"Argh!" Sokka threw himself down on his sleeping bag hard enough that his calves bounced up behind him. "What is with Yue? We were getting along great, then she just told me to get lost!"
They were back in their house near the palace. Sokka was grumping, Aang was decompressing after a hard day's training, and Katara's ankle was jiggling by itself with nerves and anticipation.
"Did you say something to her?" Katara asked.
"No!" Sokka said, flinging his arms wide. "I think? I just got there! I even gave her a fish I'd carved for her!"
And there's your problem.
"Maybe she doesn't like carvings?" she said aloud.
"What am I supposed to give her? She's a princess, she already gets more meat than she can eat. She gets more meat than I could eat!"
"No, she doesn't," Katara said.
"Maybe get her some vegetables, then?" Aang suggested.
Sokka harrumphed. "I should've known you would never take this seriously." Aang pouted.
"Speaking of taking things seriously," Katara said, spotting what seemed like an excellent segue opening, "do either of you know where Zuko's run off to?"
Sokka rolled onto his back. "He went off halfway through dinner," he said. "I heard the two of you spent the day together. What on earth were you doing? Last time I checked, the two of you couldn't stand the sight of each other. Did he blackmail you or something?"
"No," she said. "Well, yes, but, he was showing me some martial arts moves. He said it'd make his job easier if he could trust me to take care of myself. It was … nice."
Sokka and Aang both peered at her.
"Are you feeling okay?" Aang asked.
"He's up to something," Sokka said definitively.
"I could show you some relaxation tantra. I think you need them."
"Have you been brainwashed?"
"I'm not brainwashed," Katara said. Not that it wouldn't explain a lot. "Didn't you want me to try getting on better with him?"
"Yeah," said Aang, "but, ah …"
"But we all knew you'd never do that," Sokka said, "we were just hoping the two of you would shut up for once instead of needling each other from dawn until dusk. For you to suddenly be best mates with Zuko of all people? No. Something's up."
"Well, he's trying to be nice, and I appreciate him making the effort. I'm sure he wants … something … Anyway, I'm going to go look for him. It's starting to snow out. Knowing my luck, he'll get sick again and I'll be stuck feeding him broth for a week."
Sokka and Aang exchanged glances of We need to talk more about this once she leaves.
"Do you want us to come too?" Aang asked.
"You need to rest up for tomorrow," she said. "I'm counting on you to teach me waterbending after we leave here. You have to train your absolute hardest!"
"Yeah, I know," he said irritably.
She made to leave.
"Hey, Katara," Sokka said. "Be careful, okay? He might be playing nice now, but he's still Fire Nation. Sleep with one eye open, you know?"
"Yeah," she said. "I know."
I don't know anything.
She put her hood up and headed out.
The early winter sunset had long since come and gone, but the Northern Lights flickered overhead, bathing the city in shifting green and pink. Soft snow was falling, thick enough to lower visibility to a hundred feet and to deaden the crunch of her footfalls on the icy footpath. She approached the last row of buildings at the city's outskirts.
"How should I know?!"
She froze, then pressed herself against the nearest building, just out of sight. That was Zuko's voice.
"… of something my uncle once said," he said. "I was griping about having to search for the Avatar, and he said I didn't have to. I said it was my duty, and he said yes, but just because it was my duty, didn't mean I had to do it. I had a ship and a stipend; I could save up, buy some goods, and become a trader. If I was good at it, he said, I could marry a nice girl and have a nice life. I could do whatever I wanted. I told him to shut up, because what I want is to do my duty. I took it seriously enough to search for the Avatar for three years, I think I'd take it seriously enough to marry a girl I only sort of liked."
"I see," Yue said.
"I have to go," he said.
Before Yue could say anything more, he turned and walked away. She stood there a moment longer, then turned and walked back into the city, deep in thought. Katara stayed very still, and Yue didn't seem to notice her, walking past and out of sight.
What was that about?
