Author's Note: I do not own "Avatar: The Last Airbender" or anything related to it. I do, however, own my characters. If you steal them or borrow them without my "Yes." I will hunt you down. Thank you for your time. Oh, and if you do not like this, you don't have to read it! I will not force you or beg you.
Dedication: This story is dedicated to Sayko and Mara. Both are my buddies, sister-figures, and great people to talk to. This story is for you guys! And to my: readers, reviewers and friends.
-Hero-
Early the day after Artymis' little runaway, the gang continued on their journey. The four spent their time talking and taking a few naps while one was always on guard and leading Appa and Anduril the way. When the sun was rising, Appa and Anduril had decided it was time to keep a low profile to swim on a river course that wasn't close to any villages. At midday, the two creatures were slogging their way down a sludge-infested river. Anduril and Appa groaned in annoyance as they felt the sludge stick to their fur/scales. Sokka, on the other hand, tried to keep an upbeat mood and fished.
"I'm not gonna eat what he fishes out of the river!" Toph whispered. Artymis and Katara nodded in agreement, sticking their tongues out in disgust.
"This river is disgusting!" Artymis complained, glancing down at it from Appa's saddle.
"Its so slimy and it has all that sludge stuff!" Katara made a vomiting sound.
"No wonder I can't fish anything," Sokka told them. "Because usually my fishing skills are…" He brought up the fishing hook too quickly, spraying some sludge on the girls. "Off the hook! Get it? Like a fishing hook!" He pointed at it.
"Oh yeah, its off the hook, alright," Katara chuckled uneasily.
"Yuck!" Artymis tried to wipe the sludge off her arms, an attempt that failed. She used an air bending technique and the sludge was off of them. "I don't think we would eat anything from this river, Sokka. I mean, look at it, Mr. My skills are on the hook!"
"Too bad his skills aren't on the hook," Toph told Sokka. Sokka scowled.
Appa and Anduril groaned. None of you should be complaining about this sludge - Appa and I are swimming in it.
The four friends were quiet. "He does have a point," Toph said. Momo chirped and jumped on Sokka's head.
"You have an obsession with my head, don't you?" Sokka asked the lemur.
"Ok, we need to think about food though." Artymis pointed out. "I don't think we can go on without it."
"Ok, we'll have to stop by somewhere and get some." Katara unrolled a scroll of paper. Her eyes side-glanced at her brother. "Assuming that'll fit in Sokka's master schedule."
Sokka studied his schedule and tried to make it fit. "Hmm, its doable. But that means only two potty breaks today day."
"Or we could get food from that village up ahead like Anduril says," Toph pointed at a village that was barely visible in the sludge.
Sokka blinked. "Or we could get it from that village like Anduril says."
Toph slapped her forehead. "Idiot."
Prince Zuko walked on the unguarded path outside the capital city, hooded. He walked passed two prison towers and stood in the prison courtyard, staring at the prison. His uncle was in there. His uncle was in there, alone and angry. Zuko didn't blame him though on why he would be hated by his uncle. Iroh never saw it coming, especially from Zuko.
I feel stupid, Zuko thought. I feel like an idiot. I feel so lost and so confused - Uncle was always there to lend his wisdom, but now… I bet he won't even look at me.
Temptation of visiting his uncle rose in the young firebender. He considered it but immediately left the idea when one of the prison guards spotted him and shouted:
"Who's there?!"
Zuko turned away and made his way back to the palace. "I'm nobody." He muttered. He snuck back into his bedroom. He dropped the cloak and laid down on his bed, staring up at the elegant red canopy. He closed his eyes, wondering if he was truly content with what was going on now. Did he feel satisfied now that he had his father's love and approval? Did he feel no regret with what he did in Ba Sing Se? Was he content with his uncle in prison and with his love struggling to survive?
He gave out a long and heavy sigh.
"I'm not." He whispered to himself.
Toph and Artymis concealed Anduril, Appa, and Momo up with blankets of turf. "There, now you three look like three oddly shaped hills!" Artymis joked. The girls heard grumbles. "Only for a little while though, love you all!" They blew kisses and walked back to Sokka and Katara who stood on the cliff, looking down at the village. They all walked down from the uplands to an empty dock.
"Is it in the middle of the river?" Toph asked. "I can't see it."
"Yeah, it is." Sokka said, wincing in disgust.
"Our little village of Jang Hui sure is a sight!" A man in a boat said. He stopped in front of the group and lifted his hat in greeting. "Name's Dock. Mind if I ask who you all are?"
