Happy nearly Halloween everyone!
Thank you to my reviewers: emdofa, Durr, StarlightSoulWriting, SlythindorRen, TheGirlWithCurls10, EuroEccentric, MissLux, Chimbombo, Zuko and Sokka's Bae, SophieCambellbower, Aetzfeder, StarlightSinger32, thayermadsen, and Moonflier!
Everything was going to shit.
Well, Zuko was not surprised that it was going to shit (he'd reasonably predicted this). What surprised him was how horribly it was going to shit.
Yes, he'd had many nightmares that somehow Aang's identity would be found out in the palace. Sure, he'd had moments of panic when he thought someone might be an Airbender and his father would call for their head. And of course, he had general thoughts that something awful was just waiting to happen, like someone pulling on a thread, and it was unraveling, unraveling, unraveling…
But great Agni; he'd never expected all these three equally terrible things to happen at the same time.
The only thing that could make things worse was if Katara was kicked out of the competition for good and, from the way she'd nearly leaped into the fray, he'd been sure that was about to happen too. His father would look for any excuse to send her packing.
Backing up to the moments before the world seemed like it was literally flipped, it was Aang who had brought it to Zuko's attention that Azula was being more than her 'I-just-love-winning' self in her fight with Ty Lee.
"That's not... she's...Zuko, look!" Aang said, tugging him away from where he was asking one of the servants to bring him some food. At first, he just chalked Aang's worry up to the usual way a lover is concerned of their significant other, but when he really looked…
"That can't be right," Zuko said, pushing past Aang and leaning to get a better look at the fight. Lu Ten was behind him, his Uncle already there.
"This is inappropriate," Iroh said sternly, shaking his head, "Azula is out of line."
"She's merely participating in the tournament," Ozai argued firmly, unconcerned.
"Participating?" Zuko choked. "Father, she will annihilate Ty Lee if this keeps up! Do you want to have to deal with the crowd seeing a contestant killed in front of them?"
For a second, he saw a flicker of doubt on his father's face. But, then it was smoothed over as his father shook his head.
"She would not go that far."
"You don't know Azula, Uncle," Lu Ten said with more venom than Zuko had ever heard his cousin use.
"You!" Zuko found a Fire Stage standing near. "You must announce the round over!" he demanded.
"Sir...I...well…" The sage sputtered, red in the face and sweating at this conundrum, "It is not our place! There are four ways a match ends and that is none of them."
"Call a re-match! Have her fight someone else then, but by Agni, are you going to let this continue?" Zuko was about to pull out his hair. Azula was gaining on Ty Lee. "Lady Ty Lee is a favorite contestant. It would reflect poorly on The Choice for her to be slaughtered in an arena like an animal."
Just as Zuko was sure he'd won over the sage and there would be some stall, some fix to this, out of the corner of his eye, the worst thing happened.
Ty Lee airbended.
Aang was standing straight as a board, staring incredulously. The entire Royal Family was completely shocked, sans Iroh, who just looked concerned. Zuko thought that, apart from Aang and himself, his uncle might be the only person on this side of the arena to realize immediately what had just occurred.
Katara, across the arena, had come to the same realization. He saw the way her knuckles clenched the bar separating her from the fighting ground, and he just prayed that she wasn't about to do something stupid.
"Lady Ty Lee is an Airbender! She is an enemy to the nation, seize her!"
"What?" Aang sputtered, staring at Ozai.
"Father, be reasonable! This is a girl we've known since childhood and she-" Zuko started to say, but the guards were running out toward her. And, Zuko realized, there was a bigger issue.
Aang was also running out to meet Ty Lee. Zuko spun, trying to grasp Aang's tunic, but it was like reaching for fog on a moody day. It was impossible, and he slipped his range.
"No! Fuck- Kuzon!" Zuko said, running out into the arena because whatever Aang was about to do was not going to help.
Aang looked back at him, his eyes full of liquid sorrow. He scowled, swallowed, and met Zuko's gaze.
And Zuko understood that things were just about to get a thousand times worse.
Maybe if Aang had fire-fought his way out, it would be okay. Well, not okay, but more reasonable. He did the second worst thing he could have done, though, next to airbending. He opened the earth below the pair and sent him and Ty Lee disappearing below the earth.
The public was not quiet, nor slow this time.
And Zuko was, desperately and panicked, trying to figure out how to fix this. How to fix everything. How to fix something that had gone so wrong.
