Episode 3: Not Enough Tea in the World
Katara was buzzing with excitement on Monday morning, her steps light and quick as she made her way into her first class of the morning. Sure, she'd had to work double shifts on Saturday so that Ty Lee could meet up with an old friend. Maybe her feet and back ached from not sitting down for twenty-four hours straight, but that didn't matter. Today she would be getting her first chance to decipher the waterbending scroll.
Thousands of years of history had wiped the world almost clean of any sources of bending. There were very few artifacts left that even mentioned the talents of the ancients' discovered way to manipulate the elements. And she had one.
Thanks to the Blue Spirit, she amended in her mind. She should probably apologize to him. She'd never had to rely on anyone before in her life, she was always the one holding others up and keeping teams together. It had felt almost treasonous to admit she would have failed without him. And she would have failed without him.
Katara shook her head as she stepped into the classroom. Nothing could dampen her mood today.
Her eyes caught a pair of gold ones. Maybe one thing.
Frowning, and with a marginally absent spring in her step, Katara mounted the steps to her seat and sat down.
Zuko seemed to wait a moment before inclining his head in a nod. "Good morning."
She hmphed a reply to which he only pursed his lips and folded his hands in front of him.
"I have a question," he started.
"Well you certainly don't have answers in this class." She wanted to count it as a point for herself but she really just felt dirty, like she'd just showered in garbage. She sighed. "I'm sorry. What is your question?"
Zuko's raised eyebrows were his only comment on her apology. "Do your patients like you?"
Garbage be darned. "Excuse me?" From this angle she could only see the scarred half of his face which didn't allow for much expression.
"Let me rephrase." He cleared his throat. "Why do your patients like you?"
"Because I'm a good doctor," she insisted. "I help them. I'm personable. I listen to what they say knowing that any little detail could be important. I never miss my rounds, I double-check all orders, I've even been described as motherly. Does that answer your question?" She spat the final word.
"Do any of them work for Phoenix Industries?"
The question caught her off guard. "Of course," she said, "factory injuries, healthcare check-ups…most of our patients are from the working class."
"And you treat them."
Not a question, but she answered it. "I treat anyone in need of care, I took an oath."
"Well, then." He settled back against his seat, his eyes steadfastly forward and tone nonchalant. "Why am I any different?"
Her mouth dropped open. "I don't-…You-…"
"I'm in need of help, that's a kind of care." He marked off one finger. "I have details to add but as far as you know, my file is empty." A second finger came up. "Have you double-checked our work for today?"
"Our work?" she asked.
"Classic freshman mistake. The masters usually send out a weekend email with a mini assignment during the first week to see who's actively checking their inbox. Lucky for you-" he slid a file across the desk to her using his three reason fingers "-you're partnered with a senior."
Katara rapidly opened the file and flipped through the work, skimming his two pages briefly summarizing the 'why's and 'how's of molecular biology.
"It's a rite of passage," he continued in the same blasé tone. "Probably won't even be graded, but I knew you would care so I read the textbook and threw that together."
Threw it together? His business world background and years at the university set him head and shoulders above the factual first-years in the room. Herself included, Katara begrudgingly admitted. His diction was smooth and precise, using persuasive terminology amidst the medical facts helping the summary to sound more like a conversational recap rather than the conclusion to a textbook chapter that most med-students would likely produce.
"It doesn't seem like you need me, after all," she said, closing the file.
"Don't get me wrong, I can B.S. a good paper in an hour, but when it comes to this-" He waved his hand at the giant textbook laying between them with a look of distaste. "I'd prefer to consult an expert. Which is why I ask again, why am I any different?"
Katara thought about it, her eyes drifting to the front of the room where she noticed Dr. Pakku watching them. "I suppose you're not."
Zuko nodded as if that settled the argument. "We can meet tonight so you can answer my questions on chapter 1 and we can make a plan for how to get through this semester together."
She bristled at the turn the morning had taken, the waterbending scroll all but forgotten. Ambition, negotiation, persuasion. She had her work cut out for her with this one. "And why would I do that?"
"Firstly, because my grade isn't the only one on the line." He snatched back his work. "The second reason? You owe me."
