This War of Ours

A/N: I'm so sorry for the long wait! I've been busy working on the final chapters of Year One, but then so many things happened in my personal life and at work, and my inner critic's just been out of whack ever since.

Anyway, I can't believe this is the tenth chapter! This is the longest fic I've ever written, and thank you to all those who stuck with me through this!

Chapter title's from the poem Starlings in Winter by Mary Oliver: "I want to be light and frolicsome. I want to be improbable beautiful and afraid of nothing, as though I had wings."

Enjoy!

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender or Harry Potter.

CHAPTER 10

improbable, beautiful, and afraid of nothing

"I'm so excited for Ember Island. Let's go buy new clothes there for the Fire Days Ball," Suki said as she rolled her shoulders after their spar.

"Wow, you just said a bunch of stuff I don't know, Suki," replied Katara. "What's on Ember Island? What's the Fire Days Ball?"

Suki grinned excitedly. "Ember Island's this Fire Nation tourist spot that students can go to on some weekends— it's amazing! We can relax on the beach, hike up mountains, watch a play, go shopping—"

"Oh, don't get her hopes up on Ember Island," Sokka interjected. Suki cocked her head in his direction.

"Why not?"

Sokka shrugged, still polishing his boomerang. "Because we can't go."

"Why can't we go? What's going on?" Katara asked, poking her brother's shoulder. He looked up at her with a pout.

"Because the ferry to Ember Island costs money, Katara," he explained with a wave of his hand. "And shopping costs money. You don't see copper pieces falling out of Dad's letters, do you?"

Suki's painted red lips formed an "o". She adjusted her skirts sheepishly. "I'm sorry, you guys."

Katara scrunched up her face in reply and Sokka bleated a soft, "Eeh," of dismissal, as though the siblings weren't missing much, even though his face said he would've gone if he could.

"Maybe I could buy you something for the ball," Suki told Katara thoughtfully as they walked back to the direction of the Great Hall.

"Oh, you really don't—"

"Bah, I want to," Suki dismissed. "Call it an early 'Congrats on Surviving Your First Year at the Academy' present." She turned to Sokka, a wry smile on her lips. "Anything you want aside from a cone of grilled meat?"

Sokka beamed at her and flicked an imaginary tear from his eyes. "I can't believe you know me so well."

Katara rolled her eyes at her brother and glanced around. It was still early for them to turn in— she'd practically memorized Sokka's and Suki's fighting styles now, so their spars these days began earlier and ended before the nightly rains started— and while Katara had missed training with these two warriors, she had also gotten used to the presence of the other benders in their group.

She flinched as she remembered that Haru had come down with a cold because she'd started incorporating more ice into her technique the past few days— and while Suki assured her that he was fine and just needed plenty of soup and rest, Katara couldn't help but feel guilty.

She also couldn't help but feel guilty because her first reaction had been, "But I freeze Lee all the time and he never got sick."

But maybe Lee did catch a cold, too, because he hadn't shown up to spar with her in quite a while.

Or maybe he just told the sifus about their training sessions.

He wouldn't do that, Katara thought, clutching her mother's necklace. We're friends now, aren't we?

Plus, he'd been getting better at controlling his temper and his fire. Once he got a hold of those, he was surprisingly… alright. A bit rough around the edges, but altogether, he didn't fit the ruthless image of a firebender that Katara had in her mind.

"I never want to scar someone," he'd apologized to them, the last time they sparred. It was a particularly tiring match between the three of them, but the hard work was rewarded: Haru learned how to make columns of earth that would push his opponent into the sky, and Katara figured out that she could counter Lee's fire with just a breath.

He did slightly singe the two of them again, though.

"Hey, don't worry about that," she told him, wiggling her fingers in front of his mask. "I'm a healer, remember?"

He just shook his head, and Katara fought the instinct to go to him, because over the course of their month-and-a-half training, she'd learned that Lee wasn't the touchy-feely type.

"Yeah, and you've gotten better at controlling your explosions," Haru assured him.

Lee rubbed the back of his head in a seemingly self-conscious gesture, and Katara placed a tentative hand on his shoulder. He jumped slightly, but he didn't back away anymore.

"Haru's right, Lee," she said, "You don't have to worry about scarring us."

The firebender just nodded, as though he wasn't convinced, and that night Katara had left the woods musing that if all firebenders were as scared of burning others like Lee was, then she wouldn't have had to fear them so much in the first place.

