Damn is she getting sick of Fire Nation jerky! Water Tribe jerky isn't nearly as spiced and not quite as hard either. The spices on the jerky from Lian aren't super obvious but after three days of eating only it and miscellaneous findings makes any and all spices far too obvious to her tongue. Katara is busy berating the first fire benders and their love of spicy food as she surfs along the coastline. Iroh's technique and her practicing have improved her bending tremendously and now she can actually feel things inside the water as she goes along. There's a large school of fish swimming away from her waves. Seaweed floats along in the currents. A boat is docked at the inlet just ahead. She stops, a boat is docked just ahead! With a push of her sore arms she's on land, hiding behind rocks. If it's a Fire Nation boat she'll need to give it a wide girth. If it's someone else then she might be safe unless of course it's pirates, that's a situation she doesn't want to get into again. The rocks are slippery and sharp but she scales them, her big eyes peeking out over the edge of them. A blue sail flaps in the wind. It's a blue sail attached to a worn out wooden ship with hide stretched over the frame. She'd know the design anywhere, it's Water Tribe! More specifically it's a Southern Water Tribe boat. There has to be someone around here from her village!
. . .
It took Prince Zuko the rest of the day and part of the following night to recover from the attack. It took him another day to make it back to his small boat at his decreased speed. It was midday of the third day before he finally made it back aboard the ship and collapsed in his quarters. Now he can hardly move his head or back, the muscles having stiffened unreasonably. Oh how he wishes Katara were here. It was for the best. She was right, she's not a possession. He didn't have the right to keep her. He hates this whole situation. He hates that his enemy is his friend. He hates how easy it was to fight beside the boy he's supposed to capture. He hates this stupid war. He hates his father for doing this to him. He hates everything about everything.
Now he has to figure out how to capture the Avatar all over again. Katara didn't work and really he doesn't want to face her. He doesn't know if he can fight her like an enemy now, not after all the drunken nights and whispered secrets, not after promising to protect her. Maybe he can whisk the Avatar away without having to face her. Who knows. Maybe he'll go up to the North Pole too.
. . .
Aang didn't tell Sokka about getting captured or any of the events that followed. As far as Sokka was concerned Aang was only gone a few hours, he was too delirious to know any better. However, the Water Tribe boy started noticing Aang looking a little lost at times and staring off into space more often than usual. Once Sokka fully recovered they were traveling again though Appa stayed more to that coastline than usual. Just in case Zuko was right, that's where Katara would be, as close to her element as possible. Of course he doesn't tell Sokka the reasoning, not wanting to get another week or so of silent treatment in case the Fire Nation jerk ended up lying about her.
Large waves crash against the shore underneath them, unnaturally large waves. "Hey Sokka, does the water look different to you?"
Sokka peers over Appa's saddle. "Nope, not really."
"Hmm, well I want to check it out just in case."
"Just in case of what?"
Aang rubs the back of his head nervously. "Uh, no reason. Besides Appa's getting tired, we need to rest."
"Mhmm," Sokka's eyebrows raise but Aang just starts whistling. The waves look big enough to be from a bender, maybe not a bender trying to make waves but the left overs once they were done. Aang guides the flying bison to a hilltop where they land. The Avatar jumps down and immediately starts searching. A weapon catches his eyes. "Hey Sokka look at this! It's a sword made out of a whale tooth!"
"Let me see that!" Sokka scrambles down after Aang and grabs the weapon. "This is Water Tribe. Our men must have been here! Quick look for more!" They find burnt arrows and charred bark on trees all leading down to a sandy strip. "There was an ambush and the Water Tribe warriors drove the Fire Nation down here but," his shoulders slump. "I don't know what happened. They're all gone." Aang isn't listening, he's busy staring at the girl dressed in Fire Nation red caressing the ship further down shore. Long brown hair hangs in a braid down her back and her skin is a beautiful caramel tinted pink by the sun. A thick robe is tied around her waist and a knapsack on her back. A knife hangs from her belt.
"Katara," Aang whispers, not believing his eyes. There's no way they found each other, not this easily but there she is.
