Chapter Text
Katara doesn’t know why she kept the Painted lady costume, but whenever she encountered a village where the people were being oppressed, she swooped in to use less than ladylike means to fix it. It had been a while since she had seen her group of friends. It had been close to three weeks since she had last seen them. They would be meeting in Ba Sing Se for a meeting of the heads of tribes in four weeks.
She still liked helping out when she was passing through villages, especially while she traveled. But some consequences came with being the head of the south. If people knew she was getting involved it could cause further conflict.
As time went on, she began to notice someone else with the same idea as her. A man in a blue spirit mask, they would correct a problem with saying a word to each other, then disappear and not see each other again for an undetermined amount of time. This has been going on for four years and she never thought to say a word to him.
She always found it Ironic when they were working in the same village or town because Katara did know the original legends. In the Legends of the painted lady and the blue spirit, they were always shown as lovers. She found it funny but never gave it much thought.
She had been clearing some scum out of a peaceful farming village when she saw him again. Well not exactly saw. She had been fighting hard against some raiders who had threatened to burn half the fields if the village didn’t pay them a ‘protection’ fee.
She had just kicked a man in the face when she felt someone grab her by the hips and throw her high into the air. She looked down and saw the blue spirit duck standing on top of a boulder that now rested where she had once stood. She landed beside him and heard him pull out his signature twin blades. She gave a small smile from under her hat.
Katara used blood bending to throw each of the men in different directions. She was still not fond of blood bending, but it added to the performance of being the painted lady. What was more supernatural than throwing people without touching them.
Katara and the blue spirit picked up their usual rhythm. He began knocking out assailants one after another. Meanwhile, she threw back those they weren’t ready to deal with and pulled forward new assailants to be taken care of by the blue spirit.
Katara pulled one man forward and high kicked him in the face, letting his body sail backward from the force of her kick alone. Once the rabble had been taken care of, she noticed that one was still conscious. The Blue Spirit moved to knock him out. She placed a hand on his shoulder and shook her head.
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Zuko didn’t understand why the painted lady had stopped him, but he knew better than to question her. He kept his swords drawn, just in case. He watched her kneel before the injured man and for the first time in his life. Zuko heard her speak.
“Why have you disturbed this village?” She asked him softly. Her voice sounded vaguely familiar, he couldn’t place it, but he is sure that he knows it.
“These villagers should have thought about receiving protection if they didn’t want to be raided.” The man sneers up at her.
“Ah, I wasn’t aware that living in peace and working for your food automatically sent out an invite for people to come and ruin it.” Her voice had a little laugh in it as she spoke.
The painted lady stood and kicked the man she had been speaking to right in the head. This time he was unconscious. He vaguely heard her mumble ‘shit head’ before they began their cleanup work.
They gathered the men around the boulder that had been thrown earlier in the fight and they removed anything from the men’s clothing that could be used to tie them up. They tie each man’s hands behind their backs then tied the men’s hands altogether.
They each pulled a note out of their clothes. The noted were pre-written and each said pretty much the same thing.
‘These criminals have been apprehended by _______. They should be given to the authorities as soon as possible.’
It was a little short in his opinion, but it got the job done and sent the appropriate message. The painted lady rose from tying the last of the knots. She turned to him and he looked at her through the holes of his mask. He decides to do something he has never done before.
Zuko placed his swords back in their scabbard and placed one hand on his abdomen and one out to the side. He gave her a deep bow before turning and disappearing into the woods.
He ran until he reached his campsite. He was technically on vacation for the four weeks preceding the meeting in Ba Sing Se. He wanted to spend some time alone in the wilderness as he had when he was younger. He had changed the system in the Fire Nation to democracy. He didn’t particularly want to lead, and it would probably help prevent another event like the 100-year war from happening again.
He now served as the Advisor to the king, which meant that he was also often sent to the meetings of all his old friends on behalf of the Fire Nation. Plus, whenever he had time off he could go help people and if he was lucky, see his lady. His heart was still pounding from having heard her voice. It was like listening to a siren song. So enticing but if he continued to listen he would be doomed.
Though he would not protest to hearing it again.
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Katara’s face was as red as the paint she wore. She hadn’t expected him to do something like that. She had tried to lower and smooth out her voice as she had spoken but she isn’t sure that it worked. She tried not to speak but every once in a while, the people to detained had a good reason. This was not one of those time.
She walked back to her campsite to change back into her normal clothes. Now that she had finished up in the village, she could get some sleep. Katara lay in her sleeping bag, staring up at the stars as she thought.
The blue spirit pulled a bold move today. But then again, so had she. She thought about the way he moved as he fought and thought back to her days fighting the fire nation. She had seen the last person she had been this interested in since then.
The disgraced prince had been quite a bit of fun to mess with, but they had also had a strong emotional connection. After the war had ended, he had needed to go back to the fire nation to sort out the problems left behind by his father. She hadn’t really spent time with him since. They had seen each other briefly at meetings and ceremonies, but it always seemed like they both had so much to do.
Even after he had stepped down as Fire Lord, she had just been appointed to be one of the village chiefs and had responsibilities of her own. She did miss him and every time she saw the blue spirit, it only reminded her more of him.
She sighed and rolled over in her sleeping bag as she drifted off to sleep.