The Confrontational Approach
By Advocaat
UPDATE: Revised 12/28/2016
Chapter Seven
Super Smash Benders - Brawl
He was falling.
Zuko's eyes were wide with shock as he fell away from the platform. Katara leaned out over the edge to watch him plummet to his death and he stared at her face in hurt and confusion. He'd known this could happen, but still, he couldn't believe she'd really done it. He thought they were finally beginning to get along. Wasn't his destiny to help the Avatar bring peace to the world? Was he really going to die here? He saw Katara smile. She looked...amused? Her lips moved and though he couldn't hear her over the air rushing past his ears, he saw her mouth form two words that he understood clearly and immediately.
Trust me.
Then she pointed down.
oO0Oo
After breakfast, Sokka returned to his room to fetch his sword. Since Toph was booting Zuko out of that afternoon's training slot, the cranky firebender now had time to indulge him in a good old fashioned sword spar. Sokka hadn't practiced much since their return from the Boiling Rock and he was pretty sure Zuko hadn't either.
He made his way back to the common area and plopped down next to the wooden washtub Katara always used to clean their dishes after meals. Surely his sister wouldn't mind him borrowing a bit of her water to clean his precious space sword. Looking around, he noticed that all of the benders, save Haru and Chit Sang, seemed to have disappeared while he was gone. Whatever. They were probably doing some special Avatar training thing. He laid the sword across his lap and pulled a polishing cloth from inside his tunic, then he set to work running it up and down the blade. When he was satisfied with the state of the blade, he pulled out another cloth and wet it, preparing to move on to the hilt. He heard footsteps approaching and looked up when his father sat down next to him. "Hey dad, what's up?"
"Sokka," the older man greeted, "I hope I'm not interrupting. I wanted to talk to you about something. Or more accurately, someone."
"Dad, it's really okay. I don't need any advice about my relationship with Suki," Sokka said quickly.
Hakoda gave his son an amused look. "I was actually hoping you could tell me a little about your friend Zuko."
"Oh. What about him?" he asked, returning to his polishing.
"Why don't you start by telling me how you and your friends met him."
"I wish to know as well," Chit Sang announced in his deep timbre, joining them on the floor. "Our Prince's actions have sparked a lot of interest among the citizens of the Fire Nation. The rumors permeated even the Boiling Rock."
Sokka wondered for the first time just how far Zuko's reputation preceded him. It hadn't really occurred to him that the Fire Nation might actually care what their prince got up to. He turned back to his dad and said, "We actually met when Katara and I were still at the South Pole. It was just after we found Aang. Zuko was searching for the Avatar. And let me tell you, he was a super big jerk about it."
Hakoda's eyebrows rose. "Oh?"
Sokka unconsciously waved around the hand holding his cloth in ire as he said, "He destroyed my wall! Crashed right into it with that stupid, smelly ship of his."
"Did he now?"
Sokka nodded. "Then, get this, he grabs Gran Gran by her parka—I know, right?—and tells everyone in the village that he's looking for the Avatar, who he said should be about as old as her. I don't think Gran Gran was too happy about that since, you know, the Avatar hadn't been seen in a hundred years. I mean, Gran Gran's old, but she's not that old. Then he took off with Aang in his ship and me and Katara went after them on Appa—who I TOTALLY believed could fly the whole time—and tried to rescue him, but Aang pretty much took care of that by himself, and we spent the rest of the winter dodging him all the way to the North Pole."
Hakoda's eyes were wide as he processed his son's almost unbroken account. "Well that sounds very…exciting," he said for lack of better words.
Sokka shrugged. "He was a giant pain in our rear during those months." He waved to Suki, who had been demonstrating some fan moves for Haru and Teo and The Duke across the room, and the four of them came over to join the conversation. Sokka put an arm around his girlfriend and continued, "He set fire to Suki's village when he found out we were staying there."
"Oh, are you talking about Zuko?" Suki asked.
"Yes. Sokka was just telling us how you all met him," Hakoda informed her. "So, he burned down your village?"
"Not completely, but he tried," she confirmed. "That's when I first met him. He and his men just barged right into town on komodo rhinos shouting for "the Avatar" to come out. When Aang didn't show up, he ordered his men to find him. Apparently 'finding him' involved burning everything in sight. Not the best first impression."
"But you've forgiven him for that now?" Hakoda asked.
"I was pretty miffed when I saw him again at the Boiling Rock," she admitted, "but he seems different now. Not at all like the haughty brat who invaded my town. Plus, he helped Sokka rescue me and encouraged him to not give up on finding you, which makes up for what he did as far as I'm concerned." She smiled and added, "He even apologized to me. It was a lame and awkward apology, but I'll admit it was a little endearing."