"Um, we're from…" Katara spoke first without really thinking of an answer.
"We're from the Earth Kingdom Colonies." Toph finished for her.
"Oh-ho! Colonials!" Dock's weathered face lit up with interest. "Well, hop on; I'll give y'all a ride to the village!" The four friends decided it was better than swimming and hopped on it. Dock proceeded towards the village.
"So, why do you all live on a sludge-infested river?" Artymis asked.
"Yeah, I mean, you can't really fish here." Sokka said.
"Because we're a fishing town!" Dock's enthusiasm faded away after he said that. "At east that's how it use to be before the factory moved in." He pointed at a large gap between the hills and filling the gap was a Fire Nation weaponry factory. "Army folks moved in there a few years ago and started dunking their waste into our once-beautiful river. Now, a little village is struggling to survive."
Katara lowered her face and felt pity for Dock and his people. She followed the others out of the boat when they arrived at the village.
"Thanks for the ride!" Artymis waved goodbye.
The group proceed on their own in the village and saw nothing but lives stricken with poverty, unemployment, and sickness. "Look at all these people," Katara said softly. She closed her eyes before saying, "We have to do something."
"No way!" Sokka waved his hands in front of his sister's face. "We go our own problems and a very important mission! These people are on their own!" He turned his back on her and started walking away.
Katara glared at him and turned him around. "These people are starving and dying, and you're going to turn your back on them? How cold and heartless can you be?!"
"Hey, hey, hey!" Artymis said. "There's no need to fight about this."
"If you're cold and heartless like him -" Katara pointed at Sokka. "- I suppose it wouldn't be something to fight over!"
"I'm not being cold and heartless, I'm just being realistic!" Sokka argued. "We can't go around helping every rinky-dinky town we wander into. We'll be helping them all by taking out the Fire-"
Toph slapped her hand over his mouth. "Hey, loudmouth!" She lowered her voice into a hiss. "Maybe we should be a little quieter when we talk about taking out you-know."
Sokka, realizing his mistake, nodded and pulled her hand away from his mouth. "You're right." He turned to Katara, who was still fuming. "Come on, Kat, be reasonable. Our mission comes first - you know that."
Katara was still. She sighed in defeat and said reluctantly, "I guess so."
"Lets just get what we need and move on." Artymis said.
They walked towards the center of the little village for some kind of market. They came to an outdoor market stall with Dock standing behind the counter with his smile.
"Hey, Dock." Sokka said, leaning his elbows on the counter. "You work here too?"
"What ya talkin' about?" He asked with a confused expression. "That's my brother. I'm Xu."
The group exchanged glances. "You were at the dock though." Toph said.
"You're even wearing the same clothes, except for that hat." Artymis pointed at his hat.
Xu laughed. "Dock works on the docks, that's why folks call him 'Dock.' And I work in the shop, that's why they all call me 'Xu.'"
There was a short awkward moment. "I don't get it." Artymis thought out loud.
"Me neither." Xu shrugged. "So, what can I get y'all?" He pulled out a crate full of seafood. "And I'll even throw ya a special deal: Buy three fish and I'll throw in old clammy for free!"
Even though eating raw disgusting-looking fish wasn't what the group had in mind, they knew they had to eat something.
"Uh, we'll just the fish." Sokka handed him some coins and took the fish by the tail.
"Mind tell your 'brother' we need a ride back to shore?" Toph bent her fingers as quotation marks and added sarcasm when she said 'brother.'
"Alrighty!" Xu ducked beneath the counter and popped up, wearing Dock's hat. "Hey, colonials. My brother Xu says y'all need a lift!"
"Yeah," Artymis said, obviously crept out. "We do." She and the others followed Dock to the docks.
Katara carried the fish and was walking behind the group when a little boy ran up to her, pulling on her red skirt. She looked down and her heart broke when she saw the little boy, dressed in rags and looking dirty.
"Can you spare some food, nice lady?" He asked in a small voice.
A warm sad smile touched her tanned face. She gave him a fish. "I wish I could give more." Katara told him.
"Thank you!" The little boy ran into the opposite direction and gave it to a sick woman in bed.
Katara assumed that ill woman was his mother. Her heart gave out to the little boy and his mother, feeling like a harsh person when she caught up to the others at the docks. She was quiet the whole way.
