Book II: Earth
Chapter 7: The Chase
South-Western Earth Kingdom - Ten Years After Sozin's Comet
When they left Gaoling, they headed northwest, crossing the narrow gulf and into the wooded peninsula that lay west of the real mountains, far taller than the hills around Gaoling. They stopped a couple hours before dawn and made a hasty camp, though not quickly enough for Katara's liking. She really wished Toph hadn't waited until she and Aang were halfway through unpacking the tents before she had pointed out that with earthbending she could make shelters for all of them that wouldn't need to be packed up again if they had to leave in a hurry.
They decided to forgo a campfire, lest they give away their location. It was a warm enough night, and there was just enough light by the waxing moon to keep watch - though of course Toph pointed out that she wouldn't need light anyway, and could still keep watch better than the rest of them. Katara knew she was just trying to be helpful, but she didn't have to be so smug about it.
Aang was silent as he tossed down their bedrolls. Katara could have attributed it to him just being tired, but she knew he was as worried about the people back in Gaoling as they all were. It would take a few days for General Kwon's troops to reach the town, and that was plenty of time for Azula to do damage, even by herself. But they couldn't dwell on that.
"Tomorrow we'll continue towards Whaletail Island," Katara said softly as she shook out her bedroll, trying to get rid of the loose fur that clung to it. Appa was still shedding. "Sokka said he would meet us at there." Her brother's letter, probably written in haste as soon as he had learned of Azula's trajectory, hadn't included directions beyond that. Hopefully, by taking this less direct route over the peninsula, rather than flying straight to the island, their intended destination would be harder to guess.
Aang nodded at her explanation, throwing down his own bedroll, fur and all, inside one of the three stone shelters Toph had made. But Toph herself was less satisfied. "Who's Sokka?" she asked.
"Katara's brother," Zuko answered, absently picking a few white hairs off his sleeve. "He's probably the best strategist the Allies have."
"And is he going to strategize the Fire Lord into leaving us alone?" Toph replied, clearly unimpressed. "Because if he can't do that, we're going to have to face her sooner or later."
Katara frowned. "You don't know Sokka," she said irritably. Katara knew her brother was going to be more help to them than Toph thought, but it was hard to explain his whole spirit thing to someone who hadn't met him.
"You don't know Azula either, for that matter," Zuko added. "Fighting her should be a last resort."
"Guys," came Aang's weary voice from inside his earth-tent. "Can we just get some sleep?"
Toph shrugged. "The kid's got a point," she said. "Good night." She ducked inside the earth-tent next to Aang's, not even bothering with a bedroll. Apparently, she didn't mind sleeping on the bare ground.
Katara and Zuko took the third earth-tent, on the other side of Aang. As she settled down next to her husband, Katara thought ruefully of the luxurious guest rooms back at the villa in Gaoling. They hadn't even gotten to spend one night in the soft beds.
"I wonder," Zuko said softly in the darkness after a moment, "if Azula knows where my mom is." Katara sighed. Of course he was being kept awake by that question. She would be, too, in his place. "My father might have told her," he went on. "Or she might have known all along. Azula was always eavesdropping…"
"If she did know," Katara reasoned, rolling over onto her side to face him, "would it matter? She's not going to tell us."
"She might," Zuko insisted. "If she thought she could use it to hurt me." It was too dark for Katara to see his face, but he sounded almost hopeful.
"She might lie for the same reason," Katara cautioned. If there was a chance of finding out where Ursa had gone, they couldn't rely on Azula of all people to be any help, even unwittingly.
"You're right," Zuko admitted. His hand found her shoulder, traced down the length of her arm, and finally clasped her hand. "Azula always lies." He shifted closer, holding her hand against his chest. "I'm sorry, this is the last thing I should be worried about right now. If we're lucky, she won't get anywhere near us."
Katara hummed a vague agreement, and let her eyes drift shut. They had already talked this over, back at the villa. Preparing Aang to defeat Ozai was their priority now, and looking for Ursa would have to wait. She settled her head on Zuko's shoulder, and his other arm wrapped around her. It had surprised her, when they were newly married, how much of a cuddler Zuko was. But now, as she fell asleep, she thought it wasn't so strange that he might be afraid of people disappearing in the night.
She dreamed that she was back home at the South Pole, trying to make dinner, but she couldn't find any of the ingredients she needed. Arvik, the grown-up Arvik she had seen in the swamp, was fighting with Aang over the dragon toy he had gotten for his birthday.
