Chapter IV: Palace Escapades
"Yep, it really feels like the old days now, huh?" Sokka crowed cheerfully, the wind causing his ponytail to flap in his face.
"Not really." Mai snapped back tersely, "Unless 'the old days' is code for feeling queasy…"
Despite the familiarity of flying aboard Appa, Katara had to say that this didn't feel like old times at all. For starters, Mai and Ty Lee, who had long been their enemies, were riding along this time. And on top of that, she and Aang hadn't spoken a word to each other all morning.
She glanced up towards the bison's head, where he sat steering. The avatar's back was straight and rigid, and he seemed to be focused on the journey at hand.
Pushing her hurt feelings aside for the time being, she looked over at Zuko. The firebender sat comfortably in Appa's saddle, running his eyes across a large sheet of parchment. Curious, she scooted closer to him.
"What's that you've got there?"
He regarded her for a moment and then handed the parchment to her. "It's a map of the fire palace."
For a moment she looked at him in confusion, until he explained. "I'm trying to decide which chambers the rebels are most likely to be keeping my officials prisoner in."
"What makes you so sure they're being kept in the palace?"
He shrugged. "It's the most secure place in the fire nation. Plus, I don't know if you've noticed, but these rebels seem to be sporting some delusions of grandeur."
She nodded. "So… What is your plan for when we arrive?"
"Due to our small number, sneaking in is probably the best strategy." He replied.
"So the fire lord will be sneaking into his own palace?" she asked teasingly.
"Looks like it." He grinned back.
Katara smiled and settled her back against the rim of the saddle, not abandoning her seat beside Zuko. The fire lord seemed much more at ease than he had been two hours ago, before their journey had begun. He had paced around her father's house, insisting that it was unnecessary that his friends come to the fire nation with him, that it was 'his problem' and he didn't want them all 'risking their lives.' In the end, he had been overruled, and she, Sokka, Aang, Suki, Mai, and Ty Lee had boarded Appa and set off with him to help in whatever way they could with squelching the rebels. Her father and his men had stayed behind to deal with rebuilding after the rebel's attack and to keep an eye on the captured rebels. Katara had left him and her bending students with the promise that she would return soon.
Strangely enough, it felt good to be travelling again, to feel a world of possibilities at her fingertips. There were advantages and disadvantages to both the nomadic and the homebound lifestyle, she realized. So where was the in-between option?
Beside her, Zuko shifted his weight. Katara hadn't realized that she was sitting so close to him before. She didn't move away, however, perhaps because she was so tired. After the hawk had come the previous night, she had stayed up conversing with everyone about their next course of action, and hadn't gotten a chance to rest.
In that moment, the smooth motion of Appa's flying and the dull hum of the winds, and most significantly, the feel of the warm body beside her, almost supporting her, lulled her slowly to sleep, before she was even able to register her position.
Zuko felt his face burning despite the biting cold of the wind whipping against him. Still holding the map, Katara had drifted to sleep, and her head had drooped down to rest on his chest. Now, almost the entire group was staring at them in bewilderment, but he couldn't move for fear of waking her.
When Sokka eyed him warily, he shrugged his shoulders and gave him a what-can-you-do look. Her brother seemed to understand, or, perhaps was too tired himself to make a fuss.
His embarrassment only increased when he saw Ty Lee nudge Mai, who gave him a knowing smirk. He knew Katara would surely share his embarrassment if she woke up in such a position, but he didn't have it in him to wake her. Her normally animated face was peaceful, and she appeared softer, more at ease without her guard up. With her head so close to his, he was able to catch the scent of her hair, which was surprisingly flowery.
When she unconsciously raised her hand to rest gently on his chest, he stiffened at first, but then relaxed beneath her soft touch. Looking around, he saw that everyone except Aang, who was still driving, had begun to doze. Despite himself, he felt his own eyelids drooping as he began to memorize the rise and fall of Katara's chest against his ribcage and allow the rhythm to calm his senses.
When he eventually woke up, Katara had moved to the opposite side of Appa to converse with Suki, and wasn't paying any attention to him. Nevertheless, he was vaguely aware that his dream had somehow involved the waterbender, even if he couldn't remember the specifics of it.