"Uncle," Zuko shut the door behind him. "Its me, Zuko." He looked into the barred cell of his uncle, who just scowled and turned his back to him. "Uncle, please." The young firebender knelt before the bars. "I'm so confused, I need your help." He sighed. "What I did to you in Ba Sing Se was wrong. But believe me when I say that I only joined Azula for reasons to help the Earth Kingdom and the Avatar. I know she's out there, and you know it too. I know you do. So I don't know what to do. Should I go after her or let her and her friends do what they will?"
No answer.
"Uncle." Zuko was desperate. This was the third day he went Iroh, hoping he would speak. But all attempts failed. "Please, talk to me."
The girls all helped with taking the pollution out of their fish and cooking water while Sokka stared at his schedule, deep in though.
When Artymis saw this, she whispered to the benders, "Well, that's a first." They chuckled.
"Our detour in town today completely threw us off schedule -" Sokka announced.
"Starvation." Katara muttered under her breath, remembering the townspeople's faces.
Sokka didn't hear her though. "- and its gonna take us some work to get back on track."
"Like what?" Toph asked.
"Well, for starters, were gonna need to wake up forty-three minutes earlier every day."
"Forty-three minutes?"
"Why don't you just say fifty minutes or an hour?" Artymis asked, patting Anduirl's snout as he slept.
"Look, we have only a few weeks to get to the capital just in time for the invasion and eclipse. And yeah, the eclipse lasts only eight minutes." Sokka explained, "And we just lost a whole day. So the only way to get back on track is waking up early!"
"I don't know about you all, but I'm not waking up early." Toph shook her finger.
"Me neither!" Artymis yelled.
"I'm with them." Katara placed her hands on her hips.
Sokka looked to Anduril and Appa for support, but saw that they were undisturbed in their sleep. He sighed but brightened up when another idea. "Or we can cut out all our eating breaks!"
"What?!"
"No way!"
"Forget it!"
"Alright then. From now on, we'll take food breaks and potty breaks at the same time!" Sokka raised his arms in triumph of his "brilliant ideas." When he saw the disgusted expressions on the girls' faces, he dropped his arms and sighed. "Hey, it might be gross but its efficient. Either way, we have to leave here first thing tomorrow morning."
Later that night when everyone had gone to bed, Katara laid wide awake. She tossed and turned but whatever she did, she could not get the image of the townspeople out of her mind.
Why are you still awake? Anduril asked. Tomorrow will be a long day.
Katara sighed quietly to herself. Today we went to the village today and the people there were hungry, thirsty, and dying. I know our mission is important but I can't turn the other cheek.
Anduril observed the young waterbender for a long time. In the time he had known her, Katara showed determination, caring, strength, and a wisdom. His eyes wandered around to their surroundings. He spotted a bush with purple berries. An idea came to mind. He turned to Katara. There may be a way to delay our mission a day or so…
Katara's eyes lit up and she sat up. She turned to Anduril with a bright and eager face. What is it?! She cried in excitement.
Zuko had waited a few hours, sitting in front of his uncle's cell. "Uncle, please. Talk to me." He begged the third time that hour.
Iroh sat as still as a statue facing the wall.
"Ugh!" Zuko said. "Are you going to say anything?" No answer. "Forget it then! The only fool in this room is you, you crazy old man!" Blasting fire at the walls of the prison cell, the prince slammed the door behind him.
Iroh, still sitting as still as when his nephew was there, gave a light sigh. A tear making its way to his long and dirty beard. "There was no fools in here," He whispered. "But there was a lost little boy."
The next morning, the group did their morning chores. Oddly enough, Anduril and Appa were lying on their side, groaning. Katara tended to them, biting her lip.
"What's wrong?" Artymis asked her, seeing that her brother and friend were looking sick. "Are they sick?"
"I think so." Katara said.
"What?!" Sokka ran to them, about ready to pull his hair out. "That's awful!"
"Didn't know you cared so much, Sokka." Toph sarcastically said.
"Of course I care!" Sokka pulled out his schedule. "I might as well just throw away our schedule…." His voice drowned in his throat when he saw the stern looks that the girls were giving him. They looked like they were about to attack him. Sokka quickly changed his mood and rushed to the bison and dragon's side. "And I'm concerned that my big furry and scaly friends are feeling so well!"
"Suck up." Toph muttered. She patted the bison and dragon's head. "But I care, unlike Sokka."
"Hey! I just said I cared!"
