Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar: TLA. (New season March 17th, yo!)
Thanks again to those who took time out of their lives to read and review this story. I assure you, I'm grateful!
Who is this mysterious woman who saw the trio in town? (No, she is not a character of my creation!)
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Chapter 6: Teacher
It was a deathly calm, aggravating silence that ripped her mind to shreds. She hated it. How much longer could she endure this? Usually she didn't mind quiet, but this was a terribly different kind than she was used to. It was a sharp, tense, biting silence, and it drove her mad. With Iroh and Zuko around them constantly, little conversation could be had between Sokka, Aang and Katara, or all of them for that matter. What once had been easy evenings of talk and stories, was now nothing more than five people, sitting on the ground in the depths of a forest, waiting. She was so tired of it.
She was also tired of the Prince and his confusing ways. She had previously arrived at the obvious conclusion that the Prince and his Uncle would take the first chance offered to them and run off. It was her low expectations that led to her complete and utter surprise to find that Zuko had not left them yet. Why would he possibly want to stay with two rag-tag water peasants and a monk who happened to be the Avatar? Wouldn't he rather escape, gather supplies, an army, a ship and such, so he could begin hunting them properly again? It confounded her. She turned her slender neck to stare at the Prince, narrowing her eyes, as though attempting to read his very thoughts. The only thing she could derive from her intense thinking was one thing: the Prince was royalty, right? So, he had to have some shreds of good breeding in him, no matter how small they were. He had given them his word, and so, like an honorable Prince, was following it. Aang already trusted him, so why shouldn't she? She paused in her thoughts, trying to answer this question, and managed to come up with an extremely long list as why she refused to trust the Prince. Aang may be a naive, trusting and caring human being, but Katara found Zuko and his behavior unsettling. She wouldn't be as easy to fool.
Zuko had noticed the strange looks he was receiving from the Water Tribe girl, and he smiled internally because of them. He shifted his position and pretended not to notice. He was succeeding: the Avatar trusted him, and Katara was on her way. A few maneuvers on his part, and she would completely fall for his ruse, hopefully. The boy, her brother, was a different matter. Zuko doubted he would ever be able to gain his trust, though it wasn't something to lose sleep over. All he needed was the girl to trust him, and she and the Avatar would outnumber her brother. Perhaps he could even turn them against each other, maybe even get the boy to leave the group? There was an idea, and a good one at that.
Unable to endure the silence any longer, the thought of her little stream sprung into Katara's mind. Excusing herself from the group, she got up from her seat and began walking quickly away to her haven. She imagined it- the clear water, clean sandy shores, and bright green trees that canopied the area. A call suddenly broke into her thoughts, and she turned to see Aang trotting after her; apparently he needed somewhere to escape to as well. Katara and Aang walked in quiet for a little while, before Katara broke the silence.
"How did Zuko teaching you to Firebend go today?" She asked, half afraid to learn the answer.
"Not that well. Fire is so much harder that air, earth, or even water to control. Fire is so alive- it has a mind of it's own and it takes a lot of concentration to control it." He explained.
"So did you learn anything?"
"Not much. He wouldn't teach me anything really complicated, he said that I have to 'master the basics first'." Aang glumly replied.
"Don't worry, I'm sure you'll get the hang of it. You just have to keep trying, and concentrate as hard as you can."
"I know. I know this is important, we only have two and a half months until the end of summer."
"Don't think about it like that, just concentrate on your bending. Don't worry Aang, Sokka and I know you can do it." She placed a hand on his shoulder and smiled to encourage him, and a grin played on the corner of his lips.
"Now, why exactly are we out here?"
"I don't know, just to get away from Zuko, I guess." Katara shrugged.
"Hey- I have an idea!"
"What?"
"We both can Waterbend, so...we can practice fighting!" Aang said slyly.
"So you can beat me again and rub it in my face? C'mon Aang, I don't think so." She really, really didn't think so. She was quite proud of her bending, and having Aang beat her all the time was wearing on her ego. However, she didn't want him to know that, so she tried to reply as playfully as she could.
"Please?" He wheedled, a hopeful look on his face, his hands clasped together. His plead wore her down, because she always tried to do what she could to keep him happy.
