"Interference"
"Evil thenceforth became my good. Urged thus far, I had no choice but to adapt my nature to an element which I had willingly chosen." ~ Mary Shelley, Frankenstein
Aang found Katara at her desk, writing furiously on a piece of parchment. "Am I interrupting?" he asked.
Katara glanced up briefly. "Sorry Aang, I need to get this down while it's fresh in my mind."
"Sure, I'll wait."
Katara wrote vigorously for several more minutes. Then, when she was finished, she slipped the pages in between several others, shuffling them into a small pile. Then she sewed them together, forming a book.
"See, I wrote the beginning and the ending earlier today," Katara said. "But just now I thought of something I could include in the middle … I think it might be done now." Too bad she had started reconsidering whether to give the story as a gift.
"So, how is everything going downstairs?" Suki asked Aang.
"You should see the ballroom," Aang told them, almost bursting with excitement. "It's all decorated and pretty—and would you believe it, Meng is actually getting into the spirit of things – she's done a terrific job. I think Zuko's going to be really excited when he finds out about Winter Solstice."
Katara felt her stomach sink with every word. She had to tell him. "Well, he … he already knows," she said, standing up from the desk.
"Really?" Suki looked slightly alarmed.
"Was he excited?" Aang asked hopefully.
"Actually, Aang …" She went over to the window and pulled open the curtain, looking out at the snow-covered terrain. "He's forbidden it."
There was a moment of silence. Suki was disappointed, but she had expected as much. Aang, however, simply looked crestfallen. "But I thought he couldn't forbid Solstice," he said in a strange, small voice.
Katara frowned, looking out the window, though she no longer saw what lay outside. A strange expression crossed over her face: one of slow realization and renewed determination. "You know what, Aang?" she said. "He can't. We'll have Solstice with or without him."
"Hooray!" Aang cheered.
"This is very sneaky … but I like it," Suki said with a grin.
"Can we get a Yule Log, Katara? It's the only thing we're missing."
"All right then," Katara said, smiling. "But first …" She crossed over to her desk and picked up the book. Then she offered her hand to Aang, who jumped onto her palm.
"Good luck," Suki offered as they left.
Katara went to the opposite wing of the castle, to a large suite. "Is this Zuko's room?" Katara asked in a low voice.
"Yes," Aang answered.
Katara knew she was taking a bit of a risk, going into Zuko's private rooms, if the Dragon Bone Catacombs episode was any indication. But she would rather have Zuko open the gift by himself than present it to him in person.
Looking around, she recognized the table with the fire lily in its bell jar – Zuko must have moved them to his suite very recently. Katara wondered if it was because he had seen her as a threat to it. She didn't understand.
"Psst." Aang was standing near the door. "It's Zuko," he whispered. "Hurry."
Katara left the book on the table next to the mirror and the flower. She scurried into the shadows, then inched her way along the wall. She waited until Zuko had gone into the next room before sneaking out. She must have picked up some of the ninja's stealth, because she got away undetected.
It was the middle of the afternoon now. Katara took Aang and Momo the footstool with her outside. She couldn't help laughing as the house pet chased the teacup through the snow.
Zuko could see them from his bedroom window. They looked like they were having fun.
Iroh scooted up the windowsill. "She's beautiful, isn't she?" he prompted.
"Yeah … and I'm hideous," Zuko muttered.
"Not to mention ill-tempered," Iroh added helpfully.
Zuko grunted and turned away from the window. That was when he noticed something on the table, next to the rose and the mirror. "What is that?" He held up the wrapped object.
"Oh – it looks like a New Year present," Iroh said delightedly.
Furious, Zuko left the gift on the table and left the room. But Iroh hopped up and read the card. Then he chuckled gleefully. "It's for you, Zuko. It's from … a girl."
Zuko paused in the doorway, puzzled and curious. "Yue?"
"No! From Katara."
"Katara?" Zuko sounded surprised. He came over to the table slowly, and picked up the gift with renewed interest. He was about to tear off part of the wrapping, when Iroh cried out in protest.
"You can't open it yet!"
"Why not?" Zuko asked, perplexed. "It's for me, isn't it?"
"Because it's not yet the Solstice!" Zuko growled and set the gift back on the table. Iroh spoke up gently. "My dear nephew … we all understand how you feel about the Solstice. But when a woman gives a man a gift, she's saying, 'I care about you.'"
Zuko turned thoughtful at that. "Hmm. … But I don't have a gift for her."
"It is not too late," Iroh pointed out with a smile.
If only he hadn't already shown her the arena or the library. If he gave her a gift, it would have to be something special, something beyond the facilities of the castle.
It was hard to think with Azula's dark but jumping notes emanating from the room down the hall.
"That's it," Zuko said to himself. Iroh smiled to himself as Zuko left him and strode into the organ room.
"Azula, stop the noise!"
The music ceased very abruptly, in the middle of a crescendo. "Noise?" Azula repeated, clearly offended. "Noise? This is my masterpiece."
Zuko took a deep breath; he'd have to be civil if he was going to get his sister's cooperation. "Azula, can you do me a favor?"
"Possibly," she said coolly. Actually, she was pleased that he was turning to her for something.
"I—I want you to compose a song."
Azula gasped. "No! Really? Well, I've only done that—maybe a hundred times."
Zuko ignored the sarcasm, and plunged on before he could become embarrassed. "It's a present for Katara."
"What? Katara?"
