Voice was a very important thing in the Water Tribe. Among the smothering snow, even whispers made in the wrong spot could trigger an avalanche. Ice ate sound other than its own groaning, so while you could shout yourself hoarse on an ice field, no one would be able to hear you if you were trapped. Only underwater could their talking be made freely and with little consequence, but the frigid water usually stole their voices.
In some places, where people did not speak, they would use hand signals to talk instead. But there was very little mobility afforded by the thick mittens they usually wore. Days after a heavy snowfall were usually spent in silence, as they waited for the snow to settle. When the thaw began, quiet was once again ordained till most of the floes had gone away.
It had been excruciatingly boring for the children growing up.
Now, it was the only thing Katara could think about. Zuko and Suki had begun shouting at each other.
"But why is SHE here?"
"What, did you think a bunch of Fire Nation women were just going to LARK over to Kyoshi to be trained? I needed her to be there so she could influence the others!"
"You do remember what she did right?"
"I remember her saving your girlfriend from your psychotic sister!"
"She was also BEST FRIENDS with my psychotic sister and often attacked YOUR boyfriend."
"Well, I've been spending the last few years with her and she seems fine."
"I've been spending the last few years with a lot of people and I'm pretty certain most of them still want to kill me."
"That's why you need TY LEE."
"No, I need bodyguards to PROTECT me from people like TY LEE."
"UGH! Zuko you are being so STUPID."
"Man, am I glad she's yelling at someone who isn't me right now." Sokka said as he leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms.
"She has a point though." Katara said and sighed.
"I don't want her heading my security team Suki."
"She can stay at the school then."
"So she can create her own little cult and indoctrinate them against me? No thank you."
"ZUKO."
"SUKI."
"Fire Lord, if I may interject?" They all turned as Chang walked into the study. It was not, thankfully, the study Zuko and Katara had first met in, but was just a quiet reading room. Or at least, it was supposed to be a quiet reading room.
"What is it Chang?" Zuko snapped and pushed his hair back out of his face.
"What if Ty Lee was to escort the Princess Azula to her father's prison? She could be charged with attending the Princess and you could gain access to the information you are wanting."
"Azula wants to see Ozai?" Suki whirled back to Zuko, who stared at Chang with his brows furrowed.
"What information?" Katara asked. Zuko waved her comment away and Katara bristled.
"I don't know if I really want her that close to Azula either." Zuko stated.
"I think it might be the only, and safest, way to get that information."
"What information Zuko?" Katara asked again. Zuko abruptly turned to her, his face tight with anger.
"I want to know where my mother's body is Katara." Zuko snapped and Katara flinched. Sokka immediately rose to his feet and Zuko put his hands up.
"I'm sorry. That was uncalled for." He waited till Sokka sat back down before lowering his hands. "I just want to know where my mother is."
"And you think Ozai will tell you if he gets to see Azula?" Suki asked.
"I think he'll tell Azula where our mother is so she can use it as leverage. Since she is literally insane, I think I can outmaneuver her and get what I want without her slipping her bonds." Zuko said.
"That is really risky Zuko."
"I am aware of that." Zuko said, his voice low.
"Do you think Ty Lee is capable?" Chang asked Suki. The younger woman put her hands on her hips and blew hair out of her face.
"Capable? She's totally capable. But dealing with Azula is more psychological than physical."
"Do you trust her Suki? With my life?" Zuko asked. Suki kept his stare for a minute and then nodded.
"I wouldn't have brought her if I didn't Zuko." Zuko sighed and shook his head.
"But you still didn't tell me about this part of the plan. Even after all the planning we did." He turned and began pacing the length of the back wall, his hands clasped behind his back. Katara wanted to go to him, but knew very well that she could not.
"I need to think about this." Zuko said and abruptly walked out of the room. Suki turned back to glance at Katara and Sokka, but Katara just looked to the door. She tried to remember if she had ever gone after him, or if she had only ever offered to comfort Aang.
"Someone should go see if he's okay." Suki said and grabbed onto her arm, looking pensive.
"Katara should do it. She's the motherly one in the group." Sokka said and stood back up again.
"Yeah, I'll go." Katara said as she got up, not even looking at the other two.
As she rushed out into the hall, she missed hearing Sokka. "Weird, she usually gets mad about that."
Katara walked out into the hall but couldn't see Zuko. She figured he couldn't have gotten far so she took the first turn the walk offered. Just as she rounded the corner, a hand grabbed her and pulled her into a room. The door shut and she was pressed against it.
