Title: Midsummer Madness
Author: Burning_Ice
Rating: R
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.
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Disclaimer: You know what I own? Nothing. Good guess!
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Chapter 24: The last air bender?
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It was official, Sokka and Aang had gotten hopelessly lost. They had noticed that they were being followed about halfway through their shopping trip and started taking evasive action. That meant ducking down side streets and hopping across rooftops until they had lost their pursuers. In doing so, they had lost their bearings and Finally Aang had to scale one of the tall buildings and search out the palace.
"We need to head east." He explained to Sokka, landing next to him, "It looks about a half hour walk away, maybe two miles."
Sokka groaned, "Why do you think those guys were following us?" he asked from where he had flopped down on a pedestal of a statue of a man on a dragon.
"I don't think that I want to know." Aang replied, "Hopefully just to intimidate us."
"Look!" a woman told her child as they walked across the plaza, "It's the Avatar!! See his Arrow?"
Shuffling, Aang gave her a small smile and waved to her kid. He took in her ragged appearance as they walked away and turned to Sokka.
"Is it just me or does everyone look a little worse for wear?"
"It's not just you." Sokka rose, frowning, "I'm sure Zuko is doing everything he can though, I mean, nobody loves his people like Zuko does, It's probably just a recession or something, I don't know."
"Yea," Aang agreed. Neither of them knew anything about economies, but it was clear that the Fire Nation was suffering. They sat in silence for several minutes, watching people come and go through the square, most carrying baskets of food or fabrics.
"Should we get going?" Aang asked, "Speaking of Zuko, I was supposed to meet up with him ages ago, I hope he isn't worried."
"He will probably send out a search party soon." Sokka admitted dryly, "He could have warned us that there were some activists hanging around that are less than thrilled with you."
Aang stiffened, putting his hands to his face, "I really didn't mean to hurt anyone!"
"Hey hey." Sokka patted his friend, "It's not your fault . . ." Cheering up the Avatar was not usually his job, and he looked around, hoping Katara would materialize and take over for him.
"It is though, I'm the Avatar!"
"You know what would cheer you up? Taking a ride on Appa, You should take Katara to see that crazy water bender. A good long ride will make you forget about all this, right?"
Encouraged by Aang's small nod, Sokka continued, "You should go tomorrow."
"Cant tomorrow, remember? Tomorrow is the Engagement Party."
"Then the next morning." Sokka threw his arm around his younger friend as they started heading in the general direction of the palace, "I bet a good chunk of time together . . . away from Zuko, would really help you sort out your problems."
"I don't know, She's been keeping secrets . . ."
"Girls always keep secrets." Sokka waved his hand, blowing air through his lips dismissively, "If I had a coin for every time I discovered something about Suki that I didn't know, I would be a rich man."
"Really?"
"Yea, she kept things from me because she thought that I wouldn't accept her, that I would reject her, but it's no big deal, you're the most accepting person I know, it should be no trouble for you, just be sure you're supportive when she reaches out." Sokka advised, stroking his chin.
Aang thought back to all the times Katara had 'reached out' to him while they were alone together and swallowed hard.
"What if she already did and I . . . sort of . . . wasn't?" Aang wrung his hands together anxiously.
"Aang!" Sokka looked exasperated, "Why?!" he managed to articulate between slapping the heel of his hand to his forehead.
"I don't know."
"Well, I guess, I don't know, Look Aang, I like you, and as a friend I am advising you that you should make your move soon while there is still time. I know it's not really my place, and I really shouldn't mention it, but, just keep it in mind."
"You mean that . . ."
"I mean that water tribe girls who are old enough to marry and as pretty as Katara don't stay single for long . . ." Sokka turned to him. "Arnook is trying to play matchmaker for one thing." He conviniently left out his own involvment.
"I'm not sure . . ."
"Not sure about what?"
"I mean, I like Katara a lot, a lot a lot, I love her, but . . . she is sort of, I don't know, full-grown. . ."
Sokka stared, never had he expected to hear something like that from Aang, "What do you mean, full-grown?!" His voice took an edge of anger, he had thought Aang was the lesser of all the evils precisely because he would not be chasing after his sister's skirt hem for at least a few more years.
The avatar had enough sense to hear the anger in the older boy's voice and he quickly shrugged it off, changing the subject.
"Look, they have some imported Water Tribe weapons in that shop, didn't you want a new Walrus lion tusk club?"
"Aang!" Sokka called after him as he bounded away, "Don't change the subj . . . wait, seriously? Walrus Lion Tusk?! Those are impossible to find!" Sokka galloped over and began inspecting the wares. Walrus lion tusk clubs were a rare find, as only the oldest Walrus Lions grew tusks long enough to be usable, and even then, the chances of them being broken or chipped were high.
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"Come on, it will be fun!" Ty Lee clasped her hands together from where she perched on the lip of the palace bath "Please Katara? I promise, I'm so good at it!"
"She is good at it." Suki agreed from where she lounged against the far side, then she cupped her hands and sent a stream of water at her soaking friend.
"I don't know, you started squealing and jumping up and down and grabbing at the sight of my tribal piercing," Katara informed her, bending away the squirt with a hand"I'm not sure we're ready for physical contact."
"Please please, just between friends?"
"Okay okay, but I swear, if it starts to hurt-"
"Yes!!" Ty Lee scrambled over, "I have been dying to touch it for so long!" the acrobat ran her fingers through Katara's hair, pulling out the elaborate loops and beads and beginning to untangle the snarls.
"So, Zuko asked me a favor."
