Chapter 20: What A Tangled Web We Weave
Kaz's face was bright red when he lead Katara and her guard through the low, dark doorway into his home.
"I'm sorry its so small and- and such a m-mess." He stuttered.
Katara just smiled kindly at him. "My childhood home was smaller." She said cheerfully. "I lived in a hut, in case you didn't know." And I was supposed to live in a hut my whole life. Not on the back of a flying bison, and certainly not in an opulent palace in the Fire Nation. There were so many things in this world she wasn't supposed to do, and yet still had done.
Kaz seemed to relax. To her relief, Katara noticed that her guard took up a position outside the door. She didn't really care one way or another what he thought, but iw ould have been just a little awkward to have him there when she and Kaz's mother began to talk about pregnancy and birth and other… womanly matters.
Kaz hadn't been lying when he'd said his home was small. It had two rooms. The front room (the one Katara was currently standing in) seemed to triple as a kitchen/dining/bedroom/everything-room. A primitive stove and sink were installed in one corner, while a crooked table teetered on three legs. A small cot-type bed was pushed against the inside wall.
Kaz blushed again and hurried to rearrange the rumpled sheets. "This is where I sleep." He said, pulling the blankets straight. "My mother and sister sleep in the other room. I'll go get them now." He disappeared, leaving Katara to stare at her surroundings in wonder. Her whole room in the palace was bigger than this! Her private bathroom could easily have encompassed Kaz's entire home.
She felt horribly spoiled. What had she ever done to deserve such luxury in her life? She'd give it all up to have her old life with Sokka and Aang back.
Would you? A voice asked her. Would you give up the time you had with Zuko in order to get your old life back? Would you agree to forget everything you've learned, everything you've experienced, and everything you've loved in order to go back to the way things were?
Would you give up Zuko?
Would you give up your baby?
She couldn't answer that. Things weren't so simple now, she realized. Everything blurred together confusingly. Old and new, black and white, good and evil. When had life become so complicated?
The door to the second room creaked open, and Katara turned, shaking herself out of her reverie.
Kaz came first, a shy smile on his face. Behind him came an older woman, with a young girl clinging to her skirts.
This was Katara's first impression of Kaz's mother:
Black hair with a few gray strands pulled back into a loose bun. Tanned, worn skin with smile wrinkles by her eyes and mouth. The most kindly, motherly, and tired eyes Katara had ever seen in her life. And a rounded stomach like her own.
The woman smiled, slight wrinkles playing into effect. "Hello. I'm Majin. We've heard so much about you from Kaz." This woman exuded warmth and tenderness and a certain world-weariness with every move she made. She put a gentle hand on Kaz's shoulder as she spoke his name. Katara could see how the boy leaned into the comfort of his mother's touch.
All of a sudden, Katara felt tears prickling in the corners of her eyes as an incomparable wave of sorrow washed over her. Oh mama why did you have to go?
Katara forced her own tears back down, but knew that Majin had noticed. The older woman didn't say anything, but her expression said it all. Katara was unbelievably grateful.
"This is Lady Katara." Kaz did the introductions. "She's the one who gave us the money to pay for Sora's school tuition."
"For which we'll be forever grateful, my lady." Majin made a slight curtsy that spoke volumes. She pushed her daughter in front of her. Sora had wide glasses that covered her tiny face, and a book clutched in one hand.
"Say thank you to the nice lady, Sora. She's the one who made it so you can go to school."
Sora made her own wobbly curtsy and ducked her head shyly, whispering "Thank you Lady Katara."
"Please." Katara choked out. "Just Katara, please."
Majin inclined her head in agreement. "Of course, Katara." Bending down to whisper in her daughter's ear, she said, "Sora. Go put on your nice dress for our important guest, alright?"
The wide-eyed girl nodded silently before racing off into the other room. Kaz took a seat on his bed.
Gesturing for Katara to sit down, Majin pulled out a chair for herself. "Kaz tells me you're expecting as well, and you had some questions to ask me."
