"Princess Azula." Aang's eyes narrowed and he moved, almost protectively, in front of Katara. She wondered if his years living here had taught him how to deal with her?
"Princess Katara." Azula didn't even look at Aang. "Shall we?" she said, forcefully taking Katara's hand to the dance floor. Girls did dance with girls, that wasn't anything strange - in fact, Yue and Saoirse were dancing this one together as friends, laughing and having a good time. It was strange, however, for the princess of the Fire Nation to be asking Katara.
Across the room, Zuko saw and almost leapt toward Katara. Azula saw his motion and scoffed.
"What does he think I'm going to do? Kill you in the middle of the dance floor?" She rolled her eyes. "He wears his heart on his sleeve entirely too much. To show one's weakness can be such a danger for them."
"Your threats are growing tiresome, Princess Azula," Katara, on the inside, was terrified. But she wasn't going to let Azula see that, "To both me and him."
"Somehow, I doubt that," Azula said, holding up Katara's quivering hand. "But, this is a festive time. I'm not looking to stage a coup tonight," she said, as though she'd considered it at one point, "You and Master Kuzon seemed cozy?"
"Me and him?" Katara almost recoiled. "What? No. He's just a friend. Looking for ways to get rid of me, hmm?" Katara raised an eyebrow.
"Well, you can't blame a girl. I just want what's best for my older brother. I hear you have an older brother, too. Wouldn't you do anything for him?" Azula asked, tilting her head.
"What's best for him, yeah. Somehow, I doubt that's what you want for Prince Zuko," Katara replied back, wincing as Azula's fingernails dug into her skin as they swirled in the circles this dance required. It was a dizzying dance; maybe Azula had wanted that.
"I'm just looking after him, trying to suss out the competitors." Azula's eyes widened innocently. "Pluck the weak from the meek, to the real contendors."
"You'd like a meek girl. Someone you can manipulate," Katara said.
"On the contrary, too meek and it's just pitiful. Blubbering messes, like that girl, the mousy one...Sara? Sigh?"
"Saya?" Katara frowned. "What did you do to her?" she demanded, clenching her teeth. God, how she truly abhorred Azula.
"I've never seen a girl cry so fast," Azula continued, "And I didn't do much. There's a certain fire to this competition." Katara winced as Azula's palm clenched around hers grew extremely hot. "And if you can't stand it? You shouldn't be here," she said. It was now burning, like Katara was sticking her hand on hot coals. Katara resisted the urge to cry, blinking back tears. It hurt so badly, but Katara held her ground.
Using her free thumb, she crept her water around Azula's hands, freezing them. Katara flexed her knuckles, making a bracelet perfectly molded to her wrist. She hoped it was was as freezing cold. She also had the ring sharp and the more she flexed, the more it began to dig into Azula's wrists, leaving little red circles of blood mixing with the ice water. The gauntlet crept up on Azula's hand like a glove, but drew blood at any point Katara could make it. Katara would have been more than thrilled to freeze Azula's hand off. Azula watched it with a interest that Katara hadn't seen her exhibit yet.
"Touche." Azula's eyebrow raised and she lessened the heat on Katara's hands. She waited for Katara to do the same. Katara gave a bark of laughter.
"You hardly play fair, why should I?" Katara asked. She was not for a second going to give Azula a truce, not when she knew the girl would just as quickly turn and stab her in the back with it.
"Oh, Princess," Azula gave a long, impatient sigh, "Why do you have to be so likable? So like me?"
Katara felt sick that she was likened to Azula at all.
"You make it hard for me to want to get rid of you. But, alas, my feelings will mend," Azula said.
"Not even hiding it, hmm?" Katara asked, hardly surprised. She'd pretty much publicly declared herself an enemy to her brother.
"You're smart enough to have known this already," Azula shrugged. "Why continue pretending otherwise? Princess Katara, had you arrived here when we were young girls, perhaps I would have accepted you into my group, like Mai or Ty Lee. I could have used someone like you."
"Used. Not been friends with, used," Katara repeated, mostly to herself in shock.
"I have no need for friends." Azula shook her head. "I do have a use for loyal followers," she corrected. "Until next time." She bowed to Katara.
She un-clenched her hand, burning away the ice and flicking the water mixed with her blood onto the floor. Katara opened her palm to see the skin of her hands blackened and burned badly.
She bit her lip hard, closing her hands and walking swiftly through the crowds to the bathroom. Aiga bounded behind her.
"That viper!" Aiga gasped as Katara opened them in front of a water bin. Katara hadn't realized Aiga had followed her.
