Title: Midsummer Madness
.
Author: BurningIce
.
Rating: PG
.
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: Does anyone still doubt that I don't own Avatar? The proof is in the pudding. The Zutaraless pudding. Guess what flavor pudding it is? That's right, VANILLA!!
..
..
..
..
Chapter 18: The Metaphor
…
…
…
It had been ten whole minutes and Sokka was still muttering about sister-seducing fire-wolves. Katara was starting to develop a twitch in her eyebrow, and Zuko kept scrunching his nose, as though he wanted very badly to pinch it. Suki, the only one with a full range of motion was trying to explain what happened during the pauses between Sokka's half audible rambling.
"We came here because we got a message from Aang, where is it Sokka? In your bag?" She unslung the strap from her crumpled boyfriend's torso, and opened it, rummaging through it.
"Yes . . . Suki be CAREFUL with that!!" He peered anxiously into the bag, "It's a prototype! Very delicate!"
Katara couldn't tell from her angle what it was that Suki needed to handle more gently, but the warrior did seem to ease up on her digging. After what seemed like forever, the redhead pulled out a tiny parchment.
"Here it is," She beamed triumphantly and opened it, "It looks like Aang was shaking pretty bad when he wrote it, there are ink blots and spelling mistakes all over it, and I swear that's a drop of blood urgent . . . Sokka, shut up already? Your sister has a sex drive, get over it, . . . but he does not specifically state what is the matter, just that we all have to get to the Fire Nation . . . maybe I can hold it up . . ." She crawled on her knees closer to Zuko, and held it up in front of his face for him to read, Katara could just make out the blotchy shapes, and Suki was right, it looked like it had been written in an earthquake. Though, Aang was traveling with Toph, it was entirely plausible that it could have been.
". . . murders? A possible international incident? I leave the palace for a few weeks and everything goes to pieces!" Zuko looked alarmed, his voice raising in panic, "Ok, I'm going to have to leave the Swamp," He looked at Katara apologetically, "You should stay, finish learning the swamp water bending."
"Yes! You should stay, nice big ocean between you and Dragon-boy, keep you well away from my sister's honor." Sokka agreed, his teeth clenched together.
"Sokka!" Suki hissed, her brow furrowing and her fist balling up. Katara really wanted her to give him a nice belt in the abdomen for her. Just one. Her finger's twitched, the feeling starting to return. Soon now. Very soon.
"I haven't touched Katara's honor!!" Zuko yelled back, flushing, golden eyes blazing. It was a lie, he had technically touched it, but he hadn't taken it, which was the important part.
"Yea right! All you ever do is chase honor!!" Sokka stuck his jaw out sulkily.
Zuko looked down and away, scrunching his nose and looking longingly at the door, "How long does it last when Ty Lee puts the pinch on you?"
"About a half hour." Katara mumbled, then regretted it. It drew her brother's wrath from Zuko to her, and he began lecturing her on the customs of the water tribes.
"You should be a virgin when you marry!! It is scandalous if you're not! Do you have any idea how much of an insult it is for a Father to present an impure woman to her husband to be? Households have fought for centuries over disrespect like that!!"
"Sokka!! Those are NORTHERN Water Tribe traditions!! It's a lot laxer in the South Pole!!" Katara shot back angrily, "Anyways, any man I marry better care more about what's in my mind then between my legs!!"
Her brother shook his head, "Katara . . . how clueless ARE you?!"
Katara stiffened, he only used that tone when he knew something that she didn't, "What? What happened? Sokka! Tell me now!"
Sokka looked over at Suki pleadingly, but his girlfriend crossed her arms and gesgured to Katara with her head. The Water bender swallowed anxiously.
"We weren't going to tell you this until later, Arnook somehow found out that you and the Avatar are on . . . shaky ground, he and Dad have been talking . . . Arnook thinks we should try to intermarry the families of the two chiefs . . . Dad hates the idea, but knows it needs to be done, for the good of the tribes, and for the good of the peace. Katara! Father is going to introduce you to Arnook's nephew soon . . . and well, he is from the NORTHERN Water Tribe, so, NORTHERN Water Tribe customs apply. So, tell me Katara, did you have sex with him?!"
Katara could feel the blood draining from her face, and the anger rising in her chest, making it hard to breathe.
