Silence of Knowledge
Chapter 2
Katara awakened with a start and jumped up immediately, taking on her defensive waterbending stance. One learned to train their body to be alert at all times when traveling alone a lot. The candles that had been burning along the walls had burned low, creating a dim atmosphere. What had caused her to awaken?
She blinked a few times in order to adjust her eyes and scanned the room. Nothing seemed out of place. She was in the same room that Zuko had left her in earlier.
"Damn," Katara whispered harshly to herself. She was late for dinner, if she hadn't missed it completely yet. After eating she had walked through a door that was in the room to discover a comfortably sized bath chamber. She had decided to wash up and she was thankful that one of Zuko's maids had lain out clean garments for her to change into. Beautiful red clothing that reminded her more strongly of the group's stay in the Fire Nation. After bathing free of the grime that coated her skin, she felt the need to close her eyes briefly. Unfortunately, it seemed that briefly turned into a few hours.
The Water Tribe woman stepped lightly to the door but stopped as soon as something flashed into her peripherals. She turned around quickly her arms up and ready to make a water whip out of the remaining tea sitting in the teapot on the table.
There, staring at her, were huge green eyes.
"Momo!" she exclaimed with a light laugh of relief. She had almost destroyed that winged-lemur. Momo flew up onto her shoulder and rubbed his face against hers softly. He smelled of the fruits that were on the table. Katara shook her head in amusement.
"Let's go find Aang."
The hall corridors were still and the candles that had surely been burning brightly earlier were dimmed. She hoped that she hadn't outright missed dinner. In such an establishment, that would indeed be considered rude.
Katara smiled to herself as she found that she remembered the exact route to take to get to the palace's dining quarters.
"You're late," she heard before she'd even turned the corner. Facing her was two of the Fire Lord's guards. They stood in front of the large, ornate doors to the dining hall. She furrowed her brows at the guards obvious statement.
"I'm aware. Could you open the doors for me, please?" stated Katara, eager to see her friends. They were most likely waiting for her.
"They are not to be disturbed after the doors are shut," said the guard who had spoken before. Katara looked up at him to see the look of disgust that was clearly present in his eyes. He still held onto the beliefs that floated around before the war about Water Tribe peasants. She was sure that he still worked at the palace because it was a well-paying job and that as long as he kept his mouth shut, the Fire Lord had no issues with him.
"If I am not admitted, I have no doubt that Fire Lord Zuko will fire you. Perhaps, literally. There is no sense in prejudice this day and time," were the calm words of the waterbending master.
She crossed her arms and rested all of her weight on one leg when the guard didn't even bat an eye. The guard standing next to him rolled his eyes but did not move to open the door either.
Seconds later Katara walked into the dining hall with a smile on her face. The table was lavish with food items. Spotting more fruit to dig into, Momo hopped off of her shoulder and had at it.
"I told the guard not to let anyo—Oh."
"Your guards now know what it's like to not be able to breath underwater, Fire Lord," Katara sighed settling herself down at the table beside him. She looked around the room for Aang and spotted him over in a corner with his head bowed. He was meditating.
"Do they now?" Zuko raised his only eyebrow.
In a nonchalant manner Katara waved her hand and started to bend tea into the cup that was in front of her.
"Yes. They said some silly thing about not opening the doors because you didn't wish to be disturbed. How absolutely ridiculous," Katara smiled up at him warmly. She couldn't get their time together at Kyoshi Island out of her head.
Kyoshi Island had been marked as the best place to build the asylum that now housed the excommunicated Princess Azula. Sokka had come up with this thought as a tactical plan because were Azula or any of the other patients to escape, they had nowhere to go. The amount of Kyoshi warriors had expanded and it was one of their divisions, along with Fire Nation guards that guarded the asylum.
Suki, as head of this militant force, stayed on the island and only left for business affairs or to check on her other divisions located around the world. Two years ago, Kyoshi Island happened to be Katara's next task which caused the inevitable reunion with the Fire Lord.
"I told them to let you in whenever you arrived. There are severe repercussions for ignoring my orders. They will be sent to guard The Boiling Rock," Zuko scoffed, clearly aggravated.
"Oh, calm down. How long has Aang been meditating?" questioned the waterbender in an attempt to change the subject. There was no need for him to get all riled up over something that she had already handled.
"Approximately thirty minutes. He has two hours and a half left."
Katara watched as Zuko bit into a pastry before he frowned in disgust. It was a rose pastry; his least favorite. She reached over and took the dessert from him. If he wouldn't delight in it, then she definitely would.
"Thief!" he exclaimed with a grin, his golden eyes bright. And so he did remember the events of Kyoshi Island. Katara felt her heart swell.
"Why does he meditate?"
