"I don't think that you're understanding where I'm coming from, Haru. Please just let me cook something in an attempt to pay you back for -"
"No, Katara. Really, I don't want you to cook or anything. You don't exactly owe me after what you've already done." Haru waves her away.
She frowns. Planting her hands on her hips, she leans in a bit closer to where he stands on the opposite side of the kitchen table. Behind her, Zuko is watching the scene with an amused smirk as the earthbender squirms uncomfortably.
"No. Now you listen to me: I'm going to cook lunch and you're going to let me because it's the right thing to do. Understood?"
Silence. The earthbender gulps. "O-Okay."
"Great." She smiles and stands upright again. "Now, what do you want to eat? I'm assuming that you don't have any sea slugs or seal meat."
Zuko gags and Katara throws him a glare over her shoulder. He just has no idea what he's missing. Give her a good stip of seal meat any day and she'll be fine.
Then she remembers the fruit that was on his ship.
Give her seal meat and a pomegranate any day and she'll be fine, she amends. Better than fine.
"Um...no…" Haru gives her a strange look. He, too, looks slightly disgusted and she sighs. These men were hopeless. "But we do have some deerantler meat from a hunt a few days ago. It's pretty tender. Do you know how to cook that?"
Katara is the one who waves her hand this time. "Please. It's no big deal. Just go get that and I'll start up the fire."
Haru nods and disappears. On the couch, Zuko snorts. "Deerantler meat? Have you actually ever had the stuff?"
"No," she replies primly. "Hey - come over here and light this fire for me. Make yourself useful for a change."
The fireball he sends grazes a little too closely by her face. Katara slowly turns and fixes the firebender with a scowl. He shrugs his shoulders but he's unable to hide the smirk that forms on his lips.
Resisting the urge to drown him, Katara rolls her eyes and shifts the logs around in the fireplace. Haru is back with the meat and he gets the mesh stand that they cook on. After a while, they have a full meal of bread, deerantler and cabbage.
Katara takes a bite and decides she hates cabbage.
It's filling enough though and they're satisfied when they're finished. Katara cleans the dishes as best she can before setting them to the side so that Haru can put them back where he wants them. She'd rather not mess up what little order there is in the kitchen.
"Did you two come to an agreement about where you're going?" Haru asks after Katara forced him to stop thanking her for cooking.
She glances at Zuko who is also glancing at her. Noncommittally, she shrugs her shoulders.
"Not really. Han here thinks that he can make me go one way even though we both know that's not possible."
"Katara here believes that we should go tromping through the forest with no sense of direction so that we can get lost and eventually die of either exposure or starvation." Zuko adds.
Haru blinks. "Well...would you like to take a look at the map? I already asked my friend about it and since he's going to be out for most of the day, I think it might be a good time for you two to get together and...try to decide what the next step is."
"That sounds like a wonderful idea, Haru." Katara stands from the chair and is already halfway towards the door before she hears the two of them clambering behind her.
"Not that I'm ready for you two to leave but I'm just saying… I'm not sure how my dad will react to two strangers sleeping in his home first thing when he gets back."
"No offense taken." Zuko's voice is like stone. "We hope to be out of here by tomorrow morning at the very latest."
Katara eyes him bitterly. "Not that we're unappreciative. But yes, we don't want to put you in that position of having to explain to your father and everything about who we are and why we're here. Especially since we - and you - don't know those answers."
Zuko is behind her so she tries to covertly elbow him in the ribs. He grunts and Haru gives them a curious expression. She tries to cover it by smiling as sweetly as she can manage and goes to the door.
"Shall we go, then?" Katara asks as she opens the door.
"Sure…" Haru slowly follows her. He's confused, as always.
The earthbender takes them through the village. His friend's house isn't too far from his own so they make it there without too much trouble. Naturally, the strangers receive a couple of stares but it doesn't seem to mind Haru.
The part of the small village looks slightly less poor than the others. By her standards, it looks similar to her igloo back in the Tribe. Hakoda was the Chief, so their igloo was slightly larger than others in the village, but not by much.
