Yay! Reviews for this story are now in the double digits. Thank you everybody!
I'm sorry I did not update sooner. I meant to do it earlier but the past week or so has been long and hectic. I've got a bunch of other things going on and can't always give this story as much attention as I would like. I will try to keep updates going ASAP, but with everything else it makes be a couple of weeks in between posts. I'm sorry about that, but I promise I won't quit this story.
There was a banging noise on the door. Katara sat up and quickly composed herself before it opened. Another of Zuko's crew, this man lanky with long brown hair, came in bearing a tray. He set the tray on the nightstand, unfastened her from the cuff, and left, all without saying a word.
Katara rubbed her wrist and scooted over to the edge of the bed. She cautiously removed the lid from the tray. A steaming plate of chicken, rice, and some strange custard-like dish sat before her. There was also a small glass of milk. She started at it for a minute, wondering if it could be poisoned, before hunger overtook caution. She snatched up the set of chopsticks and grabbed a piece of chicken and shoved it in her mouth. She started to chew, then gasped and spit it out.
It was so spicy! Katara frantically grabbed the glass of milk and drained half of it before gasping in relief. She took a bite of rice, which gratefully wasn't as strong flavored as the chicken. She ate most of that before returning to the chicken. She ate it slowly, in small bites, washing each bite down with a sip of milk. This helped with some of the flavor, though her mouth still burned slightly when she was done.
With only the custard left, she examined it. She'd never seen food like it before and assumed it was a Fire Nation dish. She took a small bite, fearing it would be spicy like the chicken. It wasn't; rather it had a pleasant, almost fruit-like, taste to it. It was curious, but she ate it all.
Later that evening one of the men came and escorted her down the hall to wash. There was a small room with a bench and a stack of towels and soap. Beyond another door was a strange rectangular space. The man pointed to a knob on the wall.
"Just turn that to the left for the water to come out. You can leave your clothes on the bench and use the soaps and towels. Someone will knock when it's time to go back to your room." With that, he left her alone.
Katara stripped of her clothing, feeling strangely self-conscious. She stepped into the rectangular space and turned the knob as the man had said. Suddenly, a spray of hot water shot down from the ceiling on top of her. Katara gasped in surprise and wiped her eyes. Once she got over the shock, she actually enjoyed the feel of the water on her skin. It puzzled her though, how they'd managed to make water flow by just turning a knob. She pondered it the whole time she was washing up. The water was warm and the soap had a strange, but not unpleasant, spicy scent to it. She was enjoying it so much, definitely the best thing she'd experienced in a while, that she was surprised when she heard banging outside and a man's voice telling her time was up and she needed to come out.
When Katara came out of the shower, wrapped in a towel, her clothes were nowhere to be seen. She looked around frantically, but the only clothing she saw was a neatly folded red silk shirt. A piece of parchment sat on top. Katara crumpled up the paper and tossed it aside before reluctantly slipping on the shirt. It was long enough to hang down to her knees. She didn't want to wear the shirt; it was red of all colors, but at least she was covered. There was no way she'd walk around this ship in just a towel.
She was escorted back to her room in silence and it was none other than His Highness come to chain her in bed for the night.
"Where are my clothes?" she demanded the moment he walked in the door.
Zuko started at her. "Didn't you read the note I left? Your clothes are being cleaned. They were filthy. You're welcome."
She was not going to bother thanking him for that. Instead, Katara ducked her head, shamefaced. "I can't read."
A flash of surprise crossed Zuko's face, but it quickly disappeared. He fastened the cuff around her wrist silently.
"I could teach you." The words left his mouth before he even registered what he was saying.
"What?" She sounded surprised, confused, but not spiteful.
"I…uh. Icouldteachyou" he muttered quickly, embarrassment creeping onto his face. He was grateful there was just the small lamp lit, so there was a limited amount of light in the room.
"I…I'd appreciate it." She sounded hesitant and confused. She was probably considering whether this was another supposed trick of his.
How was he supposed to get out of this? Stupid mouth. Why couldn't he think before he talked?
"Fine. You can come out of here for an hour a day after lunch and I'll teach you, but that's it." His voice switched to the firm tone he used when he was giving orders to his crew. "But if you get on my nerves so much as once while I'm trying to teach or refuse to listen to me, that's it. You'll be locked in this room and you'll never come out."
