The Pawn |Katara

THIRTY-TWO

It was tense, in the house the Avatar and his company were supposed to stay. Aang, Sokka and Zuko were busy strategizing what their next move would be if the Earth King refused to accept their proposition, and Akira had had no choice but to be part of that company at first. He had been quick to make it clear he would be part of this conversation only when the need truly rose, however, when it became clear their suggestions were mostly baseless and not feasible—threatening the Earth King or taking the land by force was something that was not pragmatic—he decided he would not be part of it. In his absence, Jaya had come to fill his part and as if feeling the way things would be soon getting worse, Katara had joined the company so that things would be kept stable. To himself, Akira thought Jaya was awfully temperamental and involved for an airbender. He would never tell that to her, though. He had no wish for meaningless conflict.

A few hours after the meeting had ended and the King had assured them they would be receiving an answer at some point, Zuko announced he would be going to the tea shop to talk to his Uncle, perhaps get some council as well. Aang had joined him after speculating that Uncle Iroh would say something wise and he wanted to listen to what he would think. That left Sokka, Jaya, Katara and him in the room, as Toph had long since excused herself, claiming she needed to catch up on some sleep after Sokka had so barbarically woken her up that morning. Akira could understand that. The moment they were on their own, he felt the vague urge to leave.

"Are all Advisors this unbearable?" Sokka asked, attempting to break the silence and also poke some fun at Akira.

"It depends," he replied, although his gaze was on Katara who had stood up to look outside perhaps to observe those walking around or the aging of the day. "We can be rather pleasant if our interests are common."

"Those Advisors weren't just unpleasant," Jaya spoke up, and slowly Akira dragged his gaze away from Katara and over to Jaya who was almost glaring at the floor. "They were insensitive. And they obviously disregarded any facts or knowledge that went against their beliefs."

"That doesn't mean they don't know it," Akira muttered, "it's a tactic. Point out only what's beneficial to you and disregard the rest or make it sound absurd. Or take the conversation towards a topic that benefits you the way they did with the former Fire Nation colonies. As if they are capable of truly leading a nation." He shook his head with a humourless chuckle. "Just look at this place. The citizens of the Lower Ring live in complete and utter poverty. The Fire Nation colonies might have been ruled by foreigners but they were still treated better than they are here."

"You can't speak about the rule of the Fire Nation," Jaya shook her head. "You really can't."

He sighed. "My point is, at least we treated our own people right."

"Each Nation has been wrong in the past," Katara said as she turned away from the window and walked back to them. "Pointing fingers is not going to help anyone."

"I wasn't pointing fingers," Akira protested as she walked over and offered him a hand. He took it and at her gentle tug, he pulled himself up. "I was only pointing out the irony of this situation."

She nodded, "I know."

From the corner of his eyes, he could see Jaya frown.

"Come on," she tugged Akira off to the direction of the corridor leading to their bedrooms. He didn't protest. He followed after her without a sound, and for a moment he thought she was leading him to his own room, but a few doors before she opened a door and got inside. He closed the door behind them and turned to look.

The room didn't have many things. It was decorated the way his was, although in the place his own things were by his bed, was nothing, and on a chair not too far away were the few of her belongings, placed on a neat pile. To him, both of them seemed out of place, in a room decorated in green and yellow.