Time moved around him strangely. He saw his father spin toward Zuko with a rage uncontrolled, but long before his father reached him, Iroh was moving faster. Iroh hugged his son and clasped Lu Ten's hand. He then brushed by Zuko and so quietly, almost so quietly that Zuko missed it, Uncle Iroh whispered something to his nephew.
"You knew nothing. Worry not about me."
While Zuko was still trying to untangle these words, his father was in his face.
"You! You brought that boy back! You were protecting him! The Avatar!" Steam exhaled from Ozai's nose and the entire area beneath the stands was warm, uncomfortably so. Zuko felt the sweat drip down his back.
Before Zuko was able to stand up to his father, finally, Iroh intervened.
"He knew nothing, my brother. It was I who found the Avatar four years ago and chose to hide him within the Fire Nation. Prince Zuko believed the lie that he was a long-lost family member like everyone else. He had nothing to do with it," Iroh said evenly, narrowing his eyes and jutting out his chin, challenging Ozai.
"Is this true?" His father's hand was at his throat, burning.
Zuko found words difficult to find but he managed. "Yes, father. I would have never allowed…" He nearly couldn't say it, but from his Uncle's encouraging smile he knew what he had to say, "A...a...murderous traitor like that into our home."
Ozai regarded him, and for a tense few seconds, Zuko was sure that he was going to call out his lie. Zuko tried to look disgusted at the thought that Ty Lee and Aang were hiding under their noses the entire time.
"You'd better hope you had no knowledge," Ozai said, dropping Zuko. Zuko's legs buckled and Lu Ten was there to grab him and keep him upright.
"Guards, take my brother away. He was consorting with the number one enemy of the nation and will be tried as a traitor," Ozai said, waving a finger. The guards hesitated, but after a hiss from Ozai, they all stumbled forward to grasp onto Iroh's clothes.
"No!" Lu Ten stood, "You...can't."
"Would you like to take his place?" Ozai asked Lu Ten in a cool tone. Lu Ten looked ready to fight Ozai right then and there, but from behind, Iroh shook his head. Lu Ten's shoulders dropped.
"No, Uncle."
"That's Fire Lord Ozai to you," Ozai replied, and Lu Ten flinched, as though experiencing a physical slap or preparing for the onset of one.
Azula limped into the area, one of her legs at a strange angle from a break, assumedly when she hit the back of the fighting pit.
"How dare she," Azula was spitting, "How dare she parade around and-"
"Medic! My daughter is bleeding. Attend to her," Ozai cut Azula off, waving forward at the medical staff.
"Father! That little bitch! I should have-"
"You should have killed her when you had the chance," Ozai said, causing a shiver to run down Zuko's spine. "You hesitated. Gave her a moment. It is your fault she and the Avatar have escaped our grip."
He stalked out of the arena, following where the guards had taken Iroh. Azula nearly bit a medic in her rush to follow Ozai, leaving Lu Ten and Zuko alone.
"He...Dad would have gotten out of that if he wanted to," Lu Ten said airily, a bit uncertain, however. He was still reeling. Zuko nodded, but he wasn't sure. His Uncle was a master fighter, but could he have taken on all of the guards?
"What did you say to you? As he...?" Zuko asked, recalling their last moment.
"He told me he loved me, deeply, but he was going to do 'it' for everyone. And he told me 'it' was mine now…" Lu Ten seemed troubled. "But I'm not sure what 'it' is. He just added that they were watching and would be able to help…"
Lu Ten swallowed and opened his palm, "And he left me this."
Zuko took the item, examining it with confusion.
It was a single, slightly scuffed, gray lotus tile.
XXxxXX
The hours following were the longest Katara had ever spent in agony. Not even the time under the palace in the catacombs had been as bad. During then, she'd been fueled by anger and the will to fight, and later horror. She'd had some level of understanding of things happening, even if she had no control over it.
As soon as everything happened, the Fire Sages and guards had queued the girls and the guests swiftly out of the arena. The guests that the Royal Family was entertaining were sent to their rooms, the ones here to visit were asked to stay in the great ballroom, and the ladies were cordoned to the Ladies' Room.
Katara fully expected each of them to be pulled away and painstakingly interviewed with grueling cross-checks and unkind expressions. They all interacted with Aang on a friendly basis and they'd lived with Ty Lee, and somehow no one had known about her abilities.
