『𝑻𝒘𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝑭𝒂𝒕𝒆』

Chapter 7

Katara tossed her robes on the floor and stomped to her bedroom. She threw open the wardrobe and pulled out her training clothes. With brisk, angry movements, she put them on and then stomped out to the gardens, sliding her doors shut with not a little bit of violence. She went to the bare patch of ground where Zuko and Maiko had been training and planted her feet. She would have preferred a body of water to stand in but since the pond was filled with turtle-ducks, she would have to make do with her water skin. Without stretching or doing any breathing exercises, she pulled the stopper out and began to bend.

The women had gotten to her. With their veiled comments about her 'common' upbringing, the darkness of her skin contrasting with the blueness of her eyes, her choice of color for her gowns, and the Fire Lord's opinion about taking concubines to continue the family line, she'd begun to wonder if there was no one in the Fire Nation besides Iroh and Lu Zuo who liked her. She'd met more than a few young women, younger than herself, who looked at her with envy and had made comments she wasn't sure she completely understood but knew had something to do with the Fire Lord's bed. By their expressions, her inexperience about those matters had been fairly obvious from her reaction to them. Yet somehow, they did it all without being overtly rude. It took a certain finesse to deliver an insult sprinkled with niceties and these women were professionals. She'd felt slow and exactly the peasant they had ever-so-gently called her by the end of lunch, but she was proud of herself for keeping her head up throughout. She'd seen the surprise on their faces that she didn't react badly.

Alone, she didn't feel like crying, although halfway through the third course, she thought she was going to lose it over her soup, but right now, she was ready to blow a hole through the top of the palace's roof. Since that wasn't an option, she went to the one thing in the world she knew best. As she made the water dance, Katara felt her heart rate slowing and her body found its rhythm again. A slow, almost dreamy, smile curved her lips as she went through slow, deliberate movements of Waterbending.

In the back of her mind, she made a note to keep up with her exercises. Her life had gone through a big change, but there were some things that still stayed the same. She was a Waterbending Master and those women had no idea the power they were dealing with. Fire Lady or not, she was Katara of the Southern Water Tribe and...

"What are you doing?"

Katara had been so lost in her thoughts that she didn't realize Maiko was sneaking up on her. The little princess was rubbing her eyes having just woken up from her nap and she was dressed in a loose shirt and pants, her robes nothing more than a memory. Katara couldn't help but find her slightly off-kilter ponytail endearing. With a flick of her wrist, she put the water back in her water skin.

"Waterbending," she answered.

"Can you firebend too?"

Katara smiled at her. "No, but Uncle Iroh tells me you're very good at it."

Maiko nodded. Katara stepped back to give her some room on the training ground.

"Could you show me?" she asked.

Maiko took her starting position, legs straight and her palms pressed together. She took a deep breath and then took a step forward, her small fist coming out at the same time. A solid jet of fire came shooting out and Katara felt its heat pass her by. Not having to pretend she was impressed, she turned to the princess.

"That was amazing," she said.

"Daddy says that he couldn't do that until he was five," Maiko said proudly. "Can you do that with water?"

Katara opened her skin and froze a bit of water. She floated the sliver above her hand so Maiko could see it then flicked her fingers forward, shooting the sliver directly into the trunk of a tree a good distance away.