Summary:
After the betrayal of Jet, a polished rogue in the King's Guard, Katara of the Watertribe refuses the affection and offer of any man. Due to rising rebellion in the Earth Kingdom's Island Colonies, and its capital of Ba Sing Se, Chief Hakoda strives to protect his daughter and his people's way of life. Firelord Iroh pushes his nephew to marry Katara, whilst they struggle to have nothing to do with the other. Meanwhile Jet comes to win Katara to find an angry Waterbending Master, that refuses his lies and casts his true self into the light in the high society of the Earth Kingdom. Humiliated he seeks his revenge on not only his parent's murderers, but the country of their origin, and a prize he failed to gain, a blue eyed waterbender called Katara.
A.N
Sigh. Looks like I won't break 1000 reviews. This is the second to last chapter. Then there's an epilogue. Then I have several plots I might delve into. I'd love to know how ya'll would feel about me continuing writing. Anyway, I have several things to point out. The Southern Half is my name for the lower Earth Kingdom. It is a name and is supposed to be capitalized. I have changed where Aunt Wu's lives merely for praticallity, but as I hate loose ends, I can make up a background as to why she lives there. I hope you enjoy the Suki/Zuko interaction. It was fun. I apoligize for the limited Z/K interaction. A long chapter. Please enjoy. Questions always welcome. Katara's point of view is used twice.
Thanks to my fabulous beta, LostInLalaLand0820
Enjoy.
REVIEW!
Disclaimer: I do not own avatar, nor do I make any profit from this story
Arc III
Rating: T
Chapter 38: Pinned at the Edges of the World
Pakku, Katara, Toph, Aang, and Zuko
Previously
If she couldn't help herself, at least she could attempt to help them.
Turning her head and shutting her eyes in a mockery of rest, Toph pushed the small stone bracelet that Sokka had given her with her elbow. She widened the hole that kept it clasped and let it fall to her chest, below her bound arms. Leaning her head down ever so slightly, as to avoid attention, she clenched the metallic end with her teeth.
And spat.
A satisfying, quiet thud indicated the target smacking into the leafy floor.
Sokka would have been proud.
Pakku refused to be buffered aside.
He hadn't seen his prodigy in over half a year. Hell if he'd let the woman who rejected him hold him back (not that he didn't revel in every attention she gave him, affectionate or torturous). The little Bei Fong girl could learn a few lessons in pain from Kanna.
Katara smiled up at him from the lower decked ship, clad in a warm, simple dress. Pakku had never been an elaborate or descriptive man, but she seemed to almost shine.
Definitely Kanna's blood.
The prickly little firebender stood protectively between her and her brother, the buffoon boy. Kanna had yelled at him for an hour over that particular sarcastic endearment (really he had worse, but he kept that to himself).
Katara had frozen a solid path between the decks, showing respect to her teacher in the menial task. He nodded in acknowledgement. She smiled back.
The little bender was the closest thing he'd had to family, and he'd been thoroughly ruffled by her attitude and refusal to submit to him. She shocked him often and it was impossible not to be charmed by a child who would sit in rapt attention at your words, then make faces at your smirks.
He'd begun to worry over her when she was ten, a short month after she'd entered his tutelage. Another month passed and he was watching the next master form before his eyes.
She'd had a drive he had to admire, but a kindness he had to be wary of. A master warns of suitors, after all. It had been a bit early for that then, but he'd lived too long to not recognize the new, untested looks that his other students gave the only female in their midst.
The girl had been a balm to his bitterness, reading her grandmother's letters to him and making up nonsensical statements about Kanna missing him. That stopped when the real inquires began.
Katara stayed with him every summer to train in the North. That had stopped when the rogue, Jet, discovered a burning passion for his pupil.
He had been stone cold with disapproval, and it was the first time he really looked at the girl's brother, glad to see him show sense. Their arguments were one in the same.
She may have been a prodigy, a quick student, but her ignorance of evil was a weakness that any could see.
He hated that she's been introduced to it as she had.
Katara had become his granddaughter, not by blood or marriage, but by sheer fondness.
