Part 5
Cradled by her strong arms, the water bender was able to relax slightly. But her stomach sunk knowing that this could not last. The Dai Li would come by any minute now. What would they say if they saw them clinging to each other for dear life? They'd probably turn against their new leader and Azula's goal would be crushed. Which would be a good thing for Katara and the rest of the Earth Kingdom but then everyone would know. There had to be no evidence that this moment ever occurred.
Gathering what courage she had, defying her heart's desire to just stay there and be held by the fire bender, she slipped out of the prodigy's arms. She stared into the princess' gold irises which for the first time reflected sorrow. She tried to speak but her throat was sore and it felt like she was being choked by an unseen hand. Her tan hands were trembling from the fear pulsing through her veins, the fear of being seen, caught. She grasped the fire bender's soft cheeks and forced them to look at her. Though, she doubted the prodigy would look anywhere else right now.
"You know you can't stay." She whispered her squeaky voice barely came through the air. "I'd rather have you go and know that some nights you'll stay up late thinking about me than have them make you a prisoner. This could destroy the both of us you know that." The fire bender shook her head faintly not wanting to hear those words.
"No…no I don't care anymore." The fire bender replied and moved a little closer to the water bender. "Let them see, let them know, I want to be with you." Azula was speaking with her passion not her mind. Somehow she had to snap some sense into the fire bender before time ran out.
"Use your head!" she hissed in desperation, her eyes darting from the princess to the door. She swore she heard footsteps in the distance belonging to one of the guards; the very force that would forever keep them apart was inching ever so close now. "If we choose to go down this road right now, it won't lead to a happy ending. Maybe one day things might change and this could happen, but not now." The princess looked broken, devastated by the water bender's words. It looked like every word had been a direct attack on the fire bender's heart.
"Ask to me to do anything for you and I will Katara, but not that." The prodigy said through her teeth, her confident voice sounded shaky this time as if the princess wasn't sure what to do. The footsteps were about a third of the way down the hall, they didn't have any time left, and Azula needed to be heading out of the door right now. "Anything but that."
The water bender came onto her feet and had to pull Azula onto hers, she hurried across the dark cell having to drag the princess along. Not a lot of time left but there was time for one last word. She turned to the fire bender, showing all her love in once glance, one moment. "Right now I need you be my enemy, prove your love to me with your hate. Every horrible thing you do, to me and my friends, will show me how much you care. Whenever I tell you I hate you, I want you to know that it actually means I love you."
Barely a second left, she leaned up and pressed her lips to Azula's one last time before it would be too late. Before it could even be called a kiss she pulled away and opened the thick iron door and gave the fire bender a gentle push. "Go." She said softly. The fire bender stepped into the hallway only looking back once. The prodigy closed the cell door and sealed everything precious to her inside.
The water bender let out a great sigh. She didn't move away from the door instead she placed her ear to it; her palm came to the cold metal which had remnants of heat since the fire bender had touched it. Closing her eyes, she focused on nothing but the sounds on the other side. She could hear Azula's uneven breathing, the tiny noise of the princess' heart beating.
It was odd; somehow this wall and this door proved that this is what it would be like for a very long time. She would be on this side and the princess would be on the other. They would always be aware of each other, but never could they touch or even see each other's smile. Already the separation felt like eternity.
Somehow even though this door was between them, she could feel the princess, like energy. The fire bender's feelings as new as they were, were strong and powerful, came through the air, straight through the door and ran through Katara, filling her with hope. They were connected by a single invisible rope, love. As long as that survived these barriers were nothing.
The footsteps of the Dai Li agent, who rarely came by to check up on the one prisoner down there, came to a respectable distance from the fire bender. She could imagine the look of surprise on his face. He must be wondering what on earth the princess was doing coming out of the water bender's cell at four in the morning. She could tell from the silence that no doubt he was nervous. He'd probably liked his job, and he was able to avoid seeing his new leader, then this had to happen.
She didn't know what to expect from Azula. Had she changed the princess? Could she possibly have shattered the cold hearted fire bender and made her become somewhat nice? Or at least she thought it might've taken awhile for the fire bender to regain her solid confidence after being torn from what she wanted. But obviously she underestimated the princess like always.
"P-princess." The Dai Li agent spoke, it sounded like he was ready to pee his pants. She could imagine that he was shaking terribly under his dark robes. Somehow she could see Azula straighten with pride and smile at how pathetic and inferior this man was compared to her. "I w-wasn't expecting you." He added quickly.
