If you could switch voice acting roles with any other character from Avatar: The Last Airbender, who would it be, and why?
Grey DeLisle: I love Katara; I think she’s such an amazing character. I love the character so much, they let me play her in the play that they did. I played the actress Katara. She’s just a really strong character and I love the tension between her and Aang, and the kiss…and I love that she wasn’t oversimplified, that she didn’t want to do the bloodbending, but she ended up using it. She’s not a perfect character that’s like “Oh, I would never do anything wrong”, and then she never does. I love that she was tempted by the darkness a few times. But she ended up victorious through her own strength.
(Zutara AU based on Victoria Hanely's The Seer and the Sword. This chapter was beta'd by temarixshikamaruluva of ff.n and VexingLightning of Fur Affinity.)
Chapter One: Homecoming
Chapter Two: Gifts
Chapter Three: The Barracks and the Bowl
Interlude One: To Serve the Fire Nation
The previous evening Katara had visited the barracks laundry room, doing her best to appear inconspicuous. When one of the senior warriors asked her what she was doing there, she’d nearly stumbled over herself trying to explain that she was picking up clothing for a boy in the palace. Her father always said she was a terrible liar. Luckily, the warrior barely seemed to care, and waved her away a moment later. In her haste, she’d picked out leggings that would barely fit more than a toddler and a parka that wouldn’t be out of place on her father.
After getting the clothing, she had to figure out what to do about her hair. She considered just keeping the hood of her parka pulled up, but then she would look different than all of the boys she was trying to blend in with, and if a teacher requested that she remove her hood, she would be caught right away. She needed to cut her hair.
Katara asked Yue to do it for her. At first the princess had refused, and she’d tried to convince Katara to change her mind. A girl’s hair was viewed as a sign of femininity. No girls in the Northern Water Tribe, apart from newborns, had short hair. Finally, Katara had to tell Yue the truth: She was going to sneak into waterbending practice.
Yue wasn’t nearly as surprised as Katara thought she’d be. The Water Tribe princess said, in a somber tone, that she knew Katara was going to try and learn proper waterbending ever since she’d seen the vision of herself bending the seeing bowl.
Afterward, Yue gave in and trimmed her hair at the shoulder.It was much shorter than all other Water Tribe girls, but it was long enough that she didn’t look like a boy with it down. She still dreaded the scolding she would undoubtedly receive from Lady Lokoa. At least she could tie her hair into a high tail with braids that would frame her face for when she went to practice. It wasn’t as common as the warrior’s wolf-tail, but it was good enough.
Katara planned on attending a class taught by Olkuk, a senior student of Master Pakku who often handled introductory lessons. She woke up too early the day of the waterbending practice and went down to the kitchens to pick up some sea prunes for breakfast. When she headed back to her room, she ate the sea prunes and then kept herself busy by pacing the floor and rereading the Oma and Shu scroll until it was time to get ready.
An hour before heading out, Katara managed to squeeze into the tights and put on the parka. It didn’t look overly ridiculous because the parka covered most of her legs, hiding the tight strain of the leggings.
After tying her hair into an amateurish hightail and braids, she continued to pace her room incessantly until the time arrived. Katara showed up exactly when the lesson began, so she wouldn’t have to talk to the other students before class. The lesson was being held at a small pond just outside of the warriors’ barracks, and she prayed to Tui that Sokka wouldn’t be around. It made her even more nervous, and slightly annoyed, that she was the tallest and clearly the oldest in the group; she’d turned thirteen a month ago. When Olkuk asked her name, she answered a bit too loudly.
“Kosa, sir,” she said.
He hesitated a moment before continuing the attendance. When every student had introduced themselves, Olkuk counted them, looking slightly puzzled. “Did anyone sign up late?” he asked. “We seem to have an extra.”
“I did, sir,” said Katara. “Sorry.”
“It’s fine,” he said. “Just don’t extend that tardiness to class time. Now, we’ll begin with stretching, then move on to basic stances.”
