A/N. Did I take valuable space in a chapter to explain the feudal system? Yes. Do I regret it? No. My presentation went splendidly, thank you all for asking!

I don't own Avatar the Last Airbender.

He just had to been stupid, hadn't he?

Zuko had thought that exchanging Azula for the murderer of the waterbender's mother would be enough… But here he was, sitting on Appa, in the middle of the night, flying away from a Fire Nation ship, and quite literally traumatized.

The girl, Katara… She was not just angry. Agni, she was crazy! He had not expected her to be this… This vengeful. And what the fuck had she done to that captain? That was not normal! That was not natural!

So, now he was sitting in the saddle, staring at the back of the waterbender. She had not said a word when she had learned that the man who had commanded before, a certain Yon Rha, was retired from the navy, and was living on Hirtashu Island, in the north of the Fire Nation. It was… At least not far.

But Katara worried him. Zuko had always thought that she was a capable fighter, and actually the one whom he should be afraid of in case of a fight… But Agni, this was way worse than he had expected. She just brushed aside any resistance. She had not killed anyone… yet. But it was only a matter of time.

And to be honest, he regretted not taking Aang with them. The airbender, with all his talk of forgiveness and kindness… Well, the prince didn't understand what he talked about, because it seemed so ridiculous… How could anyone forgive and move one from so much hurt? If he ever learned what happened to his mother… Oh… He would personally rip the person who had hurt her to pieces.

And Azula. Oh… Azula too. She wasn't his sister anymore. She had betrayed her own friends, him, and anything remotely good in that black heart of her. And the look she had given him at the temple? That… That had been enough to know.

Mai suffered dear Zuzu.

So, no, he didn't regret getting her on his revenge list. But what he did regret was that he was alone, with a person who clearly wasn't thinking straight. And he knew that, if he could go back in time, he would take the Avatar with them.

Those two had an effect on each other… unlike anything he had ever seen. His parents had not been like that. Agni, not at all! Uncle and his wife had not been much better, but he had never seen Uncle Iroh being cruel to her, even if they didn't match at all. His aunt, La Shi, had died when he had just been a child… but still.

No, whatever Aang and the waterbender had… Was something else. They trusted each other, completely. Even when they had kind of commandeered Appa. He had just said… alright. Do whatever you must. But try forgiveness.

He had not shouted, and not forbidden it… Aang had been… Well, something Zuko couldn't explain at all. He had never seen a man so… Well, understanding? To his shame, the prince had to admit… It seemed like the airbender was way more relaxed about rules between men and women than he himself was. Even though he had never considered women inferior to him… How could he, with Azula, Mai and Ty Lee as constant companions? He had, however, always thought that there was a difference.

And Aang had not used that card once. At least, he had never heard the airbender use the "My gender is superior to yours, so you have to listen to me." Card.

"Bloodbending." A hard voice suddenly interrupted his train of thought. Realizing he had kept his eyes on the back of the waterbender, she had probably sensed it.

"Eh… What?" He couldn't have understood that correctly…

"Bloodbending. What I did to that captain." The waterbender turned around, and Zuko was shocked to see tears on her cheeks. But the rest of her expression was still angry and filled with rage… So, tears of anger or tears of sadness? He couldn't tell, but the expression on her face was so horrifying that he chose not to ask.

"What… What is that?" He asked instead, not quite sure how something like that could even exist.

"Some of us can bend the blood in another one's body." The waterbender continued to explain, still with that rageful look in those blue eyes. But… Was that anger still directed to the murderer of her mother? Or… towards someone else?

Please Agni, don't let it be me.

"Oh… That sounds… Helpful?" He hesitated. If that was true, and the waterbender could actually do it… Agni, that would mean so much! There was their edge! They only had to come close enough to Ozai, bend him to their will, and the war was over! How had the others not even considered this? This was a game changer!

"No." The waterbender growled, and suddenly, Zuko realized who she was mad at. Herself…

"How so?" This was the longest conversation he had ever had with her, and it sounded like something he was not at all equipped to deal with…

"Bloodbending is a curse, not a blessing. It eats away at you. Aang was wrong." She muttered, without explaining.

Wait… Aang could do that too? Was that what she meant? No… It had seemed too… too evil. Like something that the Avatar could not even imagine doing to another person.

"Why was he wrong?" Zuko asked. Aang, that was a safe topic! How could he screw up asking question about Aang!

"He said I wasn't a monster. He is wrong." Katara spoke, turning back on Appa's head and staring into the night sky that stretched over the dark ocean.

