Chapter 5: Twisted Revelation

After the preliminary drills and practice, the recruits began to use moving targets. This was after majority of them had proved that they could hit the immobile red bull's-eye with a success rate of five out of six shots. The mobile targets were set up on some sort of wooden contraption that allowed them to turn and rise and fall, depending on the preset pattern.

These targets were painted green with flat death-white faces. The eyes were empty holes drilled into the plywood, staring blankly at her.

Katara couldn't take her eyes off them.

Hiro grinned as he picked up a bow from the rack, and several arrows. "Pretty life-like, eh?"

Juiko smiled back in agreement, and Katara just silently picked up her own equipment.

They're just pieces of wood, Katara. Don't shit yourself over it.

As they began to shoot, Katara pretended to fumble with her bow, saying out loud that this one was defective, and she needed to get a better one. When she finally got back into position, she looked over at Oran, who was standing next to her. He had already made six shots, feathered arrows sticking out of his chosen target. Katara was a bit surprised—archery wasn't generally one of Oran's greater strengths.

Hiro noticed as well. "Good job there, Oran," he said approvingly.

Oran said nothing, but unleashed a seventh arrow with more force than necessary; it soared through the air before sinking into the chest of a green-painted figure. The expression on Oran's face was one of strangely controlled anger. It fascinated Katara, at the same time scaring her. Oran wasn't a man with temper. He was generally quiet and accepting and he didn't seem to have a drop of malice in him.

He relaxed his bowstring, and saw all of his fellow archers looking at him. Hiro was curious, Juiko hesitant, Katara quiet, and Borr indifferent.

Oran's voice was clipped. "My father and sister were killed in a rebel raid a year ago."

Turning away from them, he picked up his bow and resumed his practice.

Katara felt sick to her stomach.

"Well, then, you've got more right to be here than any of the rest of us," Hiro said quietly, his usual smile replaced by a somber look.

For awhile they all thought Oran wasn't going to respond. Then he gave a short, accepting nod, without taking his eyes of his target.

Everyone took it as a sign to get back to their own business. Hiro picked up his bow, and Juiko absent-mindedly rearranged a few feathers on one of his arrows.

Katara took a deep breath and got into position.

Oran's father and sister… Katara wasn't stupid. She knew what Kyoshi warriors did. She knew killing people, including neutral civilians, was a part of war. Casualties on both sides always included the innocents. It was a fact of life. It's not my fault! But she couldn't shake the image of the deep, indescribable pain in Oran's eyes as he spoke.

With a steady hand, she picked up her bow, notched an arrow, and shot one, two, three into the targets circling in front of her eyes.

Stomach, head, and heart.

Her own brother's eyes stared at her from the holes in the face of the target she'd shot.

She knew it would be awhile until she could look Oran full in the face again.

"I think I'm going to pee my pants," Katara hissed, jumping from foot to foot.

Juiko grinned. "Pick a tree, any tree." He motioned outside with one arm.

She glared at him. The feeling of anticipation, fear, and nervousness rolled like an oily mass inside her stomach. Sitting inside the small anteroom connected to the side of the arena were all the recruits that had been training here for the past three weeks. Everyone had a different expression on their faces, most of them along the lines of what Katara was feeling. Oran sat so still in his seat he could have been a statue. Hiro made weak jokes which everyone laughed at. Not because they were funny, but because the tension was so overbearing that laughter was the best outlet they could find. Juiko seemed uncannily calm, while Borr just sat by himself, that haughty look on his face.

"That," Hiro smiled tremulously, "would be a physical impossibility for her, Juiko. A bush is more along the lines of what she needs."

Katara rolled her eyes as several people snickered. She wasn't offended, for she knew Hiro meant no harm by his little quips. He was a good guy. They were all nervous.

"I can do everything that you can do, Hiro," she mock snapped. "and most of it, better."

He rolled his eyes, but Katara didn't miss the slight trembling of one leg. The room was quickly becoming clammy with the heat of all the jittery bodies inside. She could barely make out the sounds coming from outside. Were people getting settled into the seats inside the arena? How many would be here? Would there be an audience? She didn't know if she could take any sort of exam in front of an audience. What would the test be like? Everyone had wondered about it, spreading false rumors and hoping to trick the answer out of one of the older Elite, but to no avail.

The door creaked open at the opposite end of the room from where Katara was sitting. Lt. Ensei stepped inside, and gave them a wide, sweeping glance.

"How are all my pansies feeling?" he drawled, slouching against the doorframe, pose entirely relaxed. "Anyone pissed their pants yet?"

Nobody answered. Most of them just stared at him with blank looks. The rest had their heads resting on their knees or against the wall.

"Don't look very promising," muttered Ensei. Then he seemed to brighten up. "So, do any of you know what you'll be dealing with today?"

Some shook their heads.

"Well, it's gonna go like this. We call you out one by one, no specific order or anything, and you go into the arena and you take your exam. Then you get told if you're in or if you're too much of an ass-wipe to join, and then you go out the door on the other side. You don't come back here." Ensei gave them all another look. "Get it? It's not hard to understand. Nothin' fancy."

Everybody nodded. We've all become dumb mutes, thought Katara.

"Alright," he continued. "First up: Hiro."

Hiro stood up shakily, although he tried to look brave. Katara gave him a smile, and the others said some words of encouragement. Juiko patted him on the arm.

"Come on, kid, I don't got all day." Ensei left with Hiro stumbling after him, into the bright sunlight of the arena. Then the door closed, and the rest of them were shut in the muffled, dusty darkness again.

Katara's mind raced. Would it be a regular abilities test? How many arrows you can shoot accurately, how many spears you can throw into the target, how many knives you can sink into the post? Was it possibly a written test? What the hell was it?

It seemed like forever, but after what was only ten minutes, all the occupants of the room heard the sound of polite applause from outside. So there was a crowd.