For the first few minutes, Katara felt restless. They were only moving through positions, holding them for several seconds, before moving onto the next one. They weren’t particularly difficult poses on their own, but after holding several with her arms extended, her limbs began to ache.
Luckily, it wasn’t too long before they began real waterbending. It was basics, and some of it was similar to the bending she had attempted while she was in the Southern Water Tribe. At first they pushed and pulled the water. Most of the students were fairly awkward, and she was proud that she was one of the best in the group. But her confidence took a hit when they started streaming the water. About half of the students were able to stream water around them, but the other half couldn’t even pull the water out of the pond. She was in the second group.
When she finally managed to pull the water up, she lost control a moment later, and ended up soaking her parka. “Come on water, work with me here!” she yelled. She blushed deeply when she got a few strange looks.
“Relax. It takes time,” said Olkuk. He wove his arms and pulled out the water that had fallen onto her parka.
Katara touched her coat. It was completely dry. She stared back at Olkuk enviously. It would probably take months before she learned something as simple as that.
He smiled a bit. “Keep practicing,” he said.
She nodded and pulled out a stream of water again. She spilt water on herself for a second time, but instead of losing her cool, she took a deep breath and kept on trying.
Katara was so concentrated on her bending, that she barely noticed when a group of warriors began running through their training area. She bit her tongue as she recognized some of them as Sokka’s friends. She bowed her head slightly, stared at the water and begged for no one to notice her.
They sprinted by quickly, and after ten seconds without anyone passing beside her, she thought they had all gone. She hadn’t seen Sokka, which was pure luck. Finally, she raised her head, and froze.
The Fire Nation Prince was staring at her.
She turned away instantly, but she felt his eyes boring into her back, and her face burned.
He couldn’t have recognized her. When she’d healed him, he had barely been coherent. But she couldn’t forget how he glared at her. She raised her eyes slightly, and he was still looking at her. She swore inwardly. If only he would move faster.
“Is something wrong, Kosa?”
Katara blinked and faced Olkuk. “Sorry! No, I’m okay.” Her gaze flicked back to Zuko. He was finally entering the barracks training grounds. She breathed a sigh of relief and continued to practice her waterbending.
By the time the class was over, Katara was sore from using muscles she hadn’t touched in years. She rushed back to the buffaloyak stable where she’d hidden her regular clothes, and changed and as quickly as she could, then snuck back into the palace through a side entrance and made her way to Yue’s suite. She found the princess pacing nervously.
“I told you it would work,” said Katara smugly, grinning from ear to ear.
Yue whirled to face her. “No one caught you?” she asked.
“Nope,” said Katara without hesitating, but in the back of her mind she kept seeing Zuko. “It was great!” she added.
Yue gave a small smile, but shook her head. “Katara, I’m really not sure this is a good idea. What will you do if Master Pakku takes a turn teaching the beginner’s class? He’d recognize you, no matter how you dress.”
“I guess I’d just develop a sudden cold,” said Katara flippantly. She paused for a moment, and her smile faltered. Master Pakku had been feuding with Katara’s grandmother, Kanna, since the survivors from the Southern Water Tribe had come to the North Pole. Neither of them would explain why, but Pakku knew Katara’s whole family on sight.
As the weeks passed, the sun began to rise earlier and set later. Zuko often found himself awake before the warrior trainees, but his body was slowly adjusting to his environment, and it was becoming easier to go to sleep while the sun was still out. It annoyed Zuko how easily he was adapting to this iceberg.
He had become more concerned last night when another pocket of heated air descended from the mountains, and he’d found the warmth uncomfortable.
It didn’t help that Sergeant Bokta was beginning to treat him with respect. The Sergeant didn’t trust him, none of them were that foolish, but they were allowing him some independence.
They had started to send him on ice fishing expeditions with the other boys in the barracks. He was never allowed to use or hold any weapon, apart from a dull pike for defending himself from any roaming predators. The thing could barely cause a flesh wound.
He’d also overheard the teachers debating whether or not to bring him on an extended hunting trip that was leaving today. Bokta in particular wanted him to earn his keep.
