Chapter 4

Having parted with Zuko, Katara began her leisurely way back to the guest quarters, walking through the maze of corridors that was the royal palace of the Fire Nation. Katara was reasonably sure that she remembered the way, but even so she wondered what it would be like to live in such splendor, and when navigating the entire place without a map felt like a challenge. Still, staying at an actual palace made for a nice change from constant sleeping in the wilderness or on Appa's back, which had been the norm for the majority of the past few years.

The whole day had been both physically and emotionally exhausting, and it hadn't exactly gone as Katara had envisioned it, so at the end of it, she could not wait to get to her quarters, remove her sweaty clothing, clean up and head straight to bed. Traveling on the balloon, facing the crowds and the attention at the academy, and finally returning to the palace and spending time with Zuko and Mai... it had been a wild emotional ride she hadn't anticipated.

Even now, physically tired as she was, Katara could not help feeling rather light-headed and agitated, and wondering quite why she felt that way. It's probably all that delicious, spicy food... I am just so unused to it, but... I think I could actually get used to it, Katara admitted to herself. Damnation, if I admitted that to Zuko, he would be so insufferably smug about it!

Zuko. Katara's thoughts lingered and stopped at the young Fire Lord. Meeting him during her visit to the Fire Nation hadn't even been in her plans, and yet now that it had happened... she felt grateful for it. Katara had enjoyed his company at the dinner, and she was pleasantly surprised at how easy she found talking to him, their banter had flown freely and naturally. That's yet another thing that has changed... I remember that it used to be so hard to pry words out of him, especially when he first joined us as an ally. Granted... I didn't encourage him to open up, not at all... quite the opposite, in fact. I'm glad that has changed, among many other things, she smiled to herself, arriving at a three-way intersection of palace corridors, turning to face the doors to her quarters at the end of the hallway.

Just as she had made the turn, however, Katara became aware of a sudden whizzing sound, as if something was flying in her direction. Lost in her thoughts, Katara was too late in projecting a protective shield of ice and the flying missiles all hit their target... but their target was not Katara. At least eight throwing knives embedded deep in the wooden wall panels, neatly surrounding Katara and forming a vague outline of her body. There was no mistaking her assailant as the dark shape in the corridor she had just passed through approached Katara, revealing herself as Mai.

"Mai? What is the meaning of this?" Katara demanded, angry at how her voice hitched slightly from having been taken by surprise.

"No... what is the meaning of this?" Mai spat back, pointing at her, sighing when Katara shrugged helplessly with no clue as to what Mai was referring to. "The sudden appearance? The outfit? The elaborate hairstyle?"

"What are you talking about?" Katara snapped back. "What sudden appearance? Zuko and I ran into each other purely by chance! As for the other things, I simply wanted to pay respect to your culture!" Also, I wanted to wear it as a reminder of our past adventures, but Mai would not understand that, Katara thought to herself.

"Right," Mai drawled, not looking terribly convinced. "Just remember one thing, water peasant girl. A few days from now, Zuko is going to announce our engagement. Don't you forget that."

"How... or why would I forget it?" Katara wondered. "In fact... you reminded me that I never congratulated you on your engagement," she added with a polite formal bow. "I wish you both all the best."

"I can't figure out if you're a damn good actress or just oblivious," Mai chuckled ruefully. "All I'm saying is that you better remember that Zuko and I belong together, because I'll be watching you carefully from now on."

"Wait... are you insinuating that I..." Katara's eyes widened when she realized just what Mai was implying. "You're crazy! Why would I do something like that?"

"I don't know, but I'll find out," Mai shrugged. "Maybe you're here all alone because you broke up with your little Avatar."

"Shut up! I love Aang! I would never dream of breaking up with him!" Katara shouted angrily. "You better leave right now, Mai, or... or..."

"Or what, you'll attack the Fire Lord's fiancée?" Mai smirked. "Not a smart move."

"I don't want to attack you, Mai," Katara finally relented, forcing herself to calm down. "This has all been a huge misunderstanding, and I hope you'll realize it. I sincerely apologize if I have done something to create this false impression that you have formed about me," she finished politely, hoping to convince the other woman.

"Hmph," Mai sniffed haughtily, looking a little unsure. "I guess we'll see about that, water peasant girl," she added one final insult before turning to leave.

With a sigh of relief, Katara shook her head, feeling even more emotionally drained from the altercation. Spirits, this was all I needed at the end of an already crazy day, she thought having finally reached the doors to her quarters, entering quickly to hopefully escape any more surprises.

A while later, having cleaned up and dressed in the comfortable nightgown provided by the palace servants, Katara lay on her back in the splendorous canopy bed, far softer than Appa's gentle fur, expecting herself to fall asleep the moment her head hit the pillow.

Much to her annoyance, that didn't happen. While her body cried out for rest, her mind refused to listen, racing like a pack of scurrying lemurs. She had already tried all the tricks she knew to force herself asleep, even the most effective way of mentally counting cabbages escaping from the cabbage vendor's overturned cart. Her eyes simply insisted on remaining wide open and she began to trace the delicate patterns woven into the fabric of the curtains surrounding the bed, but that also did not lead her to sleep. She rose and assumed the lotus pose, attempting to meditate, but found her thoughts too unruly and chaotic for her to be able to focus and achieve any sort of meditative state.

