This War of Ours
SUMMARY: In a world where the Fire Nation rules the world and only a few pockets of resistance remain, children are brought to the Academy in the Capital under the guise of harmonious learning. As Katara starts her journey in the hallowed halls, she quickly finds out that some things are not as they seem. [Zutara AU, inspired by Harry Potter]
A/N: Another chapter title lifted from JK Rowling because— I dunno, do I really need a reason to quote a genius? This time it's from Half-Blood Prince: "It is important to fight and fight again, and keep fighting, for only then can evil be kept at bay though never quite eradicated."
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender.
CHAPTER 5
to fight, and fight again
Zuko barely muffled his growl as Nekhi plopped another bushel of tomato-carrots in front of him. The kitchen help just raised his bushy eyebrows at the prince before taking a swig from his flask.
"Hey, man, you do the crime…" Nekhi began, but Zuko silenced him with a glare. The older man just raised his hands and wove his way through the cluttered kitchen, away from the angry prince.
"You do the crime…" Zuko muttered darkly under his breath, aggressively scrubbing the muck from the tomato-carrots. That was just it— he didn't even start this 'crime.' He was just stupid enough to be provoked into acting out; he was just unfortunate enough to be the first one to attack physically.
Taunting someone does not earn you detention. Harsh words do not warrant any punishment.
When will I ever learn.
Even in the Academy, Azula was still the lucky one.
He'd earned two weeks of detention— two weeks scrubbing pans and dusting windows and doing other equally degrading tasks— while his sister walked away with no consequence. And everyone acted as though he deserved it. What kind of brother— what kind of prince— turned on his own sister like that?
But he didn't really care about the whispers that followed him anymore. His reputation had been burned to ashes ever since he was marked by his own father. Of course anything else he did would just be fodder to the flames.
What irked him was how this foolish activity derailed his plans on locating the Avatar. Even though his punishment sent him to the library to dust the shelves, he barely had the time to read through Air Nomad scrolls.
On top of all that, he and Mai weren't speaking. Again.
He can't wait for this to be over.
All of this. All because he couldn't tune his wretched sister out. All because he let her goad him into a fight.
It started out innocently enough. He and Mai were lounging on one of the stone benches in the Eastern Courtyard after they ate lunch. They shared a moon peach for dessert, and Mai had been complaining about the color of the fuzzy fruit while Zuko listened, amused at how she hated the world.
"You guys really missed each other over the summer, huh?"
Ty Lee sauntered over to them, all smiles and frills, with Azula trailing closely behind.
"You could've come home, you know, instead of spending your summer here with Uncle," his sister said, feigning concern. "Then Mai would have had an excuse to go to the Palace."
"Leave me alone, Azula."
That had been his usual retort to all her insinuating words. It usually worked.
His sister feigned a pout.
"Oh, Zuzu. You don't have to act like this. It's not like Father banished you. He just said that if you didn't agree with his methods of finding the Avatar, you should go look for him yourself. He just wanted you to learn respect, that's all."
Then he burned me in front of the whole country. His most loyal son. Zuko thought bitterly. His fingers bruised the delicate skin of the moon peach he held, its juices trickling into his palm.
"You know," Azula continued, "I'm pretty sure if he finds out how hard you've been working, he'll throw a feast for your homecoming. Wouldn't that be nice, Mai? A party, just like the old times."
Beside him, Mai stiffened ever so slightly, but her face remained in an unaffected mask.
"I never enjoyed parties," Mai drawled, and Zuko smiled gratefully at her. At least someone was on his side.
"Oh well," Azula replied, examining her nails, "If Zuko's luck followed him to this mission, you'd never have to attend a party with him anymore. Your father wouldn't want you to be seen with a prince with no honor."
The words cut through Zuko like a blast of fire to the chest. He glanced at Mai, hoping she will side with him again with that same bored tone, hoping she will deny Azula's words and tell her he wasn't a disgrace, that her father doesn't control her actions, that she didn't care how the Fire Nation nobility thought so little him.
But Mai wouldn't look at him, and it hurt Zuko more because her silence meant he'd have to face Azula alone.
He tried to block Azula's remarks. Azula always lies.
