Chapter 21
4 Years after the Hundred Year War
Royal Palace of Ba Sing Se
Following their audience with King Kuei, the two girls were escorted to the guest wing of the Royal Palace and shown to splendorous private quarters, adjacent to one another. While Katara was left free to come and go as she pleased, a trio of palace guards remained at the doors of Azula's quarters at all times. Obviously, they would be utterly incapable of stopping Azula from escaping if she chose to do so, but the procedure had to be followed even when it made no sense. The only thing that would keep Azula from escaping was her promise to Katara, and the waterbender desperately hoped that it would be enough.
After taking a brief moment to look around her quarters and then have a little lay down, Katara's rest was interrupted by the palace healers. After their examination of her shattered shoulder, the decision was made to bring her to the Ba Sing Se university hospital. She had spent most of her day there, undergoing painful procedures to set some of her fractured bones, but despite all this unpleasantness, Katara could only think of one thing, hoping that Azula would not freak out because of her lengthy absence, praying that the princess would not decide to escape from her lavish imprisonment.
Katara was released from the hospital only late in the afternoon, once she had been deemed fit to carry out the final stages of the healing process with her own waterbending. When she was finally brought back to the palace, Katara did not even think to stop at her quarters, heading straight for Azula's room, the guards at the entrance respectfully stepping aside and allowing her to enter.
The waterbender let out a huge sigh of relief upon spotting Azula as soon as she entered the room. The princess was sitting on the window sill, knees pulled against her chest, appearing tense as she gazed at the setting sun outside. The palace servants had brought her a new set of clothing, beautiful red dress of Fire Nation make, and it reminded Katara to put in a similar request of her own to the servants. It probably did not befit her to keep wearing the worn-down Earth Kingdom peasant robes while at the Royal Palace of Ba Sing Se.
Upon sensing someone enter the room, Azula turned to look at her, visibly relaxing as she realized it was Katara. She immediately turned back away, feigning indifference, but her body language spoke volumes as Katara walked up to the window to stand next to her, also taking in the breathtaking view of the city outside. "How's the shoulder?" Azula spoke up eventually.
"Much better," Katara smiled. "Thank you for asking." Azula blushed slightly, but remained silent. "How was your day?" Katara asked.
"Boring. Frustrating," Azula shrugged. "This might be nice and comfortable, but it's still just another cage."
"But this time you have me for company," Katara grinned. "I would like to think that it counts for something."
"Well, I'm not complaining now, am I?" Azula sighed at her.
"I was freaking out all day, fearing that you might have reconsidered our agreement," Katara admitted.
"I've been thinking about it the whole time," Azula's reply appeared honest. "Not because of you, though. I want to try and do... the thing you asked of me."
"To trust me?" Katara smiled. It was both endearing and sad at the same time how Azula struggled to even say the word.
"Yes, that," Azula nodded. "You know, Long Feng wasn't the only one in the Earth Kingdom who hated me. In fact, I think you'll be hard pressed to find someone who doesn't hate me. The king certainly does. He could arrange for this investigation to be a complete sham. They could still sentence me for... well, whatever they come up with."
"I don't think King Kuei would do that," Katara shook her head adamantly. "But I will not allow anything like that to happen to you, Azula, I promise," she added passionately.
"Just be aware that this might be something they try to pull," Azula warned her. "Did you speak with Kuei yet?"
"No, I only just got back from the hospital, so I think we're doing that tomorrow," Katara replied. "But I'll keep your words in mind when speaking with the king, you can be sure of that. And Zuko will be here in a few days, too. Between the two of us, we will make sure that this investigation absolves you of any wrongdoing, so you don't have to be afraid, Azula."
"I'm not afraid," Azula replied quickly. "I mean... I'm not afraid of being found guilty. If they find me guilty, I'll just escape. I just... would prefer if it didn't come to that."
"Why is that, Azula?" Katara asked softly, watching the princess blush the color of her Fire Nation dress as she averted her eyes.
"Because you vouched for me to the king," Azula spoke quietly. "It would get you into a lot of trouble if I escaped, wouldn't it? And I don't want to ruin what we... I mean... for some reason, this means a lot to me." She then fell silent, looking embarrassed.
"I understand, Azula," Katara leaned in slightly, placing her hand on Azula's. "It means a lot to me as well, which is why I won't allow anyone to ruin it. And Zuko will help us, I know he will."
"I suppose I have no reason to doubt that," Azula admitted slowly. "It still feels so bizarre, the two people I nearly killed during that Agni Kai are now the ones I am forced to rely on. Life is strange, isn't it?"
