Midsummer Madness Chapter 17: The Scale, an avatar: last airbender fanfic

Title: Midsummer Madness

Author: BurningIce

Rating: M (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.

…

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.

Chapter 17: The Scale

…

Aang woke with a start, he knew instantly that there was someone else in his room, he played possum, pretending to still be asleep as he listened carefully for sounds of breathing. He didn't want to accidentally hit a servant with a fireball who had come in to return laundered cloths to his wardrobe before he woke or something.

The room was quiet. Terrifying. The way it felt when he was little and convinced that there was a monster under his bed or in his closet. What made it worse though was that now there probably was a monster lurking in the shadows of the room.

Something shifted on his bed.

She was on his bed!!

He felt the mattress move, sink, every time she pressed a hand into it. Slowly she moved until she was leaning over him. He could feel her gaze hitting the side of his face, and his heart froze in his chest. He waited, like Bumi had advised him nearly a year earlier, for the opportune moment to strike.

"I know you're awake, Avatar." She leaned in, he could feel the heat of her breath on his cheek, "I heard your breathing change."

There would be no opportune moment. Aang suddenly uncoiled, blasting a fireball right where her head should be. She dodged it, barely, yanking her head out of the way in time, but he caught a few strands of her hair, and the foul scent of her singed tresses filled the room.

"Hahaha! Zuzu used to try that when we were kids! He would always miss!!"

"Get away from me Azula!" he hissed, throwing another fireball which she dodged, moving to a crouch. She glared up at him through her brow, her gold eyes glinting green in the waning moonlight.

"Or what?" She asked lazily, her head rolling to one side.

"I've already got Sokka, Suki, and Ty Lee on their way."

"Ty Lee?" Azula seemed puzzled for a minute, as though she couldn't remember anyone by that name, "Oh! Ty Lee, supple little creature isn't she?"

"Azula, You're under arrest for the murder of three of your nurses."

"Yes? What were their names?" Azula stretched out on his covers, a half sleepy, bored look on her face.

"Umm . . ."

"You don't know, do you?" She pursed her lower lip at him, making a sad face, "Poor Avatar, so misguidedly self righteous. Won't you read me my rights? Do I have the right to remain silent?"

"It doesn't matter! You killed someone!!" Aang pointed a finger at her, willing it not to shake.

"So did you, Avatar, you killed plenty of faceless nameless men, you sunk all those ships at the North Pole, remember?" Azula ran her fingers over her neck in the most seductive throat slitting motion Aang had ever seen.

"No, I don't remember, I was . . . I was possessed by the Ocean Spirit." Aang's voice rose in panic.

"Oh?" Azula's voice was soothing, "It's all right, possessed by a spirit, possessed by insanity, it's all the same. There's no way for a man to swim in his heavy, insulated armor, but I'm sure nobody minds that you're a murderer."

Aang glared and swiped his arm, sending a cyclone at her which knocked her hard into the black and grey marble bedpost. Her head hit it with a sickening crack, and Aang was scared that he had smashed her skull open.

To his simultaneous terror and relief, her eyes clicked open again, still positively glowing in the moonlight. She wobbled a bit, getting off the bed, and Aang's stomach sank as he saw a smear of blood across the marble. She walked around the bed, her fingers trailing on the mattress, and Aang scooted to the opposite corner on hands and heels.

"Silly little Avatar, I know you wont kill me. I can see you shaking from here."

"I'll take away your bending!" Aang raised his hands offensively.

"Will you now?" She grinned, "Then come over here and do it." She touched her chest, "You need to overpower me with your will, right? Think you can? What happens if you don't? What happens if I make you my bitch?"

Aang thought back to how he had been a hairs breadth away from losing himself to Ozai in their final battle. There was no question that Azula was a bit off, but it seemed to only make her stronger. She seemed to forget things that she should know, but knew things that logically she shouldn't. As though she could sense them in his mind.

"That's what I thought." She grinned, "You don't have proper control of the Avatar State yet anyways. Do you? You would have gone into it by now if you could. So, why don't we play a little game? You're a little boy, you like playing games, right? First, close your eyes."

"Stop it Azula!!"

She threw her head back and laughed, a mirthless, victorious chuckle.

"Oh Avatar, you do tickle me so," She walked forward, and slid onto the bed again, "Do it again, order me to do something. It amuses me!"

Aang scrambled backwards off the bed, landing in a tangle of blankets on his back on the floor. He preferred her hissing angrily at him to her cackle.

"You're scared of me." She leaned on her elbows over the side of the bed, her hair brushing his bare chest as she looked down at him.

"No!" Aang spat back, lying.

"Then you are stupid." She leaned closer, blood dripping from where it matted in her hair onto his chest, "I am a monster." She suddenly sprang from the bed and pounced on him, pinning his wrists to the red polished floor, "Tell me about your water bending girlfriend!!"

