Midsummer Madness Chapter 4: Gossip, an avatar: last airbender fanfic

Title: Midsummer Madness

Author: Burning_Ice.

Rating: PG-13, but if you're 14+, and easily psychologically damaged, you may want to tread lightly. (This Chapter Rated for language).

Summary: Katara learns that there are both advantages and drawbacks to being a female water bending master, and pays back a favor to an old friend.

Pairing: Zutara and a little Yutara is it? Somebody needs to send me a link to an Avatar name-meshing list.

Beta: Sword_on_Fire

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Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar. If I did it would have been considerably less awesome, but Katara and Zuko would have totally gotten together, so I guess it's a toss up.

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Chapter 4: Gossip

...

Katara looked up and realized that Yue was leaning over her, her white hair glistening in the moonlight. The waterbender had to blink several times before her eyes adjusted to the silvery light that the woman radiated. The Moon Spirit was naked except for a moonstone that hung from her neck in an ornate collar, and a triple crescent shaped hair ornament strung with pearls.

"Princess Yue...?" Katara stood, and took a few steps forward. She had to be dreaming, she reflected. There was no way that the Princess could be standing across from her, glowing white like the moon itself. Her memory was liquid and fleeting behind her eyes, but she felt sure that the last thing she remembered was getting into bed and hoping Bosco would not be attending her meeting. This was the first time she had ever been conscious that she was dreaming while she was dreaming.

Yue closed the distance between the two of them, and wrapped her arms around the darker girl's shoulders. Twisting, Katara tried to see the girl's feet, she felt sure they weren't touching the ground. "A new moon rises."

Katara frowned, but leaned in close to ask, "What are you talking about? A new moon? I know that. It rises every month." If she was dreaming, the dream-spirit wouldn't know anything that she didn't already since she was only a figment of her imagination. If that was the case though, why was she getting an awful feeling of dread in her abdomen, and a hunch that the Princess was trying to warn her about something?

Yue stepped back, cupping Katara's chin in her fingers and holding her gaze. "In skill you need never to bow to any man, save the night of the new moon." Then, she leaned forward again and kissed her squarely on the mouth, and said in a sing song way, "The river always knows the best course to take. Follow it to the delta. There you will find your answers."

"What are you talking about?" she asked again, but Yue's inner glow was fading away and everything was turning to black. She saw the spirit wither in on herself and melt, the skin under her eyes hollowing. She was passing through her phases, and going dark as she would rise the following night. A short breathless gasp later and Katara suddenly found herself in her bed in the Earth King's Palace, where someone was banging quite forcefully at her door.

"Mm Cmmmnnnn . . ." Katara grumbled, dragging herself out of bed, her arms and legs still heavy with sleep. Walking over to the door, she had the luxury of feeling just how stiff her muscles had become during the night. She briefly tried to estimate how much sleep she got, but instantly gave up, deciding it was too little, and leaving it at that. She opened the latch and two servant women bustled in, looking worried.

"We have been knocking for half an hour!" one informed her, irritated, but trying her best to sound polite.

"You'll miss your meeting with the King! His Majesty has also arranged a lunch banquet to welcome the Fire Lord, who has requested you to escort him, so put on something formal that represents the Fire Nation."

At first, they tried to help her bathe, but after a short explanation that it would be quicker if she did it herself, they began fussing with her clothes, trying to find a splash of red silk among the blue wool and green linen. Turning her back to them, Katara shed her sleeping dress and bent the water from the basin, running it along her skin, then lathering, then another pass with her water snake to rinse. After she had washed the previous day's sweat from her skin and glanced longingly at her travel clothes, in her opinion, they were far more comfortable than the long skirts and exposing tops of the Fire Nation. She always felt like parts of her were about to spill out.

"Here, Master, This was the only one in your trunk." The older maid told her, holding it up for her to inspect, like she had a choice. It was a sleeveless red number, reaching all the way to the floor with slits nearly halfway up to the hip. It had a halter neck, and was heavily embroidered with dragons.

"That one is fine." Katara replied, cringing. It had been buried at the bottom of her trunk for a reason. Zuko had given it to her for important meetings, and told her proudly that he had picked it out himself. It was something he had thought would make her look good, and therefore feel good. It had been a sweet gesture, but he had a distinctly male taste in women's clothes. Less is more.

She hadn't wanted to actually wear it because it wasn't to her taste, but, she hadn't wanted to get rid of it either. It was a gift from a dear friend, after all. She had thought about altering it, but, she knew Zuko would put two and two together and know that she had felt uncomfortable showing the amount of skin he assumed she would be, and that would embarrass him. It would embarrass her too, more than she cared to admit or could logically justify.

