28. Atonement
"If my arms weren't burned, I'd throw ths cup at your face," Suki snarled as she tried to jerk out of her chains as she gestured rather painfully towards the still-full metal container. Zuko sighed and put his mask back on for something to do. He could hear the cicadas and crickets outside chirping.
"Look, I'm sorry, and please quiet down—the guards might hear. This really...got out of hand."
"Got out of hand? That's an understatement! Yue died, Jin turned traitor, Bumi is—well, I'm not telling you where he is, I got tortured, Sokka can't be found, and Katara had to flee, if you are to believed about the latter." Suki tossed her head, her matted hair limply coming down to pat softly on her neck. "You are the most idiotic and monstrous person I have ever met, and from what I see, you've done nothing to fix it besides free Katara because you were 'fond' of her or some bullshit like that!"
"I'm going to free you," Zuko continued, as if Suki hadn't just given him an angry speech. "And you are going to help me find the missing people and Katara, and we're going to shut down this school."
There was silence.
Suki laughed harshly. "There are my burns to be cared for. And how are you going to explain my disappearance, since you decided to come in your Blue Spirit costume, the one Zhao and the others know about?"
Zuko shrugged. "I'll figure something out." He raised his broadswords and brought them down hard on Suki's chains.
Katara was finishing another satisfying Water Tribe feast, this time, during breakfast, when Hama plunked down a box in front of her. She wiped her hands on the napkin before carefully picking it up.
"What's this?" Katara asked curiously. The box was metal and simple, with two gold, vertical lines on either side and a latch in the front.
"I unlocked it for you," Hama told her as the girl rotated it in her hands carefully and smoothed her fingers over the decorations. "Go on, open it."
She did so, and the box opened to reveal a blue-and-white whale tooth comb, elegantly carved to make it look like a breaching wave on one end, the teeth looking sharp, like miniature daggers.
"Oh!" Katara reverently took it between both hands. It was very lovely, and it made Katara wish Zuko had let her grab her whalebone beads and blue robe from her room before he decided to take her out for a "vacation." It was lucky she always carried her mother's necklace in her inside pocket, which to her delight, she could start wearing in the safety of Hama's inn. "Hama, this is so...it makes me think of home!"
"I'm glad you like it, child." Hama smiled at the comb. "It's my most precious treasure from the Southern Water Tribe. I got it from my parents from my sixteenth birthday; my father had carved it himself, and my mother had painted it. I managed to hide it in prison by concealing it in my hair, because I knew they'd search and burn my clothes, and cut it out when I finally escaped."
The old woman's hands began to pull her hair back from her face, and Katara quietly winced when one of the sharp fingernails accidentally poked her. Soon, her hair was twisted into a large bun with the rest of her hair hanging loose, with the comb stuck in it.
"There," Hama stepped back, then squinted. "Odd, you strongly resemble my best friend, Kanna."
"Kanna?" Katara gasped. "That's my grandmother's name! You knew her?"
Hama clapped her hands. "Oh, yes, she was very funny and clever; we had good times when we were girls..." Her eyes grew wistful. "It is a shame I never got to see her again..."
"Oh, perhaps you will, she still lives in the Southern Water Tribe." Katara consoled her as she began to start on her seaweed noodles.
Hama smiled and patted her on the back. "Oh, I might see her soon, Katara. Perhaps after breakfast, we can practice Waterbending? I'd like to teach you the Southern style."
Katara nearly choked on her noodles. "Really? I...I would love that! I really never had a teacher; my moves are really modeled from Firebending because of the courses at school—"
"Oh, don't worry, dear, you'll learn in no time..."
"Sir, with all due respect, I am not doing your dirty work for you. You do this on your own, because if I get caught, I will not allow you to blame me." Jee firmly said, crossing his arms.
Suki stood behind Zuko, twirling her "returned" fans with a smirk. "I like this guy."
Zuko shot an annoyed glance at her, then turned to Jee. "I just want you to check the records to see if they have status reports on Bumi and Sokka. I just know that none of the escaped students have been found yet, and it'll be hard enough to find them and Katara to help, ah, rebel."
Jee rolled his eyes. "What am I supposed to say when I get caught looking into the records? Uh, General Iroh didn't send me any more books, so I thought I would do some light reading? Or would you prefer the Prince sent me? That'll get a lot of questions now, with the staff being as jumpy as they are."
Suki snickered. Zuko groaned. "Fine, I see your point. I can ask Zhao about the missing students again. But how am I supposed to leave with them if I manage to find them? Smuggling Katara out was a risk enough, and we can't do it again."
Jee shrugged. "You can...pretend you're going back to the palace...and put them in supply barrels or crates?"
"Zhao knows this is a permanent assignment until the Fire Lord issues another decree. I will not be allowed back in court; I know that much."
Suki raised her eyebrows. "Not be allowed? What...are you banished, or something?"
The Prince groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose between his index finger and thumb. "It's a long story, but the thing is, my sister is the favored one in Father's graces, and I'm not and never was. So he sent me here as an excuse so he can get me out of his hair and so Azula can be prepared for the heir in peace. I would be, in turn, slowly shut out and carelessly forgotten while outwardly 'helping' this wretched school, but I got sidetracked in this..." he waved his arm around the room. "I made a report back to Father, so that's where the guards came from. Now, today, I got another message, saying that I did my estemmed duty, and it was surprisingly done well, but I need to go to Ba Sing Se to scout and help out War Minister Qin with a weapon, which is a very long way off from here. I'm expected to pack in three day's time."
"So, no one will think it amiss if you leave." Jee pointed out.
Zuko shrugged. "Well, yes, but what happens if I don't turn out at Ba Sing Se?"
Suki looked at the map unrolled on the desk. "You can pop in there and solve the problem as quickly as you can. You don't have to send a message to our father. Then, right near it is Chameleon Bay."
Zuko scratched his chin. "What's at Chameleon Bay?"
Suki's eyes flashed dangerously. "You don't need to know until we get near there. Right now, I think I know a way to get out of here and find Sokka. But we need Bumi."
"You know where Bumi is?" Jee asked, studying the map.
The Kyoshi Warrior nodded somewhat reluctantly. "Yes. But if you betray us, I'll make sure that your sister doesn't have to worry about an opponent to the throne."
Jee turned to Zuko. "I like this one."
No, I do not support Suki/Jee either! Get that notion out of your head!