"I'm worried about Lee," Katara told Sokka and Suki now, twisting her fingers together, "I haven't trained with him for a while."

Sokka made a squeaky sound at the back of his throat, but Suki spoke up before Katara could even comment on her brother's odd behavior.

"Lee's the firebender you were training with, right?" Suki asked, seating herself primly on a shadowed bench and closing her eyes against the sharp wind that blew through the Eastern Courtyard.

"Yeah," Katara sat herself on the bench beside her, fiddling with the end of her braid. She eyed the silhouettes of the students in the Fire Nation dormitory windows, wondering which one of them was Lee.

She felt guilty now for blowing up at him for burning her hair. He did apologize immediately, albeit haughtily, and save for occasional angry outbursts, he hadn't intentionally hurt her or Haru. Besides, she wasn't really one to talk, wasn't she? She did freeze things whenever she got mad, so…

"Why are you so worried over a firebender?" Sokka asked, his voice breaking on the last word. Katara was immediately put on the defensive.

"Because he's my friend, Sokka," she replied, scowling. Her brother looked at her as though she just told him lemurs could earthbend.

"You don't even know him!" He waved his hands frantically in the air. "How can you be friends with him? For all you know, he could be plotting evil things with the Fire Lord—"

"Sokka, not every firebender is connected to the Fire Lord! You're making a mistake—"

"No, I'm keeping my promise to Dad— I'm protecting you from threats like him!"

"How do you even know he's a threat? You haven't even met him!"

"Yes, I have, Katara!" Sokka's eyes widened at his own outburst and he immediately took a step back as Suki shot to her feet. Katara did so, too, though slowly, deliberately, with narrowed eyes.

"When was this?" she asked, frost forming at the dewy grass by her feet.

Sokka hung his head. "During music night."

"We just wanted to know who he was, Katara," Suki said in an odd tone.

"Well, then you'd know he's not a threat!" Katara all but screamed. "I can't believe you guys!"

She stomped away with her fists clenched, blatantly ignoring Sokka's cries of, "Katara, wait! We can explain!"

The air was heavy with the smell of a brewing storm. Azula smiled.

She always liked nights like these; nights that stood on the precipice of breaking, nights that kept one guessing, nights filled with a quiet, intense rumbling of energy. Nights when every slight movement can trigger the electricity at her fingertips.

She couldn't produce lightning yet, no, but she could feel it, the same way she felt the fire in her veins in every sunrise. Even at night, even at her weakest, she could feel the static, ready to burst forth in the dark sky.

Lightning will come when it will, and when it does, she will learn how to master it.

That was the main difference between her and her brother— Zuko was impatient, brash, and lacked foresight. He never seemed to realize that the more he pushed, the more resistance he met.

Azula pitied him for that. She'd already tracked the Fire Nation navy's progress on the hunt for the Avatar just by mere observation alone: Zhao's constant absences, papers left on the table after Iroh had tea with Jeong Jeong, the sudden silence every time she neared the waterbending Sifus.

Zuko would have gained so much if he just let her help him.

Not that he'd believe her if she told him that, but still.

She wondered what her brother has found, poring over decaying scrolls in the library— if he was still doing that. He hadn't made a midnight visit to the Air Nomads' section in weeks.

Did he find something that I hadn't?

She snorted. No, Zuko was not that sharp. He probably got frustrated and gave up, weakling that he was.

Azula exhaled sharply. She could have had Mai tell her what Zuko was up to, but the two were still caught up in their unnecessary drama. Not that Azula was complaining. She always questioned her friend's sanity for having a crush on Zuko, of all people.

Good for Mai to finally see the light.

But bad for Azula, because now she was down one spy— now she had to resort to waiting in the shadows of the shelves in the middle of the night, waiting for her brother the enter the library so she could find out his plans.

If he ever comes back here, that is.

He could already hear the water sloshing erratically as he approached.

"Stupid Sokka. Stupid Suki."

He paused in his steps. She sounded angry, and while he had somehow gotten used to her being angry, he wasn't stupid enough to startle an irate waterbender in the full moon while it was drizzling.

So he loudly made his way to the riverbank, his shoes squelching unpleasantly in the mud, and waited for her to notice his presence.

She finally turned around after hefting a giant swirling orb of water from the river, which she promptly dropped on both of them when she saw him.

"Lee! You're here!" For one horrible moment he thought she might hug him from giddiness. Instead, she whisked away the water from their clothes with a flick of her wrist. Zuko barely had time to feel relieved before she glowered at him. "Where were you? I was really worried!"

