10. Merely Ember Island Players
"So what's on the agenda today?" Aang asked. "What do we do now that the gang is back together?"
"Start your firebending lessons." Zuko said. "We need to make up for lost time."
"Should we start my lesson here or wait until we get back to Taku?" Aang asked.
Katara shook the crumbs from the group's breakfast off the table cloth and the sharp snapping sound of the fabric echoed around their campsite. The sound reminded her of the noise ice floes made when they cracked. She missed her home more than she thought would ever be possible. It was not too long ago she wished nothing more than to leave the South Pole and see the world, but the thing about seeing the world was it made you realize how much where you came from had a part in making you who you were.
"I don't think we should go back to Taku." Sokka announced.
"Why not?" Suki asked. She tossed a moon peach down to Momo who sat down next to her feet and began to noisily eat.
"The Fire Nation has been patrolling that area again. Haru left because he didn't want anyone to find out where we were staying, and neither do I."
"Sokka's right." Aang said. "I can't put Chunhua into the middle of our battle. We have to keep her and the herbalist institute safe."
"So where do we go from here?" Toph asked. "We're running out of places to stay."
"I know where we can go." Zuko spoke up.
"Where?" Katara asked. She folded up the table cloth and put it into a wooden travel crate.
"Ember Island. My family has a beach house there. It's more than big enough for all of us and we can stay there as long as we like."
"You don't think someone will find us hiding from the Fire Lord in his own house?" Katara asked.
"My Father hasn't gone there since our family was actually happy and that was a long time ago. This is the last place anyone would think to look for us." Zuko explained.
"I'm sorry." Katara said to Zuko.
"Why? You didn't do anything."
"I'm still sorry." She placed her hand on top of his and gave it a small squeeze.
Suki looked at Katara then Zuko and back to Katara and arched an eyebrow.
Katara kept her face as blank as possible. Until she talked to Zuko there was nothing to talk about. She knew that he felt the same way about her that she felt about him, but until he spoke the words out loud, until they both did there was nothing to talk about.
"We should say goodbye to Chunhua first." Katara said as she climbed onto the back of Appa's saddle. "She'll worry if we just leave without telling her."
"OK, but we'll have to make it quick." Sokka said.
"Sir, schedule master, Sir!" Toph shouted and gave Sokka a mocking salute.
Sokka turned around and glared at Toph, though the facial expression was lost on her, and then flicked Appa's reins and yelled. "Yip,yip!"
Aang sat behind Sokka, and Toph sat next to Aang and clung onto the saddle. Suki lie down in the middle and Katara sat in the back next to Zuko. She found it hard to behave normally around him now. She couldn't help but wonder things like did he always smell so good? Was he a good kisser? Did his body look just as amazing underneath all of his clothes? The thought of her kissing Zuko without a stitch of clothing on made Katara blush deeply.
"You OK, Katara?" Zuko asked. "Your face looks a little flush."
"Oh, me? I'm all right." Katara said.
Zuko looked at her and a little smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. Almost as if he knew what she had been thinking, but there was no way he could have.
"I have to admit that I'm curious to see what your house on Ember Island looks like." Suki said as she sat up.
"I guess that makes two of us, because I am too." Aang said.
"Make that three." Sokka shouted from up front to be heard over the wind. "I want to know how Prince Fire Pants spent his summer vacations." Sokka laughed. "Prince Fire Pants, just when I think I can't top myself."
Zuko rolled his eyes.
Katara laughed. If only he knew all the colorful names Sokka had come up with for him while he'd been chasing them across the world. How she had hated the very thought of Zuko back then. How very much things had changed now.
"I wish we didn't have to leave Taku." Toph wined. "I really liked that place."
"Me too!" Aang said. "I learned some amazing earthbending there."
"Of course you did." Toph replied. "You were taught by the best."
"You're right, Katara is the best."
"Don't make me throw you off of Appa, Twinkle toes." Toph warned. "It's a long way down."
"I don't think that would be a problem for Aang." Suki pointed out.
"Yeah, if anyone is likely to get thrown off of Appa it's you, Toph." Sokka added.
"Me! "Why me?" Toph screeched.
"Because you'd never see it coming." Sokka got out through barely contained laughter. A few seconds later he gave up all pretenses of trying to hold back his laughter. He laughed at his own bad joke until tears ran down his cheeks.
Toph bent a rock she'd been carrying off the back of Sokka's head.
Sokka grumbled something unpleasant under his breath as the rock bounced off of his hard head and disappeared into the clouds.
Katara watched Zuko watching their little group. He often studied the group when he thought no one was looking at him. He always had the look of someone from the lower ring who'd just found out they were the true heir to the Earth Kingdom. As if he couldn't quite believe his good fortune was true. It made Katara smile and broke her heart at the same time.
Ever since she'd been trapped inside of one of his darkest memories, one in which his father plotted to have him killed, Katara couldn't help but wonder what life had been like for Zuko growing up as the Fire Prince. She had always imagined that he grew up with parents that spoiled him beyond belief and had servants who waited on him hand and foot. Now she knew that wasn't the whole story, but she didn't know his story. She hardly knew anything about him. Except for what she felt for him.
She wasn't in love with Zuko but she was falling for him, and falling hard. She had seen the good, the bad, and the ugly. She had seen him without the royalty and the bending, but there was still so much she didn't know about him. Zuko move closer to Katara so that their sides were touching and whether it was consciously or unconsciously she didn't know, but she wanted to reach out and touch him. To run her hands through his hair. Anything just to feel the warmth of his skin on hers again. Anything to feel like his again. She wondred how they had ever been enemies in the first place. It was hard to believe that only weeks ago he'd been hell bent on capturing Aang. She had never thought to ask him why. Beyond the fame and prestige it would have brought him and the Fire Nation there had to be another reason why he doggedly pursued them across the world.
They reached Taku by early afternoon. Only stopping once for a bathroom break.
"I feel awful for leaving Chunhua alone. I know she's lived by herself for a long time, but everybody needs someone. It's not right that she's all alone." Katara said.
"I know." Suki agreed. "Too bad she can't leave Taku and your Gran-gran can't leave the South pole. I have a feeling the two of them would really get along."
Katara had had the same thought. She hated to think of her Gran-gran all alone back in the South Pole with only little children for company. Who was helping her out now? Perhaps after the war was over the two women could meet. Yue knew that her Gran-gran deserved a vacation and a friend her own age.
"Gran-gran will be fine. Dad will make sure of it." Sokka gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze. "Besides the Fire Nation has no reason to go to the South Pole any more."
That was true. The Fire Nation hadn't visited the South Pole until Zuko came there looking for Aang. What reason would they have to return when they believed that they wiped out the entire Southern Water Tribe of benders.
Toph scrambled off of Appa and landed on the ground sending up a small cloud of dirt. "Here comes Chunhua and Miyuki." She announced.
The gang walked over to Chunhua who was coming out of one of her green houses carrying a handful of bright purple flowers. Her cat Miyuki was trailing right behind her.
"So you finally made it back." Chunhua said. "I was beginning to think you were going to leave me without saying goodbye." She put her flowers down on the ground next to Miyuki.
Miyuki sniffed the flowers and then began to roll around in them.
"We would never do that." Katara said. She reached out and took Chunhua's soft warm wrinkled hands in hers. "We don't want to leave. We want to stay here with you, but we don't want Princess Azula bringing the Fire Nation here. If she found out about your institute she would occupy it in the name of her father. I'm so sorry." Katara said in a rush. She stepped forward to give Chunhua a hug. She looked small and frail but Katara could feel the strength of all of the mountains within her.