"You think he passed?" Oran muttered to Katara, hands clasped so tightly his knuckles were white.

Katara nodded frantically. "Of course he did. Hiro's great at…" Great at what? What was he being tested on? "Great at fighting, or whatever it is he was doing…" She trailed off, knowing Oran was no more reassured than he had been before he'd asked her.

"You're not going to find out until you take the test, so you might as well save the energy." Borr said from his corner. "What does it matter to you if Hiro makes it or not?"

Oran glared stonily at Borr, and Katara opened her mouth to say something, anything to denounce Borr for his callousness. I care because Hiro's my friend!

But she stopped when she realized what she was doing. I can't be friends with the enemy. Hiro is the enemy. I am not friends with him. I don't care whether he lives or dies. It makes no difference to me or my mission here.

So she closed her mouth and said nothing, mixed feelings inside her. Juiko was silent as well.

One by one, other recruits were called outside into the arena. Katara grew tenser and tenser with the departure of each one. Borr left, sixth or seventh to be called. Oran grew so still he seemed to stop breathing. Katara stood up and began pacing the room. Juiko stared blankly at the opposite wall.

Then Oran was called. He got up, moving so stiffly he looked like he was made of wood.

"Good luck, Oran," whispered Katara. Juiko nodded.

Oran said nothing, just stepped through the doorway and into the sun before the door closed. It was Katara, Juiko, and three others now.

This is it, Katara thought blindly. If I don't pass this, the whole mission is done for. I'll go home disgraced and shamed, knowing that I had a chance to save Kyoshi but failed. I must get in. I can't lose. I can't afford to. The people of Kyoshi can't afford to.

The last two were called up, one by one. Katara barely registered them. She'd trained with them for awhile—the first one was Utsek, the second Piang—but inside she desperately hoped they'd both fail. There were exactly five spaces in the Elites that needed filling. There were twenty recruits. One-fourth of them would be joining the Elites; the rest of them would be going elsewhere.

An anonymous, male voice called from outside the door, "Katara."

As simple as that. She stood up, trying not to shake. Juiko grasped her hand briefly, and she returned the gesture. She was third to last to go, which mean Juiko and one other boy she didn't know were to be the only ones left in the room.

Let's get this over with.

Stepping outside, she was briefly blinded by the harsh sunlight. One hand shading her eyes, she squinted at her surroundings.

The arena was quite a large, rectangular field with seating on the sides and at the far end. The raised platforms at the opposite end held seats that were shaded with red and gold canopies. Probably seating for the royalty and nobles, Katara thought in a far corner of her mind. It was occupied, but not full. The seats on the long sides of the rectangular arena were half-filled, mostly with other Elites come to see who would soon be joining them, and other army officials of sorts. Quite a few spectators. She scanned the large platform at the far end. Lots of people… among which the Emperor was not one.

Katara squinted. The central, most important seat on the platform was unoccupied. Where was he? Her eyes adjusting to the brightness, she turned to look at the rest of the arena behind her.

And there he was. Standing tall and straight behind her, in the center of the field.

Katara swallowed, turning to fully face him. She could feel the hot sun beating down upon her, and she wasn't entirely sure it was just the heat that was making her sweat.

An official-looking man in uniform stepped between the Emperor and Katara. "This match will be conducted between the Fire Emperor Zuko, and the recruit Katara."

Katara blinked. A match?

"Rules are as follows: No weapons allowed. No bending allowed. That is all."

No weapons. It was going to be close, contact fighting then? What about all the training they'd had with swords, knives, archery, and spears? It didn't make sense. But it was a good thing no elemental bending, or the Emperor could have fried her to a crisp and finished the match within the first two seconds. Her mind raced. So it's just a fight? How do we know who wins? Is it even possible for me to win?

"The judge will be Emperor Zuko."

Had she been in any other situation, Katara would have screamed unfair! But there must have been some other reason for this. She thought it through as the official kept intoning more words into her ears. If he was to be judging her… then it wasn't going to be a win-lose match. She understood now. He would just be testing her, right? Trying her abilities. Seeing if she could handle a situation where she had no weapons and could not bend fire (not that she could in the first place). It was simple.

I just have to impress him, she thought. It's all about making an impression. I'll fight him, and make sure he remembers me and what I did and it'll get me into the Elites.

That official was still mumbling. "…respect and honor. Will the duelists please bow."

Katara inclined her head, lower than the Emperor did to her. It was customary, and a sign of respect. Normally if it were two equal fighters matched against each other, they would both bow to the same level. But since she was fighting against the Fire Emperor, ruler of practically the entire world, that meant he did not have to accord as much respect to her as she did to him.

They unbent and straightened. Katara stared across the field at his face. That scar… where had he gotten that scar? It was a clearly defining feature, marring his otherwise clean features and spoke of a darker story. He wasn't wearing any of the traditional heavy metal armor. That was a definite plus for her. They were both dressed in fitting clothes that had no loose pieces that could be grabbed and used by an enemy against them. She wondered what he saw when he looked at her. Pitiful, weak girl trying to be something she wasn't? Come on.

"You may begin." The official stepped back, and the arena was silent.

Katara watched him, watched her enemy as her fists clenched at her sides and her entire body tensed up. She decided to wait for him to come to her. No use wasting her energy running across the field to engage him in a fight first. She would be cautious first. The time for impressive moves could be later. She had to figure this guy out.

They watched each other for a few more seconds, before the Emperor began to move. A slow walk at first, then he broke into a run straight at her. Katara watched him come, eating up the distance between them. Not exactly subtle, are you? His face was intent, focused.

As he neared, Katara shifted to the balls of her feet, entire body tensing up and eyes searching his running frame for any clue of what he would pull next.

