This War of Ours: Year Two
SUMMARY: Harsh realities of war slowly seep through the Academy's walls. Old allies disappear and new ones take their place. As Katara starts her second year in the school, she is faced with secrets that are ripe to be uncovered. [Zutara AU, inspired by Harry Potter. Book Two of This War of Ours series]
A/N: Credit for the chapter title goes to a poem called Sunrise by Mary Oliver.
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender or Harry Potter.
CHAPTER 6
an unforgettable fury of light
Toph had never been on a ship before. Hell, she'd never been on anything but solid ground before. It was a bit of a rude awakening that the greatest earthbender in the world could be literally brought down to her knees by rocking waves.
It didn't help that Burado's ship was just a tiny speeder crammed to the brim with clattering boxes of heavy weapons and metal cages stuffed with litters of yowling, illegally-bred tiger pups. Between the noise and the overpowering stench of filth, rust, and urine, Toph barely had time to collect herself before Burado announced they were about to anchor.
"Took you long enough, old man," croaked Toph with as much bravado as she could the minute the ship shuddered to a stop. She could barely sense anything in the ship, but she'll be damned if she showed any kind of weakness now. Not that it mattered— she was pretty sure the sailor watched her empty all the contents of her stomach over the rails the entire journey.
There was a sound of spark rocks scratching together and the acrid smell of smoke filled Toph's lungs. She coughed and ambled away unsteadily, scowling when she heard Burado snicker behind her back.
"Aye, you ain't as tough as I pegged ya, kid," he called, and another puff of smoke drifted over to Toph, who scrunched up her face in disgust and pulled the front of her tunic over her nose. There was a sound of metal scraping against metal— Burado was probably unloading the contents of his speeder.
"Hand me the dough 'fore ya get off."
Toph scowled deeply and pulled out a handful of coins— she'd refused to pay Burado until he'd gotten her far, far away from Gaoling— and counted twelve pieces before handing over the money to the sailor. Burado huffed in satisfaction and pocketed his earnings, then continued to shove his contraband off his speeder. Toph followed him down the gangplank and breathed a sigh of relief as soon as her bare feet touched the earth.
"Sweet, sweet dirt!" she exclaimed, dropping onto her knees and throwing her hands up and laughing. Burado clucked his tongue disapprovingly behind her, but she was too damned relieved to care. After all— her parents weren't here to chastise her for rolling around in the dirt. They weren't here to coddle her and ask her if she fell down. That kind of life was behind her.
Toph stood and struck the ground with her feet, extending her senses as far as she could let them go. She felt a village up ahead— small, with a few stone houses surrounding the village square, not like the sprawling, stacked, and stuffed metropolitan that was Gaoling.
It's perfect.
She grinned widely and saluted Burado over her shoulder. "See ya never, oldster!"
She summoned a wave of earth and rode it to the village, dodging wayward trees gleefully, relishing the wind whipping back her hair.
She was nearing the village's walls when it happened.
It started with one heartbeat spiking and a startled gasp. Then—
"Look!"
"What is it?"
"What's happening?"
"Did you see that?"
Toph settled herself firmly against the earth, just before she entered the village walls. Nothing was amiss— except for the fact that the village square was now filled with murmuring people, all of whom seemed to be looking in the same direction, all of them speculating amongst themselves about something that Toph couldn't see.
She shivered. Maybe this village wasn't as perfect as she thought.
Zuko was in the Western Courtyard polishing his dao swords when it happened.
He had just finished having tea with his uncle. It had been one of the most bizarre tea sessions they'd had in a long time— made even more bizarre by the topic of their conversation.
"Master Hama," Iroh had begun, as soon as the scent of ginseng wafted in the air, "is a deserter."
Zuko hadn't known why his uncle chose to address his incessant questions then, when he had been adamantly tight-lipped about it during their travel back to the Academy.
Nonetheless, the new piece of information piqued his curiosity.