Katara could not have seen that one coming had she been given all the chances to guess in the world.
The worst thing about waiting was the fact that nothing had happened at all. They were just sitting, silently, not daring to speak to each other. Even Nadhari looked worried. Mai was as sorrowful as Katara had ever seen; Ty Lee had been her best friend, once upon a time, as had Azula. It must be awful to see one best friend try to kill the other, who was now an enemy of the state and would be killed if she were seen above ground anywhere again.
They were allowed to dress in more comfortable items - picked up from their rooms by their handmaids - and they were given quite delicious food, as well as things to do to pass the time, such as embroidery hoops or poem books, but no one touched the food or the activities. The worry was palpable.
There were some whispers about the entire event; would the people that failed still be sent home? Would the people who did not fight do so later? Would the entire tournament be considered a wash?
Finally, five hours after the revelation that rocked the Royal Palace, Zhi came back in with a Fire Sage. All the girls perked up, though the general mood was no lighter.
"We have been discussing," the Fire Sage began, "And we have come to some conclusions about all of your places in this competition." He coughed, clearing his voice. Zhi looked forlorn beside him, which Katara did not take as a good sign. "Those of you who battled and won, congratulations. You still have a place here."
There had been little question of that, but it seemed like they would not have to fight again. On that note, Katara breathed a sigh of relief.
"For the girls that were culled before Ty L- er, the traitor was revealed," the Fire Sage stuttered, "I apologize, but you still will be going home."
Most of the girls who had been cut seemed disappointed but unsurprised.
"And, as for the girls who did not get to fight," He glanced around, looking at Yue, Ratana, Nadhari, and On Ji. "In light of the...tumultuous climate in the palace currently - such as an Airbender as a contestant!" The Fire Sage seemed horrified. In a twisted moment of humor, Katara figured he'd practically faint if he knew there had already been an Airbender contestant. "The Avatar's return and General Iroh's arrest-"
"What?" Toph spat up, "Iroh's been arrested?" All the rest of the girls chimed in with disbelief and horror.
"There must be a mistake," Mai added, standing, "You must have heard wrong, he would not-"
The Fire Sage realized they had not been informed of this moment and it looked like he wished like he could turn back time five seconds ago. He swallowed thickly.
"He admitted to aiding and purposely hiding The Avatar. A very grievous act, and as such, he has been jailed and is awaiting trial."
"They'll kill him," Suki whispered brokenly, "He's only ever been nice and fair."
The girls were all a chatter, and the Fire Sage tried to get their attention. Finally, he whistled loudly, shrilly.
"Ahem! Control yourself, ladies," he chastised, "Back to the matter at hand...for those who did not get a chance to spar, you are being allowed to remain in the competition. There might be a test to judge your worth at a later time, but there is no such event planned for the moment. Congratulations to you four as well."
This was met with cries of unfairness, and all the girls seemed to have an opinion. The sage cleared his throat.
"Ladies!" he said sharply, "I do realize this has been a night of shock, but please!" He huffed. "You all will be questioned-"
"Fantastic," Katara muttered under her breath, and Suki gave a huge sigh, having clearly expected this too.
"-to see if you were involved with these traitors in any way or ever suspected Lady Ty Lee had such awful lineage, or if you think anyone else may as well. If you have passed the tournament, you are allowed to return to your room. If you are one of the few that did not, you will have two hours to pack, and then we will find transportation for you. That is all."
Before the girls could argue anything else, the sage turned sharply on his heel and left the room. Zhi was instantly met with a hoard of questions. Katara hung back, mind racing. She turned to Yue, who seemed to have a look of quiet glee upon her face.
"You see, Katara, it all worked out. No waterbending, and I am still in the competition," Yue said with a sense of slyness that Katara had never seen from her. If she didn't know better, she'd say that Yue rigged it to happen. Yue, the sweetest and possibly most morally good person here!
And, despite how awful everything was, because she did not want to cry, Katara couldn't help but laugh.
XXxx
"So you had no idea?"
It had been hours since Aang and Ty Lee disappeared underground. They were in complete darkness, sans a single flicker of firelight from Aang's hand. It was frigid, with wind howling around the empty corners and creeping over their skin.
He was glad Toph had saved some tunnels as a secret; places that Ozai now did not know still were around and would not be looking for them. Aang was fairly sure they were safe here for a few hours, but they couldn't live underneath the palace.