"That's our Zuko," Sokka agreed, "Lame and awkward but a little endearing."
"I could say the same about you," Suki teased, poking his shoulder.
Sokka frowned, affronted. "Excuse me! I am not lame or awkward. I'm charming and charismatic," he rebutted. "And I'm VERY endearing."
She patted his hand. "Of course you are."
"Don't patronize me!"
Hakoda smiled at their affectionate banter. It was obvious that the lovely young warrior truly made his son happy. He turned to the three Earth Kingdom boys. "And how about yourselves? What do you think of Prince Zuko?"
The three of them glanced at each other uncertainly before Haru looked at him and said, "I was really surprised when we," he gestured to Teo and The Duke, "came back from exploring the temple and found him here. None of us had met him before that. The Fire Nation has done nothing but make our lives miserable so we were pretty suspicious at first—no offense," he said quickly, turning to Chit Sang.
"None taken," the large man replied.
"But he's been very polite and well-behaved since he got here," the long haired earthbender continued, "And he seems to be doing a pretty good job of training Aang."
"The only one who really has a problem with him is Katara," Teo supplied. Haru and the Duke nodded in agreement.
"And why is that, exactly?" Hakoda asked. This was a point of particular interest to him as well as his primary reason for asking about the boy.
Haru looked uncertain. "We don't really know," he confessed.
"I think something happened between them in Ba Sing Se," Sokka contributed. "Katara was trapped in a cave with him for a while right before the city was taken. Azula—you remember Zuko's crazy sister—infiltrated the palace while Aang and I were away and she locked Katara up underground. Beats me why Zuko was down there."
Hakoda furrowed his brow in concern. He didn't like the idea of his daughter being trapped all alone with an enemy who was potentially dangerous and willing to inflict harm when it suited him. He opened his mouth to ask if she'd been hurt but Sokka seemed to sense his impending question.
"I don't know what all went on down there," he said. "Aang was the one who found them, so you might try asking him. But Katara wasn't hurt at all, and neither was Zuko, so I don't think they fought."
It relieved Hakoda greatly to hear that.
"Katara has only talked about it once; when Zuko first showed up here. She said something about him talking about his mother and making himself seem like "an actual human being with feelings". I figured she was just sore about being duped by the enemy, but the level of animosity she's shown him despite everything he's done for us since he arrived makes me think that there's more to the story."
Suki lowered her eyes. She knew better than anyone how upset Katara was about Zuko's decision in Ba Sing Se. It had obviously hurt her friend deeply to have her trust betrayed. She wished she knew what had happened to spark that trust in the first place.
Hakoda was reluctant to think ill of Zuko after their encounter in the library. Zuko was clearly remorseful for his previous actions and his desire to earn Katara's trust seemed genuine. However, Hakoda couldn't dismiss the possibility that it was all a ruse. It was dangerous and naïve to simply assume that a long-time enemy had suddenly seen the light and just leave it at that. Zuko had proven himself capable of deceit in the past. "Tell me honestly, Sokka, should I be worried for my daughter's safety?"
Sokka sobered. He frowned down at his sword and then looked up to meet Hakoda's eyes. As seriously as Hakoda had ever heard him, he said, "He won't hurt her."
"Hey, guys. Have any of you seen Toph?" Aang called out, effectively breaking the tension, as he entered the common area. "I can't find her anywhere."
Sokka furrowed his eyebrows thoughtfully but none of them had time to answer because right at that moment the girl in question suddenly raced out onto the platform with a crazy grin on her face and yelled, "Incoming!"
"Incoming? What—" Sokka was cut off when a person shaped mass of red and gold dropped from high above and landed in a roll not ten feet from where they sat. "Zuko!" he exclaimed, "What in La's name—" he was interrupted once again when Zuko threw himself to the side and who else but Katara landed in a graceful crouch in the spot the prince had just vacated.
Quick as lightning, Katara snatched the water from the washtub and hurled it at Zuko. The firebender flipped backward onto his feet to avoid the deluge and retreated a few yards, widening the gap between them. The group watched in stunned disbelief as Katara pulled the spilt water from the floor and combined it with water from her smaller skin to form two large whips which she lashed at him in rapid succession. Zuko spun around and shot his right leg high above his head in a fiery hook kick and his heal hammered into the first whip with a burst of steam before he brought it down and pivoted around to slam his left foot into the other whip with a powerful roundhouse. The impact sent water flying in every direction and even more steam billowing into the air.
