white_lotus | Fic: He Said, She Said

Title: He Said, She Said
Author: AK-47 (my FF.net moniker)
Rating: For general audiences, unless you object to two instances of cursing.
Summary: What would have happened if Aang hadn't recovered Katara's necklace? Starts out serious and devolves into ridiculous.
Words: 3,991
Content Notes: No standard notes

“Katara’s necklace!” cried Aang. “Give that back!”

“Come and take it!” shouted Zuko as he kicked a blanket of flame toward the Avatar. The younger boy dodged nimbly out of the way, but the prince pressed his attack and released more blasts, all of which missed.

While the two boys fought – or rather, while Zuko chased Aang, who kept hopping around and staying out of the Firebender’s reach – Katara and Sokka fought Zuko’s bounty hunter, June, and her monstrous shirshu. For some reason the old Firebender who always accompanied Zuko did nothing but watch the fight. Perhaps he was too old to fight, or perhaps he was waiting for an opportune moment to join in. Whatever the case, Katara didn’t have the time to ponder the situation. June and her pet were already hard enough to fight on their own. Please don’t let the old man join the fight, thought Katara before she refocused herself on the battle at hand.

Luckily, Sokka was quite good at thinking on his feet and had quickly grasped the potential of the jars of perfume that the nuns had stored in the courtyard. “Katara, splash this stuff on that giant sniffer animal thing!” said Sokka as he tipped over the jars. Without hesitation, Katara grabbed the perfume and waterbent it at the shirshu. The smell overpowered the creature, causing it to lash out wildly at its surroundings. June was quickly paralyzed by her own shirshu’s poison tongue while a surprised Zuko suddenly found himself unable to move after the shirshu tagged him on the way into running into a wall and knocking itself out.

“Prince Zuko!” shouted Iroh in concern. “Are you all right?”

“Get – them,” gasped Zuko as he tried to get his body to move. Aang stared at Iroh for a second before he flung a blast of wind at the old Firebender, knocking the old man down. “Let’s get out of here!” shouted Aang as he jumped aboard Appa, who had by then recovered from the shirshu poison. Katara and Sokka followed Aang and scrambled aboard the sky bison, and in less than two minutes they were in the sky and flying away to safety.

“Whew, that was a close one,” said Sokka as he laid back in relief on Appa’s saddle. They’d only been fighting just a few minutes ago, but Aang decided there was no time like the present when it came to apologizing. “Guys, I’m sorry,” he said. “I shouldn’t have hid that message from you and I shouldn’t have lied to you. It’s just that I was scared you’d leave and – well, that’s not an excuse. I’m just sorry.”

“Aang,” began Sokka irately as he sprang up to scold Aang before he saw the younger boy’s abject misery. He sighed and let his anger go. Aang was just a kid, and besides, at the end of the day it had been nothing but a tiff between friends. “Look, just don’t do that again, all right? Whatever happens, we have to trust each other.”

“I promise not to lie to the two of you ever again,” said Aang.

“Why Sokka, since when have you been so forgiving?” teased Katara. “I do believe you’re stealing my lines.”

“Whatever, sis, you know as the oldest it falls upon me to be the mature one.”

Aang interrupted Katara before she could release her comeback. “I’m sorry too, Katara. I couldn’t get your mother’s necklace back from Zuko.”

“It’s okay, Aang,” said Katara. “Her necklace might be lost, but my mother’s memory is always with me, and that’s something I can never lose. The necklace was always just a symbol for that.”

“Well,” said Sokka, “let’s not give up hope yet (and I’m not stealing your lines, Katara). We might still be able to get your necklace back from Zuko eventually.”

Katara smiled at her brother’s attempt to cheer her up. “Here’s hoping.”

“Give up now, girl,” said Pakku as he approached her frozen prison. He had shot icicles around her, trapping her in an impromptu cage.

“I’ll never give up,” promised Katara as she tried to free herself from the ice.

“Look, it’s not your fault you lost,” said Pakku generously, for he was not at heart a cruel man. “You did your best, but there’s only so much a girl can do.”

“What! I can’t believe you said that! Let me go and I’ll show you what this girl can do!”

