Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender or anything pertaining to it.
Ethereal
Chapter 9: The Turning Point
"Duality is at the core of nature; we must accept the darkness within ourselves to find the light to fight our demons." - Official Crest of the Chief Monk of the Southern Windmountains
Waiting for Katara's legs to reappear felt like an eternity. She busied herself with rinsing the red liquid from Zuko's clothes and flesh to the best of her ability while trying to keep her legs dry. When it stopped oozing at the earlier fast rate, she felt a wave, tsunami actually, of relief crash into her. Finally.
She pulled herself along the bank by her elbows and reached for his bag, searching through it for anything that could be used to dress the wound. A spare shirt was all she came up with; it would have to do.
The knife Zuko had used was nowhere to be seen, and she didn't feel like searching around the lake floor for it. Especially when it would set back the progression of her legs forming. She used her teeth to shred the shirt into workable strips, then wrapped it around the wound.
It would have to do for now. Tomorrow, they could go to the next port then they could have the wound dressed properly before continuing on to the Southern Windmountains. He drifted in and out of consciousness, but never spoke a word.
She sat against a tree and looked up at the sky, trying to count the stars, then closed her eyes to blink.
When she opened her eyes, it was morning and she had a blanket wrapped around her frame. Zuko was hovering by the shore, refilling waterskins. She looked to her left and saw her boots and clothes piled beside her.
"Good morning," she croaked a bit, checking to see her legs had reappeared. She wasted no time in pulling on the clothes.
"The port's not far. We used to stop here on our way to the port to go to Ember Island. Probably less than half a day's walk, I think. We can get a charter, then we'll be at the Southern Windmountains, and, yeah," he explained, then tried to stand up. He groaned in pain and Katara quickly reached out and offered her body for support.
"How are you feeling?" Her fingers went to examine the wound before he slapped them away.
He pulled his shirt down. "I'm fine."
She slapped him on the cheek lightly before pointing her index finger at him. "You are not 'fine,' you are hurting."
He sighed and let her lift his shirt, turning to look away. Katara recognized the look in his eye; it was embarrassment, most likely stemming from her behavior last night. She opened her mouth to say something, then closed it. It would only rub salt in the wound, metaphorically speaking.
"When we get to the port, we will get someone to treat it properly," she pulled the shirt back down as her eyes traced over his physique.
Stop, her conscience nagged at her. The siren shook away her thoughts, then slung the bag over her left shoulder before going to put a supporting arm around his waist.
"Put your arm over my shoulders," she instructed. He opened his mouth to object but a threatening look from the cerulean eyed girl quickly dismissed his protests. He did as he was told and she used her strength to pull him upright. "Which way do we go?"
"Left," he said. Katara hoped she had enough energy to support him - and enough water.
"May I ask you a question?" she asked while they were resting under some trees. Katara had taken over the chore of peeling the skin off a blood orange before handing him wedges of the juicy fruit.
"I doubt my saying no would stop you," he said dryly before looking at her. Was that a smile? She couldn't tell. He nodded his head to give her permission.
"Do you find me attractive?"
He made a coughing noise, then touched his tongue. "Sorry, I bit my tongue."
"You are avoiding the question," she reminded him.
Zuko looked down at his nails, scraping dirt from the nail beds. "I don't think you need my opinion to validate you, Katara."
"Why not?"
"Because why the hell does it matter?" he snapped defensively. "We're two people trying to get out of this place in one piece. Whether or not I want to kiss you, or have kids with you, or grow old with you - it's irrelevant."
She folded her arms and sighed aggressively. "Do you want to kiss me?"
"What - Mother of the Gods, where is this coming from all the sudden? Did you crack your head open when we were at the lagoon?" he ran a hand through his hair.
"No I did not. Why can you just not answer my question?" She was becoming angry and her eyes started to grow dark.
He sighed and buried his face in his hands. "Yes, you are pretty. Yes, I would like to kiss you, and have kids with you, but you're a siren. This is just what guys think about when they're around you. So I have stopped listening to that part of my brain because a siren's kiss is toxic; if you kiss her, you'll think you're in love, and you'll go crazy because of it. Are you satisfied now?"
The blue eyed girl sat there, stunned. "Because of Mai," she mumbled.
"Yes. No. I don't know. It's just the fact I'm running for my life. I don't have time for some fantasy relationship with some fantasy creature. And neither do you. I'm a Descendant of the Dragon, you're a siren. At the end of the day, we're enemies."
"That is all I wanted to know." Katara said flatly.