"It's a wonder you still think you can succeed in this mission, Zuzu. Then again, spending time with uncle must've taught you the ways of tea and failure."
Despite his resentment towards the old man, Zuko felt flames lick his hands, charring the moon peach to a crisp.
Mai stood up mutely and took her place beside Ty Lee. A stab of shame flitted through Zuko, but it was quickly mashed down by his resentment towards his girlfriend. She was supposed to have his back, all the time, not just when it's easy.
Agni, I stood up to Father and I accepted the consequences. Taking my side against Azula's has less repercussions than that.
And here he was again, accepting the consequences as best he could, even though it irritated him that it wasn't his fault in the first place.
No, it's your fault, the small voice in the back of his head chided. Everything's your fault. If you were stronger, if you didn't let her get to you, if you kept your mouth shut in front of the Council, if you'd listened to Uncle Iroh about thinking things through—
"New blood comin' in!" Nekhi announced from the doorway, leading two girls into the kitchens.
Zuko glanced up at the newcomers, a Water Tribe girl and an Earth Kingdom warrior he'd dueled before, both of whom didn't appear the least bit apologetic at earning detention. He continued scrubbing the filth off the tomato-carrots with water, paying them no mind as they whispered to each other.
"I can't believe we got caught," Katara mumbled to Suki as they entered the kitchens. The Fire Prince, who was slapped with detention after his attack on his sister, stood a few paces away. She eyed him warily. Katara was still admittedly scared of the way he'd blasted fire at the Fire Princess— she'd known how violent firebenders could be, but witnessing it up close added the image to her recurring nightmares.
Sokka would never do that to her, even when she really pissed him off. The only time she and her brother were truly at each other's throats was after they sent their mother's body away into the sea. Even then, he hadn't laid a hand on her, even after Gran-Gran released him from her wizened hands.
But maybe things worked differently in Fire Nation families. Maybe it was acceptable for kin to hurt each other.
After all, violence is in their blood.
"We're lucky it was Zei who found us," Suki replied in an equally low voice. "Otherwise we'd have gotten more than three days of kitchen duty."
"Thank the spirits for his love of learning," muttered Katara. Suki hid her giggle behind her hand.
They'd been sparring at midnight for over a week when Sifu Zei decided the full moon was the best time to examine the night-blooming flora that scattered the woods of the Academy. He didn't seem particularly miffed about the waterbending scroll in Katara's possession ("I understand the thirst for knowledge, little lady,") or the fact that an Earth Kingdom student under his care was out of bed ("Did the secrets of the night call out to you as well?"), but he still sent them to detention the day after.
"You think we'd be able to sneak out after this?" Katara asked her companion as she washed her hands in a large metal tub. Suki followed her, frowning.
"Nah, I don't think so. We're gonna have to lay low for a bit. Maybe we can give it a go on music night, when everyone's distracted."
The words drifted to Zuko and he couldn't help but groan at the mention of 'music night'. The Water Tribe girl stiffened at the sound and glanced at him, but he continued cleaning the vegetables in the basin as nonchalantly as he could, keeping his back to them.
Katara lowered her voice before asking, "What's music night?"
Suki let out a bark of laughter as she reached for a paring knife. "It's this thing the Headmaster does at least twice a month. It's incredibly fun or incredibly horrifying, depending on who you ask."
Katara peeked at the Fire Prince working at his station. Based on the groan he'd let out, she was betting he was one of the latter. She worked on peeling a potato, mulling the options.
"You're sure no one would notice if we spar on music night?" she wondered as she tossed her handiwork into a bowl filled with saltwater.
Suki tossed another peeled potato into the bowl. "If they did, no one would care. All the Sifus would be hopped up on cactus juice."
A snort escaped from Zuko before he could stop it. The two girls glared at him for his intrusion.
"It's rude for a young man to eavesdrop on unsuspecting ladies, Your Highness," Suki said airily, and Katara felt her admiration for the older girl flare.
"It's fairly easy to overhear your plans when you chatter as loud as hog monkeys," Zuko snapped back.
"Wow, I never expected a prince to be this rude," muttered Katara as she poked an eye out of a potato.
