Chapter 10
Making Strides
Katara awoke the next morning, with the rising sun. She smiled pleasantly at Lo and Li's surprised faces.
"I'll be taking my breakfast with Fire Lord Zuko and my friends this morning if you please and as I have it on good authority that the Fire Lord is will be in a meeting for some time this morning I'd like to go back to sleep. Thank you." Katara smiled rolled over and pulled the covers back over her head.
Lo and Li gaped at each other then at the girl curled up in her bed. Just yesterday they had been wondering if she was cut out for this position and this morning it was as if a whole new girl lay before them. Exchanging secretive smiles they closed the curtains they had thrown open and shooed Purya and the other servants from the room. She could have an hour more of sleep but since getting bathed and dressed did take long, they'd give her no more than that.
Hearing the others leave Katara grinned to herself. 'Maybe I can do this after all.' Her smile didn't vanish as she quickly allowed herself to sink back into a pleasant dream.
- -
"So, have you heard from any of your contacts?" General Kawamura, asked as casually as he'd ask about the weather.
Hiromu was gazing out over the landscape of the fire nation when Kawamura decided to join him on the expansive walls of the palace. He didn't move his head as he allowed his eyes to scan over Kawamura to make sure it was really him.
"I have." He replied without looking away from the lush nation that sprawled before him.
"Disgusting isn't it?" Kawamura commented as he too turned his gaze out over the fire nation. "They live so comfortably while our lands are in ruins, when this is over we'll take the resources we need to fix our lands and force these people to work it until all is right again."
"That would be true justice, wouldn't it." Hiromu mused.
"Indeed."
"I have friends back home, stirring up trouble, spreading rumors. There will be so much chaos and confusion by the time the Earth King returns to Ba Sing Se that it should be easy to manipulate him."
"Why not just dispose of him in general?" Kawamura asked, an evil glint coming into his eye.
"That's treason of you to even say."
"All of it is treason so why not go for the full monty. The man is weak, he let us be conquered in the first place and now he would entertain the idea of peace without spilling the last of Sozin and Ozai's blood. It is disgraceful, the Earth Kingdom is stronger than that."
"And what of Bumi and Omashu? You don't think they'll notice?"
"We just have to keep them distracted. By the time they realize the rebellion we've started it'll be too late to save our king."
"And how will you keep them distracted?"
"This ridiculous quest for peace will keep them occupied for the next month so I think spreading some rumors of what this peace agreement means for the rest of the world might be a pleasant way to start a civil war. We could easily lure more man power from the city then."
"What do you mean by 'what this peace agreement means'?"
"Well who is this really helping? All I see is the fire nation getting off free and the Water Tribes being lifted up. The girl will protect her people and the boy will dote on them to keep her brother and father happy. How can we be certain she will protect the Earth Kingdom as well? We're just allowing the order of the White Lotus to vouch for her. Bumi is crazy as it is. Can he really have his nation's best interests are heart? Is he even competent enough to rule? Perhaps it is time that crazy old man is replaced?"
Hiromu nodded as he listened. "Yes, yes that might work. Asking questions, giving no answers. We'll let their own concerns and doubts turn them against their king. Then while he rallies his defenders and supports we are free to take Ba Sing Se. It's brilliant."
"I know it is. Make sure your friends are trustworthy. We need to work with the utmost stealth to remain undetected."
"I assure you, we can be trusted."
"Good, I'll see you around then."
- -
"So has anyone here ever actually been to an engagement party?" Sokka asked. His eyes scanned the group for a single nod but he got none. It had been a slim chance since the war had kept them all so preoccupied so he wasn't too put out. "Well then I guess we'll just have to have a party and throw in some kind of engagement twist, eh."
"I still don't see why we're having a party anymore. There's nothing to celebrate." Aang cut in.
"I know but I promised Katara I'd try to be understanding and I think a party could do her some good. Plus it's really a shame to let all these plans go to waste." Sokka said.
"It could be fun twinkle toes. You could meet a new girl and everything." Toph grinned.
"I don't want to meet a new girl." Aang sulked. Under his breath he muttered, "I want the old one."
"Ty Lee's worked really hard on a guest list of local teenagers who will come celebrate with us and if they're even half as pretty as she is you're sure to find one you like." Haru said, then blushed as everyone made silly comments about him calling Ty Lee pretty. "Shut up."
The gang chuckled as they set to work on finalizing all their plans so they could finally have their party.
