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Crime In The Nations

Katara's Journal

Entry 6: Yon Rha

Author's Note:A new chapter! I have been on a roll recently with this story! I should be posting new chapters for the others soon as well. Just you wait! I have no new announcements. Enjoy this chapter :)

-kataangforeverrr13

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender nor any of its characters/ideas. Please do not sue me.

Trigger Warning: Mentions of Self Harm!

Thursday, January 16

It had been 4 full days since that chaotic Sunday. I had started my new job at the clinic. I had also begun my personal training in order to get fit and ready to teach Aang. Speaking of him, our relationship has grown stronger and steadier by the minute we spend together. We no longer keep secrets from one another and things have just been calm.

As calm as it could get anyway.

Sokka, on the other hand, has been as stressed as ever. He had never taken too much of his time in training physically. Of course, growing up as a warrior made him want to have the physique of one, but with Dad gone all the time… he just felt it brought back too many bad memories.

My poor brother has been spending the last few days making up an entire schedule for Aang to learn the elements. He had even been neglecting time with Suki, which was awfully unsettling.

Toph has been doing fine. She and I hang out most of the time. We even work out together at Suki's dojo. Though, I have noticed her drinking a lot more recently. It must be her parents again. They have never had a good relationship so it really triggers her every once in a while.

Suki has also been doing okay. She hasn't been the best considering her boyfriend literally avoiding her but she tries to keep her mind off of it all. She had recently made a new friend named Ty Lee who has been teaching her how to do a method called Chi Blocking. It's an ancient Fire Nation technique meant for traditional medicine and martial arts. In a few words or less, it basically means to punch certain pressure points of the human body to temporarily immobilize them by blocking their chi pathways for a short amount of time. It isn't well known, nowadays.

Zuko has been MIA for a while. I technically don't know where he is but for some reason, I'm not really worried. I'm sure he will come back.

As for me, I have been busy like ever before, especially at the clinic. It's my fourth day of working at this location and I've already become pretty adapted. Mai is a suitable acquaintance even if her monotone expressions do confuse me.

That's where I was at, this very moment. Spirits, it was so boring. All I do is sit at a desk and write down information about so many different patients on documents. I give them papers to sign, and then put them into documentation. I wanted to do something! Be part of the action! I'm a good healer so why weren't my skills being used? The only dumb reason they have is the fact that I don't have an actual medical degree. The one time I found dropping out of college unsatisfactory.

As I rethought my entire life's course, I felt soft footsteps approaching. I looked behind me, frantically, and saw Mai coming up to me. She had a paper in her hands, "Hey Katara." She said in her normal unchanging tone.

"Hey, what's up?" I asked, question in my voice.

"Nothing really, but it's getting dark out and I need to pick something up from the parking lot. Come with?"

I nodded and followed her outside through the back exit. I put on my hoodie because the chilled air was giving me goosebumps. We walked around the sides of the clinic and made it to a dark red car. A man came out of it and made his way over to us. He took off his hood and I immediately recognized who it was. Before I could ask any further questions, he leaned over and kissed Mai straight on the lips.

"Hey Zuko." She smiled slightly.

My mouth at that point was gaped open. Mai and Zuko?! I mean, it wasn't that surprising, but I was still surprised.

I took off my hoodie and cleared my throat. Zuko looked over at me and inspected my face before his eyebrow shot up, "Oh! U-uh hi Katara."

Mai looked at me and back at Zuko, "Wait, you two know each other?"

"Yeah, she is sort of in on the plan babe."

Mai looked as confused as ever. Seeing her showing some sort of facial expression was eerie. After a brief moment of skepticism, her appearance turned back to normal.

"Cool." She stated.

Damn, she was good. Me being me, trying to undo the uncomfortable air, attempted to make conversation, "So, how have you been, Zuko? Haven't heard of you in a while."

"Believe it or not, I've been out of state. I took a quick journey to the fire nation. I wanted to gather some more information. But considering my banishment, it's difficult to know the more recent rendezvous and schemes that my father is concealing from me." He explained.

