Warning: Female health and menstruation come up in this chapter. Nothing graphic, but feel free to look away if you're squeamish. Also, discussions about sexual orientation and same-sex relationships. Oh, and there are some references to hate crimes, child abuse, and assault. Again, I'm not going to be super graphic, but I feel my readers deserve to be forewarned.
Breath of Fresh Air
Zuko stared down at Aang, arms crossed and brow furrowed.
Aang was keeping his eyes fixed firmly on the ground. Katara felt a surge of pity for him. She wanted to step in with her usual round of reassurances and comforting words, but she knew this was something that had to be addressed.
Sokka, for his part, was pretending not to listen and was, instead, looking over the map and planning their route to the rendezvous point.
"I already said I was sorry," said Aang. "I don't know what else I can do."
"Aang, this isn't just about apologizing," said Zuko. "We need to be sure that you fully understand what you did wrong."
"I shouldn't have been firebending. I know. I wasn't ready for it. It got out of control." Aang shrank in on himself. "I'll never firebend again."
"Aang, that's not what this is about. Firebending isn't the problem."
Sokka made a cough that sounded distinctly like a mocking chuckle. Zuko shot him a glare but didn't call him out on it.
"The problem is that you were impatient and disregarded your teacher's instructions. You also weren't being mindful of your surroundings and hurt Katara. What would've happened if Katara didn't have healing abilities? Worse, what if she didn't have healing abilities and you'd hit her in the face instead of the hands?"
Katara shuddered at the thought of how badly things could have gone. The burns she'd had on her hands had been so painful she'd barely been able to think straight. If she'd taken a hit to the face…the thought alone made her sympathize so much more with Zuko. What he'd gone through when his father had given him that scar must have been sheer agony.
"Aang, I'm only saying this because I want to be sure you understand," Zuko continued. "Fire is a dangerous element. As a firebender, you'll need to master control over it so that you don't hurt yourself or other people."
"I know, Zuko," said Aang. "I don't want to hurt anyone."
"Then you have to promise me that, when you do start learning firebending for real, you are going to be more careful and actually listen to your teacher."
"I promise."
"Good. I'm glad we're on the same page." Zuko then turned to her. "Katara, is there anything you want to add?"
"Aang, I want you to remember that we're telling you this because we care about you," she said. "We're not trying to be mean or anything, we just don't want to see you do something you'll regret."
Aang nodded but still looked upset.
He still seemed glum as they headed into the nearby village. Their visit to the Fire Days Festival had left them little opportunity to get some supplies, and they would need a few things to keep them going as they made their ascent into the Taihua Mountains.
"We've only got a few days left before we have to be at Bingya Bay to get Zuko back to his ship," said Sokka.
"If my crew can get there in time," Zuko pointed out. "You put everyone on a painfully tight schedule for this stupid ransom situation."
"Hey, I was working with what I had."
"You could've at least added a week to allow for any mishaps. Do you have any idea how tricky it is to safely pilot a ship in winter?"
Sokka gave him a flat stare.
"Oh…right…" Zuko's face took on that cute blush he got whenever he was embarrassed. "Water Tribe."
They perused the few shops the village had to offer. As they did, they refilled their food bags and bought some extra blankets, and also bought a heavier coat for Zuko as his outer robe wasn't sufficient for the colder climes of the mountains and the northern ocean. In fact, Katara had noticed Zuko was shivering a lot, despite his constant insistence that the cold wasn't bothering him.
"You don't have to pretend everything's fine when it's not," Katara said as she wrapped the thick, fur-lined coat around him. "All you're doing is making stuff more complicated than it needs to be. If you're cold, then just say you're cold, you big dummy."
They continued to poke around the market for a while, despite Sokka's grumblings about getting back on schedule, and looked over the various knickknacks and curios on offer. Aang got especially excited when he saw a few Air Nomad artifacts for sale. Katara wished they had enough money to buy all of them as Aang deserved to get those few remnants of his people, but their finances were sadly limited.
Still, Katara felt that they had enough supplies to get to the North Pole and gave Aang the last few coins they had to buy an Air Nomad pendant and prayer beads.
"Where did you find these?" Aang eagerly asked the merchant who was selling the artifacts.
"Folks find this stuff up there in the mountains," the man said. "Mostly in old caves. I hear there are whole caches of stuff like this."
"Maybe we'll find one of those caves when we're up there," Katara told Aang.
"You kids are going up into the mountains?" the man said, brow furrowed. "By yourselves?"
"Is there something wrong with that?"
"The mountains have been a rough place to travel through the last couple of years. Most people who go up there only do so in large groups. Usually with weapons, and some earthbenders if they can find 'em."
"Is there some kind of trouble in the mountains?" said Aang.
"There's been a bandit gang operating up there." The merchant gave Katara a sharp look. "You, especially, had best take care, young missy. Word is that those bandits like to snatch away young women and little girls like you."
Katara internally bristled at the implication that she couldn't defend herself, but she held back from saying anything. The merchant most likely meant his comment in good faith.
"I think we'll be fine," said Sokka. "Now, if we can please get back to my carefully-planned schedule."
They were soon back in the skies, soaring up into the frigid mountain air on Appa. Once they'd traversed a good distance, Aang insisted on searching for some of the airbender relic caves.
"The Taihua Mountains have always been sacred to the Air Nomads," he explained. "The Northern Air Temple is way far up in the high peaks. It's one of the most spiritual sites in the world. In fact, most of our sky burials took place in these mountains."
"Sky burials?" said Sokka.
Aang gave a lengthy explanation about the custom and how it was more spiritually wholesome than cremation or regular graves because it returned the human body back to nature. He then went on to talk about how not all the monks and nuns chose sky burials. Some preferred to be laid to rest in caves high up in the mountains where the thin, cold, dry air would cause their bodies to mummify.
As the day wore on, Katara couldn't help but feel more and more agitated. Not that she was angry at anyone, but she had a growing sense of discomfort and was finding it harder to focus on looking for Air Nomad relics with Aang. Instead, she turned her attention to setting up camp yet again as it seemed they would be spending the night in the mountains with how long Aang was determined to search. She told the others to go ahead with Aang and to bring back some firewood when they were done.
In the meantime, she started unloading their gear from Appa, only for her earlier unpleasant sensation to turn into something more physically painful. Her face heated up as she recognized what the pain and the strong wave of nausea in her stomach was indicating.
Feeling deeply ashamed and embarrassed, she hastily got out the bag with her personal supplies and began rooting around for some rags. In all the craziness that had happened recently, she'd lost track of when her time of the month was coming. She'd had a few cramps in the last couple of days, but she sometimes got them even when she wasn't due for that.
"Are you okay?"