"Spirits of the Afterlife, May The River Of Fate Have Mercy On Your Soul Sokka, Because I Am GOING to KILL YOU!!" the temperature in the room dropped as the humidity in the air froze. All the surfaces in the room iced over with a layer of frost, and everyone could suddenly see their breath, "I will NEVER marry ANYONE Arnook picks out for me!!"
Sokka's sheepishness vanished, "You're going to refuse?!" He yelled back, "You're going to turn your back on your tribe?!"
"Gran Gran did!!" Katara felt the paralysis wearing off, and with great difficulty she hauled her hands up, "Yue wanted to!! How come it's okay for Princess Yue and not for me?! Oh, I remember! Because she was YOUR girlfriend!!"
"Ty Lee, the pinch is wearing off, get back in here." Suki called over her shoulder.
"DON'T YOU DARE TALK ABOUT YUE!! THIS IS COMPLETELY DIFFERENT!!"
"Who is Yue?" Ty Lee ambled in, scratching her head.
"This is NOT different!!"
"Yue was marrying a wealthy family so that THEY WOULD GIVE ARNOOK FINANCIAL SUPPORT!!" Sokka surged to his feet, "SHE WAS NOT UNITING TWO TORN TRIBES THAT WERE NEARLY WIPED OUT BY A CENTURY OF WAR!!" His first girlfriend was always a touchy subject with him.
"Wow Sokka, you're so forceful!"
"Sokka!! We came here to deliver Zuko a very important message, and you! You're acting like a toddler!" Suki huffed as she stood up and got between Sokka and his sister.
"If he is acting like a toddler, you should put him in time out!!" Ty Lee advised, "preferably somewhere near Omashu where I won't be able to hear his whining. That's what Mai's mom used to do with Tom Tom when he would act out."
"I'm not a toddler!!" Sokka's glared at Ty Lee, and he took a step away, running into Zuko, who was struggling to his feet, almost knocking them both over.
"Watch it!" Zuko's temper flared, he was already in a fowl mood from Sokka's accusations, and he shoved the younger teenager off him. Most of the frost Katara created melted, and began to drip down the walls as the room temperature rose.
"Don't PUSH me!" Sokka shoved him back.
"Boys, boys! Let's all just calm down!" Suki jumped in between them, pushing Sokka back with both hands while Katara grabbed Zuko's wrists and hauled him to the other side of the room and stepping in front of him protectively. The Fire Prince crossed his arms and looked away.
"He started it!! I am calm!!" Sokka's voice jumped an octave. It tended to go up in pitch whenever he was stressed or excited, and this particular stressful moment was no exception. A vein bulged out from his neck and he flapped his arms for emphasis. "Can't you see how calm I am?!"
"Ty Lee?"
"Hmm?" Ty Lee looked up from where she was spacing out, chewing on her nail and watching the frost drip off the table. She straightened, looking a little guilty, and smiled, though it looked a little forced. "Yes Captain?"
"Take Sokka for a walk around the green until he is calm. Sokka, go for a walk and cool off."
"You're actually ordering her to walk me?! Like a pet?!" Sokka balled his fists, "I didn't even start it!!"
"I don't care who started it! I'm finishing it!" Suki put her hands on her hips.
Ty Lee looked a little taken aback, like she wasn't exactly sure how she was supposed to get Sokka from point A to point B, as he would clearly resist. She took an unsure step towards the Water Tribe boy.
"Ty Lee I dove into the swamp water to save you!!"
"Umm . . . just a little walk? Please Sokka?" Ty Lee clasped her hands together, "We can go look at those nearly topless priestesses that you were ogling while Suki wasn't looking. I know I wouldn't mind giving them a closer inspection." The acrobat raised her eyebrows twice, enticingly.
Suki's glare deepened, "He was what?"
"Actually, a walk doesn't seem like such a bad idea." Sokka gulped, shifting under his girlfriend's gaze. Normally she wasn't the jealous type, but he had a feeling she was looking for another reason to get mad. He followed Ty Lee out and sighed with relief. He was not done with Zuko by any means, and he knew he shouldn't have blurted out anything to Katara about the men hoping that she would agree to get married. They had planned to introduce her to the young man in question and then cross their fingers that she would like him, now she would probably be rude to the unsuspecting Fiancé just to spite them.