"No one move; you're both under arrest," a sharp voice interrupted, two sharpened swords pointed at Zuko and her throats.
"Way to go," Zuko hissed at her.
"Shut up!" the guard snapped, hitting him in the shoulder with the hilt of his blade. The two of them were snatched up by their elbows, to which Zuko groaned in pain.
"I don't know what you're talking about, we are just two people traveling," Zuko protested.
"I said shut up," the guard barked before shoving them in the back of a carriage with a sleeping bald young man with blue arrow-shaped tattoos and a barefoot girl in green and yellow. Then he slammed the door in their faces.
Katara found herself sitting alone in an empty room when the young man with tattoos was shoved into the room with her. He was rubbing his shoulder and mumbling in a familiar language before sitting down.
"Can't beat Volcanic Island hospitality," he half-joked. "Sorry, my name is Aang. You're Jia, right?"
"Katara," the siren corrected, deciding there was no sense in trying to hide their identity now that they had been arrested.
"Sorry, your friend Zuko told me it was Jia. I wonder why."
She looked down and sighed. "No reason to lie anymore, we have already been caught."
"Happens to the best of us," he assured her, then began speaking in a familiar language. Her native language. "You're the siren, aren't you?"
"I am," she replied. It was the first time she had a fluent conversation in her old language. "How do you know my language?"
He motioned to his attire and the tattoos on his body. "I'm a monk from the Southern Windmountains. We study your language from birth. I probably spoke the ancient language before the common one. You're a long way from home."
"I could say the same for you," Katara replied, bowing her head. "Why are you here?"
"Toph. The girl in green, she's blind. And she tends to skirt the rules, if you catch my drift. She's a smuggler. One of the good ones though; there are a lot of thugs out there. I met her a long time ago. I've met a lot of disabled people before, but she was the first one that was actually proud of it. She sees things no one else does. I kind of admire her. Anyway, I've always wanted to see the world. She offered me a spot on her ship as a translator and diplomatic council. It opens a lot of ports and markets up for her, and I get free room and board." He smiled a bit. It was a warm, genuine smile. "I've never met a siren before though."
"I've never met a monk either. Truthfully, I had never met anyone before seven weeks ago. Except other sirens, the occasional sailor, and the Glacierland Tribe that lived there. My dad, grandmother, and brother live there."
His eyes lit up. "Isolationism is kind of weird; it connects you more to nature, but then.. you get to be out in the world, and things change."
"Your faith is shaken," Katara said softly. The grey eyed boy nodded a bit. "And you start wanting more to life than whatever the gods want. You want what you want."
"Exactly," Aang agreed. "You don't want to be entrusted to protect knowledge and tradition anymore."
"Or safeguard the fountain of life."
He lied back on the small cot in the room, staring at the thatched roof. Parts of it had fallen in and he could see the sky peeking through. "Have you ever been in love, Katara?"
"I love my sisters, and my family, but I have never been in love, no." She looked at her hands in embarrassment. "Sirens aren't built to love, we were built to... I don't know."
"Everyone is built to love," he looked at her and smiled. "And someone as beautiful as you deserves it."
She snorted a bit. "I'm a monster. Everyone is afraid of me. My nature has cursed me to be a creature of darkness."
"I'm not afraid of you. And sometimes, we have to accept the darkness within ourselves to become creatures of light. Nature is about balance, look at yourself. But I promise there is light in you, Katara. I have a knack for seeing those types of things. Just like there's light in that Prince Zuko guy."
She heard footsteps, and became grateful the discussion was in another language. The girl in green - Toph - was pushed into the room and she reached her hands out to feel for the bedframe before plopping down. "Speaking in tongues eh, Twinkletoes?"
"Are you okay, Toph?" he asked quickly, going to her side.
"A couple of Volcanic Island thugs were no match for the Blind Bandit," she scoffed. "Had a nice chat with Sparky though before they carted him off for some sort of interrogation hullabaloo. Quite a jabber jaw once you get him talking."
Katara stifled a laugh. "If you are referring to Zuko, I think we know the wrong person."
"Is that his siren?" Toph asked after the siren entered the discussion.
"My name is Katara," she introduced herself. Toph held her hand out and Aang motioned for Katara to come closer. The siren obeyed and crouched down, then Aang placed Toph's hand on Katara's face, tracing over her features.
"Not as pretty as he made her sound," she muttered.
The siren pulled away, a bit flustered. "I beg your pardon?"
"Toph's kidding," Aang assured her, then he closed his eyes suddenly. The siren went to inquire if he was alright, but the black haired girl drew her attention back.