Her back straightens as she hears talking behind her. Water wraps around her as she turns to face her opponents. She blinks. The water drops. "Sokka!" She can't believe it! "Sokka!" This time she shouts and her brother turns. "Sokka! Aang! I -" she doesn't even finish her sentence before getting run over by an excited air bender. He's all arms and legs and trying to hug her as tight as he can but he pins her arms to her sides as he does. It's all she can do not to scream from claustrophobia. Quickly she pushes him away and goes for a more civilized hug. He doesn't let go until Sokka grabs her around the middle lifting her.
"Katara! I missed you so much!"
"I know Sokka, I missed you too!" The siblings don't say anything for a moment, just happy to finally be reunited.
Aang hovers around, "I missed you too Katara!"
She smiles and rubs the top of his head before pulling him into the embrace. "And I missed you."
When the hug finally breaks apart Sokka holds her at arms' length giving her the mandatory big brother once over. "Are you hurt? How did you escape? What happened?"
She laughs, "I'm fine Sokka, stop worrying so much. It's you I should be asking all those questions to. Did you manage to eat while I was gone?"
"Yeah, we did all right."
"Don't let him lie to you!" Aang chimes in. "It was awful without you! Sokka tried to cook and blergh!" he sticks his tongue out to illustrate.
"But really Katara, how did you get away?"
Again she laughs, "A girl has her ways." She isn't ready to tell them the truth, she isn't ready to tell them that he let her go. That would lead to more question as she doesn't want to admit that she was a starting to enjoy the company of the Prince, Uncle, and the men on board. She doesn't want to admit that the Fire Nation isn't completely full of monsters. Sokka's mind jumps to the dungeon and to the man saying that she was being kept in the prince's room. Aang's jumps to what Zhao said. Both of the boys' blood starts to boil.
"I got on the ship when Aang tried to rescue you, someone said you'd been hurt. What happened?" Sokka's voice is for once deadly serious.
Katara shrugs and ignores the fear that rises in her chest with his words. It clamps her heart and squeezes the air from her lungs. "Nothing."
"Katara," her brother reaches out but she turns away quickly.
"I said nothing!" Her voice could cut glass and she swallows the tears, biting the inside of her cheek. Not now, she can't cry now. She is responsible for these people again. She can not have feelings of her own, she must take care of the group. She has to keep it together.
. . .
Iroh sits beside the prince drinking some tea. "You did the right thing."
Zuko rolls over and stares at his uncle. "I know."
"Have some jasmine tea, it will help."
"Okay." It's a testament to how bad Zuko feels if he actually accepts tea on the first offer. Iroh pours and hands the cup to his nephew who still hasn't gotten out of bed. "Uncle?"
"Yes Prince Zuko?"
"Did the Air Nomad Army attack the Fire Nation first?" Oh Agni that is not a question he wants to answer. "When she first started staying in here she said that there was nothing military at the temple she went to."
Iroh wishes it could be another way, he doesn't want to completely shatter his nephew's vision of home it's the only hope he has right now but he won't lie to the boy. "Zuko, much of what you've been taught is twisted. If you want to know the answer though you need to find it for yourself. Why don't we go to an Air Temple and find out?"
"Set a course for the closest one. I want to look." Iroh nods and stands when the entire ship shakes, sloshing Zuko's tea onto his blanket. He fumes. "What the hell!" He jumps up and storms out onto the deck not bothering to put a shirt on. Jee inhales sharply as Zuko passes, the cuts and bruises an ugly yellowish green color. A tall slender terrifying woman riding a beast that instills just as much fear and shock is on board, the beast sniffing wildly about. "Who are you and what the hell are you doing on my ship!"
"I'm here for a stowaway." She replies calmly, almost ignoring him.
"There are no stowaways on my ship."
The woman cocks an eyebrow as the animal rips the rather newly fixed deck apart. Several sailors groan at the sight. A man pops up out of the hole, one that no one's seen before but the huge beast's tongue lashing out whipping the man across the back. "What were you saying about no stowaways?"
"He's paralyzed!"
"Yupp but it's only temporary." She hauls the man onto the back of the animal. "The toxins wear off in about an hour but by then he'll be in jail and I'll have my money."
"But how did you find him on my ship?"
"My shirshu can smell a rat a continent away." With that she's off to collect her bounty.
"Well I'm impressed. Very impressed in fact," Uncle watches her bound off.