He shook his head, he still couldn't believe it. His sister and Zuko . . . It was wrong!! Sokka wonderd briefly how long it had been going on. Had she taken up with the bender in the Western Air Temple?! There had always seemed to be tension between the two of them. He had assumed she hated the scarred prince's guts! He narrowed his eyes, what if she had been overcompensating? Trying to hide a crush?! Or worse!!
"Over there! Oooh, it's so pretty!" Ty Lee grabbed his arm, practically swooning, "It's like they're dancing! It reminds me of the dancing the Fire Nation courtesans would do, only they're bending! Lets go get a better view!"
...
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
"Yes, and then we'll take an airship from Omashu to the palace." Suki said as she helped Katara pack, though it wasn't a big job since the water bender had never truly unpacked.
"Okay."
"What's this stuff?" Suki picked up a skin of something and opened it, sniffing at it, "Smells like tea and berries and . . . swamp. Wait . . . Katara, is this potion what I think it is?"
Katara stared at the skin, she vaguely remembered Yeo bringing it into the room and not taking it back with her. She had been so distracted by a certain scarred fire bender that she had completely forgotten it. Walking over, she took it and tasted it experimentally.
"Yes, it's what you think it is." Katara recapped the skin, "But it's not mine, well, it is mine . . . but another priestess gave it to me because it's mandatory to drink it during your moon spikes . . . you know, just in case your hormones get the better of you."
Suki glanced meaningfully at the mat connecting Katara's room to Zuko's, then gestured to it, then her, then nodded her head, asking a silent question.
Katara shook her head.
Suki made a show of being disappointed, and patted her friend on the arm teasingly. They both started to giggle, amused, though Katara knew that she would be questioned thoroughly as soon as Suki and Ty Lee got her alone. She was dreading it.
"You finished packing 'Tara?"
"Oh? It's ''Tara'?" Suki whispered.
"Yes, we're just about done." Katara hauled her saddlebags onto her back.
"Good, looks like they're done loading the Emu Horses onto a raft, we're probably heading out soon." They heard him exit his room and pad down the hallway.
Suki was helping her fasten her mother's necklace when a Sokka-less Ty Lee came in, looking a little unsettled.
"Where is Sokka?" Suki asked, turning to the smaller girl, "I thought I told you to watch him."
"Well, I put him near some girls who were practicing water bending, it was really pretty by the way, can you do that Katara? I bet you can, you're so talented . . . and well, apparently they don't take kindly to male chauvinist pigs, you know, who say things like 'leave it to girls to bend like they're doing a dance at a brothel'. Sokka didn't catch on right away though, and now he is soaked."
"So? Why isn't he with you?"
"He might also be paralyzed, and frozen to a tree." Ty Lee shuffled her feet, then looked up at her companions, when she saw their disapproving looks she added defensively, "He was really mean!"
"Please go get him Ty Lee."
"Well . . ." Ty Lee started, then stopped as her captain crossed her arms, "You see, I TRIED to, you know, pick him up, bridal and everything, It would be rude to just throw him over my shoulder, ya know? He wouldn't let me! He said that he wasn't going to let a girl carry him! Especially one who'll be lucky if she reaches five foot two, which I though was really mean, I'm self conscious about being short!" She stomped her foot and crossed her arms.
Suki brushed her hair behind her ears and sighed exasperatedly, "Alright, alright, I'll get the big jerk, Ty Lee, you help Katara bring her things to the raft."
Ty Lee nodded relieved and then turned to Katara, "Is he always like that?"
"He used to be worse, I blame the fact that he spent the last several years of his life in a village of only women. He feels like he has to overcompensate or something, like, act manly to the point of ridiculousness so nobody will think that spending so much time without male contact didn't make him effeminate or something." Katara shook her head, "It can get really annoying sometimes, I always wonder how Suki puts up with it, I mean, I have to, I'm his sister, but she doesn't. Maybe she likes putting him in his place or something. He has been getting better though, I think it's just Zuko and me that's put him in such a bad mood."
"Sorry, you lost me at 'village of only women', where did you say you were from again?" Ty Lee teased as she heaved one of Katara's saddlebags over her shoulder with almost ridiculous ease.
