"I can't believe we left him," Katara whispered, gripping the saddle tightly. "There had to have been something we could do!" She turned wildly to the others, tears hot in her eyes. Aang had his head in his hands and Toph looked furious.
Sokka looked sick beside her, shaking his head. "We were barely holding our own before you got there. With the hit to the head that Aang got… it's too risky."
"But you didn't leave us behind," Toph urged. "You all came into Fountain City to get us-"
Sokka ran a hand through his hair in anxious misery. "We didn't know we were fighting Azula," He grimaced, "And Zuko wanted it this way anyway. He made me promise…"
"And you said we'd never leave him behind!" Katara's voice cracked and Sokka pulled her into a tight hug.
"We'll get him back." He swore. "We have only a couple of days until the eclipse and that will be the best chance we have to rescue him." Sokka's face was grim. "We're not leaving him behind, but getting Aang away has to be the priority right now."
Aang's shoulders hunched. "Is this how it has to be?" He demanded. "I have to give up on everyone I love to be the Avatar?" Katara reached for him, thinking back to what he'd said about his lessons with Guru Pathik, but he stood and snapped his glider open. "I'm going. I'll see you at the next stop I just… I need some time to think."
"Aang…" Sokka grimaced. "I'm not sure we should stick to the same route. If Zuko is… if Azula gets our route out of him then she'll know where we're going."
The implications of his words weren't lost on the others. Visions of Azula torturing Zuko threatened the edges of Katara's sanity, and she forced herself to focus. "But if Zuko escapes he won't be able to find us." She reasoned. "He won't reveal it, I'm sure, but we should stick to the plan he knows so that if he manages to escape he can find us again."
"We're staying on course." Aang nodded and leapt from the saddle.
Katara tried not to look at Zuko's bag... or his swords. She focused on pulling herself together and gave Sokka a weak smile. "So where are we going?"
"This island here." Sokka pointed out. "It's in slightly the wrong direction and we avoid travelling too much over land. We'll have one last rest here then fly through to the rendezvous point. As planned."
"As planned." Katara nodded.
"As planned," Toph said, finally. Katara reached across to her and took her hand, giving it a small squeeze.
"Zuko will be fine," Sokka tried to sound confident but there was an edge to his voice. "He survived like thirteen years with them before now. He's the most experienced Fire Nation survivor I know."
He sounded very much like he was trying to persuade himself of that.
.
They landed in a field of Fire Lilies, near a mountain range and a small town, setting up camp in the relative safety of the woods. They prepared dinner in silence, each lost in their own thoughts.
Aang appeared well into the evening, looking withdrawn and miserable. Katara knew she should say something, or do something to lighten the mood but she couldn't find the energy to do so, and so she sat with her head resting heavily on one hand and watched the fire.
"Guys- do you hear that?" Toph asked, suddenly grabbing Katara's shoulder.
Katara looked up, hopeful. "Zuko?"
Toph shook her head. "I hear people under the mountain… and they're screaming." Katara strained her ears but couldn't hear anything beyond the normal, slightly ominous sounds of the woods and its inhabitants. "It just… stopped."
"You probably just have a lot on your mind..." Sokka tried.
"Hello, children."
They all whirled around to stare at the old woman emerging from the shadows. Her approach had been so silent, it could have been anyone. It could have been Azula.
"Sorry to frighten you," She smiled. "My name is Hama. You children shouldn't be out in the forest by yourselves at night. I have an inn nearby. Why don't you come back there for some spiced tea and warm beds?"
Aang stood and gave Hama a formal bow. "Thank you, that would be appreciated."
Katara shot him a searching look, but he had a mask of polite gratefulness in place, and they followed Hama back to her inn where she prepared them some tea. "Thank you for letting us stay here tonight. You have a lovely inn." Hama reminded her of Gran-Gran, somehow, and it was hard to resist the warm comforting effect of being looked after.
"Aren't you sweet?" Hama smiled and sat down. "You know you should be careful. People have been disappearing in those woods you were camping in."
We've already had someone disappear on us. Katara wanted to throw her arms around the older woman and cry, and the feeling was embarrassingly raw.
"What do you mean "disappearing"?" Sokka asked.