"For what? This?" She motioned towards the file.
"No." He finally turned to look at her. "Do the words 'business world scum' mean anything to you?"
Katara opened her mouth to retort but no sound came out.
Point: Zuko. He smirked. "Yeah, that's what I thought. I'll see you at the Jasmine dragon at 8."
Frowning yet again, Katara crossed her arms and slouched down in her seat just as class was started. Looked like the waterbending scroll would have to wait.
When he'd met Katara, Zuko had expected to be blown away by the caring, gentle, loving, passionate, and intelligent girl Sokka and their father had painted her out to be.
He scoffed as he finished wiping down his final mug of the evening at the Jasmine Dragon. He'd probably see Sokka become a firebender before that would happen.
His eyes strayed to the clock. Fifteen minutes until his shift was over. Fifteen minutes until she would walk through that door.
Zuko flexed his hand. Why was he nervous? The girl hated his guts. She'd taken one look at his bag, his legacy that he couldn't seem to let go of, and decided he wasn't worth saving.
Maybe she was right…
The bell at the top of the door rang to signal a newcomer and he straightened, almost dropping the mug he was cleaning.
Katara was wearing casual clothes with her dark hair unbound except for two thin braids on either side of her face that she'd pinned back.
One thing her family had forgotten to mention in those many hours they sung her praises? She was drop dead gorgeous.
The light blue of her tunic had her eyes shining like jewels against her brown skin. Her chocolate hair ran in waves, loose and flowing, all the way down her back.
A cheerful voice broke through his reverie. "I just love the smell in here."
Zuko groaned internally when he realized who she'd brought with her.
"Oh hey, you didn't say the person you were meeting with was Zuko!"
Suki waved at him from the doorway, she was in uniform which meant she was most likely working the evening patrol tonight. He nodded back. It wasn't that he didn't like the girl, more that as he was about to face Katara, he didn't know how much taunting he could handle in one night.
"You know him?" Katara asked.
"Sure, sure." Suki waved her off. "Him and Sokka have been joined at the hip for years. First time we met, he tried to burn down my house."
Zuko sighed. "Never going to let that one go, are you?" he muttered. He stacked the mug he'd been cleaning on a nearby shelf and then searched for something else to do with his hands. Unfortunately, he'd already scrubbed the place spotless and ended up leaning against the counter next to the register twiddling his thumbs.
"What do you mean?" Katara asked, her eyes narrowing on him even across the room. Like she needed another reason to distrust him.
Suki laughed. "We were cooking a meal for Sokka's birthday to surprise him and Zuko got a little too excited with the stir-fry. Isn't that right, Sparky?"
"I've been apologizing for three years, Suki, are you ever going to forgive me?"
"You're already forgiven." She sauntered up to the counter where he pulled out a kettle to pour her a small glass of her favorite white tea. Katara seemed reluctant to get closer but eventually advanced to join them.
"And yet every time we meet someone new-" He pretended to flip his hair and mocked her playful laugh, "Zuko, remember that time we almost died horrible deaths by fire? Good times!"
Suki only laughed and sipped her tea. "I have to hold something over you, Mr. Perfect Grades."
Zuko snorted before wiping down the counters a final time and checking the clock. Where was his replacement?
"You headed to the Village this evening, officer?" he asked in an attempt to fill the quiet. Katara was watching him in earnest, a small dimple between her brow as if he were a puzzle she were trying to figure out. It unnerved him.
"Yeah, going to spend the night running around looking for more clues on the Blue Spirit."
Katara perked up at that, turning to look at her friend. "The Blue Spirit?"
"Yeah," Suki grumbled, taking another sip of tea. "My captain wasn't very happy with my suggestion for an undercover operation so she has me running the streets looking for the phantom thief. It's kind of like time-out when a cadet mouths off, we spend a couple days gathering statements about him until we cool off." She grinned. "We call it B.S. duty."
Katara laughed and Zuko almost fell over from shock. Luckily, Jun chose to walk in at that moment and their attention turned to the door.
"Well, that's my cue," said Suki. She downed her tea in one gulp and clanked the glass against the counter with the practiced air of someone who regularly took shots. "Is Sokka home?"
