The response to last chapter was so great. You all are literally THE BEST: Cherokee69, Aaliyah92, lucel18, Hristonostore Onnediel, LlovableLlamas, DisneyfanaticcalledLakisha, Kawaii25, KnightOwl247, Zutara4Life, Krazybird13, dazed. lizz, jacpin2002, ArtillaTheHun, Itsfabiola, Who, Samael Angelus, myottodog, Guest54, Tiernank, pokesyourcheek, Ilovethisstorryyy, aunknown615, AlliBelleStri, Guest, DeannaBear, Robstar3, and AteASol!
Zutara4Life: She's not really lying. She knows she cares for him, she loves him, but she's not quite 'in love' with him. When I say this is slow burn, I mean this is a SLOW BURN ;) And trust me, I don't plan on stopping writing this ANY time soon!
Who: THE SHIP HAS LEFT THE PORT! And yep, betcha didn't think Zuko would make the first move, eh? And they were supposed to be canon, legit. There were supposed to be 4 books in the original series, but they cut one to make the movie deal (which we do not speak of) and for some reason this parred down the last book? So they had all this foreshadowing for Zutara but had no time to do anything so decided to just cut Zutara off completely? Which is stupid? Arg, don't even get me started.
Guest54: Thanks so much for reviewing! I promise, we haven't even gotten to all of the good stuff I have planned!
Ilovethisstoryyy: Binging stories is great, huh? Especially just plowing through like 5 new chapters!
Guest: I do plan to have Zuko's POV, but not until 'Book 2'- or the sequel. It's just at this point I've developed a precedent and I feel like it would be strange to switch a POV right in the middle, but I do totally plan to get a more rounded view of this in Book 2!
Katara was still entirely tired and wondered if she could manage to get away with sleeping the rest of the day. It was, after all, the day after a very strenuous event. Some of the girls waved at her, but they seemed none too concerned about where she'd been.
She opened her door, yawning, and started shuffling to her bed.
"And just where do you think you've been?"
Katara nearly jumped out of her skin. She turned to see Toph sitting in the corner like a creep, just waiting for her.
"Uhm," Katara blinked, drawing blanks. She was too tired to come up with a convincing lie. Plus, she realized she hadn't asked Aiga the specifics of what she had told others. "I left early this morning."
"Like bull you did," Toph snorted. "Because I tried to be a nice person last night, came to your room with cake, and you were just 'poof'," Toph made an elaborate hand motion, "And so, obviously, I was interested. You just came back," she said. "Aiga may have convinced the rest of those idiots, but not me."
Katara's jaw locked. "Fine. I didn't," she agreed, knowing that denying anything once Toph knew was pretty useless. Katara decided that the best course of action was to not say anything else from here on out to give it away.
"So, where were you last night that could have you coming back so late with your hair like that and-"
Toph's eyes widened. "You were with Zuko. Alone."
Katara would later learn that it was a guess. But it was a damn good one, and she spoke so confidently that Katara would have mistaken it for fact. "What? No." Katara looked away, scoffing and trying to sound convincing.
"Oh, honey. Even if you somehow forgot I know exactly when you're lying, Sokka was right when he told me you were an awful liar. Geeze," Toph said, causing Katara to blush scarlet. She had forgotten about Toph's ability.
"So, you were with Sparky, then. I mean, he's your friend and you share secret shit, so there's that, but why are you so warm, and why is your heart beating so fast?" Toph rubbed her chin, stalking up inches away from her friend. When her face changed this time, there was no denying that Toph had figured it out. "He kissed you. Or you kissed him. Bottom line, smooching happened."
"Just one!" Katara snapped, in keeping with their promise to hide the horrible first kiss. And their second kiss after. A girl had to have some secrets.
"Woah," Toph said but after a second, she frowned. "Spirits," she muttered, half angry and half disappointed.
"What?" Katara asked, dropping her defensive crossed arms to her sides.
"Well, it's real then," Toph mumbled, "You like him."
"I...well, yes." Katara's voice was soft. Toph continued to pace.