"What was that, peasant?" snarled Zuko, the murky water he was elbow-deep in heating considerably. If he didn't calm down, all the tomato-carrots would be cooked before Nekhi could put them in the stew.
Katara raised her eyebrows at him, affecting innocence. "I didn't say anything, Your Highness. Your hearing was perfectly fine when you were eavesdropping on us; surely you must have heard if I said anything."
Suki sniggered appreciatively. Zuko grumbled and scrubbed the last of the tomato-carrots with more ferocity than required. He wiped his hands on a dish rag and stomped from the kitchens, not even bothering to glare at them when they struck up their conversation loudly as he left.
I can't believe I have to endure those twittering girls on top of everything else.
"Remind me again why you landed your butt in detention?" Sokka whined painfully.
It was her second night of kitchen duty, and Sokka had only found out when she walked towards the stone stairwell going down into the kitchens. The night before, he had been conspicuously busy making Yue laugh with his antics and just assumed his sister went to bed early.
Katara peered around the bottom of the stairwell before hissing, "Because I was practicing waterbending at midnight, Sokka."
Her brother threw his hands up. "Great! Just great! Dad's gonna have my hide for this, Katara! You promised you'd stay out of trouble!"
"That is precisely why you won't tell Dad about this," countered Katara, crossing her arms over her chest. "I've already written him that we're both fine. So unless you want me to tell him about your boomerang incident, you'll keep your trap shut about this, okay?"
Sokka frowned at her, deliberating. "Fine. But no more midnight waterbending for you, missy!"
"Nope. Can't promise that." She rolled her eyes when he started to protest. "They don't teach us anything but healing, Sokka. And I can't heal anything, so I'm learning other things through other means. Imagine if no one taught you how to use your boomerang and your spear and your sword. What would you do?"
Her brother opened his mouth but closed it again in acquiescence. Katara grinned at him.
"If you're so worried, you can tag along, y'know. Suki's probably tired of me fumbling an ice spear. You two can spar while I learn the forms."
"Suki?" Sokka asked curiously.
"Yeah?" Suki's voice called from the hallway below them.
Katara smirked at Sokka before grabbing his wrist and dragging him along the stone passageway. "C'mon, I'll introduce you."
"Fine. And I am curious about where all the food is made," he grumbled as they turned the corner. "Can you sneak some food out or will you get in more trouble for that?"
"Ah, you must be the ever-hungry brother Katara told me about," Suki said, by way of greeting. She planted her hands on her hips as she regarded Sokka. "Our training sessions will reach nobody's ears, or I'll crush you into pulp, got it?"
"Jeez, there's no way I'd let a girl beat me up," Sokka scoffed and matched her glare. "But hey, you're welcome to try."
"Sokka!" Katara scowled, but Suki held a hand up.
"If I recall, I actually beat you every time we sparred, Boomerang Boy," Suki challenged, lips quirking. "Though I admit, it would be nice to see you try to bring me down, for once. Seemed like you were holding back because I was a girl."
Sokka sputtered. "I wasn't holding back!"
"Oh, so you just weren't strong enough to beat me, then," Suki shrugged dismissively. Sokka bristled, opening and closing his mouth as he thought of a comeback.
"C'mon, Katara," Suki said, looping her arm through hers and effectively ignoring whatever retort Sokka planned to say, "Let's go in before Nekhi and Zhou Qi catch us loitering with your brother."
"Tui forbid they make him do the laundry when he can't even wash his own socks," Katara spared her brother a smirk before turning away. They heard him sputter before stalking up the stairs.
Inside the kitchen, dishes were piled high on the counters and a tub of soapy water was waiting for them.
"Huh, looks like the Fire Prince won't be joining us tonight," Katara commented, knocking leftovers from plate into a bin.
Suki scoffed. "Probably pulled some strings with the Headmaster to get out of detention early. The old man favors him more than his sister, seems like."
Katara scrunched up her face. "Families in the Fire Nation are weird."
"Oh, don't get me started on Headmaster Iroh and the Fire Lord," Suki agreed, drying the plate Katara handed her. "I cannot believe those two are related."
