A/N: I've been trying to update this to where I could get a new update out whenever I get the revised chapters up as well, to not get anyone's hopes up for a new chapter when it's only a revised chapter coming up, but... that didn't work out as well as I'd hoped.
So, this is a previous chapter that I've revised slightly (used to be part of chapter two but I broke that chapter up into two) and the next chapter is almost done being revised. Chapter five, 'A... date?', IS on its way out.
I'm sorry for this weird lingo period for this story. A lot has happened since this past summer and writing has been difficult on top of the intermittent problems I keep having getting into my account on here.
I hope, even though this isn't exactly a new update to this story, that me putting these revised chapters back up is an assurance that I am still working on this and doing my best to get updates out with the craziness of life! Thank you all SO SO much for the continued support in this story, and in me as a writer. It pushes me to keep going! :)
Meeting the Avatar
That same morning found Katara mindlessly wandering the palace halls.
She'd been awoken later than normal to the light pouring through the windows, and had yet to blink away the grogginess she felt before the door was swung open and an elderly woman was revealed, attempting to enter the room with a few cleaning supplies in her arms. After having met the waterbender's surprised eyes, the servant froze and quickly stammered out a frightened apology before trying to back out of the doorway. Katara hadn't been thrilled about the intrusion, but encouraged the older woman to go about the business she came to do and simply hurried herself out of the bedroom, more upset that she overslept that anything else as she stalked out of it.
Given that the daily chores of the Southern Water Tribe had the women starting their day when the men left to fish at dawn, her day should've started much earlier than the sun risen high in the Eastern sky. But, with the stress that only served as a perpetuator since she'd arrived within the Fire Nation, these late mornings seemed to be happening more as of late.
Normally Zuko's stirring would wake her up, but upon meeting an expression that wasn't his usual scowling one, she figured it was because of him that her morning began late. Though, in a way, she was glad his face wasn't the one greeting her. Once up and about, she felt a lot of the same emotions from the previous night flood her system and seeing him would've have only made it worse.
But now, as she walked along the hall, she couldn't help but wonder where he had run off to. 'Why do I suddenly care where's he's gone off to?' She didn't, she reminded herself sourly in response to her own thoughts. She closed her eyes and forced a breath from her nose, suddenly finding the quiet curiosity of her heart a bit harder to ignore than anything else, and she hadn't been paying attention to her surroundings when...
OOMF!
Out of nowhere, her body collided with another and she was tossed unceremoniously onto the ground with a thud.
"Goodness, I am so sorry y-your highness!"
She cracked a glance up to the other person and saw yet another servant, this one a younger man. He offered her a hand and she took it graciously, smiling somewhat embarrassingly at the run-in.
"Please don't apologize," She said easily as she recovered, feeling a bit bad seeing how nervous he looked. "I was the one lost in my own world so really, if anyone should be apologizing, it's me."
"I hope you didn't drop anything because of me," She added after looking past him at the cart he'd been pulling along, it's wooden frame almost bowing with the fruit it held.
She glanced around at the ground to see if any had with the intent of helping, but nothing seemed to have fallen out so she looked back up at him. He took a quick look too before meeting her eye, but by the expression on his face, she didn't figure he would let her help even if the cart had crumbled to pieces in that instant.
"No, I don't think I ran into you that hard. I just hope you are alright," He responded with a shaky voice, more fear consuming his face than concern it seemed. She felt a lump in her throat and held back a sigh.
Dealing with Zuko and some of the other officials at the palace tended to grate on her nerves, but the servants tugged at her emotions differently. She saw the dishes that would fly when something was made wrong or someone forgot to put a garnish on the plate, and she never failed to see the looks that were casted at them when they fumbled their words or their actions. It filled her with an indignation the first time it happened, her heated words quickly being shut out by those who didn't want to hear them, but then confusion mixed in as to why the staff would stay in such a hostile environment.
Before long she didn't know what to say anymore. As she grazed over the boy's face in front of her, filled with the same emotions she'd seen on every servants face at one time or another, it saddened her. Regretfully, the elderly woman from that morning looked similar, and Katara chided herself for being harsher than she would've liked, even though it was hard to stop it after the circumstances drew it out of her.
