Zuko has already proven to be less-than-enjoyable company, so Katara turns her attentions instead to Haru. She quickly abandons the broody, now-silent firebender in favor of the new earthbender. After all, they had agreed not to speak to one another unless it was absolutely necessary.
And right now, it was not absolutely necessary.
So, she quickly speeds up and begins chatting with Haru. Zuko is left behind and she could feel his broodiness behind her. It is pitiful, really. She tries to give him the benefit of the doubt considering he has just lost his ship, his crew and what he thought was his honor. But dammit, she has been through the same exact thing but instead of walking through a forest, she has been burned over and over again.
He can just set himself on fire if he thinks she is going to give him any sympathy.
"Where did you learn to waterbend like that?" Haru asks curiously. "I mean, I haven't met any other waterbenders before so I'm not sure about...all the things but I didn't hear of anyone able to take it from plants."
"I have only met two others who could do it. Both trained me but only one would show me how to take it from plants. Hama - she taught me a lot of things, actually." Katara trails off, not sure if she wants to go into the whole bloodbending thing.
A glance at the earthbender shows that he's a little horrified at the whole plant-thing. Yeah, maybe she should keep quiet about the bloodbending. She can only imagine how he would react to that.
The water jug taps against her leg with each step. She's glad that that she has another skin to save the water in. Her other one was lost when they were fighting Zhao, right before she was taken as a prisoner on his ship.
"It's...strange. A little cool, but strange. I don't mean to offend -"
"Please," Katara waves her hand, "don't worry about that. I'd rather you go ahead and say what you're thinking." Pausing, she turns over her shoulder to add, "I don't mean that you can do the same."
Zuko's snort proves that he's been eavesdropping on their conversation.
"How did you two come across each other, anyway? You don't seem to like each other… And Han, you look like you're from the Fire Nation."
"Fire colonies," Zuko corrects with an easy lie. "Half and half. I favor my mother more than my father."
Haru seems pleased enough with that answer and Katara guesses that Zuko is leaving it up to her to answer the other half.
"I…" she clears her throat, "I was traveling through the colonies and met Han here. We were - We were heading towards the same Earth Kingdom town and d-decided to just travel together. You know, safety in numbers and all." A weak chuckle.
The earthbender does not look satisfied with her answer but he doesn't press the point. When he looks back at the forest, the firebender behind her jabs her in the back with his elbow. Katara turns to scowl at him and he rolls his eyes at her.
The two of them are definitely going to have to come up with some sort of story as to why they were traveling together. One that she could practice a bit before she repeats it to anyone.
She tries to change the subject. "So how come you didn't try to bend yourself out of the slaver's camp? Surely you could have fought back with bending and all."
"Well, I could have if I knew how to control by bending." He blushes again and rubs the back of his neck. "Bending… isn't exactly good here. Everyone who can is taken away and never seen or heard from again. The Fire Nation forbids it so it's better to just...not do it."
"Wow. I can't imagine not bending." Katara shakes her head. Bending...it makes up so much of her identity that she doesn't even want to think about how her life would be without it. She looks at Haru sadly, more than a bit of pity in her eyes and he frowns.
"It's...fine. I'm not going to lie and say it's great but I'd rather hide it than be taken away. There are worse things than not being able to bend."
She looks away. "Yeah. I guess there are." Though she can't really imagine anything right now. "Do you know where they take the benders?"
"No one knows. Just that they go away." Haru shrugs.
"They did that to the Southern benders, too," she says quietly. Flashbacks of a tanned, outstretched hand and a betrothal necklace flash in her mind and she closes her eyes. Mom.
Crossing her arms over her chest, Katara risks a glance behind her to see Zuko looking down at the ground. Whether he's thinking about what Haru is saying or trying not to trip is a mystery; but she hopes that he's pondering the earthbender's account.
"Are there any benders in your village besides you? People that can probably teach you in secret?" Katara asks. If there were no masters - or even any novices - then Haru would never be able to learn how to control his ability. Just because he doesn't want to use it doesn't mean that he shouldn't know how just in case anything goes wrong.
Unintentionally, she thinks about the last raid on her village. The one where she finally cracked and started waterbending even though there were not supposed to be any there. With Sokka's and a few other warrior's help, they had been able to fight off the tiny raiding party. Her bending had been wild, untrained and weak in comparison to the firebenders.
But they fought. Fought until they all couldn't stand up any longer.
When her father had taken her to the Northern Tribe to have her trained, Pakku - the master instructor - had been impressed. Not only was it the fact that she was a girl, but she caught on rather quickly. She had lost count of how many times the old Master would mumble something under his breath and get that thoughtful look in his eye.
