Dangerous Ground
Chapter Three
I stood there watching him for a moment. Here was my greatest enemy, at my feet, entirely at my mercy. Here was the man who would see the whole world enslaved to the Fire Nation, the son of the man who'd ordered my village burned, my family torn apart by war. Anger flickered inside me. I didn't want to heal him. I wanted to hurt him. To kick him and make him feel a little bit of the pain I'd had to endure since my mother died. I wanted to kill him!
And what would that make you, Katara? A voice spoke inside me. It was Gran-Gran's voice, soothing away the fiery anger in me. It would make you no better than he is. You would become as bad as the Fire Lord himself , killing without mercy like that.
So I knelt. I could feel Sokka and Aang's eyes on my back as I began to unbutton Zuko's tunic. I was acutely aware of a stew of emotions bubbling within me. Revulsion at having to not only touch, but heal, the mortal enemy of my entire race. Fear that he might wake up and kill us all. And a slight stirring of pity as the opening shirt revealed a mottling of scars and bruises. But I pushed the emotions aside and stared blankly down at the now bare chest of the Fire Prince. It rose and fell slowly with each breath, the taught muscles made even more apparent in the flickering shadows of the fire.
Living in the arctic, there had been little reason for the men of my community to remove their shirts. I felt a bit unnerved and intimidated, but easily hid it as I began to work, spreading water and healing in gentle, methodic movements.
But bruises weren't the only thing I found. Scars marked his torso in what seemed to be at least ten places. They were faint and healed over, but I could easily trace them with my fingertip. How many battles had the prince been in? I remembered Aang in the forest that morning, facing a battle he should not have had to face at the tender age of twelve. From the look of him, Zuko couldn't have been much older than me, and yet he bore the scars of a hundred battles. Had Zuko been forced to endure suffering at a young age, too?
I pushed the thought away. If he had, he'd probably deserved it. Spoiled Prince.I quickly buttoned his tunic back up and walked back to the fire.
Aang and Sokka were sharing an uncomfortable silence, which I broke.
"From what I remember from the healing classes, he's in pretty okay shape. I don't think there's any injuries inside of him, except for a few fractured ribs. He'll be fine, but in no shape to fight for the next couple weeks." I grabbed a skewer of rabbit meat and started to devour it with the enthusiasm of Sokka. I focused on the food, trying to forget the healing I'd just performed, pushing back the anger and bitterness I felt toward the Prince. Gran-Gran's words kept repeating in my head, and I spent what little energy I had left in memorizing her peaceful voice.
"Fire Nation soldiers are probably already looking for him." Sokka said with a nod to where Zuko lay. "We'll have to get an early start tomorrow. I say we ditch the prince and head North as fast as Appa can fly."
Aang shook his head, staring into the fire as if reliving some dark memory. "No. You heard Katara. He'll be at the mercy of whoever finds him. And what if no one finds him? He'll die."
"So? What's it to us? One less crazy firebender to chase us around." Sokka pouted.
"It's not our way." I looked up from the fire, piercing my brother with my gaze, willing him to remember the ways of our people. The ways before the war began. The cursed war! It was changing us all. Even I could feel bitterness striving for mastery over the peaceful teachings of my people.
"The Water Tribes have always been mercy-loving people. We are not like the Fire Nation. You must not forget that Sokka, lest you become one of them yourself."
I felt a gentle hand on my shoulder. "Katara. Wake up. We have to go." Aang's face was blurry at first in my sleep-soaked eyes, but then slowly came into focus. I nodded and reluctantly left the warm sanctuary of my sleeping bag and began to help the boys pack.
Sokka, seemingly chastened from last night's lecture, had already tied Zuko's stretcher to the Appa's back and lashed down the Prince's arms and legs to keep him from falling out. I nodded a small nod of approval at him, at which he shrugged and huffed.
We flew all day, stopping only to give Appa a rest during lunch. At night, we found a secluded place by a lake to pitch camp. Pathetic little camp that it was. Sokka couldn't even get a meager fire going, due to the lack of dry kindling. A rainstorm must have recently gone through, since the ground was soaking wet. We slept on Appa's back that night, praying that there would be no rain.
The next day we spied a village, and Aang and Sokka went out to explore it while I tended Appa and watched Zuko. I'd had to assure them that Zuko was no threat in his weakened condition, but even I was not entirely convinced by my argument. I couldn't hide my relief when I saw Sokka and Aang come back with some metal twine, which they used to bind Zuko more securely.
"This is a nice place." Aang said during supper. "The village people are really friendly. I think we should stay here for a while."
"I have to admit, I'm ready for a bit of a rest, myself." Sokka said as he leaned back languidly on one arm.
"Oh really, and what arduous labor have you been performing, brother?" I teased him. Sokka rose to the bait.
"Hey, the day running from Firebenders gets easy is the day you can accuse me of being lazy." He sulked.
"He's right, Katara. We need a break from running, and I think this might be a safe place." Aang leaned in close to me as he lowered his voice. "I've heard some of the villagers say that they have a secret army of Earthbenders here!"