With that memory in mind, she figured she would ease his nerves and casually waved his concern off with a chuckle. "I'm okay, just don't try harder next time," She said with an innocent wink, making sure to keep her tone light. To her relief, he picked up on it and seemed to calm down considerably, actually smiling at her after a moment as he shook his head.
"Don't worry, I'll mark my gravestone before I dare run into you like this again your highness."
She nodded hesitantly, giving him a half-hearted smile. That wasn't really the response she was going for, but she guessed it was better than the alternative.
"Oh, here."
She watched him curiously motion with his finger for her to wait as he turned to the batch of fruit and pulled one out. His smile faltered as he offered it to her, and she could see the hesitancy in his motion. "This isn't much of an apology offering, but they were picked fresh earlier today and are usually sweeter around this time of year."
Her smile widened at the polite gesture, but she turned it down as it really wasn't necessary.
Well... at least, that was she had planned to do when she opened her mouth. But, seeing the delicious looking fruit so close to her and looking so tasty, it made her realize she'd missed breakfast. As if her stomach felt the need to voice it's aggrievance in reply to her thoughts, a loud grumble erupted from underneath her robes and she blushed at the embarrassing sound, the servant stifling a chuckle.
She thanked him awkwardly and finally accepted the fruit out of his hand. With a hardly suppressed smile, he bowed to indicate his leave from her and continued on his way.
'What he must be thinking right now,' She thought, willing her warm cheeks to cool while she watched him begin to walk away, the cart he pulled making a creaking noise as its wheels began turning once more. As she was about to turn and continue down the hall, she noticed the sudden appearance of two — rather fluffy — ears pop out of the basket.
"What the…" Her brows drew together in puzzlement, and she quickly rubbed her eyes to make sure she wasn't just imagining the strange things. But, to her confusion, they remained there afterwards, slightly twitching as the fruit around them began to shake. She debated making a comment on it to the servant pulling the cart, but before she could call out to the young man, he turned a corner and disappeared.
She paused, debating whether to act on what she saw, but decided against it as she turned to resume her wanderings. 'I must be more stressed than I thought' was her conclusion as she brushed the scene off and took a big bite of the fruit in her hand, absentmindedly noticing that there were actually more servants bustling down the halls than she even realized.
She did find her two encounters that day rather strange as her thoughts were provoked. During her time in the palace, the place never seemed to come alive unless someone important was making an appearance, or the Fire Lord was in a nasty mood. No one usually wanted to stay in one place long enough to risk a fire ball to the face so it made her wonder.
Given that she'd rarely seen fruit brought in by the cart full, and considering Zuko had made it clear that no one was to enter his bedroom without strict orders or permission, Katara figured the former must be true and internally groaned.
The last two important visitors they hosted for a day were no more charming than the Fire Lord himself, and neither treated her like anything more than another servant that slaved over their every need; one of them even going as far as to demand fruit tarts be placed in his room even after it was made clear that she was betrothed to the prince. Zuko had stood up for her, and she was a little taken back by the force in which he did it, but it still didn't deter the disparaging looks they continued to give her throughout the evening.
And they were hard looks to forget.
Suddenly, the sound of an animal's cry caught her attention with a start, along with a few shouts from behind her, and no sooner had she turned to find it's source was she met with a blur of white heading straight for her face. Out of reflex, she screwed her eyes closed to brace for the impact, a small gasp escaping her lips.
Curiously, after a few still moments, nothing happened. A few more shouts, a bit louder than before, prompted her to open her eyes in time to see the same young servant she had run into minutes earlier with another older man coming her way. Both men looked mad as they frantically searched the hallway, neither giving her a glance in their hot pursuit of whatever it was they were looking for before they too were gone in a blur.
After watching their retreating figures, she glanced around herself in confusion. The white object seemed to have vanished into thin air, and she couldn't see anything that resembled it now around her with only the half-eaten fruit laying on the ground by her feet, it's bruised skin evident that she dropped it in her surprise. Seeing her perfectly good snack tainted with dirt was a little upsetting, but it still looked to be edible and her stomach reminded her that it had yet to be satisfied so she reached for it, shaking off the disturbed feeling she got about what had just happened.
