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Katara of the Southern Water Tribe ([info]k_waterbender) wrote in [info]mirage_rpg,
@ 2008-11-01 19:06:00

Previous Entry  Add to memories!  Tell a Friend!  Next Entry
Entry tags:complete, day 21, katara, toph bei fong, zuko

Day Twenty-One
Who: Katara, Toph Bei Fong, and Zuko
When: Day 21 ; Late Morning
What: Confronting Zuko once again
Where: Building E first, then to the meadow
Rating: PG-13
Status: Complete

Katara had been so upset and so bone weary the day before that she’d gone straight to her room to do some relaxing yoga positions before sleeping. She didn’t even eat dinner that night, and she definitely hadn’t gone to Toph with the information she learned about Zuko’s sudden loss of memory. She figured it could wait until she could better collect her thoughts.

She had dreamed about the confrontation between herself and Zuko over and over in a loop in her mind. Each time it was a little more distressed, a little more desperate, a little more insane. Sometimes his fire blast had singed her hair, and sometimes the candles exploded around her, burning her flesh. Other times she had to freeze him to the wall, and still others her voice would suddenly become high pitched and difficult to understand. Other times it all seemed to move in super slow motion, and she felt heavy like she was trying to walk through mud. The entire thing was so absurd that she could completely understand Zuko’s unwillingness to believe her, even if she knew she was right. He thought he was right, too, after all.

Katara didn’t awaken until mid-morning, and the waterbender was still upset about the entire ordeal when she regained consciousness. She went through some relaxing exercises, and they helped to calm her. By late morning, she knew Toph would be waking soon, so she bathed and dressed in her Water Tribe battle attire. She had taken to wearing this ever since the kidnappings occurred, and she wasn’t about to let her guard down, especially not now. She was also sure to strap two full water skins to her back as well before she left her room to cross the hall to Toph’s door. Her fists rapped upon the wood, and she waited for her earthbender friend to answer.


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[info]rocksolid
2008-11-02 12:31 am UTC (link)
Toph had actually been awake already. She'd taken a shower (resulting in no coating of earth for once or bits of grass here and there), dressed in whatever the planet saw fit to lay out for her. The clothes were generally well suited for whatever weather outside. Today was just a play on her usual earth kingdom clothes -- shorts instead of long pants, tank top rather then the loose green sleeves. Which she took to mean it was nice out. She'd been trying to decide what to do when the knocking caught her attention. "Yeah, hang on."

Pulling her hair back, letting it fall in a ponytail as she made her way to the door as it was quicker then fixing it up into a bun. "Hey." She stepped back, recognizing Katara's build and stance, allowing her room to come in. The teen figured her friend was around to talk about Zuko, how the 'chat' went. "How'd it go?"

She turned slightly, realizing that the room had suddenly provided a table and a set of chairs in the middle of the grassy space that was her room. Convenient, and she wasn't all that bothered with the mind reading thing, but having objects appear out of no where on her radar was still a bit weird. As long as there was something to eat on the table she'd be happy, and there was, of course, -- fruit, muffins, and juice for the two of them.

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[info]fire_lord_zuko
2008-11-02 01:32 am UTC (link)
Like each night for the past few nights, Zuko didn't sleep well. His fight with Katara had left him feeling physically invigorated, but mentally exhausted, which made getting to sleep take a long time, and when he got there, it was fitful, and filled with odd dreams about the future that Katara had described to him, an alternate world where he had changed... where he'd redeemed himself, and chosen a path not of power, but of honor, honor that he made for himself. He'd followed his Uncle's path, and it'd lead to him being called a traitor, and helping the Avatar bring down his father, bring down the fire nation... and at the same time allowed him to assume the throne and become the Fire Lord himself.

But in his dream it was not so simple as Katara had described. He'd not assumed the throne because he wanted to, nor for any of the thousands of reasons that he would have back when he was still traveling the world, searching for the Avatar, trying to regain his honor. He'd been forced to, by his Uncle, who had refused to take the title himself, and had instead retired to a life of serving tea. With his sister mad with power and devoted to destroying everything she could, he was the only one who could take on the responsibility, the only one that the fire nation would follow into the era of peace that was to follow the Avatar besting Ozai. It was the honorable thing to do, and so at the time Zuko had not questioned it, not considered fully the implications of what it meant. He'd done what his Uncle said he should do... and now...

Now he was trapped in it.

It was by no means a bad life. He got all that he could want in terms of physical things, for even with donating to the relief efforts, the fire nation still had plenty of money that it had made from the war. He had all of the comforts he'd not had when he was on the road, traveling the Earth kingdom, or camping out on the run with the Avatar... so why did those memories seem to be so much more vivid to him than the ones he was experiencing now? It felt as if the life he had lead before was in color, and now all that there was for him was dull black and white, a monochrome life of endless boredom and meetings that seemed to drag on forever without getting much of anything done.

