A/N. Oh my God, I'm so sorry for disappear like that for two months! I had some crazy things happening (moving, job, phd, etc). I had literally no time to write or even check on new fics… But hey, I do now! So, to ease back into it, a new chapter for Ripples on the Water! I didn't forget about Ashes of Autumn, but as that story if far more advanced, I will have to read some chapters back to get the feel back!
Again, sorry for keeping you waiting for so long, I feel terrible!
"Oh fuck…" Katara groaned quietly as she watched the red streak in the sky. Looking back at the young man face, lit red by the fire above them, she saw the terrible, horrible realization on his face, and she knew. She had been afraid he was a real spy, but every time she thought she had him, then he had said something so strange that Katara had doubted her conviction.
But as the light slowly disappeared, the waterbender kept her eyes on him, and saw the fear. Not the fear of having been discovered, as a spy would have felt… But fear of what she had said could be true. Then again, she didn't know how it was possible. Frostbite should have gotten him in minutes in that iceberg, but here he was, limbs all intact… After so long. He said he was seventeen… Or a hundred and seventeen. Had he truly… Known peace?
It would explain why he was convinced that the Fire Lord was Sozin, why he had not known what the ship was, or had not known about the war. But it was impossible. But he knew about the Avatar. She had seen the lie in his eyes when he had talked about some ceremony being postponed… It didn't make her feel angry. Normally, when someone lied and Katara found out, she would get into a rage… But with him, it was different. She sensed he had not lied out of malice, but rather… Well, she didn't know.
"Fire Nation ships use signals to alert each other…" Katara muttered, "Sokka got a lecture about it from my father, and I listened in… If there is one somewhere in these waters… It will come here." Tui and La, please, everything but that. It would be horrible, terrible. There would be death, and who was there to protect them? All the warriors were gone, except Sokka, and then herself… Two against whatever the Fire Nation could throw at them.
And there were ships, that was for sure. Every now and then, they would wake up with black sooth mixed into the fresh snow. That meant that there were ships around, ships that used coal as fuel… Katara swallowed thickly, pushing the fear she felt away. Surely there were no ships around… But then again, that great beam of light that had erupted from the iceberg earlier today… That would already have drawn their attention.
"But… But… A hundred years? You are sure that Avatar Roku died a hundred and seventeen years ago?" The desperation in the young man's voice was palpable, and for a moment, Katara's worry was replaced by pity. Those big silver eyes looked at her with a pleading gaze, and her heart cracked at the sight.
"Yes… Aang, we've got to get back to the village. The sound of the flare has surely woken the others." At that sentence, Katara could feel her cheeks warm up. Oh Spirits, she had been alone with him, and the stern look from her grandmother after dinner had been abundantly clear. Leave him alone.
No. There had been no other intentions than finding out more about him! And if the others thought otherwise, let them! Who was going to punish her? Sokka? The thought nearly made her laugh aloud.
"Hop on." His voice was strained as the airbender stepped back in front of her, his arms outstretched.
"Eh… Sorry?" She heard herself say as blood rushed through her ears, making the sound seem contorted.
"Getting back quickly seems like a good idea, before anyone misses you. And airbending is quicker than walking. Hop on." Aang seemed distant as he said those words, but Katara guessed that he was still reeling from the realization that he had been stuck inside the iceberg for so long. But surely he wasn't serious?
"Ehm, Aang, I'm not sure if-" The rest of her sentence was drowned away as she saw him move suddenly, putting an arm underneath her knees and lifting her up, putting a hand against her back. It was kind of weird to be carried like that, but before she could protest, the wind picked up around them and they moved. She had travelled by sledge pulled by animals, but this was different. Her eyes began to water for a second before the airbender seemed to realize that, and the wind suddenly stopped around her, the air seeming to freeze as the world around them seemed a fog of quickly moving images.
"Sorry, didn't think about protecting your eyes from the wind." The airbender spoke tightly, but without a sign of exhaustion of the running, "As I said… Quicker this way." Suddenly, the whirlwind stopped and Aang dropped her, gentler than she had expected, on her feet. Looking up, she realized they were next to the village entrance.
