Chapter 13 A Tentative Truce

Katara POV

Awkward. That is the only word that would come to mind that would best describe this current situation. Two werewolves were in our living room, sitting across from us on our couches. Now it's not like the werewolf pack and my brother and I are enemies but we're not exactly friends either. Both of us had accused one another for the disappearances and now they were here to tell us about them. What was so unique about this case, besides the obvious increase of missing persons, that had even the werewolves interested?

"So what is it you wanted to tell us?" Sokka asked

"What do you know of these disappearances so far?" Lu Ten asked my brother and I.

"Uh nothing really. Only that the abductions are happening at random, no set pattern nor any known similarities between the abductees." Ever the observant one, my brother. "Why do you have a suspect in mind?"

"Shouldn't you be telling the police then, if that's the case?" I interjected.

"We can't involve the police in this." Aang spoke this time. "They have no idea what they're up against and should they ever catch this person, it would only put them in mortal danger. We think the culprit is a sorcerer."

Maybe it was the way Aang had said the statement with no hesitation or doubt in his tone that made me believe him. But still..."You're serious?"

"How would you know that a sorcerer is behind this?" Sokka asked skeptically.

"June" was the simultaneous reply. I guess that answer was suppose to clear any doubt that we have in them. However as stated before I hardly interacted with the werewolf pack and only remembered Aang's name; the others were a little hazy to me.

"June has the best sense of smell I've ever come across." Lu Ten spoke "She can easily detect a scent, if she wanted to, that would lead her across state, maybe even the country. "We had June stationed as one of the bystanders outside the convenient store this morning. She detected a faint scent of two sorcerers. They weren't your scents, so we're not accusing you." the Alpha looked pointedly at me as I was about to protest any involvement he thought my brother and I had in these seizures. "The scents weren't familiar to June, meaning they're obviously not from around here. But they're powerful."

"So what do you want us to do about that? My sister and I aren't as advance in magic and we barely know anything about this world to begin with."

"But you know how to defend yourselves?" Aang questioned. He looked almost worried.

"We've been receiving training from a Master we found in town. We're powerful apparently but we had just passed the basics." I informed them. "I wouldn't know how my brother and I would be able to handle one fully trained witch, let alone two."

"Yes that would be a problem. But between my pack and your coven I think we would have a chance against them." Lu Ten informed

"Wait, back up, let me get this straight. First you and your pack act like my sister and I were gonna kill you the first chance we got and now because it's convenient for you, we're on speaking terms?"

"You were just as suspicious about us. I know you made sure that your friends had no interaction with us, and you thought that we were somehow responsible for these disappearances." the Alpha growled.

"Enough!" Aang's voice reverberated throughout the living room. "Look we have a bigger problem than stupid trust issues between us. If we don't stop fighting and at least be civil to one another, then the sorcerers will kidnap more people for whatever sick agenda they have. Got it?" Aang stared at the three of us. His Alpha sat there glaring at Aang and Sokka and I heard a low growling undertone emanating from Lu Ten. Aang bared his neck in a submissive posture, eyes looking down to the ground. The man grunted and gave a quick nod in approval before returning his attention back to us.

"So we all agree to work with each other when the sorcerers return to town?" My brother and I agreed, numbers were exchanged and the werewolves left. Aang gave me a small smile over his shoulder before following his Alpha into the chilling night.

"Well...that was different."

"Uh yeah. I'm going to bed, it's been a weird night. Night Sokka."

"Night Katara." Sokka had plopped down onto the couch and continued to read the spell book. I think he might be pulling an all nighter again. I swear if all our subjects at school were in anyway related to magic, he would be getting all A's.

I rushed through my nightly routine, anxious just to get some rest before seeing Dad. The problem was I couldn't sleep tonight, I just wasn't feeling relaxed. Instead I felt tensed, nervous. It was a feeling similar to what one would get right before a big exam, though that wasn't an adequate sentence to describe this feeling. Knowing that sleep wouldn't come easy tonight, I turned on the desk lamp and pulled out my Mom's journal again.

Half of me feels like a pervert or one of those insanely protective parents reading through my Mom's journal, but I just couldn't help it. Dad didn't talk about her often, and Sokka and I hardly even remember her. She was a complete mystery to me. All these years I had always imagined her as the perfect Mom. Always there to help cook meals, was sweet and kind and loving to everyone she met. I had always imagined her as some sort of superhero that could do no wrong. But she wasn't.

Her journal proved that my Mom was once a real person. She was sometimes bossy, argued with her Dad constantly, loved to make sarcastic comments. My Mom was very stubborn too and would often sneak out of the house, after blackmailing Uncle Kuruk into not telling their parents, to hang out with her two best friends. My Mom was in no way perfect but this journal just made her more human, more easy to relate to, instead of this otherworldly figure. And that to me was far better than what I used to think of her.