The generals had taken Ozai's departure the worst. While they were happy to have anyone but Azula on the throne, Zuko's plans for reconstruction did not involve war, and instead involved trust, something they had no experience with. He could also see in their weathered eyes that they thought he was being foolish by not taking advantage of the treaties by trying to get a better hold on Earth Kingdom territory. It was vast, and to claim a small 'Sphere of Influence' as they called it in the Earth Nation would give the Fire Nation a strategic advantage. Zuko was of the mindset that they did not need anything more than the 'colonies' that they had over there, and even those were kept with permission from the Earth Kingdom, and a dual agreement was set on governing them and splitting the taxes from them, something that he knew the generals frowned upon.

And though he never admitted it, when the Avatar came to visit him, he looked at Aang, Katara, Toph, and Sokka with envious eyes. They were free, all of them. Even the Avatar had no obligation to help the world in a particular fashion. He just chose to help rebuild, help do what was right for the world. He was as untamed as the wind he twisted, and if he wanted to go to the air temples or go penguin sledding he was free to take a break whenever he wanted. Zuko on the other hand had to make plans, leave people in charge, and deal with the constant complaining of his aids, the rumors that floated around about him being secretly ill and too afraid to tell the fire nation the truth of what was going on, or that he was secretly building up another army to turn on the Avatar, thusly completing the dream of his great grandfather Sozin.

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[info]fire_lord_zuko
2008-11-02 01:33 am UTC (link)
In his dream he'd just made such arrangements, and dealt with the usual annoying chatter that had accompanied it. Time schedules would be delayed, taxes wouldn't get to people on time. He was being selfish, he was throwing the whole kingdom into chaos. Zuko had heard it all before, and despite the fact that he shrugged the whole thing off as if he were still a reckless young teenager, in the depths of his heart he knew that his advisors had a point, and that there was a reason for concern with his trips out of the kingdom. If somethign happened to him, there was no clear successor to the throne, and he was risking all of the peace he'd made by putting himself in a position where someone might have him killed and take the crown for themselves. Were he actually going on a trip to have fun for himself, he might have considered their words more carefully... but he wasn't.

Zuko was leaving to go looking for his mother.

As he finished putting the last of his posessions in a sack, he reached up and undid his hair, setting the golden flame of the Fire Lord down upon his table, preferring not to travel with it, even though many people could recognize him if they saw his scar, especially now that the play about the Avatar had gained worldwide syndication. The ending had been changed, of course... but it was still a crappy play.

As he started to tie up his satchel, he heard the door opening behind him, and his golden eyes looked to a familiar siloutte cast on the wall by the light outside of his room. Of all the people in the Fire Nation, her prescence was the one he recognized the most easily, the person who had seemed to care for him in a time when no one else did...

"Hey there... are you getting ready for our big... date... tonight..." Mai's voice trailed from the slightly happy tone that she sometimes had to the usual dead tone he'd known all of his lifetime. It had been forged by a lifetime of disappointment, to the point where nothing had really begun to matter to her any longer. She tried not to be obvious about it, but Zuko could tell when he was hurting her. He'd forgotten something, a date he'd made with her, to go see the summer solstice festival...

"You're going to leave again, aren't you? On one of your little quests..." Mai's voice became harder, and though she was trying hard to make it sound as if she didn't care Zuko could hear the pain in her voice.

He stared at his shoes for a long moment, and frowned slightly, then slowly turned towards her, his golden eyes staring into her darker ones, his brow furrowing as he tried to think of what was best to say, what his uncle would say at a time like this. "I'm sorry." he admitted, realizing that there was nothing he could make up that would take the place of an honest apology. "I shouldn't have forgotten that we'd made a date to go to the festival... but there's a traveling merchant that's going to be in a town not far from here, and if I don't leave tonight he'll be gone-"

"And then you'll miss out on another wild goose chase to go after your mother." Mai replied in a deadpan tone of voice. She walked up to him and crossed her arms, staring at him as if she were trying to size him up, to see if there were any way to get him to change his mind, to reason with him, to make her see things as clearly as she did. Zuko's gaze on her was firm and unflinching, and as he took a step forward, she turned her back and folded her arms, her usual defense mechanism against him making her angry.

"I'm sorry, Mai... but you don't understand, I have -"

"No! You don't understand, Zuko... you DON'T have to do this. You shouldn't do this!" Zuko's eyes widened as Mai turned back around. It wasn't often that she actually raised her voice, and much less often that she did it to argue with him. It meant that she was actually fairly angry about this whole thing, which only served to make Zuko feel worse. "You're listening to your father, a man who lied and murdered his way to get to the top, and then tried to do the same thing to conquer the world... even if she's out there, he's not going to tell you where she is... and every time you go you're putting everything you fought for at risk all over again!"

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[info]fire_lord_zuko
2008-11-02 01:33 am UTC (link)
"My advisors know what to do while I'm gone, Mai, I trust them..." Zuko said, taking a step forward.

"You shouldn't!" Mai said, backing up as he tried to close the distance between them. "Zuko, some of these people worked under your father for years, do you really think all of them have your best interests in mind? And what about me..."

"She's my MOTHER, Mai. She sacrificed everything-"

"And I'm your girlfriend, the one who stood by you, if you've forgotten, even when it meant getting thrown into prison while you ran around with the Avatar!" Zuko could see the tears slightly brimming in Mai's eyes, but she turned around, too proud to actually let even the Fire Lord think that he'd somehow broken through the wall of emotion that she kept around herself, when she'd not wanted him to. "I'm tired of coming in second to someone who abandoned you!"

