Two days passed. Mai stayed in bed most of the time, though she asked Katara to heal her before dinner so she could sit, beautiful and proud, with the nobles. She hated to appear weak.
On the evening of the second day, just before sunset, a palanquin was waiting in front of the gate. As the Fire Lord walked out of the gate, the guards and palanquin carriers bowed deeply. The Fire Lady leaned on his arm but held her head high. A few steps behind them, the blue-clad healer followed.
A few guards whispered together: "So that waterbender is healing our Fire Lady?"
"Yeah, the women from the North sometimes have some kind of magical healing power."
"Wasn't she from the Southern tribe?"
"They're all Water folks, does it matter?"
"She's the one who saved the Fire Lord's life during the war."
"And the Avatar's, too!"
"So that's the legendary Master Katara?"
"She was the Avatar's fiancée, but I heard they split up."
Katara, who walked past them, sent them a look, and they immediately fell silent. As soon as the palanquin had taken off, though, the conversation continued.
Contrarily, the passengers inside the palanquin were silent. Mai rested her head against Zuko's shoulder, and he supported her. Katara, who was sitting in front of them, felt the full moon pulling at her blood, and was restless. She kept fidgeting with her feet and hands, until she finally excused herself, stood up and jumped out of the palanquin.
As soon as her feet touched the ground she felt better. She kept walking alongside the palanquin, in the same tempo as the carriers. She felt strong and energetic. Soon she smelled the salty air of the seaside. She quickened her step and arrived at the small, secluded beach before the parade of palanquin and guards. She stood still in front of the surf, spread her arms and deeply breathed in the humid air. She could taste the salt on her lips already. The light had not yet gone and the sky was a greyish hue, with the full moon hanging like a great gilded disc above the horizon. Katara could feel its strength fill her up to her fingertips.
She turned around and watched Zuko help Mai out of the palanquin. The guards and carriers went back to wait at a respectful distance.
"Tell me why I have to get into the water, again," Mai said in a tone that made clear she did not enjoy that prospect. She pulled her robes tight around her and looked at the waves with repulsion.
"The moon and the ocean grant me my greatest power," Katara said impatiently. She shrugged off her outer robe, let it fall on the sand and beckoned the Fire Lady to come closer. "There's not a better place for a waterbender to be, right now."
"I'll help you," Zuko said. Mai frowned at him. "I can handle it," she snapped, took off her outer robe and pushed it into his hands. "You don't have to hold my hand all the time."
"I don't," he said, a little offended. But he stepped back and let Mai walk into the surf by herself. She seemed as though she regretted refusing his help, because her steps were unstable and she shivered at the touch of the water on her skin. Katara came to her side and guided her in further.
"We won't go far," she said. Mai's jaw was tense. She gave Katara a fierce look that only betrayed how much she wished to hide her fear.
"I hate getting wet," she mumbled, as she reluctantly waded deeper into the water. Zuko watched from the shore, his hands itching to help, but he didn't want to risk another reproach from his wife.
"This is far enough," Katara said. She was standing up until her waist in the water. Her white underdress drifted on the waves like a mermaid's tail, as did Mai's red robes.
Mai looked at Katara with an intense expression in her silver eyes. She was even paler in the moonlight.
"Lie back into the water," Katara said softly. "Let yourself drift."
Mai leaned back, very reluctantly, a frown etched on her face.
"I hate this. I hope it's worth it."
Katara ignored her words and continued in the same soft voice: "I'll support you. Lean on my hand and lie back. The water will carry you."
With her waterbending, she created enough lift for the Fire Lady to keep floating. Mai finally let her head fall back, and her black hair fanned out like a halo.
It was getting darker, and from the shore Zuko had trouble seeing the two women in the waves. He created two flames and sent those towards them, and they illuminated the strange scene.
"Don't be scared if you feel anything unusual," Katara said, still speaking softly. Her voice barely raised above the crashing of the waves on the shore. "I'll be bending the water inside your body. It might feel very strange."
She prayed that Mai wouldn't be freaked out, and was glad that Zuko had remained out of the water. She'd only discussed the theory of full-moon healing with Yugoda, but never practiced it before.
Mai closed her eyes, though her body was still tense. "This better work," she said through clenched teeth.
"If this doesn't, nothing will," Katara said, not knowing how much hope that would give.
