She is woken by the sound of her cell being unlocked, a groan building in her throat as she sits up, left side of her face damp from laying on the ground, and her body aching from the rough texture of the prison floor. She looks up to find a female guard standing at the door of her cell, dark hair loosely pulled back and a strange softness in her eyes that she hadn't seen in any other people working here.
"Are you Katara?" She asks; her voice is lower than the water bender expects, but free of any malice.
"Yeah. I guess you're here to take me to the ship I'll be travelling on?" She says, surprised at how tired she sounds, how the undertones of her voice lack any defiance.
The guard lets out a laugh, one that Katara can tell isn't cruel or mocking. "I guess you know all about what's happening, then. I came early because I thought I'd need to explain it. But yeah, I'll be taking you to the ship in about ten minutes." She pauses for a moment, leaning against the doorway, eyes brushing over the prisoner in front of her, noticing the rips in her dress and the deep, painful looking cuts on her skin. "I'm Ming, by the way."
Katara raises an eyebrow, suspicious at the guard's friendliness, despite it seeming genuine. "Why are you being nice to me?"
Ming's head cocks slightly. "Well, I try to be nice to most prisoners. Besides, I mean - I know the schoolbooks say the water tribes are full of peasants and savages and all, but.. I don't know. You're just a kid. You probably don't deserve to be here."
And suddenly, the defiance that was lost for her voice seems to relight, sparked by the disbelief that children are taught that her people are savages, that this guard says it so casually, as if it's fine. She has always thought that the Fire Nation's belief in their superiority is caused by arrogance, but maybe it is actually ignorance. Still, she feels the need to defend her people, her family. "We're not peasants or savages or whatever else you're all taught. And we're not inferior to you guys - in fact, we're probably nicer than most of you."
Ming's expression is unreadable for a moment, and Katara worries that he has angered her, when the guard suddenly bursts into laughter. It is a short laugh, slightly awkward once she sees Katara's confused stare, but still not a cruel one.
"Yeah, you guys probably are nicer than most of us," she says, smile still lingering on her face. "You're lucky, though. Most prisoners of war are tortured and interrogated - and they're the fortunate ones. The unfortunate ones are sent to the Boiling Rock. It's the most high security prison in the Fire Nation, probably in the world. Going on a ship and leaving this prison is the best way things could've turned out for you."
Katara could argue that going on a ship with Prince Zuko to help him kill an innocent child does not sound like the best way things could've turned out, but her mind is already caught on the mention of the Boiling Rock. If her dad is imprisoned anywhere, it would be there; he is the Chief of her tribe, and the leader of their fleet, after all. If she can just figure out where it is, maybe she'll be able to take control of the ship with waterbending and somehow get to the Boiling Rock and save her father, somehow get back to Sokka and Toph, somehow put things right again - at least, as right as they could be without Aang.
"This Boiling Rock place... do you know anything else about it?" She asks, hoping she doesn't seem suspect.
"Not really. All I know is that the guards there get way better pay than I do." She offers a humoured smile, no raised eyebrows or pursed lips to indicate any suspicion. "Anyways, you're also going with Prince Zuko. Things have turned out pretty damn well for you."
Katara narrows her eyes. "Is going with Zuko supposed to be a good thing?"
Ming walks closer to Katara, voice lowering. "What, would you rather be with Princess Azula?" She asks sarcastically, almost whispering as she continues; "or Firelord Ozai?"
She is surprised to hear Ming talk about the Fire Lord and Princess in that tone, however hushed she may be, but she supposes not all the people of the Fire Nation adore their rulers.
"No, but that doesn't mean I want to be with Zuko."
"Aw, c'mon, cut the guy some slack; at least call him Prince Zuko. I know he's banished and all, and he was a criminal to the Fire Nation, but... I mean, most people already think he's a disgrace. The least you can do is give him his title."
Katara lets out a short, humourless laugh and rolls her eyes; she has absolutely no intention to address him as Prince, and if the Fire Nation thinks he is a disgrace, then good. He deserves it.