Oh… Agni. Knowing the airbender, he had probably said that at the moment the waterbender had discovered bloodbending, and seen how Katara was rather… Well, compassionate. That was the word… Knowing that the waterbender would have hated it. Thought herself a horrible evil person.

And Aang had probably used those words to stop her thinking like that.

But the airbender's opinion was biased. He loved the girl, and was probably incapable of seeing the darker side of the waterbender. The side that was on full display since he had suggested the deal of leaving Azula to him, while he gave her the murderer.

"I'm… I'm sure he thinks you are not a monster." He tried to reassure her. But his words fell on deaf ears, for she ignored him, steering the bison slightly northwest wards. Towards the place the captain had said, Yon Rha lived.

Well… The airbender may think Katara wasn't a monster, but Zuko wasn't so sure. Where Aang had never even accused him of having anything to do with the destruction of his people, the waterbender had chosen him as the symbol of her suffering. That showed that she wasn't afraid of hurting people who represented that suffering… And this Yon Rha person… Well, he wasn't just a symbol. He was the cause of her suffering.

He must have dozed off during the night, because suddenly, Zuko's eyes flew open when he felt the soft thud of six paws hitting the ground. Looking around, the firebender realized they had landed on a beach, and that the sun was slowly edging its way over the horizon. It was morning. It had been a day since they had taken their leave from the others…

"Up." Katara's voice ordered, and, turning to the waterbender, who still wore the dark clothes he had lent her, Zuko saw that the tears were no longer there, but that the vengeful look was… waning. He had no other words for it. Now, she looked more like she was resigned to do what must be done.

"Where are we?" He asked, but he could guess.

"Hirtashu" Katara answered without looking at him. Following her gaze, Zuko saw that in the distance stood a village, typical for this part of the Fire Nation. The climate in these northern islands was wet, but also rather warm, so it was one of the most productive regions of the country, producing rice by the tons. And indeed the village in the distance was ringed by rice terrasses, and even in the early morning dew, Zuko saw several people standing knee-deep in the water, checking on the harvest, that was due in a week or three.

What a dump.

The village was clearly poor. From where they were standing, the prince could see that the centre of the shamble of buildings was the "prosperous" part of town. There, the buildings were roofed with red tiles, and the walls were in a good condition. However, the further he looked away from the town, towards the suburbs… Well, it went from bad to worse. The staircases around the rice terrasses were overgrown with moss and grass sprouted from the cracks in the stones, while the farmhouses were clearly not kept in good repair…

And, to his shame, Zuko knew why.

The government had forced the peasants in this region to produce as much as possible, and had forced them to work six days a week on their own land, while the last day of the week was used as a "tax" day, where the peasants were forced to work on the land of the governor.

This ensured a steady flow of produce towards the army and the rich, all the while keeping the population poor and without a will to fight these tyrannical policies.

And… it worked. For the rich, that was. Now that he saw such a village in person, Zuko couldn't imagine how this was what was good for the people living here.

"Charming place." Katara spoke, beginning to march off into the direction of the village. The firebender followed.

"We should change." He suggested. Dark clothes such as what they were wearing were absolutely not the mandatory clothes style imposed by the government.

"Sure, we walk into this place as a waterbender and the crown prince. Great plan." The girl in front of him spoke, and Zuko didn't see it, but he could imagine her rolling her eyes.

Yeah… She had a point. She had only her blue dress, which was clearly not Fire Nation, except that it was made of silk, and not of the thicker fabrics he had seen her wear during the months he had followed the group around with the ship.

And his own clothes were not that good either. He knew that peasants didn't wear fine silks from Pasla Island, and that the gold thread in his clothes were everything except normal. So, black clothes it had to be.

Casting a look behind him, he saw that Appa was already walking over the beach towards a shadowy place underneath a cliff. How the animal was so intelligent that he realized that he needed to hide because of his exceptionality, Zuko still didn't understand, but he had chosen not to ask. The Avatar's pets were way too human like.

"This place isn't big… Maybe he is here, but he can be somewhere else on the island." Hirtashu was a small island, so it was entirely possible that the murderer was in the village, but still…

"He is here. I know it." Katara didn't explain how she knew it.

He kept following her in silence, once more wishing he had taken Aang with them. The airbender would have known what to do with this crazy person! Well… Maybe not. He would have worried too much about her to be able to help.

"When we get to the people in the fields, let me do the talking!" He spoke. That was important. Katara had a distinct accent in the common language, and even if he suspected that the people here would be able to discern an accent from Hashi Island or the South Pole… he didn't want to run the risk. Certainly not if there was a retired officer from the Southern Raiders somewhere here, who would recognize it!

