Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or The Last Airbender.
Bodyguard of Azula
Chapter 22: Purge and Save
"Talking"
"Thinking"
"Bijū/spirit talking"
"Bijū/spirit thinking"
(Location: Fire Nation)
Appa swam down the course of a river that was infested with brown sludge. While Sokka, Katara, Toph, and Akela were on Appa, Aang and Momo were playing in the water. "Momo!" the Airbender called out, popping out of the water. As the lemur flew towards him, he went under the water again. "Oh Momo!" he called out again from a different spot. He went under and popped out of the water a third time, but this time Momo landed on his head. "You found me, buddy!" he said laughing. He leapt out of the water and back into the saddle. "Hey guys, I think this river's polluted."
"What tipped you off?" Sokka asked, looking at the sludge-covered Avatar. Aang was about to Airbend the sludge off when he said "Hey! Turn around and do that!" Aang faced the river and bent the air, sending the sludge back, making it land with a sound that almost sounded sickening.
"It looks we'll need to go somewhere else to get food," Katara noted as she looked at the river. She doubted that they would be able to find any food here (not unless they wanted to be very sick afterwards).
"That's fine, so long as we don't take too long doing it," her brother noted as he looked at a local map and his journal, which held the number of days left until the invasion. With each day done and gone, he would scratch it off.
"Hey, maybe we can get food there!" Aang said, pointing forward. Up ahead was a village, sitting in the river.
"Is there anything that must be done today?" Azula asked as she readied herself for the day.
"Nope, you're free to go see them," Naruto told her from the doorway, watching her finish up.
"Truth be told, I feel bad for not going to see them earlier." She had been so busy being a dutiful princess of the Fire Nation and making sure her bastard sister wasn't doing anything that could possibly hurt her or Zuko.
"But now you are going to see them. They'll be happy to see their big sister, of that I'm sure." Once she was done, the two of them walked out of the room and into the hallways of the Royal Palace.
"Azula!" called out Ty Lee when the two of them passed her as well as Mai, Kori, and Zuko. "Where are you going?" she asked as she and the others caught up with them.
"I'm going down to see a few people," Azula told the acrobat.
"When do you go to see people?' Mai asked, completely deadpan. The last time she checked, her friend was not the kind of person who visited people.
She defended what she was doing. "It happens!"
"She's going to the orphanage," Naruto explained. He figured that if they knew, they would stop asking delaying questions.
"You mean the one that has the kid who tried to steal from you?" Ty Lee asked her friend.
"You mean Spunk? Yeah, I am."
"Why is he named Spunk?" Kori asked. That sounded like a weird name for a person.
"The boy has lots of it," Naruto answered. "You guys gonna come?"
Mai shrugged. "I'm bored."
"You're always bored, Doom and Gloom," he replied with a straight face.
"Don't make me eviscerate you," she threatened, fingering a knife.
"We've had that talk already. You've tried and failed." She scowled, but the knife was put away.
"What about Gaara and the others?" Kori asked. She hadn't seen the redhead or his siblings ever since yesterday. Usually, they were right beside her big brother. But today, they weren't.
"They're sleeping off last night. They decided to gamble a bit, and drink as well."
"Wait, weren't you there last night as well?" Zuko asked him, having remembered seeing the blond in the room the Sand Siblings were given.
"Yeah, I was. I just didn't have as much as they did."
"Come on, let's go already!" Ty Lee said with impatience.
They all walked out of the Royal Palace and down to the city. As they walked through the streets, people bowed their heads and stayed out of their way. They paid no attention to it, they were used to it (although, Zuko felt a little uncomfortable about it all). But when they walked onto the street where the orphanage was, they saw something that they weren't expecting.
"What in the name of Agni is going on?" Azula demanded aloud as they looked on at the building.
They had gotten Appa out of the river and onto solid ground. Having decided that it would be better if they went in by themselves, Appa had to be hidden. "Now you look like a little hill with horns," Aang said after he covered the sky bison with moss. "Bye, buddy!" The Air Nomad quickly ran off.
"Akela, you're staying too," Sokka told the wolf. "We're not risking it." Akela just nodded in agreement, padded underneath the ledge and sat down. Aang, Katara, Sokka, and Toph left the animals (two covered and one keeping watch) and walked away.
"I don't feel anything," Toph said as they stood on a ledge overlooking the river. "Where is the village?"
"It's in the middle of the river," Sokka told her, looking at the village. It didn't look like much, but maybe that had to do with the river.
"Sure is!" a voice below them announced. They looked down and saw an old man standing on a ferry. "My name's Dock. Mind if I ask who you are?"
"We're…um…from the Earth Kingdom colonies," Katara answered after she shared a look with the others. They were going to have to stick to that lie if they were going to be questioned about who they were and where they were supposed to be from.
"Wow…colonials. Hop on. I'll give a ride you into town." They came down and boarded the ferry. Once they were all on, Dock used his pole to push the ferry across the water.
"Why do you guys live on the river?" Katara asked, looking at the river itself.
"Because we're a fishing town," Dock answered. He gestured over to the factory, which was belching out black smoke and dispersing the sludge into the water. "At least that's how it was before the factory moved in. Army makes their metal there. Moved in a few years ago and started gunking up our river. And now our little village is struggling to survive." Aang and Katara shared a look of worry as the ferry came into the village.
"Thanks for the ride," Aang told Dock as they walked off into the town.
"Look at this place. It's so sad," Katara stated as she looked at the village and its inhabitants. They all looked poor, hungry, and barely had the will to keep going on. "We have to do something to help."
"There you go again," Sokka muttered to himself.
Unfortunately for him, Katara heard him. "What was that?" she asked, rounding on him.
"We have a bigger mission we need to stay focused on," he told his sister. "These people are on their own." He walked past her.
She grabbed him by the shoulder, making him stop. "These people are starving! But you'd turn your back on them? How can you be so cold and heartless?" she demanded.
