Chapter 35
The Wayward Water tribesman
"One of my students? Katara, are you sure?" Pakku asked, now more stern than he had been a moment ago. Katara couldn't help but feel like she'd said something wrong.
"Uh, Yeah," she answered, under the impression that Pakku was scrutinizing her every word.
"It was a few days ago, in some city in the Earth Kingdom. Oh, what was his name?" It was on the tip of her tongue, but she couldn't recall what it was. "Nuh... New..."
"Katara, please follow me. Sokka," he turned to his grandson-in-law and sighed, "please tell the Avatar to see Arnook once he's done playing."
Sokka looked over his shoulder and saw that Aang had wasted no time and was engaging in a snowball fight with the local children who'd gathered around Appa.
They weren't far from where Pakku's students were warming up for this morning's practice. As soon as Pakku arrived, the students snapped to orderly attention. Then, as soon as they saw Katara, that order broke down. She heard her named called out by more than a few students, a mixture of surprise and greetings. A few more started whispering amongst themselves.
Pakku's stern tone cut through it all and his students snapped back to order.
"Sangok," he called out, and one of the students stepped forward and swallowed, perhaps thinking he was in trouble for something, or just maybe worried that he was being volunteered as Katara's sparring partner.
"It would seem that Katara has found Naghoda."
Sangok looked at her slack jawed for a moment, and then a smile widened on his face. For a second Katara was sure he was about to start crying just before a swarm of hands grabbed him and pulled him into the crowd of other students, where he became the recipient of a headlock and several nuggies.
"See, we told you he'd be fine," the student holding him in the headlock said. Though he was reassuring Sangok, he seemed pretty relieved as well. The other students joined in, all ribbing Sangok, but just as obviously glad to hear the news as well.
Katara herself was a little taken aback. She hardly expected this kind of commotion. Apparently there was more going on with this guy than Katara knew. Nearer to her, and out of ear shot of Sangok, she heard an exchange between two other students.
"Good thing Goda's a better sailor than a fighter."
"That's for sure. I was starting to get worried."
Sangok broke out of the crowd and stumbled over to Katara.
"Where is he? Is he alright? Why hasn't he come home yet?" Sangok asked. The other students crowded behind him, also waiting for her answer.
"Well, actually..."
"You can ask your questions on the way, Sangok," Pakku said, settling some order back into the group. "For now, I think it best that you bring Katara to see Sesha. She'll want to know that her son is safe."
"Yes, you're right, Master," Sangok said as he bowed to Pakku. Pakku returned the bow. Then Sangok waved at Katara as he rushed off. Katara also gave a quick bow to Pakku then followed. Once they got out of sight from the class, Sangok slowed from a run to let Katara catch up, and then proceeded at a fast walk once she did. Before Sangok could ask anything, Katara had a question of her own.
"So what's up with this guy? What was all that commotion about?"
"What do you mean?" Sangok asked. "Don't tell me he didn't say anything about his trip when you guys met?"
"Well, no..." Katara shrugged. "We didn't actually talk or anything. We literally just kind of bumped into each other. I don't even think he recognized me to be honest."
Sangok stopped and gave her confused look.
"What's wrong?" Katara asked.
He mulled over something for a second, and his hand went to the back of his neck, rubbing it nervously. "I probably shouldn't tell you this, but he had kind of a crush on you. So that just sounds a little weird. Are you sure he didn't recognize you?"
"Oh," Katara said, a little embarrassed. She quickly reviewed the encounter in her mind, trying to think if she'd missed something. Maybe he'd just been too embarrassed to talk to her, or something. Unfortunately, other than clonking heads with the guy, there really wasn't much else about the occasion that would have made her commit any of its details to memory, so she couldn't adequately recall much more than that.
Sangok shrugged his shoulders and kept walking. "Anyway, a few months ago, Naghoda left on his own to sail around the Earth Kingdom."
"But, what about the war?" Katara asked. Heck, doing something like that on your own seemed dangerous enough without hostile Fire Navy ships all over the place.
"It's kind of a long story," Sangok said. "See, Naghoda's dad was a boat builder, Goda worked as his apprentice, and I guess they had this trip around the Earth Kingdom planned for a while. I know it sounds dangerous, but the two of them were really good sailors, and even though Naghoda wasn't much of a waterbender, but he knew enough to handle a boat pretty well. I think the only reason he trained his waterbending at all was so he could handle a boat better."
Sangok leaned in and spoke in a quieter tone. "In fact, I'm pretty sure his mom and grandma were teaching him how to be a healer. He never was much for fighting."
