Chapter 14: Sturm und Drang
The sky flickered, a fact noted by the back of her mind as Zuko slid a hand up her leg, gliding underneath her tunic. His hand reach the waistband of her pants as thunder rumbled loudly and Katara sighed in annoyance. "We should put my tent up."
Zuko removed his hand and rocked back onto his heels, glancing up at the dark sky. "Yeah."
The rain began to fall before they had finished, Katara ensuring the tent would be secure in the gusty wind. By the time they were able to tie down the flapping rain tarp, the night cracked and flashed with thunder and lightning, a cold rain soaking them. Hoping Appa would be okay, she dashed into the tent, pulling Zuko in after her and bending them dry.
"Well, that was disappointing," remarked Zuko dryly. The tent was barely big enough for the two of them, made as it was to be just roomy enough for a single person. He tentatively placed a hand on her thigh. "We can pick back up where we were before the storm, if you want."
Katara flopped backwards onto her bedroll. "Honestly, now I kind of just want to go to sleep." She yawned. "It's been a long day." Although it would be hard to fall asleep with the sound of thunder and rain. "And I'm sure tomorrow won't be much better."
Zuko's face fell ever so slightly. "Okay." Lying down on his own bedroll, shoved in next to Katara's, he turned to face the outer wall of the tent. Katara grabbed his shoulder and rolled him over, fulling intending to make use of his warm presence. She spotted a small smile on his face as he turned to face her, wrapping an arm loosely around her waist, his face resting against the back of her neck.
"Better," Katara sighed, closing her eyes and waiting for sleep to claim her, the sounds of thunder giving way to the soothing sounds of rain.
The growling was the loudest thing she'd ever heard. She stared, terrified, at her mother's calm face. "Go find your dad, sweetie," she said, her voice as unruffled as a smooth sea, slowly falling into a non-threatening crouch. Katara was frozen, her eyes stuck on the huge white mass in front of her mother, its black eyes gleaming. "I have his attention. You need to find your dad, Katara." The second entreaty broke her free, and she scrambled away. Once she realized it wasn't going to chase her, she ran to the edge of the village, finding her father and his warriors fighting off a second beast.
"Dad!" she screamed. "Mom's in trouble!" He turned and ran with her, spear in his hand. It was too late when they go there, her mother lying in a spreading pool of blood, the red stark against the white snow. She looked up at her father, his face filling her vision, and watched in fascination as a lone tear trickled down his cheek, his face carved out of stone.
Katara bolted upright, panting heavily. The dream was familiar, but she hadn't had it in years. Why now…? Zuko stirred slightly beside her. "My dad!" she cried involuntarily.
Zuko stirred again, a sleepy "What?" emerging from his mouth.
"I forgot to write my dad! How could I forget that?"
He slung an arm around her waist and pulled her back down, mumbling "Can't it wait until the morning?"
Katara let herself be pulled down, but sleep eluded her. For one, she always had a hard time going back to sleep after reliving her mother's death. They never figured out why the polar bear dog had just killed her and left, but the image would haunt her for the rest of her life. She also silently composed the letter to her father, unsure what to say to him. They hadn't spoken, except through Sokka, in years; the last time Hakoda had visited her, he had told her he was disappointed she had left her heritage behind in favor of her husband's culture. She had not taken it well and had pretended she didn't need him ever since. Of course, now she realized he was right… should she say that? Could she admit that? She finally drifted off to sleep as the sky was lightening beyond the confines of her tent, her mind whispering incessantly even in her dreams.
After a hasty breakfast the next morning, Katara dashed back to the village, dragging a reluctant Zuko with her. She found the post office, although it was hardly deserving of that description, as it was only a small shack holding a single, bedraggled messenger hawk. Sighing, she decided it would be best to send her letter to Sokka, who could then send it on to the South Pole, as this hawk barely looked as if he could make it to Langmar, let alone the South Pole.
The old man in the shack loaned her the use of the special thin paper the hawks used and ink. She quickly dashed off a note to Sokka asking him to send the enclosed to their father, then chewed on the pen, thinking about how to begin the letter. Finally she decided on Dear father.