"Arg, you had to ruin it, Sweetness!" Toph sounded almost distraught. "We were in this together, you know? Two badass girls out to fight against stupid things like love. We were the ones not in this for the prince and now you're just like the rest of them." She scowled, looking deeply betrayed.
"I'm not like the 'other girls'," Katara said, taking offense to her tone, "Just because I think I like Zuko does not mean I'm here to win this." She said. After a moment, she was offended for the other girls, "And so what if they're here for love? That's the entire reason they're meant to be here! You look me in the eye and tell me that you don't think that someone like On Ji or Yue or Suki wouldn't genuine love Zuko and make a good Fire Lady?" She said, holding her gaze with Toph, who although could not see, felt the pressure of her disapproving stare.
"You know I didn't mean it like that," Toph rubbed the back of her neck uncomfortably, "I just meant-,"
"I know what you meant. Just because I'm not here to win doesn't make me better than them. And I still don't." She muttered, "So, there."
Toph ground her teeth. "You're telling the truth. Huh." She gave a deep sigh. "So, then, what? How are you going to stay here with those feelings? Cuz, honey, they're only gunna grow."
"I haven't figured it out that far. I like him. He likes me. But my tribe always has and always will come first," Katara assured. "Same with friends. Friends are family to me," she said, touching Toph gently on the shoulder.
"Don't get all sappy," Toph said, wiping away her touch like it was dirty. Katara let out a small smile, because honestly she'd be more concerned if Toph was expressing emotions all over the place.
"I'm not going to. Not about this, not about Zuko either. I have a clear mind about this, Toph."
Toph narrowed her milky eyes at Katara. "You'd better," she advised. "And I say this in the most careful way possible, a smart girl like you knows you're literally playing with fire."
"We're not telling people." Katara got her drift immediately. If Zuko was willing to go off to protect Katara, his friend, from his father...what sort of awful ways could his father exploit Zuko if he knew about them romantically?
"Yeah, yeah," Toph nodded. "Ozai's batshit crazy. Let's not give him a reason to kill you," she said.
"I couldn't do that to Zuko," Katara swallowed, imaging all the ways this could go wrong. She wasn't a fly that could just be batted down, but Ozai was a seasoned fighter trained to kill. Katara was not. "But I think he knows that his father is volatile. He will put his nation first, too. I want him to do what's best for him."
"You know it's probably not you that's 'best for him', not now?" Toph pointed out. "Not until his father's six feet underground."
Katara sucked in deeply. Somewhere, she did know. She knew that she was opening them both up to dangers by admitting her feelings. At least they weren't fully formed, however she couldn't imagine cleaving herself from him.
"We'll go as long as I can. But yeah, if I need to…" Katara didn't finish the thought. Toph understood it.
"Huh." Toph seemed surprised the the whole conversation. "You're alright, Kat."
"I wasn't before?" Katara's question was dry.
"You're more okay now. But if you start turning into a lovesick puppy 'bout this, I'll punch you. I'm goddam serious."
"Oh," Katara snorted, "I know you are."
"Mhh. Cake?" Toph offered up a slightly smashed plate.
"Is that from last night?" Katara tried not to wince.
"Hey, good cake can't go to waste," Toph said, ignoring politeness or utensils and using her hands to grab a piece off. "Really, c'mon. I'm not gunna give you cooties," Toph said, waving the plate under her nose. She laughed, grabbing some off the plate. "But Zuko might." Toph's grin was devious.
"Toph," Katara mumbled, a warning.
"Look, if I can't make this fun for me when we're alone, what's even the point?" Toph said, "Speaking of alone-"
"Ah, just shove it," Katara said, flicking crumbs at her. "One day when you're in love…"
"Ewe, never finish that sentence," Toph said, shaking her head. "Impossible. Not gunna happen."
Katara shrugged sweetly, licking chocolate from her fingers. She was very tempted to point out she had not foreseen herself falling in love with Zuko, yet here they both were.
"Well, I'm gunna go change. Maybe see if Smellerbee's busy," Toph said, flicking crumbs onto the carpet. "Katara?"
