You've all been waiting patiently for this. I'm gonna warn you right off the bat that it's not my best work. I maybe kinda had to rush it a bit to get it out on time. Just pretend that it's super good and was totally worth the wait.
Day Twelve
Masked Ball
(The Continuation of Day One: Vigilantes)
Katara mentally cursed as she entered the grand ballroom of the Earth Palace. Everywhere she looked, colorfully dressed, wealthy partygoers stood in groups chatting and sipping fine spirits. All wore exquisite dresses and robes and all, to her great frustration, had faces hidden behind ornate animal masks. Sighing at the work ahead of her, Katara stepped into the room and joined the flock of bedazzled nobles.
It was just her luck, she lamented, that the Earth King's usual gala had been replaced this time around by a masked ball. The plan had been for her to meet up with Zuko and for the two of them to hunt down the Earth Kingdom merchant selling her tribe's ivory together, but when she found the mask lying on her bed and realized what sort of party this was going to be, it had become clear to her in an instant that her job had just become a whole lot harder. Now, not only did she have to somehow identify the man she and Zuko were looking for, she first had to find Zuko.
And, to make matters worse, she'd been warned by Sokka just before leaving the South Pole after returning the "borrowed" jewelry to her father's treasury that Aang had figured out what she'd done. He knew that he'd been tricked and he wasn't happy about it. Katara was confident that he'd already figured out where she was. All he'd needed to do was ask the Earth King about the guest list for the ball and he'd know right where to find her. That added yet another element of uncertainty to tonight. She had to somehow find Zuko and find their target all while dodging a furious Aang.
It was going to be a long night.
Well, she reasoned, first things first, she needed to get started on locating her partner in crime.
She pushed through the crowd, carefully assessing the heights and body types of the people she passed. It was all she really had to go on given she had no idea what Zuko was wearing and the only flesh visible to her were hands. Being from the Water Tribes, she herself would be more recognizable from a just small show of skin, but that was a double-edged sword because while that would make it easier for Zuko to spot her, it would do the same for Aang.
She cursed again and pulled the shimmering, gold-trimmed sleeves of her silk stateswoman dress as far as they would go over her hands. Why did Aang have to catch up with her now when they were so close to bagging their target? The time it would take her to catch him up on the situation would probably cause her to miss her window to identify the man before he retired to whatever backroom he'd no doubt commandeered to do his dealing. She only hoped she managed to find him before Aang found her.
Actually, she decided after giving the matter some thought, forget looking for Zuko. They'd cover more ground if they searched independently. Sure, there was safety in numbers, but she and Zuko were both master benders who could hold their own if it came down to a fight. She just had to hope that Zuko would be on the same wavelength and focus on sniffing out their target rather than wasting his time searching for her.
Katara's eyes narrowed as she scanned the enormous ballroom with a critical eye. There had to be some kind of tell—some way for the merchant to signal the nobles looking to buy from him. He would likely be acting in some predetermined peculiar manner in order to attract the attention of the right people. He would also probably have something on his person, perhaps a piece of jewelry, that was distinctive enough to confirm his identity. Her first thought was a necklace. There were plenty of unique pendant designs that were suitably eye-catching. Or perhaps a broach…
As she worked the matter out in her head, a waiter glided by and offered her a glass from a tray. She took it thoughtlessly and lifted her mask just enough to throw it back, appreciating the refreshing coolness of the beverage after many minutes of power-walking through throngs of party-goers. Discarding the glass on a nearby table, she resumed her hunt, keeping her eyes peeled for striking jewelry.
That man over there chatting with a group of young women? No, he was wearing only a string of beads.
How about those three older-looking men discussing politics? Nope, not a single piece of jewelry between them.
Perhaps someone in that large ring of people talking by the buffet table? No, their jewelry was all generic gemstones.
Katara found herself quickly growing frustrated. This was like trying to find a pebble in a badger-mole's den. She'd be here all night if she tried to inspect the front of every man at the party.