Katara nearly jumped out of her skin at hearing Zuko's voice behind her. She turned and gave a nervous smile, hoping he would leave and not make the situation awkward.
"Zuko, I…I'm fine. I thought you were with Aang and Sokka."
"I'd honestly prefer to help set up camp, if that's all right."
No! Please go and goof off, for once!
"Sure! That would be…great!"
Zuko gave her a suspicious look.
"Are you sure you're okay, Katara?" He paused for a moment. "You know, you don't have to pretend everything's fine if it's not."
Who told him that nonsense?!
"Zuko, I really am okay, I just…need a little privacy for a moment."
Something in her tone must have betrayed her panic, because Zuko's expression slowly changed from confusion to understanding.
"Oh, are you having your period?"
Katara's mouth fell open in shock at the outrageously casual way he'd dared to ask that question.
"Would you like me to get the campfire going?" he said, as if what he'd just asked hadn't been utterly mortifying. "I could get some hot water ready. Do we have any ginger root left? I'm not a great tea-maker like Uncle, but I could probably decoct some medicine."
"Why?"
"Because ginger is a pretty good treatment for the cramps. At least, that's what I've heard."
"No, why are you so calm about…about this?" Katara said, waving a hand in front of herself. "How can you just sit there and talk about it like it's nothing?"
Zuko blinked.
"Did I get something wrong? I…oh, is it not a period. I'm sorry. That was rude of me to presume."
"No! It is exactly that!" She wasn't sure if she was furious or about to start crying. "How can you just talk about…that? You're a boy. You're not supposed to know about…that."
Zuko blinked at her again.
"What does me being a boy have to do with knowing about periods?" he said.
Katara had to force herself not to scream. She wasn't angry at him. She really wasn't. What she was really angry about was everyone and everything else besides him. For as long as she could remember, merely mentioning this subject where men could hear about it was something of a taboo among her people. While many women of the South Pole held the "moon time" as sacred and a time of spiritual purification, Katara only ever saw it as painful and humiliating, and only made worse by the fact that it was "inappropriate" to discuss it openly.
Even Gran-Gran had been reluctant to talk about it. She'd given Katara some warning about a year before it had first happened to her, but that hadn't been enough to prepare her for how abjectly miserable an experience it truly was. While Gran-Gran had been sympathetic, she still insisted that Katara had to push through it and carry on as normal. Life didn't stop for the "moon time" and neither did chores.
And now, here she was. Listening to Zuko blithely ask her about it as if none of that mattered.
"If you need to rest, I can handle getting everything set up," he continued, oblivious to the storm of emotions Katara was going through.
"I don't understand," Katara said. "I…I just don't get it." A little choked sound came out.
"Katara? Katara, what's wrong?"
"Please, just tell me how you're fine with me being…like this."
"Why wouldn't I be? It's just a period, right?"
She probably wouldn't burst into tears under normal circumstances, but all the frustration and pain and emotional muck was too much to handle and she ended up hugging Zuko and sobbing into the front of his new coat. Zuko, for his part, hesitantly patted her back and said, "Uh, there, there?"
"I'm sorry," Katara said. "I know I shouldn't be so emotional."
"Well, isn't that normal?" said Zuko. "You have an excess of yang energy, right now."
"What?"
"When women are on their periods, they get a surge in yang energy."
"How do you know all this stuff? How do you even know about…?"
"Periods? I mean, doesn't everyone learn about that at some point?"
"We don't really talk about it in my tribe."
"Why not? It's just a natural body function."
It wasn't treated that way in her tribe. Katara told him all about the silence and the shame she'd gone through since all this had started for her last year. The first time it came had been absolute agony. The entire time, she'd thought she was going to die from how bad it was. Even then, she was expected to get back to work. In the times that followed, she would sometimes have a couple days when she could barely stand up from how bad the pain was. There were even a few points where she could've sworn that she'd passed out from the dizziness and headaches that accompanied it.
"I'm sorry, I didn't know," said Zuko.
"It's not your fault," said Katara. She'd stopped crying. "I didn't mean to unload all of that on you. It's just…it's so frustrating to put up with. And I've never really had anyone I could talk to about this."
None of the women in her tribe really wanted to discuss it. Sokka would've gotten grossed out and insisted she drop the subject if she brought it up with him. And she certainly couldn't bring it up with Aang as he likely wouldn't have the faintest idea what she was talking about.
But that wasn't how it was with Zuko. Instead of being ignorant or disgusted, he helped her get supplies and heated some water for her to clean herself with before walking a respectable distance away so she could have some privacy. He patiently waited for her to call him back over and then went back to assisting with the camp setup.
"What I still don't get is how you know about…that," Katara said, still feeling embarrassed.
"Well, everyone in the Fire Nation does," Zuko replied with a shrug. "It's just a part of our education."
Katara frowned, trying to figure out how any group of people could teach kids about something like that. Zuko took that as a hint to elaborate.
"All Fire Nation kids are expected to know the basics of how human bodies work before we turn thirteen. Most kids learn it at school, but I had private tutors so my experience was a little different."
He went on to describe how, when he was twelve, he attended a series of lectures along with a group of other children from the noble families. The whole thing was run by some of the capital's most esteemed physicians, who explained to the children all about the human body, the changes the children would soon be going through, and how they would one day be able to "produce more children for the glory of the Fire Nation" – if they wanted to, of course.
"And both boys and girls get the same lessons?" Katara asked.
"Well, yeah," said Zuko. "It would be kind of stupid to only give kids half of an education."
"And you said the kids are told they don't have to have children of their own someday?"
"I mean, having children is encouraged, sure, but no one is required to have kids if they don't want to."
Katara found that a refreshing way of looking at things. While she, herself, dreamed of one day having a large family and lots of children, she knew there were some women who didn't want that for themselves. Katara had witnessed some women in her tribe being shamed for not marrying and having children. After all, a woman with no children would have to rely on the rest of her clan to look after her when she got older, which could be a burden if the clan was having difficulties with getting food or other resources. While the Water Tribe had a strong sense of community, there was always that expectation that each person would contribute in some way. For Water Tribe women, that often meant giving birth to and raising children who would grow up to help provide for her and the rest of the clan.
"Besides," Zuko continued, "trying to force everyone to have children would likely cause outrage among the same-sex couples."
"The what?"
"…do you not have same-sex couples in the Southern Water Tribe?" Zuko was looking very, very confused at that point.
"Well, not…exactly. People don't tend to talk about it if they're in a relationship like that and it's pretty rude to bring it up."
"Are same-sex relationships forbidden in the Water Tribe?"
"It really depends on what clan you're in. Some clans are accepting of it. My clan doesn't have any problems with people loving who they want."