She had taken up writing to him as soon as she'd settled with the prince-turned-king.
The firebender was a sore spot with him, but it had nothing to do with the pale shade of his skin, or the flame in his soul.
Masters were inclined to approve of their student's matches, and his pride was severely offended of not even being consulted on the matter of Katara's arrangement.
He had approved of the older one, Ghen, but that was mostly due to Hakoda's blessing and Kanna's thrill at having her granddaughter promised to anyone who was not Jet.
But Kanna liked this boy quite a bit. His uncle too, though that made him sore as well.
The boy bowed his head in respect now, and Pakku couldn't help the curl of his lip at the corner. Katara had trained him well. As had the famed Iroh.
Katara flung herself into his waiting arms, ignoring the others looking on. It wasn't odd for her. She also focused on greeting everyone personally, letting them soak up her undivided attention.
It was a relief to see the absence of the little clinging airbender. A boy like that had no business being with a woman of such stronger character than he was made of. She was definitely Kanna's granddaughter.
He hugged her back lightly, still stiff about public affection. The ice was slick but grooved against their feet. Nothing short of what he'd expect from his granddaughter. Considerate in even the smallest ways that no one else remembered.
Katara kissed his old, tanned cheek.
"I missed you, Sifu." Her voice was warm and affectionate. She winked to her grandmother over his shoulder before pulling away.
His pupil returned her eyes to him.
"Annoyed my Gran much?"
Her old sifu took very poorly to teasing, reacting in a way she also associated with her husband. Like a petulant child.
The thought of children made her smile. Katara couldn't help it. Despite her hurt at her brother's harsh words, or the unspoken fretting of her attentive Lord, it was impossible to swell the bubble of joy and love she felt at the little one that grew inside her womb.
It would be one of the few things she could wholly claim. It was her child.
Zuko stepped up behind her, a warm hand bracing her back. Not because she needed it, but because he wanted to.
It was his as well. And that made it all the better.
Katara tucked away a larger smile. Pakku's eyes narrowed slightly in appraisal, and his eyes shot to the stomach he commanded into fitness himself. The bulge was quiet but noticeable for one who knew her physical self so well. Her master had been the one to correct her form for years. It might as well have been a mountain for the shock that was painted across his face.
He snorted.
"I suppose I'll have to play governess to this one as well?"
Katara chuckled. His words were sarcastic and shallow, but it was Pakku's way. The child was welcome because of his mother.
Her old master stepped aside and Katara pulled her husband over to meet Kanna.
Kanna exclaimed over her stomach, patting in and bending over to whisper blessings. Out of the corner of her eye, Katara noticed Zuko's eyes flitting about in unease.
The reason revealed itself moments later.
Hakoda was always a direct man. His shame did not bend his spine now, and he met her stare head on. He didn't flinch at his mother in law bent before her, rubbing the child, nor at the firm grip Zuko had on her waist.
Kanna moved back, refusing to acknowledge her late daughter's husband and moving towards Pakku.
Katara watched with stone cold eyes as her father stopped before her. She didn't offer a greeting. He didn't either.
At least...
Not to her.
His eyes shifted perceivably to the right of his daughter. Katara tensed with Zuko, who straightened up to his full height, an inch or so above Hakoda.
Hakoda dropped to his knees.
He lifted his face to the stunned visage of his daughter and her husband.
"I have wronged you," he whispered. "Son."
Katara felt Zuko freeze beside her. When was the last time he heard that?
Son.
Had he ever?
Katara looked down at the still form of her father, crouched before them impatiently. He was pressed into a bow, hands by his sides.
She didn't bend to reach him. She waited for Zuko.
He was apparently still in shock, as was the noticeable form of Sokka behind them. Katara's sire had never bowed to another man.
Zuko's hand wasn't shaking when he rested it upon Hakoda's shoulder.
"There is someone you need to meet."
Hakoda stood, watching Zuko with expectant eyes. Katara had to mask a smile at her husband's schemes. It was clear who he intended.
Zuko smiled; the little half kirk up of the lips that passed for joy upon his lips. He wrapped his arm back around her waist, a hand settling over the barely there bulge.
