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: Chapter title is a line from Mary Oliver's poem, Catbird: "I am so vast, uncertain, and strange. I am the one who comes and goes, and who knows why."
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender.
CHAPTER 7
vast, uncertain, and strange
"Katara!" Gumi popped up in front of her as she emerged from the communal washroom. The girl's blue eyes were sparkling with excitement. "Let's go get our fortunes read! Aunt Wu's doing her yearly reading for the Fire Nation harvest season, and Yura said she'll read fortunes for students, too!"
"Wait, slow down!" Katara giggled at her friend's contagious excitement. "Aunt who?"
"No, Aunt Wu," Gumi grasped her wrist and practically dragged her to the common room where Yuka, Yura, Akkad, and Sokka were gathered by the window. "She's the fortune teller. The Fire Nation's mighty superstitious, and it's tradition to have fortunes read before the monsoon season starts—"
"Oh come on," Sokka rolled his eyes when he heard what the girls were talking about. "Fortune telling is nonsense!"
"Yeah," drawled Akkad from his perch on the windowsill. "If Aunt Wu tells you to eat papaya even though you hate it, would you still do it?"
"I would if it leads me to the man I'm gonna marry," chirped Gumi as she and Katara settled into the cushions. Akkad scoffed.
"Marriage. Really. That's all girls can talk about," he muttered to Sokka, who guffawed.
Katara rolled her eyes and blatantly ignored the pair. She turned to the other girls. "Maybe we should go see Aunt Wu and learn our fortunes. It could be fun."
"That's what I've been saying!" Gumi exclaimed.
"What are you going to ask her, Katara?" Yuka said, leaning her elbow on her thigh. Katara contemplated on her options— not that there were many. She was loath to prove Akkad and her brother right, but Gumi already planted the only appealing question in her head.
Azula could already bend blue flames.
Zuko paced angrily in his uncle's study, the only place he thought safe as the entire Academy's populace brimmed with giddiness over the upcoming festivities.
There wasn't even anything to harvest in the Academy. It was just a stupid excuse for students and Sifus alike to laze around for a week.
But really, he was just looking for something else to irk him, aside from his sister's bending prowess. He chose the closest one— the stupidity of his classmates.
Teens were lined up in the corridor outside the Headmaster's quarters, eagerly chatting with each other as they waited for their turn with the fortune teller, whose chambers were two doors down from Iroh's.
Why people bothered to get their fortunes read was beyond him. Why did his nation put so much stock in the predictions of a fraud?
The door to the study opened and the Fire Prince dropped into a defensive stance. Iroh beamed at him from the threshold, hands folded over his robust belly.
"Prince Zuko!" His nephew loosened his posture with an exasperated huff. "Why aren't you soaking up on the festivities? Have you come to drink tea with your favorite uncle?"
Zuko rolled his eyes and resumed pacing. "You're my only uncle… Uncle," he resisted the urge to slap a hand to his forehead. "And I don't see the point in the festivities. It's too loud out there."
"Ah, the joys of life are wasted on the youth," Iroh motioned for him to sit in the cushions and he reluctantly did as his uncle busied himself with making tea. It amazed Zuko how Uncle Iroh could whip up some tea just about anywhere.
"I'm sure there's another reason that you are here, nephew." Zuko clenched his jaw as the Headmaster settled himself across the low table. He waited until the cups were filled with steaming amber liquid before he gritted out the words.
"Azula's flames are blue."
Iroh observed him over the rim of his teacup. "Ah. So I heard."
"I want to learn how to bend lightning."
The words were out before he could think them through. His uncle's bushy eyebrows lifted in inquiry.
Zuko gripped his porcelain teacup. "It's only a matter of time before she can bend it, Uncle."
"Oh yes. But, nephew, are you sure you want to learn how to bend lightning just to spite your sister?"
"I don't want to learn just to spite her," he replied, an edge of bitterness in his voice. "As the Crown Prince, am I not supposed to master advanced techniques?"
He knew Iroh could easily see through his bald-faced lie. Yes, he just wanted to be better than Azula. He just wanted to prove he was still worth something, that he was not as weak and incompetent as his father believed.