Well, Sokka might, but it was hard to tell if he understood that those kinds of relationships were even possible.
"There are some clans, though, that treat it as some kind of abomination. I don't really understand why."
"Do they hurt people for it?"
"They're not supposed to, it's not a punishable offence under the Code of Sedna. But I know it happens."
She told Zuko about an incident she'd witnessed when she was quite young. She wasn't entirely sure how old she was, maybe seven, but she knew it was before her mother died. All the clans were meeting for one of the monthly gatherings so they could bring up important matters for the tribal elders to sort out. At some point, a warrior from one of the other clans – the Whale-Walrus Clan, if she remembered correctly – came in dragging his daughter by her hair after a crowd had witnessed him try to beat her to death. Katara vividly recalled the girl's bruised and bloodied face, and the horror she felt that a father could do such a thing to his own child.
The warrior had started ranting about how his daughter had "profaned herself" with another woman and that she had to be punished. Gran-Gran, as one of the tribal elders, had been the first one to insist that the girl had done nothing wrong and that it was the warrior, himself, who broke the law by harming his own child. That had devolved into a shouting match between the warrior and Gran-Gran; Katara had been absolutely awed by how her grandmother had stood her ground and refused to let that man have his way.
In the end, the warrior was publicly shamed for how he'd treated his daughter, but he still decided to throw the girl out of their clan, anyway. Despite what the girl had gone through, no one was especially eager to accept her into their clan due to what her father had revealed about her. Of course, Katara's mother had been the one to step up and say that if no one was willing to accept her, then the Wolf Clan would.
The girl, Tuktu, had lived with Katara's family for several years before she "moved in" with a girl in another clan in what was called a "half-moon marriage." From what Katara had seen of Tuktu in the years that followed, she and her partner, Aluki, were very happy together.
"But what I remember most of all was a conversation I had with my family after what happened between Tuktu and her horrible father," Katara added. "I asked them if they would ever hate me if I grew up to like girls instead of boys. Mom said that it didn't matter if I liked boys, or girls, or neither, my family would always love me."
Katara suddenly felt like she might start crying again.
Even as young as she had been, she realized how lucky she was to have the family she did. As bad as some things were, they could have been so much worse. Katara couldn't begin to imagine what life was like for women like Tuktu, who had a father who would rather see her dead than living in a way he didn't agree with. How many other women hadn't been able to escape circumstances like that?
It made Katara's blood boil, but that eased when Zuko rested a hand on her shoulder.
"I wish more families were like yours," he said.
He meant it.
From what he knew about Katara and Sokka's family, the world would likely be a better place if more families were like them. Not that Zuko assumed their family didn't have problems, but they seemed to be much more supportive and far kinder than what Zuko had experienced. Not that his uncle wasn't, or Lu Ten or Zuko's mother when they were still around, but the rest of his family definitely could've taken a few pointers.
It was clear that Katara and Sokka had been raised by some truly good people. Everything they said about their parents, their grandmother, and their clan revealed an upbringing filled with love.
Of course, Zuko was still kind of weirded out by the Water Tribe attitude towards female health and same-sex relationships. He found it hard to grasp that Katara wasn't supposed to talk about problems she was having with such a basic bodily function as a period. Sure, he could see not bringing it up in casual conversation, but to expect her to carry on as usual when she was clearly in pretty severe pain and going through other extreme symptoms was not just ridiculous but actively dangerous.
The bigotry towards gay people was pretty bad, but Zuko didn't feel like he was in a position to judge as it clearly wasn't the entire Southern Water Tribe enforcing it. However, it did make Zuko have to admit that not all his nation's propaganda was false, though it was misleading and exaggerated. While all the talk of the Water Tribes being cannibals was total bunk, the Fire Nation "experts" on cultural anthropology had also insisted that the other nations practiced brutal hate crimes against people based on things like sexuality and gender.
The Water Tribes kept women as docile slaves and tortured gay people to death. The Earth Kingdom abducted and trafficked both their own citizens and Fire Nationals and forced gay people into "conversion" camps. The airbenders had been predators that groomed children and forced women into having babies, as well as kidnapped and brainwashed children from other nations.
Naturally, most Fire Nation citizens were outraged over such uncivilized behavior.
Zuko doubted most of the stories were real, though he could see a few kernels of truth that the lies likely sprang from in some cases. He decided it probably wouldn't be a good idea to bring all this up to Katara, though.
"Are you feeling any better?" he asked as they sat by the campfire he made.
"The fire helps a little," she said, though she was clutching at her stomach.
"Uh, there is a firebending technique I've heard is supposed to help."
"And how is a waterbender going to use a firebending technique?"
"Well, you wouldn't. It involves using firebending to heat my hands. Then I would have to put my hands on the site of the pain, like your back or sides." He held up his hands, worried she might misinterpret his suggestion. "Not that I would touch you in a weird way or anything. I might not have to touch you, at all, if the heat is strong enough. Not that there's anything wrong with touching you, but, wait, no, that sounds creepy. I'm sorry. Let me start over-"
To his surprise, Katara was chuckling at his inarticulate rambling.
"What's so funny?" Zuko asked, dumbfounded.
"You, you big dummy," she said. "You don't have to be so nervous. If you think it might help, then I trust you."
Zuko's face felt warm. He chose to keep his mouth shut out, as he didn't want to say anything else that might make him look ridiculous. Instead, he quietly moved to sit behind her and began to channel heat into his palms. Not enough to conjure up a spark, but enough so that it would be felt. Hesitantly, he set his hands on her back.
"Is that all right?" he said.
"Yeah, that feels…really nice," said Katara. "But, um, could you maybe go a little lower?"
Zuko was sure his face was tomato-beet red. He couldn't figure out why he was getting so flustered around Katara. They were friends, after all, and this was a very normal way of treating cramps. So why was his heart beating a little faster? Why was there a strange thrill that raced down his spine when she gave a contented sigh as he found a spot that she liked? He was sure it was just the satisfaction of knowing he was easing her pain and discomfort in some small way. Because she was his friend and he hated the thought that she'd been enduring this in silence.
It felt nice to be able to do something to help her.
"So, what was that you said before about yang energy?" Katara said after a while.
"Huh?" Zuko gave himself a mental shake.
"You said earlier that women who are going through this have an 'excess of yang energy.' I just wanted to know what that meant."
"Oh, that's a medical theory that was brought up during those lectures I went to. Doctor Kenzo, the chief royal physician, has done a number of studies on the effects of yin and yang energy."
He explained the main idea as well as he could remember it. Basically, the idea was that there were two energies in the body, yin and yang, and that men tended to have higher yang energy while women usually had higher yin energy, though this wasn't a rule and there were plenty of high yang women and high yin men. Yin energy was sedate and controlled, which allowed for more stable regulation of the mind and body, though too much could make people sluggish and passive. Yang energy was more intense and could make people prone to emotional outbursts, stress, and pain when there was too much of it.