"Zuko and Azula used to fight like that, too," Ursa said fondly, handing her the seal jerky she had been looking for.
"Can't you make them stop?" Katara asked desperately, as the two boys continued to wrestle each other for the toy. But Ursa only shook her head. If she had anything to say, Katara was abruptly awoken before she could hear what it was.
"Get up," Toph ordered urgently. "Someone's coming."
Katara blinked in confusion as Zuko pulled her to her feet. The stone shelters Toph had made for them were gone, and the sky was dark. The moon had set, but the sun wasn't up yet. She fumbled in the darkness to collect their bedrolls. "How many?" she heard Zuko ask in a low voice.
"One tank," Toph replied. "Can't be more than four or five people in there, but I can't tell for sure. That machine makes too much noise." Katara headed in the direction she presumed was towards Appa, but Toph roughly grabbed her shoulder and turned her around. "That way, Princess," she said, giving her a little shove.
Katara didn't bother voicing her objection to the nickname as she found her way to Appa and got their things loaded onto the saddle. Aang was already on the bison's back, and lent her a hand to climb up as well. It was more difficult in the dark, and not helped by the fact that tufts of Appa's fur were still coming off as she scrambled up.
"One tank?" Katara repeated once everyone was in the saddle and they were in the air. "That's it?"
"Sokka's letter did say Azula was traveling light," Zuko pointed out. Now that they were up above the trees, the first light of dawn was visible on the horizon, and Katara could see the others again - Aang at the reins with Momo on his shoulder, Zuko across from her towards the front of the saddle, and Toph further back, once again holding on tight.
"Appa can fly faster than a tank," Aang said confidently.
"Yeah, but we'll have to stop eventually," Zuko pointed out, leaning back over the edge of the saddle with a frown. He reached out and gently tugged on Appa's fur, coming away with a handful of loose white hairs that he released into the wind. "And right now we'll be pretty easy to track. All she has to do is follow the trail of white fluff."
A pit formed in Katara's stomach as she realized he was right. "Great," Toph groaned. "The giant flying monster isn't even stealthy. Who could have known."
"Hey!" Aang cried out indignantly, turning around to face them. "It's not Appa's fault he's shedding! It's just a natural part of his life rhythm!"
"Well the Fire Lord is going to really disrupt our life rhythm if we don't do something about it," Toph shot back.
"Alright, everybody calm down," Katara said, before Aang could argue any further. She leaned over the edge of the saddle, scanning the terrain below. It was hard to see through the dense woods, and the early morning light from the east cast dark shadows, but they just needed to find… "There!" she she said, pointing to the thin silvery ribbon that wound its way northeast. "Head for that stream," she directed Aang.
"This is taking us off course," Zuko pointed out as Aang followed her instructions. Whaletail Island was further west.
"I know," Katara said. It was a risky detour, doubling back. "But we've got to lose our trail first."
Eastern Earth Kingdom - Eight Years Earlier
If the village had a name, there was nothing to indicate it. Katara had passed through countless towns like this on her travels from Gaoling to the refugee camp - a cluster of houses surrounded by a few plots of cultivated or grazing land, a small marketplace in the center. Being situated on the shores of Chameleon Bay, this one also featured crowded docks where the fishermen were already returning with the morning's catch by the time she and Zuko got there.
The village looked fairly prosperous, all things considered. The vegetable stalls in the market were bare, and Katara guessed rice would be in short supply as well, but they clearly had plenty of fish. The children who ran and played in the streets were skinny and shabbily dressed, but they didn't have the hollow-cheeked look of true hunger.
But Katara, having eaten nothing since leaving the camp the day before, was ravenously hungry. She assumed Zuko must be as well, though he didn't complain. She hadn't notice at first, because of his generally surly attitude, but Zuko didn't actually voice much complaint at all. Not about being sick or hurt or hungry, anyway. And the entire time she'd known him, he had been at least one of those things.
Still, he needed to eat and so did she, and when she suggested they try the one tavern in the corner of the marketplace before looking to buy provisions, he didn't argue. The wizened old tavern keeper gave them both a curious once-over glance when they entered his establishment, but was happy to sell them a hot meal - which wound up consisting, unsurprisingly, of fish stew. They retired to a corner table, out of the way of the tavern's few other patrons, with their two steaming bowls.
Zuko ate quickly, and Katara wondered if he was discreetly using his firebending to cool his stew, or if the heat just didn't bother him. She stirred her own bowl, then held up a spoonful and blew on it. She could condense steam to water and freeze water into ice, of course, but subtler adjustments in temperature were beyond the scope of her own bending.
