Chapter 34 – Southward Bound
Their escape from the Fire Nation proved a somber and dull affair, in stark contrast with everything that fate had put them through earlier. Stopping at the Fire Fountain City to resupply, they eventually reached the mainland Earth Kingdom on the fourth day of they journey since leaving the Fire Nation Capital. They said their farewells to Azula and Ty Lee at a place not far from Haru's village. Truth be told, only Zuko said truly heartfelt goodbyes to the two girls, the others confining themselves to brusque nods.
Azula and Ty Lee remained tight-lipped about their plans for the future, although it was most likely that they simply had not formed any such plans yet. There had been no scuffles and arguments during their travel on Appa's back, the two girls mostly keeping to themselves, and occasionally Zuko would join them for a chat, but never spending too much time in their presence, as it caused the suspicious frown on Katara's face to become positively icy. At least nobody had put up any protests when Zuko insisted on making sure that Azula and Ty Lee would depart well supplied with backpacks stuffed with non-perishable foodstuffs, spare clothes, a comfortable tent and a decent allotment of gold coins.
Now, with their former adversaries heading further inland into the Earth Kingdom, the group on Appa's back resumed their southward journey, keeping close to the coastline at all times, as it gave them the opportunity to rest Appa and set up a campsite on a short notice. At the end of the day, they made their camp on the beach not too far from the Earth Kingdom military outpost once overseen by the infamous General Fong. With the campsite set up, somehow it fell to Suki to do the cooking tonight, as Katara appeared elsewhere in her thoughts, sitting all by herself and occasionally unsettling a perplexed Zuko when he caught a cold glare sent his way.
"Would the two of you just talk out whatever it is that's making you so bloody tense?" Toph finally could not take it anymore and all but shouted, startling everyone around the campfire. "And you're the worst of all, Katara! It really bugs me, the way you're seething."
"I'm not… ugh! Fine, you're right," Katara grumbled, looking annoyed. "Zuko, I need a word with you."
Zuko rose from his spot with an inward sigh. He knew they were due this conversation, and it was only the presence of Azula and Ty Lee that had delayed it, but now that they were gone, Katara clearly wanted a piece of him for what had happened during their ambush on the Fire Lord. "Of course," he merely nodded, looking around the beach and then pointing at an old wreck of a fishing ship further up the shore, a barrier to provide them with some privacy.
"Good luck, Sparky, hope you're coming back in one piece," Toph chuckled as Zuko and Katara walked off. "If not, well... just know that I'm going to miss you, alright?"
"Very funny, Toph," Zuko sighed, following Katara, the waterbender walking ahead of him in a brisk, angry pace.
"You know why I'm upset, right?" Katara immediately turned on him the moment they had rounded the old wreck. "You were in contact with Azula the whole time! Do you really think I'd be so stupid to believe that they just happened to show up during our fight with the Fire Lord?"
"No, I definitely expected you to put two and two together," Zuko freely admitted.
"You realized that I would know that you had lied to me and you still did it?" Katara glared at him. "I guess I must mean so little to you, then. The promise you gave to me didn't matter."
"You mean everything to me, Katara, but so does my sister," Zuko argued back. "And I didn't break my promise to you. I stood with you until the end."
"Only because like a fool I relented and broke my own promise to kill her!" Katara shouted. "If I had tried to take her out, tell me that you wouldn't have attacked me."
Zuko shuddered from that horrible mental image. "Never! I could never harm you, Katara," he exclaimed passionately. "At most, I would have tried to restrain you without causing you any harm. But... I was also prepared to trade my own life for Azula's."
Now it was Katara's turn to look horrified. "I would have never accepted such a tradeoff, Zuko, don't you understand that?" she gasped.
"I thought so, but I reasoned that it would make you see how much I was willing to give to save my sister," Zuko said simply. "Katara, you have to admit that I was right. Azula never planned to betray us. She has changed, the same way as I have. And because of the mercy you showed her, she will now be able to create a new path for herself, instead of following the road of destruction ordained by our father."
"That's all good and well, Zuko," Katara took a deep breath. "But it doesn't change the reason why I'm so angry with you. You kept the truth from me. That's as good as lying, Zuko. How can I trust you after all of this?"
"I understand," Zuko sighed. "But you must also understand why I did it." Katara kept her lips knit stubbornly, refusing to look at him. "And Katara... you haven't been entirely honest with me, either."
"What do you mean?" she glared.
"I mean the way you used my feelings for you to try and keep me on your side," Zuko said. He wasn't entirely certain that this was what had happened, but it was a gut feeling, and he decided to go with it. And the look on Katara's face as she took in his words, instantly convinced him that he was right. "I understand that you were afraid, but... that was still a really shitty thing to do."