It also triggered mouth ulcers.
"Is that what those little sore spots are?" said Katara. "I get them sometimes."
"So do I," said Zuko. "Anyway, Doctor Kenzo claims that different physical conditions can change the levels of yin and yang energy in the body. Apparently, it can even have an effect on bending."
"Really?"
"Yeah. High yin people have more controlled but less powerful bending. High yang people have stronger bending, but will have trouble controlling it. I mean, it's all still a theory, but a lot of people in the Fire Nation just accept it as a fact."
Katara paused for a moment.
"…Since I'm starting to feel a bit better, how about we put the theory to the test?"
Sokka really wished his dedication to the schedule was taken more seriously.
Every time they deviated from the almighty schedule things went wrong. Taking a detour through a Fire Nation festival? What do you know, they get caught in a fight, have their identities exposed, and need to flee for their lives. Choosing to visit a crazy firebender instead of getting back on track? Well, look at that, Aang burns Katara and they have to do a runner from Zhao.
Stopping their flight through the mountains to look for Air Nomad artifacts?
Hey, perfect time for Aang to get captured by the Fire Nation. Again.
Honestly, Sokka had been hoping they would run into bandits instead of the Fire Nation for a change, because they'd at least gotten some warning about the bandits. But, no, it had to be the Fire Nation, as always.
Come on, Universe! Sokka thought. Give us a little variety, for once!
It had been a very cunning and devious trap, though, he had to admit. Hiding in one of the Air Nomad caves and waiting to ambush them was quite clever, especially with Aang's tendency to barrel blindly into the eager arms of danger. Sokka really needed to give the kid a more thorough lesson on the merits of caution after he masterminded their daring escape.
"So, we've caught the Avatar, at last," the leader exclaimed. "You thought you were so clever evading us for a hundred years, but you cannot escape the might of the Fire Nation!"
Sokka rolled his eyes. Zhao was horrible and even kind of intimidating at times, but this guy was just annoying. He had a really stupid-looking moustache that didn't come close to comparing with Zhao's oversized muttonchops. His voice was also nasal and grating, making his evil monologue much less effective.
"Major Hochi, perhaps we should retrieve reinforcements to escort the prisoner?" one of the smarter goons suggested. "The Avatar is notoriously tricky and-"
"Sergeant, what was it I told you about when I wanted your opinion?"
"That I can give it when I'm dead or outrank you," the sergeant said with a sigh.
"Exactly. Now, if you interrupt me again, I can easily ensure you'll be able to voice all the opinions you want. From your funeral urn."
Absolutely pathetic. Sokka might hate Zhao, but at least the guy could come up with some genuinely effective threats. Major Hochi's game was horrendously weak.
As the Fire Nation officer continued to brag about his great success, Sokka took the opportunity to make his first move. While Aang had raced headlong into the cave and been captured, Sokka, having lagged behind, was able to lurk outside without being spotted. Due to this advantage, he was able to knock out one of the guards who was lingering near the mouth of the cave. The guy had removed his helmet – a classic blunder – which allowed Sokka the perfect opening to whack him on the head with his club and drag him out of sight.
Fate seemed to be smiling on him as he stole his captive's uniform and threw it on. It was a little long, but fit well enough to suit his ruse. He checked the man's insignia to figure out which rank he was, as it wouldn't do to be found out in ten seconds by giving the wrong rank, and continued to develop his scheme. He needed one more thing to really sell his disguise, though.
Thankfully, at that precise moment, he saw a few wild marmot-alpacas grazing a short distance away and stealthily crept over to snag some hair off of one which he fashioned into a false beard.
"Perfect," Sokka muttered to himself in satisfaction.
He straightened himself up and squared his shoulders. Fixing his posture into what he'd seen from observing Fire Nation troops, he marched with a steady determination into the cave.
"Major Hochi," he called out. "Major Hochi, I have something urgent to report!"
"Sergeant, who is this man?" Major Hochi said, frowning at the sudden interruption.
"I don't know, sir," said the long-suffering sergeant.
"Incompetent! It is your job to know!"
"He seems to be a corporal." The sergeant seemed to be grasping at straws trying to placate his superior.
"I can see that for myself, you fool!"
"Fire," Sokka said evenly. "Corporal Wang Fire. I was sent here to report the presence of a dangerous earthbender division operating in this area."
Major Hochi looked him up and down before taking slow, methodical steps closer. His gaze was rife with suspicion and Sokka realized the guy wasn't going to be as easy to trick as he'd thought. He forced himself to stay calm and not start sweating.
"And who, exactly, is your commanding officer, Corporal?"
Sokka scrambled around in his memory for the name of a high-ranking Fire Nation officer. He couldn't use Zhao. After all, who would believe that an admiral would send troops into the mountains? Even Zhao wouldn't be allowed to stretch his authority that far. That was when he recalled a conversation he'd overheard back in Taku. The two Yuyan archers who'd been griping about Zhao mentioned that they wished Colonel Shinu was still in charge.
So, with a confident smile and easy charm, he said, "I have the great honor to be under the direction of Colonel Shinu."
"Hmm, is that so?" said Major Hochi.
He still wasn't convinced.
"If that is the case, what are you doing this far north? Isn't Colonel Shinu in charge of Pohuai Stronghold?"
"You haven't heard about Admiral Zhao taking command?" Sokka feigned confusion. " I suppose the news didn't get out to everyone. You see, we received an intelligence report about the earthbender division and the colonel ordered several lower-level officers to inform other regiments. We all set out a few days after Admiral Zhao took charge."
"Why did Colonel Shinu not think to send a hawk?"
"He was concerned about interception and trusted that a soldier can keep silent better than a message. Besides that, we were already running low on hawks. There was an information backlog and the colonel felt it best to keep the hawks focused on getting as many details back to Caldera as possible."
He then began to ramble about paperwork and of poor resource management caused by Admiral Zhao's inefficient command.
Just keep bluffing, Sokka thought to himself. Bog it all down with as much military jargon as possible. Blind him with boring details. No one doubts a slew of boring details they don't want to hear.
Major Hochi's suspicious look began to wane as Sokka brought up the importance of cooperation between science and the military.
"Enough!" he finally snapped. "What was this about an earthbender division?"
"Of course, sir," Sokka said.
He then spun a yarn about how the Earth Kingdom was closing in on their base of operations in the Taihua Mountains. Sokka, or rather "Wang Fire," had observed their movements and that they were planning on disguising themselves as the local bandits in order to seem like less of a threat.
