Beta-Read by Scribbles I.

Without whom there would be many, many mistakes.

Healed and Hunted

Perhaps An Understanding

Chapter Eleven

Coffee Room

Kat

The power was still out. She had to admit, the lesson wasn't really worth the lack of coffee. She wanted a nice, hot cup of coffee. Instead, she was reduced to staring at the dead pot. It just wasn't fair! C'est la vie, she supposed. Such is life.

As she turned to go, she bumped into Lee. He smelled nice, as he always did. Clean and masculine. His chest was muscled, and it wasn't an unpleasant thing to run into if she was honest. Which she was not. So she stepped back and apologized.

"No power, huh?" he asked without acknowledging her apology. She followed his gaze to the coffee pot. She glowered at it, angry enough to answer his question.

"No power means no coffee," Kat complained.

Lee grinned. "Oh? Do we not have two Inheritors here? I think we're quite capable of making it ourselves."

Kat lowered her eyebrows, not understanding. He walked past her and grabbed one coffee pot. She watched him place his hands on the side, quite sure of himself. He held it out to her.

"What?" she asked.

He smiled. "Water. And coffee. Put them in. Mix." Lee was shaking the coffee pot. Kat nodded in half-understanding. She whipped her hands out and placed the water in the pot. She opened the container of coffee grinds and placed a generous scoop into the glass container.

"Now what?" she wondered.

Lee breathed, focusing. She smiled. She watched the sides of the coffee pot turn red. Lee's hands were warming the sides. Soon enough, the water started to boil. Within a minute, the water had turned to coffee. A childish part of her mind wanted to kiss him for his lovely skills. She knew that if she even hinted at something like that, though, it would be taken the wrong way.

"Can you... move the water? Without undoing this?" He placed the pot back down and rubbed his hands on his pant leg. Kat could smell the scent of singed cotton. That was when she noticed he was wearing regular pants, not the normal skin tight ones he usually wore.

"I can. Also, I feel the need to apologize for my niece's, ah... behavior. Last Thursday. If she offended you," Kat said awkwardly. She used the excuse of moving the coffee so she didn't have to watch his face. She split it into cups and was grateful he had placed them nearby. It was hard to concentrate with his face in her peripheral.

He was, impossibly, blushing. Perhaps she was imagining things. People like him didn't blush. He used other people then tossed them aside. People like that didn't get embarrassed. Having established that within her mind, she decided she was making things up. She grabbed one cup and handed it to him and took one for herself.

"Thanks. And, good job," he said. She watched him pour cream into his cup. She grabbed the sugar and did the same. No cream for her.

She rolled her fingers in a lazy circle and a vortex appeared in her cup. She smiled at the small swirl. It was just amazing to watch. How did anyone survive without having such an ability? No wonder, she nearly laughed, they were all so grumpy.

"When did you find out?" Lee asked, "That you were an Inheritor?"

Kat thought and decided it was a safe enough answer, "Before we left home. I hid it from my dad, but my mom knew. There were no other Inheritors there."

"Why keep it a secret?" the scarred man asked.

Kat sipped her coffee. "My dad is in a special unit of the military, designed to fight Inheritors. Wasn't in my best interest."

Lee seemed surprised. "That... kind of sucks."

"Needless to say, he has no idea where I am. Sokka- my brother- just tells him I'm at school when they send videos. He never comes to the states, so I don't have to worry." Kat tried to stop the flow of information, but it was pointless. She could barely shut her mouth at that.

"Why does he fight?"

Kat looked down, but knew he was genuinely curious. She forced herself to answer, "He was retired when we were little. But, when my mom died, he went back to it. He went into it angry."

"What happened to your mom?" Lee's voice was sympathetic. Kat could almost hear what he was saying with the question. He had lost a mother, too. He knew that pain. And that was the only reason she answered.

"We were attacked. Fire Inheritors burned our house. She was... they made it to where she couldn't get out." Kat coughed to clear the emotion out of her throat.

Lee didn't ask more questions. Instead he said, "I'm sorry."

Kat took another large dreg from her cup. She never wanted to hear that 'so sorry' voice. It made her want to cry. But the pain in his voice made it worse. He knew that pain, and she hurt for him. No matter that he used other people, he had known great pain. No one deserved that kind of pain.

"What about you?" She wanted to change the subject.

Lee seemed to want that, also. "With Fire Inheritors it's different. It's kind of dangerous, actually. They get fevers. The fire inside keeps trying to get out. Accidents happen, and if they don't get help, they'll die. So, I found out rather young, as do most Nations."

Kat had read as much in the books she often checked out for Aang. He had skirted the question, but she understood. He didn't know how much she actually knew. It would be strange that a Water Tribe should know so much about the ways of the Fire Nations.

"Kat, your niece looks just like you. What's her name?" Lee asked gently.

Katara pulled her hair to one side, setting it into a pony tail. "Her name's Kyoshi. They named her after Aang."

That confused him.

Before he could ask she explained, "Aang's the Ava. He is thousands of people, all wrapped into a bald package."

Lee's face crinkled. Most people had this expression when she tried to explain. It had been hard for her to grasp at first, too. Of course, she had discovered Aang at the ripe age of twelve. Her creativity had not yet been squashed, her mind not yet closed to the impossible.

"Anyways. Her name was a compromise." Kat was tired of talking. She knew no one else would be coming here. Who would come to the coffee room when there was no power? She didn't like the idea of being alone with Lee for extended amounts of time. She was already having problems convincing Aang and Toph that there was nothing going on. If anyone else started whispering...

"You're uncomfortable," Lee stated. He seemed to be staring at her hands. Kat forced herself to be still. She tried to be calm.

"I don't trust you, is all." Kat shifted. "And to be honest, I don't know why."