"When the moon turns full, people walk in and they don't come out. Who wants more tea?" Hama asked, but no one responded. They were too deeply lost in thought. "Don't worry, you'll all be completely safe here," Hama reassured them and showed them to their rooms.
Katara and Toph opted for a shared room and lay in silence as the growing dark made fingers and hands of the tree branches outside. They tapped and scraped at the window, begging to be let in. Katara felt Toph reach over for her hand and grabbed it, squeezing back.
"I keep thinking… If I hadn't been doing those scams in town, maybe we wouldn't have been found," Toph admitted quietly. "It's my fault he got caught and I was so selfish-" She buried her face in her pillow and Katara stared into the darkness.
"We'll try to stay a little longer than planned," Katara reassured her. "Just in case he's trying to find us," The fingers scratched at the window more insistently. "If anyone can survive Azula it's Zuko."
But Katara thought back to that late night conversation she'd overheard between Zuko and Sokka, and how sure Zuko had been that he wouldn't stand a chance.
"You're lying," Toph muttered into her pillow, miserably. Katara just tightened her hold on Toph's hand.
They lay in the dark, not sleeping but silent, until sometime in the very early hours of the morning, Hama opened their door. Katara blinked at the light and turned to look at Toph, who was stirring at the noise. "Come on, girl," Hama said in a low, soothing voice. "I could use a hand at the market."
Katara sat up, realising with a flush of embarrassment that she hadn't properly dressed for bed, but Hama smiled warmly and Katara found herself following the older woman to wake up the others, too.
Hama seemed to have picked up on the dynamic of the group and was happy to chat away even without much input from Katara and the others. She even had Katara smiling at odd moments as she joked about the quality of different meats and fruits. As they left a meat stall Katara nudged her. "That Mr Yao seems to have a thing for you. Maybe we should go back and see if he'll give us some free komodo sausages?" She smiled, attempting to show Hama that her good spirits hadn't been wasted on a bunch of depressed teenagers, and Hama met her eyes seriously.
"You would have me use my feminine charms to take advantage of that poor man?" She asked, and Katara faltered, but Hama beamed up at her. "I think you and I are going to get along swimmingly!" Katara didn't feel quite ready to be laughing and joking like this, but she allowed Hama to lead her further into the market.
The others kept a fair distance from Hama, not particularly feeling the need to engage that Katara did but Katara didn't mind. The old woman was a balm on her soul and although Katara couldn't forget, she found it a little easier to breathe around Hama, who didn't push, prod or remind her of what she'd lost.
Every now and then, though, Katara would turn as a tall boy in red clothes with dark hair would catch her eye. It was never Zuko though, and she moved closer to Hama for more of that inexplicable calm.
"Why don't you take all those things back to the inn? I just have to run a couple more errands. I'll be back in a little while." Hama patted Katara's shoulder when they met up with the others again.
Sokka glanced at her thoughtfully. "This is a mysterious little town you have here." He remarked and Hama smiled at him.
"Mysterious town for mysterious children." She said, sauntering away. Sokka narrowed his eyes at her retreating back and had an odd look on his face for the rest of their walk back to the inn.
Once inside and unpacking, he voiced his concerns. "That Hama seems a little strange. Like she knows something, or she's hiding something."
"I'm as nervous as you to be staying with a Fire Nation lady but… I don't know... she kinda reminds me of Gran-Gran." Katara pointed out.
"But what did she mean by 'mysterious children'?"
"Maybe because she found four strange kids camping in the woods at night? Isn't that a little mysterious?" Katara snapped, and Sokka wandered off up the stairs.
"I'm gonna take a look around."
"Sokka- we're meant to be laying low." Katara hissed after him.
"I can't just do nothing." Sokka hissed right back. "Am I meant to just sit around thinking about all the things I should have done differently? I need to keep moving."
"But you can't just take it out on some nice old lady." Katara followed him up the stairs.
"She could be home any minute." Aang agreed from behind her.
Sokka tugged on a cupboard door, hard. "You're going to break something," Toph muttered as the door flung open to reveal a cupboard full of human bodies falling towards them. Sokka drew his sword but- wait, they weren't bodies. The cupboard was full of puppets.
"Okay, that's pretty creepy," Aang muttered, and Katara shook her head.
