A/N: Thank you again to everyone. Another cliffy for everyone and I'll try and update soon, just little internet makes me frustrated sometimes. Again, please R &R!
Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar
Chapter 8
"Ah, there you are, Aang," Sokka said as he spotted them. "Can you airbend some of those bubbles for you, Katara, and Zuko tomorrow? What?"
Sokka shifted his gaze to Katara when he finally noticed she was glaring at him. She sighed and got up, giving Aang a smile.
"Maybe another time," she told Aang before turning to scowl at her brother again. "And you need to learn to be more respectful. I'm going to bed."
She marched past her brother as she heard him asking Aang and Bumi what he did wrong. She sighed as she made her way to the room she shared with Toph and found Hina waiting there.
"Lady Katara, I've heard you've been training hard all day and drew up a hot bath. It's ready for you if you like."
Katara smiled and nodded, letting the motherly attendant lead her into a side room and help her out of her dress. Katara sighed as she sank into the steaming water. She relaxed completely and fell asleep in the hot water.
Hina came in later and woke her with a touch on her arm. She motioned to a towel and left again. Katara was exhausted, but felt better as she toweled off and went to bed. She noticed Toph's bed was still empty as she sank onto her own. She was asleep before her head even hit the pillow.
She woke with the dawn the next morning as was her custom, and saw Toph sprawled across the other bed, snoring lightly. She smiled at the earthbender and got up to find a light blue shirt and pants waiting for her on the dresser. She did her hair in a simple braid, tucking her maiden strands away safely and hurried to the fountain courtyard.
Kalaya arrived the same time she did and smiled a greeting to her. They started off doing forms where they had left off the night before. After about an hour, Kalaya stopped them and had Katara face her in a fighting stance.
"Remember, it's the same as hand to hand martial arts. The daggers are a sharp extension of your body. Keep them close and strike when you see an opportunity."
"Are you sure?" Katara asked, hesitant about using her daggers on the healer. "What If I actually hit you?"
"No worries," Kalaya said as she bent some water from the fountain and glazed it over the edges of the daggers, creating a barrier of ice over the edge. "We have safeties. Now we'll only get hit with cold. It'll hurt if we hit hard, but it's better than me having to heal us."
Katara smiled and crouched into a fighting stance as she waited for Kalaya to move. Kalaya crouched as well and stepped forward, swinging her right dagger towards Katara. Katara deflected the blade with her own and swung at Kalaya's middle. The healer jumped back and swept out her leg, trying to sweep Katara's feet out from under her.
Katara jumped up as she swung at Kalaya's head. The healer ducked more and came up, bringing her dagger to Katara's throat as Katara landed. She smiled at Katara as she yielded.
"You're a fast learner, no wonder Master Pokku was so taken with you," Kalaya said as she stepped back, bowing to Katara.
Katara bowed back as she saw Aang and Sokka come into the courtyard out of the corner of her eye.
"Thank you for the lesson, but I think the boys need us."
Kalaya smiled back as the two girls turned to wait for Sokka and Aang to come to them.
Sokka was talking animatedly with Aang, but stopped abruptly when he saw the two girls waiting for him. His jaw dropped as he stared at Kalaya.
"What's wrong Sokka?" Katara asked her brother.
He shook his head and stared again at Kalaya. "You're not related to Yue, are you?" he asked the healer.
Kalaya blushed, and nodded sadly. "She was my cousin. We were all saddened at the loss of our princess, but I know she will always watch over us."
"Yeah, she does," Sokka replied, looking sad and thoughtful.
Katara glanced at Aang and they exchanged a glance, knowing that Sokka still felt responsible for not being able to protect Yue.
"She chose to give her life back to the moon," Aang said as he placed a hand on Sokka's shoulder. "She'll always watch over us."
Sokka glanced at Aang and nodded.
"So what brings you guys here?" Katara asked, trying to bring her brother back to the moment.
He looked up at her surprised before he turned thoughtful.
"We received a letter from the Captain of the fire nation army. They require that you not have any weapons when you exchange yourselves for the earthbenders."
"So what are we going to do?" Katara asked him as she saw a smile creep onto her brothers' face.
"The earthbenders underneath can hold your weapons and at the right moment, toss them up to you. It'll be perfect. You guys will appear unarmed and frightened, and then you'll suddenly have everything!"
