She stared at him with her mouth open for several minutes. Not willing to believe what she had just heard,
Gua read her reaction so he said it again but more clearly this time, "The soldiers that killed my little sister and attacked me were from the Northern Watertribe,"
"No…no…hat can't be true," she stammered, shaking her head. "Maybe the Fire Nation or some other type of bandits had stolen the flag of a captured Water Tribe vessel, so then it only LOOKED like-"
He shook his head sadly like he didn't want to believe what he was saying either. "There's no question," he whispered. The boat they were on was a canoe not forged of metal, and they shot projectiles made of icy rocks rather than flames,
She shook her head again but she knew there was no use fighting it, what he said was true. She knew from the first time that she had met him there had been something different about him, something that made it hard for Katara to feel like she could fully trust him (other than the flying boulder incident). How she understood what that was.
If you had asked her a year ago to describe or even name what this was, she would've been at an utter loss for words. Yes, losing her mother at a young age was pain like she could've never even dreamed of. But after traveling the 4 nations, and especially seeing the consequences of the war, she understood what it meant to truly have nothing. To have everything you once loved and cared for torn away from you in an away you know it'll never be the same.
Katara had always what the Gaang had affectionately referred to (and had occasionally teased) as their eternal optimist. And while she could do with less jokes about her being motherly and overoptimistic in general, she knew it was out of jest and love that they did it. So it really didn't bother her that much.
But after seeing the scale of death and destruction that has touched some peoples lives, she understood why some people wouldn't- couldn't ever be the same.
Sometimes after such a complete tragedy there are no pieces of your former life or self to pick back up- or at least no one to help you do it.
Gua wasn't an inherently evil person, he wasn't like Azula who laughed at other people' s pain. Katara had always wanted to believe in the concept of fate, of being in charge of her own life and having destiny in the palm of her hand. But it was undeniable the life bestowed on Gua was through no fault of her own. Despite the ongoing throbbing pain in her arm, she wondered just where his culpability began?
After all, especially after all she and Zuko had been through, she was starting to realize that growing up in a world void of most love and happiness and instead filled with violence, hatefulness, and every last bitter emotion. She could start to understand what Gua had meant before by saying his decision had been set long before they had met.
Katara was saved having to respond to the loud grinding and twisting sound of metal rubbing against itself, startled as she looked to the corner of the room and the only door had swung open. There were several people that filed in, a tall and stern looking man led the small procession. She assumed he was in charge, not only because he entered first but because of the way he was dressed, his gear clearly of better quality and design than the three men that followed after.
"Why are you in here with the prisoner?" the man's eyes flashed over Katara laying in Gua's lap and a look of disgust crossed his face. "And why in the world are you doing that?"
Gua looked shocked at the interruption and started stuttering an excuse. But with a wave of his hand the man cut him off, "stop I actually don't want to hear your excuses. Guards." He motioned towards the two on the floor and the soldiers advanced. Katara resisted the urge to scream watching the soldiers reach for her. Ignoring the pain in her arm she tried to twist away from the soldier that had grabbed her as she watched the other two drag Gua to the far side of the room.
"Captain Zhou, would you like the Earthbender taken back upstairs until you're down with the prisoner?" The man with dark eyes, who Katara had now taken to be Captain Zhou, narrowed his eyes and quickly looked Gua up and down.
"Keep him over there but let him stay, he's half the reason this whole thing turned into such a bloody nightmare." he paused, now looking over at Katara and started to smile. She felt a shiver go up her spine feeling like she was looking into the eyes of a hungry moose lion. "All because of teenagers and their hormones, he should've neutralized the girl long before they-"
"I've explained why-"
"Do not interrupt when your superiors are talking!" Captain Zhou snarled and in unison the men holding Gua jerked his arms behind him and slammed him face first into the wall. He yelled out in pain and Katara heard a sickening crack, his nose must be broken she thought.
Although he was mumbling in pain, Gua said nothing else coherent. Captain Zhou seemed to relax in response to his submission and continued. "Anyway, where were we? Yes, we need to do an exam to assess your overall talents and abilities, this will help give us and a potential buyer more information."
Katara felt like he had just punched her in the stomach, and she couldn't seem to get enough air as the horror of what he said started to sink in. A buyer?