After pulling it on, Katara looked in the mirror appraisingly. Her reflection stared back, slightly horrified. The younger attendant stepped up behind her, and nodded approvingly, then picked up a hairbrush.

"Would you like help with your hair, Master Bender Katara?" she asked. "And you'll want to put on some jewelry, some gold bracelets and armbands would look nice, do you have any with you?" The girl was careful not to imply that there was a possibility that Katara simply didn't own any.

"I'll be fine." Katara pulled her hair back into a twist, then flipped it and braided it, looped the braids, then finally secured her hair loops to it, and looked at it with a hand mirror, and yanked on it once to even it out.

"Here, Master" the older woman said, "They're not dragons like the ones on your breast, but they're still reptiles." She held out a pair of gold arm bands in the shape of snakes, with rubies set into the eyes. The other grabbed her wrist and began rather roughly sliding gold bracelet upon gold bracelet onto her arm.

"I can do this myself!" Katara huffed, as the older woman bent and picked up her foot. If she was listening, she didn't react, only slid more gold bands onto Katara's feet.

"Master Waterbender Katara," the first said, exasperated enough to throw propriety out the window, "You have to be in the council room in less than a quarter of a candle mark. Please let us do our job."

Katara fell silent. She had not realized the time was so late. The first stood, and opened one of the cupboards and pulled out a ceramic jar and dipped her finger in, and dabbed something under each of Katara's eyes and began blending it in, clucking about the paste not matching her skin tone. As they worked, Katara took inventory of her body, and was relieved to find that the surge of power -- and the yearning for touch -- had vanished with the moon.

"How about these for your ears?" The younger one who had scolded her a moment before held out a pair of earrings. Katara prayed the holes in her ears had not closed by now, and nodded cooperatively.

"Don't Miki! She'll move her head!" scolded the second, who was now drawing dark lines around Katara's eyes. The first shrugged and began groping for Katara's ears.

"Are you finished?" Katara asked, her speech slurred as her mouth hung open in an attempt to keep her eyes still for the woman. Suddenly, she was very worried she would unintentionally drool on the chest of the dress, and would then have to explain to Zuko how it had gotten ruined.

"Step into your shoes! Hurry, Master Waterbender!" The irritated older woman grabbed her wrist and dragged her over to them. The other pressed her manifest list into her hand, looking relieved. As they shoved her out the door, Katara had a vision of both of them collapsing onto the chairs in her room, out of breath, right after the door shut.

...

Zuko sat in the council chamber with the Earth King, Bosco the Bear, and Arnook, chatting with them pleasantly. He was happy that the young Earth King had started taking a more active role in the governing of his people. There was really no choice once Long Feng had been removed and the Dai Li had been put on probation. From the sunburn on the man's nose and the well worn bear claws, Zuko had the feeling that he still would take incognito bear rides through the countryside when the mood struck.

Katara was late, and the Earth King had taken the opportunity to ask him all about his friend the very pretty contortionist who had helped capture Ba Sing Se. Mostly, he seemed to want to know if she was single, and liked Earth Kings. Zuko had just finished his embarrassing story about how Ty Lee had once accidentally somersaulted into a cabbage merchant's stall when she was younger, when he heard hurried footsteps coming down the hallway.

The Fire Lord, The Chief of the Northern Water Tribe, and the Earth King stood. Bosco stayed seated, though he did stop chewing on his ball for a few seconds.

Zuko inhaled sharply.

Katara stumbled through the doorway, as though someone had just shoved her from behind, but recovered her footing quickly, and bowed with as much poise as she could muster. Zuko realized he had never seen her dressed up in formal Fire Nation clothes, and he recognized the dress as the one he had bought in the days after he assumed the throne, while the gang enjoyed the Capital City.

"I beg your forgiveness for my lateness, Your Majesty, my lords," Katara quickly apologized, looking embarrassed, and tried to hurry to her chair as gracefully as possible.

"Do not worry about it, Master Katara." Earth King Kuei motioned to an empty chair, "We passed the time easily enough. You look well."

Katara smiled and thanked him, even though she felt more like a parrot fish than a lady, all done up.

"Don't you agree, gentlemen?" Kuei sat back down.

"She will make someone a fine and beautiful wife in a season or two," Arnook agreed dismissively with a touch of jealousy in his voice. Katara's relative beauty was old news to him, and he wanted to move on to more important things. Zuko on the other hand was looking closely enough to notice Katara's grip on her scroll became tighter, and her smile leaving her eyes.

"So have you completed your report?" The Earth King asked, and Katara nodded and passed it to him.