He rushed towards her. Ten feet, six feet, five feet, and then he was in her face, his fist coming towards her nose—she ducked to the side, eluding his punch. You're too slow, Emperor! His fist whisked past her face, brushing her hair—

And his other hand came up around the side and clipped her on the jaw. Her head snapped back. Not enough for a point-blank impact, but enough so that she stumbled backwards, pain erupting on the side of her jaw.

Stupid! How could she have missed that? He wasn't slow—he was goddamn fast.

Ignoring the pain, she jabbed back with her right fist, barely brushing his scarred cheek as he jerked back in reflex. His arm came to clip her under the ribs, obviously intending to flip her, but she delivered a quick kick to his abdomen and he gasped before letting her go. In less than a second he was on the attack again.

They were both breathing harshly as they exchanged blows. Katara knew she had one advantage over him. The Emperor had been fighting for over an hour, against all the recruits who had come before her. He must have been tiring. Even if he was a brilliant fighter with amazing endurance, nobody could keep up their energy for that long. She felt sorry for Hiro, who had probably fought the Emperor when he had still had all his energy.

She just had to keep on her feet until he tired out. Katara jerked back as another blow landed on her shoulder. But who would tire first? The Emperor, or the Assassin?

Katara kick him in the kidneys before his arm swiped her leg aside and he came at her again. I can't keep this up much longer. She dodged, trying to protect her face, but his knee slammed into her hip, driving her back. Katara gasped, pain exploding across her pelvis. She stumbled, and he took the opportunity to press her back further, putting himself fully on the offensive, and forcing her to take the defensive.

She was at a disadvantage now. Katara blocked as many of the blows as the Emperor threw at her, but he was so fast, a barrage of fists and feet. Wincing as another fist cuffed her ear, she shoved the palm of her flat under his chin and slammed his head up and back with as much strength as she could muster while enduring pain.

He grunted, momentarily distracted, and while he tried to free himself, Katara kneed him violently in the stomach. Hissing in pain, the Emperor twisted his head out of her grasp and grabbed the knee in his abdomen, twisting her sideways and toppling her over onto the ground.

Katara cried out as she hit the dirt, knowing that if she wasn't on her feet in the next second, it was all over. She had to stand up and keep fighting, or he could beat her while she was defenseless on the ground.

She placed one foot beneath her, but the numerous bruises on her knee and the pain in her hip exploded again, causing her to gasp and falter. Too slow.

A sharp blow on the middle of her back slammed her flat to the ground again, but not before she caught her assailant's ankle with her foot and pulled, tripping him while he was still bent over with his elbow in her back. Katara tried to roll aside as he fell, but he crashed onto her, the breath whooshing out of her lungs.

Get out of here! If she stayed under him there would be no chance.

Twisting, she hooked one hip over his bulk, ignoring the pain that caused bright bursts of stars to explode before her eyes. He fought to keep her under, but she scratched him, deep and hard, four bright streaks of red blossoming on his neck. The Emperor tensed and hissed in pain, but it had worked, because now she was on the top, knee planted in his stomach, one hand holding down his moving shoulder, the other fist cocked behind her, ready to deliver a violent blow to his face. She had him at her mercy.

Do I hit him? When do I stop? When do I win? When is this over?

Then his own hand shot up and gripped her around the neck, choking her so that the previous bright stars in her vision turned dark and swarmed before her. Her ready fist faltered, her body limp, her hands trying to pull off the vise around her air passageway. She couldn't breathe. Desperate blue eyes stared into the air above the Emperor's head.

"Match over," his majesty said, and the grip around her neck released.

She rolled off him, head bowed to the ground, heaving for air.

The official on the sidelines had caught his Emperor's words. "Match over," he announced louder for the sake of the spectators.

The smattering of applause and calls and shouts from the balconies in the arena reached Katara's ears, reminding her that she and the Emperor weren't the only ones here. She'd completely tuned out during the fight, the crowd becoming nothing while she was focused on defeating her enemy.

A hand invaded her line of sight. The Emperor. She raised her head to look up at him. There was one instant where their gazes locked, but she broke it and reluctantly took his hand. He pulled her up and she couldn't help but notice that he wasn't trembling or shaking from the effort he had just exerted, unlike her. She was still panting for breath.

Was it that easy for him to defeat me?

The thought made her disgusted with herself. They bowed to each other formally as the Official told them to, and then were lead to the small barrel of water on the sidelines.

Her breathing having calmed down, Katara found she was incredibly thirsty and gulped down the first cup of water handed to her. The Emperor, on the other hand, sipped slowly. Although the Fire Empire people detested, and to a certain point, feared water, it was still a liquid that was essential to life. The Fire citizens just didn't enjoy it with as much zest as Katara or her Kyoshi family did. Even the climate of the Fire Nation was drier and rained only in the darkest winter months. It could reach extreme temperatures in the summer, the sun beating its heat down onto the packed earth. All the Fire people were used to it. It was their element, after all. It was practically in their blood.

She stood there, unsure of what to do. Would it be too rude to just leave now? Was she supposed to say something to the Emperor?

"It was an honor to fight you, your majesty," she made an awkward little bow. So who won? Me or You?

He inclined his head as well, but said nothing. He turned back to the Official and they began to discuss something.

She took it as her cue to leave. Striding across the arena with a slight limp from her injuries, she made it to the opposite end where a man opened a side door for her. Katara stepped through, intent on finding the medic and making sure her bones weren't completely pulverized, but a hand gripped her arm, pulling her back.

She almost cried out, but she was greeted by the sight of Hiro, who put a finger over his lips and made a shush sound.

"Come with me," he whispered, and darted back around the side of the arena walls. She followed, and they came upon a second, smaller door. They slipped through, and climbed a few steps before reaching the top, where Katara could see the entire field she had just fought on spread out below her.

"Are we allowed to be here?" She hissed at Hiro, jerking her arm out of his grasp.