Before she could even touch the fruit, another hand quickly took it from her and pulled it beneath her robe. A very fluffy and small hand.
She shrieked in horror and jumped back to reveal what had been hiding beneath her clothes, and a pair of big, innocent eyes met her. It was a... monkey.. lemur?
Her body froze in an awkward stance with her hands out in front of her like she was going to karate chop it as she just stared, not sure what to make of the situation, and the lemur disregarded her rather fast for her leftover fruit that he held possessively within his paws. 'When did he get in there?!' was the first panicked thought to her mind.
"Are you okay?"
Katara glanced to her side and relaxed somewhat at the concern in his voice, but at the sight of Zuko, she could have done without the mildly entertained look on his face. She let her arms drop unceremoniously to her sides with a huff as he shifted his gaze to the lemur, and seemed to make the connection. "I guess you've met Momo."
She wasn't amused and she narrowed her eyes at him as he reached his arm out to the animal, inviting it to climb up onto his shoulder. "I'm sorry, who?"
The prince looked at her dubiously before pointing to the animal now resting beside his face, the lemur's attention still captivated by the fruit as he continued munching on it. "Momo," He repeated, and she could see the smile slowly spreading across his face. "You know, the monkey lemur you looked ready to fight just a second ago."
Her eyes narrowed even further at his withering remark. "Well, that thing just popped out from under my robe and stole my lunch, so how else was I supposed to react?" She snarled and pointed to herself for reference of the indecent action. He raised an eyebrow now taking in her outfit, one that was less than fitting for her status, though it was all she could find in the minute she had to leave the room that morning.
Frankly she didn't care for the stuffy robes he insisted she wear. They were too flashy, and she always managed to trip over them at one point in the day so it made her feel somewhat free to be downing only a simple red robe with no gold or embellishments; an outfit more readily seen on one of the servants than on the prince's fiancé. She also didn't have time to deal with her hair except a quick brush through, so it lacked the usual head piece that symbolized her position within the palace. No one really needed to see it to know who she was anyways, but it was one of the many rules and customs she was forced to abide by given her engagement.
Without a response to her, Zuko turned to the lemur with a smirk and gave him a rub on the head as he remarked, "I think you've gotten farther than any male to date, congratulations buddy."
Not surprised at the jab, she frowned and rolled her eyes. "Forget it, I'm leaving," She announced crossly with a dismissing wave of her hand and turned to leave. "Have fun with your stupid pet."
"Wait!"
His voice echoed behind her before his hand found her wrist, and she pivoted on her heel quickly, yanking her hand away. She wasn't concerned to give him the time of day at the moment, but she made the mistake of meeting his golden eyes, and the look on his face kept her feet planted where she stood. It kept an excuse from leaving off the tip of her tongue also so, begrudgingly so, she shifted her weight and crossed her arms, silently telling him to get on with it already.
He let out a long sigh before continuing: "I'm sorry… I… I wanted to apologize for last night." His tone was surprisingly soft and sincere as she watched him nervously rub his neck, his eyes darting around before locking back onto hers as he found the words to say.
"I know I'm the last person you probably thought you'd ever be getting married to, and you weren't exactly the one I had in mind either, but regardless of the reasons why we are together I shouldn't have said what I did. I really don't want us to keep being mad at each other and… and I'm just sorry, okay?"
Katara snorted, though she could feel her anger fading at his seemingly genuine apology. "Honestly you didn't even make the list," She retorted rather harshly, feeling a pang of regret only a moment after when he winced, despite his attempt to hide it. Normally her words just bounced off of him, or they would elicit some charged response as well, yet she got neither. Instead, he only sighed once more, and her sour feelings were suddenly put on hold as she eyed him curiously now.
"I know," He began, with a tinge of resolve. "I was thinking it over this morning and figured the energy we spend grabbing at each other's throat may be better spent trying to make this thing work in a way where we don't kill each other—" Katara raised an eyebrow and he let out a quick breath as he clarified "—I think we should try starting over. Clean slate kind of deal."