Hakoda glanced down and started. With the extra emphasis, and thin, light colored robes; the bulge was almost begging for recognition. His eyes snapped up.
Katara met his gaze almost defiantly. If threats to her health couldn't make her regret the child, there was no way in Koh's lair she'd let her father make her feel ashamed.
His eyes caught at the necklace around her throat.
"That's what did it, you know." He said quietly.
"What?"
He gave her a soft, apologetic smile.
"Your mother."
Her confusion must've shown, for Zuko squeezed her gently and her father nodded.
"I was raging over her death, and the thought struck me that she'd have killed herself rather than have me a stranger to my children. " His smile grew. "I have no need to mourn her spirit."
Katara smiled back at him. He hadn't spoken of his wife in years.
"She lives in you." Zuko whispered in her ear. Her father nodded.
Katara, bright eyed and blinking, opened her arms in welcome to grandfather of her child. Zuko stepped away to give her room.
From the corner of her eye, Katara saw her grandmother pull Zuko in for an embrace, already clucking over the untucked tunic and windblown hair.
"For one who's travelled as often as you have, you haven't gotten very far."
Toph snorted. She abhorred men who spoke in riddles, excluding her dear Uncle Jasmine (Iroh: dragon of the west, former Firelord and General) and his proverbs.
The slick man was back; the distance between their forms unknown due to the continuing haze over her bending. She was still attempting to educate herself on how they were able to do it.
Bending was one with a person's soul. It was greatly disconcerting to feel as if a part of your very essence had been torn away.
Not that she'd let it show.
There was wood at her back, thin and worn. The settlement couldn't have been new; it had far too musty a smell.
"Enjoying your accommodations?" It was a typical question for a prisoner, even with the mockery and disdain dripping to splat on the man's silken robes.
She could tell he wore silk by the faint whispering sound of fine material. Wool grated against cloth and being, and cotton shifted. But silk whispered, regaling those who could hear with a tiny symphony of sighs.
"Are you?" She bit back. A man of silk couldn't enjoy these arrangements.
It smelled like dirty men, the mix of sweat and dirt and old food and something she'd rather not visualize, all of it commonplace among ships and soldier's bunks.
The man chuckled, a little hissy sound.
"Children of privilege until the end, aren't we?"
She smiled. It was evil. She'd sat Katara down for an hour, trying out looks and having Katara give her reactions to each smirk, grin, and glare.
"I am," Toph began, cheek in full. "But I think I stand alone in that regard."
A low growl was her only warning. She heard the telling shift of other figures in the room. A sharp swish of air and the crumble of rock before strong stone slapped painfully against her lips.
"I do not think you're one to antagonize me."
The stone tightened and Toph held back a twitch. Is that how Aang felt when she'd cover him with stone? Or Sokka, when his knees suddenly burrowed into the earth?
The man was smirking. It was clear in his tones.
"Clearly, Ms. Bei Fong, You are at the disadvantage here."
A week prior
Aang was slow to wake again.
He had no perception of time. It left him to wonder where the voices were.
"Aunt Wu!"
A shriek, obviously a girl. It was excited and high pitched. Not exactly helpful to the roaring pain that pressed against his eyes.
He was in a low room, with log walls and woven tapestries and quilts decorating the sides of the room. The bed he occupied faced a sliding paper door, where silhouettes shown through the thin material.
"He's waking up!"
'Yes, thank you' Aang thought, annoyed.
The door slid across to show faces of varying ages pressed against it.
A small girl with outrageously stiff hair bullied her way to the front. She smiled with a large gap in between her two front teeth.
She shut the door behind her, causing the faces to whine and jump back to avoid the sliding door.
She bowed.
"I am Meng."
He gave her an awkward nod. He really wished he had his shirt. He didn't dare check on the state of his bottoms. Aang had the uncomfortable feeling that his skin wasn't covered beneath the sheets.
"I'm Aang."
She giggled, and Aang nearly stared. He rarely heard giggling. Toph didn't do it, and Katara's laughter was far above (like the cooing of a dove).
