Chapter 5
Katara's return home after her victory in Yu Dao had been a confusing and overwhelming experience. Three months later it felt like something she had merely dreamed about, similar to one of her Librium visions. Still, the gold medal framed on the wall of her room was very real, and it reminded Katara that no, it hadn't been a dream at all. Her title of a World Junior Champion was very real.
Stepping off the train at Agna Qel'a, the unprepared Katara had walked straight into a large crowd of cheering fans, the press, and even some of the local politicians and celebrities, trying to capitalize on her sudden fame. Someone had even gotten a hold of grandmaster Pakku Karetak, bringing him out to meet with Katara in a shared press conference. While Pakku had been complimentary of her victory when speaking with the press, the two of them had exchanged a few words afterwards, and Katara had been left disappointed by the old grandmaster's attitude. He seemed to think that Katara's achievement did not stand up to his own, even if it was literally the exact same title and tournament. Pakku was claiming that the competition fifty years ago was far more serious than what Katara had to face this year. All in all, in private Katara found Pakku to be a curt and dismissive curmudgeon who apparently found it impossible to be supportive or encouraging.
Katara probably would have been dragged through more and more interviews in Agna Qel'a, and she was slowly starting to freak out from all the scrutiny and attention. She felt intensely grateful when her father finally managed to elbow his way through the gathered crowd, tearing into the bystanders for not leaving his teenage daughter well alone. As Hakoda protectively escorted Katara through the crowd with Sokka's help, he had a few choice words for his son, blaming Sokka for his inability to shield his sister from all this unhealthy attention. Katara just kept quiet, glad for her father's presence and the way it made her feel safe. Minutes later, she and Sokka were squeezing tight in the front passenger seat of the family's muddy old Powell truck, their luggage tossed in the cargo space at the back as they made the forty-five mile long drive northwest from Agna Qel'a towards their coastal home village of Cape Kuruk.
Of course, there had also been a welcoming ceremony back at Cape Kuruk, but Katara found it much easier to endure than the crowds of Agna Qel'a. First of all, Cape Kuruk had a population of under two thousand, and they were scattered over a reasonably large area, the actual village being just a couple dozen of mostly public buildings. Secondly, Katara knew most of the Cape Kuruk locals and she was not in any way intimidated by them, unlike by the strangers of Yu Dao or Agna Qel'a. As such, she actually enjoyed being the village-level celebrity… at least for the couple of weeks while it lasted. The people of Cape Kuruk led harsh lives and had little time for distractions. Everyone soon returned to the realities of their lives and Katara's remarkable achievement was rarely brought up again.
As for Katara herself, she and Sokka returned to school the next day following their return, so their lives immediately fell back into their old routine. Most of her fellow students were hugely impressed by Katara's achievement, swarming the newly crowned champion and asking her for autographs. There were some who seemed less impressed, but because of Sokka's constant presence, Katara didn't hear many negative comments. She had expected some backlash borne of envy. She wasn't the most popular girl in school, there were quite a few kids who considered her to be arrogant and full of herself, thinking that she was flaunting her smarts when she was allowed to skip classes in favor of practicing Pai Sho. Still, within a month, even the kids at school seemed to forget all about Katara being the World Junior Champion at Pai Sho, going back to treating her as they always had. Life returned to normal, which was exactly what Katara had hoped for.
But those closest to Katara, her family, would never forget what she had achieved. Both Hakoda and Kanna had showered the girl with their praises, letting her know how happy she had made them. The words of how proud her mother would have been to see her on the top step of the podium had reduced Katara to a flood of happy tears. The prize money she had brought back from Yu Dao was also put to good use. Hakoda had immediately called a pair of workers to fix the leaking roof, and then they had all gone out to choose a brand-new fridge to replace the old and ornery one which often created puddles in their kitchen.
Before departing for the tournament in Yu Dao, Katara had been starting to worry about their father. Hakoda appeared to be slowly being ground down by his exhausting job on the oil rig, and whenever he came home for his days off, he usually would just lay about, seemingly having no energy for anything. But now, inspired by the turn of their fortunes, he became rejuvenated and started busying himself with all sorts of necessary and neglected repair work around the house. Together with Sokka, they had completely rebuilt the fence surrounding the house, and were now working on a new doghouse for the family Saint Bernard, Naga.