"So she's got a hobby. There's nothing weird about that," Katara tried to shake the prickling feeling at the back of her neck and channelled her frustration at her brother. "Sokka, you've looked enough. Hama will be back soon." But he was already climbing into the attic.
"Just an ordinary puppet-loving innkeeper, huh?" Sokka called back. "Then why does she have a locked door up here?"
"Probably to keep people like you from snooping through her stuff!" Katara seethed. Hama had been nothing but kind and if they wanted to stay here for any longer then they needed to respect her privacy.
"We'll see." Sokka peered through the keyhole. "It's empty… except for a little chest."
"Maybe it's treasure," Toph couldn't help herself. Sokka's adventure was clearly a welcome distraction. Sokka began to pick the lock and Katara grabbed his arm.
"Sokka!" She hissed. "What are you doing? You're breaking into a private room!"
He was like a man obsessed, he wouldn't listen to any reason and the others were just… going along with it. Katara fought the nausea as he got the door open and it swung into a small room, dusty with disuse and fine cobwebs connected the eaves. Katara had a growing knot of unease in her chest and she turned to Aang, who was looking nearly as uncomfortable as she. "We shouldn't be doing this..." Aang tried, but the other two were already picking at the lock.
Toph pulled the meteor bracelet off and bent it into the lock, twisting it open as Aang tried again to dissuade them. Realising they were too engrossed, and wanting no part of it anymore, Katara turned to leave and nearly collided with Hama, stood in the doorway.
"I'll tell you what's in the box."
"Hama, I'm so sorry…" Katara started, but Hama shook her head and held out one bony hand to Toph and Sokka. Looking guilty, Sokka handed the box to Hama, and she pulled out an old blue whale tooth comb.
A Southern Water Tribe comb.
"An old comb?" Sokka asked, surprised.
"It's my greatest treasure. It's the last thing I own from growing up in the Southern Water Tribe." Hama stroked the comb fondly.
"You're from the Southern Water Tribe?" Katara breathed.
"Just like you," Hama confirmed.
Katara glanced around, suddenly nervous. "How did you know?"
"I'd know Southern Water Tribe people anywhere." Hama smiled. "I wanted to surprise you with a big Water Tribe dinner tonight… since it seems like you kids could do with some comfort food." She touched Katara's arm. "Of course, I can't get all the ingredients I need here, but ocean kumquats are a lot like sea prunes if you stew them long enough."
"Great…" Aang said, but Katara held onto Hama's hand with a tenuous smile.
Hama returned it and gave her hand a squeeze. "I knew I felt a bond with you right away."
"I'm sorry we were sneaking around," Sokka said, sincerely, and he turned to Katara, head bowed. "It's no excuse but… I needed a distraction."
Katara reached out to take his hand, and drew him in for a hug. "We lost a friend, not long before you found us," Aang explained, and Katara felt Toph's sturdy arms wrap around her and Sokka. Katara looked up to see Aang bowing in apology to Hama. "Sokka's right. It's no excuse and I am deeply sorry."
"I thought as much," Hama nodded with an expression so much like Gran-Gran it was a physical ache for Katara. "Those Fire Nation bastards burn everything good in this world. Come on… Let's get cooking. It's good for the soul."
Cooking with Hama was like cooking with Gran-Gran again, but Katara found herself waiting for pale hands to heat the water to just the right temperature, or to light the grill, and Hama's presence was no longer as soothing as it had been in the market.
So she found herself stepping back, and letting Hama fuss over them all. When Hama brought out five-flavour soup and used waterbending to dish it out though, Katara stared at her in surprise. "You're a waterbender! I've never met another waterbender from our tribe!"
Hama's face twisted briefly, and she looked down in sorrow. "That's because the Fire Nation wiped them all out. I was the last one…" Katara held her hands to her chest, thinking of the raids her tribe had suffered, and the raid that had killed her mother.
"How did you end up here?" Sokka asked, leaning on the table.
Hama met his eyes with fierce steel. "I was stolen from my home. It was over sixty years ago when the raids started. They came, again and again, each time rounding up more of our waterbenders and taking them captive… We did our best to hold them off, but our numbers dwindled as the raids continued. Finally, I too was captured." She turned to Katara. "They led me away in chains, the last waterbender of the Southern Water Tribe. They put us in terrible prisons here, in the Fire Nation."
