Chapter Twenty Six
Hey guys! Long time no see. I'm sorry for the delay again. You deserve better! Hopefully you'll like this chapter. Please, please do. Because I have some bad news.
It's with a heavy heart I inform you that the Painted Lady is coming to an end. Expect a few more chapters (including this one), before I finish the fic. I promise you I will end it in the most satisfying way possible for all of you, and I'm so grateful for everyone that's followed my story. This is the beginning of the end, my friends.
There is a little good news, though. The good news is that it's summer! I'll have lots of free time to do things (side note: I apologize to all adults who have full time jobs). That might mean I'll have time to work on other projects. So maybe there will be good things for you guys coming out! Just keep an eye out.
Anyways, back to the Painted Lady. Here's the latest chapter. I really hope you like it!
Fire is a direct symbol of passion, of lust. A fiery person is outspoken and brave. Sometimes fire can be misjudged; people are cautious of something so beautiful and mystical but burns to the touch. Fire spreads like a disease, consuming everything in its path. It devours and destroys, and can completely decimate a forest. But there is another side to fire. It warms people and cooks their food. Without it, human civilization could have simply not existed. It's two sided; like a double edge broad sword. A fickle and hardly constant thing; but you just simply cannot live without it.
It was hard to go to sleep after kissing someone for the first time. Especially hard, as Katara was learning, if you were sleeping in the same hammock. After a wordless debate, Zuko and Katara had decided to share the only intact hammock, which they barely fit into. Snuggled into a warm embrace, the two swayed silently in the pale morning light. Is it really already sunrise? Katara thought, using a finger to trace circles into Zuko's pale bicep. She had to admit, there were worse things in life than cuddling with Zuko. His warm body held her close, with his strong arms looped around her gently. He was sleeping, and Katara could feel the steady rise and fall of his chest beneath her.
There were so many questions Katara wanted to ask him. What were they, now that their feelings were out in the open? How would they tell their friends? Would they tell their friends? A thousand possibilities played themselves out in Katara's head. Some of the more positive situations ended with a happy couple, and friends that swore they knew it all along. However, Katara had a creeping feeling that Sokka would not take Zuko's advances-even if it was more of Katara's own advances, really- lightly. Please don't let them try to kill each other. But, for now, no one was angry or planning a murder, so Katara let herself settle into Zuko's arms.
Zuko's eyes fluttered open slowly, gaining consciousness as the sun began to rise. His golden orbs couldn't help but notice the small woman on top of him, curled tightly into his arms. The waves crashed onto the beach, making a dull roar to combat the slow creak of the swinging hammock. He couldn't help but smile at the perfection of the morning. Turning his head, he stared across the ocean's horizon to watch the sunrise. I wish I could stay in this moment forever. Nothing more, nothing less, and I would be the happy. As the Shack's rusty door creaked open and Zuko's silence was ruined, the illusion disappeared and Zuko sighed. Of course, it can't stay like this. Something has to screw it up.
That something was a particular short, stubborn, colorblind girl that darted out to the sand before heaving up all of the contents of her stomach. She muttered a slurred comment on how much "hangovers suck, man" before making a drowsy retreat back to the porch. She turned her head to the side, and spotted a single hammock with Katara and Zuko, wide eyed and guilty looking, swinging in the breeze. Toph gave them a toothy grin and a lazy thumbs-up, then took another step and threw up again. "Good to see the lovebirds have finally made their move!" She said, wiping the vomit off her chin.
Katara wrinkled her nose. "Aw, Toph. Come on inside, and we'll get you all cleaned up." Her tanned feet reached down and found the porch, making a hasty exit from the hammock. Thank Tui and La that Toph came out here and not Sokka. Leading her friend into the Shack, she flashed an apologetic shrug to Zuko before closing the door behind her.
Zuko groaned and covered his face with a hand. "See ya later, Katara."
Once they were inside, Toph chuckled at her sober friend. "So you guys finally shacked up, eh? Took you long enough." Grasping onto the kitchen counter, she hurled into the filthy sink. "It's so nice to see that you two figured it out. Relationships are fun." She murmured.
Katara's tan cheeks turned a rosy hue after hearing Toph's observation. "I mean, we aren't together or anything." Not yet, at least. She had to admit, it did hurt a little that Zuko hadn't professed his affection and asked her to be his girlfriend right after they had kissed, but it was okay. He probably just wants to tell Sokka first and make sure he's okay with it. He has to "uphold his honor", doesn't he?