"I won't!!" Aang inhaled, but before he could finish Azula had rammed her knee into his gut, grappling with him. He coughed out the air harmlessly, his diaphragm screaming in agony.

"That whore cost me my throne." Azula's pupils dilated, "She cost me EVERYTHING!! I spent four months in an asylum!! I am going to take back what is owed to me, the bitch will pay me in full! Drop by precious drop!! I'm going to shred everything she holds dear, and . . . I think I will start with you!" One of her hands pressed into his forehead and slammed his head back into the stone floor, leaving him dazed.

He looked up at her, stunned as she became two Azulas then one blurry one. He bent a blast of fire at her and heard her swear colorfully, the smell of more burned hair reaching him. He closed his eyes, trying to find inner peace, willing the Avatar State to take him. He could feel his chi blocked up, and he couldn't slip into it, something slammed hard between his legs and he rolled over, a scream tearing from his lips.

Her mouth was on him, he could feel it. She was licking his blood . . . or hers. Her teeth sank into the muscles of his stomach and he grabbed her hair, hauling with all his strength. She let him pull her off, but the instant he let go and tried to grope for her, his vision clearing, she was kissing him.

He bit her.

She hardly noticed, and Aang's stomach turned as his mouth began to fill with her blood. As she broke away, he turned his head to the side and coughed, trying to spit her blood out, he had never swallowed any part of a living creature, and he wasn't going to start with Azula. He understood the mistake he had made almost instantly. Her mouth locked onto his exposed neck, and he panicked, bending the air around them, trying to throw her. Instead of biting though, she was sucking on him, hard, her tongue pressing into his neck, massaging it. It was almost the way Katara would kiss him, only rougher. . . . and scarier.

Azula leaned back, admiring her handiwork on the monk's neck, his eyes were tearing, and his neck was bruised and swelling, the scratches on his chest had reopened during their grappling, and the bandages were stained red. It was so incredibly sexy.

Aang stared. He didn't like the way the girl was looking at him. Like he was a piece of meat. He knew he should be using her distraction to get out from under her, but he was caught like a deer in the lantern light, practically mesmerized by her golden eyes, practically frozen to the spot in horror.

"You're a virgin, aren't you?"

The question caught Aang so much off guard his jaw dropped open. Hadn't they been fighting? Weren't they still fighting? He found his voice.

"Haa . . . Er . . ."

"It's written all over your face." Azula smiled, "That cunt never made a man out of you, did she!" the princess sounded delighted.

"Don't Azula! I swear I'll-"

He was cut off as she kissed him again, her hands roaming across his body in the same hungry way Katara's had nearly two months earlier in the North Pole. As he had then, he grabbed for them, trying to remove them from his person. He didn't understand why the touches were making him shiver, and he didn't like not knowing what was going on inside his own body.

Azula lifted his arm to her face and locked her mouth on it again, blood and saliva dripping from between her lips onto it. When she pulled away Aang saw in disgust that there was a bruise forming in the shape of her mouth.

"Hold still Avatar," She whispered into his skin as she dragged her nails across his chest, "It will only hurt for a minute . . . I promise." She grinned widely, showing off her bloodstained teeth.

The door smashed open, Toph stood there, fists raised. Azula barely had time to see her before the floor pitched up and slammed her like a ragdoll into the opposite wall. She ran across the room to stand between Azula and her pupil, another piece of castle slamming at her under Toph's hand. The Princess dodged it, somersaulting gracefully out of the way.

"I should squish you like the icky bug you are!!" Toph yelled, her hands sweeping again, raising up a column to deflect a blast of fire.

"You couldn't if you tried, little blind girl!" Azula pivoted in the air, electricity jumping from her pointed fingers.

"Come on! On your feet Twinkle Toes!" Toph raised another slab of floor protecting them both from the lightening.

Her voice shook Aang out of his paralysis, and he scrambled to his feet and grabbed for his glider staff. The lightening detonated the stone shield, and shook the whole palace, knocking them off their feet and showering them both with rocks and dust.

"Damn it!" Toph swore, getting up feeling around with her feet.

"Toph!" Aang hissed, reminding her not to swear.

"Where did she go?!" The girl pressed her hand into the ground, "I can't feel her vibrations!"

"What?! Took you so long?!"

"It takes me a while to wake up!" She shot back defensively, "Are you okay? I smell blood!"

"I'm okay, I'm okay, Just shook up."

"That's it, you're not staying here alone anymore!" Toph grabbed his arm and guided him over to his bed to sit down.

Aang limped over, following her, "She is an icky bug all right," he agreed, "A praying mantis . . ."

He sat in silence for a few minutes as Toph summoned a servant and began barking orders to the poor woman. Then she ordered guards posted outside the doors and windows, and told them to change their patrols. She also sent out a patrol to look for the princess, though Aang doubted they would find her.

"Lay down, Twinkle Toes, I'm going to stay with you tonight. It might deter her from bothering you again." Toph was making herself at home in his bed.

"But, er, the monks say that you shouldn't sleep in the same bed as a woman."

