Chapter 7

Training

Katara stared longingly at the basket of rolls set on the lunch table before her. She'd give anything to reach for the warm doughy goodness but at the moment that was simply impossible. Purya had decided to put Katara on a diet until the wedding since she had complained about not being able to breath earlier. A groan escaped Katara as she wished she hadn't said a thing, it really hadn't been that bad it was just tighter than she was used to. She didn't need a diet and this room was incredibly lonely without her friends. Mother Matron had tied her shoulder back to her chair to keep her from slouching as Mother had dropped comments all day long about Katara's poor posture.

"You're a lady not a blunder baboon so you will learn to sit, stand, and eat like a lady beginning now!" Mother Matron had pronounced and then proceeded to tie an enraged Katara to her chair. She had demanded her release for some time until Mother Matron informed her that her complaints would do no good, she'd heard them all before as she had spent years breaking girls of bad or unattractive habits. Muttering a string of annoyed comments Katara rolled her eyes and sat back. This was stupid but at least she apparently wasn't the only one who had to endure this dumb treatment. Once resigned to her fate, it hadn't been such a big deal at first, Katara later realized the problem that if Mother Matron left the room and the other servants were in the kitchen there was no one to pass her more food when she'd finished what was on her plate. She ground her teeth and grunted as she fought against the restraints in a desperate attempt to snag a roll that had been placed there, in her opinion, simply to taunt her. Katara asked herself for perhaps the hundredth time that day why the heck she was going along with this. This couldn't really be how they treated every girl brought here to be the Fire Lady.

"So Mother doesn't like your posture either." A nonchalant tone reached her ears. Katara ceased struggling as she looked around to the owner of the voice. She knew it was Mai as she was the only one who could manage to sounds so unconcerned with life all the time but it vexed her to no end that she couldn't see her. She was also intrigued by the 'either' she had heard at the end of Mai's statement. Did that mean Mai had to go through the same thing as a child? Maybe even Azula and Ty Lee? Katara tried to picture it. She could see Mai looking bored and annoyed, Ty Lee just grinning through it all perhaps humming a cheerful tune, and a young Azula buring the restraints off before giving Mother Matron such a fierce tongue lashing it caused Katara to laugh. That at the very least put Katara back into high spirits as the fire nation girl took her time coming around Katara's chair and then sank gracefully into one of the chairs lining the long table.

"Uh, hi Mai." Katara blushed, at how ridiculous she must look especially having laughed out loud over seemingly nothing. "How are you?"

Despite the blankness of her look, Mai's eyes clearly said: Don't patronize me.

"Right…dumb question." Katara sighed. Mai just rolled her eyes. The two sat in silence for a while. Katara thoughts were a cross between getting her hands on that roll and wanting to know what Mai was doing here. She figured however, that pursuing the first was a safer course of action.

"Um, Mai, I don't suppose you could pass me a roll from that basket over there, could you?" Katara asked.

"I was under the impression you weren't allowed to have that if Purya's grumblings is anything to listen to."

Katara nearly growled at Mai's statement. So Purya was going around probably trying to convince everyone in the palace that Katara couldn't pull this off. Katara wasn't particularly interested in being the world's greatest Fire Lady or Lady Hope but the defiant streak in her wanted to prove that vile woman wrong.

"Well, no, not if you're listening to Purya but I don't really think I need to be on a diet." Katara sniffed.

Mai stared at her for a moment then shrugged her shoulder and handed Katara a roll. "Neither do I. You're a pretty girl, Katara."

"Oh, ah, thank you." Katara blushed, momentarily hesitating before devouring her roll. She savored every second of the sweet victory know that if her image councilors got news of this she wouldn't see another roll until her wedding feast. The thought made her want to cry. Then that realization made her want to cry even harder, because that could only mean she was turning into Sokka, to want to cry over the idea of not having a roll for the next couple of weeks. 'Why am I doing this?'

"They asked me to help train you." Mai's voice cut into her thoughts.

"What?" Katara gasped. "No, you don't have to do that."

"What, you don't want me to?" Mai asked, eyes narrowing.

"No, it's not that. It's just…I don't know…Won't that be a little awkward." Katara shrugged.

"Yes, but it has to be done. I won't have you embarrassing Zuko with your lack of court knowledge and who would know better than I what it takes to be the Fire Lady." Mai snapped.