"Yeah?" Katara looked up. Toph hesitated, opening her lips to say something, but at the last moment she furrowed her brows and shook her head. She left without any closing remarks, which told Katara just how ruffled Toph was about this whole situation.
Katara finished off the rest of her cake, considering it breakfast, before rolling up her items to head to the bathing rooms. She scrubbed the night's event out of her hair, the tacky spray that had been put in her tresses, and the glitter that had dusted over her skin from the dress. The glitter was everywhere, frankly, and some tiny part of Katara knew that it probably got on Zuko too. This made her happy in a weird way.
She let herself sink under the warm water, up to her nose. Outside in the halls, she heard Zuko calling On Ji for a date. Below the surface of the water, Katara couldn't help smiling ridiculously. While not long ago his voice had sent her into a panic, now it soothed her. It made her feel, dare she say, bubbly.
Even after he was gone, she floated in the water, making shapes in the air with circles of water. She let her fingers quake as she absentmindedly made polar-bear dogs and turtle-ducks and other animals. It was a good focus technique, but ultimately a parlour trick more than anything else.
She finally got out once the water had turned ice cold, rubbing her towel through her hair. She began to wash her mouth out at the sinks, patting her cheeks dry.
The door swung open.
"And I'll need three more dresses, since we're - oh!" Katara looked up to see Nadhari, followed by her handmaid - Katara recalled that her name was Mitsuki. She'd seen her with Aiga on occasion. She also knew that Nadhari had brought Mitsuki with her, rather than being assigned. Katara tried to ignore Nadhari.
"Just the girl I was looking for. I'm glad you're here," Nadhari said, making it impossible for Katara to do that.
Katara looked up, glaring. "I'm not."
"Look," Nadhari leaned on one of the sinks, sighing, "Can we just get over it?"
"Get over what? The fact you tried to kidnap and derobe me at the party, or all the other awful things you've done?" Katara asked, narrowing her eyes.
"I'm trying to apologize here," Nadhari grumbled, but her tone didn't show it.
"You're doing a really awful job." Katara said, spitting in the sink as she continued her routine. "And frankly, I don't want to hear your excuses." Katara had dealt with 'mean girls' before. Her tribe had one or two. She'd gotten a thick skin fast, and Nadhari was no different than those girls.
"You have to understand how frustrating it is for me. You're always the favorite, I'm always one step behind," Nahari said. "Katara, please?"
Something about her tone made Katara turn. She almost looked contrite. Or maybe this was Nadhari's version of genuinely apologetic. Maybe she lacked that final leap?
"I just want to make amends, okay? I'm just not used to being friends with the people I'm competing against."
"Uh-huh?" Katara sighed, narrowing her eyes. "That's it?" It was a poor apology for everything.
"Yeah, just, well I've said my piece." Nadhari was playing with her braids. If Katara didn't know better, she'd say she was nervous. She wasn't looking Katara directly in the eyes like she usually did, but instead glancing down. The tips of her ears were pink. That was the part that caused Katara to pause; you could fake humility well enough, but a genuine reaction like that was something no one really had control over.
Katara thought about it. "Let's just not get in each other's space anymore and I'll think about accepting it," Katara said after a moment. She didn't want to spit in her face if Nadhari was truthful, but Katara also wasn't born yesterday.
Nadhari nodded, backing out of the bathroom.
"Is she serious?" Katara asked Mitsuki, turning back to the mirror and watching her reflection. The handmaid jumped to be addressed. "Nadhari?" Katara clarified.
"She's not lying," Mitsuki said, her voice quiet and mousy. "She has been raised in a very competitive household of very strong people." She shook at the thought of Nadhari's family, which maybe told Katara a lot.
Still, Zuko's family was that way and Zuko was perfectly nice, so…
"I suggested she apologize to you. She does feel regret about the ball, but does not always know when to say she's sorry."
"And she listened to you?" Katara asked, straightening.
"I've known her since we were both children. She is not an awful person, not wholly." Mitsuki isn't discounting that Nadhari can be a real menace, Katara notices. She appreciates the honesty.