Katara closed her eyes and focussed. She felt filled with the silvery-white energy of the moon, and imagined herself being only a vessel, an intermediate, a way for the Spirits to manifest their power. The water around Mai moved and started to glow. Katara raised her hands, stretched her fingers and pulled.
Mai gasped. Katara immediately released the hold on her blood and supported her as she breathed quickly.
"What was that?" she asked, absolutely terrified. Katara bit her lip. Was this wise? It was the only way to look inside Mai's body. She had to.
"I'm bending your blood," she said. "Don't be scared, please. I'll be very careful."
Mai's eyes were wide with horror. "You waterbenders are crazy."
"We can stop. I'm sorry if I scared you," Katara said, but Mai shook her head.
"No. I'm not scared," she said, determined. "Continue."
The Fire Lady leaned back into the water again and Katara once again stretched out her hands above her. Very carefully, she let the blood in Mai's veins slip through her senses. It was like touching an object in the dark, tracing its outlines and trying to guess its shape. She closed her eyes and prayed to the Moon and Ocean Spirits.
Bit by bit, a sort of map of Mai's insides became clear to her. She could trace every tiny blood vessel, feel every contraction of every muscle and sinew and nerve. She felt her anxiously beating heart and tried very hard not to think of the cruel power she possessed. One little squeeze of her fingers and there would be no more Fire Lady… She furrowed her eyebrows and whispered another prayer to Yue.
Yugoda had known, in theory, about bloodbending. It was something the battle-trained male waterbenders had never thought of, but the healers, they who dealt with blood and the insides of people on a daily basis, had suspected its possibilities. The old woman had nodded with a very serious expression as Katara had told her about her frightening experience.
"The powers that the spirits have gifted us with are neither good nor bad," she had said. "They just are. It is up to us how to use them."
Just like Zuko and Aang had discovered that firebending was not only about anger and destruction, but also about warmth and life, Katara had discovered that her own bending could be both good and evil. She thought about Aang and what he had experienced after absorbing Ozai's energy. The true heart can touch the poison of hatred, without being harmed. Be true, she thought. Be like Aang, pure and untouched.
She moved her hands over Mai's body. The Fire Lady trembled, but was pliant as a puppet in Katara's grasp. Katara shifted her focus from the blood to the lymphatic fluid, and her her eyes opened wide in shock.
"Oh!"
She quickly checked the nodes in Mai's armpits, then continued to the rest of her body. Careful not to become too rough in her excitement, she extended her reach to the fluids in between the organs.
"Oh, Spirits," she whispered. She checked again. There was no denying it.
She released Mai, who fell slightly deeper into the water and jolted up, splashing. She trembled over her entire body. Katara put her arms around her and created a big wave that brought them to the shore in less than a second. There, Mai stumbled and let herself fall into Zuko's arms. She buried her face in his neck and held on to him tightly. He embraced her, stroked her back, and gave Katara a burning look.
"What did you do?"
She slowly bended the water off them. "You know what I did."
He closed his eyes and silently comforted Mai. She quickly came back to herself, straightened her back and said, still holding on to her husband:
"That was one of the scariest things I've ever felt."
"I'm very sorry," Katara said. "It was scary for me, too. But I won't have to do it again."
"Did you… see anything?"
"I'm not sure," she answered hesitantly. Mai scowled. "You were shocked. I'm not stupid. Tell me."
Katara bit her lip. She slowly shook her head. "I don't know how to put it into words… I have to think about it."
"I need to know, Katara," Mai said sharply. "I'm not letting you perform your witchcraft on me for nothing!"
Zuko looked from his wife to Katara, who had a pained expression on her face.
"Mai is right," he said quietly but sternly. "Tell us."
Katara took a deep breath before burying her face in her hands.
"It's… bad. Really bad. I'm not sure what it is, because I've never seen it before, but I can tell it's something horrible."
Mai's face was white and expressionless.
"What is then? Surely you can heal it, whatever it is!" Zuko said, his voice rising. Katara helplessly let her hands fall down.
"It's not- it's really complicated. I have to write to the healers at the North Pole, I think." She sounded sad and defeated. "Let's go back to the palace."
Zuko stepped forward angrily, but Mai placed a hand on his chest. With a tired sigh she said: "I want to go back too. Could you help me get dressed again?"
Zuko scowled for a moment longer, but gave in. He held up Mai's robe and helped her put her arms through the sleeves. Katara picked up her own dress and tied the sash quickly.
