A/N. It feels slightly hurried at the start, but there is a reason lol! Next chapter will be Zuko or Sokka!

I don't own Avatar the Last Airbender.

Katara looked out of the window in the guest room as two palanquins were carried into the courtyard. True to his word, On Ji's father had made sure there was some food for her in her room. The waterbender watched as, in the dying light of the day, two people stepped out of the first litter. A man, around her own father's age, with greying temples and his hair in a tight topknot, helped a small, bitter-looking woman out of the palanquin. She supposed those were the governor and his wife.

Then, from the second litter came the soldier, Hide. He was wearing the typical black and burgundy uniform most people in the Fire Nation Army used when they weren't on duty but for some reason, it looked too tight. Katara supposed that when his serving time had started, a month ago, it had fitted perfectly. But all that time in the inn, drinking, eating and… Well, whatever else he did in there, had not helped his figure. He looked disgusting.

She couldn't understand how someone could act the way this man did. Although she knew and had met men that acted like the world belonged to them, they had all been hardworking people behind their façade of masculine righteousness. Pakku had been such a man, and in some extend, her brother too before their travels. But they had not been lazy to top it off!

To be honest, the only man she had ever met who had not an ounce of self-importance or judgement about the role of women was Aang. It had been one of the things that had attracted her in the first months after breaking him out of the iceberg…

Smiling as she thought of Aang, Katara couldn't help but feel relief. The message On Ji's father had heard confirmed everything she had thought. The airbender had found a way to defeat Ozai without killing him without betraying his own beliefs… As she knew he would. All had doubted him… But he had promised her he would. And Aang always kept his promises.

And the message also had all but confirmed the fact that her friends were all alive, even if Aang was apparently wounded enough to be bedridden in the royal Palace… Spirits, she needed to be back there. What if his back had been wounded once more? The scar tissue would give any physician who wasn't intimately aware of every small cut, every small fracture… But if all went well, tonight, she would be able to get out of the city!

Watching as the couple and their daughter stepped out of the house to greet the guests, Katara felt sorry for On Ji. She looked like a doll a little child had dressed up… But her expression was more one of a beast who knew that they were at a slaughterhouse. And knew the meaning of what was going to happen.

Looking up from the scene, the waterbender saw the last ray of sunlight disappear behind the roofs of the town. She had missed the first day of the new era… by being stuck in this shithole. But at least, she knew they were all alive… But Aang didn't know that. Tui and La, he would be worried about her… And Sokka too. Those two were probably being very, very stupid at this very moment… And when they worried about something, she was supposed to stop them from doing anything rash…

Hopefully, Suki had rammed some sense into them. Sokka and Aang would be panicking, planning the wildest things to find her… Hopefully, Toph and Suki were being calm… But knowing Toph, she would probably be helping Sokka and Aang.

The best thing was to get out of here, as fast as possible. With On Ji, of course. When they had spoken that afternoon about the plan, Katara had seen the doubt in the girl's eyes. She had clearly not believed that the waterbender would come back for her. But she was! Truly, she couldn't just yank away the little hope she had given On Ji. It would be cruel, and also totally unnecessary.

As the people outside greeted each other, Katara stood up. Her dinner had also included a small flask of water, and she grabbed it, letting it slide into her pocket. It wasn't much, but at least she would have water on hand…

Not that that was a problem, to be honest. The weather was quickly turning, something that surprised her. It was as if the climate knew that the comet had passed and was trying to catch up the missed rainfalls. Not that it had rained today, but from the moment she had woken this morning till now, dark clouds had gathered and gathered, looking ever more threateningly over the town. She had seen On Ji eye the cloud suspiciously, but Katara herself had welcomed it.

She had spent too much time sweating and peeling the skin of her own arms because of the sunburns. The waterbender tried to suppress a smile as she remembered the moment, they had spent near Piandao's castle. When Sokka had trained with the swordsman, Toph, Aang and she had spent their days in the sun, being the laziest she had ever been.

It had been a good week…

Except the sunburns, of course.

She turned to door, and opened it a little. Glancing into the corridor, she didn't see anyone, but heard soft voices.