He shook his head to clear it and regain focus. What am I doing? Dreaming about her? It must be all of the strange water tribe food getting to me…
But he knew deep within him that that wasn't true at all as he watched Katara, unable to focus on anything besides the way that her long, silky hair flew in the wind like a ship's flag. You have obligations to fulfill, He scolded himself, this is no time to be harboring wild fantasies about the avatar's girl…
Come to think of it, however, he couldn't recall seeing the two exchange a single word with one another all day. Perhaps he was imagining it, but they seemed to be avoiding each other. And judging by the way Aang had responded to his inquiries the previous day, perhaps Zuko's suspicions weren't entirely unfounded. He felt a strange, wild sort of glee rise in his chest, which he quickly repressed, silently reprimanding himself for his foolish thoughts.
"So, have you been thinking about our plan of action when we arrive at the capitol?"
Sokka's voice jerked him violently out of his reverie. Recovering quickly, he listened patiently to his friend's over-complicated ideas, which all seemed to involve him sporting a fake beard, for some odd reason.
"I'm not budging on the facial hair," he said defensively when Zuko inquired about it "It's an essential part of my fire nation identity."
"It won't matter whether we look fire nation though, will it?" Mai pointed out, "At this point, if the palace is over-run by rebels, we will stick out like a sore thumb anyway."
"Well, if all goes as planned, we'll stay out of sight for as long as possible," Zuko pointed out, "I've been considering places in the palace that we could hide, secret chambers that the rebels couldn't possibly have knowledge of."
"I am a fan of secret chambers." Sokka added, "But I'm still wearing the beard, no matter what."
"Good. I'm glad we've settled that." Katara said sarcastically, rolling her eyes.
"After we've found a hiding place, what do we do then?" Ty Lee asked.
Zuko hesitated for a moment, at a loss. "I… haven't thought that far ahead yet…"
"You really have a problem with thinking things through, don't you?" Mai stated, regarding him with her trademark bored expression.
"Hey, Sokka's the plan guy. Ask him." Zuko responded defensively, holding up his hands in defeat.
"That's quite lordly of you, isn't it, Your Highness?" Katara teased quietly, a mischievous glint in her eyes.
"Easy for you to say, peasant." He retorted, grinning. The strange warm feeling returned to his chest as the waterbender rolled her eyes and punched his shoulder playfully.
Their conversation was interrupted by the sound of a throat clearing. Everyone looked up to see that Aang had turned around, and was regarding them through narrowed eyes. Zuko ducked his head, pointedly avoiding looking at Katara again under the air nomad's scrutiny.
"Hey Aang." He said quickly. "We were just talking strategy. If you want to rest, I can steer Appa now."
"Yeah, thanks Zuko." He replied wearily, rubbing his eyes. Zuko got up to maneuver his way to the bison's head. Perhaps he imagined it, but as he passed Aang, it seemed as if his friend was avoiding meeting his gaze.
As he settled down into his new position, Zuko looked down at the wide expanse of the ocean, suddenly wondering if its waters had the power to wash away his problems.
The last time Katara had been to the fire palace, she and Zuko had simply flown right in. There had been no need for secrecy, as their purpose had been to confront Azula anyway.
One thing was the same, however. Zuko was by her side. She was reminded of their quest to find Yan Ra, her mother's killer, as they wove in and out of corridors in the thick of the night. Tonight, however, they were infiltrating the fire palace, the most secure building in the world, most likely.
As they crept through the halls, occasionally taking detours into closets and side rooms when their ears picked up the sounds of someone approaching, it certainly didn't feel like they were inside Zuko's home. She couldn't ignore the irony of it all, as she watched the fire lord, all dressed in black like a common bandit, move stealthily through the halls, pressed as closely to the wall as humanly possible. She found herself wondering when the last time Zuko had snuck in somewhere had been. He had certainly retained his uncanny propensity for treading almost silently, and for sensing the smallest commotions and disturbances almost instantly.
They were headed for a secret chamber that Zuko claimed lay behind the fire lord's bedroom. He had, most curiously, called it that himself, instead of identifying it as simply his room. Shaking all thoughts of Zuko's perplexities out of her mind, she tried to focus on their plan. They had decided to split into groups of two or three and to enter the palace from different wings. In the end, they would all converge at the same secret chamber, but all three groups were taking different routes, and were due to arrive at different moments. Sokka and Aang were also a group, and the three Kyoshi warriors would be sneaking in together.