Her face twisted again, into something cold, traumatised and ugly, but she shook it away.
"I was the only one who managed to escape."
"How did you get away?" Sokka asked. "And why did you stay in the Fire Nation?"
"I'm sorry," Hama held her head in her hands. "It's too painful to talk about anymore…"
Katara reached out, her hand warm on Hama's cool arm. "We completely understand. We lost our friend as we said, and Sokka and I lost our mother in a raid,"
"Oh, you poor things." Hama put her hand over Katara's.
"I can't tell you what it means to meet you. It's an honour," Katara breathed. "You're a hero."
Hama smiled and held onto both Katara's hands. "I never thought I'd meet another Southern waterbender. I'd like to teach you what I know so you can carry on the Southern tradition when I'm gone."
It was everything Katara had dreamed of. The Northern Water Tribe had been helpful but she'd always thought she might be letting the Southern style of bending die out by learning it, even though there'd been no other option.
But now she had the chance- a real chance to learn Southern waterbending, which could be the thing that would give her a real advantage over Azula.
.
Zuko woke up in the dark, again. He struggled to keep track of time in here, and his hands and feet were chained to prevent him from bending. Not that he could if he tried.
He hadn't tried.
Seeing Appa flying away had hit him harder than he'd expected. He'd known it would happen eventually and had encouraged it. He'd sought Sokka out to deliberately make sure that he wouldn't endanger Aang and the others from a misplaced sense of loyalty.
But it had hurt. He wasn't sure he would ever forget the way they'd looked at him as they flew away, Sokka had had to hold Katara back, and Aang had looked so defeated. Toph had simply looked confused; she couldn't tell what was happening clearly when in Appa's saddle, and she was so young, sheltered. She probably couldn't comprehend the reasoning behind leaving him behind... but he'd been right; Azula was too powerful. Especially when backed by the Dai Li. Their appearance had changed everything.
He had been visited several times already by Azula, but never by his father. Sometimes she wanted to taunt him, perhaps about his own inadequacies or about the traps she had set for the others, and sometimes she wanted to hurt him. Once, she'd brought Ty Lee and Mai along to watch but maybe it hadn't been entertaining enough for them- they'd never shown up again.
"How's the prisoner?" He gritted his teeth and glared up at his sister, leaning against the doorway. "I do hope you're comfortable, Zu-Zu."
"Perfectly." Zuko grimaced. "Thank you for setting me up so comfortably here. I'm honoured."
"You have no honour," Azula responded, eyeing her fingernails critically. "But I can't have my dear brother sent too far away, can I?" She raised a thoughtful eyebrow. "Although maybe you'd enjoy going to Boiling Rock…"
"Why didn't you catch Aang?" Zuko tried the offensive for once and was rewarded with a tiny tightening of her eyes as she glanced at him. "You had all those Dai Li, you had Mai and Ty Lee... But you didn't catch him."
"I'm not trying to catch him," Azula corrected. "I'm trying to kill him."
"Even easier." Zuko pointed out. "You don't need to worry about damage in transit."
It was very, very subtle but Zuko had years of watching Azula's perfection and the way she frowned and looked away was more slippage than he'd ever seen before. "We felt you were more of a liability than the Avatar was a threat." She said, cooly dismissive.
That was interesting, Zuko thought to himself. Why would he be a priority over the Avatar?
"You made the wrong choice in Ba Sing Se, Zu-Zu." Azula went on, "Together we could have defeated the Avatar and restored your honour. I had it all planned out but that stupid little peasant went and ruined it." She approached the bars of his cage and wrapped her fingers around them, leering through at him. "You absolute traitor." Something in her words felt personal, as though he'd committed some unimaginable sin against her and she was hurt, but Azula didn't feel hurt.
"What's wrong?" He prodded. "Is Father angry at you?"
Her reaction was instant- she snapped a crackling flame across the floor and he gasped as it flickered across his chest, unable to bend it away. After a moment, the passion drained out of Azula and her cool indifference was back. She stepped back and looked at him for a long moment, as though weighing her options. "It would be so easy to kill you," She sighed, regretfully. "But live bait always works better."