Zuko nods, his thoughts racing. She could help him capture Aang and maybe Katara hasn't caught up with them yet. He wouldn't have to face her if she's not even with them. It's a good plan. Hyeng coughs, drawing Zuko's attention. "Excuse me sir, but your back is in pretty bad shape."
He shrugs. "I'm fine."
Iroh peeks at his back as hisses. It's the first time he's seen it and by Agni his nephew shouldn't be worrying about the Avatar right now or anything else for that matter other than getting those cuts looked at. "No Prince Zuko you're not! You're going to the infirmary right now." Steel is behind the words.
"No Uncle, I'm fine."
"Do not argue with me about this," Iroh grabs his arm and begins to haul the prince to the infirmary until Zuko gives up and shrugs him off, choosing to walk of his own volition.
He lays stomach down on the bed. It smells and all his thoughts are brought back to the months he spent here after his banishment. His wound was fresh and the burn would ooze. He'd screamed as the doctor had scrubbed dead skin off to let it heal properly. Right now the doctor stands over his back appraising the situation.
"What happened?"
"I fell," Zuko responds gruffly.
"Mhmm? And?"
"That's it."
"There's still dirt in a lot of these wounds I'm afraid I'll have to clean them out completely. That means cutting them open." The doctor doesn't wait for his prince's respond but instead cuts into one of the swollen masses on his back, letting the infection drain out. Zuko lays there with dead eyes, trying to focus on the hinges of the door. Alcohol is poured onto the cut to sterilize and help wash the dirt out. Zuko bites down on the bed underneath him, tears in his eyes. Iroh holds his hand. Zuko passes out at the next pour.
. . .
Sokka doesn't try to ask her about it the rest of the night. She changes out of her red clothes back into her normal blue, sighing in relief at the cloth that knows her skin so well. Sokka brings her fish and she grimaces slightly remembering that once again she's the cook. She doesn't mention her bag of jerky. Sokka rambles on about nothing while Aang flits nervously around, his thoughts still on what Zhao said. Katara makes stew easily and they all chow down still talking and laughing about nothing between bites. Sokka volunteers to clean up and Katara and Aang start to get comfortable for the night. Aang has no problem curling up on Appa to sleep but Katara has a harder time with her sleeping bag. She can't seem to get comfortable. She wiggles into it again but her legs are too constricted and her arms are pinned to her sides. Her breath quickens and she starts to sweat before scrambling out of it in a hurry. She has to be able to move! She has to be able to defend herself if necessary.
"You okay?" Sokka wonders.
"Yeah, I'm fine. It's just this stupid sleeping bag I can't get comfortable in it." She appraises it wondering how to make it better.
"It was fine when you left."
"Yeah well it's not fine now!" She snaps then spots the knife beside her pack. That'll work perfectly. It may not be a real sleeping bag anymore but at least she'll be able to use it. She grabs a seam and sticks the knife in, cutting down the length of it.
"What are you doing Katara!" Sokka yelps dropping the stick he was prodding the fire with.
"I'm making it more comfortable." She grabs the large padded robe and settles back down onto her new fur blanket. Most of it is under her but just enough covers her body to make it good. The robe is thrown over the rest of her and finally she is comfortable. Ginger and oranges pricks her nose. Sokka is speechless. What the hell happened to his little sister that she'd cut up her own sleeping bag? He doesn't fail to notice the robe either and his blood pressure rises. This is all the work of that prince.
A twig snaps behind them. Katara isn't asleep yet as so she jumps into full bending pose. Aang doesn't move. Sokka looks up, his hand wavering over his boomerang. A familiar man clad in blue walks forward from the shadows. "Sokka?"
He'd recognize that voice anywhere. "Bato!"
The water whips flow back into the ocean and Aang begins to rub his eyes. "Who the what now?"
"Bato!" Katara smiles and runs up to the man along with Sokka.
"Katara! Sokka! It's so good to see you two! Oh you've grown so much!"
Aang cuts in and bows. "Hi, I'm Aang."
Bato smiles at the boy before Sokka starts talking. "Where's dad?"
"Is he here?" Part of Katara hopes that he is. Seeing her dad right now would be great but another part drastically hopes that he isn't. If Sokka tells him what happened she'll have no choice but to answer his questions.
