chapter 8: set


in these four walls my thoughts seem to wander

to some distant century

-skulls by bastille


"And the stakes?" Zuko says, pushing his tiles into the proper places.

"I didn't know what to use," the girl says, putting a carved white box on the table. She pushes it towards Zuko and he opens the wood to find gambling pieces.

He holds one of the thin disks in between his fingers. "These have no value."

"Well, that's what we usually use here."

"But each gambling piece is supposed to be worth a certain amount of money to you. I have no money to give."

"Fine," she huffs. "How about the winner gets to ask the other person one question?"

He smirks. "There's no guarantee for a truthful answer."

"I guess we'll just have to have that much trust in each other, won't we?"

"I guess we will," he says, and makes the first move.

The game goes on for longer this time. The waterbender picks up quicker on the tricks Zuko's learned over the years from Uncle than expected, but at the end, he still emerges the winner. She frowns down at the tiles again as if they've done her a huge disservice.

Zuko looks at the game board for a few moments, wondering what to ask.

"Are the firebenders who were captured with me alive?"

"Yes," she says, her voice clipped. She's already rearranging the tiles.

"That's not a full answer."

"I never specified how long the response needed to be."

"If I had answered a question you had like that, would you be happy with the answer?" he says, trying to keep the venom out of his voice. The least she can do is tell him what's happening with them.

She's silent for a moment, but then says, "They're being held in cells further underground. They were interrogated the same way you were but we're not going to let anyone die."

He fiddles with the tile in his hand. "Another round?"

Zuko wins again.

This question comes quicker. "Is my father dead?"

He'd never thought to ask before, and honestly, he doesn't really care. He's just the slightest bit curious.

The waterbender looks surprised. "You don't know?"

"Would I ask if I knew?"

She shoots him a look and says, "He's been in a prison in a secret location in the North for the past six years. He's not dead."

"Okay," Zuko says, not knowing how he should be reacting. Should he be upset? Happy? There's a heavy silence, punctuated by the tap tap of tiles being piled onto each other, and then the papers reappear on the table.

"Yajirushu?"

"Arrow."

"Shinjera?"

"Unbelievable."

-O-

"So, I was thinking that we could go out to a dressmaker once your dad's back," Raina says, watching as Katara looks through the sketches on the table.

"You're amazing," Katara says, tracing her eyes along the clean strokes and inked details of the designs. "These are beautiful. Really, Raina."

Raina shrugs, pinking slightly. "I had a lot more time to practice while Dad was gone, since Mom lets me skimp out on my training."

Katara sets aside a few sketches, avoiding the one that looks like it has had the most effort put into it. Raina would let her have the design in a heartbeat but she can tell that her friend has her heart set on it already.

"I'll probably take one of these two," Katara says, finally narrowing down her choice. The two styles are unfamiliar but inked in with a familiar blue color.

"They're Fire Nation inspired," Raina says, reading Katara's mind, and Katara sees the influence. The dresses are jagged where they should've been soft. "Are you sure about these? I wasn't even going to show you them. I mean, it probably wouldn't look too good if you're wearing Fire clothes-"

"I doubt anyone will recognize them since they're in blue and silver," Katara says, and then frowns slightly. "The necklines, however-"

Raina laughs and snatches away the papers. "-are perfectly fine. They don't have to be up to your chin all of the time, Lady Katara."

Katara sighs, "Okay", deciding not to say anything for now, but fully intending on having a word with the dressmaker once they get to that stage. "Thanks, Raina. You're brilliant.

"It was nothing," she says dismissively. "I wouldn't want you to embarrass yourself in front of everyone, would I?"

Katara makes a face. "My sense of fashion is perfectly fine."

"Who told you that? Sokka?"

"Sokka is actually a pretty good fashion judge, considering all of the girl he hangs around."

"True, true," Raina laughs. "So when do you need to get back to your chiefly duties?"

"I'll have to leave right before lunch."

"Come on, stay for lunch at least?"

Katara starts to gather the sketches into a neat pile. "I want to, but I have a meeting I need to go to."

-O-

"We're almost certain it was General Irek now," Sokka says, hands folded on the table and eyes trained on the person in front of him.

Katara leans back in her chair, the sound of flipping papers the only one in the room.

"The evidence is thorough," Hahn says, a frown in his voice. He glances up. "I know General Irek personally, though. His family is close with mine and I could never imagine him doing something like this. He's always been loyal."

