Chapter 6
Katara put her ear to the door and listened. After she was certain no one was on the other side she opened the door without making a sound. The exact same time the door to the boys room opened as well. Aang’s tattooed hand held the door halfway open while the rest of his body remained inside.
“It’s been four days, Sokka. I’m going to talk to her,” he whispered but the sound reached her ears.
She closed the door until she no longer saw Aang’s hand but still could hear his voice. Sokka was too far away to be audible. He mumbled something and Aang didn’t answer for a few minutes.
“You know Katara is right.”
“I’m not saying she is not right.” Sokka must have moved closer to the door because she could clearly hear him. “She’s been completely right many times. I’m saying not this time, she isn’t completely right this time. Look, this guy is telling you you have awesome, great powers and I want to help you figure out how to use them; don’t worry if you demolish my home meantime. Isn’t it a good thing to control the avatar state? Isn’t it what we all want? Plus you’ll never get an offer like that, ever, I think.”
Katara closed the door and leaned her forehead against the wood because she couldn’t go out there to punch him. She told him already a few times that wasn’t a valid point. Aang couldn’t control all four elements right in his reach, which were lower level than the avatar state. How could he control the ‘great’ and ‘awesome’ power?
Why did nobody get it: Aang never learned anything by destruction.
‘Demolishing’ someone’s house wouldn’t bring glee to him or want to continue doing it. This was the hope Katara had. A few days and he would see it himself, her way was the only way. She thought this was it, she had him. Aang’s pause lasted longer than she was able to lie to herself. Because she knew it wasn’t right, didn’t mean he didn’t need to find that out for himself. If only, Sokka stopped filling his head with nonsense, he’d have found out by now.
“It’s not worth it if someone gets hurt,” Aang’s voice was resolute.
“The General knows nothing. Do you think he would hold tomorrow’s ceremony if he did?”
“It doesn’t feel right without her, Sokka. And after a week of ceremonies I’m starting to agree with her. There may not be another way.”
Sokka sighed in exasperation. “When did she become such a drama queen? Fine, let’s go talk to her. Drag her out of the room if we have to.”
Katara was already moving inside the room. She knew the time would come she must open the door so Aang could see she was fine. Four days ago, when she was sneaking back from her nightly visits to the certain prince, she heard a noise and followed it. The courtyard was mostly shrouded in darkness. There were scattered lights here and there. Near the tower, under a spotlight she saw Aang talking to a girl. She recognized her from the welcome party when they landed. The girl was sweet, and quite subtle in coincidental meetings with Aang.
Katara smiled in delight seeing Aang’s blush. She was about to turn around when the girl screamed. She hadn’t seen the attacker and neither Aang. At first she thought it was one guy Aang fought. They drifted in and out of the spotlight. From the corner of her eyes, she saw a large stone heading towards the girl. Without sparing the time to warn her, she ran towards the girl. Twisting the octopus arms around the girl she lifted and moved her out of the way.
She called water back, she shot it towards the guy she saw moving on the rooftop. When the water neared the guys face, she froze the edge and hit him with a solid punch. The guy yelped and fell. Katara operated in the shadows moving silently as Aang moved to the next opponent. She knew this wasn’t a random attack. Another rock rolled towards the girl. Katara pushed the earthbender out of the way but not before the rock changed its trajectory towards her. She broke the rock into pieces but the rock was too close to her. She wasn’t quick with her water shield to protect herself from the onslaught of small rocks and pebbles. The water shield protected her but not until she was bruised all over. She bit into her forearm and screamed without making a sound.
“Hello?” Aang called out to her. All the earthbenders were on the ground groaning in pain. Panic seized her insides. He couldn’t see her like this. He didn’t trigger the avatar state because he wasn’t in any real danger but if she saw her so banged up she was certain nothing could keep him from revealing one way to trigger his avatar state. All three had agreed the general could never find out. So much for that. He seemed on the right track already.
He was fine. She needed to get out of there and heal before he saw her. She squeezed her eyes and counted to three before straightening her back. She felt a pop somewhere in the middle that brought tears of relief. The bruises were blossoming on her skin, she could feel it. Aang was slowly walking towards her, she dragged her body further until she found a wall to use it to stand. Once Aang was sure there was no more danger and the girl had called his name a few times he turned around.
