Nightstalkers and Uncomfortable Declarations
It had been years since she had been the one to illicit it but Mai knew the look Zuko wore and what it led to in empty corridors and quiet corners. Things were going well, too well, too fast and too publicly. Another wave of murmurs rose when the Fire Lord's ex-girlfriend approached him, Mai ignored it and grabbed his hands dragging him to join her in an Ember Quickstep. More whispered words spilled from the crowd as the pair fell into the motions with an ease that only came with years of childhood practice.
"What are you doing?" Zuko asked, trusting her lead despite his confusion, the steps ticking off in a careful rhythm in the back of his head.
The noblewoman tilted her head towards their audience. Zuko followed the subtle indication and found TyLee standing at the edge of the dancefloor. Her shoulders were slumped and sadness painted her features, her dress wilting around her like the petals of a fading pink peony.
"What happened?" Curiosity and panic for his friends rose in his throat.
"Nothing you dunderhead, Ty is acting. After your little display with Katara, we had to give the crowd something else to whisper about." Mai murmured sternly, "I thought the plan was to lie low and keep attention off of you two."
"That was the plan, but she kept avoiding me. It was the only way I could get her to talk to me."
"I told her to avoid you," Mai rolled her eyes, at his offended look, "Outside of council chambers you both wear your emotions like Watertribe war paint. You're in a room full of people who control the direction of the four nations. They dictate trade, aid, and war. How do you think you glowering at Aang while holding his ex-fiancé is going to go over?" Mai paused her lecture to shake her head, "Just because we've managed to make nice for the better part of a decade doesn't mean that they trust us."
"Monkeyfeathers," Zuko grumbled under his breath.
"Monkeyfeathers is right."
"What are we going to do?"
"We aren't going to do anything. In one more dance, you're going to take me to TyLee so we can 'make up', then you're going to go back to making small talk with dignitaries and acolytes until this is over."
Zuko gave a deflated sigh, "What about Katara?"
"Toph is on it, she'll switch off with Sokka and Suki once they're done with their alone time."
"Are you serious? Where are they now?"
"Your green room," a ghost of a smirk played on Mai's red-painted lips.
"Your doing, I'm assuming."
Mai shrugged.
"I can see Azula rubbed off on you."
Whatever sliver of a smile had played along her burgundy lips quickly disappeared.
Mai gave an uncharacteristic sigh, "While I might not forgive as quickly as Ty, I will admit that she taught me quite a bit," her sandstone-colored eyes glinted. "It comes in handy from time to time."
Zuko smirked, even after their relationship ended, Mai stayed solidly in his corner. Her father's betrayal had rocked them all but she worked to bring honor back to the Ukano family. Now she was a trusted voice among the palace councils, one known for its practicality and he could understand why.
The music began to die out around them, giving the musicians a breath before the next started, "Ok, Mr. Fire Lord, it's time to play your part."
Zuko nodded reluctantly, he would prefer to be looking after Katara but Mai was right, he was still Fire Lord, and his actions reverberated in the world more than others. Taking her hand, he led Mai to her girlfriend to 'make up'.
Neither noticed the orange and yellow that hurriedly trailed after the waterbender.
…
Katara made her way to the edge of the ballroom slipping through a set of glass doors. The cool night descended on her skin as the quiet wrapped around her like a blanket. Stepping over the threshold felt like passing through a portal to another world. Laid out in front of her was one of the palace's many gardens, its greenery standing in stark contradiction to the ballroom's white marble slabs and pillars.
The verdant landscape seemed to lap against the granite patio like a green sea on a stony shore with the evening breeze as its current. She waded into the shallow depths of grass and moss, ignoring the expectations of the worn stone path beside her. She had walked it enough times to know it provided a safe, easy tour of the garden's impressive flora, but Katara wasn't interested in the pretty presentation tonight. Right now, she wanted to sit on rich earth among the roots of a particular ginkgo-willow, beneath its long hanging tendrils of fan-shaped leaves. Its quiet solitude made it easier to sort through her thoughts, and the last few hours had given her a lot to think about.