She suddenly felt Zuko's arm wrapping around her midsection, and struggled to keep her composure as he pulled her back against him, sliding both of their figures covertly behind a statue that stood in a nearby alcove just in time as two figures rounded the corner.
Fighting to still her breathing and relax her senses was a difficult task with her body pressed so closely against a certain firebender's. She could feel his own chest muscles tightening as he pulled her into him, deeper into the shadows.
The two soldiers were conversing quietly as they passed, and Katara could make out what they were saying.
"—doesn't mean he'll show up here anytime soon. At this point, the fire lord won't know who to trust. You really think he'd just storm his own palace?"
"I think you're over-estimating the fire lord's intelligence. Remember, this is Zuko we're talking about, not his sister. It's only a matter of time before he shows his scarred, ugly face."
She couldn't catch any more of their words as they receded farther down the corridor, out of earshot. She felt the absence of Zuko's arm around her as quickly as it had appeared, and suddenly he was motioning for her to follow him again.
Before she could even think, they were racing through another hallway, up a small flight of stairs, and through a grand pair of double doors, emblazoned with the fire nation's symbol.
As they crossed the threshold, Katara had to blink several times to get her bearings. The room they now stood in was the most luxurious, extravagant room she had ever set foot in. The walls were covered with artwork, mostly gilded portraits of what looked to be past fire lords. There was a lounge area, complete with an armoire, several couches, and a gigantic fireplace. In the center of the room stood the most gargantuan bed she had ever laid eyes on, covered in red velvet linens. Above the headboard a large map of all of the nations was mounted in a heavy golden frame.
She turned to Zuko incredulously. "You sleep here?"
His eyes darkened. "No."
"Well then who—"
"This was my father's room." He answered quietly.
Even in the dark, she could see the turmoil of emotions swimming in his eyes.
"Zuko…" she began, "this is the first time you've been in here since becoming fire lord, isn't it? That's why everything has remained unchanged."
He nodded. "I… couldn't… wasn't ready…"
Feeling a strong urge to embrace her friend, she instead settled for resting a comforting hand on his shoulder. Not knowing what else to say, she eyed him with determination and said, "Okay, let's see this secret room you've been talking about."
He nodded, seeming to remember the task at hand. Walking over to the bed, he climbed up on it, running his hands over the wall behind it. "You search over there." He told her, pointing to the other end of the room.
She began feeling around for any grooves or niches, anything that would indicate the presence of a door, when she heard Zuko whisper her name. She turned around to see that he was still kneeling on the giant bed, but he had lifted the map off of the wall, and in its place was what looked to be the opening to a passageway of some sort. She hurried to his side, climbing onto the bed next to him.
"I'll go first, you follow when I give the okay, got it?" She nodded in acquiescence, and watched as he hauled himself up on his forearms and disappeared into the passage. After a moment, he poked his head out and nodded to her. "All clear. Take my hand."
She reached for him tentatively, and he grasped her hand firmly, and before she had time to process the way her hand felt enclosed in his, she was through the passage and inside the dark room. Reaching through the hole, she and Zuko picked up the map and mounted it back on the wall, then turned around at last to survey their surroundings. In contrast to the one they had just been standing in, this room was quite plain and dreary, with no furniture except for a table in the very center. It was barely roomy enough to fit their whole group.
"Home sweet home." She sighed, dropping her knapsack on the table. Turning towards her companion, she saw that he bore a strange expression on his face, and wondered if he was still unnerved from being in his father's old chamber.
"What is it, Zuko?"
"Uh…" he scratched his head, and she swore she could make out a blush, even in the dim light. "Sorry for manhandling you back there, it was…"
She fought the urge to laugh out loud and grinned at him. "Totally fine. I should have been paying more attention, and then maybe you wouldn't have had to."
He shrugged, still looking somewhat abashed. She nearly laughed again. How was it that he could be so smooth at times, but other times have all of the tact of a preteen boy?
"What did you say about 'manhandling?'" A familiar voice cut through the darkness from behind them, as Sokka emerged from the shadows, followed closely by Aang. Now Katara felt heat rising in her own cheeks as she searched the recesses of her mind for an explanation.
This time, however, Zuko came to the rescue with a quick excuse. "I, uh, gave her a boost into the room and accidentally grabbed at some… unmentionable areas, if you know what I mean…won't happen again."
Much to her humiliation, her brother nodded in understanding. "Girls, am I right? So inconvenient."