"Really?" I rose from my seat. "This is great Aang! Maybe you can learn earthbending here!" I felt a surge of joy as I realized that maybe things were finally falling into place. I threw my arms around Aang and gathered him into a bear hug.
"Hey Aang, can you tear yourself away from your girlfriend for a moment and help me out. I'm gonna go try and catch some fish." Sokka deadpanned as he headed out into the woods. Aang jumped back and blushed and stumbled after Sokka with a silly grin on his face. I smiled and shook my head. It must be that awkward stage again.
I frowned as I looked around our camp. Wonderful. Just like men to leave the woman alone to do all the cleaning. I grumbled to myself as I picked up a pair of dirty socks and rolled up the mats to keep them from getting damp. Then I heard a groaning sound.
Zuko, bound and lying on the stretcher, began to thrash and struggle against the ropes and twine holding him down. Adrenaline coursed through my blood as backed up against Appa, seeking some protection in the hulking animal.
Get a hold of yourself I chided myself. I took a few tentative steps forward. He heard my footfalls. His eyes snapped open and narrowed in a poisonous glare in my direction, golden orbs performing an intimidation tactic that had been practiced to perfection. But I summoned all my courage and put on my best 'indifferent' face, hoping against hope that it did not look more like a 'constipated' face.
"Untie me now!" He shouted. His face transformed into a mask of pain as soon as the words were out.
"You have some fractured ribs. Shouting will be painful for you." I said, trying to sound aloof. "And, seeing as you're my prisoner, I'd advise you to be a little more respectful." Oh, it felt so good to say that to him.
"I'm not your prisoner!" He growled. Well, at least he wasn't shouting.
"Hmmm, really? Then I suppose you just tied yourself up for the fun of it, then?" .... if looks could kill... I thought to myself.
"Where's the avatar?" His question caught me off-guard. Here he was, tied up and battered, and he was still preoccupied with finding Aang? I shook my head. Clearly I'd underestimated the depths of his insanity.
"The Avatar, Aang, the boy you're always hunting down, is the one that saved your life, you know. Sokka and I would have just left you to rot, but nooooo." I folded my arms.
"You think I'd rather be your prisoner? I'd prefer to be dead than have to stare at a water peasant!" He spat.
"You! You ungateful! You!" I stumbled over my words, too infuriated to even form a witty comeback. He smirked at me, knowing he won the verbal battle. I stormed away, muttering curses to myself.
I sat down at the far side of the camp and listened to the rustle of cloth as Zuko continued to push against his restraints. Finally, whether from exhaustion or the pain in his ribs, he gave up. I figured it would be safe to try talking to him again. After all, what else did I have to do?
I found a rock a few feet from where he lay and sat down on it. And stared at him.
"Why do you want Aang so much?" I anticipated the answer, but wanted to draw him out.
"The Fire Nation's plans are not the business of some water peasant." He snarled.
"I have a name. It's Katara." My statement was met with stony silence.
"The day I care about the name of a water tribe peasant is the day I am no longer the son of the Fire Nation." He said in utter disgust. I felt fingers of rage claw at me again. I know I had asked for it, but I was tired. I was tired of running and war and the whole darn Fire Nation. And most of all, I was tired of this grumpy, irascible prince.
"You think that just because you're some spoiled prince you can just treat people however you want? Well, guess what, the rules are changing! Because of you, I've lost my family, I've been taken from my home, I've been forced to fight a war for the freedom of my people, I've had to run and hide and fight your stupid soldiers, but I think the worst part of this whole thing is having to put up with you now!" My breath was coming in short, panting breaths. I couldn't stop. Not even if I wanted to. The frustration of countless years of pain were all coming out now through my clenched teeth.
"What is it with your stupid people anyway? Why can't they just live in peace with everyone else? Is your homeland so terrible that you can't live there and have to take everyone else's land?" I stood there, breathless, expecting a barrage of insults and quips. What came instead was perhaps more scary than if he'd just done as I'd expected.
Softly, he spoke. "The Fire Nation is beautiful. It is warm there, not like these cold, sunless lands. There are gardens there filled with every exotic fruit you could imagine, and meadows that go on forever." I was shaken by the tenderness with which he spoke of his home.
"Then why can't you just be happy there? Why do you have to make everyone else's life miserable?"
He shot me a glare that froze my blood. A look of what could have been sadness flickered over his face as quickly as a shadow through a sunbeam. It was replaced by his more familiar mask of hatred.
"Some things are not our choice."
"What do you mean? You have every choice!" I pursued. But he'd turned his head from me. Obviously, the conversation was over. I walked to the edge of the camp and stood staring out at the mountains. Earth Kingdom mountains. I closed my eyes and pieced together what the Fire Nation must look like from Zuko's description. He had certainly painted a beautiful picture. I sat down with a sigh. If it was so lovely, why leave? Why wage war over 'sunless, unyielding land'?
Some things are not our choice.
Who's choice? The Fire Nation's? Zuko's? The Fire Lord's? I put my head on my knees and let the wind wash over me, soothing the tumultuous thoughts that raged in my mind.