"Could you find anything?" Mai asked.

"Yes. I figured that since I couldn't get my hands on anything to do with their plans, I could find someone who could. Someone we can take the information from." He looked into my eyes, "I found the perfect guy."

I asked with enthusiasm, "Who?"

"Your boss, actually." Mai and I looked at each other with uncertainty. Zuko continued, "He's a fire nation man named Yon Rha. I've been doing my research on him but I haven't collected any dirt on him yet. I came here to see you, Mai, and to tell you, both of you, to stay wary of him. If and only if something occurs."

"That's true, I'll see if we can find something out as well. I think he's here today." I said as I analyzed his plan in my head.

"Would you like to go see him now? He's here today." Mai offered.

I pondered over it before nodding, "We'll need an excuse firstly."

Mai and I walked down the hallways of the clinic. It was 7:15pm and our shift was almost over. This had to be done quickly.

Not wanting to be overly naive but not overly suspicious, we each took a small weapon. Just in case. Mai, being a knife throwing expert which was honestly terrifying, hid stiletto-tiny daggers into her sleeve. I took a water bottle that I could use to waterbend out of. It wasn't that necessary though because I had developed the skill at a very young age to pull water out of thin air.

We strode towards the office room with the name tag "Yon Rha." I looked at Mai for assurance and knocked on the door twice. Soon enough, we heard the handle twist and open.

It was an old man with mid-length gray hair. He wore a top knot with the fire nation emblem designed onto his hair tie. His face was old, wrinkly, and pruny. He wore a frown on his face and expensive red clothing. He spoke, clearly annoyed, "Yes? How may I help you?"

I looked at Mai and then back at the man before us. I cleared my throat, trying to recollect my confidence and faith, "Hello, um, my name is Katara and this is Mai. We are one of your employees. We had a question and we were told to directly ask you."

Yon Rha sighed lazily, "That's fine. Come in."

Mai and I stepped into his office, remembering to stay alert. As I inspected his fancy office, I took in the many trophies and awards he had. He seemed prideful considering how he kept them right by the stained glass door.

We sat down on a couch right in front of his desk. He looked back at us warily and asked, "What's wrong?"

Mai spoke first, "Oh nothing is wrong but we've noticed a lack of water bending healers. It's making business...slow. The clients and patients are getting impatient. We were told to bring this up with you as soon as possible."

Yon Rha rubbed his chin, "Hmm, I see your point. I'll take it up with the individual managers. Are you two of them?"

"No sir."

"Very well, do you know any good healers who may want a job here?" He asked as he took out an interview worksheet from a drawer.

"Yes, I do. She is very skilled too. She just doesn't have a degree that specializes in medicine but she is one of the best healers I know." Mai explained. I blushed in embarrassment and appreciation knowing who she was talking about.

"I guess we could let that slide. Who is this person you speak of?"

I took a deep breath, "It's me actually."

He looked at me in an unsettling manner, "Oh really? And you mentioned to me that you already work here?"

"Absolutely." I nodded.

He cleared his throat and took out a paper and handed it to me, "Very well then, you just got promoted. Meet this woman right here, tomorrow for training. Thank you for offering your help. Have a good rest of your evening."

I picked up the paper but before walking out, I remembered the plan. "Excuse me? I couldn't help but notice your military certificates. You served?"

"Yes, I actually did. I was proud to serve my country." He cockily stated. He pointed to a particular spot on his trophy case, "One of my most successful missions was down at the Southern Water Tribe."

I looked at what he was pointing at and I gasped. It was a blue betrothal necklace. The ribbon was colored ocean blue and the pendant was an icy blue. It had a gold charm holding it together and the Southern Water Tribe symbol was carved into the pendant. It was beautiful but awfully familiar. However, I couldn't quite put my finger on it during that very moment.

"That's really interesting. We would love to hear more some other time but it's getting late. Goodbye." Mai said as she rushed me out of there. Once we gained some distance between his office and us, she looked at me. "Did you recognize that necklace?"