"… Rumours! Where did you hear that Orsu?"

Ah… On Ji's father had probably asked about what he had heard from the servants. But that wasn't important. If she found a way out of the town tonight… She would be able to change things around here. She would ask Zuko to change the governor, for one. And she would come back… with Aang. To show these people that the young man they had loved so much as Kuzon was even better as Aang…

The voices faded away into a part of the house Katara had not yet seen, and the corridor stayed empty. Slipping out of the guest room, Katara marched out, towards the front door. Would curfew be strictly enforced? Or would it rather be a lax? Of what she had seen of the soldiers here, there were two groups. Those who took their job way too seriously, and those who didn't take it seriously at all.

Hopefully, only the lazy ones were on duty tonight.

The door was standing open, and Katara stepped into the cool evening air. The last light of the sun died away beneath the rooftops, making long shadows in a darkening city. This would be the perfect time to try and get out of here. The shadows would give her cover, and she had seen enough garrison cities to know that the beginning of the evening would be the best time to do something illegal.

If they rotated in the same way as Ba Sing Se for example, the guards on duty would be getting bored, preferring inns and taverns to their actual jobs. And the night shift wouldn't yet be in the streets, making it easier to move around unseen.

As she crossed the courtyard, the waterbender looked over her shoulder, but there wasn't any movement from the house. Good… If she found a way, she would come back find On Ji after her dinner, and get out of here. Then, the most dangerous part was crossing the wide-open space between the walls and the actual forest… Where Appa was hopefully still waiting. Knowing the bison, she supposed he would be, because he had never abandoned them before. Then, the difficult part would be convincing On Ji to actually get on the bison's saddle. That would be a pain… But if needed, she could always knock the girl out… for her own good.

The exit of the courtyard wasn't guarded, which surprised her, because Katara had supposed that the governor would be accompanied by at least a few soldiers… But there was no one. No one to stop her as she stepped into the street. Looking from left to right, there was not a soul outside…

She had to hand it to the Fire Nation, when they said, "stay home"… The people didn't question the order. They were not happy about it, that much Katara had gathered when talking to On Ji… But the population still obeyed. But then again, that was to be expected after a hundred years of brutal oppression…

But as she moved as silently as possible through the street, the waterbender realized that her idea of an obedient population was in fact false. The Fire Nationals had not listened… months ago, when they first came here, the moment Aang had given them a chance to be themselves, the students at the school had taken it with both hands. She took a turn to the right, towards the closest town wall. As it loomed into the starting darkness, Katara saw lights move on top of it.

Not just one or two…

But nearly every five yards, a light danced, and she could see the shadows of people. If the garrison was big enough to actually man the wall like that… Tui and La, that was bad. Sokka had developed a technique to calculate the numbers of soldiers in each town they visited… he would observe the number of guards between two towers, and then, multiply that number by the number of towers on the walls…

Ducking into the shadows of a building, Katara sighed. This was not going to work. If they were keeping so many soldiers on the walls, which meant that they were prepared for anything that she could throw at them. And although she knew her bending would probably be superior to anything, they could throw at her… The sheer number of people who would come after her would be dangerous. And certainly, if they realized who exactly was trying to get out of the town.

As she managed to walk silently through the shadows of the streets, Katara began to observe what could help her. There were few soldiers on the actual streets, making her think that the governor hadn't enough soldiers to man both the walls and the town. That could help… Taking a step forward, the waterbender felt her foot hit something different than earth. Looking down, she saw it was a small circular metal cover… Looking like a miniature version of those she had seen in Omashu… the sewers…

The sewers!

It had worked in Omashu, when they had tried to get in… And Omashu too had been under curfew!

Stopping dead in her tracks, Katara's mind suddenly went blank. She had thought and thought, turned and turned around the problem of getting over the walls. Getting on the fortification without being seen. Getting down without a soul noticing them. And crossing that damned mile of open country before reaching the relative safety of the trees… But why go over it?

