Hello everyone! I'm finally back! Welcome to chapter 9 of Freedom! I'm so sorry this took so long to complete. I got my wisdom teeth out and am planning my graduation party and my trip for my college orientation. Thank you all for your continued support for this series! So I do not own Avatar or these characters. Let's get to it!
What could have happened if Aang and Iroh were a few minutes more?
Let's find out!
Chapter 9: The RiverVillage
Appa wadded through the mucky dirty water. Aang swam beside him, enjoying free time while Sokka fished. Katara looked back at Zuko, who had been quiet since they left the prison. She couldn't tell if it was from pain or being uncomfortable.
Katara climbed from Appa's head to where Zuko lay. He looked up and smiled when she approached. Katara smiled back shyly, they hadn't told Sokka or Aang about their display of affection for Azula and had no plans to do so. "How're you feeling?" she asked him, unbuttoning his red tunic they had bought him in the last town so she can see his wounds. Zuko merely shrugged slightly, "Hanging in there…" Katara smiled sadly at him then bended the water from the lake towards herself. She made a face at the grimness of the water and separated the water from the dirt, then focused her energy on healing his wounds. Zuko looked up at her, watching her concentration. Katara opened her eyes and looked down at him. She stared into his fiery golden eyes, as he got lost in her deep blue sea ones. Katara blushed and looked away, "I need you take off your shirt the rest of the way and turn over". He sat up a little, removing his tunic. Katara did her best to watch Aang playing in the water, so she wouldn't stare. She had healed Aang and Sokka and a few soldiers in Ba Sing Se and they had to remove clothing. She didn't mind them. What about Zuko taking his clothes off made her so… uncomfortable? Zuko turned over onto his back and Katara ran her hands over his scars. She sighed, thinking of the pain he must have been in. The scars had faded with her healing, but the thin lines from the whip were still visible. She healed the burns on his back, trying not to think about how he exchanged one scar for another. "You're done" she said quickly, backing away slightly. He sat up slipping his tunic back over his shoulders.
Aang airbended onto Appa, covered in dirt and grime from the river, "Hey guys, I think this river is polluted" he airbended the grime off, covering his friends with it in the process. "Whoops sorry" he sent a gust of wind towards them, blowing the grime off them as well. Zuko sent the Avatar a minor glare, but it quickly faded once he remembered he was the outsider of the group. "Well that explains why I can't catch a fish around here" Sokka said, "Cause normally my fishing skills are off the hook!" he held up a fishing hook, smiling his big goofy grin, "Get it? Like a fishing hook?" he added, when no one laughed. Toph added her rebuttal, "Too bad your skills aren't on the hook" this caused everyone except for Sokka and Zuko to laugh.
Katara glanced at the downcast Zuko then looked at the river, "It looks like we'll need to go somewhere else to get food" a long scrolled rolled out onto Sokka's back, "Assuming that will fit into Sokka's master schedule" she added. Sokka hummed, thinking, "It's doable. But that means only two potty breaks today" but Aang talked over him, "Hey! Maybe we can get foot there". He pointed to a small village overtop of a muck filled lake. The houses were on wooden stilts and were connected by ramps.
The gang left Appa outside the town under a bed of grass of concealment, in case some one came across him. Katara looked at Zuko as they walked towards the village, "No one should recognize you without your scar. The fire nation citizens only know of that…" she said, fading off, unsure if he was comfortable talking about his scar in front of their friends. But he simply nodded and left her a smile.