"I'm being realistic," he replied. "We can't go around helping every rinky-dink town we wonder into. We'll be helping them all by taking out the Fire Lord."
"Hey, loud mouths!" shouted Toph, covering Sokka's mouth with her hand. "Maybe we should be a little quieter when we're talking about 'taking out the Fire Lord'." She took her hand off his mouth. They were in the Fire Nation, for the love of the Spirits. If they said stuff like that out loud, they would be found out.
"Come on, Katara, be reasonable about this," Sokka told his sister. "You know our mission has to come first."
"I guess so," she finally admitted. She didn't like it, but she knew that it was true.
"Let's just get what we need and go," Aang said. They all agreed and kept walking through the village, past its residents while avoiding eye contact.
Eventually, they came across a market vendor. "Hey, Dock! You work here too?" Sokka asked after ringing the bell and seeing who the vendor was.
"I'm not Dock. I'm Xu!" the Dock look-alike introduced himself, a different hat on his head. "Dock's my brother."
"But we just saw you. You're even wearing the same clothes. The only difference is your hat," Aang pointed out.
"Dock works on the docks," he explained. "That's why we call him 'Dock,' and I work in the shop, that's why they call me 'Xu!'"
"…I don't get it."
"Me neither!" He dropped beneath the counter and brought up a box. "What can I getcha?" he asked. The box was full of fish and clams. But they were grey and looked like they would kill you as soon as you took a bite. "Hey, I'll give you a special deal. If you pay three fish, I'll throw in a clam for free."
Sokka touched one of the clams and drew his hand back after seeing brown sludge come out. "We'll just take the fish," he said, grabbing three fishes. "Mind telling your brother we need a ride back to shore?"
Xu took the fish, wrapped them in packaging and gave them to Katara. He then dropped below the counter and popped back up wearing Dock's hat. "Hey colonials, my brother says you need a lift." He jumped over the counter and began to walk off.
They followed him when a child ran up to Katara and grabbed her arm. "Can you spare some food?" he asked her.
She looked at him with sadness in her eyes. Taking a fish out of the package, she gave it to the child. "I wish I could help more," she told him. He gave a quick bow and ran off with the fish. She watched him go back to his mother, who was lying on a mat and obviously sick, before walking away.
What Azula and the others saw was the orphanage was in the midst of being torn down. "What is this?" Naruto demanded in a quiet, dangerous voice. He had not expected this. He wanted his answers and he wanted them now! Thankfully, he wasn't the only who felt like that.
"Hey! You kids can't be here," one of the construction workers said when he saw them. "You need to leave." He walked up to them and gestured for them to go away.
"I want to speak to the foreman. Bring him here now," Azula ordered him, not budging from where she stood.
"Look lady…" the worker started to say, only to stop when he saw Naruto slowly pulling his jian out. "Alright, alright, I'll go get him." He quickly walked off.
"Um…I'm guessing that this isn't what it was last time?" Ty Lee asked.
"What tipped you off?" the princess of the Fire Nation all but snarled.
The foreman quickly came up to them, having heard from the worker and connected the dots. "Prince Zuko, Princess Azula, may I ask why you're here?" he asked them, bowing before them.
"What is going on here?" Azula demanded.
"What do you mean, Princess?"
She pointed at the building he was in charge of destroying. "Why is that orphanage being torn down?"
"It's being torn down so that a spa may be built." He said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"Who ordered that?" Naruto demanded. "The orphanage was funded by the Royal Family."
"Lady Yāo Jing," he answered.
"Of course," Azula, Zuko, and Naruto thought. "Where are the orphans who were living here?" the blonde asked the foreman.
"I'm not sure, truth be told."
"Well then go find them!" Azula yelled at him. Her voice filled the air and made him flinch away.
"There's no need for that, sis. We're right here," a boy's voice said behind them.
"That you, Spunk?" asked Naruto as they turned around to see the orphans.
"No, it's the Avatar," Spunk replied with obvious sarcasm. He stood in the front of the small group of orphans, the total number adding up to four.
He smiled when he heard those words, instantly relieved. "As usual, you live up to your name."
"Why have you guys been living?" Azula asked, walking over to them. The anger and fury disappeared from her voice, replaced with worry.
"Where do you think?" the lead orphan replied.
"Watch it, Spunk," she warned him. "You took them onto to the street?" She gestured to the other three.
"I had to. That foreman kicked us out before they started construction." The foreman in question had already disappeared back to his work when he saw that the orphans were there.
"What happened to the new owner?" Naruto demanded. There should've been a new owner of the orphanage to take care of them and everyone else.
"He never came," one of the orphans, a girl with a rag tied around her eyes, said as she clung to Spunk's side. "We kept getting messages saying that something had come up and that the owner will be there soon."
"What happened to the other orphans, Doll?" he asked her.
The other two (twins, a boy and a girl) snorted in unison. "Some got lucky and got adopted," the boy said.
"The others ran off into the streets and joined up with any gang that would take them," the girl said with disgust. "Those cowards left us."
"Skid, enough," Spunk told her, trying to be authoritative. "You and Slide need to stop being angry at them. They made their choice."
"Well, what are we going to do now, Spunk? Our home's already half-destroyed!" Slide pointed at the building to emphasize her point.
"Please stop fighting," Doll pleaded. She hated it when everyone started fighting with each other.
They all stopped and looked at the blind girl. "Sorry, Doll," Skid apologized, realizing that their fighting was pointless.
Azula ordered the foreman to come back and stand in front of her again, which he did as quickly as possible. "You will stop your work until me, my brother, or the Fire Lord says otherwise. Is that understood?" she told him.
The look on her face told the foreman to agree unless he wanted a lightning bolt where the sun doesn't shine. "Perfectly clear, Princess," he replied with a slight fear. He turned around, walked back to the construction crew and began barking orders.
"As for you four," she said, turning back to face the orphans. "You're coming with us."
"What?" Spunk said, surprised. He had not been expecting to hear that response.
"You will be staying with us until we can sort this all out," Naruto told him. Both he and Azula silently agreed that the four would not spend another day on the streets.