"This is everything I could think of, though my brother Sokka will be able to give you a more accurate report after a few months. Once they have finished rebuilding, the tribe will be interested in trading some of their resources." Although there had been a large influx of people traveling to the south pole from the north pole, there weren't as many immigrants as her father had thought that there would be. A remarkable number of Northmen were traveling abroad.

"I chartered the course, and a ship could make it around the peninsula and past the archipelago in about three weeks with fair winds, though that would be cut in half if there were waterbenders on board to propel it." Arnook said, unfolding a navigator's map with a few different lines drawn on it. "The trick is to catch the current here, otherwise it will carry you pretty far east."

...

The fussing of two attendants had been bad, but the fussing of all the Earth Kingdom upper class was unbearable. Gaggle after gaggle of teenagers had come up to her and asked her if she was Lady Mai, and when she said no, they started to giggle and asked how she knew the Fire Lord, and other inane questions.

"I knew it! I knew you weren't Mai; you don't look like you're from the Fire Nation at all," one girl said, clapping her hands together, "Nobody from the Fire Nation has blue eyes." Katara was ashamed to see that the girl was much older than she was, and yet acted far more immaturely.

"So, is he seeing girls outside of the Fire Nation?"

"Are you Arnook's daughter?"

"No she isn't! She died, remember?!"

"Shh!! Don't bring it up! He's right over there!"

"So you're the Southern Water Tribe Princess, aren't you?"

"What attracted the Fire Lord to you?"

"Is he a powerful bender?"

"Are you two betrothed?"

"No they couldn't be!"

"Did he leave Lady Mai for you? How scandalous!"

"Have you seen him bend?"

"What does he look for in a girl?"

"Is he a good bender?"

"How badly is the rest of him burned?"

"He still has all his... parts, right?"

Katara looked around frantically, trying to come up with an excuse to get away, "Well I-"

"Hey! You!! I remember you!" said a new, angry voice. "You dumped me and my friends in the river- you and that little scruffy blind earthbending girl you had with you! You were both wearing more make up than a painted lady from the red lamp district! What are you doing here?"

Perplexed and insulted, Katara looked at the new obviously pregnant girl, trying to remember where she had seen her before. "Do I... Oh yes, you and your friends insulted us." No wonder the girls had been so hostile if they thought two call girls were walking around freely in the upper ring. Not that Katara condoned that sort of treatment of anyone, but, she could see why the aristocrats thought they could speak to them that way- they thought that they were speaking to whores. Unfortunately for the noblewoman, Katara wasn't one to forgive or to forget, and she felt the anger from the old grudge boiling up inside her.

"Star, you insulted the Princess of the Southern Water Tribe?!" one of the other girls exclaimed in horror. The other girls began to whisper, and Katara was sure every noblewoman in the upper ring would hear about the scandal by morning.

"Well, you should have seen her, she –wait... Princess?" Out of a mother's reflex, Star put her hand over her abdomen and took a step back. They had all heard stories about the Princess of the Southern Water Tribe, the girl who had defeated the Fire Princess and taken the Fire Nation Capital Palace singlehandedly.

"She's here escorting the Fire Lord," gossiped another.

"Escorting?"

"Actually," Katara cleared her throat, her voice sharp, "He is escorting me, you see, I'm the one here on official business."

"Uhhh" Star was speechless. "Excuse me," Quickly she turned on her heel, and stormed off, crossing to one of the noblemen by the buffet and yanking on his arm. Apparently, she was ready to leave.

"Excuse me too, ladies," Katara echoed, taking advantage of the stunned silence, and retreated to where Zuko and Iroh were sitting with two Earth Kingdom generals. She hadn't remembered seeing Iroh get there, and was eager to thank him for his special vintage of hospitality the night before.

"You know, she should have apologized!" whispered one girl as Katara walked away, but Katara didn't know or care whether the girl had meant her or the Earth Kingdom girl, Star.

". . . . but it is a very intricate defense," Iroh was saying as she sat down. "The Moon tile and the Wheel Tile can maintain the line, while the Sword tile and the Chalice tile weaken your opponent's offence."

After a server had handed her a glass of something cool, red, and bubbling, Katara nudged Zuko gently with her elbow, careful not to catch him in his ribs where his muscles were sore. "You would not believe how many of these Earth Kingdom girls here are smitten with you," she muttered. She couldn't blame them, he was quite good looking, and tall, dark, handsome, rich, and powerful was a potent combination.

Zuko raised his good eyebrow and then shook his head, the denial evident in his features. "Katara, stop teasing."

Katara stopped, taken aback, and then tried again: "I'm serious! I just got asked if you're seeing girls outside the Fire Nation."

"What did you say?"

"Well, nothing."