She took a cautious sip of the broth as soon as she thought it was safe. "It's pretty salty," she observed, just to have something to say.
Zuko shrugged with his good shoulder. "It's fine," he said, eyes fixed downward on his food. Katara sighed. Sometimes talking to him was like pulling teeth.
"I should heal your shoulder once we're done eating," she tried instead. That only got a nod out of him. After their argument that morning, he had really clammed up. "And maybe we should see if the tavern has rooms for the night?" she suggested, before taking another spoonful of the stew. It was salty, but not bad.
Zuko looked up at her skeptically. "You want to spend the night here?"
"Well, why not?" Katara asked defensively. She doubted the accommodations would be luxurious, but it had to be better than sleeping on the ground. "It's not like we have somewhere to be in a hurry."
"You know why not," Zuko shot back in a low voice, pushing aside his nearly empty bowl. "The same reason I didn't want to come here in the first place."
"We haven't had any problems so far," Katara pointed out. Sure, people noticed them - it would be hard not to notice strangers in a town like this - but no one seemed interested in causing any trouble.
"So far," Zuko echoed pessimistically, casting a suspicious glance at the middle-aged couple sitting on the other side of the room from them, who were minding their own business. His fatalism bordering on paranoia reminded Katara of what he had all but said that morning, about being cursed. But in the mundane setting of the tavern, that seemed even more ridiculous.
They finished eating in silence, and Zuko didn't argue when the tavern keeper came to clear away their empty bowls and Katara asked him about lodging. "Sure," the old man said with a nod. "I can fix you two up with a room."
"Oh," Katara said, feeling a flush creeping across her cheeks. Zuko coughed, and she pointedly did not look at him. "Actually, we're not...that is, we'd prefer separate rooms, if possible?"
"My apologies," the old man said, stacking to two bowls in one hand and pressing the other to his chest. "Two rooms. No problem. Will you and your...friend be staying long?"
"No," Zuko answered curtly, before Katara could give a more polite answer. "Just tonight."
The tavern keeper nodded, unfazed. "Passing through, no surprise there. Mind if I ask where you're headed?"
"South," Zuko answered again, before Katara could come up with anything. Of course, they didn't really have a destination in mind. Katara wasn't even sure how long they would be traveling together.
"Towards Yaosai?" the tavern keeper asked, not taking the hint from Zuko's short answers at all.
"Further south than that," Zuko replied. Katara noticed his right hand clench and unclench in the sling at the mention of the castle town.
The tavern keeper raised his eyebrows and whistled. "What, are you going all the way to Gaoling or something?"
"Yes!" Katara replied before Zuko could say anything else. "I have family in that area." Which was true - Sokka and his band of warriors were somewhere near Gaoling, as of his last letter, having met up with his Earth Kingdom General. Though even all the way out here, across the great desert from Fire Nation occupied territory, Katara knew better than to say anything about that.
"I see," the tavern keeper said with a smile and a wink in her direction. "You bringing your boyfriend here home to meet the family?"
"He's not my…" Katara began, at the same moment that Zuko let out a similarly flustered "I'm not her…" Both trailed off, embarrassed.
The tavern keeper laughed. "Relax, I'm just teasing you. I'll have your rooms ready in an hour or so. Can I get you anything to drink while you wait?"
Katara declined politely, and the tavern keeper finally left them be. Painfully aware that she was still blushing, she met Zuko's eye with a sort of embarrassed shrug. She should have expected this. A young woman, traveling alone with a man who was clearly not her relative - naturally, people were going to make assumptions.
But Zuko made a dismissive gesture with his free hand, apparently not that bothered. In fact, he looked more pensive than anything else. It was a bit intense, actually, the way he was looking at her. She looked away, watching the tavern keeper give instructions to a boy who looked about thirteen or so, who then went off presumably to get their rooms ready.
"As soon as we're settled in," Katara said, more to fill the awkward silence than anything else, "I'll heal your shoulder." It would probably take all the water in her waterskin, but she was no longer worried about refilling it here.
"Thank you," Zuko said softly. Katara blinked in surprise, looking back at him, but Zuko was now studying the wood grain of the tabletop. He had never outright thanked her before. Most people didn't, actually.
"You're welcome," Katara replied. There really wasn't anything else to say.
After another long silence, Zuko surprised her again. "What's it like at the South Pole?" he asked, tracing one finger over a knot in the wood of the table.