By Zuko's standards, she assumes he thinks that they all look the same.
Ignoring the sharp stab of anger - and envy but she's not going to dwell too much on that in particular - she follows Haru through the unlocked door of one of the nicer homes. She pauses at the entryway. Are they supposed to just walk on in?
Zuko, clearly not paying attention, bumps into her from behind.
Haru notices that he's no longer being followed. "Oh, it's fine. We don't really lock doors around here." He goes through another entryway, disappearing.
"We should leave. Now." Zuko hisses into her ear.
Katara turns her head so that she can see him. "Why? Haru hasn't given us reason to not trust him."
"I think he suspects something. We should just grab our things and hit the road before anything happens."
"Hit the road? I'm sure you understand why I'm not jumping at the chance to do that. We need to see the map so we can figure out where we are."
"There's no point in figuring that out if we get ambushed."
"And who is going to ambush is? There aren't any benders - learned benders anyway."
Zuko shakes his head. "You should trust me on this. You didn't last time and look where that got us."
"Yes. In a village with food and supplies and a place to sleep. We've suffered so much from that." Katara rolls her eyes. "Look, if you're so worried then go ahead and go back to the house. I'll look at the map and you'll just have to place all of your trust in me to find out everything so we don't get lost."
She knew he wouldn't go. It was the only reason why she even gave him the opportunity. A man with as much pride as the Prince wasn't going to back down from a potential ambush from novice benders and leave their survival up to someone like her.
So, she gives him a knowing smile. They both know she has won this round.
She's following after Haru again. The firebender behind her huffs a breath of smoke before he reluctantly moves his legs to follow after her.
She wonders if he tires of doing that. Not that she cares, of course. She just...wonders.
The map of the entire world is stretched out on the wall. With the exception of Haru, the room is empty of others. Katara tries not to let too much gloating show in her face when she looks back at Zuko. Tries, and fails. The firebender bristles but says nothing.
"We're...here." The earthbender points to a spot on the southwestern side of the huge Earth Kingdom continent. It's near the water and close to a tiny inlet. Thinking back, she tries to remember where the battle between her ship and Zhao's took place. That had been closer north - they've traveled a lot farther than she thought.
They were far to close to the Fire Nation for her liking. Her original guesses were wrong - a week and a half more they would have been at the Fire Lord's door.
"The Fire Nation has known holds outside of Omashu and near most of the ports so you'll want to stay away from the beaches and the main roads. Most of the troops are scattered everywhere from what people say." He turns back to them and shrugs his shoulders. "That news is probably old, anyway."
Katara already has every intention of staying away from roads. And ports. She has no doubt that Zhao will soon follow after them. He's so crazed about finding out about the Avatar and hates Zuko so much.
But instead of saying this out loud, she nods.
If she wants to get to the Northern Water Tribe - the strongholds of the resistance - she'll need to head north, naturally. She scowls. They'll have to find some way to get across the entire continent and then board a ship to get to the North.
Or… There's Kyoshi Island…
It's a lot closer. And Sokka will undoubtedly travel back to it at some point. The resistance is still trying to convince the warriors there to join them - Sokka being the main ambassador.
If she can get to Sokka, she can be reunited with her ship. A smile spreads across her face.
But. What if he had already traveled by there? Going to Kyoshi would be a chance that might not pay off well. Sokka doesn't keep a schedule of when he goes, he just goes. There is little use in trying to guess and risk the chance that he just may be there.
Or they could go to Ba Sing Se. It was the only strong Earth Kingdom cities that had not been touched by the Fire Nation. It's just as risky as Kyoshi, though. They flat-out refused any and all friendly gestures made by Hakoda.
They might not welcome her. They might recognize Zuko.
It's too much of a risk. Or is it?
Showing them that she has the Fire Prince under control might convince them to finally enter this war. If they see that not only does the resistance have the Avatar, but also a strong bargaining trip, they just might decide to give them the push they need.
Plus if she's heading to the North, Ba Sing Se is right there. And they have such beautiful ships in their port outside the city.