"Oh…" Katara mumbled jiggling her leg under the table. "Well then…"

"We'll get started as soon as you are free from lunch. Meet me in the training hall." With that Mai took her leave of Katara.

Katara stared after her feeling incredibly sorry for Mai. It seemed awfully cruel of them to ask her to train her replacement but at the same time, she was right. For the last couple of years she had probably been prepped to assume the throne and on top of that she was a noble woman so either way she knew a heck of a lot more than Katara did about Fire Nations customs and politics. 'Well if Mai can be strong enough to do this, I can too.' A part of Katara now wanted to succeed just to make Mai proud, to let her know Zuko wasn't in completely hopeless hands. With a new determination, Katara made to get up and follow Mai when her restraints made themselves known to her again.

"Argh! MOTHER MATRON I'M DONE NOW!" Katara hollered, then hung her head. This was so humiliating.

- -

Haru paused in the hallway as he passed by and open door and spotted Katara tied to a chair inside, looking rather annoyed. He scratched his head idly and wondered what on earth she was doing. He contemplated going in and asking her but decided against it with a wave of his hand. Royalty was crazy, King Bumi had certainly shown him that. Asking would probably only confuse him more. Shaking his head at the bazaar scene he continued on his journey to find Ty Lee and ask her if she was still interested in helping with the party. Hands in his pocket he thought fondly of the pretty fire nation girl. Meeting new people was definitely at least one good thing that had come of this whole peace summit.

- -

Zuko sat hunched over several tomes and volumes on the topic of mind corrosion. He was certain his sister's condition was born from the series of abandonments in her life what he needed to know was if there was any way to reverse it. He'd never noticed any of the signs that suggested Azula was slipping until their last fight, she had always been paranoid but when the entire world hates you and your nation it's kind of hard not to be. Being listed among all the people who had "abandoned" her, made Zuko feel extra guilty. It wasn't like he and Azula had been close for a long time but surely being listed meant that somewhere deep down inside, probably so deep she didn't even realize it until her mind cracked, that she still cared about her big brother and what he thought of her.

He wanted to ask for help in his search but he was certain nobody but his uncle would understand and his uncle had more than enough on his mind with entertaining the grumpy old men of the council. While things had calmed down considerably, since the marriage had been arranged, he still didn't like the looks he was getting from a couple of the Earth Nation representatives. Something about their chilling looks made him think they weren't really committed to this agreement but were plotting something new. He made a mental note to ask his servants to keep their ears open for any suspicious behavior. He'd also talk to King Bumi and the other Earth King just to verify the loyalty of the reigning royals of Omashu and Ba Sing Se. If their underlings caused any problems, he could be sure those two would put an end to it for him. Sighing he lugged another book from the shelves lining the hospital wing's walls.

- -

Katara tried not to shift uncomfortably under Mai's critical gaze. She felt incredibly awkward and out of place, like an imposter as she stood before her. This is the person Mai was meant to become, not her. The older girl had every right to hate her but she had said nothing unkind, well she hadn't said anything nice either but Katara figured if the roles were reversed she probably wouldn't help her rival at all. She'd be entirely too stubborn and hurt. Still sore from her beauty, torture she liked to think, treatment, Katara found it hard to concentrate on everything Mai had been telling her she needed to know. Ty Lee sat against a wall giggling occasionally as Katara struggled to stay upright on the ridiculous wooden shoes Purya had found for her. Katara was definitely under the impression that Purya hadn't chosen them for their comfort or fashion sense but simply to torture her.

While the others seemed to be at least open to the idea that they would be serving her Purya made no secret of her distaste for the waterbender. Apparently the women of her line had a long history of serving the Fire Lady and she was insulted first that they would dare change the title but more so that they would insult the fire nation with "an unkempt water tribe mouse". The bitter names she muttered under her breath had hurt Katara's feelings quite a bit at first but when she limped away grumbling to herself Akira, Natsumi, and Nodoka explained to her that they didn't think Purya liked anyone. They'd had all sorts of names and things to say about the old woman that made Katara giggle a little bit. It was good to know she wasn't the only one that suffered the old lady's intense distaste and apparently she had it much better than Fire Lady Ursa had. Since she had been assigned by the council, Purya was less bitter towards her but Fire Lady Ursa had been weak and unfit in Purya's mind. Fire Lady Ursa was subjected to all kinds of name calling and unpleasant little quips in her first days at the palace. It wasn't until after her wedding when she gained the power to threaten Purya with banishment that the old prune learned to mutter her comments more quietly and mostly to herself. Katara smiled in relief at this news, she had been debating approaching Zuko about finding a new seamstress but she didn't want to come off as a demanding brat who banished people before she even got a crown on her head. If she could just block out the comments and make it to her coronation then she'd have plenty to say to Purya about her treatment and possible dismissal if she couldn't keep a tighter lock on her lips.