“If you’re going to be here, you might as well be useful. You can’t expect us to continue feeding a Fire Nation Prince,” the sergeant had said the first time he brought Zuko along on a fishing trip.
It was at that moment when it really dawned on Zuko that the Water Tribe had no intention of ever letting him leave. They meant to imprison him here until he died.
Despite the morning sunlight that streamed through the high windows, Zuko shivered beneath his thick fur blankets. He was going to get out of here. His current cooperation - or lack of escape attempts - was only to gain necessary information and allow the Water Tribe to let their guard down. They had an accepting nature, and it almost felt as though they expected him to accept them in return. Apart from being absolutely ridiculous, it really bothered him. He would never give in to them.
No captive would ever be treated with as much respect in his father’s prisons. In the time he’d been in the Northern Water Tribe, most prisoners of the Fire Nation would have either gone mad, been killed, or committed suicide. But these Water peasants, they had even started to teach him skills necessary to survive in the tundra.
He wondered whether they thought he would use those skills to try to find a way off this iceberg. Maybe they were arrogant enough to believe that he was incapable of escaping.
Something poked him in the ribs. Zuko opened his eyes to see one of the trainees a little younger than him standing over him with an annoyed look.
“Get up,” he said. “You’re coming with us.” The trainee -- Zuko was pretty sure his name was Sokka -- sounded disgusted with the last part.
“Going with you where?” asked Zuko, but the boy was already on his way out. Letting out a low sigh, he crawled out from between his blankets. He really hoped they weren’t bringing him on the multi-day hunting trip. He had enough trouble from the trainees without them blaming him for slowing them down, which he would. Snowshoes really weren’t his thing.
His fears were realized when he exited the barracks to see the trainees busy arranging their equipment on leather tarpaulins and rolling them into packs. They didn’t use full packs for short fishing expeditions.
His appearance caught the attention of Sergeant Bokta. “Ah, I see Prince Zuko has awoken from his slumber.” A few of the younger warriors smirked or snickered. “Sokka, get him ready to head out.”
“But sir!” protested the boy beside him. His face had gone an angry red.
“Do it. Unless you want latrine duty for a month,” ordered Bokta.
Sokka mumbled a few choice words under his breath -- something about the similarities between dealing with latrines and firebenders -- before motioning for Zuko to follow him. “So, do you know anything about hunting?”
“No.”
“Great,” he said snidely. “At least now I know why your people haven’t tried to invade us yet.”
Zuko was tempted to remind him that the Fire Nation had already destroyed their southern settlement, but glanced at the room filled with Water Tribe warriors and decided against it.
“Come on, boys!” shouted the sergeant. “Get those packs rolled. If we don’t move out soon, we’ll be going past dark!”
They snowshoed north for three days, up to the Krernertok Mountains. A few times Zuko swore that the group was trying to lose him, but he somehow managed to keep them within sight as he straggled behind.
At night they made small temporary igloos that could fit one or two people and dug out small caverns to hold their gear. The tundra was barren for the most part, but they sometimes spotted strange animals that Zuko had only seen in books. There were a few huge, shaggy elephantbears, and a horned muskwolf pack. In the distance, he could also see foxseals lazing by the coastline. He was sure that they would only have come up to his knee if he’d been able to get close enough. They didn’t try to catch any of those animals. Hunting, Zuko had learned, was forbidden within two days of the city, so that animals wouldn’t be driven away.
Late on the third day they reached their planned campsite at the base of a protected valley beside a steeply sloped mountain that had black rock, and only a few heavily concentrated pockets of snow. The shadows lay in the opposite direction, giving them a little extra warmth.
Sergeant Bokta and Corporal Torak watched as the trainees set up camp, inspecting how they built their shelters and piled up the dried seaweed they’d brought to make fires.
Once Zuko was done building his shelter, he didn’t even bother offering his help to the Water Tribe boys. They would refuse him. When the time came for a dinner of dried fish and hard biscuits, Zuko sat by himself, several meters away from the fire-pit most of the warriors had
crowded around.