Azula was the golden child. Maybe by mastering something only advanced students learned, he could be on the same level as his sister.
She'll always be better than you, though, the voice in the back of his head reminded him.
"Lightning is a pure form of firebending, without aggression," Iroh began, steam from his cup wafting over his silver beard. "It is not fueled by rage or emotion the way other firebending is."
"So you don't think I can do it." It wasn't a question. Zuko's shoulders slumped forward. He should have expected this. Even Iroh knew that Azula will always, always be one step ahead of him. Of course he would think Zuko was too volatile to master lightning bending.
Isn't that why my family exists? To remind me that I'm never good enough?
But Iroh simply placed his teacup on its delicate saucer, and said, without judgement, "I simply think you are not yet ready, Prince Zuko. Some call lightning the cold-blooded fire. It is precise and deadly, like Azula. And you are everything but cold-blooded and deadly, my nephew."
Zuko stayed silent, wondering if his uncle's words were a trap, something that would eventually smash the glimmer of pride he felt at the old man's compliment.
"To perform the technique requires peace of mind," Uncle Iroh continued, and Zuko braced himself for the long-overdue admonition, the back-hand that would strike his confidence down.
It never came.
"And that is why you will join me for tea and meditation every morning henceforth," Iroh smiled at him benignly over steepled fingers. Zuko gaped at his uncle, at a loss for words of gratitude, but Iroh merely held up a hand in understanding.
"If you insist on learning how to bend lightning, Prince Zuko, then I would be happy to instruct you," his uncle's brows furrowed in concern. "I only wish you do not bring more pressure upon yourself. My brother has already befitted you with so much. I don't want to see you break, nephew."
The Fire Prince looked at him with wonder, and ducked his head to drink his lukewarm tea.
"Aunt Wu is expecting you," an attendant in Earth Kingdom green bowed deeply to them as they entered the fortune teller's ante-chambers.
"Really?" squealed Katara, and Gumi squeezed her hand excitedly. Sokka and Akkad scoffed and gagged mockingly behind them, but they followed suit as the man ushered the group through the doorway.
A pink-clad girl, who looked younger than Katara and Gumi, walked into the room just as they settled themselves into the cushions.
"My name is Meng and I'm Aunt Wu's assistant," she announced cheerfully. Her eyes immediately snapped to Akkad. "Well, hello there."
"Hello," he just slumped into the cushions disinterestedly. Sokka snickered as the young girl tugged on her unruly braid uncertainly.
"Can I get you some tea or some of Aunt Wu's special bean curd puffs?" Meng asked politely but mechanically, her eyes still on Akkad.
Sokka straightened up at the mention of food. "I'll try a curd puff!"
"Just a second," she told Sokka, who deflated. Katara and Gumi exchanged amused looks as Meng turned to Akkad again.
"So, what's your name?"
The Water Tribe boy scratched his nose uncomfortably. "Akkad."
"That's a pretty name!" Meng exclaimed. "And you've got pretty big ears, don't you?"
The rest of the group tittered as Akkad flushed and covered his ears with his hands. "No, I don't!"
"Don't be so modest," Sokka nudged him playfully with his elbow.
"Yeah, Akkad," Gumi reached across Sokka to poke the other boy's shoulder. "They're huge!"
He scowled at them darkly and Katara stifled her giggles with a fist. Meng, meanwhile, made her way to the ornate door that led to Aunt Wu's chambers. She smiled over her shoulder at Akkad, who still covered his ears with his hands.
"Well, Akkad, it was very nice meeting you," she said smoothly, her eyes glinting. "Very nice."
"Likewise," Akkad muttered. Meng gave him a satisfied look as she strode out of the room.
As soon as the doors clicked shut, Sokka stretched out on his cushion and tucked his hands behind his head. "I can't believe we're in this house of nonsense."
His friend snorted in agreement. Katara tossed her braid over her shoulder disdainfully.
"Try to keep an open mind, Sokka," she said, nose in the air, "There are things in this world that just can't be explained."
"Like Akkad's big ears," Gumi interjected, and the two girls dissolved into a fit of giggles.
"Hey!" He protested. "You're lucky you're girls and I can't fight you."