On one hand, her break with Aang was being viewed as a failure on her part, she knew it was coming but it still stung. On the other, she found that Zuko felt something for her, something that burned hotter than the warming embers of friendship. It was a feeling she returned. Threading through smoothed stones, manicured bushes, and smaller blooming plants she set her mind free to wander the night's events. Standing in front of the ginkgo-willow, the look of heat in Zuko's eyes crept to the surface of her mind, sending the shivering warmth of nervous anticipation to flutter low in her belly.
She parted the curtain of vines to find a none-too-small velvet cushion set among the tree's roots. Iroh, Ursa, or Zuko had left it for her. Which one, she wasn't sure but they had been the only ones to manage to find her here, she smiled at the loving gesture. The last few months, for the first time in a long time, had reminded her what it felt like to be cared for, both by her own family and Zuko's.
Taking a seat on the cushion, she leaned against the smooth trunk. Katara sat with the fact that she wasn't entirely sure what Zuko's feelings were. Did they run deeper than friendship? A scarred and still healing part of her wasn't sure if she wanted them to, wasn't sure if her heart was ready to be put into the hands of another, even one as gentle as Zuko. Even if her own feelings for him had strayed from like to like. She did know that he, on some level, wanted to be with her physically and she also knew, that she would regret never letting herself find out what that was like.
Katara sat steeling herself into making good on her rendezvous when the crack of a snapping of a twig shattered the quiet around her. Her head shot up at the sound, almost no one came this far into the garden and those who did were currently tied up with royal duties.
"Hello?" Katara called out into empty, torchlit night.
The scrape of sandals over stone, and the none-too-gentle rustling of branches answered her. Whoever was tramping through plants was heading right towards her.
"Who's there?" she tried again, pressing herself up to her feet.
When no answer came, Katara murmured an apology to whatever Kodama called the ginkgo-willow home and took hold of the tree's vines. When the sunset-rose bush in front of her parted she took aim and shot the vines forward into the emerald leaves and orange-purple blooms.
"Hey, hey, hey! It's just me!" emerging from the foliage, none too gracefully and in a shower of damaged petals, was the lanky frame of her ex-fiancé.
Her stomach dropped. She had avoided him for the entire summit – since she broke off the engagement really – and yet he still managed to find her.
Katara let the vines fall at her sides, "Aang? What are you doing here?"
"I-I wanted to talk to you." He faltered, "We haven't been able to talk to you since you left. I mean I knew you were leaving, I just, I didn't think I wouldn't ever see you again."
"I needed time Aang, space to figure things out."
Aang's eyebrows rose and Katara quickly realized they were alone. Deep in the gardens, far from any other guests and out of reach of her friends. She mentally kicked herself, aside from Zuko, none of them knew how to find her here.
Wait.
"How did you find me out here?" she asked.
Aang's face flushed and he suddenly couldn't look her in the eye, "I saw you leave."
"You were still with Hei-Won when I left, you couldn't have found me that quickly."
"I wasn't with Hei-Won." he argued, "It's not like that, she's just a good friend."
"I'm sure that's exactly what she thinks," Katara muttered to herself.
"What?"
"Nothing," Katara rolled her eyes impatiently and crossed her arms. "So, liars are among your good friends now?"
"No! It's nothing like that." Aang tried to assure her, "Hei-Won, is here because she apologized, she and the rest of the acolytes were deeply sorry. She even encouraged me to talk to you."
Katara froze, "What?"
"She told me I should talk to you, and explain that they were sorry," Aang said, the soft caution in his voice matching the careful steps that brought him towards her.
Brows furrowed, she shook her head, "I don't understand."
Why would Hei-Won of all people want Aang to talk to her? The acolyte wanted her gone and had gone to great lengths to make that happen.
"She came to me with the other acolytes, to apologize for what they had done, they begged me to ask you what they could do to make it right."
Aang closed the distance between them standing so close she had to crane her neck to see the warm beige of his boyish features, "But before I could do that, I needed to do something else."
"What?" she nearly whispered, the word coming out much softer and so much more hopeful than she had wanted it to.