Zuko jerked forwards but his manacles held him in place. He watched her give him a smug little wave and leave, with the door left tantalisingly open. He groaned and pulled against the chains, channelling his frustration into pulling at them with all of his strength but, of course, there wasn't much he could do.
His breaths came short and fast, and he tried to find his centre to regain some semblance of rational thought but his heart was beating too fast, it hurt.
He desperately hoped the others wouldn't fall for it.
.
Hama's training took a different slant than Katara had expected. Hama showed her how to take water from the air, and praised Katara's own resourcefulness when she had used sweat to escape captivity with Toph.
At the mention of their time in Fountain City, Katara's heart ached, but she tried to focus on learning Hama's new techniques- they would be useful when fighting in the Fire Nation, where water sources were not always predictable. Pulling water from unexpected places could give her the edge over Azula when she met her again, too.
Aang had taken the others into the woods, as part of his plan to assuage whatever angry spirit was taking people during the full moon, and Katara focused on her practice. When Hama showed her how to take the water from living plants it had seemed so callous, but she was right; they were just flowers, even if they were beautiful.
"Tonight I'll teach you the ultimate technique of waterbending. It can only be done during the full moon when your bending is at its peak." Hama promised, and Katara frowned. Catching her eye, Hama took her hand. "This technique is the most powerful available to any bender, and you can use it to make sure you never have to lose anyone else again."
Katara fought the sting of loss and nodded.
"Besides," Hama emphasised. "Two master waterbenders beneath a full moon? I don't think we have anything to worry about."
Hama herself was buzzing with excitement as night fell, Katara could see her fidgeting and glancing to Katara with an eager grin as the sun began to set and the moon rose. Katara had been sitting at the window of the inn most of the afternoon, watching the town's streets in case…
The best chance of escape was always whilst on the move, but Azula had already had enough time to get to the Capital if that was where she was taking him. Katara wasn't sure Zuko was coming, which meant that they needed to rescue him when they invaded on the day of the eclipse.
She wished the others were at the inn with her, but they were occupying themselves with spirit work, and she couldn't really blame them. They were all keeping busy- anything to distract them from the extra bag left unopened on Appa's saddle.
When it began to get properly dark, Hama led Katara back out to the woods, where Katara was anxiously aware of the fact that she couldn't hear the normal sounds of wildlife she would expect. "This doesn't feel right…" She muttered, but Hama wasn't listening.
"Can you feel the power the full moon brings?" She took a deep breath and stretched her arms out in front of her, flexing with unseen power. "For generations it has blessed waterbenders with its glow, allowing us to do incredible things! I've never felt more alive."
This Hama before her was different, more ominous. For the first time since meeting her, Katara felt the cool grip of dread.
"What I'm about to show you, I discovered in that wretched Fire Nation prison," Hama began to detail the way she'd been kept in captivity, away from any water of any type, and chained so that she could be force-fed. Katara shook her head, horrified. She'd known Hama had been imprisoned and logically, they must have implemented techniques to prevent the benders from attacking but she'd assumed it would be more like the way Haru's father had been imprisoned, where their oppression had weakened their will.
"Any sign of trouble was met with cruel retribution," Hama continued, "And yet each month, I felt the full moon enriching me with its energy- there had to be something I could do to escape... Then I realized that where there is life, there is water. The rats that scurried across the floor of my cage were nothing more than skins filled with liquid and I passed years developing the skill that would lead to my escape. Bloodbending." Katara felt the dread harden into icy horror. "Controlling the water in another body, enforcing your own will over theirs... Once I had mastered the rats, I was ready for the men."
Hama's eyes glinted with cruel pleasure as she recounted her story and Katara could do little more than watch in horror as Hama's hands twitched and twisted around invisible men in the pale light of the full moon.
The older woman lifted her head to the moon with her eyes closed in rapturous glee as she told of her escape, detailing the horror of what she'd done. Katara could understand the need for freedom but...
"But…" Katara grasped for the words. "To reach inside someone and control them? I don't know if I want that kind of power." She faltered, wondering what it would be like to hold onto Azula's arms, watch as the Fire Princess's eyes widened in horror when her body disobeyed her. Did she want that power?
"The choice is not yours. The power exists. And it's your duty to use the gifts you've been given to win this war," Hama urged. "Katara, they tried to wipe us out, our entire culture, your mother! Your friend!"