Looking towards the upcoming year of competition, however, Katara was becoming a little concerned. In autumn, she would be facing kids a year and two years older in the Water Tribe qualification tournament for the main World Championship event, with only the top two places going through. Being the reigning U15 World Junior Champion, Katara would also have a target painted on her back, meaning that the other kids would be extra motivated to defeat her. Katara was painfully aware that she needed to improve her game if she wanted to repeat her success. Her stifling defensive game was hugely effective against the kids of her age and younger, but being a one trick pony would not work against the older, more experienced kids. She needed to become a more diverse player, and that meant improving the attacking aspect of her game to complement her dogged defensive strategies.
This was where living in a remote village like Cape Kuruk worked against Katara. There was nobody around she could turn to for advice, having to rely on studying Pai Sho books and magazines, learning from the games of others. However, the reality of the situation was that if she was serious about becoming a pro player in the future, then Katara needed a good coach. The choice seemed obvious at first glance. Pakku Karetak was the best Pai Sho player in the history of the Water Tribes. With another generational talent like Katara coming up, surely Pakku would be motivated to take her under his wing and make sure that the Water Tribes would continue to be represented on the professional circuit following his eventual retirement.
So, Katara had swallowed her personal dislike of Pakku, deciding to call the grandmaster and ask him to consider tutoring her. To say that Pakku's response had disappointed her would be an understatement, as Katara had been completely shocked by his stunning rejection. Pakku firmly refused to even consider taking Katara under his wing, claiming that despite her successes at junior level, training her would be a complete waste of his time because women had no future on professional Pai Sho circuit. Pakku pointed out that over the past twenty years, not a single woman had managed to qualify for the World Championship Finals for professional players, and no woman had ever been ranked among the ten best Pai Sho professionals. Pakku claimed that he had no interest whatsoever to spend many years training Katara only to watch her then get married to some random guy and start spawning one kid after another, essentially ruining her Pai Sho career. No, according to Pakku, women were just too flighty and emotionally unstable to seriously commit to a career path that demanded so much hard work and sacrifice. Pakku had never taken on tutoring a girl, and he wasn't going to start now.
Katara had gotten off the phone absolutely fuming. She had then dressed and went out, deep into the nearby pine forest, where she had launched into a very uncharacteristic angry and expletive laden tirade aimed at grandmaster Pakku Karetak, Katara swearing to one day prove him wrong and force him to eat his words. Having returned to the house, Katara had then told Kanna all about Pakku's disgusting reaction, and how he had done her grandmother a huge service by leaving her for Pai Sho.
As months passed, Katara continued to learn and improve, mostly on her own, but also with some help from Yue. With Sokka and Yue being on the phone every day, Katara always took over from Sokka when he was done talking with his girlfriend. Katara lived for these conversations and she could never get enough of hearing Yue's voice on the phone. They spoke about a lot of things that girls their age found interesting, mostly music and fashion, as well as of Pai Sho. They always had several long-distance games running, announcing their moves over the phone and then continuing the following day. Katara was delighted that it gave them a reason to always remain in touch. Their practice games sharpened their skills and allowed them both to improve by leaps and bounds.
Come the last days of June, Katara was feeling positively giddy in anticipation of the event she had waited for the entire year. In a few days, Hakoda would drive her to Agna Qel'a where she would board a train to Ba Sing Se, and from there, take the bus down to Serpent's Lake and the estate of Iroh Nakamura. Four weeks of July at Uncle Iroh's lakeside property for his summer Pai Sho camp in the company of her best friends… Katara was so excited to leave that she could barely control herself. She missed everyone so much, Aang, Toph, but especially Yue, despite talking to her almost every day. But most importantly… since Sokka was not a Pai Sho player, he would not be attending the camp and the two girls had already agreed to share a room, something that made Katara's heart flutter with excitement.
Not that Katara had some romantic plans or anything of that sort. She was smitten with Yue, painfully hard, but Katara would not do anything such as trying to steal Yue away from her brother. Yue wasn't interested in girls anyway, she was clearly into boys, and one boy in particular. Still, was it so terrible of Katara to want Yue all to herself, even for a short while, even if nothing romantic could ever happen between them? Sokka would be spending the August in Agna Qel'a and would see Yue every day. Surely it was alright if Katara could have Yue to herself for the month of July. As far as Katara was concerned, Sokka had no right to feel envious.