They had set up camp for the night. Aang and Toph stood over a barrel of sludge water. Aang bent the water out of the jar and Toph bent out the sludge. He then bent the water over to Katara, who bent it into a cauldron that had a fire going underneath it.
"Okay, we've lost a day in the village," Sokka said as he dipped a bowl into the cauldron and filled it with water. "But thankfully, we're still on schedule."
"Oh goody," Toph said, dry sarcasm in her voice.
Katara took a bowl of water for herself and sat down. "Hey, Sokka…" she began to say.
"No," he cut her off.
"But—"
"No."
"You're not—"
"No."
"You don't even know what I'm going to say!" she shouted at him.
He looked at her. "You want us to stay an extra couple of days so we can help out the town, right?" She didn't say a word. "Katara, we're on a schedule. Granted, I may not have written it out to exact detail, but it's still a schedule. We're leaving first thing tomorrow morning, no complaints." Katara's face turned downcast when she heard those words.
The next day, Aang woke up to see Appa on his side, groaning. "What's the matter, Katara?" he asked the Waterbender as he jumped down from where he had been sleeping.
"I think Appa's sick," she replied, standing in front of the sky bison.
"You've got to be kidding," Sokka announced as he got out of the saddle. "How can he possibly get sick?"
"Probably from the polluted water," Toph suggested. It seemed to be the most obvious answer. The sky bison had been swimming in it.
"He doesn't look sick," Aang noted. "You okay, buddy?" Appa just groaned in response. "His tongue is purple, that can't be good," he announced after pulling out said tongue. "Katara, can you heal him?"
She looked at the tongue. "It looks like he needs some medicine. Maybe we can find the right herbs in town."
As they walked through the town, they could see something was going on. "Is it just me, or does this place seem different?" Toph asked.
"Yeah, are the people…happier?" Aang asked. The villagers did seem to be more joyful. Kids were running around, playing games.
While that was interesting, they were more focused on getting medicine for Appa. Knowing only one place to go, they walked up to Xu's stall. "Hey, Xu, what's going on with everyone today?" Sokka asked him.
"Something amazing happened last night," Xu replied. "Food was delivered to our village by a mysterious and wonderful person…the Painted Lady."
"The Painted who now?" asked Katara, obviously confused.
"The Painted Lady," he repeated, showing them a statue of the person. "She's a part of our town's lore. They say she's a river spirit who watches over our town in times of need. I always thought she was just a legend, until now."
"See, we don't need to help these people," Sokka told his sister as they watch the villagers. "They already have someone to help them." He turned to look at Xu. "All we need is medicine for our sick friend."
"Medicine?" repeated Xu. "Sorry, all the medicine we have goes to the factory. That's why there are so many sick people in our village."
"Looks like we need to stay another night so Appa can rest," Katara said.
"I guess you're right," Sokka said, sighing in small defeat. "You got any more food to sell?" he asked Xu.
"Would you like the one headed fish or the two headed fish?" He held up the two fish for them to see.
"One headed, less gross that way," the Tribesman answered, taking the fish. Everyone else with him nodded in agreement.
Fire Lord Ozai was surprised at who entered the throne room, mainly because his children don't normally visit him, unless it was related to the war effort. Yet, he maintained his posture as Azula entered the room, with Naruto following her. "Father, I must talk to you!" she announced. Their pace was agitated and angry.
"What is it, Azula?" Ozai asked from where he sat.
"Why did you allow Yāo Jing to order the orphanage that I had backed demolished?" she demanded, wanting an answer.
"Your sister pointed out the fact that the land the orphanage sat on could be used for something better."
"A spa is something better!?"
He frowned as the room was silent for a moment, before speaking again. "She failed to mention that part." But that was done now. "The orphanage will be destroyed, and unless either of you can give a better idea, Yāo Jing will have her spa. You have until the end of the week. That is all." Azula bowed and left the throne room with Naruto on her tail.
They walked out into the corridor and saw Yāo Jing standing against the wall. When she saw her, Azula all but snarled at her. "Temper, temper, little Azula," she mocked. "What's wrong? You didn't get what you wanted?"
"You knew that orphanage had my backing," the princess growled. "You knew, and you still went and had it destroyed. Do you not realize how many kids you put out on the streets?"
She laughed harshly at those words. "It doesn't matter. Who cares about them? They're nothing but little street rats."
"I'd be careful about your words, Yāo Jing," Naruto told her. "If the Fire Lord hadn't taken you in, you would've been a street rat." She snarled at him and drew back her hand to punch him. "Temper, temper, Yāo Jing," he said in the exact same mocking tone. "If you try to attack me, I'll kill you and say it was self-defense."
"No one would ever believe you."
"Are you sure? I think people would be more inclined to believe Princess Azula's bodyguard, who has also distinguished himself in battle and is also the Fire Nation Paragon, rather than the illegitimate daughter of the Fire Lord, especially when his legitimate daughter will back me up." In truth, he was hoping she would do it. That way, he could get rid of her with ease. "Now get lost," he ordered her. She walked away with angry steps echoing along the hallways.
Both Naruto and Azula walked away as well, just in the opposite direction. Quickly making their way through the hallways, they soon came back to the room where the Sand Siblings were living in. The orphans were also in the room, having been put there before the two of them went to see the Fire Lord. "Well?" Spunk asked them from where he sat at the table with the rest of his group close by.
"I'm sorry. The orphanage is going to be destroyed," Azula told them. "The only thing we can do is make sure that it doesn't become a spa."
"It's better than nothing, I guess," he remarked. In his humble opinion, a spa was completely useless.
"What's going to happen to us now, big sister?" Doll asked Azula, worried.
"Right now, you're staying as my guests," Azula told the little girl and the other three orphans.
"Yeah, that's going to work," Skid retorted.
"It might," Slide argued.
"Come on, four orphans living as the Princess's guests?" she asked her brother. "We'll be kicked out in two weeks, if we're lucky."