"Yeah, yeah, all in good fun, Sugar Queen. Anyway, the guy wouldn't stop talking about his honor, and how he was worried about his uncle, and his boring, flat girlfriend or fiancée named 'Macy-'"
"Mai," Katara corrected.
"Yeah, that. Then he talked about how he kidnapped you and how he felt bad, and how he had to return you home as part of a deal, and then you attacked him with some question about if he thought you were pretty and then he gave some ridiculous answer, and blah, blah, blah. The guy's a real piece of work, where on earth did you dig him up?"
Her face contorted. "Zuko barely speaks to me, he just gives me orders. 'Do this, do that, shut up, be quiet, listen to me.' It is rather irritating."
"Yeah, he does have this sort of, 'I'm king of the world, hear me roar,' cockiness, but I'm more concerned with the fact he's so wrapped up with fussing about how you annoy him with the way you talk, and your accent, and how impossibly long your hair is, and why your eyes are so blue, and good gods, it's ringing in my ears now," Toph groaned. "I thought Twinkletoes should win the award for annoying blabbering, but Sparky's taking the contest to new heights."
A hand reached out and grabbed Katara's shoulder and she jumped. "Aang, what's wrong?"
"Katara, you have to listen to me."
"Alright, everyone, on your feet," a guard commanded after the door swung open. "You're being transferred. Siren, you're going with Prince Zuko. The rest of you are being taken to the port and deported from the islands. We better not see you in these parts again, smugglers."
The siren felt herself being jerked away from her two new acquaintences when Aang turned to shout at her in her native language, "Accept the dark within yourself. It will give you the light you need to face your demons. May the Moon guide you, and the Sun give you strength! You must stop the Daughter of the Dragon."
Just like that, Aang and Toph were gone, and she was shoved into the back of a metal container where Zuko was lying on a slab of metal jutting out from the wall.
Katara delayed no time in kicking him in the knee after sitting on the slab opposite him. He groaned and stirred a bit, starting to sit up while continued to land blows with her feet on him as her hands were tied behind her back.
"The hell? What gives, Katara?" He tried to lift his leg to brace himself against her assault.
"So I annoy you, hm? The way I speak your language, and my accent, and my hair, and my eyes? What else irritates you? How I turn into a monster and devour people, especially those who seek to harm you? Or perhaps it is my faith in the gods who gave you and I life, even if you parade around like you yourself are one! No matter what I do, I will never be good enough to be considered anything less than a mythical creature who threatens you Descendants of the Dragon!" Her eyes were turning darker, and her eyes were stinging with tears. It felt like everything that had happened to her had just been dammed up inside, and now it was beginning to spill over.
He moved to press into her and cease her attacks against him. "Stop." She jerked her torso to try and force him off her. "Katara, stop it!"
She looked at him, eyes burning with rage. "Or are you afraid that if you are around me too long you might become attracted to a foolish, annoying creature who could kill you? I am every man's worst nightmare - a beautiful woman who could make him lose control of his frigid heart. I cannot believe I ever felt a need to be validated by you-"
"Fucking shut up already!" he shouted. His face was close to her, and Katara knew if she turned her head enough her lips would be pressed against his. She could feel his warm breath tickling her skin and his eyes boring right through her.
She remained silent for a moment, wondering if he would pull away from her if she remained silent long enough. She opened her mouth to speak again.
"Don't even think about it. It's my turn to talk," he ordered. "Yeah, I think you speak the common language weird, specifically because you don't use contractions and you use old words like, 'accord' and 'acquiesce-'"
"Do not," she protested.
"I said shut up," Zuko snapped. "I think your accent is funny, especially because your L's sound kind of like R's, and you still can't pronounce 'electrocuted' if the fate of the known world depended on it."
Katara opened her mouth again to protest but a warning look from him encouraged her to be silent.
"I think your fascination with your hair loopy things is weird because it looks better when you don't have it suffocating in that braid, and your eyes make the Blue Lagoon look like a muddy lake. I hate that you think it's horrible you turn into this monster because you should never be ashamed of who you are. I hate that my uncle was the only one who has been consistently nice to you, and to be perfectly honest, I'm afraid of you. But you're also all I can think about, and I don't want you to leave because if you leave, I'll be alone. And I don't want to be alone anymore."
He turned around, revealing the rope around his wrists for her.
"Now, I need you to bite through these ropes with those sharp teeth you have so I can get us out of here, and then I can tell you what else about you annoys me. And so I can kiss you and you can stop asking me if I think you're pretty. Do you think you can manage that, or do you want to try and kick me again?"
Posted: 06/11/2012