"Mhh," Katara said, running her tongue over her teeth as she thought, "Well, I said what I meant. If she stays out of my way, I won't get in hers." This means, she supposes, that she won't go and tell Zuko to give her the boot right now. However, the first incident in which Nadhari slips up, Katara won't hesitate. She feels like Nadhari knows this too, from the way her eyes had flashed as she left. Katara can give second chances, because if Nadhari has changed, then good, and if not, well, it's simple enough. It was too easy for Katara to get a hold of Zuko and have her gone.
Mitsuki bowed twice, before scurrying out.
Katara was just going to have to watch how this played out, she decided. She'd be friends with almost anyone, as long as they proved their worth. Nadhari, so far, was in negative point worth. She had a long way to go. Maybe Nadhari realized that at this point, Zuko would want a nice wife. Maybe she can change. Katara isn't discounting this; people can grow, even in a few short weeks.
Some part of Katara, her ever bleeding heart that was always trying to fix people, wanted to believe very much that Nadhari had changed. But, the stonier side that has been hurt before knows not to put all her faith in one place.
THEPRINCESCHOICE
It was only a day or two later, when Katara was lounging in the women's room, that she hears it.
The days after the ball are busier than Katara thought, and this was the first time she had a chance to breathe. Yue had goaded her into joining a whole gaggle of girls in the main area to do some poetry readings. While the initial suggestion made Katara wince and try to muster up an excuse, Yue took her hand and led her along, like Yue does.
Now that she was there, it wasn't awful, Katara decided. It wasn't like the girls was reading the worst poetry out there. Some of it was actually quite amusing.
Katara wasn't the best reading out loud. At home, scrolls or books were few and far between. She's always been a great public speaker, but there was a difference between being able to inspire people on the spot and reading very particular words from a page.
However, the poetry itself was intriguing. It was not a lovey-dovey romantic compilation, but instead a volume of epic poems, this particular first installment about a girl who traveled to the land of dragons. It was considered a must-read by the Fire Nation, as dragons were their nation's sigil.
Katara bit her tongue to prevent herself from reminding the girls that it was also the Fire Nation who hunted them to extinction, Iroh being the last (and it hurt her to imagine a man she liked so much as the Dragon Slayer). That was neither here nor there, though, and Katara was not looking for fight.
Plus, this was pretty good stuff.
Eight girls sat in a circle, passing the book around and reading a chapter each. All the girls were on the edge of their seat with anticipation at the story's coming events, Katara included. If Yue could smirk, Katara thought, she'd be smirking at Katara's obvious enjoyment of something she'd so carelessly dismissed.
Maiha finished reading her part, and passed the book onto Katara.
"Fei climbed the rocky mountain, grasping the sandy colored rocks as she pulled herself higher, and higher, chasing the spiny tail of the dragon that had vanished just above the bluffs," Katara began to read, eager to find out what happened next. "Her hands were cut on the jagged stone, her feet fumbled on the…"
Katara trailed off, frowning and tilted her head. She was, she'd later realize, the first to hear it.
"Katara, do you need help with a word?" Yue nudged her, asking kindly. There had been two or three unfamiliar terms that Katara had come across earlier during her reading.
"Shh," Katara set the book face-down, standing. "Can't you hear it?"
Yue frowned, but then a smile spread across her face.
"Rain."
It was a sound Katara had never heard in her life, but somehow had always known. It was strange to imagine, but true, that despite her element literally falling from the sky when it rained, she'd only ever seen it in frozen form. She knew that rain occurred in some areas, but it had never been warm enough in the South.
The other girls in the circle either shrugged or moaned.
"Well, it was about time," On Ji murmured, shrugging, "Rain's been overdue."
Katara figured this was true; in all her months in the Fire Nation, she hadn't seen it rain.
"Ugg, common enough." Anaselma gave a shrugging motion. "Can we get back to the sto-hey? Where are you going?"
Katara was already halfway out the door.
The other Water Tribe girls had gathered too, hearing the steady plink against the tin roofs of the palace, the unmistakable sound that was foreign to them, yet familiar to most.