"That's provided you don't steal anything, of course."
"I'm sorry. I wasn't the one who tried to steal from that baker two days ago!"
"No, you were the one who tried to steal money off that one noble and had the guards come after us. We lost almost all the money we made because of that!"
"ENOUGH!" Spunk and Naruto thundered. The twins fell silent as they looked at the two of them with slight fear. They shared a look and Naruto gestured for him to speak. "Look, it doesn't matter what's going to happen to us. Let's just be thankful we've got a roof over our heads."
"But Spunk, you know what we were going to use that money for!" Slide protested.
"I said enough, Slide," Hhe repeated himself. "We lost the money. That just means we'll have to start over."
"What was the money for?" Gaara asked, bringing everyone's attention to him.
"That's none of your business," Skid told him.
"Skid, please," Doll said, reaching out for the older girl's hand.
She looked at the blind girl. "Doll, that money was for you."
"He just wants to know what we were going to do, that's all."
"Skid has a point," Naruto said as he looked at the orphans. "It's their money. We have no business asking what it's for. For now, let's make sure they get some food in their bellies." All four of them brighten up at the prospect of food. It had been a long time since they had a good meal.
A mist floated over the water towards the village. Riding on top of the mist was a woman dressed in robes and a veil covered hat. She reached the edge of the town and stepped onto the wooden platform. She entered the house and saw the sick people sleeping there. She began to heal them, one by one. The last one she healed was a woman. Her son slept next to her. He awoke to see the woman heal his mother and walk away. He got out of the bed and went after her. "Thank you, Painted Lady," he told her as she walked to the edge of the bridge. She gave a brief nod and then leapt onto the water. The boy tried to look for her, but she had disappeared into the mist.
The next day, Aang, Sokka, Katara, and Toph walked back into the village and towards Xu's stand. "Hi, Dock," Sokka greeted him. "Is Xu around?"
"Let me check." He walked around the back of the stand, whistling merrily. When he ducked down, Xu came up. "Hey there! Back again, are ya?" he asked, coming back into the stand.
"We need more food," Toph told him, pushing Sokka out of the way. "Our friend is still sick and we can't leave without him." She slapped down some money on the counter.
"Oh, well, that's too bad." He took the money and handed them a bowl of clams. "Maybe if you guys are lucky, the Painted Lady will visit you in the night and heal your friend."
"And maybe she'll cook us a midnight snack and we'll all have a sing-along," Sokka said sarcastically, bowl in hand.
"Yeah, maybe," he replied, completely missing the sarcasm. "You know, last night she visited us again. Healed most of our sick folks."
"Is that why this place seems so festive?" Aang asked, looking out at the town. Kids were running around, having a good time, while some of the other villagers were putting up a statue of the Painted Lady.
"Yep, it's all because of the Painted Lady."
"Can you believe how much an entire village can be affected by one lady?" Katara asked the others. "I mean…spirit?"
"Well, I hope she returns every night," Sokka said. "Otherwise, this place would go right back to the way it was."
"Why would you say that? Look how much better off these people are." They were happy and joyful.
"Yeah, now, but without her they wouldn't be able to fend for themselves," he answered. "If she really wanted to help, she would use her spirit magic to blow up that factory." That would help them all quite a lot.
"Yeah, she could do that!" Aang chimed in before making silly noises and imitating the factory blowing up. Katara just huffed and stomped away. She walked towards the edge of the pier and looked out at the factory.
That night, when everyone was asleep, Katara rose from her sleeping bag. She stuffed grass into it to make it look like there was someone still in there. She then grabbed a nearby cloak and put it on. After that, she knelt in front of a small pool of water. Bending it up against a nearby rock and freezing it, she used it as a mirror and began to apply the paint. She placed the hat on her head and began to move towards the village.
However, her walking managed to wake Momo, who woke up Aang in the process of jumping off Appa. "What's the matter, buddy?" Aang asked as Momo watched the figure disappear. "It's her!" He leapt off Appa's leg and went after her. "Hello, Painted Lady Spirit!" he called out after tying on his headband.
Katara stopped, took a quick look back and started to run. But Aang decided to go after her, using his Airbending to help him. "Excuse me! I don't mean to bother you, but my friend's sick and we're on a schedule." She paid him no mind as she made her way across the river. "Wait! But I'm the great bridge between your world and mine!" He went after her, bending ice to form stepping stones to get across the water. "I know Hei Bai! We're close, personal friends!" They ran through the village, Katara on the ground and Aang over the rooftops. "Heeey!" he called out. But he didn't look where he was going and ran into a pole.
Katara took one quick look back but kept running. She made through the village and onto the other side of the river. She hid behind a cluster of rocks and took one last look at the village. Thinking she was safe, she took a sigh of relief. That's when Aang showed up again, hanging upside down from the rock. "My name's Aang, I'm the Avatar," he introduced himself, raising his headband and showing her his headband. She made sure to keep her face obscured.
"Well, hello Avatar," she greeted him in a fake voice as he landed on the ground. "I wish I could talk, but I am very busy."
"Yeah, me too," he muttered. "I hate that." He looked closer at her. "You know, you're really pretty for a spirit. I don't get to meet too many spirits, but the ones I do meet, not very attractive."
She gave a nervous laugh. "Thank you, but—"
"You seem familiar too," he noted, trying to look under the hat.
"A lot of people say that," she tried to assure him.
"No, you really seem familiar."
"Look, I really should get going." She pulled down the hat and started to walk away. Annoyed that he was just being waved off, Aang flicked a blast of air at her. It blew off her hat, revealing who she was. She quickly grabbed the hat and put it back on.
But it was too late "Katara?" he asked, surprised to see that it was her.
"Hi, Aang," she said, turning to face him.
"You're the Painted Lady?" he asked, pointing at her. "But how?"
"I wasn't her at first; I was just trying to help the village. But since everyone thought that's who I was anyway, I guess I just kinda became her," she explained, taking off the hat and letting it fall to the ground.