"If she's a deserter, then why is she—" Zuko stopped, his voice caught in the back of his throat. He knew what happened to those who left the Academy before they finished their tour of duty. He'd seen the executions firsthand— they were the stuff of his nightmares. Well, the stuff of his nightmares before he got his scar.
Iroh set down his cup and pursed his lips mournfully.
"The headmaster before me was a cruel man," his uncle explained, his features pinched. "Under your grandfather's regime, he proposed to bring Southern waterbenders to the Academy by force; they were tortured, brainwashed, and isolated from their peers. Those were the dark days of the Siege of the South.
"But it was not enough that they were ripped from their homes and were treated like cattle; once the Southern waterbenders achieved mastery, they were sent back to their homeland to… prove their loyalty to the Regime of Fire."
Zuko watched his uncle's hand tighten around his porcelain cup; a spike of fear embedded in his gut.
"They were sent back home only to— to do what?" he asked, dreading the answer. "Uncle, I thought the purpose of the tour of duty was to keep the Fire Nation's peace!"
"Power can twist outright lies into justified action, Prince Zuko," Iroh replied severely, and underneath the disbelief clouding Zuko's mind, a spark of anger flared for those who gave up their lives for his nation. His uncle looked at him over steepled hands. "This is the truth of our world, my nephew— and so, you must question everything that you know; only then can you truly understand the difference between blind obedience and true loyalty."
"What does that have to do with anything, Uncle?" asked Zuko exasperatedly. His tea steamed as he clutched his cup. "That old hag didn't seem loyal to anyone but herself!"
"Ah, yes. Master Hama is a complex woman," agreed Iroh. "But hers is a story that most thought was impossible to achieve. The presence of putrid water is enough to give hope to a man dying of thirst."
Zuko had walked away from that conversation with more questions than answers. He took to practicing his sword-fighting in the Western Courtyard, the ocean breeze a balm against the oppressive summer heat of the Fire Nation. He sought to clear his mind as he ran through the motions, but he was still buzzing with morbid curiosity even after he tired himself out.
Why would Uncle tell me that story? he thought to himself, running the dirty rag down the flat edge of his sword. Maybe Azula was right— maybe Uncle has turned traitor.
Father wouldn't allow him to live if he were, a small voice in the back of his head reminded him, accompanying the thought with memories of deserters screaming as they burned.
Zuko shook his head fiercely and made to sheath his dual swords, tucking them into a single unit, but something bright glinted near the hilt and Zuko looked up in wonder.
He squinted his eyes at the horizon— the sun was directly above him; the reflected light on his sword made no sense. Zuko moved around the courtyard, trying to catch the light with his sword until it gleamed white.
"What the..."
It was faint, but visible nonetheless— a column of light, somehow brighter than the sun, stretched up from the horizon and into the sky. It pulsed for a few moments before snuffing out.
Zuko stood in befuddled amazement before snapping back to his senses. He was already running to his uncle's office before he knew what he was doing.
"Uncle!"
He burst into the chambers, panting harshly. Iroh looked up at him in surprise, his eyes flitting behind Zuko.
"What is it, nephew?"
"There was—"
How would he explain it without sounding so unbelievably pathetic for panicking over a beam of light?
"I was practicing in the Western Courtyard," he began, clutching at the stitch in his side. "When something— something weird happened. It was— there was— there was a bright light on the horizon— it went straight up, like a column, and it went really bright for a few times before it went out!"
Something flickered in Iroh's eyes before he set aside the papers he had been reading and considered Zuko seriously.
"It came from the west?" He asked, his tone inscrutable.
Zuko shook his head.
"It was a bit north, maybe northwest, I don't know," he replied, annoyed at his uncle's muted reaction.
His uncle nodded before standing up and moving through his office with surprising agility.
"Uncle, what's going on?" demanded Zuko, but Iroh ignored him, fumbling instead with one of the drawers behind his desk. Zuko watched as he slid it completely out of the shelf, reached into the crevice, and pulled out a small, intricately carved wooden box.