Katara hurried out after him. Zuko, because he was an idiot, wasn't wearing gloves, and was instead breathing fire on his bare hands every few paces. It made it very easy to keep him in sight.
After they'd been walking a few minutes, he turned on a dime and locked gazes with her. She froze, and he strode back to her.
"Hi, Zuko," she said.
"It's not nice to eavesdrop on private conversations," he said.
"I wasn't eavesdropping," she said, trying not to sound guilty.
"Not that I care," he said. "We were just discussing royal life in the Water Tribes and the Fire Nation. I wouldn't think you'd find it very interesting."
"Well," she said, because she couldn't think of a real response.
"But there's something I find interesting," he said, taking another step toward her. "Your expression just now, when you knew I'd caught you eavesdropping? That's the exact same expression you had back at Uncle's house, after I went to talk with him in private. You were at the door, then, weren't you?"
It took her a moment to school her face into impassiveness and then confusion, and a moment was all it took for him to read her. His eyes narrowed.
Shoot.
"… Yes," she said. "Of course I did. I went there to see if there was any funny business; of course I had a look around."
"And?"
"And what?"
"And so why didn't you say anything, when you heard what was said?"
"That you wanted to double-cross Aang, you mean?" she asked.
He glared haughtily at her. Call me a sneak, said his eyes. Go on, I dare you, Little Miss Eavesdropper.
She really hated his scar, but she had to admit, it gave him a world-class glare. Between that and the Northern Lights, he looked otherworldly, an angry spirit. And anything involving the spirits is dangerous.
Snow had been gathering on her hood; she swept it off and began bending a little rainshield over her head. "You asked your Uncle to help you capture Aang, and he said no," she said. "I didn't and don't trust either of you, but I figured that whatever he had planned, it wouldn't be a trap, or he would've just done it your way. As for you, I wouldn't be caught dead alone with you, but I know you're not dumb enough to try anything, not while you're stuck here at the North Pole."
"You're right," he said. He let out a snort, and snow steamed off his shaved head. Two different ways of staying warm. "I'm not. You've told the others everything?"
"No." His eyes widened in surprise. "I'm not a gossip; I don't repeat stories that I don't know are true. I can't believe what he said. So I've been asking everyone I can about Izumihanto. If what he said about that was a lie, I could just forget about the rest. But everyone I ask says something different about it."
"Let me guess," he said. "You don't think I could go three years without hurting anyone who didn't deserve it?"
"Not really, no, not after seeing you burn down Kyoshi Village," she said. "But it could be possible. Maybe you were only so reckless then because you were hot on the Avatar's tail. Maybe he was being dramatic; it runs in the family. Or maybe he's just an uncle who doesn't want to admit his nephew is a jerk. But still, he believes in you. So maybe I can give you a tiny sliver of benefit of the doubt."
"Hmph," he said. "So, what? What did he say, that you find so hard to believe?"
"He said you told off your father, the Fire Lord, for risking people's lives in his war," she said. "You being rude to a parent? I can believe that part. Him challenging you to a duel, giving you a scar that looks like it could have killed you, and banishing you? His own son?! No. No way. Not even the Fire Lord could be that evil. You screwed up an advanced firebending move and burnt off your own cheek, you were banished so that you wouldn't take anyone else with you, and your father figured that if you captured the Avatar, you would've improved enough to be safe. Your Uncle knew I was listening, so he made up the least believable story he could to mess with me, and he had a good laugh after at the gullible Water Tribe peasant."
"He probably did know you were there," Zuko said. "I thought it was odd he called it a duel. Normally he would have said Agni Kai. To call it a mere duel is … improper."
"So he only said it for my benefit," she said.
"He sure didn't need to spell it out for me. I was there."
She stared. His expression somehow had even less humour than usual. "So … it was true, after all? All of it?"
His expression was stony. "You wouldn't understand."
"… You're right. I don't understand. Why – how? How could any father do that to his own son?"
"It's complicated –"
"It really isn't!"
"The Fire Lord has to show strength at all times –"
"Because nothing says strength like a grown man picking a fight with a thirteen-year-old, one he's supposed to care for!"
