Chapter 4

4 Years after the Hundred Year War
Mount Makapu

By the time they reached the large volcanic island just off the eastern shore of Mo Ce Sea, Azula had finally come up with a plan. Honestly, she was a little surprised that she hadn't thought of it immediately. The Dai Li were after her, and it didn't seem that they had any intention of stopping. Perhaps Katara thought that they could either ignore or evade them, but that was not Azula's style. Fleeing from this shadowy earthbending cabal like a whipped dog, Azula's honor would not allow it. No, she needed to go after them and eradicate this threat for good.

That meant traveling to Ba Sing Se and tracking down the source of this plot against her. Obviously, Katara would oppose this idea of hers, which left Azula with only two options. Either she took Katara down and went at it all by herself, or she actually managed to convince the waterbender to go along with her plan. Obviously, it wasn't as if she needed Katara, Azula was perfectly fine dealing with the Dai Li all by herself. But all things considered, fighting Katara was not in her best interests. Azula freely admitted that she wasn't at her best, and while it irritated her to even make such an admission, she knew that the outcome of her duel with Katara was not at all certain.

Besides, Katara was extremely determined to get her to the North Pole. Azula realized that she would probably have to do some serious damage to take Katara out. Leaving the waterbender severely injured or worse, was... well, that would not bode well for Azula. Her boyfriend would most likely freak out, and as much as she had enjoyed kicking Aang's bony little airbender ass in the past, she definitely did not want to be on the Avatar's shit-list now.

So, this was where Azula's new plan left her. She would first try to convince Katara that they should head to Ba Sing Se instead of the North Pole. If that didn't work, well... perhaps this was always meant to end in a bending duel. As Azula was still putting together the last few details of her plot, Katara was standing nearby with her feet firmly planted in the fine sand of the beach of the volcanic island. The waterbender was looking around with a slight smile playing on her lips, as if the surroundings held some pleasant memories for her.

"We need to talk," Azula wasted no time as she walked up to the other girl.

"What is it, Azula?" Katara looked at her inquiringly.

"We're not going to the North Pole," Azula stated.

"Not this again," Katara sighed. She widened her stance, preparing herself for waterbending if necessary.

"Just hear me out first, will you?" Azula glared at her. "Look, I can't just leave these Dai Li attacks without any response. I know how they operate and I know they won't stop hounding us. Do you think their reach for some reason won't extend to the North?"

"Between the two of us, I'm quite sure we can handle everything the Dai Li throw at us," Katara shrugged.

"And how long do you intend to play this role of my guardian?" Azula snorted. "Because the Dai Li don't rescind their orders until they're completed."

Katara frowned slightly, but said nothing, deep in thought. "I'll ask Aang to look into it," she eventually replied.

"Like he cares what the Dai Li want with me," Azula laughed. "Look, they have insulted me with their attacks! I should be the one to respond! My honor demands it!"

"Your honor demands," Katara smiled. "Where have I heard that before? You know, maybe you and Zuko aren't so different after all."

"Ugh, you completely missed the point I was trying to make!" Azula threw her arms in the air, frustrated.

"I know," Katara smirked. "I will admit, you do bring up a point I have been considering. The Dai Li have not been interested in you for four years, but suddenly there has been a renewed interest. I wonder what could be the reason for it."

"I'm pretty sure I have a good idea," Azula shrugged. "There's only one man among the Dai Li who holds a special grudge for me. Only he could be behind such targeted effort to take me down."

"You mean Long Feng?" Katara gasped, Azula nodding at her. "That can't be right. He was barred from ever again holding office! He was supposed to go into retirement and become a chicken farmer in some remote village in the southern Earth Kingdom!"

"Ah, poor naive waterbender, you have no idea how secret societies and networks operate, do you," Azula chuckled at the other girl. "I'm sure it has taken him a while to restore his influence among the Dai Li once again, but I'll bet my royal title that it's him pulling strings from the shadows once again."

"You could be right, Azula," Katara admitted reluctantly. "I hate to say it, but Earth King Kuei is not the most... inspiring or decisive leader. He probably wouldn't even notice it if Long Feng was manipulating him yet again."

