If I had known how difficult it is to make plots from two different episodes occur at the same time, I wouldn't have thought it was a good idea. So once again, sorry for the delay. Once a month updates aren't too bad... right?
Chapter 13: Beach and Witch
Azula, Ursa, and Haru only spent a single night on the island that contained Fire Fountain City. They stole food and supplies to last a few days and left before the local soldiers could catch them. Making a small boat out of ice and propelling it with waterbending, Azula took them away from the island. They headed north-west, towards an island with a remote village.
Arriving at the new island around sunset, they made camp inside some woods. As night fell they made a campfire for warmth. Even with the light from the campfire, the area seems unnaturally dark, with the tree branches overhead blocking out the moonlight. To pass the time, everyone tried on new clothes they had stolen from a clothesline on the previous island.
"This feels weird" Haru said. He was wearing a black outfit with red shoulders and dark red trim.
"You look good in that" Ursa said. She was wearing a traditional Fire Nation dress, which went down to her knees.
"And we're going to need these clothes to blend in" Azula said. She wore light red clothes which revealed her waist.
"I see your point" Haru said. He yawned, tired after a long day. "So who's going to take the first night watch?" he asked.
"That won't be necessary here" Azula said. "Rumor has it that this island is haunted."
"And that's a good thing?" Haru asked.
"I don't believe in ghosts, and this island is too pristine for spirits to be angry" Azula said.
"The locals probably fake a haunting to scare away military folk" Ursa suggested. "Many of them are a superstitious and cowardly lot."
"I don't know, I just find this place kind of creepy" Haru said.
"Are you scared?" Azula asked.
"Of course not" Haru answered.
After a quick rustle of the bushes, a new voice said "Hello there."
Haru screamed, jumping over to Azula's side of the campfire. Azula rolled her eyes in annoyance. She watched the stranger walk into the light of the campfire, seeing an old woman.
"I'm sorry to frighten you" the old woman apologized. "My name is Hama."
OOOOOOOOOO
Once the Fire Lord knew about the invasion plan on the solar eclipse, he wanted to speak with his advisors alone. To ensure privacy, he forced his children to spend a weekend on Ember Island, and to take their friends with them for company. Li and Lo had been sent ahead to prepare a beach home for them.
Traveling by boat, Katara worried about Aang and Sokka. She kept wondering what condition they would be in when she got back to the capital. With only two weeks left until the solar eclipse, Katara needed to keep them healthy and ready for the invasion. She didn't want to be relaxing at some resort while they suffered.
When the boat arrived at Ember Island, it stopped in front of a small house near the shore. On the docks were Lo and Li, waiting for them. Katara, Zuko, Mai, Ty Lee, and Toph all stepped off the boat and followed the twins to the house. Inside the house they looked around, noticing all the stuff that had been collected over the years.
"It smells like old lady in here" Zuko complained.
"Gee, I wonder why" Mai snarked.
"Do we have to stay here?" Toph asked. "I can't even see and I've seen enough."
"We know you're upset about being forced to come here this weekend" Li said.
"But Ember Island is a magical place, keep an open mind" Lo said.
"Give it a chance" Li said.
"And it can help you understand yourselves and each other" Li and Lo said in synch.
Li picked up a smooth stone from a table. "The beach has a special way of smoothing even the most ragged edges" Li said while rubbing the stone.
Katara yawned, finding no interest in listening to the old hags.
Li and Lo clapped their hands, then discarded a layer of clothing each to reveal their bathing outfits. "Time to hit the beach" they both said while doing so.
Mai blocked Zuko's vision of them with her hand, while Katara felt a need to throw up. Toph just stood there reading the reactions of everyone else, for once glad that she was blind.
OOOOOOOOOO
Hama had invited Azula, Ursa, and Haru to stay in the inn she kept nearby. To avoid unnecessary questions from the old woman, Azula accepted the invitation. The thought of sleeping in a proper bed was more than tempting, and Hama appeared to be harmless enough. The moment Azula climbed into the bed at the inn she slept throughout the night
In the morning Azula woke up to find Hama standing in the doorway waiting. "Wakey wakey" Hama said. "Time to go shopping."
"Do we have to?" Azula asked.
"Consider it the payment for staying at the inn" Hama suggested.
"Ugh… very well" Azula said.
