Hey! Thanks to my readers so far for enjoying this story. It's going to be pretty fun in the next couple of chapters so stick with me and keep going! Plus this is really different and it's supposed to be a mystery/romance/suspense. Lol enjoy!
Chapter4 Unwanted Answers
"So what did you do?" Yue demanded. She pushed her way in as Katara opened the front door, and she looked very, very suspicious.
"Hello to you too." Katara yawned. "What time is it?"
Yue used her no nonsense voice. "You know I'm never out of bed before noon on the weekends. So did you pay him, or sell your soul to the devil or what?"
"What are you talking about?" Katara tried to focus. She hadn't fallen asleep until four this morning. She hadn't roused again until Yue's consistent knocking had gotten very annoying. Her eyes were swollen and blurry from lack of sleep and her brain felt like jelly.
"Hey," Yue was looking more suspicious than ever, "Are you okay? You look like hell."
This time Katara managed a slight nod. "Yeah, that about describes it all right."
"So what's up? I've been banging on the door for nearly 10 minutes. Where's your mom?"
"Working an extra shift at the hospital today why?"
Yue crossed her arms in front of her chest. "Because something's weird around here this morning."
"It's always weird around here. What makes this morning any different?"
"Come on!" Yue wailed impatiently. "Stop acting like you don't know what I'm talking about!"
"But I really don't – " abruptly Katara broke off.
As she started at her best friend, a jumble of memories began sorting themselves in her foggy brain. The forest…last night's fall…Zuko…school dance… She closed her eyes, pressed one hand on her temples and tired again.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
This time Yue didn't look quite as suspicious. "Really?"
"Yue, come on. I'm too tired to play twenty questions." Katara yawned again and poured a cup of coffee. Yue grabbed some cookies from a bin and sat down across from Katara, watching her.
"Sokka called me this morning." She began.
Katara raised an eyebrow as the cup paused halfway to her lips. "Called you what?"
"I'm serious! Sokka called me this morning and asked me to the school dance."
It was easy to look shocked, Katara realized. She already felt so dazed from last night, she was sure that it came off as genuine. "Sokka called you. For a date?"
"I know, I couldn't believe it either." Yue leaned across the table and put her hand on Katara's. Her voice lowered. "It's all too sudden. What do you think he's up to?"
Katara took a sip of her coffee and closely studied her friend.
On the outside, Yue was making an extraordinary effort to appear nonchalant, but her sparkling blue eyes were glowing with excitement. Katara swallowed a sick taste of guilt and reminded herself that her intentions were noble.
"I've no idea, Yue." Katara squeezed her hand. "Maybe – for once – he's not up to anything. Wow…that's really…how do you feel about it?"
"Well, you know. I mean I wouldn't want to hurt his feelings or anything by turning him down."
"Of course not," Katara quickly agreed. She could see Yue eyeing the kitchen doorway, and she turned a little in her seat.
"Is he here?" Yue whispered.
"I don't know. I just woke up and didn't check. Sokka!" Katara turned her head and shouted towards the hall, but got no answer.
Yue pulled at Katara's hand, "Shh! No don't call him down!"
"Why not? I thought you wanted to see –"
"No I don't. I just wanted to know what's going on. If he's temporarily lost his mind, or made some stupid bet with his friends. I don't want to end up being some big joke."
Katara took a long sip of her coffee. "Well you were sure that it was Sokka?"
"I'm sure; I'd recognize his voice anywhere. First he insulted me like usual, and then he said he didn't have a date for the dance and if I wanted to go."
"Sounds…romantic."
Yue peered earnestly into Katara's face. "You mean you really didn't know? Being your brother I thought he would have told you."
"Yue, you know Sokka wouldn't have told me anything that personal."
Katara's brain was feeling thicker than ever and she was beginning to wish that Yue had never come over. Tactfully she said, "Yue, if you don't want to go with him, then don't. It's not like you have to – "
"No, no." Yue said quickly. A little too quickly, Katara thought. "And don't tease him," Yue added seriously. "If you tease him about it, then he'll be self-conscious and if he stands me up everyone will find out and laugh at me. And then I'll have to kill myself."
"Okay, I swear." Katara promised. "But only because I don't want your suicide on my conscience."
Yue bounced in her chair. She looked relieved and immensely happy.
"Ok, great. Now that I have a date, I need to go hopping for shoes to match my dress. You're coming, right?"
For a second, Katara was blank. "Umm… I can't today."
"How come?" Yue pouted.
"I…uh…have to go to the library!"
Yue lifted an incredulous eyebrow. "You do realize this is Saturday?"
"It's just that I have this…this research project coming up," Katara babbled, "I need to get some information on it by Monday and I haven't started on it yet."
To her relief, Yue didn't ask what class the 'forgotten project' was for. She only said again, "But it's Saturday."