She nodded curtly.

They entered the path between the rice fields.

Zuko walked towards one of the women standing in the field closest to them. Pulling the hood off his head, he realized that that made his scar visible… Well. Hopefully, his description had not yet reached this place.

Or the woman just didn't care. That would be good too.

"Excuse me, but…" He didn't manage to finish his phrase, before the woman threw herself into the water of the field, in a rather awkward bow.

"Lord."

Shit. Katara may have an accent from the South Pole, but his own way of speaking had betrayed him immediately. Of course, they would realize his noble education… And assume he was someone important.

Not good.

He quickly rejoined the waterbender, who had stayed on the path, without speaking another word to the woman who still bowed in the rice.

"You were saying?" Katara asked, with a raised eyebrow.

"You do the questions… Just make sure they don't think you are anything else than Fire Nation." He grumbled.

"Oh, don't worry, I'm Sapphire Fire from the colony of Yu Dao. That story worked perfectly well for months while hiding in these islands." Katara sighed, walking towards another group of women further in the field.

Zuko stood, waiting, while he heard soft whispers behind him, probably coming from a group of people. That was bad. They knew now that a noble with a scar on his face had visited this dump. And if they were in contact with some officials… That meant his presence in this place would be known as soon as tomorrow. They needed to find this man and get away from here as soon as possible.

"He's here." Katara spoke when she came to stand beside him, "The woman said a certain Yon Rha lived on the outskirts of town, and that he had been a navy officer. She also told me that he usually goes to the market in town around this time."

That was… awfully helpful from the woman…

"Come on. We promised that this would only take two days." Katara beckoned him. Zuko still wasn't exactly sure how they were going to recognize the man, for the waterbender had been… What, eight? Something like that. And the murderer had worn a full uniform. No way she could recognize him.

Walking up the stone staircases leading to the town centre, the firebender still thought about it. It had been his grandfather who ordered constant attacks on the South Pole. For some reason, he had been convinced that the Air Nomad Avatar had died, and had passed his duty to the next in the line, meaning a waterbender. And the Fire Sages had predicted, thanks to Agni, that the Avatar and the South Pole were connected… And Azulon, a deeply religious man, had believed them.

Now, Zuko knew, the Fire Sages had not been that far off. They had not counted on the fact that Aang had been frozen inside an iceberg for a century, underneath the South Pole… Or had that connection been something else? Looking at the waterbender who marched in front of him, Zuko suspected the latter.

As they arrived in the tangle of buildings, the firebender knew that they needed to stay hidden.

"Here." He whispered, pulling her into an alley close to the only vegetable stall. Well, even worse. The only stall with food in the whole market square.

"Get your hands off me." The waterbender growled, and he quickly did as she ordered.

"We need to wait here. If the man went to buy food every day as the peasant suggested, he will be here." Zuko suggested.

"That woman was quite sure he would be here this early to get food." Katara corrected him. The need to roll his eyes at that was quite strong but he managed to resist.

Looking past the corner of the alley, Zuko saw three men on the little square, talking softly to each other in tired voices. Even though he couldn't hear what was being said, if the information was correct, one of these men was the officer of the Southern Raiders.

Two of the men left, walking towards the path that led to the fields. The man left sighed and let his shoulders fall. His greasy unkempt hair was pulled back in an unruly topknot, with long hair falling on either side of the morose face. The dark hair was streaked with grey, making it look like he was around fifty. Quite young to be a retired officer. But possible.

"Ah, your mother has sent you on an errant once more?" The stallholder of the vegetables spoke in a sympathetic voice

"Yeah… Agni, why did she insist on living with me? She had a perfect home with my sister and her husband." The morose man answered, pointing to some vegetables.

Zuko didn't say anything, but kept his eyes on the man. Behind him, he sensed that the waterbender was reaching past him, trying to see.

"Your sister probably threw her out. She is an impossible woman. You have your garden, and then the work at the pottery ovens… And yet, she sends you to do the groceries." The man behind the stall shook his head, handing the client a bag.

"Thank you Furta. Really needed to hear that." The man managed to laugh softly.

"Give my regards to the elephant rat. See you at the tavern tonight?" the stallholder asked.

"Of course, I need to drown my sorrows somehow, don't I?"

"True… true… Well, see you tonight then Yon."

Shit.

Zuko quickly turned around and grabbed the waterbender's arms to make sure she wouldn't attack the man in the middle of the town square. With witnesses.

"Let. Me. Go." She muttered darkly, her blue eyes trained on the man.

"Yon is a common name! We need to be sure it is this Yon Rha." He whispered, as the man took the vegetables and began to walk towards a path leading north.