"So you've been sneaking out at night? Wait, is Appa even sick?"
"He might be sick of the purple berries I've been feeding him, but other than that he's fine," she told the Air Nomad, feeling a little sheepish at her actions.
"I can't believe you lied to everyone, so you could help these people."
"I'm sorry," she apologized to him. "I know I shouldn't have…"
"No, I think it's great!" he quickly assured her. "You're like a secret hero!"
She was comforted by that little piece of praise. "Well, if you wanna help, there's one more thing I have to do."
He became confused, so she took him to the bottom of the factory, where the pipes were spewing out the sludge. "You wanna destroy this factory?" he asked, just to be sure.
"Yes. Sokka was just kidding, but he was right. Getting rid of this factory is the only way to help these people permanently." They ran into the factory and then split up. Katara bent her water to cut off the chains that held the barrels of molten iron, dropping them to the ground and spilling the contents. Aang poured another barrel empty, using gloves to protect his hands. He then leapt into the middle of a pipe system and used Earthbending to break the pipes.
Katara stood over a balcony. She bent the water out of a glass tank and flooded the place. All of these actions caused the factory to start exploding, destroying it. As the two of them ran away, the black smoke died away and the sludge stop coming out of the pipes.
Zuko couldn't sleep. Despite being back home again for some time now, he still wasn't used to how soft the bed was. He had grown used to the stiff beds on his ship and the ones in Ba Sing Se (not to mention sleeping on the ground itself). He got out of the bed, left his room, and started to wander the palace. When he walked through the Royal Gallery, idly looking at his predecessors, he heard a noise behind him. "Who's there?" he called out, turning around and unconsciously moving into a Firebending stance.
"It's just me!" Doll squeaked out, scared by how he moved so suddenly. "I got lost." She wasn't used to big places like the palace.
"Doll, what were you doing outside the room?" he asked her, walking up to her. "And why are you alone? I thought you were blind."
"I am. But I…um…" She trailed off, suddenly very nervous. "I'm…uh…can you keep a secret?" she asked him. He nodded. "I'm a Firebender."
"Why is that a secret? Surely the others know of this." If someone was a Firebender, people from the Fire Nation would know.
"They do, but they don't know what I can do with my Firebending. I don't want them to think I'm weird."
"Weird?" he repeated, unsure of what she meant by that.
She nodded. "If I show them what I can do, what's stopping them from thinking I'm a freak? I don't want them to hate me!" Her bottom lip began to tremble and Zuko could tell she was about to cry.
"They care about you, Doll," he quickly assured her, kneeling down so they were speaking on the same level. "Why would they collect money for you if they might possibly hate you?"
"I…I guess you're right." She could understand what he was trying to say but was still unsure herself.
"What was the money for?" he asked, genuinely curious. The question had been bugging him and the others, but they didn't know when a good time was to ask them it.
"For a long time, most of the orphans in the orphanage had been taking money," she explained. "I don't know whether it was from jobs,or they stole it. They never told me. They hid it from the owner to make sure he never took it. They told me that I didn't belong in the orphanage or even on the streets if it came to that. They said that I deserved better. They told me that, once they were done collecting the money needed, they were going to use it to send me to one of the lower classes in the Royal Fire Academy for Girls."
He was surprised to hear that. A place in one of the classes in the Royal Fire Academies were quite expensive, both boys and girls. "How long were they doing this?"
"Three years. But I had planned on refusing."
"Why?" He couldn't really understand why she would refuse such a thing. The Royal Fire Academy for Girls was the best place for a girl to receive an education. Even one of the lower classes was better than the typical school.
"I'm terrified of what will happen to the others, now even more so," she told him. "If I leave them, what will happen to them? They've been risking their lives so that I can go somewhere better? I don't want that, not if they'll get killed because of me."
"They've been risking their lives so you wouldn't have to live on the streets, Doll," he told her. "They don't want to see you sitting on a street, begging for money or food. You're like their little sister and they're willing to do anything to protect you."
She smiled sadly at those words. "And yet, I keep a secret from them. I'm a horrible little sister."
"Then tell me your secret." She scurried over to his ear and whispered. His eyes went wide when he heard what she had said. "You mean you can…?" She nodded once. "Do you think you could teach this?"
"I don't know, maybe?" She had always been too embarrassed about to try and teach it to anyone else.
"Then come with me." He stood up and took her hand. Together, they walked to a quiet spot where no one would see or hear them.
Aang and Katara walked back to the camp as the morning came. Aang laughed and imitated the factory blowing up. "Shhh!" Katara shushed him. "We don't want to wake Sokka." Unfortunately for them, Sokka was already up. Akela, Toph, and Momo were up too. "Hi, Sokka, we were just out on a morning walk." the Waterbender tried telling her brother.
"A morning walk?" he repeated before holding her sleeping bag upside-down and dumped out the grass. He dropped the bag and turned around. "We're leaving," he announced.
"Um…isn't Appa sick?" Katara asked, hopeful that Sokka didn't realize that bit.
"Akela, are you sick?" Akela opened his mouth and showed his purple tongue. "What about you, Toph? You not feel well?"
"Nope, I'm good. I just had some of these berries," she replied, holding up the bag of berries and showing her purple tongue as well. Momo reached for the berries and started eating them.
"Katara, what you did put our whole mission in jeopardy. We're leaving right now." Katara walked past him with a downcast expression. "And how long did you know about this?" her brother asked Aang, giving him the hairy eyeball.
"Hey, I just found out this morning," Aang told him before moving quickly away. They all started packing up when they heard a noise coming from the river. Running quickly to the edge, they saw soldiers from the factory riding on jet skis towards the village.
"What's going on?" Toph asked, she couldn't see the river due to her blindness. All she heard was a lot of noise.
"Fire Nation soldiers are heading to the village," Aang told her.
"What did you do?!" Sokka asked Katara, his tone demanding.
"I…kind of destroyed their factory," she told him hesitantly.
"You WHAT!?"
"It was your idea!" she protested.
