Chapter 11 - Thicker Than Water, pt. 1
"...Nini's house stands empty to this day," Katara spoke in an ominous voice, as they were all huddled by their brightly burning campfire in the middle of a forest which looked particularly creepy during the dead of night. "But sometimes people will see smoke coming up from the chimney. Like little Nini is still trying to get warm..."
Sokka let out a girlish scream, glancing to his left at a stoic looking Zuko, then turning to his right to face an unperturbed looking Toph. Neither of them appeared to be an option for a protective hug, so Sokka settled for the next best thing to calm his frayed nerves, which was to hold Momo tightly pressed against his chest. "I didn't think you actually had a scary story in you, sis," he glared at Katara.
The waterbender was about to reply, when Toph suddenly reared her head with a startled gasp. "Wait, guys? Did you hear that?" she exclaimed, placing her palm against the moss-covered ground. "I just heard people nearby, somewhere underground! And they're... screaming for help!"
Having nearly jumped a couple of feet up in the air, Sokka quickly recovered and scowled at the earthbender. "Pfft, nice try, Toph," he scoffed. "Better luck next time."
"No, I'm serious," Toph shook her head, looking frustrated. "I can definitely hear something. I think there's a large group of people imprisoned somewhere nearby."
Zuko and Katara exchanged stares. "I'm not going to doubt you, Toph," Katara then said decisively, ignoring Sokka's objections. "After all, your senses saved us from the Combustion Man. Do you think you could lead us to where these people are held?"
"I think so... I'm willing to try," Toph said, rising from the ground, the others getting up to follow her. She began to make her way further into the forest, easily picking her way, not caring that the forest was mired in darkness. The Water Tribe siblings chose to stick close to Zuko as he used his firebending to light the path for them all.
"What sort of creepy place did you have us land, Zuko?" Sokka complained as they followed Toph further into the forest, the ground gradually starting to rise.
"It was the closest island to Shuhon," Zuko said. After fleeing the Fire Fountain City in a hurry, they had been flying for more than a day with no breaks, reaching their next destination a couple of hours before nightfall, and just in time before Appa became too exhausted. Under the cover of night, they had set up a camp in the middle of a thick forest, making a campfire so that Katara could do some quick cooking, and after finally enjoying a hot meal, they had decided to pass time telling ghost stories before retiring for the night.
"Anyway, there shouldn't be anything special about this island," Zuko continued. "It's mostly covered by a forest, and I know there's some village nearby, but it's quite small and doesn't appear on most maps."
"Maybe there's some underground Fire Nation prison camp?" Sokka wondered.
"I would have heard of that," Zuko shrugged. "Unless it was built only recently, of course..." he added.
"What are you sensing, Toph?" Katara asked their earthbending friend.
"The voices are becoming louder, I think we're on the right path," Toph replied. "There!" she exclaimed as they emerged from the sparse underbrush, Toph pointing up a steep mountain path. "Let's go!" the young earthbender began running up the path, the others hot on her heels, and soon they arrived at the mouth of a dark and ominous looking mountain cave.
"Is this the place?" Zuko asked. Toph nodded, wasting no time to enter the cave, the others quickly following. After a bit of walking traversing the weaving passage, they suddenly came upon an iron shod wooden door, blocking their path.
"I knew this would come in handy," Toph said, removing the bracelet she had made for herself from the leftover meteorite chunks used to create Sokka's sword. She quickly molded the bracelet into the shape of a key until it became the right fit for the hole, easily opening the door. Shortly afterwards, the passage began to widen, becoming a large cavern, and what they saw contained within made the entire group of four stop and gasp from shock and surprise. There, chained to the walls and pillars of stone, stood at least a dozen of miserable and desperate looking Fire Nation citizens.
"We're saved!" one of the imprisoned men cheered at their would-be saviors. The others, men and women of different ages, all looked hopeful and relieved at seeing them.
"Who imprisoned you here?" Katara asked.
"It was a witch!" one of the elderly prisoners exclaimed.
"A witch?" Sokka blinked. "What do you mean?"
"She seems like a normal old woman," a younger girl of maybe eighteen or nineteen began to explain. "But she can control people. Like... like some dark puppet master!"
"I know who's behind it!" one of the men further at the back shouted. "It's old Hama! The innkeeper! She's the one who's been doing this!" The others all began to murmur in assent.
"Well, we're going to set you free and then you can report her to the village authorities," Sokka spoke reassuringly. "Toph, can you deal with their chains, please?"
"Sure thing, Snoozles," Toph nodded, about to start her work on freeing the prisoners, when Katara stopped her.
