Katara sat cross-legged on the floor, scowling, watching the two women play with Chanya across the room.
She and Toph had been spending most of their time for the past day or so sitting in this room with Ty Lee and Chanya. Toph was doing it because she felt a responsibility to guard Chanya's life, as she had once guarded Aang's; Katara was doing it because of a secret promise she had made to the empress of the Fire Nation. And both of them were miserable.
To be fair, there were actually three rather uncomfortable people in the room, but only two of them knew exactly why. Ty Lee was still upset with Katara for turning her down a few days before, and because Toph was in the room. Katara was edgy because…well, because her lover and her secret mistress were in the same room together! And Toph, while she was ignorant of the specific reasons that the other two women were so uptight, had definitely picked up on the face that they were.
The child and the acrobat were playing with Ty Lee's ab intra set again, while Toph listened with some interest. Katara thought that the readings sounded like super-spiritual gobbledygook. Particularly the nonsense coming out of Ty Lee's mouth! "Fourth chakra" – "dominant element" – "flows of chi." Honestly! It was as bad as that superstitious garbage she had once believed from that old woman who read bones…what was her name? Auntie something-or-other. Katara folded her arms across her chest morosely.
"Let's do a reading on Katara." The waterbender looked up to see Ty Lee grinning wickedly at her. She tossed a handful of the ab intra coins on the bedspread. Toph laughed shortly – she knew how little the waterbender liked this sort of thing. Katara wanted to scowl, but Chanya was looking at her, so she forced a thin smile. "Let's see. Wonder if this will tell us if Katara will be lucky in love?" Ty Lee flashed her another impish smile, knowing that the waterbender couldn't strike back. Her large gray eyes looked down at the discs. Katara watched as her smile faded.
With a sigh, the waterbender rolled her eyes. "What do they say, Ty? Am I going to be trampled by a herd of komodo rhinos? Am I going to be struck by lightning before we reach port? What?"
"No." Ty Lee was actually frowning as she studied the coins. She seemed to have forgotten the presence of the little girl beside her. "Fire is the high element, earth is the low…there's something hidden here, something deceitful." She bit her lip. "Earth being low means instability. Fire usually represents life, but in this formation…I think it means destruction…"
"Mm-hm." Katara rolled her eyes again in disgust. Next she's going to tell me that earth is an unlucky element for me at this time in my life, and that choosing Fire Nation people in wheelchairs will open my forty-third chakra and cleanse my aura.
There was a gentle rapping at the top of the stairs. Looking up, Katara saw Ming peering down at them. "Ambassador Katara?" she said softly. "I'm heading back to the palace soon. Did you have any messages you wanted me to carry to the Fire Lord for you?"
Katara nodded, the ab intra forgotten, and reached into her pocket for the letter she had written the evening before.
The imperial guard took it with a bow of her head, then glanced at Toph. "General Bei Fong, do you -?"
"Nope." Toph waved her away. "I got nothing I need to say to Sparky."
"Very well." There was a flicker of something between offense and amusement in the woman's amber eyes for a moment. Ming glanced down at the letter Katara had given her. "I assume you wish this placed directly into the Fire Lady's hands, Ambassador?"
"Yes, please." Katara nodded.
"Then I will do so. You can depend on me." Ming saluted smartly. "Good day, Ambassador. I will see you again when you reach the palace." She was gone a moment later.
Katara rose to her feet, dusting off her clothes, and glanced at her companions. She was in no mood to be teased further by the irrepressible Ty Lee, who was still frowning over the ab intra spread. "I need some air," she said curtly, pointedly avoiding Chanya's innocent gaze. "I'm going to go take a walk."
The deck was more or less deserted. Katara ambled aimlessly along it, her eyes on the sunlit ocean. She could feel the presence of the ocean soothing her, but she was still decidedly irritated. Damn that Ty Lee. She just couldn't keep her mouth shut, could she? "Earth is low!" "Deceit and destruction!" Why didn't she just come out and say, "Dump Toph and sleep with me, woman!" Katara frowned deeply. She paused, gripping the handrail in both her brown hands, and glared out to sea. I'll have it out with her later, she promised herself.