"In ten seconds?" She couldn't help but say, her mouth nearly falling open in wonderment. It was… airbending was cool. Way more interesting than she had expected. Of course, Katara had not known what to expect, because her grandmother's stories had never actually told them what airbenders could do. She had imagined something like creating tornados or things like that… But wind propelled running had not been on the list of things she had expected.
"I had to slow down." The airbender said, and Katara couldn't help but notice the slight touch of pride in the young man's voice. Looking into the silvery eyes, the waterbender also saw that same emotion, before they turned harder.
"But really, you are sure it's that long after Roku's death?" The pleading was back.
"My grandmother has never known otherwise than the war Aang… And she is old." Katara repeated her confirmation, feeling the pity in her heart grow as the airbender stared at her.
But not as old as you, apparently. The thought crossed her mind, and Katara had to bite down on her tongue to keep that sentence inside instead of outside. Gran Gran always said she talked before thinking, and that that was a good and a bad thing at the same time. And Katara knew that saying such a thing would only harden the blow Aang was feeling at this moment.
He was a hundred and seventeen years old. How was that even possible? And then again, he had lied about the Avatar…
"Katara!" A young voice spoke from above them, and as she looked up, she saw Oatuluq, one of the older children, look at them from the small wall that surrounded the village, "Sokka is coming, and he seems… ehm…"
"Mad, angry, rageful?" She supplied the child, and the boy nodded.
Yeah… And for once, she couldn't blame her brother. But they didn't do it on purpose. And then again, why would he think it was anything to be angry about? Fearful, yes, but angry? Gran Gran always told the children of the tribe to stay away from the ship as the rust could set in motion booby traps or something of the sort. Sokka should not assume someone set it off, as it could just have been an accident...
But her cot had been empty, and he would surely have checked on the airbender, who wasn't in his bed either. So, of course, he would assume the worst.
"Katara!" She heard the sound of her brother's voice coming from the village, and looking through the entrance, there he was, walking with long steps towards them. And he was holding his spear in his right hand, and a leather vest in the other, clearly intending on putting it on as soon as he was done scolding her.
"I assume you can outrun him?" She whispered from the corner of her mouth to Aang but didn't get an answer. Glancing to the airbender, she noticed he wasn't looking at the angry Water Tribe warrior coming towards them, but rather at the ocean, where a soft greyish light appeared on the horizon, the first light that announced the start of a new day of hunting, cooking, failing at waterbending, and a new day of the war that never ended.
And, outlined on the grey horizon, was a dark spot.
"No…" She groaned at the same moment Sokka came to stand in front of her.
"Oh yes." His voice was hard, too angry to be shouting, "It was patrolling farther into the ocean, but as soon as the flare hit the sky, it turned. I didn't mention the ship, but it has been there for two days now. But they always stay two days. As long as nothing weirds happens, they move on. But a big blue pillar of light followed a few hours later by a fucking Fire Nation flare caught their attention."
She had not known about the ship.
"You should have told me." Katara lifted her chin, "Why didn't you?"
"Because Fire Nation ships patrol all the time!" Her brother slammed the butt of the spear on the ground, "As long as there is nothing happening, I will not worry the others! That is what leading means. And when someone who knows more than you do, tells you to do something, what are you supposed to do? Listen."
"Excuse me? You know more because you won't tell anyone else! And for your information, I was also doing something for the safety of the village!" Before she could tell Sokka about the fact that Aang wasn't a spy, her brother snorted.
"Yeah, sneaking off with the foreigner to the abandoned ship sounds like really important work, Sis. Really." The eye rolling did it for her. Lifting a fist, Katara hit him squarely in the chest, making Sokka stagger a step backwards.
"Seriously? What do you think I was doing?" She spoke lowly, gritting her teeth as she looked him directly in the eyes.
