A/N:

9/1/22 good evening! I did some additional rewording to this chapter! Still trying to fix some timeline issues and also figure out why my italics aren't transferring when I paste it over! Ah well! Enjoy! :)

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Katara had fallen asleep momentarily after getting into her bed. Her head hit the pillow and just like that, she fell asleep.

When she awoke many hours later, she couldn't remember the last time she had been that tired.

She was the kind of tired where your limbs feel as if they're filled with lead and your muscles ache with every movement you even think of making. But that was perhaps the price she had to pay from doing so much healing and bending last night, even with a full moon to aide her efforts.

After she had managed to brush her hair and put on a clean pair of clothes, Katara decided to spend a little while with Akira before evening fell.

"June, dear," she greeted as the girl exited her room. "You look much better then you did when you first got back."

Katara smiled, pushing a piece of hair behind her ear.

The older woman was seated behind a small wooden table, working on some various projects laid out in front of her. Different swathes of fabric were strewn across the table and a few neatly folded undershirts were laid off to one side. Her silver-black hair was wound up into a bun at the nape of her neck and she had a small pair of cracked spectacles balancing precariously at the end of her nose.

Katara took a seat nearby, leaning against one of the shop's supporting columns.

"I feel much better too..." Katara trailed off, not really sure how much the woman was wanting her to share.

"Did you find your family?" She asked, beginning to pick at a rather crooked and splitting seam.

"No..." she sighed. "No word yet, but I'm doing my best to stay hopeful."

Akira huffed at the fabric in her hands and pushed it towards Katara.

"Here, you have young eyes."

The fabric she'd been picking at - khaki trousers - slid across the table, closer to Katara.

She picked it up wordlessly and squinted at it.

"Don't worry too much about them." Akira murmured, moving her attention to a new garment. "If they're anywhere near as smart as you, I'm sure they're fine."

The younger girl pulled a string free of the khaki cloth with a slight smile.

"Thank you."

They worked in a comfortable silence for some time before Katara spoke up.

"How is Pu?"

Akira raised her brown eyes to meet Katara's blue.

"He's sleeping. I wish I could get the burns to begin healing, but they're rather tender right now."

She paused for a beat. "We got word early this morning that his patients seem to have miraculously recovered nearly overnight."

Warmth rose to Katara's chest and she resisted the urge to smile knowingly.

"Really?" She instead frowned slightly, glancing up from the fabric again. "What do you mean?"

Akira sat back in her chair.

"I'm honestly not too sure what to make of it. No one saw anything, but Xu seems sure it was the "Painted Lady". I wish he wouldn't give these people false hope...I've lived here nearly my whole life and I haven't seen her once. She abandoned us long ago."

Katara remained quiet, hoping she would continue.

"We just had many sick folks who haven't been well in a very long time wake up this morning as if they were magically healed. Bones no longer broken, sepsis that would surely kill now nowhere to be found..."

Akira turned to stare out towards the other buildings, the slowly setting sun shining onto her face.

"Makes me wonder what it could be then..."

"What do you think it is then? I mean, if you don't think it's this spirit Xu was talking about?" Katara asked.

Akira didn't move for a few moments, still staring out into the distance. Uncertainty crossed her features and blew out a puff of air, adjusting her glasses.

"I am not sure. I hope it is the Painted Lady, I really do...but I wonder what would cause her to come back now. We've needed her so badly so many times now over the years, and she was nowhere to be found."

Katara smiled sympathetically, nodding.

"Well maybe this could be the start of something good for everyone. I know I haven't been here for long, but I'm sure you all are more then ready for a change."

Her new friend took her glasses off, setting them down on top of her pile before getting to her feet.

"I sure hope you're right, dear. I'm going to go check on Pu. You're more then welcome to go do something else if you'd like."

Katara sat down the trousers she'd just finished. "I may go on a walk to clear my head. Thanks for talking with me."

She waved goodbye to the woman as she headed behind her shop, presumably to check on the man.

Turning her gaze to the sun, Katara steeled her nerves.

Now is as good a time as any... she thought, getting to her feet. Time to get things ready for tonight.

A few hours had passed and the sun had just reached the horizon line.