Aang reached out and let the back of his knuckles trail down her skin from shoulder to elbow. She looked down, tracing the gentle movement with her eyes. Around her, the scent of sandalwood and star-grapefruit filled the air, he was still using the soap she'd made him, the same one she'd been making him since they were kids. It made something tug on her heart and settled a dull ache in her chest. That scent was interlaced in nearly every memory they shared and some disloyal part of her wanted to sink into the comforting familiarity of it. To go back to the known, where she would no longer question herself or wonder. Wonder if she had made the right decision, if the path of her future was leading anywhere, or if she was even deserving of love.
Aang let his knuckles lazily track back up her arm and hook under her chin, lifting her sky-blue eyes to gaze up at him.
"I needed to apologize first. To say sorry for giving in to my fear and uncertainty, and leaving you to face the consequences of it alone. And," Aang reached into a pocket and with a hopeful look, produced a familiar-looking piece of jewelry, "to ask you if you'd be willing to try again?"
Katara's crossed arms dropped to her sides, her mouth falling open, in a small 'o' of surprise.
Aang chuckled at her response, "I ran out of time the first time, I didn't get to finish it but while you were away, I was able to work on it."
The gold clasp had been repaired and the yellow velvet had been painstakingly stitched with orange clouds. An arrow embroidered in bright blue ran down the front just above the oversized orange stone that had been polished to a mirror-like shine. That necklace held so much happiness, so much joy, and so much pain. Memories she would hold on to until her last days and others she wished she could forget, but most of all, that piece of jewelry, held a promise they had made four years ago.
Her fingertips strayed to the smooth, carved pendant of her mother's necklace, it felt like an anchor in the tempest of emotions Aang's presence had stirred. The weight of the bright sparkling citrine before her no longer hung heavy around her neck. She had torn it off on a warm night nearly a year ago and days after, released from its burden, she found a sense of lightness. Months after she had reclaimed the sense of self she once feared lost in the emptiness of his wake. Then this very night she was offered this chance of something new, a beginning of something with promoise.
Was it all worth giving up for the comfort of the familiar? To get another chance at the future she had dreamed of since she was fourteen? To follow that path her younger self had been so sure of?
Tearing her eyes from Aang's betrothal necklace she looked back up at him, "What changed?" she asked quietly.
"After you left, I was so lost without you." Aang slipped his hands into hers, tangling the velvet in their fingertips.
"The temples weren't the same, without you they had lost their light."
Katara listened, watching the sadness fall over his boyish features. "You were gone, and it was my fault. I let my fear inhibit my actions, and instead of calming their worry and unease, I let you bear the consequences of everyone else's fear."
"Everyone else's fear?"
"Yes. The acolytes? They mistreated you because they were afraid."
Katara's brows knitted, "Afraid of what?"
"You." he said simply, as if it explained everything, "After you left I felt so alone, I was sad, but I was angry too and I guess I got really distant." he let out a small breath. "They got really worried."
Aang looked down at their joined hands, he pressed his palm against hers and with the pad of his thumb, traced circles in the webbing of her thumb and forefinger. Looking back up at her he continued, "Hei-Won and Anya came to me with the other acolytes from that night and when they apologized they explained that their actions had come from fear. They were afraid that Air Nomad culture would be lost if I was with someone who didn't embrace it as they did."
"Lost?" Katara asked harshly, incredulity slipping into her voice, "I helped you preserve it, helped you find followers to pass your teachings onto, I spent weeks with the White Lotus transcribing everything they knew, things even you didn't know."
Quickly unlacing their twined fingers from his he placed his hands heavily on her shoulders, a quiet attempt to calm her, "I know, I know," he said softly, "I told them this. Of all the hard work you had done for us, the things they never saw."
They never saw it because it was the only excuse I had to get away from them.
The thought burned a thread of anger up her spine and she tried to ignore it, they might have been away from the ballroom but if this summit told her anything, perked ears were everywhere.
Curiosity got the better of her, "What did they say to that?"
"They weren't that convinced." Aang gave a sheepish look, but recovered quickly, "But I did what I should have, I calmed their fears." he declared wearing a beaming look of pride.