Her hair bobbed with her shoulders, once more commanding his attention.
It stuck out in two sections, pulled at the sides. Her pink dress only reaffirmed the feminine, shallow opinion.
"I know who you are."
It was clear she did, for her cheeks were flushing and she looked excited and strangely eager.
He nodded again.
The door slid open once more.
A bowed head entered, a tall woman lowering her height to make it into the low room.
Her hair was a steely gray shot with white and twisted into an elegant knob, piled upon her head. Her dress was cut with business class trimming, extra adornments coming in the form of a tucked him, and draped sleeves.
"Meng," the woman called softly.
The command was unspoken but the girl scattered, rushing to whatever purpose the woman had given her.
The woman quirked a brow at him.
"Avatar, I must ask why you are in my home."
Aang was confused. How'd he get here if not by her own discretion? He lifted a shaky hand to scratch his head.
"You brought… me?"
She flinched.
"Not why you lay here! How it came to pass!"
Oh.
Aang felt like a fool, but to be fair his head swam and she spoke in more riddles than Iroh did.
"I was attacked."
His voice was low and ashamed. He'd failed Katara.
The woman smiled, an odd reaction to his statement.
"Onboard a ship?"
He nodded. The details were fuzzy, but he'd been knocked overboard by the force of the firebender's attack.
The room swirled with the scent of tea and old parchment, curiously reminding him of the scent of his mentor, Gyasto.
She smiled again.
"Where were you headed little bender?"
Aang nearly balked at being called little. He was nearly fifteen! She seemed to sense his ire and reached over to him, patting the top of his head.
"At my age, your grandfather would be young."
He cracked an unwilling smile at that. She certainly didn't seem that old, but the towering wisdom and telltale makeup said otherwise.
"Omashu," he answered honestly.
She smiled at him, walking over to pull the curtains on a window he hadn't noticed above his head.
"Then I'd say you hadn't failed her yet."
The stone slides of Omashu greeted his eyes, mail sliding along with goods. People rushed about the streets. The palace loomed over it all.
The house must have been halfway up the lower slope of the city. He saw the library against the outer edge of his vision and grinned. The student district had a direct train to the Palace grounds.
He turned to the woman, a sudden thought occurring to him.
"How did you know I thought I'd failed?"
She smiled.
"Aunt Wu always knows, dear one. Now, shall we cover you from Meng's wandering eyes?"
"Plan?"
Piandao and Jeong Jeong all swiveled their heads to Zuko. Hakoda and Sokka sat against the other end of the table while Katara and Suki were spaced on either side between the two parties. Pakku stood to one side, eyes drawn to the group at large.
Zuko was bent over the map the Suki had pinned to the table with her fans, the gold metal shimmering at two diagonal corners.
He swept the map with his eyes, looking for a river.
"Sokka?"
The man perked up bitterly at his name. He leveled his glare at Zuko, who knew that was the most acknowledgement he'd get.
"You know the forest?"
He nodded.
"Well?"
The boy snorted.
"Better than you."
Zuko choose not to reply. Katara was examining the map as well.
"Are you looking for anything in particular?"
He smiled at her. She'd most likely figured some scheme, but left it to him to prove his intelligence to her family.
"A river."
She nodded, a pleased glint in her eyes.
"Why?" Sokka asked.
To Zuko's surprise, Suki answered easily.
"Any permanent rebel activity would need a water source, since it's unlikely they'd stay close to the coast."
Hakoda looked delighted, smiling at his son's fiancé.
"Excellent."
Piandao traced a finger across a small ridge of hills.
"This is the most current map of the area. King Bumi sent surveyors across the Southern Half of the kingdom two years ago. They're in the North now, mapping the rest."
Jeong Jeong nodded, sharp narrow eyes poised over a particular spot.
He tapped it with a gnarled finger.
"Traveler's who pass here don't often return." His voice was gravel.
Hakoda observed the position.
It was in the foothills of the ridge that arced through the forest. Zuko watched his brow furrow.
"It's about 40 Leagues from where Kya…"
He didn't finish and Katara reached across the table to grasp his hand.
Sokka traced the ridge with his eyes.
"The only river is across the other end of the hills."
Pakku shook his head.
"It would finish in tributaries, and they couldn't have surveyed them all. If it started at a high elevation, it's clean and traveling South."
Piandao nodded, pleased.
"The best place to begin then would be the mapped end of the river." Katara said.
Zuko let his eyes rest on her for a moment. She'd been active in all their planning, devising teams and sorting supplies. He knew she was thrilled to be along for the adventure, but it caused a painful clenching in his chest, one he knew that was echoed in Hakoda's and Pakku's as well.
Jeong Jeong leaned over.
"It's unlikely they'll be expecting us. How shall we reconvene?"
Piandao smiled.
"The fans."
Suki looked at him in some surprise.
"What?"
But Zuko had already caught on.
"The sun on the metal would be a signal." He turned to Suki. "Imagine catching the sun at the top of a tree. We'd see the shine for miles."
"True," Sokka intoned. "But so would they."
Katara shook her head.
"They wouldn't know what it meant."
Zuko nodded.
Katara's master looked at the map again.
"What exactly are our objectives?"
"Find Ty Lee," Zuko began. That point was not debatable. "Bring down Jet, Azula, and Long Feng."
Hakoda looked at him.
"And if we encounter your father?"
Everyone's head swiveled to his.
"If," he stated, voice low. "We meet my sire." He raised his eyes to his father in law. "He has many things to answer for."
They all nodded at this.
A knock came at the door of the cabin.
They'd all convened on Hakoda's flag ship to make plans. The Gambit, the vessel Katara and Zuko had used to travel to Kyoshi, fell easily into formation with the Southern Watertribe's fleet.
They'd taken to the chief's room, whilst Bato captained the ship and Kanna supervised the kitchen.
She stuck her head in now, eyes immediately flitting to her granddaughter.
"A hawk has come for Katara."
Katara stood, bowed to the rest.
"I'll tell you all about it at dinner."
Zuko watched her follow her Gran out the door.
The rest decided to break as well, but Zuko called out to one.
"Suki."
She turned, surprise in her face. Sokka stopped as well, protectively clenching her wrist and glaring at Zuko.
The Firelord rolled his eyes at the paranoia.
"May I speak with you?"
She nodded, pushing Sokka ahead of her. He glared at Zuko over his shoulder, but Suki displaced his from the room with a hardy jab between his shoulder blades.
She shut the door and came to sit in the seat closest so they could speak quietly.
Zuko nodded in gratitude. She was a strong, good woman, and he much preferred her over his brother in law.
"I need a favor."
Suki arched a brow.
"And?"
"You're the best suited."
She nodded, eyes cautious.
"What?"
He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. It'd be hard to convince her. Her mantra all but screamed female empowerment. And she had agreed with Katara.
"I need you to stay with Katara."
She looked surprised, but thankfully not like she'd refuse.
"I thought I would go with Jeong Jeong and Bato…"
He looked her in the eye.
Zuko shook his head.
"You misunderstand."
She furrowed her brow.
And then…
It cleared.
Her tone was accusing.
"You want her to stay behind."
"Don't we all?" He murmured, resting a brief hand on the key around his neck, hidden in the folds of his vest.
Suki narrowed her eyes at him.
"We want her safe. There is a difference."
Zuko shook his head.
"Not for this. Not for her life. Not for my child."
Suki's eyes, narrowed in a near glare, softened.
"Zuko… She won't forgive you."
Zuko sighed.
"I know."
"And you still wish to deceive her?"
Zuko growled. This had to be worth it…
"Call it what you will. Will you stay with her?"
Suki looked away, considering.
"How will you make her stay?"
Zuko smiled bitterly.
"How will you?"
She smiled in irony as well.
"She'll think I betrayed her."
Zuko nodded.
"She'll forgive you though. Please."
Suki didn't say anything for a moment. She stared down at the fan embedded in the map near her.
"I know I have no right to ask this of you," Zuko continued. "But don't do it for me."
She looked at him in question.
"Do it for Sokka." Zuko finished.
Suki shut her eyes and sighed.
"Yes, then." She whispered.
Zuko nodded, grateful and so weary.
"For Sokka."
The hawk looked weary and was eager to accept the water Katara offered. Even if it pulsed, hovering above her palm.
Aang's love of animals had steadily increased her own appreciation of them. So she stood now, tending to the hawk before she checked its burden.
After a grateful tilt of the beak, the hawk soared to the mast of the ship. Most likely to lie in wait to swoop down upon some unsuspecting ship rat.
Katara unfolded the odd pattern. It was obviously from Aang. He had often amused himself and her by styling creations out of folded paper. To combine such with his personal notes had become so much a habit that she doubted he even thought twice on it.
The little oragami penguin unfolded first at the beak. Then, the wings on either side of the smooth belly parted outwards. She gently tugged the head out of its bent position and untucked the fastening that held the back of the penguin's stomach.
Smoothing the paper, she turned it over and was greeted by Aang's familiar scrawl. Though it appeared to be written in great haste, words hard to make out in some places.
Sifu,
My voyage was disrupted by a terrible heat. It rivaled your dear uncle's flames! The strength of a blue fire that almost burns white! I took a swim to douse the almost painful heat and was greeted onshore by the welcome walls of my mentor's home. I do hope my other master has completed her journey without any such uncomfortable disturbances. I was worried she might encounter the same issuses as I! As you read, I am most likely convening with the 'mad genius' on approaching our forestry encounters. Best hopes then.
Love,
Your eager pupil
Katara's hands shook.
She stood at her new cabin aboard her father's ship, pleading with the words upon the page.
Aang had been attacked. BY a firebender no less. Her stomach gave an uncomfortable squirm and she had to swallow her nausea. Was this Zuko's infamous sister at work? Was he really injured? He had made it to Bumi, but he was worried about Toph.
Toph.
Katara promptly burst into tears.
"Katara?"
Her husband wrapped his arms around her.
"What is it?" His voice was gentle and concerned, a soothing tone brushing the lobe of her ear.
Katara pressed herself tightly to his chest.
They hadn't heard from Toph. That wasn't truly unusual. Except for the fact that she almost always wrote whilst at sea, claiming the most profound boredom.
She hiccuped. It was overwhelming to think of invincible Toph, possibly hurt and captured. Her heart ached. This entire mess was because of her.
Her fault.
Oh La! Why did Sokka always have to be right!
Her sobs renewed in earnest, probably baffling her silent husband. He never took well to tears. He tried though, and was so awkward and adorable that it broke her.
She'd dragged him into this too.
And now their child was on the line, along with her dearest friends, and she'd sent them into the line of fire without a thought! How unbelievably selfish!
"Sokka was right," she whispered brokenly.
Zuko tensed at the name and clutched her tighter.
"About what?"
She unclenched her hands around Aang's brief message, leaving it open for him.
He settled his chin against the top of her head and read it as it lay on her palm.
Katara knew when he finished. There was a particularly nasty curse that flew from his lips.
"Doesn't," she began shakily, "your sister have the blue flame?"
He buried his face in her hair, unwilling to answer.
But Katara didn't need him to. His painful silence was enough.
She gasped a little for breath,a heaving wet sigh that made his arms clench around her nearly painfully.
Toph...
"What if she's been taken?" Katara voiced her biggest concern suddenly.
Zuko tensed and this time, did not relax.
"It's possible," he intoned lowly. Both their minds flashed to the bloody pink ribbon in their wash room.
Katara shivered and drew his arms tighter around her.
She could be anywhere. Toph could've been snatched from the ship (much more likely considering her bending prowess), the road, or even inside Ba Sing Se.
"There's a chance she's where we're headed." Zuko wasn't much one for hope, but he tried to give it to her as best he knew how.
Katara sighed again, hands settling protectively over her abdomen.
"Perhaps."
A.N: I like how this turned out. So they know Toph's been captured. And Zuzu is scheming! I hope you all enjoyed. PLEASE REVIEW!!