Katara smiled and followed the older girl out, her other saddlebag slung over her arm. She was halfway across the moss to the raft when a throng of priestesses surrounded her, quite literally taking her to the ground in something between a group bear hug and a pig pile. She would have been angrier but the ground was soft and squishy, and so were the girls for the most part.
"Y'all were goin ta leave wit'out sayin goodbye Water Tribe Virgin?" one scolded.
"What kind'o friend does that?!"
"Will y'all be comin back?" Yeo asked, "Y'ell be comin back, right?"
"Yes," Katara said it without thinking, but she knew it was true. She wanted to master swamp style, and she wanted to be around other sister benders, she wanted to learn how to read minds properly, and not just a crash course. "Yes, I will be back," Katara smiled, and in a rare showing of good humor, attempted a dirty joke, "When will the next full moon be?"
The girls laughed, then quieted and watched Suki carrying a sulking Sokka across the green, her arms looped under his knees and arms. His fingers were twitching, his face was flushed, and he didn't look at her. Katara felt vaguely bad for him, she would have felt worse if he hadn't just humiliated her in front of two of her girl friends and her . . . fire bender. Sokka always seemed to have such a bad time in the foggy swamp. Probably has something to do with all the sarcasm and meat.
While Katara was brushing the stuck on moss off her stomach, she heard someone clear their throat behind her. She turned and saw Vel, standing awkwardly, a walking stick sunken in the moss to help her.
"Katara, you leave us so soon?"
Katara nodded, feeling guilty, she must have spent ten times as long in the North Pole learning from Master Pakku. She moved her hands to a namasté and bowed.
"I have studied the currents, and great danger lies ahead for you child, even though it does not seem so at the moment." The woman returned the gesture, "Mind your stance and remember what grounds you. It is so easy to lose your mind inside another's, and the mind of a madman is like a hurricane, it may pick you up and blow you somewhere you do not wish to go.
Katara nodded.
"If this does happen, it is essential that your friends do not break the contact of the stance, or you could be trapped inside another's mind forever. Just remember, nothing is real, nothing can hurt you, it is only an illusion of pain, of damage, that your real body is safe and sound in the care of your trusted friends. However if you believe that the pane is real, your body may react like it is, I have known healers who stop breathing because they think they're drowning, or their very heart stops beating because they think they are dead. Remember you're safe, remember you're loved."
"Thank you Arca Vel, you don't know how much you're helping us, and I promise, I will be back to finish learning everything properly."
"I don't doubt it."
"You ready Katara?" Suki called out over the grass, "We want to make it to Omashu by nightfall!!"
"I'm coming!" Katara called over her shoulder, bowed one last time to her Sifu, accepted a few final hugs from the gaggle of girls that she had given lessons to, and then she jogged over and swung herself up onto the raft.
Three muscular, topless swamp men that Ty Lee was noticeably ogling were bending the raft under Fae and Hue's guidance, so Katara settled down between the acrobat and the Fire Lord. There was a tense, heavy silence that hung over the group as the craft slid through the waves.
"I have an idea." Ty Lee said suddenly, breaking the quiet.
"Send out the messenger hawks, Ty Lee had an idea." Sokka grumped sarcastically.
"I think you boys should both give each other a compliment. You know, to clear up the bad blood in the air, everyone likes compliments." Ty Lee nodded knowingly.
"No." both the young men said in unison.
"Oh, come on, it's easy, I do it all the time . . . like, Suki, I'm sleeping with your little sister, right?"
"Right." Suki grinned all of a sudden, as though she got an inside joke.
"She's what now?" Zuko asked, looking questioningly at Katara.
The water bender shrugged. It was the first she'd heard of it, though most everyone knew about Ty Lee's lack of a preference.
"But, we're still friends, right?"
Katara could see the double metaphor that the two warrior women were plating at, that she was Kisa, Zuko was Ty Lee, and Sokka was Suki. By the way Sokka had started poking at his boots and Zuko was pressing his chest, they had too.
"That we are." Suki agreed, "Though it did come as a bit of a shock, but, I guess not THAT much of a shock. We all saw the warning signs, you two started spending more and more time together, or avoided each other completely, Kisa would always want to do chores with you or try to bully you into doing her chores for her. You did too, I remember, you wanted to do things for her so she would like you, and spar, you'd always be fighting, and tag team with you, like, you guys were inseparable on the battlefield. You were the best fighting duo in the warriors in no time!"