"Yea, well, from what I hear that's why they ate a vegetarian diet and whipped themselves too." Toph was unimpressed.

Aang sighed and climbed into the sheets, they lay in silence for several minutes, waiting for sleep to come.

"Toph?"

"Yea?"

"Nothing."

Silence.

"Toph?"

"Yea?"

"Thanks, you really saved my skin back there."

"Anytime."

Silence again.

"Toph?"

"Yes?"

"What's a 'cunt'?"

"Uuugh! Go to sleep Twinkle Toes!!"

…

Katara stared out over the swamp as the sun set, turning the water an orange color. The mist had not yet started to rise. Zuko was sitting next to her, petting a catgaitor in fascination. It seemed to like getting it's nose scratched.

Katara hugged her knees. She was thinking about something, and that was her favorite thinking position.

"So, Fae said that when a water bender and a fire bender have kids, they usually bend opposites."

"Mmm." Zuko grunted in vague agreement.

"So, Naj is a water bender, and Iroh is definitely a fire bender, and she is having a girl."

"So? She is a fire bender, big deal, most people in my family are fire benders."

"Fire benders can't stay here, remember what Fae said?"

"Vaguely."

"What do you think will happen to her daughter?"

"'Tara it's not your problem, don't worry about it."

"I think you should write Iroh and tell him, a fire bending daughter will be much happier with her father than running around some sun temple."

"Thank you for your opinion."

They sat in silence.

"Well?"

"Well what?!" Zuko frowned.

"Well, will you?!"

"Katara!"

Uh oh, she thought, my whole name.

"I'll think about it, okay? Uncle is sort of, set in his tea business, and the woman-"

"Naj."

"Naj, she seemed iffy about telling him. Maybe she wants her daughter to herself! Maybe she is worried he'll want to take her away or send her to the Fire Nation, I don't know, these women are protective of their daughters."

Katara clasped her hands, her eyes sparkling, "But, it could be like having a little sister!"

"Please, one little sister is enough." The conversation lapsed again, and Zuko stood up soon after, "I'm going to go back to my room, I'm tired"

"But the sun had barely set!" Katara protested, standing up to follow him, "And we're not finished with this discussion! And tomorrow is a day of rest so you can sleep in!! You're scared, aren't you?!"

"I don't see why you feel the need to meddle in my family life." Zuko was annoyed, "Do you make a habit of it?"

"No, not a habit." Katara huffed and crossed her arms, stopping her pursuit and watching him retreat across the moss. He was infuriating!

"Don't worry about it," One of the older women standing nearby told her, "You'll get a better feel of how to get them to do what you want with experience." The priestess had red snake tattoos, her arms crossed as she leaned against the tree.

Katara didn't like the look of her for some reason, she looked . . . poisonous. She also did not have the strong accent that the natives did, hers was muted, as though she spent much of her time out of the swamp, among fully clothed people.

"Who are you?"

"Oh nobody," The woman waved her hand dismissingly, "I've been watching you, Katara, you're one fierce woman."

"Thanks?"

"I have a message for you, from an old friend."

"How do you know who I am friends with?" Katara took a step back, she wasn't scared, exactly, she felt like she was trapped.

"We don't want you to open it and read it until after you leave the swamp."

"Who is 'We'?"

The woman looked around, the common green was nearly empty, but she grabbed Katara's fore arm anyway and pulled her into the cover of the bangrove tree forest.

"I've been watching you Katara, and I like what I see. Have you ever heard of the Sirens?"

"No, I don't know what you're talking about, maybe you should just give me the message and let me get going, I'm sure Zuko-"

"Yes, Prince Zuko, I saw him, very handsome, lots of girls will be vying for that trophy husband." The woman glanced around again, "The Sirens are the sisters of the White Lotus. The White Lotus however does little more than watch history be created and show up at the final battle to make an appearance. The Sirens? We SHAPE history. We mold it into the future we want, we control those who control the world."

"So you were the ones behind the war on the other nations?!"

"No!! That was the most hideous overstep in the last thousand years. I suppose we are to blame for the war, but we didn't cause it. Sozin, he was best friends with the Avatar, and the Avatar Roku kept him in line. Because of this, we didn't think we would need to place someone close to him, to steer him along the right path. Who would have thought that not placing someone in his bed would result in the genocide of entire cultures!!" the woman shook her head, "If we had had a woman in his circle, whispering sweet nothings of peace into his ear, this whole bloody war would never have happened. We had been concentrating our efforts in the Northern Water Tribe, women had been steadily losing their rights, and we were trying to counter that. Trying to preserve the Tribe style of bending that the women did, but once the war was declared . . ."

Katara stared, it all sounded so unreal, that the most powerful women in the world were organizing in this way.

The woman pulled a bit of cloth out of her cleavage, and held it out of reach, "Remember, you are not to look at it until after you have left the swamp."

"Why?"

"Because you were ordered not to."