Katara always got the feeling that he knew something. Something that he wasn't telling anyone. And that bothered her.
Frowning, she tries to focus on the now instead of the then.
Just because it's illegal doesn't mean that Haru shouldn't be able to use it. There's no telling when the ability will come in handy and it might save his - and other's - lives. The slavers wouldn't have been able to take him in the first place and he could have set the others free before Katara had stumbled upon them by chance.
"Most of the benders have already been taken over the past couple of years. There are a few but they all have families and they won't risk it. The benders are not the only ones who get punished."
Haru glances at Katara and slides a hand on her shoulder. "I know what you're thinking. Yeah, it'd be great to know how to control it and all but really, it's for the best. I don't want to risk my family's and my village's lives just so I can know how to throw a couple of rocks around."
"It's not just that though. It's… Bending is a part of who you are. You shouldn't have to hide that."
"Have to. Otherwise, I'd probably be dead and I like living. Not all of us are lucky enough to be able to have the chance to defy our oppressors."
"It's still wrong."
Haru chuckles. "Isn't everything?"
Katara has to uncross her arms to lean against a tree trunk to get over a rather large log. The slippers don't grip the wood very well and she slips. Haru quickly reaches out to grab her arm so that she doesn't tumble back into Zuko. She thanks him with a smile and jumps down from the fallen tree.
Her legs are almost giving out underneath her. She either needs the moon or a pallet. Preferably both.
"You'll need to get some boots if you want to keep traveling through the Earth Kingdom." Haru points out.
"We'll journey by road." Zuko says stiffly behind them as he jumps down from the same trunk.
"Bad idea." The earthbender shakes his head. "The roads are pretty much covered with Fire Nation soldiers and guerrilla fighters like to stir up trouble. The woods are a lot safer in comparison."
Like that is going to make Zuko want to go through the forest instead. He'll probably try to force her to the roads now. Katara huffs - getting him to follow her isn't going to be easy now that he knows there are soldiers nearby.
Haru may have just been trying to help but he just made her job a whole lot more difficult. Can she make Zuko stay in the village until the full moon comes? Then she can bloodbend him to follow after her into the forest rather than the roads…
That may be her best option at this point. And if they stay in the village for the next two days, they can try to earn some coin by doing odd jobs. Well, she can try to earn something. She highly doubts the Prince will want to do anything to help out any.
"The guerrilla fighters - are they benders or nonbenders?" Katara manages to get over the next fallen tree without any assistance.
"Nonbenders, I think. But they cause just as much trouble as a bender can. They're small, independent mostly. I considered joining one myself once when I was younger but… I have to help take care of my family."
Katara makes it a point to look straight at Zuko. "It's good that there's some that are willing to fight back for those that can't. Not everyone is cut out to be a soldier, you know?"
"I guess." Haru makes a face though and Katara hopes that she didn't offend him. "Maybe someday I'll be able to. My dad says that they're idiots for trying to fight back though. They're risking a lot of lives and not gaining anything except notoriety."
"Maybe they'll be able to make some impact on the Fire Nation."
"The Fire Nation doesn't deal with terrorists like they're heroes." Zuko grumbles. The waterbender shoots him a glare and he returns it. "The guerrillas are just going to keep angering them until the Fire Nation gets tired of them and wipes them out like the annoyances they are."
"I think it's good that they're fighting back against oppression. Someone should show the Fire Nation that they're not welcome in other's homelands and that they should go back to their little volcano islands." Katara replies vehemently.
"Right. Like farmers with wooden swords and spears are going to inflict any damage on the strongest army in the world."
"You don't know that!" Katara spits back. "Besides, it's not just so the Fire Nation knows that not everyone is going to lie down and take it - it shows that they're going to fight back and inspire the people around them to do the same."
"Not if they all get burned. Or thrown into prisons. That will certainly inspire others."
"You-You don't know what you're talking about!"
"Actually, I think I know what I'm talking about better than you."
"Oh really?"
"Really." He deadpans.
Haru stops and looks between the two strangers.
"You don't know what that feels like, do you? To know that somewhere, someone is fighting for you - that they're risking their lives for you! Those guerrillas are giving people hope and that's something that the Fire Nation can never take away."
"You are a child if you think that."
She has to fight the urge to slap him, drown him and kill him all at once. Settling for a glare that could cut ice, Katara stomps her foot into the dirt and spins, marching away with her nails digging into her skin.
"Come on, Haru. I don't want to be stuck in this damned forest with him any longer than necessary."