"Oh, and how were you gonna fight us, huh?" Gumi stuck her tongue out at the boy.
"Yeah," Katara jumped in. "Are you gonna flap your big ears at us and make us go away?"
Sokka burst out laughing. "Earbender!"
Akkad landed a punch on his shoulder, face scrunched up, which made Sokka laugh harder.
"You could fly with your ears, dude! Like a new generation of airbenders, but with ears! Earbender!"
Meng walked in then with a tray of bean curd puffs, chatting with an Earth Kingdom girl that Katara recognized as one of Suki's Kyoshi warriors, Jia.
"Oh, Katara!" The older girl beamed and rushed forward. "Aunt Wu says I'm going to meet my true love. He's going to give me a rare panda lily."
"That's so romantic!" exclaimed Katara, hands clasped.
"I wonder if my true love will give me a rare flower," Meng said pointedly as she set down her tray.
Akkad elbowed Sokka and stage-whispered, "I'm tellin' ya, girls are all the same."
Katara opened her mouth to reply something smart and scathing, but Jia beat her to it. She playfully poked Meng's side and stage-whispered in the same fashion, "Did Aunt Wu really predict you'd marry that guy? 'Cause he doesn't seem that great— and his ears are too big."
Meng flushed as pink as her garb and set down the tray haphazardly in front of the Water Tribe students.
"Enjoy your snack!" She said shrilly before hurriedly disappearing through the door.
"Don't mind if I do," said Sokka, plucking a puff from the tray. Jia took this as her cue to leave.
"If you'll excuse me, I'll go look for my true love now." She bowed to the group as the man at the exit ushered her out.
Before Sokka could pop his second bean curd puff into his mouth, the door to the chambers opened and an elderly woman in deep golden robes approached them, her hands tucked into her billowing sleeves. Gumi squirmed excitedly beside Katara.
"Welcome, young ones," Aunt Wu greeted them benignly. "Now, who's next? Don't be shy."
The group exchanged looks; Sokka and Akkad wore disinterested expressions, while Gumi and Katara silently deliberated who would be the first one to get their fortune read.
Gumi widened her eyes and nodded at Katara in a "Tell me how it goes first because I don't know what to do" kind of way that made Katara sigh exasperatedly despite her excitement.
"I guess that's me," she told Aunt Wu, and followed the fortune teller through the huge doors and into a suite, where a fire was merrily crackling in a pit in the center of the room. Katara was immediately reminded of the fire pits they had back at home— although, in the South Pole, fire was a welcome addition to any room. Here in the Fire Nation, the added warmth was just overkill.
She settled down on a cushion by the fire, trying to pay no mind to the heat licking her face. Aunt Wu sat down by her side and looked at her knowingly.
"I see you are not a fan of fire," she commented, her painted lips pressed thin.
"Not really," Katara tried to smile. She wondered if Aunt Wu was from the Fire Nation. Would she predict a bad future for her if she offended the fortune teller? "I guess I'm just not used to it. Being from the South Pole, I mean."
"You will learn to love it," the fortune teller said, and she wondered if this was a fortune or just small talk. "You have fire in your eyes."
Before Katara could ask what she meant, Aunt Wu pursed her lips and held her veined hands out. "But perhaps a fortune from flames and bones is not something you would be open to at this time. Give me your hands."
Obediently, Katara held her palms out, her excitement bubbling.
"Your palms are so smooth," Aunt Wu commented. "Do you use moisturizer?"
"Actually, I have this special seaweed lotion. I can get you some if you want." Katara leaned forward earnestly. "So, do you see anything interesting in my love line?"
"I feel a great romance for you," Aunt Wu announced. "The man you are going to marry."
"Tell me more!"
"I can see that he's a very powerful bender," the elderly lady continued, studying her palm.
Katara sighed dreamily. "About this man I'm supposed to marry," she felt her ears burning, but she quickly attributed that to the heat of the flames, "Is he going to be handsome? Oh! I hope he's tall!"
Aunt Wu smiled thinly at her, as though she had heard this a thousand times before. "Yes, dear. He will be handsome, and tall."