"No," Bato replies. "He and the other warriors should be in the eastern Earth Kingdom right now." Sokka's shoulders slump and the wind off of the sea picks up suddenly. "Come on kids, this is no place for a reunion. Let's go inside." He starts to guide them off but stops to wait as they collect their stuff and put out the fire. Once everything's on Appa they head out again.
It's about a five minute walk inland to the abbey where Bato's staying. "How did you end up here, where's everyone else?"
"I was wounded. Your father carried me to this abbey. The sisters have cared for me ever since." Bato addresses a tall hawkish woman dressed in white robes. "Superior, these are Hakoda's children. They've been traveling with the Avatar, I found them by my boat."
The older woman bows respectfully to Aang. "Young Avatar, it gives me great joy to be in your presence. Welcome to our abbey."
"Thank you! It's truly an honor to be here. If there's anything - "
Sokka cuts him off. "What's that smell Bato? It's good?"
"The sisters craft ointments and perfumes." He motions to large vats of the stuff nearby.
"Ointments? Katara do you need any ointments maybe for healing or something?"
Katara shoots Sokka a withering glare which Bato doesn't catch. "Why would Katara need ointments? Is everything alright?"
Sokka opens his big mouth but Katara beats him to it smiling sweetly. "Everything's fine. I'm sure Sokka was just being weird as usual." She steps on his foot when he starts to argue. They follow Bato inside Sokka grumbling about not telling Bato and Aang straggling at the end of the party. Bato opens a small wooden door away from the rest of the abbey and ushers the kids inside.
"It looks just like home!" Tears form at the edge of her eyes and she wipes them away quickly. Home. She just wants to go home and fall into the furs and let everything go. Sokka squeezes her forearm gently. He won't say anything to Bato if she doesn't want him to. He doesn't know why she doesn't want to talk about it but he's a good big brother and he won't push her.
"Everything's here, even the pelts!" Sokka's hand leaves her arm as he begins to wander around the room.
Aang isn't quite as happy. "Yeah, nothing's better than dead animal skins?" Momo chatters and tries to poke a large platypus bear pelt only to snatch his paw away as the jaw falls closed. Both Momo and Aang are thrown off by this and the boy has to resist the urge to hurl.
Katara opens a pot hung over the fire in the center of the room. "Stewed sea prunes! I can't believe it!"
"Go ahead, help yourselves." Bato hands them all bowls and spoons and Katara greedily digs in. For her this is the ultimate comfort food. Her mom made it sometimes and once her mom was gone Gran Gran cooked it on especially cold days when the wind bit too much to be able to go outside.
"I remember Dad could eat a whole barrel of these." Sokka smiles at the memories. Aang isn't as fond of the food as his two companions are.
Bato opens his mouth, most likely to ask how they've been and what's been going on but Katara quickly and casually steers the conversation elsewhere. "Bato, is it true that you and Dad lassoed an arctic hippo?"
Bato laughs. "It was your fathers idea as usual, he just dragged me along. Well actually the hippo did most of the dragging."
At that Aang perks up, "Hey I ride animals too! One time there was this giant eel -"
"That's nice Aang." Katara smiles sweetly at him but really doesn't care, she's missed having people from her tribe around. Aang wilts as she turns away.
"So who was it that came up with the great blubber fiasco?"
Bato winces, "You guys know about that?"
"Everyone does. It's one of Maru's favorite stories to tell," Katara replies.
"What's the story?" Aang asks.
Sokka waves him off. "Another time Aang, it's a long story."
"Okay," he mutters.
"You and Dad had such a good time, so many hilarious stories have come from your adventures."
"They weren't so hilarious at the time." Bato straightens, "Aang put that down! It's ceremonial and very fragile!" Aang sighs and replaces a large headdress on a hook.
Sokka starts asking questions again, happy to hear the stories of his youth again. "Was it you or Dad that put an octopus on your head and convinced Gran Gran that you were an ocean spirit?"