He hadn’t figured out the trick to spark rocks yet. He considered firebending to light himself a fire, but if he was caught he wouldn’t be surprised if they killed him. He settled for keeping himself warm with the Breath of Fire. No one noticed.
He went to sleep early, trying to block out the talking and laughing of the trainees.
Zuko was jolted awake by what sounded like a herd of komodo rhinos stampeding towards him. The ground trembled, his shelter shook, and he felt a few flakes of snow from the ceiling fall on his face. He quickly pulled himself up to rest on his knees and lit a small flame in his palm. He was forced to hunch his back because of the low ceiling. His igloo gave a violent shudder, and Zuko was almost certain the ceiling was going to cave. A loud, hollow thump collapsed onto his igloo.
Heavy silence followed, and all he could hear was the sound of his own laboured breathing.
He felt at where the entrance to the shelter had been, but his hand met a wall of snow.
Zuko had heard of avalanches before. One had buried an an entire battalion in the northern Earth Kingdom when he was ten. Almost all of the non-firebenders had been killed. The loss had derailed a major campaign, and his father, who had planned it, seethed for a week.
He never expected to experience the same.
Zuko didn’t have much space in the shelter, but he managed to move his arm in a firebending gesture to summon a large flame above his hand. He held it up to the ceiling of the cavern and continued to fuel it with steady, controlled breathing. A small passage began to form, but after a few minutes, the air was as warm and thick, the floor was covered by half a foot of steaming water, floating with melting ice blocks. But he still felt cold and shivered.
He was lightheaded, his head pounded, and his heart was racing. A wave of sickness made him lose his footing. He slumped back to the ground with a splash and lost control of his firebending, allowing the flame to go out. Water rushed into his boots.
In the damp darkness, Zuko took a few deep breaths and tried to figure out what was happening to him. Suddenly, he remembered a lesson he’d received with Azula in the Fire Nation.
“And why should a firebender not attempt firebending in a confided area?” asked the teacher.
“Because they will use up all of the available oxygen for firebending, causing them to suffocate.” Azula’s voice rang in his ears. “Also,” she added, “any firebending without proper ventilation will cause a build up of toxic gases which will poison and quickly kill the firebender.”
He grimaced and clenched his eyes shut.
“Damn it,” he swore breathlessly. He tried to remember what he had been taught to do if he was ever caught in a confined space, and he couldn’t.
Zuko stood up with renewed vigor. He had to get out of here, now. There were probably only another few feet before he broke the surface. He stood below the narrow passage and taking deep breath, he ignited a powerful flame. All of his energy was focusing on breaking through, and he didn’t even bother melting the water that was spilling on him and freezing a few seconds later. Although he was quickly losing the feeling in his ice-coated feet, he managed to climb up the side of the passage, moving himself and the flame closer to the surface.
He panicked when he inhaled and felt nothing but a burning sensation in his lungs. The oxygen was gone. He raised his hand higher and tried to release a large burst of flame, but instead it flickered and died. He scrambled up to the top of the tunnel and began clawing at the snow. Relief flooded him when a small opening formed, and he leaned his back against the narrow tunnel for support so he could begin tearing through the snow with both hands. When the hole was wide enough, and he pulled himself up and through.
Gasping, Zuko lay on the packed snow as he desperately tried to catch his breath. He felt numb from the ice that covered his face, hands and clothes. He was unable to move his feet or the hand he had used to make the passage.
Finally, he was able to pull himself up to a sitting position. He saw a group of Water Tribe warriors working to dig up their comrades who had built their shelters on the side of the camp closest to Zuko’s, and who had also been buried.
Zuko brought his hands in front of him and grimaced. Both were swollen and bright red. When he tried to warm his hands and his feet, he nearly screamed in pain. He jerked backwards so he was lying back on the snow and knocked his head against the ground when his eyes began to tear.
Breathing heavily, he sat up again, and gulped when he saw the new state of his hands. He had blotches of dark skin, a darker tone than all of the Water Tribe’s people, and he could see angry black sores forming. He doubted his feet were in any better shape. He guessed his firebending had sped up the blistering process.
