zuko seemed to think for a while.
"Fine. I'll make some tea." said Zuko, closing the old book. He stood up to get some tea leaves and teapot.
"Is there any progress?" asked Katara, as Zuko started to grind tea leaves. Katara rolled the scrolls she has finished reading.
"No... I wish I had. Katara, water." said Zuko airilly, looking at her. As Katara opened the window, soft cool wind blew into the room. Katara stretched her arm out of window and bended some water from the small well below. As Katara moved her hands, the large bubble of water flew into the room, into the teapot. Then, Zuko started to heat the pot with firebending. As the pot heated up, Zuko sighed deeply. Katara sat on the long sofa facing the opened window. She could smell salty scent and feel the night wind from there.
"Oh, cheer up Zuko. You're doing the best you can do for Mai." said Katara caringly. Zuko looked at her with sad, empty expression on his face. Zuko kept heating the pot as Katara watched him. After a while, Zuko spoke.
"There's something making me regretful ever since Mai died." said Zuko tonelessly. He poured some tea into two cups. He walked over to Katara with cups in his hands.
"Here." said Zuko, handing Katara one cup.
"Thanks." said Katara, as Zuko sat down next to her with his cup. Zuko slowly sipped his tea.
"I'm regretting that even though I knew Mai for a long time, I never got to know about herself properly. See, I didn't even know that her uncle was in charge of Boiling Rock! I feel guilty about it." said Zuko gloomily. There was a silence between them. Zuko stared into the space darkly while Katara wondered what to say.
"Well, even if you didn't know who she was factually, it's all right if you knew and understood who she really was inside. Everyone can know that Mai was 'Master of projectile weaponary','Niece of Head of Boiling Rock'. But only those who really cared for her know who she is as a person." said Katara finally, looking out into the starry sky beyond the window. Zuko looked somehow confused by this.
"But..." Zuko started, but he lost what to say.
"It's better to understand who she was than knowing who she was in this world, but not knowing who she was in person if you really are the person who endear her. And I would rather prefer the first person too. There's nothing you should feel guilty about." said Katara, smiling kindly at Zuko. Zuko looked as if a small realization struck his heart. Zuko felt some weights being lifted from his heart. After a moment, he smiled gently for the first time in weeks.
"Thanks, Katara." said Zuko, looking back at Katara. Katara sipped her own tea and noticed that it had gone cold. Looking slightly startled look on Katara's face, Zuko noticed what had happened.
"Give me your cup for a moment." said Zuko, putting his own on the window-sil. Wondering what he is about to do, Katara handed him her cup. With Katara's cup in right hand, Zuko ignited a small fire at the tip of his forefinger on left hand. Then he placed left forefinger under the cup, warming it up. After a while, Zukogave Katara steaming cup.
"Thanks, Zuko." said Katara. She smiled at Zuko mildly, and Zuko's heart began to beat slightly faster than usual at this. But before Zuko himself could notice, Sokka and Suki bursted into the room.
"Zuko! Katara! Look what Toph and Aang's found at the underground cavern!" said Sokka excitedly.
--
I said Katara will get to like Aang less in this chapter because I was planning to put Aang's argument with Zuko in this chapter, but the chapter turned out to be longer than I thought so I decided to put the argument on next chapter. I just hope that the conversation between Zuko and Katara didn't sound unnatural.
And... writing Toph and Sokka just kills me. Well, I could cope with Toph somehow, but Sokka... well, let's just say that I'm not good at making jokes like him.
Reviews are everything for a storywriter! I would really appreciate it even if you comment anything about this fic! Criticisms are welcomed!