Zuko's eyes widened, and he turned around to grab his satchel, gripping it so hard his knuckles turned white. He could hear Mai turn around and look at him. Both of them knew that she'd gone too far with her last comment, and he heard her finally take a step towards him, trying to close the distance between them. He could feel her fingertips brush past his hair as she reached for his shoulder.

"Get out." Zuko said icily. "Now."

There was a pause, and he thought perhaps he heard a faint sniffle as Mai took a step away from him.

"Whatever." Came her cold reply, and a moment later his door slammed shut, leaving him alone in the dark.

Zuko woke up with tears brimming in his eyes, and he rolled over slowly, staring at the iron wall next to his bed. It'd been a dream... a silly dream that was caused by the Water bender girl telling him fanciful tales about a future that wasn't real. Something that the Avatar wanted him to believe, so that he wouldn't fight, wouldn't avenge his uncle until it was too late. As he sat there in the dark, staring at the iron walls, he tried to convince himself that it had been nothing more than a dream. But as he thought on it, another thought came into his mind, one that was more terrible and frightening than he really wanted to consider at the moment, and he did his best to try to banish it from his mind...

What if Katara was right, and that was the life in his dream was the life he was going to have to go back to?

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[info]k_waterbender
2008-11-02 05:48 pm UTC (link)
Katara half smiled when she heard Toph call through the door. The earthbender was already awake. That almost seemed strange to the other femme, for the daughter of the Bei Fong family always seemed to be asleep by the time she happened by. However, this was an exception, and it was a pleasant one. She wanted to be able to tell the Blind Bandit all about what had happened between herself and Zuko.

When the door opened, Katara was equally shocked to see that the “healthy coating of earth” Toph normally donned had been washed away. She almost asked if she’d hit her head in the battle with Zuko, but she thought better of it. Now wasn’t the time to joke, especially not when their good friend was completely out of sorts with himself. She stepped into the earthbender’s room.

It was a pleasant room, very natural, very earthy. The grass was soft beneath her moccasins, and the air was a comfortable temperature. “It went better than it did between you two. At least I know exactly what’s wrong with him.

Katara nearly jumped at the sudden movement from the corner of her eye, but when she turned she realized it was only a stone table with a couple of chairs of the same earthen material on either side and food piled on top. Normally, when objects conveniently appeared, they did so where she couldn’t see, so she’d had no practice in getting used to them suddenly appearing. She wondered how Toph felt about that since she could see everything at all times.

The waterbender strolled across the grass and took a seat in one of the chairs. For stone, it was quite comfortable. She fixed herself a plate of half a mango, a blueberry muffin, and some lychee nuts. Hog monkeys weren’t the only creatures who liked them, after all. Her juice was that of the moon peach. She ate a little and drank a bit before she swallowed and started speaking. She sighed. “Remember how we told you about the times before Sokka, Aang, and I went to the Earth Kingdom, when Zuko and Iroh chased us all over the place to capture Aang? Well, some time before we went to the North Pole, Zuko said he saw Aang blow up his ship with blasting jelly. He thinks Iroh died in the explosion trying to protect his nephew, and he believes that he was in a coma for the last five years as a result of it.

“We know that at that time, it was pirates that blew his ship up at the command of Admiral Zhao because he told us that when we grew closer, but the Dai Lee have gotten ahold of him. Somehow they and Ozai escaped prison because Zuko said he saw his father when he was in Lake Laogai. I think it’s a plot to make war again. I don’t think Iroh is dead. He was too much of a fighter. Zuko had poison in his body. He passed out because of it, so I took the liberty of healing his foot while he was unconscious, but I found that poison. It was everywhere, and it was harming him more than it probably should have. He’s convinced it was Joo Dee’s doing, but I don’t think she would have done it without a command from the Dai Lee.”

Katara sighed once more before taking another couple bites of a mango. “He doesn’t believe anything I have to say, but I think I started to get through to him a little bit yesterday. He doesn’t trust me, but I think the fact that I healed his foot a little and took the poison out of his body helped open the door toward trust.”

Sapphire eyes watched Toph’s face for any reactions. “He thinks Aang is here, and I think he thinks Aang is trying to kill him. The Dai Lee fed him all of this. He’s reverted back to that sixteen-year-old who wanted nothing more than his honor and his father’s love. He wants to kill Aang, and he thinks we’re on the Avatar’s side. He doesn’t remember seeing any of the devastation the Fire Nation caused to the world. We need to find a way to get through to him, but I don’t see how that’s going to be possible.”

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[info]k_waterbender
2008-11-02 05:48 pm UTC (link)
Katara’s gaze lit up and it bore into a teen who couldn’t see it. “Toph,” She began gently. “I know that it’s hard for you, but I think you need to apologize to Zuko yourself about stabbing his foot. I didn’t get the chance to do it yesterday. Just say you were afraid because you didn’t know what he was going to do or something. I think it’ll help. Even when Zuko was a kid he always had some good in him. His life just hardened him and made him selfish. Kindness chips that wall he keeps around him a little at a time. I need to continue working at healing his foot, too, because it’s still bad enough that it will pain him to walk on it. I was too tired to do much with it after I got the poison out of his body. He had a lot more energy when he awoke, though. I don’t know if his pride will let me just heal it. Do you think you could help me convince him? I mean, the only stipulation would be that you can’t attack him unless he attacks you first. He didn’t attack me last night because I didn’t do anything to show I was a threat. I guess he did shoot fire, but it wasn’t directly at me like he probably originally intended. He purposely changed his aim to the side. I know it.”