"Don't feel sorry for me. I choose to stay here because this place is the legacy I want to leave behind. Now if all of you really want to do something for me end this war, and carry on Taku's legacy. Bring her back to her former glory."
"I will. Katara said. "I promise."
"I'll help too. You have my word as the Avatar."
"It would be my honor and the honor of the other Kyoshi Warriors to help rebuild Taku."
"Count me in." Toph said. "No way I'm letting the Fire Nation get their hands on this place."
"That won't happen." Zuko said and gave everyone a look in turn. "I'll make sure of it."
"Darn right it won't!" Sokka shouted.
"Good! This is cause for one last celebration dinner." Chunhua said. "What do you say?"
Everyone turned to look at Sokka.
"What? I say let's eat!"
Katara smirked. Funny how Sokka could always find time to amend their schedule to feed his empty stomach.
Chunhua prepared roast duck for dinner. Everyone helped in the kitchen in some way. It was loud and noisy. Every time that Katara turned around she was bumping into someone. Momo tried to steal whatever food was within his reach. Aang had formed an aqua arm and kept tickling Toph with it. Toph it seemed had no defense against this type of attack. Ticklishness was her weakness.
Katara's weakness was standing right beside her. Every time she bumped into Zuko and their skin made contact she got goosebumps. Her mind would turn to mush when she caught him looking at her, and when she tried to speak it felt like she might swallow her tongue. The longer they went without talking about their feelings the more the anticipation between them seem to grow.
When dinner was finally finished everyone picked up a dish and carried it outside and sat around the stone table Toph had earthbent.
Chunhua perfectly seasoned the duck with herbs that Katara didn't even know existed. The leaves she roasted the duck in kept it tender and juicy. It had been a long while since someone had prepared their gang a dinner with this much love.
"My compliments to the chef." Aang said. Chunhua had made him stuffed mushrooms. The mushrooms were almost as big as Aang's head.
"Here! Here!" Sokka cried.
"I'd like to make a toast."
At once everyone stopped talking and all eyes focused on Chunhua.
Chunhua rose from her chair and raised her glass and the others followed suit. "To six of the bravest young warriors I have ever met, and believe me that's saying something, here's to a swift end of the war and a return to peace and unity."
"To peace and unity!" Everyone cried out.
Katara turned and clinked her glass against Zuko's. What would happen to the two of them after the war? Zuko would still be Prince of the Fire Nation unless Aang lost, but she couldn't allow herself to think that way. Aang was going to defeat Ozai and win this war. He had come too far, they all had come too far not to.
"Katara." Chunhua called out.
"Wha-yes?"
"Would you mind coming with me for a while? I have some herbology books I'd like to give you."
"I would love to."
Katara followed Chunhua into the room that Toph had been staying in.
"First of all I want to give you this." Chunhua said and handed her the blue dress she had worn when she and Zuko had gone for a walk around the dormitory. "And this." She gave her a blue silk bag.
Katara opened the bag and looked inside. It contained the shoes and the fancy combs that went with the dress.
"As much as I love that dress I wouldn't feel right taking it." Katara said. "It belong to someone else."
"It used to belong to someone else." Chunhua corrected. "Trust me when I say they belong to you now."
Katara looked down at the dress and remembered how beautiful she felt wearing it and how Zuko had looked at her. Chunhua was right the dress did belong to her now. Whoever had it before wasn't coming back for it.
"Thank you so much. For everything."
"You're welcome my little riverlily." Chunhua said and pulled her in for a hug.
"I'm going to miss you so much. When the war is over I'll come back and visit you, and I'll bring my Gran-gran too. I think you'll like her."
"If she's anything like you I know I will. You're a very special girl, do you know that?" Chunhua asked.
"Yes. I do."
"Good. Don't let that Prince of yours ever forget it."
Katara smiled. "I won't."
In order to reach Taku while it was still daylight the gang had to leave shortly after dinner. Katara went to her room to pack her things.
"Need any help?" Zuko asked from her doorway.
She turned around and looked at him. "No, but thanks for asking."
"Are you doing OK?" He asked. They hadn't had a chance to talk about what had happened between her and Yon Rha.
She shook her head and hugged herself. "I'm getting there. Thanks for understanding what I needed."
"I'm just happy I was able to help you."
"So am I."
Zuko stepped further into her room and helped her tie up a bag she'd been struggling with. "Do you-." Zuko stopped took a deep breath and then started again. "When we were on that trip did you-."
"Whatever it is you have to tell me Zuko, just tell me." Katara said and took his hand.
"Katara! Zuko!" Suki cried out. "Where are you?"
Suki appeared in Katara's doorway a few seconds later.
Katara dropped Zuko's hand, but Suki saw them anyway and made an Is that right face.
"What did you want?" Zuko asked irritably.
"Sokka's getting really impatient. He says we've already wasted enough time and if you two don't hurry up he's leaving without you."
"That's ridiculous he doesn't even know where my beach house is." Zuko said.
Suki shrugged. "Let's just go before that vein in his forehead explodes."
Chunhua packed a case of medicines for the gang to take with them to the beach house. She also mixed up some extar serum for Zuko just in case he should have a relapse. Katara prayed to Yue that he wouldn't. She couldn't stand to see Zuko in that amount of pain again.
"Take care of each other." Chunhua said. "I expect to see all of you again after the war." She gave everyone in their group a hug and a kiss on the cheek. While the others were scrambling onto Appa's saddle she and Zuko stayed behind.
"Take care of yourself and Miyuki." Katara said and gave Chunhua one last long hug.
"Thank you for everything you've done for me. I owe you a debt of gratitude." Zuko said. "My mother was a master herberlist as well, and she would have absolutely loved seeing everything you've accomplished. I won't forget Taku. You have my word as the Fire Prince."
"I know you won't Prince Zuko." Chunhua said and hugged him one last time. Her eyes twinkled with mischief as she looked over at Katara. "You two look after one another, and don't take too long before you ask Katara out or another fellow will."
Katara blushed to the roots of her hair. She was relieved the others weren't close enough to hear as Chunhua had no filter.
"Aaah." Zuko said and shuffled his feet in the dirt.
As Appa ascended into the sky the gang waved and called out to Chunhua until they couldn't see her any more. Everyone was quiet as they flew to Ember Island. The count down was on. Sozin's comet was only five days away. A war that had waged on for over one hundred years would finally be over in less than five days. It seemed impossible.
"There it is!" Zuko called out suddenly. "My family's beach house."
"Wow, that's some beach house." Aang said. That's some beach."
Zuko landed Appa by the dock.
The gang scrambled down to the ground.
"It's so beautiful here." Katara said. "It's been so long since I've been surrounded by this much water."
"We should build a fire and grill out on the beach for dinner." Sokka said.
"How can you be thinking about dinner when you just ate?" Suki asked.
Sokka shrugged.
"Well someone will need to go into town for supplies. There isn't any food in the house." Zuko informed him.
"I'll go." Sokka volunteered.
"I'll come with." Suki said.
"I'll stay on the beach and practice my sandbending." Top said.
"Me too!" Aang cried.
"Fine. I'll show Katara around the rest of the beach." Zuko said, but Aang and Toph had already stopped paying attention and started bending sand.
Katara followed Zuko along the shore. She loved the smell of the sea air. Next to the smell of snow it was her favorite smell in the world. The sounds of the waves lapping at the shore were like a lullaby. It wasn't uncommon for Water Tribe mother's to take their babies for canoe rides to put them to sleep. Katara's mother had often done this with her. The pushing and pulling of the waves made her think of the first waterbenders who learned to do it themselves. What power they must have felt when they learned they could bend one of the elements at their will. Katara began to push and pull the water and then she got creative and started bending the water into shapes.