"Yeah, but what can I do? She's not a contestant. She's Ozai's favorite and a dangerous person. I just need to have my wits whenever she's around," Katara sighed in resignation.
"Maybe once you and Zuko marry you can ship her off to the ends of the earth as a bargaining chip, a betrothal to some poor soul or something," Aiga suggested dryly. Katara laughed out loud.
"Oh, spirits, I wish."
She began to run healing water over her palms, but with both of them burned, it hurt a lot and didn't seem to be doing much.
"Aiga, can you find Eva?" Katara asked.
Eva came, followed by Yue and Toph.
"That bitch," Toph snarled. "She's just the literal worst person I've ever met. She makes Nadhari seem like a fluffy kitten."
"No one is more dangerous than someone who's about to lose it all," Yue agreed gravely.
Eva took one of Katara's hands, turning it up and began to carefully heal it.
"These are deep burns. How did you manage to keep a straight face?" Eva asked, face darkening. "I'm not sure how much I can do to heal them."
"Well, I hurt her back," Katara muttered.
"I hope you won't get in trouble for it. Azula could twist it, saying you attacked her," Yue pointed out.
"I'll pound her if she tries! If Katara goes down, I do too." Toph crossed her arms. Katara had the thought, as she'd been cutting Azula, that it might have been a bad idea. However, she thought about what she'd do; she probably wouldn't run for her father to tattle on her. And if Azula was the same as Katara, and Katara knew she was more well-versed in dangerous games like this, Azula would sit on this. She wouldn't turn Katara over to make her leave. She'd make Katara leave by herself.
But Katara was a strong person; her blackened hands proved that. She would take whatever Azula threw at her, even if the thought made her feel nauseated.
Katara leaned back onto the table, letting Eva continue healing her hands. Back and forth, Eva drew the water over the burns. There was the familiar pressure of healing water, which usually didn't hurt. This time, it felt like Eva was dragging stones over her burns, peeling them off, flake by flake.
Katara's toes curled in her slippers.
"I'm gunna get you some liquid pain meds," Toph announced, looking down at Katara's feet. "Be right back."
"She doesn't mean actual medicine, does she?" Yue guessed.
"Not if we know Toph," Katara snorted. Indeed, Toph returned with a shot for all of them.
"In solidarity for Sugar Queen here," Toph tried to goad them into it. Katara's was a double. Eva and Yue looked at each other, shrugged, and downed theirs. Toph slammed her empty glass down.
"That's what I'm talkin' about!" she said, "Why let a little - okay a big - burn ruin a great night to party?"
Yue cracked a grin.
Katara smiled too.
About half an hour later, a man partially opened the door.
"Dude, this is a ladies' room!" Toph said, closing the metal door with a movement of her hand.
"Ahh, I'm so sorry, are Lady Bei Fong, Princess Yue, Princess Katara and Lady Eva in there?" he asked.
"Yes?" Aiga answered for them.
"Oh, well, it's just about time for the announcement and you must get to your seats."
"We're sorta busy," Toph said. "Come back never."
"You do have to be there," Aiga turned apologetically.
"Hey, we can keep doing this later," Eva offered. "But...it's bad. I dunno if I can fix it tonight, or fully at all. I mean, I can probably keep taking layers off, but you'll always be burned there."
Katara gave a careful flex of her hands, "I can move them at least now, feel things. Better than before."
"I did take the first layer off. It's going to be really raw and sore, though," Eva warned.
"Here." Yue went into the bow in her hair and untangled the ribbon, letting her white tresses pool around her shoulders. She ripped it in half and carefully wrapped them around Katara's hands, "This should help a bit," she said.
"Thanks, everyone." Katara gave a long sigh. "And I'll be fine for the rest of tonight. I don't want to take any of you away from this dance longer than I have to."
"I have no problem not going to the dance," Toph shrugged.
"But they might have been enjoying it," Katara pointed out. "And you guys should have fun," she insisted.
"We can decide this after." Yue put a comforting hand on Katara's shoulder, "Shall we?"
Back in the ballroom, the guests were settling themselves in the back corner, where an array of chairs and a small stage had been set up. The girls of the competition were on one side, away from the rest of the audience, but not in the center of attention, for once. Their seats were assigned in order of the rankings, so Katara was right up in front. Next to Nadhari. Joy of joys. When did they re-take that poll, Katara wondered, because Nadhari still couldn't be that close, could she? Katara knew that Lu Ten was probably right when he said that the top four just swam around each other, with number one staying pretty static. So, Katara would even take Mai as number two, because at least Mai had never done anything to Katara. Mai didn't seem to have enough interest in Katara to do anything to her.