Here came the part where she worried. She was praying that the fire bender wasn't going to be defiant. She didn't want Azula to choose what she wanted, which automatically made Katara feel like the bad guy now. Everything she hoped for was everything that could only make the fire bender feel more sorrow. This was a horrible fate; no wonder Azula didn't want anything to do with it. But it was too late to turn back now. They'd already made up their minds. If this was their dreadful fate, they'd go through it together.
"Well, if you had a brain you would've known I would come down here. What's the point of having a hostage if you can't get some of their information?" Katara's lips curled into a smile at the tone of that voice. Azula's old assured voice, with only hints of the twisted thoughts that went on in that brain of hers, was as strong as ever. It was like the princess never even met the water bender.
"You were in there asking questions all night?" the man asked in shock. Judging from his voice, he seemed to feel pity for the water bender who had to deal with the fire bender all through the night. He probably thought Katara had been tortured when really she'd been just fine except for the rough beginning of the encounter. The water bender rubbed her bruised cheek; she'd have to get Azula for that one.
"You know these Water Tribe scum," The princess knocked on the door and since the water bender's ear was pressed to it, nearly made her deaf. She guessed Azula knew she was listening in. She snatched her ear and bit down on her lip to keep herself from hissing a million curses at the fire bender. "-they don't cooperate very easily."
"What did you find?" he asked. Katara expected a long pause as the princess scrambled to come up with a lie. But a perfect liar already had a story made up before the question was even asked, and they delivered something believable. If you were Azula, you could pull of a lie without ever having to actually say a lie.
"Nothing a Dai Li agent needs to know." The fire bender replied coolly. The familiar chill ran down Katara's spine at hearing how heartless the fire bender's words were. "I want the prisoner moved." The unexpected command caught both the man and Katara by surprise.
"Why?" The agent asked while she whispered to herself in the cell. She pressed her throbbing ear against the door again to listen in closely. The fire bender kept the long pause knowing she had the both of them on their toes. She could tell Azula was just savoring her moment of power over them. Just answer the darn question already!
"When the Avatar decides to come and save her, I don't want her in an obvious place like a prison cell." It was plain and clear that that wasn't the real reason why Azula wanted to move Katara. She could hear that warm pale hand brush across the door, instantly the water bender pressed her hand to the shape spot. "I want her in the Crystal Catacombs."
The man didn't seem to have any suspicions and he would do the order without questioning. Good, the fire bender had done what she was supposed to. They had made it look like nothing had happened, when the most important thing had taken place. The Dai Li agent stared to move towards the door. She could feel Azula remove her hand from the metal and start to walk away. But the princess suddenly stopped.
"Oh and be careful she's a little angry." The fire bender said hinting secretly to Katara about what her job was. She almost slapped her forehead, she hadn't even thought about what she should do once the agent came in! Okay now she had to act like the fire bender had actually tortured her, that she was angry and hostile. She could do this right? She moved away from the door and stared out of the tiny square window.
The door opened and the second it did she reacted and ran towards it. Not really caring she punched towards his face, pretending to be furious. He was knocked backwards and Katara ran out of the cell and slid to a stop before she hit the wall of the hallway. She spotted Azula at the end of the hall and she tried not to smile. "Come here you coward!" her voice echoed. The princess simply ignored her like she would any other prisoner.
Cold metal cuffs locked around her wrists and she was pulled back towards the man who led her down the opposite way. For a moment she tried to get free, she sure didn't want to be locked up, she wanted to get out of there and warn people about the coup. But she stopped her resisting knowing it was just wasting her energy.
She looked over her shoulder watching Azula out of the corner of her eye. This was goodbye, for now at least. They would see each other again, she was certain of it. Hopefully one of these next meetings of theirs, one of them might be as good as this one had been. This was only the beginning of the long chain of prohibited moments. Which would one day lead to happy ending, or at least that's what she knew in her heart.
Part 6
She felt just a little better now, knowing that Katara wouldn't be locked up in a little box. At least the catacombs were far more welcoming than the prison cells were. She hoped that that would be a good place to keep her…closest friend. Maybe the Avatar won't be able to find her down there. If she was lucky she'd be able to keep the water bender close to her like her other prisoner Suki. Though she would never treat the Water Tribe girl like that, never again.
Her eyelids were going at it again. Using all her will she managed to keep them open. All she wanted to do was stop in her tracks and just close her eyes…for a little…while. The princess jolted and shook her head trying to stay awake. She did have sleep, not a lot but enough to keep her going. Besides all she had to do was sit back and enjoy the show the Dai Li put on.