Leaving Ursa at the inn to clean up, Azula and Haru went to the market with Hama. Over the course of an hour Haru was carrying several baskets of food, while Azula only carried one basket of vegetables. Hama didn't appear satisfied until she purchased the last of one merchant's ash bananas. As they turned away from the merchant's stall, Azula noticed the old merchant wave at Hama.
"Is he a friend of yours?" Azula asked. "Have you ever tried getting free stuff from him?"
"You would have me use my feminine charm to take advantage of that poor man?" Hama asked. "I think you and I are going to get along swimmingly."
"Is there anything you need here?" Azula asked.
"Why don't both of you take those things back to the inn" Hama said. "I just have to run a couple more errands. I'll be back in a little while."
OOOOOOOOOO
Wearing revealing bathing outfits in the summer heat, the four girls plus Zuko walked along the beach. Katara smiled as she saw little kids playing with the sand, carefully walking around a sandcastle that a pair of children were building. She laid a towel on the sand and started sunbathing, lazily watching what the others were doing.
Immediately several boys noticed Ty Lee and started flirting with her, competing for her attention. Zuko and Mai shared a beach towel under an umbrella, both ignoring everyone else. Toph started making her own sandcastle, carefully hiding the earthbending she used to speed up the process. Nearby Katara spotted several teens playing a game of kuai ball, and she watched them until she had a good sense of the game's rules.
"Ty Lee, Mai, Zuko, we're playing next" Katara said.
"What about me?" Toph asked, still working on her sandcastle.
"You're blind" Mai said.
"Point taken" Toph said.
Once the current game was finished, Katara and the others walked over to one side of the net. Katara served the ball, throwing it up into the air and kicking it over the net. As the ball was hit back and forth across the net everyone on both teams got to strike the ball. A girl with pigtails on the other team hit the ball towards Katara with her left foot. Katara's timing was slightly off, and when she tried to kick it back she missed. The ball hit the sand on Katara's side of the net, ending the game with the other team winning.
"Uh Oh" Mai said, looking at Katara.
Katara simply shrugged. "Well that was fun" she said.
A pair of teenage boys, Chan and Ruon Jian walked up to Ty Lee. "I'm having a party tonight" Chan said. "You should come by."
"Sure, I love parties" Ty Lee said.
"Your friend can come too" Ruon Jian said.
"Can we come also?" Katara asked while gesturing to Zuko.
"Okay" Chan said.
"I'm coming too!" Toph yelled, having finished her sandcastle.
"You're kind of young for the party" Ruon Jian said.
"Too bad" Toph said. "Either you can invite me to the party, or I can gatecrash it. Take your pick."
"Alright, fine, you're invited" Chan said. "Just try to act normal."
"We'll do our best" Katara agreed.
OOOOOOOOOO
Azula and Haru returned to the inn well before noon and unpacked Hama's groceries. After an hour of waiting Hama arrived and started cooking dinner. With help from Ursa, the meal was finished an hour before sunset. With Azula and Haru sitting at the dinner table, Hama brought in a large bowl of soup and Ursa brought in steamed ocean cumquats.
"Thanks for letting us stay here" Haru said.
"No problem" Hama said. "Who wants five flavored soup?"
When everyone else raised their hands, Hama held hers over the soup. Moving her hand up, the soup flowed up with it, and Hama bent it into separate bowls for everyone.
"You're a waterbender!" Azula shouted.
"The last one from the Southern Water Tribe" Hama claimed.
"How did you end up here?" Haru asked.
"I was stolen from my home" Hama answered. She described how the Fire Nation had slowly abducted all of the waterbenders over many raids, and that she was the last one taken.
"Why reveal yourself to us?" Ursa asked.
Hama looked at Azula, straight into her eyes. "You look just like Kanna" she said. "I knew you have to be from our tribe."
"You were right" Azula said, playing along. She bent the soup in her bowl up into the air and let it splash back into the bowl.
Hama smiled at the sight of another waterbender. "I was wondering if you carried on our tribe's gifts" she said. "I suppose you've had to master the element on your own?"
"More or less" Azula said.
"I'd like to teach you what I know so you can carry on the southern tradition when I'm gone" Hama offered.
"Of course" Azula said. This had better include combat skills Azula thought.