"I believe it is time for me to contact my old friends." declared Iroh, setting down the box on his desk. Zuko briefly saw a lotus engraved on the cover before his uncle slid it out of his sight. The grave look on Iroh's face melted into his usual smile as he addressed Zuko once more. "Could you ensure that our messenger hawks are in good condition, nephew?"
"You have a problem!" exclaimed Katara, throwing her hands up in frustration. Sokka scowled at her and crossed his arms defensively over his chest.
"It's you who's got a problem!" He countered. "That's just how a man is supposed to smell!"
"No, it is not!" shouted Katara, stomping out of their shared cabin. "And it's not fair you're making me do all the cooking and the cleaning when Dad specifically told both of us to do them!"
"Uh, Katara?"
"No! I'm not taking any more of your excuses!" yelled Katara, whirling on him and poking his chest with her finger. "Do you know what your dirty socks smell like? Our room is a chicken pigsty because of you!"
"Katara!" Sokka exclaimed, pointing agitatedly behind her. "Look!"
"What? What?" replied Katara angrily, before something so unusually bright illuminated her brother's face that she instinctively turned around and grabbed his hand in fear.
Her father's scant crew started yelling panicked instructions at each other, and in the distance, startled tiger seals began howling and baying. Sokka shielded his eyes with one mittened hand and tucked her close to his side, hunching over her protectively as the ship strayed a little.
"What is going on?" Katara gasped, and the bright light pulsed even whiter on the horizon, the sea refracting it into a thousand, shuddering slivers, before snuffing out completely, leaving them and their convoy of ships stopped in open waters as the crew collected themselves.
A sudden blast from a horn in a neighboring ship jolted the siblings apart, and one of the Northern warriors signaled hurriedly to their father. There was a flurry of movement from both sides— Sokka and Katara flattened themselves against the railings as the tribesmen rushed all over the deck, and before long the two ships were parallel with each other and Sifu Pakku was walking aboard the Southern Water Tribe's ship with a grave expression on his face.
"I'm afraid we must hurry, Chief Hakoda," he said, his hands tucked into the sleeves of his long robes. "Captain Aput has informed me that the sudden beam of light came from the direction of the Northern Water Tribe. Whether or not it bodes well for us is uncertain, but we must err on the side of caution. No one knows what it would take for the Fire Nation troops to attack."
"I agree," replied Hakoda, stroking his chin. "We could send scouts— one ship from each of our tribes. If they alter their course they can be ahead of us by two days. Reinforcing your security would be vital."
"Indeed." Pakku's eyes flickered to Katara's, like chips of ice glinting in the sun, and Katara couldn't help but remember the conversation they overheard between him and her grandmother. "However, with this comes a change in our plans. I will be accompanying you to the Academy. I have important matters to discuss with Headmaster Iroh."
"Of course." If Hakoda found the statement unusual, he hid it well. "I'll ask my crew to prepare a cabin for you."
"Thank you," Pakku said, seemingly more out of sour politeness than actual gratitude.
"Inform Kallik of this development— his ship is best equipped for this. Have him coordinate with the Northern scouts," Hakoda told one of his men, who nodded and ran to the other side of the deck, where the other Southern vessels have stopped. Hakoda turned to the rest of the crew. "Men, our goal now is to reach the Academy as fast as the winds would allow—"
"Dad, what's going on?" asked Sokka, shouldering his way through the warriors that flocked to his father's side. "Are we really sure it's a good idea to—"
"This," interrupted Pakku sternly, "is none of your concern, young man."
Sokka jutted his jaw defiantly.
"If we're risking the lives of our people for your tribe, then it is our concern—"
"Sokka," Hakoda said, laying a hand on his shoulder. "You are already aware of the situation. We all have sacrifices to make. Please, no more arguing."