Dear father,
Some news has come from the Fire Nation. They plan to invade us in an attempt to destroy the seat of religion, something about starting a new one where the Fire Lord in the god incarnate, I think. We don't quite know when it'll happen, but as you're aware, we have no military. Will you help protect us? Your ships would be a great help and could save many lives. It would be good to see you.
Your daughter,
Katara
Hesitating, she reluctantly added a postscript.
P.S. Aang and I are separated. It was my idea. You were right about him, and me.
She handed both missives to the man, who tied them to the hawk and sent the poor thing off. "You're here to see the mayor, right?" he asked.
"Yes," Katara replied guardedly.
"If you're looking for her, she won't be at her house today. Some trees fell last night and she's out surveying the damage. I think a couple people lost their houses."
She passed him a few silver coins, some extra thrown in for the information, and thanked him. Exiting the shack, she noticed that the village did seem to be worse for the wear after last night; sticks and leaves were scattered everywhere and many of the houses were surrounded by puddles. "Just how bad was this storm last night?" she muttered under her breath.
Zuko stood from where he'd been lounging against the side of the shack. "Pretty bad, apparently."
She sighed and squared her shoulders. "I guess we'd best find the mayor. The man in there said she was where the worst of the damage was." It didn't take long to find; it was obvious where the trees had fallen on a house, as it was surrounded by villagers. The mayor was also easy to spot, as she was the only one with airbender tattoos. Katara wondered why a master airbender would live in such a tiny, desolate village such as this, but she figured it was none of her business. She briefly checked her list, noting the woman's name was Rinzen, then pushed through the crowd to her.
Rinzen was directing a group of men to move the tree trunk off of the roof, using her bending to help occasionally. Katara cleared her throat politely and waited, Zuko hovering behind her. Rinzen turned, hands on her hips. "Yes?"
"Hello, Mayor Rinzen," Katara said politely, extending a hand, which was ignored. "We're here from the capital to talk to you, on orders from the Lama."
Rinzen arched one eyebrow. "Right, you people. Wait over there and I'll join you in a moment." Turning her back on them, she returned to her task of directing the men. Katara shrugged at Zuko and they moved to a spot outside the crowd, underneath a tree of the same kind that had caused so much destruction. They both leaned against the large trunk, watching the fallen tree be slowly cut into smaller pieces and moved away.
"I hope no one was hurt," Katara remarked. "Maybe I should ask if they need any healing."
"Maybe," Zuko replied nonchalantly.
It was at least half an hour before Rinzen came over to them, and by that time Katara was sweating in her tunic, tired of slapping bugs away. She tried to keep in mind that this was an important task and it was not personal, but was still somewhat irritated. You're being selfish, her inner voice chided. Part of her wanted to go help just to get it over with, but she didn't think the insular villagers would take kindly to a stranger butting in.
Finally, Rinzen motioned for them to follow her, and they walked a short distance to a circle of flat stones, clearly a gathering area of some sort. She folded herself onto one stone and asked curtly, "So what do you want? Be quick about it; my village is in distress currently."
Katara chose a stone and began. "This is Zuko, Prince of the Fire Nation, and I am Katara, wife of the-"
"I know who you are," Rinzen cut in sharply.
Katara tried not to glare at her. "Anyway, Zuko has come to use bearing news of an imminent attack by the Fire Nation on our religion and people. We believe he only plans to attack the capital, so we are asking the mountain towns to take in citizens of the city to protect them until the invasion is over, one way or the other. You would be doing a great service if you would allow a couple of families to stay here for a few months."
"And why do you think I would do anything for you?" Rinzen bit off. "Our country is so misguided that our Lama married a Water Tribe whore who cares nothing for the sanctity of life. I've seen what your people do to their enemies. Why on earth would I ever want to help anyone who agrees with anything the High Council and the Lama does? Your mission is useless and I hope the Fire Nation cleanses us so only the true believers are left." She rose and smoothed her skirts. "Now if you don't mind I have things that actually matter to deal with. Useless fools."
Katara gaped at her, too shocked to speak before the woman made her way out of the circle. "Water Tribe whore?" she finally said, her voice strangled. Standing, she dashed to catch up to Rinzen. "What do you mean, what my people do?" she demanded. "I've lived here for eight years and you think I know nothing? How can you possibly think I ruin an entire nation of people?"