If you could get underneath it…

Spirits… That was it! She would have water at her disposal, and perhaps the soldiers wouldn't be patrolling them! Feeling excited at the idea, Katara decided to still make count the towers… it wouldn't hurt to actually know how many guards there were.

It took her several hours of sneaking through alleys, waiting as soldiers crossed roads, and of counting towers. Finally, she reached the conclusion that there were twenty towers, neatly spaced evenly from each other. And using Sokka's technique for counting, she reached the conclusion that the garrison was at least fifteen hundred…

That was a huge number…

Far more than was needed to keep the peace in a town.

Looking up into the sky, Katara sighed. The moon was high, and it was surely after midnight now. But she had found a way! It would not be easy, but that wasn't important! But why were there so many soldiers?

Taking care to sneak back to the house as silently as possible, Katara entered the courtyard just as a few shadows crossed it. Quickly ducking into the shadows next to the stables, the waterbender saw that it was three people, making their way to the litters that stood in the middle of the square. Two stepped inside the grandest, while the third stretched, belched and entered the second palanquin. After a few moments, other shadows ran towards the litters and positioned themselves around it, hoisting them up and slowly walking away, holding their charge as high from the ground as humanly possible. As they passed her small hiding space, Katara tried to hug the shadows as not to be seen.

Luckily, the carriers didn't notice her, and the people inside the litters were clearly too preoccupied with their own lives to even look outside.

"… The girl is a mute." She heard a feminine voice speak.

"Great, at least one woman in the house who will shut up." A gruff masculine voice answered in an irritated tone. She didn't hear the rest of it, as the litters were carried into the street and into the darkness. Frowning at such an exchange, Katara supposed that the governor and his wife were not on the best of terms, but even so, she had never actually heard married people speak to each other in that way.

That didn't promise much good for On Ji. Luckily, she wouldn't have to marry that Hide figure, because if Katara was right, there was a change to get the girl out of her situation.

Quickly running over the courtyard, she opened the door and stepped inside as quietly as possible. Hopefully, no one would see her and ask her why she had been outside during curfew… Walking through the corridor towards her room, Katara decided to wait another hour, to make sure everyone was asleep… And then, she would try to find On Ji.

Opening the door to the guest room, the waterbender stepped inside the dark room. Closing the door softly, Katara heard the soft breathing. Breathing that didn't come from her own lungs.

Immediately turning to the corner, she saw the pale shadow. Then, it slammed into her, and both fell to the ground. When she hit the hard wooden floor, Katara gritted her teeth and lifted her head, butting it as hard as possible into the attacker's face. She felt a rather satisfying crack when her forehead connected with the nose of the person.

The yelp coming from that person made her pause for a second. It sounded like a girl.

But that wasn't important. Quickly pulling the water out of the bowl on the small desk, Katara let it flow to her hand, freezing it in a point with a sharp end.

"What do you want?" She whispered as she put the point underneath the ribs of the person, so that they could feel she was armed.

"Who are you?" The other person asked instead of answered.

It was On Ji.

That realization startled Katara. Why had the girl hidden in her room, attacked her as soon as she had entered the space, and, in the name of Tui and La, why had she found it necessary?

"Oh no, you first. You attacked me." She muttered, forcing the icy point a bit into the skin of the girl who straddled her.

"You are not who you say you are." On Ji answered angrily, clearly not impressed by the fact a weapon was being held against the ribs. Katara could respect that if the girl had not attacked her.

"So, instead of asking who I am, you decide to hit me against the floor." Katara realized that On Ji had probably figured out that Sapphire wasn't truly her name… Somehow. But that didn't mean she knew who she actually was.

"It was that or burning you to a crisp. But I need you. So, here we are."

Katara doubted that the Fire Nation girl would have been able to kill her, but still, it gave her pause. This girl had been prepared to attack her, but had refrained herself for her own good. Still, she knew that she was on very, very, thin ice. On Ji had understood in less than a day that Sapphire wasn't real. This was dangerous… if the girl had figured it out, who else would be able to do it?

"Get off me." She pushed the girl off as gently as possible, but still, it looked more like a shove than a friendly gesture. Letting the ice spike melt, Katara stood up and quickly took out the flask of her pocket. The more water, the better.