"Cold," Katara replied, starting with the obvious. "There's snow and ice everywhere, which is amazing for a waterbender, but it's a harsh environment. We work hard to survive." She didn't bother to disguise the pride in that last statement. Her people were survivors, and everyone should know it.
"Do you miss it?" Zuko asked.
"Of course," Katara said quickly. "It's home." Though that wasn't exactly true. The home that she had left wasn't the same as the home that she really missed, hadn't been for a long time and never would be again. She fought back an irrational wave of anger at Zuko for asking about it. It wasn't his fault, after all.
But if the dark turn her thoughts had taken showed, Zuko wouldn't have seen it, his eyes still downcast. "Of course," he echoed. "Home."
He didn't ask any more questions, but as they waited in silence, Katara eventually remembered that they were a long way from the big island in the Fire Nation, too.
South-Western Earth Kingdom - Ten Years After Sozin's Comet
Appa landed in the stream with a great splash, and the four of them set about cleaning off as much of the bison's shedding fur as they could. Well, the three of them, really. Aang and Katara used waterbending, and Zuko scrubbed at Appa's coat as best as he could, but Toph insisted she could barely see anything in the water and retreated to the dry bank to stand guard.
"There's no tanks coming, are there?" Katara called out to the younger woman as they combed through Appa's fur one last time. The sun was now just peeking over the tops of the trees. This stop had been time consuming, but hopefully worth it.
"The coast is clear for now, Princess," Toph called back. Aang heard Katara scoff at the sarcastic title - she was technically a princess, wasn't she? He would have to ask Sokka about it - but he was distracted by the last few patches of white fur floating lazily downstream from them.
"Should we collect that?" he asked, gesturing to the fur. "We could use it to lay a false trail, try to fool Azula…"
"Azula's not going to fall for that," Zuko replied, even as Aang was already scooping up one large clump of fur. "Once she tracks us to the stream, she'll realize what we've done. Our best bet is to leave no trail at all from here."
"And hope no one happens to see the giant bison flying overhead?" Toph questioned skeptically.
"Do you have a better plan?" Katara asked. Aang bended the water out of the fur in his hands, and stuffed it into a bag anyway. Bison fur was still good for lots of other things. He tossed the bag back up into Appa's saddle, and leaped up after it.
"Hope isn't a plan," Toph was arguing with Katara, still on the ground. "And if this is how you guys usually do things, it's a wonder the Fire Nation hasn't captured Aang already."
Katara made an inarticulate noise of exasperation, and Aang glanced back down at the adults just in time to see Zuko put a calming hand on her shoulder. "We know what we're doing," he insisted firmly.
"Yeah?" Toph replied, looking unconvinced. "You know that you're running with your tail between your legs?"
Aang stood up in the saddle and voiced a protest of his own, but it was drowned out by Katara's far more indignant response, and the three bickering adults didn't even spare him a glance. With a frustrated sigh, Aang glanced back down at the bag of bison fur. Zuko said Azula would figure out what they'd done when she followed their trail to the stream...but what if it lead to a different body of water? He was pretty sure there was another stream that fed into this one, further east…
Grabbing the bag and his glider, Aang took off silently. He would lay the false trail and be back in no time at all, and at the very least that would stall Azula, giving them more time to make it to Whaletail Island. And then, once Sokka met up with them...well, he had to have some sort of plan, didn't he?
It was nice to be flying in silence for a while, without Toph's needling comments. He headed north at first, then banked east, laying what he hoped looked like a natural trail. He couldn't see any tanks from his vantage point, either - perhaps they had already lost their pursuer.
But soon Aang had run out of loose fur, and he still didn't see the river he was looking for. What would Azula do if she followed the trail to the middle of the woods, and then it suddenly stopped? That would still confuse her for a little bit, right?
That optimistic line of thinking was brought to a quick halt as he had to swerve to avoid a sudden jet of blue flame from below. A second blast following rapidly on the first caught the corner of his glider, forcing him to land less than gracefully in the treetops, then hurriedly leap out of the way of still more blue flames hurled at him.
His attacker was a lone woman, dressed in black and gold armor, riding on the back of some kind of lizard mount. A gold crown glistened in her severe topknot. Fire Lord Azula had abandoned the tank, and she had found him.
"Don't stand there and call us cowards!" Katara shouted at Toph. "You have no idea what we're dealing with!"
"Well, excuse me, Princess," Toph replied, doubling down on the sarcasm. "I just want us to have a better plan than running forever."