"Fine, but prepare yourself Aang, I've been practicing!" She warned as she assumed her stance and turned to face the Avatar.
Unnoticed by either of the benders, Prince Zuko stood, watching them from behind a clump of trees, noting their every move. From observing this simple display, he learned something to support his previously conceived belief: Katara did what the Avatar wanted. For a little longer, he remained staring at the two, who were both fighting their hearts out. Then, snapping himself out of his daze, he remembered that Sokka would probably be wondering where he went, and decided to go back. He wanted to appear as trustworthy as possible, and as far as he knew, disappearing for long stretches of time with little or no explanation, did not qualify as such. Slipping back into camp, Sokka merely acknowledged Zuko's return by turning his head and looking at him; and upon seeing him reseat himself besides his uncle, Sokka satisfied himself with thinking that the Prince had merely stepped out for a bathroom break.
As it was getting late (and because Aang was again winning,) Katara halted their play fight and said that she needed to get back to make dinner. Aang agreed (as he was hungry) and the two walked back to camp in the dark.
"Well, if you guys are done bonding or whatever, I'm hungry." Sokka announced to them as they reappeared.
"As a matter of fact, that's why we came back, Sokka." Katara replied irritably as she began gathering kindling to start a fire. As soon as she had gathered enough twigs, she began rubbing two sticks together vigorously to get a fire going, with no success. She glared at the two stubborn pieces of tree and tried even harder: nothing. It was times like these that made her wish she was a firebender, almost. She then looked at Zuko.
"I could use some help, here!" Katara hissed angrily at him.
Without a word, he picked himself up, walked over, and with nonchalant ease, lit the twigs with fire from his palm; and then returned to his seat.
Selfish, stubborn, arrogant, ignorant- in her mind, Katara went on a tirade of all the things she hated about the prince, which kept her occupied while she began boiling water for their meal. She cut up vegetables to make a savory stew, and remembered to give Aang a bowl before she added the dried meat. She handed out the meager rations, and grabbed a bowl for herself. Sitting down next to Aang, she slowly ate her meal, enjoying the food while it lasted. It may not have been the best of cooking, but the heated broth, dried meat and cooked vegetables did their job and satisfied her hunger. After finishing, she again glanced at Zuko, to find him warily sniffing his food, with a rather disgusted look on his face. Well if he didn't like it, he could just starve for all she cared! Damn Aang to hell for ever thinking of this idiotic arrangement. She thought bitterly to herself. Of all the Firebenders in the entire world, Aang had to latch onto the very one she despised the most. It just figured. She groaned in her thoughts when she wondered about how long it might take for Aang to learn Firebending, and her face contorted into a frown. Curse that stupid Prince. Oh, how she hated him! Maybe at dinner one night, she could slip some toxic plant juice into his food; no one would ever know the difference, as Sokka often complained that her cooking could kill anyhow..
This food is disgusting, where in hell's name did she learn to cook? Prince Zuko thought angrily as he tried to swallow the piping hot mixture. The stupid peasant obviously couldn't do anything right, and he would have to endure it for as long as he was the Avatar's teacher! Unacceptable as this was to him, sacrifices must be made for the greater purpose, he thought. Perhaps he shouldn't have lit the fire so she wouldn't have been able to cook this horrible meal.
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Cramped and irritated, the dark haired woman crouched in the dingy storage room of the Fire Nation ship. How long it would take to reach Firenation territory she didn't know, but she hoped to hell that it wouldn't take long. She wasn't one to often enjoy extravagant comforts, but she didn't appreciate having to stow away on a ship, either. Hopefully, it would only take a week to get to there, because the sooner she got out of this cramped space, and was able to sell what she had learned for money, the better. Her dark eyes flashed in the black air, as she drifted into the glorious thoughts of what the riches she would earn could buy her.