Her frustration made her hungry and she retreated to the snack table to grab a few bites. She hadn't eaten since lunch and she always got a little grouchy on an empty stomach. She nabbed a few small eatables and another glass of whatever that waiter had been passing out and quickly pounded them down before returning to her search.
Feeling much better now that she had some food in her, she resumed her perusal of male jewelry fashions. Her target had to be here somewhere, she reasoned. Hanook had been certain that the merchant was selling the ivory at this function. If he wasn't here, then she couldn't think of any other—there!
At once, Katara's gaze zeroed in on a male figure wearing a necklace that didn't match that of anyone else she'd seen so far. It was a rusty red color with a thick silk cord and at the center of it hung a round, polished piece of wood with a distinctive pattern etched into its surface. Bingo, she thought smugly.
Making her way over to the man, she straightened her dress and puffed out her chest alluringly. "Hey, there," she said when she got to him, lowering her voice just as she'd done with the pirates in Linfen. "Nice necklace, you got there." She raised a hand to lift the wooden pendant with a single finger and pretended to examine it. "Any special meaning behind it?"
The man seemed flustered by her bold action. "Well, actually it's a—" All at once he stopped and she saw the eyes of his mask look straight at the hand that was touching his necklace. "Wait…Katara?"
Katara froze. Hold on a minute. That voice. She looked up quickly and realized for the first time that behind his red monkey mask the man she'd approached had a clean-shaven head.
"Katara!" he said her name with more confidence this time. "It is you. I knew you'd be here!" He made a lunge for her wrist but Katara was fast and retracted it just in time.
Prattling off every curse she knew in her head, she turned on her heel and fled into the crowd.
Shit! Shit! Shit! she swore as she ran. Of all the people for her to accidently mistake for her target, she had to find Aang. Oh, this was not good.
Thinking fast, she ripped off her mask and ducked into a large group of people. Cries of outrage and indignation followed as she snatched the mask off a random woman and shoved it onto her face, pausing only to thrust her own mask into the bewildered woman's hands. Before Aang could catch up to her and realize what she'd done, she burst out of the crowd and dove into another.
She continued to maneuver in and out of crowds until she was confident that she'd at last lost Aang. Only then did she stop and take a moment to catch her breath. Nearby was another tray of drinks and she took two, gulping them down with gusto.
Perhaps looking for the merchant on her own had been a bad idea after all. She was no closer to finding him than she'd been thirty minutes ago and all she'd achieved was confirming for Aang that she was here at the king's party.
She should've just looked for Zuko—worked together with him to come up with a plan of attack. They always worked best together. It was why she'd dragged him along on this mission in the first place.
Shaking those thoughts from her head, she abandoned her glasses and tentatively peeked around the wall of people she'd positioned herself behind and scanned the crowd. She didn't see any red monkey masks and the people she'd disturbed seemed to have settled back into their conversations. The coast looked clear enough, so she stepped out from her hiding spot.
…And promptly stumbled into a marble pillar. Frowning in confusion, she used the pillar to help right herself and passed a hand over her eyes. Suddenly, she had a feeling almost like the room was swimming. She focused on the people nearby and after a moment her vision righted itself. She blinked a few times and when the problem didn't persist she decided to write it off as the heat getting to her and continued on.
She shoved past Earth Kingdom nobles and foreign dignitaries keeping a watchful eye out both for her target and the telltale red of Aang's mask and necklace. She knew better than to think he'd given up his hunt for her. As she trekked back across the ballroom, her eyes darting this wat and that, the vibrant clothes of the party-goers began to blend together in a whirl of color. There were just too many people to search through. Too much jewelry. Too many colors. She was starting to feel overwhelmed. A waiter offered her another drink and this time she sipped it slowly as she continued to walk. The flavor was syrupy and reminded her of peaches.
Was it just her or did the room seem louder than it had been before? It was like someone had gone around and given each person a rolled-up piece of paper to shout through. Katara winced at the noise and cast her gaze around for an exit. She needed some fresh air and a break from the crowded ballroom. She found what she was looking for: the large double doors leading back into the palace proper and she changed her trajectory to head for them.