“You already did,” pointed out Pakku. “Men are stronger than women. That’s simply how the world works.”

“I can’t believe you Northern Tribe actually believe that! No wonder my grandmother left this place.”

“Oh? Who’s your grandmother?” asked Pakku. He didn’t actually care, he just wanted Katara to calm down before he released her.

“Her name is Kanna,” said Katara.

“What!” shouted Pakku. He hadn’t expected to hear that name again. “K-Kanna?”

Katara stared at Pakku, who looked rooted to the ground in shock. “That’s right,” she said slowly while her mind raced in thought. “She was born here, but she said she left because she couldn’t stand the way women were treated here.” She continued to watch Pakku, who looked even more likely to faint in shock. Okay, looks like I’m going in the right direction, thought Katara. “In fact, my grandmother said she left because of a specific man, a man who wouldn’t let her live her life the way she wanted to. A man who actually sounds a lot like you.”

Pakku said nothing as he fell to his knees. “That was why?” he asked. Whew, it worked, thought Katara as the icy cage around her disappeared into snow. “That’s right,” she said. “Please, I’m not asking you for any special treatment. I’m just asking you to treat me like any other student.”

The Waterbending Master stayed frozen for a moment more before pulling himself together and standing up. “I’ll have to think about your request,” he said.

“All right,” agreed Katara. “I’ll come to the practice grounds tomorrow morning and I’ll hear whatever you’ve decided.” Which had better be to teach me, Katara wisely did not add.

“Right, tomorrow morning,” said Pakku, still stunned. “Be there.”

“Don’t worry, Yue,” said Katara in reassurance. “I can watch over all of us. I’ve learned a lot from Master Pakku.”

“Congratulations,” said Zuko as he stepped into the cave, startling the two girls. “You found a Master. But it doesn’t matter. I won’t let anything stand between me and the Avatar.”

“Prince Zuko,” hissed Katara. “I was wondering what had happened to you. Well,” she said as she drew water from the pools around her, “you won’t find me quite so easy this time.”

“Does that mean you don’t want this?” he asked as he pulled something out of his coat.

Katara’s eyes widened in surprise. “That’s—“

“Yes, it is,” agreed the boy as he calmly entered further into the Spirit Oasis. “I’m offering you the same deal as before. Stand aside and I’ll give this necklace to you.”

“Hah!” scoffed Katara. “Or maybe I’ll just take it from you after I beat you.”

“You can try,” he said as he stuffed the necklace back into his coat. It had been worth a try. Oh well. Zuko quickly cleared his mind of all distractions, and with that done, he attacked.

What was going on? Some strange boy had suddenly appeared at the Spirit Oasis and attacked Katara, even though the Oasis was supposed to be the most impregnable place in the entire North Pole. Even stranger, the intruder had turned out to be the Crown Prince of the Fire Nation, the one who had disappeared years earlier under a cloud of mystery. Well, whoever he was, he was also a threat to the Avatar. She’d think about the rest of the strange goings on later. For now, she’d get Sokka to help his sister.

Yue desperately ran down the streets of her city as she looked for Sokka. Oh, thank goodness, there he was! Good thing he was on Appa, he was pretty easy to spot. “Sokka!” yelled Yue as she jumped and waved her arms. “Come quick! A Firebender showed up out of nowhere and started fighting Katara. Your sister said his name was Zuko.”

“He’s here?” asked Sokka as Appa landed. “That’s just great. Come on, get on Appa and let’s get to Katara as fast as possible.” Yue was already climbing aboard while he was finishing his sentence. “It’s that way,” she said as she pointed.

“Okay Appa, yip-yip! Katara’s in trouble and it’s up to us to rescue her again!” Appa bellowed as he took off and sped toward the Oasis.

It took bare minutes for them to arrive at the Spirit Oasis, just in time to catch Zuko halfway up the ice cliffs with Aang tied to his back. Yue wanted to land and check on Katara, who was apparently unconscious (she hoped), but she knew Aang was more important right now. Sokka made Appa hover behind Zuko as he tried to convince the boy to surrender. “Give it up, Zuko! You’ve got nowhere to go.”