"But—"
"I'll help," volunteered Katara, slipping between the hulking warriors and standing squarely beside her brother. "I can bend us faster to the Academy so our men wouldn't be left too long in the Northern seas without backup."
"Katara—" began their father, but Katara shook her head and met his weary gaze with a determined one.
"The wolf is stronger with its pack, right?" she asked, her mouth set in a thin line. "We can't help you out there, but at least this would mean you could catch up with the others before they even arrive at the Northern Water Tribe."
"You seem to enjoy imposing impossible challenges upon yourself, little girl," said Pakku sardonically.
"Are you scared you can't keep up with me, old man?" countered Katara, crossing her arms over her chest.
Hakoda frowned in disapproval.
"Katara, that is no way to talk to an elder," he admonished. Katara reminded herself that her father did not know of her duel with her waterbending sifu, along with other less respectful words she'd thrown his way, so she simply pursed her lips and bowed stiffly at Pakku, who smirked triumphantly and nodded at Hakoda before following one of the Southern tribesmen to his cabin.
Another horn blew from one of the ships. Hakoda took a deep breath and started barking instructions at his men— Katara did not wait for orders and marched straight for the bow of their ship, arms raised.
"We are ready, Katara," her father said behind her, and Katara's heart filled with warmth at his show of trust in her waterbending skills. She nodded and steeled herself against the railings.
"Here we go."
Suki set down Minh's letter with a sigh.
She wasn't surprised that it took her former captain so long to return home or send the Kyoshi Warriors a letter; apparently, Minh's team's tour of duty had not only been extended indefinitely, but they were now also working with Fire Nation soldiers in Ba Sing Se, as opposed to their original assignment in General Fong's base. From the looks of it, things have been quite hectic on their end, and they could only coordinate so much with Oyaji before the Fire Nation questioned their island's loyalty.
Her words were carefully coded, just like all of the correspondence were between the Kyoshi Warriors and their island's governor, but it spelled trouble all the same: something was brewing in Lake Laogai.
The problem was, Minh mentioned, the younger recruits fresh from the Academy weren't allowed near any of the restricted places; most of them were ordered to take over Ba Sing Se's usual Fire Nation security as the more experienced group trooped to the lake, doing who knows what. Older generations of Kyoshi Warriors also weren't given the green light to join the soldiers working near the lake; the project was for high-ranking military only.
Suki picked at the worn edges of the crumpled letter, eyes skimming the hastily written words. It was worrying, to say the least— although, as Oyaji told her and Jia and Ling when he showed them Minh's letter, it had been advantageous for Kyoshi Island to have insiders who could deliver updates to them consistently, especially since fresh students from the Academy rarely raised suspicion of rebellion: the Fire Nation seemed to think that the girls sent so many letters due to homesickness.
"Suki! Suki!"
Suki's head snapped up at the frantic voice of a younger Kyoshi Warrior, Yi-kai. She pushed Minh's letter into the recesses of her desk drawer and rushed outside, hands on her fans.
"What is it—"
She gasped and almost stumbled down the dojo's porch steps. She rushed to the plaza, where most of the village was gawking at the large statue of Avatar Kyoshi.
The reason was impossible to miss— the statue's eyes were glowing.
Yi-kai grasped her arm in fear.
"What do you think it means?" she asked in a hushed voice, echoing the same question that the villagers were murmuring to each other. Suki swallowed.
"I don't— I don't know," she replied, just as the gleaming came to an abrupt stop. "Oyaji and Minh didn't train me for anything like this."
Ling appeared at her shoulder, eyes tight.
"Do you think it's a message from the Spirit World?" she asked, the only sign of her being ruffled was the way her reedy voice broke. "Do you think Avatar Kyoshi is warning us of something?"
"Seems unlikely," muttered Suki, still looking up at the statue. "Although stranger things have happened."
"Like what?" exclaimed Yi-kai, her eyes wide with fear. "Suki, statues made of stone aren't supposed to glow!"
