17. Snow
"So, what do you think the special assembly is going to be about today?" Yue asked as she tied her hair back into a required Fire Nation hairstyle, struggling to hold the bun in place while she clipped the school's emblem in. She'd almost forgotten, but luckily, someone had reminded her. They were all standing very stiffly in the very large room with a platform for propaganda plays, speeches, or public punishments and trying very hard to keep the mood festive before the so-called "big announcement."
"Probably to congratulate us on our fine project last night," Hahn whispered, and everyone snickered. Katara didn't laugh as she pretended to straighten her sash.
"Psh, it's probably another you're not trying hard enough for the honor and integrity of the Fire Nation speech." Sokka mimicked Lo's (or was it Li's?) gravelly, but stern voice.
"Who's mocking the noble purpose of this school?" one of the prefects came up right behind them in the large hall, and they all shrieked.
"No one," Tato quickly answered, fingers clenched to his sides.
"I see." The prefect, Hide, scanned them all. They had let their faces slip into impassivity, and he scowled at them as he rapped on his small notepad. "If I ever hear you disregard the motto of this fine establishment, I can give you all double chores for two months, you backwater savages."
"Savages!" Kita shouted angrily, lunging forward. Katara quickly pulled her in a close embrace and tried very hard not to glare at Hide, who was making a note and looking at little Kita's number boldly printed onto her sleeve.
"Perhaps this one should get triple...including volunteering herself for cleaning out the picken stalls. She'll fit right in the mud; it will blend perfectly with her skin." he laughed as if he'd made a good joke. Sokka clenched his fists. Kita was ready to tackle him again, and Katara had to use most of her strength to hold her back.
"She just got here; she doesn't know!" Yue protested, despite that her own face was redder than the boy's sash. "I'll talk to her."
He scanned her face, flipped through a little book. "Yes, Yue, Princess of the North. The North is a much...civilized society than the South. Your color is almost close to a true Fire Nation native."
Yue raised her chin, her eyes flashing, but her tone was cool and conciliatory. "Thank you, Prefect Hide."
"See? Manners. You've been taught well here." Hide leered at her, and Sokka was nearly stepped forward when Hide waved them away as if shooing away a troublesome spiderfly. "Very well. Keep an eye on Number 906...the little girl, and watch her well. If she gets into trouble, it'll be your responsibility."
"Yes. Sir." Yue muttered, glancing briefly at Kita, now limp in Katara's arms. "Understood."
"Good. Dismissed." With that, he swaggered off to bully a new set of students.
Sokka scowled and drew an arm across Yue's shoulders quickly, temporarily breaking ranks. "That ass."
"Sokka, shhh!" Katara hissed and pushing Kita to her position with the other newcomers.
"How can they all believe in this junk?" Sokka grumbled and stepped away from Yue, who was patting his shoulder. "They actually believe it!"
"Sokka, get back." Someone shoved him to stand on his number just as one of the teachers walked by. The lights dimmed slightly as the principal took the stage. It was Zhao, who had wormed his way up the ranks to become this and doubled as one of their techers. Katara honestly didn't know why, because despite all the things he could get away with doing to the students, he still had to interact with "putrid ingrates."
"Children!" He smiled benovently at them, as fake as, well one of the posters on the wall: Education, refinement, love of the Fire Nation. We welcome you! "We have a special guest today to observe our proceedings at the Three Nations Academy of Good Fortune."
Sokka and Katara, on cue, preteneded to vomit at the name. Yue smirked at Sokka and quickly turned her look into complete attentiveness.
"Please welcome our esteemed," his face twisted as if he was having a contortion. "Prince Zuko, heir to the Fire Nation crown and son of the Fire Lord. Hail!"
"Hail!" the Fire Nation students called back and immediately kow-towed. Getting the cue, the other students (reluctantly) mimicked them.
Katara looked up and gulped. It was the boy from last night.
He still had the blue paint slightly stuck to his ears, hair, and neck. Katara managed a small smirk before she clamped down on it. What if he recognized her? Oh, he'd definitely tell! Her family would be punished along with her!
He was making what sounded like a memorized speech, but Katara wasn't listening, even as they rose. Her thoughts were still kicking at her head. Finally, he finished, and they filed out. Katara quikcly bowed her head as they passed the stage. Even so, she could sense that he'd find her.
So far, her luck had held for almost a day. Students were required to bow deeply whenever the esteemed Prince passed them, and Katara took advantage of that to let her long hair hide her face as she did so, as the sides pulled back not allowing her to do so while standing or sitting. He doesn't know me; I was wearing face paint.
Now she was taking notes for Ms. Kwan's history class. She was the picture of a hard teacher, with pursued lips, sharp eyes, and dark hair in a bun. Even though she was petite, she kept order with a sharp tongue and well-placed threats. She often boasted that she taught famous generals and inventors and even a well-known warrior, but she, out of the kindness of her heart, volunteered to educate them. Katara hated her.
"...Now, Fire Lord Azulon..."
Katara suppressed a sigh as her voice droned on and on, setting aside her fully-covered paper for a new piece. Her voice suddenly broke as the door creaked open.
"Prince Zuko!" Her tone turned delighted and worshipful. Katara would have gagged if she wasn't trying to be unnoticed. "Are you here to observe my class?"
"Yes, of course, I must stop by every one, and I've heard good reports of you. My cousin Prince Lu Ten was one of your students."
"Ah, yes, talented boy! You were intelligent, too! Of course, alas, you both had to go to the Fire Nation Academy for Boys when you came of age..."
Sokka was mouthing alas? as he was studiously copying down the last words of her lecture.
"Sit down, will you, please? Now, class, let's begin with one of Fire Lord Azulon's most famous campaign orders...the Southern Raiders!"