It was frustrating playing the submissive card but Katara was testing herself. If she could hold out for a day then it was a possibility that she could for the rest of her life. She cringed at the thought and then shook her head. That was ridiculous, she couldn't be this submissive everyday of her life but just knowing she had the ability to withstand someone like Purya was enough encouragement to tell her she could probably hold her own in a room full of obnoxious courtiers. She wouldn't let them talk to her or about in the way Purya had but she certainly wouldn't let them break her either because if Zuko could learn to control his temper she certainly could too. 'Ladies fight with their eyes, not screaming voices.' Her mother had once said. It had seemed ridiculous and stupid before but suddenly very fitting here. She probably couldn't ever limit her fiery spirit to simple glares and quirks of the brow but she could try them out today. Purya was dead wrong if she thought she could goad her into a childish fit just so she could go complaining a gossiping about how unfit she was to rule.

Unfortunately, now was not the time to be thinking about Purya or blocking out comments. Casting her mind about so freely had caused her to miss everything Mai had said to her in the last five minutes of so. Katara crossed her fingers and prayed to Kami that it hadn't been truly important. Turning bright eyes on Mai, Katara tried to rein in her attention.

"You'll do a lot of curtseying so come here and show me the best you've got." Mai commanded. Katara breathed a sigh of relief, perfect timing to tune back in. Now Mai wouldn't know she hadn't been listening and be insulted.

Katara didn't have much curtseying experience, especially not in such a ridiculous get up. Biting her lip, she tottered forward in her too tight dress and uncomfortable shoes. When she was standing in front of Mai, she wobbled down into a graceless curtsey and struggled to keep the book Ty Lee had placed on her head, earlier, from falling. Once she got down into her curtsey she counted to five slowly as Akira had shared with her earlier was a good estimate of time to show respect but not insult herself since she was to be royalty. Grinding her teeth, she forced her tortured skin to continue moving and stretching over her muscles as she came back up cheering herself for not falling over in the process.

"Oh my!" Mai gasped. "That was perfect, Katara!"

"Um, really?" Katara frowned, she'd thought it was horrible and she couldn't be sure but she thought she could detect a hint of sarcasm in Mai's tone.

"Yes…IF YOU WERE A SCULLERY MAID!" Mai shouted. 'This might be harder than I thought. This girl hasn't got a clue.' "What was that?"

"Uh, I don't exactly have much curtseying experience." Katara tried to explain. It was rather annoying getting yelled at all day but if she was going to retaliate she'd save it for someone like Purya or Mother Matron, Mai was probably loathing every minute of this training session any way. It wasn't her fault she was so short tempered, she was training Katara to marry the guy she was in love with. That was some kind of cruel twisted fate.

"Clearly, as that was the most horrid and pathetic attempt I have ever seen." Mai groused. To be fair while it was horrible, Mai had to keep in mind that Katara wasn't raised in the fire nation. Unlike all the girls here, she hadn't been trained since birth in the game of court affairs. She didn't have any clue how to play the game and if Mai didn't do her job the nobles would eat this poor girl alive, she had no idea what she was getting into and her tendency to trust people would get her destroyed in no time. Mai was going to have to toughed her up some and definitely teach her how to stop wearing all her emotions on her sleeve.

"I'm sorry, Mai." Katara's voice cut into her thoughts. 'Don't get angry, just breath. She's used to being around girls who have been doing this all their lives.'

"DON'T APOLOGIZE! Just fix it! You're about to become the most important woman in the fire nation. You don't apologize for flaws, your eradicate them."

"Um, I'll try." Katara mumbled apologetically.