"What kind of favor?" Toph was playing with her feet, floating them on the surface of the water then splashing them below and wriggling her toes.
"A seeeexual favor?" Ty Lee sang as she combed.
"He needs a girl to go with him to that stupid ceremony,"
"So, you're going to go? That'll be cute, in a devastating sort of way." Suki dunked her own hair under the water.
"Not me, I turned him down."
"Then who?" Ty Lee asked, then apparently the gears started turning, "Oh no! Me?! Not me!! I don't feel comfortable around him ever since, you know, the whole Mai catastrophe. Plus, I already said I would go with Jeong Jeong, he wrote my father, and my father gave him permission, ugh, but it's just as arm candy. He gets no Ty-Lovin. Ever."
Katara looked at Suki.
"Taken, I don't think your brother would appreciate it if I stood him up."
She looked at Toph.
"You're looking at me, aren't you?" The younger earth bender asked, crossing her arms.
"Please Toph?" Katara pleaded, "I want someone I trust not to try to weasel into the Fire Lady regalia, you're free for it, right?"
"What if I'm not?" Toph asked, puffing out her chest, "What if I have a hot old man date too?"
"Do you?" Katara asked, taken aback.
"Well, no . . ." Toph scratched her head, "But I could have!! I'm hot, according to you!"
"Please Toph?"
"Hmm . . . Follow Sparky around all night? What do I get out of it?"
"What do you want?" Katara was taken aback and swallowed, remembering the torment the earth bender had put Zuko through after he had burnt her feet.
"You should make her run to the Central Square and back naked." Ty Lee suggested, mid stroke of her comb.
"You should make her give you her favorite dress to wear, it's really pretty, we'd have to tack up the hem a little, though." Suki chorused.
"Don't encourage her!" Katara hissed, then turned back to her friend, "You'll have fun, you'll get to hang out with Zuko all night and embarrass him in front of important people . . ."
Toph looked interested in spite of herself, "Keep talking Sugar Queen . . . how important?"
"Oh, you know, Earth Kingdom ambassadors . . . Fire Nation Nobles . . . Maybe even some Water Tribe Elders."
"Hmm . . . okay, okay, but only because I am still waiting for a real life changing Sparky field trip. The one I got sucked."
"Field trip?" Ty Lee asked.
"Yea," Suki said, "Aang, Sokka, and Katara all ran off with Zuko for a few days to 'bond'"
"Did you now Katara? How was the 'bond'age?" Ty Lee picked something else up out of her pile of combs and began running it through Katara's hair, all she could tell was that the thing was hot.
"She never really talked about it." Suki interjected before Katara could speak, "But I assume it was very satisfying as she left with all sorts of anger and frustrations and came back quite comfortable with Zuko, in fact, we all thought she might have a bit of a crush."
"Stop it you guys!! I did not!"
"I can tell you're lying!" Ty Lee and Toph chorused.
Katara waved her arm and a small tsunami engulfed Suki and Toph, and they both came up sputtering.
"I didn't even do anything!!" Toph complained, trying to suction water out of her ear with the palm of her hand, "Hey, I said I'd go on a date with your secret boyfriend, so stop with the waterworks before I change my mind!"
"Thank you Toph!" Katara threw her arms around the younger bender.
"Yea Yea, I rock, I know, all bow before Master Toph, Possibly Good-Looking Faux Royal Escort of the Fire Lord." Toph sunk into the water and blew bubbles, hiding a blush, they could all tell by her expression that she was formulating some sort of plan.
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Ursa had not ridden far when June caught up to her, looking extraordinarily annoyed.
"I thought I told you to stay at the ruined house!"
"I thought you were searching for a fresh trail."
"I am, they keep doubling back to the house, I think some range as far as to the palace and back." June replied, steering Nyla up and in front of Ursa's mount, forcing the avian to come to a halt.
"Should the best tracker in the four nations be having this problem?"
"It's only been a few minutes, Nyla isn't a god." June swung down and seized the reigns from the older woman, "Now, Fire Lady, what possessed you to run off without telling me!?"
Ursa was indignant, "How dare you?! You work for me! You cannot order me around as though I was your Shirshu or your servant, I'm old enough to be your mother!"
June rolled her eyes and held out a hand to help Ursa dismount with such conviction, that the Fire Lady took it out of habit, more than consent. It wasn't until after her feet were already on the ground that she realized that June had just socially dominated her. It made her cross, and she thought about telling June to mind her own business with her most commanding voice.
"You're not old enough to be my mother." June replied softly, stepping into the woman's personal space, "Big sister, tops."
Ursa took a step back, "I may come and go as I please."
"Why?" June stepped in again, and Ursa noticed for the first time the pale bounty hunter was about an inch taller than she was, and was using every millimeter of it to her advantage. Taking another step back, Ursa raised her hands to push the woman, but June grabbed her wrists and pulled her closer, never breaking eye contact, using it to bully the Fire Lady.
"Azula is hurt, badly, I have to find her." For a second, the Fire Lady thought the gruff young woman was going to strike her. As she watched, the girl pressed her lips together tightly, her grip tightened and her eyes narrowed. Her voice however, remained calm.
"Or else what? She'll die? If I remember correctly, you're here to kill her anyways. Where is your common sense?!"
"Don't patronize me." Ursa commanded, "I want to see her, alive."
June bared her teeth aggressively, but didn't say anything, she had been directly ordered not to after all. The wind blew down the path and ruffled their hair as they stood at their own private impasse. Ursa was the first to blink and look away, as soon as she did, June let go of her wrists.
