Chapter 4: Every Day at High School
KPOV
"Ok, class, I have all of your essays here. I'll pass them out, and while I'm doing it, I want you all to write what you know about Ba Sing Se. We are going to start learning about the Earth Kingdom and about earth benders. After that, we will get into the war between the Fire and Water Nation."
All of the students started scribbling down what they knew about the Ba Sing Se and I passed out the papers. I heard a few students whispering. I didn't really mind, until I realized what they were talking about.
"You've been there?"
"Yeah, the waiter has some really creepy eyes. There all golden and he's got a big scary scar."
"Really?"
"Yah, and the Uncle is like super fat and I hear they're firebenders!"
"What? No way! How dare some stupid Fire Nation scum try to invade on us. The nerve, especially after the war."
"I know right."
"My Gran won't let me go there to see them, she says its rude or whatever. Honestly, I think she's just worried that I'll get burned to a crisp."
I put the paper in front of one of the boys talking. "Karaa, have you ever been to the Fire Naiton?"
He looked up in fear, probably because I looked pissed. "No, Master Katara."
"Have you ever had a conversation with someone from the Fire Nation?"
"No, Master Katara."
"Have you ever seen someone firebend?"
"No, Master Katara."
I walked to the front of the room. "I personally, have studied under a firebender, I've seen their country, and I'm also friends with the workers of the Red Dragon. Just as there are bad people in the Water Nation, there are bad people in the Fire Nation. Would you be saying the same thing if we had a war with the Northern Water Nation? After all, they also have waterbenders." Thoughts of the conversation I had had with Sokka came into my mind, but I quickly pushed them away. The secrets of the North was something I tried to avoid as much as possible.
They all went silent. "I will not tolerate and trash talk or prejudice against another bender or nation. If I hear or see it persisting, I will deal with you personally, understand?"
The whole class answered at once, "Yes, Master Katara."
"Thank you. Now, I'm going to hand you markers and I want you to write what you already know about Ba Sing Se."
I had a seal jerkey to chew on for lunch and I had a club, young waterbenders alliance, of course, in my class today. They meet and talk about the history of waterbending, some new tricks they've learned, and if they have any questions, they ask me.
I already knew today was going to be a long day from that first class, but I wasn't prepared for the snowball thrown at me at lunch.
"Master Katara?"
"Yes, Hana?"
"You know about bloodbending right?" I stopped chewing on my jerky.
"… Yes, I focused on that particular part during my master studies in college."
"Is it true you can do it without the full moon?" I could feel the sweat coming from my forehead. It wasn't that I couldn't, I just felt uncomfortable with the either awe struck or disgusted faces I get when asked these kinds of questions.
"Yes, I can bloodbend without the full moon."
"Could you… teach us?"
"No."
"What? Why not?" I looked behing her to see the other club members figiting.
"Bloodbending is not to be messed with. You need a special certification to use and you have to undergo harsh training. I only ever use it for medical reasons."
"Didn't they make a special platoon or whatever of bloodbenders for the war."
I froze. "…yes… that is true."
"Wow, bloodbending is so cool."
"Hana, promise me you won't try to bloodbend without my permission."
She looked like she wanted to argue, but I gave her a hard stare, showing there was no way to deter me. "Yes, Master Katara."
I sighed in relief. "I can teach you the ideology of it and the history of it, if you want, but not today."
"Yes! Thanks Master Katara!"
"Next week I can give you a presentation on it, is that ok? And… I'll demonstrate on some rats, will that stop your curiosity?"
"Thank you so much, Master Katara, that's more than I could ever asked for."
Liar, you just asked me to teach you.
I just continued to nibble on my jerky. Bloodbending had always been a rough topic to discuss. Even with my vast knowledge, I could hardly understand tthe powers I possessed. It was hard to talk about bloodbending, because it felt so magical in a way. Nothing could compare to it. The schools restricted learning about it, since bloodbending was a power that tended to taint the soul. I shivered thinking back to how I had come across bloodbending and the repercussions if using it. I didn't like it, but doing something small, like with rats, was permissible, especially since it was just a demonstration.