"If they think they can deceive us with such pitiful disguises, they are sorely mistaken," Major Hochi sneered.
As Major Hochi began to rant about capturing both the Avatar and a dangerous Earth Kingdom division, Sokka edged closer and closer to the net where Aang was trapped. The kid had been watching the entire thing and, thankfully, hadn't immediately yelled out Sokka's name in surprise as soon as he saw him. Sokka had found a small knife in the side of one of the boots he'd pilfered from the Fire Nation soldier and sneakily passed it to Aang through one of the holes in the net.
Aang instantly caught on and set to work cutting himself free as Sokka snuck back over to the mouth of the cave.
"We must act quickly!" Major Hochi declared. "Men, secure the prisoner. We shall return to camp and get the rest of the regiment mobilized. I will surround this mountain pass with a ring of steel!"
No sooner had they all turned around than they were met by the smiling face of a very free Avatar Aang.
"Hey, there," Aang said cheerily.
"He's loose!" one of the men shrieked and bolted.
Aang fired off an airblast that knocked them all outside.
Sokka, for his part, pushed a furious Major Hochi to the ground as Aang shot another blast.
"Stay down, Major!" said Sokka. "The Avatar is too dangerous to face head-on! You must retreat to your camp. I will hold off the Avatar, myself!"
"Corporal Fire, no!" one of the soldiers shouted. "You won't stand a chance!"
"It is my duty as a soldier of the Fire Nation." Sokka hung his head and nearly busted his ribs trying not to laugh. "You go on without me!"
With that, he raced back into the cave. Aang saw him and, upon recognizing him, sent an airblast out the cave door just as Sokka got inside.
"So, you think you're hot stuff, do you, Mr. Avatar?!" Sokka called out, facing towards the cave's mouth so that his voice could be heard clearly. "Take that! And this!"
The two of them made as much of a clamor as possible. At one point, Sokka removed his helmet and roughed up his uniform before having Aang blast him halfway out of the cave. Sokka held onto the sides of the entrance.
"What are you waiting for?!" he yelled at the Fire Nation troops. "He's too strong! Run! Run for your lives! I'll buy you all the time I can!"
The men finally took off running and Aang continued to cause more airblasts that rocked the mountainside until the Fire Nation troops were far enough away.
"Great job, there, buddy," Sokka said, giving Aang a friendly slap on the back.
"You, too, Sokka," said Aang. "Where'd you get that uniform?"
"Oh, yeah! That reminds me."
He hurried over to where he'd left the guy from before. He wasn't unconscious anymore but was very dazed. Motioning for Aang to step back, Sokka cleared his throat.
"Corporal, what are you doing out of uniform?" he said as the man looked at him with unfocused eyes.
"Wha…?"
"Are you sleeping on the job? Straighten yourself up! This is disgraceful!"
"Yessir!"
"Because I don't want you to get in trouble with the major, I will loan you my own uniform for you to return to camp respectably and not totally dishonor your regiment."
"Than…you…sir."
Sokka removed the uniform and helped the man get dressed. He still only seemed vaguely aware of whatever was happening.
"Now," Sokka said standing behind the man so he couldn't see Sokka's blue clothes. "You are to march straight back to camp, at once!"
"Yes, sir!"
"Get going! Hup, two-three-four! Hup, two-three-four!"
The man took off down the mountain path, swaying a bit as he tried to march. Sokka figured he would be all right, as the terrain looked pretty clear ahead. If he was lucky, he'd get his head cleared up before he stumbled into any unforeseen obstacles. Otherwise, he might end up tripping and passing out in the snow.
Sokka preferred not to think too much about how that might end, or what else might happen.
"What do you say we get back to the others?" he said to Aang.
"What about the Air Nomad artifacts?" the kid said. "There are tons of them down there."
"We'll have time to collect them once this war is over and you kick Fire Lord Ozai's butt. We can spend weeks up here looking for more caches if you want."
"Promise?"
"I promise."
Zuko just managed to dodge as the water sliced by his head.
He trusted that Katara wouldn't actually hurt him, but it didn't stop the adrenaline rush that a fight caused. It was hard to tell if Katara's bending power had increased or not, as he didn't have a huge amount of experience fighting her directly like this.
her bending wasn't especially refined, but that could have been due to the fact that she was still mostly untrained.
"You're just sort of punching the water at me," he said, his breathing heavy from the long sparring session.
"I know," Katara said. She was looking irritated, but she kept her tone even.
"Did you notice a difference in your control?"
"I think so. It's easier to get the water to respond, but once I'm actually moving it around, it's kind of a strain to keep it going."
"Maybe there is something to that whole yin and yang energy stuff."
"How do firebenders handle it when they have lots of yang energy?"
"Well, it's mostly about maintaining control. It's why firebenders have to meditate so much when they have high yang. High yin firebenders have to build up their emotions so their fire has more strength behind it."
Zuko paused as a thought occurred to him.
"Of course, all this is based on firebender experiences. Maybe waterbenders interact with the energies differently."
"What do you mean?"
"My uncle once told me that each type of bending involves different principles and sources. Fire is rooted in power and emotion, which is why high yang people can produce stronger but more unstable flames. Do you know if waterbenders have a guiding principle for their element?"
"I don't know about waterbending, specifically. But, in the Water Tribes, one of our guiding beliefs is adaptability. In the South Pole, you need to be willing to make changes to how you live in order to survive."
"That could be it. Change."
"How do I draw on the power of 'change'?" Katara said dryly.
"Instead of trying to force the water, you could sense out what feels most comfortable."
"I was trying to follow the guidelines from the scroll."
"Guidelines are fine. They give you a basic idea of how the moves are done. But only using guidelines isn't going to help."
"I guess that sounds right. I wasn't even able to do the water-whip until Aang told me to shift my weight through the stances."
"Exactly. Pictures and words are only one part of learning. Not the whole of it."
They went through a few more rounds of sparring and Zuko noticed a steady improvement to Katara's bending. She didn't seem to be straining so much, though it was clear she was still pushing herself at times. Her form was not quite there, yet, but she'd made a lot of progress for someone who'd never had proper bending instruction. Honestly, Zuko wouldn't be surprised if Katara was some kind of waterbending prodigy, much like Azula was with firebending. Once she got some lessons with a waterbending master, Katara could probably earn her own mastery in record time.
Zuko told her as much.
"Thanks," she said softly. Her cheeks had turned pink and Zuko figured she was probably flushed and tired from all the training.
"Do you want to call it a day?"
He didn't want her to overwork herself. Besides that, he was worried about the pain she'd had earlier. While he knew it was normal for girls to have cramps and discomfort during their period, the physicians who'd spoken at the lecture mentioned that excessive and debilitating pain could be a sign of problems. She'd seemed all right once they started training, though, so maybe using her bending was helping in some way.