Katara looked back and forth, then nodded, holding out her hands, receiving the message, whatever it was. She tucked it into her own top, muttered a thank you, and then turned to go.

"Here," The woman walked forward and pressed something else into her hand, "Take this, something for good luck, something to remember me by."

Katara looked at her palm, it was a snake scale. "What is this for?"

The water bender realized she was talking to herself. The woman had vanished somewhere, and if there hadn't been a scale in her hand, Katara would have thought she had been a hallucination triggered by the swamp.

…

Iroh hummed as he bustled back and forth in his tea shop. The night had been particularly good, and he was busy bussing the tables after closing. He reminded himself again that he should hire a helper to replace Zuko, but somehow he never got around to it. He was placing the last mugs on a tray when he heard the door open and close behind him.

"I'm sorry, we're closed." He said cheerily, not turning around, "We open again tomorrow at noon."

"Tomorrow it will be too late."

Iroh closed his eyes and stiffened, his smile vanishing, an expression of pain flashing across his face, "I thought you were dead."

"Not yet." Came the quiet reply.

"Sit down Ursa, I'll make you some tea."

"No, I don't have time." Ursa pulled her cloak off, her eyes fixed on her brother in law's back, "Please sit with me, I need a favor . . . two really."

"Anything for a beautiful lady such as yourself." Iroh complimented out of habit, sliding into the seat opposite the Fire Lady.

"Thank you for looking after my son."

"I would have done so whether you asked it of me or not." Iroh reached out and patted her hand, "After Lu Ten died, Zuko became much like my own child."

"You followed him into exile. That was above and beyond anything I expected."

"He needed someone to look out for him I never told him about you, as promised, though I hope you will relent, he really wants to know where you are"

"No, I never want him to know the monster I am, I never want anyone to see a trace of me in him. I want him to be like you."

"Ursa, you are too hard on yourself, you are not a monster."

"Would you keep looking out for him?"

"I cannot keep him under my wing any longer Ursa, he is a grown man, and what he needs now is to stand on his own two feet." Iroh argued, "That's why I am here in Ba Sing Se, and not in the Fire Nation helping him rule."

"Iroh." Ursa put on her most beseeching smile, she hated to use her talents with him, but her protectiveness of her son outweighed her guilt, "No need to move to the Fire Nation, just, perhaps, make sure he is happy and healthy and his friends truly love him?"

Iroh chewed his lip, "I will do what I can, his friends are the Avatar's, and they love him dearly, however he has been fighting with his girlfriend, her name is Mai, do you remember her? Azula's little friend? Very quiet? Well, they have been quarreling for weeks now and not in a good way, I am sad to say I don't think their relationship was meant to be."

"Thank you, it means a lot." She leaned in closer, she flinched every time he said her name, as though he was trying to convey how much he had missed her, "I also need you to write Piandao and ask him to take on an apprentice."

"He is always looking for someone with talent. He has been trying to convince that Water Tribe boy in the Avatar's circle to apprentice, but apparently he has other obligations he must see to first. " Iroh agreed, "I'm sure he will see any man who has caught your eye."

"It's June, a bounty hunter. I believe you two have met."

"Is she here?!" Iroh unconsciously smoothed back his hair, and straightening.

"No, she is waiting in another part of the city."

The old man relaxed, "I cannot, Piandao only trains men, and he holds little esteem for Sirens. Calls them spiders, weaving traps and waiting for people to fall into them, he would never take a member on to teach them swordplay."

Ursa frowned thoughtfully, "He is still bitter?" Piandao had had a daughter years ago who had died mysteriously. Most informed people believed that she had been killed in the line of duty, doing something for the Sirens. Uninformed people assumed she had had a terrible accident.

"He loved her very much." Iroh straightened his back, defending his friend, "You ladies had no right."

"You don't feel you owe June?" Ursa asked raising an eyebrow.

"Owe her for what?"

"Your little paralysis stunt."

"We paid her in full and she still gave me a black eye when she could move!! I would say we're even." Iroh was starting to crack, she could see it. She just needed to go in for the kill.

"And don't you think someone who could give the Dragon of the West, Master Fire Bender, General Iroh a black eye has some talent in hand to hand combat that should be pursued?"

"Well, yes . . . no! Ursa, please stop that. June's only allegiance lies with money."

"The thing about people who's allegiances lie with money, is they will always go for the best offer. All you have to do is provide it, perhaps she would be willing to shirk us and join the White Lotus if they made her a better offer. ."

"You know the White Lotus does not accept women." Iroh scolded.

"Then you can hardly find fault in women for answering in kind." Ursa put her hand on his, "Please Iroh? This will be the last gesture you will ever have to make on my behalf to the White Lotus."

"Alright," Iroh stood, "I will go write her a recommendation now."

Ursa watched him as he painted the characters onto the scroll, his brow furrowed in annoyance. She felt bad, she truly did, but acting on one's guilt would never get you anywhere in the world. If you had to make sacrifices and step on people's toes, you did, you just tried to be as pleasant as you could about it.