"I'm going to pretend that sentence didn't just come from my fiancé's mouth." Suki's voice echoed from the end of the room as she, Mai, and Ty Lee emerged from the passageway.
In an abrupt attempt to change the subject, Sokka looked around, commenting, "Some secret room, huh? I was expecting it to be… I don't know… bigger?"
"Well, it's the best we've got for now." Zuko sighed, lowering his body to the ground. "So… Sleep first or plan first?"
Sokka grinned. "Niether. Food first. Always."
Over meager provisions, the group smoothed out their strategy. The plan was to infiltrate various areas of the palace to learn rebel secrets. Sokka would go under cover as a palace guard, while Katara and the kyoshi warriors would disguise themselves as servants and maids.
Despite their protests, Sokka insisted that Aang and Zuko were too conspicuously recognizable to go under cover. They would have to stay hidden.
"I hate this." Zuko muttered, pacing the room the next morning, which suddenly seemed much bigger when it was occupied by only himself and the air nomad.
"Welcome to my life." Aang replied in a matter-of-fact way, settling down to meditate.
"I can't just sit around while they risk their lives." He grumbled, plopping down beside his friend in defeat. "We have to do something."
"Maybe we could 'talk about our place in the universe.'" Aang joked back, eyeing Zuko with one eye open.
Zuko sighed, continuing his rant. "I wish we could just storn in and crush the rebels."
"There are too many of them; you said so yourself." His friend replied calmly, "Going undercover is our best bet for now."
They settled into a few minutes of silence, but Zuko couldn't quiet the incessant motions of his mind. "Aang, can I ask you a question?"
The avatar nodded.
"How did you deal with it all of those years? How did you cope with the idea that people you cared about risked their lives every day for your cause?"
Aang was silent for a moment, and Zuko wondered if he had crossed a line. He was just opening his mouth to fumble through an apology when the air nomad turned to meet his eyes and responded,
"I had to come to the realization that it wasn't all about me. They all have their own personal reasons for fighting, and without those reasons, they would be here. What's wrong, Zuko? What has prompted these feelings?"
"It's just…" he clawed at his hair, reacting to the chaotic nature of his emotions. "It's my fault we even have to be here. The rebels rose to power under my nose. If I hadn't been so negligent, maybe I could have stopped this before it even began."
"Zuko, sooner or later you're going to have to accept that some things are out of your control. You of all people know that you can't change the past. You can only look forward, and direct your actions accordingly." Aang patted him on the shoulder. "They'll be alright. And we'll win this fight, I promise."
Zuko looked into his friend's eyes and saw the wisdom of hundreds of years reflected back at him. He wondered for a moment if this was what Roku, his descendent, had been like.
"That's an odd look." Aang remarked.
"Oh, I was just thinking about how you're technically my great-grandfather." Zuko shrugged, grinning down at his friend.
"And don't you forget it." Aang shot back, smiling.
Zuko felt himself smiling despite himself. He had forgotten how much he had missed this, just being with his friends. For years he had been caught up in all of his responsibilities as fire lord, and he hadn't really gotten a chance to lighten up at all. He realized then that, although he wanted to defeat the rebels, he also didn't want to have to return to his throne and subsequent separation from his friends. Katara had been right—they had always been there to support him, but he hadn't always been aware of that.
"Hey, Aang?"
"Mmhm?"
"When this is all over, we should all take a relaxing trip to Ember Island. We can stay at my family's house, and maybe even go see that awful play again. It'll be just like old times."
"I'd like that." Aang agreed. "But can we not go see that play again? I hate that play." His face darkened suddenly, as if he was just now remembering some unpleasant memory.
Zuko's face begn to heat up again, as he suddenly recalled why Aang hadn't liked that play.
The two spent the rest of the day meditating, or, in both of their cases, trying in vain to banish thoughts of a certain waterbender from their minds.
Katara hated the fire palace maidservant uniform. It was itchy, and too much material to make it convenient. She wondered how the full time maids moved so quickly and accomplished their tasks so efficiently in them.
Ten minutes felt like hours as she slowly went through the motions, trying not to get lost in the endless twists and turns of the palace, folding towels and linens and taking them from the laundry room to countless chambers that all seemed to be unoccupied. She honestly had no idea what she was doing, but she had to act like this wasn't her first day, so she just took wild guesses, entering random rooms, keeping a look out for rebels as she worked. Suki, Mai, and Ty Lee had taken jobs in the kitchen, and Sokka was posing as a guard. She sincerely hoped that none of them had run into any trouble.