That pride faded at its edges when an empty silence stretched between them. When he cleared his throat Katara realized he was waiting for something, from her. He was waiting for her to praise him.
And why wouldn't he?
She always had, even when he was a boy, no matter how simple the task. She was beginning to understand. What started as her adoration for him, over time, had become a hollow performance, and after nine months apart, she was out of practice. When she didn't respond, a small frown flashed across his face
"Anyway," irritation permeated the word for the barest second, before he launched jovially back into his explanation, "I explained to them you were invested. You may have had your own culture, but you also honored ours. You stopped hunting and eating meat, switched from wearing animal skins to woven fabric, and started wearing the colors of the Air Nomads. Like your dress tonight" he looked down stuttering a bit, "I mean its still Water Tribe and there's the issue of the pearls, but other than that, there's no animal parts! And I even reminded them that you tried meditation with us - that didn't really work but I'm sure when we get back we can figure it out-"
Aang kept talking but his words were drowned by the ringing in her ears. He saw every lost part of her as a boon to him, his culture, and his precious acolytes. Suddenly, the necklace in Aang's hands felt less like a promise of enduring love and more like a collar- a collar that he was all too happy to watch her choke and wither in.
When we get back
The four words played over and over in her head. He had already decided for her before he even set foot in the gardens. The thread of anger she had been trying to ignore pulled tighter.
"Aang. How did you find me here?" she asked again, roughly cutting him off.
"Oh, by the time I got through the door you were gone. So I used earthbending to sense where you went." Aang got a shy smile on his face, "I've been looking for you that way for weeks. I kept trying to get a few moments alone with you, but you were always busy with someone."
In the small quiet where she had no words, her anger soured into disgust. Her brother, her friends, everyone worked together to keep him away from her, but he had been tracking her movements the entire time. It made her feel disgusting and violated, like his fingerprints were all over her even in the places he hadn't touched.
"Especially Zuko," Aang added halting her heated thoughts, Katara stilled as he searched her face. Whatever he found made his expression sadden, and look away.
"I knew it. I thought you two were just catching up, but after I saw you two dancing." he shook his head, "You used to look at me that way."
His hands slipped down her arms to encircle and grip her wrists. Regret catching in his throat, he looked at her, tears shining in his grey eyes, "I can fix it- I have fixed it. My acolytes understand now. We can go back tomorrow, tonight even, and everything can go back to the way it was!"
Katara's stomach churned, revolting at the idea of going back. Of going back to the arguments that always ended with her giving up some part of herself, going back to the anxiety that burrowed in her chest every time the acolytes snickered at her passing, going back to the isolation and loneliness that made it hard for her to love even herself.
"Aang, no." She stepped back, trying to pull herself from him, but he held her fast.
When had he gotten so strong?
"Katara, please. I'm the one for you. You were made for me."
She could see the desperation in his eyes and she mentally cursed the vain decision to leave her waterskins in her quarters. Water on its own she could bend even restrained, but the water buried in the plants around them? Taking life like that required her full attention. Mind, and body. If she could get loose she could at least do something.
"Let me go," Katara said calmly, she pulled harder at her wrists, and he responded by tightening his grip on her to a bruising force.
"You have to come back with me," he pleaded. "We belong together, Aunt Wu even said so."
Katara grit her teeth against the pain of his crushing grip. "Aunt Wu was a hack! Now let go!"
"NO!" the word erupted from Aang's mouth. Catching the flash in his irises, the armor of Katara's anger cracked, letting the cold chill of fear seep in. She didn't want to fight him, she couldn't, not when he was this emotional. Whatever he was feeling, it was taking over, and he was slipping into the Avatar state uncontrolled.
It had never been a worry of his and why should it? She had always been at his side. She calmed him down, every time, and it always worked. Except this time it wouldn't. This time, instead of calming him, she would be the target of his fury.
Katara sent up a mental prayer to someone, anyone. She needed to get out, now. If Aang lost control he would lay ruin to everything around them before they could even begin to reign him in, and with hundreds of people nearby, he would kill more than a few.