"I know," Katara whispered.
"Then you should understand what I'm talking about! We're the last two waterbenders of the Southern Tribe," Hama gestured to the woods around them. "We have to fight these people whenever we can, wherever they are, with any means necessary!"
The wildness in her eyes stunned Katara- how could this be the same woman who'd held her hand and cooked kumquats in the style of her Gran-Gran. Her utter disdain for the life of the Fire Nation soldiers… No, Katara realised, of any Fire Nation person.
If Hama had met Zuko, she might have inflicted this twisted form of bending on him. "It's you…" Katara hissed. "You're the one who's been making people disappear during the full moons!"
"They threw me in prison to rot, along with my brothers and sisters! They deserve the same! You must carry on my work!" Hama was wild, furious and righteous- as though she couldn't understand how Katara didn't share her views.
"I won't," Katara pointed to Hama accusingly. "I won't use bloodbending and I won't allow you to hurt anyone else- there are good people in the Fire Nation, our friend is Fire Nation-!" She stopped as her hand jerked violently to one side.
Hama's hands were outstretched, fingers plucking invisible strings as she twisted Katara around. "You should've learned the technique before you turned against me! It's impossible to fight your way out of my grip... I control every muscle, every vein in your body."
She forced Katara to her knees and the pain was so aching, deep- the blood in Katara's very muscles was pulled and forced into unnatural shapes. "Stop!" Katara gasped. "Please…"
Helpless, hot tears coursed down her cheeks as Hama laughed cruelly. Katara tried to focus, to command the water in her to release, to let her go. The full moon caused her chi to surge powerfully, pushing Hama's influence from her veins in increments.
With a deep, shuddering breath, Katara rose to glare back at her erstwhile friend. "You're not the only one who draws power from the moon," She said, dropping into a fighting stance. "My bending is more powerful than yours, Hama. Your technique is useless on me!"
They fell into battle. Katara pulled a thick ring of water around her body from which she channelled streams of water at Hama. Hama was quick for her age and sent blasts back at Katara with ease and drew water from a tree to channel towards Katara in a powerful blast. Katara blocked it and knocked Hama down just as Aang and Sokka approached through the trees.
"We know what you've been doing, Hama!" Sokka accused and Aang dropped to a fighting stance beside him.
"Give up- you're outnumbered."
"No," Hama countered, standing shakily. "You've outnumbered yourselves!" Katara watched in horror as Hama took control of the boys' bodies and sent them lunging at her. They cried out in fear, and Katara remembered the bone-deep ache that came with bloodbending and sent a stream of water at Hama from the ground, but Hama deflected it.
"Katara, look out!" She turned to see Sokka swinging his sword at her jerkily. "It's like my brain has a mind of its own! Stop it arm, stop it!"
Katara deflected his attacks as Aang waved his arms wildly. "This feels weird!"
"Sorry Aang," Katara froze him to a tree and he smiled.
"It's ok!"
She spotted Sokka about to attack under Hama's clumsy, jerky influence and froze his sword hand to a tree the way she had Aang. Hama chuckled, "Don't hurt your friends, Katara! And don't let them hurt each other!"
"No!" Katara's eyes widened as Sokka and Aang were both broken free of her ice and launched at each other. She had to act quickly.
Skins filled with liquid.
She reached out, desperate, and took hold. She wasn't sure of her grasp, but Hama was frozen and in her periphery, she could see Sokka and Aang were freed. Hama groaned in discomfort and Katara felt a sympathetic ache in her bones but pressed the elder down to her knees anyway.
She was so focused on suppressing Hama, she didn't notice Toph's arrival with a horde of Fire Nation civilians until someone was handcuffing Hama. "You're going to be locked away forever," Someone said, and Katara released the old woman's blood, sagging in despair.
"My work is done," Hama smirked. "Congratulations Katara, you're a Bloodbender."
She began to laugh as the villagers led her away, and Katara began to sob. She didn't want this, she didn't want it- but a very dark part of her was contemplating how she could use this when they next fought Azula.
Hold on, Zuko. She thought as she felt Sokka's arms wrap around her. You're not alone. We're coming.
.
Don't come. Zuko silently willed them, as he listened with growing horror to his sister's plans.