Katara is so caught up in getting as much distance as possible between her and Zuko that she almost falls over a log. She doesn't miss Zuko's laugh and the scowl becomes permanent the rest of the trip.
They reach the village just as night falls.
It's small, but Haru leads them to his family's hut on the outer circle of homes and invites them in. His father has gone on a hunting trip for the next few days and he offers them a place to sleep for the night before they decide what they need to do.
Seeing as how it's dark and she doubts they'll get anywhere tonight, Katara agrees. Zuko sulks. She ignores him completely, barely even looking at him because she is worried that she'll try to take his head off of his neck and that wouldn't be good.
"Thank you for the place to sleep." Katara says when Haru gives her a blanket and pillow.
"It's no problem. Besides, it's the least I can do after you rescued me - us - from the slavers." He smiles at her and she can't help but to return it. "If you need anything, I'll be through that door."
When he leaves them, Katara collapses on the pallet in the corner of the room. Zuko is nearby on a threadbare couch. She can tell by his heartbeat that he isn't asleep.
The moon is shining through the window and Katara greedily angles herself so that she can absorb it. She would go outside to soak it in but she's so tired that she detests the idea of even moving.
Zuko falls asleep. Hard from the way his heart slows down. Only then does Katara allow herself to turn over and close her eyes.
-/-
He wakes up first. Being a firebender, he rises with the sun just like she used to do with the moon. Reluctantly, she opens her own eyes and rolls over so that she can see him. His heart is beating so loudly now that it would be impossible to ignore and fall asleep again. Besides, she needs to make sure that he won't try to escape.
"It's dawn." Katara grumbles sleepily. Zuko sharply sits up, startled that she's awake and she resists the urge to laugh at the state of his hair. "Why did you have to be a firebender?"
She finally manages to push herself up and rests her back against the wall, the covers still swamped around her to keep out the morning chill. Her hair is the first thing that she tries to work through. Eyes half-closed, she braids it back as best as she can.
Zuko runs his own fingers through his mess of hair a few times. "Why did you have to be a waterbender?"
"I'd rather be a waterbender than a firebender."
"I guess it's pointless for me to say I feel the opposite?"
She smiles despite the fact that she's still mad at him and quickly tries to cover it with a cough. A few moments of awkward silence later, she tosses the cover away and stands up from the pallet, sliding her feet into the slippers and straightening out the tunic and leggings.
"We should try to get some money and supplies before we head out." She says, folding the blanket up and setting it on top of the pillow.
"And where are we heading to? Maybe we should decide on that before we start wasting time and effort preparing for journey in which the destination is unknown."
Katara bites the inside of her cheek and looks at him. "Well? What do you think we should do?"
"You're still a prisoner of the Fire Nation."
"So you obviously want to take me to the roads in hope that one of your little soldiers will be there."
"Clearly."
"And obviously, I don't consider myself a prisoner at all now that we're off the ship so I clearly want to go through the forest in order to avoid those soldiers."
"I can take you by force."
Oh, she'd like to see him try that. The corner of her lips lift in a smirk and she crosses her arms over her chest. "You think you can do that?"
He shrugs. "I'll damned sure try."
"I guess just going our separate ways is out of the question?" But she already knows her answer to that.
"No."
"Guess we're both just going to have to see who wins then."
He narrows his eyes at her. "Guess so."
The two of them stare at each other for a few more minutes. "I guess you don't just want to go ahead and surrender now."
"And why would I do that?"
"Save yourself some embarrassment. I won't make fun of you too much if you give up now so we can get started."
"I think I'll take my chances not surrendering."
"Fine."
"Fine." Zuko echoes.
"You know you're pretty difficult, right?"
"And you're not." It's a statement, not a question.
Katara smiles again. This time she doesn't even bother covering it up. "I don't suppose you sleep with gold in your pockets or something." She doesn't have anything on her that they can sell and it's a wild guess on her part but she figured that she might as well ask him before she starts looking around the village.
Zuko pulls the sheet off and stands. He stretches for a bit; Katara turns her head to avoid looking at that tiny sliver of skin that is exposed from where his tunic ripped. Zuko may be the enemy but he's still a man and she's still a woman.
Last thing she needs is for that sort of stuff to start distracting her.
When he's done, he start patting through the waist of his tunic. A surprised expression crosses his face and he sticks his hand inside a pocket, withdrawing three gold coins.
"Must have been left over from a trip to town." He shrugs his shoulders and puts it back in his pocket.
Katara blinks. "You keep gold coins in your sleeping pants?"
He gives her a look.