OOOOOOOOOO
After making a stop to change into evening clothes, Katara and the others walked over the beach house that the party would be at. They arrived an hour before sunset, long before anyone else. Katara knocked on the door, and had to wait a few minutes for someone to answer. When the door opened Chan looked at Katara, and was a little confused.
"Um… you're a little early" Chan said.
"We got bored" Katara said. "Can we come in?"
"Okay" Chan said and walked inside the house. With everyone following him, he said "Alright listen, my dad's an admiral. He has no idea I'm having this party, so don't mess anything up."
"Of course" Katara said.
Walking around the house, Katara looked at all the fancy things lying around. Ornate curtains, golden chandeliers, and a large vase that appeared to be begging to be tipped over. There was also a table with snacks and drinks for the party, and Ruon Jian was leaning against it.
"Hey, first ones here" Ruon Jian said.
"Yup" Toph said, pulling a chair up to the table. She sat down and propped her feet up on the table.
"Why do you feel the need to do that?" Mai asked Toph.
"Do what?" Toph asked.
"People are going to be eating the food near your dirty feet" Mai said.
"And either of us cares because…" Toph said.
"It's rude" Katara said.
"Oh fine" Toph said and put her feet on the floor. "Can we get the party started now?"
"It's going to be fun when everyone else gets here" Ty Lee said.
"In the meantime, I'm just going to have a snack" Toph said, grapping a bag of fire flakes from the table.
OOOOOOOOOO
As the sun was slowly setting on the horizon, Hama and Azula walked into a field near the woods. Fire lilies filled the field, blooming in the summer heat. The trees around the field hid it from outside view, providing privacy for waterbending lessons. Hama stopped near the edge of the field to take in the view for a moment before turning to Azula.
"Growing up at the South Pole, waterbenders are totally at home surrounded by snow and ice and seas" Hama said. "But as you probably noticed on your travels, that isn't the case wherever you go."
"It's not like how firebenders can just make their element anywhere" Azula said.
"Ah, but it's possible to mimic such a feat" Hama said. She spun her hand around in the air, collecting a small amount of water on her fingers. "You can pull water out of thin air."
"That's amazing" Azula said. This changes everything she thought
"You've got to keep an open mind" Hama said. She froze the water on her fingers into ice darts. "There's water in places you never think about." She threw the ice darts, impaling them into a tree.
"Okay" Azula said. She mimicked the motion Hama used to pull water out of the air, and collected enough water to coat her entire hand. Clenching her hand into a fist, Azula froze the water into an icy glove. With a smile on her face, Azula said "What's next?"
Hama walked deeper into the field, near a few outcrops of stone. She stopped to smell the flowers in the middle of the field. "These fire lilies only bloom a few weeks a year" Hama said. "They're one of my favorite things about living here. And like all plants, and all living things, they're filled with water."
"I see" Azula said, wondering where Hama was going with this.
"Watch" Hama said. Swinging her arms around, Hama bent water out of the fire lilies, causing them to wither and die as Hama used the released water to slice through a slab of stone.
"Incredible" Azula said. She looked at the dead lilies, a new patch of black within the red and green field. Who knew water could be just as deadly as fire? Azula thought.
"When you're a waterbender in a strange land, you do what you must to survive" Hama said. "Tonight I'll teach you the ultimate technique of waterbending. It can only be done during the full moon, when your bending is at its peak."
OOOOOOOOOO
Once more guests arrived the party began properly. A small band was hired to provide music to set the mood, festive and upbeat. The guests sampled the food and drinks while making small talk with each other. Most of the boys present had also been at the beach and were interested in making friends with Ty Lee.
Katara leaned against a wall, watching the party. She saw Ty Lee backed into a corner by several boys competing for her attention. When the boys wouldn't back off Ty Lee struck all of them into paralysis and cart wheeled away. Ty Lee saw Katara watching and walked over to her.
"Oh I'm glad you're here" Ty Lee said. "Those boys just won't leave me alone. I guess they all just like me too much."
"Come on, you enjoy it" Katara said. "And better you than me."
"You don't like boys?" Ty Lee asked.
"Just not these ones" Katara answered. "For some reason they all act as if I'm going to do something horrible to them."
"But you probably would do something horrible to them" Ty Lee said with a laugh. "I'm sure they're just intimidated by you."
"That's what I thought" Katara said.