Zuko watched her as she bent the water into a shape of a hawk. She made the hawk fly around in circles before diving into the ocean and then reappearing as a dolphin jumping through the waves. She bent the dolphin into a rabaroo and made it hop playfully around Zuko's feet before bending the water back into the ocean.
"That's amazing." Zuko said.
"I've come a long way. When I first started I didn't even know what I didn't know about waterbending."
"You'd never know it now." Zuko said.
Katara smirked and bumped Zuko's shoulder with her own. "Thanks for helping me grow more proficient."
Zuko groaned. "Don't remind me of how stupid I was. Remember when I took you on during a full moon?" He shook his head. "You knocked me out cold."
"Pay back for knocking me out first."
"Ugh! I was awful wasn't I? I'm sorry."
"Zuko, stop apologizing, besides you aren't even the Water Tribe's biggest enemy. That would be Zhao. He killed the moon spirit. That is an unforgivable act to my people." Katara reminded him.
"Well if it's any consolation to your people I think he's in the fog of lost souls."
Katara stopped walking. "What?"
"During the siege of the North I confronted Zhao. I told him I knew he tried to kill me by blowing up my ship."
"Zhao tried to have you killed?" Katara's mouth dropped. "But why?"
"He thought I'd capture Aang before he did." Zuko explained. "We were fighting each other when Aang, or rather Aang's Avatar spirit grabbed Zhao and pulled him into the water. I tried to save him but he refused to take my hand. He went under and I never saw him again."
"So maybe he just drown?" Katara suggested and started walking again.
"I don't think so. When I was sick with the spirit fever I saw him."
"Zhao?"
"Yes. He was surrounded by some kind of mist. I think maybe he was lost in the mist because all he was doing was walking around in circles and rambling on and on about being the moon conqueror. It was like he was going insane. There was something about that mist."
Katara shivered. "It was the fog of lost souls. Chunhua told me it infects your mind and traps you in your darkest memories."
Zuko's mouth dropped. "I didn't even like the guy, but I would never wish something like that on him. I guess I didn't have to. In the end he brought his destiny upon himself. The Spirits justice isn't the same as our justice. Spirits seek justice on a global scale. The Spirit World will always seek out to balance the imbalances we cause within the world."
"That sounds like something your uncle would say." Katara said.
Zuko smiled. "Thanks. There was a little part of me that was hoping my uncle would be here, but I know him too well. He wouldn't be here hiding when he could be out there fighting."
"We're not hiding Zuko, we're preparing. You're preparing Aang to become a firebending master. It's not the same as doing nothing."
"Mind reader." Zuko teased.
"Madame Wu must have rubbed off on me."
"Madame who?"
"Nevermind." Katara said. "Let's go back."
Her brother and Suki were just getting back from their shopping trip as she and Zuko stepped into the courtyard.
"You guys are not going to believe this." Sokka announced. He walked up to the group holding a scroll. "There's a play about us."
"We found this poster in town." Suki explained.
Sokka rolled the scroll down so that everyone could see. There was Zuko's eyes in the background of the poster and She, Sokka, and Aang taking up heroic stances in the foreground. They actors who were meant to portray them were at least ten years too old.
"What?" Katara asked. "How is that possible?"
"Listen to this." Sokka said and began reading the poster out loud to everyone. "The Boy in the Iceberg is a new production from acclaimed playwright Pu On Tim who scoured the globe gathering information on the Avatar from the icy South Pole to the heart of Ba Sing Se. His sources including singing nomads, pirates, prisoners of war and a surprisingly knowledgeable merchant of cabbage."
Suki read the last bit of script. "Brought to you by the critically acclaimed Ember Island Players."
"Ugh." Zuko groaned. "My Mother used to take us to see them. They butchered Love Amongst The Dragons every year."
"I love that book!" Katara exclaimed. "I didn't know there was a play!" Everyone turned to look at her. "Whatever." She huffed.
"Sokka, do you really think it's a good idea for us to attend a play about ourselves?" Aang asked.
"Come on, a day at the theater? This is the kind of wacky time wasting nonsense I've been missing."
"Can't argue with that." Toph said.
"So it's settled dinner and a play." Sokka said. "Now help us get the supplies inside."
Zuko lead them inside of the beach house.
"Wow Zuko, this place is amazing ." Suki said.
It was. The house was a lot bigger on the inside than it looked on the outside which was impressive in and of itself. You could strain your neck trying to see the ceiling. From the ornate wood scroll work on the doors to the huge glass windows Katara could tell that no expense had been spared when building this place, but then again why should it? It was the Fire Lord's beach house.
Zuko quickly took them through the house into the kitchen so Katara didn't have much time to look around at the other rooms. Just like the rest of the house the kitchen was huge. There were enough pots and pans hanging on the wall to feed an entire army, but there was an inch worth of dust all over them. Not just the pots and pans, but counters and the floors.
Toph sneezed three times in a row. "Smells dusty in here."
"That's because it is dusty in here." Katara said. "We'll need to clean this whole place up."
"Clean?" Sokka moaned. "The whole point of grilling out on the beach is so that we don't have to clean."
"If we're going to be staying here then we should clean the place up." Katara snapped at her brother.
"What's the point of being the Fire Prince if you have to clean up after yourself?" Sokka asked Zuko.
"If we all pitch in it won't take that long Sokka, for now let's just clean the kitchen and then get these supplies put away and start dinner." Katara ordered.
"Besides no one is supposed to know we're here remember, and I haven't had servants to wait on me in years."
Suki opened all the windows and Aang airbent all of dust out of the kitchen.
Zuko heated a huge pot full of water for Katara and she used her waterbending to clean the floors and counter tops.
Once everything was clean Sokka began seasoning the chicken he'd picked up in town.
"Do you think this play will be any good?" Suki asked no one in particular.
"It's about us so it has to be good." Sokka reasoned.
"I wonder who they got to play me?" Katara pondered out loud. "Whoever it is I hope she's pretty."
"Whoever they picked to play me had better be strong." Toph said.
"I don't care who they picked to play me." Zuko groused. "I think this whole play sounds stupid."
"Are you kidding me?" Sokka asked. "This is the greatest thing ever, how many people can say they have a play written about them?"
"Not many." Aang admitted.
"I'm going to go find some firewood. Katara would you mind helping me?" Zuko asked.
"Not at all." She said. She didn't even bother to look back at Suki who she knew had some kind of knowing look on her face. Sooner or later she would have to tell Suki what she already knew.
"There's a copse of trees just a few feet from here. We should be able to collect enough wood for the fire there."
Katara nodded. She and Zuko were both walking slowly to prolong their time together. He took her hand in his and swung their arms back and forth. It felt so right holding Zuko's hand. Being near him made her feel a peace that she hadn't felt in a long time. Zuko made her feel like she didn't have to hold everything down. He made her feel reciprocated.
"Oh look a turtle crab!" Katara called out. She pointed to a spot a few yards in front of her. "The poor little thing stuck on it's back."
Zuko bent down next to the turtle crab and flipped it over. "Go on." He said and gave it a gentle nudge with his hands. The turtle crab obliged him and began making its way towards the sea.
"I've always liked turtle crabs." Zuko told her. "When I was younger I tried to save one from a hawk. I wasn't a very good savior though, because when I saw the hawk looking at me all hungry I felt bad. I didn't know what to do and stood there holding the turtle crab trying to figure what to do until we both got swept out to sea."
"Oh, no! What happened?"
"My dad eventually saved me, and I spent the rest of the day puking up sea water."