She paused for a moment before opening her mouth to speak once again. “So, will you help me? I need you Toph. He’ll remember you in time. I’m sure of it. Jet remembered after he was brainwashed. This won’t be as easy as it was with him, but we need to try. Zuko is our friend. He’s just lost most of his memories, especially the ones that matter most.”

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[info]rocksolid
2008-11-03 12:05 am UTC (link)
She would have said 'don't get used to it'. Would have rolled around on the floor just for spite if Katara made a point of even showing the slightest bit of praise at her cleanliness. It wasn't any special effort or anything. Toph bathed as frequently as anyone, it was just that she would usually earth bend or promptly sit back on the ground resulting in a fresh coat of dirt before anyone was the wiser. Her friend just happened to be fortunate enough to catch her before that happened for once. It wasn't the time though.

"Yeah. It happens all the time. I've gotten used to it." She commented as Katara jumped when the table and chairs appeared. Clothes, blankets, pillows, food...They would all show up at any given moment, usually when she needed them so it was easy enough to anticipate but still weird.

"It's not like it could've gone much worse." Toph wasn't surprised though that she got a better response out of Zuko. The earth bender wasn't very good at persuading people to talk in a way that didn't include throwing big rocks at them until they gave in. Katara on the other hand was just the sort of person you couldn't help wanting to confide in, she had the patients and compassion to wait until the other was ready to talk no matter what they threw at her in the meantime. Toph didn't. She would listen, and make an effort to be their for her friends, but she wasn't going to waste her time trying to convince someone to share their problems with her -- especially when she wasn't very good at comforting people anyways.

Toph closed the door and sat down across from Katara, plucking grapes from the bowl, drinking the grapefruit juice provided to her, as the explanation began. She nodded slightly at the question. At the mention of Iroh being dead, even if she was sure it couldn't be true, had the teen near choking on the grapes she'd eaten. She remembered the kindly old man very well. She and Sokka had visited him while they'd been traveling through the earth kingdom to her home. Toph considered him a friend, and the idea that someone would kill him -- true or not, she understood why Zuko had been so angry. Of course, Iroh was more then capable of fending for himself, but Toph wouldn't give a second thought to crushing anyone who tried to hurt the old firebender.

"He can't be dead. I saw him a few days before coming here. He was running his shop same as ever." She pointed out quickly, reassuring herself as much as anything. Toph made a face at the thought of Joo Dee as well. That woman, or women rather, had been all kinds of creepy. How the Dai Lee and Ozai had escaped though -- it made no sense. They'd all been in prison. Still, the brain washing thing explained a lot, and it was a relief to know that hopefully they could get him back to normal.

"Didn't Aang get through to Jet by reminding him about his friends?" Toph was pretty sure that's what the airbender said. If they could get him to hold still long enough to listen, couldn't be that difficult, a little creative metalbending if it came to that, then maybe telling him about traveling together, the end of the war, about her last visit with Iroh...

She couldn't see the gaze, but hearing her name -- She could almost imagine it. That look that would have told her that even if it sounded like a suggestion, there was the expectation that she would do it. Toph planned to anyways. "I was going to apologize." She might've been insulted, if not at that comment then at the condition that followed about her not attacking first. "Jeeze. He's my friend too. It's not like I wanted to fight him, Katara. I'm not going to attack him if I don't have to." She was tough, stubborn, liked to fight, but she wasn't going to go starting fights with Zuko. Especially not after yesterday.

"Really. I don't need the speech. I said I'd help." She scowled and leaned back in her chair. Did Katara really think she needed so much convincing, think so little of her? Was it about her stabbing his foot?

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[info]fire_lord_zuko
2008-11-03 12:16 am UTC (link)
Zuko lay in bed for the longest time, staring at the wall or the ceiling, trying to go over what he'd dreamnt about. But the more he thought about it, the less it seemed to solidify in his mind, fading in time the way all dreams did. The waterbender might have done something to him... she was the one who brought up brain washing... maybe that was something that she was capable of? It'd be a devious tactic to convince someone you were trying to 'un-brainwash' them, and in the process brainwash them to believe whatever it was that you wanted them to. He'd heard of such cults that tried to 'save' people, by making them believe something rediculous... was that part of the Avatar's plan for the world, a cult dedicated to how much he was saving everyone, so that no one would believe all of the horrible things that he had done?

Zuko blinked as he smelled food, and saw a tray of it sitting by his door. It'd not been there when he'd woken up, he was sure of that. As the smell of fire cakes and spice tea filled his nostrils, Zuko heard his stomach complain over the lack of attention he'd paid it lately, and groaning he finally pulled himself out of bed. Unlike Katara thought, he could walk on his foot, though it was a bit tender if he tried to move it quickly. There was some aching as he got it moving, but he would ignore it. When one trained hard enough one learned to push past the pain, when it came in small amounts. Training consistantly until things ached was the way to do heavy damage to your own body, but training enough that you only felt a light burn, or learning how to use something after an injury, that was okay. His foot was pushing it, but he tried not to think about it. He had to ready himself.