"That voice… That voice, I know it."

Ah… So, it was probably the man they were looking for. Still, his advice was valid. They didn't need to let everyone know a waterbender had attacked a man in the Fire Nation.

"Let's follow him. Quietly." He suggested.

Emerging from the alley, they walked, slowly, towards the same path the man had taken. It was dangerous, because if anyone asked them who they were, they would not be able to follow the man, and would lose his trail within minutes. As they walked past the last building in the village, Zuko realized the path led into a valley, with several farmhouses in the south slope of the valley. One of them had to be Yon Rha's…

Further along the path, the man was slowly descending some stone stairs.

"Yes… That was him. That monster." The waterbendern nearly spat. Pulling his hood back up, he saw Katara did the same. Under his feet, a branch cracked in a soft noise. But the man turned around, apparently having heard it.

Quickly ducking behind the bank of one of the fields, he pulled the waterbender with him. No need to make their presence known… Just yet. As he took her arm in his hand, Zuko could feel her tremble. Agni, what a rageful person.

"His military training is still keeping him on his toes." He whispered, as the first droplet of rain fell onto his hand. Looking up, dark clouds had gathered above the village.

Katara didn't answer, just pulled herself free from his hand and looked past the bank. Doing to same, he saw that the man had continued walking down.

"We'll have to meet him down there." He pointed to a seemingly abandoned orchard.

Pulling himself up, Zuko climbed over the bank and slid down the other side, into the rice terrasse. The rain began to fall harder. Was this natural… Or had Katara's bending something to do with it? He had noticed wind picking up hen Aang was irritated or afraid, so it would only be normal if something similar happened with a waterbender.

Splashing as softly through the thick mud, they walked over to the orchard on the other side of the field, behind which the path led down even further into the valley. It was the only place an ambush could take place… But seen that the man was a soldier, he probably knew that too.

Stepping into the shadows of the overgrown trees, Zuko glanced behind him, seeing that the waterbender followed him into the tree line. Stepping over another branch, it cracked underneath her feet behind him. Freezing into place, he waited. If Yon Rha had heard the first branch, he would certainly have heard this one.

"I know you are there… Nobody sneaks up on me without getting burned!"

From his left, Zuko saw a long stream of fire go… the totally wrong way. It hit a bush close to the orchard's north west side, while they stood on the other corner. Looking past the trees, the firebender could see the man, with an outstretched hand, pulling back into a straight position and picking up the bag.

As he turned, Zuko let a fireball flow towards the ground. They needed him disoriented, and ready to talk. They needed to be sure it had been him, before doing anything they would regret later. The man's eyes widened before falling backwards to the ground.

"We were not behind the bush." Stepping out of the treeline, Zuko spoke softly, "And don't try to attack us again."

Looking down at the man in the mud, while raindrops began to fall heavily around them, Zuko saw the scared look in the small eyes.

"W-whoever you are… take my money! Take whatever you want!" The man pleaded, searching in his pocket for whatever money he had, "I'll cooperate!"

He thought… he really thought this was just banditry.

"No… I don't want your money." A voice behind him spoke. Quickly glancing back, Zuko realized that had been Katara. But the voice… Agni, that was even colder and angrier than that time she had threatened him in the Air Temple…

"W-what then?" The man's voice faltered, and no surprise. The prince would piss his pants if Katara looked at him like that.

"Don't you know?" The waterbender pulled back her hood, revealing the tanned skin, blue eyes and the distinctive Water Tribe features. For someone who knew where to look. The necklace, for one… And the hair loopies with the blue beads.

"I… I'm not sure!" The man pleaded, seemingly truly lost.

Katara walked past him, and crouched closely next to the man.

"Your life… depends on it. Why won't you take a closer look?" She nearly pushed her face into the man's.

A few moments passed, but the man didn't seem to recognize her.

"Really… I'm sorry! I don't know." He whispered, looking away from the waterbender's face.

"Oh… of course. Just take a closer look." Katara took the man's chin in her hand and forced him to look back at her.

And suddenly, the dark eyes of the man widened.

There it is.

"Agni!" He managed to mutter, before Katara cut him off.

"Surprise." The voice coming from the waterbender was ice cold.

"Not possible! That… no way." Yon Rha, for now, Zuko was sure they had the right man, spoke.

"Oh, very possible. You can't even imagine how long I have dreamed of this…" Still that cold voice…

"I… what are you doing here? You are dead!"

Oh no… The man thought Katara was her mother… Did she look that much like her parent? He had seen the sad looks the Chief had cast several times at his daughter, but he hadn't imagined it was that much.