"I dISReSPeCted HIm!"
She stared.
Is he just … completely broken?
Could it be that he's really just a kid too? There might be the embers of a good person in him, someone who might have been a friend, in another time and place. But buried under a whole mountain of ash and scar tissue. And the Fire Lord did this on purpose, to make him into a weapon to hunt down the Avatar.
Zuko was staring at the ground, saying nothing. She took a moment to push her fury down. It would keep.
If Aang doesn't kill him … I will.
"Maybe I can do something about that," she said. "I'm a healer. Maybe I can heal your scar?"
His mouth fell open, and in his eyes, for a single moment, she saw vulnerability. Then it snapped shut.
"It's a scar," he said. "You can't heal it."
"Are you saying that because you've memorised an encyclopedia of bending techniques, and you know that water-healing can't do that," she said patiently, "or are you saying that because it hurts more to hope?"
"It doesn't matter," he said. His face was closed tight. "Do you want to meet the waterbending masters or don't you?"
Freezing damn it! We were so close!
"Of course," she said. She nervously fiddled with the hem of her parka. "Um, where are we doing this? Not here, I assume?"
"Follow me."
He turned and walked parallel to the edge of the city, away from the ocean.
The ground broke up into rocky slopes and falls, with treacherous deep pockets of snow that could bury either of them at any moment. Katara took to walking in Zuko's footsteps: his stride was longer than hers and she had to stretch, but if the snow could hold his weight, it could hold hers. They made their way up and came to a glacier. He took a hold and hoisted himself up.
"Are you serious?" she asked, looking up. The top disappeared into the still-falling snow.
He glanced back down at her. "Are you?"
"I can't climb a sheer ice wall while it's snowing."
He dropped back down to her level and knelt. "Hop on."
"You think you can climb an ice sheet with someone hanging off your back? You're mad."
"I've carried heavier loads than you before."
"Thanks so much, Sifu Charmbender. You're not even wearing mittens, you idiot. Here, take mine." She pulled off her gloves and proffered them, ignoring the immediate bite of the cold.
"My hands are twice as big as yours."
"One size fits all. It's fine."
"They're too clumsy."
"How nimble do you think you'll be when your fingers freeze off?"
"Nimbler than I'd be with those things on. If I have to firebend, I'll set them alight."
"If you somehow manage to get into a fight on an abandoned glacier in the middle of nowhere at midnight, I'll make myself a new pair of mittens."
"If you're so smart, what about you?"
"I'll tuck my hands inside your coat. I'll have to hold on anyway."
"I don't want them."
"Take. The stupid. Mittens."
He took the mittens.
"Now, you're sure you can do this? Can I at least bend handholds into the ice? Or even just a staircase?"
"No, those will make it too obvious we were here. Just climb on."
As last words go, that's right up there with 'Hey Katara, check this out!'
Shaking her head at her own stupidity, she wrapped her arms around his neck and snaked her hands under his yoroi.
Inside every girl is a cat that wants nothing more than to curl up against something warm and start purring. Zuko ran hot, and her fingers were already cold; more or less against her will, her hands burrowed beneath his undershirt and against his chest, and pulled her flush against his back. She drew in a breath of his weird spicy soapy boy-smell, somehow different from both Sokka's and Aang's.
Dammit, body, you do not have permission to enjoy cuddl– to enjoy being near Zuko in any capacity!
Shut up, brain. We could be curled up in our sleeping bag right now. It's your fault we're out here in the first place.
Zuko leaped to catch a handhold she couldn't even see and began climbing. She'd been worried for nothing: even with her weight, he climbed almost as fast as he walked. He topped the glacier and set her down. Reluctantly, she took her hands out and accepted her mittens back. At least they were toasty warm now.
"So … here?" she asked nervously.
"Here. Bend some shelter, something to keep the snow off."
"Right. Of course. So …"
She made three walls to support a ceiling, the fourth in the lee of the wind, and she cleared out the snow underfoot.