He realized that back when he had been imprisoned in the cage in the Water Tribe, he most definitely had not had frostbite. This was frostbite.
Tentatively, he flexed his fingers. It caused shooting pain up his arms, but he could still do it.
He finally managed to stand up and continued to take deep breaths.
Only one corner of the camp had been buried, and Zuko’s shelter had been the deepest in the avalanche. Most of the trainees and both the officers were digging through the snow with handheld shovels and every lantern the group had brought with them was lit. They’d placed stakes at what Zuko supposed were likely locations of other buried shelters.
One of the boys spotted Zuko and signalled to the others. Zuko approached them, with his legs trembling slightly. Another one of the trainees ran towards him, then stopped, and Zuko saw how his eyes landed on the red armbands which marked his identity. The trainee turned around and went back to digging.
Zuko stood rigid. Fury surged through him, but he kept his expression blank.
He should have just fled while the warriors were distracted, instead of joining up with their group. It was unlikely that he would make it far before he passed out and likely died, but that didn’t matter. The alternative of helping these people made him want to vomit.
These people were his enemies.
“Zuko!”
It took him a while to realize someone was calling him. Normally when they said his name it sounded as though they were taunting him. He spotted the boy, Sokka, who had come to wake him the morning they’d left.
The boy motioned for him to come.
Zuko frowned and looked behind him at the vast tundra and the fierce winds. When he turned back it was to find himself almost face to face with Sokka.
“Will you help?” he asked. “And don’t even think of running away - you’ll die,” he said matter-of-factly.
Zuko scowled. “Would you help the Fire Nation?”
He was unfazed. “Yes or no?” When Zuko remained silent, Sokka turned back towards his comrades. “Shovels are over there,” he said pointing behind his shoulder. “But if you really want to help, I’m sure you’d be allowed to firebend.”
Zuko perked up. He was certain that the boy was just trying to manipulate him, but the thought of firebending - without trying to hide it - was tempting.
He looked towards the tundra again and swore.
It was the kind of soft attitude that he had struggled against his whole life. He couldn’t imagine what his father would do to him if he could see him now.
Zuko quickly made his was over to Sokka. “What’s your plan?”
Sokka smirked slightly, before frowning in concentration. “Can you melt the snow in layers?” he asked. “Only thin layers so no one underneath gets burned. And we’ll need to dig a channel so the water will go somewhere else.” His frown deepened for a moment, and he took a step back to assess the area. “Your igloo should work.”
Zuko hesitated but nodded. He remembered a firebending form called Burning the Plains that should work. He hadn’t quite mastered it though.
Sokka told him to stay put and headed for the nearest group of diggers. After a quiet argument with their leader, an older trainee, the boys switched to digging a shallow canal to the top of the tunnel which led to Zuko’s shelter. Some of the diggers from other groups were giving them strange looks, though they didn’t pause in their own work.
Sokka motioned Zuko over and pulled out the marker stake. Sokka and the other boys moved to stand behind him. He tried to ignore the looks which ranged from surprise to suspicion to disapproval.
“Do it,” said Sokka.
Zuko fought down a wince as he brought his hands up for a meditative pose and took a few deep breaths. He then lunged forward moved his searing limbs through the first stances of the Burning the Planes *Plains*. A few angry shouts rang in his ears, but they were quickly silenced. The flames licked the snow like a thin spread, melting it, and water ran down the channel into the tunnel. He was lucky the stances didn’t shift the position of his feet since he would have likely lost his balance. It was arm circle with a lunge, then the other, and finally he would bend his knees low and bring his hands down and spread them on either side of him. It was simple and rhythmic, but he could feel exhaustion setting in quickly. He even felt sweat forming on his forehead and the back of his neck.
“Good,” said Sokka. “You guys go work on one of the other ones. Zuko, try to speed it up.”
Zuko turned angrily. “Why don’t you firebend them out of here?”
“Okay, okay. Take your time. There are only people’s lives at stake.”
Zuko gritted his teeth and began the form again.