"Exactly," Azula nodded, sensing her chance to convince Katara. "See, this is why you should let me go to Ba Sing Se. I'll take care of Long Feng. You should want that, right? I mean, if he's still running around and causing problems, manipulating the Earth King, that's also on you and the Avatar, right? You probably thought you had resolved that issue for good, but you clearly haven't."

"Yes, if Long Feng and the Dai Li are putting pressure on King Kuei, and if Long Feng seeks personal vendetta against you, then we should stop it," Katara frowned. "But if I were to agree with this Ba Sing Se plan, don't even dream that I would let you go there alone. If I were to agree, I'd be going along. Like you said, it's my responsibility to make sure that Long Feng causes no more trouble."

Azula barely restrained herself from breaking out in a victorious smile, feeling like she had succeeded at convincing Katara. Sure, she still insisted on coming along, but... well, maybe that was not the worst outcome. Azula would have preferred to travel on her own, but perhaps some extra bending power might come in handy when it came to facing dozens and dozens of earthbenders on their turf. She knew that Katara could hold her own in a battle, and she had probably improved further since their last confrontation, while Azula had to admit that her skills had stagnated and become rusty with the lack of exercise.

Not to mention that Katara actually didn't seem like a particularly annoying traveling companion, something that surprised Azula a great deal. She had endured Ty Lee's airheaded chatter and Mai's insufferable indifference and constant sighs over the years. Katara actually seemed like an improvement over her former friends, turned traitors. Katara kept quiet for the most part, and when she spoke, it was always about something related to practical concerns. Katara seemed like someone who was very focused on what she was doing, and that sat just fine with Azula.

"So?" Azula asked a while later when Katara still appeared to be deep in thought. "Ba Sing Se it is?"

"I think we should wait for Aang and Sokka to return," Katara's reply surprised her. Azula hadn't expected this. Needless to say, this was not to her benefit. "They would want to be a part of this, I'm sure."

"That's... that's a terrible idea, Katara," Azula had to think quickly. The waterbender gave her a curious stare. "This should be a stealth mission. Infiltration. You know, similar to how I conquered Ba Sing Se," she added with a proud grin. "The Avatar attracts way too much attention. If the Dai Li spot him or your bison, Long Feng and his fellow conspirators will just disappear in a puff of smoke."

"Hmm," Katara frowned. Azula could see that she was struggling to go along with what she was proposing, obviously suspecting Azula of some kind of secret ploy. She was correct, of course.

"With a bit of makeup, the two of us will appear like simple and unassuming Earth Kingdom ladies," Azula added quickly.

"Alright," Katara eventually nodded. "I'll agree to your proposal on one condition. After we are done in Ba Sing Se, you will follow me to the North Pole with no further arguments."

"Ugh... fine, I agree," Azula made sure to appear reluctant when she spoke. Obviously, she had no intention of ever going to the North Pole. It should be easier than easy to dump Katara once she no longer needed her support in Ba Sing Se. "We're quite a way from Ba Sing Se, aren't we," she added conversationally.

"You could say that again," Katara nodded. "We'll need plenty of supplies for the road, but fortunately your brother was kind enough to provide me with money," she patted a particularly thick money belt around her waist. "Do you recognize the mountain?" she pointed at the large volcano nearby.

"Mount Makapu, right?" Azula smirked.

"Exactly, which means we're close to Aunt Wu's village," Katara smiled. "Let's pay the villagers a visit and get ourselves resupplied."

A couple of hours later, Katara found herself sitting in a free stall at the nearby market, busy compiling a letter addressed to Fire Lord Zuko. In order to be able to gather her thoughts, she had given Azula some of the money and asked her to secure specific supplies for their journey east, ensuring that she would have time to write the later without Azula bothering her or peering over her shoulder. Now that she had agreed to Azula's plan to travel to Ba Sing Se, Katara knew that she no longer had to fear about Azula trying to escape. No, Azula firmly believed that she had managed to completely convince Katara and sell the idea to her.

Obviously, nothing could be farther from the truth. Of course, Katara was also interested in stopping Long Feng if he truly was behind these attempts on Azula's life. But Katara was absolutely certain that there was more to Azula's plan than the princess had shared with her. She knew she could not trust anything out of Azula's mouth. At some point, Azula would probably try to spring some surprise on her, and she needed to be ready for it, but most likely it would come only after they had dealt with the Dai Li.