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After they all finished their meal, Katara collected the small bowls and made a trip to the stream so she could wash them clean. It was rather convenient, in a backwards way, having the stream separate from camp. It was a place she could go to lose herself, be near water in peace, and enjoy the relaxation it brought her. Even though walking to the stream would become a daily routine, it wasn't a terribly long walk, and Katara enjoyed it. Kneeling down at the streams edge, she carefully began scrubbing away what was left of the food with her hands- as they didn't have any spare cloth to use at the moment. They would have to buy some in town the next time they went. Fairly quickly, she finished washing the small things and collected them up, readying herself to walk back to camp; to the quasi-hell she must endure for another night. Their life already felt like a well worn routine, though it had only been one day. In the morning, Aang would continue to learn firebending, which would last the whole day, and she and Sokka would have to find some way to occupy themselves. The monotony of their situation did not please her, but what could she do? She was powerless to change it.
Carefully, she made her way back to the camp, as it had grown rather dark. The glow of the fire provided a speck of light for her to follow, and she reached it safely. Putting the bowls away in her knapsack, she uncapped her water-skin and doused the fire, creating puffs of steam that rose up into the night like a ghostly shadow. She walked back to where she had slept the previous night, curled up with her uncomfortably rough woolen blanket and scrunched her eyes shut; trying in vain to get cozy, although she was far from being tired. After a few minutes spent in this fashion, she again opened her eyes, revealing bright blue specks that glowed in the dark. The light that was cast from the dying embers of the fire reflected off her pupils, and it appeared as though her eyes were dancing. Katara, however, was unaware of how beautiful her eyes looked at night, because Aang was the one who admired her in silence.
Zuko was another member of the group disturbed by his thoughts. Laying on his back, he stared up at the night sky, pondering his situation. He was in a situation that required extreme delicacy; no matter what, he had to stay in this group. Getting them to trust him was his general goal, but he wasn't sure about the specifics. He had to think of a concrete, concise plan that would get him the Avatar. What that plan was, and how he would accomplish it, he had no idea.
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Morning dawned again, bringing it's unwanted light into the eyes of the group members. Zuko was the first to fully awaken, stretching his arms, yawning, and momentarily forgetting where he was- that is until he saw the sleeping forms of his companions situated around him. Crawling out from under the threadbare blanket he slept with, he sat up, and began wondering whether or not he should risk taking a short walk to clear his head, taking into consideration that one of the siblings might wake up and have a fit because they saw he was gone. He finally decided he could wait, and in doing so, began playing absentmindedly with fire he created from his palms.
While he amused himself in this fashion, Katara watched him carefully with one eye cracked open. Peering from under her blanket, she studied the Prince carefully, while a debate raged within her. Their situation was lose-lose, a double edged knife, if you will. They couldn't just send him off, because Aang needed to learn firebending, but him staying with their group was a great risk, if you asked her. It was a predicament only she herself seemed to be concerned about, as Aang already trusted Zuko; the fool. She continued observing her enemy, until Aang and Sokka lazily woke up and started complaining of hunger.
Hastily pretending to be asleep, she let Aang nudge her awake.
"Katara, get up, Sokka's hungry again." Aang whispered to her ear.
"Tell Sokka that if he's hungry, he can get the bread and fruit out of the bag himself. Last time I checked, even an idiot is capable of untying a string." She replied grumpily. Sokka was a year older than herself, he should be competent enough to get food out of a bag.
She lazily rolled over onto her back, breathing the delightfully fresh air, and admiring the general beauty of their camp. Their temporary home was a small patch of ground lacking trees, but plentiful in bunches of flowers. The forest surrounded them, giving their camp a border of trees, green with summer leaves; but not so densely populated as to block the sun from reaching through the branches. The floor of the forest was painted with the butter yellow sunlight, and the air that occupied the place was curiously still, giving it an overall ethereal feel. She rarely had gotten the chance to appreciate any kind of beauty in the pre-Omashu days, as they had been constantly on the run; but once they were settled in the city, she got the chance to admire nature again. (Though there was little nature left in the city). A light sigh ran through her, and for a moment she felt calmed by the innocent loveliness encircling them; that is, until Sokka walked over to her.
"Get up Katara, you promised you would fry the dried ostrich for breakfast today!"
"I used it last night in the stew, so you're just going to have to eat fruit and bread, like Aang."
A frown replaced the impatient look he wore and he sulkily retrieved the food bag to get himself some breakfast.