However as much as I would like to sit here and ponder how Mom used be, life still goes on. My life still goes on. I can't keep wondering what life would have been like had she still been alive. I need to move on, as harsh as it may sound Mom's gone, she's never coming back and her troubles are over. Meanwhile the town and people I love are being attacked by sorcerers, and only my brother and I plus the werewolves have the ability to stop them. For now the mystery that is Mom will go in the back burner, the sorcerers terrifying the town are a higher priority.

I didn't even realized I had fallen asleep until Sokka had woke me up. At some point during the night I had rolled to the edge of my bed and my Mom's journal was on the floor. "Wha...Sokka?" I asked groggily, seriously today I was not a morning person. Neither is Sokka for that matter.

"Dad's here, he wants to talk to us."

"Now?"

"Yes now." I groaned tiredly and reluctantly got up from my warm and comfortable bed. I hate leaving my bed, the air is always cold and leaves you shivering and then cranky and if you're Sokka you walk around like an undead zombie muttering under your breath.

Dad was in the living room, sitting in his favorite armchair. He looked dead on his feet, heavy bags underneath his bloodshot eyes. He was really taking this case to heart. Too bad all of his hard work will get him nowhere. If there was one thing I quickly learned in the supernatural world was that magic was just as strong if not more so than technology. "Good you're both up." he spoke in a scratchy voice. "Something has come up in the case, and I know now that I have to tell the both of you everything."

"Dad?" I asked. Was he gonna tell us what I think he's gonna tell us?

"Those water abilities the both of you have...it's hereditary on your Mom's side. Your Mom and the rest of her family are sorcerers, making the both of you sorcerers as well. Only your Mom called herself and her family different. It started with an A..."

"Aquamancers." Sokka and I both intoned. Dad looked surprised then a resigned look settle over his face.

"So the both of you already know."

"We found out a few days after you made that stupid ban on water." I snipped

"Katara!" Dad snapped, he groaned in frustration and rubbed tiredly at his forehead. "You have every right to be angry at me. How much do you know?"

"Only that we're Aquamancers, Mom was one, her best friends Yangchen and Ursa were also Mancers... Mom somehow knew she was gonna die." Sokka finished off quietly. Dad's face was one of horror from what Sokka had revealed to him. "She wrote us a letter, placing it in a box along with some other stuff."

"...She wrote the both of you a letter as well." he muttered

"Mom wrote you a letter?" I asked in shock, "You never told us that!" then again Dad didn't tell us a lot of things.

"Hmm." he looked like he wanted to say more but then quickly changed his mind and clamped his mouth shut. Silence filled the room. Dad appeared to be having a mental debate about something and Sokka and I uncharacteristically waited. "I don't know what it says." he spoke quietly. Looking at our confused faces Dad pressed on. "I never opened your Mom's letter. It's in a box somewhere."

"Why are you telling us all of this, why now?" Sokka asked

"I've come to realize that no matter how hard I try to hid the other world from this family, it will always come back when I least expect it. The abductions that are taking place all over Redwood are from two witches."

"Witches?" I reaffirmed, so what Lu Ten had said last night has now been confirmed. Two sorcerers, witches actually, are here somewhere in Redwood.

"Did you get a look at their faces?" Sokka asked. Of course Cabbage Man had surveillance cameras all over the store!

"No." he replied bitterly. Sokka and I sighed in disappointment. Of course of all the days the cameras pick that one to not work. "Their magic was interfering with the cameras."

"Whoa...they can do that?" I asked him.

"Yes. It goes to show you how powerful they are if they were able to tamper with all the cameras at once." Terrific. Two half trained Aquamancers and a pack of seven werewolves are suppose to take down to powerful witches and whatever they throw at us. "Which is why I will be calling your Uncle Kuruk to come and assist us. I'm hoping that he will agree and that maybe the rest of your family can come, we're going to need all the help we can get. That does not mean you two." he finished sternly.

Sokka and I objected such an idea. "But Dad we can-"

"No! I don't want to hear it. No matter how strong the both of you think you are, you're not trained to battle witches."

"But we've been prac-"

"Katara I don't want to hear it. The bottom line is that you're too young. And I am not losing my kids. I already lost a wife...I can't lose you two too." Guilt and shame filled my chest and felt like a leaded weight in the pit of my stomach. It was easy to focus on the pain I went through of losing my Mom, but my Dad would have had a harder time grieving. While I barely remember my Mom, my Dad had known her since they were both in college. He had a closer relationship with her, remembered every little quirk that made my Mom, Kya Ahote. Losing her was a deftly blow to Dad, losing us...