"Oh I'd nearly forgotten about that! Your dad wore the octopus but I did the spooky voices. Oooooh," he wiggles his fingers and makes funny voices for a moment. "Those were good times." He looks at Sokka, wishing the boy had been able to have a longer childhood and be silly more instead of shouldering responsibility once the warriors left. When his own father had left the tribe was still large enough that he and Hakoda had been able to fool around without always having to worry about something. "I'm expecting a letter from your father by the way. It should arrive any day now."
Both of the kids smile. "Really?"
"Yeah and if you wait here until it arrives we can all go to the rendezvous point together!"
"It's been over two years since we've seen Dad. That would be fantastic. Katara?"
"I really do miss him. I'd love to see him." She beams and Aang slumps out the door without anyone noticing, his heart breaking. He almost let someone die because of her and she's willing to leave him behind! He runs to Appa and starts to cry.
Back in the room Bato states, "It's been far too long hasn't it? I'm not sure when word will arrive but when it does -" his words trail off.
"It'd be great to see Dad but we can't, not this time. We have to take Aang to the North Pole." Sokka deflates.
Katara adds, "We don't know when the letter will get here or how far away Dad is. We don't have time for a detour."
Bato nods, "I'm sure your father will understand and be proud that his children are traveling with the Avatar."
"Thanks, I hope so."
"So kids, how has it been, traveling with the Avatar?"
Katara quickly answers, "It's been good, really fun. We've been all over the place and seen lots of new things. How about you, how's the war going?" Sokka stares at her dumbfounded.
"It's going that's about it." Bato sighs. "So tell me, what's the newest adventure you three have had."
"Oh nothing much, we've just been flying around on Appa."
"Katara!" Sokka can't believe she's lying! He may silently agreed to not tell Bato but he's not going to let her out right lie to him!
"Sokka don't you dare!"
"Why? What the hell happened that makes it so you don't want to talk about it? You don't even want to tell Bato, a family friend, a member of our tribe, that it happened at all!"
The pot of stew is freezing. Bato looks from one fuming sibling to the next. "What's going on Katara?"
"Nothing!" she snaps.
"Bullshit! You got captured by Prince Zuko and I go only to find out you'd been 'cut up' and he was keeping you in his fucking room and you want to call it nothing! That's not nothing, that's definitely something! You were gone for almost ages and you come back and try to act like nothing happened! You ripped up your sleeping bag, you jump into battle poses, and you fucking sleep with that damned robe! No one in their right mind keeps shit like that once they escape!"
"It was a gift okay!" She waves her arms angrily and the stew sloshes around. "Zuko fucking went to rescue Aang from Zhao who believe me is a million times worse than Zuko could possibly be. He gave me the knife, the robe, and the huge ass bag of jerky with a map before he left and then he fucking left the hatch open and turned away. And for your information before I hear one god damn word about it he didn't hurt me, in fact he protected me from the man who did!" Angry tears roll down her face as stalks out the door.
"Sokka," Bato's voice is chilly. "What exactly happened to your sister?"
He shudders but tells Bato everything he knows from prince zuko chasing them to the pirates to trying to rescue her to hearing about her being in the prince's room to finally seeing her by the boat. It's not much but by the end of it Sokka is sobbing and Bato is severely worried for the girl.
Aang struts in, his mood drastically different from when he left. "Hey sorry I was gone so long." he takes in the scene, "Is everything okay?"
Bato replies, "What do you know about what happened to Katara and what did she mean when she said that Zuko went to rescue you from Zhao?"
Aang's heart stops. "Uuh nothing." Bato's eyes bore into him and Sokka raises his head and animalistic snarl on his face. "Just well uh" He starts talking quickly hardly pausing for air, "I saw her in the market and she had manacles around her wrists we hugged but when I tried to grab her arm to bring her with me and she yelped the guards found us and attacked us she made me promise to go the the Northern Water Tribe and so I flew off then Sokka went fishing and got really really sick because of the storm he got caught in and I had to go catch some frozen frogs for him to suck on Zhao had archers that trapped me and I got chained up inside some Fire Nation place and Zhao started talking to me about being the last air bender and how he wasn't going to kill me because I'm the Avatar but he said that he saw Katara the other day and that she wasn't wearing manacles then and that Zuko must have her trained and that she sleeps with him then Zuko came dressed up in a mask so I didn't know it was him and got me out of there we fought off a bunch of soldiers but when we finally escaped Zuko got hit in the head with an arrow and it knocked him unconscious I took the mask off and saw that it was him and wanted to leave him there but I couldn't do that no matter how much I hate him so we went to a clearing and I collected more frogs and waited till Zuko woke up once he did he told me she was safe and that he'd let her go and that he wasn't doing anything to her but I didn't believe him and ended up going into the Avatar State and knocking him out then I ran off and started looking for Katara along the coast hoping that if he told the truth then that's where she'd be." He gasps and takes a huge breath before finishing. "We found her today and then met you."