Hiro just shrugged. His usual smile was marred by a swollen lip. "No. Lieutenant Ensei wanted us to go directly to medical and then rest in barracks until we receive the results. But a few of us wanted to stay behind and watch."

He saw her glare at the group of other fighters crowded on the topmost tier of the arena, watching the field intently. Oran was there too, and gave her a small smile.

Hiro nudged Katara gently. "Loosen up! You use fought the Emperor of the Fire Empire, and didn't do too bad a job of it, if what I saw of your fight is true. Come on, don't you want to see how Juiko does?"

Katara relented, but promised her body that she'd go to the medical building as soon as this was over. She settled down next to Oran, wincing at her hip.

"Who do you think is next, Juiko or the other guy?" whispered Oran.

Katara shrugged, but then the door opened and a man who wasn't Juiko jogged out onto the field. All three of them sighed.

As she watched the fight, the images of her own flooded back into her mind. She went over every detail of every move the Emperor had used against her.

Why didn't I block it when he did that? I should have paid more attention to his near side. Why did I hesitate to punch him at the end? I was celebrating inside my head at my victory. I was stupid. I got overconfident and I lost. He could have killed me right there if he'd wanted to.

"So how'd you guys do?" She finally tore herself away from her memories and asked Oran and Hiro.

Hiro shrugged, easy-going as always. "Not bad, but not good either." They all stared at the field. The Emperor was moving with an almost fluid-like form. "The Emperor—jeez, he's one fast guy. I could barely dodge a single punch he threw at me." Hiro ran a hand through his short hair, almost flustered. Then he looked at Oran.

"Oran here didn't do half-bad himself," Hiro started.

"Except for completely forgetting that the Emperor has two arms instead of one," muttered Oran, rubbing at one temple.

Katara remembered the beginning of her own fight. "Yeah, same happened to me."

"We know," Hiro grinned slyly. "We saw."

Katara tried to shrug it off. They all made mistakes, especially… "So how did Borr the Idiot do?"

"I would have liked to see him trip and fall flat on his face before even having a shot at the Emperor," Hiro said matter-of-factly. "But he was… surprisingly good," he finished grudgingly. "I wouldn't have expected it of that haughty bastard."

Katara growled inside. She wished she could have seen Borr fighting. Then she could have watched his form, picked out his weaknesses. The fact that he'd done well only irked her more.

"Where is he now?" Katara asked.

"Ran off to medical first chance he got, the pansy," Hiro said cheerfully.

The fight below them was ending. The recruit had been thrown to the ground by the Emperor; now they were bowing.

"Juiko's next," Oran said quietly.

A short break, then Juiko trotted out into the arena. All three of them watched their friend carefully.

No, not my friend, Katara thought firmly. My fellow soldier.

The two figures on the field began to fight. They were too far away to make out facial expressions, but they could see the blows each one was trying to inflict on the other.

"Come on, Juiko, come on," muttered Oran under his breath, eyes trained to the field. "Don't let him push you back, don't let him push you."

Katara winced inside as she saw that Juiko was in the situation she had been in previously. He was on the defensive, trying to fend off the Emperor's attacks. In doing so, he was backing up towards the sidelines.

"No, Juiko!" Hiro slammed a fist down onto the tier in an unexpected display of emotion. "Come on! Elites won't be right without you!"

That's assuming any of us get in, Katara thought. But she kept it to herself.

Juiko looked desperate. He was practically in the sidelines now, in a continuous backwards step, almost as if he were fleeing from the Emperor's onslaught.

"Oh, shit," said Hiro right before Juiko slammed into the water barrel, knocking it over and falling down as he tripped over the wood of the barrel. On his back, Juiko tried to get up, knowing that the end was coming as the Emperor bore down upon the helpless figure.

Juiko twisted desperately, and a wide, clear-cut stream of water shot up from the dribbling remains of the barrel, slamming into the Emperor's face.

Katara's heart froze.

"Fuck!" yelled Hiro, and Katara knew her eyes had not deceived her. "What the fuck was that?"

Oran was shaking his head from side-to-side, muttering something to himself under his breath. The other recruits on the tier let out their own expletives and sat up, alert and straining to see the events unfolding on the field. The Emperor had let out a roar of rage at the watery attack, and immediately let a blast of fire through the air, diminishing the water to mere steam. Juiko threw up a hand, another wall of water flying up and bearing down on the Emperor. Emperor Zuko had identified his enemy and was letting out controlled, roiling columns of flame at Juiko, who was still scrambling on the ground. Some part of the fire must have made contact with him, because Juiko let out a scream of pain.

Soldiers, officials, nobles, Elites, and recruits all over the arena erupted into a violent, shouting mob, thundering down the steps to the field towards their sovereign.

"—who the hell is that frigging bastard—"

"—he's attacking the Emperor! Get him! Get him! He's trying to kill Emperor Zuko!"

"—I thought they were all gone! The first Zuko killed them all—"

"—Impossible! Just impossible! A rebel inside the army complex?—"

"—well there's one left, and he's not gonna be around for long, not if I have anything to say about the fucker—"

Katara stared, unmoving at the wide streams of water Juiko was commanding against the Emperor. Droplets pierced the air, raining down to drown out the flame, before dissipating into steam. Juiko's arms moved wildly and he was on his feet now, sweating with the effort needed to control the water against the Emperor's fiery attacks. Juiko was commanding the water, something only Katara was supposed to be able to do.

There's another one.

And her reverie was broken as Hiro was shouting something in her ear, tugging her down the steps, back to the field. He was yelling something about protecting the Emperor and arresting Juiko. But Katara's mind was filled with thoughts of why didn't I know? Why—how did he—I'm not the only—he's a Water bender too—impossible, he's going to die, he's going to die now oh but before he does I need him to teach me that move he's making I've never tried it I need him to teach me please.

She was in an utter daze. The only reason she was moving was because Hiro had her by the arm, holding her with an iron grip and helping her to not trip down the stairs. His voice pierced her ears.

