The Warrior's Gambit (Zutara)

XXXVIII

Katara eagerly leaned off the side of the Fire Nation sailing ship, breathing in the sharpness of the snow that rained upon the boat. She reached her hands out, creating little moving creatures in the air. A woman danced with a mysterious suitor, a hawk swooped through the clouds, a dragon created icy flames that he spat above the choppy, freezing water.

Behind her, Yue giggled and abandoned her post at the front of the ship, watching Katara with wonderment in her eyes. Even Mai, who had brought a mug of warm tea onto the decks, was watching with curious eyes.

"Sorta cool, right, Mai?" Zuko teased, noticing she was watching. Mai looked down, but Katara was almost sure she caught a smile.

"It's something to pass the time. Who knew glaciers were so...boring?" She sighed dramatically, but it seemed to be more out of habit than with any real annoyance.

Katara never thought she'd say it, but the group of girls going on this trip with Zuko felt freer and less trama-filled than most other groups. Yue did not hate Katara, and Katara doubted she could hate anyone. Mai was...well, 'warming' to Katara was certainly a stretch, but after their time in the abbey, Katara could have sworn there was a shift in the air, not just for her, but from Mai and shockingly Nadhari. Neither were offering to braid her hair in their rooms, but Nadhari had been on one of her morning take-downs yesterday and could have totally destroyed Katara, but chose not to.

So, that had to count for something, right?

"Oh! Look! Isn't it magnificent?" Yue gasped, rubbing tears from her eyes as the grand gates of the Northern Water Tribe came into view. Katara tried to hold back her shock and jealousy. She loved the quaintness of her tribe, of course, but to see what the North had done...it made her ache for her own home but also wonder what her people could accomplish with more waterbenders and less fear?

"That's all...snow?" Mai stood and joined the girls at the side of the ship, surprise coloring her tone.

"Every inch," Yue said. Katara had never seen her look so proud. She was practically shining. "Oh! Look! Father! Father!" Yue said, waving off the side of the ship, all her usual composure vanished at the joy of seeing her family again. There was a group of people waiting to greet them, in all their finery and beauty.

Going to the North had been a controversial choice. Of course, the Water Tribes were not a favorite in the Fire Nation currently. But it had been planned for moons and if anything, Ozai wanted to remind the world that he still controlled the North. Why Katara had been allowed to go, she would never guess, but she was not complaining.

But Katara had a goal there...and a promise to fulfill to Ursa.

She figured she had to connect in a spiritual place to try to reach her past self again, right? Well, she'd spent the hours since being saved by Zuko's mother in the Temple of the Dragon, praying and hoping that it would work, since the Painted Lady was originally a firebender. She had nothing to show for it, except for bruised knees from the long hours she spent kneeling.

Okay, maybe she had to go somewhere more spiritual. Somewhere closer to her heart. And, actually, the North was exactly where she figured she should be. Their Spirit Oasis pool was just the ticket...if she was ever going to be able to pull her first self back through her memories.

She didn't know what she was searching for, but she needed more. She needed reassurance, an explanation, anything...or else she feared her own mind would eat itself inside out with wondering. She figured this is why mortals weren't often told of such things. Her mind already felt a bit like goo, and that was only with the briefest dives into her past.

Katara was jolted from her thoughts as they were maneuvered into the city via canal systems. Katara found herself staring with some unknown feeling at the numerous waterbenders, all working together to push and pull and manipulate such a great body of water when she was the only one from her tribe. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw that Yue had a weirdly misty glaze on her face. Katara wondered if she was wishing she could waterbend and feel as though it was hers, not a spirit and something locked away from owning it.