Of the seven trainees buried in the snow, they reached six in time. Paktu had already collapsed by the time they reached him. He had no pulse, and his skin had frozen.
Nomoak, who hadn’t been buried, but had been hit by the edge of the avalanche while using the latrine, had severe internal bleeding and lost consciousness on the march back to the city. He died a few minutes later.
No one said anything about what Zuko had done, but he knew that he had cleared the snow faster than any of the digging teams.
When Katara heard the hunters had returned early with the two bodies of two trainees, she’d feared the worst, and her instinct had been to run to make sure Sokka was safe. But instead, she reported to Yugoda. She knew that she would be able to help more if she coordinated with the other healers, but if she disagreed with whoever was in charge of triage about Sokka’s care, there would be hell to pay.
Katara ran to the palace to join up with the other healers. She quickly scanned the great hall, which was divided into sections by walrusbear skins, looking for Sokka amongst the crowds of injured warriors. She finally spotted him. He didn’t look injured, but he was still being tended to by a young girl who she didn’t recognize. She felt instant relief and had to resist the urge to hug him. Instead she just gave him a smile and a wave from a distance, which he returned tiredly.
Katara joined up with a group of older students who were trying to cleanse the lungs of three trainees who had been trapped beneath the avalanche. The boys had severe poisoning from inhaling toxic gases and were coughing nonstop. One even passed out while she was working on him. Luckily, he seemed stable by the time she was done.
The great hall of the palace had become a makeshift healing centre, and was a blur of activity as women and girls rushed back and forth with bandages and buckets of clean and dirty water. More secluded rooms, hidden behind the staircases, were being used by Yugoda and the other experienced healers to heal the worst injuries.
Slowly, as most of the warriors were tended to, things began to slow down.
Three hours after the trainees returned, Ponko, one of Yugoda’s youngest students, came to stand beside Katara. Katara hardly noticed as she tended to Hahn’s dislocated shoulder.
Ponko cleared her throat loudly . “Yugoda says you have to take care of the prisoner.”
“Who?” asked Katara, not really paying attention. “Hahn, I’m going to push it back in on three. Try not to brace yourself. One...”
“The prisoner,” repeated Ponko.
“Two!” Katara forced Hahn’s bone back into its socket with a sudden push. He shouted in pain, then turned to glare at her.
“You said on three!”
“You would have braced yourself,” said Katara simply.
“Yugoda says you have to take care of the prisoner!” shouted Ponko.
“I heard you the first time, Ponko,” said Katara. “What prisoner?” As soon as the words left her mouth, she knew exactly who the girl was talking about.
“The Fire Nation prisoner,” said Ponko with a roll of her eyes.
Katara groaned. She’d nearly forgotten that Chief Arnook had approved Sergeant Bokta’s request to bring the Fire Nation prince on the hunting trip.
“Where is he?” she asked.
Ponko shrugged and walked off.
Katara searched the the great hall without spotting him, and eventually began peaking into the side rooms, where she saw Yugoda. She took a tentative step inside the room, trying not to disturb the two patients who appeared to be asleep on cots.
“You’re looking for Zuko?” asked Yugoda with tired brightness.
Katara nodded.
She patted the chair beside her. “I need to speak with you about him.”
“What is it? Is he okay?” she asked with concern as she took the seat.
Yugoda smiled. “Don’t worry, he’s doing all right.”
Katara’s eyes widened and shook her head. “No - I wasn’t -”
Her smile widened and raised her hand. “He has scarring in his lungs, and he has severe frostbite, but he will be okay. What I wanted to tell you was that he is the reason most of the warriors came back alive.”
“Really?” She frowned and her brows knit together. “He helped us?”
“Yes. Sergeant Bokta was particularly emphatic about it.” She gave Katara a proud look. “I only wanted to make sure you treated him fairly, but I guess I shouldn’t have been so concerned.”
Katara felt her face redden and opened her mouth to speak, but Yugoda raised her hand again.
“It’ okay, child. You have compassion for everyone, it’s what makes you strong.”
Katara met Yugoda’s level gaze and nodded.