"They must've gotten sick from being in the polluted water yesterday." Artymis' expression softened. "Are you ok, big bro?" Anduril closed his eyes and exhaled deeply. Artymis saw his tongue was purple. "Kat, his tongue is purple."
"I can't do anything because I don't have any medicine on me now, maybe we can find the right herbs in town." Katara said.
"We'll be back." Artymis kissed Anduril's snout and Appa's nose. "Momo, you're in charge."
Momo chirped and cocked his head to the side. The two older girls led the way to shore where Dock would be sure to pick them up. Toph followed behind, dragging a schedule-crushed Sokka by the collar. When they arrived in the village, they thought they had either come to the wrong one or they dreamed of its dreary appearance. Everywhere, they saw people bustling, prosperous, and joyful.
"Is it just me or does this place seem different?" Toph asked her companions. "Like, we imagined its sadness from yesterday."
"People sure are happier." Artymis smiled when saw two kids running around, grinning and laughing.
They walked up to Dock's, or Xu's, market stall. He was cleaning something with a ragged cloth.
"Hey, Xu." Sokka leaned his elbows on the counter. "What's going on with everybody today?"
"She did!" Xu showed them the object he was cleaning. It was a medium-sized wooden statue of a woman who was heavily draped with elaborate face make-up and capped with a wide-brimmed conical hat. "The Painted Lady!"
"The Painted who now?" Toph asked.
"The Painted Lady." Xu began explaining, "Last night, she delivered food to our village. She's part of our town's lore. They say she's a river spirit who watches over our town in times of need. But I always thought she was a legend… Until now."
"See? We don't' need to help these people out, they already have someone to help them." Sokka muttered to Katara, who looked interested in the Painted Lady's lore. She frowned at her brother's comment. He turned back to Xu. "Ok, all we need is medicine for our sick friend. Do you have any?"
"Sorry." Xu's face lost all the joy. "All the medicine we have goes to the factory. That's why there's so many sick people in our village. Wish I could do more."
"No, its ok." Artymis said, "We're fine, but thanks." She turned to the others, "Looks like we're gonna need to stay another night so Anduril and Appa can rest."
Sokka sighed. "Guess you're right."
"I'm always right." Artymis stuck her tongue out.
Sokka shook his head. "Got any food to sell, Xu?"
"That I got!" Xu held up two fish to the friends. "Would like the one-headed fish or the two-headed fish?" It didn't' make a difference, both fishes were covered in the sludge from the river.
"Two-headed!" Sokka gave him the coins and took the two-headed fish. He turned around when he heard the girls make disgusted sounds. "What? You get more for your money this way."
"Um, lets just get back." Katara suggested.
"Yeah, I'm with Sugar Queen."
"Will you stop calling me that?!"
"Ugh!" Artymis ran from Sokka. "Get that away from me, Sokka!"
"What's wrong with it?!" Sokka yelled after her as he chased her. "You never know if you like it unless you try it!"
"I don't wanna try it!"
"Come on, Art!"
"Katara!"
"Sokka, knock it off!"
"But, Katara!"
"No buts!"
"Yeah, listen to Sugar Queen!"
"Ugh! Why do you insist on calling me that?!"
In the dark of the night, a mysterious draped and veiled figure crossed over the water with a mist and entered the village's infirmary. She had a sorrowful expression as she gazed at the sick sleeping persons on the ground. One by one, she knelt by the ill person, placed her fingertips softly on their forehead and healed them with her magic and a soft shine of a baby blue color. Her last patient was an ill mother. Her loving and caring son slept next to her, holding her arm. The woman smiled as she healed his mother and silently walked out of the infirmary.
The young boy woke up at the soft light and saw a veiled figure walking out. He jumped to his feet and followed her out. He stopped when he caught up to her and said in a small and sleepy voice, "Thank you, Painted Lady."
The Painted Lady stopped, as if startled. Instead of disappearing like he thought she would, she acknowledged him a nod. She then disappeared into the mist.
The group went into the town the next day. Anduril and Appa didn't get better overnight so they had to delay their journey again much to Sokka's dismay. They all noticed that there was more life in the village than the day before and they had a feeling it was with the Painted Lady statue that Dock was cleaning.
"Hey, Dock. Is Xu around?" Katara asked.
"Let me check for y'all!" He ran around the shop, ducked beneath the counter and ran back wearing a different hat. "Hey there!" He greeted, "Back again, are ya?"
"We need more food," Toph told him. "Our friends are still sick and we're hungry." She placed the money on the counter.