Aang and Kalaya started giggling at Sokka's excitement while Katara sighed.
"And what will the signal be?" she asked her brother.
"Signal?" He asked as his face fell. "Oh, um, Oh!" Sokka grew excited again. "Aang can stomp his foot down, earthbending a little and send a message to the earthbenders, and then they can toss up your stuff!"
"Fine," Katara sighed again before turning to Aang. "Is breakfast ready? I'm starving."
Aang grinned and nodded, holding his arm out for her. She smiled and hooked her arm in his as Sokka sighed. She saw her brother turn to Kalaya.
"Are you going to come to breakfast?" he asked the healer.
"No, but thank you," she replied. "I have to tend to my patients. Maybe another time."
She smiled and waved goodbye as she hurried off with her set of daggers towards the physicians' room. Katara waved back before tucking the wooden box that held her daggers under her arm as Sokka led the way to the dining hall.
They walked in silence to the dining hall and found Toph and Zuko already eating. The morning stayed uneventful, Sokka and Aang leaving once they had finished to finalize the plans with several members of the society. Toph and Zuko disappeared again once Sokka had left, leaving Katara alone.
Katara went to check on Momo and Appa once the dining hall was clear and found Momo curled up on Appa's head with a half eaten apple in his hands. Appa bellowed a greeting to her when he saw her, but didn't get up. She smiled as she walked over to rub his head and popped a melon into his mouth.
She sat against his side as she watched people scurry through the courtyard on errands. Eventually, she got up and practiced the forms Kalaya had taught her with her daggers before she grew bored again and went to her room. She had just finished putting on her water tribe clothes from the invasion, clean again thanks to Hina, when Toph walked in.
"Are you ready?" the earthbender asked her.
"As ready as I'll ever be," Katara sighed as she looked longingly at the water pouch she was leaving behind.
Toph nodded and walked out, followed by Katara. They walked in silence to the society's' meeting room where they found Bumi, Aang, Sokka, and Zuko waiting along with a handful of the society members, all of which were earthbenders.
Zuko was in his fire nation garb which he had worn when he joined them, and Aang and Sokka were in their clothes from the invasion. Bumi and the earthbenders were in their traditional earth kingdom battle clothes, with hats and wrist guards.
"We're ready," King Bumi said once the door was closed. "Appa will take you three just outside the gate while we travel underneath. Don't worry, my friends, all will work out, may the spirits watch over us."
He gave them a friendly smile though his face had turned serious. Katara couldn't return the smile, but Aang did. The others nodded as Aang handed his staff to Bumi. Zuko sighed before handing his swords to Toph, and Katara held her daggers out to the young man who had interrupted her and Aang's kiss.
"I'll keep them safe and ready for you, my lady," he said as he took the daggers from her.
"Thank you, what is your name?"
"Seti."
Katara smiled as she noticed how worried he looked. "Thank you Seti."
He smiled back as the king motioned for them to go outside. Another forty earthbenders were waiting for them near Appa. Aang and Katara got onto Appa easily and turned, waiting for Zuko. He seemed unsure for a minute before he turned to Toph and picked her up, kissing her full on the mouth.
She seemed surprised, but wrapped her arms around him, kissing him back as several of the men started laughing and cheering. Katara smiled as the two separated, blushing before Zuko jumped up and climbed onto Appa.
"I'll be ok," the prince called out to Toph.
"You better be," she called back, trying to smile and holding onto his swords as if for dear life.
Aang gave the signal to Appa and they were off. Katara turned to the firebender and tried to give him a reassuring smile.
"We'll be ok, and she will to. If anything, you two can definitely take care of yourselves," she said.
Zuko looked up at her and she saw worry in his amber eyes. He nodded slowly.
"I know, but I'm still worried."
"You think that assassin will be there?" Aang asked as he jumped into the saddle from Appa's head.
"Yes," Zuko replied. "And I think she means to kill us, that or nearly kill us so that either my father or sister can kill us."
Aang frowned, and started looking worried. Katara sighed.
"We'll deal with that when we get there, first things first. We need to make sure the earthbenders are safe, and then we'll get her. We've gotten out of worse situations before, and that was with you."
She smirked at Zuko as she said the last and noticed a smile start to tug at his mouth before he sighed.
"You're starting to sound like you're brother, but more positive," he said.