Rinzen spun, her robes flowing in a sudden breeze. "Your people murdered my sister," she hissed, "an innocent priest stationed in their territory, trying to teach you savages religion. I woke up with her lying next to me, dead, and the investigation stopped when you married him and we just had to make an alliance with them. You are all barbarians."
"We are not barbarians!" Katara has no idea how far her voice was carrying, but she didn't care. "I'm sorry your sister died but that has nothing to do with me! I'm not even from the Northern Tribe! And I love this country and its people!"
"Oh, really?" Rinzen challenged. "And yet here you are trying to convince me to make sacrifices for you instead of helping people that need it! You think marrying the Lama makes you important? All it means is that you drag him, our spiritual leader, into thinking war is a viable option!"
Shoving Rinzen aside, Katara stormed past her. "You want me to help people? I'll show you helping people." Because she was right, Katara realized. It was wrong of her to try to distract Rinzen when there were people hurt and possibly dying. It was a betrayal of her principles to ignore people in pain like that, and she cursed inwardly for focusing so much on their mission. She marched towards the house and surveyed the damage. She didn't see any visibly injured people; maybe no one had been in the house? Spying a large man who had been part of the earlier tree moving crew, she tapped him on the shoulder.
"Excuse me, was anyone hurt here earlier? I'm a healer and I'd like to help."
The man grunted. "Yeah, one woman broke her leg. We moved her to Rinzen's house."
Satisfied, Katara nodded her thanks and walked to what she remembered as Rinzen's house from yesterday when they arrived. She knocked on the door, which was opened by a tired-looking woman. "Can I help you?" she asked.
"I'm here to heal the woman with the broken leg."
The woman nodded, her head seeming too heavy for her neck, and opened the door wider. Katara let one hand linger briefly on the poor woman's shoulder, wishing she knew how to ease exhaustion. The house was dark and cool inside, curtains drawn across the windows. The woman with the broken leg was lying in front of the empty hearth, a dim lamp shining on her. Her soft groans of pain filled the silence.
Katara hurried in and knelt beside her, feeling the woman's forehead. It was sweaty, which was good; it meant there was no infection yet. "Can I have some water and more light?" she asked calmly. She would need more than this wan light to see what she was dealing with.
The tired woman nodded and drew open some curtains, letting in sunlight and fresh air. Her patient groaned and shuddered, feebly attempting to cover her eyes. "Shh," Katara soothed, "I'll help."
A bowl of water was laid in front of her and Katara bent to examining the leg, water gloved across her hands. It was a bad break and she was surprised the woman was even conscious. The jagged ends of his tibia showed throw a dirty rent in her skin, so she first bent to gently washing the dirt away. Satisfied with its cleanliness and trying to ignore the sobbing of her patient, she sighed and began healing the break. She knew it would hurt, as swelling had set in, making the bone hard to move back into place, even for her. Focusing on mending the torn pathways of the blood vessels, she slowly reduced the swelling, then set the bone with a snap. After that, mending the bone and torn skin was relatively easy, nothing she hadn't done before. Sure, it had been a while, but the skill came back to her as if she'd never stopped using it.
Having done as much as she could, Katara rocked back onto her heels and closed her eyes briefly. Healing was always wearying, especially when it was something so gruesome. A hand gently touched her knee, and she opened her eyes to see her patient half-sitting, looking at her with wonder. "Thank you," the woman breathed. "Thank you."
Katara couldn't keep herself from tearing up. "You're welcome," she said with a smile. This was what she was meant to do, she knew in her bones. Helping people was her destiny. Maybe she had forgotten that for a little while, but she wouldn't forget it again. Not to mention healing all their hurt and sick would be a great way to prove that horrible Rinzen wrong.
She squeezed the woman's hand and stood, stretching as she turned to see Rinzen standing in the door of her home, arms crossed. "So you healed one woman," she said curtly. "I appreciate it, but you're not going to change my opinion. Healing is a useful skill but it doesn't make you one of us."
"I intend to prove you wrong," Katara stated firmly. "No matter how long it takes." She pushed past the horrid woman into the sunshine, wondering where Zuko had disappeared to. She couldn't wait to tell him what she'd done… okay, so maybe she wanted to brag a little. But it felt good to be useful, to fix something. Even if her life was confusing and maybe broken and maybe unfixable, at least she could help others. No matter. He was sure to show up at their campsite that night.