They followed Katara into her room, where she threw open her curtains to see the earth in front of her being lavished with a heavy storm.
"Wow!" Kilee gasped, pressing her nose to the glass, "Look at that!"
Katara threw open her door, stumbling out into the rain. She tripped over the layers of her dress in her hurry to chuck her slippers behind her, followed by the outer-layer of her fancy dress, leaving her in just a black slip. She grinned, looking upwards, and threw out her arms to let the slightly-warm drops bathe over every inch of her body.
She felt the rain soak into her clothes and drip down her hair, her face, her cheeks...it was glorious.
"Come on out, c'mon!" she called back to the girls. "Eva, you gotta admit…" she urged, particularly to Eva. She felt like she was a part of this storm, in a strange sense. It was the joy that she felt whenever it snowed at home, but increased.
All the girls were looking at her like she'd gone slightly mad, even Yue.
Katara shrugged, not caring about their opinions, and turned back to the center of the garden, closing her eyes and letting the rhythm carry through her body.
Splat!
She felt a large amount of water pour over her head, as though someone had dumped a bucket on top of her.
She turned to see Eva standing behind her in the rain, her fingers raised and shaking, but forming another giant water bubble nonetheless. Eva was giggling uncontrollably.
Her laughter was infectious, and Katara couldn't help but join in. It wasn't that this situation was particularly humorous, it just felt so strange to be standing here in a rainstorm, but so very enjoyable.
Katara outstretched her finger tips, summoning the water around her. To draw rain directly from the sky, compared to, say, a barrel or a pond, felt so strange. It also felt different from bending falling snow. Rain was lighter, more malleable. Katara was able to change its shape so quickly, instead of experiencing the usual pushback she felt with snow. The water felt like a second skin over her shape as she returned the favor by sending an icy blast at Eva.
Katara spun, holding up her fingers high above her head, and made a cocoon of dry space, the rain trickling around her, like she had an invisible circle of protection arching over her. She was able to point and change the direction of a large sheet of rain, to point right at Eva or elsewhere. Katara was able to catch the water pooling between the blades of grass, skimming it across the ground take Eva off her feet.
Eva was able to catch herself by taking that water and grounding herself as she turned it to ice. Katara could see Eva practicing forms too, finding it much easier as well. For a beginner, this was quite good, Katara decided. Usually, Eva struggled to connect to the singular source of water that they would use to practice. But there was water literally everywhere right now, so even if the rain Eva had been reaching for was not cooperating, another part would comply instead.
"Eva, your dress!" Saoise gasped, half-holding herself out the door of Katara's room.
"Oh, forget the dress!" Eva said, bouncing over, "Come on out, you guys! Even if you're not a waterbender, you'll love it. It's not cold at all, but warm!"
"I think I'm fine," Saoirse winced, but let out a small smile. "It looks like a lot of fun, however."
"You bet your ass!" Toph was shoving through the gaggle of girls. "You know what I like most about rain, Sugar Queen?" Toph called out to Katara.
"What?" Katara asked, spinning.
"Mud!"
Her tone was positively gleeful.
Toph all but dived into a puddle. It was strange, seeing Toph control the mud around her, because it moved so much like water but was earth instead.
"I've always said, life is better with a covering of earth," Toph grinned, painting up Katara's legs in a fine sludgy mixture.
Katara wiggled her toes, feeling the mud squish between them.
"Gross, Toph," Katara shook her head, although tone did not match her words. She held out her leg, and just to see, tried lifting the mud away.
Toph's unseeing eyes widened as she no doubt felt that Katara could bend mud too.
"I guess if it's mostly water…" Katara said, frowning.
"Well, you know what this means, huh?" Toph asked, crossing her arms, and for a second, Katara wondered if she'd be upset that Katara could bend mud too. "Mud fight!"
That's when all bets were off and Toph shoved Katara hard, encasing her completely in mud.
"If you're going to play dirty…" Katara muttered back, twining mud up around Toph's legs. Toph looked happier than she'd ever been.