"I hope you don't treat all of your clientele so poorly." She bit out, rubbing her wrists.
"Yup." June grunted, turning and slinking back to her mount, her hips swaying smugly at her victory, "I'll ride with you back to the remains of the house, where you will make camp while I find the freshest trail."
During the ride back, the air was so tense that it could have been cut with a knife. Ursa and June were both seething silently, Ursa because she had better things to do than eat and sleep, and June because she would have lost the bounty and the potential payout from the Fire Lord himself if she had misplaced her Fire Lady.
Starting a campfire was no problem for someone who lived in the fire nation, even for a non bender. Ursa threw herself into cooking their rations, trying to distract herself from the gnawing uneasiness in the pit of her stomach. Before she had finished heating the salted meat, June had returned, looking triumphant.
"I found the trail."
"Well? Where is it?" Ursa scrambled up as the woman began untacking her mount.
"I'll tell you in the morning."
"You can't do that!" Ursa stiffened, "Tell me at once!!"
"They headed south, wading through the river, they left it at the waterfall and headed south east, the trail is the freshest, all the rest lead to the palace." June ended with an annoyed growl, "Isn't there some sort of sisterly rule in your culture that it's dishonorable to use your gifts on a friend?"
"You are not a friend."
Ouch.
June was insulted, but didn't show it. The fact was not surprising, she had never really had many friends, but she had grown fond of the older woman.
"I want to ask my question." June dropped the saddle and bridle and walked over, towering over her seated companion.
"Very well." Ursa straightened her back, looking regal, like it was a huge boon she was granting the bounty hunter.
"Do you, Fire Lady Ursa, have any intention at all of killing your daughter?"
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When they finally got back and had finished scrounging around the kitchens for food, Sokka and Aang found Suki in the library breezing through a pile of old scrolls. Momo had found them while they were in the kitchen, and had landed on Aang's back, chattering happily. They had had to check around for a while, nobody had been in their bedrooms, so they began searching the common areas.
Suki had set up shop in a corner by a window, trying to catch the last of the setting sunlight to read by. She had to blow the dust off each page before she could read it, so the air was thick with filth. There were several scrolls still sitting next to her on the table, and many discarded ones on the floor.
"Why are you here? Where are Toph, Ty Lee and Katara? Shouldn't you all be doing girl stuff like brushing hair and gossiping?" Sokka asked leaning over her to read the page.
"We already did 'girl stuff'." Suki told him patently, "I was reading the Fire Nation reports of the attack on the Western Air Temple."
"You were what?" Aang's voice was icy, and he stepped in and picked up a discarded paper, unrolling it in a hurry.
"Suki, I'm not sure now is a good time." Sokka put a hand on her shoulder. The scroll she held looked ancient, it was a sick shade of yellow, and the black ink had faded to brown. It must have been centuries old, and he wondered if the girl was allowed to touch them, or if she had ninjaed them out of their shelves.
"Why are you reading about the massacre of my people?" Aang insisted, sounding a little vindictive.
"Aang, me and Sokka, we think there were some survivors." Suki told him stoically, and watched as the scroll slipped from his fingertips, his grey eyes wide.
"But . . ." Aang trailed off, "It's been a hundred years . . . any survivors would be ancient."
"Well, not direct survivors, but we think that there might be some latent air benders scattered across the four nations, descendants of the fugitive ones."
"Like, their grand kids?"
"I found this, it roughly explains the genetics," Suki picked through her 'already read' pile, and pulled out a very old family tree. It's of a family that lived nearly two thousand years ago, during the time of an Earth born Avatar."
"What happened?" Aang was shaking as he whispered it.
"Well, it was around the time when the Air Temples were seceding from their native lands, and there was a big fight over it between the Monks and the Fire Nation Crown family. They decided it would be fixable by an arranged marriage, and they betrothed their eldest Fire Prince to one of the Air Nomad maidens." Suki flipped the scroll around to show him, "But, there was a snag, their heir was an air bender, I guess nobody thought that genetically, air bending would beat out fire bending, but it does."
"So, there are still Air benders?" Aang did not seem to be listening. Momo reached out and sniffed at a scroll, then sneezed and retreated, deeming it inedible, and therefore uninteresting.
"Well, there are still people who have the capability, yes maybe, but none of them are trained, they couldn't air bend on purpose."
"What happened in the story?"
"It's not a story, it's an official account. As far as I can see, they had to figure out how to breed the air bending out of them, see . . ." Suki pointed, "An Air bender and a Fire Bender will have kids that are either an air bender or a non bender, if a Fire Bender marries the non bender, their kids will be either fire benders or non benders. Everything goes back to normal, sort of, as long as the air bender child never has a family."
Aang reached out and took the crumbling paper and studied it. It had never occurred to him that there could be air benders around, living out their lives, never knowing the powers they had.
"We think Ty Lee is a dormant air bender." Sokka told him happily, "No non air bender can jump like that!"
"Plus, all that talk of auras and inner peace has air nomad written all over it." Suki interjected, "You can take the girl out of the air temple, but you can't take the air temple out of the girl."
"Have you told her yet?" Aang asked, the pitch of his voice was rising in excitement.
"No, we thought you might want to give her some sort of test . . ." Sokka said, scratching his head, "Or something."
"This is great! This is amazing! Where is she?!" Aang's eyes were tearing, and he hastily re rolled the scroll.
"She is with Katara right now." Suki said, "Last I heard she was trying to convince the poor girl to let her straighten her hair for her because it was 'sooo trendy'."