They'll need to travel by river. She needs to find one that will lead them straight to Ba Sing Se…
There. Huang He River. It starts about a dozen or so miles from where Haru's hand is. It'll take them a few days to get to the river but when they do it'll lead them straight to where she wants to go.
Now that she knows where she wants to go, Katara takes a few moments to memorize the layout of the Earth Kingdom.
She doesn't say anything to Zuko. But when she glances back at him, he's studying the map too. It looks like they both are planning routes - very different routes.
He will want to go west, she guesses. The closer they can get to Fire Nation soil the better. Huang He River does veer to the west, especially when it goes further north before it curves sharply to the east towards Ba Sing Se.
It's a little out of the way, she admits. But it's the way they should go. If she starts walking North, there is no telling where she will end up.
The journey might take them a month. A little more if they move slowly.
She is not excited about that.
With a nod of her head, she steps back from the map. "I think we've figured out where we want to go."
Haru's eyebrows raise. "You...are not even going to discuss it?"
She looks back to Zuko. He's still looking at the map.
"Oh, I think we both just know." She says with a smile.
-/-
Katara is folding Zuko's now-hemmed shirt and putting it in the backpack when it happens.
"I'm sorry." Haru whispers staring down at the floor. "I really am…"
She stares at him, confused. Tears are forming in his and he jerks his head away. Behind her, Zuko's heart starts racing and he's running to one of the windows.
"Waterbender!" He half-hisses, half-shouts. But Katara is still looking at Haru, the earthbender boy whose heart is beating with a dull rhythm and with wetness on his cheeks.
"Haru -" She whispers gingerly, taking a step towards him. Confusion clouds her mind and all she can think about is this young man crying.
"They made me -" Haru tries to explain but he's cut off by a fire arc. Katara cries out, extending a hand forward to stop the fire from hurting him but Haru has already jumped backwards.
She turns to glare at Zuko. "What do you think you're doing? He's our friend!"
"No he's not." The firebender glowers, his hands flaming at his sides. "We have company."
Wide-eyed, she blinks and focuses her attentions outside of the hut. Zuko isn't lying, she senses the beating of a dozen strong hearts outside. Benders. She gasps and looks to Haru. He's lying on the floor and he looks so torn that it nearly breaks her heart but there's madness in her now that replaces the pity.
"Haru - What did you do?" She gasps. Her feet move forward. The earthbender winces. "What did you do?" Her voice is rising - rising like the hurt in her chest as she realizes that the man who she thought was their friend has done the worst thing imaginable.
He has betrayed them.
"I'm sorry Katara," he pleads, backing away from her as she takes unconcious steps forward. "I'm sorry. They - They saw that he was from the Fire Nation - my father saw you! It's better this way - honestly, just please don't hurt them! The fire soldiers would have caught you and burned our village!"
Katara bends water from the pail in the corner of the kitchen and it swirls around her waist. She's seeing red and she wants to -
"Waterbender, we need to go. Now." Zuko is saying. Katara steps closer to Haru but she stops. He's scared. Wide-eyed and shaking, she has made this young man quake with fear.
Then she realizes he's not scared of her. No, that can't be it. He's scared of them. Of the earthbenders outside of the home.
He hadn't meant to warn them before, but he did in a way. His apology - it was not just for the betrayal, but it was for everything. He didn't have to show them the map, but he did. The entire time, Katara never sensed any sort of falseness in him. Not even now, with him lying on the floor in front of her shaking.
Haru really is sorry. He's sorry for all of this. And Katara can't bring it upon herself to kill him even though she should.
"Kyoshi Island. When this day is over - if you want to make all of this right - go there. I cannot ask you to come with us but I can tell you to go there." Katara bends low, kneeling on the ground beside the earthbender who shies away from her. She places a gentle, soothing hand on his forehead. "I forgive you."
The water quickens around her waist and she stands. Haru's eyes are wide.
"Do they want a fight?" The firebender asks when she moves to stand by his side.