Xu took it and presented them a platter of clams. "Well, maybe if you guys are lucky, the Painted Lady will visit you tonight and heal your friends."
"That would be great." Artymis said, winking at Sokka and Katara.
"Yeah, and maybe she'll cook us a nice midnight snack and we can all have a sing-along." Sokka said in a dry sarcastic tone.
Xu was oblivious to the sarcasm in his voice. "Yeah, maybe. You now, she came again last nice and healed most of our sick folks, she did."
"No wonder this place seems so festive." Toph could hear the pounding of jumpy feet and shouts of joy. She "saw" the villagers erect a large statue of their Painted Lady, cheering and applauding.
"Yep, all because of the sweet Painted Lady." Xu grinned.
"Can you believe how much an entire village can be affected by one lady - I mean, spirit?" Katara gazed at the Painted Lady's statue in amazement.
"Well, let's hope she returns ever night." Sokka said, "Otherwise, this place would go right back to the way it was."
The girls crossed their arms over their chests, but Katara was perhaps the most furious one. "Why would you that?" She asked indignantly. "Look how much better these people are!"
"Yeah, but that's right now." Sokka pointed out. "Without her, they wouldn't be able to fend for themselves. If she really wanted to help, she would her spirit magic to blow up that factory." He made gestures and mocked an explosion with "spirit magic." "Ooooo… ka-powie!"
"Ugh!" Katara stomped her foot. "You're so immature!"
"Come on." Artymis dragged her three friends to the boats. "Don't want any more drama going on - there's enough with me, or so Toph and Katara says."
"But it is true, Doll Face." Toph grinned.
"Is not!" Artymis argued.
"See?" Toph pointed a finger at her. "Dra-ma!"
"Katara! Look at Toph!"
Artymis stared at the stars, laying on her sleeping bag. She couldn't get to sleep for some odd reason. She tossed and turned under the blankets, then throw them off, deciding it was too hot. Suddenly, something caught her eye. A veiled figure moving swiftly between the hills. Artymis sat up. "Painted Lady?" She pulled her boots on and quickly pinned her hair up. She followed the Painted Lady, succeeding in not making a sound. She followed her across the landscape, over the river, and through the village.
You know for some powerful river spirit, she sure doesn't have a good sense if someone's following her.
The Painted Lady did not stop until she had crossed the river and was on the opposite riverbank. Artymis could hear her panting, like catching her breath.
"Hello?"
The Lady was startled and turned around. She attempted to hide her face under her hat and veil.
"Yeah, you need to work on your senses - I mean I followed you across the river." Artymis told her, "And that's kind of sad - no offense. But anyway, I'm the Avatar: Artymis." Before she could continue, the Lady spoke in a strange high-pitch voice:
"Well, hello, Avatar. I wish I could talk, but I am very busy."
Artymis sneaked a peek under the hat to see her face. "You know, you look very familiar." She said suspiciously.
"A lot of people say that." The Lady lowered her hat, hoping to hide her face.
"Right…" Artymis narrowed her eyes in suspicion.
"Well, I best be going." The Lady started to walk away.
Artymis blew wind in her direction and her hat flew up. The Lady frantically pulled it back on her head but Artymis saw enough. "Well, hello, Painted Lady." Artymis lightly joked.
Katara sighed and said in a defeated tone, "Hi, Art." She took her hat off, showing the red paint on her face and her fallen brown hair. "Easy to figure out?"
"River spirit, waterbender, looking familiar, the sad attempt at the spirit voice…" Artymis started naming them. "But, nice try. So, how long you been the Painted Lady?"
"Well, at first, I wasn't, I was just trying to help the village. But since everyone though I was her, I guess I kind of became her."
"Is Anduril and Appa even sick?"
"No. Anduril actually gave me the idea of feeding him and Appa purple berries. They might be sick from too many but other than that they're fine."
"I can't believe you lied to everyone - and Anduril and Appa lied too - so you could these people…" Artymis' voice drowned.
"I'm sorry." Katara hung her head, "I know I shouldn't have -"
"Actually, I was going to give you praise."
"What?" Katara looked at her in disbelief.
"What you're doing is great." Artymis told her, "You're not only the Mighty Katara, but you act as a secret hero/spirit lady."
Katara smiled. "Well, my work's not done. If you want to help, you're more than happy to."
Artymis nodded. "Count me in."
The two girls stood on the cliff staring at the menacing expanse of the factory. "You want to destroy this factory?" Artymis asked Katara.