“What’s happening? What did you do? What’s with the commotion?” Sokka’s sleepy voice asked. She was sure his eyes weren’t even open.
“Don’t worry, Brave Sokka! We’re trying a new tactic,” said the general.
Their voices grew closer as did the footsteps knowing her friend was fine and he’d continue to be so as long as he didn’t see her, she fled. She wasn’t a thief or did something wrong yet she fled like one. She was well hidden but not out of earshot when she stopped to look back.
Sokka, dressed in pajamas and hair in disarray, stood slightly in front of Aang as if to protect him with his own body. Now that he had seen Aang he was waking up faster but his eyes were red from sleepiness. “Did you attack Aang?”
“We have to try everything. We’ve been avoiding danger.”
“We aren’t putting Aang in any sort of danger, General Fong. We find proper methods or we go with Katara’s way.”
“Ah, yes, Katara,” the general spoke thoughtfully. “Was someone else besides you here?”
Her heart had been already beating in her throat, at this rate it would jump out of her mouth.
“I thought so,” said Aang. “But I was too distracted fighting your soldiers to be sure. General Fong, thank you for your hospitality but I didn’t agree to this when I said I’d help.”
“And I said I’d help you master your avatar state, this couldn’t be helped. And look no one got hurt! We’ll try something else tomorrow. We think it’ll surely help!”
Katara silently urged Aang to tell him they were done trying his way. The avatar relented and she wasn’t surprised. She knew too well both needed to try cutting corners. Her brother’s greatest wish in the whole wide world was for their father to return. The sooner war ended, the sooner Dad would be home and everything back to normal. Katara accepted long ago, when things drastically changed there was no going back to normal. She didn’t blame Sokka for getting entangled in his own wistful thinking. And Aang thought he didn’t have a choice. He was already too late.
She doubted the general would feel guilty if any one of them got hurt. This was war. Everyone got hurt. She didn’t believe in that mentality. That made sacrifices greater than the outcome. She opposed him the moment he told Aang they were going to the front lines to end the war. The general knew as much as she did, eventually she would win over the avatar.
She had to heal herself before she dwelled on her actions and consequences. Maybe think about avoidance as well. She was dripped in sweat by the time she made it to her room. She had to take a few breaks to catch her breath or to avoid a passerby but made it without anyone seeing her.
When she fled Katara had two things in her mind, Aang couldn’t see the damage and the general mustn’t get his hands on her. Her plan was simple. Get back to her room, heal, and get Aang out of here by all means. She locked the door behind her and opened the clasp on her water skin. Water engulfed her forearm where a large bruise formed in the colors of the rainbow.
She had no technique, no special ritual, just water and her will to heal. She willed, she begged, she cussed, she did everything she could think of yet her wounds don't heal. A sinkhole grew in the pit of her stomach. A short term plan failed. Now what? To give herself time to come up with a better plan she’d locked her doors and told the boys she was protesting. Her heart sank when they had bought it. They didn’t even tell her about the attack. It was fair but she was still hurt.
When she hid for some time to come up with a better plan, Katara didn’t expect ‘some time’ would turn into four days. She should have expected. She was cornered and the longer it went on, the more her options dwindled. Of course, she didn’t intend to let it get this far. She wanted to allow the general to try a few more things, once nothing working they would be on their way.
Meanwhile she could decide what to do about the prince. Fong was the worst person she could leave him to. She needed to convince the boys they needed to take Zuko to Kind Bumi. So far, nothing was going well. She knew locking herself in the room was opposite of a solution. But without healing a few of her injuries she was useless. With the help of Momo, she stole medicine from the infirmary and food from the kitchen. She relied entirely on the monkey’s strategy, following behind blindly.
For four days, like a ghost moving through the tower. Yet, she couldn’t reach the prison section without being detected. With her injuries healing, she didn’t want to put too much strain on herself otherwise it’d never heal. Katara sent Momo with a bag of food every evening and every time he came back with the bag and its entire contents intact, dropping it at her feet.