She held out a red flag with the emblem, and Katara couldn't help the gasp that escaped from her mouth.
"Miss Niu, what is your problem?"
My problem? You're about to teach about the invaders who killed my mother! "Nothing, ma'am."
"Good. Please pay attention, and do not dishonor us."
"Yes, ma'am." Katara closed her eyes.
"For starters, the Southern Raider frigates were raiding ships used by the Southern Raiders as a means of transportation to raid various sreas. Now, Fire Lord Azulon gave the order, Decree 316, to capture any remaining Waterbenders after the last raid covered in our last lesson."
Oh spirits...it's true. I thought what the soldier said was because of panic. Oh spirits.
"Captain Yon Rha led the campaign..."
Yon Rha...that's his name. Her brush began to shake as she wrote down the characters and underlined them. The monster. His eyes were like the ashes that covered the snow...
"This was their final raid, as they discovered the last Waterbender of the Southern Water Tribe. An older woman, whose name is forgotten. The orders were to kill..."
Mom! She was running to the tent as fast as her little legs could carry her, her dad racing far ahead of her, calling her mother's name. Sokka was nowhere to be found. The soldiers were running, but they didn't care...
Dad opened the flap, then covered my eyes, but I saw in that split second...the stench, too...I think I fainted.
I couldn't wear her necklace for a long time without picturing it being peeled off her burned body.
"Niu! Uncivilized barbarian, can you not use the waste bin?"
Katara lifted her arms and realized she'd thrown up all over her desk and her...herself. The notes were ruined. Sokka was looking at her sympathetically, with all the other Water Tribe and Earth Kingdom students. The Fire Nation students were laughing.
"I..."
"I'll bet twenty gold pieces you did this on purpose! And in front of our prince too!"
"No, I swear..." That might be how my mother pleaded.
"Come up here, this instant!"
Katara trudged forward, trying to wipe the sick off herself. She wished she could Waterbend, but she couldn't blow her cover...My mother died for me as the snow fell...
"Closer!"
Katara held up her hands and braced herself for the whip. Burning pain...
"No! I've had enough of your cheek!" Ms. Kwan opened a drawer and held up a pair of shiny, silver scissors. "Gather your hair into a ponytail, and let's get this over with!"
Katara stepped back. "No! You can't!"
"You have disgraced yourself. This is your punishment."
"No! Please, in my tribe, you can't cut..."
"I care not what your backwater tribe does for their outrageous superstitions! Closer, or I'll make you!"
"Please, you can't...it's forbidden unless you're mourning...it's bad luck...someone close to you may die..."
"We will take that chance." She yanked Katara close, despite the stench, and put a chunk of her brown locks into the opened blades.
"Enough." Everyone turned to the back. Prince Zuko was standing up and walking towards them. Katara used that moment to yank free of Ms. Kwan's grip. The teacher was just able to slap her, when he raised his hand. "I will deal with her myself."
After Katara cleaned herself in the cold showers, she was sat down to have "tea" with the prince. She stared. They were very elegant pastries, such as a fruit tart, and fragrant tea that smelled of jasmine.
"Eat."
She did gladly. They were very rich and flavorful. It beat gruel with meager vegetables with a cup of water. Warm water.
"Now, what's the fuss about your hair? It is not simply vanity?"
Katara shook her head. "No. Women cut their hair as a sign of grief in my tribe, if a family member or close friend dies. It's bad luck to cut it outside of that circumstance. Someone close to you can die."
"What if you get it tangled somewhere?"
Katara narrowed her eyes. "If I was allowed to wear my hair in my old style, I will show you."
He nodded and tapped his fingers on the table. "I presume the Southern Raiders history unsettled you?"
Yes, you idiot. "Yes, sir."
"Can you tell me why?"
"My mother was killed. A lot of my friends were." she quickly added, in case they put together that her mother was the one who died, the "Waterbender."
"I'm sorry." He tilted his head to look at her. "Tell you what. I'll forbid anyone from cutting your hair and revoke your punishment from Ms. Kwan if you do me a favor."
"What favor?" she asked suspiciously. Several popped into her mind, all unpleasant.
"Actually try at this school."
She frowned. "I don't want to become Fire Nation."
"Well. You will all have to. Either you learn our ways, or else. We can keep you in school, true, but we can get tired of you wasting resources for children who want to learn. We can simply..." he casually stabs a knife into a pastry and smirks. Katara jumps.
"I am not afraid to die."
"You are afraid of your family?" Katara scoots her chair back, sweat sticking to the skirt of her uniform. "You have a brother here, and a father at home. Both are being closely watched. And I happen to know a few of your secrets."
Katara takes a sip of her tea, trying not to let her emotions show. "What of them?"
"For starters, you're one of those student resistance members. Painted Lady." He reaches forward and grabs her chin. She wants to spit the tea into his face as his fingers clench around her jaw. "That leads to a web of secrets. One, you're a Waterbender. You're registered as a non-bender here. That will be penalty enough. Perhaps a new regiment of drugs, watching, more encouragement to become a valuable asset to our society.
"Two, you Waterbended at me. The Prince. That's pretty hefty. I could imprison a man for simply blocking the sun if I wanted to. But this could be rewritten as an...oh, malicious prank, or an assassination attempt.
"Three, don't forget your identity as a resistance member. That is punishable by...say, your family? And that could lead to other members of your petty little faction.
"I will be watching you everywhere. You don't adhere to my generous offer, something worse than mere hair-cutting will result."
Katara pushed him away, swallowing the cold tea with a big effort, and started to open the door. He let her, laughing.
"And, Katara? I am the Prince. I always win."
Continued in the next prompt!
Did you notice the number of the Decree for the raid? Reread it.