Perhaps I won't be able to fall asleep until I have determined exactly what is keeping me awake and so agitated, Katara finally decided. The altercation with Mai was the obvious culprit, of course. It was the most recent of the events, and had rattled her rather badly.

Certainly, the accusations that Mai had thrown at her were too ridiculous to even contemplate, and so Katara chose to instantly dismiss them. There had to be a reason why Mai had so completely misinterpreted her intentions. Yes, the fault clearly lay with Mai... but why had she been so hostile? Perhaps she's simply lacking confidence? Katara mused. I know that she and Zuko have broken up and gotten back together several times. Perhaps that has made her a little paranoid about losing him again, perhaps that's why she foolishly sees me as a... as a romantic rival? I hope she realizes that we are not in a competition, but it didn't seem as if she trusted my words when I tried to tell her as much.

Frustrated, Katara forced herself to break this line of thought and she instead decided to look at the events of the day from Mai's perspective. Hmm... I think I'm starting to see where she's coming from. Her boyfriend invites another girl to dine with them without having informed her about it... that's just inconsiderate, Zuko. And then, during the dinner... he really did spend most of the time talking to me and barely even looked at Mai, his fiancée to be. It's no wonder that she became so frustrated and lashed out at me... even if it's Zuko she should be angry with, really! I should speak with Zuko in private and tell him to spend more attention to his girlfriend, she decided... and yet, at the same time, something deep within her voiced a faint displeasure with this plan. Katara decided to ignore this nagging little echo, brushing it aside.

But the nagging echo was not so easily silenced. Soon enough it began to push other, less comfortable thoughts to the forefront of Katara's mind. But why isn't Zuko interested in showering his fiancée with attention? Came the obvious follow-up to her previous thoughts. I mean... I saw it for myself how considerate and caring Zuko can be. That speech he gave at the academy, putting me on a pedestal like that... he didn't have to do it. And he went to great lengths to make my stay at the palace comfortable. He even made sure that the food was prepared to my liking! I'm not sure I would have thought of that!

Is that the reason why Mai was so angry? She felt that Zuko was making an effort for me, when he wouldn't make an effort for her? Did that make her jealous? Katara wondered, finally settling on this explanation, hoping that it would give her the peace of mind she so desperately needed to be able to sleep. That was until Katara realized the implication of the explanation she had arrived at. If Zuko had gone out of his way to please her, and wouldn't do the same for Mai, then his girlfriend actually had a valid reason to feel jealous.

"No, no, no..." Katara groaned in desperation, pulling the pillow over her face in a vain attempt to escape the torrent of emotions raging inside of her. "This is so not working!" she exclaimed in heated frustration.

Perhaps she needed to think about something else entirely. She tried to focus her thoughts on pondering how Aang was doing at the Southern Air Temple. However, she had been along on several similar trips and already knew the predictable pattern life at the air temples tended to fall into. There would be morning meditation with the sunrise, followed by a sparse meal, then working on restoring the ruined temple halls. At dinner, they would discuss various aspects of air nomad culture and traditions before resuming work at restoring the temple. After the evening meal, there would be a couple of hours for everyone to simply do whatever they chose, the two favorite hours in Katara's day. Aang would often take his glider for a flight to explore the surrounding landscape, and Katara liked to accompany him, holding tightly to her boyfriend as the glider soared high above the cliffs and canyons below.

It's working... I'm starting to feel sleepy, Katara realized as she forced herself to linger on the memories of soaring high above the ground, watching the tiny shadow of the glider pass across the red cliffs underneath. But just as she was starting to fall asleep, the red cliffs surrounding the air temple began to change shape and form, reshaping themselves into the mountains framing the Fire Nation islands, and now she was flying above them in the hot air balloon, speeding towards the capital, towards the royal palace, suddenly finding herself seated at the dinner table, chatting animatedly with Zuko.

"Gah!" Katara exclaimed, angrily tossing the pillow away, feeling like she could cry from frustration. "Go away, stupid thoughts!" she threatened, at a loss at what else she could try to fall asleep. This was so stupid and frustrating. Tomorrow was shaping up to be another exciting day, and she wanted to be refreshed and re-energized for it. She was so looking forward to going to the academy again and working with all the kids who were eager to learn the basics of waterbending from her. But most of all, she couldn't wait to see what sort of surprise Zuko had in store for her in the evening.

Wait... is that really what I'm looking forward the most, Zuko's surprise? she realized suddenly. Hmm... that gives me an idea. Maybe I should simply focus my thoughts on what I enjoyed most about this day. Katara's memories spun, returning back to the dining hall at the royal palace. She saw herself sitting there, in rapt attention to the conversation she was having with Zuko. Katara tried her best to recall Zuko's voice... not the exact words he was saying, just the tone of his voice, focusing on it and a sensation of peace and calm immediately flooded her tired body.

Within a few minutes, Katara was out cold, a warm smile gracing her lips as she found herself in a much welcomed restful sleep.