"I think I can handle one more round," Katara said. "Do you think you could show me some more firebending moves?"
He'd shown her a couple of basic forms, but Katara had mostly stuck to the few waterbending moves she knew when they were sparring. Still, she seemed to do well when using the moves he'd taught her. So, he decided to share a few more lessons, as well as some details about fighting, in general.
"See, in a fight, one of the most important things is to destabilize your opponent," he explained. "You need to break their root. Once they lose that, they're easy to knock down."
"And how do I do that?" Katara asked.
"The main way in firebending is to wear your opponent down while conserving as much of your own strength as possible."
Firebending focused on rapid movements and distance attacks, especially with legwork, kicks, and acrobatic forms. While punches were involved in firebending, there wasn't much variation in hand techniques, though handwork was always meant to be quick and sharp. From what Zuko had seen of waterbending, footwork was meant solely to keep the bender grounded while steady, arcing handwork was the main basis for the actual bending. Waterbending also seemed to be more about redirecting attacks and using an opponent's force against them.
As they practiced, Zuko noticed Katara's waterbending take on a more aggressive style as she began to implement some of his firebending moves.
He had to make a sudden jump out of the way as she used a kick to launch a waterblast towards him. As he leapt back, however, he found that he'd made a mistake and some of the water which had landed behind him during their fight had been turned to ice and he found himself slipping. He was stopped from falling over, though, as Katara grabbed the front of his coat and helped him regain his footing.
They both froze and stared at each other for a moment.
Zuko wasn't sure why, but his heartbeat started to speed up. It was probably from all the training. Katara, too, was still looking very flushed. Her eyes had also become exceptionally bright and lively since they started their training session. They were always a pretty shade, but they positively sparkled now.
"Uh, what's going on?" a voice interrupted, shaking them both out of the moment.
Zuko shot a glare at Sokka, who was watching them with a weird expression on his face. Aang was beside him, looking puzzled.
"There's nothing going on," Katara snapped. "Zuko and I were just training. That's all."
"Uh…huh."
Zuko did not like the slow, doubtful way Sokka said that.
Was he implying something? What did he think Zuko and Katara were doing? It was just a little bending practice. Did Sokka think Zuko was attempting to hurt Katara and that they were having a real fight? That was crazy. Sokka was crazy for thinking something so ridiculous. Zuko wouldn't do something like that. He'd long given up on any sort of attempts to capture any of them. Sokka was just being a paranoid weirdo again.
Stupid Sokka.
Did they think they were fooling anyone?
Sokka wasn't blind, nor was he oblivious. He was a keen-eyed, insightful warrior with razor-sharp instincts, thank you very much. You'd have to be thicker than mud or an innocent airhead like Aang to not see that Zuko and Katara were crushing on each other hard. Maybe they just didn't realize it, themselves.
Stupid, smitten turtledoves.
Perhaps it was for the best if they didn't see it. Any kind of romance in their situation would only ever be doomed from the start. Sure, they might work well together, but a relationship between a Fire Nation royal and a Water Tribe peasant would definitely not be received well from either side.
It wasn't that Sokka was against the idea of his sister and Zuko being together. As much as Sokka hated to admit it, he did actually like Zuko. Not that he'd ever tell the hot-headed jerk. Zuko was a pretty cool guy who could take care of himself and wasn't going to sit around like a lazy lump. Sokka had seen Zuko act petulant and rude, but that had mostly faded since they'd started dragging the guy along with them. He'd been helpful, patient, and considerate, especially towards Katara.
That was what was most important, of course. Zuko treated Katara with a great deal of respect. He listened to her and assisted her and made sure her needs were looked after. Katara deserved someone like that.
The Sokka from before they'd set out on their life-changing journey might have ranted and raved and ordered Katara to not even think of talking to the evil firebender. That Sokka probably would have tried to fight off any potential boyfriends for his sister like an overprotective blubber-head. Not that acting like that would have ever stopped Katara. Sokka knew his sister and she would've slapped him and gone on a rant of her own about sexism and "obsessive, controlling, toxic men" and how she made her own decisions.
Sokka had decided he'd just cut out the ranting parts and skip right to respecting his little sister's right to choose her own boyfriend.
Another point in Zuko's favor was that he didn't try to drown whole villages and make Katara and Aang doubt Sokka's instincts, so he was already leagues better than Katara's first boyfriend. Not that it was hard to be a better person than Jet.
That being said, he still had his doubts about how any kind of romance between Katara and Zuko would work out. Not that he would try to stop them if they ever did realize the gross, mushy feelings they clearly had for each other. If anything, it would give him a perfect opportunity to tease Zuko relentlessly. But Sokka still wanted to ensure they understood how big of a deal it was.
On one side, their tribe would be outraged and regard the situation as a "poor, innocent, and pure" Water Tribe maiden being corrupted by an "evil, violent, depraved" Fire Nation brute. On the other side, Zuko's family already treated him pretty terribly and his people despised anyone who wasn't Fire Nation; Zuko would likely be deemed a traitor and Katara would be labeled as some sort of wicked savage who seduced the Crown Prince.
Sokka didn't want that for either of them. Not that two lovesick and very headstrong turtledoves caught up in a forbidden romance would care what other people thought, but still.
"So, let me get this straight," Zuko said as they all sat around the campfire that night. "You all decided to lead those two tribes of idiots through the Great Divide, yourselves?"
"Yeah," said Aang. "I agreed to send their sick and elderly across on Appa so they would stop arguing over who got priority."
"So, why didn't you just ferry everyone across on Appa? You could've had everyone go in small groups and been done in a few hours."
Sokka slapped himself on the forehead. Zuko had a point. That whole stupid incident in the Great Divide could've been avoided. That entire event was something he often tried to pretend didn't happen, much like the stupidity of the people in Makapu.
He listened as Aang explained how they got everyone out of the canyon, only to feel another pang of frustration when Zuko poked another hole in how they handled everything.
"If you were already to the other end of the canyon, why didn't you go get Appa and use him to get everyone out, or at least call him with the bison whistle to help you fight off those canyon-crawlers?"
Sokka wanted to bang his head against a wall. He'd settle for a tree. Sadly, there was nothing for him to bang his head against, so he settled for another forehead slap. They had to endure a mix of boredom, stupidity, danger, and animosity just because they hadn't thought things through better. Or, maybe, it was because they thought it through too much. Zuko had a talent for pointing out the obvious. Sokka tended to make things exceptionally complicated, so he often missed things that were easy to see in hindsight.
Of course, the entire plan in the Great Divide had been Aang's idea, so Sokka was only at fault for not realizing the better solution as Zuko had.