Katara had walked around the stilted village and taken in the layout in order to feel a bit more comfortable with her intended time spent as the Painted Lady. She'd decided the remaining logistics on her plan, filled her water skins, retrieved her disguise from the forest, and purchased a small dagger from one of the shops in the market.

The man had given her a strange look at her purchase, but Katara had simply brushed it off.

Without Sokka traveling with her, she had no daggers at her disposal. She didn't expect to have to use it that night - not that she was trained to wield it, anyway - but she felt safer knowing she had the balanced piece of steel secured next to her waterskins.

Even if I don't use it tonight, she thought, perhaps if I have to move on and I'm able to even catch something to eat, I can use this to skin it.

~0~

Night had finally fallen and Katara had returned to her back room. Her disguise fully on, she slipped out of the room into the blanket of darkness that covered the village.

The moon was covered by a thick array of dark gray clouds, though Katara couldn't distinguish if they were present naturally, or if they were another negative byproduct from the factory nearby.

Creeping between the back of the shop and the platform leading to Akira's door, Katara came to a stop at the edge of the wood.

Bending a sheet of ice for her to step down onto, she cautiously placed her weight on the platform and bent the water to carry her quietly away from potential prying eyes.

Here goes nothing...

Making a brief stop at the dock positioned at the shoreline, she drew the fog up and around her and the river as she tethered herself to the raft.

After a deep breath, Katara ensured the fog would remain as she propelled herself towards the factory.

The waterbender stopped at the shoreline on the left side of the factory, heaving the boat onto dry land so it would be there later that night if she needed it.

She then made her way to the far side of the factory, knowing she would feel more comfortable with the terrain. Picking her way up the rocky shoreline and cliff side, she grumbled under her breath, feeling the long billowy dress snag a few times on her way up.

A few minutes had passed and by then, she had reached the entrance of the factory.

There hadn't been a guard in sight since she'd advanced around the side of the building.

Katara paused for a moment, slowly raising her arms up from her sides to pull from an uncapped water skin.

With anther serene movement forward, she pushed forward into the front section of the factory. Thick fog cloaked the barren landscape behind her and crept through the gate into the factory.

Once she felt satisfied at her cover, she bent a small yet sharp water whip between the door and latch.

Arms bent at the elbows, the bender sliced the bar into two, smiling as she heard it fall to the ground with a quiet clatter.

She pushed at the door, heart beginning to pound as she was able to open it and step into the factory.

"Huh?" A male voice called out, clearly from some ways away, and Katara quickly turned to push the door closed, cringing when it hit the doorframe with a dull thud.

"Did you hear that?" The same voice said again, and Katara had placed the voice coming from inside a smaller building to her left.

"No, I didn't, you're hearing things," another one retorted. "Now quit being paranoid and take your turn!"

She prayed to the spirits that the one didn't get curious enough to open the door and see the fog she'd coated the place in.

Less worrying, more moving, Sokka's voice rang in her head, and she steeled her nerves, beginning to stalk over to the doorway she could barely see on the left.

As she grew closer, she could hear the two soldiers still talking about the game from one entrance.

Another door was inset in the same wall a few meters down, and she prayed once again that there was nobody inside.

She pushed gently at the door, breathing a sigh of relief when it opened without much noise or resistance.

Her eyes took in the dark interior, sighing when she saw a whole lotta nothing. Chairs were scattered about small metal tables, and she could tell from what little light that filtered in from the now open door, that fire nation tapestries hung on the back bare wall.

Okay...so break room? She thought, squinting. Wouldn't the kitchen be connected to the break room?

Another survey of the walls revealed no darker space from an entryway.

Katara backed out of the room, carefully pulling the door closed.

She then began to peek in other doorways on that side of the factory, first listening closely before entering.

After two more rooms had proved to be nothing more then a staircase towards the main factory and some storage, she was beginning to feel hopeless.

She paused again outside the third door, feeling her element call to her in high quantities. She assumed this was where they cooled the metal and made the metallic waste they pumped into the river.

She frowned, doubting they kept the food in such a humid, hot room.

Katara adjusted her veiled hat, deep in thought for a moment.

Where else? The right side?

