Chapter Text
Katara woke to an explosion shaking the ship; panic settled in, but it was the calm kind of panic. “What--” she mumbled, as running footsteps echoed overhead, and another BOOM shook the ship.
She leapt from her bed, barely taking enough time to pull a long robe over her bedclothes as she ran out the door. Up on deck, Fire Nation soldiers were fighting her friends -- and her friends were losing. She watched as Aang sent three soldiers over the edge with a blast of air, but didn’t see the soldier behind him, the one holding a spear.
“ Aang !” Katara screamed his name as she rushed forward, water rising over the edge in a wave that hit the soldier broadside. Her momentum carried her forward and she smacked into the side of the ship, wincing at the pain in her side. She whirled, water whipping around her into an octopus formation. She had no idea how these soldiers had gotten on board--how they’d even found them, when they were on a ship that was disguised as Fire Navy--but it didn’t matter. What mattered was stopping the threat. She sent two soldiers flying, and smacked a third across the face with a thin stream of water, pushing him back -- but two more were coming in close, sending harsh blasts of fire that she struggled to avoid and block.
Making a split second decision, Katara jumped onto the ship’s metal edge, water whirling around her in a spinning shield. But as she tried to steady her footing, the ship was rocked by another explosion. She stumbled to the side, trying to hold on -- and then a fire blast hit her square in the chest.
“ Katara !”
She heard Aang shout her name, felt the bite of the fire, the sudden, painful suspension of motion as she hit the water face-first.
Then… blackness.
_________
The sound of the wind and the water preoccupied Zuko, but only momentarily. They couldn’t calm his mind. Nothing could—
“I’m so excited to spend the weekend on Ember Island. It’s gonna be great to hang out on the beach and do nothing .” Ty Lee’s voice broke into his contemplation. She stood at the front of the boat, that stupid smile on her face -- as always . Did she ever stop smiling?
“Doing nothing is a waste of time.” Zuko stood, his angry words only touching the surface of what he felt inside. “We’re being sent away on a forced vacation. I feel like a child.”
“Lighten up.” His sister, the voice of reason. He almost laughed at that. “So dad wants to meet with his advisors alone, without anyone else around. Don’t take it personally.” Personally? How was he not supposed to take it personally? He was the heir to the throne! He should be there, helping!
He leaned against the railing, staring into the water. Usually it calmed him. Not today. His fingers clenched the wood as he struggled not to respond to Azula.
“Doesn’t your family have a house on Ember Island?” Changing the subject, as if that would help. But Ty Lee did it anyway, and Azula played along.
“We used to come every summer when we were kids.”
“That must have been fun!” Ty Lee’s voice was digging up memories better left in the past.
“That was a long time ago.” Zuko didn’t mean to speak. But the words had needed to be said, all the same. He looked away from them, trying to find solace in the deep blue water. Solace didn’t come. He hated this. He hated feeling like child, hated feeling like everything he’d done and sacrificed to get back here was--
Was being wasted .
Scowling, Zuko blocked out the rest of the girls’ conversation. He tried to block out his thoughts, as well -- he wasn’t quite as successful with that, but the shores of Ember Island finally appeared, providing a better distraction. The white walls and red roofs gleamed in the sun, winking at them cheerfully. Too cheerfully. The boat docked, and Zuko forced himself to walk towards the pier. Two old women stood there, dressed identically as usual. They spoke at the same time, their sandpaper voices grating on his ears.
“Welcome to Ember Island, kids.” Zuko fought the desire to burn things to a crisp as they followed Lo and Li up a path to a tiny house on stilts. Inside, the twins removed their ridiculous hats, leading the group of teens into a large open room filled with knickknacks and colors. Zuko’s lip curled.
“It smells like old lady in here.” Beside him, Mai spoke for the first time, her voice as dry and bland as ever.
“Gee, I wonder why.” He didn’t respond. What was the point?
“Who are these two beautiful women?” Ty Lee was across the room, pointing at a portrait he couldn’t see from his angle. Lo and Li stood in front of it.