Finally, the morning of departure came and with Hakoda driving the old Powell pickup, they made their way to Agna Qel'a where Katara was safely tucked on the train heading for Ba Sing Se. It was a lengthy journey, taking more than a day, and at the end of the trip, Katara then spent a confusing hour at the Ba Sing Se bus station, trying to find the right bus to take her to Serpent's Lake. Still, despite all the challenges, in the late afternoon of her second day of traveling, Katara stood by the gates of Iroh Nakamura's lakeside estate, watching the gate guard looking for her name on the guest list, eventually finding it and crossing it out, welcoming her inside with a warm smile.
As Katara walked the gravel path leading up to the estate, she could already hear the excited cries and cheering of the other kids. It seemed like most of them had already arrived, the usual gaggle of close to two dozen. It wasn't long before her approach to the estate was noticed and soon enough a group of kids were running towards her. Aang was at the head of the group, her Air Nation friend greeting her with a firm hug.
"Katara! You're finally here!" Aang cheered excitedly, reluctant to let go of her waist.
It was Toph who eventually pried the Air Nation boy away from Katara. "Hi there, roomie!" Despite appearing annoyed with Aang, Toph sounded happy to see Katara.
"Roomie?" Katara blinked, looking over to where Yue stood a little aside, the white-haired girl giving her an apologetic shrug.
"Yep! The first thing I did upon arriving was to pick out the nicest room for the two of us!" Toph chirped excitedly while Katara desperately tried to hide her disappointment.
"Alright, Toph… that's great," Katara managed. "I guess you'll have to show me the room so I can get rid of this luggage," she pointed at her suitcase.
"Oh, let me, let me!" Aang offered, grabbing the suitcase and starting to drag it towards the house, as always eager to help. "I'll bring it right up to your and Toph's room, Katara! It's right next to mine!"
"That's fantastic, Aang, thank you so much," Katara called after the boy as Yue finally walked up to her and wrapped her arms around Katara's waist, the two girls sharing a tight hug that Katara was desperate to extend for as long as she could.
"Sorry, girl," Yue whispered softly in her ear. "Toph had already made arrangements when I arrived. She wouldn't hear about swapping with me."
"Of course…" Katara whispered back to the other girl. "But we can still have fun, right?"
"You better believe it, babe," Yue spoke softly as she broke the embrace, parting with a promising wink. "This is going to be the best summer camp yet, you'll see."
"Damn right, now that Katara is here, things might finally pick up!" Toph declared excitedly.
"Was I the last to arrive?" Katara asked, earning herself nods from both Yue and Toph. "So, let's see who else is here this year," she said, looking at the vast gardens of the estate. A bunch of Pai Sho boards had been placed directly on the neatly trimmed lawn, next to a pristine blue pond. Some of the kids were busy playing while another group had surrounded Uncle Iroh nearby, listening to the old grandmaster as he was busy demonstrating something on the Pai Sho board. Surrounded by the other kids as he was, Iroh had still noticed Katara's arrival, smiling and waving at her.
"Mostly the same crowd as last year," Toph shrugged. "And that's just fine by me."
Looking around the garden, Katara saw several of her recent opponents at the U15 World Championships, Meng Li, Kori Morishita and Teo Guyuk. Then there were some of the older kids whom Katara would most likely meet next spring at the U18 finals, should she manage to qualify for the main event. She could see Ghashiun al-Alawi and Haru Tamang playing near the pond. Ghashiun was a boy from the region of Si Wong Desert, a place that usually didn't produce many Pai Sho greats, so he was considered something of a strange outlier. Haru came from the west coast of the Earth Kingdom, and was probably the nicest of the older kids Katara had interacted with. Unlike the others, Haru never looked down on the younger kids and was always helpful and respectful. A little to the side, Katara could see a dark-haired youth with a horrible burn scar covering the left side of his face, Iroh's nephew and Azula's brother, Zuko Nakamura, also the reigning U18 champion.
Katara's interactions with Zuko Nakamura so far hadn't been very pleasant at all. He always came off to her as very harsh and rude, but in a different way to his sister. Azula always acted as if she was better than everyone else. Zuko always acted as if the world was conspiring against him and he seemed to have a massive chip on his shoulder, always behaving like he had something to prove to everyone. Maybe there was something about Zuko that Katara simply did not understand, or else it didn't make sense to her that a sweet old man like Uncle Iroh would be so fond and protective of his annoying nephew. Maybe there was a decent human being under that mask of an irritable and brusque young man after all. It seemed as if someone else other than Iroh also thought so, as Zuko was holding the hand of a somewhat plain, but still reasonably pretty looking Earth Kingdom girl. Said girl occasionally even burst into laughter which felt particularly odd to Katara because Zuko was probably the least funny guy she had ever come across.