Zuko walked up onto the platform, setting his horned war helmet on a table. Katara could see how nervous he was. He reminded her of Sokka whenever he had to stand up to give a strategy presentation. Zuko's eyes flickered toward her. She had faith that what he was going to say was going to be something good, so she gave him a tiny, almost unnoticeable thumbs up.
This seemed to calm Zuko.
"As you know, each generation, it seems that each Fire Lord takes on a different section of our world that needs some extra attention. My father overhauled and created the formidable military that we have today, making the Fire Nation one of the strongest forces in the world." He let the crowd - some of them - cheer at his words before he continued.
"But, the world isn't just made up of the Fire Nation, far from it, in fact. I think most of us can agree we've seen a surplus of foot traffic of Earth Kingdomers coming through our way, including more Earth diplomats than ever before. We have also seen a Water Tribe diplomat, which would have been unheard of even ten years ago, and for the first time since my grandfather's Choice, we have a Southern Water Tribe contestant."
All eyes turned to Katara and she swallowed thickly, wishing he hadn't brought her up so obviously. However, most people were nodding and didn't seem against it, even if he hadn't said much at all yet.
"So, perhaps we should start looking at the Fire Nation not as an individual strong house, but as a part of multiple other groups. With this advent of new people – with even some our own choosing to live in Earth Kingdom territories – why shouldn't we open up pathways between cultures? I have decided that during my reign, I will oversee diplomatic relations with other nations. I will start by e-designing the currently very under-regulated trade paths with the other nations..." He paused, and while he only glanced at Katara for a millisecond, she knew the next words were for her. "...even the Southern Water Tribe."
Katara felt her heart thump fast. He was careful with his speech, never saying directly what they were going to do for the other tribes, but instead showing all the things they could gain from having a healthy trade system - all the items from the South that they weren't utilizing like they could be, if they merely gave the South what it was owed for them. He pointed out that trade items across all nations would be better received if people were getting fairer compensations.
Katara looked at Ozai. He was pretty unreadable, but he wasn't cutting Zuko down, so that was a good thing. Besides, Zuko was clearly catering to stroking his ego by talking about the 'betterment of the Fire Nation,' which she was sure was going a long way.
But, all Katara heard was that her people were finally going to get food in return, and that the strict rules they were under before, the ones that had been starving friends and family, were going to be lifted.
Katara could have cried she was so happy. Her throat tightened and she had to sniff back her tears. Behind her, Saoirse squeezed her shoulder, a sign that she understood what a big deal this was for Katara. It was a big deal for Saoirse's tribe too, but no one would be benefiting as much as the South, no matter how Zuko framed it.
The crowd stood up to applaud Zuko when he finished. It was very well received, as far as Katara could tell, but then again, he'd made a good argument as to why the Fire Nation would like this plan, and there were a great number of Earth representatives in the crowd. Katara noticed that the smiles on their faces matched hers. Behind Zuko, where the Royal Family sat, Iroh and Lu Ten seemed to let out sighs of relief and send glances each other's way. Ursa was standing up and applauding too. Ozai was doing so less enthusiastically, but even he was nodding with somewhat pride? Only Azula looked completely angry. She probably hoped Zuko's plan would flop.
"And now, after a breaking plan," Ozai came down to stand next to his son, "We will be having interviews with the ladies of the Choice. I know you all are dying to continue to meet them."
Katara rolled her eyes. They could never get away from being in this darn competition, huh?
The man who had summoned them from the bathroom would be asking the questions. They went in order from the last in line to the first, meaning Katara knew she'd be in for a very long wait.
Some of the girls were clearly trying to use their good looks to advance, since the crowd here might be part of the poll to move their positions up. In a moment when Ratana tried to show some cleavage and nearly stumbled off the stool, Katara caught Suki's face - a face of someone trying desperately not to laugh - and it nearly sent Katara off too.
"Rookie mistake," Nadhari clicked her tongue beside Katara.
Other girls, now that they were in front of such a large crowd - hundreds, at least - seemed to fold in on themselves. Saya forgot what she was saying two or three times, and Maiha's voice was so quiet nearly no one could hear her. Katara wondered if there was an ulterior motive to this, to see who could speak well in public? It was, after all, an important part of being the Fire Lady. She knew Ozai and others were making their decisions.
Some girls were poised but not exciting, like Saoirse. Toph and Suki both were entertaining, at least, in different ways.