Katara's mouth felt dry. She hadn't really thought this far ahead. "Well… I…"
Majin laughed softly, pushing a cup of tea over in front of Katara. "Don't be shy. Ask away. I'll help you however I can… I have done this before, yes?"
Katara managed a weak smile, and seized the first thought that came into her head. "Does it hurt?" She blurted out, then instantly regretted it. What a stupid question! You're giving birth! Of course it hurts! It's not all fluffy clouds and rainbows, you stupid girl!
"I won't sugarcoat it for your, Katara. Childbirth is an extremely painful thing to endure." Majin sipped her own tea. "It was the second most painful thing I've ever experienced in my life."
"What was the first?" Katara asked before cursing herself silently. She wasn't here to pry into other people's business.
"The death of my husband." Majin gazed at Katara with clear, unflinching eyes.
Katara felt like jumping off the highest cliff she could possibly find. "I'm… I didn't mean to… I mean, I'm so sorry, but I… I didn't…"
Majin just smiled that sad smile, and it rendered all of Katara's fumbling words ineffective.
"Would you consider yourself in love, Katara?"
Who was supposed to be asking who questions? Katara swallowed. "Yes." It was the first time she'd ever admitted it to someone other than herself… and Zuko. And to a pure stranger, no less. But somehow, sitting across from this woman who'd had so much pain in her life, it didn't feel like she was talking to a stranger.
"How old are you?"
"I'm… I'm sixteen." At least she could say her own age properly.
Majin showed no surprise at Katara's age. It wasn't an uncommon thing in Fire Nation culture to marry young, especially if it was an arranged marriage between nobles. Katara wondered if Majin knew who she was. Did Kaz's mother think Katara was real nobility? Did she think Katara was married? Or had Kaz told her the truth?
"How old do you think I am?" The older woman asked.
Katara studied the woman sitting opposite her. Graying her, weary eyes, tired skin. Lined hands that spoke of care, love and manual labor. A face that must have been attractive and pleasing in her youth. Majin still had beauty, but none of that shallow, skin-deep prettiness that came in the younger years. It was a worldly, aged beauty that had experienced love and loss.
"Thirty… thirty-seven?" Katara estimated uncertainly, wondering what this would lead to.
"I'm twenty-eight, Katara."
For the second time that day, Katara seriously contemplated suicide. Why couldn't she ever say anything right in front of Kaz's mother? Why did she constantly have to appear as a stupid, foolish girl who couldn't keep her mouth shut?
Majin didn't look offended or angry. In fact, she looked like she found the entire thing quite funny. Katara squirmed in her seat uncomfortably, keeping that high cliff in mind.
"I'm twenty-eight, which means I was the same age you are when Kaz was born." Majin spared a tender smile towards her firstborn son. He smiled back.
"It wasn't exactly the smart thing to do. My husband and I had gotten married not two months earlier, and we were as in love as any couple could possibly be. Unfortunately, we were also dirt poor, and both our parents dead. So Royan, my husband, did the only thing he could and joined the army."
Katara averted her eyes. She knew what was coming next.
"It was all fine for about nine years. The army gave us money. Then the war escalated against the Earth Kingdom, and Royan was sent off on a year-long draft."
Katara noticed out of the corner of her eye that Kaz had turned away from them on the bed.
"He didn't come back." Majin stared unblinkingly at a spot above Katara's head.
Katara felt like running out the door and away from this house filled with sorrow because it hurt to just watch Majin talk about her husband's death.
"And this is the way we've been ever since." She lifted one callused hand to wipe away something on her face. Water. Just water. "How queer I must seem to you!" Majin laughed, a sad laugh. "Telling you all about our family history when you've come here to receive help with your pregnancy. How impolite of me."
But her eyes sharpened when she looked at Katara again. "I told you this for a reason. Because Kaz mentioned that the father of your child is in the army."
What an understatement. The irony of it all almost choked Katara.
But Katara didn't say anything. Perhaps Kaz had a reason for keeping the truth about Katara's identity from his mother.