"Who's that with Zuko Nakamura?" Katara asked Yue.
"That's his girlfriend, Jin," Yue replied with a grin. "Yes, I know, I was shocked as well…"
"Is she one of the players?" Katara wondered.
"Nope," Toph said. "Which doesn't make sense, if you ask me. I thought this was a camp only for Pai Sho players."
"Well… she's supposedly helping Uncle Iroh run the camp," Yue shrugged. "He's even paying her. I haven't seen her do any actual work, though, unless you count her smooching Zuko as work. Come to think of it… that must be it. If I had to kiss Zuko Nakamura, I'd want to be paid, too." Katara burst into giggles at Yue's slightly mean comment, the two of them sharing amused glances and then walking over to the garden to join the other kids.
Katara found herself warmly welcomed by the others and it didn't take her long at all to start feeling like home. This was so much better than being surrounded by her peers at school. She didn't really have anyone in Cape Kuruk who shared her interests, and most of the kids her age were a little too immature for her liking. Being at Uncle Iroh's camp was the exact opposite. They were all united by their love for Pai Sho, and despite them all being fierce competitors when tournament play began, away from the competition most of them got on very well. They were surrounded by an air of maturity and mutual respect for each other.
Quite a few of the kids immediately wanted to test Katara at the Pai Sho board, eager to have a go at the reigning U15 champion, but the hour was getting late and Iroh soon called for everyone to gather at the estate's dining hall for supper. Having eaten, the kids split up in their own little groups, gravitating towards their closest friends and spending the rest of the evening just doing whatever they felt like. Uncle Iroh was quite lax when it came to discipline and the only rule he had was that everyone should be in their rooms by midnight at the latest. It wasn't a difficult rule to obey, and as Katara understood, it was rarely broken. Those who failed to follow what few rules Iroh had, simply did not get invited back the following year, and considering how important this camp was for most of the kids, nobody wanted to risk not getting their invitation.
Katara had spent most of the evening after supper sitting out on the terrace and chatting with Aang, Toph and Yue, but when the two younger kids went inside to grab their sweaters, Yue used the moment to drag Katara away, down the path leading away from the estate and down to the Serpent's Lake. A plank-way was stretching well into the lake, everyone's favorite swimming spot on hot afternoons. Yue and Katara ran down the length of the plank-way, sitting down at the very end, letting their feet hang over the edge, soles almost reaching the still water beneath them.
"Again, I'm sorry about the room, Kat," Yue said, placing her arm around Katara's shoulders. Katara felt all tingly from the light contact alone, almost forgetting to breathe. "I know we were both looking forward to sharing."
"Well… it's alright, I guess," Katara admitted. Having Yue's arm on her shoulder did make her feel much better about the whole thing. "It would have been awesome to just chat away long into the night, you know?"
"Yeah, we could have done all sorts of fun stuff," Yue echoed her thoughts. "Still, it's going to be an amazing month, especially now that you're here."
"Exactly," Katara nodded firmly. "Hmm, do you have some plans for us already?"
"I might have some ideas, yes," Yue said teasingly, still keeping her arm wrapped around Katara's shoulders. "But I suspect I'll have to compete for your company."
"Mhm, yes… I don't want to ignore Toph and Aang. I've been looking forward to spending time with them as well. But mostly with you, obviously," Katara amended quickly.
"Oh, I didn't mean just them," Yue chuckled. She sounded amused. "Someone was paying a lot of attention to you during supper. Don't tell me you didn't notice?"
"What? No, I totally didn't notice." Because I was so busy looking at you. "Who was it?"
"Haru Tamang. He's definitely a little sweet on you, girl," Yue grinned.
"Oh no… he's nice, but I don't want this!" Katara sighed.
"Are you sure? He really is quite nice. Maybe you should give him a chance. It would solve your Aang problem, too," Yue teased.
"Yue, please!" Katara exclaimed. She felt a little annoyed. "I really don't want to deal with boys at the camp. I thought that this could be, you know… our month."
"Sure… let's make this our month, I'm totally down with that," Yue replied. "But Aang is always going to be there, you know."