Still scowling, the waterbender turned away from the railing and continued walking. She spotted the balloon, still tied down on the deck, and wondered idly where Ming was. Her blue eyes swept the ship's deck, and finally spotted the young woman heading back the way she had come. Without much interest, Katara turned her gaze back out to sea. A memory flooded back to her, unbidden.
She was with Zuko, the both of them dressed in black. Her heart had burned with righteous wrath as they approached the Fire Nation ship – the same one that had attacked her village and killed her mother. She remembered how the blackened ocean had responded to her every whim, unleashing mighty waves across the ship's deck, washing the hapless soldiers on board to their watery graves! And then she had bloodbended the ship's captain, cracking his limbs and bending him to the floor until he screamed with pain, before suddenly noticing that he was not the man she was looking for…
Katara shivered, closing her eyes. She had done a lot of things that she wasn't proud of in her life. That trip with Zuko was one of those things. She had slaughtered those men, bloodbended their captain, and then traveled miles to come within inches of killing the man who had murdered her mother. The whole time, she had been filled with a murderous hatred. It was revenge she had sought then – revenge, pure and simple. And when she finally returned to Aang, weary and broken, she had returned as a murderer, not a warrior. That had been the day she had learned the difference between the two.
She sighed, thinking of of Aang. He had tried to tell her to forgive before she had gone on that ill-fated trip, but she hadn't listened. She wondered what he would have said if he could have seen what she was doing now.
Abruptly, Katara stopped, her attention drawn by a puddle of liquid on the deck of the ship ahead of her. It was beside a door that led to a storage room. She frowned. It seemed the wrong color to be seawater. It was brownish against the black metal. She considered it for a moment, before suddenly realizing what it was.
Blood.
Why would a pool of blood be -? Katara strode to the door and flung it open. On the floor of the storage room lay a young woman with dark hair, her arms and legs bound with ropes. She was dressed in what looked like prison clothes. The waterbender gasped and quickly knelt down, rolling the unconscious girl onto her back. Although her face was streaked with blood, Katara recognized her at once. "Ming!" she cried. Her mind blanked. Wait. I just saw Ming a few minutes ago…she was heading back toward…who else could have…
Azula. "No!" The scream burst unbidden from her throat. She sprang to her feet, heedless of everything else, and sprinted back to where she had left Toph and Ty Lee.
As if on cue, a tremendous explosion rocked the ship! She saw a jet of flame and smoke burst from the hatch that led down to the brig, and a body went flying. It was closely followed by another, barely visible through the billowing smoke. The metal deck buckled, and shards of it flew at the first figure, which ducked. There was a blast of flame! Katara briefly had time to notice that it was blue before she threw herself down to avoid being burnt to a crisp.
"Katara! Are you okay?" That was Toph's voice. Grimacing, the waterbender scrambled up, summoning a stream of water from the ocean and trying to find their enemy in the smokescreen all around them.
There she was! A figure in imperial armor appeared to Katara's right. The Water Tribe woman barely managed to deflect the fireball with an ice shield. It shattered under the impact; she grimaced as tiny shards of ice stung her skin. She hastily drew some of it into a long whip, and struck out with it. Her enemy, however, had vanished. Katara cursed.
Toph, however, spun on her heel and thrust out her hand! The steel floor split and flew in a wave; Katara saw their enemy stumble. Then the figure in imperial armor was running, heading toward the war balloon. "Toph!" Katara cried, beginning to run, herself. "We can't let her get away!"
The deck heaved and split again, the fissure roaring through the metal straight at the feet of Azula. The fleeing figure fell sprawling. She was instantly on her feet again, but not before Katara and Toph moved to box her in against the railing of the ship.
Now, for the first time, Katara could see their attacker. She still looked like Azula, true, but she was an Azula changed – desperate, furious, her hair in wild disarray around her pale face, her golden eyes flaming like a madwoman's. She unleashed a mighty wave of flame with a spinning kick! Toph blocked it with a sheet of metal; Katara managed to duck. Behind them, Katara heard the snapping of ropes – the flames had severed the balloon from the ship's deck. Slowly, it began to rise into the air. Before the former princess could attack again, Toph threw her hand forward, twisting it around in a grabbing gesture. The bottom of the railing behind Azula whipped out like a snake, coiling around the young woman's right leg! With a shriek of surprise and anger, Azula stumbled and fell on one knee.