"Yeah, he's supposed to be cleaning the kitchen," Zuko said, "Can you check on him for me?"
"Sure, sure." Suki waved a hand. "You and Katara have fun talking about doctor stuff."
"Thanks." Zuko rolled his eyes before looking to his partner. "Pick any table you want, Katara. I'll be there in just a second."
Grabbing two new mugs, he watched the girls chat in low voices as they walked away from him until Jun stepped behind the counter.
"You're late," he said, pouring the first cup of tea.
"I got held up, Naila escaped again." She started tying on her apron and nodded to Katara. "So what is she, your girlfriend?"
Zuko poured the second glass. "You see me meeting with a girl for the first time at the place where I work and you automatically assume she's my girlfriend?"
Jun's smile widened. "That's not a no."
"It's not the girl I'm after, it's the grade. She's in my class, we're here to talk about biology."
Jun's smile remained in place. "Still not a no. Exactly what kind of biology are we talking about, angry boy?"
He snatched up his bag and both mugs of tea, blushing profusely as he grumbled under his breath. "She is not my girlfriend."
"Whatever you say," she called after him.
Katara had chosen a table by the window and was already set up with her notebooks out and textbook between them.
He sat down across from her. "I hope ginseng is alright, it's Uncle's favorite so we always have a fresh pot brewed."
Katara took the mug he offered and cupped it close with both hands. "Uncle? Brother? Has the whole town adopted you?"
She made a face that Zuko was beginning to recognize as immediate regret, as if she couldn't believe her own harshness.
"I'm sorry. I know your family is…" she swirled her tea as she searched for the right word. "Complicated."
Zuko coughed a laugh but there was no humor in it. Complicated? An understatement if ever there was one. "Did you want to talk more about my family or are you okay if we switch to biology now?"
Katara blushed then pursed her lips.
"I didn't mean-" Zuko groaned internally. Why was he so bad at this? "If you want to talk about my family, we can, but if you'd like to talk about biology…since that's what we met for…" He trailed off, giving up.
Katara brushed some of her hair that had fallen forward away from her face. "Of course. Biology. You said you had questions?"
He proceeded to ask her about the things he remembered until he was forced to take his own notebook out to compile the new questions her answers gave him. It took about an hour to complete their work for the first chapter and then they started working on chapter 2 separately. It was her idea and he didn't argue, she would read the second half of the chapter and compile notes and questions while he would work on the first half. The fact that she was allowing him to provide original notes at all felt like a small victory. They worked in silence, sipping on their third cups of tea each until an alarm went off on Katara's phone.
"I should get going," she said, beginning to pack up. "I have clinical early and then class through the afternoon." She sighed. "It's going to be a long day."
"Of course," Zuko said, packing up himself. "I'll see you on Wednesday."
Katara stood. Hesitated. Then spoke, "Thank you."
How to respond…No problem? What are partners for? Let's just stick with: "You're welcome."
She nodded. "Goodnight, Zuko."
"Goodnight, Katara."
And she was gone.
There was a snort that drew his eyes back behind the counter where Jun was standing, not even pretending to be doing something else other than watching them. "Yeah," she said. "You guys are totally just friends."
As a nurse, Katara knew she was going to work odd hours. Waking up at 5:00 a.m. on a Tuesday wasn't so bad, working a twelve hour shift…could be worse. Four hours of class was usually interesting, but all together in a single day? There wasn't enough tea in the world to make that better. She was attempting to rub the headache out from above her eyes when she finally got home.
"There she is!"
Katara smiled at her flour-dusted father, his arms spread wide to greet her.
"How's my favorite daughter?"
"I'm your only daughter, dad," she said, walking forward to kiss him on the cheek.
"Did I lie?" he asked.
"I suppose not." She chuckled. "I'm going to bed. Goodnight, dad."
"Love you, sugarplum." Hakoda went back to kneading the dough he'd been working. Sometimes it felt like bakers worked almost the same hours as nurses.
Each step ricocheted up her back causing her to groan aloud. Above the Bakery was the main floor of their home while her room was on the top floor. She'd chosen it when she was younger for its view of the moon, now she wished she'd chosen a room with fewer stairs.