"I know," Katara tired to sound regretful. "But I've put it off for as long as I can and if I don't get it done today, I'll be in a panic."
"As usual. And you'll probably get an A on it too."
Katara laughed as Yue put on her jacket. They walked out together towards the driveway to Yue's car.
"Will you be home later Kat?"
"Sure."
"Great. I'll call you and maybe get together when you're feeling better."
Katara nodded as Yue got into the driver's seat of her Mercedes and sped off.
"Yeah, maybe."
With an effort, Katara pulled herself together and hurried upstairs to Sokka's room. The music was deafening. Ignoring the keep out sign on his closed door, Katara pounded on it and yelled Sokka's name. When he didn't answer, Katara barged in uninvited and promptly tripped over a guitar lying just inside the doorway.
Sokka was barely visible and was sprawled flat across his unmade bed with his headphones on.
"Excuse me, but aren't you in the wrong room?" he asked coolly. Katara ignored him.
"Where'd you put the ring?"
"I thought that you never wanted to see it again."
"I changed my mind." Determinedly, she turned on his bedside lamp. "Where'd you put it?"
Sokka jerked his chin in the direction of his desk. "Over there."
At once Katara went over and began pulling out drawers, rummaging through them with a vengeance. Sokka let out a help and practically leapt across the room.
"Just what do you think you're doing? Get outta there!"
"Just tell me where it – "
"I'll get it!"
As Sokka pulled her away, the drawer suddenly popped out, spraying its contents all over the floor. Surprised, Katara stared at the mess. Sokka groaned and immediately dropped to his knees trying to shovel everything back into a pile.
"Sorry…" But as she sat up straighter, she noticed what looked like a photograph lying beneath one corner of the bed, and she stretched over to grab it.
"Hey, what's this?" She asked.
Sokka didn't hear her at first. He was too busy grumbling and throwing stuff back into the drawer.
Katara felt a smile spread over her lips. "Hey Sokka," he said again. "What's this picture doing in the drawer?"
This time he heard her. In fact, Katara could see the telltale rise of color in his cheeks before he even fully face her. Katara's smile widened. She was staring down at a photo of Yue, one she remembered having taken at the beach last summer. Yue in her two-piece suit which left little to the imagination – Yue with her golden tan, flowing hair and model-perfect smile.
Katara held it up with a tantalizing wave but Sokka snatched it from her hand.
"So what's this doing here Sokka?"
He had a funny, helpless look of desperation – like a part of him wanted to slug her and the other part simply wanted to drop off the face of the earth. Just as Katara thought he would, he shook his head and tossed it back to her.
"I don't know how this got in there."
He was trying to hard to be cool and casual, but his cheeks flushed hotter. Katara fixed him with a level star. "How long have you had a crush on Yue?"
"You're delusional." Sokka said, picking up his headphones. "I haven't looked in that drawer for months. So next time you try to plant something in my room, make sure you put it where I'll actually see it."
Katara nodded in mock seriousness. "Oh I get it. I'm the one who put it there."
"You or Yue." Sokka said innocently. "God when are you two gonna grow up?"
Sokka tossed the ring he had found at her before clamping on his headphones smugly in place and turning his back to her.
After a moment's indecision, she decided to spare his pride and stop teasing him. Katara watched her brother for a moment, then slipped the photo back into the bottom drawer beneath the crumpled papers.
She went back into her room to get her favorite winter coat. Before she left, she caught her reflection in the mirror and frowned, she put a cautious hand to the glass, wondering why the person looking back at her seemed like someone she didn't know.
Very slowly, she slipped the ring on her finger.
Was it only her imagination? Or had her reflection wavered just then, ever so slightly, as thought the Katara she recognized was trying to fade away?
Aunt Wu's house was surrounded by a lot of trees. In fact, the house itself was nearly invisible beneath gnarled, twisted oaks, elms, and brown cascades of brittle ivy. Katara carefully climbed over the forest mess and walked towards the opening that served as the door.
Before Katara could reach for the knocker, the door swung open and there stood Aunt Wu, dressed in golden colored robes and her graying hair in an elegant bun.
"Welcome my child, it has been so long! But I knew you would visit today. Plus I could hear you struggling with the fallen trees out here."
Katara blushed. "Yeah they were always difficult to climb over."
"Well come in! Would like some tea? It'll be no trouble. I just put some water to boil on the stove."
"Yes please."
Aunt Wu walked towards the direction of her small kitchen as Katara walked into the tearoom. The house wasn't at all what anyone would have expected; judging from its outside appearance.
Cluttered and cozy, overflowing with paintings and framed photographs, chintz-covered furniture and the smell of baked bread, the small house seemed to wrap welcome arms around Katara. She quickly sat down as Aunt Wu returned with a plateful of cookies and a pot of tea on a tray. After pouring both China sups with steaming green tea, Aunt Wu spoke.