The first few hours, however, they'd spent in frantic panic, unable to utter a single word or discuss what had just happened. Now, as they were settling and the avatars in Aang's brain were less of a tizzy than they'd been before, he asked the question that had been on his mind since he found out Ty Lee was an Airbender.
"Of course not," Ty Lee said, eyes wide. Something quieted inside Aang; he would have been more than offended if she'd known and never told him.
"But did you...suspect?"
"Honesty? Would anyone?" Ty Lee frowned. "Yes, my eye color isn't common, but it was never an issue. Yes, I'm flexible, but I prided myself on this talent. There were hints, perhaps, but I never imagined...I don't even know when it opened itself to me. It had to be after age ten...that's the age they stopped trying to see if I would firebend," she reasoned, though she still looked troubled.
"It may have not been long at all," Aang winced, "And it might have been my fault. Zuko tells me that lots of new airbenders were created when I went into the Avatar State last."
"Well, I'm glad," Ty Lee said after a second. "I think being an Airbender is something I'll wear with pride."
"Ty, they're killing us," Aang whispered, knitting his eyebrows. "While I love the sentiment, I do-"
"Aang," Ty Lee laughed, her voice soothing even his most anxious running dialogue, "I was nearly unbeatable with my chi-blocking. With the Avatar as my teacher, imagine how I'll be with airbending added in! I'd like to see them try to kill us," she said, squeezing his hand. "My aura has never been brighter. Bright white; like a perfect cloud on the best, sunniest day."
"I wish I had your optimism," Aang sighed, leaning into her. He had no idea what their next steps were. He was beginning to realize how poorly he'd thought this through.
Thought this through? How about not at all! Kasata chuffed.
Poorly isn't the word I'd use. More like you suffered a complete lack of thought, Kyoshi agreed.
This...is...not...you… Gopan, if he were standing in front of Aang, would be red in the face, panting and nearly passed out.
"I get it, I get it," Aang muttered sourly. He completely understood what all the Avatars had been telling him, that he should not have done what he did, and that they were all still of the opinion that he was an idiot. Well, except for Suluk, who thought what he'd done was beautiful and nuanced.
It shows true passion and love, she'd gasped.
Aang was at a loss. He knew they could not stay here, but every inch of the palace was out looking for his head right now. They were safe here; it wasn't just himself he had to consider, but Ty Lee too. He might be confident in batting it out, and he knew Ty Lee was a good fighter, but she'd never been fighting against someone who wanted to kill her before.
That was a dirty way to fight.
There was the sound of footsteps running through the corridors near them. Aang and Ty Lee were immediately on high alert, both of them in a battling stance. The footsteps were coming from everywhere, so it was impossible to pin their origin down.
All of a sudden, the footsteps stopped. There was silence. Then, the sound of a piece of metal tinkling against the ground behind them.
Aang jumped but saw nothing but his own shadow mimicking him. He cautiously made his way over to the metal item laying on the ground, something no bigger than a flower.
"What is it?"
"A note. And, well, a game piece," Aang said in confusion.
"What's the note say?" Ty Lee asked, bounding over to him. He'd never noticed before how she could clear space with just a few steps; now with the air pushing her forward, she was able to make it to him looking like she was literally walking on air.
"You have friends at the palace. We are working on a plan to get you out. Sincerely…" He tilted his head. "…Friends of Rodden."
"Wait, isn't that...doesn't that mean...airbender sympathizers?"
"Yeah," Aang agreed, "Huh. Apparently, not everyone agrees with Ozai. Wish we knew who, though. That would make me feel a lot better."
"Does the game piece help?" Ty Lee asked. Aang held it up and shrugged.
"It's just a Pai Sho tile." If there was some deeper meaning behind this dingy white - no, it was more of a light gray - playing piece, he did not understand it.
"I guess we have to have hope then," Ty Lee said.
Aang tucked the note and the lotus tile into his pocket. "Hope? Seems like that's all anyone can offer these days."
XX
From the crack in her door, Katara watched as the girls in their finest dresses were dismissed from the company of the Choice. She could hardly focus on their sobbing, her mind consumed with worry for Ty Lee and Aang. She was frantically worried.
She prayed they were far, far away from the palace by now. She wondered if she'd ever hear from them again in her lifetime. Despite all the hurdles they'd faced together, they were on their own path now. Perhaps it would be best if they vanished into thin air, only whispered rumors of their appearance every couple of months or so.