Katara bit her lip to keep from giving him a rude reply. He was offering her an opportunity to learn and to get out of this room for a bit. "Fine."
"Fine." There was a short, awkward silence.
"Goodnight" Zuko said. There was no mocking or malice or anything of the sort in his voice. Just a simple word.
Katara started in surprise and gazed at him for a moment.
"Goodnight."
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Sitting at a low table in one of the spare rooms, Zuko swept a brush over the silk paper. As if by magic, black characters appeared. Katara watched, fascinated despite herself.
"These are some basic characters. Nearly four hundred years ago, when the world was actually getting along, it was decided to create a system of writing that could be used worldwide, so everyone could understand one another. Before that, each country had its own style of writing and language. Each the Earth Kingdom had multiple ones, so they had trouble communicating within their own borders. This system helped fix those problems. This is the style children are taught in schools. It's a basic, beginner's –level system."
"Each character stands for a certain word or sound. Depending on how it's written, a word can have different meanings. Just by adding an extra sweep, you can completely change a word. For example" he wrote something on the paper, "this means mother. But this," he made another, similar character, "means curse. Understand?"
Katara nodded, even though she didn't quite get it, and realized with some dread that this was going to be much harder than she thought.
Zuko then wrote out the alphabet for her, explaining how a word or letter could be written different ways depending on how it was used. He then showed her how to hold the brush. She took it from his hand, her fingers lightly brushing against his, and she flinched. He said nothing about it.
"Hold it straight up over the paper." He gently placed his hand over hers. "How you move the brush and how much pressure you apply affects your writing. For some, you need to be incredibly light. Others, you want to be a bit firmer and make thicker lines."
He showed her the basic strokes and Katara was amazed at how it just appeared on the paper.
"What did I write?" she asked.
"Your name. This is how 'Katara' would be written."
Katara was amazed. She'd heard her name her entire life but never imagined what it looked like written.
"Can I keep this?" she asked.
Zuko nodded. "If you want."
"How's yours done?" she asked, turning to him.
"My what?"
"Your name. How's it written?"
Zuko made some more strokes on another piece of paper. "There. That's 'Zuko'."
Katara examined the character. The sweeps were done perfectly, each stroke fitting with the next.
"Come on. If you want to learn you need to practice." He handed the brush back to her and grabbed some books lying nearby. As she took the brush from him, their hands touched again. A tremor went through her, leaving her feeling disturbed, but she didn't flinch that time.
Zuko noticed both the tremor, and that she didn't flinch, and felt relieved.
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That was how it went for nearly two weeks. Katara was woken at dawn by breakfast being delivered. She was unchained and allowed to eat, then taken to wash up. Afterwards she was returned to her room. At noon, lunch came. She was then taken to a small room downstairs where Zuko taught her. Lessons were difficult as this was something completely alien to her and Zuko had a short temper and was often trying to hold it back. Dinner was delivered at sundown and she was allowed to wash up before bed. It was usually Zuko himself who chained her up in the evening and bid her goodnight.
Apart from her lessons, it was strangely uneventful and Katara had become sick of the small room she was in. The only way she could keep track of the days and time was by her meals. In the evening, before Zuko came, she scratched a small notch on the side of the bamboo nightstand, noting that one more day on this ship had passed.
On the bright side, the more time that passed the fewer and farther in between her and Zuko had arguments. By no means were they actually getting along; she was still a prisoner no matter what he said, but at least they'd gotten to a point they could almost be civil towards one another.
The morning of her thirteenth day on the ship, she was not taken to her room after washing, but up onto the deck.
Katara blinked, her eyes having trouble adjusting to the bright sunlight after having spent so much time in a dimly lit room. The feel of the cool sea breeze and the sight and smell of the ocean instantly brightened her and make her feel more alive. She could feel the ocean almost calling to her. Prior to being captured/ rescued, however it was to be put, she'd practiced waterbending everyday. But in the past days she'd not been able to save for a few moments in the shower when she did so secretly.
Zuko was on the deck with an older man Katara had previously been introduced to. He was Zuko's uncle; Iroh, she remembered his name was. She looked at them both, puzzled.