"—I know it's a shock to me too, Katara, but we gotta go down there, work with me here, how could he the bastard, how did he hide it from us? I can't believe it—"

Katara stumbled down the stairs, eyes staring blankly ahead, caught up in the maelstrom of her own thoughts.

By the time they got down there, several dozen pissed-off soldiers had Juiko on the ground and apprehended. Judging from the grunts and angry shouts, they were being none too gentle with him. The Emperor Zuko was being held on the other side. He was being literally held by several members of the Elites while a nervous doctor checked him for injuries that might have been inflicted by that deranged, dangerous Water bender traitor—

The expression on Emperor Zuko's face was one of pure rage as he struggled to get as his enemy. Katara turned away from him, diving through the crowd of soldiers surrounding Juiko. Crawling on her hands and knees, she pushed forward with a determination that knocked several men over, until she reached Juiko.

He was lying face-down on the dirt, his arms pinned behind his back, several arms gripping his shoulders, elbows, thighs, knees, and feet. His nose was bleeding, and there were numerous bruises on his face.

Katara screamed out loud as another soldier drew back his foot to kick Juiko in the ribs again.

"Stop it! Stop doing that, listen to me you—" She tried feebly to brush away the people terrorizing Juiko, but she was swiped aside with little effort, then hauled up to her feet by a burly man who was dressed in a Navy uniform.

"Crazy bitch! Don't you understand?" He shook her violently so that her head snapped back and forth. "Don't you understand who this bastard is?"

She would have answered but speaking was an impossibility as her world rocked around her. She didn't think her feet were even touching the ground anywhere as the Navy man yelled at her.

"He's a fucking Water bender! He's a rebel! He was attacking our Emperor! He's worse than an Earth bender! He deserves to die a slow, painful—"

Just when Katara thought her head was about to disconnect from her neck, other hands pulled her violently from the Navy sailor, and she saw Hiro's earnest face speaking above her.

"—Just in shock you know, they were good friends, totally doesn't understand what she's saying, I'll get her to the doctor's quick as possible—" Hiro's argument seemed to convince the big, burly man and he turned back to the real victim on the dirt. The bastardly, lower-than-a-cockroach Water bender.

Hauling her out of the crowd, Hiro dragged her out of the arena, where the walls shut out the sounds of screaming and cursing inside.

"Katara!" He hissed at her. "What did you think you were doing?"

"Just, just trying to help Juiko. They were hurting him, Hiro, they were kicking him and—"

"Well what did you think they were going to do? Welcome him with open arms?" Hiro threw up his hands and began to pace in a circle.

It was strangely quiet outside. Katara leaned against the wall, trying to make sense of everything.

"Is he a—" She choked on the words. "Is he a, a Water bender?"

Hiro turned to face her, disbelief and denial and a bit of sadness all over his face. "I really don't want him to be."

What we want never matters.

They sat together, leaning against the wall as time passed and both the Emperor and Juiko left the arena. The Emperor Zuko stormed through the doors, a handful of advisors and nobles and doctors trailing after him. His neck was still bleeding, something many of his subjects considered terrifying and life-threatening. Katara, sitting on the ground next to Hiro, wondered if she should tell them that it wasn't a deadly Water bender wound—merely some scratches inflicted by a no-name girl who wanted to be in the Elites.

They two of them watched the Emperor and his retinue pass by.

Then Juiko was lead out. He was still surrounded by a crowd of angry soldiers, many of them Elites. Katara noticed that Oran was one of the men roughly hauling Juiko's body along. Since Juiko was unconscious, he was being carried, but it didn't seem to matter to the soldiers whether he got dropped a few times on the way or his foot kept scraping the ground. The group was lead by Ensei, who had a small smear of blood across one clean-shaven cheek. The blonde man was striding at the head of the entourage, a cold and deadly expression on his face.

"Hey Lieutenant!" called Hiro. "Where are you taking him?"

Without breaking stride, Lt. Ensei snapped out a curt, "To the jail. Where scum like him belongs."

Corporal San, who was carrying one of Juiko's shoulders, yelled, "And the bastard's execution's tomorrow at dawn! The sooner he's dead, the better."

Several other soldiers, upon hearing this, cheered and shook fists.

Then they were gone as quickly as they'd come.

The world suddenly seemed very bleak. Hiro closed his eyes and set his head against the stone wall.

"I didn't expect this to happen," he said.

"Me neither," Katara answered, staring blankly at the backs of the men carrying the Water bender away.

It was cold, very cold when Katara crawled out of her bunk and slipped on her shoes. Hiro was snoring softly above her, and Oran and Guhan were asleep as well. The bunk across from her was empty, it's previous occupant in a far more sinister place tonight.

Pattering across the floor, she opened the door and eased through, closing it gently behind her.

She jogged across the moonlit ground of the army complex, towards where she knew the jail cells were located. It was nothing big, not like the real dungeons in the royal palace, but it served to hold unruly or drunk soldiers if they got out of hand.

There was one guard outside the doors. The other one must have been inside. He stopped her as she neared, drawing a bright metal sword.

"I… I need to see the prisoner," she said, trying for a steady voice.

"No visitors allowed." One of the guards intoned solemnly.

Standing there, Katara felt like the dumbest fool on the planet. What had she expected when she'd run out here tonight? A free ticket inside? A red carpet welcoming her into the cells? Despair washed through her. I need to talk to him.

Just before she was about to turn around and leave, defeated, a rustle came from inside and the door opened, the second guard coming out. Katara caught the barest glimpse of a moving shadow behind him inside the building. She blinked. Must have been a trick of the moonlight.

The guard who had just come outside gave her a strange look. "You—you can go in."

Katara stood there, too shocked to say anything but "Huh?"

The first guard had the same reaction she did. "What are you talking about, Wang? The girl gets to go inside?"

