I would like to thank WildCitrusSunflower for being the beta for this story and fixing all of those mistakes I tend to make. Also I do not own Avatar the last Airbender.

Her friends worried about her. She had been so busy, so excited and stressed, that she had neglected them. She knew she should have spent more time with them, should have listened better. She hadn't. And now, as if out of nowhere they had left her behind.

Moved on, without her.

Or at least that's how she felt. As if in the last few months her friends had changed too much for her to keep up. Kumon spoke even less than he used to, drawn into his own world, somewhere far away from the rest of the palace. Cara had gotten close to Ursa and in consequence was avoided by her. Cara was a good friend and Ursa had not meant to hurt her, Katara knew that, but at the moment she needed time to think on her own, without input from the two. Most likely Cara would have never mentioned anything, but Katara could not help but keep her distance from Ursa and everyone involved with her.

She had tried speaking to Nayami on several occasion, but her closest and oldest friend in the palace seemed to have been replaced by a stranger. She had always been anxious, had always seemed to hide something, but now she simply did not respond at all. When Katara addressed her, even when they were alone, Nayami bowed deeply and inquired what her Ladyship wished for. When she offered to heal the many bruises that seemed to spring forth on her like mosquitoes in a swamp, she quickly hid them, pretending that they didn't exist. Katara had known that something was wrong long before, had known that her friend was suffering from some terrible secret, but she hadn't wanted to risk her friend's trust by pressuring her. She had hoped that by giving her friend time to come to her, waiting patiently until then and healing her injuries, she would make it easier for her to open up. But she had been gone so much that at some point her friend had lost the trust that she could come to her. She worried that she had lost her.

But Nayami wasn't the only one that worried her. No, there was one more friend she was concerned about. Yue had begun to speak more and more of returning home.

"My tribe needs me, Katara!" Yue had insisted, when they had spoken yesterday. "I have to help them during this difficult time."

"Help them how, Yue?" Katara had answered. "Do you really believe that Hahn will leave you out of his sight for any amount of time? Do you really think he will let you help with anything other than household chores?" She couldn't understand, how Yue could even consider returning to the monster that had hurt her so. Since coming to the Fire Nation, the princess had gotten so much better, so much more certain of herself, Katara hated to think what would become of her if she returned to her previous life.

"At the very least I won't be an additional reason for them to start a war that no one wants!" Yue had responded firmly. "If I can keep my people from another war, than that will be worth any consequences I have to suffer because of it."

"Really? Do you honestly believe that your return would be enough to stop this war from happening? Someone wants this war, Yue. I don't know who, or why, but someone wants this war desperately and they don't care how far they have to go to get it. Your return won't change that, Yue. Just wait a little while longer. You have learned too much since coming here, you seem so much happier than I have ever seen you before. Please Yue, don't throw it all away." Katara had implored.

"What use is learning, if I don't apply my knowledge? Do you really think I could be happy, if I knew my tribe was fighting in a war, because of me?"

"Not because of you, Yue!" Katara had shouted exasperatedly, since she wasn't getting anywhere. "If this war starts than the reason isn't you, Yue, you must realise that. They are using you as an excuse, claiming that you were kidnapped in order to have a reason to get involved."

"So I'll take that excuse from them. It will at least by some time, if nothing else. I am the Crown Princess of the Northern Water Tribe, Katara. It is my duty to serve the Tribe." Yue's tone of voice, in stark contrast to Katara's, hadn't changed even once during the discussion. She still sat as calm as ever in her chair, back straight, hands delicately folded. Her whole being had radiated certainty.

"So you will return to being Hahn's bed-warmer?" She had known it wasn't fair, to bring it up so bluntly, but in the end it was the crux of the matter and Katara couldn't afford to dance around the matter any more than she had been until now. She had had to get through to Yue. As noble as her sacrifice would be, it wouldn't change anything! The war would come none the less, it might not even delay it.

But Yue hadn't seemed to be in the least bit ruffled by the blunt words. "Yes." She had nodded, looking straight into Katara's eyes, light and dark blue locking, judging. "Just as you did."

The scared, hesitant girl was gone. Her friend was no longer the woman that had to be rescued by her waterbending friend. She was still the unfailingly polite and petite princess she had always been, but instead of the uncertain girl, there sat a woman who knew what she wanted. When had that happened? How much had Katara missed?

"Yue, please. I understand that you want to help. I do too. I'm not saying you shouldn't, I just...I don't want to think about you going back to that again. You don't even know if it would change anything."

"You're right, I don't. But I would rather live with trying and failing than with doing nothing."

Knowing that she was grasping at straws, Katara had replied, "There must be a better way, an easier one."

"There never was an easy way, Katara. We both know that. We both accepted that."

And what could she have said to that, really? What could she have said, when she had made the exact same choice?