"Hey if you want a boy to like you just look at him and smile at lot and laugh at everything he says even if it's not funny" Ty Lee said.
"Well that's really shallow and stupid" Katara said. "I'd rather watch Mai and Zuko brood."
Katara and Ty Lee looked over to the bench Mai and Zuko were sitting on. As usual Mai was bored, so she asked Zuko to get her something to eat. While Zuko was getting the food Mai started talking with Ruon Jian, instantly making Zuko jealous when he noticed. One thing led to another, resulting in Zuko shoving Ruon Jian into a large vase and breaking it.
"Shouldn't we do something?" Ty Lee asked as she watched Mai and Zuko argue.
"I'm just enjoying the show" Katara said.
The argument ended with Mai breaking up with Zuko, just in time for Chan to notice the broken vase. Chan demanded that Zuko leave, who gladly left the party. Once Zuko was outside and slammed the door shut, the party resumed as though nothing happened.
"Poor Zuko" Ty Lee said.
Katara sighed. "I'll go talk to him" she said.
OOOOOOOOOO
As the last of the sun's rays vanished beneath the horizon, Hama and Azula walked into the woods. The full moon rose into the night sky, providing enough light to see the trees. Hama stopped when she reached a small clearing in the trees, where she could see the full moon above. Both waterbenders could feel their power increase in the full moon's presence.
"Can you feel the power the full moon brings?" Hama asked. "For generations it has blessed waterbenders with its glow, allowing us to do incredible things. I've never felt more alive."
While Azula observed the full moon, a cat-owl hooted in the trees. "So what's the ultimate waterbending technique?" Azula asked.
"I discovered it in that wretched Fire Nation prison" Hama said. She explained how the guards had been extremely vigilant in preventing any waterbending. But they hadn't realized that the rats in the prisons were nothing more than skins filled with liquid. "I spent many years perfecting the skill that would lead to my escape. Bloodbending."
Azula stared at Hama, realizing where she was going with her tale. Thinking about it for a moment, she realized that this should have been obvious from the beginning. The human body is mostly water, and subject to the will of a waterbender.
"Controlling the water in another body, enforcing your own will over theirs" Hama continued. "Once I had mastered the rats, I was ready for the men. And during the next full moon, I walked free for the first time in decades. Once you perfect this technique, you can control anything, or anyone."
"To reach inside and control someone…" Azula muttered. This would be very dangerous if all the waterbenders knew about it she thought. "How does it work?"
Hama reached toward one of the trees, and with a pulling motion she summoned a cat-owl to the ground. Clenching her fist, Hama forced the cat-owl's winds to bend backwards, stopping just before the wings would break.
"It's simple really" Hama said. "Picture the flesh as if it were merely a bag of water, and bend it like you would anything else."
Azula reached for the cat-owl, taking control of its water from Hama. With a quick motion Azula threw the cat-owl into a tree, slamming its head into the trunk and snapping its neck. "Incredible…" Azula muttered.
"Good" Hama said. "Now you can continue my work."
"What work?" Azula asked.
"I'll show you" Hama said. She turned to walk back to the town. "I've arranged a demonstration for tonight."
OOOOOOOOOO
Katara left the party to find out where Zuko was going. The tracks left in the sand hadn't been washed away yet, making it easy to follow Zuko's path on the beach. They led Katara to a large beach home, seemingly abandoned for several years. The front doors had been kicked open, and Katara could see inches of dust coating the interior. Katara spotted Zuko inside staring at an old family painting.
"What is this place?" Katara asked as she stepped through the doorway.
"The old summer home" Zuko said. "It hasn't been used since our family could be considered normal."
"Our family?" Katara asked.
Zuko made a weak laugh. "I've wondered how things would be different if you had always been like that. If I actually had a sister that didn't want to see me dead."
"I wouldn't be me if I had lived her life from the beginning" Katara said. "Let's go down to the beach. This place is depressing."
Katara walked down to the beach with Zuko behind her. They had no general direction in mind, just taking in the cool night air. To their surprise they found Mai, Ty Lee, and Toph sitting on logs around a burnt-out campfire. Katara and Zuko walked past Mai, sitting down across from her. Mai watched them sit together, and noticed how they seemed closer than usual.
"What just happened between you two?" Mai asked.
"We just talked" Katara answered. "Is that wrong?"