They barely saw a flash of orange, yellow, and lemur before the Avatar had blown from the room, sending loose papers flying.
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In his study, the Fire Lord placed his head in his hands, rubbing his temples. It had been a very long few days, and they looked as though they were only about to get longer. He had been reviewing the documents his messenger had left him for hours, and had not come up with any solutions to his nation's numerous problems. He put his head down into his arms and closed his eyes, although the crescent moon was rising, he was not feeling the slightest bit sleepy.
Weary and hopeless, but not sleepy.
Time was unreliable in his stressed out state, and what felt like only a minute later, there was a soft knock on the door. He blinked, it was the dead of night, and once or twice one of the guards working their graveyard shift in front of his bedroom would fall asleep and conk into the door as they went down. This however was his study, and he had not posted anyone outside. He tiptoed over and pressed his ear to the door, memories of Azula dancing through his head.
"Oh well, I guess he's gone to bed, must have forgotten to snuff the torches out. He lives so dangerously, let's try his bedroom." Ty Lee's muffled voice filtered in through the cracks.
He threw the door open and both girls standing there looked startled.
Katara looked a little lost, her arm hugged tightly against Ty Lee's chest as their linking of elbows had turned more into a shocked huddle, both of them grabbing the other closer in surprise.
"Don't DO that, Zuko!" Ty Lee recovered first, "Its soooo creepy down these long corridors late at night. I keep expecting a demon to jump out and grab me!"
"Sokka told you and Aang not to wander around in the dark."
"She isn't wandering, we were going for a walk."
"A slightly nonconsensual walk." Katara muttered under her breath.
"Katara is shy." Ty Lee elbowed her friend, "I'll cover for you if Sokka comes by!" with that she turned and trotted down the hallway, singing a naughty song about a sword master accidentally breaking his most prized weapon.
"She just left you here . . ." Zuko tried and failed to keep the stunned edge from his voice. "What are you doing here so late?"
"Apparently Ty Lee takes an active interest in the sex lives of her friends . . ." Katara grumbled, pushing past him into his study, "Have you written your uncle?"
"I've been busy." Zuko pushed the large doors closed behind her, and then after a moment of consideration, locked them.
"Busy doing what?" Katara leaned over his desk, squinting at the documents. They seemed to be written in her own language, but somehow, she barely understood any of what she saw.
"Katara, I'm the Fire Lord." Zuko flopped down onto the cushions that he had been kneeling on before being interrupted, "Trying to salvage my country."
"What's wrong with it?" He couldn't see her over his nose, but he could hear her picking up the papers and starting to sort through them, "Aside from, you know, those revolutionaries that want to see you executed and your father and sister returned to the throne."
The Fire Lord grimaced, he did not need to be reminded, "Besides them? Morale is low, all the soldiers that have come home are out of work, we had been relying on the rice we imported from the Earth Kingdom to sustain the population, and there isn't enough land to grow food to last them through the winter. Plus, on top of everything else, almost every woman here is 4 months pregnant, I have no clue how they plan to feed their children, but they all decided that now was the opportune moment to start a family." He rolled over onto his side, facing the wall.
"Write the Earth King, he will send you support, especially if you send him an exotic animal for his menagerie."
"You don't understand Katara, If I throw food at this problem, it will only make it worse, yes they'll live, but then they'll have more kids, and put more strain on the economy."
"But you just fought a war, tons and tons of men died! How can you still be overpopulated?!" Katara was starting to get annoyed herself, she liked simple answers to hard problems, but she could see how simply burning down the factory was not going to work this time.
"That's just it, lots of MEN died, but if you have a thousand grieving women and one man, you're going to have a thousand babies in nine months, if you had a thousand grieving men and one woman . . . well, you get the idea."
Setting the paper down, Katara glared at him, "They're people, they're not a statistic!"
"I know."
"You're not seriously considering NOT feeding your starving people?! Not only is that barbaric, but they really WILL revolt and put Azula on the throne." She set the papers aside and sat down on the desk, crossing her arms.
"And therein lies the problem I have been trying to solve for the past several months." Zuko sat up to a comfortable kneel and pressed his head into her legs, saying into her lap, "I tried to convince the Fire Sages to preach for small families, but they don't want to, they say the spirits bless large families.
Katara pet him gently, trying to be supportive, "That's silly."
"They bless large families because Azulon made it patriotic to have lots of children, and illegal to marry someone of the same gender. That meant more soldiers that could go to war, more kids meant more soldiers, and nobody ever worried because most never made it back. Damn old men set in tradition . . ."
"Zuko!" she chided, "That's no way to speak about your spiritual leaders, no matter how difficult they're being."
"I know . . ."
"Can't you institute a law about numbers of children?"
"And what do I do if they have children anyways? Kill the babies? Leave them to die on a mountain top? That is not an option, not for me, it is a family's own private business whether or not they keep their children, not mine."
They sat in silence for a long while, and Zuko relished the escape from his nation's problems. He pressed his nose into her lower stomach and nuzzled it gently, inhaling her scent, although she was not much help, it was nice at least to talk to a girl friend about his responsibilities.
"I'm hopeless, aren't I? No help at all, I bet Mai was a lot of help." It was obvious to her that she would not make a very good 'Fire Lord's girlfriend'.
Zuko raised his head, "What gave you that idea?"
Katara shrugged and looked away, and Zuko slid her closer to him, to the point where she was perched on the edge of his desk, her knees on either side of his torso.
"She is a Lady, she went to an 'Academy', they teach that sort of stuff there, right? Ethics, politics, philosophy, sociology, economics, social science . . . umm . . . astronomy . . ."