"I was hoping you would let me tell him about you," Iroh was saying, "He is looking for you, you know, he may track you down yet. Perhaps I could tell him of you on his eighteenth birthday?" Iroh finally said, blowing on his ink, watching it dry.

Ursa pulled her cloak back around her. "Iroh, I leave that decision entirely up to you. It would be a mercy to Zuko to let him keep his illusions. Let him think that Azula is totally her father's daughter, and none of me ever blossomed in her personality. Let him think that I am the innocent granddaughter of Roku, that I was a beloved, just queen who never did anything selfish. Won't you grant me this last bit of vanity?"

"I don't like the way you're talking Ursa. What are the women having you do? Are they sending you to assassinate someone? You MUST NOT take any more lives!!" Iroh grabbed her, his voice becoming louder with each successive question, and he gave her a shake for emphasis.

"Please release me, brother in law, there is no need to get physical." Ursa's voice was calm but authoritative, and her brother in law let her go, reluctantly.

"You are poisoning yourself! We have all done things we regret in the name of the Fire Nation, and in the name of Peace, but whatever it is-"

Ursa looked away, her eyes filling with tears which she blinked away hurriedly, her mission weighing heavily on her heart. She stepped forward and embraced her brother in law, cutting off his rant mid sentence. She squeezed hard, her fingers fisting in the fabric of his tea uniform, and she buried her face in the fabric. Eyes closed, she felt him place his arms around her, his hands stroking through her hair, cradling her head.

Spirits, how she had missed him with all the fire of her being.

"I can't stay." She whispered, more for herself than for him, "I have to go meet June."

"Will it be another five years before I hear from you again?" Iroh asked sadly.

"No." Ursa lied.

…

Katara slipped into her room and stowed both the token and the sealed message in her bag. She was mulling over what the woman had said to her, convinced that the snake scale woman had let slip more than she had intended to, but couldn't quite piece it together.

Manipulating him gets better with experience. She thought, Lots of girls vying for that trophy . . .

That wasn't it either, she sat on her bed, chewing on her lip. Maybe Zuko himself could provide some inspiration. She pulled back the curtain without knocking, she had made it a habit not to knock in the western air temple to remind him that he wasn't even deserving of privacy or respect, and somehow the habit had stuck.

He was sleeping, stretched out on his mattress, the sheets tangled around his legs where he had kicked them. She narrowed her eyes, thinking.

Not placing someone in his bed would result in the genocide of entire cultures. She crossed the room, feeling the air heat up as she got closer and closer to the bender. She knelt down, realization dawning on her.

That's it! They are going to put someone into Zuko's bed! They're going to try to get a Fire Lady with an ulterior motive into the throne and then have her influence him!! Katara felt a surge of protectiveness. If all the women were like the one she met today, it would be over her dead body!

Zuko would never be fooled, he is too smart for that! Katara told herself, paused, then thought, Okay, mental note to check out any girls he dates in the future very very carefully.

"'Tara, are you going to watch me sleep all night? It's actually quite unnerving." Zuko asked, not opening his eyes or giving any indication that he was awake.

"No, not ALL night." Katara said, hurriedly, shoving her worries to the back of her mind, "Are you still having a morality crisis?"

"What if I am?"

"I'm not dating Aang, I don't know why I thought I could, he's just such a . . . . kid." Katara put her head in her knees, lacing her fingers into her pulled up hair, "He needs to concentrate on being the Avatar, and I need . . ." Katara trailed off, not knowing how to finish.

Zuko inched over and lifted his arm, in an invitation. She slipped in next to him, lacing her fingers with his as he wrapped his arm around her. Katara sighed loudly, hugging his arm to her tightly. It was all too confusing, too complicated, she was beginning to wish she had never kissed Aang in Iroh's tea shop three months ago. She should have just given him a hug, and told him he had done well, and then left him to watch the sunset.

"Zuko, have girls been flirting a lot with you in the Fire Nation? Like, girls who want to marry you?"

"Why? Are you jealous?"

Katara started, it was the first time either of them had acknowledged their relationship, whatever it was. She felt herself blushing, embarrassed and taken aback. She had no reason to be jealous . . . . other than she suddenly, desperately wanted to be with him, of course.

"No, just wondering." She kept her voice even, trying to play it cool, like she didn't care either way.

"Yes, there are, but they're mostly pretty silly aristocratic girls, like Ty Lee, very few of them are strong and independent, not like you." He kissed the back of her neck, and then relaxed, apparently slipping back into sleep.

He thought she was jealous, that's why he was laying it on so thickly, and she was jealous, but she wasn't JUST jealous. She was worried. She was worried about these Sirens, whatever they were, and she was worried about what they would try to do to him.

Katara lay awake next to him, watching the moon rise through his window, too stressed even to enjoy his skin pressed to hers, and it wasn't until the moon had almost sunk below the horizon that she finally drifted off into sleep.