"Hey, at least we got the Zhangs and Gan Jins to stop their feud," Aang said.
"By telling them a lie," Zuko replied, looking unimpressed. "You can't lie your way out of every problem, Aang."
"I know. But it was just one, little white lie. Now, they don't have to be enemies and try to kill each other anymore."
"Still, you shouldn't make a habit of doing that. If you keep lying about stuff, someone is going to call you on it sooner or later."
"Don't worry, Zuko. I'm not going to tell anymore lies unless it's absolutely necessary. Like what Sokka did to get us out of trouble today."
"What trouble?" said Katara. "What happened?"
Aang and Sokka regaled the others with the tale of their daring escape. Of course, Zuko became concerned about a Fire Nation presence nearby.
"Don't worry," said Sokka. "They all fled in a different direction from our camp. Tomorrow, we'll leave them far behind."
As the evening wore on, Sokka noticed that Zuko had taken charge of cooking duty. Katara was huddled up by Appa, a blanket wrapped around her. She was looking a bit pale and seemed to be clutching at her stomach. Brotherly concern shot right through him and he moved to sit beside her.
"You okay, Katara?" he asked.
"I'm fine," she snapped at him.
She did seem to be in a bad mood. He'd thought, at first, that it was just because he and Aang had barged in on her little sparring session with Zuko. But now…
"Are you sure?" said Sokka. "You're looking a little off. Did you train too hard while we were gone?"
Katara bit her lip and didn't look him in the eye.
"It's not from the training," she said. "The training actually made me feel better. Once I stopped bending, though…" She winced and clutched her stomach.
"Katara, something's wrong," Sokka insisted. "Did you eat something to upset your stomach?"
Katara glanced over at Zuko, who gave her a soft look in response. Sokka had no idea what that was about, other than them both being icky and infatuated.
"Sokka, if I tell you what's wrong, you promise you won't freak out and be a jerk?" said Katara.
That was asking quite a lot from him, but he would try.
Of course, the moment Katara mentioned the phrase "moon time," Sokka reeled back from her out of pure reflex. This was, apparently, the wrong thing to do as she became visibly angry at him.
"Sorry," he said. "It's just…do you have to have that right now? Can't you just wait to have it when we're not on the road?"
Katara glared at him so hard that Sokka was instantly grateful that his sister wasn't a firebender as he would've been incinerated from the fire coming out of her eyes.
He knew women had a 'problem' that came up every month and that it involved gross stuff and being more emotional, though no one ever really explained to him what, exactly, it involved. The Water Tribe men sometimes joked about having to go hunting or fishing each month to get away from their wives, daughters, and other female relatives because it was impossible to be around them during the "moon time." Sokka had been in the same situation with Katara since last year.
He wasn't sure why women had that weird problem, but he wished they would choose better times to have it happen. Maybe hold it in until they were in a better place to deal with it.
"You do know that's not how it works, Sokka," Zuko said in response to Sokka's very reasonable suggestion.
"That's not how what works?" said Aang, all wide-eyed innocence. "What's wrong with Katara?"
What followed was perhaps one of the most horrifying talks Sokka had ever received. Zuko explained it as cleanly and scientifically as possible so as to appeal to Sokka's sense of reason, which Sokka greatly appreciated. To think that all women went through that each month – well, most women, at any rate, as Zuko said there were some women who didn't. It sounded really disgusting and painful, but his little sister had to put up with it and even seemed to have it worse than what was usual.
Sokka got a sudden sense of shame as he looked back on past interactions between him and Katara that now made more sense and realized how unfair he'd been.
He'd said and done a lot of really harsh, obnoxious things and had disregarded Katara's complaints because he assumed he knew more than she did. Sokka had no idea what his sister was going through, but he was resolved to be more considerate about it. He'd already started making the effort to be more helpful after realizing how much she already did for him and Aang. This was probably a sign that he needed to step up his game.
Throughout the entire awkward conversation, the only one who wasn't uncomfortable was Aang. The kid just sat and listened, accepting everything that was explained to him as if it wasn't a big deal. He hadn't known anything about this, which Sokka figured was understandable as Aang had been raised by monks, but he was taking it in stride and wasn't on the verge of a nervous breakdown like Sokka was.
"So, it's just a natural process, then?" Aang said.
"That's right," said Zuko.
"Okay."
Sokka would never cease to be amazed at how Aang could be so chill about everything. Meanwhile, Sokka soon found that he was the subject of everyone else's expectant stares. Katara even seemed wary of him. Did she think he was going to have a meltdown and start screaming about how none of this could be natural and that it was disgusting and she should keep it to herself? Well, he did still think it was kind of gross, but now that he knew what was going on he wasn't going to freak out and, of course, he wanted to help his sister if she was in pain.
Did he really make Katara feel like she shouldn't talk about something that was making her uncomfortable?
That wasn't the kind of person Sokka wanted to be.
When Zuko went back to making dinner, Sokka finally decided to man up and ask if he could help. The disbelieving stares he got from the other three spoke volumes.
"You?" Katara said. "You actually want to help cook?"
His pride was taking a bit of a beating, but Sokka kept pushing through. He tried to ignore the eyes that remained fixed on him as Zuko set him to chopping vegetables. He didn't really know how he was supposed to do it. He raised the chopping knife high over the wooden board only for Katara to grab his hand and stop him.
"You're going to make a mess if you chop like that," she said. "Here. I'll show you."
Sokka quietly listened as Katara guided him through the proper methods for food prep. He felt guilty that she had to get up from her break to instruct him, as he'd volunteered specifically to keep her from having to work, but it would be better in the long run if Sokka actually understood what to do. There was no point in offering help if his help only caused more problems than it fixed.
Once Sokka had gotten the vegetables sliced up, Zuko showed him how he was cooking the rice and Sokka made sure to memorize as much of the process as possible. It seemed easy enough, but Sokka wasn't going to sing his own praises until he'd actually attempted to cook.
When they had everything ready and sat down to eat, things fell back into the new normal of friendly chatter and laughter. The danger of earlier that day and the drama of discovering the reality of what his sister went through each month slipped to the back of Sokka's mind as he simply enjoyed being with the people he cared about. Zuko had also had the forethought to set up the tent when he'd been getting the camp ready, so they all clambered in after they'd finished dinner and quickly realized that Zuko was an excellent space-heater. He used his firebending to keep warm, as even wearing a heavy coat wasn't quite enough, and, naturally, he exuded a fair amount of heat.
Momo was the first to take advantage of this discovery, oddly enough. The lemur clambered onto Zuko's stomach, curled up in a ball, and passed out. Zuko didn't have the heart to make the little guy move, even if it left him pinned down.