Toph let out a snort. "You aren't together? I don't believe it. We have all worked way too hard for you two to not be madly in love."
"Worked too hard?" Katara said, one eyebrow raised. "You guys haven't done a thing, one way or the other." That wasn't exactly true either because the group had pressured the two; nevertheless, Katara wasn't about to give Toph any credit.
Though she wanted to give Katara a snarky reply, Toph was hit by another wave of nausea. A sickly glob of bile hit the linoleum tile of the Shack's kitchen floor, splashing onto Katara's bare feet. "Sorry, Katara. I didn't feel that one coming." She grumbled, once again throwing her face into the sink. A slow stream dribbled out from Toph's mouth. "Felt that one, though."
Katara felt a twinge of pain for her friend, along with the feeling of warm slime in between her toes. Though it was completely her own fault for drinking so much, Toph was in a very rough state. Her clammy, pale hands gripped onto the sink as she spat into the rusty drain. Katara put one hand on Toph's back and rubbed it supportively. "It'll get better, Toph. You just have to wait it out." She assured her, making sure not to touch any of the many specks of throw up on Toph's skin.
Suddenly, Katara's previously unnoticed phone began to ring. Picking it up with her hand that was not rubbing Toph's back, she saw the caller and felt the color drain from her face. "Toph, sweetie? I need to go. I'll be back soon, but I have to take this. Just don't die while I'm gone!" Katara said, rushing out the back door of the Shack. Sliding the screen, she took the call. "Hey, Jun. What's the news?"
Jun blew her particularly long, black hair out of her eyes. "Hey, Kat. Well, the thing is, Nyla and I had a little trouble picking up the scent. And once we did, we could only find an extremely faint trail. We're having some problems with it, and I'm not sure how well this will work. Nyla's the best there is, and if she can't find it, I don't know who can."
Katara ran her hand through her twisted mane. "Well, is there anything I can do? This is so important, Jun."
"Well, for starters, where's the last place anyone saw her? I tried to let Nyla sniff around her old mansion, but the guards there pretty much know me by name. There's no way I can get in there." June said, slowing to a halt as Nyla rounded a rock and howled. "Hold on Kat, I think Nyla's gotten something."
"I'm holding." Katara said as she wrung her hands. Zuko deserved answers. And in some twisted way, getting Zuko's mother back would almost be like getting Kya back.
"Here we go." Jun said, finally making her way around the rock cluster that had hidden Nyla's findings from view. Seeing a flick of gold protruding from the otherwise barren ground, she dusted off what seemed to be some kind of comb. "Not much, Katara. Just a golden comb. It's better than nothing, right?" Jun bent down and scratched Nyla's head. "Good girl."
Katara sighed. The comb was better than nothing, but it was also a long ways away from Ursa. "Thanks so much, Jun."
She couldn't miss the disappointed tone in Katara's voice. "We'll keep looking, Katara. Finding her would be huge for all of us."
All of us? "Thanks, Jun. Goodbye." Katara said, shutting off her phone. What did Jun mean? Everyone seems to be so cryptic lately. As she walked back inside, Katara saw Toph sitting peacefully on the couch. "You seem to be feeling better."
Toph shrugged. "You were gone for thirty minutes. A lot can change." She was quick to notice the odd look on Katara's face. "You okay, Sugar Queen?"
The blue eyed girl stared out an empty window. "I'm not sure."
A dark man walked slowly into Ozai's office, making sure to keep his head low. The entire atmosphere of the room was menacing, painted with red by the sunset pouring in through the windows. "I have urgent news, my Lord." The messenger said quietly, restraining his trembling.
Ozai did not turn to face his inferior. Stroking his beard with one hand, he finally acknowledged the man. "Very well. What is it?"
He gulped nervously. "The guards have seen a large increase in activity from Jun lately, my Lord. She and her dog have been searching almost nonstop for the last 5 days, and she was caught snooping around your previous home. We believe that she is looking for Subject A." Finally taking a breath, he finished his well-rehearsed briefing.
Ozai turned his large chair swiftly, causing his messenger to jump. "And does this have anything to do with the Surge?"
The messenger paled. "I have not received any information on this. So far, I have no data on any correlation with that certain group."
Ozai smiled. "Tell the guards to give her access to everything. We need to find out who she's working for."
It had been a while since Katara had taken her call, and Toph had begun to feel much better. After having one last dry heave, she felt well enough to waddle outside to the hammocks. Placing one wobbly arm on the Shack, Toph shot a sly grin at Zuko. "So Sparky, are you gonna give me the details?"