"I'm not trying to foretell doom or tragedy on you, dear girl, but be ready. Anything could happen at any second, and the people you love will never come back to you." Majin said, eyes searching the younger girl's face for a sign of anything.
And the people you love will never come back to you. Don't I know it. Father never came back from the war. Mother never came back from the medicine hut. Sokka never came back after he left me in the palace.
According to her life so far, Zuko's chances of coming back to her were none. Absolute zero.
"Does it get easier?" Katara's voice almost broke. "Does it get easier after awhile? After a long time? Does it get easier to live your life like nothing's happened?"
"It is never easy, but it is necessary."
Of course it was. Leaving her home and helping Aang on his quest hadn't been easy, but it had been necessary in order to help the Avatar. Dealing with her parents' deaths had not been easy, but it had been necessary in order to keep on living, instead of ending it all right there and then. Forgiving Sokka for leaving her in the palace had not been easy, but it had been necessary. Her brother had obviously moved on with his life; she would move on with hers. It was never, ever easy. But it was necessary.
Falling in love with Zuko hadn't been necessary.
But it had been maddeningly, unbelievably easy.
Just went to show how fucked up this world was.
After that conversation, there really was nothing more left to say between the two women. Katara asked Majin to check on her swelled stomach, to make sure everything was fine.
"You are, what, five, six months along now?" Majin asked as she gently probed Katara's abdomen.
"Almost six."
"Have you felt the baby move yet?"
"Yes." Katara couldn't keep the stupid smile off her face. The first time she'd felt it was when she was lying in bed, trying to fall asleep a week ago. The unbelievable happiness that arose in her was like a drug, knowing that her child was alive and well. Sometimes she was kept awake by the movements, but it never bothered her that she might lost a little sleep over it. It'd be much worse if the baby stopped moving.
"Then I can't find anything wrong with you or the baby, Katara! Everything seems to be just fine." Majin smiled. "But I'm no professional- if you're still worried you could get a physician or midwife to check on you."
No thanks. Asking the Royal Physicians in the palace to check on her pregnancy? Hah. "I think I'm fine. Thank you very, very much Majin."
"It was no problem."
They exchanged other pleasantries and even a hug (or as close as they could embrace with both their bellies between them) before Katara left.
Outside the door, she encountered her guard. He looked the same as always. Stony-faced and silent. She didn't even know his name.
It was dark as they walked back to the palace. It was a very quiet walk, since it was just Katara and her soldier this time. Kaz would stay home and sleep before he had to go to work tomorrow again.
If I'm lucky, Katara thought to herself. I'll be able to survive like Majin has after this war blows over. I'll support my child on my own, and I'll make a living by myself.
Sokka and Zhao (or more accurately, Urek and Dotsu, as they were known now) were currently hiding out in the room they'd rented at a small inn in the outskirts of Kotzut. They'd booked a passage for the Earth Kingdom that very afternoon, and were staying inside in order to avoid any soldiers who might recognize their faces.
Zhao had two letters to read that day. The first was from Sakai.
Z –
This name is important: Juiko from the Southern Water Tribe. He's a rebel spy who got caught last night. He was brought into Zuko's tent. The minute that rebel said his name and where he was from, the Fire Lord killed him.
Southern Water Tribe. Maybe some relation to the girl? Whatever it is, it bothered Zuko to the point of drawing his sword and hacking off the rebel's head. Normal procedures would have had Zuko interrogating the prisoner until he gave up all information possible concerning rebel movements and other intelligence. Instead, he wasted a perfectly good source by killing him.
Another reason why that idiot shouldn't be allowed to be Fire lord.
- S
Hm. Interesting. Zhao put it aside thoughtfully and picked up the second letter.
Zhao's eyes widened in disbelief as he read it, written by a contact inside the palace.
"What is it?" Sokka asked.
Zhao gave a low whistle of wonder and shook his head from side-to-side as he continued to read.
Sokka had never seen this expression on Zhao before. He was usually either arrogant, demanding, or angry. Sometimes all three at the same time. This was new. Sokka was intrigued.