There seemed to be a standard set of questions, so pretty much everyone was on the same level and no one was getting an unfairly difficult or shocking question. They were: 'What do you think of the Prince?', 'What's your favorite thing about the palace?', 'Has the Prince kissed you yet?', and 'What's one skill you have that the public doesn't know?' Pretty much everyone said they liked the Prince, with some variation - with people like Nadhari being obviously dirty about it, while innocent On Ji just thought he was 'so nice'. Bahiravi said something like 'he has a quietly creeping power' which just sounded creepy and weird.
A lot of answers about the palace were about the rooms or the food or the dresses. No one, it seemed, had gotten a kiss from the prince. At around the eighth person, the announcer turned.
"Prince Zuko, who knew you were so shy!"
Zuko didn't really have an answer, he just sort of blushed and reddened as the crowd laughed. It seemed to be in good fun, though. Secretly, Katara was glad to know he hasn't kissed anyone here yet. She had wondered, but she hadn't wanted to ask. However, she also thought she'd know if he had.
After around the twelfth 'no' to the kiss question, the announcer sort of dropped it, perhaps realizing he wasn't going to get a juicy answer. No matter, the last question turned out to be the best one. The skills, those were the most fun. There were things that even Katara hadn't known!
Toph announced her metal bending. The announcer scoffed.
"You can't bend metal, no one can," he said dismissively.
"I can!" Toph stood up and scrunched the metal stool into a ball. "You saw it here first! Toph Bei Fong invented metal bending!"
The crowd was speechless, while Zuko was biting his fist to keep from laughing out loud. Some of the girls whistled as Toph un-squished it back to an almost perfect stool.
"Didn't want anyone taking claim on it first," Toph told Katara later when she inquired to why then and now.
Some of the other highlights included Ty Lee contorting herself into a position that Katara was sure proved she had no bones in her body, Besu singing- and she was pretty darn good at it, and Alcina doing sleight of hand tricks.
Katara was so interested to hear everyone's fact that it actually seemed like no time at all before her own interview.
She gathered her dress in her hands, going to the stage. She wasn't as nervous as she thought she should be, now that she was here 'for real' in a sense. Maybe it was because the crowd looked so eager. All the other girls had to show why they should be here, but Katara knew that most - if not all - of the crowd was pretty much rooting for her, or at least wanted her in the top five. She had no one to prove anything to.
"Princess Katara...oh, well I think this is the girl we've all been waiting for, yes?" he asked, turning to face the crowd. Katara could feel the vibrations of their clapping, and that did make her feel wanted, made her feel good. "I don't think anyone expected a Water Tribe girl to get to the top, did you think you would?" he asked, diverting from the usual formula. She wondered if this was a test too, if he'd been told to do this.
Katara had been prepared for anything though, especially something like this.
"Well, I had to, otherwise why would I be here?" Katara pointed out.
"So you wouldn't say that you being the only Southern Water Tribe girl here hurts your chances?"
"No! I think they only help," The words sprung out. "I don't think I'm better because of it, but I like to think we all have an equal chance here. You never know what the Prince is looking for." Katara saved herself quickly. Some people were nodding. They clearly liked a humble contestant, which was vastly different than how Nadhari had sounded in her interview.
"So, what's your favorite thing about the palace?"
"I really couldn't even pick one! But, on behalf of my brother, the food." Katara laughed, smiling to herself.
"Your brother likes to eat, then?"
"You have no idea." Katara let herself think of him. "If he were here, the buffet would be picked clean!" There was some laughter from the crowd.
"Of course, of course. And, what's your secret skill?" he asked. "Besides waterbending, since we all know about that!"
Katara realized she hadn't a moment to really think about it. She hadn't even been tempted to say waterbending, since it wasn't a secret and it was so much more than just a 'skill'. She thought of her role in her tribe. If this was a test of a Fire Lady, she was going to prove she had the skills to live at the palace, just for those naysayers.
"Actually, I love politics," she said. "I guess that's not a skill, but in that, I'm the one at home who organizes groups of people and helps lead expeditions. I'm a people person. People are usually surprised to hear this."
"A skill that could translate very well as the Fire Lady," the announcer said. Katara tilted her head.
"Really? I hadn't thought of that," she played innocent.
"Last question, what do you think of the prince?"
From out of the corner of her eyes, Katara saw Zuko stiffen and look up, eyes focused on her. Everyone's eyes were completely on her. She opened her mouth, pausing.
"Zuko is...nice, just like everyone's said. I don't think I could sum him up better than what everyone else has collectively put together," she said, deciding to play it safe. The announcer was practically smirking and Zuko was red in the face, but she didn't know why.