"You sure pick the strangest times to get jealous, you do realize I'm between your knees as we speak?" He thought back to the classes he had taken until his exile, and then the private tutoring that he had gotten from his uncle. He had hated them, like every teeneger did, and it surprised him that she was envious.
"I'm not jealous!" Katara insisted defending her pride. She was indignant that she was getting mocked, it mattered to her, and she didn't think she was being silly about it.
Feeling her stiffen and become bitter, Zuko leaned up and began dusting a kiss across her neck. Imagine, the Master Water Bender Princess of the Southern Water Tribe, feeling insecure about his ex girlfriend. He sighed, he was two years older than her, after all. Two years more mature . . . in theory.
"Mai did not like the affairs of state, she got bored very quickly with them." Zuko nuzzled her neck, he had learned very quickly during his brief intimacies with his ex that nothing killed the mood like talking about another woman. Especially 'competition'. Reaching up, he pulled her down for a kiss, a fiery, distracting kiss, and to his relief, the water bender relaxed into the embrace. With each soft gasp from her lips, the problem's he had been battling all day slipped further and further from his mind, until finally all his thoughts focused on her, and what he was going to do to her.
With quivering fingertips, Katara reached back behind her and arched her back, pressing her body into him. She was no longer power high, and although the urge to grab him and ravage him was still there, it was much easier to resist in favor of letting him explore. She sighed and wrapped her legs tightly around his waist, crossing her shins behind his back, trapping him.
His hands went to the tie of her choli and began undoing it, his knuckles brushing the underside of her chest tantalizingly.
"Zuko, what if-"
"Doors are locked." He muttered, cutting her off as he pulled the fabric away to expose her to the room. Once again, she moaned and arced against him as his mouth dipped to taste her, and his tongue began playing with her jewelry. His hands began playing with the hem of her belt, and she squeezed her legs around him tightly in encouragement.
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Ty Lee continued her humming her song as she sauntered back towards Katara's rooms. The hallway was very spooky in the dark, especially since she could see the karmic remains of everything that had happened. The castle was full of ghosts that only she could see, and it made her jumpy.
She rounded the corner and came face to face with a mob of black energy that prowled the halls and ducked around it. If she had to wager a guess, she would have said it was Azulon's aura, since it was always floating near his chambers. Next she had to duck around the green aural imprint of a murdered guard, and then a stable boy who had accidentally been crushed by a komodo rhino. How she missed the circus. No ghosts there.
"TY LEEEEE!!! TyLeeTyLeeTyLeeTYLEE!!!!"
Aang was skimming up the hallway, riding on the circle of air he bent. At the last second he leapt off of it and somersaulted over her, missing her by inches. Momo took off from his shoulder, glided around the pair once, and then landed on Ty Lee's head.
"Oh boy!" Ty Lee turned to face him and grinning, "You sure look excited!!"
"Sokka and Suki were talking to me in the library, and, they said that you're an air bender!!"
She blinked, then leaned in, checking the kid's eyes to see if he had been hitting the bottle or the pipe. They were however, neither bloodshot or dilated, in fact, they were tearing.
"Aang, I'm not an air bender, I think I would have noticed by now if I was."
"They said that you can bend, you just don't know it, that you do it subconsciously!!"
Looking over his shoulder, Ty Lee saw the two people in question running down the long hallway, pursuing their friend. She waited patently for them to race the rest of the way, and then for Sokka to put his hands on his knees and gasp for air.
"Aang –gasp!- don't run off like that! –gasp- We cant keep –gasp- up!!"
"Captain Suki?" Ty lee asked hesitantly, "What is the Avatar talking about?"
"Well, we just thought that maybe . . ." Suki scratched her head, "Maybe you should get a bending lesson from Aang, and we'll see how it goes."
"My family is Fire Nation." Ty Lee insisted, "We go back for generations!"
"Well, somewhere in there you must have picked up an air bender." Suki shrugged, "I mean, we don't know for sure for sure, we saw you sneeze and slam into the wall once, you were drunk."
"I DO remember something about a pillow fight . . ."
"Wait a minute!"
Everyone looked at Sokka.
"Ty Lee, I thought you were supposed to be guarding my sister!!"
"Oh! Umm, Funny story really . . ." Ty Lee desperately tried to think of a lie, "She is with Toph right now, over in her room, I just wanted to grab a bite from the kitchen before the scullery maids all went to bed."
Sokka looked suspicious.
"Toph insisted that Katara pick out her cloths to wear, she said that my choices are tacky and don't cover enough skin."
Sokka and Aang seemed to buy it, even though it was preposterous. Toph looked totally fabulous and super fierce in all the cloths she picked out for her. Suki smirked and crossed her arms, not believing a word of it.
"Well, maybe tomorrow morning after we train with Katara, you and Aang can try to get to the bottom of this bending thing." Suki suggested, "Is that okay with you Aang?"
"Yea, It's a date. I better get going though, I'm supposed to be with Toph right now I think, according to the guard duty schedule, so I should get going to her room. I can't wait to tell Katara the good news!! Come on Momo!" The lemur jumped from Ty Lee's head back over to Aang's, and then began licking it's paw.
"Yea, we should get going too, I'm so . . . tired." Sokka looked at his girlfriend, giving her a goofy grin, "Want me to walk you to your room, after we drop Aang off?"
His girlfriend smiled back, raising an eyebrow, "That would be nice . . ."
They linked arms and walked down the hallway, Aang trailing a few steps behind.