Sokka didn't protest when Katara took that as a cue to cuddle up next to Zuko. After all, it was pretty cold and it wasn't like that kind of thing didn't happen back home. When winters were especially bad in the South Pole, whole clans would sometimes make one big igloo and group together inside to share warmth.
It was a survival thing. That was all.
Aang, who didn't really have trouble with the cold because of his airbending, agreed to sleep on the far end of the tent, which left Sokka sleeping on Zuko's other side. Sokka had to admit that it was nice having a source of heat for inside the tent. If the Water Tribe didn't hate firebenders so much, they might try to bring some in to keep their homes warm.
Sokka fell asleep smirking at the mental image of Zuko awkwardly sitting in the center of an igloo in place of a hearth fire as Water Tribe people warmed their hands over him.
When Sokka awoke, he saw a few flakes of snow falling outside through the opening of the tent flaps. That struck him as odd as he was certain he'd secured the flaps last night. He didn't really want to leave the cozy pile of blankets, but he grudgingly began to stretch and rub his eyes to wake up and start the day. As he looked around the morning gloom of the tent, still grey in the early light of predawn, he realized something wasn't right.
Katara's space beside Zuko was empty.
"Zuko, wake up," Sokka said, giving him a shake.
"Huh? What is it?" said Zuko, grumbling at the sudden awakening.
Aang, too, gave a yawn and began to stir.
"Katara's not here," said Sokka. "Did you notice her leave?"
"No."
Sokka's instincts began blaring warning bells. Katara wouldn't just slip out in the small hours without letting any of them know. She'd learned her lesson about doing that after the incident with the pirates. There was something very wrong.
He shot out of the tent, not even putting on shoes or his parka, and began to search the campsite. The other two followed right behind him. There was no sign of her anywhere in their camp. Appa was still fast asleep and snoring, which meant he hadn't been disturbed by anyone sneaking around the campsite.
"Katara!" Sokka called out.
No answer.
"Katara!" He tried again, louder.
Still nothing.
Aang and Zuko chimed in as well, but it made no difference. Sokka felt a pit drop in the bottom of his stomach as the horrible truth finally settled in.
Katara was gone.
Author's Note: Cute and wholesome Zutara mutual care, with Zuko being a supportive, non-toxic, yet still very awkward cinnamon roll who is getting his first real experience with being attracted to someone. He's still clueless, but we love him.
And, yay, more growth for Sokka.
The Aang and Sokka subplot was inspired by the short Avatar comic "Relics" from the "Lost Adventures" series, as well as the "Private Fire" comic. I decided not to incorporate them directly into my story and, instead, made an alternate version.
Guessing game time: Who did I base Major Hochi on? Leave your guesses in the comments, and I will tell you in the notes of the next chapter.
I think the Fire Nation, being one of the more progressive in terms of gender equality, would be more open to the idea of discussing female health. One of the many issues with patriarchal societies is the tendency of people (both men and women, including trained medical professionals) to dismiss women's health issues. Women are more likely to be misdiagnosed. Women are expected to tolerate more pain than men. Discussion of periods is still seen as highly taboo. And a disturbing number of men grow up with little to no idea how biologically female bodies actually work (there are some men who actually think women can turn their periods off or "hold it in").
So, I thought it made sense that the Fire Nation would have official educational seminars for children about to enter their teens about how their bodies work and that both boys and girls have to go to the same ones so they don't get only half the picture.
Katara, by contrast, comes from a patriarchal culture. Even the Southern Water Tribe, despite being less sexist than the North, has lots of indicators that it is also kind of sexist. Sokka's attitude towards women at the start of the series had to come from somewhere (and he still hasn't shaken off all of his ideas about women, but he's learning). As such, I think Katara probably had to deal with a lot of the problems I mentioned above, and it would be worse if she had a condition like dysmenorrhea (excessively painful, debilitating menstruation), and would likely have some culture shock when Zuko acts like periods are no big deal.
Also, just because the Southern Water Tribe is a mostly very loving, community-focused culture doesn't mean they can't have some toxic ideas about how things are done. For a place that is supportive of women learning combative waterbending, they don't seem to have any female non-bender warriors. Not even for defense of the tribe. All the men of the tribe went off to fight and left behind Sokka and a few little kids to "protect" the village. While I, personally, think that women in the South Pole do learn some fighting and hunting skills (as I mentioned in a previous chapter), I don't think they are actively encouraged as interests for women.
Oh, and I absolutely refuse to buy into the idea established in that one Avatar comic that the Fire Nation was made homophobic by Fire Lord Sozin. If he grew up in a culture where same-sex marriage was viewed as normal, it would take something big to drive him to break thousands of years of tradition and criminalize it. Besides that, there would be no strategic advantage to doing it. It would only alienate a substantial number of his citizens (both gay/lesbian ones and anyone else who sees it as normal) right when he needed his people to back him up on his world domination scheme. What's more, he already had a group of people to use as a target for his people's anger and hatred – the Air Nomads. There was literally no reason to make Sozin homophobic except so Bryke could retroactively make him evil…even though he was already an evil, genocidal, friend-betraying asshole.
Just because someone is racist and a shitty friend doesn't mean they have to be homophobic, too.
(Also, what would be a better way to stir up hatred against your enemies than by convincing your equal rights-loving people that everyone else is out to oppress women and gay folks?)
I hope none of this came across as preachy or like I'm soapboxing. I just think way too much about how different cultures treat stuff like this and how it effects worldbuilding.
C-drama recommendation for this chapter is "Love is All." After running away from her arranged marriage, Tan Ling Yin is determined to make her own way in the world through her passion for storytelling. However, society is not very accepting of young women being independent, but that won't stop her. Of course, her antics do get her into a tough spot with the handsome but aloof county magistrate, Tang Tian Yuan, who is investigating a string of mysterious cases. Tan Ling Yin, not willing to let anyone look down on her and also hoping to get some inspiration for her novels, decides to apply for a position as his advisor. Despite his reluctance, Tang Tian Yuan gives her a chance and the two work together to bring justice to the county.
A sweet, silly, very fluffy story about two different personalities learning to be real partners. While they get off on the wrong foot at first, they quickly develop a bond of mutual respect and friendship that soon blossoms into love. It's very light and easy watching and the schemes of the bad guys are very simplistic, but that's perfect if you are in the mood for more character-driven storytelling. It really shows how a strait-laced, righteous, and dignified man and a quirky, ambitious, and money-hungry young woman can fall in love. Plus, there's a running gag about how our dear female lead can't cook and nearly poisons the male lead each time she tries, and I like seeing the occasional "nightmare cook" when so many dramas have the female lead be basically a gourmet chef. Oh, also, they do the old "fake dating turns into real love" trope to great effect.