After a brief meal, Zuko again began to teach Aang his element. Curiosity had taken hold of her, and instead of escaping into the forest, she decided to stay and watch. Perhaps it was just because she wanted to keep an eye on Zuko, but for whatever reason, Katara settled herself on the ground, leaning on a tree. Sokka, however, took his chance to leave camp and go off in pursuit of something interesting to do.
Zuko, building on what Aang had learned yesterday, showed Aang a simple move, using his fist to emit long flames in a blast.
Aang frowned pensively, remembering to breath deeply, and in one fluid motion, punched the air, his fist streaming orange and yellow fire, only it was a small blast; nothing even remotely threatening.
Iroh frowned at the Avatar, and made a small comment.
"You are not using your power properly- you must breathe deeply, letting the breath fuel you, not your body or mind."
Zuko turned and glared venomously at his uncle, his eyebrows knit together and his face contorted in silent fury. His uncle nagged him enough about his own Firebending, but now he was critiquing his teaching, and the Avatar? Zuko, however, was able to remain in control of his bubbling temper, and Aang merely took the comment with thankfulness and grace.
"Perhaps you should return to the moves from yesterday," was Iroh's next contribution.
Making a mental note to himself to strangle his uncle at a later point, Zuko then made Aang practice the moves from yesterday. Although he was the Avatar, Aang was not getting the gist of Firebending. He struggled with it much more than he had with any other element, and his frustration at not being able to accomplish anything fantastic only made matters worse. Perhaps because fire was such a completely different Element for Aang, he had trouble mastering it. Whatever the reason, things were not progressing well.
Katara noticed this as the minutes dragged on, and as Aang was still on the very basics. However, she spent most of her time watching Zuko, never taking her eyes off of his face, in hope of catching a shadow of an expression that might betray his inner thoughts to her. She wanted desperately to prove to Aang that he was untrustworthy, as she could feel it inside herself; but she knew that it was useless. Even if she could prove it, they needed him whether she liked it or not.
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Her weary, stiff form lay scrunched on the bottom of the storage room, her smoky eyes shut. After a few hours of being awake in the darkness, she had decided to let herself drift off to sleep, and hope that no one would find her there while she slept. Her dark red lips were parted slightly, and she breathed gently through her mouth, sending short strands of black hair that lay across her face gently flying up as she exhaled. She lay coiled between stacks of boxes, uncomfortably leaning upon them with her tattooed arms spread out to the sides of her. For the next two weeks on the passage to the Fire Nation, this would be her home.
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Three hours had slowly dragged themselves by, and Aang (not to mention Zuko) was thoroughly frustrated. He and Zuko had begun sparring with the very basic moves, and had gotten no where. Katara watched in quiet concern as they prepared for the fourth round. The two faced each other, and Aang began shooting small flames at Zuko; who at the moment was at the end of his mental tether. In a primitive reaction to Aang's "attacks", he reverted to his previous mechanical mindset of 'capturing the Avatar.' Without fully knowing what he was doing, he began using advanced bending to force Aang to retreat, and his attacks on Aang intensified. Faster and faster he began shooting flames, from his hands and feet, forcing Aang backwards and into a tree. Zuko ran at him, about to unleash another blast of fire, when Katata lost it. From what Katara saw, it looked exactly like Zuko was trying to kill him. Furiously, she shot up and rushed in front of Aang, shouting at Zuko.
"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING?" She screamed at him, her body quivering in anger. "You're supposed to be teaching him, not trying to kill him!" She shot poisonously, glaring in utter fury and contempt. Hadn't she known this would happen? Hadn't she told Aang he couldn't be trusted!
Zuko immediately realized what he had been doing, and began cursing himself. This could ruin everything. If the girl succeeding in getting the Avatar to agree to stop him from teaching, his hope would come to nothing!
"Katara, calm down, he wasn't attacking me! He was just trying to get me to defend myself, that's all!"
"No, Aang, he wasn't. I don't understand how you can trust him! he's a conniving-"
"I'm right here, you know." Zuko sneered.
Aang pulled Katara away from Zuko for a moment, and looked at her desperately.