"Good," Zuko said. "Now, look down there."
She stepped forward and gasped. On the other side of the glacier were liquid pools, grass, and even trees. She hadn't seen anything like it since they'd left Izumihanto. And there was more to it. Even at this distance, she could feel a presence there.
"What is this place?"
"It's time I told you about when I first came to the North Pole."
He pushed open the wooden doorway and stared at the paradise beyond. Warmth, grass, liquid pools. He could feel the presence, too, alien and unwelcoming. A man knelt, meditating. They didn't introduce themselves that night, but he was Master Pakku.
"I seek the Avatar," Zuko said.
Pakku didn't rise. "So, you're Iroh's nephew," he said. "You should be honoured. This is the most sacred place in all Water Tribe territory, the Spirit Oasis. Ordinarily, outsiders are never allowed here. For a bender of another element, let alone the opposite one, to trespass here is death. I suggest you don't stay long. It would be discourteous to kill you."
"I can't leave. Not until I find the Avatar."
"He isn't here."
"How do you know? He could have been born anywhere in the North Pole. Avatars have been missed before. Avatar Kyoshi was, for years."
Pakku finally rose and turned to face him. "You know nothing, child."
Zuko set his jaw. "Then why don't you enlighten me."
"Step forward and bow."
Pakku indicated a pool with a pair of circling koi.
"These are the mortal forms of the two greatest water spirits, the Moon and Ocean. When such powerful spirits have a foot, so to speak, in either world, it creates an … impression, on both ends. It makes it easier for other spirits to pass through into this world. Expecting women from all around the North Pole move to Agna Qel'a if they can afford it, in the hopes that their son will become a waterbender.
"If the Avatar were to reincarnate, the Avatar spirit would return to this world through the same path, and the Avatar would be reborn here in Agna Qel'a. And this would be a third great spirit. There would be a great procession of spirits into this world. Every child born that year would be a waterbender, and malevolent spirits would spread chaos, until they were quelled.
"I have watched over this Oasis every night for fifty years, and there has been no such procession. The spirits have been as they always are. And my predecessors kept vigil before me. The Avatar has not been reborn. This was a fool's errand."
Zuko slumped to the ground.
No. It can't be true. He's lying, or he missed something. There must be some way …
"What if … what if the Avatar was in the south when he died? If the spirit immediately reincarnated, it might not have had time to move all the way north. He could have reincarnated into one of the Southern Water Tribes!"
Pakku gave him a condescending look, which in hindsight probably meant that he knew full well that wasn't how it worked but he'd take any excuse to get rid of him. "Perhaps."
Zuko made to leave.
"Prince," Pakku said. "I meant it when I said it was death to trespass here. I do this favour to your uncle this one time. But if you return here, I will kill you without hesitation."
"I won't," Zuko said, and he left, already planning his expedition to the South Pole.
Katara peered down into the Oasis, at the circling koi. "Those are – spirits? And Pakku and Uncle Iroh know each other?"
"Yeah. Bending comes from the spirits. If anyone can help you, it's them."
"You said spirits are dangerous. How do I talk to them?"
"I'm the firebender, you're the waterbender, and these are water spirits. You figure it out." He turned to leave.
"Wait – that's it? You're just going?"
"I promised I'd show you waterbenders, and there are waterbenders. What else did you expect?"
"Um." She indicated her shelter. "What did you want that for?"
"Keeping the snow off while I talked."
"Oh."
He made to leave again, then hesitated. "Katara …"
"Zuko?"
"If anyone asks," he said, "I was never here. You found me, we turned back to the city, you felt like a walk, wandered up to the unguarded front door and just went in. Get rid of that shelter, too, it's a dead giveaway you were here." And he hopped off the glacier.
She looked down after him, but he was already gone. The snow had picked up, and she immediately missed his heat.
She pulled her parka close and turned back to the Oasis. From ground level, she'd be able to see the entire glacier face; she bent herself a stairway, climbed down, and bent it back into the glacier.