"Will we have a good life together?" asked Katara excitedly.
The fortune teller nodded, closing Katara's fingers over her own palm. "A great romance, a great adventure, and a great life. You will have your third great-grandchild before quietly passing away in your sleep."
"Wow!" She looked at her hand in wonder, pleased that her life would turn out so well. She shot to her feet gleefully. "Thanks, Aunt Wu!"
She scurried to the door with a wide smile on her face. She can't wait to compare fortunes with Gumi.
Certain things are going to turn out very well.
When Zuko emerged from his uncle's office, it was late in the afternoon, and the volume of students getting their fortunes told had dissipated from the corridor.
Golden light filtered through the arched windows, and the Fire Prince felt a rare moment of peace.
He was distracted, however, by the sound of crying at the far end of the corridor. He automatically flattened himself against the wall.
A girl's voice, full of concern, echoed to him, magnified by the curve of the stairwell.
"Gumi, what did Aunt Wu tell you?"
The crying girl hiccuped, then dissolved into nonsensical wailing.
"You can't believe everything that woman tells you!" A boy's voice, this time, loud in its frustration, vibrated through the corridor. Zuko couldn't help but agree with his sentiment.
"Shut up, Sokka!" reprimanded the previous voice. "You're just saying that because you're going to make yourself unhappy your whole life."
"That woman is crazy!" The boy— Sokka— yelled shrilly. "My life will be calm and happy and— and joyful!"
There was an exasperated huff, some scuffling, and a few quiet words.
"...would be fun but then she said Dad would die in the war!" A new voice, presumably the crying girl, wailed.
"I thought you were going to ask about boring stuff like who you're gonna marry!" Another male voice joined the conversation, cracking in uncertain places as only a pubescent boy's voice could.
"I did!" The anguished girl replied. "I asked if Dad would like him, then— then— she said he'll be involved in a great battle in the North—"
"If you insist on believing that stuff, then at least you know your dad will die to save our hides! You should be grateful! There's no greater—"
The pubescent boy's words were cut off by the sound of flesh hitting flesh.
"Have you ever lost a parent, Akkad?" The other girl's voice was so icy, so cold, that even Zuko had to repress a shudder.
A pause, then the girl's voice: "Then you wouldn't know how painful it is, even if they died to save your hide. Come on, Gumi."
Two sets of shuffling footsteps left for the Great Hall. A few moments of silence followed, until—
"Our mom died protecting Katara from Fire Nation soldiers." One of the boys said glumly. "She was the last waterbender in the South Pole, and they would've taken her if mom didn't lie."
"I'm sorry," the other boy replied sullenly. "I didn't know."
There was a sigh, followed by joints popping as one of the boys stretched.
"I knew getting our fortunes told was a bad idea," the first boy said, the sound of his boots scraping across the stone floor.
"It was a waste of time! I didn't even get any prediction from her 'cause Gumi ran away."
"At least she didn't tell you your struggles will be self-inflicted. Honestly! Didn't even read my palms or anything…"
Zuko waited until the voices faded before heading to the Fire Nation common room, his head filled with the conversation he had just overheard.
If the Fire Nation troops could easily miss the existence of the last waterbender of the Southern Water Tribe, could it be possible that the Avatar was also hiding in plain sight?
Zuko wondered if his theory would hold; the Avatar could have already been reincarnated into the Water Tribes. Was he a fully-realized one now, or was he still too young to know his destiny?
Would the members of the Water Tribes keep such thing a secret for too long? Surely word would've spread if the Avatar was old enough to train. Benders from all over the world would give an arm and a leg to train the long-lost Avatar.
Especially if it meant overthrowing the Regime of Fire.
His father might believe he was too young to fully grasp how war works, but Zuko was not daft. He knew why his father sent troops to hunt the Avatar. He knew why the Academy library had such few scrolls on the topic.
His feet veered to the third floor of the East Wing before his mind could catch up.
"You know, in Kyoshi, we have this fortune teller who uses cards instead of bones," Suki said, polishing her steel fans.
"Did you get your fortune read?" Katara asked. She summoned water from the eddies that swirled below the lichen-covered outcropping they stood on.