"Life is strange, indeed," Katara smiled. She was going to say more, but at that moment, a yawn escaped her lips, the complete lack of sleep and being on her feet for almost forty hours straight was starting to truly take its toll on her.
"You should go get some sleep," Azula told her. "It's been a crazy day, hasn't it? Well, crazy couple of days, really."
"You could say that again," Katara smiled. "I'll go and get some sleep, but only if you promise to do so as well."
"I should be able to do so, now," Azula nodded. "Katara?" The waterbender looked up at her princess. "Thank you for stopping by, even though I know you must have been really tired."
"Azula, it's what I wanted to do... to see how you were settling in," Katara smiled at the other girl, pleasant warmth spreading in her chest as always when Azula managed to show some empathy and compassion. Truly, it felt like the princess was getting better and better at it, at least in the interactions between the two of them. "Also, you must be thrilled to finally have a proper bed. Have you tried it yet?" she asked.
"I did, briefly," Azula chuckled. "It's nice. Though not as soft as my bed at the Fire Nation royal palace, obviously."
"Obviously," Katara grinned. She then thought of something. "Could you get down from that window sill for a moment?" Katara asked.
"Why?" Azula looked at her with suspicion.
"Because I want to wish you goodnight," Katara said. "And I also want to give you a proper hug."
Azula froze at her words. Eventually, after some consideration, she slid down from the window sill, looking uncertain. "Good night, Azula," Katara smiled at the princess and moved closer to embrace her tightly. "I wish you the sweetest of dreams."
"G-good night, Katara," Azula stumbled, hesitantly placing her arms around the waterbender. Katara had to remark that hugging Azula was a slightly strange, but ultimately rewarding experience. She was so stiff and rigid to begin with, but then slowly easing into such delightful softness, her lovely curves melding perfectly against Katara's, making the waterbender very reluctant to break their embrace. Eventually she did so, stepping away with a goofy, embarrassed smile on her lips.
"Tomorrow morning I'll probably get summoned to speak with King Kuei, but I'll come visit you afterwards to tell you how it went, alright?" Katara added before leaving the room, watching Azula nod at her, remaining standing by the window with a thoughtful, slightly dreamy look on her face.
The following morning, Katara was awakened earlier than she would have preferred to, palace servant informing her that King Kuei expected to see her within an hour. Katara used the allotted time to get ready for the meeting, starting with a blissful and relaxing soak in the luxurious bath, afterwards quickly devouring the breakfast that had been delivered to her quarters. Finally, she made good use of the wardrobe that had been fully stocked for her use, picking out a splendorous blue dress. Having hastily applied light touches of makeup, Katara dashed out of her quarters, fighting off the urge to go and see Azula, aware that she was in danger of being late for her meeting with the king. She knew that it was not a good idea to make a king wait for you, not when you wanted to remain on said king's good side.
Katara was a little surprised when instead of leading her to the throne room, the palace officials directed to her to a small study in a remote wing of the palace. King Kuei awaited her in the study, but he was not alone. Together with Bosco, they were accompanied by a rather nondescript looking woman of indeterminable age, reminding Katara a great deal of their brainwashed guide to Ba Sing Se from years ago, Joo Dee.
"Ah, there you are, Master Katara! How wonderful!" Kuei exclaimed upon seeing her, but something about his overly friendly greeting felt off to Katara. "Please, come in, I want you to meet someone. This is Lao Wan," he pointed at the bland faced woman. "She will be in charge of the investigation. I thought it would be helpful for you two to have a talk," King Kuei added, pointing at a chair by the desk, asking Katara to sit down.
"This isn't what I expected," Katara spoke guardedly as she took the offered seat. She had expected to join the king for an informal chat, hoping to slightly lean on him and make sure that the investigation unfolded favorably. Instead, she was about to face an interrogation by a woman who appeared anything but friendly.
"I understand that, but I have been assured that your version of the events is required to form an accurate picture of what exactly happened," King Kuei smiled, a little nervously. "Please, Master Katara, if you could just answer a few simple questions for Inspector Wan."
"I suppose it can't hurt," Katara eventually agreed. She didn't think Kuei was clever enough to devise some sort of entrapment to use on her, but then again, he might have been manipulated into doing so. The king was not exactly the quickest on the uptake, and oftentimes Katara thought that Bosco was the actual brains behind the operation.