Katara sharpens her focus. The men's hearts are racing with excitement. Her palms start to itch, her blood speeds. Looking to Zuko, she nods.
"They do." But does she?
Zuko mutters something under his breath. Then, he turns to face her. "If they have any idea of earthbending we can still beat them even if we don't work together. But we will be tired and injured when it's over. If it comes down to a fight, will you be fighting with me or against me?"
His eyes flicker to the earthbender still on the floor behind her but he says nothing. Katara sees that his shoulders stiffen with the anger at the betrayal and she wonders if he would kill Haru if she let him.
"I'm not going to be taken prisoner so easily again," is all she says. It's neither a yes or a no to his question, but it seems enough for him. He pauses, tenses and his lips go thin. Still, he nods and his hands glow with fire.
His fire is red and orange. So unlike Ji's yellow.
It seems that now one of her strongest enemies is once again her ally.
She grabs her still-full waterskin and ties it around her waist underneath the water that still circles her. Zuko makes a move to get the backpack but she latches onto his wrist. "I'll take that." She states.
He frowns. Katara lets go and slings the pack over her shoulders, making sure that it is secure before she takes in a breath and stretches out her fingers. Her palms still itch.
Zuko opens the door and the waterbender is the first to go out.
Before she can blink into the sun, a rock is hurled towards her and she quickly spears it in half with a water dart. Fire whirls over her head and she ducks, aiming for the benders' feet while Zuko aims for their heads.
The ground beneath her quivers and soon, she's rising. She stumbles, legs shaking on the earth pillar that she's on and her eyes go wide. She's so high.
Over the edge, she catches the reds and oranges of Zuko's fire.
The benders who are holding her pillar up start to move. She senses the quickening of their hearts and catches a scant glimpse of their arms over the edge of the rock. They're about to drop her - they're too weak to hold the pillar much longer.
Katara takes the water around her waist and jumps, propelling the water with her hands to catch her feet just as the pillar shoots back down to earth. Below where she is, Zuko is fending off multiple attacks, jumping off each pillar that is thrown up underneath him before he can get to her height.
She shifts her hands and the water that is holding her up crashes into a wave. She's falling steadily - but quickly - back to the ground. Rocks - tiny, jagged, unformed things - keep deflecting off of her platform and she shields her face with her hands until she touches ground.
Her sleeve is ripped and she feels blood running down her arm. A minor injury but the healing in her blood surges as the tiny wound. She grits her teeth, wishing now more than ever that she could learn to control that.
The water underneath her is sucked back up and she freezes it. Twisting, turning and flipping her torso, she careens it all with a swipe of her arm to the benders that surround her. She ducks, curving to the left to avoid another rock.
These benders are no masters but it's clear they've been practicing.
They move in groups - six on her and six on Zuko. It's taking all of each group working together to launch a rock fast enough to cause any damage. While they're weak, it is rather surprising that they taught this to themselves.
Katara turns on her heel and then plants herself firmly on the ground with a jump. Her fist punches through a stream of water and it freezes up. She bats away several rocks while her other arm pulls moisture from a nearby well.
She drops the ice on her arm and smashes it towards the earthbender closest to her. He's thrown backwards, ice in his stomach, into an earthbender who is fighting Zuko. Both of the men are knocked down.
Zuko's fire darts spread to her attackers through his. But when clothes catch fire, she immediately washes the flames away while simultaneously knocking down her opponents.
The water around her waist isn't proving to be enough and she doesn't want to use the remains in her waterskin. She glances around while deflecting a heavier boulder and sees a communal well.
A smile on her lips, her ice darts are thrown with much more abandon.
Her hands make quick work and she pulls on the water in the well. Biting her cheek, she feels the sweat on her forehead and her arms start to shake form exertion as she finally gets control and yanks the water out.
The wave crashes in between her and the firebender, wiping the earthbenders off the ground. She quickly freezes it, gathers more water, and then propels herself across the ice to where Zuko stands.
He's not even panting. She hates him and his sun.
