aelisabetchilds:
See! I told you I'd update soon.
Sheesh. I'm so proud I'm glowing.
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"Should I call for some tea, Lady Ursa?" Katara asked quietly as she let the tall woman into her rooms. She had changed quickly into a suitably elegant, but simple dress of dark green, but she was hiding her trembling hands in its skirt. Asking about tea calmed her down just a little.
"That would be lovely, dear, but please-" Lady Ursa reached out to touch her shoulder gently- "You can just call me Ursa."
Katara glanced towards Mina, who was standing in a corner by the door, and made a motion for the other woman to approach Katara and Lady- Ursa as they settled down on cushions by her low table.
Mina bustled over and asked "How may I serve you, ladies?"
Ursa smiled as she arranged her skirts and said, "I think a pot of the new orange blossom tea would be good. Iroh brought a whole trunk of it with him from the Jasmine Dragon."
She turned to Katara and continued to explain, "He said that it's the new favourite amongst his customers in Ba Sing Se. His first stock of it ran out within the first few days of it's premier in his shop."
Katara smiled, pleased to be on this subject. Iroh was one of her favourite people; He had even asked her to call him "uncle"- not that she could, because it would be wildly improper. The short, slightly rotund man had a way of making her laugh easily.
"I haven't had a chance to really talk with Iroh yet; I've been so busy, and from what I can see, he is as well. It would be nice to talk with him for awhile."
Ursa chuckled.
"It seems like all we ever do is talk, Iroh and I. The fact that my home is across the street from the Jasmine Dragon doesn't help, either. Iroh is adamant that I come over every day, and drink a cup with him. He says that 'good tea and good company are rare things, and if you ever have the chance to enjoy both of them at the same time, you are twice blessed'"
Katara raised her hand to cover her mouth, but a gurgle of laughter bubbled through anyway; Ursa sounded exactly like Zuko did when she impersonated Iroh- they even affected the same ridiculous pitch and finger-wagging.
Ursa smiled at her, and said amiably, "You know, Zuko wanted me to live here, after the war, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. Ba Sing Se for all its walls feels like a much freer place to me than this palace, even now, after all these years."
Katara really didn't know what to say to this. A moment of silence stretched between them before Ursa shrugged and said "But, enough about me. I am curious to hear what you've been up to in the time since we last saw each other. I believe that was last year, right? At Iroh's expansion of the Jasmine Dragon?"
Katara nodded.
"Well," the woman prodded gently, "Certainly things have changed in the past year, right?"
Katara nodded again, and cleared her throat.
"Well, Lady Urs- I mean Ursa, the Southern and Northern Water Tribes have recently joined together, declaring themselves one tribe. It was a long process, I think I told you a little about it last year in Ba Sing Se, when we were still in the middle of the voting process. During the past few months I helped to organise the celebrations. My brother and I weren't actually there for the ceremony, we were here, but I'm sure it was beautifully done."
As she warmed up to the subject, Katara relaxed and started to illustrate her telling with gestures and even a tiny, bent miniature of the new Ceremonial Hall.
Ursa was the perfect audience, asking the right questions and showing complete interest.
After Katara exhausted the Joining, Ursa asked about Suki's martial arts school, Katara's waterbending students, and the general workings of her home city. Ursa also supplied stories about her neighborhood in Ba Sing Se and Iroh's tactics among his customers.
Before she knew it, more than an hour had passed and Ursa stood to excuse herself, Katara standing as well, walking with her to the door.
"Thank you for the tea, Katara, and the company. I enjoyed our time immensely."
"As did I, Ursa. Please feel free to return whenever you can. I'm looking forward to hearing more about Zuko's childhood."
Ursa had thrown in a couple of fascinating stories about the young Zuko, leaving Katara with the feeling that she had caught a tantalising glimpse into the man.
Ursa chuckled, and let herself out the door.
Katara returned to the tea table and busied herself with setting the pot and the cups onto their tray, trying to help Mina a little; the woman had proven to have an almost endless desire to help Katara in whatever way she could, whether that be by suggesting appropriate clothes for the meetings, ordering the occasional breakfast in bed, or cleaning up her rooms.
Absentmindedly, Katara wondered if she could bring Mina back home after the meetings; Gran-gran would love the help. But then she shook her head. It was extremely rare for any watertribe family to have personal servants in the Southern Tribe- there really wasn't a need for such extravagance among her people.
Katara made her way over to the small desk that she had requested to be added to her room, and sat down, enjoying the view it offered from its place in front of the large windows.
