Chapter Ten
She awoke the next morning to the happy faces of Zuko's family staring out at her from the frame she had put on the little table beside her bed. She spared a quick glance at the happy young Zuko. Before the possible horrors could spring to the front of her memory, she clambered out of bed and padded into the bathroom. She ran the hot water, dumping a few scented oils into the churning bath. She sank once it was full, slowly scrubbing her tanned skin and running soapy suds through her hair. Her thoughts slowly drifted to Aang. He'd been blaming himself the whole time, spending hours combing the surrounding land looking for the tunnel they had used. He also spent hours at a time meditating and communing with the spirit world looking for any leads. All his efforts had been futile and it was starting to get him down.
Katara vowed after breakfast to spend some time with him. Do something that would distract them both. Maybe a long walk around the grounds or village. She stood in the bath and bent clean water over her to rinse the last of the suds before bundling up in the big fluffy towels. She climbed out and examined her reflection. The restless nights were taking their toll. Dark circles were under her eyes and the girl in the mirror looked exhausted.
Aang's door was ajar and she peered around to find him sitting on the floor meditating. She crept over to him as quietly as she could and sat across from him.
"Is everything alright?" Aang asked slowly peering out one eye.
"Yes." She wasn't surprised he had noticed her. "I thought we should spend some time together. Maybe we could walk through the garden or even walk through the market place."
She had his full attention and he caressed her hand grinning. "Sounds like fun."
She smiled in relief and let him pull her to her feet and in for a kiss. It was worrying to see Aang so somber and she knew she wasn't much better. They needed to get out and be more like themselves. Down at breakfast they told Iroh of their plans.
"Oh yes!" He was very cheery as he grinned at their excitement and enthusiasm. "You should go to the market place! You've never been before have you? Well… at least not freely as yourselves." He mused with a chuckle. "Go see what the merchants have to offer."
"Thank you Iroh. Will you be alright by yourself?" Katara asked.
"Yes yes." He said waving them away dismissively. "I have plenty of paperwork to keep me occupied. Go have fun!"
"Thank you Iroh." Aang said, bowing with a large smile and off they went to the market, past the palace gates where the soldiers nodded as they passed.
They set of for the market hand in hand, the sunny weather doing much to brighten their dispositions. The market was bustling with people milling about buying fresh produce or haggling the price of meat or fish. Several vendors called out to them, asking them to explore their wares.
"Ah! Avatar! Lady Katara!" A middle age man called to them.
"Lady?" Katara asked quietly and Aang just flashed her a grin.
"Good morning sir." Aang greeted respectfully.
"A good morning it is to have the young Avatar and Lady Katara visit my little shop. Please, I insist, take a sweet bun." The man held out the heavenly smelling pastries.
"How much do we owe you?" Katara asked as she dug in her pocket for the fire nation currency she had brought with her this morning.
"No no, put that away." He said giving her a friendly smile. "Take it as a small token of my thanks. You've done so much for our nation. My sons are home from war, something I will be eternally grateful for.
"Are you sure?" Aang persisted.
"Absolutely. Take them."
"Thank you very much." Katara said accepting the warm pastry and Aang took the other, biting into it.
"Oh, this is wonderful!" She exclaimed and Aang bobbed his head in agreement quickly stuffing the rest into his mouth.
"Thank you my Lady."
They wandered on, waving good bye to the kind vendor. It was hard to miss the Avatar with a blue arrow tattooed on his head and several people stopped him to talk. Many were people who thanked him, some asking recounts of a few of his more exciting tales that had circulated through the public. To Katara's dismay, one of the seemingly ever present fan clubs found them. She was quickly elbowed away from him as he was swarmed by twittering adolescents. Even having grown taller, Aang had to crane his neck to see Katara wave to him then point to a tea shop across the street. He gave her a little wave before being consumed by the waves of teen girls.
Katara rolled her eyes but had to chuckle. Aang didn't seem to mind; he liked all the attention. She took her time getting to the tea shop enjoying the warm weather and steady burble of conversation that filled the air. The tea store was warm and bright, filled with delectable aromas. A motherly woman greeted Katara and led her to a table by one of the windows.
"What can I get for you dear?"
"What do you recommend?"
"We have a delicious Jasmine Dragon tea."
The name made her stomach squirm as she remembered Iroh's tea shop in Ba Sing Se where he and Zuko worked. "What else do you have?" She asked uneasily.
"I recommend the ginger pear."
"That does sound good. I'll take one of those please."
She nodded and left, returning not long after with a steaming cup. Katara brought the brew to her lips and gently blew across the surface, sending tendrils of deliciously scented steam wafting away. She let her mind wander as she idly drank her tea. It was a while before Aang rejoined her grinning and slightly flushed.
"How'd it go Mr. Popular?"
"Good. They were all real nice."
Nice, she thought with a small grimace that she made quickly disappear. "I'm glad."
"What're you drinking?"
"Ginger pear tea. It's quite good." She offered him her cup and he took a small sip.
"Wow, that is good." The woman came to the table upon hearing him.
