Thinking to herself Katara decided it was probably safer if she disguised herself so she could blend into the palace and stay under the radar. She debated slipping into he princess's room but quickly decided against it considering how cruel the girl was to harmless creatures. She spotted a door that she figured led to a kitchen. Inside the room was actually a laundry room. Grabbing a red dress that touched her knees she tied her hair up in the traditional Fire Nation girl hairstyle before slipping out. Hama would congratulate her cleverness seeing as she passed by several people guards included and no one even cast a glance of suspicion towards her.
The palace was definitely huge considering she'd searching for hours trying to find the prince but to no effect. Based on the moon's position she could see that it was nearing midnight and fewer people were in the corridors but guards were patrolling in pairs. She knew she'd have to walk the ceiling again soon so the guards wouldn't question her being there. Footsteps behind her had her tense and looking for escape. A cool drop of sweat rolled down her neck as she felt them closing in on her.
"Excuse me, maid." She stopped.
She turned slowly but kept her eyes low. It appeared to be a guard. "Prince Zuko is in need of sheets that other more useless maids seemed to have overlooked." He said coldly. "Go get them and give them to him then get back to work."
His tone made Katara growl but went back to the laundry room to fetch clean sheets. She quickly realized she had no clue where the prince's room was. But of course being her Katara refused to ask. It wasn't hard to spot. Two guards were posted outside the door as if to protect him. She chuckled to herself, fat chance. She formed a sharp blade of water over her hands and dug one into the first guard's chest while sticking the other in second's stomach. The groaned as their blood seeped from them. Too easy. She dropped the sheets and cracked the door to the room open but was met by an elderly man sitting on a bed sipping tea reading a book. He looked wise and warm but a little sadden. Katara slowly made her way over to him.
"Um…sir, are you okay?" she asked.
The man opened his eyes and smiled kindly at her. "I am fine my dear. But you do not look so well." He told her.
Katara was confused. She looked herself over to see any sign of looking unwell but found none. The elderly man handed her a small mirror. She took it and looked at her reflection. Nothing looked wrong.
"I look fine." She said as if trying to convince herself.
The old man patting the spot next to him on the bed. Katara seated herself beside him.
"You're face looks serious but your eyes hold shame and fear." The man told her.
Katara gasped. Her blue eyes turned away from him. She felt exposed to him with him looking into her eyes as if they were an open book. He went on talking.
"Eyes are the window into a person's soul. It shows us what they are hiding without them telling us themselves. What have you seen my dear?" he asked.
She tried to push away her emotions. Hama had taught her that her destiny was to kill firebenders and take down the Fire Nation. Standing from the bed she made her way to the door.
"I understand you do not wish to talk about it." The old man sounded kind. "If you ever need someone to talk to you can come by any time. My name is Iroh."
"I'm Katara." She quickly made her way out of the room.
She stepped over the bodies of the two guards. Their blood stained the floor. Her emotions flared in her to fix what she'd done. She closed her eyes praying for them before carefully encasing their bodies in ice and taking them out to the gardens. She dug two graves and carefully placed them in them before covering them with dirt and planting flowers over to honor them. She went back to the palace and scrubbed the blood from the floor. Her body was exhausted after she finished so she headed to where she guessed the servants quarters were to go to bed.