Down here, it was nice and warm, and she immediately shed her parka and gloves. The spiritual presence was so thick she could almost taste it. She thought she could hear someone whispering behind her, but there was no-one there, just the pool.
She walked over. The two koi fish circled each other, neither speeding up nor slowing down. She studied them a moment, then knelt beside the pool.
"Um. Hi," she said, suddenly self-conscious.
What do you do in a situation like this? What would Sokka say?
'So, you're fish! How's that working out for you?'
What would Aang say?
'Hi! I'm Aang. I'm the Avatar!'
"I'm Katara. I'm from the South Pole. And, I'm a waterbender, but I don't have a teacher. My, um, friend said you were great water spirits, and maybe you might help me."
She swallowed. The fish hadn't reacted at all.
What did you expect? They're extremely powerful spirits. They probably don't have time for you.
Do fish actually have ears? That can hear above water? Should we put our head underwater?
Maybe let's keep at this awhile longer first?
"Um, thanks for taking the time to hear me out," she added. The koi didn't respond.
Are these actually great spirits? Obviously there's something mystical about this place, but maybe the spirits are all around us and these are just fish.
I don't think Zuko would lie about something like this. If he wanted to mess with us, I think he'd be more direct.
But maybe Pakku lied to him?
What do we have to lose? If the spirits are all around us, they'll hear us anyway.
"Master Pakku, the waterbending master here, won't train me. He says it's against the rules of the Northern Water Tribe. But, that seems ridiculous. I mean, I can waterbend. The spirits gave me that gift. What's the point of giving someone a gift and then telling them not to use it? Girls waterbent in the South Pole. One of the reasons I wanted to learn was, we never had much food. My brother Sokka tried his hardest to hunt, but he was only one kid. I thought I could help him. So I came here, and he did too, and he says that I was right, waterbenders really help with hunting. I could go back home, train any kids who were benders, and rebuild the Southern Water Tribes. And with enough benders, maybe we could defend ourselves against the Fire Nation."
The fish kept circling each other, no changes. She'd stopped stammering, though; got into the flow of her prayer.
"I can still learn healing, and I know that's important, but, I want to do more. I think … I know I could be a great waterbender. I just need someone to give me a chance. So, I thought – well, my friend Zuko thought maybe you could … I don't know. Give me some pointers? I found a waterbending scroll a few weeks ago, but I couldn't – it sort of assumed you already knew a lot about bending. Aang picked it up right away, but I couldn't get it. And Zuko, who is, um, a bender but not of water, said I had to work on my fundamentals, and maybe he was right. But, he's not a waterbender, so maybe there's something even more fundamental that you could show me?"
The fish kept circling, neither speeding up nor slowing down.
I don't think this is how we're supposed to be doing this.
Should we dip our toes in the water? Maybe a physical connection will help make a spiritual one?
Would that be considered disrespectful? Intruding on their pool?
Maybe? But maybe it's disrespectful to stay so far away? Like yelling across a field instead of walking over to talk to someone normally?
She reached forward, hesitated, then played her fingers over the surface of the pool. The water was warm and reassuringly present, but that was it.
"Um. Can you hear me? Could you give me a sign?"
The fish kept circling.
She sighed and sat back. "I'm so close," she said. "But … what do I do? Pakku was right when he said the will of the spirits was unknowable to humans. Of course you're not going to come out and say … what, 'It's all in the wrists, Katara'. Maybe this isn't the path to enlightenment. But what is? Do I just have to accept that I'm not going to learn, unless Aang teaches me after we leave here? I guess I should be grateful for that. Except maybe Zuko was right, too, when he said Aang assumed too much to be a good teacher. And can I really expect him to take the time to build me up from nothing when he's going to be busy saving the world?"
The fish kept circling.
She shook her head. "Well, if I stay here all night, I'll be caught for sure," she said. She yawned. "I'll take a quick nap, then sneak out. Um, if you already did something help me, and I haven't noticed yet, thank you. I just … yeah."