Ming must mistake her expression of exasperation as something else, because she immediately backtracks. "Oh, sorry, you probably don't know much about Prince Zuko!" She says. The water bender grits her teeth; Oh, I know him all right. "I used to work as a servant in the Royal Palace - it gave even worse pay than here - and after Fire Lady Ursa... left, he was the most tolerable one there."
Katara notices how she pauses before she says left, as if searching for the right word to say, her voice slightly uncertain. She thinks back to the crystal catacombs, the feeling of tears pouring from her eyes, back turned to the enemy and head resting on her knees, only looking up when she heard Zuko's voice; 'that's something we have in common.'
But that memory is over now, and Zuko is a liar. She repeats it to herself until it becomes a fact; he was lying to her, making her feel sorry for him just so he could throw it all back in her face. His plan was to hurt her, to capture her, to interrogate and torture her and get the information he wanted. She feels a sick kind of glee in her chest, knowing that he has failed.
She snaps out of her thoughts, shaking her head at the fact of Zuko being referred to as tolerable. "That's not saying much, considering his family."
"Look, all I'm saying is that he was a good kid. I don't know if you had some bad run in with him or something, but when I was working there, he was kind, and good-hearted." Ming tells her; Katara bites back a scoff at the fact that those adjectives are being used to describe him. "And, well, his dad's Firelord Ozai, for Agni's sake. And when you work in someone's living space, you... y'know, see things. And you hear things. I would pretend not to - I mean, what could a servant do to stop the Firelord? - but it always made me sad, to see it happening and not be able to do anything. I just- I never once remember a time when he deserved it." The guard's eyes are suddenly filled with sadness and she shakes her head, sighing. She looks at Katara, expecting her to understand what she's implying; she is met with a blank stare. "Never mind, just- Prince Zuko had it pretty rough as a kid. I wouldn't be surprised if his banishment changed him, considering how it happened, but..." Ming pauses, lost in thought for a moment, and Katara's interest is caught. No matter how much she insists that Zuko isn't worth her thoughts, she has always wondered how he was banished.
"How did it happen?" She asks, eyes suddenly curious. Ming shakes her head.
"It's not my place to say. Enough people know that story already. I don't want to spread it any further." She says, suddenly closed off. "C'mon, I need to bring you to the ship."
Katara stands up, a dull ache in her injured ankles as she walks with Ming to the shore. It takes a while to get there, and Ming chatters to her some more, changing the topic from Zuko's apparent dark past, to the Prince's Uncle.
"I knew General Iroh for a while when I worked at the Palace... I know he's not a General anymore, but he deserves the title more than the guys who have it. Anyway, he only came in yesterday, just a little after you - I think he was on the same ship as you, actually - but... it's nice talking to him. He reminds me of my father, actually, with his passion for rare tea and all."
Katara gives her a small smile. "Yeah, I met Iroh when he was travelling with Zuko. He... he was nice." She pauses for a moment, noticing the shape of a ship in the distance. "Did you hear Zuko yelling at him last night?"
Ming's lips part slightly, head cocked in confusion. "No, I must have been on a break. What'd he say?"
Katara thinks back to the previous night; admittedly, although Zuko had yelled, he hadn't said anything that awful. Still, she is determined to prove to Ming that Zuko isn't the nice, kindhearted prince that she thinks he is.
"Eh, just some stuff. He was really screaming at him though. Iroh wasn't saying anything."
Ming frowns, brows furrowed. "Huh. Maybe banishment did change him." She seems to contemplate it for a moment, eventually shrugging. "Still, I don't think anything could completely take away his kindness. I saw him go through a lot, and he never lost it. Even if it seems he's lost it... he'll get it back."
The waterbender doesn't have it in her to argue, especially when the other girl seems so certain. The pair walks the rest of the way to the ship in silence, and when they reach the entrance, Ming stops walking, looking at Katara expectantly.
"Good luck on your journey, Katara. And don't make more enemies than you need to." She tells her, voice hushed, before glancing up at the ship. "Waterbender's on board!" She shouts to the people inside before walking away, glancing back at the girl in blue as the gangway closes behind her.
