/ / /
the eye of the storm and no calm in sight
Katara's had a bit too much of her friends for the day. Sokka has reached some profound revelation after the time he spent stuck in a hole in the ground –
("Honestly, you should try becoming a vegetarian! It's so enlightening!"
"You were a vegetarian less than ten minutes!"
"Still! It counts!"
"No, it doesn't."
"I had a catharsis, Katara. God, you could use some spirituality!"
"You could use a tranquilizer."
"Me?! You're the one who's been sleepwalking all over the place!")
–and she has no patience to listen to the wisdom he insists on imparting. Aang and Toph, on the other hand, are bonding after a rough first day of training together.
("I knew you could do it, Twinkletoes." Toph sounds bored.
"Right? I'll become a master in no time! Maybe even better than you! Just wait and –" but a boulder emerges from the ground, and he is sent flying before he can finish his sentence.)
The ominous storm that shrouds the sky is exactly what Katara needs. She slips out of the cave they use as shelter and starts walking, not even bothering to keep the pouring rain from coming over her; she can dry herself off with a flick of her wrist, after all, and the feeling of her element amidst the dry soil of the Earth Kingdom is more than welcome.
The roar of the thunder is terrifying, but she wonders if there's something wrong with her that she finds it invigorating at the same time. Blue flashes across the sky for a split second and Katara immediately thinks of Azula. She needs to step up her game if she's to fight her now that she's taken over her brother's chase for the Avatar. The thought makes the hair on the back of her neck stand, but it's a challenge she won't shy away from. Aang had called her 'Master' earlier that day. She'd be damned if she failed him.
It takes her a while to discern someone screaming through the loud rumble. She stills in place and tries to locate the source, suddenly afraid that someone's gotten stranded in the storm and may be in need of help. She follows the yells that are mixing confusingly with the thunder, but in the end, the person who's yelling is standing on the highest hill around, easy for her to notice.
It's Zuko.
Well, it's a rather deranged version of Zuko, to be precise. Katara squints in the dark, trying to see if there's anyone else up there with him, but no. He seems to be screaming at… the sky?
"You've always thrown everything you could at me. Well, I can take it! And now I can give it back!"
She stares, hardly able to believe her eyes. He seems insane. And then he seems downright suicidal.
"Come on! Strike me! You've never held back before!"
Katara's moving before she can examine how wise that is, and her mouth is already open to shout at him, to put a stop to this insanity.
He's an idiot, an insane idiot, and what is he doing up there? He's drenched, and the way it's going, he'll get electrocuted too.
But then a scream rips out from him, rips through the night, and the sound makes something inside her twist painfully. She halts in place.
Then Zuko is on his knees. His shoulders are shaking.
Katara doesn't make herself known. She just watches to make sure he won't get fried to a crisp until he gets down from the boulder and walks away, his head hanging low.
She doesn't remember how she gets back to the cave. The rain is cold, the wind is colder, but the only thing she has the capacity to acknowledge in that moment is a realization she should have seen coming.
She was afraid of Zuko, before. Now she's afraid for him.
/ / /
trust me and you'll see:
push and pull,
it's you and me
It doesn't take her long to find him the next evening. And he isn't exactly being quiet, stomping and grumbling in frustration that's almost funny.
But Katara isn't laughing. Not after what she witnessed last night.
Zuko notices her and for a moment he seems so angry, she thinks he's going to blast fire at her again. But then he just breaks his fighting stance and sighs.
"Are you… okay?" she probes.
"Yes."
"Right. It's the middle of the night."
"So?"
"So… never mind."
Zuko appraises her for a long second and she's almost decided to leave him alone – it doesn't look like a night for tea – before he speaks again, "Would you help me with something?"
She's surprised, but she nods after a moment's hesitation. The tension of him making requests of her has lifted considerably since the first time. Though Zuko still seems slightly surprised.
He assumes a familiar position and it takes her a while to recognize that the stance is a waterbending one.
"Uncle is teaching me how to redirect lightning," he explains in reply to her confusion. "He invented the technique by watching waterbenders."
"Smart," Katara says and takes a step closer, looking over him with a frown. "I take it you haven't had a chance to test it out with real lightning?"
"No." Zuko looks away and she thinks back to the scene in the rain. "Uncle is right. If I'm lucky, I'll never have to use this technique at all. But…"
Katara nods; Azula's name hangs between them like a curse. "But you should be prepared either way."
She examines his outstretched arms and lightly nudges one of them up. Zuko stands stiffly, but she thinks she sees a muscle on his jaw jump. "Walk me through the technique," she says softly.
"The point is to let the energy in my body flow, so that the lightning will follow it. That way I can create a pathway that avoids the heart." Zuko looks towards his fingers and draws a motion towards his stomach. "In, down. Up. And out."
Katara follows the movement of his hands. He repeats it two times before dropping his arms with a sigh. "I think I have the motion down. But I'm not sure I feel this flow of energy he's talking about."
She rubs her chin thoughtfully. It had taken her a while to get a feel for her chi and how to control it. She is sure Zuko has long since learned that, but perhaps the feeling is different for him. Not that their energies are necessarily different, just that maybe they have a different way of channeling them. She'd talked to Aang about it once and whereas her chi feels like a steady flowing stream, he had described his as a rapid gust of energy. Maybe it is the element one wields that makes for the difference.
"Okay." She bites her lip and unscrews the cork of her waterskin. "You need to envision it. Try to guide it like a waterbender."
Zuko frowns as he watches her. She mirrors the movement he's shown her, guiding a thin string of water to illustrate the pathway she feels her energy flowing.
"You try," she says, and he assumes the position once more, eyebrows furrowed in concentration. They do it together in perfect synchrony a couple times, before Katara stops.
With a twirl of her finger, she sends the trail of water to Zuko's fingers, stopping it when it's mere millimeters away from his skin. He's astounded for a second, but he doesn't stop. Katara guides the water to match his movements, inching it close enough so he can feel it.
"Better?"
He swallows thickly and nods, a droplet of sweat sliding down his face. Then he stills and blinks at her. The water hovers between the two of them and Katara wonders what's made for the strange look in his eyes, before she realizes how close they are standing.
She flicks her hand and sends the water back in the skin, taking an offhanded step back at the same time.
Zuko clears his throat and looks away. "Uncle says it's important to find the balance between the elements. But it's… hard. Water is my natural opposite."
Katara suddenly thinks of Tui and La. "I guess you'll need to find peace within yourself first."
"Yeah." Zuko looks at her again, frowning. "It's a shame only firebenders can use this technique."
She feels tingly then, but it's not entirely uncomfortable. Her gaze settles on the ground as to hide her expression. "I'm more than capable of taking care of myself." She pauses for a second, considering she's maybe misread his meaning. "And Aang is, too."
But she doesn't think she imagines the hint of concern in Zuko's eyes. She allows herself to revel in it for a moment before she leaves.
"Thank you, Katara."
The rasp of his voice is like a waterfall to her ears. That night, Katara dreams of twirling water and two koi fish, one white, one black, circling each other in an endless balancing dance.
/ / / / /