"I was joking! I also said to use spirit magic!" He smacked his forehead at her actions. "Did you even think this through?" he asked her. "The army is going to blame the villagers. They're headed there right now to get revenge."
"Well, what was I supposed to do?" she asked back.
"Leave! Do nothing!"
But that was something she would never do. "NO! I will never, ever turn my back on people who need me," she declared. "I'm going down to the village and I'm gonna do whatever I can." She stood up and began to walk away.
He sighed and stood up. "Wait. I'm coming too," he told his sister, stopping her with a hand on her shoulder.
"I thought you didn't want to help."
"You need me, and I will never turn my back on you. Besides, I'm the one who usually cleans up the mess you make."
She winced at those words. "You didn't have to put it like that."
"It's true and we both know it." He went past her and began walking down to help the village. "Come on, I've got an idea," he told the rest of them.
Meanwhile the soldiers had reached the village. "I thought we could live as neighbors, in peace," the leader said to the villagers. "But I guess I was wrong. You steal our food, our medicine, and then you destroy our factory."
Dock popped out of the crowd. "We didn't do any of that," he said. He dropped back into the crowd and Xu popped out in a different spot. "Yeah, the Painted Lady brought us food. She's the one who healed our sick, not your medicine."
"Oh, right, the mysterious Painted Lady did it." He held up a statuette of her. "And I suppose she drew the army emblem on your containers too." He smashed the statuette. "This is a town of thieves and liars!" He set a house ablaze. "Where's your Painted Lady now?" he asked the villagers. They said nothing. They only looked at the fire in shock. "We're going to cure the world of this wretched village."
Two soldiers got back on a jet ski and started to circle the village. The soldier on the back threw a chain at one of the beams supporting a house. They drove past, causing the beam to snap and the house to fall into the river.
Meanwhile, two soldiers set a flammable case tied to a buoy on fire. But before they could do anything else, a gust of wind came out of nowhere and put the fire out. Somewhat perplexed, they lit it again, but another gust of wind came and put out the fire. "Light it again!" the leader ordered. They did so, but this time the wind put out the fire before it could take hold.
"Look at that, where's it coming from?" the female soldier asked.
"I don't know," the male soldier replied. "Something strange is going on." A fog began to roll in towards the village. They could also hear flute music that sounded almost eerie and a deep growling sound.
"It's the Painted Lady," one boy in the crowd said. "She's coming."
"There is no Painted Lady," the leader snapped at the boy. They began to hear a thumping noise, almost like footsteps, that went off in rhythm. If one was to go past the fog, they would've seen Toph bending a boulder up and down, making the thumping noise. Appa stood next to her, making the growling noise. Sokka sat on a ledge, playing the flute and Akela sat on his haunches, waiting.
"What is that sound?" the female soldier asked as the fog encircled the village. It was a sound that was making her bones go cold.
"Maybe it is her," the male soldier said. As the fog cleared from the other bank, the flute, the growl and the noise all died away. Instead, they heard the howl of a wolf as they saw the Painted Lady (AKA Katara), standing on the other bank. When the howling died away, she surged forward on the water and leapt onto the dock.
Despite being surprised by seeing her, the leader of the soldiers got his wits back together. "Do something!" he ordered, pushing the other soldiers forward.
They approached her cautiously with swords drawn. All she did was look at them and a gust of wind blew off their headbands. Freaked out, they ran away. If someone wanted to know how she did that, all they had to do was look down at the dock. Aang was hiding underneath and used a cracked in the dock to use his Airbending.
"Stand your ground!" the leader ordered. The Painted Lady walked forward a few steps and stopped. She looked over at the two jet skis sitting idly in the water nearby. She bent the river to send them up high and then into the side of the cliff, destroying them. Then all she had to do was raise a hand against the soldiers and most of them ran to the jet skis, leaving the leader alone. "I'll take care of you myself," he declared, taking a Firebending stance.
The two of them had a stare down. He acted first by bending an arc of fire at her. Aang saw this coming and took a deep breath. As the fire was about to hit Katara, he bent a large dome of air beneath her, sending up into the air. He then destroyed the dock with Airbending, sending the soldier flying into the river. As he broke the surface and gasped for breath, the Painted Lady appeared in front of him, standing over the water.
"Leave this place and never come back," she ordered him. He started to swim away until a soldier driving a jet ski pulled alongside and let him get on. She watched with a somewhat amused expression as they drove away.
As Sokka rowed the boat that he and Toph were in to the village, the villagers were cheering for the Painted Lady as she landed back on the dock. "I knew you come," the boy from earlier said to the Painted Lady.
"Thank you," Dock told her as someone from the crowd shouted that she was the best. "Me and my brothers really owe you a lot." He looked closer at her. "Hey, wait a minute. I know you. You're not the Painted Lady. You're that colonial girl!"
Stunned, Katara touched her face and then looked at her hand. The paint was smudged and had easily come off. "Uh-oh," she thought.
"Yeah, you're the lady that gave me a fish," the same boy said. While he might've been happy that she helped, he was mad at the fact that she lied to them all.
"You've been tricking us!" Dock accused her. "You're a Waterbender!" The crowd got angry when they heard that little piece of information. They began to get closer to her when Sokka stood in front of her.
"Maybe she is a Waterbender, but she was just trying to help you," he said, making them stop. "Because of her, that factory won't be polluting your river and the army is gone. You should be down on your knees and thanking her."
"Sokka, it's okay," Katara told him. She walked forward and took off the hat. "I shouldn't have acted like someone I wasn't and I shouldn't have tricked you." She addressed the crowd. "But I felt like I had to do something. It doesn't matter if the Painted Lady is real or not. Because your problems are real, and this river is real. You can't wait around for someone to help you. You have to help yourself."
"She's right," Dock agreed, seeing the logic in her words. "But what should we do?"
"Maybe we can clean the river," Toph said from the crowd, using a lower voice.