"When are you leaving?"

Yue had smiled. "If you could arrange for a ship tomorrow?"

The warrior had nodded.

Just a few weeks ago everything had looked so bright. They had had a plan to get rid of Hahn, a plan that had looked promising. If Yue claimed now that her husband was abusive, people would believe it was a plot by the Fire Nation. Just a few weeks before the struggle for one woman's life, could have brought two Nations closer to each other, now it would only wench them apart even further. Where before Yue's word and that of two other friendly nations would have been too much to ignore for the Northern Water Tribe, anything claimed now would be seen as a plot to destabilise the Tribe. Yue would be seen as the weak, uncertain woman, who simply didn't know better and anything said on the matter of her husband dismissed as an over emotional woman complaining.

The chance had passed by. Katara had lost and she knew it. All she could do now was watch her friend suffer for her negligence. If only she had tried more, earlier. If only she hadn't figured that there was still time. If only she hadn't thought other things more pressing.

Her world had finally seemed to look up, things seemed to have finally been fine. For the first time since her mother died there had seemed to be a solution to almost all of her problems and now?

Now she could understand the desperation her husband seemed to suffer from so often. Now she could understand, why he had thought dying a good solution, why he had seemed so hopeless. What was the use, if it would just be ripped from you anyways?

But at least she wouldn't repeat the mistake she had made with Yue. At least with her other friend she wouldn't stand by, she wouldn't wait and she would not accept not knowing. She would not be surprised as she had been by the sudden unrest. She would find out what the problem was and she was going to fix it. She promised herself, she would fix it!

Deciding that there was nothing to be done, but to ask about the obvious problems, the Fire Lady cornered Nayami the evening before Yue would leave and questioned her behavior. Instead of warming up to the problem slowly, the waterbender stated bluntly, "Something has been going on, Nayami. I know that something has been worrying you."

"Who hasn't been worried these days, my Lady, with the talk of the war restarting again?" The servant girl bowed slightly and tried to move away, pretending to be busy with changing the water in one of Katara's vases. Normally, Katara would have let her friend leave, accepting the silent agreement that she would back off, when addressed formally, but not this time. Waiting had never helped before. She had waited for her husband and where had that gotten her? Now Yue was going to pay the price. Where had it gotten her with Nayami so far?

"That's not what's going on and we both know it. Something has been bothering you for months and I have been keeping quiet, because you did not seem to talk about it and I didn't want to stress you. But even though the fires are well stocked and you are obviously hot, you have been wearing long sleeves since I returned and as much as you always claimed that your bruises came from accidents of one sort or another, nobody is that clumsy, Nayami. Whatever is happening has been getting worse."

"I don't know what you are talking about." Turning away, the younger girl tried to escape again.

"Nayami, please," Katara pleaded, sounding every bit as desperate as she felt. "Talk to me. I can help. I might not be much use otherwise at the moment, but at least with this I can help."

"No you can't, Katara," it was the first time since Katara had met her that Nayami had raised her voice to anyone. "You are the last person that can help."

"Of course I can. At the very least I can listen, but I am sure that there is something that can be done as well. Just please, tell me whats going on. Who is hurting you, Nayami?"

"It doesn't matter! I can deal with a few bruises every now and then."

"If someone is hurting you it matters to me! Please, Nayami. I don't want to see you in pain. I don't want to see you suffer and you have been. So if the bruises aren't the reason for your worry and your pain, then what is?"

Staring at the Fire Lady, realising that she had said too much, Nayami shook her head. Katara would not let matters go now and besides, she knew she actually needed help.

"I have a friend" she began,"who has been sick for a long time. She seemed to be getting better, but shortly after you left for your brother's marriage she became worse. I worry that she won't make it much longer."

Shocked by her friends admission, Katara hugged her quickly. "Let's go. I might be able to help, I'm a healer after all. What are her symptoms? What did the doctors diagnose? What kind of medicine has she been taking?"

"She has been drinking Chamomile tea and I have been making her wraps of lard and nutmeg. She has been running a fever for several months and is coughing quite badly." Obviously uncomfortable with the topic, Nayami shuffled a bit, before quietly admitting, "She hasn't seen a doctor. Doctors won't come to where she lives and she can't leave the house."

"Oh. But some of the free clinics..."

Nayami smiled sadly and shook her head. "Wouldn't dream of helping her without permission and she would never get permission to leave for any period of time."

"Leave from where, Nayami? What are you talking about? The doctors should be treating anyone who comes to them. It shouldn't matter where they are from or what age they are."

"It shouldn't, but it does." Noticing that the young waterbender was obviously overwhelmed by the idea that her free clinics weren't in fact available to all, Nayami gentled her tone of voice, "Have you ever wondered, why Kumon is still working in the palace, even though he is terrified of it? Have you ever wondered, why I work here?"