The ride back to the palace was long and silent. Mai was exhausted, Katara disturbed and troubled, and Zuko was too confused and angry to formulate coherent thoughts.
When they stepped out of the palanquin, Zuko supported Mai and said to Katara:
"Use my office and write that letter to the North Pole now. I'll prepare a messenger hawk."
Katara nodded solemnly and disappeared into the direction of his office, while Zuko guided a languid Mai through the dark corridors to her bedroom.
Katara wasted no time and pushed the door to Zuko's office open impatiently. She fumbled with sparkstones for a second before managing to light a candle. She sat down at his desk and grabbed the first blank sheet of paper she saw. She hastily rubbed a black ink stick onto the wet ink stone until she thought she had enough ink, and dipped Zuko's beautifully carved brush into it. In her hurry she spilled a few large dark drops onto the wooden surface of his desk. She quickly waterbended them back.
Highly respected teacher, dear Yugoda,
I must request your help. You may have heard about the illness of the Fire Lady- her symptoms are fatigue, loss of appetite and general weakness and pain. There was an infection in her lungs, but I've cured that. Tonight, during the full moon, I looked inside her body and saw something I've never seen before.
She hesitated. She had agreed with Yugoda never to mention bloodbending in case that knowlegde should fall into the wrong hands, but how could she explain what she had felt?
In the lymphatic fluid, lumps of cells were drifting. In and between various organs (most notably lungs, intestines and liver and the breast tissue) these lumps had settled and grown, constricting the flow of chi and suppressing the organs. These lumps were not alien, they were part of the Fire Lady's own body. It is hard to explain- I will try to draw how it felt.
Awkwardly, she drew a human figure with visible veins and organs, and drew in the lumps where she had felt them.
Please note that there is no infection or poison. The lumps feel as though they are made of her own flesh, and do not respond to healing.
I implore your wisdom, highly respected teacher. I am at loss and without your knowledge, I cannot do any more.
Please send your answer back with this messenger hawk as soon as possible. Spare no costs if you know of any cure, the Fire Lord will cover them.
Katara of the Southern Water Tribe, at the Fire Nation Royal Palace.
She wrote the direction to the Northern capital at the top of the paper and rolled it up. She heard the door slide open again and looked up to see Zuko enter. He noticed she had finished her letter and walked over to the desk. From a small lacquered box he took a jade stone and pressed it into the red ink he used for his signature.
"The Imperial Seal," he said. "This will be taken seriously."
He applied the seal to the scroll. Two entangled dragons in flaming vermillion joined Katara's hasty characters.
After sealing the scroll Zuko gestured to Katara to follow him. They went outside, in the direction of the stables. That was where the hawkery was as well. Silently they climbed the steps to the tower that served as the center of the country's messaging system.
When they arrived at the top of the stairs a servant approached them, carrying a hawk on his arm. Zuko attached the scroll to its leg and held up his arm to take over the bird. He carried it to the window, took off its cap and stretched out his arm. The bird blinked a few times, then spread its wings and flew off into the night.
"It will reach the North Pole by morning," Zuko said.
"Let's hope the answer will be here just as quickly," Katara said gravely. Zuko dismissed the servant and they went back down the stairs.
"Care to tell me what exactly you felt, now?" Zuko asked. Katara's mouth was a thin line.
"No," she said.
"Why not?" he frowned, irritated.
"I hardly know it myself," she said in an equally irritated voice, "let alone how to explain it to you. I want to wait for Yugoda's answer first."
He felt his anger peak again. The inner turmoil that had been building up gradually inside him seemed to have reached its breaking point. He grabbed Katara's shoulder and turned her towards him roughly.
"I will not be kept in the dark!" he growled. "I demand you to tell me what you know!"
She stumbled with her back into the wall. They were still standing on the stairs to the hawkery.
"Let go of me, Zuko," Katara said in an icy voice. "Don't make me angry."
"Or else? What are you going to do, bloodbend me?" His voice cut like a knife. Katara's eyes shot fire and she slapped his hands away from her shoulders.
"I could," she hissed. "And you'd be completely helpless. But unlike you," she said sharply, "I know that violence will not help me in this case."
He was taken aback by the coldness of her voice, and let go of her. She didn't hesitate and rushed down the stairs. "Answer me, Katara!" he yelled after her. She didn't even look back. He watched her disappear, still frowning.