"No, you'll do it. You're not just some girl any more Katara. You're about to become Lady Hope, that's more than a Fire Lady or a Water Tribe Princess. You're about to become a symbol of hope and peace to every nation. Everything you do, everything you are must be drenched in grace, elegance, and beauty. People should be able to call you a moving work of art and mean it, not some clumsy water tribe girl we got stuck with! If you and Zuko can make this work you can prove everyone wrong. There are hundreds of people outside of these walls that want you to fail, they want you guys to fight or my people to embarrass themselves by rebelling against this attempt at peace. If you can appear to be happy and someone worthy of this proud nation's respect then you've already achieved more than anyone could have hoped because then no one can deny it's possible for us to live in peace. Fire and Water are complete opposite, you and Zuko have had your issues in the past, we all have reasons to sabotage this marriage but we'll have to show our strength and resolve. This is a cruel test of my people's want for peace, it is an insult to have to be so submissive, but we won't let them break us or goad us back into war. So you had better not fail."

"I'll try harder." Katara whispered. She was so shocked right now, she'd never seen Mai so passionate about anything. The girl had always been so lifeless but now, she was so different. Her mask was still in place but there was a fire in her eyes and a determination in her voice. Her love for her country was evident and Katara finally understood what Zuko maybe saw in her. Honestly, she'd always secretly wondered how Zuko could enjoy the company of such an emotionless person but perhaps there was a side of Mai that she had yet to discover.

"Good, now let's get to work on your stance because if you can't even stand up straight, you certainly can't curtsey. I had hoped your poor posture was just you being lazy but you seem quite comfortable standing like that so we're going to break the habit. Now posture straight, press your center in a bit, stick your chest out a bit, and lift your chin. You should always hold your head high. Shoulders back and round your arms, lastly if you aren't using your hands, tuck them into your sleeves. Now smile you've got a secret."

Katara snapped to attention, trying to take in all the commands at once. She squirmed around trying to fulfill every request and ended up falling out of her shoes. She had no idea how she'd managed that but blushed furiously as the book that had been on her head clattered to the floor.

Mai slapped a hand to her forehead, groaning. "We have such a long way to go."

Ty Lee giggled and nodded. "Perhaps you should get some rest Katara, and we'll think on the situation, hmm?"

"Sounds great to me." Katara grinned, relieved that maybe her day or torturous embarrassment had come to an end.

"Yes, that is perhaps for the best." Mai nodded and waved Katara out of the room.

- -

(A/N: Suki is probably OC but I wanted there to be at least one girl Katara could talk to later on when everyone else is driving her crazy so she needs someone that is trying to be understanding.)

Aang sighed as he played half heartedly with Momo. Everyone was milling around as if life was completely normal. Sokka seemed to be the only one on his side as of right now but Suki was working on calming him down. He couldn't believe she'd go for this, wasn't she supposed to be all about women's rights. When he had accused her of betraying her own beliefs she had just sighed as if very tired.

'We can kick and scream all we want but do you really think that's going to change the council's minds. In fact, a tantrum is what the trouble makers want. They're just waiting for Zuko to throw a fit or the Fire Nation to rebel. It's a trap really to use their own pride against them. In theory it should all be so simple to just coexist but in truth the only simple thing in life is war. It's what comes after that is hard. Diplomacy is a battle not easily won." Suki had said.

"Well then it's wrong and we should fight it." Aang replied, he was trying to understand, really, this just didn't make any sense.

"That's not really our decision Aang. Katara is underage so her father has the right, whether we agree or not, to make that decision for her so unless Zuko flat out refuses, nothing is going to change."

"So why doesn't he?"

"I don't know Aang, he's probably just as tired as everyone else. If he says no to this, we all go back in the meeting room and start exactly where we left off, nowhere. And with tempers escalading the way they were it was sure to end in someone eventually saying something that would launch another war."

"Then we'd fight it."

"I think everyone's had enough of war."

"We've had enough of our freedoms taken away too."

"You're right, I agree with you but it's Zuko and Katara's decision at the end of the day."

"I thought you said Katara didn't have a choice?"

"She could always go tell Zuko there's no way in the world she'd go along with this and he wouldn't force her too. He's a better person than that."

"So why doesn't she?"

"I don't know Aang!" Suki cried, this was getting ridiculous and repetitive. The person he needed to be talking to was Katara. Suki was having a hard enough time coming up with reasons for Sokka to chill out before he ended up insulting someone. "You'd have to ask Katara that."

Everyone was being so lazy about all this. So they'd have to have a few more boring meetings that was a small price to pay wasn't it. Why would Katara go through with this? It wasn't fair and it didn't make sense.

"What's on your mind, twinkle toes?" Toph's voice entered his thoughts just seconds before she dropped down beside him.

"What do you think?" Aang sighed, burying his head in his arms.

"Still brooding, are you?"