Was she taking too many risks by agreeing to Azula's plan? Probably. However, with great risks came great opportunities. They would spend many weeks, even months, on the road to Ba Sing Se. If Katara could use it to learn more about how Azula's mind worked, perhaps even forge some kind of bond with the princess, surely it would all be extremely helpful in her eventual healing process. Katara felt like this was a risk she was almost obliged to take.

So far, things had worked out even better than she had hoped... well, aside from their initial plan of traveling to Republic City getting derailed. She had expected Azula to be more aggressive and confrontational, but thus far, it hadn't been too bad. She felt like Azula was in the process of probing her for some weak points, something to use against her. Just because the princess had been somewhat amiable up to this point definitely did not mean that Katara could lower her guard.

Katara still felt a little surreal about the whole situation in which she found herself. Did she truly believe that Azula could be healed, even redeemed? It seemed laughable at face value, yet, hadn't she felt the same about Zuko for the longest while? Azula had done terrible things, certainly, she had nearly killed both Aang and Zuko, and yet... Katara had never harbored the kind of deep, personal hatred she held against Zuko after he had betrayed them in the Crystal Catacombs. After she had personally reached out to him and felt them establish a bond, what Zuko had done felt unforgivable, and she had struggled to forgive him for so very long. She disliked Azula for the horrible things she had done, but emotionally it felt on a different level. And if she had been able to forgive Zuko, did that mean that she could potentially forgive Azula as well?

Frowning, Katara shook her head, forcing herself to return to the letter she was compiling for Zuko. She had already described their first encounter with the Dai Li and asked him to apprehend the crew of the fishing ship that had sold Azula out to the Dai Li. She continued the letter, describing that they would now be taking a detour on their way to the North Pole because Republic City was likely teeming with the Dai Li agents.

Katara chewed on her lower lip, pondering whether to tell Zuko that their detour would involve traveling all the way to Ba Sing Se to confront the Dai Li and discover whether Long Feng was in any way involved with this conspiracy. In the end, Katara decided against mentioning it. She knew it would only serve to make Zuko worried, and with everything the young Fire Lord already had on his plate, Katara did not want to add to that. He would just freak out about her and Azula's safety, and probably also worry about them causing a disastrous diplomatic incident in Ba Sing Se. Which was probably a likely outcome, all things considered...

She was still wondering whether to add anything else to the short letter before seeking out someone to deliver it, when an approaching figure blocked out the sunlight, forcing Katara to look upwards and instantly recognize the intruder. The elderly grey-haired lady had so much makeup on her face that Katara wondered whether she was planning to enlist as a Kyoshi Warrior.

"Well, well, if it isn't a familiar face?" Auntie Wu smiled kindly at her. "You're that girl who was traveling with the young Avatar, aren't you? Katara, I believe."

"I'm flattered that you still remember me, Auntie Wu," Katara smiled at the elderly woman. Charlatan though she was, Katara never begrudged her too much, there was no direct malice to her actions as far as Katara was concerned. She did not charge money and did not rob the villagers of their hard-earned coins, after all.

"With how many times you called on me, it was impossible not to memorize your name," Aunt Wu chuckled.

"Yes, I suppose I was a little obsessed with your readings," Katara admitted. "How are you, Aunt Wu? The villagers have not chased you off with pitchforks, so I'm guessing they still hold you in high esteem?"

"And for a good reason," Aunt Wu grinned at her. "My readings always come true, after all. At least that's what the villagers say, and who am I to argue?"

"Please, Aunt Wu, I know you only told me what I wanted to hear," Katara snorted.

"Certainly, I did rearrange some parts of your reading," Aunt Wu admitted. "But most of it will come true, mark my words, young Katara."

"Right," Katara laughed. "I don't suppose you're going to tell me which part of the reading will come true and which part won't."

"The part that you will marry a powerful bender will come true sooner or later, Katara," Aunt Wu smiled knowingly at her. "But when I told you what a great man he would be, and how many children you would have together, I merely told you what all girls at that age want to hear. The truth is that the powerful bender I saw you marrying in my reading wasn't even a man."

With a quiet chuckle, Aunt Wu walked away, leaving Katara sitting there with a completely astonished look on her face.