The Thief And The Healer

Episode 11: Why?

A/N: Whaaat? Two chapters in two days?? You're welcome. 😎

It was a new experience for Katara, having feelings for a boy, and therefore extremely difficult to squash. The Blue Spirit constantly arrived unbidden to her thoughts, usually at the worst times. In the middle of a shift at the hospital, during class at the university, even during dinner with Sokka. She wanted to talk to him about it. About being the Painted Lady. About being a waterbender. But doing so would only put him in danger. Something only the Blue Spirit understood.

For a terrifying moment, she realized that the stranger might know her better than even her own brother. Katara took her time grabbing the mail to wrestle through her knotted stomach before walking into the bakery.

"I'm home," she called upon entering.

"There's my sugarplum." Her father was covered in flour from head to toe, his hair tied up in it's usual ratty half-bun.

"What are you making?" she asked, sifting through the mail so as to avoid his eyes.

"Cinnamon rolls," he said. "Ms. Lee liked them so much she ordered another dozen."

Katara snorted. "If you ask me, it's not the cinnamon rolls she liked so much."

"What do you mean?"

She rolled her eyes at his obliviousness. There was no question where Sokka came from.

She froze as her eyes caught on one of the letters she'd pulled from the mail. To Polar Icing Bakery from Phoenix Industries. Katara ripped open the letter and scanned the fine print.

"Dad?" she whispered.

"Yes, sugarplum?" He looked up from his dough to see what she was holding up and his face paled. "Now, Katara-"

"You're selling the bakery?" she demanded.

"No," Hakoda said, stepping around the island to stand in front of her. "I would never do that."

"But this is a notice of sale," Katara said, waving the paper in his face.

"They've been trying to get me out of here since before your mother passed," he said. "This is nothing new. Each year they try for more money." He stood straighter, placing both hands on her shoulders to look her straight in the eyes. "But I'm not going anywhere."

Vaguely, she felt herself being pulled into a hug but Katara's mind was far away. Phoenix Industries was after the bakery? Why?

"Let's talk about other things," Hakoda said, placing her again at arms length. "Are you going to be able to go to the party on Wednesday? Sokka said he's having people dress up?"

Katara groaned, having received the text that afternoon. "Yes. Something about the four nations?"

Hakoda laughed in the way that Katara couldn't help but smile herself.

"You know..." Her father tapped his chin leaving a flour goatee against his dark skin. "Your mother used to have a blue dress you might be able to use for a water tribe get-up."

"Anything that keeps me from having to go shopping," Katara said.

"I'll pull it down this evening so you can still have time tomorrow if it doesn't fit." Hakoda sighed, cradling his daughter's face in his hands. "You look just like her, you know."

Katara smiled. "I know dad." She never got tired of hearing it. Knowing she looked like her mother...it made her feel strong.

"Where is this dress?" she asked, "Are you talking about the silky blue one?"