"Sorry Dad." I muttered. I was apologizing two things: one for bringing forth a fear of losing Sokka and I and two for the fact that I was still intentionally disobeying him. I don't know about Sokka but I was still going to help the werewolves fight off the witches. It has never been in my nature to just sit back and watch when I know that there is something I can do about it.

Dad sighed tiredly again. He stretched his back and I could hear it pop in some places. "It'll take a few days for me to locate the mirror that's warded to your Uncle Kuruk, but if he does come he'll help this investigation and train the two of you. I also decided to un-ground you." he said to me. "Just no more late night swims in the lake. I don't want you to put yourself in danger like that. I'm going to bed, if you're both leaving the house be back by sunset." he trudged up the steps and Sokka and I could hear the faint click of his door closing.

"You're still gonna go through with this aren't you?" Sokka asked knowingly

"Like you aren't." I stared at him. Sokka had a look of guilt on his face, which only confirmed my suspicions. "Dad's gonna be pissed off if he finds out."

"So we'll get grounded." he responded flippantly "I think you are used to being on Dad's bad side by now." Funny Sokka.

The afternoon found me at the secluded lake, alone this time. Sokka was with Suki at the moment and Dad was still snoozing away. I just needed some time to calm my erratic thoughts and water was the only way to do so; of course now I knew why. I couldn't understand what my Dad's deal was, one moment he's secretive to the point of lunacy and now he tells us, in a roundabout way, that Sokka and I are Aquamancers and that he was hoping to get our mysterious Uncle to train us. What's his deal? Why was he living in denial all these years about the other world? Did he not know that Sokka and I are lucky that our magic didn't destroy us for being untrained for so long?

I didn't want to think about that right now. I came here for a mild relief from town. Instead I focused on the water's movement, following under my command. Push and pull, rise and fall. I had the movements matched in time with my breathing, it was meditative. My muscles felt lax and all of my problems were, at least temporarily, abated.

A twig snapped behind me and with a quick reaction time that would do an Aquamancer proud an ice spear sunk thick into the tree trunk right where Aang's head was. "Shit, I'm sorry, you just scared the crap out of me." I breathed deeply to calm my erratic heart rate.

Aang didn't look perturbed, if the smile on his face was anything to go by. "Nice moves."

"I nearly killed you and all you have to say about it is 'nice moves'?" I asked incredulously.

"Well you didn't kill me, and you moved as fast as Master Aquamancers I've seen before." he shrugged indifferently.

"Uh thanks...is there any reason why you're here?"

"Just wanted some fresh air. I normally walk around here too, I just didn't expect to get attacked by you." he grinned in a childlike playful manner.

I didn't understand what was going on. Yesterday was the first time we were even looking at one another and now we're suppose to act like the rift between my family and his pack never happened? I asked him this as well.

Aang's smile dropped and he ran a hand through his hair. "Look I know that there has been some tensions between your family and mine, but since we're now working together I thought it would be a good opportunity to mend our budding friendship." he gave a crooked smile.

Part of me liked the idea...okay a huge part liked the idea of befriending Aang again. But can we really just forget about being at each other's throats for the past week or so? I like to think so. The problem was that I liked him more than just friends. Could I really let him get close to my heart? The last time I did, that relationship didn't end well for me. "I'll tell you what, why don't you and I start over? This could be our first meeting." Aang said

"Uh, okay?" I asked unsurely

"Great!" he responded enthusiastically. He held out a calloused hand. "Hi, my name is Aang Zheng and I'm a werewolf." he said simply.

Smiling at Aang's humor I replied. "My name is Katara Ahote and I'm a Aquamancer." I grasped his hand and we shook briefly. A small shiver ran down my spine as I felt a spark ignite between our touch. Well...that was peculiar, though I don't know if that was a good or bad thing. If Aang noticed anything, he didn't let it show on his face.

"Aquamancer huh? Does that mean you play with magic water?" he teased eliciting a small laughter from me.

"Well that's one way of saying it, yes. Do you get attack by fleas then?" I smirked at his affronted face.

He turned his nose up in a faux snobbish fashion. "I have you know that my coat is cleaned and brushed twice a week thank you very much." he spoke in a horribly done British accent.

"Why British?" I asked laughingly

"It was the first thing that came to mind. Well it is a pleasure meeting you Miss Ahote."

Rolling my eyes I played along. "The pleasure is all mine Mr. Zheng, though my friends call me Katara." I looked pointedly at the tall boy.

"So this means we're friends now?" Aang asked hopefully.

"Yes this means we're friends." I replied grinning. "Tell me, what's it like being a werewolf?"