“Can’t you tell?” They struck a stupid-looking pose and spoke at the same time again.
“It’s Lo and me.”
“It’s Li and me.”
Zuko felt the urge to throw up. Ever the optimist, Ty Lee flopped onto a bright pink bedspread. “Ooh, I love the seashell bedspread.”
Ever the cynic, Mai responded with criticism. “Are you serious? It looks like the beach threw up all over it.”
Zuko agreed, but didn’t say so.
“We know you’re upset that you were forced to come here this weekend.” One of the twins, he didn’t know which one, spoke into the sudden silence, and the other completed her thought.
“But Ember Island is a magical place. Keep an open mind.”
“Give it a chance.”
“And it can help you understand yourselves and each other.” AGAIN with the talking at the same time! Did they always do that?
The one on the left reached over to a table, picking up a stone. Were they going to lecture now? Zuko wanted to destroy something.
“The beach has a special way…” She handed the stone to her sister, who held it up as she finished the left one’s sentence.
“of smoothing even the most ragged edges.” She rubbed the stone, like that was supposed to mean something. Azula yawned, and Zuko thought that summed it up nicely.
The old twins did some complicated hand gestures that Zuko didn’t bother to follow. “Time to hit the beach!” They undid their robes simultaneously, and revealed saggy swimming outfits. Zuko stepped back in disgust as Mai tried to cover his eyes. Why didn’t she cover her OWN eyes?
Later, Azula insisted they go to the beach. The only bright spot he could see about that was the water. It hadn’t been working its usual magic lately, but maybe spending more time around it, and in it, would help. They walked onto the beach, seeing it crowded with people. Mostly teenagers.
Azula stomped on some kids’ sand castle, sending them screaming. She was so MEAN. Then she kicked their bucket. Zuko didn’t see the point. It was just wasted effort. This was so stupid.
He stuck the umbrella into the sand and laid out the blanket. Mai certainly wasn’t going to do it. He wanted to get in the water, but she didn’t. He sat beside her, watching boys fawn over Ty Lee. She was so… ugh. Was she ever not happy?
Trying to distract himself, Zuko looked around. He saw a pretty shell and picked it up. Maybe Mai would like it. He wouldn’t mind seeing HER smile. Not that she ever did.
“Here. This is for you.” He held it up for Mai to take, but she just looked at it. “Why would I want that?”
He frowned. “I saw it and I thought it was pretty. Don’t girls like stuff like this?”
She looked away. “Maybe stupid girls.” There was still barely any emotion in her voice. Didn’t she feel anything?
“FORGET IT.” He tossed it away, glaring out over the beach. He should’ve known she wouldn’t like it. His gaze landed on a vendor selling snow cones. Without saying anything, he got up and walked over. Mai didn’t even look up.
“Two.” The vendor smiled. Zuko didn’t. The man cleared his throat and took Zuko’s coins, handing him the cones in return. When Zuko got back to the blanket, Mai barely moved. She didn’t acknowledge him, just looked over.
“I thought since it’s so hot… here.” He held it out to her, but it had melted so much already that it fell off the cone and onto her lap. He frowned. Was nothing going to go right?!
“Thanks.” Her voice was as dry as ever, a barely-there frown her only expression. “this is really… refreshing.”
Zuko wondered why he bothered.
“Hey beach bums. We’re playing next.” Azula’s voice brought his attention away from his irritation. “Ty Lee get over here NOW.”
Zuko looked around for the source of Azula’s words, and saw a kuai ball game. So that was it. It would prove distracting, at least. He stood and threw off his robe, then followed Ty Lee and Mai to where his sister stood waiting.
She called them into a huddle, and he turned his attention to her strategy. “see that girl with the silly pigtails?” They all looked over as Azula kept talking. “When she runs toward the ball there’s just the slightest hesitation of her left foot. I’m willing to bet a childhood injury has weakened her. Keep serving the ball to her left, and we’ll her and the rest of her team. Dismissed!”
It was a good strategy. Cunning and mean, like everything Azula did. They got into position to play, with Azula immediately taking the lead, of course.