A few minutes later, he left, one fire cake still hanging out of his mouth as he shut the door behind himself, and munched on it. Inside of his satchel he'd found some jerky, spiced properly, which was an oddity. It seemed like whatever this place was, it was seeing to him, which put creedence on the waterbender's claim that it really was some freakish other world and not a trick laid out by the Avatar. He wouldn't put anything past them at this point, but it seemed like the whole place was a little outside of the Avatar's abilities, at least what he knew them to be. If the Avatar really could do all of this, he didn't stand a chance at defeating him anyway, so he was trying not to think of that possibility.

His foot wrapped tight, he ventured out into the hallway, then out of his room, looking for the proper place to practice. A cement training area would have been idea, but he didn't see one. It didn't matter anyway, one would have been a slightly less than good idea anyway with the earth bender lurking about. He would just have to settle for a meadow which didn't have too high of grass, or else he'd start a lasting fire that would be hard to put out. finding a well trimmed grassy area, Zuko sighed and slipped off his shirt, setting it aside and tossing the strip of jerky on top of it. He was sure that he'd want them later, but for the moment, he was more interested in training.

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[info]fire_lord_zuko
2008-11-03 12:17 am UTC (link)
He was surprised now, at how well his body felt moving. Whatever Katara had done had taken away all of the fatigue of the coma he'd been in. It felt almost like he'd not gone more than a few days without practicing his moves, really. At first he'd been worried that he wouldn't remember the fire bending basics. Since his Agni Kai with General Zhao, he'd come to appreciate the fire bending basics quite a bit more than he had previously. The basic moves are what saved him, and what eventually caused Zhao to lose. Thankfully those seemed to come rather easily to him, as fluidly as if he'd done them all of his life. His foot made a few of them come out half heartedly, and he had to rely more on the fist motions than the hand ones, but it seemed to go off rather well...

And then, as he was finishing up his last form, his body twisted and did something he'd never thought to do before, he twisted into a low fire sweep and then spun almost immediately to his feet, pulling back to gather energy before sending it forward. The result was a globe of fire that surrounded him which shot a massive fire ball into the sky. As it flew off into the atmosphere, Zuko nearly fell backward, staring at it. Where the hell had that one come from? It was like his body was somehow doing something on it's own.

Uncle Iroh had once explained to him that the importance of rigid practice was because the body learned to do things without relying on the mind anymore for them. That instead of having to think about doing something, you just did it. It was true, there were moments when he fought when he just reacted instead of thinking about what to do, because in the heat of battle if you thought too much, you would wind up dead. But how could his body know how to do something that the rest of him didn't know how to do at all? Thinking about it seemed to make less sense than one of his uncle's quizzical sayings, so he shook his head and stood back up. He'd try not to think about it, and instead go back to what he was doing...

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[info]k_waterbender
2008-11-03 05:06 pm UTC (link)
Katara only smiled a smile that her friend could not see and shook her head. This place must have taken a while for the earthbender to get used to with the way things randomly appeared, but Toph already seemed accustomed to the whole thing while the waterbender, who had been there a while longer, was still jumpy about things randomly appearing. Perhaps it was a testament to Toph’s easy going nature, or perhaps it was only a result of the effects of the battle she had faced when Giselle and King Aragorn had been kidnapped.

The Water Tribe femme didn’t mention just how much worse it could have gone if Zuko was more like his father or his sister. Instead she said, “Well, it’s only going to go better from here.” It was said as if she had no doubts, but she was mostly hoping the words could be a prophecy that would come true. Battles between benders had a tendency to become quite intense and often deadly, but she hoped that none would be so bad as the one between Toph and Zuko yesterday had been. The Blind Bandit had been lucky to have gotten off so easily, but, then again, she was incredibly skilled, too, while Zuko was not only suffering from having been poisoned, but he was also suffering from only knowing the events of his life up to the age of sixteen. Katara couldn’t help but wonder if that meant his firebending had regressed back to that time, too.

The waterbender knew just how Toph must feel at the thought that Iroh might be dead. Katara remembered the pain that she had felt and the tears that had welled in her eyes when Zuko told her. By all rights, Iroh might not be dead. He was definitely a fighter, and he was one of the greatest firebenders in the world. He was a great master, and he had the entire Order of the White Lotus to back him up. It was unlikely he was dead, but if he was, it meant that Ozai and/or the Dai Lee had terminated his life.

Katara felt a good measure of relief wash over her, despite her adamant thoughts that he couldn’t be dead, when Toph confided that she and Sokka had seen him a few days before she’d been taken. They must have passed through Ba Sing Se on their way to Gaoling where Toph’s parents lived. Katara knew she would make excuses to go to visit the older man’s tea shop even if it was out of the way, and no one ever really protested unless it was urgent that they get to where they were going.

A lot could happen over the course of a few days. How long had it taken the Dai Lee to kidnap and brainwash Zuko? How long had it taken them to escape prison in the first place?