…

"Ty Lee!" Suki knocked on her door, "It's almost nine!"

She heard a mumble in the room that could have been interpreted as a 'come in', and she turned the knob, pressing the door open.

Ty Lee was still in bed, her pillow pressed over her head. She whined loudly as her captain closed the door.

"We've docked at the swamp, You need to get up. I thought the Fire Nation rose with the sun."

"Not when they're hung over . . ." The smaller girl whined.

"Come on," Suki began picking out her cloths, "Come on, put on your lovely pink circus top . . . thing . . . and get your butt out of bed! No more babying for you."

Ty Lee sighed, but responded well to the direct order, she swung her legs out of bed and shuffled across the floor.

"I need a bath . . . I feel gross. Sticky and . . . hungover."

"If you wanted a bath, you should have gotten up when I first knocked on your door an hour ago." Suki scolded.

"I didn't hear you!" Ty Lee pouted.

"You said you were getting up."

"I was asleep when I said that!!"

"Ugh! Get dressed or I'll tell Kisa about the time you got stuck in the sludge of a fire nation drill."

"Katara told you about that?! Oh you wouldn't!"

"Watch me."

"Aye aye, captain." Ty Lee grabbed the cloths out of her hand, "You've mastered the art of blackmail, no wonder your feared and respected by women across the land." Sullenly, she began pulling them on.

"I want you on the deck ready to cast off in a quarter candle mark."

"Yes, Ma'am."

Suki strowed out, making a mental note to send Sokka the next time that Ty Lee had a hangover. Quickening her stride, she made her way out into the sunlight of the deck where Sokka was helping four crewmen lower a boat into the water. It was smaller than an eart Kingdom rowboat, and Suki decided it must be a Water Tribe canoe, it would probably be easier to maneuver among the bangroves than a rowboat.

"Is she getting up?" He asked over his shoulder as he hauled on a rope, "We're just about ready to leave. An old friend came to meet us, he says he can lead us right to Katara and Zuko."

"She is getting up," Suki leaned over the railing to look at the swamp shore. It was not so much a beach but a tree line, their twisted branches jutting straight out of the ocean. Seated cross legged on a rock nearby was a curious man. He wore nothing but a loincloth with leaves sticking out of it, even though he was at least fifty and quite chubby.

"Howdy there miss!!" He called, waving.

"That's my girlfriend Suki." Sokka called, the boat they were lowering hitting the waves with a splash, "Suki, that's Hue. He sort of . . . patrols the swamp."

"Nice to meet you." Suki called back as Ty Lee flopped herself over the railing next to her. As though she wasn't sure if she was going to throw up or not.

Sokka hitched the rope ladder over the side and then jerked his head towards it. "Come on, lets get moving."

Suki swung over the railing and started climbing down the rope ladder, thankful that she had forgone the traditional Kyoshi robes for the scanter red ones. It was damn hot in the swamp, Sokka was already sweating in his sleeveless water tribe vest. As she dismounted the ladder, Ty Lee landed next to her, having somersaulted down from the rail of the ship, and flopped down on one of the seats horizontally, throwing an arm over her face and appearing to go back to sleep. Sokka was the last to arrive, and he settled down and picked up one of the ores, and Suki picked up the other, mimicking her boyfriend's grip.

He settled himself in the stern, "I'll steer, Suki, you just paddle the opposite of me unless we're turning, Ty Lee . . . you just keep doing what you're doing."

"Can do." The acrobat muttered.

Sokka steered it over to Hue's rock and the older man stepped in carefully, settling himself at the bottom of the boat. It sunk several inches into the water.

"Y'all have weird boats down south," he commented, feeling along the side of it curiously.

Ty Lee rested her pounding head on the rim, peering down into the water as they moved. It was dark and murky and gross, and she was sure that there were creepy crawly things wriggling around beneath the surface. The marshes in the Fire Nation were wet, but not slimy and misty like the swamp. Raising her head for a minute, she peered through the vines, looking at the weird auras. The whole place was crawling with colors and shapes, aura bodies moved through the trees with no physical body attached to them. She frowned and put her chin back down on the rail, one was snaking it's way through the reeds towards them.

"Sokka, steer away from that energy field." She warned him, "It's coming right for the side of the boat."

"Ty Lee, there's nothing there, go back to sleep." Sokka told her in a superior tone. The older man, Hue, was looking at her interestedly, but didn't say anything.

Resting her head on the rail, she watched as the bone canoe entered the strange aura field. Nothing happened off the bat, so Ty Lee relaxed, and stared down at her reflection. She frowned, in her reflection, Mai and Azula were standing behind her, and when she hurriedly turned her head and looked in the boat to be one hundred percent positive that she was seeing things, it confirmed it. There were no Fire Nation aristocrats in the boat.

She turned and looked back into the water. They were still there. The Mai-mirage lifted her hand and put it on her shoulder, the Azula-mirage cracked a mischievous smile. They looked happy, even Mai managed a small smile as she affectionately laced her arms around Ty Lee's reflection's neck.