Hakoda and Aang were the first to recover from their paralysis. Hakoda made to intervene but the Avatar beat him to it. "Katara! Stop! This isn't the answer!" he cried, running toward them. Neither bender appeared to hear him as they didn't shift their focus from each other in the slightest. The collective panic rose when Zuko conjured flames in both of his hands and charged toward Katara. Aang tried to jump in and stop him but was thwarted by Toph who sent him flying backward with a large chunk of rubble. Hakoda looked from the fallen Avatar to the blind earthbender with an expression of shock.
Katara met Zuko's charge with a small flurry of hastily formed ice daggers. The firebender lunged forward into a roll to avoid the projectiles and swept his leg out, knocking her feet out from under her and sending her toppling to the ground. Seeing Katara go down, Haru made his own attempt to interfere using his earthbending but he too was taken out by Toph. Zuko made a grab for Katara's water skin but she caught him in the stomach with her foot and launched him away from her. He managed to stay upright, but the effort it took gave Katara the opportunity she needed to scramble to her feet and tackle him to the floor.
Aang picked himself up and shot a useless glare at Toph. "Why did you stop me?"
"Can it, Twinkletoes. I'm trying to watch," she said, making a shooing motion with one hand. She had her feet planted firmly on the floor to maximize her bending radar and her face was set in an excited grin.
"Don't worry, Aang. I'm sure Toph wouldn't have stopped you if anything bad were happening, right Toph?" Sokka tried to reassuring his friend but he sounded like he needed the reassurance just as much as Aang. Suki helped Haru to his feet and they all looked on anxiously as their allies abandoned their elements and resorted to wrestling inelegantly on the floor.
"Just give up already!" Katara demanded, grabbing the back of Zuko's head and smushing his cheek into the stone.
"No way!" he ground out, grimacing from pressure on his head. He twisted his body around and wrapped his legs around her middle, giving him the leverage he needed to flip her body under his. He then tried to roll her onto her stomach so that he could access the pocket on her water skin but she kicked her right leg up and slammed it into his side, knocking him onto his back next to her with a grunt. He recovered quickly enough to sit up but that was as far as he got because in the next instant Katara was on top of him once more, straddling his thighs.
She gave him a triumphant smirk and said, "You lose." Then, with the entire group watching, she deftly untied his belt and yanked open his hippari, exposing his chest and stomach
"Katara! What are you doing?!" Sokka shrieked, his eyes bugging out of their sockets as he watched his sister disrobe their former enemy. The others were in similar states of shock. Aang had his hands on his cheeks and a look of utter disbelief on his face.
"Not now, Sokka!" she called, finally acknowledging her audience enough to respond as she batted away Zuko's hands. Getting fed up with his attempts to remove her, she planted her left hand on his chest and pushed down, forcing him to sacrifice one of his arms in order to remain upright. Now they were both down to one arm as she searched his clothes for the coin that would secure her victory. She caught a glint of gold from a well-disguised pocket in the lining of his shirt and grinned. "Aha!"
"You can't just force yourself on someone! That's molestation!" Sokka wailed. By this point, the whole group had gathered around the dueling benders. None of them knew quite how to handle the situation at hand. Toph was nearly beside herself as she fought to contain her mirth.
Zuko and Katara both froze upon hearing Sokka's exclamation. Zuko's cheeks turned pink, much to his silent chagrin, and Katara looked up at her brother with an expression of confusion. "Molestation? What are you talking about?"
"What else would you call this?" Sokka demanded, gesturing at them. What was he supposed to think when his sister was sitting astride a partially undressed young man and fighting off his attempts to remove her.
Katara scowled at him. Her cheeks had developed a bit of a tint as well. "What? No! You've got it all wrong! I'm not molesting Zuko. Tui, Sokka, how could you even think that?"
"Then what were you doing, Katara?" her father asked, stepping forward to stare down at her in a way she found unnecessarily judging.
"Not you too, Dad!" she protested.
Just what kind of person did they think she was? She tried looking to the rest of her friends for support but it was clear by their expressions that they were all of the same mind as her father and brother. She rolled her eyes and pulled the Fire Nation gold piece from Zuko's pocket, holding it up for everyone to see. "I was after this."
Sokka looked at her incredulously. "You were trying to steal his money?"
Her face screwed up in offense. "No!"
"We were sparring," Zuko explained. He reached around her with his free hand to retrieved the other coin from her water skin and held it up as well. "The point of the match was to take each other's coin." He located Toph standing with a smug expression a bit behind everyone else and frowned at her accusingly. "I guess Toph didn't tell you."