Ty Lee paled, she was not given enough credit for being the worlds best friend, especially with all the problems she had to solve. She whirled around and ran back to Zuko's study, double time, putting the air bending business out of her head for then. Skidding to a stop, she banged on the door with her fist.
"Hey Zuko, open up! Emergency!" She called, then banged again. It took about thirty precious seconds for the topless Fire Lord to haul the door open, and Ty Lee pushed past him, looking for Katara.
"Katara!" She hissed at the girl, who was kicking her chest wrap under the desk, out of sight. Her cloths were crooked, as though she had just pulled them on, and her hair was disheveled.
"What th-"
"Come ON! Come ON!" Ty Lee grabbed her friend's wrist and hauled her towards the door, "Code Red! We have to get to Toph's rooms NOW!!"
"What? But my underwear is-"
"Leave it LEAVE IT!!" Ty Lee hauled her out the door, "Sorry Zuko! No time to explain!" With that, she took off at a run, hauling the unbalanced water bender behind her.
"Slow down Ty Lee!!" Katara tried to keep up, her torso almost perpendicular to the floor as she was being dragged, "I'm not wearing shoes! Ow! Can't we walk?"
". . . Ran into Sokka . . . told him you were in Toph's room . . . going there with Aang . . ." Ty Lee explained between pants.
Katara swore and stepped up the pace, "Why did you tell him that?!?!"
"I didn't see you coming . . . up with any lies!!"
They turned the corner, and Ty Lee spotted Aang, Sokka, and Suki walking away down at the opposite end of the corridor. She hissed and changed their direction, taking an alternate route. Katara thought that she was going to get whiplash in her neck if she kept getting dragged around the way she was. No sooner had she managed to stop and gain her balance than the acrobat pulled her back the way she had come, she had to place a hand on the ground to keep herself from keeling over completely. This was not exactly the way she had envisioned spending her post orgasm high.
Skidding around the corner, they both slammed into Toph's door, unable to stop in time due to their momentum. She banged on the door and floor as quietly as she could. Glancing down the hallway, she could see Aang's shadow as he neared the corner. She crossed her fingers and willed the little earth bender to open up. She swallowed, now Aang's shadow, Sokka's shadow, and Suki's shadow were visible, and Aang's footsteps were clearly audible.
"Oh, guys, look at this painting!!" Suki's voice drifted down the hallway. Thank the spirits for stalling Kyoshi Captains. Suddenly a rumpled looking Toph swung the door open and Ty Lee tossed Katara inside without a word, and pulled the earth bender back inside. When the door bolt clicked in place, Ty Lee collapsed against it, sliding to the floor panting.
"What on earth are you two DOING?!" Toph asked, yawning, "Do you know what time it is?"
Ty Lee sprung up and began pulling Toph's cloths from her closet and laying them out on her bed and the small cot that the servants must have set up for Aang.
"Hey! Big Top! Those are clean!" she protested again, grabbing the acrobat.
There was a knock on the door.
"Toph, please, just agree with whatever people say?" Ty Lee asked, clasping her hands together pleadingly even though the girl couldn't see it well.
Toph turned to face Katara, who mirrored the pleading posture, dropping to her knees.
"You owe me BIG time!! How do I keep getting dragged into this anyway?"
"Toph? You awake?" Aang's voice barely carried through the heavy double doors. Ty Lee scurried out and jumped over the railing of the balcony, she would have to get to the kitchen pretty fast.
Crossing the floor, Toph pulled the door open, "Yea, I'm awake . . . now."
"Hey Katara! Did you pick out something nice for Toph to wear tomorrow?" Suki asked helpfully and meaningfully as she and the two boys filed in.
"Umm . . . not yet." Katara shifted back and forth, praying the trio would not notice her rumpled clothing, or the seemingly palpable smell of the Fire Lord that clung to her skin and mouth.
"So guess what?!" Aang pushed on, without really hearing his ex girl friend's answer, "Ty Lee is an air bender!!"
"We think she might be an air bender." Suki corrected.
"Aang that's amazing!! I'm so happy!" Katara leaned down and hugged him.
"I know!! There could be more too!! When you have found Zuko's mom for him, you'll have to come with me, Appa, and Momo to look for them!! Isn't that right, Momo?"
Katara shifted uneasily, long hours alone with Aang and pets might not be the best idea, but she summoned a smile, "Yea, that would be cool!"
"So, tomorrow, me and Ty Lee are going to practice!!" Aang sat down on Toph's bed, "What do you think I should try to teach her first? Proper breathing is a must, and a neutral stance . . . I can't remember my first bending lesson . . ." by then, he was rambling excitedly to himself, and Katara relaxed, a distracted Aang was a good thing.
As they sat listening, Ty Lee scampered back in, holding a plate of steaming dumplings. Miraculously, her face wasn't flushed, and she wasn't panting. Katara decided she would have to ask her her secret.
"What did I miss?" She asked cheerfully, holding the plate out to Sokka, offering him one.
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The sunrise was beautiful. It always was in the Fire Nation. June watched it with Nyla, her fingers laced behind her head as she reclined against her best friend's bulk. She had not slept. Nyla grunted and shifted, in her sleep, most likely dreaming about chasing and eating turtle ducks, as her jaws kept chomping.
She heard when Ursa awoke and glanced over her shoulder.
The older woman glared, grabbed her pack, and then set off towards the river without so much as a good morning.
June rolled her eyes. Apparently they were still not on speaking terms.