"Oh, please. I saw you looking at h-"
"Alright, enough Sokka." Suddenly, her grandmother's voice sounded from beside them, and glancing to the left of her, Katara saw the older woman stand close to them, a worried look on her face, "Instead of insulting your sister, get to the shore and keep an eye on the ship. Hopefully, it just turned to check out the problem, but will return to open sea as soon as it realizes it was the shipwreck on the ice."
"Gran, there is-"
"I will handle your sister. But you will do as I tell you, young man. Go on, get to it." Her grandmother spoke softly, but still, Katara couldn't help but flinch at hearing the icy tone she was using, which was far worse than Sokka's shouting. Her brother threw her a dirty look, before stalking off, mumbling while her put on the leather vest. As she kept her eyes on Sokka, Katara saw that the airbender was following her brother towards the shore, not having said a word.
"So, tell me." Gran Gran spoke as soon as they were out of earshot, "What were you doing at the ship? I told you often enough not to go near it."
Katara turned her eyes back to her grandmother, and felt slightly grateful that she didn't assume she had done something "improper" as Sokka had immediately suspected.
"Showing it to Aang… Gran Gran, he didn't know anything about the war… He thought it was just seventeen years after Avatar Roku's death… He…"
"He has been stuck inside that iceberg for a long time, I know." Her grandmother rolled her eyes, as if it was obvious, "No one is that calm and normal after what happened to his people. I gather he didn't know, and you tried to explain it?"
"Well…" Katara drew a circle in the snow with her boot, "I tried… But I couldn't. It is just… We don't exactly know what happened to them, do we? No one knows. Just that Sozin wiped them out at the start of the war."
"Mmph." Her grandmother sighed, her shoulders slumping, "So, he got stuck inside of that iceberg just before the war I assume? He is what, sixteen? Seventeen?"
"Seventeen." Katara answered, knowing what Gran Gran's next question would be"And no, I already asked. He didn't know anything of what happened to the Avatar." That wasn't technically true. She had seen the swift lie in his eyes, but surely there was a reason for him not telling the truth. Perhaps he knew, and he didn't think it would help anyone to know the truth. Perhaps the Avatar had been a bully, a jerk who thought himself far better than anyone else. Perhaps he or she had just not cared enough to actually do anything against the war. Perhaps the Avatar had known what was going to happen, but had not even cared.
"Katara, the Avatar was either killed during the attack on the Air Nomads… Or wasn't th-" A long, drawn-out, whistle sounded over the tundra, once, then a second time, and a third. Looking away from her grandmother's icy blue eyes, Katara saw that the spot on the horizon was growing into a shape of a ship, coming straight towards the village. And that whistle, she had known since she was able to remember.
The Fire Nation had… "visited" the village several times when she was a small child, taking provisions as "tribute" and stealing everything they could get their hands on. Mostly, it had happened when the men were gone hunting, so that there would be no resistance. It was only around the tenth year of her life that it had changed into full-blown raids. And that whistle had always warned them that a ship would go ashore to… "talk"
At the shore, her brother was just taking a large bundle from a child. A bundle she recognized… Her father had left it at home when he left, saying he wouldn't need it, and it could only get lost on the shores of the Earth Kingdom. That made her think that her brother didn't expect a fight, as he would dress as the chief of the village.
Sokka unrolled the fur, holding it out in front of him for a moment, clearly hesitating what to do with it. But as she watched her brother, she realized that the airbender, who had followed him to the shore, wasn't anywhere to be seen.
"Sokka!" She shouted at him, making his head turn towards them, "Where is Aang?"
"Banished! I sent him away!" He called back, without a trace of remorse or doubt in his voice.
"Which is better." Her grandmother immediately hissed to her, before she could formulate an answer.
"How?" Katara bit back, feeling angry, "For once, someone tried to do something nice for us. He wasn't a threat or a liability. He…" This time, she felt tears of anger rise to her eyes, "He asked me to travel with him! He could have brought me to the North Pole! And I could have learned waterbending!"
That was the thing that stung the most, but deep in her heart, she felt another kind of pang. A kind of pain of… well, he had not said goodbye. Sure, it shouldn't be so horrible, she didn't know the guy. But still, that feeling in her gut was painful.