She stared at his expectant eyes for a pregnant moment, unsure of what to say at first when, instead of words, laughter began spilling out from between her lips. She couldn't believe what she was hearing.
"You don't actually mean that?" She choked out, reining it in somewhat, and he scowled.
"I'm serious!" He said loudly, his voice being enough of a startle to Momo who had since finished his snack and threw the pit off to the side. The lemur quickly vacated his spot on Zuko's shoulder to Katara's, who promptly disregarded his presence. Her laughter caught in her throat at Zuko's sharp tone and he continued, his eyes boring into hers as his face set further. "I have other things to worry about right now, and I can't keep doing this with you. If starting over is the only way we can have a decent conversation, then I'm all for it because I'm done arguing. Like it or not, you are here with me and unless there's some way out of this, it wouldn't kill you to at least try and act nice, would it?"
Unfortunately for him, it was the wrong choice of words.
Perhaps because he could feel the heat radiating off her body or sensed the thick air around them, Momo quickly hopped to the banister next to the engaged couple and looked on curiously. Katara's eyes narrowed as a tight frown pulled her lips.
"Yes, Zuko, it would, because news flash, there is no such thing as starting over for us," She seethed, pointing an angry finger to his chest. "We may have never talked that much when you were with Sokka, but in those times where you dared utter a word to me, I nearly drowned you for all the crap that would spill out of your mouth."
"Oh please, what about you—"
"What about me?!"
Her incredulous anger cut him off, and he looked as though he were getting mad, but she didn't care. Inching closer to him as he instinctively moved away, she continued: "All I hear from you is 'I this,' or 'me that.' When have you really considered my feelings in all of this?" Now creeping up an octave in volume, she didn't wait for a response. "You haven't. Why? Oh right, business doesn't care about feelings. Or have you forgotten already that 'this is just business'?"
His eyes widened and she saw something flicker across his face. "Wait, no—" But, she couldn't stop now. Tears began burning at the corners of her eyes, and she forcefully blinked them back as the memories tried to surface.
"Our history is the very reason that I am having to restrain myself right now from stamping your face into this stone! And while you may be able to shrug it off so casually as if our spats were the only thing that have happened between us to make me feel this way, it's not so easy for me to forget the fact that it was because of your people that my mother was taken from me over ten years ago!" The words pained her to even say, and she wiped a few tears that had escaped, weakly managing to keep her composure for the most part as she finally back away from him, her last words ending nearly in a shout.
She couldn't read his expression well, and he tried another weak attempt to speak, but she was already done. "Katara, I—"
"Yes, it would kill me Zuko because my mother was the nicest woman I knew, and they still killed her in cold blood," She said darkly, and with one last look over his haunted face, she turned and quickly made her way to anywhere but there, avoiding the many stares they had received from those brave enough to stop and watch the scene unfold.
She felt sick to her stomach. Was it really that hard for him to understand that the blood between them was bad long before they even met? Internally she groaned, not able to understand why she felt so disappointed, which only fueled her tempered mood more. She heard him calling after her, but it only made her feet carry her that much faster.
"I can't believe I let my guard down for him," She fumed once she found herself alone, only the faint stains lining her cheeks giving any indication of her crying earlier. It was one of the halls that lead alongside one of the courtyards, and she began unconsciously making her way to it. "I thought that maybe he was sorry, and that maybe this was going to be different, but no. Why do I bother anymore? It's not like he'll ever understand—that much is obvious."
At that she heard a chirp from beside her and shot Momo a glare, having known he was trailing her since she made her escape and had remained ignorant of his presence until he chimed in his opinion. She abruptly stopped, and turned to him, with her hands flying to her hips.
"What, are you defending him now?" She barked, taking a moment after his head tilted to the side in confusion before she realized she just yelled at a monkey-lemur, and was actually expecting a response that wasn't a throaty croak. She bit her lip with a turn and resumed her walking, muttering out a "crap, I'm starting to talk to animals now. Smooth Katara. When should we start planning your admittance to Azula's asylum? It's looking better every day..."