Katara dropped her bag on the floor of her room and looked longingly at her bed. Her classmates were probably collapsing at their own homes at this very moment…but she had work to do.
She stripped out of her scrubs and threw them into her hamper before changing into a red tank top and comfortable pants. She grabbed a small pack she kept stowed under the floorboards of her closet and climbed up a ladder that led to the roof of the building.
Unlike the surrounding buildings, the bakery had a flat top balcony for a roof that Hakoda used to grow vegetables, herbs, and fruits for his bakes. For Katara, the balcony had always provided an escape from the craziness of her household. She'd spent many nights sitting up staring at the moon until the early hours of the morning. Some of the only peaceful hours she'd gotten before leaving for boarding school.
These days, the balcony provided for a different kind of escape.
Katara closed her eyes to breathe in the night air allowing the cool mist of the evening to sink deep into her skin. She didn't have to see it to know the moon was near its peak. She could feel its power fueling her, could sense the push and pull of the tides surrounding the island. The ocean called to her.
Katara leapt from the roof of her building to the next one over before beginning the descent towards the fire escape, a route she knew well. Once she'd touched down to the street she traversed back alleys.
The buildings alongside her grew steadily shorter and less structured. Roofs were caved in, windows damaged and then broken, graffiti on the walls. This was the part of town they called 'the Village'. The place where Phoenix Industries kept its scraps. Where honest men became refugees in their own city.
Families huddled around make-shift fires, the groans of the sick could be heard on every street corner. Crooks patrolled the alleys for weak prey to isolate.
Vultures. Katara was done with it.
Finding a desolate corner where she could hear the waves crashing against the nearby docks, she stopped. She was close now…to the place where they'd met. Taking off her pack, she pulled out the long, maroon cloak, the red paint, and the straw hat. The cloak went on first, the material thick and scratchy but also concealing.
Dipping two fingers into the paint she made striped marking down her arms, neck, and across her face. She pulled up her hood before placing the straw hat on top, the sheer veil falling around her.
Katara glanced into a nearby window that was mostly intact and gave a curt nod of approval. Now for the final touch.
It was the painted lady who raised her arms above her head forcing the tide to come in and hold slightly longer than average until a gentle mist broke free from the surface. She couldn't help but grin. It never got tiring, twirling her hands and shifting her weight only for the water to actually respond.
The mist curled with each twirl of her wrist, drifting into the streets until the entire village was smothered in it. The perfect cover.
Katara had been thirteen when she'd realized she could bend. To this day she'd never told a soul, not even her father or brother. Benders were ancient, a myth…an unknown. And unknowns were often feared.
She began moving through the crowded town in an imitation of her element, weaving and bobbing from group to group, street to street.
When she came across the sickly she healed them using her abilities. When she found small groups of hungry children she shared with them what she could from the leftovers of the bakery and other supplies she'd acquired.
Finally, she headed towards the coast.
Instead, she'd spent her time at boarding school learning about the ancient art. In her research she'd come across the painted lady, a spirit protector for a historic river in the west. A professor had unknowingly helped her figure out her healing abilities, but other than that and a little mist, Katara was still very much a beginner. Then she'd heard about the scroll.
The marbled relic was safely stored under her floorboards back at the bakery, but she'd taken photos and practiced the moves enough to have a general idea.
Extending her right hand, a small bubble of water rose from the sea and twirled once around her wrist. She shifted forward, snapped her wrist and-…whipped herself in the forehead.
Good thing Sokka wasn't here.
Taking a deep breath, she tried again. Then again. On the fifth try, she had a semblance of the water whip and was satisfied enough to move on to the next form.
She'd been practicing for two hours when she started to feel the exhaustion in her limbs. No matter the amount of energy the moon gave her, she couldn't deny the fact that she had now been up for almost twenty hours straight.
That was when they found her.
"She's prettier than you mentioned," a deep voice came from behind her.
Katara froze, a jug-worth of water poised around her. "Who's there?" she demanded.
A small group of hooded figures stepped out from the mouth of the nearest alley. Each of them were armed to the teeth and staring straight at her with a kind of hunger in their eyes that only money could incite.
Bounty hunters.
