Chapter 44: Siege of the North, Part 6

Checkpoint

Outskirts of Agna Q'ela

While half of the gang were rifling through the contents of the cabs, Aang bent over each of the bodies and chanted prayers to the spirits, affording them some modicum of a dignified send off that would typically be seen as unnecessary and counterintuitive as not just a few minutes ago, they were trying their damndest to wipe them out wholesale. Still, Aang thought to himself, they at least deserved some form of dignity in death, so very far away from home. When he finished, Miska who had been observing him asked "You're an Air Nomad right? How do you reconcile your beliefs with the work you do?"

"What do you mean?"

"I've read your dossier. What you do for a living, working for a smuggling crew. Doesn't it bother you, that more often than not, the cargo that you transport ends up harming people?"

"What makes you think I'm not aware of that?"

"Then why do you continue to run with them?"

"If this is the price to pay for anonymity, so be it. You've read my dossier, you know why I ran from the temple in the first place. And don't even try to pull that whole 'responsibility' card on me, I didn't ever ask for it. If I could give it all up to be a regular person I would do it in a heartbeat. You might think it's a blessing, but believe me, it's not. I'll leave it at that." Aang replied, his grey eyes hardening.

"Do they know?"

"Not the whole story, but enough. Let's go, they're waiting."

Corridor

Fire Nation Embassy

Having made sure Kiyi was fast asleep, Ursa walked out into the corridor for some fresh air, and partly to escape the rather depressing atmosphere of the sick bay. Noticing it was the Water Tribe girl that was with Kiyi when they broke into the compound, she stooped to her level and asked "Hey there miss, do you want to sleep on a cot instead? There's a free one right now."

It took a moment for Katara to shake off her drowsiness and another to register that an older lady was speaking to her. Even in her somewhat dazed state, she recognized it to be Kiyi's mother and a wave of fear and guilt washed over her face.

"I-I-I sorry Mrs. Ursa, I-I-couldn't protect her-I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry." she repeated, bowing her head repeatedly.

Puzzled by her reaction, she stopped her prostrations and inquired "What are you talking about? I don't understand."

"I-can't say."

"What?"

"I can't say."

"Why can't you say?"

"You don't understand, I can't."

"I've seen, heard and done many things in my lifetime, miss. I won't say a word, I promise. Though judging by the look on your face, I assume it has something to do with your days held captive, doesn't it?"

At this, Katara merely nodded.

"I see." was all Ursa said. After what seemed to be an eternity to Katara, she asked the one question that she'd been dreading.

"Does it have something to do with how my girl ended up looking like she did?"

"Yes."

"I understand your reluctance to speak but I need to know, what happened to my daughter?"

"I-well, she-I-I-hid I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm I hid while he-he-raped her I'm sorry I'm sorry! If-if you wish to kill me, I, I won't stop you; just tell Kiyi that I'm sorry for what I've done." Katara answered, ending in a somber, calm voice as she closed her eyes and expected a blade or a bullet to strike her down.

At first, Ursa felt rage and anger at how her daughter suffered and the inaction of Katara when a small voice in her mind stopped her with the reminder:

What gives you the right to strike her down for the same mistake you made all those years ago?

She left my daughter alone with that man to be abused and raped, the emotional side argued.

And you left Zuko and Azula to have their innocence ripped and torn from them in the bloodiest of ways when you left them with Ozai, so what makes you think you have the moral high ground here?, it countered back.

Besides, the guilt she will bear for the rest of her life is punishment enough. You of all people should know this. Killing her will not and cannot restore Kiyi's innocence.

That was different, I had no choice.

She most likely didn't either.

But-

But what? Can you not see she is already paying the price for her inaction?

If Katara expected some form of physical punishment from Ursa as penance, she was surprised when instead, she was pulled into her embrace like a lost child.

"I understand now why you've been avoiding me these past few days. I should have known that furtive look you give me everytime I'm in the room, the way your shoulders sag under an invisible weight. As-as hard as it is to say, I-I'll try to forgive you. For Kiyi's sake."

"But why? You should hate me for what I did! You should-"
"Believe me, the easy thing for me would have been to kill you right here and now for letting Kiyi suffer like that. But I can't, not when I've made the same mistakes as you have. Killing you cannot bring her innocence back, it cannot undo what has been done to her. But promise me this, that you will spend the rest of your life making sure to protect whatever remnants that is left, that you will make sure this will never happen again. Understand?"