The bending stopped abruptly. Both Katara and Toph stood at readiness, waiting. Katara could see Azula's arms shaking as she glared at them. Then, slowly, the former princess seemed to recover her composure. "My sources tell me you two have gotten pretty close in the last while," she sneered.
"Shut up, Azula!" Katara was in no mood to have her relationship with Toph smeared by the Fire Nation exile. She sent a wave of water flying at the pinioned woman. Azula managed to duck most of it, but she was still soaked.
Laughing breathlessly – for the water was cold – Azula turned her glaring amber eyes on Toph. The earthbender was snarling, her fists clenching and unclenching in eagerness. "You're very confident in your waterbender's loyalty, General Bei Fong," she said, her voice as sweet and cold as ice cream. "I know I wouldn't let my girlfriend stay alone in a room with Ty Lee." Katara's blood ran cold.
Now it was Toph's turn. "Shut up!' she snarled, kicking her foot at the ground. It split, jerking the firebender to one side.
Despite the fact that this had to have been painful, Azula's smile didn't waver. "You mean you didn't know that Ty Lee loves everyone?" she cooed. "She likes men and women, you know. Why don't you ask your waterbender if she hasn't been enjoying Ty Lee's skills while you weren't looking?" And she laughed nastily.
Katara saw Toph freeze. She could feel her own heart hammering in her ears as the blind earthbender turned her face toward her. She knew. The look of dawning horror on Toph's face made her feel sick. "T…Toph…"
It only took that instant. Azula blasted the railing with fire, freeing her leg, and fled toward the liberated war balloon, which was now nearly fifty feet away. Leaping into the air, the woman shot out twin jets of blue flame from her feet, propelling her upward. Katara quickly launched a series of ice spears after her, but it was too late. Azula caught the basket of the war balloon and clambered aboard, hand-over hand. The wind caught and bore it swiftly away from the ship. She had escaped.
There was a horrible, sick feeling in Katara's stomach. She stood for a minute or two, staring after the disappearing balloon with unseeing eyes. Then, slowly, with her heart twisting in dread. she turned back to look at Toph.
It was worse than she had thought. The earthbender was down on her knees on the crumpled deck, still facing the spot where they'd had Azula pinned. She no longer looked like the six-foot earthbending war hero that she was – she looked like the tiny, broken little girl she had briefly been after the Battle of Sozin's Comet. Katara stared at her as guilt tore at her insides. "Toph…"
At the sound of Katara's voice, the blind earthbender raised her head, then slowly rose to her feet. There was a tense silence for a moment or two. "How long?" Toph said, without looking at her. Her voice sounded hollow.
"Toph, I never…"
"How long?" The general spun toward her, fists clenched, her teeth bared in a snarl.
Tears were streaming down Katara's face. She was barely conscious of them. "I…please, Toph…" The earthbender's face did not soften. Defeated, Katara slowly lowered her eyes. It's no use lying. Toph will know. "Since I came back to Ba Sing Se," she whispered.
"Since you came back to live in my house." Toph laughed – the sound was brittle. "At least tell me you haven't been sleeping with her?" Katara couldn't speak. The earthbender's face twisted slowly into a loathing and contempt that was somehow even worse than rage. "Gods, how stupid I've been. How stupid!"
There was silence again. Neither woman moved. Katara could hear soldiers running and shouting, but she had eyes for nothing but the tall earthbender. "Toph," she managed at last, her voice breaking, "I'm…I'm sorry."
Like an iron wall, Toph's face turned cold. She drew herself up, turning her face away. "Don't talk to me," she snarled. "Don't you ever talk to me again. And if you dare to send me a letter, I swear to all the gods I will hunt you down and make you eat it!" She threw her arm out in a gesture of rejection. "Go and fuck your damned Fire Nation slut!" With that, she turned away and stomped off, her green cloak whipping in the wind behind her.