She hadn't learned too much about the rebels, only that the maids were carrying on their tasks as usual in the fire lord's absence. She heard from their whispers that a greater number of soldiers was residing in the palace than was usual, but most of the servants seemed relatively oblivious. The rebels were apparently doing a good job keeping their operation under wraps.
Hoping to find some way to pass the time, she entered a hallway that she hadn't explored yet. It was a relatively short walk, and she quickly reached the room at its very end. Deciding that she could at least change the linens in the room, she entered.
Immediately, she sensed that there was something different about this room. It lacked the flamboyant decadence of the other chambers. It was much smaller, with few adornments on the wall. The only furniture was an unmade bed and a desk with a large, overstuffed bookcase beside it. After a few seconds of standing inside it, something inside her knew.
This was Zuko's room.
She knew this for sure the moment she approached the desk. On it sat two small framed portraits, one that was unmistakably of his Uncle Iroh, another of a beautiful woman whom she didn't recognize, but who looked hauntingly familiar nonetheless. This could only be his mother. She bore a remarkable resemblance to her son, with her angular face, raven hair, and sharp but kind eyes.
Katara sat down at the desk, trying to imagine what it must feel like for Zuko, signing papaerwork here, alone and in silence. Maybe when he got lonely, he looked at the two portraits. The desk was positioned with a clear view out of a large window, which looked out towards a garden of some sort. She thought she saw a small pond with a bench beside it in the midst of the flower-bushes. It was a nice view, she could understand why Zuko had chosen this room.
Struck by a sudden idea, she wondered whether she might be able to find something that could be helpful to them in here. She began to scan the titles on the bookshelf. There were many on geography and battle strategy, naturally, but she saw a surprising amount of works that looked to be fiction and mythology, and tried to imagine Zuko curled up with a book in his free time. The thought brought a sudden feeling of warmth into her chest. As she reached the end of the third shelf down, she spied a parcel that looked to be a bunch of letters tied neatly together. She knew that she shouldn't snoop, but she couldn't help herself. Don't open them! She scolded herself, trying to resist, but failing. Sighing, she untied the ribbon that held the envelopes together and opened the one on the top of the pile. The minute she began to read, she almost dropped the bundle in shock.
This was her handwriting.
She frantically looked through all of the letters.
The bundle contained all of the letters she had sent to him in the past three years. She couldn't believe he had saved them all, and kept them together so neatly, organized by the date they had been sent. She also hadn't realized before that she had sent so many. She had gotten into the habit of updating him more and more after she had begun living in the Southern Water Tribe, and she supposed that she hadn't really given a thought to the amount of letters she had sent him. His replies were in a drawer in her room at home, but she had never counted them or organized them. She felt a sudden urge to read them all over again, beside all of her letters to him. At the thought of Zuko neatly organizing all of her correspondence, she smiled shyly to herself, unable to contain the warmth that was blooming in her chest. Just as she began to read over her most recent letter to him, she was interrupted by a shout.
"You there!"
She cursed herself for her stupidity. She had left the door ajar. Spinning around quickly, she saw a man's form framed in the doorway, that of one of the palace guards.
"What are you doing in the fire lord's chamber, servant?" he demanded, stepping into the room.
"Um… I was just about to change his bedding." She answered quickly, moving towards the bed.
"Don't move!" the guard commanded. He stepped closer to her, eyeing her suspiciously. "Even the most inept maidservant knows that the fire lord prefers to tend to his own laundry. This chamber is strictly off limits. What are you doing, snooping around?"
"No! Honestly, I just forgot! I don't want any trouble, I'll just be going now…"
As she moved to brush past him, he suddenly grabbed hold of her upper arm, wrenching her back into his line of vision. "Not so fast…"
He scrutinized her for a moment. "You look too pretty to be an average maidservant. And you've tied your apron on inside-out."
"It's my first day on the job." She explained.
"Oh I'm sure it is." He said, smiling wickedly.
"You're coming with me, missy."
Another update! I love reading your reviews, so please let me know how you feel about the direction this story is headed in.
P.S. I'm sorry about the cliffhanger, but stay tuned, and you'll find out soon what happens to Katara...