That stirred a bit of a memory in Katara. She vaguely remembered Pakku setting her up against Naghoda in her first sparring match. She'd beaten him so easily that, at the time, she thought that other student was just going easy on her, but if what Sangok was saying was right, maybe this Naghoda really was just that bad at fighting. Then she realized why Sangok was whispering this to her and got suddenly offended.
"Wait a minute! Why are you acting like that should be some kind of secret! Is there something wrong with being a healer?" Some water and snow kicked up around Katara as she waterbent it unconsciously.
Sangok put up his hands and waved her off, "No no no, it's just, you know... girl stuff."
"Girl stuff, huh?" A water whip formed around her hand. "Just like fighting is 'boy stuff?' Should I remind you who whipped all your butts last year?"
Sangok realized he was quickly painting himself into a corner. "I didn't mean anything against you or healing or anything. It's just that it would be kind of embarrassing if people knew that Naghoda knew healing."
Katara let the water whip splash back to the ground with a groan. This tribe and its stupid traditions, she thought. After what she had to go through last year, she supposed change takes time. Sangok wiped the sweat of his brow as she backed off. Katara stormed ahead a bit, but had to slow down and let Sangok catch up when she realized that she didn't actually know where they were going.
Katara started back in on the conversation once she calmed herself down a bit. "Sorry about that. Now, you were saying something about Naghoda and his dad sailing around the Earth Kingdom?"
Sangok continued, "Well, that was the plan at least."
There was a pause, and from the look on his face, Katara already knew what he was going to say next. "But then Naghoda's dad died earlier this year, and he..."
"He did the trip by himself instead," Katara finished for him.
"Yeah," Sangok said. "We don't know why he went by himself. It was so stupid of him."
Katara didn't say anything, but she understood completely. It was for the same reason she'd gone with Zuko to hunt down Yon Ra, the man who killed her mother. It was about closure.
"Oh, we're here," Sangok said, stopping in front of a door-shaped slab of ice in the side of a small building. In the middle of the ice slab was a circle surrounding a wave, the moon and ocean, symbols of the watertribe. It was the same symbol that adorned the one hanging from her necklace. Katara found this type of door much more ascetically pleasing than the usual whale bone and seal skin flaps used elsewhere around the city, but then, since only waterbenders sealed their houses this way, Katara's tastes were somewhat biased.
Sangok put his hand on the door and, after a bit of strain, liquefied some of the ice. It swirled into a ball of water in his hand than solidified into a chunk of ice, which he then used as a knocker for the door. Watching the effort it took for him perform such a simple task was a stark reminder of why they'd come here in the first place.
A few loud 'thunks' echoed through the ice sheet. A few seconds later, the door wavered, turned to liquid, and split down the middle. The water flowed and melded into the walls around it and refroze.
A tired looking older woman approached from inside the house. The first thing that struck Katara about her was just how tall she was. Katara barely came to her chest, and if she had to guess, she'd imagine that her own father would only stand to about her shoulders or chin.
"Yes? Can I help you?" the woman asked. She sounded tired and spoke softly. Her hair looked frazzled, and instead of being styled in any traditional Watertribe manner, it was held back out of her face in a loosely tied ponytail, with a few straw strands lying over her shoulders and face. Her hand moved up and brushed the rebel strands away from her face. There were dark circles under her bloodshot eyes. Almost as if she'd either just woken up, or hadn't slept well for a while. Despite her haggard appearance, Katara could still recognize that she was a beautiful woman, and it was heartbreaking to see her in such a state.
Katara realized that brutal distress written across this woman's face was because, after everything Sangok had told her, she probably thought her son was dead. Katara went to speak, but Sangok beat her to it.
"Naghoda's alright!" he said with a huge smile on his face. "This girl, Katara ran into him a few days ago and..."
Sangok trailed off as Naghoda's mother looked at them in shock. For a second, no one said anything, and then tears started pouring down her face as though she'd been holding them back for days, or perhaps weeks. She fell to her knees and planted her hands on top of them. Katara approached her and put a hand on her shoulder. She was about to say something to the woman, when she was suddenly wrapped in a tight embrace.
"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" the woman repeated over and over through heavy sobs and wide grin. Even on her knees she was taller than Katara, and Katara's face ended up buried in her shoulder. Wrapped in this woman's arms, Katara didn't really know what to do, so she hugged her back. After all, it seemed like she could use it.
While still trapped in the hug, the woman began to ask Katara a flurry of questions.
"Where did you meet him? Is he alright? Did he tell you when he's coming home, or why he stopped writing, or why it's taken him so long?"
"Uh well, I..." Katara tried to answer. Sesha pulled back from the embrace and looked her in the eyes.