"Yes, that's exactly what I'm asking you to do, literally," Toph said. "But, you're not gunna win! I've been bending mud my whole life, girl."
"Eva! Help!" Katara called out. "Try it!"
Eva pressed her hands into the mud and was delighted as it rose to her will.
"Katara, look, I'm bending!" she cried, elated. Katara gave her a thumbs up, but was cut off by Toph bulldozing her over with a ball of mud.
Katara sputtered, spitting mud from her lips and picked at her hair, now caked in crusty tendrils.
"You give up already?" Toph pouted, standing over her.
"Not a chance!" Katara slammed her to the ground too. Toph made the mud beneath her soft to cushion her fall and jumped back up just as Katara was picking herself up.
Eva attacked Toph from behind, and Toph became preoccupied with trying to cover Eva in mud, too. Eva was surprisingly nimble and was working on her control, so Katara let them face off.
Katara took a couple more steps to the dead center of the garden, and she breathed a contented sigh, raising her face upward. The rain was still coming down in buckets, and the wind whipping at the trees meant that the rain wasn't letting up anytime soon.
Katara rubbed her cheeks and forehead as she let the rain plink onto her skin and drizzle down her chin. She felt completely connected to the Earth in this exact moment, a ubiquitous feeling that she could not recall ever experiencing before. She let her mind escape her physical body and wondered if this is what the Spirit World felt like?
"Girls!"
The shrill and horrified scream jarred Katara from her momentary meditation. Katara snapped her eyes open to see Zhi standing at her doorway with a white look on her face and Prince Zuko standing just behind her. While Zhi was fumbling for words, Zuko was trying to stifle laughter.
"Ladies do not...roll in mud!" Zhi finally managed to sputter, sharply motioning for the trio to return inside. Toph sighed longingly, schlepping off the mud like it was a second skin and stalking inside while muttering under her breathe. Eva gave Katara a grin and followed with a sheepish look. She tried to extract the mud from herself, but ended up just extracting the water, leaving a dried shell of earth on her skin.
"Go and bathe, quickly." Zhi eyed Eva as she left, who nodded something like an apology to the stern woman.
Katara paused for the longest, wanting to savor every moment.
"Go on." Zuko touched Zhi's shoulder. "I'll bring her in and explain it."
Zhi raised an eyebrow but did not question the Prince, shooing the rest of the girls from the room as she called for a meeting in the ladies' area.
Katara took this as a sign she wasn't being reeled in yet, so she continued to wash away the mud with the rain from above, watching Zuko. God, how she wanted to kiss him again.
"You're not going to make me come out there, are you?" Zuko asked, pausing right under the roof.
"Why not?" Katara asked, "Scared?"
"Well, fire and water aren't exactly compatible," Zuko said, but threw his cape over his head and joined her outside anyway.
"Yet..." Katara met him halfway. "...here we are," she reminded with a smirk.
"Yeah," Zuko whispered. "It's probably going to end in tragedy."
She was able to hear the teasing nature of his voice, otherwise she may have been concerned. Although, there was likely some truth to his words.
"But we're still here now," she said in response, unsure how else to go forward.
Zuko sacrificed one his fists that was holding the cape above his head in order to cup her face. He glanced around swiftly, before leaning forward and kissing her softly. Katara yearned for more, but this kiss was nothing past sweet and gentle.
"You looked so happy out here. I would let you stay out all night if I could," Zuko said, and from his tone, Katara knew it was time to come in.
She allowed this, sighing.
"There will be more rain." Zuko tilted his head. "But tonight…" He trailed off. Katara agreed.
She used one of her towels to dry to excess off.
"Tonight?" she prompted, a question.
"Oh, right. Dinner. Get dressed," Zuko nodded, blinking away what seemed be his own haze, although Katara had a feeling it was entirely based on her. "It's in about an hour."
The girls were starting to come back to their rooms. Zuko lingered, looking all too depressed to leave.
"I'll see you at dinner," Katara offered, giving him an out.
"Yeah, of course. See you then." He nodded, closing the door behind him.
Aiga appeared not long after, grinning at Katara's appearance, but she said nothing and worked her magic to make Katara look presentable.