"So, it seems you and Zuko may be closer than we thought, eh?"
Katara felt her eyes widen. She'd called him just Zuko, no price title attached to it. If she knew anything about Palace life, it was a major faux pas. More than that, it did let on about how close they were, since pretty much all the girls still called him Prince Zuko when they were on dates with him, and have called him so on the stage. It was so informal, something that at this point, Katara was pretty sure they weren't supposed to be at. It gave all the wrong ideas, she realized.
Zuko was stiff, like she'd frozen him to the ground. He looked like he wasn't even breathing. She hoped he wasn't mad, since that was the one thing he'd warned her about.
"A slip up," Katara tried to laugh it off, "I mean, I am the number one, so we do talk but..." She shrugged. "It was a simple mistake."
"Oh, I think it was more than that." The announcer patted her knee, "But, rest assured, I think we all find it adorable, don't we?"
Luckily, the crowd seemed to agree. Katara let out a large breath, breathing a bit easier now. She was still incredibly embarrassed.
After this, the public speaking part was done, and Ozai invited everyone to return to the festivities, saying that desserts would be arriving shortly. As the crowd began to break up and the band started playing again, Katara just rubbed her face. Some of the girls were giving her wary, almost nasty looks, while Toph was grinning wide. Even Toph had known to call him by his title.
"Don't say anything," Katara warned.
She shouldn't have looked, but she couldn't help finding Zuko. He was nodding to people, shaking hands with various leaders who were congratulating him. He saw Katara, he met her eyes, and that seemed to be the last straw for him.
"I'm willing to discuss this afterwards, but right now I would like to dance with Princess Katara." His voice, his command, seemed to carry across the whole ballroom, and the crowd literally parted for the pair. Any other groups that were on the dance floor floated to the edges, leaving the whole area empty for them.
"I don't know if this is a good idea. I'm an awful dancer." Katara bit her lips, realizing everyone was watching them.
"I know. I was warned by Toph, and Lu Ten, and Zhi." Zuko was quiet, smiling at her. "But, I'm willing to take those risks," he teased. When Katara didn't answer, he pulled her close. "Just let me lead. If you can manage, Katara."
Something about Zuko whispering her name, no title, made her melt. She was still so embarrassed about the whole thing with his name that she was able to let Zuko lead her. His hand was warm, though not like Azula's had been. His was like a heart. He noticed the ribbons, but Katara shook her head, a motion to not talk about it here or now.
She looked up at him, wondering if he could feel her heart, if he knew how this was making her feel. How fast she was falling in love-
She blinked, biting her lip.
There wasn't much time for talking, not like the other dances she'd had. The room was pretty silent, except for the band, and everyone was watching them, so people would undoubtedly hear bits of the conversation. And, if they whispered in each other's ears, she could just imagine the rumors that would pop up. No, they couldn't talk much. And maybe it was for the best. Katara was still trying to come up with an apology for saying his name like that.
She had the thought that this dance, where no one else was dancing but them, almost felt like a wedding dance. For just the tiniest second, she let herself imagine it was.
"What do you really think of me?" Zuko asked. "None of that safe answer crap," he added, snorting. Katara thought about lying, but looking at him, she didn't know how she could have.
"You are, without a doubt, the best representation of a good person I've ever met. You are going to be the best Fire Lord this country has seen in a very long time. You are kind, and fair, and not at all what I thought you'd be, and being your friend has been so worth it all. You're smart too, and you will make a difference to this world, and I'm glad I get to see part of it. Whoever you marry is going to be so lucky. Wherever I end up, I'll be honored if I get to stay your friend." Katara whispered so quietly that he had to duck his head low to hear it.
"Wow," Zuko chuckled, almost incredulously. "You don't have to...no one's..." Katara realized he thought it was to play her cover.
"Zuko," Katara said firmly, "It's not a lie. None of it." That's really all she could manage. She had forgotten, even, that a crowd stood behind her. "That's for you, no one else's ears," she added, which was an admission all in itself.
"Oh," Zuko whispered, a sort of understanding in his voice, his temple brushing hers. "Thank you," he added, just as the song was ending. As he stood away from her and the band picked up a more lively-paced song, he adjusted his top pin very deliberately.
Katara knew what it was; he was asking to meet her tonight, after this.
There had been so much unsaid and they both acknowledged this.
Katara touched her necklace in return.
She felt it in her bones, although she couldn't explain it, the feeling of something like a storm brewing in that unspoken space between them. The storm that began to crackle and steam as they parted ways and Zuko sent one last adoring, absolutely smitten smile Katara's way.
And Katara sent one back.