"He's alright isn't he? He hasn't gotten himself in trouble? He is returning home isn't he?"
Unfortunately, other than where she'd run into him, Katara couldn't answer anything else, and unfortunately had to tell her so.
"Sorry." She finished, "but I really didn't talk to him. He looked fine though."
She nodded and smiled. It may not have been all the answers she was looking for, but just hearing her son was alright seemed enough for now, and Katara found herself buried in another hug. After a minute, and with a wide smile brightening her tired face, she invited them both in, but Sangok said he should probably get back to class, though Katara could tell that he was doing his best not to start crying himself and was just using class as an excuse to leave before he did. Typical Watertribe macho nonsense, she thought.
Naghoda's mother seemed to sense it too, because she didn't insist. Instead, she bowed, thanked him, and sent him on his way. Katara herself didn't have much reason to stay either. After all, she'd already told her everything she knew about her son, but Katara suspected that this woman really just wanted someone to talk to, and Katara was more than happy to be that person. Naghoda's mother wiped her eyes, and smiled at Katara.
"I'm sorry, dear. Here I am, crying all over you, and I haven't even introduced myself. My name's Sesha," she said as she bowed.
Katara bowed back, "I'm Katara."
Sesha raised an eyebrow. "The same Katara who fought master Pakku last year?"
"Oh, yeah, that." With all their traditions, Katara wasn't sure what to expect, so did her best to suppress a smile, but Sesha did no such thing. She beamed at Katara.
"Well then, I have two reasons to be honored by your presence, and if I recall, my mother spoke highly of you as well."
"Your mother?" Katara asked, a bit confused.
"Yagoda. She trains the young healers, and trained you for a few days before your blow up with Pakku, if you recall."
Katara did, but it wasn't a happy memory. In fact, she'd been angry the entire time she was forced to learn healing instead of fighting and honestly didn't remember the old woman's name until just now. She'd apparently left a better impression than she thought she did.
Wait a minute, Katara thought, Yagoda. Naghoda. Huh, he must be named after his grandmother... sort of.
Sesha led her inside and pulled out one of the chairs seated around an unexpectedly ornate kitchen table that seemed completely out of place in such a humble little home. The table top was a few inches thick, much more than what it needed to be, and every inch of the thick sturdy legs were carved with ornate symbols and intricate lines. Sesha noticed Katara examining the table and smiled.
"One of the benefits of having a craftsman for a husband." A fact she seemed very proud of. Katara hadn't noticed at first, but as she looked around the small house, she noticed all the furniture had a similar level of detail.
"Please have a seat. I'll put on some tea."
Katara pulled out a chair and almost sat down, but noticing Sesha's shaking hands fumbling with the fire rocks, went over to her. She took the stones from Sesha's hands and smiled at her.
"Why don't you just take a seat and I'll worry about the tea." Sesha nodded and let Katara take care of it. Katara went over to the small alcove in the corner of the kitchen where she filled the teapot from water flowing in from an outside aqueduct. She lit a small fire to hang the teapot over (most water tribe homes didn't have stoves - it wasn't a good idea to make your house too warm when it was made of ice) she noticed Sesha holding a small, intricately carved picture frame in her hands. She smiled at the picture and ran a hand over it. When Sesha looked up, Katara looked away, a bit embarrassed and feeling that she was intruding on something.
Sesha smiled warmly and set the picture down facing Katara. "My husband, from our wedding day," she explained. "I was just telling him that our son is safe."
While waiting for the water to reach a boil, Katara sat down and looked at the picture.
In it was a much younger Sesha dressed in a traditional water tribe wedding furs, though the man standing next to her seemed to be dressed in Earth Kingdom attire. Although, that was hardly the most unusual thing about the couple. The man in the picture was as short as Sesha was tall. Sokka had once teased Katara about Aang being shorter than her, but this guy looked even shorter than Aang. If the artist had done his job and this picture was accurate, the discrepancy between the two of them was nearly two feet.
Katara was pulled away from the picture by the sound of Sesha laughing. At which point Katara realized she'd been looking at the picture with a plainly confused scrutiny. She tried to stammer out an apology, but Sesha waved her off and chuckled a bit.
"It's quite alright, dear. I'm well aware that we made a bit of an odd couple. And not just because he was from the Earth Kingdom."
Katara still felt bad, if a bit relieved, and gave the picture one last glance. While the picture was lightly colored, the artist seemed to pay special attention to the subject's eyes. Hers painted a bright blue, his deep green.
Katara handed the picture back to Sesha, and she held it in both hands.