"Very well," Inspector Wan spoke up for the first time, speaking in a voice that was a perfect fit with her nondescript appearance, flat and lacking any emotion. She retrieved a thick folder of various documents and opened it, removing a letter bearing the royal seal of the Earth Kingdom. "I have here with me a copy of the letter sent to Fire Lord Zuko, requesting the extradition of former Crown Princess Azula with the intent of putting her on trial for crimes against the Earth Kingdom. The list of her crimes is quite extensive, so I will not repeat them."
"I recognize the letter," Katara nodded, unsure why the blank-faced woman was bringing it up. "Zuko showed it to us."
"Ah, so you admit it, good," the woman nodded in satisfaction. "Then you should be able to explain why your reaction to this letter was to infiltrate the Royal Palace of Ba Sing Se and commit nine counts of murder."
"Why did you put your seal on such a letter, King Kuei?" instead of answering the woman, Katara instead turned to face the king. "You must have known how Zuko would feel about such a request to hand over his sister. He would have never agreed to it. Relations between the Fire Nation and the Earth Kingdom have been improving, but this letter almost seemed as if it was intended to provoke hostilities."
"That, uh... was not the spirit in which it was intended," King Kuei stuttered, looking a little embarrassed. Nearby, Bosco let out a mournful growl, covering his snout with a paw in a gesture of bear facepalm. "We simply wanted to... err, begin discussions," Kuei added lamely, confirming what Katara had already come to realize. King Kuei had once again fallen victim of clever manipulation by Long Feng and the Dai Li.
"This has no bearing on the case," Lao Wan cut in sternly. Katara blinked in surprise. It seemed that even the palace officials had little respect for Kuei. "What we are interested to know is how and when did you formulate the plan to infiltrate Ba Sing Se as a response to the letter?"
"Oh, I see," Katara nodded quickly. "Well, our initial plan was very different. We intended to bring Azula to the North Pole where she could receive the healing that she requires. In the meantime, Avatar Aang was supposed to travel to Ba Sing Se and discuss the matter with you, with the hope of avoiding hostilities."
"The Avatar did come to Ba Sing Se a few days ago, but he would not stay to discuss anything with me," Kuei shrugged. "In fact, he seemed to be extremely concerned for your wellbeing, and left to resume search for you."
"Why am I not surprised?" Katara sighed. This was typical Aang, abandoning what was asked of him just because he had become overprotective of her. "Anyway, our plan to head to the North Pole changed when we were confronted by the Dai Li during our boat trip to Republic City."
"Yes, leading to the sinking of a fine Earth Kingdom vessel," Lao Wan remarked, withdrawing several reports, probably compiled by the survivors of the boat Katara had sent to the bottom of Mo Ce Sea. "It would appear that you first agreed to hand over Princess Azula to the Dai Li, but then attacked them later, sinking their vessel, and many of the crew. I must say… I am very confused by your actions. Aren't you confused, King Kuei?" she glanced at the king.
"Yes, yes... it's all quite tragic," Kuei nodded, looking deeply uncomfortable.
"There's nothing confusing about it," Katara shrugged, starting to feel a little frustrated. "If I hadn't handed Azula over at first, the Dai Li would have tried to force the issue. And since I had no permission to hand Azula over to foreign power, I was honor bound to my friend Zuko to rescue his sister from the Dai Li. Which I did, using the element of surprise."
"I see," the investigator chewed on her lower lip, putting down a few notes. "And what happened after that? At some point you must have decided against continuing to travel to the North Pole."
"Yes, it was shortly after that encounter with the Dai Li," Katara nodded. "We became aware that they just won't leave us alone, and that we had to remove this threat to our very lives."
"So that is when you decided to travel to Ba Sing Se and infiltrate the palace," Lao Wan summarized, Katara confirming her words with a nod. "Do you remember who came up with that idea? Was it you, or was it Azula?"
Katara frowned, uncertain of where the investigator was going with this. Still, Katara felt that she had to remain truthful. "It was Azula's idea," she confessed. "She suspected Long Feng's involvement from the very start."
"Did she... how very interesting," Lao Wan mused.
"Interesting in what way?" Katara snapped, getting slightly annoyed by the smirk on the other woman's lips.
"Interesting in that it provides Azula with a motive," the investigator nodded with certainty. "She has no power base left in the Fire Nation. However, she did once successfully take charge of the Dai Li. It is possible that she planned to do so again, and simply decided to use you in order to further her own goals."
King Kuei looked deeply worried at this. "It is certainly a most concerning possibility," he nodded in agreement with his investigator.
Katara was becoming more and more angry. Was this really the narrative they had decided to push, blaming it all on Azula while whitewashing Long Feng, and quite possibly even denying his involvement altogether? The most worrying thing was... because of how hated Azula was in the Earth Kingdom, many would most certainly believe this version of the events, even if it flew in the face of all the facts. King Kuei himself looked absolutely terrified about the very idea that Azula might have once again taken control of his secret police.