"I'm sorry if staying here brings back bad memories for you."
"They're not all bad. My uncle taught me how to swim here. He taught me how to cliff dive." Zuko smiled. "It was from the highest cliff on this beach, and I did it before Azula worked up the courage to do it herself. Something she'd rather die than admit."
They reached the copse of trees. There was pieces of wood lying all over. Katara bent down and picked up as much wood as she could carry.
"It's hard to think of Azula as a child. I still have a hard time believing we're the same age."
"If my sister had been a late bloomer like me she'd probably be better off." Zuko admitted.
"Do you miss her?"
"I actually do. I wish my father and grandfather hadn't of had such a strong influence on her. She never really got a childhood. Once they found out she was a prodigy they turned her into a child soldier."
Katara didn't say anything. She didn't have to the look on her face said it all. She could never ever forgive his sister for what she did. Zuko wasn't the one who had to bring Aang back to life. She was thankful for her bending and thankful for the water from the spirit oasis if not for those two factors Aang would be dead, and the Fire Nation would be free to conquer the world.
"I can't blame you for making that face." Zuko said. "All Azula is to you is an enemy like I once was. You've never seen the other side of her the way I have. My sister can be funny, considerate, and even silly at times. I just keep wondering what will become of her once the war ends."
"When Aang defeats your father and ends the war he'll show Azula the mercy that she didn't show him."
"That might not be enough. My country has shed so much blood people will want one of the royal family members to pay the price. I could lose my whole family in this war. They're awful I know, but they're still my family."
"We're your family too." Katara said. "A family isn't just something you're born into."
"I've been living on my own since I was thirteen-years-old. I guess I've forgotten what being part of a family feels like."
"Thirteen?"
"I had my uncle with me so I wasn't truly alone."
"Still thirteen, why did you leave the Palace?"
"It wasn't my choice to leave." Zuko said.
"Oh." Katara noticed at once how his whole demeanor changed. His eyes became clouded over and he drew his eyebrows together. He seemed to have shriveled into himself making his clothes look bigger on him then they actually were. She didn't want to pry if this was something that Zuko wasn't willing to talk about, but she couldn't imagine the reason for him being forced to leave his home at age thirteen.
Zuko's eyes suddenly cleared like storm clouds dissipating from a stormy sky. "This should be enough firewood. Let's go back now." He sounded as if he were using someone else's voice to speak. Katara followed Zuko back to the beach house. His chi was off. Katara could feel it. Curing him of his spirit fever seemed to have made her more attuned to his chi. They found a spot on the beach for the bonfire and Zuko arranged the firewood they collected. Once they walked back into the house they would have to act as if they had no feelings for each other. Katara wondered how she was going to do that when every time she looked at Zuko all she did was feel for him.
"What took you two so long?" Aang asked as soon as Zuko stepped through the door with Katara by his side. His voice had an accusatory tone.
"Were we long? Didn't seem like it to me." Zuko lied smoothly.
"Or maybe you just got distracted by all that water." Suki said.
Zuko glared at her but she only smirked.
"I'm going to go start the bonfire. Come on Aang you can get in a little firebending practice."
Aang followed him out onto the beach.
"I know you're still having a lot of trouble firebending, so I want you to think of it as airbending for awhile. In firebending the power comes from the breath just like in air bending. Remember it's not anger it's energy."
"Actually the power in airbending comes from your core." Aang corrected.
"Whatever, you still need good breath control, right?"
"Right."
"Good, then I want you to breathe fire on to those logs, but instead of thinking of it as bending out a flame, think of it as bending out a breath of air."
Aang nodded, took a deep breath, and let go with a burst of flame from his mouth. The wood ignited immediately.
"Good job! You're going to give my uncle a run for his money."
"I'm getting it now." Aang cried. "Thanks Zuko!"
"That's what I'm here for." He said and clapped him on the back. Aang was like a little brother to him and he felt awful about falling for Katara, knowing that Aang had feelings for her, but the crush was only on Aang's part, unlike what he and Katara felt for each other. He hoped that their friendship wouldn't be ruined over this. Aang was one of the few friends he had and he would never do anything to intentionally hurt him.
Sokka stepped out on to the beach with a platter of chicken. Suki walked beside him carrying some potatoes for roasting.
"Are you going to make some tea?" Toph wanted to know.
"Of course." Zuko said and got busy making tea. He liked having a talent to offer to the group that was uniquely his and had nothing to do with his firebending.
"I think we should leave for the play a little early." Suki said. "We don't want to draw attention to ourselves by showing up late."
"Good thinking." Sokka said and kissed her on the cheek.
Zuko handed out cups of tea to everyone. He gave Katara her cup first and she winked at him.
Minutes later Sokka was pulling the chicken and Aang's roasted vegetables off the grill. Everyone found a spot close to the bonfire and sat down and started eating. The food was delicious. When he actually cared to do it Sokka was a good cook.
Katara sat down next to him and he pretended to be so into his food that he didn't even notice her, but he did. Even without looking at her he remembered all the small details about her. Like the way she always smelled like riverlilies. The way she touched her mother's necklace whenever she was feeling vulnerable or hopeful. He thought about the way her eyes lit up when ever she saw water, and how when she looked at him her eyes lit up in the same way.
"Barring any sudden monster, Fire Nation, or Spirit attacks this has been a pretty good day." Sokka said.
Zuko had to agree. Even though they had to leave Chunhua and Taku behind it had been a good day. He had plenty more good days than bad since joining team Avatar. For most of his life he had never had friends so he never knew what having friends was like. He had often dreamed of having friends, especially those first few lonely nightmarish days when he'd been banished from the Fire Nation. The reality of his friendship with team Avatar was even better than what he dreamed it could have been when he lie awake at night unable to sleep because the pain from his scar was still too fresh.
"Where is everyone going to sleep?" Aang asked.
"I want to sleep out on the beach." Toph said. "I'm finally starting to get a feel for sand."
"If the play is a snoozer we'll probably get plenty of sleep at the theater." Sokka said.
"I never gave you the tour did I." Zuko said and stood up. "If we go now we can squeeze in a quick tour before the play, and I'll show everyone where you'll be sleeping."As He walked through the entrance hall and climbed the stairs to the grand foyer he stared for a moment at the lighter colored spot on the wall of where a portrait of his family used to hang. That is until he'd taken it out on the beach and burned it. He could never get that picture back now or the evidence that his family had once been happy here.
"Are you OK?" Katara asked softly.
Zuko snapped back to reality after realizing that he'd been staring at the blank spot on the wall for quite sometime. "I'm fine." He began to walk quickly down the hall.
Each room Zuko showed to the others brought back a memory. The playroom reminded him of when he and his sister used to act out scenes from Love Amongst the Dragons. He could hear his young self in the music room practicing the tsungi horn. Then there was the ballroom that was supposed to be off limits to him and Azula, but of course his sister always went into the ballroom anyway and mocked him for being too much of a pig chicken to go with her. Two of his favorite rooms in all of the beach house were the main kitchen and the scullery. Whenever their family would entertain dignitaries his mother would hire local women from the village, mostly grandmothers, to come cook.
Zuko had always liked to hang around and watch the women prepare a feast for a ball he was forbidden to attend. The grandmothers who cooked for his family would all was slip him fancy little hors d'oeuvres and make a fuss over him. Azula had no interest in dull house work so that also meant he was free from her torment.
"How many rooms does this house have?" Aang asked as they left the games room.
"A lot."
"Do we really need to see them all? You showed us the kitchen and we've already seen it!" Sokka shouted.