"Worried?" He couldn't fight the surprise in his tone— why would she be worried?

After all, she has no reason to trust me. Didn't her brother tell her who I am?

She crossed her arms over her chest with a huff. "Yes, I was worried! You disappeared for days!"

"I didn't tell anyone about your midnight training, if that's what you were worried about," he replied warily.

"That's not what I was worried about," she rolled her eyes at him and he stared at her, unmoving, until she shrugged her shoulders sheepishly. "Okay, maybe I was a tiny bit worried about that, but then I found out about what my meddling brother and best friend did—"

A choking sound escaped Zuko but she didn't seem to notice.

"— and, well, I got worried they scared you off," she continued. Her face hardened a smidge. "I still can't believe they'd do that to one of my friends. As if I can't make my own decisions."

Zuko blinked beneath his mask.

"You consider me your friend?" The words slipped out before he could stop them, and he fought the urge to hit himself in the head.

She gave him a bemused smile.

"Of course, silly."

His mind caught up with the situation and he realized that her brother and the Kyoshi warrior might not have been sure enough of his identity to warn her about him. He ducked his head and resolved to do what he came here to do.

"Would I still be your friend if you knew who I was?" he asked, not daring to look at her, his heart beating frantically somewhere around his throat.

"See, that's the thing," he felt her move closer to him, and he backed away. He heard her sigh and stop a few paces shy of him. "I do know you, Lee."

"Don't be presumptuous."

This is hard enough as it is. Please don't make it harder by proving that you do know me.

"But I do!" She insisted emphatically, moving forward so she could peer into the eyes of his mask. "I know you don't like being touched and I know you favor your right side and sometimes you have trouble hearing little noises on your left. I know you're having problems with that one move you keep trying to do when you don't think we're around to see you practice."

"Of course you'd know those things, they're just tactical— we've been sparring for weeks—"

She barrelled on, undeterred.

"I know you think you're not a good bender and you get frustrated easily but I also know you're holding back because you're afraid you're gonna scar us. I know you think being tough is the only way to learn, but I know you still don't like seeing us get hurt and I know you don't know how to comfort us whenever you burn us accidentally. It's like you don't want to show you care about us, because you think it makes you look weak or something, but I know you do care."

She took a deep breath and twisted her fingers together. Zuko braced himself for what was coming, because after she'd laid him out like that, like a map whose lines she just traced expertly with a slender finger, what else could follow?

"I know you think I still don't trust you, and I'm really sorry I made you feel that way when we first met. I now only realized— you apologize way too much for things you can't control, it's as if you feel that everything you do is wrong. And maybe… maybe someone made you feel that way so much that even now you still don't think you deserve anything from other people, and I'm sorry if I made things worse for you by making you think you can't be trusted just because you're a firebender. But you're a good person, Lee. I trust you now, and I really want you to think of me as your friend, with or without your mask."

With fire in his veins, he was familiar with all sorts of heat— but this... this kind of warmth was not something he was used to. Never in his life did he have to deal with this… this... almost aggressive torrent of kindness, not without paying a price. There had to be a catch somewhere. The spirits would ruin this. His luck wouldn't allow it.

She regarded him as he stood there, unaware that his palms were sweating and his breathing was shallow. She bit her lip anxiously.

"Please don't push us away, Lee," she said, as though she heard his thoughts. Her hand traced the pendant of the necklace she always wore, her brow furrowed in thought. "I— I don't know if this will make things easier or better, but I haven't been completely honest with you, too."

The lump cleared in his throat just enough for him to croak out, "What?"

"My name's not Kya," she blurted out, averting her gaze. "It's Katara."

"Katara," he repeated, slowly testing the new name. He already knew she was lying when she told him her name on that first night they met, but the revelation blanketed him with the immense feeling of vulnerability.

He could now go to the Water Tribes table and approach her like he'd seen Haru do at lunchtime. He could now call out to her when they pass by each other in the hallway, and she'd turn around.

Except she won't, because she still didn't know what he looked like.

He sighed, every ounce of him protesting the idea of telling her who he is, but wasn't this what he came here to do? Worse comes to worst, he'd stick to his original plan and sever all contact.

But hadn't she said they were friends?

Well, let's see how much of a friend she really is.

He let the reckless part of him untie the mask's strings.