"Kat…" Her grandmother sighed, "You know very well that would have been impossible. I'm sorry, but that would have been far too dangerous."
"Why, you did it!" Katara suddenly felt angry, "You came here from the North! Why is it alright for you to do it, and not for me?"
"Because you have something I didn't! Because I could pass off as a local girl, with a little bit of luck. You don't. I have known more waterbenders than you can count, and they all have one thing in common. They will use that power to help, even the arseholes such as… Such as most northerners. Kat, I barely survived the journey." At that, her grandmother's voice softened a little, "And you would have been in far more danger than I had ever been, if you travelled with… with that boy."
Biting her tongue, as she didn't want to argue with her grandmother, Katara turned back towards where her brother had managed to put the fur around his shoulders, pulling the hood over his head. Sure, Gran Gran was right, there was no denying that. Yes, she would have used waterbending… And she had no clue what the situation in the Earth Kingdom was, and Aang had even less knowledge of that. Katara guessed he would have known the ways of that nation, but with the war, he would be as lost as she would be.
"He could at least have let the Air Nomad say goodbye." Katara sighed.
"That ship would have seen him if he stayed any longer. Don't blame your brother for doing what is right for the village." Gran Gran answered, patting her arm with a gloved hand. Katara nodded, still feeling that slightly gut-wrenching sensation.
The ship was close to the ice caps now, and a smaller boat was being lowered into the sea, its bow formed into a sharp point so it could break up the ice and probably carve a way towards the shore. Katara remembered those smaller crafts pounding towards the shore six years before, and the painful stab in her stomach only intensified.
What was different, however, was the insignia painted on the prow of the ship. Before, the ships had always some kind of bird painted on them, but this one just had the emblem of the Fire Nation. And as Katara watched it, she also noticed that this was not one of the recent ships. The ships that had attacked their shores had been bigger, with higher command towers… This one was clearly old, the old metal crisscrossed with sheets of different metals, repaired and repaired again.
It was floating. But it was clearly not the pride of the fleet.
"Get inside the compound Katara." Her grandmother sighed, as she pushed her softly towards the entrance of the village. The waterbender took two steps towards it but reconsidered. Sokka was out there, waiting at the shore. Her grandmother also stayed, although she was old. There was no one else awaiting whatever would come of that small boat. All the women and children were inside the village walls… Join them, as Sokka and her grandmother would want her too… Or stay?
Katara turned around, taking back her place next to her grandmother.
"You were always a stubborn child." Gran Gran muttered, but didn't say anything else, nor did she push her back to the village, which Katara took as acceptance of her choice.
"I take after you." She spoke back as the older woman began to walk towards Sokka. Katar quickly followed.
"Oh no Kat, you take after your mother. I would have been inside the village in a blink of an eye."
"Then you should be there Gran Gran… No one would blame you for that…"
"Because I'm old? I'm terrified, but that doesn't mean I get to shrug of the duties I took on myself." Her grandmother answered, before growing silent as they reached her brother.
"I don't need-" he began, but Katara cut him off.
"No, you don't, but we are still here." She bit back, still a little irritated about the fact her brother had sent the airbender away, without a word of thanks for rescuing them. What made her the most angry was the look her brother had given her when they had arrived back in the village, as if what she had done was something vile and disgusting. Katara knew that the tribes people would all consider her… improper… for being alone with an outsider… But still, to have seen that look, even fleeting, on Sokka's face made her angry.
But anger had no place at this moment, as there was a far more serious threat coming their way. She would kick her brother's ass later if they were still able to do so.
The boat hit the shoreline, the ice cracking in every direction as it sent small waves in the either direction. As they stood there, silent and immovable, Katara watched as several men pulled out a gangplank and letting it fall from the side of the boat to the shore. As it hit the ground, the plank sunk down several inches into the snow.
"What is your business here?" Sokka called, as Katara noticed he squared his shoulder, trying to look impressive. It didn't make the whished impression she noticed as the men ignored her brother and fixed the plank so it wouldn't wiggle.