Zhao's eyes snapped up to look at Sokka. Immediately his expression cleared and his old, manipulative smile crept up again. "Nothing important. Just spy stuff. Little details, nothing of importance."
After awhile, Sokka lost interest and decided to turn in early. Zhao stayed up, one candle lit in a corner of the room, his back facing the bed Sokka was snoring on. The ex-Admiral reread the letter feverishly
Z –
Went with the girl to servant's house today to see a woman.
My suspicions are confirmed. The girl is with child.
I've only seen her come outside three times. The first time to see the portrait room, the second to send a letter, and this is the third. The first two times I didn't see anything, she wore a heavy cloak.
It's not fat. She is pregnant, alright.
The woman at the house must have been some sort of midwife. Couldn't really hear much; I was outside. It would have been suspicious if I had gone inside.
- W
Zhao couldn't help but smile to himself. This certainly changed things. It really helped having a spy so close to Katara at all times. Not even Zuko himself knew that the guard he'd assigned to protect Katara was really under Zhao's influence.
Things were really happening now. Zhao had time to send off one more letter before he and Sokka departed for the Earth Kingdom tomorrow morning. Based on information Sokka and the guard had given him, Zhao could write quite the convincing letter to a special someone.
Hopefully it wouldn't shock her to the point of harming the child. That would be an incredible tragedy.
Katara was in a very good mood the next morning, after her visit to Kaz's house. Her pregnancy was apparently coming along fine, and there was a messenger bird tapping at her window. Zuko's letter!
She wasn't disappointed when she flipped open the paper to read the contents.
Katara –
I haven't been in that portrait room forever. I didn't visit it after we came back to the palace. I wasn't the one who covered my mother's picture, Katara. It must have been my father.
As for your little rearrangement… I was a good-looking as a child? Well, I still am. And the scar. It's something that deserves a more than a few lines on a piece of paper. I'll tell you when I get back.
We landed a few days ago, and its been very chaotic and messy. We start our march tomorrow, to find the rebel camp. We haven't seen any of them yet.
I told Iroh what you said, and it cheered him up considerably, since he was currently working on organizing the troops who were building the temporary outhouses. He sends his greetings again and wants you to know that he kissed this paper before it was sent off. If that comforts you any. I don't see why it should.
The Avatar is fine. Don't worry about him. I haven't seen him for awhile actually. He's still on one of the ships, so I haven't had the chance to talk to him yet. But I promise that when I do, I'll tell him that you are still alive and well. No more.
- Zuko
Katara felt strangely elated as she finished reading. Three things made her happy: The fact that Zuko had agreed to share his past with her when he came back, the fact that Iroh's sense of humor came through the letter, and the fact that Zuko had promised to tell Aang she was perfectly fine. Everything was definitely okay. And Zuko was still alive.
Before she could pull out another piece of paper and begin her reply, a second tapping at the window drew her attention.
Another carrier pigeon? Two letters? How strange. Who else would have the motive to mail her? It might be Iroh, who had finally decided to write her on his own. Whatever it was, and whoever it was, Katara was curious.
She opened the window and allowed the bird to come in before untying the message from its legs.
Katara –
You don't know who I am, but I know who you are.
It's not important that you know my name. What's important is what I know, and am going to tell you.
I know everything about you, my dear girl. I know you're from the Southern Water Tribe. I know you are a Water bender. I know you are a close friend of the Avatar's. I know you were captured almost seven months ago by the Fire Lord. I know you love the Fire Lord. I know you think he loves you back.
And I know you're pregnant with his child.
I know where you brother is. And I know the events surrounding his hasty departure from the palace. Of course you think he left you, isn't that what Zuko told you? What you don't know is Zuko made him leave by force, under heavy guard. Your precious Fire Lord had your brother thrown out of the palace. It is to my personal knowledge that Sokka suffered a bit of beating from his guards. I don't know if Zuko authorized it. It's likely.