It was midmorning, and the sun was already beating down relentlessly. Summers in the Fire Nation hadn't changed from the time she had spend here 5 years ago. The days were hot and humid, and the evenings were often accompanied by thunderstorms, which offered brief escapes from the heat.
A haze shimmered over her view of the capitol, but even though, Katara could make out surging crowds and colorful stands lining its streets.
With a small sigh, she tore her gaze away from the vibrant city, and bent her head over her desk, focusing on the Trade Proposal she and Sokka were going to present at the meeting tomorrow morning. She needed to go over the wording and general proposals before she attempted to make a final copy- something she rather dread. Katara didn't have the neatest calligraphy, it was merely passable. However, Sokka's was worse and so the task fell to her.
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
Katara raised her head a few hours later, groaning at the knot in her neck, and her back's protest at the change in position.
As she stood up from her desk, and smoothed her now slightly wrinkled dress, Katara decided that an afternoon of bending practice would do her good. She'd done her work for the meetings, and now she was entitled to some time to herself. She definitely needed it- deserved it.
Katara shed the gown she had thrown on for tea with Ursa, and stepped into a pair of cropped, dark green pants. She rummaged around her wardrobe for her favourite linen tunic, a loose light grey colour whose long sleeves offered protection from sunburn, and whose lightweight length lent an air of casual elegance to the comfortable outfit.
She found a pair of low clothe slippers- they only needed to get her to the bending courtyard- and slipped them on as she pulled her hair in a bun, keeping it off her neck. Her finger brushed the smooth clasp to her betrothal necklace, and a spark jumped through her fingertips. She shuddered as she made her way to the door, and out into the hall.
Her hallway was deserted, and Katara didn't see another soul as she walked to the bending courtyard, her feet making shushing noises against the polished marble of the floors.
When she arrived at the courtyard it was empty and silent. Katara stepped out into it, raising her eyebrows at the strange rock formations that seemed to have sprouted since her last visit- which was yesterday night. It had been a brief session, but she had thought it would help her sleep.
It hadn't.
Katara wove her way through the maze of boulders and rocks that littered the courtyard, and decided that, despite the annoyance the terrain was, it would provide a challenge as she bent.
She raised her arms once she had centered herself in the yard, and bent a large wave of water up from the long pool at the side.
She went through a few intricate moves, manipulating the water around in looping circles and thin shields and beads of water, whipping her element around her body.
Focusing her attention on a particularly large rock across the courtyard from her, Katara practiced her water whips, striking the rock time after time, wearing it away with sharp cracks of water hitting stone.
She paused, and walked to the stone to examine her work.
She had chipped away most of the face of the boulder, and had gouged a deep hole in its center.
Grinning, she turned to walk back to her original spot, but as she spotted the man who had just entered the courtyard the smile slid off her face, and a sinking feeling hit her stomach.
"Good afternoon, Katara!" Lakkin called out cheerfully, "I see you're practicing."
She walked slowly to the center of the floor, making her way between the rocks.
"Hello, Lakkin," she said quietly, knowing he expected her to acknowledge his greeting.
Lakkin smiled indulgently as he strode to her side, and leaning down, pecked her on her cheek. Katara fought the urge to scrub at the spot with her sleeve.
"How was your morning?" He asked, settling himself on a boulder next to her, crossing his legs and leaning back on his arms.
She stood stiffly as she replied, "It was fine. I worked on a Trade Proposal for my tribe."
Lakkin sighed and ran a hand back over his wolftail, fingering the blue beads woven into his dark hair.
"Katara, I've already told you, you shouldn't worry about the Southern and Northern Tribes issues during this conference. You about to become a part of the Western Tribe- we should hold your allegiance."
She held back her growl and said "Yes, but I am here representing my tribe, Lakkin. My father expects me to do my duty to my people. I can't ignore-"
Her necklace tightened almost imperceptibly, but Katara stopped, narrowing her eyes at her fiance.
"Enough," Lakkin drawled, "I'm tired of talking about this conference. All we ever do is talk. I prefer action myself. It seems to work better than jabbering in a roomful of stuffy old men and foolish young lords."
Katara held her tongue, but felt her anger rising.
"Now," the man added, standing once more and stretching his arms into the air, "You were practicing, correct?"
She nodded.
"I'll join you then. It's been a long time since we sparred."
She stared as Lakkin bent a mass of water to his side, freezing it into a large column.
"I'm ready," he said, spreading his arms out wide and smiling pleasantly at her.
She hissed softly, and lowered herself into a fighting stance.
If he wanted to fight, Katara would not hesitate to attack him with all she had.