"What?" Katara asked, confused.

"The waterbender!" Yon Rha began to crawl away from Katara, trying to create space between them.

"What do you mean?" Zuko quickly asked.

"My last assignment! We had a source, telling us a waterbender lived in the South! We attacked several villages along the coast to find him or her!" The man quickly explained, eyes still wide towards Katara.

"At one… Resistance was met. I slipped through the fighting to scan the village. I didn't want to lose any men… And I took a woman captive. I asked her about the waterbender! You!" He pointed at Katara.

He really thought it was her mother… Spirits, how stupid was this man? If that was true, the girl's mother would have been around forty. And Katara didn't look like forty. Perhaps he thought she was a vengeful spirit?

"T-the woman said there was no waterbender! But… But after threatening the village, and the girl that entered the tent… She admitted that she herself was it! I killed you! I'm sure of it! No one… no one could have survived that!"

Zuko closed his eyes. Agni, this was more messed up than he had anticipated. Katara's mother had sacrificed herself for her daughter… For it was clear that the Southern Raider had come for her.

"She lied." Katara voice trembled, so, she had probably realized it too, "She was protecting the last southern waterbender." She straightened, an unreadable expression in her eyes.

"W-what? Who?"

"ME!" Katara screamed, and suddenly, the torrential rain stopped. Looking up, Zuko froze with fear. The rain still hung in the air… but was frozen into place. The droplets began to migrate upwards, creating a high shield around them, stopping the rain entering the large circle. Agni… That was impressive…

"The… the girl." Yon Rha realized, closing his eyes, as if he was annoyed with himself.

Above him, Zuko saw several long, sharp ice spikes form. Katara's arms trembled under the effort, for he could imagine it wasn't easy. With a grunt, she threw them at the man.

The prince didn't know what happened exactly, but as he kept his eyes on the waterbender, the angry look disappeared from her eyes, to be replaced by unimaginable sadness. Something he had not thought possible, for the only emotions he had seen in the waterbender were rage, directed towards him, his sister and their situation, and also love, when she had been talking with the airbender.

But such sadness? No… It seemed the girl had aged years, and had lived way too much sorrow to even imagine it.

The ice spike hung a few inches away from Yon Rha, before dissolving and drenching the man from head to toe.

"I… I know! I did a bad thing! And you deserve revenge! Take my mother! That is fair, no?" he pleaded, sitting on his knees. What kind of man did that? To give a vengeful person someone else to relieve their rage on?

Oh. Wait. Zuko knew what kind of person did that… He had done the exact same thing…

And, looking at Yon Rha, he felt shame. Shame to have pushed Katara to this point.

"I… I always wondered what kind of person could do such a thing. To kill a person, just because they exist. But now that I see you… I think I understand. You're… nothing. Nothing at all. Pathetic. Empty. Sad." The waterbender spoke, tiredly. The rain began anew, falling on him as the shield above them disappeared

"P-please… spare me!" Yon Rha whispered.

"As much as I hate you… I'm not like you. I can't…" With that, Katara turned her back to Yon Rha, and walked away.

Zuko quickly followed her, not understanding one instance of this all. A change of heart? Or had she decided to forgive the man? What happened?

As they turned a corner of the path, he saw the waterbender falter, looking like she was going to drop. He took a step forward, putting his shoulder underneath her arm to give support. And she didn't protest this time.

"Just… just take me to Aang. He knows…" Before she could finish her sentence, the waterbender dropped her full weight against him and passed out.

Answers:

Kalaong: I thought that him not remembering anything would be a bit too much, because it would have been an important assignment for the Southern Raiders. However, him not recognizing Katara would be more plausible, as she was just a little girl. So having him think it was a vengeful spirit of the woman he had killed seemed a good comprise. I love your reviews, they give me ideas I try to use if they fit into where I want to go!

Handler: I'm an archaeologist, working on 3D models of objects at this moment. Those models take a long time to make, but the computer does most of the work. So I have time to write while the program runs! It went super well! They gave me everything I asked for!

Guest: Thank you! I love to hear I do it right! Even though some chapters are better than others, I enjoy writing them!

Bbacon :Thanks!

Rak: It does me good to hear that, because I am bad at keeping angst up for more than one chapter lol! Indeed, I had not been planning on adding a chapter drom Aang while Katara and Zuko were on their fieldtrip, but I thought he needed to be reminded that Katara had always been there for him, and that he needed to do the same for her. It went well, they were super nice and gave me my budget! Now, it takes some times (administration here… Well… it's a mess lol) to get everything in order