"Yes." Katara fixed her hair and her hat. "Sokka was only kidding, but I saw that he was right. Getting rid of this factory is the only way to help these people… permanently."
"Hey." Artymis shrugged, "I'm all for it."
(Two Hours Later)
"Ow!" Artymis winced. "Stupid rocks! I'm tripping over here, Katara!"
"Shh!" Katara warned her. "We don't want to wake Sokka up."
"Fine." Artymis muttered. They both walked around the corner and gasped when they saw Sokka and Toph waiting for them at the camp.
"Hey, Soak!" Artymis chuckled. "Kat and I thought that we would get good exercise with a morning walk. Missed it though 'cause we're done with it, maybe next time." She tried to grin and bear it.
"Oh, really?" Sokka questioned. "A morning walk?" He dumped the dry grass from Katara's sleeping bag and threw it on the ground. "I know you're the Painted Lady. I know you've been sneaking out at night and you've been lying about Appa and Anduril being sick because you've been feeding purplizing tongue berries!"
"Anduril!" The girls shouted.
"No." Sokka pointed at Toph.
Toph stuck her tongue out, which was purple, and held up a bag of berries.
"Katara, you put our whole mission in jeopardy." Sokka sighed. "We're leaving right now."
Katara looked the other way and walked back into the camp.
"And you!" Sokka pointed accusingly at Artymis. "How long did you know about this?"
"Hey, I found out two hours ago." Artymis explained. "And you shouldn't be too hard on Katara, she was only trying to help."
"But our mission is important!"
"So is saving others," Artymis argued. "Think about that." She walked away.
"Yeah, Ponytail Guy, think about that!" Toph marched off.
Sokka groaned in annoyance. He stopped when he heard strange sounds from the river. Curious, he crawled to the edge of the cliff from their campsite and peered down below. A detachment of Fire Nation soldiers on jet skis raced towards the village from the smoking factory.
"What's with the army move?" Artymis stood behind Sokka.
"Get down!" Sokka hissed.
Artymis saw the jet skis and immediately crawled in next to Sokka. "Factory guys?"
"Yeah."
"What's up?" Toph crawled next to Artymis.
"Fire Nation soldiers heading to the village." Artymis bit her lip, guessing why they were heading there.
The soldiers arrived at the village and the three watched them round the villagers up. When the villagers were all rounded up and surrounded, Katara walked up to the three spies. "What's going on?"
Sokka turned to Katara angrily. "What did you do?!"
Katara glanced down at the village and saw the scene, she answered in a guiltily voice, "I kind of…destroyed their factory."
"You what?!" Sokka stared at her wide-eyed.
"It was your idea!" Katara yelled.
"Yeah, but I was joking!" Sokka yelled back. "I also said to use spirit magic and make funny noises. Did you even think this through?" He pointed at the hostel villagers. "The army's gonna think the villagers did it and they're gonna get their revenge." He crossed his arms.
"Something had to be done." Artymis said.
"Art, stay out of this!" Sokka yelled.
Artymis frowned but Toph put a hand on her arm, shaking her head.
"Well, what was I suppose to do, Sokka?!" Katara asked.
"Leave!" Sokka answered, "Do nothing!"
Katara shut her eyes and press her lips together. "No!" She shouted, opening her eyes to reveal a flame in them. "I will never, ever turn my back on people who need me!" She breathed. "I'm going down to the village and I'm am going to do whatever I can do." She walked away. You may not care, but I do!
Sokka stared after her. He ran towards her and held her shoulder. "Wait. I'm coming too."
Katara turned to her, her face still hard. "I thought you didn't want to help."
"You need me," Sokka said. His face soften. "And I will never turn my back on you."
Katara softened and embraced her brother. "Oh, Sokka! You really do have a heart." Sokka return the embrace.
"That's so sweet." Artymis whispered to Toph, "He really does have a heart." She turned to Toph and made a move to hug her. But, Toph, had a low tolerance when it came to this kind of girly twaddle in public, socked her arm. Artymis grinned as she rubbed the sore spot, predicting it'll turn into a bruise. She looked up at the Water Tribe siblings and said, "So, how we gonna help?"
If you four wanted to help, Anduril began. Use what you have.
The group pondered on this when Sokka's face lit up. "I have an idea!"
General Mung addressed the frightened villagers. "I thought we could live as neighbors in peace. But, you proved me wrong. You steal our food, our medicine, and then you destroy our factory."