"Why don't you just show us where we'll be sleeping." Suki suggested. "Whatever we haven't seen today you can show us tomorrow."
"OK, fine with me." Zuko said. He was sick of the trip down memory lane anyway. "We can all sleep in the upstairs solar."
The bedrooms for the guest were on the second floor and on the opposite end of the family's solar, which held their bedrooms, a small office, and a drawing room, but his friends were his family and Zuko decided that they should all stay on the same floor. Besides his grandparents and parents suites there was a suite for, Azula, his uncle, and Lu ten, and of course he had his very own suite. Plus two extra for visiting dignitaries of the highest status.
Those two suites had mostly gone to waste as no foreign dignitaries ever visited and his father didn't consider any one within the Fire Nation worthy of sleeping in the same quarters as the royal family.
"This is fancy. Like upper ring fancy schmancy." Sokka noted as he looked around the solar.
"This is beyond upper ring fancy schmancy." Toph countered. "This is Earth King fancy schmancy." She ran her hands along the walls feeling the wooden scroll work. "This is a house of royalty."
"Right." Zuko said. It made him uncomfortable when he heard others talk about his wealth. "Why don't I take all of you to your rooms and we can all finally start getting ready for this play." He gave Sokka and Aang the bedrooms furthest away from his. He put Toph and Suki in the middle and gave Katara the room directly across the hall from him. He wouldn't be able to sleep very well knowing that she was only a doorway away from him, but at least he would be near her.
Katara looked around her room. She had a huge wardrobe and when she opened it up she found it was filled with women's clothing of all sizes. She touched the expensive fabrics of silk, cashmere, and linen. She couldn't imagine living a life where she could afford to have clothes so expensive only to leave them lying around. As she rifled through the shoes at the bottom of her wardrobe there was a knock at the door. Katara checked herself in the mirror and quickly brushed her hair. She smoothed down her dress if it was Zuko she didn't want him to see her looking a mess even though he'd seen her looking far worse.
"Come in."
"So what are you going to wear to the play?" Suki asked Katara.
She relaxed, It wasn't him after all. The stress of sleeping across the hall from Zuko was going to be her undoing.
"Nothing too fancy. I don't want to draw too much attention to myself."
"Yeah, but you at least want to draw Zuko's attention, right?"
"You're like a wolfbat with a bone, you know that?"
"Yes. Yes I do." Suki admitted shamelessly.
Katara could only laugh. "This is a beautiful room isn't it?"
"Fine, fine, change the subject." Suki said loftily and waved her hand back and forth in the air. "Really though, how are you holding up?"
"I just want the war to be over."
"Me too. It would be nice to go back home. I haven't seen my father in so long."
Katara hugged Suki. "I'm sorry. I forget that you haven't been home in awhile."
"Even when I go back to Kyoshi I don't know if I'll be able to relax. When the war ends it doesn't mean that people won't stop fighting."
"I know." Katara said. "There will be people out there that will always hate Aang and love Ozai."
"On the bright side I'd rather deal with fighting than deal with a war."
"Me too, but it doesn't mean I'm not looking forward to some down time."
"This is down time right now so I guess we should enjoy it." Suki said. "I'm going to go change."
Katara wore her usual fire nation clothes, but freshened them up by soaking them in a tub of water she liberally added riverlily petals to, and then bent out the excess water. She hung her outfit on the back of her door and went to checkout the bathroom.
The walls were stark white with black wood trim and the tiles on the floor were ruby red. The tub was by far the biggest tub that Katara had ever seen. Appa could have almost gone swimming in it. She filled the tub with water than sank down low in to the bubbles. She took longer in the bath than she probably should have, but she couldn't help herself. A huge fluffy robe hung on the back of the door. She could tell that it had never been used. She wrapped herself up in the robe and it felt like being hugged by a koala bear sheep. Katara crossed back into the bedroom and sat down at the vanity and began to brush her hair with the pearl backed brush that sat on the dresser. Like the robe it hadn't been used. From the looks of things nothing in this room had ever been used. This was a family beach home so that probably meant there weren't many outside visitors.
The group opted to fly half way to the theater and walk the other half. They left Appa with Momo so that he wouldn't be lonely. The field they were in had plenty of grass and fruit trees so they'd also be able to get their own food.
Sokka brought the tickets from the box office and their little group headed inside.
"Where are we going to sit?" Aang asked.
"Let's sit in the mezzanine." Suki suggested.
No, the balcony." Zuko said and without waiting for anyone else started up the stairs.
The balcony turned out to be the perfect place as they were able to get a box to themselves. Aang started to sit next to her but Zuko sat down beside her first.
"Hey, uh, I wanted to sit there." Aang said.
"Just sit next to me, what's the big deal?" Zuko asked.
Katara nervously ran her fingers through her hair. She hoped Aang wasn't going to make a big deal about their seating arrangements.
"I was just, I wanted to...Okay." Aang conceded and sat down.
"Why are we sitting in the nose bleed section?" Toph groaned. "My feet can't see a thing from up here."
"Don't worry, I'll tell your feet what's happening." Katara reassured her.
The lights went down and the curtain lifted. This was it! On stage there was a huge backdrop of the icy South Pole landscape. The actors who portrayed her (Katara could only wish she had the actress's figure) and her bother were rowing their canoe across a fake sea.
Katara felt a hand on her shoulder and turned around. Sokka enthusiastically pointed between himself and her. She smiled at her brother. It was a surreal feeling.
"Sokka, my only brother. We constantly roam these icy South Pole seas and yet never do we find anything fulfilling." The actress bemoaned from the stage.
"All I want is a full feeling in my stomach, I'm starving!" Actor Sokka quipped.
The audience roared with laughter, but Katara and Sokka could only look at each other in stunned disbelief. This was supposed to be an accurate portrayal of them?
"Is food the only thing on your mind?" Actress Katara questioned.
"Well, I'm trying to get it out of my mind and into my mouth. I'm starving." Sokka's actor replied.
"This is pathetic. My jokes are way funnier than this. " The real Sokka grumbled.
She would have to beg to differ, but at this time the point seemed moot.
"I think he's got you pegged." Toph said and laughed. She would.
"Everyday, the World awaits a beacon to guide us, yet none appears. Still, we cannot give up hope." The overacting Katara cried from the stage. "For hope is all we have and we must never relinquish it. Even to our dying breath."
''Well that's just silly." Katara snapped annoyed that everyone around her was laughing, well not Zuko, but he did have a smirk on his face. "I don't sound like that." The play was already starting to frustrate her and it had only just began.
"Oh man, this writer's a genius." Toph said in between belly laughs.
On stage there was a makeshift iceberg with a crude cutout of Aang swaying back and forth.
"It appears to be someone frozen in ice. Perhaps for a hundred years." Actress Katara called out.
"But who? Who is the boy in the iceberg?" Actor Sokka asked.
"Waterbend, hai-ya!"
Katara couldn't believe it. Couldn't they have at least picked an actress that knew something about waterbending. The fact that anyone would even think that you could bend someone out of a solid block of ice with a simple chopping motion made Katara want to go up on the stage and show the actress what waterbending actually was. Instead she watched as Aang leapt out of the ice. It wasn't a boy or even a man playing Aang, it was a bald headed woman, as far as casting jobs went Katara had no problem with this, Aang on the other hand was livid.
"Wait, is that a woman playing me?" He asked indignantly.
"An airbender. My heart is so full of hope that it's making me tearbend." Katara couldn't see what Aang was so upset about. If anyone had the right to be upset it was her. The actress playing her had turned her into a caricature of herself. Did Pu-on Tim really think she would have gotten as far as she did if all she ever did was cry?