- -
Zuko sat across from his sister, separated by the bars yet again. He'd decided the best course of action to helping her was to spend time with her, treating her like a normal person and just letting her know someone cared. As he ate a small breakfast with her, he tried to hold short conversations with her and chose to ignore the moments went she went off on her crazed rants. He struggled to find things to talk to her about at first, but eventually he just let go of the fear of her judgment and talked about anything he wished he had the freedom to discuss with someone. Who was Azula going to tell anyway?
So he'd sat there for some time, telling her about his hopes to find their mother when things had calmed down, telling her about the arranged marriage, telling her how he thought Ty Lee and Mai probably missed her. He'd had to stop talking shortly after mentioning Mai and Ty Lee as the names seemed to bring a fresh wave of irritation and insanity. Azula had started shouting about traitors and false friends, while clutching at her head and shaking it violently. Zuko had, had to reach through the bars and grab her arms to stop her from thrashing about for fear she would hurt herself.
"Hey calm down, I'm sorry. I won't mention them again…" Zuko tried to sooth her.
"Don't touch me!" She screamed, smacking his hands away. "I hate you, don't touch me. You betrayed me, you betrayed your nation, you left me all alone, I had no one, I have no one. I can trust no one."
"Do you really think that or is that just what your head is telling you?" Zuko tried to stay calm remembering he was trying to help her.
"It's the truth. It's what father told me and it's the truth."
"Azula, our father is in a prison far away from here."
"He's not…He talks to me. He's the only one who cares about me. The only one who didn't abandon or betray me."
"He betrayed you in the worst of ways. It's all this nonsense about not trusting anyone that's made you so paranoid you've driven yourself mad and it was him that told you such things. He's the one who told you, you had no one but it but that wasn't true. You had Mai and Ty Lee."
"They betrayed me."
"No, they stood up for what was right."
"They betrayed the entire fire nation, just like you. You're all traitors and you certainly don't care about me."
"I do care about you."
"Stop lying. I hate you. I hate you. I was all alone because of you. You were just too weak, so I had to be strong, I had to redeem our name every time you screwed up. I was the one under pressure AND LOOK WHAT IT'S DONE TO ME!" Azula screamed.
Zuko was shocked into silence. Did Azula understand? Was she maybe not as crazy as he thought she was or was she just experiencing a moment of mental clarity? Either way that last statement had made sense. He disagreed with it but it made sense. Had Azula thought she had to make up for all his failures? Had the pressure of trying to keep their father proud of at least one of his children driven her to this madness? Did she think on some crazy scale that she had been protecting him? No, that didn't make sense because she had tried so many times to kill him. 'But she didn't kill me.' Zuko thought. 'But it wasn't for a lack of trying either, I just happen to be skilled at evasion.' He watched his sister closely. She made no move to say anything and neither did he. They avoided each other's gazes in silence. 'I wish I knew what to do.'
"Do you want to get better Azula?" Zuko finally asked.
"What is better?" She looked him directly in the eye as she asked this and the directness of it startled Zuko backwards.
After a pause he finally responded. "I don't know, but I think we can figure it out together. You seem to understand me today."
"I understand you every day."
"Then why…" Zuko stopped, despite the fact that a moment ago Azula seemed almost normal now her eyes had slid out of focus again. There was a crazed glint in them and she seemed to not be looking at him anymore but through him. Zuko shuddered at the creepy stare. Much as he wanted to talk to her some more, to see if he could get her to start making sense again, he had a meeting to go to with the high nobles of the fire nation. Standing, he told the guards to be sure they talked to her when she was feeling up to it and encourage her to stay focused on normal behaviors. With those final instructions he returned to the palace for a long morning of boring meetings with stuffy, arrogant men.
- -
Katara's day had passed without much excitement. She'd told Purya this morning the fabrics and designs she felt comfortable wearing and gave the older woman a strong suggestion to have some ready for tomorrow or she would return to her water tribe clothing. Purya had looked furious but the look Mother Matron gave her told her she didn't have a choice. Mother had seemed to warm up to her now that she was showing some authority, perhaps they had only picked on her because she had allowed them to the first day thinking that was how she was supposed to behave. Either way she felt more comfortable now, and her training with Mai and Ty Lee seemed to go much more smoothly. Now that the two girls had sense of her abilities they were able to come up with an orderly plan of how to prepare her for her upcoming nuptials and presentation to the fire nation royal court. Even though it wasn't over yet, Katara could smile and truly say, she'd had her first good day since the news of her engagement.