Even will her mid so full, she thought it would be bad form not to at least nod to them as they left, acknowledge their failure instead of looking aloof or, worse, seeming haughty.
Six girls were leaving: Saoirse, Anaselma, Avizeh, Kilee, Jin, and Maiha. It probably was more like seven, since Katara doubted they'd be allowing Ty Lee (if she showed back up) to remain here. Just like that, they were cut down like blades of grass, thrown into the wind.
Spirits, how Katara wished Nadhari was leaving, though chances are she would have won her fight if they had gotten to it. The thought aggravated Katara to no end. She was really hoping that Nadhari would face Ozai and have her ass handed to her on a platter.
Alas, that was only a dream.
Her mind could not focus on the girls and their hundreds of suitcases for long though, because too soon she was drifting back to that moment in the arena where everything, all their carefully laid plans, were metaphorically cast off a high balcony, shattering on the ground.
Katara wished so much that she could have done something more, though her mind continually came up blank on any different action she could have taken. Perhaps, at the very least, she could have kept Aang from revealing his secret. Maybe it would be her and Ty Lee escaping. That seemed like a more fitting end to her time here than the passion just fizzling out and Zuko asking her to leave. It was also not too far off of a prediction than the one she gave Zuko when she rejected his proposal.
The procession of the girls leaving ended and everyone lingered at their door for a moment, as though wondering if the fates had been different... if that could have been them. Then, Nadhari made a nasty comment and everyone shut retreated back into their rooms or migrated toward the Women's Room. Katara had no interest in socializing right now.
She sat in her room, doing pushups. Whenever she had too many thoughts, a good sweat buildup was always something to clear her mind.
When that did not work, she changed to sewing beads to a dress.
When that did not work, she wrote home; she was far behind on her letters.
It was dawn by the time Aiga came knocking.
"What sort of wear is it for today? Do we have anything planned?" Katara asked without looking up.
"Princess," Aiga said. Her voice caused Katara to turn. Aiga never called her that anymore. Aiga's face was taut, but Katara could see she was hardly holding back her tears, which were lining the edges of her eyes. She was not as put together as she usually was; her hair was a little out of place, she didn't have all her makeup on, and she was shaking like a leaf.
"What's going on?" Katara asked, "Is it your family? Oh, tell me they're okay-"
"I cannot tell you."
"Can I command you?" Katara asked, her throat catching. This was bigger than just Aiga, whatever it was. She hated using her power, but she was worried now.
"Our orders come from much higher. You'll have to wait," Aiga said. "But please, put this on."
She was holding a white dress. The color of the frock filled Katara with dread. She felt tears threaten her expression too, and she didn't know why she was crying, but she knew the type of event that required such a color.
White was the color of mourning in the Southern Water Tribe.
"Who died?" Katara asked, thinking the worst. She looked back at her letters, realizing she hadn't gotten one from her family in quite a few days. Her mind went to the worst places; her mother, her father, her grandmother…
"No one has died," Aiga said, patting Katara's hand as though she herself did not also need comforting. "Be grateful and remember that by the end of the day. No one has died. Not Kuzon, not Ty Lee, not-" She broke off before she said more.
Though Katara tried to prod as Aiga helped her dress, her handmaid held the secrets tightly wound inside, refusing to utter a single more word.
As they reached the door to the halls, Katara swallowed.
"Should I be afraid?" She did not want to admit that she was, so she went with a question instead.
"No, but you should remember that you are a Princess and that we can't save everybody."
Her words were chilling.
Outside, everyone looked equally confused, most somber. The Earth Nation girls were also wearing white, whereas the Fire Nation girls were wearing black. Everyone was in mourning together, though it seemed only Aiga was upset. The rest of the handmaids just looked spooked.
At least, Katara thought, she wasn't personally in trouble. It had to be something else.
Suki grasped Katara's hand but her expression said she knew no more than Katara already did.
Zhi was standing at the front, and she had been crying from the looks of it. She waved her marking tool, counting off. "...seven...eight...yes, nine," she said and turned to a guard. "We're all here."
Katara frowned, scrunching up her face. Even with Ty Lee discounted, there should be ten. With a startled gasp she realized who was missing, and she found it impossible that she could not have noticed the very absent gap of a personality and lack of sailor language echoing around the room.