A soft light appeared from where she had pushed the girl, and the shadows on the walls began to dance. Katara watched as a small flame appeared in On Ji's hands, which she held to one of the little oil lamps that hung from the wall next to the door. As the lamp began to burn, the fire in the girl's hand went out.

Katara had seen a lot of firebending, good and bad… But this looked rather bad to be honest. It was clear to her that On Ji wasn't a prodigy, or had learned ways to fuel her inner fire, as Aang had explained… You needed something to give the fire power. For most people in the Fire Nation, it was anger and cruelty, as they learned it that way in their schools and at training.

But it seemed that anger and cruelty weren't On Ji's strong suits. No… She had seemed like she would be more at ease with the way Aang and Zuko bend fire… From passion.

"So, who are you?" She could finally get a look of the girl's face. The first thing Katara felt was regret, as she saw that there was blood streaming out of On Ji's nose, and the second was shock. She had clearly been crying, and looked completely miserable. All the anger the waterbender had felt at the girl for knocking her to the ground evaporated as soon as she saw the look of pure despair.

"Does it matter?" It was no use lying she supposed…

"It does! Agni, I'm hiding a criminal!" On Ji's hands rose to her head, grabbing her hair and pulling at it, "You are dangerous, probably trying to find a way to take this city for the Avatar and the traitor! That is why you are here!"

Ah…

On Ji had not only understood, she wasn't called Sapphire. She had probably learned who she was.

"I'm no criminal!" She objected, trying to sound as patient as possible, "And I'm here because of a stupid mistake. I just want to leave this place, that is all!"

"And get back to your precious Avatar!" On Ji bit back, not without some anger in her voice.

"On Ji, listen to me. You have to keep your voice down! If someone hears you…"

"Oh, scared? I would be, in your case! You are not even trying to deny it! You… You are her."

The waterbender closed her eyes for a second. This meant something very dangerous. As much as On Ji had seemed trustworthy, Katara had not wanted her to learn who she was before actually getting out of the town. If they had managed that, she would have told the girl the truth. She would have needed to, otherwise seeing Appa would have been a shock…

"Sit down." The waterbender sighed, gesturing to the bed. On Ji had probably not seen her bend the water, because if she had, the girl would already be running to the closest official or guard… She was probably just guessing, trying to find out who Sapphire was exactly. There was no way she could know for certain… Right?

"And have you slid my throat as soon as I sit down? No way."

Biting her lip, Katara knew that On Ji was never going to trust her as long as she didn't have an avadnatge… Looking around, she saw that the dinner plate still stood on the desk. Taking a step towards, she heard the soft hiss.

"Where do you think you're going?"

Taking the knife that had lain on the plate, Katara turned it, saw that she held the blade instead of the handle, and extended her arm towards the Fire Nation girl. In the Water Tribes, this was a way to make sure someone knows they could trust you… Expose yourself, give the other the advantage. But Katara knew that even if On Ji took the knife, she still had her waterbending. Which was a far great advantage than a small knife that had not even cut that well.

"What?"

"Take it. I can't slid your throat when I don't have a knife." Katara raised her shoulders in a carefree way, just to show that she wasn't afraid. But to be honest, she didn't understand how Aang did it. Trusting someone who minutes earlier would have gladly killed you… She had seen him do it countless times, most recently in the Western Air Temple with Zuko… To her, it felt unnatural… To him it came as easily as breathing.

On Ji eyed her suspiciously, then suddenly snatched the knife from her hand, retreating as quickly as possible to the other side of the room, where the bed stood. Katara herself put her back against the wall close to the door, where the lamp was burning. Letting herself slide down, she sat down on the floor with the wall against her back.

"So, what do you want to know?" She asked. It was better to give On Ji the impression she was in control…

"Well, who are you!" The girl bit back almost immediately.

Sighing, the waterbender knew that there was no use in lying.

"Katara of the Southern Water Tribe."

The sharp intake of breath made her think that On Ji had not actually expected that to be the truth.