The transformation on her face was almost immediate, and it broke Zuko's heart. In an instant, the angry, defiant, almost scary Katara was gone, replaced with a confused, tearful and forlorn looking young girl. "I don't know what I'm doing anymore, Zuko," she choked out the words. "I was so scared to lose you... and I really, really like you, Zuko. No, screw that, I... I love you, but... I keep going about things in the wrong way. I'm messing everything up..."
"Hey... hey, Katara. I'm still here, aren't I?" he kneeled next to her, lifting up her chin and looking into her tear-stained eyes. "We really need to learn how to talk to one another like normal people do, though. Or else this will be really hard to pull off."
"Do you... still want to..." she hiccupped while speaking, turning away in embarrassment.
"Of course," Zuko smiled encouragingly at her. "I love you too, Katara. I told you before, we're linked forever by what happened beneath Ba Sing Se. We just need to figure out a way to have a healthy relationship. It's probably going to take some serious work by the both of us, but I'm willing to try."
"Me too," Katara nodded with relief, finally having been able to stop her hiccupping. "I don't think this would be so hard for me, if not for everything that has happened lately, starting with Aang's death. It's like... I sometimes don't even know right from wrong anymore."
"We've been through way too much to remain unaffected," Zuko agreed. "We need to focus on healing from everything we've been through." He reached out and brushed her cheek with the back of his hand. "This other stuff... our relationship, it can wait until we're both ready for it. I'm not going anywhere, and I'll wait for as long as it takes. And it's not like I don't have to deal with some things on my own before I'm no longer constantly plagued by nightmares," he sighed. That horrible memory of Mai consumed by flames leaping from his hands was probably the worst of them all. It still woke him up at least once every night.
"I hope it will help me to be back with the tribe," Katara sighed wistfully. She then shot Zuko a concerned look. "I'm sorry that it might be a frustrating experience for you and Toph. There might be people in my village that will not show you kindness. I can't even be sure how Gran-Gran will react."
"I'll be fine, Katara, don't worry about me," Zuko smiled reassuringly at her. "I'm sure that your father and Sokka will do their best to make sure that there are no tensions. Still... just to make sure that we do not create any ill will, perhaps it would be wise if we kept our true feelings for one another hidden while we're in the South. We can focus on being supportive friends while things calm down, inside us and all around us."
"That's... probably wise," Katara admitted, albeit slightly reluctantly. She then chuckled ruefully. "No, you're absolutely right, Zuko. I don't think my father or Gran-Gran are ready to accept you as my Fire Nation boyfriend. Not yet, anyway."
"We won't have to pretend all the time. And we'll always know what we mean to each other," Zuko smiled at her, then leaning in to kiss her softly on the lips.
"Thank you, Zuko," she looked at him gratefully once they had parted. "Earlier, in my mind, this conversation went a lot worse. I thought we'd walk away hating one another. Spirits, when did I become such a dramatic fool who has forgotten to actually talk about what bothers her, and instead accepts the worst-case scenario as inevitable?"
Zuko chuckled softly. "Katara, all you need is to return home and rediscover yourself," he smiled at her. "Now... are you ready to rejoin the others?"
"Yes, let's go," Katara rose with a smile on her lips. "Toph will be pleasantly surprised that you're able to walk on your own accord."
"Hey, I'm pleasantly surprised about that," Zuko grinned, making Katara laugh out loud.
"Well, what do you know, you're back and looking like you should have had that talk a long time ago," Suki rolled her eyes at seeing them approach the campsite while chatting amiably. She handed them both bowls of bubbling, steaming stew. "Who knew that people could sometimes resolve their differences by something as radical as talking?" Zuko and Katara both chuckled guiltily at Suki's comment.
"Talking, bah!" Toph scowled darkly. "I prefer to resolve my differences by chucking boulders at the other guy. It's a pretty convincing argument if you ask me."
"I'm pretty sure that's why none of us ever argues with you, Toph," Zuko laughed.
"My point exactly, Sparky!" Toph grinned back at him. "My point exactly!"
"Anyway," Suki spoke up, having licked her spoon clean. "Tomorrow we should be able to reach Kyoshi Island... and maybe even up to one of the islands further south."
"I know of some trading posts on those islands. It's where the people of my tribe exchange goods with Earth Kingdom traders," Katara pointed out. "We can get some appropriate clothes there."
"You took the words right out of my mouth, Katara," Suki smiled at the waterbender. "And some buffalo yak skin boots for us all. I can't wait to see how Toph looks wearing her pretty new boots."
"Suki," Toph said warningly. "Remember, me earthbender. That means giant rocks flying your way if you annoy me. Hope you're as good at dodging as you think you are."
"We know you're not looking forward to staying in the South, Toph, but we're going to do everything we can to make it more comfortable for you, I promise that much," Katara said softly. Toph merely shrugged at that, not wanting to make a bigger issue out of it.
"Well, I'm definitely looking forward to reaching the South Pole as soon as possible," Suki sighed wistfully. "No guesses as to why. I just wish that my sisters didn't have to spend more time behind bars... when do you think we can expect some news from the Fire Nation to reach us in the South?"