"In future, please remind them that I am taken." Zuko took a sip, then added as an afterthought, without looking at her, "Of course I would see a girl outside the Fire Nation, provided she were the right girl."

Katara stared into her chalice, and without moving it, swirled the liquid in a circular motion until it turned into a whirlpool. Her mind wandered as Zuko talked with an Earth Kingdom general about the Fire Nation families that had chosen to stay behind in the colonies that they had made their homes. Apparently the locals were not taking to them as kindly as both governments had hoped, and already four families had been found dead in their beds.

When that conversation ended, Katara had a new question for her escort. "Zuko, is there any significance to the new moon that's coming up?"

"What?" He angled himself towards her, the randomness of the question piquing his curiosity, "Significant how?"

"I don't know, is it a lunar eclipse or something?"

"No." Zuko frowned. "I thought you were the waterbender around here. Don't you have a special link with the moon? Can't you ask her?"

"She was the one who brought it up in the first place!"

Zuko blinked and opened his mouth.

"Don't ask," Katara grumbled.

"I wasn't going to!" Zuko lied hurriedly.

"I had a weird dream." She informed him, even though she told him not to ask and he had assured her he wasn't planning to. "Yue was trying to tell me something. Warn me, maybe, I don't know. I was never the one in the group to tangle with spirits, so this is all coming out of the blue for me..."

A few moments of silence stretched between them, the prince shuffling his feet, and Iroh telling a general all about the difference between the Fool Tile and the Hanged Man Tile in the background.

"...I just don't get the significance of the new moon." She finished

Iroh turned to her, obviously thinking that the statement was directed at him and pertaining to Pai Sho. "Well Katara, the Full Moon and New moon are Pai Sho tiles, too. They both can only move in an arc over the board horizontally, and any pieces adjacent to it cannot be involved in play, both yours and your opponent's. It also moves one space forward on every turn of the player who cast it. With the full moon, the River and ocean tiles double the movement of any water and plant tiles belonging to the player who cast it already on the board. The New Moon, however, it halts all the water based tiles, and doubles power and movement of any stealth or dark tiles."

"Fascinating, Uncle," Zuko commented, his voice dry but polite, "but Katara is talking about a dream, not a game." He knew more about Pai Sho tiles than anyone who didn't care for the game should ever have to.

"My lords and ladies, honored guests," the Earth King called out from the opposite side of the room, "Bosco and I would like to welcome Chief Arnook of the Northern Water Tribe, Fire Lord Zuko, and Princess Katara of the Southern Water Tribe to Ba Sing Se!"

Zuko and Arnook stood and bowed their heads, after a moment Zuko grabbed Katara's elbow and pulled her up too. Katara mimicked him, bowing her head, and a few of the younger girls whispered and giggled. Katara wished that the other nations were not so formal, as she was not good at remembering protocol. Luckily Zuko seemed to keep an eye on her for these things, and it was less embarrassing to be pulled out of her chair by the Fire Lord than to forget to bow to the Earth King (and his bear) after the hospitality he had shown her.

After a short speech about peace from Arnook, after which the nobles and military officials cheered and clapped, the milling crowd began sitting at their places, and accepting the foods brought to them.

"You were supposed to curtsey," Zuko told her, looking amused in spite of himself. "Only the noblemen bow." Usually it was Mai correcting him on what he was supposed to be doing, this was a nice change of pace.

Katara glared, "Well, maybe I am tired of playing into what girls of my age and my tribe are supposed to behave like." The venom was unexpected, even to her. She hadn't quite acknowledged how resentful she was starting to feel until then, and she really hadn't meant to unleash it onto Zuko. He hadn't done anything wrong.

"I didn't mean that it was bad! Your bow was great, it was just . . . bold," Zuko tried to recover, "Bold like you." He was quite ready to go back to being corrected by Mai.

"I didn't mean it like that." Katara sighed, though she kind of had, "I'm just grumpy today. Don't take it personally."

...

After countless hours of socializing, Katara found herself riding through the streets of Ba Sing Se sitting on a litter next to Zuko, and she was starting to feel more than just a little irritated. It had been Iroh's idea, to catch up and see the sights of the city together. The older man had actually suggested dressing down and walking, but Zuko had said that his chest was starting to bother him, so Iroh had suggested a palanquin ride instead. He didn't want his nephew to strain himself.

Riding with Zuko was great. He would smile and tell her about how he had kicked Jet's ass on that corner (she giggled at that), or how he had gone on a date at that restaurant, and how he had tried and failed to juggle. She in turn talked about how she and Toph had gotten made up at a place down that road, or how they had put up posters over there, and Toph had wanted to help. They both mutually ignored the events that had happened the night before, and Katara especially ignored the fact that she wanted to put her hand on top of his knee as they rode and talked.