With no way to communicate, she wasn’t sure what that meant. She was surprised how much the monkey already understood without communication. This was the only thing beyond his capabilities. Her brain was numb from thinking. She couldn’t sleep in case someone barged in her room. Katara and Momo sat on her bed watching the door majority of the four days. She was exhausted and her wounds healed slower. No matter what she did, her healing ability lay dormant.
Aang knocked on her door every time he came back to his room. She heard Sokka yell over his hushed tone, “Would you stop acting like a baby?”
“Are you ready to come out?” asked Aang.
Every time swallowing a lump in her throat, she braced herself. “Are you ready to leave?”
It felt like punishing a wrong person. She had finally settled on her only option. First she was going to check on the prince and then march to the general’s office. He wanted to show his true colors? Bring it on. Everyone always underestimated her. The biggest mistake they all made. That was her plan before Aang’s purposeful footsteps marched towards her. She’d come up with an idea on how to cover the bruises if the boys ever tried to break in. She cut up fruits in a bowl each morning. When they didn’t insist on coming in she ate it. This evening however when she was planning her actions, she ate the bowl she had prepared without thinking. In the past days they didn’t insist on anything. She was sure she wouldn’t need it.
She looked at the tray Momo pushed out of her way every time she’d reached for it. Which only confirmed her suspicion the general was up to something. Luckily, Momo wasn’t in the room. She grabbed the bowl brimming with strawberries, mango, banana, kiwi, and squashing the contents in the bowl. She smeared the fruit goo on her face, covering even her neck. She was applying it on her hands when the door to her room opened. There was a clear ‘oh’ when the door gave in, followed by a shriek. Both Aang and Sokka fell back on top of each other as they scrambled to run away. A few minutes passed before she saw them again. They snuck closer, a slipper firmly held above Sokka’s head and Aang using his staff as a shield.
Her brows rose. Sokka screamed.
“Are you done?” Katara sounded exasperated.
“What happened to you?” he asked.
“I’ve a new beauty routine. Want to try?”
Both of them shook their heads like she asked if they wanted to be bitten by a snake.
“Katara, I can’t believe you are acting so childish about this,” said Sokka. “What are you, two?”
She looked at both of them. “Please, pack your bags. We are leaving tomorrow morning.”
“What?” Both of them stared at her wide-eyed.
“Even if I have to knock you out and drag your bodies, we’ll go to Omashu tomorrow. Please, go pack your bags and rest.”
“Have you gone crazy?” asked Sokka.
“Katara, the general is so close, I have to…”
“Aang, the general is not beyond hurting you to get what he wants. And to give what he wants someone must get hurt, isn’t it obvious? I’m not willing to sacrifice you, Sokka, myself or anyone else for a fifty percent succession rate when we already know the proper channels guarantee you’ll succeed.”
“Really? Since when do we have the guarantee?” asked Sokka.
“I’ll talk to the general,” Katara said, ignoring him.
“No,” Aang said, and triumph passed over Sokka’s face. It fell a moment later. “I’ll talk to the general.”
“Aang?”
“She is right, Sokka. We leave tomorrow. I’ll talk to the general before we go.”
Katara nodded. She averted her eyes for all of a second but it was long enough for Sokka’s hand to reach out and steal a chunk of cheese from the tray. Katara smacked the food out of his hand. “Something isn’t right with the food, don’t eat it.”
He asked around the bite of cheese he had in his mouth. “What could there be wrong with it?”
“Poison?”
Sokka spat the food, washing his mouth out a few times with water from the water bottle she gave him. “Why?”
“It’s not poison.” She sighed. She couldn’t be locked in her room for four days and then tell them food is poisoned when she didn’t think it was. “Just don’t eat it. I don't know what's wrong with it but something is wrong. Anyways, it doesn’t matter. Tomorrow we’ll talk to the general and leave.”
Aang nodded. She watched Sokka for a few minutes. Besides the brooding he looked fine. Aang promised her he would check on Sokka throughout the night and call her if something. They asked her what the ‘something’ could be but she ushered them out of her room. When the door to their room closed and locked as Katara had instructed, she wiped the goo from her face and scrubbed the skin of any residue of the food. She estimated she would be back in half an hour tops or even sooner if she left depended on the obstacles.
She took the black cloak from its hanger and left the room.