Tentatively, she reached out and touched the surface of the water. Touching her own cheek, creating ripples in the water. Somehow, though she had no memory of it, she must have fell from the boat, because the next thing that she was aware of, she was sinking deeper and deeper into the water.

Ty Lee looked up at the hazy surface of the water, the boat was there, rocking back and forth violently, the sun glistening, and the wavelengths bending. She landed on the bottom on her butt, surrounded by seaweed and fish and mud. Pulling her bangs from her face where they floated, she saw Azula standing in front of her. She was wearing their old Fire Academy uniform, her hands on her hips. She looked cross.

Opening her mouth, Ty Lee tried to greet her old friend, but choked as the swampy water rushed in, and she hastily spat it out.

Traitor. It was written all over the Azula-vision's face. It knelt down and touched her forehead, and Ty Lee was suddenly in excruciating pain, spots danced before her eyes and she let out her breath in a water muffled scream, bubbles rising to the surface from her shout.

They were back at the Boiling Rock, people were talking but the acrobat heard no sound, only saw their lips move, saw their aura's change. Mai had just betrayed Azula, pinning the guards to the wall and allowing her brother to escape. Azula was yelling, Mai was not flinching. Ty Lee knew what would happen, she had known then and she knew now. Mai had been disloyal one too many times, Azula was going to punish her for it. For not jumping into the swill, for not protecting the bear, for complaining all the time, for ditching her friends for her boyfriend, for letting Zuko and Sokka escape.

Ty Lee watched as Azula's arm arced up, sparks forming around it. This time, she did nothing, out of fear, out of jealousy, letting her friend throw the punch, letting the fiery blow land. She heard Mai scream, she heard Zuko scream, she turned and saw Sokka and his father holding the prince back and dragging him off the cable car to escape. She saw Mai crumple and hold her face. Azula had turned to the guards and was barking an order, it was all still deathly silent.

Mai was throwing something, although Ty Lee knew there was no way she could see anything. Azula dodged it and struck again, this time the fire blast caught the goth's cloths, and the princess pivoted and kicked, knocking the girl off the balcony, and into the boiling water below.

Ty Lee screamed, Azula grabbed her and shook her, getting into her face and yelling. Threatening her. Ty Lee nodded, the princess's aura was black.

The Fire Nation calmed down soon after, though as Ty Lee watched, her friend was getting more and more unstable. She would snap, or forget something that she shouldn't have. She would confuse Ty Lee with Mai. The acrobat did her best to play along, though she desperately wanted to run away. To go back to the circus. To forget.

All too soon, the day of the comet came, and Azula took control of the palace, becoming Fire Lord. Ty Lee was by her side throughout. She stood quietly as her friend dismissed and banished everyone in the palace. She knew she should have said something, but Azula would have dismissed her too, and then been left alone to defend the castle.

They were in the courtyard when Zuko and Katara arrived. He looked . . . scary. Angry. Crazed. The Water bender was with him, holding his arm, trying to keep him in check, and it did appear to be working. His aura of heat dropped a few degrees whenever the tribeswoman touched his arm, but then spiked up again when she released him. His aura also lightened, and Ty Lee wondered what had happened between them after Mai's death that her touches soothed him like that, even at his murderous sister's doorstep. He should have been inconsolable.

Azula and he were yelling at each other. Ty Lee sprang into action, going after the water bending woman, somersaulting to avoid the ricocheting fireballs. Katara had gotten quicker, and Ty Lee struggled to get in close enough, she kept getting thrown back by torrent after torrent of water slamming into her. She tried to leap off of a building, but the bricks were slick, and froze as she landed, her feet skidding out from under her. She had enough time to see the ground approaching her very very fast, then she heard a sickening crack, and blackness.

Someone grabbed her wrists, and she opened her eyes, Sokka was there, his shirt was stripped off, and he was maneuvering her arms around his shoulders and pushed off the muddy riverbed, hauling her with him. Ty Lee realized suddenly that her lungs were burning, and she began to struggle, if they didn't get to the surface that instant she would breathe in the entire river.

Their head's broke the surface in a shower of algae and droplets of water. Hue and Suki grabbed Ty Lee's upper arms, and between them managed to haul the saturated acrobat halfway into the boat. She lay on her stomach on the seat board, her knees and legs still dangling in the water and coughed, breathing hard.

". . . you just fell into the water and sunk! Like you were hypnotized! You didn't even struggle, or swim! Can you swim!?" Sokka was treading water, yelling his head off. Suki seemed cross too.

"Course I can swim. It was the aura we entered . . . I saw . . . I don't know what I saw."

"Y'all followed the current of time up a different waterway, ya saw one possible future you could have had if you had chosen differently." Hue told her, he was helping Sokka back into the water, "Sometimes the swamp shows you things, I don't know nothin about no auras, but y'all must have seen the swamp's magic, is all."