"Katara." Zuko said as he hugged her, clung to her.
"Good thing I'm not Sokka." She said awkwardly as she tried to slow her hammering heart.
"This would be incredibly uncomfortable then." He said and kissed her. It wasn't as urgent as the earlier ones, but Zuko still pulled her in close. Katara closed her eyes and put her arms over Zuko's shoulders. When she began to want more, that was when Zuko pulled away, only slightly, and kissed her lightly.
"I'm sorry for yelling at you." He murmured.
"I understand how you feel Zuko. You get a pass, this time." She said and the corner of his mouth hitched up.
"What do you think I should do?"
"You're asking me?"
"You spared the man who killed your mother. If I trust anyone to make the right choice in a situation like this, it's you."
"If you were to find out that your mother was really dead, would you kill him?"
"Yes." Zuko didn't even hesitate in his answer.
"Is that something you can live with? Taking his life?" She asked.
"I don't know." Zuko laid his head on Katara's shoulder and she moved her hands down to his chest. He still held onto her tightly and she felt encompassed by his warmth.
What could she possibly offer him?
"I'm here Zuko."
"The heart of a fire is blue you know." Zuko said, his voice muffled by the fabric of her dress.
"I think you should let Ty Lee guard Azula." Katara said and Zuko lifted his face to hers.
"Really?" Katara nodded.
"Let's find your mother Zuko."
"I would recommend eating dinner first." Zuko and Katara jumped, and Zuko ended up standing defensively in front of her. Chang stood in front of them, her hands hidden in her sleeves and looking disappointed overall.
"Where did you even come from Chang?"
"There are sometimes more than one door to a room Fire Lord." She replied.
Katara spoke up from behind Zuko's back. "Okay so, dinner?" Zuko cleared his throat as she opened the door behind her and they stepped out into the hall.
They heard Chang mutter as they walked out. "Must they always be so dramatic?"
It was an informal dinner, so Katara didn't need to dress for it, but after being outside for most of the day, she wanted to enjoy the luxury of a wash and an extra set of clothes. As she stepped back in the shower, gently pulling the cord and stepping under the thin rod of warmed water.
Looking around, Katara found a small niche that held a basket of multicolored soaps. A few had the character for "hair" carved into them and Katara picked up a rose colored one. Smelling it, she caught a faint but pleasant perfume of new roses. She opened her eyes and groaned.
Slumping forward, Katara reached back and pulled at the wet tangle of her hair. She had left the vines in.
Muttering, she replaced the soap and went about removing the thin vines, watching the tiny white blossoms fall and swirl down into the drain.
They were always so dramatic.
But courting was serious, and intense, business for Water Tribe people. With only five months of actual, liveable sunlight, there was a lot to do. Food had to be hunted, skins had to be scrapped and dried, and lovers had to court amidst all that activity before the dark months fell. If a pair weren't wed before then, there was the risk of the love dying as the cold, dark, and freezing snow killed any thoughts of romance.
Sokka's behavior was typical of marriageable Water Tribe men. During hunting trips that involved hiding and waiting, men would return with carved icons and tokens for their beloved. In the North Pole, where they had the infrastructure to exist normally even during the dark months, the carving was turned into the betrothal necklaces. The men in the South Pole didn't have the means to make something so ornate, but Katara had found the trove of figures Hakoda had carved for Kaya.
Not that she was courting Zuko. Only that her people were prone to,
To passion.
Katara shuddered and focused on the vines. When she managed to remove most of them, she tossed them onto her clothes and went back to the basket of soaps.
After managing the shower, Katara stood before the wardrobe and looked at the outfits that hung there. There was an odd clash as one end had clothes that fell along the typical gold, black, red of the Fire Nation and the other had the white and blue of the Water Tribe.
With only a little amount of grumbling, Katara pulled out a pair of black pants and dark blue tunic. She tossed the clothing onto the bed and tossed a glance at the heap of her dirty clothing. She thought about pulling out the linen she used to wrap her chest but it hadn't been cleaned in a few days. Katara looked down at herself and sighed in resignation.
Fat was a lifesaver in the UTP and it was only due to near starvation that the people in the South Pole were much leaner than the people at the North Pole. Now that Katara had been eating comfortably and travelling so much, her body had developed into it's natural, descended-from-North-Pole-stock shape.
To be concise, going without being wrapped was going to hurt.