"I know!" Katara remarked emphatically, remembering her impression of the elderly man at the welcome feast. "Iroh seems so kind, even though he is a bit… eccentric."
Suki snorted. "Eccentric is a good word for it. Although I'm not sure about the 'kind' part…"
"Why? What did he do?" prompted Katara.
"He still keeps the Fire Lord counsel," Suki shrugged. "I heard over the summer that he was the one who let slip that the Avatar might still be alive."
Katara paused mid-bending, soapy water hovering over the plate she was cleaning. "What? How? Didn't Sozin kill the last Avatar? If he was reincarnated somehow, shouldn't he have stopped the war already?"
Again, Suki shrugged, pushing her auburn hair from her face. "Dunno. All I heard is that the Fire Lord's gathering forces to hunt him down again."
Katara set the plate down and faced Suki fully. "How do you know all this?"
"Kyoshi Island tried to stay out of the war as long as we could, but once we decided to get involved," the older girl smirked, "We dove in head first and took no chances."
"Ready for a rematch, firebender?" The Southern Water Tribe boy was boisterous, arrogant from his last win. Zuko glared at him.
He despised sparring with the non-benders. It was below him. And he particularly hated being pitted against the boy with the boomerang again. That loss was humiliating, and even though most of his classmates seemed to forget after a week, he held onto that feeling of shame and used it to fuel his other fights.
Zuko never forgot every instance of his own failure. His father never let him forget, so why should he?
He unsheathed his dao swords, waiting for the other boy to strike.
Sokka was, admittedly, not prepared to be facing off with the firebender again. He can bluster up all the fake courage he has to save face, but he was downright frightened. What if the guy broke the rules? If he could risk detention just to attack his own sister, surely he'd have no problem burning Sokka to a crisp if he humiliated him again.
He glanced around the crowd that gathered to watch, all the students waiting their turn. He caught a glimpse of white hair and caught Yue's worried eyes.
Great, at least I'm not the only one who thinks I'm toast.
But he was a wolf of the tundra, a warrior of the Southern Water Tribes, and their people did not let Fire Nation scum get away unscathed. He will be damned if he let down his people.
He slid his sword from its scabbard, grinning tauntingly at the Fire Prince. No, he wasn't going to be the idiot with a boomerang in this match.
Zuko tried not to let the surprise show on his face when he saw the boy hold out his sword. No boomerang this time? Well, he could work with that.
Piandao raised his hand to start the match, and the Water Tribe boy was immediately on the offensive, weaving around Zuko as steel clashed against steel. He'd only had time to sweep the sword away before the boy appeared on his other side, blade nearly cutting through his middle, forcing Zuko to jump back.
Sokka took advantage of the opening and lunged forward, but the Fire Prince smirked a split second before twisting his sword out of his grasp with his twin weapons. He thrust one blade beneath Sokka's chin triumphantly.
"Yield."
"Nope."
Sokka swept the prince's legs and grabbed his sword, jumping onto a stone bench as Zuko aimed for his midriff. He stumbled along the length of the bench as the firebender launched relentless attacks.
"Hey, hey! Simmer down, Hotman," cried Sokka as their swords met with a clang. He spied the end of the bench from the corner of his eye. Seems like the prince was forcing him back on the ground.
Not gonna happen.
Sokka pushed himself to the opposite end of the bench. To his surprise, Zuko leapt onto the bench as well, brandishing his dao swords.
The Water Tribe boy stood his ground. Each of Zuko's attacks and follow-throughs were blocked, clumsily but quickly. Two blades cut through the air in front of his face and his legs, and he teetered backwards onto the grass.
"Ow!"
Zuko jumped down from the bench and approached his opponent, who was clutching his wrist and howling in pain.
"Are you al—"
"Sokka!"
The noisy girl from detention practically shoved Zuko aside as she and the Northern Water Tribe princess made their way towards the boy on the ground. Zuko backed away slowly, sheathing his swords and melting into the crowd as Piandao and his classmates surrounded the Water Tribe warrior.
He won this match, but he didn't feel any victory.
"Bring him to Yugoda's hut," the stern-looking swordmaster directed Katara and Yue as Sokka whimpered. He squeezed Sokka's shoulder before turning towards the other students.