"This is why we need to meet up with Sokka," Zuko reminded her, still trying to be the voice of reason. He understood perfectly why Katara was losing her patience with the obnoxious earthbender, but this argument was nothing but a waste of time. He was about to say as much when Momo came to a frantic landing on top of his head, chattering and pulling at his hair. "Ow! Knock it off, Momo!" he complained, pulling the lemur off of him, and turned to tell Aang to come take charge of his pet.
That was when they realized Aang was gone.
"He's not anywhere nearby," Toph said as Katara scrambled up into Appa's saddle. "At least, not on the ground."
"He took his glider," Katara replied, scanning the skies above. "He could have gone pretty far…"
"Katara, take Appa and search the skies," Zuko said, taking charge. If anyone knew how to conduct a search for the Avatar... "Toph and I will split up and search the ground." Whether she actually respected his authority or just realized the gravity of the situation, Toph thankfully didn't try to argue, and both she and Katara did as he had told them.
Toph headed southwest, while Zuko went northeast. They had no idea where Aang might have been going, so they had to search a wide area. Knowing the boy had taken his glider, Zuko kept his eyes trained upwards, looking for any hint of orange in the skies, or any disturbance in the upper branches of the trees. That was how he spotted the tuft of white fur hanging from a tall pine. It looked like Appa's hair, but Zuko was certain they had not flown this way.
Aang was trying to lay a false trail. Had he not listened to anything Zuko had said?
Zuko quickened his pace. He at least could follow the trail to Aang, but anyone else might do the same. Sure enough, he soon came across mongoose lizard tracks headed in the same direction, due east. Azula had been pursuing them in a tank, but Toph hadn't been able to detect it for some time…
The unmistakable sound of roaring blasts of firebending in the distance confirmed his worst fears. He broke into a run, not even needing to follow the trail anymore, just heading straight for the the place where everything was on fire.
He found the abandoned lizard mount first, running scared from the growing blaze. Azula was being extremely careless, and it wasn't hard to spot her soon after. She was chasing Aang through the treetops, leaping from flaming branches and shooting jets of blue flame that Aang was struggling to dodge. The boy seemed to have lost his glider, and each time his feet touched down on a branch he had to leap away from another blast of fire, with hardly a moment to strike back with airbending. He had no waterskin with him, either.
Zuko intercepted Azula's next fire blast with one of his own, and his sister finally took notice of his presence on the ground. She looked livid. The branch she was crouched on cracked and started to fall, but Azula caught herself and landed gracefully, facing Zuko. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Aang scurry away behind him.
"So it is true that you've been helping the Avatar," Azula said, taking a few cautious paces to the side, like a predator circling its prey. Zuko matched her perfectly as the trees around them continued to burn. He hoped Aang was taking this chance to get as far away as he could. "The Phoenix King doesn't believe the rumors, you know. I guess he doesn't think you're capable enough."
It was a weak taunt, the sort of thing that would have enraged him years ago. But they weren't children anymore. "I'm not letting you anywhere near him," Zuko declared.
Azula grinned. "What if I challenge him to an Agni Kai?"
"You can't fight an Agni Kai with a child," Zuko shot back. The longer he could keep his sister's focus on him, the better odds Aang would have of getting away. "If you want to challenge anyone, it should be me."
"Hmm, been there, done that," Azula said, relaxing her stance, which only made Zuko raise his guard. "I think we can skip the formalities!" Sure enough, she punctuated this last statement with a sucker punch that might have caught another opponent by surprise. But Zuko knew his sister too well, and easily countered the attack.
Azula was quick to follow it up with a spinning kick, pressing on her assault and keeping Zuko on the defensive. It had been a while since he had fought his sister, and while she seemed to have gotten more powerful, her fighting style was also less polished than he remembered, relying more on force than finesse. It reminded him of fighting Zhao.
As the fight wore on, Zuko saw no further sign of Aang in the burning woods, which he took as a good sign. Deciding it was time to change tactics, he fell back a few paces and switched to using the fire whips that were based on a basic waterbending form, which briefly put Azula on the defensive as she dodged his attacks. But with a great yell, she summoned massive walls of flame around her, effectively shielding herself, and then sent the blue fire hurtling at him. Zuko blocked, but was still driven back a few paces by the force of the onslaught.
He was surprised she had made not attempt to use lightning yet, but this time he wasn't going to goad her into it.
Azula must have been thinking something similar, however. "Your waterbender isn't here to save you now, Zuzu," she taunted, following up her words with a chain of flaming punches. Zuko blocked the first volley, then deflected, and finally, with great concentration, redirected the final barrage of fireballs, the flames turning from blue to orange as he took control of them. That really caught Azula off guard - but not as much as the sudden buckling of the earth that sent flaming trees crashing down around them and threw them both off balance.