"You've been pretty good. You haven't tried to run away again." Zuko said. "I-Uncle really- thought you deserved some fresh air." He sounded uncomfortable, as if his words had been rehearsed only now he was forgetting what he wanted to say.
"Oh. Um…thank you."
"Actually, I wanted to see if you would want to make some sort of deal."
"Deal? What kind of deal could I possibly make with you?"
"How about freedom? Well, some. If you promise you'll continue to be good and won't try to escape or anything like that, you won't have to be chained anymore at night. We'll let you move around the ship a little more; maybe even let you go around without an escort. Also, I think it'd be better if you ate your meals in the mess hall with the rest of us from now on. It's just easier instead of someone delivering your food to you. I'll even let you practice waterbending, but only if someone's watching you and you don't disrupt anything else going on. Does that sound fair?"
Katara considered it for a moment. She'd thought over the conditions of her imprisonment before. It wasn't nearly as bad as it could be, she'd supposed. She got three decent meals a day, a surprisingly comfortable bed to sleep on, reading lessons (even if it was with a grumpy, easily irritable teacher) and actually got to keep clean, unlike when she traveled with Aang and Sokka, as it wasn't always an easy task when one traveled around the world on bisonback. Sokka could vouch for that better than anyone.
She quickly stopped herself from thinking about her brother and Aang. She'd done so before and it hurt because she missed them.
And now Zuko was offering her more. She didn't have to stay in that little room all the time now; she'd even get to practice waterbending! Mind made up, Katara nodded.
"Fair enough."
"Good" Iroh said this. "It's settled then." He stood up. "Now if you'll excuse me, I've arranged a Pai Sho tournament with some of the crew."
He whispered something in Zuko's ear, who sighed loudly and rolled his eyes, then left the two of them alone with just the wind and waves.
"It's…nice out here." Katara said awkwardly. "Thanks for letting me out."
Zuko nodded but didn't meet her gaze. "You're welcome."
There was a long silence, which grew more uncomfortable by the minute.
"Uncle made tea." Zuko said quickly. He gestured to a red teapot shaped like a dragon and two cups. "If you want some. Its ginseng; not my favorite, but Uncle makes the best tea, so…it's there if you want some." He sat down next to the table it was on and watched her, as if expecting something.
Katara nodded in acknowledgement and moved to join him.
I had more for this chapter, but it's been hard to write, so I'm splitting it into two chapters.
If you're wondering about Katara's statement of "I can't read" and why Zuko is giving her lessons, here you go:
I was planning out this story and the thought came to me: How is it in canon Sokka and Katara know how to read? There is no way for them to make parchment in the South Pole as they pretty much had no plants; plus ink would probably freeze. I thought perhaps Kanna could have taught them, having come from the North, which was clearly more advanced, but they didn't have much reading or writing either. The Water Tribes are 'primitive' so to speak; records and stories and such would have been told orally, not through writing.
But then we have the waterbending scrolls. The pirate in "The Waterbending Scroll" said he got it up north, but where did the Northern Tribe get the parchment? I thought perhaps the scrolls were made on Kyoshi Island or someplace in the Earth Kingdom and then brought north. The scrolls were probably very old; possibly made even before the war started. After all, the Northern Water Tribe was very solitary; they hadn't had contact with the south in years and they hadn't known the Fire Nation had changed. They still thought armor was the same as eighty-five years ago!
The scrolls may have not even come from the Northern Water Tribe. We see waterbenders in the swamp so it's possible there were waterbenders other places. Not all of those that left the North may have gone to the South Pole, because surely Kanna was not the only one that ever left. And after a hundred years of war, mixed races are highly probable. It's surprising we didn't really see many people of mixed descent. YMMV (your mileage may vary) on all of this, these are just some thoughts that came to my head.
Please review and let me know what you think! JemiLover101, GaaraHinataWake, and harronhermy, special thanks to you guys because I know I can always count on you to read and review this story. Without your reviews I probably wouldn't be writing this much.
BTW, there is a video that helped inspire the idea for this story. It is a Last Airbender Zuko/Katara video to the song "Monster (remix)" by Meg & Dia. I believe the address is www (dot) youtube (dot) com/ watch ? v = 4 c V z- n-p K a 0 (take out all the spaces).