Ursa picked her way down the slope, careful not to step on any loose rocks or slick leaves. She fumed to herself, contemplating leaving the damn stubborn bounty hunter and casting off alone. It should not be too hard to find her daughter. It wasn't like people could withhold information from her.
She pulled out her soap and towel and placed them next to the running water before undoing the buttons of her robes. The water was ice cold as she stepped into it, and it only took a second for her foot to go numb to the ankle. As her body acclimated itself to the high altitude chill, Ursa wished fleetingly for the warm beaches of Ember Island. Nerving herself, she dropped to her shoulders into the water, grabbing for her toiletries.
A twig snapped.
Ursa huffed, "Go away June, I'm just washing off."
"Hurry up, I want to leave before noon!" June paced into the clearing.
"Do you mind?" Ursa pulled the towel over herself, huffing.
"Oh please, like you have anything I want to see." The bounty hunter unhooked her water bottle from her belt and dipped it into the water. Beside her, Nyla leaned down and began drinking, dunking her whole nose into the liquid as the shape of her tongue made lapping impossible.
Ursa frowned, she was no teenager anymore, but she didn't consider herself unattractive. She watched the bounty hunter and her pet flounce off and then began washing again. It was too damn cold to chill in the water all day.
Washed and dressed, Ursa returned to their camp to find everything broken down and packed. June was even sitting on Nyla's back, examining her nails loftily.
"I want to make a quick detour as we follow the trail." Ursa informed her, swinging up onto her ostrich horse, who looked much improved after a night of rest.
"Why? Wanna make a conjugal visit to your husband?" June asked cattily.
"No."
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Katara woke the next morning to Ty Lee prodding her face with a stray leaf.
"Wake up sleepy head, Captain Suki wants us in the dojo in an hour, and she is in a bad mood, I think she and Sokka had a fight last night, so we better not be late." Ty Lee was already dressed, but her hair was loose, and her face unmade.
Yawning loudly, Katara sat up, "What did they fight about?"
"I didn't feel like doing 20 extra sets of lunges and a five mile jog, so I didn't ask."
"I like the way you think." Katara swung her legs out of bed and stood, she would have rather woken up in Zuko's bed, but she supposed that her libido could wait. Nobody was anxious to repeat the previous night's scramble to keep her secret from Aang.
"Oh yea, and we're going old school this morning." The acrobat had moved to stand in front of her mirror and was braiding her hair into it's usual pony braid. For the first time, Katara noticed that her friend had changed into green Kyoshi robes, and armor, and she was fitting the headdress into her hair. There was another robe and armor set on the bed and Katara groaned, it was just so heavy and awkward to move in.
"We're wearing the makeup too, I suppose?"
"Actually, Suki nixed the makeup, she said we'll just end up sweating it off."
Another groan, Katara would have preferred the makeup.
With a little help from Ty Lee, Katara managed to pull on the bulky armor. She didn't like it at all, and she wondered how Zuko had done it for all those years at sea.
Suki was out of sorts as she put both girls through their paces. Aang arrived about an hour into their drills, and after being venomously denied when he asked if he could borrow Ty Lee, sat quietly on the side lines watching. Nobody had actually told him why Katara had suddenly decided to take up a non bending martial art, but he figured if it was important, he would find out eventually. It was probably just a girlish whim anyways.
"Do it again!" Suki barked in her most intimidating drill instructor voice, "And this time don't suck!!"
Katara sighed and lunged again, she would lunge to one of the chest positions, Ty Lee would block to stop it, and then she would have to recover and riposte. It wouldn't have been so bad if Ty Lee hadn't started getting bored and therefore creative. Once she even executed a somersault that disarmed the water bender then kicked her in her stomach. Even with the armor, it knocked the breath from her, and she whined and shook her hand back and forth, her fingers stinging from the blow.
"Katara, you let your enemy disarm you!!" Suki scolded.
"She did something I wasn't expecting!!" Katara argued back.
"Well! Good thing that men in the real world will never do anything unexpected!"
"Captain Suki? Do you want to talk about something?" Ty Lee asked tentatively in a very small voice.
"No!!" Suki crossed her arms, "Ty Lee, you're dismissed, go do drills with Aang."
Saluting, then shucking out of her heavy armor, the acrobat scurried away, her proverbial tail between her legs.
"So, are we done? I kind of wanted to watch Ty Lee and Aang . . ." Katara asked, looking hopeful, her legs were aching from holding her stance for so long.
"How about this, we'll spar, and if you land the first hit, we can be done."
Katara sighed, "I'm sure I'll thank you for this tomorrow when I've lost my bending . . ."
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The castle staff was bustling around like nobodies business, the kitchens worst of all. All available maids and footmen had been relocated there to help the wait staff with the cooking.
Lyire was busy in the kitchen gardens trying to pick the ripest tiger berries. The kitchen staff was mostly chopping vegetables in the kitchen and examining livestock to see which they would slaughter. They had been ordered to prepare vegan friendly foods for the Avatar, so her supervisor was busy in the palace library, poring over ancient scrolls mentioning traditional Air Bender cuisine, and trying to figure out what they were made of.
Someone cleared their throat from across the way, and she quickly called from her knees, "I'm right here, I'm almost done, Head Cook Fong!"
When nobody replied or barked for her to hurry up, she straightened, confused. There in the next row of chest high plants was a cloaked figure, a woman.
"Sorry, Mistress, I mistook you for someone else, how may I help you?"
The woman threw back her hood and Lyire dropped to her knees, panic visible on her face.