Suki frowned at a particularly stubborn mark on her fan's handle.
"Before I got into the Academy, yeah," she answered. "She told me I'd have great adventures. Wasn't such a stretch, though, since Oyaji was already grooming me to be the Kyoshi warriors' next leader."
Katara hummed in understanding. Suki certainly deserved to be the leader of their band of women warriors; based on the intense glow of the water gloving her hands, Katara could tell that sustained several cuts and bruises from their spar, whereas Suki didn't look the slightest bit ruffled.
It was Suki's idea to spar before sundown, for want of things to occupy their time; it was also Suki's idea to spar by the spot where the river fell into the ocean. She whisked Katara down the stone steps carved into the face of the cliff by the Western Courtyard faster than Katara could say "detention."
She finally stopped protesting when Suki told her it was about time she knew where Sifu Pakku trained the Water Tribe boys.
The place was breathtaking.
The training grounds, a small clearing that jutted away from the shade of the trees, stood a mere few feet above the ocean— flecks of waves licked up its edge every now and then. Beyond that, it was all blue— water pulled at Katara's veins, water rose to touch her; the sound of waves here was louder, fiercer, stronger than she'd ever heard since she set foot in the Fire Nation.
She laughed and resisted the urge to surf through the waves and into the horizon, where the ocean met the sky.
Her element was everywhere. Near the clearing, beyond the trees, curtains of water cascaded down the tiered cliffside before falling in a thunderous crash into the open sea. Katara could feel the mist in the air as it rose from where the waterfall emptied into the ocean. Small streams broke off from the large river in the mountains; they trickled down the bluff and into shallow rivulets around the training grounds.
The water moved more slowly there; dry leaves falling from the trees got caught in the swirling pools before they were carried off to the edge of the overhang.
Katara watched the flow of the water for a while before disrupting it, gathering an orb of her element in her hands.
"I should've asked Aunt Wu something else," Katara froze the water that hovered between her fingers. After Gumi's breakdown, she felt ashamed that all she thought about were boys. Maybe Sokka and Akkad were right about girls, after all. "I should've asked if my family would be safe from the war, or something."
"Aw, c'mon, you didn't know," Suki grinned impishly, standing up and whirling her fan in a tight arc. It whistled slightly as it cut through the air. "That's the problem with not knowing the future, Katara. You won't know which questions to ask."
Katara groaned exasperatedly at the older girl's words and held her ice orb against the dying sun. Her skills weren't enough to create a perfect sphere; parts of the water she froze stuck up in blunt ridges, distorting the rays of the sun within.
You have fire in your eyes, Aunt Wu had told her, and Katara laughed quietly to herself, because for now all she had was fire in her ice.
Sokka would love that pun.
"You should challenge Sifu Pakku to let you train with the guys," Suki said suddenly.
Katara dropped her handiwork in surprise.
"You can't be serious!" she cried. "He'll find out I've been practicing this whole time— you and Sokka and even Haru could get in trouble!"
Suki sent her fan towards her in reply, and Katara barely had enough time to summon an ice shield.
"It's about time you shook things up, Katara," she reasoned. "You've finished all the stuff in your scroll. You'd learn more from Pakku than from sparring with us."
Katara gulped and stared out into the ocean. She didn't fear the turbulence like other people did; she knew water would protect her. The surge and power of the waves were an ancient, familiar feeling in her gut, as though she had tiny oceans and channels of rivers and hissing streams in her body. It was familiar, because it was always inside her.
As the tiny flecks of gold remained on the ocean's surface, even after the waves created and broke, Aunt Wu's voice told her again: You have fire in your eyes.
"You know what?" She told Suki resolutely, "I think I'm up to the challenge."
The warrior grinned beamed at her, eyes full of fierce pride.
"That's the spirit! Besides," Suki playfully poked her side with her folded fan, "Your future husband can't be the only powerful bender in your relationship."
A/N: I'm finally getting to some action in this shiz! I originally intended for this to be an early Valentine's Day thing filled with fluff, but I'm glad it went in this direction as I was writing it hehe. I hope the waterbending training grounds didn't sound so complicated— please let me know what you think! Your thoughts on my work keep me going!