"Nope" Toph said. "Can someone make a fire? It's getting a little chilly."
"I'm freezing" Ty Lee said.
"Sure" Zuko said. He looked up at the old beach house. "There's plenty of stuff to burn in there."
With a quick trip to the beach house and back, Zuko had gathered enough stuff to burn for a while. It was mostly old wooden chairs broken into kindling and anything else small enough to carry. Among the items was the painting of Zuko's family, which he threw onto the fire without regret.
"What are you doing?" Ty Lee asked.
"What does it look like I'm doing?" Zuko asked back.
"But it's a picture of your family" Ty Lee said.
"You think I care?" Zuko asked.
"I think you do" Ty Lee answered.
"You don't know me" Zuko said. "So why don't you just mind your own business."
"I know you" Ty Lee muttered.
"No you don't!" Zuko shouted. "You're stuck in your little Ty Lee world where everything's great all the time!"
"Zuko, leave her alone" Mai asked.
Ignoring Mai, Zuko did an impression of Ty Lee. "I'm so pretty I can walk on my hands" he said while doing a handstand, holding it for a moment before letting himself fall over.
"Stop teasing her" Katara said.
Suddenly Mai stood up and stared at Katara. "Who are you and what have you done with Azula!"
OOOOOOOOOO
On the outskirts of the town, Hama spotted her latest prey. Earlier in the day she had asked an old shopkeeper to meet her after dark alone. He never spotted Hama, and was about to leave when she took control of his body. She forced him to walk away from the town, showing Azula how easy it was to bloodbend a human being.
"Where are we taking him?" Azula asked as she walked behind Hama.
"A place where he can rot just like the rest of his kind did to me" Hama answered. "Now would you be a dear and take over for me. I'm not as strong as I used to be."
Azula took control of the old man, making him flap his arms like a bird while moving him forward. She didn't care at all who the man was, just that having complete control over someone was exhilarating. Why bother using fear to influence people when she could just force them to do her bidding. "Is the full moon really necessary to do this?" Azula asked.
"I've tried to use it without the full moon" Hama said. "They are able to resist bloodbending when the moon isn't full. And during the day our bending isn't powerful enough to overcome the person's control of their own body."
I'll have to work on that Azula thought.
Within the hour they reached a cave in the side of a mountain on the island. Deep inside was a makeshift prison containing over a dozen people chained to the walls. Hama chained the new prisoner close to the door. Before leaving Hama forced a small amount of water down the throats of every prisoner, then left the room and locked the door behind her.
"Why are you bothering to keep them alive?" Azula asked as they walked out of the cave. "If you're after revenge why not just kill them?"
"The Fire Nation left me to rot in a cell" Hama answered. "They all deserve the same."
"There's just one problem" Azula asked as they reached the woods just outside the cave. With her back to the trees Azula faced Hama. "I am Fire Nation."
Without warning Azula bent water out of two trees behind her, which turned brittle and shattered as Azula threw the water at Hama. At the last second Hama diverted the water around her and threw it to the side. Azula bent water out of the grass around her, forming shards of ice out of the blackened terrain and threw the ice shards at Hama. The older waterbender bend the ice shards into steam to disperse it harmlessly.
"Are you insane Katara!" Hama yelled. "Attacking the only other southern waterbender!"
"My name is Azula! Daughter of Fire Lord Ozai and Ursa! Princess of the Fire Nation and second in line for the throne!"
Azula bent the water out of every living thing within twenty feet of herself. As a circle of death and decay formed around her Azula formed a wide ring of water. She threw all of the water at Hama, who tried to divert and throw it back at Azula. Overpowering her opponent's bending, Azula forced the water back at Hama and used it to freeze Hama to the side of the mountain.
"You monster!" Hama yelled.
"I know" Azula said. As she was about to strike the finishing blow with an ice dagger Azula saw Hama melt the ice binding her. Before Azula could react Hama started bloodbending her, forcing Azula's attack to veer off course.
"You shouldn't have betrayed me" Hama said. She twisted Azula's arms back, nearly to the breaking point. "Once I'm through with you I'm going after that Fire Nation wretch you traveled with!"
"That Fire Nation wretch…" Azula said. She resisted the bloodbending, using her own waterbending to overcome Hama's. With her body back under her control, she said "… is my mother!"