"Yeah, we can clean the river!" The crowd loudly agreed with the statement. "Thank you. You know, you're not so bad for a Waterbender," he told Katara as the crowd behind him dispersed and began to prepare to clean the river.
"You wouldn't mind keeping that a secret, would you?" Sokka asked.
"No problem, keeping my mouth shut is a personal specialty. My brother Xu on the other hand, ooh, he's a blabbermouth." The Tribesman just groaned and smacked his head when he heard those words.
"So, Dock, are you gonna help us clean?" Katara asked him. If they were going to clean the river, they would need all the help they could get.
"No, ma'am," he answered. "I'm going to get my other brother, Bushi. He loves cleaning rivers." Then, in front of them with no thought about it, he just switched hats. "Alright, I'm Bushi! Let's get some river cleaning done."
"Aha, I knew it!" declared Aang with a triumphant voice. "I knew you were the same guy, the shop owner and the boat guy."
"Oh, you must be talking about my brothers, Dock and Xu," he said.
"No, I just saw you! You switched hats and called yourself a different name!"
"Oh, you know who does that? My brother, Dock," He leaned closer, like what he was about to say was a big secret. "He's crazy," he told them before chuckling and walking away.
Aang had a look of extreme annoyance when he felt a hand on his shoulder. "Just go with it, Aang," Sokka told him.
Everyone got aboard boats and went to work cleaning up the river. Katara, Toph, and Aang helped by using their bending. Katara pulled out the water and placed it in a tank while Toph and Aang put the sludge onto a boat. They spent the day like this and as the day went on, the river was getting cleaner and cleaner.
"Father," Azula greeted Ozai as she, Naruto, Zuko, and the orphans came into the throne room. "I believe I have found something more useful for the land where the orphanage is."
"Have you now?" he asked, curious to see what she would say for an answer.
"Yes. Instead of a spa, have them build a school for Firebending." She had thought long and hard about what to have built there instead of a spa that would tweak Yāo Jing's nose. And she believed that this was the perfect way.
"Oh? How is that any better than a spa?" her father asked, wanting to hear her reasons for wanting to build a school.
"If we build the school, we can train new Firebenders to harness their Bending," she explained. "We would also teach them how to help the Fire Nation with their Bending." And they would have more soldiers for the war.
The room fell silent as he considered what she said "The idea has merit," he agreed. "Very well, the building will become a dojo."
"Thank you, father," She bowed before him and took a step back. She was going to enjoy the look of outrage on her bastard sister's face when she found out about this.
"Father, I have something to ask of you," Zuko said, stepping forward and bowing to the Fire Lord.
"And what would that be, Prince Zuko?" Ozai asked, slightly (ever so slightly) curious to see what his son would want.
"I would ask that you would do something for each one of these orphans." He gestured to Spunk, Skid, Slide, and Doll. The four of them were dressed in good clothes and stood at his side with their backs straight.
"Why would I do that?"
He gestured for Doll to come forward. She took a few steps forward and bowed to the man sitting above her. "Greetings, Fire Lord Ozai," she said to him. "My name is Doll, and I am a Firebender."
"You are blind," he declared, looking at her. It was easy to tell that. All he had to do was look at the strip of cloth covering her eyes.
"Yes, my lord. However, I have managed to create a way to see, using my Firebending, my lord." The other orphans were stunned at what she had said. They knew that she was a Firebender, but they didn't know that she could do that.
He was now interested in what she had to say. "Continue."
"I could only learn the basics of Firebending, my lord," she explained. "So, I tried to use them to overcome my blindness. I eventually managed to redirect my inner energy into my eyes. As a result, I could see the world through the heat of others."
"Then you will not mind if I put what you say to the test." The flames around him grew bigger, almost like they are enveloping him. "Can you see me now?" he asked her. Both Azula and Zuko shared a nervous look. They hadn't expected this.
But Doll wasn't nervous about it. She stayed calm. "Yes, my lord. I can also see the servants standing in the corners, waiting for your orders, and the guards standing in the shadows." She pointed at where the people she had spoken about were.
"And how would this benefit the Fire Nation?" Ozai asked them. He wanted to know what the benefits before deciding anything.
"My lord, there are several practical advantages to this kind of ability, both in battle, and outside the battlefield," Naruto told the Fire Lord. "If she can teach this ability to other Firebenders, the military wouldn't be so handicapped at night. We'd be able to see what was coming and be ready for it. Our defenses would be better prepared if an attack at night occurred. It might also help the Firebenders who have been blinded permanently to help regain a semblance of their eyesight, even if the eye in question is either damaged, or was taken out."
He thought what he had just been shown over. "What would you have me do for them, my son?" he finally asked Zuko.
"I humbly request to have Doll placed in the Royal Fire Academy for Girls," the Scarred Dragon promptly answered. "As for the others, have them placed in the care of the 41st division. That way, they'll be taken care of."
"Very well, I will do these things," he announced, making the orphans excited to hear those words. "But on two conditions. First, before she can enter the Academy, this child must teach her ability to the teachers there. Second, once the others are of age, they are to join the 41st, unless any colonial governor makes any request regarding these orphans otherwise."
"My lord, we'll become officers if you want us to," Spunk spoke up. "We just want Doll to have a better life then the streets." That's all they ever wanted.
"Then consider these favors given. You may go." They all bowed and left the throne room.
"So…how long have you been able to do that?" Skid asked Doll once they were back in the hallway.
"For about a year now," she answered, nervous. "Do you guys hate me?" She hoped that they didn't.
The other three orphans were surprised by what she asked. "Hate you? Why would we hate you, Doll?"
Her hopes rose at those words. "You mean…you don't hate me?"
"I'm pretty sure that's what my moron of a twin sister said," Slide answered.
Skid turned to look at her twin brother. "I'm a moron? You're the idiot!" she told him, raising a fist.
Before the argument could even start, Spunk whacked them over the heads. "Knock it off," he ordered them. They grumbled but complied.
"Look, you four," Azula said to them, getting their attention. "Be glad for what just happened. Your futures are now safe. Doll's going to the Academy."