"Yes… but I don't know where I've seen it." I murmured.

"Katara, this may just be a new lead. Think about it harder." She insisted. As I searched every possible memory I could recall, I did see it a few times. Back at the South Pole, it was winter all year long. We would have to wear thick clothing and coats. They would sometimes cover our entire bodies so that we could keep every bit of body warmth we could. My mother sometimes would wear a lighter jacket, especially during the warmer times. She always wore a beautiful heirloom on her neck. She told me it was a gift from Gran Gran. Her necklace. Her necklace.

"Her necklace!" I screamed with tears daring to escape my eyes. "My mom's necklace! That's my Gran Gran's betrothal necklace that was gifted to my mother!"

Mai's eyes bulged open and I could barely breathe, "He killed my mom. He was the one. That would explain why he has her necklace! He was there! He murdered her!" I kept repeating, trying not to sob.

It didn't work because I began to scream. My heart hurt. That was the man. He killed my mother. He took her from me. He made me how I am. It's his fault.

I kept sobbing hysterically. I didn't notice but Mai eventually took me to her car. I was making a scene and people were sending weird stares. At some point, she asked me for my address but I couldn't respond. I kept cursing, yelling, screaming, and wailing. I felt like a maniac. But, I couldn't care less.

Mai didn't try to stop me from crying. She just held me close as she drove past the streets. She called Zuko who called Aang who called Sokka who called Suki who called Toph. News travelled fast. Mai took me to her and Zuko's house. I laid down on the couch, continuing my breakdown.

Minutes passed by and Aang and Zuko burst through the door. Aang ran up to me and held me. He kissed my forehead and whispered words of comfort. He told me how much he loved me and that I was okay. Crying was good. I would eventually feel better. And it did help.

Sokka, Toph, and Suki later arrived with food. They tried getting me to eat but I couldn't. Sokka was also heart broken. His eyes were red and everytime he looked at me, he also cried.

I secretly felt embarrassed under all of my cries. It felt as if recently, all I've been doing is sobbing my eyes out. Of course, I knew that it wasn't my fault. These feelings have been bottled up for a long time so that I could put on a strong facade in order to take care of my dad and my brother. But I was just a little girl when I saw my mother's scorched body laying on the snow. I was just a little girl when I heard my dad yelling at my Gran Gran that he was going to kill himself because it was too much pain. I was just a little girl when I had to grow up three times faster than my older brother in order to take on the role my mother left behind. I was only a little girl when I went through all of that at once. My obsession with finding out what happened to my mom has been overwhelming but it got me through my darkest moments. It gave me something to fight for. I figured out if she was killed, why she was killed, and who was her killer.

Everytime I cry over what happened to my life after my mother died, I remember what I did to myself. The cuts, the stabs, and the close overdose. I remember running into traffic one night. I remember looking over a cliff daring myself to jump off. To join my mother and see her again. I don't do that anymore. At least, I try not to.

Whenever I have those sorts of sensations in my head, I recall what I do have. I have a dad who is always there for me. I have Gran Gran who has helped me all these years. I have my brother who I can always count on. I have Suki who reminds me what it means to be a woman in these times and what it means to be a warrior. I have Toph who reminds me what it means to have fun even during difficult times and how to get through the pain life throws our ways. And now I have Aang. A boyfriend who has loved me through it all. Someone I can share my love, body, and mind with. Someone who understands my pain and someone who will make sure I'm never dealing with it alone ever again.

Everyone else tried reassuring us of how strong we were. But they mostly gave us silence in order to honor my mother's memory. Aang lit up some candles in his culture's fashion in order to honor the dead. Zuko and Mai read a scripture from the Agni literature. Toph and Suki sang a small Earth Kingdom poem. Sokka and I just hugged each other remembering that we were going to be okay.

Suddenly, an intrusive thought crossed my mind.

He killed my mother and now he is going to pay.