You probably don't believe me. You think this is a prank letter. Ask your darling little servant boy what he really saw that night, when your brother left the castle. Did he leave alone, willingly? Or was he surrounded by soldiers?
As for soldiers, ask your little bodyguard who stands so faithfully outside your door. He was there that night.
I'd also like to take the time to inform you that Juiko from the Southern Water Tribe is dead. The Fire Lord killed him about a week ago. Zuko did it personally, with his own sword. What an honor.
Hopefully you'll use this knowledge as best you can. My only concern is for your well-being. If you are being lied to, it is my job to show you the real truth.
I am forever your faithful and humble servant.
Katara had never felt so cold in her life.
She moved as if in a daze.
There was only one way to fix this. Only one way to tell if it was all a lie.
Katara opened the door and went outside, face-to-face with her nameless guard.
"What's your name?" She asked clearly. Her voice did not shake.
"Wun, my Lady."
"Three months ago. Did you escort a man out of the palace? Just any man."
"Yes I did. The Fire Lord asked several of us to throw him out of the city."
"Was his arm bandaged?"
"With white cloth. How do you know this?" He seemed oddly curious.
"Did he want to leave?"
"No. He was quite adamant about staying behind. He kept yelling for you, I think. Strange, isn't it? Maybe a crazy stalker. Lord Zuko had us remove him from the castle."
"Was he harmed?"
Wun averted his eyes slightly. "He struggled. We weren't altogether careful."
"Thank you."
Katara closed the door behind her cleanly and returned to her room. She sat down on the sofa with her hands primly folded in her lap. The letter lay beside her on the couch. She didn't touch it.
Sooner or later, Kaz would arrive with her breakfast. She trusted him. She trusted him enough to tell him about her child, when she hadn't even told Zuko himself.
Juiko from the Southern Water Tribe is dead. The Fire Lord killed him.
Once Kaz arrived, she could clear this whole mess up. She'd find out the truth.
One way or another, she'd find out.
"Lord Zuko! Commander Sakai and Advisor Huang are outside. They request a meeting with you."
Zuko rubbed a hand slowly over his eyes. Of all people. Why did they constantly have to plague him? "Send them in."
Sakai and Huang came in, did their usual courtesies and bows and what-not. Zuko nodded at them, and they took a seat on the cushions before his makeshift desk. The whole army had been on the move for five days now, marching into the thick forests towards the rebel camp. Shortly after Juiko had been killed, another rebel spy had been sent to find out why the first spy was taking so long. The second one, and Earth bender this time, had been duly apprehended and questioned.
Pain had a curious way of loosening up people's tongues.
Whatever the methods, Zuko now knew the location of the camp, along with plans and maps and schedules. Everything was going along just they way he'd planned it. The Avatar was in his possession, carried along in a metal cage securely tied on top of a horse-drawn wagon, the kind that usually carried supplies.
Huang had a beaming smile on his face.
It made Zuko both uncomfortable and suspicious. That man never smiled.
"Lord Zuko! My son and I are here to congratulate you!"
Oh, get it over with. "The capture of the spy and the information he provided was achieved through the work of all the men, not just I. I will pass along the congratulations to the honorable guards who caught the rebel."
Huang looked surprised and confused. There was a strange flicker in the old man's eyes. Zuko grew more suspicious. "Oh, we don't mean the spy, your Majesty!"
Sakai chimed in. "We mean the great and happy news of your unborn child!"
Zuko froze.
Everything about him stilled. His eyes, his hands, his expression, his thoughts.
Those two men in front of him were still talking.
"-Wonderful, an heir for the Fire Nation! Just wonderful-"
"-Now the throne is secure! Your bloodline runs on-"
Zuko pinned them under his gaze. They stopped talking. "My what?"
Huang looked uncertain. Zuko was sure it was an act. Or maybe it wasn't.
"Your… your child, my Lord."
Sakai looked at him, all wide-eyed innocence. It didn't suit him. "The Lady Katara is pregnant, yes?"
They were asking him questions as if he knew the answers.
As if he knew anything.