I heard my phone vibrate on my desk and noticed I had a text from Zuko. It's been 3 days since he asked me out, but I hadn't heard anything since then. I decided not to worry about, we both had busy lives.
Hey, it's Zuko. Wanna go out Saturday @ 2?
I smiled at my phone and texted back,
Sure, just tell me ware u wanna go ill be thare
"Master Katara, who are you texting?"
I looked up to see one of my brighter students who was sort of a teacher's pet, but what teacher didn't like teacher's pets?
"Just a friend, Kan. We are making plans for the weekend."
One of the girls in the club must have been eavesdropping because then she was all over me. She came to my Dojo regularly. She's come since I first owned it.
"Oh? Master Katara is actually going on a date? I thought your life was only us and the Dojo." I rolled my eyes.
"Whatever, Kanta."
"She's not denying it!"
That got everyones attention. "Really? You're going on a date? Are you finally going to get married?"
"Are you going to have kids?"
"Who is it?"
"Is it Kurik?"
"Who's Kurik?"
"It's Kiroki's older brother, they grew up together. Kiroki told me he had a huge thing for Master Katara."
I couldn't handle it all.
"Settle down, settle down." They did not settle down!
Finally, I realized that if I didn't tell them something then I would never get the end of it for the rest of my classes.
"Fine! I'll tell you guys!" The town was bound to find out anyway. That is, if Nala didn't already spread around that I had a thing for him after the dinner. I hadn't told any of my friends about my upcoming date, or the fact I was with him a couple nights ago. I wasn't exactly hiding it from them, but I was wary on their reactions. Napa would of course be excited, but Esrick and Kurick had both fought in the war at an early age, and it was easier to joke about me dating someone from the fire nation then it would be to aactually see it happening. Both had decided that since the war was over, their work was unneeded, as did many men and women who had fought. Many of our people had to drop everything when they came of age to fight. I was lucky enough to have gone through great education and have the opportunity to travel.
They stayed quiet and looked up at me with their round blue and grey eyes. "Ugh, fine, you really want to know?"
"Yes!"
"It's… Zuko."
They stayed silent for a while. "What? Who's Zuko."
I knew they wouldn't know. "He's… the waiter at the Red Dragon."
"WHAT?!" they all yelled.
"You are going to go out with Fire Nation?!"
I rolled my eyes. "What Nation they are from doesn't matter."
"Wow, I didn't know that was your taste…"
"Oh, be quiet. I know you've been sneaking around with Sakino the past 2 months."
A huge blush went over Hana's face. Thankfully, that deflected the attention off of me. I know it's sort of a low blow to through a student under the bus, but everyone knew about it anyway, you can never hide anything here.
I had a prep period after lunch and I went into the Teachers Lounge to grab some tea. There was coffee, too, but I preferred tea. Coffee was just too bitter for me. And of course, there weren't many cold drinks, unless you brought them yourself. When I walked in, I saw one of the math teachers and the nurse.
"Oh! Katara! Just the person I wanted to see. I heard you have a date!"
I groaned. Sometimes I wonder how the hell word travels so fast. "Yes, I have a date with the Fire Nation boy. Can we end this conversation? I already got interrogated by my students." She just giggled and elbowed the math teacher.
"Of course one of the wisest people in this town can't just date someone from the town. You were never meant for a Water Nation guy."
I rolled my eyes. "Kas, you know that's not true. I've dated Water Nation guys before."
"Yeah, and look how that turned out?" The math teacher just started fidgeting. I tried not to flinch at her judgemental words. The issues I had been through were very much publicized due to my close ties with the city council. Some sympathized, but many saw it as a way for publicity and drama, even though no one really knew what happened. Kas and I had gone to high school together. She used to have a crush on Jet.
"Huk, you don't have to sit in on this conversation, go prep for your class. Oh, bully Kiroki, she's been spreading rumors about me and Kurik." He just laughed and walked out of the room with the coffee in his hand.
When he left, Kas's face became a little more serious. "Seriously, Katara, what are you thinking? I know everyone's pushing for you to start dating again. But, Fire Nation, seriously?"
"Look, he asked me out on a date, and I'm going on one, it's not like we plan to go off and get married or anything."
"I'm just telling you to be careful."