"We don't have any other solid leads," Sokka says gently. "And all of the evidence is pretty clear. I still don't want to believe it myself."

Hahn looks up at the ceiling briefly and then at Sokka. "You'll need me to soften the blow."

"Yes."

"I want to launch my own investigation into this first."

"There are three simultaneous investigations right now," Katara says. "The best minds are already on the case. You'll have to put together your own team."

"I realize that."

Katara exchanges a glance with her brother.

"Our father will be back tomorrow. We'll give you our decision then," Sokka says, sounding like it's already a lost cause.

"Tell him that this is my contingency. I launch my own investigation, complete it, and then I'll mediate between the North and South. I won't do it otherwise," Hahn says, and Katara narrows her eyes at him. He knows he's the only person who can do this.

"By the time you complete your investigation it'll be too late."

"I'll figure out something," Hahn says. "This is too clean-cut. I don't fully believe the findings."

"Our investigation teams-" Katara starts, but he cuts her off.

"I know; I don't doubt that this conclusion is what all of the investigators' work lead to, and I don't believe that it's not justified or well-researched. I just don't believe it's true."

The doubts Katara had from before return to her mind. This is too clean-cut. I don't believe the findings.

"Well, when you leave for the North, I'll come with you," Katara says, and she swears she hears a crack with the speed that Sokka turns his head towards her.

"What?"

Hahn looks at her incredulously.

"Not to investigate," Katara says, rolling her eyes. "The ruling family's been long overdue for a visit to the North. I think I'll make the trip with Hahn as a diplomatic visit."

"You're kidding me," Sokka says, momentarily ignoring Hahn. His bore into her and see right through her thin facade. "You have other things to do, Katara, you can't get caught up in anything else."

"It's just a diplomatic visit."

"What're you planning?"

"Nothing."

Her brother turns away. "We'll tell you our father's decision tomorrow."

-O-

"These are the names, Lady Katara."

Katara takes the notebook from Wei's hands and skims through the short list.

Aritak, Hahn, Private Urago, Private Kira, Sokka, and herself. All of the visits were made during the scheduled interrogation times, and Private Kira had taken Private Urago's place on the interrogation team for a few days, so there's no ulterior motive there either.

Katara looks through it again.

There is one visit, made by Hahn at late night. But he had mentioned it to Sokka beforehand, so he wasn't exactly sneaking around, but telling Sokka would also ensure that no one suspects him of anything.

All the more reason to go with him to the North, she supposes. If there's anything off with him she'll find out there.

"Thank you," she says, handing the notebook back. "Please tell the guards to keep recording visits."

"Will do," he says, and Katara takes off towards the storage closet full of the Fire library remains.

Katara sifts through the shelves of charred documents; carefully piling everything that looks the slightest bit promising into a bag she finds wedged in between the bookcases.

Her father returns in less than 24 hours and she has nothing to show him. He probably won't dispose of the documents, considering how he's always given in to Katara's whims before, but he'll certainly be watching her more carefully.

She'll just have to hide them in her room.

Once the bag is almost too heavy for her to carry she rearranges the shelves, trying to make it look as though nothing is missing (although it's not as if her father has been in here enough to know the shelves' arrangement), and then treks upstairs to her bedroom.

The moon is a sliver less than full, shining through the window as she opens her closet and puts books in between the formal clothes she hardly ever wears. Her father and Sokka sometimes stop by her room to grabs some paper or another from her desk, and she won't take the risk of putting the documents in the drawers there. Her dresses will have to do for now.

She keeps the book with the firebending lock under her pillow.

Like the night before she is restless; between the pull of the moon and the tugging at her veins to try bloodbending, just one more time, she can't sleep. She wanders around her room until she finally gives in and tries the same trick as yesterday. Raising her arm through bloodbending is almost effortless, the movements fluid now instead of curled. Her fingers don't even tremble.

There's so much power, she thinks, that there must be a way to use it for good, instead of for controlling innocents like marionettes.

She sits on her bed, fiddling with the glass of water instead of her blood. Katara starts to coat her fingers in water and gets it glowing with healing to ease the tension in her temples when something occurs to her.

She goes to the heap of clothes lying on her desk chair, and digs out her formal military clothes. Her dagger is still attached to the waist of the outermost layer of clothing and she unsheaths it, taking a breath before running it lightly across her palm, making a thin, deep red cut.