Azula started bloodbending Hama, pressing her limbs against her torso. In a second Azula forced Hama's arms to leap away from her torso, dislocating Hama's shoulders. With her opponent defenseless, Azula bent stray water into a spear of ice and rammed it through Hama's chest, sticking her to the side of the mountain.
"Why…" Hama muttered with her last breaths.
"You're no longer useful to me" Azula said. For good measure she bent all of the water out of Hama's body and spilled the water onto the ground. She turned and walked away from the shriveled corpse, satisfied with the results of her newly realized power.
OOOOOOOOOO
For a moment on the beach, the only sounds were the waves hitting the shore and the crackling of the campfire. Mai stared at Katara, determined to bring the truth out. Katara and Zuko stared at Mai in shock, while Toph's mouth hung open and Ty Lee looked at everyone else in confusion.
"I don't know what you're talking about" Katara said.
"I'm not a fool" Mai said. "Did you really think I wouldn't figure it out?"
"Figure what out?" Ty Lee asked.
"Ty Lee, not even you are this dense" Mai said. "She's not the same person that made us track down Zuko."
"Well people change" Ty Lee said.
"Not like this" Mai said. She turned her attention back to Katara. "Whoever you are, you're not Azula."
Before anyone could attempt to deny Mai's accusation, Toph interrupted with "Cat-gator's out of the bag." In response Zuko planted his face in the palm of his hand.
Mai looked at Zuko and Toph. "You knew!" Mai yelled.
Katara let out a sigh. "What gave me away?" she asked.
"You're too nice" Mai answered. "Azula would have encouraged Zuko's teasing earlier. You didn't."
"And that's enough to tell if someone's different?" Toph asked.
"Enough to confirm my suspicions" Mai said. "Now tell me who you are."
"I'm Katara, the Water Tribe girl Ty Lee chi blocked back at Omashu."
"I remember that" Ty Lee said. "How did you become Azula?"
"An accident involving spirit water" Katara said. "Mai, how long did you suspect me?"
"Since we left Ba Sing Se" Mai answered. "You said the Dai Li brainwashed me to attack you and Ty Lee. The Azula I know wouldn't have bothered to let me live through a betrayal like that."
"Oh… so you didn't say anything out of gratitude" Toph said.
"There's also your little act before we left the Earth Kingdom" Mai said. "Iroh and the Avatar were captured far too easily."
"You have a point" Katara admitted.
"So what will you do now that you know?" Zuko asked.
"I should report you to the Fire Lord" Mai answered.
"Don't" Ty Lee said. She got in between Katara and Mai.
"Why?" Mai said. "She's been deceiving us for weeks."
"Katara still got us out of that Dai Li prison" Ty Lee said. "That's got to count for something."
"She needed us to keep her cover up" Mai said. "She used us."
"I know" Ty Lee said. "It's just… I like her better now."
"What" Katara said.
"I'm not scared" Ty Lee said. "Not like when Azula made me help her."
"And your point is?" Mai asked.
"She's a better person than Azula ever was" Ty Lee said. "Like you said, she let you live when Azula would have killed you."
"Is this supposed to be the part where I say I owe her my life?" Mai asked. "No. How do I know you aren't plotting something?"
"Well if everything goes according to the plan you'll become the Fire Lady" Toph said.
"Come again?" Mai said.
"Alright, we were going to take down the Fire Lord" Katara admitted. "That would put Zuko in charge, making his girlfriend the second most powerful person in the nation."
"You can't deny that it's tempting" Toph said.
"I broke up with him" Mai said.
"Don't remind me" Zuko said.
"Look, Mai, I won't ask you to help us with this" Katara said. "Just that you stay out of the way."
With all of the attention on her, Mai considered her options for a moment. "I'll be watching you" she said.
"Good enough" Toph said.
Katara turned her attention to Ty Lee. "Now that you know, could you give me some advice on how to act like Azula?" Katara asked.
"Well I can think of one thing she would want to do right now" Ty Lee said.
Within the hour all five of them went back to the party and thoroughly trashed it. Zuko broke the tables while Ty Lee brought down the chandeliers and Mai sliced apart the tapestries. Katara set the walls aflame and Toph pulled slabs of rock through the floor. They only stopped when the beach house appeared to be on the verge of collapsing, and left the beach in high spirits.