What was irritating her were the throngs of people coming out to see them, some cheering, and some booing. It was impossible to pick out who was yelling what in the crowded street though, and the company of guards that followed them only stepped in if someone got too close or tried to throw something. It was a good gesture though, for the new Fire Lord to make an appearance in the streets, and Katara hoped that it would help in improving the public's opinion of him. Somehow though, actually having to suffer through it was proving little fun.

"Would it be so terrible if I bent the rain to start so I could go inside and get warm?"

"You're cold?" Zuko asked, surprised, as though he hadn't even realized that the temperature had in fact shifted from warm to cool. Usually he didn't really feel the cold, his body automatically adjusted it's inner fire to keep him comfortable.

"Not all of us get to wear ceremonial Fire Nation robes," Katara shot back, then breathed into her hands. "Some of us get to wear tiny silk dresses." She paused and then decided she might as well bring it up, "You couldn't have found something a little more modest?"

"Oh..." Zuko colored and scratched the back of his head sheepishly, "Ty Lee said that it would be perfect for your body." On that point, the acrobat had been spot on, the dress was amazing on her, and suddenly, she was flirting with the line between friendship and attraction in his mind. "Ty Lee isn't very modest, so, I guess it didn't occur to her that you would want something less-" sexy "-skimpy."

"So Ty Lee was the one who picked it out?"

"No! I said I liked it, and asked if she thought it would look good on you. She said it would, something about the 'cut of the silhouette', and the 'exposed back' or something." He shrugged, then added apologetically, "I don't understand half of what comes out of her mouth between auras, gossip, and fashion. I guess a dress having a silhouette means it's revealing or something."

Katara doubted it, but she nodded once, a subtle signal that there were no hard feelings. Someday, they would look back on this wardrobe mishap and laugh. Then never speak of it again. Bringing her fingers back to her face, Katara blew through them again.

"I can tell them to turn around." He suggested quickly.

"The people want to see you." Katara admonished, "That was the whole idea. You're not supporting peace and understanding between the four nations if you run away from public appearances."

A gust of rain chilled wind hit them unexpectedly. Taking a deep breath, she deliberately crossed her arms over her chest. Zuko noticed the careful placement of her arms, felt the chill in the air, and put two and two together.

"I'll give you my over robe-"

"Don't you dare strip in public, Zuko. I will get off this palanquin." She kept her tone teasing, but made sure he knew it was the truth. Katara remembered clearly all the squealing girls at the party, and she was sure the ones in the crowd were perfectly capable of storming the procession if it looked like Fire Lord Zuko was going to take off his shirt.

"Well, stop doing that, it's not ladylike." She was supposed to be making him look good, not making him look good by comparison. Ladies didn't sit hunched over with their hands in their armpits.

Katara muttered something back that might have been a suggestion for him to get more intimately acquainted with a catgator than he would like. Then and there, he decided to have a talk with Toph about her language, Katara had to have learned the phrase from someone.

"Just, give me your hands."

"What?"

"Give them to me." He held out his own, palms face up.

"No!" She wasn't about to chance another attack of whatever had hit her in the North Pole.

"Katara!" He snapped, exasperated. Now he knew what Azula felt like when they were kids and she was trying to get him to look at the fish in the turtle duck pond. He would never cooperate and go over because he thought she was going to push him in. The crucial difference here was that he had no plans to do anything to Katara whereas Azula would always push him in. Where was the trust? This was what he got for running off. The spirits were punishing him by making him deal with a oddly behaving waterbending female.

"The Lady is tired, please head back to the castle." He told the Earth Lieutenant, and the man nodded and began speaking in a low voice to one of the four men bearing the litter. When he turned back around, Katara was pouting.

"Great, now everyone is going to think that I'm whiney."

Adjusting his sleeve, he draped his arm around her shoulders so the fabric covered them. Zuko didn't bother to tell her that most people already thought that she was Lady Mai, so it wasn't actually her own reputation that she was 'ruining'. He thought about pulling her against him, he could have under the pretext of warming her, but didn't dare. Not only would Mai disapprove, but Katara would probably elbow him in his aching chest.

The warmth seeped through her skin and warmed her bones as well making Katara shiver violently for several moments as her body adjusted. She started to lean into him, but the weight on his side made Zuko wince, and she quickly backed off.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes, just a little sore from our session."

"Sorry, sometimes loosening the muscles can make you sore. It's like exercise." She placed her hand on the intercostals tissue of his fourth and fifth ribs, "Does it hurt here when you breathe?"

"No?"

"How about here?" Here fingers moved between his fifth and sixth ribs.

"Ow!" He swatted her away.