"How do I do this?" she mumbles, holding her hand flat. She hovers her other hand over the cut, trying to force the blood to knit her skin back together. The red quivers but doesn't heal.

She tries again, beads of sweat appearing on her forehead, until her fingers start to shake. Blood continues to seep out of the cut. She ends up healing herself with water, a dull throb starting in the back of her head.

-O-

Sit tight. We still need about a month. Make sure you keep giving up some information so you're not placed in solitary confinement or one of the remote prisons.

"How helpful," Zuko mutters, glaring down at the hurried, flourishing characters. He crumples the paper and then places it in his mouth, chewing it slowly and trying to ignore the bitter taste of the ink. It's the first note he's gotten in more than a week.

They're keeping in the dark, like always. Being imprisoned has given him too much time to think and now he wonders, again, if Azula is running some plot against him, even from her underground prison in the Northern tundra. It's not beyond her abilities.

Zuko gathers his growing hair in his hands, a messy shag, and clenches at it.

The door to his cell starts to open and the bruises on his flesh gain new life at the prospect of another hour of gaining new ones. It's only the waterbending girl, though.

She silently unlocks his cell and he stands up slowly, slipping the cloth bag she hands him over his own head. A few moments later, she moves forward to tighten the drawstrings and then steps back to let him walk forward first. He's memorized the path to the training chamber by now but he still hangs behind the girl after they pass through the double doors closing off the hallway.

The waterbender starts immediately setting up her papers on the Pai Sho table when they get there, and Zuko wanders the space, stretching. He gauges his strength and the degree of his cuts and bruises and decides to try the meager amount of acrobatics he can manage. He might give himself a concussion, but it'll be a change.

Zuko looks around and sees a few padded training mats hanging from a hook on the far wall. He crosses the room and takes one of them down. The girl looks up briefly, raising an eyebrow, but says nothing. He lays out the mat, making sure it is has enough of a grip on the floor to not slide out from under his feet, and then stands at the edge of it.

He throws his legs over his head, backwards, like he's been taught, and he ends with his nose smashed onto the mat. He lies blinking, momentarily disoriented, until a snort snaps him out of his reverie. When he turns a glare in the girl's direction, she's looking solemnly at her papers.

On his second try, he gets slightly further and lands on his forehead with a muffled, "Shit."

The next turn he lands on his feet with only a bit of stumbling and smiles victoriously. His arms ache but he backflips in a chain of three, the rush of adrenaline and air making up for the pain. He stands at the edge of the mat again, this time in the starting position for a front flip, but before he can launch himself forward the girl says, "Stop before you give yourself a head injury."

"I can manage myself, thanks," he snaps.

She rolls her eyes. "You're of no use to me if you can't even think straight. Put the mat back."

He scowls at her, making sure she sees, before he folds the mat and hangs it back on the hook.

"Nisoinbe?"

"Buffalo? Maybe cow?"

He watches her struggle with some translation or another, and then says, "You know, if you'd just let me read the book directly, you'd be done with this in an hour."

She shoots him a scalding look. "I can manage myself, thanks," she says mockingly, and he shrugs.

Once she tires of her papers she starts setting up the Pai Sho tiles silently and he mirrors her.

"Don't get too used to this," she says, finishing early and watching him put the last of his tiles into their places, "I'm only doing this until I win."

"It's not like I'll miss it," he says. "You're an easy opponent. I guess I'll just enjoy watching you struggle until you give up."

Her eyes narrow.

As expected, he wins.

"I'll run out of questions at this rate," he smirks.

"Just ask something."

He hesitates. "Do you know anything about my mother?"

"Ursa?" the girl says, more to herself than him. "I'm pretty sure we completely lost track of her around the time your father was captured."

"She was never in the Water Cities?" he asks, surprised.

"No," she says, something in her expression going soft, and he looks away.

Zuko starts to rearrange the tiles again.

-O-

"Why are there two boats?" Katara says to Sokka. The sea sways in front of them. "And the second one is an Earth ship, no less."

He squints into the sunlight. "I don't know. But they have our insignia so Dad must've brought it."

The ships draw slowly closer and closer, until Sokka gives the order for the fenders to be prepared and then tied down. Once ropes secure the ships to the docks, their father unboards the ship, followed by an unfamiliar crew. Another blue-clothed crew starts to file out of the second Earth ship.