"Well, yes. I figured that you couldn't get a job elsewhere, now that you have worked here."

"That's true, but we only started working here, because we didn't have any choice from the very beginning. Everyone knows, that the Fire Lord is rarely a kind employer, hasn't been for dozens of years. In consequence, if you have any choice whatsoever, you don't work in the royal palace, but the palace pays well. That's why Kumon works here, that's why I was sent here."

"Sent?"

"Have you ever heard of spikes or, more correctly, workhouses?"

Katara shook her head.

Sighing softly, she thought her friend had known as much, Nayami explained, "They take in orphans and raise them. In return the orphaned children have to work and remain in the services of the workhouse until their debt is repaid. At least that is the idea, but I know very few who actually managed to pay back their debt. Leaving a workhouse without the full debt having been repaid is forbidden, which would mean that she would need special permission to go to a hospital and a doctor would need permission to enter the workhouse. In consequence, in order to avoid problems most hospitals have agreed to refuse members of a workhouse without special permission."

"But that's slavery! Why didn't you tell me? We have to stop this!"

"Stop it and then what? What is going to happen to all of the war-orphans?"

Katara grew quiet. She knew that her friend was right. Zuko had never said anything, but there couldn't be much more money left to finance additional projects. And all of them were desperately needed. "Some agreements could be made. It should be possible for her to see a doctor and receive treatment!"

Nayami seemed to be rather embarrassed by her friends shock. "To tell you the truth I always sort of thought you knew. You never pressured me about my bruises after all."

"I didn't pressure because I worried you would simply begin hiding them even more. I was hoping you would tell me one day. We don't have workhouses or anything like it in the Water Tribes. But what about your friend? Is there any way I could visit? If she has been coughing for a longer period of time it might have already become a conical bronchitis or a conical pneumonia. Especially because pneumonia is very dangerous and won't leave on it's own."

"I know it won't leave, Katara." Swallowing, Nayami fought against the tears. "I don't think she will survive the next week. But there is no way to get you into the spike undetected and they won't let her leave. If she, dies it's a nuisance for the master, but if she manages to escape others might try to follow and he can't allow that. The rules are rather straight forward. If you can't work you don't get anything to eat, so you normally die rather quickly, medical help won't be given. The only reason why Tsumori has been able to survive for so long is because I have been sneaking food to her."

"But why wouldn't they let a doctor see her? They will lose money, if she dies because no one will pay her debt, right?"

"I don't know. I don't make the rules, I just follow them. Most likely they worry that the doctors would start interfering. Saying that the patient needs to rest for longer periods of time, needs special food or bring attention to the living conditions."

"So if someone were to pay her debt? Would she be free to leave?"

"Yes, but where would she go? If your debt is paid you have to start paying rent at the workhouse. You could rent a room elsewhere, but you would need money for a deposit. Especially as a woman living on the streets is too dangerous and your employer would never expect someone from the streets anyways. None of us have any form of education, so we don't make enough to be able to pay rent, buy food and safe enough money to pay a deposit and buy furniture. Even if you do have enough money, few people will rent to someone coming from a spike. I have actually been free to leave for almost one year now thanks to the rather high pay at the palace, but I never managed to save up much and now with Tsumori sick I have been using what little I did save to help her."

"So unless you have a sponsor you will never leave the spike?"

"Normally, yes."

"Alright then, we just have to buy her freedom and bring her here until she is healthy again."

"NO! I won't have her in the palace. I won't have her jumping out of the frying pan just for her to end up in the fire. I would rather she die in peace."

"Nayami, what are you talking about. She would be safe here. She could live in one of the guest rooms or in the servants quarters until she is well again and you have the money to rent an apartment."

"The servants quarters are no better than the workhouse. At least in the workhouse I know how things work. The devil you know and so forth."

"Then she can stay in one of the guest rooms."

"People will wonder what she is doing there. It will be obvious that she isn't a noble or anyone important. They might draw the wrong conclusions." Nayami's tone of voice made clear, just what kind of conclusions would be draw and what the consequence of such conclusions would be.

"Let me at least see her. If she really is as badly off as you say, I might not be able to do anything for her if she stays in the workhouse, but maybe it's not quite that bad. Besides, shouldn't she at least get a choice? I could claim to be some rich Lady, who wants to try her hands at playing doctor and needs a test subject that no one will look for, if she disappears and you are desperate enough to be willing to try anything. I would of course have to see her to make sure she fits my 'needs'."

The servant girl nodded hesitantly, "Alright, but if she doesn't want to go to the palace after you have seen her, you will leave her be."

"Yes." Katara couldn't imagine that anybody would prefer dying over recovering in a guest room at the palace.

She was in for a surprise.