"Katara, he wasn't attacking me, he was just trying to teach me. I need to learn firebending, you know that!"
"Aang, it's as plain as day that he was attacking you! I saw it! We're finding you a new teacher."
"Where, Katara? Where are we going to find someone else?"
"I don't know, but we can't let him keep teaching you, something doesn't feel right about this!" She said wearily, bringing her hands to her face.
"We don't have a choice. He's willing to teach me, and I'm going to learn from him." Aang then turned away from her and strode back to Zuko, who let a small flash of triumph cross his face. Katara merely glared at him, seriously contemplated attacking him then and there, and then settled for stalking off into the woods to calm her temper.
He couldn't make a mistake like that again. He had let his guard down just a little, and it had almost cost him dearly. Now, of course, the girl would be even more suspicious of him, if that was possible.
Katara took her stormy temper out to the stream, where she could release her anger without damaging anyone's (meaning Zuko's) vital organs. She spent a good hour bending the water furiously, and when she had finally calmed herself down, she collapsed on the sandy bank, exhausted. Her thoughts then turned back to Zuko. He was up to something..
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Damn her. She just had to have been watching, so she could see him lose himself, and begin attacking the Avatar again. Now, he would have to try even harder to convince her of his good intentions. Damn her. Totally preoccupied with his dislike of Katara, the prince halted Aang's lessons for the moment, and found himself a tree to sit under, where he could sit and brood. He agonized over her astuteness and her damnable habit of watching him every waking second, and so completely forgot to think of plans for the Avatar's future downfall.
The warm afternoon comforted none of the three; as Aang, Zuko and Katara all spent the rest of the day moody and upset. Aang wanted Katara to trust Zuko and agree with him, but she wouldn't. He also recognized she was mad at him for making the decision that he did, and so was slightly sad. He quietly retreated into the woods, airbended himself up into the branches of a tall tree, and sat thinking. There, shaded slightly by the tree's canopy, he leaned his bald head back against the trunk, fixing his eyes onto a single leaf in front of him. He sat there until dusk, at which point he deiced to return to camp.
Katara and Aang both emerged from the trees at the same time, and they glanced at each other, each trying to read the other's expression. Katara immediately walked over to the somewhat downhearted boy, and explained that it was only out of concern for his safety that she had gotten so angry.
"I'm not angry with you Aang, you do know that, right?"
"I guess, but why won't you trust Zuko?"
Biting her lip to keep herself from shouting out all the millions of reasons that flowed into her head, she paused.
"I-, I just don't. But the important thing is that I was only worried for your safety; it's up to me and Sokka to help you all we can."
Aang nodded, and they understood each other. Her loyalty to Aang lay deep.
Zuko watched this interaction, and was actually amazed at the girl's protectiveness over him. Her dedication to the boy was admirable in a sense. She showed the same kind of relentless devotion that a Firenation soldier showed to his country, like the devotion he felt to his father and country. The similarity was uncanny. He pondered his briefly, and eventually drifted into thoughts of his homeland, and how he wished he could return. However, he was quickly brought back to reality when the scent of Katara's cooking entered his nostrils.
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She had moved from her position in between boxes, to a more spacious corner of the room. She sat cross-legged, admiring the flashing blade of her dagger. Then, the metal door of the storage room creaked open, and she flattened herself on the floor silently, as to escape notice. In walked a young servant, of about twenty years of age, wearing an off-white tunic, and red band of cloth tying it around his waist- also holding up loose blank pants. He searched through boxes, humming absentmindedly, until he found what he needed, and left, closing the door behind him. She sighed in relief. Luckily for her, the young man who had been sent to retrieve the cabbages form the store room did not notice the sharply beautiful woman hidden in the dark corner. But it was really luck on his part, because if he had spotted her, it would have meant his death; she had never been known for being generous.
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A/N: Well, there you have it. Hopefully you can guess who the woman is now! If you can't, heres a clue:
She is stowing away on the boat because she is "a little short on money."... mm did I just use a quote? Oh dear.
I think it's pretty obvious, but that could be because I'm writing the story. R & R, I would greatly appreciate it.
Heads up: When it gets to be April, I won't be updating. Damn school.