"Well, you know how it is, fighting someone is almost like sleeping with them, it's just as intimate sometimes." Ty Lee straightened her legs and touched her toes, stretching as she talked. Katara blushed, remembering the first time she had ever fought Zuko, back in the North Pole by the Spirit Oasis, the rush of the adrenaline, the mix of anger and fear and smugness. Definitely smugness when she was winning. Though in his defense, he had had to fight his way there first, he was probably cold and tired by the time he reached her.
"I remember suspecting you might have had a crush on her when you first joined the Kyoshi, you would bend over backwards trying to please her."
"Literally." Ty Lee agreed.
"You would fetch her things she needed, you would always try to sit next to her, you would wait up for her if she had guard duty, you'd make her tea, and take off your top a lot when she was around. But I remember, at first she never would give you the time of day, because you were fire nation and you still were a bit upset about your last girlfriend . . . umm," Suki realized suddenly that Zuko might not know about Ty Lee's past relationship with his ex girlfriend, "You know, that acadamy girl, but mostly because you were fire nation."
"Wait, don't you mean-" Sokka started, but Ty Lee cut him off.
"Yea, I really had to prove myself there, she hated my guts for a while in prison, especially since I had helped throw her in there. That sort of betrayal so early on, it's hard to win back someone's trust after that." Ty Lee noticed that the Fire Lord's good cheek was flushing pink, and she forged ahead, "but I did, we really bonded, and of course I was attracted to her right off the bat, the second I saw her, my body jumped to attention, I purposefully tried not to engage her in the group fight because I knew she would be distracting. And then you and Sokka caught us in bed together that night, and then Sokka-"
"I get it! I know what happened! I was there!" Sokka pouted then grudgingly muttered something under his breath that might have been a compliment.
"Pardon?" Zuko held his hand to his ear, his blush still very noticeable.
"I guess I like your hair, what happened to it?" Sokka asked.
"Katara happened to it." Zuko shifted.
"I like it," Sokka lowered his head, his lips sagging in grudging obedience, "It looks very Water Tribe."
"Zuko, don't you have something to say?" Ty Lee clasped her hands together, excited that they were making progress.
"Umm . . . I guess I like your sense of humor Sokka . . . nobody ever laughs at my jokes." Zuko muttered, looking away and scratching the back of his head awkwardly.
"I think we should clap!" Ty Lee raised her hands to do so.
"Is that really necessary?" Katara asked, half of her nose crinkling.
"But all along, I knew Kisa secretly had a thing for me, because she could have ignored me entirely, treated me like I didn't exist, that's what any sane woman would have done. GIven me the silent treatment, but she went out of her way to give me attention, even if it was negative, she would come by my room even sometimes, at night, to try to intimidate me, she wouldn't knock either, she told me later she was always secretly hoping to catch me undressing and-"
"I think we should clap." Katara cut in suddenly.
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
June was sitting with her back to the wall under the street torch where Ursa had left her, she was brooding, taking a swig from a bottle every few minutes. She was playing a game with herself that involved drawing lines in the dirt of the road with a stick. Nyla was curled up and napping, her nose tucked under her tail like a huge, sightless puppy.
"I thought I told you not to drink?"
"I thought you told me you would be an hour." June recapped the bottle and stood up, pointing a wobbly accusing finger, "It's been nearly three!"
"I was as fast as I could be." Ursa regarded the younger girl quizzically, then pulled out a rolled parchment from her cloak, "If you give this message to Piandao, he should agree to take you on as an apprentice."
June took it and began untying the ribbon wrapped around it.
"Don't open it!" Ursa took it out of the tipsy woman's fingers and put it in Nyla's saddlebags for her, "It's private, just for him to read."
"Whatever," June shrugged and patted Nyla, mostly so that she had something to help her balance as she got from the wall to the saddle, but she didn't want the middle aged fire woman to know that. It took her three tries to get up, and she nearly overshot it the third time and nearly fell off Nyla's other side. She gripped the large, grey pommel of the saddle with both hands, steadying herself.
"You understand that this wont be fun? Piandao wont go easy on you like he does most of his pupils, he is angry and will ride you hard, and not think twice about throwing you out if you disobey or protest or sass him."
"I'm no delicate flower."