Pulling out the small drawer at the bottom of the wardrobe, Katara found shifts of varying length. She found one short enough to wear under the tunic and it even had a bustline sewn in, which would offer almost no support but it made Katara optimistic.
Getting it on, any of it, proved to be difficult.
First was maneuvering the shift over her broad shoulders and then down over her chest. Fire Nation women had been thin, like reeds, but Katara had been measured the last time she was here.
She did the math as her right arm stuck awkwardly up in the air as she tried to pull the neck hole over her head.
That had been a number of months ago. Over a year.
Exhaling as much air as she could to shrink her ribcage, Katara managed to get the shift in place. Luckily, the tunic had a wide scoop neck and, while it exposed part of the shift underneath, was much easier to put on.
The pants were only marginally tight in the thighs and Katara made a mental note to not try any running or climbing. Finally, she sat at the small vanity and brushed out her hair. She thought about what Zuko had said about braiding and was tempted to call Chang in. Instead, she just tied it back the way she normally did and put on her mother's necklace.
Before closing the wardrobe, Katara stood and looked at herself in the mirror that had been hung in one door. The tunic, she now noticed, was embroidered with tiny beads the same color as the fabric, but shiny. The pattern was of a school of fish. Katara smiled and shut the door, putting on a pair of plain black slippers before leaving her rooms.
As she walked into the hall, she found Chang waiting for her.
"Did you know Suki and Sokka were coming?"
"I did, but I thought they would be later. Admittedly, I am more focused on the movements of the General than on the Fire Lord's friends." Chang said.
"Did you know Ty Lee was with them?"
"It is my job to know such things Lady Katara."
"You know you can just call me Katara right?"
"I will do no such thing." Katara shook her head and glanced over at Sokka's door.
"Has Sokka already gone?"
"Yes, dinner is being served in the bamboo room." Chang turned and ushered for Katara to follow her. They walked down the halls and Katara tried to pay attention to her surroundings.
The residential wing had narrow hallways, and the floors were done in a black wood polished to a high shine. Tapestries were hung on the walls, some bearing only a stamp of the Fire Nation emblem while others had minimalistic art scenes.
There were no windows as the rooms were housed at the interior, for safety reasons, and torches burned at regular intervals.
The housing wing fed into the informal offices and receiving rooms. Some of these rooms had access to small, enclosed gardens. Here the hallways, still with the black wood flooring, were wider. Fake half columns adorned the walls and there were more torches as no natural light could readily reach this part.
Buffering the informal areas from the main section of the palace were the formal receiving rooms and various administrative rooms. These were put together as near adjacent boxes so it was a confusing mess for rooms meant to entertain more serious business.
This was where Zuko's studies were, and where the nicer, larger gardens were.
The other side of the main open palace was the royal apartments, the war room, and what used to be Ozai's private rooms.
Chang took her into the formal receiving area and slid open a door to a random room. The Bamboo Room was simply adorned. Woven mats were on the floor and one young bamboo plant stood in a niche at the far wall. This room had a large circular window and currently let in the orange and pink hues of the setting sun.
The dining table was a low setting and set as a circle. Zuko was sitting alone and Katara went to sit next to him.
"Where are Suki and Sokka?" She asked and Zuko took her hand under the table.
"He went to go as my in-between to escort Ty Lee to dinner." Katara frowned.
"She's eating with us?"
"It's necessary. Not only do we have things to discuss, but she's the last inlet I have to the noble class. Since Mai left and everything." Zuko said and shook his head. Katara smiled and squeezed his hand.
"Don't tell me you miss her?" She asked. Zuko, not looking amused, just glared at her for a moment.
"Not in the slightest. But having her here kept her father on my side. Now that she's gone, he can use the fact that I ruined his daughter against me." Katara felt her chest tighten and she moved her hand away. Zuko didn't respond and she turned to look down at the table. Her fingers had gone cold and she folded them on her lap.
"Does it bother you?" He finally asked. Katara shook her head.
"To hear you talk about her? No, not really. It just makes me wonder what he's saying about me." She replied.
"I don't know how he and I could ever look at the same person and see such wildly different things." Katara turned back to him.
"And what do you see?" Sokka asked as he walked into the room.
"See what?" Zuko leapt to his feet and Katara froze, feeling heat blossom over the bridge of her nose.
"See? I didn't say see. I said, uh…" Zuko drifted and looked down at Katara, his eyes pleading.