"Argh, Toph! Why are you being like this? Didn't you leave your home because you were sick of stuff like this?"

"Yeah."

"Well, then why aren't you doing anything to help Katara?"

"She hasn't asked for help."

"She thinks she's doing the right thing, of course she's not going to ask."

"Then maybe we shouldn't interfere. It seems to me all things work out in the end."

"What?" Aang frowned, turning to look at her. Now that made no sense.

"You wanted us to find a way to defeat Fire Lord Ozai without killing him and none of us could but then when you disappeared a new opportunity presented itself. I thought I was going to be stuck at home being treated like an invalid and then you guys showed up and changed everything for me. Zuko was a confused angry guy when we first met him and now he's the Fire Lord and he's not so angry or confused. It doesn't make sense how any of it happened and we all had to struggle and lose something to gain the place we're at now. So don't you think things will work themselves out again?"

"Are you looking on the bright side?" Aang asked in disbelief.

"I'm just trying it out, twinkle toes. Once you stop sulking around you can go back to being the prophetic one." Toph grinned.

Aang just drooped his head to rest on his knees. Toph was right but this was all still just so hard to accept.

- -

Katara glanced around the hospital wing. While her first goal after getting out of training was to go see her friends, she also wanted a bit of practice on the few things Mai had mentioned as most important today. On her tour of the Fire Nation palace, she remembered seeing the hospital wing and noticing that it seemed to have many empty corridors and several books. She figured spending a couple of minutes balancing books on her head would probably be a good idea so she'd embarrass herself less tomorrow. Deciding she was alone after a brief look around the main hallway Katara picked up a large book and placed it on top of her head. Taking a deep breath she tried to remember everything Mai had said when fixing her stance and then she began to walk as slowly as possible, as not to upset the book on her head. She concentrated on balance as she placed one foot before the other while keeping her shoulders back and her head high. She imaged herself proceeding in to a beautiful court of smiling laughing people. She was wearing a beautiful dress and comfortable cloth shoes. She was floating along like a little boat smiling and waving to friends. She approached the steps just below the two immaculate chairs she remembered seeing in the throne room used to banquets and celebrations. There standing next to his golden throne was Zuko. A blush stained her cheeks as she offered a curtsey to the regal man before her. A flirtatious look was passed between them as he bowed to her in return before he came down, took her hand and lead her into a beautiful dance. Zuko smiled down at her, as he twirled her about. This wasn't so bad afterall, Katara smiled feeling warm and carefree in his arms. He was always so much more handsome when he smiled. He was laughing now, a carefree laugh and she joined in tossing her head back…

THOOMP!

Katara nearly jumped out of her skin as the book she'd placed on her head earlier crashed to the floor, effectly bringing her back from her ridiculous day dream. Now she felt stupid, and was blushing at the very idea of blushing just because Zuko smiled at her. He smiled at her all the time now, or at least he used to prior to this whole arranged marriage thing. His smiles were certainly nothing to be blushing over. And, oh Kami, she had called him handsome in her daydream. It wasn't that he wasn't handsome or good looking she just never really thought of him as handsome or good looking. He was just Zuko. Zuko of the amazing arms and impressive abs…She blushed, now that was new, well not really. She had noticed him before when he'd been training Aang but since she was so focused on Aang at the time, the thoughts just breezed right by her. Suki had really been the only one to mention how built Zuko was and that was when she was telling Sokka if he worked out a little more he could compete with Zuko for the manliest man award in the group. Aang had jumped in at that point asking what about him and Toph had jumped into the banter and said he'd have to wait for his voice to change before he could even think of competing with the big boys. The girls had laughed and Aang and Sokka had taken it upon themselves to form an alliance and prove their medal by challenging Zuko for the manliest man title. Zuko had rolled his eyes and shrugged at the foolishness when they needed to be preparing for the comet but decided to go with it as it seemed Aang was finally focused on fighting at the very least. Katara blushed now as she thought it over, Aang was probably trying to impress her by challenging Zuko and Zuko couldn't have cared less what she thought. Aang and Sokka had lost miserably but had fought valiantly so Suki decided to call Sokka the "cutest bravest man" which he grinned like an idiot over for days. Katara had patted Aang on the arm and told him well done and Toph just laughed about the beating the two had taken.

It had been such a good day and it seemed so long ago. Katara sighed as she collected the book from the floor. She reached up to put the book on her head and gasped as she realized very suddenly that she was no longer alone.