"How are my temporary replacements?" he says teasingly as he comes towards them. When he pulls Katara in for a hug she looks over his shoulder at the sole green-clothed figure among the Water crew coming out of the Earth ship.

"A prisoner?" Sokka says from behind her. Their father untangles himself from Katara, straightening to gesture towards the guards waiting at the palace's doors to escort everyone inside.

Katara starts to move as well but she's stopped by Hakoda's hand on her shoulder.

"Wait here for a minute. You and Sokka will escort him inside," her father says, nodding in the direction of the approaching Earth man. "Are all of the guest rooms clean?"

"Of course."

"Take him to the suite on the fourth floor, then, since it has a study attached."

"Who is he?" Sokka says, pasting on a smile as the man draws closer, surrounded by the Water crew.

"An ambassador. Or a delegate, of sorts. I'll explain later."

It isn't the strangest thing to happen, Katara supposes. "His name?"

"Master Yu of Gaoling."

Katara nods, smiling out of habit when he comes close enough that she can discern his features. He is older than her father, with a short beard and the dark green eyes that are common in much of the Earth lands.

"Welcome, Master Yu," Sokka says before she can. He nods at out of respect and Master Yu bends at the waist.

"Thank you, Major Sokka."

"My brother and I will be escorting you to your accommodations," Katara says just as Sokka starts to walk towards the palace. She lingers in her place until Master Yu passes by her and then trails behind him, watching his back as they head up to the fourth floor of the palace.

Sokka and Katara exchange a glance once Yu's inside of the suite, and a silent mutual agreement is made to head straight for their father's study; the place he ends up first upon return no matter how far away his trip was.

When they're sitting in front of his desk, a steaming plate of food for their father sitting in between them, Katara opens her mouth to speak but Hakoda cuts her off, "I'll just explain from the beginning, okay?"

"I spent five of the days negotiating with Long Feng. The other two he insisted I go on a tour of Ba Sing Se," he says, and Sokka snorts. "He was stubborn. He said that he'll only pass the disarmament agreement if I agree to invest more into the Earth economy and bring in young people and train them for jobs here."

"The Earth economy is fine," Katara interrupts, and her father shakes his head slightly.

"On paper, everything seems fine except for some losses here and there. But Katara, if you saw the conditions in the smaller villages- there are raids from the Fire rebels on the edges of the Earth lands. Poorer people are robbed everyday. Our education system for the farmers and villagers is working fine, but none of them can find jobs because there aren't any to give."

"They get more than enough funding to help their economy already," she scoffs. "I had to do some of those calculations myself."

Hakoda shakes his head. "I know Long Feng is manipulative. I also thought it was another one of his ploys for free money, but I saw the conditions myself."

"That doesn't explain why the Yu guy's here," Sokka says.

"And he's from Gaoling, of all places," Katara adds. "We have Gaoling on high alert in the committee."

Their father frowns. "You should've sent me a message."

"I didn't know you were bringing back someone!"

"I know, I know; I should've sent notice. I only signed the terms on the last day, though, so I didn't have much time."

"The terms?" Katara says, raising an eyebrow. Her father sighs and pulls out a few sheets of paper. Katara and Sokka both skim through it quickly.

"I'm assuming these terms apply to the North as well?" Sokka says.

Hakoda nods. "Arnook's diplomats approved it with me."

A minimum of 100 students aged 16-19 will be taken for apprenticeships/ training.

One ambassador will be sent to the city to represent the Earth lands in *key (see footnotes) issues concerning the Earth lands.

An amount of currency equal to five thousand (5,000) gold Earth coins will be given to the Earth lands every month.

"This isn't bad," Katara says, leaning back into her chair. "That's not a good thing. Long Feng would never settle for this."

"It took five days of negotiations."

"It's still seems too easy," she says, looking back down at the papers.

"Well, when are these students coming in?" Sokka asks.

"About a dozen are coming in two or three days. Some of our lieutenants are doing background checks on potential candidates right now."

"Does Long Feng have any say in who gets to come?"

"No. People who are interested sign up and go to our military bases for interviews and checks. I have military men and women there to select the best fits. I'd guess that Arnook will be doing something similar."

"Don't you see anything.. off about this?"