"He was visiting from the Earth Kingdom so he could learn how the watertribe built boats. Then we met and he decided to extend his stay a bit longer. That was about 20 years ago. He may not be much to look at, but he was the kindest, warmest man I'd ever met... That's why I fell in love with him."
Tears welled up and rolled down her cheeks. She gave the picture a smile and a sigh, then set it on the table between them, almost as if it was occupying the empty chair between them.
"This is the only picture I have of him..."
"Sangok told me what happened. I'm sorry."
She placed a hand on the table in front of the picture, almost like she was holding an invisible hand. "I miss him so much... I think about him every day. Though I think Naghoda's had a harder time of it than I did. They were very close, more like best friends than father and son. They even worked together. In fact, it was my son who carved this picture frame."
Sesha smiled and began to indulge in a memory as Katara got up to pour the tea. Though it was Sesha herself who seemed to be the intended audience, Katara felt honored to be able to hear it. It was a rare person that would expose their heart in such a way to someone that was practically a stranger. Katara wondered if her son was the same way, and if he was, she also hoped that it hadn't gotten him in trouble. There were a lot of people out there that might try and take advantage of someone like that. She handed Sesha her tea and took a seat, as Sesha continued her story.
"He just wouldn't stop getting into his father's tools. Of course he was only six at the time, so he didn't really know how to use them. He'd bend the saw blades, chip the chisels... my husband even tried locking everything up, but Naghoda just taught himself how to pick the locks." Sesha laughed and smiled, her face brightened with the story though it didn't completely mask her underlying sadness. These were happy memories, but also reminders that her husband was gone, and her son still missing.
"After that, my husband decided that if he was so determined to get his hands on those tools, he may as well teach him how to use them. They worked side by side ever since. Until..."
She closed her eyes tightly to hold back the tears. Katara gave her a concerned look, but Sesha raised a hand and smiled at her and explained that she was fine. She stood up and said, "I know, perhaps you can show me what town it was you saw him in." She motioned for Katara to follow her. Out in the main room, Sesha walked over to a chest covered in scrolls. Sesha explained that these were all the letters her son had sent back from his travels. She started handing Katara scroll after scroll, telling her to set them somewhere (she apparently needed something from the chest.) Before handing Katara the last one, she held it in her hand for a second and looked at it, explaining to Katara, "This was the last letter I received."
She handed her the scroll, then turned around and opened the chest. Katara wasn't sure if she was supposed to read it, but curiosity got the better of her, and while Sesha got whatever it was she was getting from the chest, Katara unrolled the parchment and read it over.
Hey mom. I am doing good, and everything has been going better than I expected. I'm over halfway done now, and by the time you get this, I should only be a few weeks out. I guess training with Master Pakku was good for something. At least waterbending makes the trip faster, especially when there's no wind.
Now for the part I'm sure you're worried about... I've started moving up the south eastern shore, which means I'll be passing close to the Fire Nation soon. Don't worry, though. Ok, that's not going to happen, but I want you to know I have plan. So at least try and worry a little less.
For the next week or so, at least until I'm far enough away from the Fire Nation, I'm going to be sailing at night and sleeping in the day. That should make it pretty easy to avoid the ships in the area. The full moon was only a few days ago, so I should have enough light. During the day, I'll find somewhere to dock my boat and set up camp out of sight. There's plenty of rivers and little islands and forests and alcoves and things like that all along the coast, so finding somewhere to hide during the day shouldn't be a problem.
I love you mom, and I'll be home soon.
-Naghoda
P.S. One more thing...I overheard some villagers talking about some comet that's passing by in a few days. Keep an eye out for it and just remember that I'm watching it too! See you in a few weeks.
"Here we go!" Sesha said as she pulled out a thick slab of folded parchment. Katara rolled Naghoda's last letter back up and followed Sesha back into the kitchen where she unfolded the parchment across the table. It was a world map big enough that it covered every inch of the table and even hung off the sides a bit. It was intricately detailed, not just marking cities and roads, but ocean currents as well. Sokka would be drooling.
"I was marking off which towns the letters came in from," Sesha pointed out all the little X's running along the border of the Earth Kingdom. Katara could see that he started out heading east along the Earth Kingdoms northern border and heading towards Ba Sing Se. Then, south along its eastern most border, then back west along its southern shores. Katara noticed that, since he stayed close to the coast, he hadn't stopped at Kyoshi Island, but he had sent letters from a few other towns Katara was familiar with. Gao Ling, Toph's hometown, was marked with an X, as was Chin, where Aang had been put on trial. There were a few more X's trailing up the coast, and then the trail stopped.