"It could be a while, unfortunately," Katara remarked. "It's usually the traders who deliver the news from the outside world. It could be up to a month, I'm afraid."
"Ugh," Suki winced. "That's going to make me feel really guilty."
"Suki, even if we had saved your sisters, we couldn't have taken all of them on Appa's back," Zuko pointed out. "It would have been the same problem as on the Boiling Rock, really."
"Oh, right..." Suki sighed. "Well, I just hope that when the traders arrive, they will bring news of your uncle having taken over the Fire Nation, and I can send my letter to him."
"I hope so as well," Zuko nodded. "It would be really bad if some military dictatorship would instead rise from the ashes of my father's regime."
"Wait, what?" Suki gulped, looking at Zuko wide-eyed. "That's a possibility?"
"Well... I guess it is," Zuko shrugged. "Not very likely though."
"You don't sound overly convinced, Zuko," Katara spoke up, sounding worried.
"That's because I have no way of knowing what happened after we left," Zuko replied. "The only way for us to be sure would have been to remain in the Fire Nation and fight their entire army into submission and force its surrender. We... didn't want to do that, right?"
"Probably not," Suki reluctantly agreed. "Still... now I feel like a stupid teenager who does crazy stuff on a whim without really thinking through the consequences."
"Maybe because that's who we are..." Toph added with a hearty laughter, however, nobody else appeared quite as amused as the young earthbender.
"Hey, Azula?" Ty Lee called out as the two of them were traversing a steep and rocky path, leading them further inland.
"Yes?" Azula replied, walking ahead of her cheerful looking companion.
"You haven't even told me where we're headed!" Ty Lee exclaimed.
"That's right," Azula smirked to herself.
"Nope, that's not fair!" Ty Lee argued, pouting.
"Well... where do you want to go, Ty Lee?" the ex-princess asked.
"Uh... I guess I don't really care," Ty Lee shrugged, having pondered the dilemma for a while. "As long as we're together," she added with a blush on her cheeks.
"You sap," Azula chuckled. "Well, in that case, let's just go with my plan. What we want is a place that's really busy, provides plenty of opportunities and where it's easy to disappear and meld in with the crowds. Ba Sing Se sounds perfect to me."
"Ba Sing Se, are you sure?" Ty Lee asked nervously. "Aren't there a lot of people in Ba Sing Se upset with you?"
"I'm sure they have plenty of other things to worry about by now," Azula shrugged, not looking particularly worried. "And even if someone were to recognize me, what are they going to do? Threaten me? We don't have to fear anyone, Ty Lee."
"Well, I guess that's true," Ty Lee agreed. "And I like Ba Sing Se, it's so... lively and colorful! But what are we going to do there?"
"Whatever we want," Azula replied.
"We're both only fifteen, we should probably be in school," Ty Lee giggled.
"Why? What can school teach us that real life hasn't already taught us?" Azula shrugged. Then she realized what she had said and winced bitterly. "Ugh, I sounded like my uncle just then."
Ty Lee snorted, amused. "The famous philosopher princess, Azula!"
"Oh, shush, Ty Lee," Azula mock-glared at her friend. "Anyway, I'm sure we'll find plenty of things to do in Ba Sing Se. We should probably start by focusing on a way to make some money. Zuzu's generosity makes for a good start, but we'll need more. And we're both girls with very unique talents, we should be able to find employment very easily."
"What do you mean?" Ty Lee frowned.
"I mean, I'm the best firebender this world has ever seen, and you're the best acrobat and chi-blocker around," Azula replied.
"Yeah, I guess, but who would be interested to employ a firebender and a chi-blocker?" Ty Lee wondered.
"I'm sure there will be plenty of people who have a need for our services, and who are willing to part with plenty of coins," Azula shrugged. "We can hire out as mercenaries. Or bounty hunters."
"That sounds a little rough," Ty Lee scowled. "I was hoping… maybe we could try doing something more, I don't know, honest?"
"Like what, serving tea?" Azula rolled her eyes. "Besides, honest work doesn't pay. And why would we be stuck doing something so mundane when we have all these amazing skills that could earn us a fortune?"
"Hmm... well, that's true," Ty Lee admitted after a while spent pondering. "And I do like the idea of being paid a lot of money and being able to afford nice things!"
"I knew you would see things my way, Ty Lee," Azula turned around to grin at her plucky companion.
"Do you think we'll be able to afford a nice, large estate?" Ty Lee asked hopefully.
"In time, certainly," Azula replied. "Why do you ask?"
"Because I'll want pets. All sorts of pets. Lots of them!" Ty Lee gushed dreamily.
"Agni, I can see myself loving this already," Azula groaned, shaking her head. Still, the smile never truly left her lips as the two girls continued their journey further inland.