There's a sharp intake of breath as he pulled the mask away from his face, and the immense feeling of vulnerability came back full force— only this time, instead of simply blanketing him, it threatened to suffocate him.

He finally mustered the courage to look at her.

"Do you still trust me?"

She— Katara, her name is Katara— didn't speak and instantly he knew it was a mistake to do this, because her blue, blue eyes were wide with fear and her hands covered her mouth and when she took a step backwards, he realized that maybe this wasn't a mistake because Zuko was Zuko and he never had luck on his side and this was how it was meant to be between the children of water and the children of fire. Their budding friendship was just a fluke and he should have known better, he should have known from the start—

Everyone's bound to leave me, anyway.

He can't. He can't watch her leave. Not after she offered him something he never realized he longed for.

But running away felt too much like giving up, and Zuko never gave up— people gave up on him, so he forced himself to stand his ground and wait for the inevitable.

She lowered her hands from her face and managed to speak.

"You're the Fire Prince."

Her tone was flat— no disbelief, no anger, no fear. Just stating facts, but underneath it all, he knew she was forcefully holding down a dam of emotions. He could see it in the way her fingers trembled before closing into a fist. A few raindrops hung suspended in midair between them.

"My real name's Zuko," he offered, as though it will make this bitter tea easier to swallow.

"Zuko," she repeated slowly, drawing out each syllable, testing the way the his name tasted in her mouth.

Then she ran to the waterline and emptied the contents of her stomach into the river. He didn't even have time to register what just happened before she dropped on all fours and was heaving again.

Zuko took a step forward, then a step back. How was he supposed to help out when she got sick because of him? Was he even supposed to help? Like, rub her back or something?

He pinched the bridge of his nose. She was right— she did know him well enough. He was horrible at showing his concern.

It was a problem with Mai, too. He could never seem to get it right.

But he had to try, because she hadn't bolted the second he saw him, and in Zuko's book, after he got his scar, that counted for something.

"K-Katara?"

She staggered up, taking a gulp of water from her pouch as she did.

"I…" Her hand fiddled with her necklace once more. "I think I have to go."

She spared him one last unreadable glance before running away into the drizzling night.

He expected this. He shouldn't be feeling this angry. He shouldn't feel the need to destroy everything in his path.

But that's how his life was. He destroyed everything he touched.

He didn't even care about the damage his ring of fire dealt on the trees around him. The rain would take care of the flames.

Sokka was rarely right, so whenever he was, he tended to gloat.

Not this time, though.

It was hard enough seeing his sister in this state— going from raging fury one moment to defeated moping the next. So many things set her off these days that it was pretty hard to gloat, especially when he constantly had to remind her not to splash someone with her magic water.

It wasn't his fault. Not really. They both knew it. All of them did. It was only natural that he and Suki would try and find out Lee's real identity after Haru told them of his suspicions. And it wasn't Haru's fault that he realized who the firebender was.

If anything, it was ol' Jerkbender's fault for not covering his tracks better.

He still didn't expect his sister to be like this after it was all over, though. This wasn't in the plan.

Sokka sighed, ladling more five flavor soup into a bowl and sliding it over to a currently downcast Katara. Food usually made people feel better, right? Or, at least, distract them enough from their thoughts.

Maybe this would be better with Haru. She and Katara spent more time with Jerkbender, after all.

"Hey, Sokka?"

Well, at least she's talking to him again. Her cold shoulders were famously icy.

"Yeah, sis?"

Katara frowned thoughtfully at her soup before stirring it distractedly with her bending.

"Why do some benders use weapons?"

Okay, that was not what he was expecting. Why would she ask about weapons now? It wasn't even remotely connected to—

Oh, maybe it was. The Fire Prince never used his dao swords when they trained together, didn't he? If he did, they all would have known who he was. He's the only one who ever used those twin weapons.

He shrugged. "Benders have the option to use weapons to round out their qualifications."

Her hand hovered over the soup. "Qualifications for what?"

Sokka winced. She would find out sooner or later, but given her current state of mind, he really didn't want to delve into the specifics.

Then again, it would distract her from a certain firebender. Hopefully.

"For the military service that comes after you finish your training here," he replied as offhandedly as he could.

To his surprise, she didn't seem too fazed.

"That's what Jet said," her eyes flickered to the Earth Kingdom table and Sokka rolled his eyes.

Ugh. Jet.

"The Fire Nation's just using us, aren't they?" she gritted out, the contents of her bowl sloshing around dangerously.

