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Bitter Alliance	By : Looneyluna Category: Avatar - The Last Airbender > Het - Male/Female > Katara/Zuko Views: 31138 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 1
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.

Chapter List
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Act III

Chapter Three

--

I can almost taste the water whore’s fear as she whispers to the stocky Earthbender. She looks over her shoulder, tossing her long, dark braids out of the way. As much as I wish it, I cannot harm any of them. I am no longer Fire Lord. I no longer possess the power of the comet. I am a drifting soul, my divinity having been stripped away by my bastard son. My quest toward immortality is nearing its end. My ambition, just like my memories, wanes with the passage of time.

I stare at the petulant child who faces the corner for her punishment. I know not what she did, and I really don’t care. That weak, pathetic child is my only hope. Though she looks just like her mother, Kaya reminds me of her father. She is soft and needy, constantly seeking affection from those around her. She is sickly, just like Zuko was when he was born. I had hoped that she would have been more like my beloved Azula, but her mother coddles her just like Ursa coddled Zuko.

But it is this child who will restore me to my former glory. She is the bridge I shall cross between the damned and the living. For now, I must play to her youthful sensibilities.

Her brother, on the other hand, reminds me of myself. He has a solid build and is already showing elemental potential. With proper training, he could be a great Firebender. Perhaps I was hasty in my dismissal of his existence. He could prove to be a useful tool in the manipulation of his sister.

“Promise me, Toph,” the Waterbender whispers, hastily wiping tears away. “Promise me that you will take care of them.”

I approach the women and listen to the conversation, my curiosity aroused. They cannot see me.

The one called Toph chooses her words carefully, apparently a feat that is taxing for the Earthbender. “I can’t, Katara,” she hisses. “Zuko made me promise to take care of you. I can’t do that if you leave.”

The water witch’s spine stiffens. “Is it a promise you made to Zuko or to Mahari?”

The petite woman’s fists clench at her sides as she holds her temper. “I’ll pretend that you just didn’t question my loyalty, Sugar Queen. Zuko told me to take you away and protect you. He told me to never leave you. I may not have sworn an oath, but I’ve kept my promise.”

The Waterbender embraces the Earthbender and mumbles something I do not hear. The shorter of the two closes her misty green eyes as tears spill down her cheeks.

“And that’s why I have to do this, Toph,” Katara sighs. “I have to find him. I have to help him.”

“How do you know he’s even alive?” asks Toph.

Grinning, I move closer. I am eager to hear news of my son’s descent into madness. Sozin’s comet clouded my judgment and abilities. I am interested in hearing how they have affected Zuko. I doubt he’s dead. If he were dead, surely his spirit would have sought out his lover and children by now.

“I don’t,” Katara replies. “That’s why I’ve got to find him.”

“Iroh and Kaya –” Toph whispers pleadingly, seemingly unwilling to accept the mantle of responsibility.

“Must stay here,” the Waterbender affirms, her voice quivering with doubt and fear. “They are safe here. Kaya needs the mud in the glacial spring. You know how to treat her. I trust you.”

“I don’t have healing abilities,” Toph reminds Katara. “What if she has an attack and the mud isn’t enough?”

Katara pauses, her eyes wide and moist with tears. “I trust you…”

--

Closing my eyes, I shudder as the sand glider speeds across the desert. Tears fall freely, but the Sandbenders do not see. They don’t know that I have stowed away beneath the heavy tarp that once covered the supplies to our desert oasis.

Leaving my children was a difficult decision to make. My heart is like a heavy stone and I cannot listen to the voice inside my head that condemns me for abandoning them. Instead, I listen to the voice that murmurs Zuko’s name over and over again. I must find him. I can no longer stay in the desert and wait for my children to “serve their purpose” when Mahari sees fit. They are too young to trifle with now and should be safe. I take these actions to secure their futures.

I have not left them defenseless. Toph is with them. She has vowed to protect them and Sokka. It was not an easy promise to extract, for she had promised Zuko that she would protect me. I have left them in the safest place imaginable. In that respect, I am grateful to Mahari for providing the impenetrable desert home Iroh and Kaya have known these four years.

I am not even certain that I will make it through the desert alive, but I must try. Kaya and Iroh’s fate is tied to Zuko’s. Of that, I am sure. Shifting beneath the tarp, I try to ease the ache in my cramped muscles.

The glider slows down and comes to a halt. I hear muffled voices. Before I know it, the heat of the sun beats down upon me, seemingly spotlighting my stowaway status.

“See, Shiloh!” one Sandbender says to the other through the material that covers his mouth. “I told you the tarp moved.”

The one who I assume is Shiloh uncovers his mouth and whips his glasses off. “The wind was whipping all around us, Kato. How could you tell she was under there?”

“Ah, man!” Kato cries as he watches me crawl off the sandglider and straighten my clothes. “Dad’s going to kill us.”

“Never mind, Dad,” the older brother retorts. “What about Mahari? She’ll go ballistic when she finds out the Avatar’s mom has flown the coup. We need to take her back.”

Having had enough of their debate, I spring into action. With a long, sweeping movement of my arm, I call the water from my bag and prepare to defend myself.

Shiloh, who is tall and lanky, stares at me in disbelief. “You have got to be kidding me. Look around you, Waterbender. You’re out of your element.”