As soon as they had done that, a man in full armour and a helmet with a faceplate appeared, walking down the plank with a rather hurried step. He was followed by another man, who wore thick robes and looked rather miserable. Katara could feel a frown on her face, as this didn't look like the Fire Nation soldiers she had been used too. Most were brutish idiots, preferring to kill and burn. But that man looked… Well, prosperous. And fat. Which was most often a sign of something who didn't have to work, and had others do the heavy lifting. And he looked old.
Was this the fearsome Fire Nation that they had been afraid of?
The armoured man and the old fat one approached them, the one with armour clearly younger and less dignified as he reached them before the old man. Behind the two, a score of real soldiers filed out of the boat, making a line behind the two men.
"Where is he?" The sound of the voice was muffled and distorted by the helmet, which the man seemed to realized as an irritated sound followed the question, as his hands reached up and pulled the helmet off.
Katara had to bit back a disgusted sound as the face of the man appeared from underneath the helmet. He was young, probably around Sokka's age, but on the left side of his face, a large burn scar covered most of the skin. And even though it looked as if it was several years old, it still seemed stretch thinly over the bones beneath. An asheater with a burn scar. If the look in those angry gold eyes wasn't slightly terrifying, Katara would have laughed.
"What my nephew meant to say was Greetings, we believe you may have a wanted individual in your village." The old man sighed, trying to step next to the young man, who waved an irritated hand towards the one that was apparently his uncle.
Wanted individual? Katara tried to hide her emotions, but it was difficult. Aang, wanted? He didn't seem like the type to be anything like a criminal, as he had said so himself. He would be blabbering his secrets to anyone who asked, and if that was a bad quality in a spy, it was also the same in a criminal. But then again… he had proven that lying wasn't that difficult for him.
"The man we are looking for is old. At least as old as that hag." The young man grabbed her grandmother's arm, pulling her towards him. Katara stepped forwards, but before she could do anything, Sokka had already lifted his arm, his club in his hand.
The asheater, just as quickly, released her grandmother by pushing her towards Katara. The waterbender quickly grabbed Gran Gran so that she wouldn't fall, and looked back at her brother. The Fire National had grasped Sokka by the wrist, so that he couldn't bring the club down.
"Don't be stupid." The man said in that typical drawl that she had come to associate with the Fire Nation when they spoke. That same accent she had heard often enough… That she had heard that night when her mother had died…
"There is no one older than my grandmother here." Katara answered, nearly spitting the words. The golden eyes turned towards her, and she could see the disdain in them.
"There is. The light from yesterday, and then the flare from an hour ago." He spoke lightly, pushing Sokka away with enough force so that her brother fell down on his backside.
"What prince Zuko meant to say," The old man spoke once more, "Was that, if you had seen someone that isn't from here, we will reward you."
Prince Zuko? Katara felt her heart grow cold. She had heard of him. But that was impossible. Why would a prince of the Fire Nation even be around this part of the world? And if that was Zuko of the Fire Nation, and the old man was his uncle, that would be… Iroh. The Dragon of the West.
It was laughable. Iroh was a dangerous man, apparently the best firebender in the world. Not this sorry old fat man.
"Even if that was the case, we don't sell people away for a little reward. Certainly not to your kind." Her grandmother muttered darkly, sounding quite angry. And the old man, apparently Iroh, had the grace to look ashamed.
"Of course not lady. If you could just prove that you don't have anyone hidden, we will be on our way. Let our soldiers search the village, and when they don't find anything, we will leave." The man suggested, sounding reasonable. But Katara didn't like it. Fire Nation soldiers, pulling everything into disorder, manhandling children and women who tried to keep them out of their houses, just so they could leave with everything of value.
"No." She answered, "Take our word, or don't. We don't have anyone in our village who isn't supposed to be there."
The younger man once more looked at her, with those cold gold eyes, and a thin smile appeared on his face.
"Of course, if you won't let us search the village, we won't. We just have to torch it down with everyone in it."