She'd nearly made it when a hand alighted on her shoulder, halting her.
Startled, Katara turned her head and found herself staring at a red monkey face. Uh oh.
"Why'd you run from me, Katara?" Aang's voice came from behind the mask. He sounded hurt.
Katara struggled to find words to answer him. "Listen, Aang," she appealed to him. "You don't understand—"
"Talk to me outside," he cut her off, guiding her to the doors with a hand on her back. "It's way too noisy in here."
Katara found herself being steered out the door and at once she felt relief as the cool air of the connecting hallway struck her. The hallway's open-air design allowed the chilly night breeze to chase away the muggy heat of the ballroom. She heard the door close behind her with a resounding click and her relief abruptly fled when she realized that she and Aang were now alone.
"Alright, Katara. Explain," Aang commanded. He'd removed his mask and Katara could see the unhappy arch of his eyebrows as he stared at her impatiently. "Sokka told me your plan. He said that you went to the Earth Kingdom to apprehend the poachers yourself. I went to Linfen and confirmed his story with the authorities there. Why didn't you tell me what you were doing?"
Katara removed her own mask with a sigh. It looked like they were doing this after all. "Aang, I'm sorry. I just… the mission required a certain amount of discreetness, and well…"
She trailed off when she caught a glimpse of movement behind Aang. Far down the hall, a group of people were exiting the ballroom from a second, smaller set of doors.
"Well, what?" Aang pressed, his frown deepening.
Katara ignored him. Her attention was fixed on the group now walking away from them down the hall. Her eyes narrowed.
"Katara?"
Katara held up a hand to silence him and affixed her mask back over her face. "Listen, I'll talk to you later, Aang. I really need to follow that group of people."
Not waiting for Aang to reply, she brushed past him and began jogging after the group.
Perhaps if she'd been in a clearer state of mind, she would've predicted that Aang wouldn't be satisfied to be brushed off in such a manner.
As she hurried down the corridor, her mind focused on sneakily joining the group of people who had left the ballroom so suspiciously, she wasn't at all prepared for Aang to run after her, feet slapping on the polished stone, and yell, "Katara! Where are you going? I wasn't done talking to you!"
At once, every member of the group stopped and their masked faces turned to see who had yelled. When they saw Aang, unmasked and furious, running down the hall directly toward them, Katara heard a voice cry out, "It's the Avatar!" The group burst into a flurry of panicked motion and a man in a lemur mask yelled, "Run!"
The group hurriedly split, their members taking off at a sprint down the hall. Katara cursed and shouted, "Hey! Stop right there!" before promptly giving chase. She mentally berated Aang for alerting her targets. Why oh why did he have to confront her now? He was ruining everything! She cursed again as her long dress tangled with her feet, threatening to trip her. Dammit, she wasn't dressed for a chase!
Luckily, Aang seemed to at last realize what was going on and he sped past her, overtaking the group in no time. Using his airbending, he sent a great gust through the corridor, knocking the fleeing criminals off their feet. Cries of surprise followed as butts landed on the hard floor and masks came loose and fell clattering to the ground. Katara wasted no time pulling water from the large vases that lined the hallway and freezing the would-be escapees in place.
Katara was ready to celebrate, thinking their mission was over, when she realized that there were two men still standing. One was tall and wore long robes of emerald and the other was stockier and wore a shorter-trimmed outfit of burnished gold. The man in green had his legs planted in an uncertain stance and appeared to be looking back and forth between her and Aang through the eye-holes of his leopard-fox mask. The gold-garbed man was not nearly so uncertain. He was already running again, leaving his partners in crime behind to save himself.
Aang frowned after him, disapproval written all over his face. "I don't think so!" he called after the man, and this time he used earthbending to send a ripple through the floor directly toward the two men. Katara watched with satisfaction as the gold-clad man was tossed onto his face and promptly encased in stone so that he couldn't run again. However, the green-robed man still didn't fall. He hopped deftly up onto a window ledge as the wave rippled through the place where he'd been standing and Katara could only watch dumbly as, without missing a beat, he jumped back down and lunged into a sprint.