"Yes. And make it—happy!" Zuko ordered, speaking over his shoulder as he left the room.
"What's next?" Azula demanded. "Love songs? Wedding marches?" But Zuko wasn't listening; he left the room, closing the door to her. Azula scowled. "It's all that girl's fault. Ty Lee!"
"Yes princess!" The piccolo came out and stood at attention in the middle of the room.
"Pay attention! I need you to pace when I think." Ty Lee immediately started marching back and forth, head bowed, brass hands clasped behind her back.
"The girl is evil, I tell you," Azula mused angrily. "She's filling his head with dreams of—love and hope—and Winter Solstice!"
"Well, what are you going to do? You can't stop the Solstice," Ty Lee said, laughing nervously.
"No, but I can stop the girl," Azula promised darkly.
"I think this is the one."
"No, it's not right."
"Aang, we've looked at every tree on the grounds."
"But we want a log that will burn all night—the longest night of the year. This will burn in five minutes."
"Well, this will have to do." Katara bent some of the snow off the ground, melted it into water, and started to slice the thin trunk—more like a thick stem—with it. Suddenly, she paused in her work. "Do you hear that?" she asked Aang.
"What?"
"Shh. That music." It was a slow, dark, but beautiful song, one that Katara had never heard before. It had to be coming from the castle; but who was making the music?
Suddenly the melody was interrupted by a whistle, so high-pitched that Katara and Aang almost didn't hear it. But it seemed Momo did. The footrest screamed and then bolted toward the castle.
Katara gasped. "Momo! What the—"
She scooped up Aang and followed the footrest inside.
Once inside, they followed the trail of wet paw prints through the foyer and upstairs. Katara was surprised to find herself outside Zuko's suite once more. But again, it appeared to be deserted, at least of the Blue Spirit's presence.
They could hear Momo's chittering inside. For the second time that day, Katara cautiously entered the suite. But this time, she went further down, into a large, cavernous room.
"Hello?" Katara called out softly. "Momo? Zuko? Is anyone here?"
There was a sound like someone whimpering, or squealing in fright. And there, Momo was resting his front paws on the seat of an armchair. Cowering against the back of the armchair was a small musical instrument.
"Oh—hello," Katara said politely. "I don't think we've met. I'm Katara."
"I'm Ty Lee," the piccolo squeaked. "I'm one of the court musicians—or at least I was going to be."
"We heard the most beautiful music," Katara said. "Was it you?"
Ty Lee giggled. "Me?" She had made the high-pitched note that attracted Momo's attention, but she doubted she could make music as beautiful as what they had heard.
"It was I you heard," a new voice said; Katara whirled around and saw the pipe organ against the wall. It—or rather, she—was the largest animated object Katara had seen. The organ smiled and said, "I am Princess Azula, sister of Prince Zuko."
"Pleased to meet you—your highness?" Katara said politely. "I'm Katara of the Water Tribe."
It said a lot about Katara that she wasn't surprised to find out Zuko's sister was a pipe organ. In fact, Azula had just inadvertently confirmed what Katara had guessed: all the animated objects had once been human.
"I know. The whole castle is buzzing about you," Azula informed her. "They say you're planning a winter extravaganza."
"That's right," Aang said cheerfully.
"Well, I should let you know now: I'm a bit of a perfectionist, and Zuko—he's very hard to please. You need to make this the best New Year celebration this place has seen. Do you have gifts?"
"Yep," Aang answered.
"Food?"
"Check."
"Decorations?"
"Yep, we've got them all," Aang said proudly.
Azula paused. "A Yule log?"
Katara and Aang exchanged uncomfortable glances. "Well, we found one tree …" Katara said hesitantly.
"That wasn't a tree," Aang said. "It was a weed wishing it was a tree."
"Did you look in the Foggy Swamp?" Azula suggested. "They have the best trees for Yule logs."
"Really?" Aang looked excited. "Can we go, Katara?"
"Aang, we can't," Katara said, looking uncomfortable and apologetic. "I promised Zuko I'd never leave the castle grounds. I gave my word."
"Well, there's a lesson to be learned from this," Azula said profoundly. "Keeping your word is much more important than bringing happiness to another."
Katara put her hands on her hips. She was starting to dislike this girl. "You're twisting what I said."
"Not at all; I'm agreeing with you. Look after yourself, and let Zuko do the same. Never mind that as a firebender the Yule fire was Zuko's favorite part of winter solstice …"
Aang looked at Katara with wide, pleading eyes. "Please, Katara?"
Katara hesitated. She didn't want to break her word. But she did want to make Zuko happy. Put to that, maybe he would forgive her, if he even found out it.
"All right," she relented. "We'll take Appa. If we hurry, we can be back by nightfall."
Aang cheered, and Momo chattered happily. Katara glanced uncertainly at Ty Lee and Azula. "You'll keep my secret, won't you?"
"Of course," Azula said sweetly. "He'll be completely in the dark.
"Bye, Ty Lee," Katara said with a friendly wave, before she turned the corner.
"Bye," Ty Lee chirped.
"Ty Lee." Azula's voice was sharp and stern. "I want you to follow them. And make sure they don't—come—back."
Ty Lee's eyes widened. "What? But—she's so nice!"
"Well, when you're done fawning, maybe you could recommend someone else to play your solo?" Azula said, her voice silky and dangerous.
"No!" Ty Lee squealed with fright and hurried toward the door. "I'm going, I'm going!"