“Now, Zuko is two rooms down. You should go to him,” said Yugoda.
Katara bowed respectfully and left.
She found the prince on a cot in a small room, and it was secluded from the buzz of activity. He was asleep on his side with his back to her. A bucket of fresh water sat at the end of the cot. Katara walked around to the other side and bent down on her knees to examine the damage.
His badly frostbitten hands huddled together on top of his chest, which rose and fell quickly with his breath. She took one hand, pulled up his sleeve to see how far it went, and found her wrist snatched in a burning grip.
She fought down a wince and glared at her patient.
His hold loosened, and the blistered hand cooled.
Even after he blinked a few times, his gaze remained unfocused. “You’re the one who healed me,” he said. His voice was more gravely than before, a good indication of damage to his throat. He released her wrist.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” said Katara, looking away while she shuffled closer to the cot. She was going to bend the water that she needed from the bucket, but stopped herself. Instead, she picked up the bucket and poured some water over his hands.
He closed his eyes tightly, and his expression twisted in pain.
Katara focused on the frostbite. On one side it covered his hand and forearm, but on the other it reached his shoulder.
“Don’t lie to me,” he said, gritting his teeth. “When I was in the cage, the night the chief tried to give me to that girl with the white hair -- you healed me.”
“Princess Yue,” said Katara absentmindedly. “I’m her lady-in-waiting.”
The prince was silent for a few moments while Katara tended to his frostbitten arm.
“Thank her, for me,” he said quietly. “She didn’t have to... to do what she did.”
Katara stopped and looked him in the eye. He was staring at her calmly, but he was clearly disoriented, and she knew it was because his body was trying to dull the pain of the unthawing frostbite. It was also likely caused by the gases he had inhaled while trapped in the avalanche. His symptoms would be worse than the other warriors due to smoke inhalation if he had firebended his way out of the avalanche, which Katara thought was likely.
“But she’s still my enemy,” he said. “You all are.”
She frowned and brushed her fingers over the blackened frostbite. With difficulty, she tried to understand why Zuko would help them. If they were still his enemy, there should be no reason to save Water Tribe lives. Perhaps he wanted to repay his debt to Yue. Her gaze went up to his eyes, and she nearly jumped when she saw him staring at her intently. She wisely went back to healing.
“You’re a waterbender,” he interrupted with a thoughtful expression.
She paused and raised a brow. “That’s pretty clear,” she said dryly. “Are you feeling lightheaded at all?”
He scowled. “No. What I meant was why wasn’t there a waterbender with us on a hunting mission? It’s shortsighted.”
Katara pulled away angrily. “What?”
“Well, it is,” he insisted. “Why didn’t they bring a waterbender? They almost never do.”
It had been a natural reaction to be furious when someone from the Fire Nation criticized her tribe, however something in his words rang true. She frowned and tried to logically contemplate what he said. Grudgingly, she agreed with him, but she would never voice it. “There were none available,” she said evasively.
He stared at her blankly.
She flushed and fisted her hands at her sides. “I’m a healer.”
“Even better,” he said raising a frostbitten arm.
“No, that’s not it. We can’t go on hunting missions.”
Zuko was visibly annoyed and propped himself up on his elbows. “Why can’t healers go on hunting missions?” he demanded. “Two people died on this one - and this kind of thing seems to be relatively common.”
“It’s not because we’re healers, it’s because we’re girls, or women,” she said, her voice rising slightly. “And why do you even care if some of us die? You’re from the Fire Nation, you should be happy!” The deaths of her people already weighed heavily on her, and being lectured by Zuko about how they could have been saved infuriated her. It was ridiculous that a Fire Nation Prince was able to help her tribe while she wasn’t. It was all because of her tribe’s stupid customs. She bowed her head when she felt tears forming in her eyes. Her lip trembled, and she blinked them back. After a moment, she raised her head and instantly felt guilty.
He looked angry and slightly hurt.
Katara sighed and shuffled next his bed. “Give me your arm,” she said quietly.
Zuko pulled back and stared at her with a strange expression.