Toph just shrugged. "What? It's not my job to keep everyone updated on your pastimes."
Sokka looked back and forth between her and the pair on the floor and then said with much exasperation, "So this was just some kind of whacky training exercise?"
Toph crossed her arms, her smirk still firmly in place. "Well, it started as a relatively normal training exercise, but what can I say? When it rains it pours."
"A little warning next time would be nice!"
"I did warn you. I said incoming, didn't I?"
"There won't be a next time," Aang cut in with a hard expression. Looking down at Katara and Zuko he continued, "You two shouldn't even have been sparring in the first place. Especially you," he addressed the older boy.
"What? Why?" Zuko looked very confused.
"You could have burned her!"
"Aang, it's fine. He won't hurt me," Katara asserted with obvious irritation. She knew this would happen. Really, she hadn't a clue what was making her young friend act so protective lately. He never cared this much when she fought Zuko in the past.
Aang looked at her and his expression softened. "Don't get me wrong, it's good that you trust him. But people make mistakes—"
"Trust him?" she interrupted, feeling a sudden flash of anger. She used the hand still resting on Zuko's chest to push herself to her feet, ignoring his protests, and rounded on the Avatar. "Don't make me laugh. I don't trust Zuko not to hurt me. I trust my own skills to keep me safe."
Zuko winced internally at her scathing remark but managed to keep the hurt out of his voice as he said, "This is war, Aang. People get hurt. Better it be by me now than an enemy on the battlefield."
"But—"
"He's right, Aang," Toph cut him off. The reality that any one of them could be hurt, or even killed, in this war was a hard pill to swallow and none of them liked to talk about it, but even so, it wasn't something that should be ignored. Aang needed to understand that. "Besides, we all signed up for this. Katara knows the risks as well as any of us."
Aang looked down, clearly unhappy but unable to argue. Katara's ire melted away upon seeing the troubled look on his face and she stepped toward him. "You don't need to protect me," she said gently, putting her hands on his shoulders comfortingly. "I'm a master waterbender. I can look out for myself."
Aang was silent for a few moments as he just stood there with his head bowed, staring down at his feet, then finally he said, "I know. But I want to."
Katara smiled at him fondly and leaned down to wrap her arms his shoulders. She felt bad more making him worry but it was important that he understood. She wished none of them had to put themselves in danger. Especially him. He was a sweet kid. He deserved to live a happy and peaceful life. That was what they were all fighting for.
Hakoda watched his daughter comfort the Avatar and was reminded strongly of his late wife. Katara and Kya were so alike; both of them strong, brave, fiercely protective women who were at the same time nurturing and deeply caring. His little girl was going to be a wonderful mother someday. He caught movement out of the corner of his eye and saw Zuko pick himself up off the floor. The belt for his tunic dangled from one hand. The prince's attention was focused on his daughter and the young avatar, and as Hakoda watched, a small, almost tender smile appeared on the young man's face.
oO0Oo
It was very late. Katara wandered through the silent, open air corridors of the temple. Her path was illuminated only by the pale light of the waxing moon peeking out over the top of the far side of the chasm. The tall support pillars lining the halls cast long shadows across the stone walkway and she made a game of hopping them as she passed, imagining that the darkness would swallow her up if she touched it. The absolute stillness around her made her feel like she was the only living thing in the temple. It was like she and this place existed on an entirely different plane of existence from the realm of day. She arrived at the fountain and though she could barely make it out in the darkness, the sound of her element was like an old friend greeting her in this uncanny realm of night.
She walked out to the edge of the platform and looked up at the brilliant, nearly full moon. As if responding to the celestial orb, that familiar restlessness rose within her. She felt Tui's pull more keenly than ever. The spirit of the moon was calling her and that was a call Katara couldn't resist. She found the path leading to the surface and climbed until the Air Temple lay hidden beneath her feet. Above ground, she could see the endless sky stretched out over her head, littered with countless pinpricks of light. Across the gaping chasm, appearing closer than Katara had ever seen it, hung the pregnant moon; the symbol of her people.
She stepped to the edge of the cliff and gazed up at it, wondering why it looked as restless as her. On a whim, she pulled the Fire Nation gold piece from inside her tunic held it up next to the moon. The coin wasn't perfectly round, but the way the light caught it reminded her of the sun. Somehow, seeing the two side by side like this calmed her.