"Be! He said be. Be something wildly different. Just, you know, still surprised to see Ty Lee doing the Kyoshi warrior, thing." Katara, keeping her body turned away from her brother but cocked her head back and to look at him.
"Yes, right." Zuko said and grabbed the back of his neck. "What she, said."
"Oh it's been super great now that there are more Fire Nation girls in the group!" The cheerful voice preceded the figures, so Katara allowed herself a small cringe before turning, finally, to look at the group entering.
Suki, as always, made a point of dressing plainly when she wasn't in her uniform. Not that Katara ever blamed her; if she had to spend so much time normally on a very symbolic uniform, she certainly wouldn't want to exert any extra effort for dinner with friends.
And anyway, Katara appreciated Suki's look, being envious of the short hair that didn't fluff out like a cloud around her head.
Sokka matched Suki, the both of them wearing long pants and simple short sleeved shirts; his was just white and blue while she wore green and brown. Ty Lee trailed in at the back, her hair too was cut short and she wore a red and gold dress over black pants very similar to what Katara was wearing.
"It will be good to have everyone back at home." Zuko said, keeping his tone clipped. Sokka and Suki exchanged a glance before moving around to sit at opposite points of the circle. Ty Lee was left standing at a spot almost directly across from Zuko.
"I am very glad to be back Z-" Ty Lee stopped short and her eyes darted over to Suki. Her gaze flicked back before she put her fist to her open palm and bowed. "Fire Lord."
"I think we can dispense with all that," Zuko said as she stood back up. "Loyalties aren't made by using titles." Ty Lee flinched but bowed again.
"Well, that's incredibly awkward. Let's eat and at least have something else to do." Sokka said and Katara blew out a laugh from between closed lips. Zuko even managed a mue before sitting down, Ty Lee quietly following suit.
Dinner was exceedingly simple, as the household had been severely reduced, but it was primarily serving as sustenance to the group. Only Ty Lee was caught poking around in the rice or lifting the relishes, looking unimpressed with the fare.
Everyone else at the table had lived with starvation, and sometimes still treated food as nothing more than something to get them through the day. If it tasted edible and wasn't vaguely poisonous, it counted as a good meal.
The dinner conversation started on more palatable topics, like how the new Kyoshi school was going to be opened in the city. Ty Lee had created a variant of the fan technique the Kyoshi warriors used and included an adaption using ribbons. It was used to restrain and capitalized on Ty Lee's acrobatic background. This gave it the chance of being assimilated better among the Fire Nation since it was breaking away from the culture closely associated with the Avatar and the Earth kingdom.
Sokka had suggested putting on an exhibition to showcase the form and to get more people to visit the school. Ty Lee would be installed as the school's master, and have it advertised that while she was trained in Kyoshi she was not a Kyoshi Warrior.
"So how are we going to make them loyal to me?" Zuko inquired.
"Excuse me?" Suki responded, her voice sharp.
"The Kyoshi Warriors are a class of near-priestesses trained in a martial art. They pledge themselves to the dictum of Kyoshi do they not? Everything about your training isn't just to make yourself exceptional with the fan, but to follow the precepts set by the Avatar. There is a, pardon my wording, but a fanaticism that is rooted in the practice." Zuko replied, not raising to Suki's tone.
"They are a bunch of FAN-atics aren't they?" Sokka interjected. Both Suki and Katara glared at him while Zuko just shut his eyes briefly.
"You'll forgive me if I disagree Zuko." Suki said as she leaned back, one arm behind her to prop her up.
"And you'll forgive me if I call out your inherent bias Suki." Zuko turned her response to the side and picked up his tea cup.
"Why do you even want them to be loyal to you?" Suki asked.
"It's not like I want to be worshipped." Zuko paused as he took a drink. "I just understand the kind of influence daughters can have on their fathers. And I need more fathers to be in my corner in the coming days."
"Well we wear the same makeup Kyoshi did, how about we burn every initiate in the school?" Suki snapped.
Everyone at the table froze. Katara scarcely breathed.
"Unfortunately, public burnings are used as a tool to remind someone that they are a wrong word away from death. They're too special to be used as an oath." Zuki set down his teacup carefully, very carefully.
"You just want obedient pets." Suki kept reclining, but Katara could see the muscles in her arm tighten.
"I want to make sure no one else sends their obedient pet into a school that's supposed to protect me."
"Why are you so paranoid?" Suki barked. Zuko stood, slamming his hands on the table as he rose, and Katara jumped. Wordlessly, he removed his shirt.