"Would you like me to ride with you?" Ursa asked, swinging up onto her ostrich horse, the torchlight flickering across her face making her look sinister.
"You ain't my type." June snapped.
"No, I mean, you look a little unsteady, and it's a long way to fall off your Shirshu." Ursa elaborated, wondering if June was one of those lesbian-for-the-night drunks.
"I'm twenty six, I don't need to be mothered!" June picked up the reigns and squeezed her legs into Nyla's sides, signaling it was time to walk on. She shirshu grunted and began padding, following the slightly confusing directions of the reign tugs on it's halter. Who did that woman think she was?! You know, besides the rightful fire lady . . .
June clicked her tongue, indicating to her mount it was to start picking up the trail again, and Nyla obediently began snuffling around, heading west. June had a feeling that they would be crossing over to the Fire Nation soon enough, so there was little need to actually make Nyla smell the whole way, but the Fire Lady was watching, so she had to at least maintain some level of professionalism.
June took another swig of brandy, deciding that professionalism could go fuck itself.
"So what were you doing for three hours?" June asked after about an hour of silence, the moon was high, and if Nyla had not gotten a good nap in while she had been waiting for the idiot woman, she would be insisting they stop and make camp for the night.
"Is that the one question you wish to ask me?" Ursa pulled her cloak hood further over her head as June looked down at her.
"No, it's just a question." June snapped, "One I have every right to know the answer to since I ended up waiting for you in the lower ring all that time."
Ursa shrugged, "Just talking to an old friend, one I have not seen in years, one I doubt I shall see again anytime soon."
"Nyla?"
The beast tilted it's head up orienting it's ear onto her.
"Does Ursa smell different?"
The shirshu wagged her tail and barked once.
"Does she smell like the middle ring?"
Nyla shook her head back and forth, and opened and closed her mouth.
"The upper ring?"
The wagging began again, this time accompanied with a vigorous nod of the head, as though the strange beast was proud that it could understand and respond.
"Does she smell like . . . . umm . . . wha's that place with the thing? " June trailed off, trying to think of what she remembered the upper ring had, she had only visited once, and not stayed long. Her kind of unruly personality was better suited to the middle and lower rings.
"How long will this guessing game last?" Ursa asked, a persnickety tone entering her voice. The drunker the bounty hunter got the more and more apparent a strange accent in her voice was becoming.
June took another shot from her bottle and then hiccupped, "Oh, I dunno, 'n hour or two, depends 'ow long it takes me ta guess right."
Ursa rolled her eyes and looked ahead again. She wished a brutal hangover on her annoying but necessary traveling companion.
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
"Where have you BEEN?!" Mai greeted her at the door, her arms crossed, "What the HELL happened to you?!"
"What are you talking about?" Azula brushed by her, limping towards her room in quite a horrible temper. She was bleeding still in her mouth, and had had to spit every few minutes on the walk back, she was also quite sure her rib was cracked from when the earth bender had pitched her against the wall. Straightening, she reminded herself that at least she didn't have a hideous ugly scar spanning her face like some people.
"You're limping, you're covered with bruises! You've been gone half the night!! I was worried sick!!" Mai followed her, her voice rising in volume.
"Worried about yourself, no doubt." Azula spat, pulling her hair up into a ponytail.
"You still haven't answered my question," Mai crossed her arms, regaining her composure, "Where did you go."
"Just out for a walk." Azula lied, not even the blind earth bender could tell when she was lying, and Mai was no different, "Ran into some men who thought they could rough up an unarmed girl in the middle of the night and use her for their own sick pleasure." Azula grinned, plucking at the spatters of blood on her shirt, "It's a mistake they wont be capable of making a second time. I took a few souvenirs."
Mai chewed her lip, looking back and forth, not sure if what she was hearing was the truth, "Why did you go out for a walk?"
Azula frowned, annoyed, "I couldn't sleep." It was always better to go with a truth when you could, it made the lies even harder to find. If you did have to lie, however, you had to believe it while you were saying it. You had to be the lie, or else your body would betray you.
"I couldn't sleep either, I'm cold It's freezing in this place." Mai complained, "Why did we have to pick a place that's so high up?"
"Because it was a good place," Azula agreed though, it was freakin freezing, it was the altitude.
"Warm up the room."