"Believe me, Katara, I'm not that naive. There is something wrong; but if this fails, or something goes wrong, we do still have total power. We could use force. But if Long Feng's placated by this-"

"-it's better than war. Of course."

"Did you get the message I sent about the investigation?" Sokka asks.

Their father nods. "And we're absolutely sure it was General Irek?"

"There are no other leads and the evidence is clear."

A sigh, and then, "Have you talked to Hahn yet?"

"Yeah, that's the problem. He wants to do his own investigation before he goes and talks to anyone up North about it."

"I didn't expect him to agree very easily. General Irek is like an uncle to him. Can he leave this week?"

"He's ready to leave at any time."

"How long?"

"He said a week would be enough."

"He has my permission then. He should leave tomorrow or the day after."

Katara clears her throat. "I want to go with him." Sokka huffs in annoyance.

Her father looks at her. "You have enough on your plate as it is. Besides, since when are you and Hahn friends?"

"We're not. But I thought it would be a good idea to have one of us visit the North as a diplomatic visit. You know, put on a good face before breaking the news."

"You mean you want to do your own snooping," Sokka says.

"I- something like that."

"No. Dad, you can't possibly-"

"Why?"

"You can't interfere with things. What if someone sees you sneaking around? What if the nobles start to notice that you're asking too many questions?"

"I'm always careful. You know that."

"Katara-"

"I'll stay with Yue most of the time. No one will say anything."

"Princess Yue probably has other things she needs to do."

"The Notherners don't let women do anything," Katara snaps. "I doubt she has any pressing duties."

"Hey," Sokka says; warning.

"You know that they don't trust women with anything, I'm not saying anything about Yue-"

"Stop," Hakoda says, holding up a hand. "Let me think for a few minutes."

An immediate hush falls over both of them, and their gazes roam the room, waiting for their father to say something.

"You can go," he says eventually. "I'll put Sokka on your committee meetings for the days that both you and Hahn are gone."

Sokka groans. "A whole week of extra meetings?"

"No. Katara will go to the North with Hahn the day after tomorrow and come back after three days. Hahn will stay the whole week."

"I don't think three days is enough-"

"It has to be enough. Any longer and people will start wondering why you're staying so long."

"Okay. Thank you."

Sokka leans forward in his chair. "Dad, are you really letting her go? What if-"

"Even though she used it as an excuse, she's right. We do need a diplomatic visit to the North sometime soon anyway, and since I can't go, Katara's the only other option."

Sokka looks offended. "Hey, I'm not that bad at diplomacy."

"Yes, you are," Katara and Hakoda say simultaneously.

-O-

He wins again.

Katara grits her teeth in frustration. She's played Pai Sho her whole life; with everyone from merchants in the market and Earth visitors, to nobles and Chief Arnook, and more times than not, won.

And she can't win against one Fire peasant.

"Ask your question," she says, irked; leaning back and crossing her arms over her chest.

Her eyes start to trail to the book at her side. She has just a few more questions to ask before she can start piecing together everything with accuracy. And it's a good thing she's almost done, too, because she had to wait until late night today to sneak down to the interrogation cells now that her father's back.

The firebender looks down at the table for a few moments; thinking.

"Who are you betrothed to?" he asks, his voice just the faintest bit curious.

Katara's eyebrows furrow. "What?"

He looks irritated. "Your necklace. Or has the custom changed?"

"Oh." Katara's fingers automatically go to the pendant at her neck. "No one."

He shrugs and starts to stack the tiles again, and she continues quietly, "It belonged to my mother. She died when I was eight."

The firebender looks up again, something passing through his expression, but he doesn't say anything and instead nods once.

Katara reaches for the book and papers and places it on the table. Their little routine continues with silence punctuated by modern and Fire words, and by the time Katara has gotten down all of the definitions and phrases she'll need, it's much too late into the night and she leaves for the North tomorrow.

"I won't be coming for three or four days," she says, standing up with the book in hand. Or maybe at all.

He glances up at her, snapped out of his thoughts. "Okay."

She slips the cloth bag over his head in the resumed silence.


-O-


(a/n) i'm so sorry for the late update. i was travelling and since it was eid this week (islamic holiday), i got caught up in preparations and family visits and never got time to sit down and write.

i feel like i might've made some things confusing in this chapter so please don't hesitate to ask me to clarify something. hope you guys enjoyed!