Her thoughts raced- there had to be something she could do. Could she safely get him to let her go or would she have to lie? Pretend to go back to him, tell him that she still loved him, and let him put that heavy collar back around her neck?
Her stomach revolted at the thought. She couldn't- no, she wouldn't go back, no matter what it cost her.
"Aang, let me go!" Katara wrenched her hands down as hard as she could, but he still managed to keep a hold on her. As she continued to fight against his grip, the brilliant blue on the backs of his hands started to emanate a soft white light and the wind began to whip around them. When she looked up, Aang's eyes had begun to glow.
Tui? La? Dharani? She wasn't sure which had been listening, but a whistling noise cut through the darkness. The soft brush along her braids was the only warning Katara got before four silver orbs the size of moon peach pits darted past Katara, all four striking Aang. The airbender let out a gasp as each metallic ball found its mark. For a moment, the night froze around them and all she could see was the widening of grey eyes as his grip loosened, and his arms fell uselessly to his sides. Beneath him, his knees buckled and failed.
Before she could reach out to grab Aang's tunic, the earth around him rose to meet his fall. Stone and dirt climbed up his body smearing the orange and yellow of his clothes and entombing him from the bottom of his soles to the tops of his shoulders.
"Gotcha," their heads swiveled at the sound of heavy boot steps, approaching them through the verdant tendrils of the ginkgo-willow.
"Toph!? What did you do?" panic rose in Aang's words.
The four metal orbs rose from the dirt, shivering a few inches off the ground before chasing their way back to Toph's open palm, "Don't worry Airhead, it's just little Ty Lee chi blocking with some Mai-like execution." She wore an unfriendly smile, "I had a feeling cross-training with Ms. No Face and Sugar Rush would pay off eventually."
Toph stepped between the former lovers, Katara backed up yielding to the metalbender. "As for what I was doing, I was getting your grimy little paws off of someone who clearly wanted you to leave them alone."
"Toph, it's ok-"
"No Sweetness, it's not," Toph cut in, "She said no, that means stop, but you've always had a problem understanding that. Haven't you, Airhead?"
"She's my fiancée!"
"No, I'm not." Katara's words echoed Toph's slicing through the night.
"Katara, please just come home and we can figure it out," Aang pled.
"My home is with my people, with the Southern Water Tribe and you tried to take that from me, you still are. I'm never going anywhere with you."
"But you're my forever girl!"
Katara stepped out from behind Toph and the metalbender gave her room to work. At least it would be an interesting show.
"Avatar Aang, Leader of the Air Nation." Aang winced at Katara's cold use of his title, "You didn't love me, you only thought you did."
"What are you talking about?! I've always loved you, from the moment I met you," he argued in disbelief.
Katara shook her head, "No, you didn't. When you woke up from the ice eight years ago the first thing you saw was a girl." she smiled sadly, "It was love at first sight and you fell hard, but it wasn't me you fell in love with that day."
"Of course, I did. You were perfect, how could I not?"
"No, Aang, you fell for the idea of me. Who you thought that girl was, what you wanted her to be. Then I spent eight years giving up pieces of myself to fit that mold, that 'forever girl' idea in your head. I kept cutting away until what little of me was left, was too little to bear the weight of the title." her hands balled into fists and her chest heaved, tears she refused to let fall shone in her eyes, "So, I left. I am no longer the Avatar's betrothed, a nameless, tribeless, shadow of a woman with no honors to her name."
"But-"
"Shut up, Airhead, and let her finish." Toph silenced him.
Katara let Toph's presence put steel in her spine, drawing her proudly to her full height, above them, the wind tangled in the ginkgo-willow's vines stilled, as if the spirits themselves held their breath.
"I am Master Katara of the Southern Water Tribe, bloodbender, ambassador to the Fire Nation, water sifu to the Avatar, and Lord Maker of the Dragon Throne." she declared, "Despite your best efforts, you have never been able to contain me, no matter how small I shrunk myself for you," she leaned in close, her voice quieter this time, "and you never will."
"I wasn't trying to contain you, I just …" Aang trailed off.