Katara caught a glimpse of the Fire Prince in the crowd. She shot him her most venomous look. First he ditched detention and left them with a tipsy Nekhi, then he went out of his way just to prove he was a better swordsman?
Even for a firebender, he was particularly cruel. She should have known that when she saw him attack his own sister.
"It was a good fight, Sokka," Yue said, once they were in the shade of the Great Hall. Sokka just groaned, leaning into her more than necessary.
"Spirits, getting him to Yugoda's shack would be easier if airbenders were still around to fly us there," Katara grumbled under her breath. Yue shushed her, casting a fearful look around.
"I can at least try to ease the pain, Sokka," the older girl said. But Sokka only shook his head.
"Tui and La," Katara rolled her eyes at her brother. "This isn't the time to act all manly and tough, Sokka. You might've broken your arm!"
"I'm fine, sis," hissed Sokka in a tone that clearly said he was not fine.
"Alright then, big bro, if you're really fine, then we don't have to bring you to Sifu Yugoda."
"Katara!" Yue exclaimed, eyes wide. Katara quickly realized that the princess might not be familiar with how callous she sounded when she was teasing her brother.
"Sorry, Sokka," she muttered, wrapping an arm around her brother and letting him lean into her as they walked.
"Glad to hear it," Sokka replied through gritted teeth.
A few paces away from the cabin, Katara gasped and tugged at her brother. Both he and Yue stopped, and Katara knelt down to tug off his left boot.
"He cut you!"
Sokka regarded the dark stain seeping through the blue fabric of his pant leg. He shrugged. "It's not that deep, Katara. It'll heal after a bit, don't worry."
"But it's a lot of blood!" Katara exclaimed, rolling up his pants to examine the cut. The red line gaped just above the place where his pants were tucked into his boots. She looked up at her brother, worrying her lower lip.
Yue sighed. "We better get you to Yugoda faster, Sokka."
The healing master seemed more than ready to accept patients, already sitting at the porch with her earthen jugs of water close. Katara figured this was a common occurrence during combat training.
"How did this happen, young man?" Yugoda asked, not unkindly. She gloved Sokka's wrist with glowing water, assessing the damage. Sokka groaned.
"I was battling the Fire Prince—" he started, but Katara cut off the long-winded explanation with a simple, "He fell from a bench, Sifu."
Yugoda nodded absently. "Your wrist is fractured. It might take a few sessions before it heals completely. Is this your sword hand?"
Sokka shook his head with a relieved sigh.
"He's still bleeding pretty bad, though," Katara commented, gesturing at her brother's bloodied leg.
"We will patch that up later, Katara," the healer assured her softly. Katara started to protest, that maybe Yue could heal it while the master worked on Sokka's wrist, but Yugoda sent her inside the hut to grab bandages and a splint.
Yugoda busied herself with Sokka's wrist, enlisting Yue's help halfway through the process. Katara wrung her hands, feeling utterly useless amid the flurry of movements and waterbending.
Staying stationary while her brother was hurt would drive her insane. She summoned a whip of water from a jug and wrapped it around Sokka's leg wound.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" He lifted his leg away from her, disrupting Yugoda and Yue's bending. "What're you doing? You said you can't heal yet!"
"I know! B-but…" she glanced at Yugoda, who smiled thinly at her. They both knew how far behind she was on their lessons. "I still wanna try, Sokka. Please?"
"I will not be your practice dummy! What if your magic water ends up hurting me—"
"Oh, quit being such a baby and let me—" she yanked his ankle with her water whip, oblivious to the stares she got from Yue and Yugoda, and firmly clothed his wound with water, beyond caring if nothing would happen, she just wanted the horrible bleeding to stop—
"What just happened?" Sokka croaked.
Katara blinked at the fading blue light underneath her fingertips.
A/N: Does anyone else love domestic!Zuko fics more than anything other trope in the 'verse? Lol. I also really wanted Katara's first instance of healing to be with Zuko, but then he's still a scary firebender to her at this point, and family comes first for the Water Tribes. Kinda think healing is an extension of her mothering side, so of course it'll crop up with Sokka. Let me know what you think of this chapter!