Katara felt as if she had been punched in the stomach as the man turned his back towards her, lifting his arms in a gesture she knew far too well. Sokka apparently had the same idea of what was going to happen, as her brother got up and drew his knife. Before he could do anything, however, the man kicked Sokka's legs, making him fall down once more.
"This was your choice, remember that." The draw was more pronounced, as the old man stepped forward, lifting his hand in a gesture that could have been the beginning of an action to stop his nephew, but he apparently decided against it, as he stepped back once more.
The young man punched the air in front of him, and the flames appeared from his fist, first small, then a roaring inferno barreling straight towards the village wall. As soon as it approached the wall, the ice embankment melted in the blink of an eye. Katara felt herself being unable to move, watching with horror what was happening.
And then the flames just… disappeared.
"No." A new voice spoke loudly. Looking towards it, Katara saw that Aang had come back, leaning on his staff with a rather hard expression. Both the prince and his uncle also looked at who was interrupting their attack, and the expression where near identical. The young man seemed too shocked to speak, but in an angry way, as if this wasn't what he had expected. The apparently prince Iroh looked awestruck for a moment, however, before his expression grew serious.
"What…" the young asheater began to speak.
"Pulling the air out of the flames. Sounds easier than it is actually." Aang shrugged, as if he didn't just stop an enormous wall of flames that had melted a part of their wall as if it was nothing.
"You are the airbender?" The firebender asked, shocked, "You?"
"Why are you attacking these people? What did they do to you?" The airbender ignored the question, asking one himself.
"Because that is what they do." Katara heard her brother grumble as he managed to get up once more, a rather nasty looking cut on his forehead from where he had hit the ground, "It is what they have been doing for years. Thanks for coming back." Her brother seemed to have a hard time admitting those last few words, but he did it all the same.
The airbender glanced back towards her for an instance, and in those silver eyes, Katara saw the realization. The realization that everything she had told him was true, and that he was truly a hundred years later than he had thought. She could see all the hope he had tried to build up since they had talked break down in front of her, before the airbender turned back towards the group of firebenders.
"You were looking for an old airbender I believe? Well… I guess that is me." Aang sounded heartbroken.
"You? You are the Avatar?" The firebender sounded as if he couldn't believe his ears.
And Katara couldn't either. Aang, the Avatar? That was laughable! No, the Avatar was a force of nature, who could wipe anything away in his path to restore how the world should be! Not… Well, Aang couldn't be the Avatar!
"Avatar Aang of the Southern Air Temple." The airbender sighed, as if the admission was painful, "At your service."
Answers :
ATLATO : Thank you!
Aliyaallen3625 : Of course Aang is confused, but let's be honest, even a confused Aang would notice Katara lol!
McChartney : Appa being Appa is one of my favorite details to include actually! Yeah, Aang is always portrayed as a good nice young man, but he has a definite lying streak, which is noticeable several times during the series! And of course the relation will develop (slowly, I'm not just going to throw them in each other's arms)
Jjsmith103 : It is also confusing for Aang, who has never met a distrusting person in his life. I his experience, people would just trust him, because why not. But here, a girl he seems to like, and who seems genuinely nice to him, accuses him of being a spy. Poor Aang… But yeah, of course he would never want to tell someone he is the Avatar.
Cassandra Bailey : Sorry for taking so long!
Ashey Barbosa : Exactly! I had to change a lot of the details, like the penguin sledding. It seems just too… well too childish for young adults. So I chose this scene instead. But yeah, Aang is going to suffer a lot the coming chapters (but I will also give him good things, no worry!)
Handler : Haha, hope you liked it!
Shade5280 : Thank you! I had a lot of things going on so I too had to take a break!
Christine799 : Oh It's going to be a long one! And here is a new update (the next one is going to be sooner than three months, promised!
Lumlammamba : Imagine telling someone his whole world is gone… It must be horrible to do! But glad you found the story!
Guest : Glad to see you enjoyed it!
Aliyaallen4645 : Sorry for taking such a long break! Here is the new chapter!