Katara shook her head, "Even in all this time, you still haven't been able to let go. So I am letting go for the both of us," she took a step back, "Avatar Aang, I loved you once, but what you call love is not love. It's not love if it takes your peace, and you've been robbing me of mine for far too long. I am no longer your betrothed, and never will be again. I hope that one day you do find someone who brings you happiness and that one day we can be friends again. But until then, I ask that you and your acolytes leave me alone."
Katara glanced at Toph who shot her a thumbs up, "Get back to the ball, Sugar Queen," Toph jerked her head in the direction of the still entombed Aang, "I got this."
The airbender gulped.
Katara looked between the two before giving Toph a nod. With nothing left to say, she gave a respectful bow to them both and made her way out of the garden.
When her footsteps had faded into silence, Aang looked at Toph.
"Aren't you going to let me out?"
A trace of the charming, wide-eyed Avatar she had met so long ago stirred in those words but Toph could no longer recognize the person in front of her.
"Nah. Have one of those goo-goo-eyed earthbenders from your harem help you out," she ran her fingers through the old tree's vines, the cool leaves threaded through her hands, "Consider it a punishment from your sifu, for not practicing enough."
"They're not my harem! And stop calling me Airhead I'm your Avatar."
"Oh, Avatar Aang, he's so dreamy," Toph mocked, clasping her hands to her chest and fluttering her eyelashes, "Coulda fooled me. Airhead."
"You're angry," he stated flatly.
"Oh, what tipped you off?" Toph's tone hardened, "Of course I'm angry, we're all angry, or have you been too wrapped up in fawning women to notice?"
"I don't know," he admitted.
Toph's voice quieted, "I will deny saying this til the day I die, but Katara was like a mother to me, when we were kids – as much as I hated it – she actually cared about me, the real me. And you know what, she was one to you too." Toph's jaw clenched, "After the war, you let your little fan-girl acolytes go to your head, and she suffered because of it. And now that she's moving on, now you get the stones to try to make it up to her?"
"She's mine," Aang hissed.
"She was never yours Aang! She's not a prize to be won and displayed on a shelf. She's a person. You took her for granted and now she's found someone who loves her for her."
"I'll get her to come back to me," he told her defiantly.
Toph's laugh came cold and sharp, with a twitch of her wrist Aang sunk deeper into the warped stone bringing them face to face, "That's. Not. Happening, Twinkletoes. I would say that you'd have to go through us, first but let's be real, I don't care that you're the Avatar and I don't have the moral hang-ups you do." she leaned in close and with a look that could drip blood, she whispered, "You won't survive long enough to make it past me."
He could feel her breath fan across his cheeks it made his skin break out in a cold sweat and sent a shudder skittering down his spine.
Satisfied with the racing of his heart Toph pulled back and continued, "Katara is too nice for her own good, but I'm not. So you and your little fan club are going to do exactly what she said. Shove off and leave her alone, got it?"
Aang nodded silently before sputtering out a "yes."
"Good, when I find one of your little harem I'll be sure to let them know you need attending to." Toph threw the words over her shoulder as she walked away, leaving Aang trapped alone in the dark garden.
…
"Suki!"
"Katara" she was almost fooled by her friend's calm demeanor until she stumbled across the troubled look in her blue eyes, Suki's smile quickly faded, "What's wrong?"
"That easy to tell?"
"Yup," she slipped her hands into Katara's. "Now spill."
Where Aang's touch had made her feel disconcerted and uneasy, Suki's hands in hers felt safe, anchoring her in a tempest made of her own thoughts.
"I went out on my own and-" Suki's eyebrow arched and Katara winced. The Kyoshi warrior, the head of her security detail, was going to kill her.
"-and Aang found me." the words spilled out quickly.
Suki packed away her 'I told you so' and wrapped her arms around Katara, she'd have plenty of time to shower her with them over breakfast tomorrow morning - or maybe in the afternoon if things went to plan.
"Are you ok? What happened?"
"He said he wanted to talk because we haven't spoken since I left," Katara muttered into her friend's shoulder.
"With good reason, he hurt you."
"He tried to convince me to come back. He told me the acolytes feared that I would taint Air Nomad culture and that's why they were so hostile."