During their travels, she had heard rumors of awful things like that but she honestly hadn't wanted to actually believe that things like that still happened. But that had simply been a willful ignorance, looking reality in the face and deciding to choose to think otherwise. Now she'd live it herself, with no other choice but a first-hand account.
Perceptive to her reaction, Captain Zhou said "Ah yes, it is happening and it's happening to you. There is no way around or out of it." He took a few steps forward and quickly crossed the distance between them in the small prison cell. Katara said nothing but the pace of her breathing began to increase rapidly being in such proximity to someone so dangerous. She knew he was probably right, after all what did she have to fight back? She couldn't even use one of her arms to bend. So she froze, not saying a word or moving a muscle as Captain Zhou took his time leaning in so his face was tucked right into the crevice of her neck. Every part of her was screaming MOVE. RUN. anything.
Captain Zhou took several long deep breaths, reveling in her reaction. This wasn't the first time he leveraged his power against someone else. "Mhmm." he murmured, nestling himself into her hair as if he was trying to see if she were wearing a specific perfume. "You're the best looking one we've caught in awhile, so let me give you a piece of advice."
He paused but she said nothing, waiting for him to continue doing and saying whatever he wanted. He laughed and she felt his body shake with amusement against her. "A slow one? Or maybe just a little stubborn? Whatever your poison dear, I can wait right here for your answer." He put extra emphasis on the last few words knowing that she would want to get as far away from him as possible as fast as possible.
Under any other circumstance, Katara would like to think she would've been a little more brave, a little more like the girl who fought off pirates or Fire Nation soldiers countless times before. Instead she was more like the little girl who ran away that day her mother was killed, intent on getting help rather than doing anything herself.
To her shame she indulged Captain Zhou and whispered a short reply. "Yes."
Although she couldn't see it, she could feel him smile again. He had won, imposing his will over hers and she had given in without hardly fighting. Captain Zhou continued to savor the moment and then continued with his now 'solicited advice'.
"Give in now little girl, answer all of my questions honestly and behave for us and I'll make sure no further harm comes to you. In fact, I'm sorry this even happened." His voice softened for a moment, and she felt the tips of his fingers brush her injured arm so lightly that it didn't cause further pain. However, it still caused a massive spike of anxiety and thought her heart might explode. Despite his words, Captain Zhou could inflict further and even permanent damage on her arm if he wanted to. There wasn't much in the dimly lit cargo hold to stop him either.
She nodded feeling like words were out of her reach. Captain Zhou's face darkened. "I hope you learn faster than that, I expect a verbal response."
Katara took a deep breath and pushed the words out quickly, not wanting to be reprimanded again. "Yes. I will behave and answer your questions honestly."
"Good. First question, where do you originate from? Are you part of the Northern Tribe?"
She shook her head no, normally she wouldn't want to give them any real information but to be honest, Captain Zhou scared her. "No, my brother and I traveled a great distance to be here. After losing our parents we wanted to connect with distant relatives in the North. It had also been told to us the North would be safer than where we had grown up but…" she let her thoughts trail off. They both knew why the Southern Tribe had declined but didn't want to risk accidentally offending the man.
He eyed her, and for a second she feared that someone he saw through the lie. But he continued on. He asked about her waterbending abilities, starting with things pertaining to combat. Though he didn't have anything to write with, being as perceptive as he was, Katara was sure that Captain Zhou would do an extensive write up later.
After the combat questions were done he said. "I'm not sure if we need to even assess your healing given you're from the Southern Tribe…" this time it was Captain Zhou's turn to trail off, the implication clear. Katara may have learned combative waterbending through a combination of grit and intellect but without guidance learning extensive healing was not often done. Once the Southern Water Tribe's numbers had been truly diminished, the knowledge started to fade as well. Southern benders still held the ability, and were often able to occasionally heal superficial wounds on themselves but not usually on others. Unable to truly connect their chi to another's without proper understanding.
Katara considered lying, seeing that he was already on his way to believing the lie, but she was unsure if she had mentioned this to Gua and didn't want to be punished for lying. She shook her head and explained her healing abilities and answered his questions related to.
When she had finished, she looked up at Captain Zhou who now seemed to have an odd excitement in his eyes. "You may be the best healer we've ever acquired, you are going to go for a fortune little lady."
Katara clamped her eyes shut in response, trying in the only way she could to hide from the terror unfolding around her.