Another question of age! Katara and Zuko and all the others are the same age as they start out at the beginning of the canon series. Katara is fourteen, Zuko is seventeen, Sokka is sixteen, etc.

Aang will appear; don't worry.

18. Heat

Katara knew fire well, even if she was a Waterbender.

When she was four, out of purely childish curiousity, she stuck her hand right into the heart of the cooking fire that was roasting their dinner of seal-otter meat. She screamed and screamed and screamed—so loudly that her mother and father heard her from ten tents down, called from their monthly meeting, and Sokka came from a game of penguin sledding on the next hill over (or so he said). As she sobbed, her mother rubbed an herbal poultice on her blistering, red flesh while her father and brother ran for bandages and more herbs. Kya had smoothed her hair back and gently chided, "Now, Katara, you do realize fire is very dangerous? Don't do that again. Don't go near it. Understand?" Katara cried, burying her face in her shoulder, and her mother had gently embraced her with care. Her wound was treated well, with kisses and more herbs and frequent cleanings. It was okay now—no permanent damage, save for a few tiny scars.

When she was eight, she saw her mother's body. Sokka didn't tell her it had broken apart, like burnt wood, when it was moved, and that her father had thrown up in the snow, but she knew anyway. The stench and the memories lingered far beyond the funeral. Her father had to dissemble the hut to move far away, next to Bato's. She still remembered the ashes in her hair from that day, and the horrid feeling when the tent flap was opened.

When she was ten, she and Sokka were forced along with the other village children to the school, while their parents were kept at bay at home, to be watched. She was just a tad too slow, still stunned at the thought of leaving the very day they came, that an impatient, nameless soldier hit her with a heated fist. This left no scar, but it burned.

When she was ten still, she answered back in her native tongue, the one she only knew, and her tongue couldn't taste much for days. She was silent for a long time.

When she was thirteen, Sokka let her join the rebellion. She was careful in all of her raids, and the only flame that touched her skin was a careless error of a lantern bumping against her when she fled.

When she was fourteen, Zhao had given her that lash across the face. It was still faintly there.

In between, she had been hit with fire so much, but it still stung.

Fire wasn't very obvious sometimes.

Kita had been paired with Qi, a skinny but powerful boy, as he was the son of an affluent nobleman who donated a lot to the school. They had been "sparring"—but as Kita was a nonbender at eight, and Qi was a Firebender at eleven, Katara knew the rules once they stepped into the ring. Nonbending. Just hands and feet. But Qi was a known aggressor and was taller than Kita. The fight wasn't fair. They never were. If she did manage to beat him, she'd be tripped or have her belongings stolen as her reward. Katara took a sip of her water bottle to calm herself down.

Kita circled the boy and lunged. Qi spun easily and kicked her in the shin, then threw her to the ground by the arm.

"Match, for Qi!"

The girl was crying and holding her arm. Katara rushed forward, as did Yue.

"It's a burn." Katara said angrily. She glanced up at the sparring teacher. "He can't—"

"Match, for Qi." the teacher repeated slowly.

Katara stood up. "I don't think you underst—" She happened to toss her head to emphasize her point, but she saw Prince Zuko casually sitting down in one of the chairs. This seemed to happen every time she was going to lose her temper. Did the teachers send him a messenger hawk or something? She bit her lip.

"I do understand. Sit down, Niu."

Katara did and drew Kita close to her. "Kita, it's all right, I'll help you." She headed over to the lotions when Tato was called up to face Hide.

"Bring it on, water scum."

Grunts were heard. Hide was actually not a good hand-to-hand opponent, but he could fight dirty. But this time, he was losing to Tato, who'd been trained by his father all his life.

Fire flew right at Tato's face, scattering the front row. Everyone gasped.

They gasped louder when Katara's bottle exploded to have the contents cover Tato's face right before the flames hit him.

There was silence. Zuko was leaning forward.

Tato was backing away. "I...I didn't. I swear. I'm not a bender. I'm too old; I'm fifteen."

"Someone else must have done it..." the teacher's eyes roamed around the room. Katara bowed her head as she continued to fumble for the aloe lotion for Kita. He was right; Tato couldn't bend—he never did during the resistance or the secret training sessions.

"You!" She jumped, as did the others. "You little liar!"

His hand was pointing to Kita, whose hands were wet with water.

She shook her head mutely. "I—I'm too old too. None of my family—"

"Lies. Into the heater!"

"She's too young! She's only eight!" Yue stood up. "I am responsible. Send me to the heaters."

"Absolutely not. The girl must learn control."

"Let me help her," Katara begged, coming closer with the opened bottle. "Let me tend to her."

"She'll endure. Guards!"

As soon as he turned his back, Katara swiped as much as she could onto Kita's arm. "Kita, when you come out, try to stay cool. Don't do anything drastic, like a cool shower. If you can, come to me, and—"

She was snatched away from Katara, hands still wet. Zuko's look had tranferred on to the next sparring match.

She painted her face, blue with white swirls resembling the ocean. Now, she hoped, she looked different from the Painted Lady mask.

Sokka was addressing the assembled group, face resembling the artic wolf. "We just need to be more careful. The Prince knows who Katara is now—but he doesn't know the rest. So far. We can't—what was that?"

They looked fearfully towards the night sky, where a blue and white demonic face, unlike Katara's mask, suddenly appeared.