Zuko's heart skipped a beat. How does Toph know about our kiss? For a split second, Zuko forgot how quickly word travelled. Oh yeah, she's like a human lie detector. Toph knows everything. He cleared his throat awkwardly. Kissing your best friend, after all, was a very weird topic to discuss with a hung over fifteen year old. "It was nice." It was more than nice. Being with Katara was the most wonderful thing Zuko had ever done.
Toph rolled her glassy eyes. The human lie detector was not buying Zuko's halfhearted response. "So it wasn't mind blowing? I'll have to pass along the information. Maybe she'll break up with you." She said, raising an eyebrow. It was rather mean to say, since Toph knew that they weren't dating. Knowing Zuko, she was beginning to think that he had no plan to ever ask Katara out. I don't think that this is going to turn out well.
Zuko gulped nervously. He hadn't really considered much happening with Katara. But Katara is such a great girl. She's sensible and isn't expecting anything. Right? Zuko was beginning to regret not thinking this through. Just then, Katara walked around the side of the house and greeted Toph. "Uh yeah, Toph. Maybe. Got to go!" He said, dashing inside.
Katara raised a dark eyebrow. That was weird. Brushing it off as another "Zuko is really weird" situation, she ignored it. "How are you feeling, Toph?" It was much easier to focus on Toph's health than address the elephant in the room between her and Zuko.
"I'm feeling good, Sugar Queen." Toph didn't mind all of the attention. She definitely knew that Katara was trying to ignore her problem with Zuko, but couldn't blame her. After all, he wasn't exactly the easiest guy to talk to. It was Sparky they were talking about. "How are you, Kat? Have you managed to talk to Zuko about it yet?"
Toph's ease of talking about her situation made Katara wince. "I'm working up the courage to bring it up, but I think he's ignoring me at the moment."
Toph shrugged at her. "It's nothing personal. To be fair, Katara, I'm pretty sure that you're avoiding him too. You need to hike up your big girl panties and go talk to him. I thought you were a big, bad girl." She joked. To a point, Toph was right. Katara had been getting quite soft lately. "I'm beginning to think you have a heart in there after all. Who knew Zuko would have such an effect on you."
The words rang true for Katara. She had become very soft lately. "Should I go ask him about it?" Katara asked Toph, now unsure about how she had been acting towards Zuko. In a way, this is really funny. I'm the Painted Lady but I'm too scared to talk to Zuko.
Toph walked over to Katara and patted her shoulder sympathetically. She could see the trouble Katara was going through. "Do whatever you want Katara, but if I were you, I wouldn't have waited at all. The longer this goes on, the weirder your conversations are going to be." As Toph finished her small speech, Katara hugged her quickly and ran inside the Shack. Toph chuckled. "Am I good, or what?"
Katara shuffled awkwardly through the front door of the Shack. The rusty screen door squeaked, getting Zuko's attention from the couch. His golden eyes met hers for a split moment before they broke off the contact uneasily. "So, how's it going?" She mumbled, grinding her toe into the floorboards.
Zuko blinked confusedly. "Well, it's going pretty good." Why were Katara and Toph acting so strange? It was pretty normal for Toph to be strange and unintelligible, but Katara was usually very straightforward with her speech. Either that, or obviously hiding something. Today, Katara was hiding something. "How are you?"
Katara shrugged nonchalantly. "I'm okay, I guess. I have Toph's vomit on my feet." She said, wriggling her toes. By this point, the vomit had become lukewarm and was disgustingly satisfying to move between her toes. It was like applesauce.
Zuko looked down at her long, tan feet and wrinkled his nose at the fluid. "That's rough, buddy." Immediately after he said it, Zuko regretted what he said. A nasty plum shade settled over Katara's face. "What is it?"
Katara was seething. "Oh, nothing." She turned around briskly and walked outside, slamming the door behind her. Who does he think he is? You don't just call girls "buddy"! Especially not girls you were kissing twelve hours ago! "See ya later, buddy!" She yelled sarcastically into the Shack. Boys are crazy.
Zuko stared at the screen door, confused out of his mind. "I'm sorry?" He yelled out of the screen door. There was no response. Zuko groaned and hit his head. Girls are crazy!
So… What do you guys think? Are you happy to see another chapter up? I sure am. I'm looking forward to writing the next one! Love y'all!
R&R!