"Look, that is not what happened at all!" Katara exclaimed heatedly. "Everything we did was in reaction to the hostility of the Dai Li! And Long Feng was really behind it all, as we discovered. He wasn't supposed to be within a mile of the Royal Palace! Your people were supposed to make sure of it!" she pointed at the king, who looked a little taken aback by her zeal.
"I find it very odd that you would be so trusting of the former princess, considering everything she has done to you personally during the war," Lao Wan pointed out, once again letting the mention of Long Feng slide right by. "She is highly deceptive by her very nature. Azula always lies, even her brother repeats it as a proverb. You might have been manipulated by her all this time without even realizing it."
"It's true, Master Katara," Kuei gave her a worried stare. "Princess Azula can be highly persuasive and convincing."
"I am aware of it, but that is not what happened here!" Katara snapped angrily as she rose from her seat. "You promised me that this investigation would be fair!" she pointed at the covering king. "This is proving to be a complete sham, intended to accuse Azula of something she simply never did! Unless you're going to ask your questions in good faith, I have nothing more to say to either of you!" and with that, Katara stormed out of the study, angrily slamming the doors behind her back and stomping away, leaving a flabbergasted king and his investigator behind.
Walking through the maze-like corridors of the palace slowly deflated some of her anger, but she was still seething when a good while later she ran into someone very familiar crossing her path. "Iroh!" she exclaimed, smiling as she greeted Zuko and Azula's uncle. "Am I glad to see you!"
"Katara, lovely to see you, as always," Iroh smiled right back at her.
"What brings you to the palace?" Katara asked. "Not the simple matter of serving tea to the king, I expect."
"Not quite," Iroh's expression turned serious in an instant. "The whole matter involving Azula demands my attention."
"Oh," Katara breathed out a sigh of relief. "I'm so glad that you are looking into this. I was just interrogated by the king and his pet investigator. They want to pin this all on Azula, can you believe it?"
"Actually... I can," Iroh sighed. "And by it, I mean that not only can I believe that they would want to blame Azula for it, but that Azula could have planned it all out from the start."
"Spirits, not you too!" Katara gasped, taken aback. "I can't believe you would say such a thing! Azula didn't do it!"
"Perhaps... but we must not underestimate her powers of persuasion," Iroh spoke warningly. "Katara, you must always remain aware that Azula is a master manipulator, such is her nature. Lying comes to her as easy as breathing."
"I can't believe you would say such horrible things about you own niece!" Katara exclaimed, raising her voice. Some of the palace officials nearby became aware of their argument, observing them with interest.
"I regret having to say these things, but one must not remain blind to the truth," Iroh sighed, trying to hush her, without much success. "Much as I wish the truth was different in Azula's case."
"You're wrong about her," Katara insisted stubbornly. "You know, many years ago, I thought that Zuko was an absolutely horrid and irredeemable human being, but you proved us all wrong when you decided to help him. But how did you decide that only one of Ozai's children was worthy of redemption, and the other wasn't?"
"Because Azula has never showed even a hint of remorse for all the horrible things she has done, Katara," Iroh replied, sorrow in his eyes.
"Well, have you actually tried speaking with her after the war?" Katara pressed on with her angry accusations.
"No... I admit that I haven't," Iroh sighed. "I have been kept busy by the matters here in Ba Sing Se. You have a point there, Katara. Perhaps I should have tried."
"I don't want to sound like I'm blaming only you, Iroh," Katara shook her head. "I'm starting to think that after the war, we all have failed Azula. It's time someone did something about it… and it might as well be me," she added, turning around and walking away, not waiting for a response from the sad and ponderous looking Iroh.
These two conversations Katara had been a part of this morning had made something very clear to her, something she hadn't quite realized. By sticking with Azula and standing by her side to support the princess, she was literally siding against the entire world who seemed to loathe Azula for everything she had done in the past. Only now, did Katara truly comprehend the enormous toll she would have to pay if she chose a relationship with the princess.
But despite it all, Katara was certain of one thing. Azula had changed, but the rest of the world did not want to acknowledge it, still wanting to punish the princess for the misdeeds of her past. To Katara, this felt highly unfair, and nothing motivated her more than fighting for a cause she considered just. And it also helped that she was inescapably falling in love with the girl at the center of all this controversy. It made her feel stubbornly determined to face the entire world if need be. No matter what it took, she would not rest until the world acknowledged that Azula was not the monster they tried to portray her to be.