"May I interest you in a cup of your own?"
"Please."
"So what did they want?" Katara asked leaning back in her chair.
"Just the usual. A couple of autographs, I showed them some bending, told a couple of stories, some asked for a kiss…"
Katara sputtered and started choking on her tea. By the time her lungs were clear her eyes were watering. Aang patted her hand supportively until she was able to breathe normally again. "What?" She asked icily.
Aang winced a little. "Sorry… a few asked for a kiss but I told them I couldn't because there was someone I loved." He flushed a little as he said it and a light tint of pink colored her cheeks. "They uh, got hugs instead."
"Good." Katara said, lacing their fingers together. They chatted about the people they'd come across so far and what little shops to visit next as they drank their tea. Katara left some coins on the table, Aang gave her a brief kiss and they were out in the afternoon sun once again.
They ended up heading back to the palace shortly before dinner. One of their stops had been at a spice shop where they had bought some of the ginger pear tea they had drunk for Iroh.
They asked the guards and they pointed them in the direction of the office that Zuko used. Inside Iroh was shuffling through mounds of papers. "Come in!" He greeted, setting the stack aside. "Did you have fun?"
"We did." Katara said.
"Everyone is so friendly." Aang added.
"I'm glad to hear."
"We brought you something." Katara said presenting the small bag of tea to Iroh.
"Oh you shouldn't have." Iroh gushed.
"We thought you'd like some of this ginger pear tea we had today." Aang said.
"Ginger pear? In that case, I'm glad you did." He accepted the bag from Katara and examined the contents, inhaling the scent deeply with his eyes closed. "You spoil this old man." Glee in his eyes.
"It's the least we can do. You've been a gracious host in spite of… recent developments."
"Of course dear." Iroh said placing a hand on her shoulder. "You are welcome here any time for as long as you like."
"Thank you." She said and gave him a heartfelt hug. He patted her back gently.
"Well," he said as Katara parted from him. "Dinner should be ready by now. Shall we?" He asked holding the door for them and they all went to dinner together. They discussed their day in the market over steaming plates of food. It was a pleasant meal and everyone left feeling full and satisfied. When Katara was alone in her room, she brushed her finger tips over the family portrait of Zuko's family and decided to go sit in his room for a little bit.
Being somewhere his presence was strong helped soothe her. The fact that her friend was still missing was a disturbing thought. She worried about him incessantly, but in his room, that smelled like him, broad swords glinting on a wall and other bits and pieces of his life scattered about made it feel like he was still here. She walked around the room, letting her fingers graze over the odds and ends of his belongings gave her something to do. She sighed heavily wishing he was alright and wishing even harder he was here where he belonged. She could already tell it was going to be a restless night so she lingered a bit longer, absorbing the Zuko-ness the room radiated before passing through the secret panel to her own room again, pressing it closed tight behind her.
She woke suddenly, not sure what had startled her and lay still, listening. A floorboard barely creaked and she heard soft breathing. She threw off the blankets and dove for her canteen as a body landed where she had been moments ago. She crashed into the little bed side table, sending it crashing to the ground as she scrambled for her water. The fall sent waves of pain through her that she ignored as she rolled out of the way and the commotion alerted the guards. The room was bright as the sconces were lit. The room was filled with the shouts as the guards called for backup.
Katara sleeved her arms in streams of water she used as whips to defend herself. There were so many of them. The guards were having a hard time keeping them back, but more were on their way as well as Aang and Iroh dressed in their bed clothes. Aang leapt into the air, punching fire at the nearest hooded figure and landed with his back to Katara. The fight became vicious and disorienting quickly. Everyone was doing their best to keep the men away from Katara, but they were agile and came from all angles and there seemed to be a never ending queue of them. One slid under a strike from Aang and landed a quick succession of blows on Katara before retreating.
"Aang!" She cried, fear in her eyes as both her arms hung limp and useless at her sides. "Chi blocker!"
Aang's eyes widened in horror. He threw an arm around her and led her to the far corner of the room, the one that was against Zuko's wall and the hall. "I'll protect you!" He called and before she knew what he was doing, he erected stone walls to barricade her in the corner with just a narrow slit for air.
"Aang!" She screamed, but her voice reverberated back to her off the stone walls.
The young Avatar faced the oncoming attackers and met them head on with extreme brutality. Their numbers were decimating, for each one downed he was removed by one of their own, not wanting to leave one behind for interrogation. Iroh and Aang were at the forefront of the destruction, the guards taking those they left behind. It was a long time and a lot of effort, sweat and collateral damage before the hooded figures had been eradicated.
"Katara, it's safe!" Aang called as he dropped the walls. "What?! No!" He cried. It was empty space with a hole in the wall that led into Zuko's room. He dove through it and saw the boards that had been placed over the windows just yesterday had been removed. That was how they had gotten in again and how they had left with Katara. "Katara!" Aang shouted into the still night, his voice echoing over the empty grounds.
Sarahplainntall here. I promised you things would pick up! Hope you enjoyed! Leave a review and I'll update in about a week.