Bato thinks a moment. "I need to go talk to her." He finds her in the ocean by the ship, the water twirling up around her. It darts forward with her arms and swings around with her wrists. There's a sharp aggression to it that he's never seen in a water bender and some of the moves seem to have a base in fire bender with their fast movements. "Katara?"
The water above her turns to ice. "What do you want?"
"I want to see how you're holding up. Being a captive can take a lot out of someone, it can change you and I want to make sure you're okay."
"Of course I'm okay! Can't you see how perfectly okay I am!"
"Katara listen. You have to face what happened, you won't be able to move past it until you admit that it happened."
She locks eyes with him. "I admit that it happened. I admit that Chang sliced me open the same way you'd skin an animal and I admit that I'm still scared but by the Goddess it's not Zuko! You people keep asking Zuko this Zuko that, Zuko's the one that saved me from Chang, Zuko's the one that helped me learn water bending, Zuko's the one who stayed up talking with me until we were both tired and drunk enough to sleep without nightmares. He captured me yes, but I learned so much on that ship and they keep implying that he did things to me but he didn't lay a damn finger on me! Chang is the one who did it all! Chang is the one I hate, not Zuko!" She's out of the water now and her lower lip is trembling. "He hurt me." Tears threaten. "Oh Goddess did he hurt me." The sobs begin, "He cut me open and it hurt so badly Bato! Every inch of me was on fire and just when I thought it would stop he'd start going again. I was bleeding everywhere and -" The crying increases and he hugs her close, "I was so scared Bato, I was so so scared." The words don't stop.
"It's okay," he mutters and rubs her back. "It's okay." Quite honestly he's close to shaking with rage.
"Zuko found me and I remember the smell of burning fat. It sizzled and I remember the heat. I can't remember any detail though. I can only remember vague things like Chang cutting me and his hands on me and the way the fire smelled. I can't remember things though. I don't know all of what happened. I don't know what he did. I don't know if I hurt him, I don't know, I don't know! Every time I think about it gets worse, he gets scarier and I hate it!" She's screaming as she cries, her pain guttural. "I don't know what's real Bato. I should have fought back harder. I shouldn't have bitten him when I was trying to escape the pirates. It's all my fault. If I'd just let them tie me to the tree it never would have happened."
"No!" Bato grabs her shoulders firmly, so similar to what Iroh had done before. "It's not your fault, no matter what you think it's not your fault. He tied you to that tree and you defended yourself. You couldn't have known that this Chang fellow was crazy."
"But I should have!"
"No, he should have behaved better. He is the one at fault, not you." Katara cries and shakes her head. "It's not your fault." Bato holds the shaking sobbing girl and rocks her the same way he did when she was a baby, telling her it's not her fault and singing little lullabies in his soothing voice that sounds like the ocean waves back home. He noticed earlier that the cuts the man would have made aren't visible. From what she says they should still be. He says nothing about it.
Eventually the crying stops. "Bato?"
"Yes?"
"Is the Fire Nation really the bad guy?"
He furrows his brow, "What do you mean?"
"Chang was evil but the other men, the other Fire Nation men, they were kind to me. Iroh made me tea and helped me with my bending and showed me a technique that's improved my water bending amazingly. Zuko is trying to get Aang because his father burnt his face for trying to protect soldiers and said Aang is the only way he can return home. Jee and Hyeng and a bunch of others have families back home who seem like good people and I mean Asoko reads cheesy romance scrolls when no one is looking and Lian makes sweets specially for me. How can they be the enemy? They're good people! They're kind people."