Wang stood stiff at attention. "I received orders earlier that she was to be allowed to see the prisoner. Exclusive orders."

The original guard gave Wang a disbelieving look, and then shot Katara a suspicious glance.

Well, she, for one, wasn't going to look the gift horse in the mouth. Striding between the guards, she walked into the jail building. Neither of them stopped her.

It was pitch-black inside. Katara felt her way along using the metal bars of the cells, until she came to the last one. There was a small, flickering torch on the wall inside the metal-barred room that illuminated the figure spread out on the dirty ground.

Katara sank to her knees. "Juiko?" She ventured. "Juiko—are you awake?"

A groan was all that answered her.

"Juiko. I need to talk to you."

"What?" came the slurred reply. He didn't move.

"Who… who are you, Juiko?"

Now his head lifted off the ground, just enough so the torchlight caught the fevered look in his eyes. "Do you really want to know, Katara?"

She swallowed. "Yes."

"Well I don't have to tell you." Juiko shifted.

Katara couldn't believe it. This wasn't the generous, kind-hearted Juiko she'd known for three weeks. This wasn't the Juiko who'd become her… her friend.

"You need to, Juiko. You need to tell me. You owe it to me for lying."

"I don't owe you fuckers anything. You uptight Fire fuckers who think you own the world. I don't need to tell you anything, Katara." Juiko's dark figure shifted and he groaned in pain.

Katara sat there in the dark. But I'm not a Fire citizen! She wanted to scream out loud. I'm not! I'm like you! I'm one of you, Juiko!

But there were guards standing right outside the door. She felt sorry for Juiko, she really did. She wished she could take him to the doctor and get him cleaned up and fed and taken care of. She wished she could save him from his grisly execution.

But she would not risk her own identity in order to help him.

Katara would not risk jeopardizing her mission to save Juiko.

It was callous, and dirty, and ugly, and everything Katara didn't want to be.

I'm trying to save a whole culture, Juiko. An ancient culture which has thrived on one island for thousands of years. To do so, I must make sacrifices.

You are not the first, and I don't think you will be the last.

Eventually the silence was broken up by Juiko's mumbling again. "But I'm glad you came to talk to me, Katara. I'm glad you could come hear and bear the stink of my Water bender flesh and risk my defective talents in order to get so close to me. You could get contaminated you know," he said in a sing-song voice.

He was delirious, she knew. Knocked out from the pain and the shock of what had happened to him.

"What made you lose control, Juiko," she said softly through the cold metal bars. "What made you throw off your cover?"

"My cover? My cover because I'm a spy. I lost it because that crazy Emperor was gonna kill me, he was gonna kill me I could see it in his eyes, Katara." Juiko mumbled and shifted again. "But it doesn't matter 'cause I'm gonna die anyways, aren't I?"

Katara swallowed. "Yes, you are." It was cruel to say, but it was be even crueler to lie to him in his last hours.

"Yeah well I guess that's okay. That fucker Emperor was just here a few minutes ago, did you know? He wanted information from me. Well I'm not giving nobody any frigging information, Katara. I'm not gonna tell anybody about my people."

Your people, Katara caught the words. There are more of you. Of us.

A long, drawn-out sigh. It seemed like Juiko couldn't stop the words from pouring out. "But I guess I can trust you, right Katara?"

She nodded before she remembered he couldn't see. "Yes, yes of course you can, Juiko."

A scoff and laugh echoed throughout the cell, choked from Juiko's mouth. "Yeah, right, you're just as bitchy as the rest of them. Like I can trust anybody in this place. But it don't matter anymore, do it? I guess I can tell you anything and they'll still kill me."

Katara didn't want to interrupt him. Her grip on the metal bars grew tighter.

"Well I'm a fucking Water bender, as everyone seems to know now. Yeah I'm a spy too, a rebel spy. I'm here 'cause my people are tired of that stinking Emperor tellin' us what to do and ruling us and taking over the world. It didn't used to be like this. It used to be everyone was free and stuff. Could bend whatever you want. Could bend any type of shit you wanted."

A cough and what sounded like vomiting from inside the cell. Then he started again.

"Could bend anything and nobody would get you for it. But now it's just fire, fire, fire. I get so tired of that fucking fire sometimes. Don't even need it that much. Water is what we need, Katara. Water. Not just water. Used to be four nations. Fire, Water, Air, and one more… I forget it."

"Earth," she whispered softly.

"Yeah! Yeah, that one."

"Where are your people, Juiko? Are there more of them… like you?"

"No!" He struggled to sit up. "No! I won't tell you that. Anything but I won't tell you where my family is. There's not much anyway. Just me and my mom and my dad but he's dead now. There's other people too, but not all benders. Mostly Earth refugees who are just as tired as me of the Fire Empire's bullshit. Those Earth people, Kat, they got minds too. They're humans too, not like the slaves the Fire benders keep them as. They're good people, the Earth benders. Real good help."

Katara didn't know if she felt like crying or screaming. Maybe both.

Juiko sighed again. "Well I guess that's it. I don't want to talk anymore. I want to spend the last few hours of my life in quiet."

Katara shifted as if to leave, but then Juiko's head shot up faster than he should have been able to move it. She froze, and could see beyond the muddy, feverish glare in his brown eyes. Beyond it was clarity, and truth as clear as death.

"Even though you're a screwed up Fire fucker, Katara, I gotta say I still liked you for awhile. We were good friends, huh?"

She nodded, trapped in her place by his stare.

"Yeah well, don't get too fond of this world, Kat. Don't… don't fall in love with it too much. 'Cause it never matters in the end, anyways."

His head lolled back, and he said nothing more.

Katara fought to get out of that place, that stifling darkness. She fought to escape the lies she'd told Juiko, the cruel things she made him believe. She could have given him the companionship of one of his own people in his final hours. The companionship of a fellow Water bender. But she was too selfish. Too concerned with herself, too scared for her own life to risk helping Juiko.