"But Lady Bei Fong isn't here!" Katara called out, but Zhi kept walking as though she didn't hear. Katara tried to backtrack to Toph's room, but Aiga grasped her arm tight, enough that it might bruise.
"Keep walking," she hissed. "Do not go back. Please."
If Toph decided to leave, that was fine, but it didn't make any sense, Katara thought. And if she was thrown out of the competition, why now? She'd been fairly good the past couple of days, so there were many more incidents that would have been reasonable for Zuko to send her home over. And, if she were going home, why wouldn't Toph say goodbye to her? This hurt the most; Katara had thought them best friends.
Perhaps Toph was hurt, Katara considered fleetingly with anguish. But...really...who could have gotten a leg-up on, possibly, the best earthbender in existence?
As they passed through the halls, Katara charted the tone of the room to be hushed and somber, nearly frightened. Everyone was on edge, even more so than the fights had caused. There were many more people out and about than Katara expected, but they were all being herded the same direction and were all wearing dark or extremely bright colors.
What the heck had happened?
"Have Kuzon or Ty Lee been found?" Katara asked Aiga fearfully, absolutely sure this is what was going on. They were going to see their sentence.
"Shh!" Aiga hissed, still leading Katara forward like she was a simple cow that needed to be led.
But where did cows go but to the slaughter?
They were herded to the grand ballroom they'd been in but two days ago. It had been stripped of the grandeur and was left looking cold and uninviting. A few folding chairs had been set up for them, haphazardly placed. The Choice girls were offered seats near the front and everyone else was kept outside. It was just the girls in the competition with their handmaids left in the ballroom. It seemed entirely too big of a space, and the emptiness of it haunted Katara in an inexplicable way. It already felt like the room held the ghosts of the girls who went home and the ghost of whatever awful was about to be revealed.
After what seemed like an eternity of just waiting, allowing the whispers to wash over everyone as Katara vainly tried to understand what was going on, there was movement near the curtains in the back. Ozai came out, expression set to kill, and Zuko followed. He looked pale, almost ill. Angry too; though it was hard to say if he was angry at his father or in general. He simultaneously looked forlorn and torn, as though whatever was about to be said sickened him.
"I have called you all here to inform you first, as you have the right to know," Zuko started, his voice shaking. Shaking with rage, shaking with revulsion, shaking with desperation. It was all of these things at once, and even that first sentence quieted everyone in the room, "that one of the members of the Choice was caught last night in an intimate moment with someone that was not...uhm, not me." For as good as he'd started, his worry and anxiety leaked at the end as he faltered, swallowing thickly.
The gasps that echoed around Katara were like a slap to the face. Katara bolted upright, shoulders back, in disbelief.
"This is a most grievous sin, worse than the traitors that have walked our halls before," Ozai broke in because apparently Zuko was not conveying the severity enough or he just wanted to hammer it in. "This lady has insulted Zuko and made a farce of the competition and in doing so, insulted the entire Nation. More than that, a supposed friend and ally was caught with her, making us question the integrity of an entire Nation."
Now he was looking at either Katara or Yue, and neither boded well. Ozai would look for a reason to go to war against Katara's tribe, and the North was in a tenuous enough agreement with Fire Nation as it was. Yue shook her head.
"We don't... no one would…" Yue started, but the questions of the other girls cut her off, drowning her pitiful whimpered confusion in a sea of unanswerable questions.
"Behold! Those that tarnish the name, those that laugh in the face of our traditions, are so deserving of whatever punishment befalls them. Let this be an example!" Ozai crowed, and two guards carried in a pair of struggling bodies.
"Let me go you fucking psychopath! That's my arm and I need it, so you can't just flop me around and ow-"
Before the person reached the front of the room, the voice gave her away.
"Toph?" Smellerbee choked out, and though Toph had clearly been missing from their ranks, it seemed that everyone was just as startled.
Katara moved to stand, but Aiga yanked her down. Katara understood Zuko's tone; he had no feelings for Toph, so her 'slight' against him was entirely made-up. But of course, he could not tell his father that, so he had to act around with this entire...this farce!
Toph was fighting against everything, but she was tiny, and her hands and feet were covered and bound in thick leather, making it impossible for her to bend. She looked like a cat being dragged to a bath with the way she was spitting and hissing. Still, just for an instant, as she turned her head, Katara caught a flash of terror.