"Kas, you of all people should not be telling me that." I grew irritated. "And we both know you don't actually care." She didn't like when the attention was on anyone but herself.
She huffed and poked her chin out. "Whatever." She stalked out of the room with her tea in hand and when she left I slumped down against the counter and started to use my bending to mix the sugar in my tea.
I felt my phone vibrating in my pocket and I didn't even look at who was calling before answering it.
"OMYGOSH YOU ARE GOING ON A DATE WITH ZUKO?!"
I sighed and rubbed my brow line. "Who told you?"
"What are you talking about? It's the hottest topic in here right now!"
"What? Are you telling me everyone in the clothing store knows already? Who told them?"
"I don't know but I think the manager found out first. Isn't his son in one of your classes?" I sighed and took a sip of the tea.
"Nala, please don't make a big deal out of this." She huffed, but didn't say anything. "Nala!"
"Fine! Whatever. When is it though? What are you guys doing?"
"It's on Saturday, and I don't know what we are doing. I wouldn't tell you anyway because then you'd get the whole town to crash it."
"Whatever."
"You did that last time!"
"I did not!"
"Yes, you did!"
"Ok, maybe a little…"
"Nala, I have to get back to work, I'll talk to you later, ok?"
"Ok, you better."
I hung up the phone and set the cup down on the counter. I used my bending to bring a stream from the cup to my mouth. Waterbending relaxed me, and since I haven't been doing it much lately, I had this need for release. My shoulders were tense from being so defensive all day. It was hard to waterbend myself, especially on my back. I wish there was someone else I trusted enough to work on my muscles.
I've tried to go to one of the shops where they give you messages as well as relax your muscles with a waterbending technique that's pretty well known. I just couldn't… let loose knowing someone else was moving around my muscles and the water in my body. It wasn't bloodbending but… it still made my nervous. And the way they did it was just… they weren't used to working with a woman's body that constantly works out. I felt weaker for a whole week, until all those nots came back.
I rubbed my shoulder a bit with my other hand and when I finished my tea, I threw my paper cup in the trash and walked back to my classroom to start planning my lessons for the rest of the day, and for tomorrow.
Later that day I went to the Dojo because I had a class. Of course, the hot topic for the day was the fact I was going on a date with Zuko. I'm sure even Zuko heard about it. Even if I loved this town, there were still parts of it I simply couldn't stand. Sometimes, it's nice to never be really noticed in a sea of faces in the city.
Sometimes I don't want to be seen.
I really needed to let off some steam. One of my oldest students, who was 17, had been training with me for the past 2 years, and today, I decided to have a little spar with him. I had only owned the Dojo for 2 years, the owner before me had gotten old and weak and was glad to put it in my hands when I decided to quite my political job. The students weren't really sure what to make of me, but I soon was able to get a good rep and respect from anyone who came here. I wasn't a Master for nothing.
He was in fact a waterbender, however he had a lot of trouble getting the hang of some simple moves when I first came. I wasn't really sure what exactly the old master was teaching them, but when I came in, most of the waterbenders struggled. I was the same when I was younger. When I first went to the Northern Water Nation, I was looked down upon for my mediocre bending, which only pushed them further to just throw me in with the healers. Luckily, there was a master who sympathized me and was willing to train me late into the nights so I could keep up with my male peers.
"Ok everyone, pick a partner to par with. There's two barrels next to each mat. Of course, if you want to try and go outside, I'd encourage it." No one wanted to go outside in their thin workout clothes. "Kunas, you're with me."
We bowed to each other and then stood there for a few seconds, both of us in a tight stance. I knew I could take him down in a mere few seconds, but the point of this isn't for my benefit, but for theirs, and I just happen to get a nice workout out of it.
He acted first, flinging a water whip at me and I easily deflected it, turning it back to him, freezing it into ice shards, aiming straight for his chest. He melted to ice and threw the water back into the barrel, he tried to fling tiny droplets of water at me at once, but I deflected it and put it inside my own barrel. I then took out all of the water out of the barrel and began circling it around my body as Kun tried to strike me in all directions. My circle of water absorbed his attacks. Finally, he decided a more direct approach, dropping the water to my feet and trying to freeze my feet. I whipped at the ice, cracking it as soon as it froze, however he then tried to jab at my face with a fist full of ice. It was well thought out, but with my feet firmly planted, I easily ducked down barely caring about my balance and grabbed his ankle so he would fall onto his back. I turned my water into a large ice spear and aimed it for his neck.