She scrambled for a hold on the smooth metal bars, scuffing her knee in the process as she ran from the shadows that were chasing her. She could have sworn the shadows were moving, following her everywhere.

Katara burst out into the bright moonlight, ignoring the surprised cries of the two jail guards. She ran, past the barracks untitl she reached the arena. It was empty now, devoid of any human voices. Pulling open the door Hiro had lead her through earlier that day after her fight, she climbed the stairs until she reached the topmost balcony. She settled in a corner, the cold stone of the structure hard and unyielding against her shaking back.

The Water bender tried to control the trembling of her limbs, the dry, choking rasp of her throat as she struggled to fill her lungs with air. She lay her head against the freezing, smooth wall of stone, willing the chill to seep into her body and wash away the hot, filling lump in her chest and throat.

"Did you love him?" A shadow detached itself from the wall and came towards her.

Katara didn't start or scream. In a subconscious corner of her mind, she'd known the dark shape was following her, dodging her steps across the army grounds, as silent and swift as death.

The tall shadow stopped a few steps before her curled figure. The reflected light from the moon revealed the scarred, disfigured face, oddly calm in the soft glow.

"Who?" Katara asked.

"The Water bender boy. Did you love him?"

"No." Simple and clear.

"Then why are you crying?"

"I'm not."

Emperor Zuko settled onto the cold seat that she was leaning against. "Then what are you doing?"

She ignored his question. "I know you were there. I know you were in the jail when Juiko and I were talking."

"So?" His voice was calm and low. So unlike his earlier rage this morning when he'd found out what Juiko was. It scared Katara, that somebody couold transition so drastically between serenity and flaming-hot temper. "It's my army. It's my military. It's my jail."

"It's rude to eavesdrop."

"Good thing you didn't say anything revealing then."

For some reason, it seemed perfectly normal for her to be talking like equals with the Emperor of the Fire Empire. It seemed perfectly normal for them to be sitting in an empty arena under the cold moonlight chatting about the traitorous rebel who was to be executed tomorrow morning. Katara supposed that the next morning she'd wake up and ask herself what she had been thinking, talking to Emperor Zuko as if they were perfect equals, instead of him being ruler of the world and her a lowly soldier. Instead of him being the murderer out to kill her people, and her the secret assassin sent to kill him.

Good thing she hadn't said anything revealing, the Emperor had said. Katara had to shove down an insane laugh at the thought of what would have happened if she'd let go of her paranoia and revealed to Juiko who she really was. The Emperor would have overheard and she would have been thrown in that cell next to Juiko faster than she could blink an eye. And tomorrow she would be right there up next to Juiko, burning and flaming her way to the afterlife.

The fear of the fire seared her frozen insides quicker than she thought possible. She broke into a sweat, battling that bonfire in her dreams. The Emperor was staring at her, she was sure of it. He was reading her mind, breaking down her defenses with those cruel gold eyes of his. The primal urge to flee rose inside her.

The moment was broken when Katara stood up, averting her eyes from the Emperor's face.

"Good night, sir." She bowed and left, clattering down the steps before he could say anything.

Back in her bed inside the warm, heated barracks, she lay there for hours, willing her pounding heart to let her sleep.

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Katara stood next to Hiro in the bright morning, eyes trained on the large pile of dry wood. There was one straight, tall pole erected on top, with ropes slung loosely around it, waiting for the criminal. She looked around at the crowd. It was gigantic, probably filling up three-fourths of the stadium. Soldiers, Fire benders, sailors, Eliltes, noblemen, advisors, commanders, generals, admirals and relatives of the royalty crowded the field. Some were talking energetically, others were frowning worriedly and the general mood was that of an exicted mob waiting for the entertainment.

Borr, hands crossed over his chest, spoke up. "I heard from two Elites yesterday that the Emperor's advisors are thinking of doing a backround check on all the new recruits that come in."

Katara maintained a casual air. "Don't they already do that? I mean, with the interview and everything?"

"Well, in the interview the recruits only tell the army what the recruits what the army to know. I mean background check as in a thorough background check. You'll need to provide people who'll swear to the officials that you are who you really are. Proof of identity, a list of where you've been the past year, all the jobs you've taken before coming to the army. That sort of thing."

"Sounds like a lot of work to me," said Hiro.

Borr sniffed. "If they'd done it before, bastards like that," he nodded towards the pile of kindling where Juiko would be tied, "wouldn't have made it in."

Bastards like me, thought Katara.

But all she said was, "Where's Oran?"

Hiro shrugged. "He left this morning and I haven't seen him since."

Katara remembered how Oran had been one of the many soldiers who'd angrily dragged Juiko to jail yesterday. She had a suspicion about where the rebel-hating young man was. It disturbed her.

A loud shout went up, and Katara craned her neck to see above the heads. She wasn't a short woman; there were plenty of men here shorter than her. But there were plenty here taller than her as well.

There he was. Bruised, battered, and bloodied, his hands chained behind his back, a group of angry-looking soldiers hauling him up the side of the wood pile and slamming him to the post. Juiko said nothing during the ordeal. He didn't cry out, didn't scream, didn't struggle. His blank eyes stared straight ahead over the heads of the crowd. Katara saw Oran tying Juiko's hands tightly behind the pole, his face a mask of triumphant rage. The mob of military men began shouting out curses and insults, Juiko registering none of it, his face remaining placid.

She imagined Oran's deadily expression turned towards her. She imagined her body chained up there, the crowd shouting obscenities and death threats at her, a nightmare of enemies. Her back began to sweat, and she knew it wasn't just from the sun.

As soon as Juiko was secured onto the post, the soldiers backed off the large pile of kindling and four Fire benders stepped up, one at each corner. The crowd quieted down gradually, and an old man walked forward until he was standing in front of all the wood. He raised his hands, and a cheer came up from the soldiers before dying down again.

