I know ya'll are dying while I keep you on the hook. Just a little longer, I promise.
Ashley Barbosa: Kataang is always end-game, but I did promise some slow-burning muddy waters.
t/w: descriptions of police brutality.
CH 16 | Tell Me Anything
Whenever Azula's sleek, black sedan arrived at Yu Dao Rehabilitation Center, the staff provided her discreet entry from a side door in the alleyway. Her driver was hasty in parking and ushering open her door, revealing the princess in dark sunglasses and her typical top knot that allowed her bangs to cascade around her face. She made no attempt to acknowledge the servants at the doors as she continued to scroll through her phone on the way in.
He was the only person she knew she could trust with her secrets—it was part of why she genuinely enjoyed visiting him in his quarters. She knew his room by heart and barely needed to glance up while navigating the wide corridor. The facility was rather understated, with bland cream walls and specked linoleum floors. It was wiser to keep him here than a place that would attract…more attention.
He was positioned in his wheelchair to look out a rather small window framed in cheap, plastic blinds that clicked together every time the oscillating fan made a pass. He did have a nice view of the garden pond, though, where the turtle ducks swam about in the hazy autumn sun. If he recognized her entrance, there was no physical acknowledgment. She set her purse down on his bed and pulled up the chair beside him, re-positioning the wheelchair until he was facing her.
The man was mostly catatonic, his head remaining in the same position even as she jostled him away from his garden view. He was pallid and lanky, with a mop of feathery black hair that swept into his eyes. He didn't seem to mind. His eyes were golden brown just like Azula's, though one was barely visible beneath an angry red scar that altered a side of his face and fully exposed his ear canal. His unmarred eye was glassy as ever, unresponsive to his visitor.
"I'm here, Zuzu." Azula said with uncharacteristic warmth.
X
Haru didn't have to wait long after knocking before Katara bounced open the cattywampus door of their walk-up. She was dressed for labor- a red YD Tech hoodie, capri jeans, and sneakers. She was a bit windswept, with a slightly unkempt braid, some looped hair with beads loosely framing a make-up free face. Maybe she was just busy today…or maybe she wanted to make it clear that it wasn't a date? Either way, Haru unbashfully presented her with a flower bouquet—whitish pink fire lilies. "Hey Haru—oh, wow these are beautiful! Thanks! Come inside while I put them in water."
He followed her upstairs, not sure how to start the conversation. The common area was still shabby and spartan, though they now had a pretty green dining table and chairs abutting the kitchenette. Toph and Sokka had turned up with it in the night, giggling conspiratorially. When she had asked where they had come across a dining set in the middle of the night, they had both laughed while Toph babbled something about "plausible deniability" and Sokka gave a vague excuse, "it's not stealing, it's tactical acquisition…"
Still, there was definitely no vase to be had. Katara settled instead for a tall water cup. "So…where's the protest?" she asked Haru, who was still looking around, hands in pockets. He was dressed nicer—a collared shirt and slacks with a nice matching watch. He'd swept his long hair back into a ponytail, revealing pierced ears with some impressive hardware. He was not unattractive, just reserved with his expressions.
"The main road in front of the campus entrance. We aren't permitted on the property while we protest, but we are approved to be out on the sidewalk. There'll be a petition circulating too that we'll deliver to the city council addressing housing and food access. A step in the right direction, hopefully."
"Mmhmm." Katara agreed.
"…Afterwards, I thought we could get some food somewhere?
"Uhm. Yeah, sure." Katara responded, reaching for her purse. The silence was awkward and the chemistry banal as they marched back out to the door.
X
"Can you believe this trash?" Azula said, showing Zuko the phone screen. The Yu Dao Yammer article was up, showing the headline and rather unflattering photo of her preparing to storm between Katara and Aang. It already had a few thousand shares. The lack of reaction from her brother didn't seem to bother her in the slightest. Azula enjoyed the ability to outpour her day-to-day frustrations out to him, knowing he wasn't in a position to tell anyone anything she'd said. It was like a purifying catharsis. And who knows? Maybe he was in there somewhere, comprehending her words and enjoying her life's drama.
She'd quietly had him transferred from the palace facilities to Yu Dao when she enrolled two years ago, knowing that her absence would have likely attracted her father to finish the job. She withdrew her hand but kept talking even as she glanced down at her phone screen.
"At least we're all in Fire Nation clothing and the article doesn't mention him as an Air Nomad…Father would melt my face off too, hmm?" she said wickedly. "That won't last much longer. All the southern colonies are going to ban them from wearing our colors, soon. I never understood why the city instituted the policy in the first place. Why are we letting dirty Earth Kingdom peasants and Water Tribe savages dress like they are citizens? To blend us into one people? It's antithetical to father's vision."
She thought about that for a moment—the hypocrisy of her agreement with her father's segregationist policies while simultaneously maintaining a complicated relationship with not only a non-citizen that the nation would soon relocate, but the Avatar himself.
If Ozai actually believed the Avatar could be alive, there would be an entire army searching for Aang. Glancing down at the picture of Katara wrapped in his arms, she smirked lightly. Soon the time would come when he would be forced to abandon his friends to prevent being moved along with the rest of them, and he would choose it on his own. Always the runner. He'd come running back to her, begging for help…of that she was certain.
She was pulling up a live feed from a protest outside campus. "This will be fun to watch" she said to her mute brother. "The fools actually announced the protest weeks in advance. Father sent in special security forces to set an example."
X
The street had dissolved into utter chaos. After security forces had pulled an organizer with a megaphone to the ground, many of the protesters were riled and angry. It was incomprehensible to Katara when one of the police introduced a whip to the handcuffed man's back, delivering lashes that further stoked the emotions of the crowd. Public punishment? What year is this?
Everyone, Katara included, were yelling for the police to stop. Many of them were now pushing angrily into their riot shields. That's when the tear gas started and when Katara lost sight of Haru.