Toph had arrived.
"Hey, Sparky," she greeted him as they fought side-by-side. "Why does it feel like everything's on fire?"
"Because everything's on fire," Zuko replied, blocking another of his sister's attacks.
"Well," Toph grunted as she kicked two boulders in Azula's direction. "The kid can care of that, right?"
A jet of blue flame forced them apart, and sure enough Zuko caught sight of Aang at the edge of the blazing section of the forest. The boy was using his airbending to snuff out some of the flames, but it was slower and more difficult work that Toph seemed to think.
"Why would you bring him back here?" Zuko shouted at Toph over the roar of the flames around them. But Toph either didn't hear, or was too focused on fighting Azula to answer.
Overhead, dark clouds began to gather.
Eastern Earth Kingdom - Eight Years Earlier
Zuko was in a rather morose mood by the time the tavern keeper finally showed them to their rooms, and Katara had gone similarly taciturn. Maybe asking her about her home had been a bad idea. He wasn't even sure why he'd done it, only the tavern keeper's assumption that they were a couple had finally made sense of why no one in the town seemed all that suspicious of him. He had noticed when they'd arrived how people would take in his appearance with the usual wariness, but then they'd glance over at Katara, and then move on. She was so obviously Water Tribe, it was like her presence by his side was a sort of vouchsafe. If she trusted him, he couldn't be anyone dangerous.
That realization, coupled with Katara's mention of healing his shoulder, reminded him just how much he really owed her, and that nagging Uncle Iroh voice that still haunted him had urged him to try again to make friendly conversation. It was the least he could do, but just like last time, he seemed to have failed at even that.
Their accomodations on the second floor of the tavern were right next to each other. Zuko glanced around his room without much interest - it was a small room with a single window, sparsely furnished, but clean. It wasn't like he had anything in the way of possessions to arrange, so the room was more than adequate. Once his shoulder was healed, he would have to take up trapping again as he worked his way south, and try to trade animal pelts for the things he would need. He couldn't keep relying on Katara forever.
Right on cue, there was a knock on his door. "Come in," he called, knowing who it would be.
Sure enough, it was Katara with her waterskin. "Let me see your shoulder," she said, gesturing for him to sit on the wooden stool that was the room's only furnishing apart from the straw mattress. Zuko obliged, and she gently removed his arm from the sling, opened his tunic, and unwound his bandages, a healer going about her work perfectly businesslike.
He let her work in silence, watching as she pressed handful after handful of glowing water to his wound, occasionally closing her eyes, or furrowing her brows in concentration, or adjusting the position of her hand. The pain in his shoulder gradually ebbed, and when she finally drew her hands away, only a smooth white scar remained to show that the wound had ever been there.
At Katara's encouragement, Zuko rolled his shoulder, then flexed his arm experimentally. "How does it feel?" she asked.
"Great," Zuko replied, somewhat in awe. It still felt a little sore, but no more than he would have been after a rough workout. It really was amazing, what she could do. "So, this means I'm not on death's door anymore, right?"
"Looks like it," Katara said wryly, winding up the cloth that had been used as the sling. "Now I just need to refill my waterskin. Get dressed and meet me in the market, okay?" She turned to leave, but Zuko suddenly thought of something.
"Everyone saw me with my arm in the sling," he pointed out. "What do I tell people if they ask me how it got better so fast?"
Katara gave him a strange look. "The truth?" she suggested with a shrug. Then she opened the door from his room to the hallway. "See you in a bit," she said offhandedly as she left.
"The truth," Zuko repeated to the empty room. "Right." Katara had no reason to hide her bending from anyone here. How convenient for her.
He wasn't sure why she thought getting dressed would take him so long, when all he had was his shirt to put back on. Though they'd managed to wash the bloodstains out of it, the green garment he'd borrowed from one of the soldiers in the camp was still looking a little worse for the wear by now. New clothes were low on his list of priorities, though. A knife would be more important. Some kind of blanket or bedroll, cooking implements that were small and portable...ruefully, Zuko thought of the little homestead he had made for himself back in the valley. It would take a while to get himself that well set up again.