Suki rolled her eyes at the half-assed excuse she was sure Aang thoroughly believed.
"He told them all the things that I gave up, my turning my back on my own culture was proof of my devotion." she took a shuddering breath. "He thought all of my missing pieces were a good thing. When I told him I wouldn't go back - he nearly went into the Avatar state. If Toph wasn't there, he could have hurt so many people."
The words tumbled from Katara's mouth almost too quickly for her to follow. The sorrow in her friend's voice made Suki's heart ache. She hugged Katara as tightly as she could, "Where did this even happen?"
"The garden," Katara's shoulders slumped. "He snuck up on me, under the ginkgo willow."
Releasing Katara, Suki stepped back, brows knitted. "How did he find you there?" even the staff had trouble locating Katara when she was under the tree's curtain of vines.
Katara's jaw clenched. "He used seismic sense - he's been tracking me through the palace for weeks."
"He's been stalking you?!" a sinking feeling followed by disgust bloomed in Suki's stomach - she was supposed to be protecting Katara and Zuko, the whole royal family and she had failed. "How could I miss this?"
"Suki, this isn't some New Ozai assassin," she squeezed the Kyoshi warrior's hands, trying to offer some kind of comfort. "Aang is the Avatar, one of the most powerful forces we know. Only two people have the ability, and we trusted them both."
Suki let out a harsh laugh, slipping her hands from Katara's, they hovered over her hidden fans for a heartbeat, before balling into fists.
"What's funny is that less than an hour ago Mai asked me if I was upset with him."
Katara kept silent, she didn't need to ask how Suki replied to Mai's question, the answer was in the trembling wrath of her hands.
"I told her I wasn't upset with him, and you know what, I'm not," her nails carved half-moons into her palms as she spoke each quiet, sharp, frigid word. "I'm fucking furious."
Katara could only nod. Suki may not be able to bend the elements, but if she could, she was sure the entire palace would have come down at that moment.
Suki's eyes fell closed while her lungs filled to near bursting with a breath that was not nearly deep enough to cool her temper. Letting it out in a sigh, she let the weight of her duty to the Fire Lord ground her while the responsibility of protecting the royal family, focused her.
When Suki opened her eyes, Katara could see the party guest from a few seconds ago was gone, she was now looking at the Taisho of the Kyoshi warriors.
"The ball will be winding down in an hour, would you like me to escort you to your room?"
"I can't," Katara shook her head, "It sounds stupid, but if I leave now it would be like he won."
Suki nodded her understanding. "Then I am taking you to Mai, Toph will join you when I find her" she gave Katara a sharp look, "and under no circumstances are you to leave their side. Do you understand?"
It was Katara's turn to nod.
"Good, I'll get a few of the non-uniformed sisters to keep eyes on you, and Aang and his acolytes. After the ball is over, you're going directly to Zuko's chambers. If for whatever reason you need to leave someone will be posted outside. Due to tonight's events and for the safety of all present, Avatar Aang will be asked to leave as soon as possible."
Katara could only nod some more and let herself be taken to the safety of her friends.
…
"Your majesty, I wanted to thank you for tonight."
Zuko internally cringed. He was hoping that with the ball winding down he would be done with the formalities and posturing, but the night had other ideas.
He turned his head toward the voice and found Chief Arnook looking back at him.
"Chief Arnook," Zuko gave a slight bow, one the older leader returned. "I hope you had a pleasant evening."
"I certainly did, Fire Lord Zuko," Arnook smirked. "Or should I call you Lord of Love?"
Zuko was taken aback. Sure, the attendees may have seen Katara and Zuko together, but to be so forward about it, especially from someone at their stations, was incredibly rude. With news of Katara ending her betrothal still fresh and the still setting results of the peace summit to think about, he decided to play ignorant.
"I'm not sure what you mean."
The older chief chuckled. "What I mean, is that magic you worked on Lady Mai and her partner Ty Lee. Whatever advice you gave them during that Quickstep got them back together within the hour."
Zuko couldn't help but be relieved- Mai's plan had worked. "Both of them are childhood friends of mine."
"Ah," the chief nodded, "then that explains your little display with Katara."