"Oh that's just gross." She blushes despite herself and quickly starts heading towards the door. "Come on, let's go see what your dirty gold will get us as far as clothes. We can't exactly keep wearing this."
He follows without arguing for once and she sighs in relief. She figures that Haru will eventually find them in the village so she isn't concerned with leaving so abruptly. Asking him for help in finding a village shoppe crosses her mind but she'd rather not stride into a sleeping man's bedroom randomly.
She had done that with Sokka when they were on the ship and swore that she would never do that again.
Shivering at the memory, she ignores Zuko's lifted eyebrow at her movement and speeds up. It's clear that people are starting to wake up now because they actually walking through the streets. The village is small but it's not terribly tiny. Nothing like her village in the Tribe and even they had a pelt dealer who could also make clothes.
If worse comes to worse, Katara can sew them some clothes if she gets her hands on some fabric. Mending the ones they have is something that she should do so they can have something else to wear - well, she could mend hers at least since Zuko's fate is still up in the air - but she knows they need something else to wear in the village. All black in the daytime is too eye-catching and they need to go as unnoticed as possible.
There's a few stalls down one of the streets and Katara is more than thankful to see fabrics. They manage to exchange two gold coins for sewing needles, thread, two dark green tunics, a small knife, a backpack with two sleeping rolls and hiking boots for them both. Katara also bats her eyelashes and gets the man to throw in a few pairs of socks and a large threadbare blanket.
She isn't startled that they are able to get the gold to stretch so far. This part of the area is so poor that she could probably talk the man down a bit. But they don't have change and she feels a tad guilty at getting so much for so little.
The seller seems pleased enough though and he smiles at them when they leave. Katara shoves all of their new belongings into the backpack and Zuko mutters something about the quality of the goods that she decides to ignore because she isn't really in the mood for any more verbal sparring.
When they get back to Haru's home, he's awake and in the kitchen. He actually looks a bit astonished when the two of them walk through the door, the backpack slung over Katara's shoulder.
"I thought that you two had left!" He exclaims excitedly, a huge grin spreading across his face.
Katara looks at where Zuko's cover lays still bunched up on the couch. "And leave behind such a mess? Please, Haru, give us some credit. We're not completely barbaric as to not clean up after ourselves when you've been such a nice host."
Switching her eyes over to Zuko's, she doesn't miss the slight narrowing of his amber ones before he turns and reluctantly starts shaking out his blanket.
A pleased smirk on her lips, she turns back to Haru and sets the backpack on the small kitchen table.
"I see you visited Lao in the market. Did you get everything you needed for your journey?" Haru asks brightly.
"We did." She nods and lowers into the seat across from him. "All that's left now is to figure out where we need to go."
"I thought you told… the woman that you had family in the village?"
"Oh. Yeah, that might have been a lie." She says sheepishly.
"That makes sense. Do you know what city or village you want to go to? I have a friend who keeps maps of the Earth Kingdom that might be of use if you're unsure of where you're going."
She glances back at Zuko who seems to be having a bit of trouble folding the blanket straightly enough. "Actually, we're a bit unsure of where we want to go. We're having some...differing opinions as of late that we need to sort through."
Zuko must have given up on folding the blanket because he's plopping down in the chair at the head of the table. Haru can't help but look over at him. Katara does the same. When he notices the two benders staring at him, Zuko gets a little flushed. He tries to cover it up by running his hands through the hair that shags around his face.
It's the first time she's really seen it down. Normally it's styled up in the top-knot or held out of his face. But now it's just...there.
She likes it better this way.
Looking away, she tries to engage Haru in a conversation again. "But I'm sure looking at the map would help us a lot."
"It's rather odd. You two traveling together with no real destination in mind." Haru notes. "I don't mean to sound...rude or anything but…"
"We ran into some difficulties that changed our course." Zuko's voice is flat. He's not exactly lying now. Just omitting the fact that she wasn't exactly volunteering to go on the course that he wanted to go on. "Now we're just trying to decide what way we want to go."
Haru sighs wistfully. "I've always wanted to sort of leave the village and go out. Even though your situation is somewhat odd and a bit strange, it sounds more fun than actually setting a destination. All about the journey, you know?"
"No." Zuko says.
"Yes." Katara speaks at the same time.
The firebender and the waterbender exchange a glare that doesn't go unnoticed by the earthbender.
"Definitely strange." He whispers under his breath.
Katara leans back in the seat. She and Zuko are being too suspicious. If they do continue to travel together - which they will because she has every intention of bloodbending him once the full moon comes - no one is ever going to believe that they both are going along willingly.