Katara just smiled at him and was glad that Aang's frown was starting to disappear. The airbender turned and saw that they were almost to the gate and jumped back to Appa's head. The bison started descending once they were past the gate and landed halfway across the raised path to Omashu.
They all jumped off Appa and Aang turned to hug the bison's head.
"We'll be ok, buddy," he told Appa. "Just be ready, in case we need a quick exit."
Appa bellowed loudly and licked the Avatar before flicking his tail and lifting off again to head back to Omashu. Aang turned to Katara and Zuko and nodded, his face serious as they started to walk to the meeting point.
They walked in silence as the sun started to descend. Before they crested the last peak, Katara stopped Aang with a touch on his arm.
"Aang," she started as he turned towards her. "I just want you to know…"
She fell silent as she searched for the right words. He smiled at her and she smiled back and jumped at him, landing a kiss on his mouth as she wrapped her arms around his neck. He kissed her back and they became lost in the moment until she heard Zuko cough discreetly.
"Sorry," she said to the firebender as she separated, blushing. "But you gave me the idea."
Aang grinned at her and then smiled sheepishly at Zuko.
"I guess we'd better meet them," he said as he started walking again.
Katara and Zuko followed the Avatar, flanking him on either side as they crested the peak and found three in uniform waiting for them, one a middle aged man with a beard in the middle, flanked by two firebenders in white masks. Another ten firebenders were behind the three, surrounding the thirty earthbenders who looked dazed and confused.
"They must be just recovering from the poison," Zuko whispered as they approached.
Aang nodded once and stopped about twenty yards from the waiting captain. Katara and Zuko stopped just behind Aang, Katara on Aangs' right and Zuko on his left.
"We're here, unarmed, as promised," Aang said loudly to the fire nation captain. "Now release the prisoners."
"Surrender first," the captain shouted back.
"Not until the men are free and clear," Aang replied.
Katara saw the man glance to his right and the firebender nod once discreetly.
"Very well," the captain said before turning to the firebenders. "Release the prisoners."
"The one on his right," she whispered to Aang, "that one's in charge."
Aang glanced back at her for a second before returning his focus to the captain as the earthbenders got up and started staggering towards them. Several looked injured and leaned on their unsteady companions. The captain waited until the earthbenders were past Aang before speaking again.
"They are free, now surrender!"
Katara saw a smile come across Aang's face as he stomped his foot down and his staff, along with Zuko's swords and Katara's daggers popped straight up in front of them.
"They have earthbenders! Attack!" the firebender on the captain's right yelled in a female voice as Aang's foot hit the ground.
Katara recognized the voice as belonging to the assassin when she started throwing a ball their way. Aang quickly airbended bubbles around their heads as the ball hit the ground in front of them and burst into a yellow cloud. The assassin charged out of the cloud and headed straight towards Aang. Zuko stepped in front and engaged her with his swords out while the other firebender charged Katara.
Katara ducked under a blast of fire and brought her hand up as she stepped in, hitting the firebenders' chin. The firebender staggered back and fired at her again. She dodged as she heard the scuffles of battle in the cloud as it started to disperse. She saw Aang dealing with three firebenders and Zuko engaged with the assassin in a deadly dance as the earthbenders under them started to rise and attack the other firebenders.
Katara kept her focus on her opponent as he shot again at her. She dodged to the side and rushed in again, sweeping at his middle with her right dagger. The firebender stepped back and shot again. She dodged and struck towards his face. He brought up his arm and blocked the dagger from hitting his head with his wrist guard, though Katara could hear a grunt from under the mask as he took the brunt of the attack.
She quickly spun and kicked at his head and landed the kick on the helmet, dislodging the face mask. A man of about twenty faced her and started coughing as he breathed in the yellow cloud. Katara spun again and landed another kick to his head and he fell, coughing.
"Knock their masks off!" Katara yelled as she rushed to help Aang, the closest to her.
She hit a firebender in the back who was about to fire at Aang's back and reached around to grab the mans' mask as she hit him again in the side with her fist. Her fingers found the mask and pulled down and she smiled as she started to hear him cough.
"Retreat!" she heard the assassin yell as Katara turned to face another firebender.
Another ball exploded, making the world turn yellow before a wave of air cleared the area. The earthbenders cheered as Katara saw the handful of firebenders retreat over a hill and turned to smile at Aang and Zuko. Aang smiled back at her, but Zuko looked pale as he stared at his hand, which was covered in blood.