The crowd went wild at the sight, and suddenly instead of a few curious onlookers, the streets were lined with people. The middle ring suddenly became impassible and somewhere, a chant of "Kiss! Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!" started up, and spread. It was mostly young female voices. Zuko quickly shifted far away and made a 'no' gesture with his hands. He grabbed the curtain on his side and yanked it closed. Unfortunately, the thing was quite gauzy and partially transparent.

"My Lord," The Lieutenant bowed his head, "I'm sorry... it might take a while for us to clear the crowd." Already his men were trying to move the people from the street, but there were more people jostling to get a view than there were guards clearing them away.

"Take your time." Zuko told him and then reached across Katara to pull the curtain on her side closed too. It was a strain- too much of one, really, his chest screamed in protest, and he collapsed back onto his pillow gasping.

"Are you okay? Don't reach like that!" Katara scolded, turning to inspect him.

"It's easy for you to say 'don't reach like that' after I've already done it." Zuko snapped, pressing his hand into his chest, "You couldn't have mentioned that a few minutes ago?"

Katara felt her jaw drop. Somehow, after the few months of separation, she had forgotten just how much of a numbskull the Fire Lord could be. It seemed like they were either scrambling for their life or they were fighting with each other. There was no grey area in between.

"Just relax."

Brilliant. Why didn't I think of that. Zuko thought sarcastically to himself as he let his head fall back into the cushions.

"I'll see what's going on out there." Katara pulled back the curtain and peered out. They were not kidding about the road being impassible. "I wish Appa was here." She muttered and lay back. It was always a lot easier to get away from things if you could move in three dimensions instead of two. Outside, the crowd was still yelling something, but neither of them could tell what it was anymore.

Minutes earlier, Katara had been freezing. Now, she felt hot and confined. It was probably the Fire Lord's heavy breathing, she reflected. He was inadvertently heating up the enclosed space. She wished she had brought a fan.

After a good quarter of an hour, the chanting and rabble from the crowd had faded and was replaced by the normal bustle of the city. By the time she could no longer stand the heat and finally pulled the curtain back, she was surprised to see that not only had they gotten almost all the way back to the castle, but the sky had opened, and it had started to sprinkle.

"Well, that was fun." She turned to make conversation, "Can you believe that crowd? You'd think they would show more respect for us."

Zuko shrugged, "You know how people are when they get riled."

"Next time your Uncle suggests an activity, I'm going to turn him down."

"I promise, next time we're in the city together, I'll be up for a nice long walk, we can even go in disguise." He turned and gave her a small smile, "Just Li the refugee and-"

"Sapphire Fire." She supplied.

"What kind of name is that?"

"It's a Fire Nation name!"

"No Katara, no it's not."

"I used it when I had to pose as Aang's mother to get him out of trouble." She explained smugly. She conveniently didn't mention that the principal was half blind and deaf.

"The only kind of girl in the Fire Nation that would go by a name like 'Sapphire Fire' would be one who worked in the red lamp district."

Katara looked for a second like she was going to punch him in the arm. Not for real of course, but the sort of mock offended punch that meant that she was offended, but not really offended. Not enough to actually fight over. Then, she laughed at something that must have been a private joke.

"That's the second time today."

...

Katara woke up bright and early the next day, which for her was about eleven. She briefly noticed that her clothes were packed, and her blue travel pants and shirt were laid out on one of the chairs, with her water skin laying on top. Apparently she had slept through her attendants readying her for the day. She stretched and looked out the window, the clouds from the previous day had opened, and rain was pouring down. Reaching out her window, she bent some into her water pouch before getting up to bathe, dress, and ask the servants to scrounge up some food.

After finding some lunch, asking the palace staff to transport her luggage to the airship dock, she received a huge packed lunch from the chubby head chef, who insisted that Katara was "skin and bones" and a "growing girl". Frankly, she thought that the man was too used to doling out literal bear sized portions.

As she walked down the hallway, she heard two familiar voices coming from the dock. She was about to round the corner and jog over to them, when she heard her own name. Curiosity was always a healthy emotion for her, so Katara flattened herself against the corner, trying to hear what they were saying.

"--thought more about what I suggested?" Zuko and Iroh sat on the stone floor of the dock near the royal Fire Nation balloon, sipping tea. It was a specially built structure, with a roof and floor, but only three walls. The space where the fourth wall should have been was instead blocked by the side and ramp of the airship.

"I just can't, okay? It doesn't seem right, what with her going crazy and all," Zuko sighed.

"Well, you must admit, insanity runs in the Fire Nation royal family, passed down from generation to generation like a disease." Iroh took a sip of his tea. "I blame the inbreeding," he added as an afterthought.