"She's pregnant?" He rasped loudly. It didn't sound like his voice. It didn't sound at all like him.
They both started talking at once. It was hell on his ears.
"-Well of course she is, I mean, for a child to be born-"
"-don't know how far along she is, it's usually nine months-"
"Shut up."
They shut up.
"How do you know this?" How do I not?
Huang spoke up. "Well, my daughter Adia saw the Lady Katara walking outside and she was obviously with child. At first, Adia thought the Lady was just… you know, putting on weight."
He cast a quick glance at Zuko to see if he would take offense. Zuko sat in still silence. "But, my daughter being a woman, you know, they can just tell these things by looking at them and Lady Katara hadn't put on weight anywhere else. Adia also says the Lady went to see a midwife recently."
To see a midwife. If that wasn't confirmation, Zuko didn't know what was.
Huang continued. "So my daughter wrote us as soon as possible in order to remind us that congratulations were in order! Good thing she did, or Sakai and I would have been left in the dark. How come you didn't see fit to tell us, my Lord? The whole country should know. It would be a cause for great celebration."
Silence.
You could hear water drip down the leaves of the trees outside the tent.
The perfect clear droplets slipped down, down, down.
Over each vibrant green leaf, sliding across the color and veins.
Until it hit the dirt brown forest floor, muddying and dirtying and drying up until nothing was left.
Sakai spoke up meekly. "Do you mean to tell us… do you mean to tell us, my Lord, that you didn't… know?"
Disbelief was evident on both men's faces, as if they couldn't possibly think that Zuko had not known he had a child. Unborn, but it was still a child.
Their faces blurred together like they were underwater.
"She… she didn't tell you my Lord?"
"All those letters… she didn't tell you?"
Zuko was aware that later, he would regret revealing the fact that he hadn't known about the pregnancy to these two idiots. It was quite humiliating, to be told your lover was pregnant by two men who were your subordinates. And quite embarrassing, that to let them know that you were so in the dark you didn't even know your own unborn child was to be born in a few months time.
But right now, he felt no regrets. No humiliation, no embarrassment. Just… nothing.
In fact, he wanted to know more from these two men.
"Katara is pregnant. With my child?"
They exchanged a look. Zuko couldn't decipher it.
"Well… of course, there is no guarantee it is your child."
Zuko's heart seemed to curl. Like a leaf that went too long without water.
Brittle and yellow and dead.
"You've been gone a long time, my Lord. For almost three months."
"How far along is the pregnancy?" His voice didn't shake, but it seemed to come from far away.
"We have no idea, my Lord. My daughter didn't mention it."
"Three months is… a long time." Sakai said gently.
Huang seemed to try to make up for it. "Besides, how well do you even know this woman?"
In another time, another place, Zuko might have grown angry and let his temper have its way. Huang's words were offensive, accusing Zuko of not knowing his own woman well enough.
But those words of Huang's slipped into Zuko's mind like a tiny insect and left a slimy trail, gleaming with doubt and suspicion.
How well do I know her?
"After all, she was in league with the Avatar first, was she not?"
"And you know those Water people. They have the strangest ideas of morals and loyalties."
Zuko didn't know those Water people. But if they all snuck around behind their loved ones' backs, keeping unbelievably important news from them, then they certainly could have strange morals and even stranger loyalties.
"How much time did she spend with the Avatar before meeting you, my Lord? Two years? Almost three?"
"She was with you, your Majesty, for only a few months before you left."
"That's a lot of time spent with the enemy, and not enough with your excellency, if you can excuse my bold words, Lord Zuko."
Those bold words crept into his chest and lodged there, driving their roots deep into his fire.
All that uneaten food. She'd been trying to hide it from him. All that time, before he'd left the palace.
How could he have placed so much trust in one person?
He'd never even trusted his own uncle like that.
He'd never even trusted his own father like that.
"Why… why didn't she tell me?" His voice broke. Almost like he was an innocent boy again. Asking his tutors and mentors questions.