"Go - before it melts!" She gasps out, already running from Haru's hut and into the forest. Katara thinks that she's going west - just the way she wants to go - and Zuko is following her. Soon, her weariness forces her behind him but she pushes herself to leap over all of the logs that he manages to avoid to keep pace.
When they've run for about a mile away from the village, Katara's legs give. Her boot lodges underneath a log and she trips, her entire body slipping out from underneath her. She barely manages to throw her hands up in time to catch herself. Everything is rising up to meet her and -
Her palms hit solid earth. Her body stops. The ground is inches from her nose and she breathes out in relief; grass sways.
Katara gets a knee on the ground and slips her foot from underneath the log. It hurts, but a quick check shows that she didn't break it or sprain anything. It throbs though - she probably just bruised it.
Heart racing and lungs burning, Katara rolls over into a sitting position with her legs propped up on the log. She leans back on her palms and tries to catch her breath while her ankle starts to heal. The familiar twinge of pain takes over the throbbing, and she grits her teeth for a moment to wait as it passes.
Zuko has stopped and she hears him crush leaves as he steps towards her. His heart is erratic. Finally he's tired.
"They will catch up to us," he manages to get out in between gasps. "We should keep moving."
Katara shakes her head. Her whole body groans at the idea of running again.
"No they won't. They don't know where we went and they're fishers and farmers, not trackers. Following us would mean they would have to split up." She reaches up to wipe the sweat off of her brow, too tired to try bending it off. "They're not going to take on two masters alone."
Zuko plants himself down on a log somewhere out of her eyesight. She tenses. Katara would rather see him when they're sitting down. So, she bites back a moan of protest as she turns around to face him, leaning her back against the log.
She's actually more comfortable this way even though the backpack is digging into her back uncomfortably.
Time passes as the two catch their breath in silence. Her legs are jelly; his heart hasn't calmed by much. The firebender's body is still tense. Taunt, as if he's waiting for an earthbender to crash through the trees at any moment.
Katara didn't realize that she was studying his face when she suddenly asks, "your scar. How did you get it?"
His head snaps towards hers, his good eye narrowing and the good cheek getting a little red. It doesn't scare her - it interests her. She's leaning forward, waiting for him to speak.
"I told you about my etching. Story for story, eh?" She shrugs her shoulders, trying to look like she doesn't care. In reality, she's shifting over the forest floor minutely to get closer so that she can hear his rasping, low voice if he starts to speak.
The firebender stares at her. She stares right back.
The waterbender jumps when he stands.
"We shouldn't stay here for too much longer." His back is now turned towards her and he's walking through the forest.
Katara can feel her face and shoulders drop. Then, she sighs, holding on to the log behind her so that she can steadily rise up on her shaking legs. The first step is hard, the next is hardest, but then she gets into a rhythm and she ignores the shudders.
He's not walking near as fast as he could be. And he's silent.
She glares icy daggers into his back as she stumbles and trips through the forest. He does the same, though far less often than her because his legs are not trembling with each step.
Katara hates him. And tomorrow is a full moon.
-/-
"What do you mean you don't know how to hunt? I thought that was like a game for royals!" Katara is screaming. Birds, what could be their supper, flutter away in groups. If she wasn't so angry, she might be a bit concerned that she's scaring off their meals.
But she's not. Because all of her fury is directed at the firebender who is glaring at her with the same amount of anger.
"I meant what I said. I don't know how to hunt." His voice is much more controlled than hers but just because he isn't screaming doesn't mean that his tone possesses less venom. "Only minor Royals who live in the Earth Kingdom go hunting for fun."
He sounds a bit insulted. Her anger peaks like a rushing waterfall and soon she's marching across the small clearing to poke a thin finger into his chest.
"You are - You're - You're...ugh! I can't even speak to you right now." She spins on her heel and marches away.
"Is that supposed to be a bad thing?"
Katara halts.
The firebender barely has time to twist out of the way when she hurls an ice dagger at his head.
She bends the dagger towards her and melts it back into the waterskin at her side, twisting the cap on with a haughty glare.
"Are you crazy? What are you trying to do? Kill me?" Zuko is the one shouting now.