THEPRINCESCHOICE
The dinner was a large event.
"I didn't know that there would be a dinner tonight, and usually I'm on top of things." Yue was frowning deeply, "I'm a little caught off guard."
"Oh, it's not a set date." Ty Lee happened by them. "Prince Zuko will explain it, though."
"What's not a set date?" Katara asked, but Ty Lee had already bounded back up by Mai. She and Yue exchanged shrugs, taking their seats at the very long table. The hall had been decorated with streamers and balloons and the food that was steaming from metal tins looked delectable. The food always looked good, of course, but there was something else in the air tonight.
It seemed like every dignitary visiting was in attendance, and Katara waved happily to Aang, who was sitting near them. He managed to finagle his way to sit next to Katara, and she wondered if he was lonely here too. He had Zuko, but Zuko was sitting at the head with his family, and not a single person here - sans the girls - was a day under thirty. Aang seemed mature, so she was sure he could usually get on fine, but it must be exhausting year after year.
"What is this?" Katara asked as they were served soup first, but no one touched their plates.
Aang was opening his mouth to reply, when Fire Lord Ozai stood and waved his hand. A hush fell across the table.
"Welcome all to the Season's Opening Feast. For those of you unfamiliar with the Fire Nation, we have two seasons here: dry and rainy. We depend on the rain to grow our crops and sustain us through the dry season, though we do now have trade agreement being set up with the more fertile Earth Kingdom. However, this is a tradition that goes back eons, and we honor the rain gods for blessing the earth tonight. The meal will focus heavily on water, or things grown as a result of the heavy storms that will occur for the next few moon cycles, so enjoy, everyone."
"I can't believe they have a whole celebration about rain." Nadhari was rolling her eyes. "Every season is rain season in Earth Kingdom."
If Katara didn't dislike her so much, her comment would almost be funny.
"In Water Tribes," Kilee began, ignoring Nadhari's look towards her, "Nothing grows. It's why being a vegetarian there wouldn't really pan out. I mean, I guess seaweed grows, but it's really hard to get." She giggled, shrugging. "Or sea prunes, or-"
"We do have some plant life, but as Kilee said," Yue interpreted Kilee's scattered thoughts, "It's not as plentiful as the animals are."
"What about where you're from?" Katara asked Aang quietly, so only so he could hear. Kilee was continuing on with her own thoughts, so a lot of the girls had tuned out the conversations around them and began speaking with each other. Katara was sure to not say anything specific, but she was curious.
"Dry, arid. Little rain," he said. "We're above most of the clouds, so-" He slurped his soup. "Was. We were." He frowned as his past tense, shaking his head. "Anyway. Not very humid, so only certain things grow. We were vegetarians because we don't believe in harming animals, but, it's not like animals were all over. We did have things like vines growing." He seemed to animate a little more, talking about his former home. There was a wistfulness in his eyes.
"One day," Katara squeezed his hand gently, "I'd love to hear more."
"I'd like to share my culture with someone," he said, looking grateful. As much as it hurt Aang to remember his nation, he also seemed freer. Katara almost made a comment about Dhakiya, and how maybe she'd like to know her ancestral culture too, but she held it back. Aang still didn't know she was an airbender.
She hoped one day she could tell him.
It made her wonder, as she gazed out across the table. How many more secret airbenders were out there?
The meal was decadent and was heavily water-based, as Ozai had said. Katara enjoyed it, seeing as water was pretty special to her.
As the meal was wrapping up, Zuko stood, catching the attention of the room instantly. That is, he caught the attention of the ladies in the competition, which was at least a fourth of the room, and the rest followed not long after.
"It's been a couple months here, and my father and I have talked it over and we've come to an executive decision…" He paused and Katara frowned, heart beating wildly. She doubted it was the wife announcement, although the looks of terror across the faces of the girls showed she wasn't alone in having that question. Some looked more afraid than others.