She quickly moved to the adjacent side of the courtyard, noticing again that the last door, closest to the factory seemed to be full of water.

Once she had searched the next door, she had assumed they had mirrored the layout of rooms on this side of the factory as well.

Although she hadn't been in such a factory before, the young waterbender wondered if most of the factories the Fire Nation made would be mirrored like this.

Deciding to go down to the last door on the right side, she peered inside, hoping this room also didn't house soldiers like it's mirrored counterpart.

The room she peered into was dimly lit by an oil lamp on the middle of the table. It cast eerie shadows onto the interior, crates casting shadows onto the fire nation tapestries that hung on the wall. A few chairs sat empty around the table in the middle and she could see a pile of weapons hanging on the back wall, with their creepy spiked helmets balancing on the shelf above. The only other piece of furniture was a large wooden desk situated in one corner, papers spread across the top.

Katara slipped inside the room, shutting the door behind her. She crept over to the crates she'd noticed earlier and began shifting through them.

Each crate was slightly different, although nearly the same dimensions.

The one on the bottom seemed to be fashioned out of a dark wood, the one above it lighter plywood, with the top crafted out of the same dark wood. Another stack next to it all seemed to be the same, each box being a smooth wood with metal cross beams reinforcing all the sides.

She began to move and sift through the the contents of each crate, finding a variety of objects.

The first crate, the metal and wood mix, seemed to have a variety of medical products inside, stamped with an Earth kingdom logo on the back of the lid. The second had varying bundles of deep red, tan and green fabrics, with a couple small pouches of smoked fish beneath it. It also had an Earth Kingdom stamp on it, though this one had been scorched out slightly.

At her first discovery of food, she grinned, pulling the pouches of fish out and placing them on the table. There had to have been at least two dozen fish there, all in seemingly good condition, no trace of the water's contaminant. After she'd removed the last of the fish, Katara froze when she heard the slight clink of coins.

These idiots had left money in here too? She pulled out a small, deep green pouch, full of copper and silver coins. It wasn't much, but if she had to leave, it would have lasted her long enough to at least buy food for two weeks!

A thorough search of the remaining crates led Katara to believe that these were all crates from the villages or ports that this particular factory terrorized.

There's so much here! She thought, rather excitedly.

She'd found two sacks of potatoes and other vegetables, a couple more pouches of smoked fish, two bags of white rice, more medicine, bandages, and one last pouch of copper coins.

One lone burlap bag leaned up against the crates and Katara hadn't noticed it until now.

Apples!

It had been a long time since she had fruit, especially apples.

A small pang of sadness hit her as she wondered if the children in the village had even seen an apple before.

Katara looked at the vast amount of food she had found, praying it would all fit in her makeshift backpack. She hadn't figured out a way to transport the food and supplies down to the raft without having to carry it all herself. The bags of rice, medicine and smoked fish were the first things she put into her bag, before stuffing in the bandages and bag of potatoes.

She combined both pouches of coins into one bag, and tucked that into her waistband, feeling the lumps press into her hip as she moved.

Katara had begun to try to find a way to transport the last two bags - vegetables and apples - when she heard commotion coming from the courtyard.

"I'm bored," one said. "Hyung, go get me some apples."

Footsteps got louder, and she wondered if her fog had prematurely dissipated.

Katara didn't have much practice with the fog just quite yet.

She knew how to form it, but keeping it around when she wasn't paying attention was a technique unknown to her.

It must have went away when I was distracted.

Her heart thudded in her chest as she realized she'd lost track of time.

Scrambling to put the lids back on the crates and restack them, she glanced around wildly, trying to find a place to hide.

"You know that boss doesn't want us eating his apples."

"Well, do you see him here to tell us no?"

Her backpack was so heavy, she thought as she heaved it to her back. It had to be nearly forty or fifty pounds.

Muscles shaking as she stooped over, she shoved it onto the chair closest to the door, praying the solid back and shadows from the table would conceal it.

She tossed the sack of apples back where she had found them before quickly snuffing out the oil lamp.

Katara had just managed to crawl beneath the desk in the corner and pull the chair back in when the door swung open.

Two men walked in, clad in dirty black pants. She could just barely see them from her place under the desk.