After that she walked silently for a few moments, eyeing the lemur that kept staring back at her, keeping pace with her as if he were trying to see where she was going. A few more steps in and she stopped again. Innocent as he may be, it was only plucking her raw nerves more.
"What is your problem?" She snapped, the sudden sound of her voice causing Momo to flinch. An exasperated sigh was let out and her shoulders relaxed, knowing he was an innocent bystander as she motioned down the hall, quieting her tone as she asked, "I'm not your owner so I don't get why you are following me. He's back there, and I'm not about to walk you back to him so, you can find your way back, okay?"
His ears twitched to the sides before turning back to her, the same blank stare he had been giving her boring into her frustrated one. That's when she finally noticed how familiar those big white ears looked.
"You were the one I saw in the fruit cart earlier!" Her eyes widened, realization dawning on her as she pointed to him. Her gaze narrowed in on him. This was his fault. If he hadn't scared the daylights out of her, then she wouldn't have run into Zuko like she had, and she wouldn't be in the simmering mood she is now. It was his fault, right?
"Why you little…" Drawing her conclusions to the culprit that sat within arm's reach, she quickly pounced on him, but he was faster and took to the air with a frightened screech. She peeled herself from the wall with a growl and pursued him, giving a few diving jumps to grab him, though they all led to her smacking into either the wall again or nearly tumbling to the ground.
"Come back here you little weasel… monkey… lemur… bat—whatever the heck you are!" She shouted, and after a few more quick steps, made another launch for him. To her satisfaction she grabbed a hold of one of his feet, but the leap sent her too far forward as she crashed into the ground with a painful groan, never letting her grip loose on Momo who let out another high-pitched noise as he came down with her. She adjusted onto her elbows with a pain-induced groan, but that didn't stop the prideful smirk from spreading across her lips as she locked eyes with him. "Gotcha!"
Carefully pulling herself up off the ground, she scanned the area and realized they had come up to the courtyard full of golden lilies, still standing on the edge of where the hallway closed itself off from the outside and where it opened onto the beautiful garden. Looking into the garden, she took a sharp breath in once she saw they weren't alone, and was startled to see someone just sitting in the middle of it.
His back was to her, but there was no mistaking that tattooed bald head.
He didn't stir from his spot so she guessed he hadn't caught wind of the fiasco she'd just dealt with concerning Momo, of whom she barely noticed she had loosened her grip on, and found herself watching him silently.
That was until said animal let out another shriek and launched itself forward towards the young man, easily wriggling out of her grip. Katara instinctively made a grab for him with a surprised gasp, but none too soon slapped a hand over her mouth in hopes that she hadn't been heard, watching as Momo perched himself on the young avatar's shoulder. She watched him reach out a hand and pet the animal without so much as a startle.
"Oh! Hey Momo, I was starting to wonder where you flew off to." His light laugh echoed through the air, and she glanced to her side in an attempt to pull herself away. It was working until he piped up again, and her whole body froze. "It would be nice if I could thank you for returning my friend to me before you go."
Her eyes widened slightly as she looked back to him, still very aware of the fact that he had yet to even inch a glance in her direction. 'How did he even know I was here?' She panicked for a moment before dumbly remembering the tumble she took, and inwardly rolled her eyes as she cleared her throat, taking a few tentative steps towards him.
"I wouldn't exactly say I was returning him…" She trailed off quietly, not sure exactly how to explain how they'd ended up there, and certainly not inclined to divulge everything. Without missing a beat, he looked at her over his shoulder with a cheesy grin, and her breath caught in her throat.
"Don't tell me you were stealing him then?" He drew the word out jokingly, but that wasn't what caught her by surprise. As soon as the words left his mouth, and he caught her gaze, his eyes widened considerably and a look of fear mixed with annoyance took over his face. Without warning he was on his feet nearly fumbling over himself trying to back away from her.
"L-look I found my room just fine, a-and I've already freshened up; please, I don't need anything more," He quickly spluttered out with a slight shake in his voice, finally finding some solid ground as he put a hand up to her. Katara quirked an eyebrow at the weird greeting, but didn't say anything, and he paused. A look of recognition, as though he remembered something that seemed to calm him down somewhat, took over his features, and he calmly asked: "Oh, were you coming to tell me that dinner is ready?"