ー
He watches as the palace gets further and further away. They are sailing now, heading for the Southern Water Tribe, and as the salty air fills his lungs, he reminds himself that he did this to himself, that he wasn't good enough, that he angered his father.
Azula tricked you, though. She's the one most at fault here. He thinks. He sweeps it out of his mind as soon as it comes, though; he is the one who believed Azula, when he knew goddamn well that Azula always lies.
Every second, the Royal Palace becomes less of a reality and more of distant memory. He watches as everything he has wanted for the past years falls apart.
He sighs, his eyes drooping; he got barely any sleep last night, and he regrets it now, especially after what Azula told him this morning. She had knocked on his door in the early hours of the day, striding into his room as he sat up on his bed.
"Change of plans, Zuzu. You're not going to be killing the baby,"
Relief had rushed through him, but the feeling dissipated as she continued.
"You'll be taking the baby back to the Fire Nation. There, we will let it grow old enough to bend, and that's when we will get it in the avatar state. Then, we will kill it."
His stomach had dropped at her words, fingernails digging into his bloodred sheets and his chest filling with horror. To let the child grow, to let it have a life, only to take that away from it as quickly as they have been given it... somehow, it seemed worse than killing the baby.
"Why the hell would we do that?" He had questioned, disgust in his throat.
Azula pursed her lips. "Watch your language - you're in a palace, even if your time here is almost over. And babies can't go into the Avatar state, dum-dum. You should know that, considering you chased the Avatar for so long."
Zuko scowled. "Whatever. Where did you even find that out?"
"I did my research." She snapped, voice clipped and eyes narrowing slightly. "A servant will take you to your ship in a few hours. Enjoy your time here when it lasts."
He snaps out of the memory and pinches the bridge of his nose - that conversation would have definitely gone over better if he had gotten some sleep. Still there's no way to change it now; he will capture the next avatar and bring it back to the Fire Nation, and let the child be murdered as soon as it's old enough to bend. That is the only way to get his honour back, and so that is what he will do.
There's a sort of sick feeling that pools in his stomach though, a mix of shame and disgust at his thoughts. He is thinking like another version of himself, he realises; one from months ago, one that had never slept on dirt, never stole from the rich with his face shrouded by a mask, never worked as a tea server in the lower ring of Ba Sing Se.
He grits his teeth, his nails digging into the palms of his hands. He is no longer in the Earth Kingdom, no longer sleeping on dirt and no longer serving tea. He forces any thoughts of how awful he felt going back to the Fire Nation, how out of place he felt in the palace, how terrified he felt as his father yelled at him, out of his mind; they will only hinder him from doing what he needs to do.
The sick feeling in his stomach remains.
He hears quiet footsteps becoming nearer, and turns around to find the waterbender standing before him. Her eyes narrow as she sees him, sparked with a sort of disgust that makes the blue of her eyes look like lightning.
He stares at her for a moment, the deep red of her injuries stark against her cerulean dress, her wrists and ankles bruised and caked in dried blood; he bites his cheek.
"You can- y'know, uh, heal your injuries if you want." He says, voice quieter than he wants it to be, more unsure. She puts her hands on her hips, dark, knotted hair swinging slightly.
"I don't need your permission to heal myself." She replies, the lightning in her eyes electrifying her voice as well, defiant and unyielding. He opens his mouth to respond, but she is not finished; "And just so you know, I'm cooperating with this because your sister said she'd kill my father if I didn't, not out of the goodness of my heart. I'd rather be locked in a prison cell than be here with you."
She says it with so much disgust that he feels the instinct to bow his head in shame - he resists it though, instead forcing a reply through gritted teeth. "I never thought you were here out of the goodness of your heart."
She laughs, humourless and sharp. "Good. If I could, this ship would be flipped upside down and you'd be in the water."
With that, she walks away, leaving him to watch the Royal Palace as it becomes a nothing but reddened speck in the distance, a spot of blood in the vast ocean.
ー
I am really starting to regret writing this in present tense man what was 13 year old me thinking
Ming is the prison guard who was really nice to Iroh when he was a prisoner and gave him extra rice or somethin like that
Anyway thank u for reading chapter 7! All faves, follows and reviews are greatly appreciated!