"Well, are you going to get the apples or just stand there?" one said, standing back in the doorway.

"Fine."

The man in front, whom Katara assumed was Hyung, quickly went forward and grabbed an apple from the bag leaning against the crates.

Katara held her breath, really hoping that the crates were heavy enough on their own to not be moved by the weight of the apples shifting against it.

"Now let's get back to our game," Hyung said. Katara heard a thunk and assumed that he'd tossed the apple to his friend.

She watched their figures exit the doorway and once it had shut, she allowed the breath she'd been holding to whoosh out of her lungs.

Waiting a few moments to ensure they wouldn't come back, she crept out from her hiding spot. Shouldering the bag with a grunt, she felt her legs wobble under the weight.

I can do this. She told herself.

Katara poured out some of the apples and combined it with the half bag of mixed vegetables and put it beneath her left arm.

With a quick breath to calm her nerves, she walked over to the doorway, pushing it open. Uncapping the water skin with her left hand, she bent the fog back into the air and stepped into the night.

The journey back down the cliff side was a perilous one, the girl nearly losing her footing a handful of times. When she was nearly halfway down, Katara bent water from the river to make an ice slide, sending the backpack and vegetable bag sliding down.

I'm not going to let myself fall and make all this work be for nothing...

She rolled her shoulders, thankful the heavy weight was gone before making the trek the rest of the way down the shore.

Once she reached the water, she called more fog up from the depths before picking up the two bags.

Katara called the water to her feet, surfing over to the raft.

~0~

The trip back to the village was quick, the raft making it quite easy to transport the goods to the stilted village.

After she'd unloaded the bags onto a table she'd placed in the middle of the market, she allowed herself to take a moment.

If only Aang and Sokka could see her now! They'd be so proud! ...annoyed probably too, for putting herself in potential danger, but proud.

Katara had just emptied out the last bag of apples when she heard a door creak.

She enhanced the fog with a quick wave of her arms and turned to look towards the sound.

Erin, the younger boy who'd she spoken to a few nights prior, stared at her with wide eyes.

"It's you," he breathed, stepping out into the night. "Painted Lady."

Katara took a few steps back, inclining her head to the boy in greeting.

She picked an apple up off the table and tossed it to the boy. He missed and it careened just slightly past him, rolling away. Erin turned to go after it, and Katara took this moment to slip away, jumping off the dock and gliding towards the shoreline. The fog that had loomed around the market followed her and Erin stared in shock as he turned back towards where she once stood. The market was now empty, and he could see a dark swathe of fabric floating in the wind in the distance before it disappeared completely in the fog.

"Thank you," he whispered, holding the apple close to his body.

Katara had waited on the shoreline for almost an hour, hoping that the boy wouldn't wake up the other villagers. It was nearly midnight, if not a bit later, and Katara wanted to stop and heal Pu before she crept back into her bed for the night.

She glided back towards the back corner of her room, keeping her head down, disguise still on. Once she was satisfied the village was still sound asleep, she pulled herself up to Akira's door.

The Painted Lady silently entered Akira's main room, walking over to the bed where the man slept.

Katara pulled the last bit of water from her water skin, cloaking her hands in the liquid. Her hands began to glow soft blue as she placed them over his arms, concentrating on healing the damaged skin.

It may have been too late to stop it from scarring, but she could at least take away his pain.

I'm sorry, Pu. I wish I could do more.

Pu stirred slightly, probably feeling his skin magically knit itself back together.

Katara froze, hoping her face was hidden enough from the veil.

She ducked her head and knelt at the bedside, hoping if he awoke, he wouldn't be able to see her face clearly.

Pu groaned as Katara pulled her hands away, feeling the wounds closing as much as they would be able to. As she turned away, she heard his breath catch in his throat.

The man stared at the eerie silhouette of the woman, only seeing the outline of her body and hat from the dim moonlight creeping in from outside.

Katara froze at the sound of his breath, but she forced herself to continue out the door, shutting it behind her.

I better get inside in case he wakes up Akira, Katara thought, hurrying into her room.

Once Katara had hidden her disguise, she crawled under the covers of her bed, a wide smile present on her face.

I did it, I can't believe it!