Sesha put her hand over that last X and smiled at Katara, explaining, "This was the last I'd heard from him until you arrived. Now, where's this town you say you saw him in? I'd like nothing more than to add another mark to this map!"
Sesha was lit up, looking over the map with enthusiasm and a bright smile. Katara was glad that she stayed. It took her a minute to find it (she wasn't as good at maps as her brother,) but when she did, Sesha gladly X'd it off. Then she paused for a moment and gave the map and odd look.
"What wrong?" Katara asked.
"Oh, it's nothing, I just..." Sesha said, a bit perplexed, "I don't know why he'd be at an inland city. I wonder if something happened to the boat."
Katara just sort of shrugged her shoulders, and Sesha realized that there was really no point in speculating. She could always ask him when he got home.
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Aang was glad to get away from the crowd. All anyone had done since they'd landed was barrage him with questions he couldn't answer. Then Katara had gone off with Pakku without telling him, Toph refused to get off Appa, and Sokka had gone looking for food. So now it was Aang and Momo standing outside the door to the Spirit Oasis.
He reached up and scratched Momo on the chin. "You ready buddy?" Aang asked.
Momo responded with a few chittering noises and purred.
"Good!" Aang said, and then opened the door.
It was just as beautiful and pristine as he remembered it. Despite all the beauty and serenity surrounding him, as he neared the pond, he found a stark reminder of why he was here. The white koi fish, the physical embodiment of the moon spirit on earth, swam listlessly around the pond. The pond itself gave off a strange energy. Aang could feel a palpable tension in the air. Even Momo didn't paw at the fish, which Aang had already been prepared to stop him from doing. Instead the little lemur jumped down from his shoulder and scooted to the side of the pool. He turned his head sideways then turned to Aang and chittered away.
"I know Momo, that's why where here."
Aang sat down in front of the pool, crossed his legs and closed his eyes. Momo jumped into his lap, momentarily breaking his concentration. After twisting in a few circles, Momo seemed to find a preferable position and lay down in Aang's lap. Aang closed his eyes and went back to meditating. He felt his awareness grow, and his connection to his physical self melt away, but as he tried to reach out and connect with moon spirit, Roku's voice called him back.
Aang opened his eyes to see Roku standing in front of him, his hazy blue form floating in the air just above the pond.
"Aang, there's something that's been bothering about this fire spirit. Something we need to discuss."
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The Jasmine Dragon tea shop had yet to open for the day, and its owner was already preparing to leave. Iroh had taken a few days longer to get ready than Makato had hoped and was, even at this moment, running over some last minute details with Jin, whom he was leaving in charge while he was gone.
When Iroh finally came out of the back room with a pack thrown over his shoulder, Makato was relieved that they were finally getting under way, though that feeling wouldn't last very long.
There was a pounding on the door that startled everyone. Even though he was a firebender, Makato's hand went reflexively to a sword that wasn't there. Iroh put a hand on his shoulder to calm him.
"My customers must be especially thirsty this morning," Iroh laughed, though they both knew that wasn't the case. Iroh moved past him and opened the door, where he was greeted by several soldiers. Not just any soldiers, either; these were palace guards.
"Mr..." the lead soldier looked down at a piece of paper in his hand and gave it a cock eyed look, "...Mushi," he said the name as though knowing it was false.
"Yes," Iroh answered. He held his hands behind his back as a way to appear nonthreatening, but from behind him, Makato could see his fists clenching in preparation. Luckily, it was unwarranted.
The guard looked him over then took a few steps back. "Please come with us. The Earth King requests your audience."
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Katara left Sesha's, pleased that Sesha was feeling better. She only wished she had more information to give her, but what little she did have seemed to make a world of difference. So, despite everything else going on, she was making her way through the city with a smile on her face. That is until she realized she was lost. The lower reaches of the city felt like a maze, and after fifteen minutes of wandering around, Katara was beginning to get frustrated.
She finally found a path that looked to lead to a wide open area a few blocks down. Maybe she could get her bearings if she could see more of the city, so she followed the little road until she was out of the buildings, and she found something she couldn't have possibly imagined.
Soldiers everywhere, training, sparring, running through drills, waterbenders straining to throw out attacks at wooden dummies dressed like Fire Nations soldiers, men with spears and knives doing the same.
As far as Katara could tell, it looked as though the Northern Watertribe was preparing for war.
Author's Note: Just to avoid any confusion, "Naghoda" is pronounced "Nuh-go-duh".
"Sesha", is actually a variation on "Shesh", the Inuit word for "brown bear". Which is sort of a reference/parallel to "Ursa", which is (as some of you may know) Latin for "bear" or "Mother bear."