Lee nodded. "It's the piercings, isn't it? It's always the piercings."

Kat gave a small laugh. She looked to the door, checking for any one coming. There was, of course, no one. So, feeling brave, she lifted the hem of her shirt to reveal the swinging bauble attached to her belly button. Lee smiled when he saw it.

"You're only eight or so behind," he said.

She let her shirt fall and said nothing. She drank more coffee and wished the power would come back on. It was hot in the room, and she wasn't sure what was different. It had been fine only moments ago.

"I had more, once. Not that you need to know that." She tucked her hair behind her ear in embarrassment. Kat used her arms to hide herself.

"Oh? Where?" Lee wriggled his eyebrow. She nearly giggled at the question.

She cleared her throat. "Not telling."

The missing eyebrow lowered. "No fun."

"Don't care if you're having fun," she said. Having finished her cup, she rose. Kat knew it was around seven in the morning. Her internal clock said it was time to be somewhere else. Away from him. Not nearly far enough.

"Out of curiosity, can the Ava fire bend?" Lee asked as he went on.

This question set her on edge. Questions about her were fine, she could avoid those, but questions about the Ava-about her brother- were dangerous territory. He was important, and any one gathering information on him was immediately red flagged. Kat knew she was being paranoid.

"No, he can't."

She left it at that, horrified at his satisfied expression. What information had she just given him? She prayed that she would never find out.

Dorm Room 43A

Toph

If her skin didn't melt off of her bones today, she would consider it a victory. When she voiced her opinions to Kat, she heard the sound of exhaling breath. It got cold, suddenly, and Toph was relieved. Today was a victory, then. Not only were they getting to leave school so quickly after coming back, but they were even getting to go home. The repairs needed to fix what had been done (thanks to Toph and a few other Inheritors) would take two weeks at least. A month if they couldn't find all the water damage.

Toph was satisfied that she had finally gotten to take a swing at this place. It had been a lot of trouble for just one lesson, but it had been an important lesson. Toph had made a point not to speak of it here, where there were too many ears. Instead, she decided to wait until they were home.

Kat answered a knock at the door while Toph folded the clothes on her bed. Shirts were two folds down and one across, pants one fold in half and the ends pressed together. Shirts were square and pants were rectangular. Underwear and socks were simply thrown in the bag, in the corner to the right.

"What are you doing here? Don't you have things to pack?" Kat's voice was annoyed. Toph was sure that the person at the door was the Nation who had been bothering her these past few weeks. It had become something of a private joke between Aang and Toph, who were both waiting for Kat to 'get back out there.'

"I thought I'd ask you what your plans are for the next two weeks," a male voice answered, oh so smoothly. Toph had never heard the voice before. The voice belonged to someone calm and injured. Most people would hear the confidence he portrayed, but Toph had learned to listen.

"Why?" Kat, however much she tried to deny it, was interested in this person. Though, Toph considered, interested might not be the right word. It sounded like she was wary, wanting only to see the clarity behind the man.

"Well, I was going to ask you if you would want to come to an art museum with me one day." Again, he sounded sure of himself. Toph knew the awkwardness of a long sentence.

"Kat loves art," Toph said, trying to be helpful.

Said lover of art was not happy about it. "Shut up, Toph."

"Hey, it's something special. You should go and enjoy it. For those of us who can't." The guilt-trip kind of slipped off her tongue. The mood in the room shifted. It was warm again.

"Toph..." A sigh. "Which one?"

"It's a small little place, it's for Inheritors. They only take the art of people who-"

Kat spoke up, "I can't. I can't go there."

Toph knew why. "Just wear some sunglasses and a scarf. Or a hat. Grow a mustache."

"Why can't you go?" the man wanted to know. Toph went to folding again, glad of her blindness. She imagined Kat had her mouth open, unable to answer.

"Long story. They aren't angry with me, or anything, it's just, ah..." Kat cleared her throat, "It would be silly, for me to go."

"C'mon. It'll be fun," the man promised. Toph knew he meant it.

Kat sighed, "I'll think about it."

Toph pretended to be furniture. Here, but not listening. If she listened, she was going to run straight to Aang and tell him the good news. It wasn't a promise for a date, of course, but Toph could hear the guilt worming its way into Kat's words. Though she hadn't meant it, Toph had successfully set Katara thinking.

The two ended up exchanging numbers, with Lee- she discovered was his name- promising to text or call her whenever he was sure the exhibit was open. Little did he know that a decent percentage of the pieces in that place belonged to Kat. That was sure to be a surprise for him.

Toph would be sure to ask about it later.

A small snicker escaped Toph and reminded Kat of her presence.

"Not a word of this gets out. This isn't what it sounds like."

Toph had always admired the little things her family did to make her feel special. It was small things like changing 'looks' to 'sounds' that made her love them so. She would never tell them, though. They knew how she felt.

"If Aang finds out about this, he's going to learn about your little stint in the Earth colonies," Kat threatened.

"Fine, fine," Toph agreed. She wasn't afraid of Aang finding out. In fact, Aang already knew. Kat didn't know that, and only used the threat when she was serious. Toph understood what the use of the threat meant.

"Besides. This was your idea. I've not promised anyone anything," Kat said.

Toph snorted, "Oh? With that type of boy, your number's as good as anything."

The silence that followed showed Toph that Kat was in over her head. Not that she wasn't used to that. They were all in over their heads with Aang.

"Oh, hey, Toph?"

The blind girl grunted an answer.

"Thank you. For pushing. I realize what you were doing. And you're right. He was... being compared. Thank you for reminding me."

"That's not what I was doing at all, but you're welcome."

Kat was quiet.

"Jet was a long time ago, Kat."

A pitiful laugh. "And how much I've learned since then."

The girls went back to packing, happily remembering that they were going home.