"Eh, Aang doesn't count," Katara shrugged. It was a mean thing to say, but Yue's lilting laughter had a way of preventing her from feeling guilty. She found herself sharing the other girl's laughter, their voices carrying across the clear and still waters of the lake.
It was already getting close to midnight when the two girls became aware of the lateness of the hour, realizing that it was time to get up and head back to the estate. The sky was already pitch black, but the warm orange light of the sodium lamps illuminated their path back to the estate. Sneaking through the estate garden, listening to sounds of chirping crickets, felt particularly romantic in the evening, and Katara was just about to boldly reach for Yue's hand, when a smaller figure suddenly stepped out from behind the bushes, startling them both.
"Katara!" She immediately recognized Aang's voice, whispering at them. "Can I speak with you?"
Katara opened her mouth to speak, but Yue beat her to it. "I'll leave you two alone," she said, sounding amused. "Goodnight, Kat, I'll see you in the morning," she said, leaning in and kissing Katara on the cheek before dashing off towards the steps leading up to the estate.
"Yes, Aang, what is it?" Katara asked, quickly shaking off the disappointment of Yue's departure.
"Check out what I have, Kat," Aang said mysteriously. Katara suddenly heard the familiar sound of a match being lit and Aang brought the burning matchstick to light the cigarette in his mouth. "I also got this," he added, pulling what looked like a beer bottle from the back pocket of his baggy pants.
"Aang!" Katara exclaimed, feeling shocked. Without even thinking about what she was doing, the Water Tribe girl stepped forth and slapped the cigarette right out of Aang's mouth. The stunned Air Nation boy watched the cigarette land in the dew-laden grass and go out, immediately becoming soggy. "How dare you abuse Uncle Iroh's hospitality this way? You know the rules! No booze, no cigarettes, and most definitely no drugs!"
While those definitely were the rules, Katara was well aware that they were not universally obeyed, especially by some of the older kids. Ghashiun always had a pack of cigs he was willing to share. And when it came to Zuko Nakamura, Katara was sure of having seen him quite inebriated on a few occasions. While Iroh was probably disappointed with his nephew, he wasn't going to kick him out.
When Aang was still standing there shocked, failing to speak up, Katara continued to admonish him. "What's gotten into you, Aang? This isn't like you at all!" she exclaimed. Katara then instantly felt horrified when tears appeared at the corners of Aang's eyes. "Oh, Aang… just please, tell me why you did something like that?"
"I just…" Aang began to explain, swallowing the tears that were threatening to escape. "Sokka said that you liked more mature boys, and… then I asked the older boys around the camp what I could do to appear more mature to impress a girl I liked…"
"Did they honestly tell you to impress a girl by buying cigarettes and beer?" Katara sighed. Sometimes Aang was much too trusting. It was the way of his people, but unfortunately, it made the rest of the world view people of the Air Nation as naïve dreamers. "Who exactly told you that?"
"Umm, it was Zuko Nakamura," Aang sighed. He looked utterly dejected.
"Of course! I should have words with that jerk!" Katara fumed, then turning back towards Aang, full of sympathy for the boy. "Aang, please understand that you don't have to do something like that to impress me. I'm already incredibly impressed by you. You're one of my best friends, you know that, right?"
"Yes, sure, but…" Aang stammered. This was clearly about more than friendship, but Katara was determined not to allow him to make an open declaration of his feelings.
"Aang, I can't give you anything but my fiercest and most loyal friendship," Katara said earnestly. "Can't that be enough for us both? It means the world to me, and I hope it means the same to you."
"Oh… of course," Aang nodded quickly. He probably was deeply upset and disappointed, but he seemed to be handling it reasonably well. "You're an amazing friend, Katara. I'd be a fool to turn away from that."
"I'm so glad to hear it, Aang," Katara smiled, opening her arms for the boy. "Hug?"
"Always," Aang replied, eagerly accepting the embrace. They parted a brief while later, walking up the estate steps in silence, but Katara found her steps lighter, even if she knew that Aang was probably saddened in the wake of their conversation. Still, it seemed that she had managed to dissuade Aang from his romantic intentions towards her without hurting the boy too much, and it gave Katara a sense of relief. She could certainly do with fewer romantic entanglements in her life.
Next chapter: We remain at Uncle Iroh's Pai Sho summer camp, where Katara has to deal with more romantic entanglements! Also, Katara decides to approach Zuko with inquiries about his sister. It doesn't go well…