Another glance between Huang and Sakai. But Zuko didn't notice.
He was too far gone.
"Maybe she had a reason to hide."
"Maybe she… maybe she didn't trust you enough, my Lord."
I trust her.
I trusted her.
"The Avatar is still only a child himself. And he's been here with me." Zuko said calmly.
"Not him, your Majesty. But plenty of other men in the palace. Servants… guards."
Guards.
One guard. One man.
One other man was all it took. Juiko's face flashed in his mind before it too, was lost in the swirling madness inside his head.
"Mercy is a great virtue as well, my Lord." Huang said quietly.
"Yes. Give her another chance to prove herself. Maybe in her next letter she will tell you. Maybe she's just too scared now." Sakai echoed his father.
Another chance.
Like all the chances she'd given him.
"Yes." He said, his mouth forming the word. "Yes. I will give her one more chance."
"That would be extremely generous of you, my Lord."
"You'll soon find out if she deserves it. If she tells you, it'll prove her worth. If she doesn't…" Sakai's voice trailed off.
"Does anyone else know of this news?" Zuko asked. He had to know if he was the only one who had been left in the dark.
The two men exchanged yet another glance. It didn't bother Zuko anymore. "We haven't heard anything, my Lord. Perhaps we were the first to find out. Have any other men come to congratulate you?"
"No. You are the first." And the only, if I have any say in it.
They stared at him. "What… what would you suggest we do, my Lord?"
"Not a single word to anyone else. Don't even talk about it in private. If word gets around, and gossips start talking, I'll know who to blame." He said, clear and steady.
Huang and Sakai both made hurried bows and assurances.
"Of course my Lord, your privacy is our utmost concern."
"We would never even think of spreading news if your Majesty said not to."
"Good." said Zuko. His voice still sounded like somebody else's. "You can leave now. And… thank you."
They both bowed low again and murmured their words of sympathy.
Get out.
They left.
He took out the one letter Katara had sent so far. It was already creased and smudged, because he'd read it so many times.
That night, he read over it again, and again, and again until the words blurred together in his mind and he'd memorized every single word. Not once was there any reference to her state. Except for her line, "just tell him that I'm still alive and breathing" when she was talking about the Avatar.
And, "He'd do the same for you if your situations were reversed"
Why did she keep talking about that damn boy?
"Don't worry, I'm still alive. The guard you left behind has been doing a pretty good job"
Zuko began to see deceptions behind every word inked onto the paper.
Every slope of a letter, every swirl in each line whispered of lies and concealment.
Why didn't you tell me? Were you scared?
What were you scared of?
Why didn't you tell me?
Why?
A/N: Forget what I said before, about this being 22 chapters. It's going to be a bit longer. I thought I could fit more into each chapter, but it'd make each chapter WAY too long. Besides, you like more chapters in this story, right?
This chapter might have pissed some people off… but sorry, that's the way things are going in this story.
Q&A Time: (If I missed someone's, just ask again. Sorry.)
I just have ONE question: is the cabbage man going
to make an appearance in the SEQUEL? –Lala-Ness
Well,
you're just going to have to FIND OUT, aren't ya?
Also, I noticed you made a mistake:"Right."
Zuko said, smiling in a friendly manner. "And now that things are
moving… we're going to start moving as well."That part came
when Sokka and Zhou were talking. It got pretty confusing! How'd Zuko
get there? –Princess Nightfire
I
got several questions like this one. Yup, I did make a mistake! Just
to clear it up, it was supposed to be ZHAO saying that line, not
ZUKO. They both begin with Z so I guess I got messed up. Sorry!
Katara
belongs with her family, not Zuko! --katara water bender forever
Sadira,
I've gotten several reviews from you saying that Katara and Zuko
should not be together. This… is a ZukoKatara romantic story
(although it's turning into quite the angsty fic, isn't it?) so
I'm sorry to say, they're going to end up together. If you'd
prefer that not to happen… I suggest you read another story. But
I'm glad you still like mine. XD
Haha. Thanks for 700 reviews!