She served the ball hard and fast, kicking it over the net and straight past the members of the other team. When the served it back, Zuko ran forward to kick it up, stopping it just in time with a skid. Azula ran forward to catch it, hitting the ball with a hard hand strike straight to the pigtail girl’s left.
Another point.
The other team’s next serve was stopped at the net by Ty Lee as she leapt into the air, landing easily on the net’s edge. Show off.
The other team shot the ball back, and this time Mai ran forward to strike it over. They caught it again, and Azula jumped into the air, kicking the ball back over so hard it dug a trench in the ground and set the net on fire.
Azula stood before the flames, saying something about defeat and ashes. Zuko tuned her out until she looked at him and spoke. “Well, that was fun.”
Fun? He guessed you could call it that, but—
“I’m having a party tonight.” Two guys had walked up beside them unnoticed, and the taller one spoke. “You should come by.” He was obviously talking to Ty Lee, and it was she who responded.
“Sure. I love parties.” Typical.
“Your friend can come too.” The other guy spoke, looking at Mai. Zuko didn’t like the way he was looking at Mai.
“Uh, what about me and my brother? Aren’t you going to invite us?” Azula crossed her arms, obviously displeased. The two guys didn’t look too happy at her words.
“You don’t know who we are, do you?” Azula suddenly sounded amused.
“Don’t you know who WE are? We’re Chan and Ruon-Jian.” The tall one spoke again, expecting them to know their names. “Yeah.”
Zuko marched forward, intent on showing these two idiots exactly who they were dealing with--but Azula’s outstretched arm stopped him as Chan spoke.
“But, fine. You’re invited. Just so you know though, some of the most important teenagers in the Fire Nation are gonna be at this party, so, try and act normal.”
Azula smirked. “We’ll do our best.”
How could she be so calm?! These KIDS were making fun of them, thinking they were better than Zuko. He was the FIRE PRINCE. They had no right! Zuko turned and stalked off, needing to get away.
“Zuko!” Mai’s voice followed him, but he ignored her. So she did care. He guessed that meant something.
He left the beach and followed a little trail into a stand of trees. He couldn’t understand why Azula let those guys talk to them like that! He threw back his head, breathing out a burst of flame to calm his inner fire.
The rage subsided, but didn’t go away. He was so ANGRY, and he didn’t know why! It wasn’t just Chan and Ruon-Jian, or Mai’s apathy, or Ty Lee’s optimism. It was… he didn’t know what it was.
But he knew he couldn’t stand it much longer without exploding. He stalked through dense vines, kicking things out of his way and leaving charred leaves and flowers in his wake. He found himself on a cliff overlooking a huge expanse of clear blue water.
Staring out over it, Zuko took a deep breath. Then he backed up, and jumped.
He hit the water cannonball style, sinking fast. Sweeping his arms and legs through the water, he swam to the surface. The motion of the waves was soothing, the taste of the salt grounding. He swam away from the cliff, following the water’s path to a small cove.
The beach was rocky and there didn’t look to be a way out of the cove--it was surrounded by tall cliffs and rock formations. Zuko staggered out of the ocean’s grasp and onto the beach. He flopped onto his back with his legs still in the surf, staring up at the clouds that crossed the sky.
What was wrong with him lately? He wished he knew.
Zuko didn’t know how long he laid there on the sand, but eventually he got up. He walked further into the cove, the rocks digging into his feet. He climbed over a rocky boulder of sorts, wanting to see the view from up high again. He stood atop nature’s platform, watching the waves roll in. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw something move. He wouldn’t even have noticed it, except that its color felt out of place to him.
Turning, he peered down into the space between the boulder and the cliff. And sucked in a sharp breath when he realized there was a person down there. He jumped off the boulder, landing clumsily in the sand, and rushed around to the other side. It was a girl, her long dark hair tangled with seaweed.
He pulled her out onto the beach and turned her over, wondering if she was even alive. How had she even--
Zuko stumbled back in shock when he saw her face. A memory flashed through his head--her eyes staring into his, her voice telling him they had something in common, her soft hand on his ravished skin.
Katara.