Chapter 10:
The two girls waited until everyone had fallen asleep that night before they moved from their sleeping spots. Katara placed a heap of leaves in her sleeping bag and grabbed the dark purple robe to throw over her Fire Nation clothes. She moved to a puddle and rose the water, icing it so she could see her reflection and put the paint on her face. She ran off towards the water and Momo began chattering as he saw her. He jumped down to follow, landing on Aang who was asleep on Appa's leg, and awoke the boy.
"What's the matter, buddy?" Aang asked as Momo stopped and stared off after Katara. "It's her!" Aang realised before he got up and, grabbing his headband, he started off after the girl. "Hello, Painted Lady spirit!" he wove his hand and Katara stopped in surprise. She glanced at him fleetingly before she grabbed her hood and hat and ran off towards the water.
There was a burst of air and Aang shot off after her. Katara climbed up a ridge and Aang ascended up after her.
"Excuse me, I don't mean to bother you, but my friend's sick and we're on kind of a tight schedule." they ran down a bank, Aang calling after her and Katara continuing on. Katara reached the water's edge and the mist rose from around her as she went surfing over the liquid. "Wait, but I'm the great bridge between your world and mine." Aang looked frustrated as he jumped and small bits of water froze over for him to step onto, chasing after Katara and hopping across the water. "I know Hei Bai, we're close personal friends." They began to reach the village and while Katara continued along the water, Aang jumped across the lattice of wood peers. Katara jumped onto the wood and continued to run before she saw a shadow beside her and looked up. Aang was running along the roof top above her. "Heeeyy!" he waved before he ran straight into a pole. Katara jumped back down onto the water and moved to the land across from their camping spot. Katara moved behind a rock ledge and stopped, peering back at the village as she panted. She turned back with a sigh before Aang hung upside down in front of Katara, causing her to gasp in surprise.
"My name's Aang. I'm the Avatar." he moved his headband slightly to point at the arrow hidden beneath it as he smiled. He leaped over to stand before her on his feet. Katara pulled her hat down to cover her face and lowered her voice, not looking at him.
"Well, hello, Avatar. I wish I could talk, but I am very busy." she said
"Yeah, me too. I hate that." Aang muttered annoyed. He turned back to Katara and tried to peek at her face under the hat. "You know, you're really pretty for a spirit. I don't get to meet too many spirits, but the ones I do meet… not very attractive." Aang smiled at her and Katara chuckled nervously.
"Thank you, but…" Aang was staring at her suspiciously as Katara turned her face away.
"You seem familiar, too." Katara hunched her shoulders to bring the hat further down and Aang ducked to try and see under it.
"A lot of people say that." Katara answered
"No… you really seem familiar."
"Look, I really should get going…" Katara pulled the hat even further down over her face and walked away from the avatar as he looked at her with scrutiny. He wove his hand and a heap of air shot at Katara and blew the hat off her head. Katara turned around, gasping to grab it and yanked it back down, turning her back on Aang and biting her lip, but the damage had already been done.
"Katara!?" Aang asked shocked. The girl's shoulder's slumped.
"Hi, Aang." Katara said defeated, turning to him.
"You're the Painted Lady! But how?" Aang asked confused, pointing at her.
"I wasn't at first, I was just trying to help the village." Katara admitted as she removed the hat. "But since everyone thought that's who I was anyway… I guess I just kind of became her." she dropped the hat as she dropped her head and frowned. Aang looked at her thinking.
"So you've been sneaking out at night? Wait… is Appa even sick?" he asked, his hands on his hips.
"He… might be sick of the purple berries I've been feeding him, but, other than that, he's fine." she admitted
"I can't believe you lied to everyone so you could help these people." Aang said
"Are you really that surprised?" the two turned to see Freya sitting on one of the mounds, her chin in her hand and her elbow resting on her knee as she watched them.
"Freya!?" Aang asked
"Where have you been?" Katara demanded
"Waiting for you." Freya admitted as she jumped down. "Then I see you running around being chased by Aang."
"You didn't think to help?"
"What for? It's Aang not Sokka." Freya rolled her eyes
"Wait you knew?!" Aang asked Freya surprised
"Oh come on Aang, Katara wants to do something, Sokka says no and then Appa is suddenly sick?" Freya asked him, raising an eyebrow "You didn't find that suspicious? And then the village starts getting better?"
"So you both lied?" he asked
"No… more like, withheld the truth." Freya corrected thinking
"I'm sorry, I know I shouldn't have." Katara frowned.
"No, I think it's great! You're like a secret hero." Aang suddenly grinned. The two girls shared a look as Katara smiled.
"Well, if you want to help… there's one more thing I have to do." Katara said and Aang looked at her questionably.
"What's that?" he asked and Freya waved her hand for him to follow her. The two did until they came around the corner and to the factory that was shooting out pollution into the water. They stopped to look at it.
"We're going to do some damage." Freya said
"You want to destroy this factory?" Aang asked as they looked up at it.
"Yes. Sokka was just kidding, but he was right. Getting rid of this factory is the only way to help these people permanently." Katara said.
The three ran inside and found mechanisms, hot metal, tubing and different buckets hanging from the sky. Freya stretched her arms out and twisted herself over the railing of the balcony while the two went sideways. Katara cut chains to drop the buckets and the hot metal went everywhere. Aang tipped one down into the mechanics of the factory, grinning. Freya waved her arms before fire went shooting out from her palms and several explosions went off from the excess heat.
Aang jumped down and glanced at the pipes around him before he slammed his hands down and a circle of earth rose, breaking the tubings and sending steam everywhere. He slammed it back down and dirt went flying with the steam. Freya moved to jump to one of the buckets and with a few movements she pointed one hand at the steaming, liquid metal and the other out to her other side, away from it. The heat drew to her fingers and then out her other arm and the metal began to harden as it was cooled, the heat being drawn away. Katara looked down at the metal and she pun, rose her hands and water shot into the room through the windows behind her. It poured over the hot lava as Freya moved it around to infiltrate the crooks and crevices before explosions rattled the building. The three jumped down and around until they ran back out of the building. Fire blew out from it with the explosions and the solution from the pipes stopped running into the water.
The sky was lighter now as the sun was rising, the three haired a high five before they made their way back to the campsite.