"Inbreeding?" Zuko asked

"Of course! The nobility keeps marrying into itself, so there's no new blood coming in. Have you ever looked at the family trees in the palace library, Zuko? It's more like a spider web than a tree."

"No, not really," the Fire Lord admitted.

"Well, I believe you can usually trace people to one another within four steps. Take Mai, for example." Iroh concentrated, "She is your maternal grandfather's half sister's granddaughter, on her father's side."

Zuko looked impressed. "And how about Ty Lee?"

"Your maternal great aunt's second husband's granddaughter, related through marriage." He paused there, and they both stared out at the rain. Katara heard another voice then, a man she didn't know.

"I'm sorry, My Lord, the valves are still too wet, we're having no luck. The engine isn't taking." The man who was either a mechanic or a lieutenant explained.

"Keep trying," Zuko told him, "I need to get back to the Fire Nation as soon as possible."

"Yes, My Lord." The man replied, "Only..."

"What?"

"Well, a branch blew by and tore a gash in the fabric of the balloon. It will take at least a week to mend, maybe a week and a half."

Zuko dismissed the man and swore. "I can't afford to be marooned in the Earth Kingdom. Not with Ozai and Azula's reign still fresh in people's minds..."

"So..." Iroh paused taking another sip of tea and rolling it over his tongue, "Azula has finally gone mad..."

Zuko nodded, rubbing the back of his neck, "So totally and completely that it scares me. She just... snapped, but she isn't mad like Bumi, there's no joy in it, she's still as dark and calculating as ever."

"And I believe there is the potential also for you to succumb to the darkness inside you." Iroh replied, "We all flirt with the line between sanity and madness, Nephew, you, Azula, your father, your mother, me..."

"You?"

"Yes," Iroh's voice took on a strange quality, and he looked out across the airship deck and into the rain. "I was not so much different from your father in my youth..."

"What changed you?"

Iroh smiled sadly, "Many things, my morals, my experiences in the war, the Old Masters in the Sun Temple, your mother, my son, and my grief over his death. Just remember Zuko, you will never be free of the possibility. It's in your blood, and will be in your children's blood." He paused again and the humor returned to his voice, "Therefore, I recommend when you marry, you marry outside the Fire Nation nobility. That little earthbender that your friends with is quite charming."

"What?!"

Katara heard a tea mug clatter as it was dropped.

"Or how about the Earth King Kuei's cousin, the Lady Ling? She's a little older than you, but, do not underestimate an older woman's passions."

"Uncle, I'm not thinking about marrying anyone right now." Zuko paused, "If I was going to marry someone, I'd marry my girlfriend."

"It's really too bad Princess Yue became the Moon spirit." Iroh continued on, teasing his nephew was too much fun, "She would have made a grand wife for you, beautiful, kind, and dutiful, and your marriage would have brought peace and alliances between the Fire Nation and Water Tribe. Speaking of which, what about that pretty waterbending master you went to the banquet with last night? I must admit, I don't know Katara as well as I do Toph, but she seems... exciting."

Katara blushed red.

Zuko shook his head, "I think she hates me."

"Hates you?"

"It's complicated."

"You would be surprised how easy it is to mistake love for hate." Iroh paused, thinking about Ursa, "Your sister did quite often as a child."

Zuko didn't want to talk about his sister anymore. It was mentally exhausting. "I think who I marry is the last thing on everyone's mind!"

"Are you crazy Nephew?" Katara could hear the laughter in Iroh's voice. "Every eligible Earth Kingdom girl and her mother is watching your every move! Not just the noblewomen, the peasants too!"

"When I marry, Uncle, I plan on marrying for love."

"Ah well," Iroh smiled and poured him another mug of tea, "I have no doubt that you will be a wise and good Fire Lord, whatever you end up doing." He had a feeling that if a good marriage that would benefit all three remaining nations turned up, Zuko would do the right thing for his country and take it.

Just then the thunder crashed, and lightening streaked across the sky, and Katara decided it was as good a time as any to make an entrance.

"Katara!" Iroh stood to meet her and stepped over the shattered remains of Zuko's teacup. "How nice it is to see you!"

"Zuko, we're not going to fly in this storm, are we?" Katara demanded. The wind was blowing branches off the trees and the rain sheeted against the walls fiercely. She was quite sure that anything that tried to fly in this would get struck by lightening and spiral down into a fiery explosion.

"I don't think so." Zuko muttered, "They can't get the thing started, let alone aloft. I'll have to make alternate arrangements."

"'Alternate arrangements'?" Katara asked, suspiciously.

...