Left speechless and more than a little grateful, Katara merely hugged her tightly and sobbed her thanks into her shoulder.

Channeling her inner motherly instincts, Ursa calmed her down by stroking her back, slowly lulling her into a peaceful sleep for the first time since their capture and rescue. When she finally dozed off, Ursa carried her and placed her on the cot, which was just as well since Kiyi happened to wake up around the same time.

Blinking a few times, she rubbed her eyes to shake off the last vestiges of sleep before turning to her mother placing Katara on her cot. Taking a deep breath, she asked "Did-did Katara tell you what happened?"

"So that's her name. Yes, she did."

"You-you didn't hurt her or anything, right?"

"No, I didn't. We talked, that's about it. Are you doing okay, sweetie?"

Choosing to give her voice more time to recover, Kiyi merely nodded.

"Mom?"

"Yes sweetie?"

"If-if Zuzu or Azzie asks what happened to me, can you leave her part out of it? I don't want her to be hurt anymore than she is right now."

"Understood."

"Is there anything to eat? I'm hungry."

"Just wait here sweetie, mom will get you something to eat."

Slipping out of her cot, Kiyi stood on her wobbly legs and replied "I'm tired of being treated like a baby. If Azzie and Zuzu can go out and do what they do, so can I. Besides," she added, walking over her mother on unsteady feet, "I have a score to settle."

"What exactly are you planning to do when you get him?"

"I'm going to burn him alive for what he did to me, starting with his balls."

Council Room

Chief's Residence

Agna Q'ela

"If what you are saying is true, and that is a big if, this is a serious accusation you are leveling against the Earth Kingdom here. Spirits, if there ever was a casus belli to drag all the damned nations back into a hot war this is it right here. Please tell me you have more concrete evidence than a few green-eyed waterbenders."

"As much as we'd have liked to snoop around the compound, we got chased out by Wolves and Agni Kai members."

"So you don't have evidence, is what I'm hearing."

"Not hard proof, but the circumstantial evidence does indicate there is something fishy going on near Nuktuk Cove. It's the shortest distance between our waters and the Earth Kingdom's, makes the most sense to me if they are sending runners back and forth with rare earths and other minerals stolen from us."

"I don't see why everyone is tiptoeing around the Earth Kingdom like it's some big bad green monster. It's not like they are a competent military force."

"For someone who's former job was sneaking around and being discreet, you sure love painting a big red target on your ass. Is Sokka not clapping your asscheeks hard enough?"

"That's a nice way of saying you're the one in need of a tight spanking, you spoiled brat."

"Look who's talking, miss princess bitch."

"That's enough Bulan, I will not tolerate any more childishness from you. Learn to act your age. Miss Azula is still royalty after all, it would not do for you to embarrass me or Hahn because of your desire to intentionally rile people up. Tui and La, if this is how you act in front of me I shudder to think what type of nonsense you get up to out on deployment." Arnook interjected, disappointed in her behaviour and his temper slowly climbing.

"But dad-"

"Do not make me repeat myself." Arnook warned, making Bulan shrink into her chair. She had been only on the receiving end of his temper once, and it was not a pretty sight.

When he heard Azula snicker at Bulan's misfortune, he wheeled on her and chastised her "Even that bimbo Hou-Ting has some brain cells to not rise to every minor provocation. You are of royal stock the same as her, I expected better behaviour than this ridiculous tit for tat. Would you like me to summon your mother to discipline you?"

"N-no sir, that will not be necessary." Azula meekly replied. While part of her chafed and longed to remind Arnook that the station of High Chief was lower than that of Crown Princess (as far Azula knew, not that she kept up much with palace politics these days), the other part reminded her that not even Sokka was going to be able to spare her from getting slapped into next week by Ursa if she caught wind of it.

"Now, can we proceed without further interruptions?"

"Yes chief." they both answered in unison.

"Now, what exactly do we do if we were to capture actual EK personnel on site? After all, they might have been coerced by the Agni Kai into working for them."

"I doubt any Earth Kingdom personnel you'll find were coerced into coming up here. As to how to deal with them, that's on you. Their government would most likely disavow them or pretend they never existed."