She just eyed him incredulously and noticed the awkward glance he made down at her outfit, one that she followed, and then it hit her. He thought she was one of the staff. Without warning, the indignation she felt from the last visitors coursed through her and slipped off her tongue like bad sea prune stew.
"Excuse me?" Quickly crossing her arms over her chest, her eyes narrowed down on him. "I'm not here to fetch you for anything."
The look he gave her was doubtful at first as he eyed her outfit again, but he smiled sheepishly, a flicker of something crossing his face that was gone before she knew what it was.
"Oh sorry, I didn't mean to offend you or anything," He said, and his hand shot up to rub the back of his neck as he glanced away. "I just had a…an unpleasant experience earlier today — thanks to a friend — and your robes just look a lot like the other servants'."
Before she could think twice, she closed the gap between them and flicked him on the nose. "That's why you shouldn't just assume things, you know," She stated, smiling with satisfaction as he flinched in response, an annoyed look on his face as he reached up to rub the spot. Quickly getting over it, he looked back at her, more curiously this time. His gaze was a little more intense than she was comfortable with, causing her to shift somewhat as he looked her over, and realized they were a bit closer than she would've liked thanks to her own questionable actions.
"Wait, have we met before?"
Her eyes widened and she resisted the urge to scoff. Did he really not recognize her? It took her all of two seconds seeing his blue tattoos to know they could only belong to him. Being the only airbender alive didn't help his case either.
Despite the still leery look on her face, he inched closer as he innocently scanned her and remained oblivious to how this small action caused her to shift her weight away from him awkwardly. "I'm not exactly flattered by your ogling at me," She commented, inching herself back.
"You look very familiar," He continued thoughtfully, ignorant to her remark, before landing on her blue eyes. A grin quickly spread across his face as he had a visible 'aha' moment. "You're Sokka's sister, right?!"
She rolled her eyes, not withholding the mocking half-smile that came to her lips. "Really? It took you that long to recognize me?" She asked unamused. He shrugged, backing away from her and she felt her shoulders relax though she kept her eyes glued to him.
"Well, it's not like we ever spoke much with each other and it has been a while since I've seen you," He pointed out reasonably before his own words brought a confused look on. "Actually, why are you here? I thought you were engaged to someone at the North Pole, or at least that's what Sokka told me."
"I was, but…" She began without any hesitation, scowl already starting it's spread across her face when.. she blanked. She thought for sure that everyone knew by now, it wasn't like Sokka could keep his big mouth shut. But.. he didn't? The more she thought about that, the more she realized she liked the idea of there being one person out there who didn't know. "I'm conducting a little business with Prince Zuko," She finished airily. It wasn't a complete lie after all.
Though, after saying it, she could immediately see the question of what in those big eyes of his and just as his eyebrows shot up, she quickly tried to change the topic before he could question her further. "Not that it's a surprise to see you here, but what are you doing here?"
He eyed her a moment longer and then smirked. "Well, I was meditating until you not so quietly interrupted me."
"That's not what I meant. I thought you'd be off learning earthbending by now," She pointedly replied.
He only chuckled before answering her original question. "Kind of the same reason. I was doing some training when I got a messenger hawk from the Fire Lord asking for my presence here at the palace so, I hopped on Appa and flew over."
'Not one to spare details is he,' She thought before realizing that his presence here could signify someone else's, and smiled widely.
"Wait, is Sokka here somewhere?"It'd been too long since she'd last seen him, and although he got on her nerves, she missed him and the occasional letters they exchanged never were enough for her. Aang shook his head and she let out a disappointed sigh. "Oh."
"I'm only here until tomorrow evening so it wouldn't have made sense for him and Toph to drop what they were doing and come with," He supplied softly, sweeping a glance over her saddened face. "He did want to see you though. You wouldn't believe how much he talks about you," He added with a smile.
Katara chuckled, knowing without a doubt it was true, and the disappoint was ebbed by the familiar warmth spreading through her chest hearing it. "He likes to act like I'm the most annoying person he's ever met so, I can only imagine what he has said."