"So Katara, what is your purpose of visiting me today?"
"Well…" Truthfully, Katara hadn't thought about what to tell Aunt Wu. Where would she begin?
Aunt Wu fixed Katara with a stare. "Something is troubling you. Something that you can't explain."
"Yes, I had a dream…almost a vision of the past…" Once Katara had started, the story was soon easily told. She told Aunt Wu everything, about the fall, the figure whom she had so quickly recognized, their love relationship, the ring. As Katara described it, Aunt Wu suddenly stopped her and anxiously leaned forward.
"A ruby flame centered in a golden band did you say?"
Katara slowly nodded with a slight frown. "Aunt Wu, do you know of it? I have it here if you want to look, on my finger."
When Katara slid it off her finger and held it up, there was a sharp intake of breath as Aunt Wu reached for it with shacking fingers.
"Oh my child! Where on earth did you get this?"
"I told you, when I woke up after Zuko had given it to me, itwas still on my finger." Katara smiled lightly. "Our bond of love."
Aunt Wu looked at her with a strange look on her face. "Their, you mean." She corrected.
"Oh! Yeah, did I say our? I meant there…"
Aunt Wu nodded but said nothing about it. She instead held the ring back to Katara. "Do you remember me telling you about the great Avatar Aang?"
"Yes I do. It was one of my favorite stoires" Katara quickly slipped the ring back onto her finger, "why?"
"Well," Aunt Wu began slowly, "One of Avatar Aang's female companions was named Katara. The name could just be a coincidence for you, but the ring…Prince Zuko gave Katara that ring to her after joining the avatar and falling in love with her." Aunt Wu looked at Katara and spoke the next words hesitantly. "The night he gave her that ring…a terrible tragedy occurred. No one knew what really happened."
She let that statement sink in a bit before asking: "When did you wake up?"
"Right after Zuko gave me this ring."
"I see."
Aunt Wu furrowed her brow. She began to mutter words under her breath. "yes, maybe…again…yes experience…"
Katara strained to hear her words but couldn't make any sense out of it.
"What – "
"Go back."
Katara flinched at Aunt Wu's sudden interruption. "Huh?"
"Listen to me Katara," Aunt Wu said anxiously, " You must go back and experience what happened next. Find out about what happened afterwards and then many things will become clearer to me. Then I will explain everything. Go before it gets too late."
"You want me to dream it again? Aunt Wu, this is crazy." She leaned forward in her seat, "I don't even remeber the exact spot."
"You will know what to do."
"But…" Katara couldn't find a way out. Aunt Wu's pleading face destroyed any feelings of rejection she had in mind. It all seemed so, truthfully, stupid. The avatar wasn't even real in her opinion. This was all just one big misunderstanding and Aunt Wu was making too big of a deal out of it. But it couldn't hurt to try…
"All right, fine. I'll go."
The small room was bathed in a shimmering gold from the rays of the setting sun. Night was coming.
"Then go now." She urged.
Katara put down her now cold tea and slowly got up.
"Come back afterwards."
"I…Not today. It'll be too late and probably nothing will happen –"
"Just promise you'll come back soon."
Katara nodded, "Fine."
And with that, she ran out of the room and nearly tripped over the tangled mess of limbs in front of the house. She frantically climbed over them and began running the opposite direction of Aunt Wu's house. She wanted to get out of there. Aunt Wu had been so…creepy back there. It had scared her.
She ran, her feet taking her great lengths across the forest floor, until her breath was coming out in short, labored breaths. Katara thought that she would drop down from exhaustion, but she soon came to a clearing with a very familiar air about it. The way the trees stood, the high branches and roots. Then it hit her. This is it…
After a moment's hesitation, she stepped cautiously across to the pale, leafless tree she remembered seeing before her last fall. The sun was almost gone and the sounds of any animals now extinct. It was so cold that her heavy breaths were a constant hanging fog in front of her.
Katara could feel goose bumps along her arms… shivers down her spine. She sat down against it and felt the coolness of its smooth bark. Her eyes fluttered closed and her breath evened out. A cold sweat had started on her brow and blood was pumping throughout her.
When she opened her eyes, he hasn't realized that she had fallen asleep, for it was pitch black except for the glowing rays of silver moonlight. She had only meant to sit down for a short rest, how long had it been since she had been sitting here?
She turned slowly to get up when her gaze riveted to one spot in the corner. A corner much darker than the others, a thing even more frightening – awareness, something human, something alive –
Katara's heart leaped.
The darkness was moving now – pulling itself away from the other surrounding shadows, coming away from the trees and towards the very spot where she was standing.
There was purpose to its movement.
There was familiarity.
As a cry caught in Katara's throat, she saw the face at last, the golden eyes, the arms reaching out to her.
"Katara," he said, "You've awakened."
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Thank you for reading! Now, what do you think? I hope it didn't move too quickly...I think it did