"Hahn, do you think the embassy here in Q'ela is in the know on this?"

"If they are, it wouldn't surprise me. Though if we were to present the evidence to them, they might deny such claims as Fire Nation propaganda."

"I see. Well, it is late now, we have much to discuss tomorrow." Turning to Azula and Zuko, he told them "You both would like to check in with your mother, she is here at the embassy." Bowing to show their thanks, Zuko, Azula, Aang and Sokka left the room, followed by Bulan and Hahn.

Fire Nation Embassy

"Here's your special pass, please don't do anything stupid or reckless while you're wearing it, else I'll have to throw you all in the slammer." Hahn instructed, while handing out tags to each of them as they pulled up to the embassy.

"What does it do?"

"Gives you permission to be out past curfew hours and allows you to bypass checkpoints without inspection. Like I said, please don't be an idiot while wearing this. I'd hate to see you both swinging from your necks in the Earth King's courtyard."

"Hear that, princess?"

"I swear to Agni when this is all over I will beat you so hard you won't be walking straight for the next two weeks."

"You know where to find me."

Before the interior of the vessel could devolve into an impromptu cage match, Sokka dragged Azula out, with the rest of the gang following behind.

"Let go of my hand!"
"Not until you promise to keep your temper in check."

"Do you know who you're talking to?"

"Just promise me you'll keep your temper in check, okay?"

"Fine. Now let's go, your fiancee is freezing her butt off out here."

"Does this mean-"
"No Sokka, keep your hands to yourself, unless you want my mother to feed you to the arctic sharks."

Passing through the checkpoint, Sokka noticed the guards raising an eyebrow at the way their hands were interlocked with each other as well as the necklace hanging around her throat. Wisely, they kept their mouths shut, lest they incur the wrath of the Princess or be electrocuted on the spot.

As they roamed the compound, Sokka's stomach began to gurgle, making everyone stare at him.

"What? I'm hungry okay?"

Shaking her head in disappointment, Azula replied "Zuzu, take Aang and go find Mother, I'll escort this peasant here to the cafeteria." Moving through the corridors, Sokka asked "You've been here before?"

"I don't want to answer that right now."

"Okay."

When they got to the cafeteria, it was pretty deserted, save for two familiar faces seated at a table. Moving closer, it turned out to be Ursa and Kiyi quietly eating, with Ursa mostly drinking tea while Kiyi ate. But for some reason, the air between them seemed less cheerful and upbeat, with Kiyi being unnaturally quiet and reserved.

"Kiyi, what happened to you?"

"Oh, uh, it's you Azzie! Didn't see you there! Nice necklace there, did Sokka make it for you?" Kiyi chirped..

At this, Ursa turned her attention to the couple and noticed that her daughter was standing unnaturally close to the Water Tribesman, as well as their hands were intertwined with each other along with the necklace hanging on her neck. Beckoning them to step forward, she asked "Would you both like to explain yourselves?"

"I um, well, we, uh, got engaged." Sokka stammered under the glare of Ursa's eyes.

"And you did not think it wise to inform the bride's mother in person? Tell me Mr. Sokka, is it because you knocked my daughter up? If so…" Ursa replied, leaving the threat hanging in the air.

"Mother, knock it off!"

"How can I know that both of you are genuinely in love with each other and not hormone driven teens making rash impulses?"

"I don't know how much you know about Water Tribe culture, Mrs. Ursa, but this is no ordinary necklace she's wearing. This is a betrothal necklace, and we don't simply give them out willy nilly."

"I see. So you really are committed to my daughter for the rest of your life?"
"Yes ma'am."

"If you ever break her heart or make her cry, Mr Sokka, death will seem like a sweet release after I'm done with you. Do you understand me?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Very well. Your sister, her name is Katara right?"

"What happened to her? Is she okay?"

"She could use a visit from her brother about now. She's in the medical bay."

"Thank you Miss Ursa." Sokka bowed and ran off to find Katara. When it was just the three of them, Azula placed Kiyi's palms in hers and asked "What happened to you?"

:"I-I-he sexually assaulted me and-and-if only I was as strong as-as you Azzie." she stammered before being cut off by a sisterly hug from Azula, stroking her back and hair while she did so.

"We're going to catch that son of a bitch who did this to you, I swear." Azula whispered.