Speaking of sleep, that dream…the one she had in the two seconds she managed to sleep, was very odd. It was vivid and clear, it felt like she was really there. It would be a miracle if you could classify that a regular old dream but she knew it didn't fit the definition of a dream. The fire bender chuckled at the crazy thought that lingered in the back of her mind. There was just no way…only the Avatar had visions of the future, right? But then again, she was Avatar Roku's descendant. No, no there was just no way she had seen a glimpse of the future.
Another tiny laugh escaped the princess as she made her way through the underground tunnels, passing by small clusters of lime colored crystals. She was about to take over the entire Earth Kingdom today, she was going to do something unthinkable for a fourteen year old, and she found herself laughing. Usually she would have been expressionless, but not now. Life was different now that she knew the water bender. Everything just made her think of that face, of that amazing time in the cell. She was just so happy, she couldn't resist laughing. Even more shocking she actually liked this feeling.
Prove your love to me with your hate. This would be their secret way of showing they cared, by pretending to hate each other and do the worst things ever possible to one another. Again, she laughed, she was going to take over the entire Earth Kingdom and bring down the Avatar. Would that be enough proof for the water bender?
She let out a sigh as she turned the corner, there wasn't enough light in the tunnel so she was forced to create a tiny blue flame. She wasn't heading back to the surface just yet; she had to go give a pep talk to the Dai Li before the coup was put into motion. Like all treasonous meetings they took place underground. She guessed that was good for her since she hadn't seen daylight in hours. She groaned at the thought of feeling that horrible sting that happened when you see bright light after being in the dark.
There was a noise at the end of the tunnel and she could see a small golden torch, whoever was holding it was obscured, but as they got closer she realized that it was Mai. The tall knife thrower looked rather ridiculous in the Kyoshi Warrior armor. She, herself, probably looked like a fool in the armor as well, which is why she was glad to change at the first chance she got. Mai eyed her with envy because the fire bender was in more comfortable clothes.
"Where've you been? We looked everywhere for you." The knife thrower mumbled with no enthusiasm or any sense of emotion for that matter. For a fraction of a second, the princess felt like explaining the long hours she had spent in that cell, but she remembered her, Mai, and Ty Lee weren't that close. Besides, they think she's straight. Her little tale would just remain between her and Katara.
"I was busy." She pretty much spat the words out. She was tired and somewhat cranky that she couldn't sleep and that she couldn't be with the water bender right then. Mai's questions were annoying to answer anyway. The knife thrower's expression changed from blank to angry. In return she gave Mai a nasty look back. Sure, she was controlling and selfish, people just needed to deal with it.
After the evil glaring contest, Mai shrugged and let her anger go, it wasn't like she could ever get revenge on Azula. "They're waiting for you." the knife thrower grumbled and stepped aside to let the princess take the lead.
She led them into a large cave size hall; the ceiling was so high up it couldn't even be seen. In two rows going down the hall were huge statues of earth benders on large square platforms, their heads and shoulders couldn't even be seen they were so high up. Illuminating the ground were dim green lights resting on squares of green paint that went down the hall.
She came onto one of the statues platform which had stairs leading to the regular floor where the Dai Li stood lined up in perfect rows. All of them looked like they'd been smacked with a plank of wood; they seemed tense and scared, as they should be when meeting her. Glancing around, she took in each and every one of their horrible faces. She wanted to laugh again because she knew, she owned them.
"The Earth Kingdom and The Council of Five do not trust the Dai Li." She began. A lot of time she would bend these little speeches of hers into manipulating words instead of encouraging. In this case she was manipulating the Dai Li of course. She wanted them to believe that they were not trusted, that they would loose power, all people are afraid to loose their control over others. She just wanted to make it clear that not having trust was something they didn't want.
"They imprisoned your leader, Long Feng." She continued. Mentioning this was key. It proved that indeed the Earth King and The Council of Five were serious. When taking out an enemy, you always go for the queen bee first. That way all the followers will be left scrambling and confused. Much like the strategy the Avatar was going to use on her father, ha he'll find out that his little invasion plan won't go too good. But that's another time.
"Soon they will turn on all of you, and eliminate you." She stated clearly. Instantly, they all seemed to get even more frightened. This line of her speech was only to provoke fear; she wanted to push them into action. She wanted to make them believe if they did nothing they'd be destroyed and become powerless. They were falling into the trap so easily. Just to make it sound even scarier she added, "Seizing power today is a matter of life and death." She watched as beads of sweat came down some of their faces.
She came down from the pedestal to be closer to them. The reaction she got when she was close to someone was always priceless. Enough manipulating and convincing, she had done that already, now it was time to boss her new minions around. "This coup must be swift and decisive." She commanded, she swore heads would be rolling if they didn't do this the exact way she wanted them to. "The Earth King and each of the five generals must be taken out simultaneously. Long Feng has placed you under my command while we overthrow the government." The fire bender had to make it obvious that Long Feng was no longer in charge, they needed to do what she said now, no questions allowed.