"My stomach is so empty that it's making me tearbend." Actor Sokka cried out. "I need meat."
"But wait." The actress playing Aang said and put her arms around actor Sokka's shoulder. "Is that a platter of meaty dumplings?
"Ooo. Where? Where?" Sokka's actor asked.
"Did I mention that I'm an incurable prankster? "Aang's actress asked.
"I don't do that. That's not what I'm like! And I'm not a woman!" Aang snapped.
"Oh, they nailed you, Twinkle Toes." Toph said.
The scenery on the stage changed. The South Pole backdrop was still up, but this time it was Zuko's ship that was sailing the icy seas.
"Prince Zuko, you must try this cake." The actor playing Zuko's uncle Iroh said.
"I don't have time to stuff my face. I must capture the Avatar to regain my honor!" The actor on the stage had a mask on his face to resemble Zuko's scar, but Pu-on Tim must have never seen Zuko before because the scar was on the wrong side, but at least they'd gotten his attitude right.
"Well, while you do that, maybe I'll capture another slice." Actor Iroh joked.
"You sicken me." Actor Zuko snarled.
"They make me totally stiff and humorless." Zuko complained.
Katara gave Zuko an amused look. "Actually, I think that actor's pretty spot on." He might not have remembered what he was like a few short weeks ago, but she did.
"How could you say that?"
"Let's forget about the Avatar and get massages." Actor Iroh said.
"How could you say that?!" Zuko's actor shouted.
Katara gave Zuko a knowing smile and he slumped down into his seat. Wasn't much to smirk about when the shoe was on the other foot.
The play didn't get any better as time when on. It was like a nightmare that she couldn't wake up from. She had felt so embarrassed when the part about Jet had come up that she couldn't even look at Zuko. She was elated when the first act ended.
The group left their seats and congregated in the balcony's stairwell.
"So far, this intermission is the best part of the play." Zuko said.
"Apparently, the playwright thinks I'm an idiot who tells bad jokes about meat all the time." Sokka told everyone. He had just come back for the concession stand and was eating a bag of some kind of fried meat strips.
"Yeah, you tell bad jokes about plenty of other topics."
"I know!" Sokka said and then took an angry bite of his meat strip. A second later the expression on his face changed when he realized that Suki had insulted him.
"At least this Sokka actor kinda looks like you. That woman playing the Avatar doesn't resemble me at all."
"I don't know, you are more in touch with your feminine side than most guys." Toph teased.
Aang stood up off of the steps and made a growling noise at Toph.
"Relax, Aang. They're not accurate portrayals. It's not like I'm a preachy crybaby who can't resist giving overemotional speeches about hope all the time." She rationalized.
The others just stared at her as if she had just said water wasn't wet while splashing around in a tub full of water.
"What?" She hated feeling put on the spot.
"Yeah." Aang said sarcastically as he sat down. "That's not you at all."
"Listen, friends. It's obvious that the playwright did his research. I know it must hurt but what you're seeing up there on that stage is the truth."
The more Toph talked the more Katara was looking forward to the playwright's portrayal of her. See how she dealt with being on the receiving end of a complete and total strangers perception of her.
When the intermission ended Katara was disappointed. It meant more of the play. She found her seat and braced herself for the second act.
The second act of the play opened up with Katara, Sokka, and Aang all in the Earth Kingdom. They stood behind a backdrop of Earth Kingdom houses. Beside them was a huge prop rock.
"Well, here we are in the Earth Kingdom." Actress Katara announced.
"I better have a look around to see if I can find an earthbending teacher." Aang's actress said. She opened up a prop glider, that was clearly too small to ever work as a real glider, and soared around the theater by a rope that had been attached to her back by a hook.
Zuko quickly held the program in front of his face as the actress flew past their seats.
"This is it! This must be where I come in." Toph announced.
"I flew all over town but I couldn't find a single earthbending master"
"Here it comes." Toph said. She was fit to burst with excitement.
A trapdoor underneath the prop rock rose up and a huge man dressed like Toph appeared.
"You can't find an earthbending master in the sky, you have to look underground." Toph's actor said.
Everyone, except Toph, started laughing when they saw who had been cast to play her. Zuko was so shocked that he dropped the program that he'd been using to shield his face moments before.
"Who are you?" Aang's actress asked.
"My name is Toph because it sounds like tough." Actor Toph replied and flexed his muscles. "And that's just what I am."
"Wait a minute, I sound like a guy. A really buff guy." Toph said. She used her pinkie finger to clean out her ear just in case she might not have heard what she thought she heard.
"Well Toph, what you hear up there is the truth. It hurts, doesn't it?" Katara said . She was glad the shoe was finally on the other foot. Now maybe Toph would see why everyone was so upset.
"Are you kidding me? I wouldn't have cast it any other way. At least it's not a flying bald lady."
She should have known that Toph wouldn't have a problem with the way she was cast. Toph had enough self-confidence for the whole group. From that point on Katara mostly tuned out the play. She wished that she had brought Love Amongst the Dragons with her to read, but of course she hadn't known the whole play was going to be as awful as it was. Instead she went over the ten major healing plants and their curative properties in her brain.
"I have to admit, Prince Zuko. I really find you attractive." Actress Katara said from the stage.
Suddenly Katara was paying attention. She looked up at the stage and saw that the backdrop was now of the crystal catacombs. What she wanted to know was where was the playwright getting this information? The only two people who'd been in the crystal catacombs at the time where her and Zuko. The others in her group knew she tried to heal Zuko, but they didn't know the details. She hadn't told them how Zuko had let her touch the scar and how that was the first time she'd been able to see him as something other than her enemy.
"You don't have to make fun of me." Actor Zuko said gruffly.
"But I mean it. I had eyes for you since the day you first captured me."
Katara exchanged an uncomfortable look with Zuko. She felt as if every single pair of eyes in the theater were looking at her.
"Wait. I thought you were the Avatar's girl."
"The Avatar? Why, he's like a little brother to me. I certainly don't think of him in a romantic way. Besides, how could he ever find out about this?"
The two actors held each others hands and embraced.
When the truth stared you unblinkingly in the face the only thing you could do was look back. Someone somewhere out there had guessed the truth about her and Zuko before they had.
This was apparently too much for Aang. He got up out of his seat and stomped out of the balcony.
Katara watched him go but didn't get up to follow him.
"Well, my brother. What's it going to be? Your nation or a life of treachery? " Actress Azula rhymed from on stage.
"Choose treachery, it's more fun." Actor Iroh suggested.
Zuko's actor walked over to his uncle seemingly to joining his side.
"No way!" Actress Azula shouted.
Zuko's actor shoved his uncle to the ground causing him to drop the bowl he'd been drinking out of. "I hate you, Uncle. You smell and I hate you for all time."
Katara covered her mouth with her hands as soon as the words left the actor's lips. There was no way he'd really said that to his uncle. Still this was Zuko she was talking about, he had once tied her to a tree so she could never be too sure. "You didn't really say that, did you?" She asked him.
Zuko was slumped across the railing of the balcony. "I might as well have."
Katara didn't know what to say. There were no words of comfort that she could give him that wouldn't ring hollow. Coming to see this play was one of the worst ideas that Sokka had in a long time. She didn't even know why they were staying til the end other than a morbid sense of curiosity.
One more act. Zuko couldn't believe they still had one more act of this poor excuse of a play to get through. If it wasn't for the others he would have left by now, but they all seemed bound and determined to see this colossal mistake through to the end. He slid down the walls of the theater's hallway and sat on the floor. He wished the others would hurry up and come back. He didn't have much to say to Toph, the only person to come away from this play so far unscathed.