"Should we send a message to Minh?" asked Ling, placing a calming hand on Yi-kai's shoulder. Suki shook her head.
"I think it's best if Oyaji takes care of that," she replied. "They've had more contact; there's no need to endanger the island more by sending a message about a mysterious glowing statue. It might invite Fire Nation soldiers on our shores."
"What are we going to do, then?" said Yi-kai.
"First of all, we need to concentrate on training," said Suki, straightening up. She smoothed the wrinkles in her tunic. "Whatever this… phenomenon… means, we still need to be prepared for anything. Ling, please round up the other girls. We need to share with them what Minh shared with Oyaji."
"Got it, Captain," smirked Ling, before nimbly squeezing through the crowd in search of the other Kyoshi Warriors. Suki turned to Yi-kai, who stood straighter as she awaited orders.
"Yi-kai, please ask Oyaji for instructions, if he has any," Suki said. "Perhaps he knows more about the lore surrounding Avatar Kyoshi's statue."
"On it! See you in a bit!" answered the younger girl, turning on her heel and running in the direction of the governor's house.
Suki sighed and studied the statue intently, her arms crossed over her chest.
"Next time you should try talking to us instead of just glowing, y'know," she muttered reproachfully at the Avatar. "It would save us a lot of trouble."
Five more days.
Yue didn't quite remember how she ended up in Gumi's secret bending cove, but after another bout of nightmares that circled around shackles and cages, she just couldn't take another second trapped in her room.
So, here she was, huddled in a small recess in the snowbank, watching the dawn break over the horizon, her breath coming out in thick clouds, her mind still a foggy whirlwind despite her strenuous bending a couple of minutes ago— or was it hours now? She couldn't bring herself to care.
Footsteps crunched in the small hill behind her. Yue blinked. What was it that Gumi said about this place?
The wind carried snippets of conversation.
"...better pack that ankle in ice…"
"... didn't know… stupid tiger seal…"
Her heart leapt to her throat.
Oh, yes, of course.
Yue had forgotten that Gumi's father and his friends spent time in this cove after a hunt. The men were approaching— it was a small blessing on her part that one of them seemed injured, and therefore trudged slower than they normally would. Glancing around in panic, she strained her eyes against the pre-dawn gloom, trying to ascertain a place to hide—
— but then the footsteps were almost directly above her and all she could do was crawl away from the cove, hugging the shadows, while she tried to cover her tracks with her bending.
"You hear something?"
"Probably just an arctic fox."
"Should we—"
"With that ankle? Ha! You can't even take down a snow rat with that!"
The men continued to argue, and Yue took their distraction as her chance to scurry away as quietly as possible, still trying to cover her tracks behind her with her bending. She breathed a sigh of relief the moment she could no longer hear their voices— until she realized she must have taken a completely wrong turn on the tundra, because now, even the icy walls of the tribe could not be seen, and only the frosty sea and tall glaciers surrounded her. She started to turn back— surely she would have left some sort of trail despite her bending— only to see that a fresh layer of snow had blanketed the ground.
"Oh no," she gasped, clutching at her robes when the breeze picked up. She looked around helplessly. Would she get even more turned around if she tried to retrace her steps? Should she try calling for help? There were probably more hunters out here, weren't there?
"Hello?" she tried shouting, but the wind whipped away her voice. She turned and cupped her hands to her mouth, fighting against the propriety ingrained in her— princesses don't shout, but princesses don't often get lost in the wild, either, "HELLO? Can anyone hear me?!"
The glaciers seemed to swallow the sound. Yue cleared her throat and tried again.
"CAN ANYONE HEAR ME? PLEASE! I NEED HELP!"
There was a yowl in the distance. Yue whipped around hopefully— perhaps there were hunters around, after all— but instead she saw the large, looming shape of a polar leopard, slowly making its way towards her, the blood around its snout strikingly scarlet against its white fur, its yellow eyes glinting in the rising sun.