"We've decided that the ladies of the Prince's Choice will be welcome to move about the palace freely from now on, instead of being confined to their quarters. We do this with the hopes you will start to commit the layout of the palace to memory, as well as get to know certain areas, since the Fire Lady will one day live here. This goes into effect tomorrow. The ground allowances of this is that curfew is strictly 10 PM each day, and if for any reason we feel as though an individual should not be outside, Zhi and her helpers have the right to ground you back to the corridors. We are not allowing trips outside the palace unless accompanied by myself for a date, but start to think of this palace as your home and feel comfortable exploring it. Thank you."
The mood changed with a snap of a finger. It went from the whooshing relief that he wasn't cutting it short, to the unbridled excitement of being able to go out on their own.
Katara was thrilled too, until she thought hard about it.
"Something wrong? I thought you'd be happy to get away from that hall." Aang charted her changing expressions.
"I am, don't get me wrong."
"I hoped maybe you'd spar with me, or practice," Aang said, reminding Katara that she could now freely use the arena.
"Absolutely, I want to, but…" She trailed off again. "It's nothing. Well, nothing to worry about. I just have to talk to Prince Zuko about something." Ever since her slip up, she'd been hyper-aware about using the right prefix for Zuko in public.
"Okay." Aang still had his eyebrows knit with worry, but he shook his head, banishing whatever questions still remained. "How about we spar in two days? Noon?" he asked, practically bouncing in his seat, childlike in his excitement. She realized that this new policy would give him a chance for a lot more friends - Toph, plus the girls he might have known before the competition.
When the dinner was over, Katara stood quickly, trying to elbow through the crowd to get to Zuko. Her worries were too present to wait until later. It seemed that everyone wanted Zuko, however, and she was shoved back by dignitaries and other girls until she just couldn't get to him.
"Kuzon," she called back, almost reaching out and grabbing his wrist. She realized mid-reach this would be inappropriate, what with everyone watching, but Aang's reaction was immediate. She wondered, briefly, what it would be like to be called something else for nearly five years?
No one seemed to find a problem with her speaking to Aang. Aang was friendly in a non-threatening way to many of the girls. When he would speak to them, he wouldn't look at them like they were pieces of meat, but as people. Therefore, Katara had noticed more and more girls looking to him as a person safe to talk to at dinners or at events.
"Yeah?" Aang scratched his chin. "I was sorta going to go say hi to...never mind."
If Katara was having a friendly chat with him, she'd press this, try to see what name was at the end of that thought. At this moment, though, she just filed it away.
"What the heck, though?" she asked Aang ."Letting the girls out? Weren't we supposed to stay in here specifically because it's not safe? We both know it's not 'safe'."
"No, it's not." Aang did not disagree. "Butttt...well, aren't you all getting a little stir-crazy?"
"I'd rather be crazy than dead," her voice deadpanned.
"Ah, right, good point." Aang bit his lip. "Well, here's what I know: the Equalists haven't attacked the palace in a while and are not close to us, from what the war letters they're sending back are saying. There's that. Two, if they were going to attack, Lu Ten pointed out that most of you would be sitting ducks, all in one place, just begging for a mass murder. At least if they try to get someone to stir up trouble, you'll all be all over the grounds. Not that I'm saying the death of one is any better. You'll all be back there for sleeping, but guards will be doubled at your door at night. So…" Aang made a weighing motion with his hands. "I wouldn't think too hard about it."
"Easy for you to say," Katara whispered, "I just don't have a good feeling about this, not at all."
Wow, so, we have a lot of people that have qualified for a drabble: lucel18, LlovableLlamas, Kawaii25, and jacpin2002! Go to my profile to see what to do. On that train of thought, I'll be posting Avidfan13's drabble sometime today. It's a continuation of my college!AU one I started for Hepchaton's so if you liked that, be sure to check that out!
ALSO! Myottodog has made FAN ART and it's FLIPPING INCREDIBLE. Seriously, just A+, the best, so good. It's reblogged to my art tumblr (youngbloodlex22) so go and show this wonderful artist your love!
Hope you guys all have a great week :) We're in the final stretch of book 1 here! Only maybe 7 more chapters after this, then book 2,...then book 3 ;)