A strange man led them in a boat to the village. When they arrived, it was clear this town was among those affected by the war. A fire nation weapon factory stood tall over the village as it polluted the river. Katara noticed Zuko staring at it for a second before looking towards the bottom of the boat. The town was filled with sick starving people, plagued with the sickness of the war. Women were holding crying children with strange rashes. Many people had ribs visible. It was clear that it affected Katara the most, because she wanted to help them. But Sokka was very against helping the village, "No. We can't waste our time here" he turned from her and continued, "We have a bigger mission that we need to stay focused on. These people are on their own". Katara grabbed his shoulder, clearly frustrated, "These people are starving. But you turn your back on them?" she questioned, "How can you be so cold and heartless?" she accused. Sokka retorted, "I'm not turning my back! I'm just being realistic! We can't go around and help every rinky dink town we wander into. We'll be helping them all by taking out the Fire Lord" Toph quickly put a hand over his mouth. "Hey loud mouth!" she yelled over him, "Maybe we should be a little more cautious when we talk about taking out the Fire Lord" Katara knew she was talking about the villagers, but judging from the look on Zuko's face, he was also hurt by this statement, not quite coming to terms with the fact he was helping the Avatar kill his father. Sokka rubbed the back of his neck, feeling uncomfortable, "Right…" not able to say he was sorry to Zuko but the regret clear on his face, then turning his attention back to Katara, "Come on Katara… Be reasonable about this… You know our mission has to come first". Katara's façade slowly crumbled, she dropped her arms and sighed, "I guess so". The gang bought their food and retreated to the dock. But not before Zuko noticed Katara giving a small boy one of the fish they purchased.
The next morning, Appa woke up sick. His tongue was bright purple and he was lying on his side like he had a belly ache. They were forced to stay in town another day or two until Appa was able to fly. This made Sokka flustered because his schedule was messed up. He began to talk about cutting out potty breaks and mealtimes in order to make up for the 2 to 3 day detour. But the rest of the gang was adamant about that not happening.
The village was a complete flip from the one they saw the day before. Children were dancing in the streets and laughing. People were walking around as if they had not been sick the day before. "Hey Shu, what's going on with everyone today?" Sokka asked to the shopkeeper. Shu smiled and sighed happily, "Ah something amazing happened last night. Food was delivered to our village last night, The Painted Lady" he held his hands to his chest, almost in a daydream". Katara spoke up, confused, "The Painted Who-now?" she asked. "The Painted Lady" the shopkeeper repeated, "She's part of our town's law. They say she's a river spirit, who watches over our town in times of need" he said dreamily, "I always thought she was just a legend. Until now" they looked out on the happiness that practically radiated from the townspeople. Sokka put his hands on his hips and spoke out, "See we don't need to help these people. They already have someone to help them".
Zuko woke late that night to rustling in the bushes. He got up quickly, but silently in case he needed to attack. He drew closer to the sound of the noise, a ways away from the camp. He looked around the corner carefully. He saw Katara. She had on the robe of the Painted Lady and was applying red face paint to her face and arms. There was a straw hat with a screen to cover the face placed beside her. He walked out from behind the rock and leaned against it, "Going somewhere?" he asked. This caused Katara to immediately jump and look at him, letting out a breath when she saw him, "You scared me…" she said. "So it's you who helped the village last night" Zuko said to her, as she looked away sheepishly. "I know its wrong… I didn't want to lie to everyone… But I couldn't turn my back on these people" she stood up, "You saw how happy they were today… I know this can't last long. It is just until Appa gets betters but- Zuko interrupted her, "Appa isn't really sick". Katara looked up at this then looked away, "He might be sick of the purple berries I fed him". Zuko sighed and looked at her. Katara looked back at him, trying to pull her puppy dog eyes, "Please Zuko… Don't tell them… I can't turn my back on these people" Zuko thought it over. "Okay" causing Katara to smile wide, " But…" her smile faltered slightly, "You let me accompany you… These are fire nation people… If they discover your identity, you could be killed on the spot" Katara nodded quickly, "But your disguise…"
Zuko smirked at that, "I've got it covered."
That's it for this chapter! I'm almost done with the next chapter because I decided to split the painted lady into two chapters last minute. It just got wayyy toooo long! Also for the purposes of this story, Zuko still has his Blue Spirit mask. The next part should be up at a reasonable time tomorrow! Until then!