"What is she, some kind of witch?" The one on the left asked, noticing the suspended liquid above her.
"A waterbender." Another of them remarked. "That'll raise your reward a pretty penny."
"I think you'll find me to be more than a match."
"What are you going to do?" Well, at least one of them was a woman. "There's six of us and you're alone. Even as a bender, it won't be much of a match."
"I wouldn't say she was alone."
A shadow fell from the nearest building and rolled to a stop next to her. She recognized the black body suit, the duel swords strapped to his back, and the iconic blue demon mask obscuring the entirety of his face.
"My lady," the Blue Spirit greeted her with a nod.
"Stay out of this, spirit," one of the men warned. Katara was inclined to agree but the Blue Spirit ignored them as if saving damsels in distress was something he did regularly.
"Is this a habit of yours? Needing rescuing from a large group of angry men?" he asked, his eyes passing across the small gang. "Or am I just special?"
"I'll take the three on the left, you get the three on the right."
He turned his head to look at her as if in surprise. She couldn't see his face beneath the mask and she knew he couldn't see hers, so she stuck her tongue out at him. "I don't need a rescue," she insisted still. "But I don't mind the help either."
Yet again she would have failed without him. His movements were sure and precise, no excess energy lost as he smoothly took down all three of his opponents and one of hers within minutes. Katara struggled through being attacked on all sides, her greatest strength in dodging their blows until she got an opening to use her limited waterbending moves. Within the half hour the assailants were either lying unconscious on the street floor or swimming in the canal.
"Thank you," she said through her panting, dusting herself off. The spirit merely faced her and sheathed his swords. He wasn't even out of breath.
"What?" she demanded when he still hadn't spoken.
"I didn't realize you were this…"
"Skilled? Amiable? Diplomatic?" she supplied.
He shrugged. "I was going to say 'nice'."
Katara scoffed. "I'm nice!"
"Only mean people have to insist that they're nice." He crossed his arms and she got the sense he was laughing at her. Then he said, "Your bending is beautiful."
She blushed. "I didn't realize anyone was watching."
"Yeah, about that." He scratched behind his ear. "We need to find you a more private place to practice. I have a place you could probably train if you're interested."
She squinted at him. "You'd share your training ground with me?"
"Unlike you," his teasing tone had returned, "I don't have to yell to show people that I'm nice."
"I would believe it," she said, "except…"
"Except what?" he asked.
"You're a thief," she said simply.
"And the issue is…?"
"Taking things is wrong."
"I'm not sure the waterbending scroll currently in your possession/(our friends the sea ravens) would agree with you."
"That was different and you know it," she said. "They were going to take that scroll and hide it away where nobody could find it. The museum and monuments you steal from are there to educate the people. The more you take, the greater the disadvantage to those of us who have nothing. Those artifacts are our history, they remind us what we're supposed to be fighting for. They give us hope. And with each missing item you take a piece of that hope away."
He stood completely still. Katara got the feeling she was being assessed and refused to shift or cower no matter how much she wanted to.
Finally he spoke. "What would you have me do?"
"Return the relics to the people, let them decide what to do with their future by exploring the past."
"I don't know that the people will share your passion for the future, nor your understanding of what the relics stood for. That was why I took them in the first place, to preserve them."
She tucked that little piece of information away. "Even more reason to do what we can to help them understand it. If we hide knowledge and keep secrets, even to preserve the ancient ways, wouldn't that give us the same result as to lock it away like the enemy has done?"
"I'm not sure we're the ones to talk about exposing secrets while we stand here in a mask and veil."
"I wear my veil to protect the people I love," she insisted. "I don't want anyone else to be hurt because of my choices."
The spirit crossed his arms, leaning against a nearby wall. "So secrets are alright, but only if they're protecting others?"
"History isn't meant to be a secret," she countered. "My anonymity isn't harming anyone."
"Phoenix Industries might beg to differ."
"Not harming anyone decent," she amended with a tip of her hat.
"I'm starting to get the sense that your morality is subjective." He tapped his masked chin with a gloved finger. "What's the lesson I'm supposed to be learning here, exactly?"
"Stealing is wrong." She grinned. "Unless it's from pirates."