She was afraid of what was to come.
The person that followed after Toph dropped Katara to the ground.
"Sokka?" she whispered. She started to faint, but Aiga kept her grip tight.
"Strength, my friend," she hissed quietly, and from her tone, she'd known. She had known that it was not just Katara's dear friend, but her only brother.
All the girls were still talking over each other, their confusion and horror growing louder and louder to out-talk the other, until they were practically yelling over each other, all begging for an explanation.
"Who found them?" Katara asked. She thought that no one heard and that Ozai would not dare answer, but a voice broke through.
"I did."
Everyone hushed in a second, as though their voices had been taken from them all at once.
"What?" Katara asked, turning to the accuser.
Mai stood firmly, chin raised, and eyes cold as ice.
"I said I did," Mai repeated, unwavering. "I was walking around last night, after the events of the tournament, and I heard something from the library when I knew it was meant to be empty. It was a curious sound, so I came through the cracked door and found these two in...quite the position."
"That's...no one was supposed to leave the suites!" Suki said, though her argument was cut down by the fact Toph was up after hours as well.
"I had already been questioned in regards to Lady Ty Lee and the guards found it safe for me to walk the palace floors," Mai said calmly, "Would you not investigate too, after all that, if you heard sounds you could not explain?"
"It's a good thing she did. Agni only knows how long they were planning on cruelly leading Zuko on otherwise," Ozai said. "Lady Mai is being lauded as a Fire Nation savior for revealing this terrible plot."
"What's going to happen now?" Katara asked, turning her back to Mai and sitting on her hands to keep from strangling her.
"Treason is punishable by death," Alcina said quietly, but her voice carried. Katara looked back at Zuko, pleadingly. He pursed his lips, looking at Toph and Sokka in anger. One might see it as anger at what they'd done to him, but Katara recognized it as anger that they'd put him in this situation. That they were lazy and got caught. That this had happened now, in this climate.
He had that right, Katara agreed.
"I will handle this. It is treason against me so I will...carry it out as it must be," Zuko agreed.
He sounded so defeated and in that second, Katara understood that he felt like he had no other options but to execute them as the law said.
"No!" Katara yelled, lunging. Aiga was quicker, expecting it, and Suki helped hold Katara back.
She kicked. "No! No! You won't! You can't! How dare you! It's my brother!" She screamed, but Tahoe appeared from nowhere with Shoji to help drag her away. She clawed against all of them, yelled until her voice was hoarse, and once they locked her in her room with her patio door inaccessible, Katara pounded on the doors until she had bruises on her wrists.
After all that was done, Katara curled into a ball on the floor and wished with every inch of her being that she'd never heard anything about the Choice or Prince Zuko and never led her brother here.
He would be killed and it would be entirely Katara's fault. She would live with that forever, knowing that if she had stayed home like her family had asked her so many months ago, he'd still be alive.
Aiga brought food, but Katara rejected it all. She dumped it down the sink, even as her stomach growled and begged, she would not eat. She did not even lay on the bed but instead took vigil curled on the floor, wanting to burn every inch of the Fire Nation finery that surrounded her to the ground.
The sun and moon circled up and down, casting shadows across her face, vibrating too brightly in the stillness of Katara's room and the fury in her bones. She felt shattered, as though only one emotion, something red and pulsing, remained inside of her. No sorrow, no confusion, no fear, just a desire to kill someone. A very particular someone.
And she was horrified at the realization that if she came across Ozai choking to death right now, or caught up in a successful plan by the Freedom Fighters, Katara would be giddy and pleased. She tried to push this urge down, the one that was a wolf, snapping and telling her to kill the Fire Lord since she had so little to lose and found that if she stayed here on the carpet, unmoving, she was the least likely to enact this.
After three meals and one day without food, Aiga broke the silence she'd been allowing Katara to have.
"Katara, you should eat," Aiga said a while later, offering some apple slices and a bowl of rice.
"You knew. You knew what was going to happen and you didn't warn me," Katara hissed, shielding away from her.
"Katara, I-" Aiga looked deeply troubled. "I wanted to tell you. I could not though. If you came in, ready to kill the Fire Lord, it would be figured out quickly what happened. Then me, you, your brother, and Toph would be at the mercy of Ozai," she pointed out.
"You could have done something," Katara cried, surprised she still had tears to give. "I had to be blindsided, and everyone watched my heart being torn out right there, at that moment."