"We didn't do any of that!" Dock stood from the crowd. "The Painted Lady brought us food and she healed our sick, not your medicine!"
"Oh, right, the mysterious Painted Lady." General Mung laughed at the village's lore. What a ridiculous town! "And I suppose she drew the army emblem on your containers too. But we all know the truth: This is a town of thieves and liars!" He threw a fire blast at a house and it immediately caught on fire. "Where's your precious Painted Lady now?!" He shouted at the villagers. He nodded to the soldiers.
The soldiers on the jet skis started to tear down the houses and buildings and two soldiers lighted a large flammable ball. But the second they lit it, there was a mysterious gust of wind that blew the fire out. The two soldiers blinked and lit the ball again, but it was blown out for the second time.
General Mung watched this and ordered, "Light it again!" They did but it was blown out like the first two times, this time, with a more powerful wind.
"What's going on?" The female soldier asked out loud.
"I don't know," The male soldier muttered. He watched the heavy fog travel rapidly across the river. "Something strange is going on." He was startled when there was an ominous growling noise.
The little boy smirked with triumph when he figured out what was going on. "It's the Painted Lady." He whispered, jumping up and down beside his mother. "She's coming!"
"There is no Painted Lady!" General Mung shouted at the boy.
The boy frowned and stuck his tongue at him. His mother hushed him and told him to mind his manners.
"Maybe it is her, sir." A soldier supposed.
"How many times do I have to tell you all?" General Mung was at his last straw. "There is no such thing as the Painted -" He stopped when he saw that the fog had parted to reveal the mysterious veiled Painted Lady. She stood still like rock before rushing toward the village at full speed. She alighted on the dock and slowly approached General Mung and his soldiers. "Do something!"
Katara tapped her foot light on the wood beneath her heavy cloak. Artymis, who was "camping" under the dock, sent a blast of air to the soldiers who rushed towards Katara. She owes me big for me this close to the green river!
"Stand you ground!"
Not giving up? Katara thought. Then let me show you out. She waterbended two jet skis into a nearby cliff, where, upon impact, exploded. She turned her body to the soldiers and raised her left hand, as a sign she would wreak further damage. Scared out of their wits, the soldiers jumped into the remaining jet skis and sped off. All except General Mung stood ground.
"I'll take care of you myself!" He muttered.
Bring it!
He bended an arc of fire at her. Katara remained calm and still, trusting Artymis would do her part. I gotta do everything, huh? The airbender whined. She threw a punch up to Katara which send her flying into the sky on a column of air as the arc of fire passed beneath her. Artymis sent a blast of wind towards Mung, sending him flying into the river. She smirked. Katara waterbended herself into the water and rose in front of Mung. She raised her arms threateningly, and it matched her tone:
"Leave this village and never come back."
Mung, shaken with fear, swam desperately away from her and clambered onto a passing jet ski. Katara had to smirk in triumph. She returned to the village where Sokka, Toph, and Artymis - her special effects crew - waited. They smiled at her. Katara felt a heavy burden lift from her shoulders and heart. The village was safe now.
"I knew you'd come!" The little boy cried out to her.
Katara smiled under her hat and veil.
"Thank you!"
"Painted Lady, you're the best!"
Katara tried hard not to blush at the compliments made to her, but it was hard not to.
"Me and my brothers really owe you a lot," Dock stepped towards her but stopped when he took a good look at her. Had had a shock of recognition. "Hey, wait a minute! I know you. You're not the Painted Lady, you're that colonial girl!"
Katara blinked and pressed her fingers lightly to her face and glanced down at them. The red paint on her face was wearing off. She looked up in a panic. Her friends stood up, ready to defend her.
"Yeah!" The little boy recognized her as well. "You're that nice lady who gave me a fish."
"You've tricked us. You're not a spirit, you're a waterbender!" Dock accused.
"She's a waterbender?!"
"How dare you act like our Painted Lady!"
The crowd started to surge forward in anger, shouting things at her. Katara took a step back and her friends came to her rescue. Sokka was directly in front of her.
"Maybe she is a waterbender and not the Painted Lady, but she was only trying to help. Because of her, that factory won't be polluting your river and the army is gone. You should be down on your knees and thanking her!"