"I'm out." Kun said. We put all of the water back into the barrels and I held out an arm to help him up. He smiled up at me and gladly took his hand. "Thank you, Master Katara."
"Thank you, Kunas."
Before we went back to sparing, he blurted out, "My family would like to invite you to dinner."
"Oh? What's the occasion?"
"Well, my mom felt bad that we don't pay as much…"
"Kunas, you know I told you that you don't need to worry about that."
"Well, I'm graduating soon, so my family is planning a big dinner, all of my cousins are coming!"
"Really? Then I wouldn't mind coming by. When is it?"
"The next full moon."
"That's the best time!"
"I thought you'd think so." I put my hand on his shoulder and squeezed it.
"Kunas, you've improved so much, I'm so proud of you. I know that you'll be a fine waterbender in the future."
He bowed low and I could hear the crack in his voice. "Thank you, Master Katara."
We stayed there for a moment before another girl tapped my shoulder. "Mind if I cut in? Kiroki has some questions about technique for you."
"Sure. Kunas, we'll continue later. I hope you both do well."
And that's pretty much what went on. It was dark by the time it ended, and I made sure that everyone had their heavy snow gear and waited until each one had left before locking up the Dojo.
When I made it home I took out my laptop and started writing the project prompts for my students. I wanted them to learn about the different areas of the Earth Nation. Also, in my Spirits class, we were about to start covering the moon spirit, which was always a favorite. I want to finish the best of it before the hard winter rolls in. School stays out of session because of the danger of traveling and the heavy snow nearly locks most of us in our houses. I shut the Dojo down, too. There's no point in endangering my students lives.
"Katara!?" My brother screamed swinging the door open.
I sighed and swung my head low. "What, Sokka?"
"Is it true that you are going to marry Zuko?"
I swung my head around and gave him an exasperated look, "What?! Of course not!"
"That's what I heard in the market today!"
"Stop gossiping with the old grannys! There info is always wrong, you know this!"
"Ok, well, I just wanted to make sure. So… you're not actually in to him or anything, are you?"
"I'm going on a date with him."
"What?! Woah, there! No way. Why a Fire Nation boy out of anyone! You traveled the world and you choose FIRE NATION?"
"Sokka, you're being really immature about this. It's just one date."
"'One date' leads to all kinds of things, Katara!" I rolled my eyes.
"I'm working; can you leave me alone?" He huffed and crossed his arms, setting the grocerys on the counter and roughly putting them away. I rolled my eyes at his childish behavior.
Sokka noticed I had cooked and smiled. "I may not like your decisions but I love your cooking." He had finished putting away the groceries and pulled out a plate. I noticed his eyes on the back of my head. "...would you like me to make you a plate?" I shook my head, not daring to look at him.
"I had some before you came home." I looked at the clock on my screen, hoping Sokka wouldn't have remembered I only got off of work at the dojo an hour ago. Which meant there was no way I could have eaten. The cries fish would have also given me away, since it was perfectly set and untouched. He didn't comment though, only sat in front of me and chewed on his food. I did my best not to glance up and stare at the fish. I was hungry, but I didn't want to eat. If I did, I knew that might I'd have took myself in the mirror and notice how big my thighs were, my double chin that poked out, and the fat that simply wouldn't turn into muscle on my arms and stomach. I hated it.
"One of my students invited me to a family dinner, would you like to join?"
Sokka paused. "Will you be actually eating at this dinner."
I nodded, knowing that it was the only way to get him off my back. He nodded back, and put his dish in the sink. He mumbled a goodnight before going into his room.
I drank some tea to settle my hungry stomach before making my way to the bedroom. Sokka went to bed hours before. I hadn't even realized the time when I finally looked up from my comouter. In a haze I stumbled to my bedroom, suddenly remembering my upcoming date and smile.fell on my lips as I slipped into a seamless sleep.