Lakkin's face remained smooth as he bent his knees and waited.
With a snap of her wrists, Katara bent up a stream of water from the pool behind her, and in a second, she brought it behind her back and sent it gushing towards Lakkin's left side.
He formed an ice wall against the onslaught, as she assumed he would, and while he was concentrating on forming his shield, she thrust her right arm out, shooting the reserve of water she had slivered off her initial wave. It knocked Lakkin off his feet, and against his ice wall.
She gathered water back around her knees as her opponent pushed himself up and jumped back, flipping his legs over his body. With that gesture, he sent a flow of ice towards her, growing quickly over the rocky floor.
Katara slid to her left on an ice flow, avoiding the jagged ice that would have caused her to stumble. Lakkin to advantage of her movement to shoot a barrage of ice disks towards her center.
She flicked most away, but two hit her one after the other, knocking the wind out of her.
Lakkin ran forward as she stumbled back, lifting a wave above his head and sending it down at her. Katara gasped in a quick breath, and raised her arms, halting the flood just above her. She twisted her torso, and threw her arms into the water, forming to long whips around her arms and flicking them at each side of Lakkin. He dodged one by bending it into ice, effectively immobilising her left wrist and hand. The other whip just nicked his side, making his face twist cruelly.
Katara took a second to unfreeze her hand, allowing Lakkin to catch his breath and call up a huge mass of water behind him.
The man sent it surging towards Katara, splitting the wave to move around him, then forming back into one mass.
Katara, who had just released her hand had only enough time to breathe in and raise her hands before the water encompassed her.
That was stupid! He's caught you like a goldfish-koi in a bowl-She thought as she tried to bend her way out of the now spherical mass of water. No matter how she manipulated her element, Lakkin bent it back to crush around her.
Realising she was stuck, she relaxed, and allowed herself to remain suspended in her element, watching her opponent through the warped water.
He was grinning.
Lowering his hands, Lakkin released the orb, and sent Katara rushing towards the floor. Throwing her hands up, she called a wave to her legs and let it support her descent.
Lakkin had crossed his arms, and stood waiting while she stood, dripping and panting heavily.
"Are you done?" He asked kindly, smirking as Katara bent the water out of her clothes and hair, which had fallen out of it bun and was flying around her shoulders.
"Not nearly."
She spun and kicked threw a volley of ice arrows at him. While his concentration was fixed on not being impaled, Katara leapt to the side, and spinning her hands, bent a rope of twisting water at his feet.
Lakkin sidestepped her attack, and turned the rope back on her, snaking towards her chest.
She lifted her arms to dissipate the oncoming water, but stumbled on a rock as she took a step back.
The water surrounded her torso, rising up to encompass her arms and neck, then hardened to ice.
She couldn't move.
Lakkin chuckled, and lifted her up into the air, suspending her frozen body ten feet above the rocky ground.
"You really should practice more, darling. That wasn't very challenging at all."
She let out a growl, kicking her legs about helplessly.
"Let me down and I can try again. Maybe I'll have better luck this time."
He "tsk tsk"ed, and shook his head, "That won't be possible. You see, we're actually on a rather tight schedule, and I've wasted time playing around with you."
She opened her mouth to demand what he meant, but Lakkin lifted her higher, very suddenly, causing her stomach to drop unpleasantly.
"Even though this has been delightful, Katara, we have to get going."
"What do you mean-"
The ice supporting her was gone in an instant, and Katara plummeted to the ground, unable to slow her fall.
With a sickening thud she landed on her feet, which immediately gave way, her knees hitting the floor with a sharp crack.
Katara cried out as the pain flooded through her legs.
"Hush now," Lakkin said, striding over to her side, "You haven't broken anything. You'll be fine. Now get up, we're going."
Blinking back tears of pain, Katara glared up at the other water bender a moment before hoarsely saying "I'm not going anywhere, Lakkin."
Narrowing his eyes, her fiance bent over her and curled his upper lip as he answered, "Yes, you are. Stand up, Katara, we're going to be late."
She remained on the ground. She despised the fact that she was kneeling before Lakkin, but she preferred her current position to whatever he had planned.
"Fine," he murmured silkily, smiling down at her, "We can do this another way."
Katara made a quiet gurgle as her necklace tightened mercilessly, and with such force that she fell forward onto her hands.
Black spots danced before her eyes, and she forced her head up to see Lakkin smiling serenely down at her while she choked.
He's going to kill me this time.
She was certain of it. Her vision was fading, her heart pounding in her ears.
She needed air. She needed help. She needed-