Straight for her.
Normally, Katara would've reacted quicker, but her thoughts felt like they were swimming through a swamp as her brain attempted to send the signal to her limbs to move. She could only blink in surprise as the masked man barreled into her, catching her under the ribs with an arm and hoisting her easily up onto his shoulder. Before she could process what was happening, she and the green man were jumping up onto another window ledge and disappearing into the darkness.
oOo
The next thing Katara knew, she was being deposited onto a hard, cool surface. The starry sky was spread out above her and her nose was filled with the smell of plants. A quick glance around told her she was in the Earth Palace gardens. The man who had kidnapped her retreated a few steps, his soft slippers noiseless on the dry earth. Katara opened her mouth to yell at him for manhandling her, but before she could get a word out he pulled the mask from his face in one smooth motion and tossed it onto a patch of grass nearby.
Katara's angry tirade died on her tongue. "…Zuko?"
Zuko's eyes landed on hers. He looked non-too-happy. "Katara, what's going on?" he demanded. "Why is Aang here?"
Katara took off her own mask and shook her head in an attempt to clear it. Why was it so difficult to gather her thoughts? The world looked like it was spinning around Zuko as if he'd become the center of a merry-go-round. She tried her best to focus on him and not the tilt-a-whirl that was the rest of the garden. "He caught up to us," she answered, the statement taking more effort than it should've.
Zuko sighed and pushed a hand up into his hair, his eyes lifting to the heavens. "I knew he would," he muttered, now sounding resigned more than irritated. Looking back at her, he said, "I did tell you. You don't give him enough credit."
Katara huffed and rolled her eyes. "Relax. He doesn't know that you're involved in this." Her nose scrunched up in thought and she added, "I think." Aang had only said that Sokka told him she went to Linfen. He never mentioned anything about Zuko. "Besides, the situation's been taken care of. We caught the crooks."
Zuko sighed again and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I'd been hoping to glean some more information from them before having them arrested." With a huff, he sank down onto the stone seat beside her. "Who knows what kinds of other shady business that merchant's been involved in. It's going to be hard to make him talk behind bars."
Katara was only half listening now. She was captivated by the sharp ridge of Zuko's jaw and the handsome slope of his neck enhanced by the stiff, elegant collar of his robes. He looked fetching in party clothes. He'd looked fetching in his pirate attire as well. "Mm," she hummed to show that she was paying attention. Dragging her mind out of the swamp, she said, "Let King Kuei deal with that. At least now the world will know that the Fire Nation weren't the ones poaching our whales."
That was the most important thing, as far as Katara was concerned. The last thing she wanted was for this misunderstanding to sour the relationship between their nations.
After all, that would make things very difficult for Katara, who had decided some time ago that one way or another she was going to jump Zuko's bones.
This wasn't something she'd talked to anyone about, of course. When she'd realized for the first time that she was in love with Zuko she'd been sixteen and in a relationship with Aang. It had been a long and tricky road since that day.
With effort, Katara stood from her seat. "We should probably—"
She'd been about to suggest that they don their masks and slip back inside before Aang discovered the two of them out here and put two and two together, but before the words could finish leaving her mouth, she and Zuko were surprised by a shout splitting the air.
"Spread out and search the grounds! The fiend couldn't have gotten far!"
Katara and Zuko shared a panicked look. An order like that could only mean one thing: Aang had alerted the palace guard to her kidnapping.
Following the command, thundering footfalls could be heard encroaching on the spot where she and Zuko stood. Katara looked around for a spot to hide but there was nowhere enclosed enough to conceal themselves. With no time to run, Katara acted on instinct. She grabbed Zuko by the front of his robes and yanked him against her, backing up until her back was pressed against a tree. Before he could protest or ask what she thought she was doing, she hooked her arms around her neck and pulled him into a searing kiss.
Not a second later, a team of guards appeared from around a hedge.