“Well, yes, but I tried that with Zuko and he wasn’t buying it. I’m not one hundred percent on this, but I think that poison had something to do with his brainwashing. I think the extent that they messed with Zuko’s mind is a lot more than the extent they messed with Jet‘s. It’s going to take longer to get through to Zuko than it did to get through to Jet, that’s for sure. At least Jet considered us his friends. Zuko counts us as his enemies.”

She heard the tone of Toph’s voice. Katara had offended her friend by accident. She had just gotten so used to how hard headed the earthbender could be that she sometimes forgot how reasonable she could be when it counted. Besides, she hadn’t been sure how friendly Toph would feel toward Zuko after their battle, and she definitely wasn’t sure how the firebender would react when Katara showed up with Toph at her side. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it that way.” The waterbender apologized to her friend.

When they finished eating, she stood. “We should go find him now.”

When they left their residential building, Katara could see a golem approaching them. A simple thought had brought the creature them. Despite not liking the idea that the Planet knew her every whim, she couldn’t deny the convenience of its abilities. Patience may have been a virtue, but it seemed she only needed it while working with Zuko. The Planet made sure to have everything for its inhabitants in a timely manner.

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[info]k_waterbender
2008-11-03 05:07 pm UTC (link)
“Um… Could you take us to Zuko?” She hadn’t really gotten used to a creature who she wasn’t even sure had a thinking mind. Was it its own person, or was it just a puppet of the Planet’s? Much to Katara’s surprise, the stone golem led them away from the buildings. With Zuko’s foot injury, she hadn’t thought he’d want to stray very far from things he might need, but he wasn’t really always the logical sort of man.

The day was not only warm, but it was hot, and a little bit moist. That only meant good things for a waterbender, but she was happy that there were cool breezes to make sure she wasn’t overly uncomfortable with the heat.

Once Zuko was in Katara’s visual sight- Toph probably ‘saw’ him before her, after all- they parted with the golem. Her jaw dropped open, and she was immediately thankful she’d brought her water skins with her, and she was grateful that there was such a good supply of water with the grass all around them. She had been expecting a Zuko who remembered only the abilities of sixteen years, but she and the earthbender arrived just in time for the waterbender to witness a more powerful move burst from the man. Her steps had halted at the sight, but she forced herself onward.

“Hi, Zuko!” She called while she and Toph were still a relatively good distance away in case he reacted badly to their sudden presence. Her voice was gentle and mildly pleasant, but it was obvious she still remembered the end of their last encounter, for her voice was slightly wary.

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[info]rocksolid
2008-11-17 08:07 pm UTC (link)
Her lack of surprise about the suddenly appearing objects shouldn't have been all that strange. She was pretty easy going, she supposed. There was also the bit of experience with mind reading that she gotten from her encounter with Armand. (Something, Toph realized, she hadn't told Katara about yet, but now wasn't the time.) As well as the fact that it was pretty much an every day thing here. Something she could anticipate. The blind thing helped too. Toph could see in her own way, but something thrown at her or falls from a tree or something, things were always catching her by surprise. She was able to pick it up quickly enough and not react like a surprised, jumpy girl. The whole kidnapping thing hadn't been that big a deal either. They fought in a war as kids, what was a little kidnapping after that?

"If you say so." The dark haired teen shrugged slightly. It might get better, but it could just as easily get worse. Toph had said that it couldn't have gone worse, but she knew just as well as Katara that it could have. She just preferred not to think about it. Crazy seemed to run in Zuko's family, with his father and sister being totally nuts, and after being brainwashed by Ozai -- who knew how much crazy could have rubbed off on him?

"You got most of the poison out though right?" She didn't question Katara's abilities to heal. Drawing out the poison would hardly be much of a challenge for her. With it gone they just had to worry about his being crazy 'cause of the brainwashing. "All we've got is time. We'll get through to him eventually." And by we she meant Katara. Chances were the waterbender would have better luck with the emotional little trips down memory lane trying to bring back the old Zuko.

"Whatever, I get it." Toph shrugged it off, insult passing quickly. "I'm not big on the apology crap, but I planned on saying sorry about his foot if he'll give me the chance." She half expected another fight next time they ran into each other, meaning no chance to apologize. Well, sort of beating him still with a rock long enough to say sorry, but it was hard to come off as sincere in that kind of situation. She supposed if they went to find him now though, Katara would be around to play peacemaker...Or to freeze him. Make him cool down whether he liked it or not.

Toph followed the golem and waterbender as they went to go find the young fire lord. She made a point to stay a few strides behind, to keep her distance when they stopped. She had to force herself to stand in a way that was nonthreatening, as typically she fell into a defensive stance out of habit. Especially when she knew she was facing a threat. Something Zuko was, without doubt. They weren't on friendly terms at the moment, and he knew about needing her feet to see. Any half wit would use that to their advantage when it was two against one, so she didn't want it to seem like she was back for a rematch or anything. Maybe the whole cleanliness thing would help. She looked nice enough, more girl less scraggly earth kingdom threat.

She quirked a brow at the pleasant greeting and chuckled slightly. The earthbender kept quiet though, rolling on the balls of her feet absently, and offering a sort of half-wave in greeting. All the while, listening -- carefully 'watching' how Zuko reacted. His movements, if his heart rate jumped, muscles tensed. Any sign that things could go badly. It probably wasn't the greatest idea to come say hello when he was already practicing his bending, heart rate already up.