Azula's eyebrow twitched.
Agni, was this what Zuko had to put up with?! The complaining, the bossiness, the attitude as frigid as the air?
No wonder he dropped her for the water bending skank. She had been planning to bend the room hotter, but once Mai had given her an order, she didn't want to. She gave Mai orders, not the other way around! It was annoying her that she was finding it harder and harder to keep control over her one time minion. Mai kept wanting to do things her way, wanting to ask questions, ordering her to do things. It was stupid. She was the princess, she led the group, she gave the orders.
Unfortunately discretion was the better part of valor.
She bent the room hotter.
"I'm staying here tonight with you." Mai informed her, sliding into the Princess's bed, "Tomorrow we'll look for a better place to stay."
"It's fine here." Azula argued, her face contorting in anger, "What are you playing at?!"
Mai looked bored, "Nothing," She laced her fingers behind her head, "Nothing at all."
Azula grunted, frustrated, the room temperature rising further, and paced back and forth. It didn't matter, not REALLY. Ursa would find her, wherever she was. Ursa would chase her to the end of the earth. Azula knew it. She slid into bed next to Mai, turning onto her good side, annoyed that it meant she had to face her.
"Fine, we move out tomorrow." Azula agreed, "Who knows, maybe we'll find a local inn to stay at, or your family's summer house near the beach? Or we could go searching for dragons."
"If you want." Mai said, noncommittally. The aristocrat's eyes were already closing, and she turned away from her friend. She didn't think that Azula would try anything, but she kept one hand resting on her favorite stiletto never the less.
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
"Wow! Isn't this exciting guys?" Ty Lee had regained much of her usual enthusiasm after another long nap on the raft. She had nodded off soon after their conversation lapsed, and had eventually collapsed onto Katara's shoulder, much to Zuko's jealously.
"What? You mean, getting off the raft and onto the boat?" Sokka asked, perplexed.
"Noo, I mean, it'll be like we have the old gang back together . . . sort of . . ." She leapt, twisting in the air and landing neatly on the railing of the huge ship. Dropping to a crouch on the thin piece of wood, she watched as the others climbed up the rope ladder.
"You were never really a part of the 'old gang'" Zuko told her as he climbed into the boat, "That was pretty much Aang, Katara, Toph, and Sokka."
"Don't forget Appa and Momo." Katara reminded him, straightening her loincloth and brushing some hair behind her ears.
"Katara, maybe you should go change." Sokka grabbed her arm and sort of awkwardly stepped in front of her, "The crew is staring."
"With good reason too." Ty Lee said in a matter of factual voice, "I wasn't going to say anything, but that top has to be at least one cup size to small! You're practically falling out! Or you would be if it wasn't so tight!"
Katara covered her chest with her hands, blushing profusely, "The swamp temple uniform is sort of 'one-size-fits-all so squeeze your Water Tribe chest into it'."
"Don't feel bad, I'm sure some of them are watching for the occasional panty shot you flash with a skirt cut so short." Suki teased, taking her friend by the arm and starting to lead her across the deck, "Ty Lee, baby sit Sokka and Zuko while we go get changed!" She ordered over her shoulder.
"Why do I have to baby sit?!" Ty Lee protested, hopping off the rail in indignation.
Suki ignored the complaint, and hauled Katara down into the hold.
Ty Lee glared at them, feeling something that could almost be called annoyance if you rounded up, "That's great! Just great! I am missing a naked Katara because of you too!" she blurted out.
They both glared at her, Zuko in jealousy, Sokka in defense. She watched as Sokka's fingers slowly curled into fists and Zuko's nostrils flared, exhaling a gust of impossibly hot air.
"I mean . . . umm . . ." Ty Lee thought fast, "Umm . . . so, who here wants to hear an embarrassing story about Azula when she was in the Academy? Yes?"
Katara glanced over her shoulder, she heard Ty Lee squeal, and then pounding feet across the deck above her.
"Maybe we should . . ."
"Nah, she is fine, at least they're chasing her and not each other" Suki pushed open the door to her and Sokka's room and sat down on her bed, pressing her lips together and studying the water bender.
Katara found her luggage on the floor and pulled it open, digging around for her favorite blue chemise. "How is that better?"
"Well, I highly doubt either of them could actually catch her, what with her somersaulting up the masts, and they're just going to exhaust themselves trying so they'll be too tired to fight later."