"Toph, everyone? A quick word, please," she spoke quickly, dragging the others away from the large cavern, ignoring the perplexed looks of the poor prisoners.
"Uh... what's up, Katara?" Sokka blinked at his sister, looking confused. "Don't tell me we're not freeing them... for some weird reason?"
"Let's think about this first, Sokka," Katara said thoughtfully. "Obviously, this Hama is not a witch, there is no such thing as a witch. So, she must be somehow using bending to... control these people? I don't know how that would even work, but it sounds... very powerful?"
"In that case, we should try and learn more about it. We're going to need every little advantage we can get when we face the Fire Army during the invasion," Zuko nodded in agreement, quickly realizing where Katara was going with this.
"I still don't get what you're trying to say, Katara," Sokka frowned, looking disapproving.
"She wants to see if we can learn these bending tricks from old Hama," Toph also correctly guessed Katara's plan. "It's not a bad idea, Snoozles. I don't think it has anything to do with earthbending, though. Or firebending... sorry, Sparky."
"No, you're right, Toph," Zuko nodded. "It's most likely some form of waterbending, in which case... I think Katara is right. Maybe we can somehow gain the trust of this old innkeeper, and then she could teach it to Katara."
"That's crazy!" Sokka exclaimed. "This Hama is clearly evil! We shouldn't be learning anything from her!"
"That's childish, Sokka," Katara frowned. "I don't think any form of bending is evil, it's how you use it. You can use it for evil, like she's doing, imprisoning these poor people, or you can use it for good, like... defeating the Fire Lord, perhaps?"
"Hmm... good point, I guess," Sokka frowned. "I still don't like it, though."
"Your objections are duly noted, Sokka," Katara replied sternly. "But you said you would follow my lead. Have you reconsidered already?"
"Ugh, no... fine, we'll do as you suggest, Katara," Sokka finally acceded. "So, what's your plan? We go and confront this Hama?"
"I think we should be more subtle than that," Zuko suggested. "We could pretend to be travelers, on their way to a festival in the Fire Fountain City, looking to rent a room at her inn. Then we could strike up a conversation with her and try to get her to warm up to us."
"I like that idea, Zuko," Katara smiled approvingly. "Also... maybe it would be best if not all of us went to the inn? Maybe Sokka and Toph should stay behind and look after the prisoners."
"Why do you always want to bring Zuko with you?" Sokka peered suspiciously at his sister. "Maybe I should go with you."
"Well, Zuko is from the Fire Nation, so it just makes sense to have him along when we're talking with other Fire Nation citizens, right?" Katara shrugged. "Also, I was, uh, thinking..." she blushed slightly. "That we could pretend to be a couple. You know, just to make the story more credible!"
"Umm, sure... we can do that..." Zuko replied, also blushing a little.
"Are you sure you still want to go in Zuko's place and pretend that you're my boyfriend, Sokka?" Katara gave her brother a pointed stare.
"Gah! What a horrible thought!" Sokka made a disgusted face. "Fine, I'll stay behind with Toph. How about we go back to the camp and bring some extra food and water for the prisoners, Toph?" he asked, sounding excited about helping the hapless victims. "We just need to be careful about not running into Hama. And we'll also have to explain to the prisoners that we won't be freeing them right away."
"All that sounds good, Snoozles," Toph shrugged. "We shouldn't be in any danger from this creepy old witch sneaking up on us, my feet will sense her a mile away out here."
"Good, then it's settled," Katara said decisively. "Zuko and I will set out for the village immediately. It's about time we met this Hama..."
It took Katara and Zuko more than an hour to locate the small coastal village and then find Hama's inn on an elevation slightly above the settlement. By the time they found themselves standing on the doorstep of the inn, the hour had turned very late, at least three hours past the midnight. "I hope barging in at such late hour doesn't instantly make her angry with us," Zuko sighed.
"Nothing we can do about that," Katara shrugged, stepping forward to knock on the door. There was no reaction to the first, second or third knock. Only after the fourth knock, did the door finally opened, revealing an ancient grizzled crone on the other side.
"Why are you disturbing old Hama at such late hour, children?" she asked in a rasping voice, sounding rather annoyed. "Shouldn't you be back home with your parents?"
"I'm sorry, ma'am," Zuko bowed politely. "My girlfriend and I are just passing through on our way to the Fire Fountain City."
"Ah yes, one of those fancy festivals there, I don't know why young people are so eager to go there, it's all one big sham," Hama grumbled.
"I think so too, ma'am, but my boyfriend really loves them," Katara joined the conversation. Curiously, Hama seemed to perk up instantly upon hearing her voice. "Anyway, we were really hoping that you could put us up for the night. Everyone else in the village shut their doors on us..."
"Typical villagers," Hama frowned, looking angry. "I'm not at all surprised. Well... I do have one room left to give out. It's a small one, hope you don't mind a bit of squeezing."
"I'm sure we'll be alright, ma'am," Katara spoke, appearing grateful.
"Yes, thank you so much, ma'am," Zuko added with a polite bow.
"Well, come right in then," Hama said, opening the doors wider for them and allowing them to enter the slightly worn down, but still reasonably maintained dwelling. "And none of this ma'am nonsense, the name is Hama. Call me by it," she grumbled, leading Katara and Zuko up the stairs, towards their small but comfortable looking room.
"Thank you, Hama," Katara replied politely. "By the way, my name is Katara, and this is Zuko," she added, feeling comfortable about using their real names so far out in the Fire Nation backwater.
"Katara, an interesting name, yes," Hama mused to herself, appearing intrigued. "I'll leave you to rest now, children. Hope you'll like your room," she said, unlocking the room and giving Katara the key. "I'll see you in the morning. I'll fix you up with a nice, nurturing breakfast." With that, Hama turned to hobble back downstairs, leaving Zuko and Katara to inspect their room.
"I'll take the floor," Zuko gallantly offered as soon as Hama was out of the earshot, with the doors to their room closed behind her.
"Really? I don't think you need to," Katara shrugged, looking at the single bed in the room. "I mean... the bed is not that small. We can sleep side by side and hardly be touching."
"If you're sure," Zuko still looked a little hesitant.
"I'm sure it will be fine," Katara nodded, then letting out a yawn as she kicked off her sandals and slipped into the bed. "It's been a wild day, hasn't it? I'm starting to feel really sleepy."
"I know what you mean," Zuko smiled at her. Before getting into the bed, he took off his long robe and removed his boots, remaining in his baggy trousers and sleeveless shirt. Settling onto the bed, with both of them resting on their backs, their shoulders and hips touched lightly, but otherwise, there was plenty of room for them both. "So... what do you think of old Hama so far? She seemed pretty intrigued by you, didn't she?"
"Yes... which is a good thing, right?" Katara asked, receiving a thoughtful nod from Zuko. "Also, there's something about her that I can't quite put my finger on... not yet. Something familiar..."
"I just hope we haven't gotten ourselves into more trouble than we can handle," Zuko sighed.
"It'll be fine, don't worry," Katara replied, then falling silent. Zuko thought that she had already fallen asleep, but then she surprised him by suddenly letting out an unexpected chuckle.
"What?" Zuko turned to look at her.
"Oh, nothing... just thought of something funny," she blushed a little as she replied, elaborating only a while later. "I just realized that this is the first time I share bed with a boy. It... somehow feels weird that it's you, and at the same time... maybe not so weird. I don't know... I guess I'm not making any sense," she blushed at him again.
"Hmm, I think this is also the first for me," Zuko confessed a moment later, Katara looking at him with great surprise. "What, you thought I've been making girlfriends everywhere I go, or something? I'm not that kind of a guy..."
"Well, I didn't mean necessarily like that, but... I thought you'd be more experienced than me, for sure," Katara smiled.
"I did have a girlfriend back at Capital City before I was exiled, but... I was thirteen and she was twelve, does that really count? Back then I still thought that kissing girls was icky," Zuko shrugged. "I think she was being groomed by her parents to eventually marry me... well, that's not happening."
"Did you like her at all?" Katara asked.
"I'm not sure... I guess Mai was alright," Zuko replied. "She was a little dull, never wanted to do anything. She loved to sit idle all day and order the servants around."
"Not terribly exciting," Katara nodded in agreement. "And the past three years, nothing? All you've done has been trying to find the Avatar?"
"Pretty much," Zuko shrugged. "Oh no, wait... there was this one time my uncle set me up with a date back at Ba Sing Se. She was a really sweet girl, but... well, that would have never worked." Katara nodded in understanding, falling silent again. "So... isn't this where you open up about your own past experiences?" he asked, lightly bumping against her shoulder.
"Nope," Katara shook her head. "Girls don't discuss their exes like that."
Zuko let out a frustrated sigh. "You can be pretty annoying when you want to be, you know that, right?"
"I know," Katara replied smugly. "But I think you like that in a girl."
"Hmm... yes," Zuko said thoughtfully, smiling to himself as he closed his eyes. "Yes, I suppose I do."