"Wheeee." A little boy dressed as Aang cried and ran down the hallway.
Zuko watched him go and thought his parents were brave to let him run around dressed like that while living in the Fire Nation.
"Jeez. Everyone's getting so upset about their characters. Even you seem more down than usual and that's saying something." Toph said.
"You don't get it. It's different for you. You get a muscley version of yourself taking down ten bad guys at once and making sassy remarks."
"Yeah, that's pretty great" Toph admitted.
"But for me, it takes all the mistakes I've made in my life and shoves them back in my face." No one in the group had made bigger or worse mistakes than he had. Everyone else had great moments of them bravely fighting to stop the war. All he had was moments of him being selfish and angry. Who in their right mind would want to watch a three hour play about their greatest mistakes in life?
"My Uncle. He's always been on my side even when things were bad he was there for me. He taught me so much and how do I repay him? With a knife in his back. It's my greatest regret and I may never get to redeem myself. "
Toph sat down beside him. "You have redeemed yourself to your Uncle. You don't realize it but you already have."
"How do you know?"
"Because I once had a long conversation with the guy and all he would talk about was you."
Zuko lowered his hood. "Really?"
"Yeah, and it was kind of annoying."
"Oh, sorry."
"But it was also very sweet. All your Uncle wanted was for you to find your own path and see the light. Now you're here with us. He'd be proud. Toph said and punched him on the shoulder hard enough to bruise.
"Ow." Zuko cried out and rubbed his shoulder. "What was that for?"
"That's how I show affection."
That seemed right. Zuko thought.
The little boy in the Aang costume ran by again but this time stopped for a second and looked at him.
"Your Zuko costume is pretty good but your scar's on the wrong side." The little boy informed him.
"The scar is not on the wrong side!" Zuko shouted and pointed to his scar which was not on the wrong side of his face, and he ought to know because it was his face.
"Why don't you just tell the whole world who you are?" Toph said. She pulled him up off of the floor by his ear. "Come on Fire Pants its time for you to go back to the box."
Zuko was positively seething with rage by the time he got back to their box seats. No one else was there yet so that meant Sokka must have still been trying to get back stage and Katara must have still been looking for Aang. It had not escaped his attention the way that Aang had ran out of the play when the actor playing himself admitted his feelings to Katara. Nor had the put on the spot look on Katara's face escaped his attention. It was the look of someone caught dead to rights. It was clear that she had feelings for him. He vowed to tell her how he felt before then night was over. There was no where else to go once your heart had been exposed for all the world to see.
Katara had been worried about Aang ever since he'd abruptly left the play. No one else in the group seem to be too concerned about him, but she knew Aang well and something wasn't right with him, and so she spent the intermission looking for him. She had been looking for him a good twenty minutes when she finally found him on one of the theaters many outdoor balconies. His slumped over posture reminded her of Zuko's.
"Are you alright?" She asked him.
"I hate this play."
Don't we all Katara thought, but to Aang she said. "I know it's upsetting but it sounds like you're overreacting."
"Overreacting? If I hadn't blocked my chakra, I'd probably be in the Avatar State right now."
"Probably, but you don't know that for sure."
"Katara, did you really mean what you said in there?"
"In where? What are you talking about?" She was starting to get really worried about Aang. It seemed as if he was about to lose it. Poor little guy his stress level was probably through the roof.
"On stage. When you said I was just like a brother to you and you didn't have feelings for me."
"I didn't say that. An actor said that." She reminded him.
"But it's true, isn't it? I thought we were going to be together, but we're not."
"Aang, I'm sorry but right now we have other things to worry about. This isn't the right time."
"Well, when is the right time?" Aang snapped at her.
"When we're not in the middle of a war. Like I said this isn't the right time to be having this discussion."
Aang was starting to scare her. She didn't like the way he was acting so aggressively towards her. As if she were some how duty bound to answer his questions about her personal feelings. She closed her eyes and tugged nervously on her hair. All she could think about in this moment was Zuko. How did she tell Aang that she was falling for Zuko, and that even if the two of them didn't get together she still would never be the Avatar's girl. When she felt Aang's lips on hers her eyes flew open and she took a step back.
"I just said This isn't the right time. " She snapped. "I'm going inside." What in the world was wrong with Aang? What would possess him to kiss her against her will? What would lead him to think kissing her against her will would lead to any kind of feelings for him that weren't there before? She turned and ran back into the theater.
"Are you all right?" Zuko asked her as she sat down next to him panting.
"I'm O.K." She lied.
"Here's what you missed." Her brother said and began filling her in. "We went to the Fire Nation and Aang got better and you were the Painted Lady and I got a sword and I think Combustion Man died."
Katara was only half listening to her brother. She still couldn't believe what Aang had done. She'd never been so angry, hurt or felt so betrayed. She knew Aang was just a kid, but nothing gave him the right to kiss her without any kind of consent. Even if it was only a peck on the lips. The end of the play took her mind off Aang.
On stage the actor siblings Zuko and Azula were getting ready to fight.
"You are an enemy." Azula's actress yelled at her brother.
"I am the rightful heir to the throne!" Her brother countered.
The two actors began to fight. The fight was simulated by the actors hurling blue and red colored ribbons, meant to represent the color of the siblings bending flames, at each other while flipping around acrobatically. It wasn't a very long fight. Azula defeated Zuko in a wave of flames.
"Honor!" Zuko's actor screamed from behind a huge flame prop before dropping down through a trap door.
The fight between Aang and the Fire Lord was more dramatic but ended the same way, with the Fire Lord being victorious. Actress Aang ended up curled up in a flame like blanket slayed across the stage like wounded bird.
"The dreams of my father, and my father's father have now been realized. The World is mine." The actor playing the Fire Lord cried out theatrically. He was raised up on a podium that was situated behind a fake wall of flames. When the actor playing the Fire Lord threw up his hands in victory a Fire Nation Flag unfurled behind him.
It was all that Katara could do to keep from throwing up. All around her the audience stood on their feet and cheered. Katara couldn't believe that they were giving this play a standing ovation. How could this many people be so blindly devoted to such an awful human being? She jumped out of her seat. She had to get out of this theater. She quickly started down the steps and pushed past the throngs of people. That had been nothing but three hours of Fire Nation propaganda. How could someone from the Earth Kingdom write such tripe? How could he support the violent and ignorant ideologies that threatened to wipe him for the earth?
The others caught up with her in the lobby. No one spoke a word as they left the theater, but Katara could almost hear everyone's minds churning.
"That wasn't a good play." Zuko said finally.
"I'll say."
"No kidding."
"Horrible."
"You said it."
"But the effects were decent." Sokka said offering up a sliver of a silver lining.
"Why don't we all go to bed, and things will look better in the morning." Katara said.
"That's a good idea." Suki said backing her up. "A good night sleep in a nice soft bed is what we all need."
Everyone headed for their rooms, but Katara doubted anyone would be sleeping. Not after seeing that play. Or at least she knew that she wouldn't be sleeping anytime soon. Her mind was a maelstrom of emotions. All the memories of the past few hours were trapped inside of her brain where they whirled around and around in an endless circle. She sat up in her bed and sighed. There was no sense in trying to fall back asleep she had missed that window of opportunity and now she was up for the rest of the night. She sat on the edge of the bed and slid her feet into her slippers. There had to be some leftovers in the kitchen that she could devour while she sorted out her raw emotions. She opened her bedroom door and yelped.
Zuko stood on the other side with his hand raised in preparation to knock on her door.
"Couldn't sleep either?" Zuko asked sheepilshly as she stepped into the hallway.