"Because I am facing active assassination attempts from a group that includes the father of my ex girlfriend." He retorted. Zuko's body was dotted with yellowing bruises. A thin black line of small x's ran in a neat curve over his hip. Patches of abrasions were scabbed over.
"Zuko?" Katara found herself rising and reaching out to him. He shot her a look and she stopped, letting him put his shirt back on.
"That happened after I attempted to leave the city and my carriage rolled over an explosion." Suki sat up, her mouth open and silent.
"Zuko," She finally managed. "Zuko I'm sorry."
"Suki." He said and she shut her mouth. "Get out." Suki tried, once more, to say something but the look on Zuko's face stopped her. She rose, turned, and walked out of the dining room. Katara watched as Sokka quietly counted to himself before standing with a heavy sigh. He walked over to Zuko and clapped his hand to the Fire Lord's shoulder.
"You still have that Tinder Brandy?" Zuko relaxed and Katara felt a swell of love for her brother.
"Just find me after and I'll have some ready." Sokka nodded, patted Zuko's shoulder again, and walked out after Suki.
Ty Lee hadn't moved.
"Ty Lee." Zuko said, and the young woman looked up.
She looked terrified.
"Have you heard from Mai?" He asked.
"Yes."
"So you know why she left?"
"Yes."
"Good, then I don't need to explain much." Now Ty Lee looked confused.
"About, what?"
"I'm having you escort Azula to a cell next to Ozai." Katara could watch as the blood drained out of Ty Lee's face.
Now she looked terrified.
"Azula HATES me. You can't leave me with her!" Ty Lee pleaded, her voice cracking.
"Because she hates you, she won't be actively trying to manipulate you. This will give me added security to keep her restrained so she can influence our father." Zuko explained.
"Influence him how?"
"By making him think she can win." Ty Lee looked down at the table. Katara glanced at Zuko, but he was staring intently at Ty Lee. When the latter raised her head, his eyes narrowed.
"Will this get you to trust me?" She asked.
"This isn't really a chance for you to say yes or no. Either you do this, or you go back to Kyoshi tonight." Zuko answered. Ty Lee bit her lip and Katara almost felt sorry for her. Zuko sighed and rolled his eyes upward. "But yes, this is an opportunity for me to begin to believe you won't stab me in the back."
"Then I am at the service of the Fire Lord." She said.
"Good. Great. Wonderful. You can leave now." Ty Lee rose in a fluid motion and bowed deeply. As she turned to leave, Katara saw that her face was still white as a sheet.
"Zuko." Katara began but stopped when he grabbed her and draped himself over her.
"I'm burnt out Katara." He muttered and Katara staggered back a bit when he let some of his weight rest on her.
"Lively enough for a pun." She muttered back and she could feel him smiling in her shoulder.
"If you weren't here, I think this room would be on fire right now."
"I don't know why Suki was so angry. You know she's not normally like that." Katara said and rubbed her hands up and down Zuko's back. A low rumbling came from his chest.
"I'm sure it's something, but I know it has nothing to do with the issues here. And these are serious issues."
"She's still a good friend." She said Zuko sighed and his hot, damp breath rolled around her neck.
"Oh I know that. This little tiff won't mean anything in a matter of days. Which is why I'm glad you were around so I wouldn't lose my temper."
"I'll always be there for you, when I can."
"We'll see what happens when you leave."
"I'm here now." Zuko stood up and Katara gazed at his face. The length of his hair was falling into his face, again, and it began to cover his scar. She reached up and pushed the hair back, her cool fingers travelling lightly over the tight, dry skin around his left eye.
"It never hurt." Katara let her fingers drift away and she said nothing. "The fire burned everything, even the pain."
"How did it not damage your eye?"
"Skill. The blast was concentrated around the eye, and quick enough that it didn't cook it. I can't cry out of this eye but the eyelid is totally fine. The color is just due to superficial scarring I think."
"That's lucky."
"No, that's pride. He wanted me to wear my shame for the rest of my life, but didn't want to have a son who was partially blind. I'm ugly, not crippled."
"Oh Zuko."
"I have to go talk to Rin now Katara." Katara wrapped her arms around herself as Zuko stepped away from her.
As he exited the room, she remembered their walk in the garden, only a few hours ago. She thought about flowers and heat. She thought about being someplace so warm, but still feeling so cold.
Even the ice could burn.