"Sokka, wait." Katara stood by him, discarding her veiled hat. "Its alright. I got this." She looked at him and he nodded, stepped back, and allowed her to take the floor. Katara turned to the villagers. "I know I should've have acted like someone I wasn't and I should've have tricked you. But I felt like I had to do something." Sincereness could be heard in her voice as she spoke: "But it doesn't matter if the Painted Lady is real or not because your problems are real and this river is real. You can't wait around for someone to help. You have to help yourself." Her words sank into each of the villagers who slowly realized she was right.
"She's right." Dock said, "But what should we do?"
Toph snuck into the crowd and suggested in a disguised voice, "Maybe we can clean the river." She disappeared behind the villagers and snuck her way be Artymis' side.
"Yeah, we can clean the river!" Dock snapped his fingers and the crowd agreed on the idea. He looked at Katara, "Thank you." Katara smiled. "And you know, you're not so bad for a waterbender."
"You wouldn't mind keeping all this a secret right?" Artymis asked, "Especially the waterbending thing."
"Oh, no problem!" Dock said, "Keeping my mouth shut it a personal specialty. My brother Xu, on the other hand, hoo! He's a blabbermouth."
"AKA: Secret is gonna be out." Artymis muttered to Katara.
Katara shook her head and suppressed a laugh.
"So, Dock, you gonna help us clean the river?" Toph asked.
"Nu-uh, little missy. I'm going to get my other brother, Bushi. He loves cleaning rivers." He switched his hat right then and there. "Alright, I'm Bushi! Lets get some river cleaning done!" The group stared at him.
"Aha!" Sokka pointed at him. "I knew it! I knew you were the same guy. You're the shop owner and the boat guy!"
"What?" Bushi was shocked. "You must be talking about my brothers, Dock and Xu."
"No, we just saw you change hats!" Artymis argued, "You called yourself a different name."
"Oh!" Bushi chuckled, "You know who does that? My brother Dock." He leaned forward and whispered to the four friends, "He's crazy." He then walked off, singing an off-key song of cleaning rivers.
"That is one crazy person." Toph said. The others nodded in agreement.
That afternoon was spent cleaning the river. The water was separated from the sewage, thanks to the girls' bending, so the cleaning didn't take as long as it would have without them. The waste was disposed of somewhere else and the water looked blue pristine by sunset. The friends bid goodbye to the village and relaxed at their campsite with Anduril, Appa, and Momo.
"The river looks beautiful now," Katara mused.
"Thanks to you." Artymis said. Then, she ruined the mood. "You owe me big! I was a foot away from the sewage river!"
"Oh, hush up, Doll Face!" Toph said, "Let Sugar Queen have her day."
"Yeah, Art," Sokka joined Toph's side. "Besides you owe a lot more, Drama Queen."
Katara laughed.
When nighttime came, the group retired to bed. Katara, though, went down to the river and dipped her hands in water. It felt cool against her skin. Then, a light glowed from above her. Katara looked up and nearly gasped. As beautiful as she was said to be, with thick brown hair and a painted face, the Painted Lady smiled down upon Katara.
"Thank you, Katara." Her voice was soft and gentle like her smile. The mist eloped around her and disappeared.
Katara stared at where she was in amazement. Then, a smile graced her face.
Author's Note: You know, I really liked this episode. It gave Katara the spotlight for a change. You know, when the Painted Lady appeared in the end, I was like "Cool." Honest feedback please. And I know that this chapter came in slower and the ones in the future, I'm warning you, will come at a slow speed since school started and I'm taking AP classes. Comments, ideas, suggestions, feedback are always welcomed!
Author's Second Note: A reader and supporter of my Avatar series has asked for pictures of the characters and (I'm guessing) possibly scenes. I told her I would try to get some, besides the lovely picture that Terrauh drew for me (thanks so much!). So, if anyone is up for it, you can PM me or email me and we can discuss it. Thanks so much.
wolfgirl2.0: Yeah, Katara got to be the star in the chapter! lol
ani-sand: I felt bad for Edvard too. But, he does get Isabella and Artymis is STILL in denial. --' Stupid denial thingy.
MR11: That idea of Combustion Man was good, but I decided not to have him in this story. Too complicated to send ComboMan. lol But your idea was good.
Kikan-Moon-Fox-Girl: Happy music plays Here's the next chapter!
garretluvr: Yes, I have returned. Dramatic music
Princesa de la Luna: Someone said on DeviantArt that they can probably do some fanart, so it looks good so far.
Terra Young: Why, thank you!
-THANKS FOR ALL THE REVIEWS, ALERTS, FAVORITES, PMS, AND SUPPORT!-