"No."
"Do you want to go for a walk?" Zuko asked.
"Sure." Katara said hoping that her voice didn't sound as unnaturally high to Zuko as it did in her own ears. Suddenly she was aware that she was only wearing her nightgown and that she hadn't combed her hair. She started to surreptitiously smooth it down. "Just let me get changed."
"Oh, right." Zuko said. "I should probably go change too."
Katara got dressed as quickly as she could. She brushed her hair and her teeth and then met Zuko in the hall way.
"Follow me. I know how to avoid all the creaky floorboards."
Katara followed directly behind Zuko. Ozai was most definitely the type of father who'd smack and berate his son for making noise in the middle of the night. The fact that this was probably the reason that Zuko knew which floorboards to step on was another check mark on her list of reason for hating Ozai.
The beach was breathtakingly beautiful by the light of the full moon. Everything was illuminated and shimmered like millions upon millions of diamonds.
"Are you sure you're OK?" Zuko asked her. "You've seemed upset ever since the play, even more so than me. That must be some kind of record." Zuko joked.
Katara managed a weak smile.
"I didn't know you were the Painted Lady. It's amazing what you did for that village."
Katara didn't say anything.
"Or how you managed to lead Sokka, Toph, and Aang out of the desert. I couldn't have done that."
Katara still didn't speak.
"Soooo, you really like Love Amongst the Dragons?" Zuko asked.
Katara managed a real smile. The first one since her incident with Aang. Zuko was trying so hard to make her feel better even though he hadn't the slightest clue as to what was wrong with her. Even though comforting others came as naturally to him as eating vegetables came to her brother. She no longer wanted to think about the shock she felt when Aang kissed her. There was nothing she could do to change what had happened, and as angry as she was at Aang she had to remember that he was only a twelve year old boy. He was wise beyond his age, but that still didn't make him mature. All she could do now was sit him down and talk to him about consent.
"Yes. I can't believe I didn't know that there's a play about the book."
"Yeah, but it's awful. I told you the Ember Island players are hacks. You saw what they're like."
"I'd still like to go see the play after I finish the book." She admitted.
"I could take you if you wanted to." Zuko offered.
"What? Like on a date?" Katara asked.
Zuko suddenly stopped walking. "Would that be weird? I felt like things changed between us on that trip, am I wrong?"
"No, you're not."
"There is one thing that play got right. I've had feelings for you for awhile." Zuko confessed. "I tried fighting them, but they won't go away and I think that means that I'm not supposed to be fighting my feelings."
"I never thought you'd feel this way about me, Katara laughed, I never thought I'd feel this way about you."
Zuko laughed too. "So what do we do about these feelings?"
"Maybe we shouldn't do anything about them until after the war."
"You mean until after Aang's beaten my father." Zuko said.
"I mean Aang still needs to master firebending and if he knows we're together there's no way he'll be able to learn from you. Helping Aang defeat the Fire Lord is what we should be focusing our energies on."
Zuko sighed deeply. "You're right."
"I don't want to be right, but trust me I am. I don't like having to hide my feelings for you, but I just don't see any other way."
Zuko didn't speak a word. He only held his hand out for Katara and she took it. The moment their hands touched they both looked up into each others eyes. It was weird how the simple act of looking someone in the eyes changed when your feelings for them did. When she looked into his eyes it was like he was seeing all of her, but she was also seeing him see all of her, and she knew from the look in his eyes that he truly did want and desire her. All of her. The desire in his eyes made her feel undone, stripped, naked. Even before they had become lovers, even before they had become friends they had been exposed in front of each other. She and Zuko were both people who wore their hearts on their sleeves, and no matter how hard anyone else tried to, they couldn't stop them from acting on their deepest emotions.
Katara rested her head on Zuko's shoulder. He looked down at her and smiled. She sighed a contented sigh his warmth was like being wrapped up in a blanket. If she could have she would have walked along the beach with him forever.
"This is the spot were I learned to cliff dive." Zuko announced to Katara. He pointed up to a cliff that jutted out over to the sea below. "The water is a lot deeper here than anywhere else, so it's an amazing place to dive."
"Let's do it!"
"Do what?"
"Cliff dive, c'mon." Katara took off running towards the cliff kicking up sand behind her. She didn't turn around to see if Zuko was following her or not. She knew he would.
"I can't remember the last time I've done this." Zuko panted out behind her.
"Well after tonight you won't be able to say that." Katara said. She began to carefully climb up the rocky cliff. The higher up she climbed the more the adrenaline pumped in her veins. It felt a lot higher up than it looked, but the view alone was well worth it.
"It took my breath away the first time too."
Katara looked over the edge of the cliff and felt dizzy but didn't stop staring down. She like the dizzying feeling.
Zuko stepped beside her. "We'll jump at the same time."
She nodded and stepped out of her shoes and he followed suit.
He took her hand. "On three."
"One.
"Two."
"Three."
Katara closed her eyes, tightened her grip around Zuko's hand, and jumped. The wind danced around her swirling her hair and clothes around while she fell weightlessly through time and space. A second later the pair splashed down. The sound of the water rushed into her ears. After plummeting so swiftly from the cliff the fall into the water was like moving in slow motion. Katara drew them down to a sandbar and then she bent back the water forming an air bubble completely around them.
"This is amazing! I grew up on this beach but I've never seen it like this before." Zuko watched the sea life swimming all around them. He picked up a handful of sand and let it sift through his fingers.
"Much nicer than the time I did this at the serpent's pass."
"Oh yeah, what happened there?"
"A giant serpent crashed the party and almost drown Toph."
"Guess that's why it's the serpent's pass." Zuko said and laughed.
Katara laughed and then shivered.
"You OK?"
"Yes. The water was just a little colder than I expected."
"Can I warm you up?" Zuko said and rubbed his hands together.
"Yes, please."
Zuko held his hands up. "Is it O.K. if I er, umm, touch you?"
Katara was using her arms to bend back the water so if Zuko wanted to warm her up he was going to have to put his hands on her, but she didn't mind. "Go ahead."
"Is this O.K.?" He asked as he ran his hands up and down her sides.
"It's perfect." She said. A thousand little butterflies took flight from underneath her skin when he touched her. Heat radiated out from his hands and warmed her from the inside out like a hot cup of his tea.
"Warmer?" Zuko asked and reached up to brush her hair away from her face.
"Much warmer." She said and leaned in closer to Zuko. Her voice came out like a low note from a tsungi horn. She didn't know what had come over her, but that was a lie. It was Zuko. It was always Zuko. Kiss me! Katara thought. Just kiss me!
When he moved forward she knew he was going to kiss her. Automatically she closed her eyes and tilted her head. His lips on hers made her shiver. His kisses were soft and gentle they seemed to be in contrast with everything else about him. Still encased in their air bubble Katara bent them away from the sandbar and up towards the surface. She kissed him back as they slowly ascended. Her kisses were deeper and urgent. If it was possible for her to convey how much she didn't want to have to suppress her feelings for him through a kiss, she was going to try and do it.
Zuko's kisses began to match her urgency. When he kissed her behind her ear she felt as though she would melt on the spot. She didn't know which one was the more heady feeling, rising to the surface of the ocean or Zuko's kisses. As they broke the surface of the water Zuko kissed her again and she knew the feeling was all Zuko. When she pulled away from their kiss to look at Zuko his eyes were still half closed and his mouth was still open. He looked as drunk as she felt.
"It's going to be hard to top that kiss."
"Yeah but imagine all the fun we'll have trying." Katara said and started for the beach house. She only had to wait few seconds before Zuko followed after her.