16. Separate
Katara is tagged with a blue sash around her otherwise identical uniform. As is her brother, Sokka; his girlriend, Yue; the ass, Hahn; and other Water Tribe members forced to attend this hell hole.
The Fire Nation said it's for "education and refinement for the other unprivileged nations," but Katara can translate the message just fine: civilize the barbaric nations that aren't as "fortunate" to be the Fire Nation.
Of course, in a show of goodwill, the Fire Nation sends their own children. It's obvious this is an ultimate humiliation for the kids—having to go to a reform school for the savages instead of the prestigious Fire Nation Academy for Boys or Girls. It's also obvious that the kids are the "rejects" of the family or otherwise too poor to send to prep school—but all are not eager to make friends with anyone. They scowl. They grumble constantly. They mutter how much they despise their family, but despise this aisine school more. But they do not drag their feet, purposely fail, or laze around. They are much too prideful for that. They excell in all of their classes, classes that are catered to them—bows and gestures, Firebending and basic self-defense/weapons, Fire Nation history, language, and a special class that Katara calls "brainwashing." There is one "fun" class that they can take if they're behaved, like art or music or such, but Katara hasn't earned that privilege yet.
Predictably, the teachers are Fire Nation and take their job seriously, with Fire Nation displine. Katara and the other Waterbending healers gain a good reputation (but carefully guarded from the teachers and Fire Nation students) of healing. Every evening, during study sessions, they hold out their palms and wrists and backs for more soothing water that will soothe and mend their wounds. They wrap bandages around the afflicted area and rub scented lotion on them. They're smart enough not to proudly display the new skin.
The factions are not supposed to mingle. Fire Nation with Fire Nation. Earth Kingdom with Earth Kingdom. Water Tribe with Water Tribe. The Fire Nation decides to keep the two tribes apart, but builds their dorms close together anyway. There are no Air Nomad houses. The students have red or green or blue sashes around their waists. No one misses that the Fire Nation students are, typically, supplied with better food, housing, or clothing. Anyone who points this out gets a severe talking-to about how it's for their own good.
There are escape attempts. Haru has tried. Chit Sang, strangely a burly Fire Nation student, has tried. The students never see them afterwards, and Katara doesn't want to know what happens to them.
Katara isn't allowed to wear her hair loops or whalebone heads or any semblance of fur or blue. She cannot speak a single word of her native tongue, lest she gets called up, her tongue yanked out by a grubby hand, and smacked with a leather whip. She knows why. Sokka has quietly joked that they would become "Fire Nation robots."
Everyone tries to maintain their heritage, but it's hard. They are being watched. They murmur their language when lights are out, talking about their day. They dress in their clothes that managed to escape the ovens and do their hair. They tell stories.
No one has gotten caught yet, because no one is foolish enough to say anything.
But the saddest part is when a voice is silent during the chorus of the time-honored legends or when hands shake when attempting to do a braid-bun. That means the Fire Nation is winning.
Katara is given a Fire Nation name, but she doesn't use it. She's called Niu, an insulting name which means "stubborn" and sounds very harsh to her ears. She refuses to hear anyone who uses it, and this is what gets her into trouble.
She's called in class to recite the Fire Nation oath. She shakes her head defiantly, and the teacher makes her hold out her palm for the small fire whip.
Zhao is a sadist. He likes to hear people scream.
She refuses. Tears come to her eyes, but she refuses.
"I will call the Fire Lord!" he threatens.
She laughs. Why would the Fire Lord bother with a tiny Water peasant?
Furious, he strikes her face with the whip, and everyone shrieks. Katara raises her head and doesn't flinch, even though the tears are freely running down her cheeks.
She now has a scar running down the right side of her face.
Katara is also a member of the student resistance. Her brother is the actual leader, since he's quite good with speeches and getting everyone riled up. Their ultimate goal is escape, but they're still working on it. They're careful not to write anything down.
Tonight's task is to paint the Fire Nation barracks in blue and green and orange. They haven't forgotton the Air Nomads.
The Waterbenders use the water in the makeshift paint to expertly cover the house, and Earthbenders use the earth in the pigments to make it brighter and somehow harder for it to wash off. Granted, the two houses will be punished, likely by having to scrub it off by themselves, but it'll be fun to watch the fussy authorities try to clean it first themselves and bellow at the top of their lungs.
Sokka, in a disguised voice, calls for a retreat when the first candle lights in the window. Everyone flees.
Katara is a fast runner, but she stops to pick up a newer member, Meng, when she trips and spills her leftover paint on the ground. She manages to toss her over the fence before someone grabs her arm.
She has painted her face in an ironic mask: a Fire Nation Spirit, the Painted Lady.
The boy who grabbed her has a flame-shaped scar covering half of his face. He's unusually well-dressed, in silk pajamas instead of cotton ones, which is technically a violation of the school code, but she supposes his parents pulled a few strings. He has Firebender eyes, bright gold.
"What do you think you're doing?"
"I am doing nothing my parents wouldn't have approved of." She answers defiantly.
"Like—" he gestures to the swirled walls behind him with a lit hand. "painting our house?"
"As I've said," Katara replies. "My father would have done the same."
The gold eyes narrow. "I ought to take you to security right now, Water Tribe."
Her heats stops. "How do you know?" she spits.
"You have unmistakably blue eyes." he appraises her, then nods as if confirming something.
"Who the hell are you?" she asks angrily, struggling anew. "I've never seen you before."
His eyebrow raises. One eyebrow. Peculiar.
"You honestly don't know?"
"Oooh, another snotty noblemen's son." she fires back. She notices a paint drip rolls off into the grass by the fireball still lit in his hand. Katara slowly, behind her back, lifts her hand. It's a full moon.
He chuckles darkly. "Oh, you are in for it now." He opens his mouth to say his name, but Katara is faster.
The blue paint hits him right in the back of his head, and he startles, letting go of her immediately. She laughs and makes her escape.
Bending (except for Firebending) is illegal, so it's very lucky he doesn't know her.
Continued in Snow.
Okay, I had no intention of actually making a new story arc, but there you go.