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[info]fire_lord_zuko
2008-11-18 11:51 pm UTC (link)
Zuko stared at the direction where the fireball went, pausing for a long moment before he heard the cheery call of Katara coming from the distance. She would see it in his face that he still didn't trust her, his face scowling slightly as she approached from the distance. She'd still not given him any particular reason to believe what he was saying, and the last time he'd pointed that out to her she'd snapped at him. Not that he'd not done more than his fair share of snapping back at her, but if she really knew she was right what did she have to get upset about anyway? Rather than calling out any greeting back at her, his golden eyes watched her warily, like a wild cat looking as if it might bolt if the conditions were right.

And as he saw Toph with her, the scowl only deepened, regardless of the stance that the earth bender took. She would see him take a fighting stance as the two of them approached, making it clear that if they stepped any closer to him, then he was going to attack her. He'd wondered why she'd come alone to see him yesterday, and now it was clear that he must have disabled the earth bender then, or else she would have. Now that the earth bender was back on her feet the two of them had him outnumbered. He should have attacked her yesterday, even as weak as he'd been, not allowed himself to fall prey to the fact that she was a woman, that she had always seemed... genuinely a good person. She'd fought him, but to protect the one she cared for, not because she had to, not just because he was fire nation.

Or so he'd thought, anyway. Every instinct in his mind told him that the best thing to do was flee, but then, the water bender knew where he slept, what room this planed seemed keen on providing for him. He'd have no where to rest, nowhere to feel truly safe. How could he have been so stupid, to think that she really wanted to help him, that she wasn't out for what was in the Avatar's best interests? He mentally berated himself even as he saw them start to approach, and he growled sharply, raising his hands up in an obvious fire bending pose before sweeping his arms down in front of him. Fire shot from his hands like a blow torch, and while Katara was greatful for the misty morning, Zuko was still standing in a field...

And on the grass her moisture was both a blessing for her and Zuko. As the fire ignited it a large cloud of smoke rose from the green grass, making it hard to see him, and tell what movements he might be making. The fact that it was green meant that it would burn slower than it would if it was dryer, and there was less of a chance of it spreading beyond where he wanted it to, making it easier to control instead of sparking a wildfire. Over the light of the flames Zuko stared at Katara, and once again she would see the face of the fire nation staring back at her, the one that she'd always associated with the one that had killed her mother. This was not the Zuko who had pity, or doubted, this was the Zuko who did what he had to to survive.

"Leave me alone!" Zuko shouted over the roar of the fire. "Both of you!" But he knew that there was a large possibility that they wouldn't listen to him this time, they had the advantage, and he was injured, and everyone here knew it. Even so, the pair of them had just seen him release a powerful firebending attack, perhaps they would think twice about angering him for fear he might know something they didn't expect. Standing in an attack pose Zuko decided to hold his ground. It was now or never, after all. "This is your last warning... Go... or I won't hesistate to defend myself..." he growled sharply, his gold eyes watching both of them, waiting for one of them to strike... especially the earth bender... If he let her cause the ground to cave from underneath him again he was done for... Zuko crouched down low and prepped himself to jump to the side in case she tried it.

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[info]k_waterbender
2008-11-20 05:25 pm UTC (link)
“Yes, I did. There were only small traces left that I was too tired to work out. It took a few hours to get it out. By now, what was left has probably been flushed out by his body’s natural healing system.” That was just the way the body worked. Katara had been a healer long enough to have learned that. Medicines surely must work the same way as poisons, for medicines could become poisons in too large doses.

“I hope you do get the chance.” Katara said with a bit of trepidation. Facts were that Toph may never get the chance. The waterbender may have been a skilled healer, a skilled fighter, and a caring friend who understood emotions well, but she wasn’t all powerful. Zuko was angry and brainwashed, and that made for a very difficult compromise. Not that there really could be any compromise. Zuko was just as stubborn as she was.

When they finally made it to where Zuko was, it was obvious he was far less than pleased to see the duo arriving. Katara was really grateful that Toph was trying her best to appear non-threatening, and the waterbender herself had yet to take any stance. She noted the further infuriation on his features at the sight of Toph, and his fighting stance was obvious. She stopped walking, and she stood, watching him.

The next thing Katara knew, fire was coming toward them, and Zuko was shouting. Watching the fire ignite suddenly made her realize that she could not use the grass as a water source. Only the air and her water skins would aid her, but the air dried a bit with the fire- she could feel it. Even as the waterbender shied from the wall of flames separating the girls from the man, she noted the movement near her from Toph, and suddenly the earth moved before them, and the fire was gone. The Blind Bandit had always been quick to act. She hardly even had time to register Zuko’s words, but she did.

Katara took the opportunity to move a little nearer to the firebender, despite the danger. She trusted Zuko not to really hurt them, especially because neither of them had even tried to attack him. Neither of them were trying to be a threat toward him. “Defend yourself from what, Zuko? We aren’t here to hurt you. I want to heal you!”