She bundled up her parka into a pillow and leaned against it. Holding on to Zuko had taken more out of her than she'd thought: she barely had time to curl up before she was out.
LUB-DUB
I am.
I AM.
lub-dub
I am the ebb of the tides.
I AM THE ROAR OF THE RIVER.
She saw herself and Sokka on a boat, fighting against a current as it dragged them through a waterway full of ice floes. It looked like it was just before they'd met Aang.
LUB-DUB
I am the mist on your face.
I AM THE STORM BEATING DOWN AGAINST THE CLIFF.
She saw herself huddled in a cave with the rest of the Gaang plus a small Earth Kingdom girl she didn't recognise. They were all huddled around Zuko's fistful of fire. Outside was a torrential downpour, sporadically lit by flashes of lightning.
lub-dub
I am the warm embrace buoying you up.
I AM THE ICY RIPTIDE DRAGGING YOU DOWN.
She saw herself picking her way along a Fire Nation ship that had crashed against a shelf of ice and rock. It was badly damaged and strewn with drowned corpses, Fire Nation soldiers and Water Tribe warriors. She was looking for survivors, without success.
LUB-DUB
I am the pulse in your veins.
I AM THE BEAT OF YOUR HEART.
She saw herself in Appa's saddle, kneeling beside Aang, who was unmoving, a massive burn across his bare chest. She had one hand over his heart, suffused in a healing glow. Her other arm dangled, clearly broken. She wore a thin grey tunic, and around them were Sokka, Zuko, the girl from the cave, and another girl she didn't know, this one wearing a pink belly dancer outfit.
lub-dub
I am healing.
I AM FORGIVENESS.
She saw herself on a forested island, embracing Zuko. His ponytail was gone but for a fine fuzz, and his scar was much better, a memento of a bad sunburn instead of a life-threatening injury.
LUB-DUB
I am judgement.
I AM VENGEANCE.
She saw herself in a stone fortress. She was covered in dirt, so thick that clumps of it were raining out of her hair. Before her was a man in heavy armour, bleeding from the thigh, so much that he was surely dying. At her left shoulder was Aang, yelling something she couldn't hear; at her right was Zuko in his Blue Spirit mask, swords in hand, one covered in blood. She took a step toward the man and bent a glove of healing water about her hand, then reconsidered, let it splash into the ground, turned, and walked away, leaving him to his fate.
lub-dub
I am freedom.
I AM THE FUTURE THAT I CHOOSE TO BECOME.
She saw herself aboard a massive Fire Nation battleship, crouching beside a badly burned Fire Nation soldier, healing water wrapped around her hands, but she hesitated. The vision cut out before she could see whether she let this one die too.
LUB-DUB
I am eternal.
I AM CHANGE.
She saw herself aboard a Water Tribe boat, a few years older, very pregnant. Sokka sat beside her, squeezing her hand and saying something that, judging by his stupid grin and her grimace, was probably a terrible joke.
lub-dub
I am push.
I AM PULL.
She saw herself as the moon, spinning around the Earth, once, twice, a billion times, a trillion.
LUB-DUB
I am Tui, spirit of the moon.
I AM LA, SPIRIT OF THE OCEAN.
She saw herself curled up asleep in the Spirit Oasis, flanked by two indescribable spirits.
lub-dub
I recognise you, Katara …
… FOR YOU ARE MINE.
LUB-DUB
Her eyes snapped open.
"I understand," she whispered.
"Do you," Pakku said, his eyes locked on hers.
The Northern Lights had faded away, leaving only the weird polar pre-dawn light, the stars, and a massive full moon that looked almost the same size as Pakku's head. Beside her, Tui and La continued circling each other in their endless dance.
Katara woke up very quickly. "Ah – Master Pakku! I can explain –"
He seized her wrist, hauled her to her feet, and dragged her away from the Spiritual Oasis.
"We invited you here as guests," he said. "We offered to share our culture, our teachings, our lore. We asked only that you respect our traditions. And yet you took every opportunity to throw it back in our faces."