Ty Lee nodded, that made absolutely NO sense. Auras were energy, not magic. Magic was something in the spirit world . . . or something.

"You better sit on the floor the rest of the way," Suki told her matter of factually, "Hue, why don't you sit on the seat and keep an eye on her?"

…

Katara sighed softly, waking up to Zuko shifting around next to her, getting ready to get up. She grabbed him and hauled him back down.

"Five more minutes."

"Come on, I'm bored, the sun's been up for hours." Zuko said, nicely but firmly, "You can go back to sleep." He tried to pull his arm away.

Their impromptu tug a war was brought short when they heard someone pulling Katara's mat door slide open.

"Katara?! She isn't in here." It was Sokka.

"O'course not, try Zuko's room. Next one o'er there." One of the swamp women was saying.

"She WHAT?!"

Katara squeaked and tried to scramble up out of bed. Sokka would throw a fit if he found her in bed with Zuko. It would be the fit to end all fits!

"KATARA!!" Sokka stormed into the room, his face turning red, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN BED WITH THAT FIRE BENDER!!"

"Umm . . ." Katara had been asking herself that same question for a week.

"Sokka!! Stop yelling at her! She can be in anyone's bed that she wants!!" Suki was hauling on his arm, Ty Lee stood at the doorway rubbing her eyes, and yawning, watching the proceedings miserably.

"I CANT BELIEVE MY OWN SISTER WOULD DO SUCH A THING!! KATARA!! I THOUGHT YOU WERE A PROPER WATER TRIBESWOMAN!!" He was shaking his fist at her, trying to haul away from Suki, who looked about ready to hit him.

"What I do is NONE of your BUISNESS Sokka!! You can be SO PIG HEADED sometimes!!" She shot back, jumping out of the bed and standing up to glare at him.

"PIG HEADED?! KATARA!! YOU'RE SLEEPING WITH ZUKO!!" He turned his rage on Zuko, "I CAN"T BELIEVE YOU TOUCHED MY SISTER!!"

Zuko looked away and mumbled something that might have been an apology or might have been a suggestion for Sokka to shove it. It was too low to be sure.

"DON'T bring him INTO this!!" Katara yelled, "He didn't CORRUPT me or ANYTHING!!"

"Can you guys stop yelling?" Ty Lee asked tentatively, "You're killing my head."

"YOU'RE ACTING LIKE A LOOSE WOMAN KATARA!! ONLY SLUTS SLEEP AROUND BEFORE THEY'RE MARRIED!!" Sokka yelped and doubled over as Suki twisted his arm and pulled it up behind him.

"Only Sluts do? Then what am I?" Suki snapped.

"Don't call Katara a slut!" Zuko jumped out of bed, his fists balled, sparks flying from his mouth.

"Er, I mean, only Water Tribe women that sleep around before marriage are sluts?" Sokka tried. You could take the boy out of the Northern Water Tribe, but you couldn't take the Northern Water Tribe out of the boy. Sokka was really in touch with his heritage.

"Save it Sokka, I KNOW what you meant!!" Suki hissed, "You have a double standard!!"

"Guys please?"

"I DO NOT!!" Sokka yelled, then added, "SHE IS MY SISTER!! WHAT HAPPENED TO MAI? WHAT HAPPENED TO AANG?! WHY ZUKO?! WHY A FIRE BENDER!!"

"It's none of your business!!" Katara yelled, "You LOVE Zuko! He is our friend! He helped you save Suki and our Dad!! You did the SAME thing with Jet!!"

"Um HELLO?! JET was going to FLOOD AN INNOCENT VILLAGE!!"

"Ok, that's it!" Ty Lee jumped and with a few precise jabs, all three of them fell to the floor, their chi blocked, "I'm sorry, I'm really hung over, you guys are making my head ache worse." She looked tentatively at Suki, who shrugged, "Katara, I'm borrowing your bed since you obviously aren't using it." She trudged out.

"Now, maybe we can settle this calmly and rationally . . ." Suki said, hauling her friends up to a sitting position.

Sokka muttered something about fire benders oozing sex and preying on innocent girls.

Suki laughed, a sort of annoyed, but amused laugh, "I do not for one minute believe it was Zuko who initiated this midsummer madness." She turned to Katara, "How have you been coping with that moon time you told me about a few months ago?"

…

So there you have it, Chapter 17.

…

Toph the knight in shining armor. You know it's true! She is "just the right amount of butch" . . . . Like Katherine Moennig . . . mmmm . . . damn it! Adridere got me started! Someone go read her trashy romance.

…

Ok, so, spelling mistakes should be fixed, sometimes I mess up names because it spells them one way on Avatar Spirit, and another way on , so I dont know who to beleive anymore.

So, I usually go with Avatar Spirit.

Because NickBryke, and Brike say that Kataang is meant to be, and I just totally don't beleive that at all.

Bryke Zutara Street Cred? Zero.

...

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