Because she just loved picking on random people, she came over to one of the agents with a scar on his face, she didn't know what it was, and she just hated people with scars. "If I sense any disloyalty, any hesitation, I will snuff it out." She declared in a vicious tone. "That is all." Eagerly, the Dai Li turned and headed out of the large hall, while she came over to Ty Lee who poured her a cup of tea.
She gladly took it but didn't show she was thankful for it. The smooth surface of the cup felt nice on her skin and she absorbed the heat coming from the hot tea. The fire bender was too busy staring at the tea to hear what Ty Lee had said but Mai's words managed to reach her brain. "There are still a few loose ends. The Avatar, my brother and uncle." She said before chugging the tea, the hot liquid burning her throat as it went down. Damn, she was hoping that might wake her up a little.
The acrobat leaned against the table, tilting her head to side as she observed the fire bender with curiosity. "So where were you?" the girl asked, acting like Azula had been up to something very sneaky, which she had been. "You weren't with a boy were you?" the acrobat teased. Azula's eyes grew wide, they almost looked like they were about to pop out, and the fire bender had accidentally spat out a little tea and raised her arm to wipe it on her arm guard.
"Come on Azula you were with someone last night spill the Fire Flakes." Mai said crossing her arms. Great, now they were both on her case about that? She didn't even know what to say in her defense. There was no point in denying it was clear she had been with someone, she just couldn't tell them who. If she told them the same lie she told the Dai Li agent they'd suspect something more, they knew Azula gave up on a prisoner after three hours but continued to come back every day.
Letting out a very, very long sigh she set the cup down on the table. This was absolutely humiliating to say. "Alright Ty Lee you caught me." She admitted, she'd go along with this stupid theory, she didn't need any trouble today. Everything had to go smoothly and tiny secrets about her didn't need to be swarming about.
This excited the acrobat to no end. "Was he cute?!" Ty Lee squeaked and the fire bender jolted back from the loud noise. She saw the look of anticipation on the acrobat's face and she felt even stupider now as she nodded, but just barely. The acrobat leaped onto Azula and she almost fell over from the unexpected weight added on her legs. "Aww I'm so happy for you!"
Uncomfortably, she raised her hand and patted the acrobat. "Yeah…me to." She grumbled dismally and tried to slither out of Ty Lee's arms. "Ty…Ty…I have to go." She said quickly and unstuck the acrobat from her and headed away before the girl could re-cling to her.
Part 7
She took calm deep breaths, she focused on the one thing she truly wanted right then. All the turmoil that rest in her was gone right now, it didn't exist. Power flowed through her, as if a bucket of energy was poured onto her. She could feel the positive. She could feel the negative. Without even having to command her arms, they moved all on their own, in beautiful arcs. Streaks of electricity flowed gracefully from her index and middle fingers creating a screeching sound.
Her fingers touched and the opposite energies crashed together. They became trapped in her left hand now. She had to fight to keep her arm steady, but this was easy. She'd been practicing, training nonstop, for this one glorious moment. There was no way she could mess this up.
Leaning forward she released the bolt that she built in her veins. Lightning flew from her fingers, tearing though the air as it rushed towards its target. The glowing boy had barely come out of his crystal tent when the lightning struck his back. The only one who saw it coming was her. Everyone else stared up at the body which jerked and shook as the lightning made its way through, frying everything in its path. The Avatar didn't even have time to scream in pain before he was thrown unconscious.
She came out of her stance and watched with wide, joyous, eyes as the Avatar fell down…down…down. The boy was caught by the water bender at last second. Katara sat on her knees, her long dark brown hair was free from its braid, and streams of tears ran down her tan cheeks. Azula had done what she had to. Now she regretted it. The water bender's tear filled eyes found her and she wanted to look away.
The fire bender was too busy to notice that her uncle came in front of the Water Tribe girl and the nearly dead Avatar, but it was not necessary, Azula would not attack. Guiding Katara with her eyes, she stared off at the water fall in the distance. "Go." She mouthed. The water bender nodded lightly so no one noticed they had been communicating.
The princess watched as the water bender headed up towards the surface, to freedom before the Dai Li could capture them. This was goodbye, for now at least. They would see each other again, she was certain of it. But a moment like the one they had just hours ago, would not come any time soon. They were going to be separated for as long as this war lasted. Azula would be waiting because the moment would come, or at least that's what she knew in her heart.