"No – I wasn't –" She tried to pull free, but his grip was like a vise.
He pulled her out onto the streets proper, where people were already up and about. Seeing something was happening, they began following Pakku and Katara, forming a crowd. She spotted Hahn and some of his posse, carrying spears, probably in preparation for another hunt.
"Even after we specifically told you of our customs, not only did you do your utmost to violate them, even after a public humiliation you decided to trespass on our most sacred ground –"
Hang on, Zuko showed me what to do here. Rotate the arm, bone to the gap between his fingers, and –
She twisted her arm out of his grip, sending them both stumbling apart.
"The spirits want me to waterbend!"
His eyes blazed. "I already told you, stupid girl. The will of the spirits is unknowable."
"They told me!"
Around them, a circle of onlookers was forming. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Sokka run up and skid to a stop, wearing an expression of Aw jeez I hate it when she does this. Aang showed up a moment later; Sokka grabbed his arm and whispered something into his ear, talking fast.
"They showed me what waterbending really is," Katara said. "They said they recognised me as their own. If you still refuse to teach me, you're going against your own spirits. The source of your own waterbending!"
Pakku stared her down for long moments.
"If what you say is true," he said, "then it is my duty to teach you, and I will do so without hesitation. If it is not true, then you have broken our laws and our trust, and you will leave the North Pole immediately, never to return. Do you agree?"
Last chance to turn back.
What do we have to lose?
Do you want an honest answer?
"I agree," she said, keeping her voice mostly steady.
"If the spirits have shown you true waterbending," he said, "then you should have no problem giving a little demonstration."
Katara set her jaw and sank into a combat stance. It came easily this time, where it had been work when Aang or Zuko tried to teach her. Her hands naturally stayed open, her knees bent, centre of gravity low and balanced.
Pakku smiled darkly. "Not against me," he said. "I know true waterbending too, and I've trained at it for fifty years. Any success you'd have against me would be what I gave you, and would prove nothing. No. You will demonstrate your knowledge against someone who hasn't communed with the spirits, but who does have some training, and who will not hold back. Piala!"
The boy who'd struck her yesterday, who happened to be standing in the crowd, started and took a step forward.
"I have enough students as it is," Pakku said. "If I'm going to take one more, I need to get rid of one. Prove you deserve your place."
Piala bowed. "Yes, Sifu."
"To the training grounds, then," Pakku said, and they set off.
Sokka and Aang hurried over to her side. "What happened?!" Sokka hissed. "You said you were going for Zuko, he said you just wanted to stay up a bit longer, and you were gone all night!"
"Are you okay?" Aang asked. "You said it's dangerous to be outside at night."
She did a double-take: there were dark rings under their eyes. They'd been up looking for her. She felt a stab of guilt, and made a mental note to make it up to them later.
"I'm fine," she undertoned back. "I found the moon and ocean spirits. We talked, sort of. … Where is Zuko, anyway?"
"That jerk went straight to bed," Sokka fumed, not biting on the story about the spirits. "He's probably sleeping in. He knew exactly where you were, didn't he?"
"He … might have had an idea."
"Katara, what about what Pakku said?" Aang asked. "About you leaving the North Pole?"
"That's only if I lose. Piala's nowhere near as good as Pakku."
"Yeah, but … what if you do?"
"I'll figure something out," Katara said.
"This must be what being married feels like," Sokka muttered. "Okay. I went hunting with Piala earlier. He's not a master, but he's trained for a few years. He knows the standard moves. The fact that you're untrained is a bit of an advantage, he's only used to fighting other people doing standard moves too. If you can attack from angles not in that scroll of yours, he probably won't know how to counter it properly. He likes to attack, so if you get a good defensive position, you should be able to tire him out; or if you counterattack, he might not know how to handle that."
"Float like a butterdragonfly, sting like a waspion," Aang said.
"Thanks, guys," she said.
I know what I'm doing, but thanks.