The waterbender was certain Toph’s display had spooked Zuko a little, and that must have been why he claimed he would be defending himself, but the women couldn’t afford to have a fire raging around them when they were trying to help their friend find himself. “Zuko, please! Your foot is hurt. Just let me heal that, and we can talk about healing your head after that!” Katara almost cringed, but refrained for diplomatic reasons. She probably shouldn’t have mentioned healing his head at all. He was already dead set against the idea that the waterbender was right, and he probably thought she would just try to screw his head up even worse in the event that she got a hold of his head with her waterbending.

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[info]rocksolid
2008-11-23 10:39 pm UTC (link)
This wasn't going to go well.

She could tell. He wasn't even going to give them a chance. A fighting stance almost instantly. Open hostility. She still made a point not to go on the defensive though. It would only make things worse. She didn't want to start a fight. It didn't help.

Toph saw the attack coming as he shifted into a different pose, and slipped back a step or two to be safe. The heat of the flames so close finally forced her prepare to defend herself and Katara. He started yelling, and Katara moved back, shielding herself from the flames. The earthbender didn't waste any time though. Her footing shifted, and she extended her arms. One swift movement and the earth rose like a wave from either side, swallowing the flames, and settling as if there had been no fire at all.

She let the two of them call back and forth to one another, but it didn't seem to do any good. Toph even winced at the comment about healing Zuko's head, certain that it wouldn't go over well, so she spoke up quickly in hopes that she could distract him from it.

"Look, hot-head. I'm really sorry 'bout what I did to your foot. We're not here to fight though. She just wants to finish healing the wound." Toph called. "Sweetness here is just about as stubborn as you, so why not let her do this, and then we'll get out of your hair. I'll even stay back here, out of the way, no threat."

Toph hoped it would work. She usually wasn't really good at negotiating, talking people through things, but he was a friend -- She had to give it a try. "What d' you say?"

Of course, if that didn't work, there was always plan b. Encase him in stone, and keep him there while Katara healed him. It probably wouldn't go over very well, but if they got that done they could leave and let Zuko mull over the act that they honestly hadn't wanted to fight. They had just wanted to fix him up.

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[info]fire_lord_zuko
2008-12-04 07:06 pm UTC (link)
Zuko stared in abject horror as suddenly the fire that he'd set up as a defense between himself and those who were out to get him suddenly disappeared in a turning of earth that the earthbender seemed to do effortlessly. It reminded him that despite the illusion of safety that he'd convinced himself he had, he was actually very vulnerable. When he'd first come here, the earthbender had sent him rather deep into the ground, and it'd only been a lucky trick that had made it so that he was able to escape. This next time he wouldn't be nearly as lucky as he had been. He needed to find a way to get to the higher ground, to the trees where the earth bender and the water bender would need to at least work to try to get him. The water bender it seemed was already closing the distance in between them, however, and Zuko scowled darkly.

"You're lying!" He shot back at Katara as she tried to talk some sense into him. Then again, for someone who was supposed to be only wanting to heal him, she was amazingly good at sending the wrong message. Much like an injured animal, Zuko began to edge away from her, a feral look in his golden eyes as he stared her down but slowly began to retreat. The woods was only a few hundred yards away, but against two benders who knew what they were doing, it might as well have been a few hundred miles. Zuko drew himself up a little higher, hobbling slightly on his foot, clearly favoring it as he moved away from the pair, watching them for any particular sign that they were going to bend at him. All the while too his eyes kept flickering to the ground, waiting for that moment where the earth bender was sure to try to use the ground beneath his feet against him...

But then she needed the ground beneath her feet as well... Which meant that Zuko had a chance at getting away from all of this, at least to the point where he could get to the forest, or perhaps convince the two of them to back off enough that he could escape. Slim chance to none, but some chance at this point was better than no chance at all. He needed to take it. Zuko's eyes narrowed as he heard Toph trying to sweet talk him, which sounded about as convincing as a thug trying to say 'nice doggy' with a club in his hand. Zuko definately wasn't buying it. And at that exact moment Katara let it slip that she was planning the best way to labotomize him with her water bending powers. Zuko's eyes narrowed to slits as his face twisted into a contorted mask of anger and rage. Why had he bothered trusting her, when she was so clearly out to get him?

"I knew it!" Zuko said, and at the same time spun down low and did a sweeping kick towards both of them, flame shooting out of his foot and flying across the ground in a wave of fire. Toph had been kind enough last time to let him know exactly what her weakness was, which meant Zuko was going to be aiming for blows below the belt, way below. Even as he came up, he knew there would be a shot at both of them managing to block the attack. The water bender obviously had some water this time, meant for attacking, and the earth bender was surrounded by her element of choice, and both elements could easily block out his fire attack. This time, having heard Katara's little slip, Zuko wasn't about to let her try to use her powers on him again, mess with his head again.

As he spun up he started to blast fire balls at the pair of them, thrusting his fists to punch in their direction, one fist trained on the feet of the earth bender, while the other aimed at the water bender's legs. Slowly, he began to limp backward, his golden eyes glancing behind him, looking at the woods that were a few hundred feet away. It'd be tricky to get there, but once he was in a tree he'd be in a lot better position, and he could burn down the whole forest if it meant trying to keep them away from him...

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