Katara blinked when a pale, feminine hand appeared before her. Its fingertips rested lightly on the edge of the coin. Her eyes traveled past a delicate wrist and as she followed the connected arm, a full spectral form materialized in the air in front of her. Alabaster robes billowed out around her as though she were submerged in water. Katara's eyes widened. "Yue..." she breathed.
Yue smiled, her long, glowing hair floating around her lovely face. "Katara," she greeted. Her lips formed the syllables but her voice seemed to echo from within Katara's mind rather than through her ears. "It's wonderful to see you again."
Katara returned her smile. She was happy to see her friend as well. "Were you the one who called me?"
Yue shook her head. "You share a special bond with the moon. You were led here by the turmoil in your own heart."
"The turmoil in my heart?"
The former princess didn't answer. Instead she took the gold piece from Katara's hand and examined it closely. When she was done, she looked up and smiled mysteriously, then she took the waterbender's hand and pressed the coin into her palm, closing her fingers around it securely. Katara wanted to ask her what she meant but Yue began speaking again. "Tui and La have been watching your journey. They are very pleased by all that you have accomplished and proud that such an extraordinary daughter of the Water Tribes is helping to guide the Avatar on his quest."
"They are?" Katara he had no idea the spirits even knew who she was, much less held any kind of interest in her. She was honored beyond words. Traveling with the Avatar had allowed her to meet several spirits, however the only one who had ever acknowledged her was the Painted Lady in Jang Hui.
Yue reached down and grasped both her hands. She leaned forward and gazed directly into Katara's eyes. "You have done the spirits a great service, Katara. Because of you, the wheels of fate have begun to turn once again." She gave Katara's hands a light squeeze and then pulled away.
Somehow, Katara knew that her friend was about to leave. "Yue, wait!" she cried. She had so many questions. What was the 'great service' she had done? Why were the moon and ocean spirits interested in her? What was causing these feelings of restlessness inside of her?
"You have the chance to achieve a glorious destiny," the beautiful phantom said with a smile. "Don't let it get away."
Yue's form began to disappear and Katara lunged for the princess' hand just as she vanished. Too late, she realized that her lunge had taken her over the edge of the cliff. She twisted her body around and shot her arm out, hoping to find purchase on a root or a protruding rock, but lady luck was facing the other way.
As she fell toward the darkness below, Katara screwed her eyes shut. She didn't want the last thing she ever saw to be the ground rushing up to meet her. The only lucid thought amidst the wave of terror flooding her brain was, funnily enough, now she knew how Zuko felt when pushed him off of the platform that morning. If by some miracle she survived this, she should really apologize to him.
Suddenly, her body lurched and she gasped. Her eyes shot open but the darkness around her was so great that it made little difference. It took a few seconds for her brain to orient itself but when it did she realized with tremendous relief that she was lying in her bed, safely inside the temple and not splattered all over the bottom of the canyon. She sat up slowly, her muscles shaky from all the adrenaline pumping through her system. She moved to run a hand through her hair and felt something drop into her lap. She immediately froze, heart pounding in her chest. Her still-jumpy mind conjured up all kinds of ridiculous and irrational ideas about the identity of the thing resting on top of her blanket, and she resolved to wait for her eyes to adjust to the dark before moving even a single muscle. When the thing remained unmoving a few moments later and her vision had improved somewhat, she hesitantly picked up the offending object. She promptly exhaled the breath she'd been holding. It was just Zuko's coin. Now that her brain was once again receiving oxygen, she remembered that she had been examining it as she sat in bed. She recalled thinking that she needed to return it to him but the memory stopped there. She must have fallen asleep with the coin still in her hand.
It was just a dream. Climbing to the top of the temple, talking to Yue, plummeting to her death; all nothing but a bizarre series of events cooked up by her subconscious. Katara had calmed down considerably and now she felt drowsiness setting in again. Too tired to get out of bed and put the coin on her table, she simply shoved it under pillow where it wouldn't get lost. She then rolled onto her side and promptly fell back to sleep.
She failed to notice that she never actually removed her hand from beneath the pillow or from around the coin.
oO0Oo
You finished chapter seven! Huzzah!
We saw a bit more of Hakoda in this chapter. I thought it would be good for him to see what a skilled warrior his daughter has become and learn a little more about the boy who is so obviously (to Hakoda) taken with her.
As always, thanks for all of your great reviews! My chest just swells up with pride when I read them. My step-dad is always joking that all of my reviewers are just bots trying to sell me viagra and fake rolex watches. (I swear, with the amount of viagra spam I get in my junk folder it's a wonder I haven't grown a penis).
Next chapter: Hide and seek!