“I made it across this desert once,” I reply, waving my water whip around menacingly. “I can do it again.”

“Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!” Kato shouts, placing himself between us.

Eyeing the younger brother suspiciously, I return the water to my pouch, but leave the cork out in case I need to defend myself.

“Where are you trying to go, anyway?” he asks softly.

“The Fire Nation.” I don’t take my eyes off Shiloh, for his stance is still threatening to me, whereas Kato’s posture is conciliatory.

“Why?” Shiloh questions as the wind whips sand around us.

“I need to find Prince Zuko,” I reply, my words catching on the wind as if the element is sabotaging my efforts to communicate. I can feel drops of water escape my container as nature claims the moisture. The amount is tiny, but it is enough to capture my attention and worry me. I may be able to pull water from the sand, but I’ll lose it to the air.

“You mean Fire Lord Zuko?” Kato shoves the toe of one of this boots into the sand.

I nod. The heat of the day is sweltering and it takes my breath away.

“You can’t go to the Fire Nation,” the older brother announces, his tone one of final authority. “There isn’t much left of it and the Fire Lord is mad. No one ventures there and lives.”

“Why not?” I snap, undeterred by his speech. The brothers look at me as though I am crazy. Sometimes I wonder if I am.

Kato is the first to speak. “I don’t know all the details, but there isn’t much left. The outer islands were destroyed, claimed by the waves of water. The costal regions also gave way to the ocean. What the water didn’t take, the fire rain destroyed.

“Apparently, the prince killed his father and went mad with grief. They say he’s horribly scarred and deformed. I guess his father fought to the end, huh?”

“Take me to him,” I demand, refusing to believe what he was telling me.

Shiloh scoffs. “My, my! Aren’t you a bossy one?”

Desperation seizes me and rational thoughts abandon me. I whip the water out of the leather pouch and snap it toward them. The water dissolves as wind and sand blocks its path. As if it is a living, breathing thing, sand crawls up my legs, encasing me. It burns my eyes and skin. The battle is lost before it even began. The weight of the sand as it encompasses me is oppressive. My hands are trapped in front of me and only my head remains uncovered.

Kato looks worried.

“What did you do that for, sandass!” he chastises Shiloh. “Now we’re going to have to dig her out and take her back to the oasis.”

I fight against the sand, loosening bits and pieces. “You can take me back, but I’ll only leave the oasis again. I’m not a prisoner. Neither are my children!”

With a broad downward sweep of his arm, Shiloh bends the sand and releases me. The move is so sudden that I fall forward onto my hands and knees.

“You’re right,” he states simply. “You’re not a prisoner.”

“She’s not?” Kato asks, clearly baffled over his brother’s change in tactics.

“We’re charged with protecting the Avatar,” he explains, climbing onto the sandglider. “She isn’t the Avatar. If she wants to commit suicide by wandering through the desert, that’s her business.”

It’s a struggle, but I manage to stand up.

Shifting something around on the glider, Shiloh pulls out a pouch of water and a knapsack and tosses it at my feet. He points toward the west. “It’s a three-day hike to the nearest town. If you make it there… Well, have fun swimming to the Fire Nation. No one will take you there.”

Looking in the direction he has pointed, I shudder. The sun is already setting, shades of darkness already covering the land.

“You’re just going to leave her?” Kato sputters.

“Why not?” his brother answers with a casual shrug. “No one will know if she dies out here. If she makes it, then she’s out of our hair. Either way, we can profit off the supplies that are sent for her.”

Kato accepts his brother’s explanation and climbs onto the glider. I can tell by the expression on his face that he is hesitant.

“Just remember,” Kato says, his voice rising as the whine of air and sand fills the sail. “Travel at night and sleep during the day.”

Shiloh pushes the glider to the north, leaving me to my own devices.

Kneeling, I pick up my empty water bag and focus on the splotches of dark sand that hold water. I bend what water I can from the sand and gather the supplies they left for me. I have one and a half bags of water and what appears to be a small tent in the knapsack.

The sun is setting. I feel tired and I want to rest, but Kato’s advice echoes in my head. I need to start walking. I stare at the vastness of the Si Wong Desert. The yellow sands are cast in shades of burnt orange and blood, the effects of the comet.

My memories play tricks on me as I hear Aang’s laughter on the wind. Sokka, had he retained his wit and sarcasm, would undoubtedly find the state of things fascinating in his usual sarcastic manner. My brother would probably seek the nearest cactus and make nice with the juice. Sokka never did care for the heat of the desert.

Those times seem so long ago. Shaking my head, I focus my thoughts and continue my long trek across the desert.

--

TBC

Author’s Notes – I obviously can’t thank Moncapitan enough for his constant prodding and encouragement. When I start writing, I never know where I’m going. It drives him crazy and he really does guide the process with his suggestions and harassment (wink, wink).

I must also thank everybody who leaves reviews for anything I write. (As some of you know, I do have other Avatar stories. I also write in other fandoms. I also have an original story in the works.) Between the eight fan fictions, my original story, motherhood, work, and life, I update whenever possible. I beg forgiveness for the lack of updates on this story. When it came time to work on it, I came down with a horrible case of writer’s block. I know where I want to go with the story, but there are times where I don’t know how to get there. Anyway, I hope everybody enjoys the latest chapter. As you can see, I am working on getting Zuko and Katara back together.
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Bitter Alliance