Uh oh. Not good. Not good, not good, not good. He resisted the urge to slap a hand over her mouth. She was already upset enough back home when she had to hide her bending— now she had to learn that she's just being trained to be a soldier against her own people.

At least when Sokka applied for the Academy, he knew what was in store for him, especially once he was finished. Their father also told them it would benefit the tribe, but Katara? Katara knew nothing, and she had no choice but to go.

Granted, she really wanted to go, but she didn't know any better.

Maybe he should have told her what Dad said, instead of letting her figure it out on her own.

"Dad fought in the war, you know that," he replied delicately, before shoving spoonfuls of komodo chicken and rice into his mouth. Keeping his mouth full would buy him time for all of his sister's questions.

"I thought Dad fought for our side." Katara pushed her bowl away and leaned her cheek on one arm. "Why would he agree to that? Why would you? Why would anyone?"

"Mmm mmph, mmm-mm-mmm," Sokka motioned to his bulging cheeks, but she narrowed her eyes at him and flicked his wrist.

"Mouthfuls of food never stopped you from talking, Sokka."

He swallowed with great effort and leaned closer to her.

"Katara, sending people to the Academy gives the tribe some sort of protection," he lowered his voice as he explained the things he didn't really fully understand. "The Fire Nation will only leave us alone if we follow their rules— it's part of some treaty or pact or something."

What he didn't say out loud was what his father told him— if the other countries rebelled openly against the Fire Nation, the Fire Nation would do what they saw fit to the children. And if the children didn't comply with the Academy's curriculum… who knew what they'd do to their parents?

I should've stopped Katara when she started training at midnight.

"Look— we just have to keep our heads down. Serve our time, for the good of the tribe. You get that, right?"

Katara slumped sullenly onto the table. "Is this why Dad left when… when Mom… you know?"

Sokka chanced a glance around them. Most of the students in the Great Hall were already retiring for the night.

"That was different," he said carefully. He wasn't much older than she was when Dad left them, but as the only remaining man of the village, he took it upon himself to learn what he could about the brief disappearance of half the tribe. "From what I know, they pulled out all the Southern Water Tribe kids because the Fire Nation broke the rules by attacking us. So they had nothing to lose when they fought the war for our side."

But then the other countries severed their trade lines with the tribe, and now their numbers were dwindling, the entire village was on the brink of starvation, poverty was through the roof, and their father had basically forced Sokka to enter the Academy in order to revive what was left of the tribe.

"You don't have to think about those stuff right now, Katara." Sokka reassuringly placed an arm around his sister. "Let's just go to bed, okay?"

She hadn't trained in almost a week.

After almost a year of sleeping late, she'd have thought her body would appreciate the long overdue rest.

But no. Instead, she was filled with pent up energy, and even here in the bowels of the Academy, in the dungeons where benders' battles were held when it was raining too hard outside. Even here where everything was stale and stagnant, she could feel her element calling to her.

But what did it matter, anyway? Even if she learned combative bending, whatever skills she got will be used by the nation that took her mother away from her.

If she was going to be a soldier of the Fire Nation, then she might as well be their worst one.

Except she won't be a soldier, wouldn't she? She'd be relegated to the sidelines, healing wounds that shouldn't have been there in the first place.

Healing wounds that she wanted to inflict.

The Academy was a death sentence, wasn't it? The Fire Nation couldn't inspire loyalty in the other countries, so they took their children and taught them to be loyal to the Academy instead.

So wrapped up in her thoughts she was that she didn't notice the chunk of rock hurtling towards her.

What she did notice was the echoing silence after she instinctively sliced the slab with a water whip in each hand.

Oh no.

She promptly dropped her water to the stone floor.

In the clearing dust she saw Sifu Pakku approach her, eyes narrowed suspiciously. His movement triggered a chain reaction— the spectators of the benders' battle burst into agitated whispers, and she heard Sokka groan quietly behind her. Across the arena, she could see Haru's tense posture, Suki's set jaw, and the rest of the Water Tribe girls' fearful looks.

Katara tried not to notice the disgust and disappointment in her fellow tribeswomen's eyes.

"Where did you learn that move, girl?"

Sifu Pakku towered over her, and his stiff posture and lined face reminded her of the frozen mountains back home— unyielding, and deadly.

This should have been enough to quail her, to tell him it was just instinctual bending, nothing more, but the way he spat out girl like an insult—

She stuck her chin in the air defiantly. "I taught myself."