"That's true, but we were also kinda hoping that she would be adopted as well," Slide said. That would've been a much better life for her.
Doll put a reassuring hand on him. "Don't worry, Slide. Maybe one of the teachers there will adopt me, or another family. And I don't have to worry about the other girls teasing me because I have big sister Azula to keep me safe."
"I won't be there all the time, Doll," Azula said to her. "You'll have to learn how to stand up for yourself."
"Come on, Azula," Naruto told the princess of the Fire Nation. "Let her enjoy the fact that her big sister will scare away the bad guys."
She gave a warm smile (one of the very few times she did that). "I never said that I wouldn't do it," she replied, pulling Doll into a hug.
It was dark and most of the team was sleeping. Katara walked to the edge of the river and put her hands into it, feeling the water. Fog began to curl around her hands. She looked up and saw the actual Painted Lady. "Thank you," she simply said, before fading away into the mist.
Katara was surprised by what she saw but smiled all the same. She then heard a noise behind her. Turning around, she saw her brother walking up to her. "Sokka, I thought you were asleep," she said.
"I was waiting for the others to go to sleep," he told her. "We need to talk."
"What do you mean?"
"Katara, I know you wanted to help the villagers. But what you did was completely and utterly stupid. If we hadn't caught the soldiers off guard, we probably would have gotten captured and possibly killed," he said to his sister, his tone sharp and unforgiving.
"What do you want say? That I'm sorry?" She knew that she had made a mistake, but they had managed to save the village and the river in the end. Wasn't that a good thing?
"No, I'm going to give you this one warning. You pull something like this ever again and I will have Appa fly you back home so you can act like a child there."
"What? You wouldn't do that!" the Waterbender immediately protested, even though she recognized that she had used that exact threat to him before.
"If it ensures the safety of the group, yes I would. Are we clear?" he asked her.
She was about to voice another argument, it died down when he looked at her. Standing under the light of the moon, she didn't see who her brother was, she saw what he was going to become. She saw a warrior, a leader, a man who would have to make decisions and live with them, whether they were good or bad. Above all else, she saw the Paragon of the Water Tribes.
"Yeah, we're clear," she said, conceding defeat.
"Then get some sleep, I'll take watch." She walked back to the camp, leaving him alone by the riverbank. He had to admit that since the river had been cleaned, it looked much better.
But he wasn't alone for long "Wasn't that a bit harsh?" Dock asked the Tribesman, walking up to him.
"It had to be," he answered, looking over at the ferryman. "What are you doing out here, Dock?"
"Oh, I'm just out here visiting my aunt."
"Your…aunt?" There was no one else out here. It was just the two of them standing by the river.
"Oh don't play around, boy," Dock told him with a sharp tone of voice. "You saw her, same as me and your sister."
The Tribesman thought about it, trying to figure out what he was talking about. It didn't take long to figure out. "Wait…I thought you said the Painted Lady was a river spirit," he said in mild protest.
"Well, that was her cover before she died," Dock replied with ease. "I just helped maintain it over the years."
Sokka narrowed his eyes at him. "You're not as crazy as everyone thinks you are, are you?"
The ferryman chuckled at those words. "What do you think?" he asked back.
"Those names you use, they're not your real name, not any of them."
"Oh, I don't know. They suit me when I need them."
"…What was your name?" the Tribesman asked him. If he kept using different names, it must've meant that he didn't want to use his actual name anymore.
Dock stiffened a little at those words. But then he gave a tired sigh and took off his hat, showing that his hair only ringed around the side of his head. "My name was Raka, from the Northern Water Tribe. And my aunt was your predecessor."
Sokka touched the Medallion underneath his shirt when he heard that. "You mean she was…?" he asked, leaving it hanging.
"The Water Tribe Paragon before you? Yes, she was," the man standing before him answered. It was funny, but without his different hats and personalities, he seemed to be a lot older.
"What was she doing in a Fire Nation village?" He would've thought that she would've died in one of the poles.
"She was in hiding."
"Who was she hiding from?"
"…I'm afraid that's not my story to tell. And it's not yours alone to hear. You best be going back to your camp now."
"Yeah, you're right." He turned around and started walking back to the camp. He stopped and looked back. "Hey, Raka, if you ever see her again, tell her I'm sorry I couldn't learn from her."
"Don't you worry; I have a feeling she already knows." He pointed out at the river. Once again, the Painted Lady stood over the water. But this time, she looked different. Her skin was darker and her eyes were blue. But she still wore the dress, the hat and the makeup.
Sokka turned to look at her. He then did the only thing he thought appropriate. He bowed to her, like a student bowing to his teacher. "My lady," he said in a voice of respect. She simply smiled before disappearing again. When he looked up, Dock had disappeared too. He turned back around and walked back to the camp.
End
Author's note: Thanks for all the reviews you've sent me.
Before you start telling me that Sokka shouldn't have been harsh to Katara, I must point out that what she did was pretty stupid. If the soldiers had caught them, they would've been in a lot of trouble. So Sokka has a right to chew her out.
Now odds are that there are going to be people out there that are going to complain about me taking out the master schedule. I'm sorry, but no one in real life is that anal. The only two people I can of being that anal are Sheldon Cooper from The Big Bang Theory and Arnold Rimmer from Red Dwarf.
Sorry if Gaara and the others were in this chapter a lot. I just didn't really need them.
For the heat vision, I would like to thank the reviewer Remzal Von Enili. Due to our discussion, we figured out the ability for heat vision. I wanted to make it sound like any Firebender could learn how to do it, instead of having a special kind of fire (like some stories I've read).
Now, for those of you who are wondering why I made the Painted Lady the pervious Water Tribe Paragon. I wanted to give her a little more depth than just a river spirit. Also, Dock helped add to that depth, given the fact that he kinda looks like he's from the Water Tribes and everyone thinks he's nuts. I just used those two things to my advantage. That story he was not going to tell will come back much later in the story.
I'll see you all next chapter!