Yue slowly stumbled backwards, arms up in a waterbending stance, her breathing shallow. She'd never seen a snow leopard alive before, but she had definitely seen the long, deep scratches they left on warriors and hunters alike, and she knew that the moment she did anything to provoke it—
Her heel caught the hem of her robes, startling a yelp out of her— the snow leopard growled and sprung into action, bounding towards her with amazing speed, its sharp fangs bared— Yue screamed and brought her hands up and sliced them down, cracking the frozen ground between her and the leopard—
A deafening crack sounded overhead, enough to distract both her and the animal— it ran away with a roar and before Yue could even process what was happening, chunks of ice as large as huts were falling into the sea and it took everything in her to bend up a wall to shelter her from the humongous waves. Water crashed furiously against the ice and she grit her teeth, forcing herself to keep the walls up until the tide petered out around her ankles, leaving her robes immediately stiff with frost. Shivering, both from the cold and from exhaustion, she slowly melted away the ice…
… only to be confronted with a large, glowing globe, about half the size of the palace, bobbing about a hundred yards away from her. She gasped when she saw the silhouette of a boy trapped inside. Her feet moved without her knowing, and before long her mittened hands were pounding on the orb's roughly hewn surface, trying to find cracks that could help her set the boy free.
He might not even be alive— why am I doing this? She shook her head and steeled herself. If there was any time her waterbending could truly help someone, it was now. I have to try! Tui and La, help me, please!
Heart hammering and half-believing that the recent turn of events was just some dream borne of stress and midsummer madness and hypothermia, she stepped back and fell into the octopus form. She took a deep breath and struck the iceberg with eight whips all at once.
Blinding white light poured out of the globe and shot straight into the sky. Yue shielded her eyes as the light flashed, brighter and brighter, until it stuttered to a stop.
Slowly, Yue opened her eyes. The iceberg was cracked open in half, and in the middle of it a child laid, slumped against the ice.
Yue ran forward and transferred him in her arms, her healer's training already kicking in. He had a pulse— weird, she'd never seen those blue markings on anyone before— and despite the boy's thin, strange clothes, there seemed to be no sign of frostbite, even though he'd been trapped in an iceberg. Yue supposed he had the Spirits to thank for his safety— perhaps he was also Spirit-touched; perhaps the Father Moon had also blessed him. That could explain his unusual appearance.
She melted some ice from the bank and gloved her hand with healing water. She lightly traced the boy's bald head, searching for any internal injuries. There appeared to be none, but she might have to bring him to Yugoda if he didn't wake up in a few minutes.
Yue sighed and sat back on her heels. She started examining the boy's chi paths with more melted snow when he suddenly groaned.
Gray eyes blinked blearily up at her.
"I… I need to ask you something," he began, his voice small and hoarse.
Yue adjusted her hold on him and clutched him closer.
"What is it?" she asked, her hand still coated in healing water.
The boy grinned and jumped up, all traces of weakness gone.
"Will you go penguin sledding with me?"
Yue blinked, startled, her water splashing onto her robes.
"Um, I'm— I'm afraid I am a bit too old to be penguin sledding. I'm sorry."
The boy cocked his head to the side, big gray eyes curious. "But you're just a teen!"
Yue smiled bitterly and stood as well, bending water away from both of their clothes. "I'm actually old enough to get married."
"Oh," the strange boy drooped like a flower and scratched the back of his head. "Congratulations, I guess."
"Thank you," she replied, more out of habit than anything else. She studied the strange boy in front of her. "What did you say your name was?"
The boy beamed.
"I'm Aang!"
In a Fire Nation steamer, in the middle of arctic waters, Admiral Zhao lowered his telescope and smiled to himself.
"Finally."
A/N: Yes, finally! Welcome back to the world, Aang! What did you guys think of this chapter? Any guesses on what would happen next? Comments and reviews are always welcome!