Maybe it was that thought that was depressing, but once he had belted his tunic again, Zuko found he didn't much feel like going back out to face the world yet. Absently rubbing at his newly healed shoulder, he glanced at the door. It did have a latch, which meant he could be guaranteed some privacy while he was here. Deciding to take advantage of that while he could, he slid the latch firmly shut, then removed the candle from the lantern that hung on a hook by the door. Sitting cross-legged on the floor, he lit the candle with a touch of his finger to the wick. Uncle Iroh used to be able to do it without touching the candle at all, but Zuko had never mastered his breathing well enough for that.
Meditation didn't really make him feel any better, though, and eventually Zuko came to the reluctant conclusion that he'd left Katara waiting long enough. He opened his eyes, blew out the candle, and left the room.
The tavern keeper nodded to him absently as he passed through on his way outside, though the pair of fishermen he was serving drinks to did give Zuko suspicious looks. He ignored them. Outside, other villagers reacted to him in much the same way, until he found Katara again, and her cheerful greeting to him immediately downgraded his threat status in everyone's eyes.
"Oh there you are," Katara said pleasantly. "I'm almost done." She hefted a satchel of supplies over one shoulder and shoved another large parcel into his hands. "Here."
"What is this?" Zuko asked, frowning at the object she had just passed to him. It looked like a bedroll, but the weight indicated there were other things bundled inside it.
"Camping supplies, obviously," Katara replied, heading towards the next stall in the market. "We're going to be following the coast south, right?" she asked, eying the variety of fishing gear being sold there.
"I thought you already had everything you needed," Zuko said, not understanding.
"Yeah," Katara agreed, inspecting some nets. "That's for you."
Zuko dropped the bundle at his feet. "What?" he exclaimed irritably. "Why would you waste your money on…"
"It's not a waste, you need it," Katara reasoned, infuriatingly calm. "But I don't think we need these nets," she added with an apologetic smile to the shopkeeper, setting them down and adjusting her grip on her satchel. She turned her attention back to Zuko, then glanced pointedly at the bundle he had dropped, clearly meaning he should pick it up again.
"What I need," Zuko argued, "is for you to stop treating me like one of your charity cases." He was in her debt enough as it was, if she kept piling it on like this…
Katara placed her free hand on her hip. "Why can't you just accept it when someone tries to help you, Zuko?"
Zuko glanced around - people were staring at them, including the shopkeeper whose stall they were still in front of, but he couldn't say whether that was because they recognized his name, or just because they were curious about the obvious disagreement the two strangers were having. "Nevermind," he said through gritted teeth, crouching down to pick up the bundle of camping supplies. "We'll talk about this later." He didn't want to find out what would happen if they kept drawing attention to themselves like this.
Thankfully, Katara was mollified, and headed back towards the tavern. Zuko trailed after her, wanting more than anything to get away from this village and all the prying eyes, but not feeling like he had any choice.
South-Western Earth Kingdom - Ten Years After Sozin's Comet
Katara had not seen any sign of Aang, but she could not miss the billowing smoke of the forest fire, and she knew that had to mean Azula had found someone. She turned Appa in that direction, urged him to fly quickly, then stood and stretched her arms out to either side, as much for balance as for bending. It was only a partly cloudy day, but there was water in the air all around her. It would condense and fall to the earth as rain eventually, all she had to do was speed it along. She closed her eyes in concentration.
Summoning a rainstorm out of thin air was an extreme measure, and Katara's head was soon pounding from the effort. But she knew only extreme measures would defeat Azula, and she pressed on. Appa began to groan in protest as he was drenched by the sudden downpour, but the forest fire was held in check.
There was a low rumble that in confusion Katara first mistook for thunder - she could summon rain, but not that. But as she guided Appa down, the storm now going on its own momentum and requiring less of her attention, she realized it was the earth itself shaking. Hopefully, that meant Toph was nearby.
The moment Appa touched down, Katara leaped to the ground and ran in the direction of the now smouldering flames, where she could see flashes of orange and blue firebending ahead. So Zuko was here as well…
From the same direction, Aang came sprinting towards her. "Katara!" the boy shouted desperately. "Help us!"
"Get out of here, Aang!" Katara shouted back as she kept running. But he didn't listen, following after her instead. She couldn't spare another thought to yell at him again, all her effort concentrated on getting to Zuko.
He and Toph were both still fighting when Katara reached them, but Azula was impossible to land a hit on. Even the volley of ice daggers that Katara threw at her promptly melted in a wall of blue fire, and the Fire Lord showed no sign of backing down as her now three opponents closed in on her.
Then Aang caught up and stood beside Katara, and there was a sudden lull in the fighting, no less tense as Azula's sharp eyes darted from one to another - first Aang, then Katara, then Toph, and finally Zuko. All four of them waited to see what she would do next.