"The thought crossed my mind."
"You're insane."
"And you're useless! What can you do? Nothing!" She throws her hands into the air, whirling around to fix him with another one of her glares. "You know, in my culture it's considered a weakness if men don't know how to hunt. It shows that they cannot provide for their family or community."
Zuko sneers at this. "Oh, I'm sorry. The Fire Nation happens to have more enlightened views than you peasant barbarians. If we're abiding by your gender traditions, perhaps you should stop bending and start cooking dinner!"
"I'd cook dinner if you'd actually went out and killed something! And what do you mean by enlightened views? I'm from the Southern Tribes, you idiot! I'm certainly not a peasant either!"
"As if that somehow matters? I thought all of your kind hunted anyways?"
"Of course! Because we're taught how to provide for ourselves and our family. Unlike you Fire Nationers."
"Then why are you yelling at me if you know how to hunt already? Just go catch something so we can eat!"
"Because you shouldn't expect me to do it! I'm not going to do all the work around here so that we can survive!"
"Agni!" Zuko swears. The palms at his sides start to flare up but the fire dies down instantly. His jaw tightens and he glares at her. "I'll light the fire and set up camp if you go catch something." He's so calm now that it sort of scares her.
His eyes are no less fierce.
Katara narrows hers and crosses her arms over her chest. "Fine. But I'm taking the backpack with me."
He sighs. "Be my guest." The heavy sarcasm makes her purse her lips but she holds her tongue because she can be nice. Sometimes.
Katara spins around and marches away from the clearing. It's getting darker in the forest, and she purposefully bends and snaps twigs to mark her way as she goes.
In the Tribes, they always hunted in groups. Now she's alone with no weapon except her bending. Bending that is weakened because the Full Moon is tomorrow.
She manages to not trip too many times.
When she returns to the campsite, her arms and the backpack are weighed down with enough fruit to make several meals. Zuko's face tightens when he sees that it's not meat but he doesn't say anything as she lays it all out on a blanket from the backpack.
Katara thinks that they scared off any and all wildlife within the immediate area with all of their yelling but she's certainly not going to tell him that. After all, she was the one who sort of...instigated it.
She unscrews the waterskin cap and cleans the fruit off. Katara bends the water so that it separates from the dirt and re-fills the waterskin back. Lifting it to her lips, she takes a gulp, wipes her mouth, and then hands it to Zuko.
"Go ahead. Take some. We're both no good if we get dehydrated and I know you're thirsty." Katara says sullenly. She hates being nice to him.
From Zuko's expression and the way his eyes won't meet hers, he seems to hate it too but he takes the waterskin and starts drinking.
When they're finished eating and drinking, she tosses the discarded cores far from the camp and puts the leftovers in the backpack for later. As for the water, she takes it from some weeds, leaving a patch of brown behind that makes her bit her lip and look away.
The sun has long gone down and it's dark. The fire that Zuko made lights a close circle but beyond that is pure blackness.
Katara takes out her bedroll and then tosses Zuko the pack so he can get his own. It's been quiet - awkward between the two. But when she goes over to a strong tree, she can feel his curiosity staring into her back.
"What are you doing?" He asks when she starts to climb.
Katara has the bedroll and a piece of rope down her shirt and her hands on the trunk. It's too big for her to wrap her arms around it but there are plenty of little nooks going up the side. Perfect. She climbs up to the nearest, biggest limb and settles down with a sigh.
"Going to sleep." She replies simply. Trees in the Earth Kingdom are stouter than they are in the Fire Nation or on the islands around the Poles that can support wildlife. She's learned from spending time on Kyoshi Island how to properly climb them and is finally glad that the skill has been put to use.
Tugging the roll out of her top, she carefully spreads it out on the wide trunk. She climbs inside, securing herself by tying the rope around her waist. Rolling off in the middle of the night does not sound appealing.
Katara turns her head away from the light. Below, she hears Zuko set up his own roll beside the fire.
Faintly, she ponders how long he will last down there.
Not that she cares. She hates him.