Bato dies a little inside. "Katara, I don't know many Fire Nation soldiers that haven't been busy trying to kill me but I realized a long time ago that they're the same as you and me. They have lives they want to go back to and families use like we do. The difference is the Fire Lord and the people in charge have told them since they were little that we are evil and that they are better than us. Some of them believe it but most probably don't. The people in charge have decided there will be a war though and so a lot of men think they're protecting their families and their homes or being patriotic by joining the military. Some of them don't have a choice. The people themselves aren't our enemy Katara, the ones in charge are."
"So the Fire Lord?" Bato nods. "If we got rid of the Fire Lord this war would stop?"
"No it wouldn't. There's no one to replace him with that's a good trustworthy person, there's no one high enough up that doesn't want the war. The politicians will keep pushing the war until they've won or everyone is dead regardless of whether the Fire Lord is alive or not."
"If we could replace him with a good person do you think the fighting would stop?"
"It might but that person would need a lot of support."
"Okay." For a moment she smiles, wondering if she ever sees Zuko again if they would be able to stop the war. No, Zuko believes that he's doing the right thing. Like he said, he'll never stop chasing the Avatar.
Once the moon is high in the sky and Katara's eyes begin to droop Bato escorts her back to the abbey. Aang and Sokka are already there asleep. Neither Bato nor Katara know that they hid in the forest and heard about what happened to her on that ship.
In the middle of the night Bato wakes up to whimpering. Sokka wakes up to an icy room. Aang wakes up to Bato yelling as a water whip slices his face. Katara wakes up to three pairs of wide eyes and one bleeding cheek. "Here, let me heal that." There's no water around but there's stew and two bottles of spiced rum. She uses the stew to heal his face. Sokka's too tired to quite register what happened. Aang think's it's cool but is a little off and goes back to sleep quickly. Bato is in shock. It's a simple clean fix and she grabs a bottle of spiced rum to help her sleep.
The next morning begins around nine. Aang's already up and awake but that's normal for him. The Water Tribe people just barely beginning to move. Bato is up first. He's been waking with the sun for the past two years but the abbey has him relaxing. Katara is up next, sleeping in longer than was usual with Aang but having gotten used to sleeping in a little later on the ship. Sokka wakes up last because well, he's Sokka and prefers to stay in bed as long as possible.
Bato touches his face then looks at Katara. "About last night -"
"It's something I learned aboard the ship. How do you think all of my cuts are gone?" She walks off to look for Aang and breakfast.
Aang's stuffing something into his sleeve as she approaches. "Hey, have you seen anything to eat around here?"
He jumps. "Uh no, sorry. I had some rolls earlier but I think they're all gone now."
"Oh, okay." She wanders off and Aang stands there guiltily feeling the lump in his sleeve. Katara grabs her bag of jerky, it looks like this is breakfast along with stewed sea prunes. It's guaranteed to be an interesting mix.
Sokka waits until she's eaten and left before turning to Bato. "Will she be okay?"
Bato shrugs helplessly. "Only time will tell."
"She scares me a little. Even after Mom died she wasn't like this. She's different."
"Sokka, she's been through a lot and in the time she was gone she's learned a lot about herself and others. Of course she's going to be different. Just remember, she's your sister, she's still the same person."
"But that bending last night," Sokka trails off.
"She was asleep, a lot of warriors will lash out in their sleep. She fixed the damage it's all good."
"She's always talked in her sleep. I meant the healing with the glowy and the woooooo." He mimics what obviously means sporty weird stuff.
Bato smiles. "I've heard that the women benders in the Northern Water Tribe learn to heal. I guess Katara just has a gift for it."
Sokka nods, frowning a little in thought. "I've never heard of it but if it's normal then I suppose it's okay."
"Sokka?"
"Yeah?"
"You're going to the Northern Water Tribe. Don't tell anyone up there that she was captured especially that she stayed in the same room as as Zuko. They have," he coughs, "archaic views and it's very possible they won't talk to you or Aang as long as she's around if they find out. They may not even let her in the city."
. . .
Iroh watches over a sleeping Zuko. Whenever he wakes the bandages are changed and they talk for a little while before Zuko drifts back off to sleep, fighting the infection. They're on their way to the Western Air Temple. The Northern one is closer, but Iroh knows about the refugees living there. Besides, they went to the Western Air temple before, it's the easiest to get to out of the four.