"So the gang's all here after all," Azula said darkly.
"Azula," Zuko replied. "You're outnumbered. Please. Just stop."
His plea seemed to make up his sister's mind, but not the way he had hoped. Her arms moved in quick arcs, Katara screamed, and lightning shot towards Zuko.
But this time, Zuko was prepared. In a flawless waterbending stance, he caught the lightning with one hand, then with the other sent it hurtling back in the time it took to blink - a few feet to the side of his sister. He followed up with his own fire, at the same moment that Toph, Katara, and Aang launched attacks of their own. There was a blinding flash as all four elements collided - and then Azula was gone.
Katara ran to her husband, hands already gloved in water, and grabbed his arms. She felt for burns or other injuries, but was surprised to find nothing. Her hands came to rest on his chest, where she could feel his heartbeat, fast but steady. She looked up at him in amazement.
Zuko took hold of her hands and squeezed them tight. He gave her a reassuring smile, the rain dripping from his hair and running down his face. "It's okay," he said softly. "I did it the right way that time."
"What was it you did, exactly?" Toph asked, breaking the spell of the moment. Katara turned away from Zuko, still holding on to one of his hands, to look at the others. Thankfully, they were unharmed as well.
"Did you and Azula just bend lightning?" Aang asked, sounding awed.
"Azula bends lightning," Zuko clarified. "I just...redirected it."
"How'd you learn to do that?" Aang continued his questioning.
Katara felt Zuko's grip on her hand tighten. "That's not important right now," he said sternly. "You shouldn't have run off like that."
But rather than shrink the way he had when scolded in the past, Aang just sighed and glanced away, almost an eye roll. "Yeah, I know," he admitted sullenly. "I was just trying to do something helpful, since you guys were standing around arguing."
"Listen, kid," Toph said, putting one hand on Aang's shoulder. "I don't blame you for wanting to take action, but you've got to be a team player." She gave an apologetic nod vaguely in Katara's direction. "And so do I. You guys were right about Azula."
"I'm just glad no one was hurt," Katara replied sincerely. "Now let's get out of here before she comes back." She led the way out of the now blackened clearing of the woods, which was at least no longer on fire thanks to the steady rain that continued to fall, back towards where she had left Appa.
"So no more fighting, right?" Aang said as they climbed back up onto the bison.
Toph sighed as she settled into a place at the front of the saddle, gripping the rim firmly once again. "You got it," she agreed. "We're all friends here. Right, Katara?"
Katara saw the use of her proper name for the peace offering that it was. "Sure thing, Badger Mole," she replied with a teasing grin that she hoped Toph would be able to hear in her voice.
Toph threw her head back and laughed. Aang flicked the reins, bringing them up into the air. He and Toph soon struck up a conversation about earthbending, which Aang was still eager to start learning. At the back of the saddle, Katara finally worked her fingers free of Zuko's grip, turning his hand over and examining it again. The skin remained unmarked, except for the old scar from the day of the comet, which was just visible on his palm, the rest of it still hidden under the gray arm brace.
"You really did it," Katara said softly, so only Zuko could hear.
Zuko nodded, shifting his arm around her shoulders. "She made it easy for me this time, aiming directly at me," he said in an equally low voice. "She's more…" He paused, searching for the right word. Unhinged, deranged, and psychotic all came to Katara's mind. "Off," Zuko finally settled for. "More than I've ever seen her."
Katara leaned into her husband's side, settling her cheek against his shoulder. "When you redirected the lightning," she observed, "you didn't hit her."
Zuko was quiet for a moment. The wind blowing past them carried back the sound of Aang laughing at something Toph had said. "I know I should have," Zuko said at last. "She's never going to stop chasing us."
Katara didn't contradict him. It was dangerous to show mercy to a foe like Azula, who would never give them the same consideration. But at the same time, she was his sister, and maybe one of the only people in the world who knew anything about his mother's fate. Katara understood.
"Next time we run into her," Katara said instead, knowing that there would inevitably be a next time. "We have to be better prepared." Whatever had happened this time with the four elements would be had to reproduce, and Azula probably wouldn't fall for it a second time anyway.
Zuko hummed in agreement, and they lapsed into silence. Eventually, Katara made her way to the front of the saddle to point out they needed to head further south, and then she took a turn at the reins. Hopefully, when they reached Whaletail Island, they would find Sokka there soon, and he would have a good plan for what they should do next.
Next chapter: Friday, February 22nd