At the same time though, she can't really bring it upon herself to be civil to the man. Teen. Boy. Firebender. And she's sure that he feels the same towards her. He did hold her captive for a few days. A rather pathetic number of days but still.
She can't exactly forget that. That, and the fact that he's the Fire Nation Prince - her enemy until she dies - is also not to be avoided. Haru is already doubting that they're really traveling together. Somehow, they need to be less conspicuous in their quarrels.
They can't attract attention. And they're bickering definitely will. She already feels her palms itching for a fight, and by the way his heart starts beating a bit faster when they talk to one another tells her that he's holding himself back too.
The two of them won't go unnoticed by people if they're constantly restraining the need to kill each other.
Katara pushes away from the table and starts digging through the bag. She pulls out the fresh tunic, socks and hiking boots. "Can I use your bedroom to change? I'd rather get out of these clothes."
"Sure." Haru nods. "Go right ahead."
"Thanks," she smiles as she quickly heads for the door and closes it. The tunic and leggings are off quickly. She has to re-tie the bindings around her chest so that they're holding her up again. Once she's dressed, she pulls on the boots and examines the old tunic.
It isn't completely beyond repair. Luckily, her minimal sewing skills should do the trick. Satisfied and feeling better with the clean clothes, she steps back out to see that the two young men are sitting awkwardly at the table still.
"You're more than welcome to change too, Zu-Han." She hopes that Haru didn't notice the slip. Blushing, she reaches into the bag and tosses his fresh tunic and leggings before grabbing the sewing supplies they had bought earlier.
Haru excuses himself to run a few errands and she promises not to burn down the house while he's gone.
Zuko makes no such promises because he's still in the bedroom.
The tunic is mended quickly. The work is a little sloppier than Gran-Gran would like but it looks fine enough for her. She tugs at it a few times to make sure that it will hold. Seeing that it hasn't come apart, she nods with satisfaction and moves to the other around the waist.
Finally, the firebender comes out of the room with his old shirt and pants in his hand. "You sew?" He asks incredulously.
"Clearly," she mumbles in return. Katara winces when she accidentally pricks her finger. "I can, uh, mend yours too if you want." There. That's kind of a peace-offering, right? It's okay enough for enemies.
When she glances up at him, he seems a bit bewildered that she even offered. "Uh, sure. Yeah. If you wouldn't mind…"
"If I minded I wouldn't have offered," she snaps before she can stop herself. Internally, she slaps herself. "Sorry. It's sort of an automatic response now."
He nods, not really offended now that she's apologized. Kind of. "Understood. Um...thanks."
It sounds like it actually pains him to say that.
Katara curtly nods in return and motions for him to set the shirt and pants on the table. "Haru went to get some water from the well. He should be back shortly and then I'll make lunch. Figured it's the least I could do since he's being so damned nice."
"I didn't know you could cook."
She lifts her head up to look at him. "Well, considering you only have ever asked me questions about the Avatar, that's understandable."
The firebender reddens a little. "Yeah I guess so."
Katara thinks that she might like it better when they fight. This is just plain awkward. Opting instead for silence, she closes her mouth and focuses on finishing up her tunic before she starts on Zuko's. His is a bit more beat-up than hers so it will probably take a bit longer.
Zuko watches her fingers as she sews and she tries not to show that it unnerves her. She's used to eyes but for some reason, his amber ones make her hands shake a little bit as she works the needle in and out of the fabric. When she finishes hers, she ties off the thread and then set the tunic aside.
"Where did you learn to sew?" Zuko asks. Her hand pauses as she reaches for his shirt, stunned at that he's trying to strike up an amicable conversation, but she recovers and grabs it, settling it in front of her.
"My grandmother. All of the women and most of the men learn how to sew in the Tribe. In the Southern Tribe, at least. I think just women are taught in the North but I'm not sure if that's a standard now with the war and everything."
"You just don't seem like the type that would know how to do...womanly things."
She lifts an eyebrow. "Is that an insult?"
"No. I'm just...surprised is all. Most of the bending women in the Fire Nation don't learn how to do traditional woman work."
"Sewing is not just for women." Katara says, somewhat stung. "It's a good skill to have. Great if you're a healer, especially. It's a pretty universal thing that's come in handy more times than I can count."
It's crazy to know that just yesterday they were bickering to the point of starting a battle right in the middle of the forest and now they're discussing sewing, of all things.
Zuko seems to decide that he's had enough of a conversation - or that he's run out of things to talk about - because he rises and sulks over to the couch where he collapses. Katara is more than a bit thankful. Not only does she have to try to be kind, but he's not watching her anymore.
Her hands are steadier as she moves on to the other hole.
-/-