"Master Katara," Zuko corrected.
"My apologies. You are right, she had earned her title, even if she won't be using the title for long."
"What do you mean?"
The chief looked at him confused. "Didn't you know, after you and Master Katara parted, she headed into the garden, and Avatar Aang followed close behind."
Zuko's jaw clenched. The others were supposed to be looking after her, and Katara knew better than to go alone.
The chief continued. "They were gone for quite some time but from what I understand, Katara-"
"-Master Katara"
"-Master Katara returned with dirt on the skirt of her dress and Avatar Aang was worse. So covered in it he had to retire early." Arnook gave a wicked grin and nudged his shoulder, "Sounds like they had quite the romp out there."
The older man turned back to the thinning crowd and sighed. "To be young and in love."
Beside him, Zuko's stomach turned, making him queasy. It didn't make any sense-why would she ask to him meet her tonight only to turn around and make back up with Aang? After all he did to her, she had sworn she would never go back.
"So what about you?" Arnook asked, knocking Zuko out of his introspection.
"What about me?"
"Do you have your heart set on anyone?"
"I thought I did," then Zuko shook his head. "No, I don't
"That's too bad. Avatar Aang marrying into the water tribes would be a great honor to us, but with those two it's all push and no pull." Arnook turned an appraising look on Zuko "Though I must say, you and Master Katara would have been a great match.
"What?" Zuko asked dumbfounded, the conversation's sudden change in direction had nearly given him whiplash.
"I may have caught a glimpse or two of your morning spars, and then tonight in that very intimate dance…well I must say Tui and La would be proud."
"I don't understand." Zuko chose his words carefully. "I thought everyone felt that Katara was a perfect match for Aang."
"She is, but Aang being the Avatar, not too many think to ask if he was a good match for her."
"And you think I am?"
The corner of Arnook's mouth pulled up, "Yes. You see, everyone thinks that the push and pull of Tui and La are about two opposing forces in conflict when they are in fact, two forces in cooperation. Do you understand?"
Zuko gave a curt nod.
"Your interactions with Master Katara are quite a lot like that. When she pushes, you do not push back like most of those around her. Instead, you pull, and mold what she had given you before returning it to her, much like she does for you." Arnook's soft smile had mischief dancing at its edges. "Was I one of your family elders, well, I would have had you present her a necklace ages ago."
Zuko shook his head. "That's not possible, she's been with Aang since we were kids."
Arnook shrugged. "And? All is fair in love and war. Though I would warn you that Hakoda's daughter is a force to be reckoned with."
Zuko gave a half-hearted smile. "I know, I've been on the receiving end of her power, and her rage. But I've also been lucky enough to experience her kindness, and that runs much deeper."
Arnook regarded him thoughtfully. "Lord Zuko, I think you might be lying to yourself about your heart not being set on anyone."
Zuko stuttered.
The chief turned back to the departing crowd. "The men of my tribe often seek my counsel for many things including matters of the heart. What to do if you have found yourself in love with someone who might not feel the same?" Arnook paused allowing a few party-goers to pass them by, "My advice to them has always been to make their feelings known the object of their affection, with no expectations, or entitlements. Because they might be lucky enough to have those feelings returned."
Zuko's throat went dry, "And if they're not?"
"Then those feelings are entirely your own and it is your duty to put them to rest and move on."
"I see." Zuko felt the churning in his stomach turn into a bottomless pit.
Arnook braced his hands on his lower back and with a yawn leaned back into a stretch that elicited a satisfying set of pops along his spine.
"Ahh, much better," the chief turned and bowed to Zuko. "I believe it's time for this old man to retire."
Zuko returned the gesture. "Good night Chief Arnook."
"Good night, Lord Zuko."
Arnook followed the crowd out, only making it a few feet before turning back, "Fire Lord Zuko!"
Zuko swiveled his attention towards the chief.
"Take it from an old man like me, regret can be far a harsher punishment than any consequence."
Without waiting for a reply, the chief melted into the departing crowd. Zuko was left to wonder if he would have to put his feelings for Katara to rest. If he could put those feelings to rest.