"My countrymen!" His voice was a loud boom echoing through the arena. "We are here today to witness the punishment that befalls a traitor of the Fire Empire."

A loud scream from the crowd, coupled by fist-shaking and encouraging cries. Katara felt like clapping her hands over her ears. But it wouldn't have been appropriate Fire soldier behavior, fearing loud noises. So instead she clapped her hands together in polite applause.

"He has betrayed our great monarch Emperor Zuko, attempting to take the life of his Majesty, and is, as we found out yesterday, a descendent of the Water bender scum that our previous great ruler wiped out a century ago. Now we know that some of the traitors escaped, and bred until they decided to try to overthrow us! Will we let this happen?" The old man shook one fist in the air, and was answered by a resounding angry cry from the crowd. "Will we let them defeat us?"

The volume of shouting increased to a peak. Katara caught sight of the Emperor Zuko seated on the raised platform above the field. He was sitting in a relaxed but kingly pose, watching his subjects cry their encouragement to him. He was too far away for Katara to see the expression on his face.

"Now will see this Water bender betrayer burn!" The old man stepped aside, and Katara saw Emperor Zuko desecend to the field from his throne. The soldiers cleared a respectful path for him until he reached Juiko.

Everyone was silent, waiting for the Emperor to make some sort of speech. But his Majesty didn't. The Emperor stared Juiko in his blank, absent eyes for a long second. Juiko didn't blink or look away, but neither did the Emperor.

Emperor Zuko kept eye contact with the criminal as he raised one hand and let out a burst of flame that lit the wood at his feet alight. The four Fire benders at the corners followed him and did the same. Soon, the wood pile was a burning, writhing mass of fire, reaching higher and higher until it was finally licking at Juiko's limp feet.

The crowd was screaming again, chanting something, waiting for a reaction from the Water bender tied above the flames. Katara expected him to start writhing and screaming in pain as the fire caught on his clothes. But he didn't move.

The smell of burning flesh began to permeat the crowds, and Katara felt like choking and vomiting all over the grass. But she retained her composure, eyes trained desperately on Juiko's face. Was he unconscious? Oh please let him be unconscious. Please let him not feel the fiery pain. Please let him go quickly.

The fire had consumed him up to the waist before Juiko finally made a sound. But it wasn't crying or begging or pleading or screaming, which was what was expected of burning victims.

Instead, he began to laugh. Long and loud and hard, the sound drifted over the field into the ears of the dumbstruck viewers. He laughed his way to his death and Katara felt it in her very bones. His previously blank stare snapped open and she knew, just knew that he was staring straight at her and laughing, mocking her with his last dying breath.

Do you see me here, Katara? Do you see what's happening to me? This is your future. It's you up here, burning to ashes.

She swallowed, keeping their gazes locked and trying to force back tears. She didn't look at Hiro or Borr next to her, because she didn't want to find out their reactions. She didn't search the crowd for Oran's face, because she didn't want to see him cheering their ex-friend to his death.

It seemed like an eternity until the fire crawled up Juiko's throat and shut off his life and his voice, reducing his face and his figure to a pile of crumbling pones tied to a burnt-out post. The embers and charcoal littering the ground were black, sifting ashes drifting through the air. The smoke and ash clogged Katara's throat, bothering her eyes until they watered. She couldn't breathe for a full moment as she coughed, her mind despairing and racing.

I don't want to be here. I want to go home. I want to see my brother and Suki, I want the Mistress to love me, I want to go home and finally fall asleep without worrying about the things I said during the day, if anyone was suspicious of me for being something I said I wasn't. I want to go back to my old life. I can't stand it here anymore.

I want to leave this place of death.

Little licks of flame were still alive when the Emperor Zuko climbed up to the platform again and faced the crowd. In a clear voice, he announced, "The results of the Elite examinations are ready. Those who's names are announced are honored with the chance to join the Elite force. If you hear your name, report to Lt. Ensei as soon as possible for your post and your new barracks assignment."

Katara's eyes were still trained on the remains of Juiko, her ears barely registering any sound. I want to go home.

"Hiro."

A cheer and polite applause rose as Hiro left his place next to her to find Lt. Ensei.

"Oran. Borr."

The haughty noble's son next to her left too, creating an empty space around Katara.

"Utsek."

Juiko's skull still had bits of burnt flesh clinging to the dirty-gray surface. How utterly gruesome.

I want to be a Kyoshi warrior, not an Elite soldier.

"And the final new Elite is Katara."

A/N: Juiko is probably doomed to die in every single one of my fics. Congrats to those of you who predicted it, or at least were suspicious of him. I thought I put in quite a few clues to his shadyness. You guys all get a virtual cookie. Ahem. I also found out from another good reviewer that MARK HAMILL who was Luke Skywalker in the original Star Wars movies is the voice of LORD OZAI. I didn't see the episode with Lord Ozai though, so I never heard his voice. And I found out the existence of Zula, Zuko's little sister.

On an even happier note, I've received an award! Not for this fic, but for THATP. It's from the Avatar fansite Unseen Paths and the webmistress of that site, Lala-Ness. It's beautiful and wonderful and great and I'm honored to have it. I've posted a link to it in my profile.

Also in my profile is a link to my LJ (my username is UNDERSCORErednovember, won't let me type the underscore here). Friend me, add me, whatever. I need more friends, and I will certainly add you back. My LJ is going to be used as a way to communicate with readers about updates and maybe even short side stories that I might not post here and previews of sorts. AND join the community kataraUNDERSCOREzuko if you are a K/Z fan! Promote the ship!

As for the OC vote, Hiro was definitely most popular, with Borr most hated. Lt. Ensei recieved mixed reviews... I personally like his bad-ass, bad-boy attitude. As a side note, he's pretty handsome too, not that our angsty little Katara has noticed yet.