"You there!" the one in front called out to them, his voice commanding. "Have you seen a…"
The guard faltered and the men behind him stopped in their tracks. "Oh, um, pardon me," he said weakly. Katara watched the man tip his helmet and gesture to his fellow guards. Wearing embarrassed looks, they retreated back the way they'd come, giving the intimately engaged couple their privacy.
When the guards were gone, Zuko attempted to pull away.
Katara didn't let him. She held fast, sliding a hand up into his hair and pressing her body flush against his. The haze in her mind helped her shut out all sources of stimuli outside of him. Zuko didn't fight her for long. Rather, he took a small step forward, smooshing her harder against the tree, and she felt the backs of his fingernails brush her cheeks with the tenderness of a lover. They broke apart briefly for air and Katara felt her whole body shiver when Zuko's warm breath ghosted over her neck. His body was warm and hard against hers and his touch was causing her hormones to go crazy. With abandon, she ground her hips into his and pulled his head back so she could access his throat. She placed her mouth against his skin, and probed the area with her tongue, causing him to make a noise that sent heat straight to her core.
Spirits, she'd never felt so turned on. Zuko wound his arms around her and grabbed her bottom with one hand to pull her pelvis against his again. She could feel his desire for her and it excited her. She rocked her hips against his again and made to draw him into another molten kiss when he abruptly pulled away, grabbing her shoulders to put distance between them.
"Katara," he said her name in a husky baritone. "Stop."
Katara almost didn't register his command through the haze of her desire. Stopping was the last thing she wanted to do, but she somehow managed to pull the break on her hormones to hear what he had to say.
Zuko bent his head to look into her eyes seriously. "We can't do this. You're in a relationship with Aang and—"
Katara didn't let him finish. "I'm not."
Zuko's eyes widened. "…what?" he said dumbly.
She nodded. "Aang and I are taking a break right now."
Zuko gave her a baffled look. "Huh? But back in Linfen you said that things were, and I quote, just peachy between the two of you."
Katara fought the urge to roll her eyes. Goodness, Zuko could be awfully slow for someone who was expected to be wise enough to lead a country. "Did you really expect me to open that can of worms right there in the middle of the street while dressed like a tavern floozy?"
"Well, then, are you going to talk about it now?"
This time Katara did roll her eyes. She was too far gone for this conversation to be happening right now. "No. I'm going to keep kissing you and you're going to save your questions for a more appropriate time."
Her bit said, she pulled his face down to hers again and picked up right where they left off. If Zuko had any further protests he clearly decided that they were non-pressing enough to wait because he didn't try to stop her again.
Later, they would need to sit down and have a proper talk about this. Katara would make certain Zuko understood that she desired far more from him than a one-night-stand. She would explain to him exactly why she always went to him before Aang when she needed help with something. She would tell him unabashedly of the feelings she'd been suppressing for over a year.
But before that, she was probably going to puke out her guts, because the haze in her brain right now definitely wasn't just from hormones.
"Katara," Zuko murmured into her mouth. "We should take this inside."
And that too, she mentally tacked on. Even if she and Aang were taking a break, it really wouldn't do for him to find her sucking face with Zuko in the yard.
She broke away to nod in agreement and the two took off silent as panther-sharks in the direction of the palace.
oO0Oo
Abrupt ending is abrupt! Sorry, this was just getting WAY too long and let's be real, we were all just waiting for the juicy make-out anyway. Nobody cares what happens after that.
This actually wasn't originally how I was going to continue Vigilantes. I was pretty constrained by the prompt selection so I ended up modifying my plan heavily. Thanks to that, this conclusion isn't quite as satisfying as I would've liked. It also wasn't very cohesive in my opinion. I really struggled to write something that made sense but I found myself falling short at every turn. The result is that this story isn't nearly as strong as the first part. Unfortunately, I just didn't have enough time to work it into something better. I already sank way more time into it than I should've and that's put me on a very tight schedule for the rest of the prompts. But that's just part of doing these kinds of challenges. You can't expect it to be all smooth sailing.