Zuko stopped climbing as he paused in apparent indecision. Long moments passed before the prince sighed and slowly gathered his climbing rope. Suddenly, he pushed himself backwards and twisted in midair as he leapt at Appa. However, Sokka had been ready and quickly clubbed Zuko on the head as the boy landed on the sky bison, knocking the prince unconscious.

“Okay Yue, untie Aang and keep an eye on Zuko while I take us down.” Yue agreed and released Aang as Appa landed. She carefully slid Aang down Appa’s tail while Sokka threw Zuko over the side. “Aang’s okay? Good, you can leave him there while you check on Katara. I’ll join you as soon as I tie up Zuko.”

She really hoped Katara was okay. This Zuko wouldn’t have hurt her badly, right? As she approached, she saw Katara’s chest moving as she breathed. Thank you, spirits! She began to check Katara for serious injuries but froze when she spied the necklace Katara was wearing. The same necklace that the prince had tried to bribe her with. The necklace that had clearly been carved as a betrothal gift.

“Holy. Fucking. Shit.” Yue fainted dead away.

“No really, Sokka, I’m fine,” Katara heard as she woke up. Oh, what had happened? Right, Zuko had knocked her out. Wait, what about Aang? She tried to shout her question but only managed to groan a bit.

“Katara!” said Sokka as he sprang to her side and helped her sit up. “How are you feeling? And you too, Yue?”

“I’m really okay, Sokka, I guess all this running around just got to me,” said Yue.

“I’m okay too,” said Katara.

“Well, okay,” said Sokka as he watched them both carefully. “Wait, do you hear that? Someone’s coming.”

Katara shook off the cobwebs in her mind and prepared herself to defend Aang again (and wouldn’t you know it, he was lying nice and comfy on Aapa’s tail). She turned around to tell Yue to find somewhere safe to hide but instead she caught the Northern princess pretending that she hadn’t been staring at her. “What is it?” asked Katara.

“Uh, it’s nothing!” said Yue, who was now staring at Katara’s neck.

“Huh?” said Katara as she looked down and discovered her mother’s necklace around her neck. “Oh! Zuko must have put the necklace on me while I was out cold. That was . . . surprisingly nice of him. I guess I should thank him or something.”

“Right, nice,” agreed Yue as she smiled nervously at Katara.

“Is something wrong, Yue?” asked Katara.

Before Yue could answer, the doors to the Spirit Oasis burst open and in came a small group of Firebenders. “Well, isn’t this convenient,” said their leader, Zhao. The invaders quickly fanned out to face Katara and the other defenders. “The Avatar and his cronies at the exact spot of my glorious – oww!”

Someone had interrupted Zhao with a piece of ice to the face, which seemed like a good signal to attack. “Get them!” shouted Katara as she flung a wave of water at the Firebenders. She saw Sokka to her left throwing his boomerang and yelling wildly, while to her right she saw Yue standing protectively before Aang, and in front of her she saw Zuko charging straight at Zhao. Wait, Zuko?

Of all the stupid – had he been playing possum? Well, no time for that, she and Zuko could go for round two as soon as Zhao’s group was taken care of. Katara finished off the last of the soldiers by drenching him and freezing him to the ground, then turned to attack Zuko and Zhao. The two had somehow fallen into the koi pond and were trading punches and kicks enhanced by the odd fire blast.

“Zhao, even if you defeat my nephew, don’t think I’ll let you harm the Moon and Ocean Spirits,” shouted Iroh as he stepped forward. What the heck? Where did these Firebenders keep coming from?

Zhao knocked Zuko on his behind with a shoulder tackle before quickly glancing around and seeing that all of his men had been defeated. His eyes widened in surprise, then he thrust his arms into the koi pond, which rapidly began to bubble and steam.

“No!” Iroh punched a ball of fire at Zhao, who ducked underwater to escape. However, the pool began to glow, as well as the unconscious Avatar, who floated through the air and over the centre of the pool. Katara’s eyes widened in awe as she saw Aang taking on the combined aspect of the Moon and Ocean Spirits. Aang floated in the middle of a giant koi made of water, and he (they?) slowly flowed over the ice cliffs and headed into the city of the Northern Water Tribe.

“What just happened?” asked Sokka.

“I believe Admiral Zhao angered the Moon and Ocean Spirits by attacking them,” answered Iroh. “Zhao’s plan was to kill the Moon Spirit and remove the power of the Waterbenders, which as you can see has failed spectacularly.”

“Uh, for sure,” agreed Sokka, who was eyeing the old Firebender with suspicion. “Wait, where’s Zhao? And Zuko?”

Katara gave a guilty start. “Oops, I forgot to keep an eye on them. We’ll have to chase after – hey, where are you going?” she asked of Iroh.

“I’m going to find my nephew, of course.”

“You can’t just –“ Iroh raised his arms and called a wall of flame to separate him from Katara, Sokka, and Yue. By the time she had put out the fire, he was long gone. “That’s just great. This whole night’s been crazy. What else is going to happen?”

“Well, there’s only one way to find out,” said Sokka as he walked toward the doorway. “You two coming?”

Things had definitely gone crazy that night, Yue mused to herself. The Moon and Ocean Spirits, walking down the streets of the city and obliterating the Fire Nation! The Avatar destroying an entire fleet with their power! And not quite as crazy, but still pretty out there, the Crown Prince of the Fire Nation had asked a Waterbender from the Southern Water Tribe to marry him – and she had accepted! What was a princess supposed to do?

For the thousandth time, Yue ran over the situation in her mind. For the thousandth time, she came to no decision on what to do, and for the thousandth time, Yue kept her mouth shut about Katara’s secret.

There were all kinds of things to take into account with Katara’s illicit romance. For one thing, could it actually lead to an end to the war? And how would the Fire Nation react to the engagement? How would the Water Tribe? For that matter, how would the Earth Kingdom? To the Earth Kingdom, the engagement might look like an alliance set up to exclude them. Wait, what if that was exactly what it was supposed to be?

This was ridiculous, the battle had been a month ago and she was still going round in circles. She should at least tell her father. No wait, she should at least talk to Katara. Well, she really should talk to the both of them. But which one to approach first?

She looked out her window and watched Katara running over some techniques with Master Pakku and his other students while behind them the Avatar was making a snowman. Now Pakku was yelling at the Avatar and dumping a load of snow all over him. Yue smiled at the sight before her mind once again returned to her dilemma. If there was one good thing about the situation, it was the fact that worrying about Katara’s love life kept her from worrying about her own. And wouldn’t you know, here was Sokka marching through the courtyard with the other warriors.

Well, at least the thing with Sokka wasn’t as big of a problem as Katara’s politically incorrect relationship, though “problem” wasn’t really the right word for it. Her fiancé Hahn had died in the battle, drowned in the freezing waters along with the rest of his team, leaving her free to be with someone else. She hadn’t been that close to Hahn and the both of them had known their marriage was mostly to be a political union. But would her father approve of a penniless hunter from their backwards sister tribe? Her eyes left Sokka and returned to Katara. How wonderful it would be to marry the one you loved.

And so her thoughts had again returned to Katara and Prince Zuko. She couldn’t escape thinking about it, could she? But how had such a thing happened? Two enemies, coming together in secret? Though Katara had been rather open about the whole thing when she’d confronted Prince Zuko at the Spirit Oasis. Maybe she’d forgotten Yue was there? She probably hadn’t seen the prince in weeks, if not months. Yue didn’t know how Katara had looked past the prince’s more worrisome characteristics but she couldn’t help admiring the other girl for being true to herself. What would it be like, to have the freedom to choose and the strength to stand by that choice?

Wouldn’t you know, she’d managed to distract herself from deciding on anything yet again. Okay, she’d decide on something in the next five minutes. Yue sighed and ran over the issues one more time. Well, the Sokka situation wasn’t an urgent international political issue, but the Katara situation sure was. As Katara’s friend, she should talk the whole thing over with the other girl. But Katara was busy right now, right? It wouldn’t be nice to interrupt her practice. Which left Yue’s father as the only other person she should talk to.

Right, making decisions wasn’t really that difficult. What had she been agonizing over? Maybe she just needed more practice. Yue decided to see her father before she found another excuse to delay.

“I’m sorry, could you repeat that?”

“Katara is engaged to Prince Zuko.”

“That’s, that’s – oh, I need to sit down.”

“Umm, we’re both sitting down.”

“Then I need to sit here in stunned silence for the next two minutes.”

“. . . How was that, was that long enough?”

“That was barely five seconds! At least let your father recover from hearing mind-blowing news. Wait, is that how Katara got that necklace of hers? I asked her about it and she said that it was an heirloom from her mother. She said she’d lost it and only recently managed to get it back again.”

“Well, she was lying her ass off.”

“Yue! A princess does not use such language!”

“Sorry, dad, but I’ve been keeping this bottled up for a while and I’ve kind of been going crazy trying to think about all the complications.”

“Right, right, there are all kinds of things to take into account. Huh, so that’s what happened in the Spirit Oasis? No, never mind that for now. Alright, Yue, for now just keep this news to yourself. Katara apparently wants to keep this a secret and that seems like a good idea. Don’t let her know that you know.”

“Really? Because I really want to talk to her about it. I’ve got all kinds of questions.”

“No, you should respect her wishes. If she wants you to know then she’ll tell you.”

“I guess that’s true. So what now?”

“Now you go meet your tutor like you’re scheduled to and I’ll stay here and continue absorbing your news.”

“Oh, I almost forgot. Well, thanks dad, it felt good to get this off my chest.”

“All I did was listen to my daughter like any father should. I’m glad you felt like you could come to me with this.”

“Come on, dad, you were the first person I thought of talking to. Okay, I guess I’ll see you this evening.”

“Have a good afternoon, daughter.”

“You too. Anyway, bye for now!”

“. . . Yue? Okay, good, she’s gone. Holy fucking shit, I need a drink. Hmm, I wonder if I could do anything with this?”

Katara wondered what was up with Yue. She’d been acting odd for a while now. Was it just her illicit romance with Sokka? Not that it was really improper or anything, Chief Arnook even seemed to like her brother. She supposed Yue was just anxious at saying goodbye to her and her friends.

Yue finished giving Aang his parting gift, a box of Waterbending scolls, and she moved on to Sokka, who got a length of expensive rope (they laughed over that for some reason). He also got an invitation to write to her as often as he could, which he gladly accepted. Finally, Yue reached Katara’s place in the line.

“Katara, from the Northern Water Tribe, please accept this water from the Spirit Oasis. It has special healing properties, so use it well.” Wow, that was an incredible gift!

“Thank you, Yue, I’m honoured,” said Katara warmly.

But Yue wasn’t finished. “And from me, please accept this modest token of my friendship.” A set of whalebone earrings? And they matched her mother’s necklace, too. “It’s something nice to wear for when you meet someone special,” whispered Yue as she leaned in to hand Katara her gift.

Katara gave what she hoped was a genuine smile and thanked Yue again. What the heck? Since when did Yue think she was boy crazy? Or maybe Yue was being pushy and telling her to get a boyfriend. Her Gran-gran had told her couples sometimes tried to set up their friends too. Well, it was still a nice gift. Katara tried very hard not to think about the dried silverleaf that Yugoda the healer had given her last night. The herb helped regulate her cycle, but it also had a well-known alternate use.

After a few more goodbyes, Katara got on Appa’s back along with Sokka and Aang. Momo was already napping in the saddle. She turned around and waved goodbye as Appa took off.

Unbeknownst to Katara, at that very same moment messenger birds were leaving the North Pole headed for the major cities of the Fire Nation and the Earth Kingdom. One was even on its way to the Southern Water Tribe. The birds were part of an ancient royal custom, one that was meant to spread joy throughout the Four Nations. Properly speaking, the family of the royalty involved should have sent the birds, but exceptions happened. After all, it wasn’t everyday that you got to share the news that Crown Prince of the Fire Nation was engaged to a Master Waterbender from the South Pole.

Happily ignorant of her engagement, Katara settled herself in Appa’s saddle and idly wondered what the Earth Kingdom would be like.

Fic: He Said, She Said - Part 1

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