"This is NOT what I had in mind when you said 'alternate arrangements'!" Katara yelled over the wind, which had started to howl. Her ostrich-horse whuffled, and put its head down to munch on the wet grass. It practically yanked her down off of it's shoulders in the process.

"Just bend the rain away from us as we ride," Zuko called back. "We're heading for the Serpent's Pass. I sent a messenger hawk to my steward, he'll arrange for a boat to meet us there." That was assuming that the messenger hawk made it to the Fire Nation in the storm. Assuming the storm passed or lightened enough so that the ship could sail. Assuming that his ship wasn't bothered by the Serpent.

"It's raining arctic dogs and bearded cats!"

"It's the eye of the storm, we'll be fine."

Katara glared murder at him and then nudged her Ostrich-horse into a lope, blowing past him and his guards and, heading towards the outer wall.

"Hey!!" Zuko took off after her, trying to close the distance between them. The thunder crashed loudly and spooked his ostrich horse and it brayed and launched into a full gallop, and Zuko winced as he bounced mercilessly on top of the saddle, his chest blossoming with new pain. He would have picked a mongoose dragon over an ostrich horse any day.

By the time they reached the outer wall, Zuko was thoroughly soaked, even Katara was a little wet, though she diligently bent the droplets away from her. The ostrich horses were getting very jumpy as well, and Katara's began snapping at Zuko's when it shied too close to it, scared of the thunder.

The company of guards were close behind them, huddled under their helmets in the rain. The Earth King had offered him several Dai Li as guides, but Zuko had politely declined, saying he would prefer to stick with his own men. Both he and Katara were not particularly fond of the Dai Li.

"Open the gate!!" Zuko yelled as his mount danced back and forth underneath him.

After several hours of riding in the rain, Katara was starting to feel exhausted, and had simply had enough. Luckily the rain had started lighting up. She had witnessed first hand Zuko's ability to peruse and push on through obstacles, but, she had always been the one being chased. Now, she was the one facilitating the ordeal, and she wasn't sure that it was any better than being the prey.

"My Lord." Zuko's Captain pulled in next to them, "We scouted a good place ahead to camp. There's a cave up ahead."

"The rain is lightening up, Jee, we should press on while we're in the eye of the storm." Zuko responded.

"Zuko!!" She kicked her emu horse and caught up with him, "Let's stop, please? This thing is making my legs hurt."

He sighed, looked ahead, then nodded.

...

"Shut up, Mother." Azula whispered, running her hands through her hair and rocking back and forth. "I'll prove it to you. I'll prove you're scared of me."

The room was still.

"I'll make you scared of me!" Azula hissed. "I'll be the most terrifying Fire Lord EVER! I'll take back my throne! I'll avenge my father! I'll strangle Zuko with his own intestines! I'll cleave Mai's arms from her body and feed them to her! I'll freeze that damn waterbender until I can shatter her fingers and toes under my heels! I'll crush them like the maggots they are." She crunched a beetle crawling across her floor, wiggling her bare toes in its guts, feeling them squelch up between her digits.

One of the guards peered in through the door, but quickly turned away.

"Why did he save that dirty peasant girl?! Why did I shoot lightening at her?! I shouldn't have shot lightening at her! I should have killed HIM, the sissy boy." Azula began squishing the bug's entrails into oblivion on the stone floor, its insides becoming a dark, red-blue streak. "I could have killed him! I should have killed him, and then and then, the water slut would have been so distraught over her bitch boy's death that . . . that . . . that she wouldn't have fought so well. She would have been distracted- not focused."

Azula tugged on her hair again. "Hahahah! Next time will be different, I know that she is his weakness. Just like he is Mai's weakness. He loves her. He loves her, I saw it on his face, and just like Mai, it makes him stupid."

"Love, love, love, love!!" Azula screeched, clawing her arms. "Love is weak! People who love are weak! I'll prove to you and my disgusting brother and his harem that love is a weakness! Every time someone did something out of love, they ended up losing!" Her brother had won though, he was sitting pretty on her throne.

"Losing was- A miscalculation, a fluke. Just luck! I got cocky. I thought that I had won. I toyed with her instead of just killing her." Azula growled, her nails scratching her arms, drawing blood. "Now I know. Strike to kill. Their luck is about to run out. I'll make him scream for her."

...

Yes, Yes, Azula is going mad, the loss of her status, the incarceration, the paranoia, and her and Zuko's shoddy genetics are all playing their part. So if you're easily offended, you may want to skip over the parts where she goes Marquis De Sade...

...

Thanks for all the complements of my fic being original! Wow, I thought that the 'Zuko looks for his mother' theme would be so overdone, that's why I intentionally took it to the limit.

Make it really dark... and intriguing. ::shifty eyes::

...

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