"He hopes to gain insight from the past avatars by learning their lifestyles. Although Aang has mastered the elements and achieved what he needed for his avatar personality…he still needs to figure out his path," Zuko explained, "He's learning how these past avatars went about their daily lives. So for several hours each day, he meditates. Once in the morning and once in the afternoon."
"I hope it's working. He's not as happy as he used to be." Katara found that to be pretty evident. Aang was happy but it was obvious that behind those grey eyes of his lay certain sadness. He knew his place in the world as Avatar but not as Aang, if what Zuko was telling her was true.
"I think it is. It was his idea to be Fire Lord while I'm away. I do believe that he's marking off his likes and dislikes to find what he's comfortable with. That's one of the best ways to go about this, I think."
Katara nodded taking her own bite from the rose pastry. She had no idea how Zuko couldn't like such a treat and she closed her eyes at the delicacy. The rich smooth flavors of the rose were too delicious to pass up. She finished the dessert and licked her fingers. Upon opening her eyes she saw Zuko's gold ones staring at her, cast in a frown.
She really didn't know how he felt for her and to do such a thing in front of him was just asking for trouble. Who knew that just a simple act of innocence could light such a fire in his heart? He loved the way that she enjoyed the simple things like she'd never have a go again.
It seemed to him that she wasn't going to mention the happenings of Kyoshi Island. He had even mocked the encounter, hoping to stir up a speech regarding it. She either didn't remember or she didn't want to remember. Well, he wasn't going to bring it up again.
The two were silent. Katara had taken to staring down into her cup while Zuko tapped his fingers idly on the table. The only distinct sounds were the sounds of satisfaction from Momo who was happily eating the sliced peaches that were in a bowl at the center of the dining table.
This was proving to be very awkward.
"Why can't we just leave tonight?" Katara finally asked. She didn't feel like lounging around the palace for seven days.
"I thought I already explained to you. I need to speak to the c—."
"Yeah, yeah. You need to clear up a few things with the council. Sorry. I'm just anxious to get this started. It's been a while since I've had a decent mission. Helping the many villages out is good and all, but…it's boring." As if to make a point of this, Katara lifted her arms above her head in a stretch and yawned.
Zuko smiled to himself and stood up. It was good that he was adamant about this week long period before starting their mission. She wouldn't admit it, but she really did need the rest. He had waited so long to locate his mother that a few more days wouldn't hurt.
"Are you done eating?"
Katara nodded and took the hand that the Fire Lord offered. She had eaten plenty before her nap. Together they walked out of the dining hall, leaving Momo with Aang. Zuko took a moment to give a particularly dirty look to the two guards that were present before silently leading Katara through the corridors and to the small pond in the gardens.
"It's still as beautiful as it was before," gasped an amazed Katara. She pulled her hand from his grasp and ran to the edge of the pond. The turtle-ducks swam gracefully around the pond, diving in and out of the clear blue water. Sights like these were hard to come by as she assisted the desolate cities that had been destroyed by Ozai's army.
"Yeah," breathed the Fire Lord looking directly at Katara, who had her back turned to him at the moment.
"How have you been, Zuko? How have you really been?" Katara looked over her shoulder at the marred man whose eyes had become downcast at her words.
"Fine. I can't complain," was his short reply.
Katara sighed loudly and plopped down onto the grass, her arms outstretched behind her, holding her up. The years could not change the fact that there was an ever-present fortress surrounding his emotions. She looked back toward Zuko to see that his arms were crossed and his face was stoic.
"You should give me a bit more credit. I can tell that something's troubling you and it's not just regarding your mother."
Zuko stilled at the validity of her words. Katara was quite the perceptive being when people's feelings were involved.
"I'm not too sure that I know what I'm doing when it comes to being Fire Lord," he muttered, deciding upon the honest approach. Her hearing wasn't quite like Toph's but Katara still managed to hear what the once-banished man said.
"It's taken you six years to come upon that conclusion?" the woman smirked motioning her fingers to flick water at a few turtle-ducks.
"Oh, shut up. What I mean is…all I've ever known is war. The peace infestation baffles me. It is necessary, yes; I know… however, I don't know what to do to go about it."
Katara frowned at his doubts. She had wondered when the brooding prince side of him would show.
"Zuko, if you didn't know what you were doing, then there would only be unrest around the nations. There wouldn't be renewal and unity. Everything is fine at your hands. Perhaps, you're just like Aang in that aspect…," Katara trailed off.
"What do you mean?"
"You still need to find yourself."
"I thought that I did," came his mumbled words. Katara thought that he was speaking of the time when he'd momentarily lost his bending because the only drive that he'd had for firebending was anger at…everything. That anger had diminished after joining the Avatar's group which meant that he needed to find another pulling source. With the help of the remaining dragons, he did.
But no, he had made an extremely subtle reference to their time on the warrior island of Kyoshi; a reference of his feelings for her.
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