Dismissing her concern for later, she found who she figure was probably the husband of the woman she'd just healed, as he had an anxious look, twisting a knit cap in his hands. "Was your wife the one who broke her leg?"
He looked nervously at her. "Yes, is she… is she going to be okay? It looked so bad I just… I didn't know what to tell our kids, I don't know what to do without her it looked so awful… Rinzen said she had medicine…" His voice trailed off, a sob catching in his throat.
"She'll be fine," Katara replied soothingly. "I'm a waterbending healer and I was able to fix most of the damage. A week or two of resting it and she'll be back to normal."
To her surprise, the man broke into sobs and hugged her, his arms pressing her tightly into his chest. "Thank you, ma'am. Thank you so much." A small smile grew on her face as she rubbed the man's back absently. Pulling away from her, he wiped his face and bowed awkwardly. "Sorry, it's just… I just…"
She waved him off. "It's fine. Go be with your wife."
He bobbed a quick bow again and all but ran into Rinzen's house, which was really more of a large hut. She knew she wanted to heal anyone else who was sick or hurt here, but she wasn't sure where to start. Maybe they had a sickhouse? She would ask Rinzen, but she didn't suppose she'd get an answer. She should go find that large man again.
A hand clasped around her upper arm and spun her. "What are you doing, Katara?" Zuko demanded.
"I'm helping people," she answered defiantly. "They need me."
Zuko led her off a little ways so they were alone. "You know who else needs you? Your entire country. You're wasting time here, Rinzen isn't going to take people in no matter what you do."
Katara jerked her arm from his grasp. "This isn't about her! It's about me forgetting that I need to help those who need it! I'm not going to leave until I've done everything I can for them. I will never turn my back on people who need me! If you don't like that, then you can just leave without me."
"Katara, you're being ridiculous! This village is tiny. You can help a few people here or you can help thousands of people by leaving! Which is better?"
"Of course you don't understand," she said in a patronizing tone. "I know things are different in the Fire Nation, but here we care about every individual. I'm not going to forget that again."
He stared at her. Katara knew she had hurt him, but she had done what she had to to ensure he wouldn't continue to argue with her about this.
"How dare you," he hissed. "I gave up everything to come here and help people. Everything. My friends, my family, my title."
Katara kept pushing. "Well, then you should understand what I'm doing here! Why don't you see that this is worth it? I can make a difference to these people and accomplish my mission at the same time. It's not my fault you're too narrow-minded to see that."
His jaw clenched, a muscle in his good cheek twitching slightly. "Fine. Have it your way. I'm not going to be around to watch you waste your time proving you're not a barbarian." With that, he stormed off.
"That's not what this is about!" she yelled after him. It wasn't. At least not fully. She just knew she needed to help these people.
A/N: A new chapter! Woo! Ugh, this took forever to write. I've been incredibly busy with my other creative outlet, costuming lately (I even started a blog if you're interested: cosmiccostumes. wordpress. com. Just remove the spaces.).
Anyway, sorry to those of you who were hoping for another lemon this chapter, I just didn't have it in me. I hope you'll be pleased anyway. The title this time is in reference to a German literary movement in the 18th century that focused on emotional extremes and gray characters. I thought it was appropriate for this chapter, especially poor Rinzen. I feel for her, I really do. I would hate a ruler whose marriage prevented a sibling's death from being investigated, too.
We also get to see Katara's Painted Lady side come out a little bit. So here's the thing. I effing love this side of Katara. Buuuuuuut it is a huge time sink to focus on a few individuals instead of the larger good. And unfortunately she has slightly less altruistic motives here than in the show; she definitely wants to help people, but she's also resentful that it took someone who hates her guts and thinks she's a savage to point it out. So now she has the dual motivation of helping people like she wants to and proving not only to Rinzen but also to herself that she's not that person Rinzen thinks she is.
Meanwhile, Zuko, ever the voice of practicality, is pretty frustrated.
Does anyone else see Katara as the kind of person who in an argument would know exactly what to say to make you the most angry? I don't know why, but I do. Maybe because of how she treats Sokka in the Southern Raiders.