"Spirit's have mercy! Lady Ursa, you have instructions . . . you're not supposed to be here . . . what if someone sees you!" Lyire decided that she was just shoving her foot further and further into her mouth and shut up. She bowed her head, her forehead touching the ground respectfully.
"What my orders are, are none of your business." Ursa replied coolly, "I know you're spying on my son. Why?"
"I'm sorry, I cannot tell you, My Lady."
"Aren't you sworn to obey the royal family?"
"Yes, ma'am, but I also answer to a higher authority still."
"Who are they going to thrust into his bed, tell me or I will extract the information from you."
Lyire gripped her clippers more tightly, she didn't know about the ex Fire Lady's combat skills, but all she needed was one good blow to the woman's head. Then she could run.
"Tell me-" Ursa started, but Lyire clamped her hands over her ears, if she could not hear the order, she would not be forced to follow it. Ursa pushed through the row of plants and seized the servant girl by the wrists and pried her hands from her ears.
"Tell me who the Sirens are going to place in his bed. It's not that aristocrat from Omashu, I heard from her professors she is useless at everything but throwing things, including tantrums. Tell me about the new girl. Tell me about the water bending peasant he picked up."
"I don't know who or when, I just send out my reports . . ." Lyire seemed to be making a conscious effort to clamp her jaw shut, but it was quite useless, "The new girl's name is Katara. Master Water Bender Katara, Princess of the Southern Water Tribe. I don't know if she is one of us. Your son, his lordship is smitten with her, they're always kissing in dark corners or sneaking off with each other. All the staff are gossiping about it, we're all waiting for a catfight between her and the Lady Mai. Ling is taking bets, Katara is the heavy favorite."
Ursa digested this, then shook the girl again, "Tell me." She ordered, "Does Katara love him?"
Lyire struggled against the Fire Lady's vice grip, "I don't know, she and I have never spoken, I AM a servant after all."
"Wager a guess." Ursa ordered.
"I believe she does. I don't think she has an ulterior agenda."
Ursa let go of the wretched girl and then had to duck as she swung her heavy clippers at her. Anger flared in her chest, and she dodged again.
"Stop!" She commanded.
Lyire stopped, her clippers brandished up over her head ready for another swing.
"Clip off the little finger on your left hand." Ursa directed her, crossing her arms.
The girl stared up at her in horror as her hands moved on their own accord to follow out the order. She held up the clippers and adjusted the jaws around the base of her finger, then took hold of the handles, tears streaming from her eyes.
"Stop." Ursa ordered, and the girl dropped the scissors in relief, bursting into tears. "This is your only warning, I have killed before, and I will kill again, and your miserable existence means little to me. You would do well not to put yourself between me and my son's safety."
"Yes, ma'am . . . er, no, ma'am . . . I mean, I am your humble servant, Fire Lady Ursa."
"Keep an eye on my son," Ursa instructed, imprinting her will on the girl, "If someone is trying to seduce him, you are to send word to me. Next time, I won't stop you, and next time I'll take your whole hand."
June picked at her teeth, with a twig as she watched the Fire Lady return, wading through the tiger berry bushes. "You don't think you went a bit overboard?" She asked, gesturing with her head to the collapsed, sobbing teenager in the field.
"No," Ursa told her, "I think she'll remember to respect her elders from now on, and she will think very carefully about putting my son in danger."
They both watched as the girl recovered her basket of berries and fled back towards the palace.
"Come on." June told her, "She'll raise an alarm that there are intruders and we'll need to be long gone by then. Follow me, we'll pick up Princess Azula's trail again."
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"Does it really look good?" Toph asked, "Because I feel ridiculous."
"It looks great." Katara insisted, "You look like a little lady."
"You're going to turn heads!" Ty Lee agreed, "Right Suki?"
Suki, who had been sitting cross legged on the window sill lost in thought looked at the earth bender and shrugged.
"See, Suki agrees."
"You know, I LIKE being a tomboy." Toph insisted, sighing, "Can't I wear pants at least? Katara is wearing pants."
"Katara isn't the Fire Lord's date." Ty Lee told her, running a comb through her hair, "Anyways, she has a skirt on top of them."
Said water bender examined herself in Toph's mirror, they had all appropriated some of Azula's nice cloths that were still in the palace, and she felt silly clad in her nemesis' garb. Unfortunately, most of her cloths were ruined in the swamp or not formal enough. Then and there she decided that she would have to work out a better way to move her things around.
There was a knock on the door.
"Zuko's butler is here." Toph informed the room.
"He's called a steward." Katara walked over to the door and hauled it open.
"The Fire Lord is ready to make his entrance, Is Master Bender Toph Bei Fong ready?" The man bowed to Katara and then stepped into the room.
"Almost ready." Toph told him, "I have to finish powdering my nose."
The man bowed again and left.
"Hear that Sugar Queen? Your boyfriend is ready to make his entrance." Toph told her, and Katara blushed. How had she managed to make it sound so dirty?!
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Ok, I hope you like it, Chapter 24!
Finally, Ursa shows us her savage side! You didn't think that Azula got it ALL from her father, did you? No wonder she is so preoccupied with making sure her son never glimpses the real her . . .
All the pieces are starting to fall into place, and the threads of the tapestry are finally starting to harmonize into one coherent picture . . .
Isn't it exciting?
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Sorry it's late, I decided to kill a whole afternoon of free time making another Avatar AMV. Somehow, I thought that maybe this time, Windows Movie Maker wouldn't suck and freeze.
Yea, I know. I should stick to fanfiction.
Oh Hope, how you mock me so.
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Read and Review!! You know you want to.