She heard Sokka squeak behind her. It was enough to send her heart pounding in her throat— what will they do to Dad and Gran-Gran— but if there's one thing Katara's good at, it's braving the storm.

She met Pakku's livid stare with one of her own.

Ice spikes shot up from the floor, and for a minute Katara thought she did that— her bending had been erratic since Lee— since the Fire Prince— since Zuko— but then the spikes turned sharply toward her, and Sokka barely had time to dive out of the way when another set of spikes encircled her.

"The women learn from Yugoda to use their waterbending to heal," Pakku began, his tone smooth but barely concealing the simmering anger underneath. He walked 'round her, and Katara whipped around, never letting him out of her sight.

"I don't want to heal, I want to fight!" She snarled, but was all too aware of the hollow thump of her empty water skin against her hip.

No matter. Water is everywhere. Water would protect her.

Pakku tucked his hands into his sleeves, and stood even straighter. "Our tribe has customs, rules—"

"Well, your rules stink. They're not fair!" The spikes around her were melting at a considerable rate. "And I am not from your tribe, because in the South, we do not judge a warrior based on the gender they were born!"

There was a commotion by the entrance of the arena— suddenly, the spikes melted into mere puddles, and Pakku bowed to the newcomer.

Katara didn't even notice the world outside her and Pakku, but someone must have called the headmaster, because here he was, looking benignly at her as though she was not just about to attack a waterbending master.

She crossed her arms and did not bow.

Headmaster Iroh did not seem to mind. Instead, he turned to the remaining onlookers— Katara's outburst had gathered a lot, apparently, since she could now see Jet in the crowd with his Freedom Fighters, and they rarely stayed to watch these battles.

"This has been a… rather exciting benders' battle," Iroh started with a small smile. "However, I must cut the excitement short. Children, if you may return to your dormitories?"

This was met with a general noise of protest, but the other sifus quickly ushered them out.

Katara made to follow her brother into the throng, but Headmaster Iroh held up a hand.

"Not you, Miss Katara."

Oh well. It was worth a shot.

At this point she didn't even wonder how he knew her name. Everything turned upside down and inside out when she found out Lee was Zuko the Fire Prince. Nothing else surprised her now.

Iroh motioned for Sifu Pakku to join him a ways away; Katara could hear the headmaster consulting the teacher, and the bubbling anger Katara felt a few minutes before dissipated into clouds of fear.

She was going to be expelled, she just knew it. She wanted to say something to defend herself, but there seemed to be something wrong with her voice. Now she'd done it. She'd be packing her bags in ten minutes. What would her family say when she turned up on the tundra?

Gran-Gran will never let me hear the end of this.

Her stomach twisted as she imagined it, watching Sokka and the others becoming warriors and trained benders, while she stumped around in the South Pole just cooking and cleaning.

Finally, after a few minutes that seemed like hours of heated debate between the two— Katara was surprised to hear them talk as equals— Headmaster Iroh approached her.

"It seems you've caused quite a stir, Miss Katara," the old man said with a twinkle in his eye. Katara felt her resolve return.

"He started it! I was only defending myself against a rock that could have killed me," she said, crossing her arms.

The headmaster chuckled. "Such passion. However, we do honor the culture of other countries here in the Academy. Normally, such transgression as yours would result in expulsion—" Katara gulped— "but I suspect Sifu Pakku might be convinced to let you stay if you swallow your pride and apologize to him."

Katara exhaled sharply through her nose. "Fine."

Pakku sent her a smug, tight-lipped smile from behind Iroh. "I'm waiting, little girl."

Frost crept up her feet. Why should she apologize just so she could stay at the Academy and be a puppet to the Fire Nation? Why should she apologize for learning how to defend herself? Why should she apologize for being a girl?

"No!" She clenched her fists and puddles froze around them. How dare he control her future like this? "No way am I apologizing to a sour old man like you!"

Pots of water broke across the arena.

Yes. Water will protect her.

"I'll be outside if you're man enough to fight me," she snarled, striding to the great double doors.

A/N: This was a heck of a chapter. So many things happened… I hope I didn't overdo it! I really wanted the Pakku-Katara fight in this chapter, but honestly it's gotten too bulky. I'll probably have longer chapters after this, but we'll see how it goes. Also, think of Ember Island as Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley rolled into one. Might dive more into the island in Katara's second year at the Academy, but that's still a long way off. Please tell me what you think! It will help a lot!