"B-B-But… No! That can't be true!" Katara was surprised by the passion in the girl's voice.

"Well, it's my name… What else?"

"W-why… Why are y-you here?" The girl sounded terrified now…

"As I said this morning, I was knocked out and brought here. I didn't lie about that." Katara tried to smile reassuringly.

"When trying to get back to your friends. The messages said you were in the capital! You were defeated by the princess!" On Ji protested, gesturing the knife in her direction.

"I stopped Azula after she broke the rules of the Agni Kai with Zuko, that's the truth." Katara spoke softly, trying to sound kind.

"That's… That's why you knew everything that happened! You were there!" On Ji seemed to forget for a moment that she was trying to get information, when for a second, admiration seeped through the irritation.

"Zuko and I defeated Azula, and if the rumours your father heard are to be believed, Aang and the others stopped Ozai. Without killing him." Katara saw the small hesitation in the soft ember eyes, clearly not knowing what to do…

"Lord Ozai was killed… The official message said so." The girl objected, but not very passionately.

"And the rumours say that Aang spared his life. Aang doesn't kill… So I would trust the rumours." Katara smiled softly at that. The airbender had done it… Like he had promised.

"Yeah, like you said, the people love the Avatar." The roll in the ember eyes was not hidden very well, "Rather, you love him, and don't see his wrongdoings! That is what all the rumours say!" All the rumours. So not only the bad ones, but also the good ones…

"That's true. I may be somewhat bias on Aang's account. But I never met a man more worthy of trust."

"Yeah, coming from his paramour, it doesn't inspire that much confidence." On Ji bit back.

"Paramour makes it sound… Rather sexual. It isn't about that. Aang and I… Spirits, there is no explaining it. I love him, and he loves me." Katara felt like her explanation left a lot out… But she couldn't explain everything that had happened between her and Aang in a few minutes…

Looking at On Ji, she saw the hesitation come back in force. Clearly, the girl was being torn apart between what she had been told all her life, and what she hoped to be true.

"They probably told you lots of things about the Avatar at school… Don't believe them. He is a good man." Katara continued. She knew that the thing that was blocking On Ji was the fact that she was helping the enemy. If… if she could show her that the enemy wasn't so bad after all…

"T-they said he would kill everyone for what Lord Sozin did when the Air Nation attacked… That everything changed after that."

Anger flared up in her heart. Sozin had turned the table, playing the victim? Spirits, they would need to change that idea.

"Sozin, curse his name, killed the Air Nomads in fear of being stopped by the Avatar. Aang was frozen in an iceberg for a hundred years… But when he learned of what had happened… You know who he blamed? Himself. He wasn't angry with the Fire Nation, he was furious with himself for not having been there to protect his father figure. His sister. His family and friends. He never blamed the people of the Fire Nation." Katara spoke softly, looking into On Ji's eyes.

"But he is a Spirit! A vengeful one that will make us suffer for the supposed crimes we committed!"

"Aang isn't a spirit." Katara smiled, "He is a man, flawed and gifted like any other."

"Yeah, like what? Flawed of any compassion, and gifted at killing?" On Ji's face grew red from anger.

"I would rather say his flaw is his absolute disregard of danger… And his gift? Oh, he is rather good at dancing." Katara kept her eyes on the girl in front of her. On Ji thought that Aang was a horrible person, dangerous and a killer.

There was a way to change her opinion.

"Good at dancing?" the girl scoffed, before her eyes widened, "Wait…"

"You didn't think Kuzon was his real name, did you?"

Answers:

Kalaong: War is always a waste, and often doesn't change a damned thing. Your last quote is really interesting, because the person forgets the things that made the war under the Borgias possible : Alexander VI didn't want war, but the French and the Spanish invaded Italy, so it is easy to blame the Borgias, just because they were a intriguing family. And I would rather life in a country known for a cuckoo's clock than one that sends their younger generations to die in a war.

Jjsmith103: Indeed, I wanted to show that truly everyone suffers from the war, not only the Air Nomads, the Earth Kingdom or the Water Tribes. Because let's be honest, these kids are going to have some real PTSD problems…