"Only good things so far," He reassured her with a widening smile.
Suddenly, Katara found herself taken by the brilliant grey eyes that looked back into hers. In the fleeting moments she had interacted with him when Sokka visited home, she'd never noticed much about him and yet it still struck her that he didn't seem to be the same kid that sauntered into their tiny village years ago. 'I didn't know they were grey…'
She hadn't realized she was staring until Aang awkwardly cleared his throat. Quickly glancing away, she fought the blush that she could feel already burning her cheeks.
"I am sorry about what I said earlier, I really wasn't paying attention." His apologetic voice brought her back to meet his gaze. "It took me a minute, but I can see the resemblance. You and Sokka look a lot alike."
Katara lightly snorted. "Well isn't that a compliment there," She said offhandedly, grateful that her blush decided to fade off with the distraction.
"Not exactly alike. He's not nearly as pretty as you."
That was though. Her eyebrow shot up after a light rosy tint covered his cheeks and he glanced away, the words seeming to have rolled off his tongue before he could help it.
"Thanks…" She began quietly and almost unconvincingly. Deciding the conversation was taking a weird turn she took this as her cue and finished by lightly saying, "Well, I should really get going—" She was already inching her way back from him before she shot him a quick apologetic smile "—and I'm sorry about interrupting your meditation. I'll let you get back to it now."
"I don't mind— honestly, if you want to stay."
She'd already turned her back to him, but there was no way she was staying any longer. Something about their conversation was making her nervous and the last thing she wanted was to be on edge for dinner. Dread was already building up inside her at the thought.
"No, no, I've distracted you for long enough," She stated and then stopped just short of the hallway she had come out of, deciding to glance back at him as a thought suddenly struck her. She moved her gaze to Momo who had taken up residence in the bird bath since Aang's first outburst when he thought she was a servant and pointed to him. "Wait… that thing is your pet?"
He followed her finger and nodded with a grin. "Momo? Yep!" Her face went blank and he eyed her curiously. "Why?"
She waved a passive hand, "Oh nothing…" Though inwardly she groaned at the memory. 'Why didn't he just say so?' She mused in annoyance, thinking back to Zuko.
With that she left him alone in the garden and headed towards her bedroom to change. On her way she kept thinking back over what Zuko had said to her earlier that day, and oddly enough, she found she didn't feel as angry about it anymore. Coming up to the corner she found herself face to face with three dolled up ones as the servants nearly ran right into her in their haste. They took notice of her right away and quickly bowed.
"Your highness! Forgive us for running into you like this," One of them spoke for the rest as they straightened up. Katara watched as they could hardly stay still, anxiously glancing around and trying to be discrete about it. But she could tell they were looking for something, and if she didn't know any better, she'd figure they were looking for a particular someone. It was kind of irritating, but also amusing at the same time.
While the other two continued their search, one of the girls spoke up, "We were told to inform you and the avatar that dinner is ready and will be served shortly, but—" the girl bit her lip nervously "—I'm afraid we haven't been able to find the avatar. We showed him to his room earlier today and that was the last we saw of him."
Yup, she knew it.
"Oh, I just saw him!" She stated, trying to be helpful, but after the words slipped her mouth she found all three girls nearly pinning her against the wall with desperate looks on their faces as they begged her to tell them where. Forget amusing this was just irritating, she decided.
She could hardly hold back a scowl as she pointed down the hall from where she came from. "He's out in the golden courtyard."
Without a moment's hesitation they thanked her profusely and disappeared in the direction she pointed towards, and she stared after them for a moment before exhaling and pushing herself off the wall. 'It's a good thing he's only here until tomorrow,' She thought to herself. 'There's no way I could deal with that for any longer.'
Once back in the bedroom, she was alone and found her thoughts drifting back to the airbender. She glanced at the robes that should've adorned her body from that morning and let out a sigh. She had planned on going to dinner tonight (they were the highlight of her days after all—sarcasm noted) but, on second thought, she didn't feel very hungry anymore.
Instead, she drew herself a bath and hoped, in some way, the water would cure everything that seemed so wrong with her life. It didn't.
Coming up next... Tell Me More