They came to the training grounds and fanned out: Katara at one end, Piala at the other, Pakku refereeing off to one side, Aang and Sokka and the other spectators opposite him. Aang and Sokka gave her thumbs up.
"Begin," ordered Pakku.
Piala launched directly into a water whip, bigger and faster than Katara had ever managed.
I am flow.
She turned, bringing it around her and sending it back at him. He froze chunks of it and sent them at her, letting the rest break up and spray him harmlessly.
I AM VASTNESS.
She brought ice up, and his chunks bounced off. He pulled it apart and brought ice around from either side to pin her.
I am freedom.
She bent a platform to lift herself up, leaving his masses of ice to crash against each other. He pulled at it, and she fell hard. She hadn't thought to grab her parka or gloves when Pakku woke her, so she landed on her hands and cut them against jagged edges of ice. The crowd gasped at the sight of blood.
"Do you yield?" Pakku called. Piala held back a moment.
She melted ice and held it in gloves around either hand, sealing the cuts and washing the blood away.
She and Piala glared at each other. Round two.
"Go, Katara!" Aang cheered. Sokka was there too, and the other girls she'd befriended, Nauja and Akini.
I AM PRESSURE.
This time, she launched the first attack, a water whip of her own. Piala pulled it off her, then instead of swinging it around, let it splash behind him while he brought up ice around her feet to trap her. She moved with it, melting it and letting it flow off.
I am adaptability.
She let the movement flow into bringing the ice up under Piala. He leapt away and sent a flurry of razored ice discs flying at her. She weaved around the first three and took the fourth in her side. It sliced through her shirt and the side of her abdomen, and she fell to her knee, hands already bringing up healing water.
"Stay down, you idiot!" Piala yelled, angry now.
Aang was still cheering for her, but the girls were worried, and Sokka was talking rapid-fire to an older warrior who she vaguely recognised as being a councillor or something. Off to one side, though, Zuko had finally shown up, looking rested and relaxed. He caught her eyes and raised his eyebrow. Are you going to take that, student, or are you going to give it back?
WHAT ARE YOU?
She pulled at the ice under Piala's feet, making him stumble; he turned it into a combat roll and bent more razor ice at her. She turned them to water and spun them in a wide arc around her. He followed through with another water whip, which she intercepted neatly and added to her ring of water, before pulling at the ice under his feet again, forcing him to give way again.
He counterattacked at her footing; she let some of her ring flow down to replace what he took, then swept a line of ice at him from the side. He tried to block a moment too slow, and it swept his feet, knocking him prone. She twisted at the last moment, and it froze solid around his wrists and ankles.
The crowd cheered, but Pakku raised one hand, and melted the restraints. Piala got to his feet, shaking.
"One final round," Pakku said. "No more healing."
That doesn't matter. Not any more.
Piala attacked ferociously, but he didn't understand how water wanted to work. It was supposed to be a dance of push and pull, attack leading to defence leading to attack again, and he didn't know when to let up. She raised shields, weathered his attacks, and pulled his water into a protective halo, building it bigger and bigger, then, when she had enough, sent it crashing forward in an unstoppable wave that punted him across the training ground. Katara waited until it subsided, leaving him drenched and coughing, before reforming ice around his arms and legs.
Pakku raised a hand and melted her restraints again. "The winner is Katara," he announced, and the crowd went wild.
Katara had only a moment to relax before Aang and then Sokka bowled into her, hugging her and whooping madly. The girls cheered her on. Off to one side, Yue had shown up, and gave her a smile and a wink. Zuko caught her gaze for a moment before smirking and walking off, radiating Just as planned. Meanwhile, some of Piala's hunting buddies were clapping him on the back, leading him off.
Katara let it wash over her. I did it. After a minute, Pakku brought up a mass of ice and slammed it into the ground, his way of asking for silence.
"This is a training ground, not a mess hall," he said peevishly. "I have a class to teach, and a new student who clearly needs to be brought up to speed."
She smiled and hugged Aang and Sokka.
17