“I’m sorry. That wasn’t fair what I said, II know you helped my brother and the others. Now give me your arm,” she said stiffly. She huffed when he still made no move to obey and continued to stare at her.
“Girls aren’t allowed to waterbend?” he asked slowly, and he tilted his head to the side.
She felt herself blush. The way he was staring made her feel uncomfortable. “Obviously.”
“So, you sneaking into waterbending practice wouldn’t have been allowed,” he said with a small smile. “Right?”
Her eyes widened in panic. He had recognized her. She looked towards the door before settling on Zuko with a glare. She brought herself within an inch of his face. “Don’t you even think of telling anyone,” she hissed.
The prince’s smirk widened, and he shrugged. “I won’t.”
Katara fell back onto her knees, and continued to glare at him halfheartedly. “Good, because no one would believe you anyway.” She pouted when it became clear that he wasn’t going to take her seriously.
“I would do the same thing,” he admitted.
“Is that supposed to be sympathy?” she asked bitterly.
“Well, things are done differently in the Fire Nation. We judge people by their talent.”
In the days following the return of the failed hunting expedition, Zuko found that something had changed between him and the warrior trainees. They still avoided him, but the ones who had been on the hunting mission left him alone, and most of the others glared at him less. Sokka would even give him the occasional respectful nod from across the training yard. Zuko’s resolve to escape was still strong, but he no longer dreaded waking up in the morning.
Two weeks after the disastrous hunt, Sokka sought him out in the corner of the training yard where he practiced his hot-squats.
“Hey, Zuko...” he said. “There’s something you should know, and I figured you might not want to hear it from, I don’t know, Hahn or somebody.”
“What is it?” asked Zuko suspiciously, shifting his stance to something more comfortable.
“General Iroh was your uncle, right?”
“Was?” Zuko felt himself pale.
Sokka cringed. “I didn’t mean to --”
Zuko looked away. “How did it happen?” he asked.
Sokka hesitated for a moment before speaking. “He hung himself in his cell. They -- the Earth Kingdom -- they captured him about half way through the -- though our campaign, but I guess you knew that. You were there.”
Zuko shook his head, leaning back against the icy wall behind him. “Uncle wouldn’t do that,” he said.
“I’m sorry, Zuko,” said Sokka. He stood there for a while, but when Zuko didn’t say anything, he left awkwardly.
“He wouldn’t do that,” said Zuko to the empty sky.
We were discussing homosexuality because of an allusion to it in the book we were reading, and several boys made comments such as, “That’s disgusting.” We got into the debate and eventually a boy admitted that he was terrified/disgusted when he was once sharing a taxi and the other male passenger made a pass at him. The lightbulb went off. “Oh,” I said. “I get it. See, you are afraid, because for the first time in your life you have found yourself a victim of unwanted sexual advances by someone who has the physical ability to use force against you.” The boy nodded and shuddered visibly.“But,” I continued. “As a woman, you learn to live with that from the time you are fourteen, and it never stops. We live with that fear every day of our lives. Every man walking through the parking garage the same time you are is either just a harmless stranger or a potential rapist. Every time.” The girls in the room nodded, agreeing. The boys seemed genuinely shocked. “So think about that the next time you hit on a girl. Maybe, like you in the taxi, she doesn’t actually want you to.”
Homophobia: The fear that another man will treat you like you treat women. Andrew Sullivan.
ameliaweasley promises that is this post gets over 100,000 notes within a week, she will not try to suicide or cut herself anymore.
Please reblog it because losing a friend is a terrible thing
really it takes like a click 2 seconds to reblog
EDIT: People have been saying that it is stupid to get notes for her to stay alive, but this was her choice, and she does this to herself because she says everyone hates her. so she wont take any support from anyone. the only people that do not hate her right now is tumblr. that is the reason she is seeking support through this site.
EDIT 2: Really, I cannot believe all the hate that I have gotten. seriously. i am trying to hELP SOMEONE LIVE HERE.
Oh and thoughtidhelp, bless you for being alive.