"They're not going to kill your brother."
"What?" Katara said foggily. She wondered if perhaps she was going crazy due to a lack of food. Or maybe she was dreaming right now.
"Prince Zuko convinced his father that Sokka was not aware of Fire Nation traditions. He came after the Choice started, so he did not hear the definition of treason. He argued that Sokka is not to blame in this situation, so death is unnecessary. Ozai did not like it, but many were in agreement with Zuko."
Relief flooded Katara's body so entirely, so much so that it was far later than she would like to admit that what Aiga had not said reached her brain.
"Toph?"
Aiga's face was darkened.
"Toph knew the rules," Aiga said, looking down, "And Zuko knew he'd only be able to find a way to pardon one."
It was unspoken, but Katara still heard it. Zuko had chosen to save her brother. For her. Yes, Sokka did have the better case, but he'd still chosen one over the other. She didn't doubt that Zuko was intelligent enough that if he had chosen to go the other way, he could have come up with some reason to spare Toph instead of Sokka.
And she was the worst friend in the world because Katara was relieved that he'd picked Sokka.
"So Toph will be killed?" Katara pieced together the rest, crying for her friend and for her own selfish joy.
"Yes. Her future is set as it seems," Aiga said. "Ozai was unhappy to spare Sokka, though he did make Zuko promise that there had to be some consequence, and of which kind I'm unsure, but he was not going to let another person be shown mercy. Some are already calling Prince Zuko weak for allowing Sokka to walk away with his life."
"That's not mercy, that's just humanity," Katara shook her head hard.
"I know, and you know, but this is a violent place," Aiga said, "And those who defy the Fire Lord are poking a monster awake." She coughed. "Ozai will make an example. Iroh and Toph will be executed on the same day, tonight."
"Great spirits, that's so fucked," Katara seethed. "I hate this. I hate this place, I hate Ozai, I hate myse-"
"Don't!" Aiga said ferociously, "Do not say that."
"I do though! It's my fault! If I had accepted Zuko's hand-"
"Ozai still may have found a way to keep control, and things might be worse! They could still claim that Toph was Zuko's property since she was part of the Choice! You could be dead yourself and Sokka could be mourning you. It is impossible to theorize what could have been. We can only focus on what is happening."
"What is happening?" Katara asked, feeling a keen sense of defeat. She wasn't sure where to go now. She didn't know how to fix any of this and if she even could.
"Katara, oh," Aiga hugged her, "That is not for you to worry about."
She turned and grabbed the empty bowls of food that Katara had refused and dumped. She nudged the new bowl. "Eat," she commanded Katara. As she started to leave, Katara moved for the food but paused.
"But it's for you to worry about?" Katara asked. Aiga stopped but did not turn. She did not answer at all, but in some way, her hesitation had been loud enough. Katara recognized someone about to do something risky well enough; it was the same look Katara often took on.
Katara ran after her, but she'd vanished into the hallway. Katara was not sure she could bear to lose someone else she cared about too, but her handmaid was seemingly gone as she'd never been in Katara's room at all, sans a note left under the bowl of rice.
You have been the greatest joy to serve. You have not only become someone I love, as not only a best friend but more like a sister. Take care, Princess. This will all one day make sense.
-Ahhh, some of you SAW THAT COMING EH? For those of you that are completely shocked by the Tokka reveal, I'd suggest re-reading the chapters. It started getting rather obvious leading up to it.
-Back when I FIRST started re-reading the books to play off of in a fic, I knew there needed to be a 'Marlee'. But I thought going in the way of Yue or Ty Lee would be FAR too obvious. So I went...hm, who is possibly the most unexpected character to use in Marlee's place, and Toph was the clear answer to this
-Obv. if you've read The Selection, things went...well, not better, but not as dark as this. We're left at a grim spot, but just remember, have faith in ye old author!
-Some of the girls I cut because I didn't have a plot-related need in the Palace for anymore, but some of the girls I decided to keep because I still want to talk about them. So girls like Yue that likely would have lost are still in due to...well, issues and interruptions.
If anyone is interested, here's how the rest of the fights would have gone:
* Ty Lee would have purposely lost to Azula had it been normal to leave without fuss
*Yue would have fought Lu Ten and lost
*Nadhari would have fought Zuko and won
*On Ji would have fought Iroh and lost
*Ratana would have fought Zuko and lost