Katara nodded, she could see the female logic to it.
"So . . . spill."
Katara sighed, she had known it was coming, she just had been hoping it would come a bit later. She pulled her leggings up and adjusted her belt, and then flopped down on her back next to Suki, staring up at the ceiling. Somehow not looking at the other girl made it less uncomfortable.
"I don't know how it happened . . ."
"Well, that's a first, usually the 'how' is the easiest bit to explain, it's the 'why' that's the difficult part." She could see Suki smile and examine her nails out of the corner of her eye.
"Well, I don't know why it happened, or when, or what changed . . . I mean, we're so different, and he is so . . . I don't know, and I thought . . . I thought I hated him." Katara pressed the heel of her hand to her forehead, things had not been this confusing with Aang or Jet.
"It's surprisingly easy to mistake love for hate. I thought I hated Sokka when I first met him . . . well, at least I thought I really didn't like him, and that he was a jerk."
Katara took a deep breath, "I guess, I guess it was just easier to hate him. Well, it was until we started spending time together, and, and then we kissed in the cave of two lovers, and . . . ." Katara looked away, "It was the best kiss I had ever had . . . it was so . . ." she tried to think of a word to describe it.
"Hot?" Suki sampled for her.
"No."
"Passionate?"
"No."
"Hungry?"
"Comfortable."
"Comfortable?" Suki asked, obviously disappointed. Above them Zuko and Sokka pounded across the deck again, only now Ty Lee was laughing.
"Yes, like, I wasn't going to scare him, like, he wasn't going to break in my arms. I felt like I could be rough . . . spirits know how rough we would get when we would fight each other . . . and it was nice. I always had to be so gentle and instructive with Aang. Like I was Sifu Katara teaching classes in water bending and sex education."
Suki nodded, twirling her hair around her index finger.
"Then the swamp . . . I don't know, It was so hot, and wet, and relaxed . . . something in the stuff they gave us to drink and to smoke, it just made me . . . forget, I guess, forget about Aang, forget about Mai, forget that I should be a . . . a . . . proper Water Tribe girl." Katara spat the last four words out with a certain amount of venom. It had been so liberating in the swamp to not have to worry about being judged a slut or leered at, or bothered by catcalling sailors.
"Are you two, umm, dating?" It seemed like a silly classification to both of them. In their lifestyles there was not really any going on dates.
"Well, we didn't talk about it, it was just sort of, assumed by everyone that we were lovers . . ." Katara sat up, running her fingers through her hair, "He hasn't actually said 'Katara, be my girlfriend?' but then again, Aang never did either . . ." She flopped backwards onto her back.
"So, what about Aang?" Suki asked curiously, crossing her legs.
"I don't want him to know. Not yet." Katara answered so quickly she nearly tripped over her words as she spoke them, "I don't want him to know for a while."
"You cant just keep it a secret Katara." Suki advised the younger girl, "It will upset him more if he finds out you lied to him."
"It's . . . it's only been a fortnight." The tribeswoman's voice became pleading, "I think Aang still thinks we're going to get back together . . . I think I did too . . . until . . ."
"I know, until you discovered that there's a difference between having a boy in your bed and having a man in your bed." Suki stood up, motioning with her head, "Come on, let's go back to the deck and see if our men have gotten tired of playing 'Chase the Acrobat'."
"Well, it's not like he is a LITTLE boy . . ." Katara tried, studying her toes.
Suki patted her shoulder, not saying anything, then seemed to think of something, "Katara, what do you know about air benders?"
"Like . . ."
"Like anything."
"Umm, they're pale, they're flexible, they're spiritual, they're short, they've got small bones so they can fly better . . . Aang is fast, they're probably all fast, they have tattoos, they're monks, they lived in Air Temples, like, what in particular Suki?"
Suki shrugged, "I'll tell you later."
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
Okay, so there you have it, next installment, I hope you like it.
Sorry it took a while, I have been distracted by doing Avatar fan art, and art, and some fan fic fan art, and school, And, you know, life.
…
…
So I hope there aren't too many mistakes, I have come to the conclusion that I can't spell. It's just not one of my inborn talents.
...
...
Whoo!! Adridere's latest chapter is . . . for me . . . :tear: