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Slow Heat	By : Spleef Category: Avatar - The Last Airbender > General Views: 77367 -:- Recommendations : 2 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

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Slow Heat
Chapter 11 – Secrets
This chapter is set during the 'Painted Lady' and 'Sokka's Master' episodes. As always, please enjoy, and don't forget to leave a review!
o0o0o0o
2 Months, 6 Days BSC
(Mid-July 1101)
Katara
It was unbelievable that water could be so filthy. I could practically feel it, as if the water was a living being that was in pain. Toph said she could feel her element, right? So could I. Usually, when I was near water, I felt joyful, feeling the water flow, clean and viable, teeming with life. Here, all I felt was pain and despair. Whatever life was in this polluted element struggled for it.
What could have caused such a thing? How could an element normally so clean be so filled with pollution?
And most of all, how could anyone live here? I saw despair everywhere. Even the children who played along the docks had a sick pallor to their flesh. Even though they were Fire Nation, I felt a surge of compassion towards them. There had to be something that could help them.
o0o0o0o
Zuko
Katara sat quietly at the fire as she stirred some vegetables into the stew. The fish we had bought had been given to one of the poorer villagers – not that anyone in that village could be considered wealthy. I had never seen such a vile-looking fish in my entire life, not even when I had been wandering around on my own and forced to subsist on next to nothing. I actually felt nauseous at the mere thought of eating that fish, and raised my head to see the plume of smoke in the distance from the smelting factory.
When I was little, I had been taught that everything the Fire Nation did was wonderful. We had weapons and inventions and craft that none of the other nations possessed, and a higher standard of living that came with it. The Palace had pipes which led water to various rooms, so that we could take baths or have drinking water without having to draw it up from the Palace wells and have servants carry buckets of water up and down the many stairs. Furnaces provided heat in the winter and heat for cooking, glassblowing, or metalworking.
I had never thought about the environmental impacts of the factories that made weapons and ships among other things. At the Palace, life was pleasant and clean. There was so much that had been hidden from me during my childhood. I wondered if my father knew of what the factories did, or did he care? As long as he didn’t have to live in that pollution, why should he care? He would be saying that the people who lived on the river were foolish for staying there, or that sacrifices had to be made in the glory of the Fire Nation.
I wouldn’t want to stay in such a polluted area, but to them, it was their home. Homes were not so easily left behind or forgotten – how well I remembered that. Yet, these villagers didn’t deserve to suffer, much less be bullied. Food and medicine taken from them by the people who ran the smelting plant… appalling.
“I’m glad we’re not having that yucky fish for dinner.” Toph stated as she started eating her stew. I looked down at my bowl, where a comfortable mishmash of vegetables, spices, and our last rations of chick-pig meat let out an inviting scent. We didn’t have much left, but Katara made do with what we had, and did a rather decent job… though I wouldn’t say that out loud. Next to that disgusting fish, this food was heaven.
“Yes. Thank Agni for that.” I stated before I spooned some into my mouth. Before I knew it, azure eyes had fixed upon me with an icy glare.
“Agni doesn’t care for his people.” Katara replied, her voice as icy as her eyes. It was the first time she had spoken to me all day.
“And what is that supposed to mean?”
“The people in the village. And the fact that your… god lets his people run around unchecked, letting them destroy things. Your god is unwise and greedy.” she continued acerbically. I was stunned. Her silence had broken to give me this scathing analysis of the patron god of the Fire Nation? The tales of Agni had shown him as wise and benevolent, giving the gift of Firebending to his people so they could be warm and use the ability for other things. He was the Sun, and the life giver, the ancient dragon who gave his light to everyone – Earth, Water, and Airbenders alike, rather than letting the sun shine only on the Fire Nation.
“Then why don’t the other spirits stop him?” I shot back, “Did your gods stop the Fire Nation from attacking the Water Tribes, or exterminating the Air Nomads?”
“This isn’t about them! This is about Agni, who you love to praise even when he lets bad things happen to his own people!”
I scowled and set down my bowl before I rose to my feet.
“Don’t fight!” the Avatar cried out in alarm, rising to his own feet and standing in front of me when I advanced towards the Waterbender.
“Look, the spirits don’t condone the war. That’s why I am the Avatar. It’s my duty to keep the balance. You two fighting won’t help any. Zuko and Iroh promised to end the War when they took power. He’s not our enemy, Katara.” the boy pleaded as he looked up at her. Her eyes softened slightly when she looked down at him, and I felt that surge of jealousy again. Why couldn’t she look at me in that way?
… And why the hell should I care?
“You’re right, Aang. I shouldn’t waste my breath.” Katara muttered before she turned away from me.
o0o0o0o
2 Months, 5 Days BSC
Katara
I had spent the night before stewing about my argument with Zuko. Presumptuous, spoiled brat, praising his precious God. Why should he praise a god who let him be scarred by his own father?
I forced my thoughts away from him as I marked my face with red paint. The idea to do this had come to me today, when I returned to the village and learned about the Painted Lady. These poor people didn’t deserve to suffer like this. I couldn’t make their problems go away, but I could at least give them a bit of relief.
Without a word, I donned the wide hat and made my way down the slope and across the water.
o0o0o0o
2 Months, 4 Days BSC
Zuko
The night before, I had gotten up in the middle of the night to relieve myself. I had noticed that Katara's sleeping bad was empty, and thought that she had the same need as I. When I returned, she was not on the bag, and though I remained awake a while longer, she still did not return.
It wasn’t until dawn – shortly after I had woken up for the day – that she came back. She did not see me, and I hid behind a rock and watched as she removed her hat and robe, using some Waterbending to wash the paint off her face and arms. It took me several moments to figure out that she had looked like the little statuettes of the Painted Lady in the village.
… What had she been doing?
Tonight, I followed her. I donned my black suit, and slid on my Blue Spirit mask. Despite all that had happened to me and the fact that I knew that Uncle wanted me to get rid of it, I had no desire to abandon the mask. It represented a part of me, a part that rebelled against the bad side of the Fire Nation and the oppression that inevitably came with it. I had rescued the Avatar wearing this mask. I had taken from the rich and greedy, and had been a vigilante around Ba Sing Se. And should Katara somehow catch me following her, this mask would provide my cover.
She glided across the water as if she were a true spirit. Agni damnit! I had no desire to go through the putrid water. Fortunately, I found a small boat on the shore that miraculously was still in decent condition.
By the time I made the short trip across the water to the village, I saw a soft glow coming from one of the huts.
Katara was healing these people. I remembered all too well the time she had offered to heal me, and how close she had come to doing so. And she loathed me. We kept fighting. She made her disdain towards Fire Nation clear… yet she was helping these sick people and risking exposing herself.
I remained silent as I watched through the wooden slats as she went from one person to another, the soft glow surrounding each of them as she poured her energy into them.
The next night, she did it again. We had plans to stay for just one more night to give Appa a rest before the next leg of our journey. After I had witnessed what Katara had done, I understood why the villagers seemed happier the next day. I would not tell the others about what Katara had done.
I didn’t have much to offer to the villagers. I could not heal them, and if I left them gold, or good food, the men of the factory were bound to find it and take it away, and it wasn't as if I had anything to offer from our own diminished supplies. I had noticed them walking through the village on the first day, shaking the villagers down. The poor people had little to offer, and it was all too clear to me that the men from the factory did it for their own amusement, enjoying the fact that the villagers were easy game, so to speak. It disgusted me how these men could be so callous, and laugh at the misery of their own people.
I had been angered with Katara’s spiteful comments about Agni, but now I understood better. As the next Fire Lord – should Agni see me as worthy – I would make this stop. It was this way that the Nation would destroy itself from within if left unchecked, and I could not let that happen. Not to mention all this gunk that was being poured into the river. I had seen Katara’s discomfort when we were on the river, as if she felt polluted like her element.
How should I handle this? Should I try to shut down the factory, or concentrate my help on the villagers? If I left the factory alone, they would continue to pollute the river. But if I shut it down by the only measures that I could at this time, soldiers would come to investigate, and thus, cause harm to the villagers and lay the blame on their feet. When the factory was stopped, the Fire Nation would definitely notice the lack of output of metal.
It was a difficult decision. As much as I would have liked to take action and attack the factory and its men, the consequences outweighed the benefits, at least for now.
When I was Fire Lord, I would order the factory to revise its smelting methods and clean the river. Hopefully, I could bring in Earth and Waterbenders to help clean the river for pay, and have them help with other issues that would otherwise take plenty of time and effort from people who couldn’t bend Earth and Water. That was, if the other nations would be willing to help.
Only time would tell, and I sent out a silent prayer to Agni to help me, and to help the Fire Nation get on the right path.
Presently, I formulated a plan for what could be done to help these people in the time being. And then, it hit me. A temporary solution, but one that should hold until I, as Fire Lord, was able to install a more permanent one.
I watched Katara start to leave the hut, to go on to another one. I noticed that she would go to the cisterns and jugs of water near the houses, and draw the water out of them, before purifying it and putting it back, so that the villagers had clean water.
“I’m sure the villagers are grateful for what you are doing, but this is only a temporary solution.” I whispered. I tensed myself, knowing she might be surprised enough to lash out.
“Who the hell are you?” she whispered as she slowly turned her face to me. I did not reply, and stared at her through my mask.
“Oh.” I saw Katara’s eyes widen a little as she quickly figured out who I was, from glancing at the broadswords I held. She had seen me practice with them often enough. There was a heavy silence that hung in the air for several long moments.
“So I shouldn’t waste my time helping them?” she asked with some surprise and not a small amount of disdain. I could see it in her mind… the Prince telling her to not waste any time on the villagers.
“No. It’s not that. We’re leaving tomorrow, and they will run out of clean water, and the men from the factory will continue to terrorize them. They’ll become sick again without you to heal them.”
“...I know. But at least, they get a bit of relief from their suffering, for a while.” she murmured softly. Agni above, it was nice to have a decent conversation with her!
“I have nothing against that. But these people need a more lasting solution. At least… Nevermind.” I muttered. She took a step towards me.
“What is it?” her soft voice inquired. I looked down at her.
“These people need to get out of here. They need to move to the banks, and learn how to farm, or just leave this place altogether. That river is not fit to live from. Moving would be hard, but...”
“It’d be better than living in this filth.” Katara finished for me. I nodded.
“It’d be hard convincing them to move, though…” she added.
“They believe you’re a spirit.” I replied simply, “The word of a spirit is taken more seriously than that of a human…”
“And what about you?”
“I was thinking of going to the factory, and stealing from the men who run it. Good food, medicine, gold if I can find any... If you can convince the villagers to move, I can get some things from the factory, and you could use your Waterbending to help deliver them?” I ventured. She stroked her chin pensively, and I remained silent.
“Why not destroy the factory?” she asked. I shook my head.
“Hell! The factory is pumping poison into the river and…!” she whispered furiously.
“What do you think will happen when the factory is destroyed? The men who run it will come here and punish the villagers. Even if we defend them from these men, more will come. The Nation will notice when the factory stops producing. We would be making things worse.”
I saw her stare at me, thinking about what I said.
“But, the pollution… you think I should ignore it?”
“For now, yes.” I said. I put up a hand before she could protest and continued, “When I become Fire Lord, I promise that things will change. I thought about destroying the factory, but that would only make things worse now. You have my word that I will have this place cleaned up when I take the crown. Okay?” I asked. She was silent, pondering again. The paint on her face gave her an ethereal quality, and the mist that surrounded her… it did make her seem otherworldly.
“Very well.”
o0o0o0o
2 Months, 3 Days BSC
Katara
I was silent that night as I rested against Appa’s saddle. Zuko had stolen from the factory; not too much to gain notice, but enough to help the villagers out a bit. I told them that they needed to leave, and to find a better home elsewhere. I could see it in the eyes of the villagers that they were afraid and uncertain about leaving. The older ones remembered when the waters had been clean, for the factory, according to them, was fairly new. Which made me shudder to think of what it would be like if the factory was fifty years or even a century old. The fish… no, the river and its banks would be dead by then.
Zuko had showed the villagers how to hide the supplies he had stolen for them and together, we urged them to decide what was best for themselves and their children and leave. I had tried my best to give them a command to leave, firm albeit gentle. Several of them protested that they did not want to abandon me – I mean, the Painted Lady.
We left them, and I had no idea who, if any, decided to leave, or if all of them would stay. They looked so scared to leave a place that had been home to them for generations. It was indeed a hard decision. They could stay and continue to be picked on, or leave and risk being hunted down. I let out a soft sigh and turned my head, catching Zuko staring at me. I scowled and quickly looked away again.
o0o0o0o
Zuko
I wanted to say something. It wasn’t her fault that the people were too afraid to leave. There was only so much we could have done within a limited timeframe. And even if anyone left, they might be hunted down, just for sport, or if someone at the factory noticed a few supplies missing and decided to punish the villagers, even though none of them could have actually sneaked into the factory. I had been careful to not take too much, and had arranged the food so that the fact that someone had raided it wouldn’t be obvious. These people were honestly stuck between a rock and a hard place, and I did not envy their decision. But I could not dwell on it.
What I could dwell on was how the two of us had worked together so well. She was usually silent, breaking it with a spiteful comment here and there. But, as if our masks had truly made us new people previously unknown to one another, we actually exchanged civil – even pleasant – words. It was something I enjoyed immensely. I didn’t want to go back to her stony silence and angry stares. I would never forget how she looked in the mist, like a true spirit. She had looked... beautiful.
There were a number of things I wanted to say, but the presence of the Avatar and our other companions prevented me from saying it. Perhaps later. She had her head rested against the side of the saddle, staring out at the expanse of ocean below.
After several long moments, she looked over her shoulder casually, first in the direction opposite from me, then towards me. I said nothing, continuing to stare. The Moon gave her azure eyes an almost luminous glow.
She quickly looked away, as if by looking at her I had offended her. I held back a sigh.
o0o0o0o
2 Months BSC
(Mid-Late July 1101)
Katara
I fingered the small lump of refined metal in my pocket. After taking all the metal he needed to forge his sword from the hunk of ’space earth’ that had come from the sky, Sokka had enough left over to give each of us a lump. I wasn’t sure what I could do with it, but the metal was clear and dark, and it shone in the sunlight.
While Sokka spent the last two days with Piandao, Aang spent that time training with both Zuko and Toph. The village was pleasant, though I was shocked at some of the weapons in the weapons shop. The Water Tribes had varied weapons, carved out of bone, ivory, wood, or in the rare instance that metal could be procured, that substance. Each weapon had its advantages and disadvantages, and a definite use. The warriors were trained to use them in self-defense, and to attack only when necessary – to hunt for food , or to fight the enemy.
But the Fire Nation weapons were another thing. It spoke to me of how brutal Fire Nation warriors could be. There seemed to be a weapon for any imaginable purpose, and some built just to show off how igneous Fire Nation could be in its brutality. Seeing Aang in that evil-looking armor was almost too much for me. I had been so impatient to leave while Sokka tried out various weapons. At least now he had a sword of his own, made with the help of Piandao.
I sat outside, enjoying the fresh air as I looked down at the water in the fountain. My brother was almost like a child who had been given free run in a sweets shop, and I hoped that he would not become too enamored with Fire Nation blacksmithing.
“You seemed uncomfortable in there.” I heard someone state softly from behind me. I looked up to see Zuko, and stiffened slightly.
“What concern is it to you?” I snapped back. He stared at me for several long moments. Aang and Toph were still in a shop, looking at sweets.
“I was simply asking a question. It… would do no good to have one of us fall sick now, would it?”
“I’m fine.” I replied tersely. I had avoided speaking with Zuko unless it was absolutely necessary. Our encounter as the Painted Lady and the Blue Spirit… it was different for both of us. We had worked together, without fighting. I didn’t want to admit it, but I had enjoyed it. It was nice to not… argue or avoid him, at least for a night.
“Then why are you acting like this? We’re on the same side. We… remember how we worked together?” Zuko said, running his fingers through his hair as he tried to think of something to say. Obviously, this wasn’t easy for him.
“Look, I’m not trying to be your best friend or anything like that. But we have a common goal to work for. I’m not your enemy. Stop treating me like one.”
“If I thought you were truly the enemy, I’d tell you to leave the group.” I replied, my voice tight.
“Then what am I to you? Something to ignore, and to throw sarcastic remarks at when it amuses you?”
Before Zuko or I could say anything else, Aang and Toph joined us with a bag of fire-flakes. Thank the spirits for small favors.
o0o0o0o
1 Month, 30 Days BSC
Zuko
I sat in the grass near Katara after Sokka and Piandao wound down from their duel, the butler bringing them tea. It was all too clear – at least to me, that he was a member of the White Lotus. His mansion was practically inundated with the design, from the tiles of the courtyard floor to the carvings in the woodwork and the windows. I had heard of Piandao before, of course, before I was exiled, how he had managed to fight off the soldiers come to arrest him for leaving the army. I am not sure what happened, but after that he was left alone.
Sokka had truly come far. It was not that he was a bad warrior, but a boomerang or spear were significantly different from a sword. When he looked at me, I gave him a thumbs-up. He returned the gesture.
“I want to talk to you.” Piandao said to me as the rest of the group got ready to continue our journey. His butler had even packed a lunch for us. Heh.
“What is it?” I asked as I rose to my feet to follow him. He led me to what was apparently his study.
“You can take that bandage off your face, Prince Zuko.”
I did not speak for several moments. He gave me a tight smile.
“I am not your enemy, not do I seek a reward for telling the authorities you have violated your exile.” he said firmly. I sighed and lifted the bandage off my face, it was always a relief to do so. I blinked a few times, happy to be able to see from both eyes again.
“That's not how the Fire Lord sees it.” I replied. He nodded slowly.
“If you had truly done something horrible, Iroh would not have joined you in your exile.”
I pressed my lips together. Surely he had noticed that my uncle was not traveling with us.
“There is something I do need to know.” he said. I looked at him.
“Why were you exiled? I want to hear it from you, not the story the Fire Lord gave out.”
I looked outside the window for a few moments, collecting my thoughts. Finally, I spoke.
“It all started in my father's War Room...” I told him about how Uncle had taken me into the War Room with him, commanding me to be silent, and how upon hearing that a great wrong was to be committed, I was unable to maintain that silence. When I was done with my story, I saw a glint of something in Piandao's eyes. Was it approval? It was hard to tell, it was obvious this man kept his emotions contained.
“Never let anyone tell you that you did wrong. Your father was sorely mistaken when he said you had dishonored the Fire Nation.” Piandao said firmly. “One day, our people will know that.”
o0o0o0o
I rubbed the metal in my pocket. It had a nice feeling. Toph had Bended her lump into a armband and had offered to Bend our metal for us in the shape we wanted. I had not yet decided what I wanted my piece to be.
Next to the metal was a Lotus tile. As we ate the lunch that Fat had packed for us, I plucked it out and idly shuffled it between my fingers as I saw Uncle sometimes do to his Pai Sho pieces.
“I got one, too.” Sokka said, pulling a matching tile out of the little bag Piandao had given him. I nodded slowly.
“Hey, you know what this means?” Sokka asked casually as he glanced over at me. I wondered if he was talking about the tile.
“I have a sword. So do you. You think that we can spar sometimes? Just… you know, to keep our skills sharp and all that.” he said, trying to sound nonchalant about it, though I noted a subtle tone of eagerness in his tone.
“Sure.” I said, nodding, maintaining my cool, but I too looked forward to a sword-using partner to spar with.
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Slow Heat