A Different Destiny

Chapter 22

Katara and Zuko rose before the sun had risen from beyond the horizon. Seeing as they didn't come with much, it didn't take long. Katara wanted to get to Chenbao early, knowing that was the best chance she had for picking up work. Laborers would meet in the town square for an early meal before heading out on the job. Hopefully one of those jobs included water.

Zuko begrudgingly agreed to stay in the hut, despite their close call last night, it seemed like the safest place to hide out seeing as they didn't yet have other supplies. Katara told him that she hoped to be back in three days time or less, and to not worry unless it had been more than five days. She knew that jobs really worth it would inherently be a greater time commitment. And frankly it was more efficient to spend 3 to 5 days upfront working for the locals then doing a day here and there, over the course of weeks.

She slung a small sack over her shoulder with the meager food they had foraged since arriving on earth kingdom shores. She felt bad taking their entire ration, but knew it made the most sense, Zuko would have plenty of time looking for food while she was gone. In fact, she was quite sure he would be bored out of his mind which somewhat worried her. Katara knew he could be impulsive at times, she just hoped that wouldn't get him into trouble before she got back.

For a moment they stood there saying nothing, just looking at each other silently remembering the night before. The feeling of his skin on hers and of his lips pressed against her neck hit her like a warship, almost making her gasp in surprise and sending her senses spinning head over top.

She had to leave now or she'd never do it. The thoughts were too tempting and he was too close. All she had to do was reach out her hand to touch his face and pull him close. She knew that she shouldn't. While she didn't entirely understand his reaction last night, she knew enough. He didn't want her to touch him. She couldn't blame him either, they had been running for their lives from at least a half a dozen enemies over the past few weeks and were now currently looking for deus ex machina for the world. They hardly needed any more complications at the moment.

"I'll be back soon." Katara whispered without moving a muscle. She had meant to say it like a simple fact, but it came out more like a promise.

Zuko nodded, his dark eyes on hers. "I'll be here," he said back. He took a step forward and reached out towards her. Katara froze, wondering if she had read things wrong and he was going to kiss her again.

Instead, he pulled her into an awkward hug. Surprised, it was a moment or two before she returned it, wrapping her arms around him.

Touching him was still like being hit with a bolt of electricity but wasn't the same as kissing. Even more confused, she broke the hug and took a step back. "I'll be back." she said again, and turned and slipped out the door.

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The walk into Chenbao didn't take long because of its proximity to the coast. Within 15 minutes or so, Katara could see the brown thatched roofs come into view. Five minutes later, she found herself in the middle of town square. Katara momentarily wondered if anyone in town would be able to afford outside help, as the entire state was in various stages of disrepair or disuse.

Although Katara had passed several homes on her journey into town many appeared abandoned, with parts of the walls caving in or dark and empty doorways. It seemed only a handful of the houses were actually occupied, and those weren't in a much better state than the rest. Most of the buildings seem to have some type of structural damage of lack of care over the years.

The people she passed on the streets looked tired and sad, many appearing to be made of little more than clothes and bones, threatening to blow away in a strong wind.

Although the small town nearly sat on the edge of the world, away from the ravages of the Fire Nation and the frontlines of the war, it had suffered in many ways. Being cut off from everyone else was like losing a limb. The inhabitants weren't able to produce enough crops to feed themselves or find anyone willing to trade with them. Katara wondered why they didn't just leave.

She looked around for some sort of posting board. She wanted to see first if any wanted posters of Aang, Zuko, or even herself had made it to these parts. She doubted it but one could never be too sure. Nothing was evident, she just watched as villagers scurried from one building to another. Not really interacting with each other, intent on where they were going.

A young boy emerged from a building close to her, he was alone and looked to be about her age. "Excuse me!" she shouted, waving her arm. She raced towards him, not wanting to give him a chance to run away. She figured she had the best chance at getting the inside details from someone her own age, thinking fondly back to the boys who had told her about the Earth Rumble tournament where they had met Toph.

The boy turned around to see if anyone was behind him, seeing no one, he whirled back around to Katara in surprise.

"Good morning! I'm new in town and a waterbender. Do you all have a town board, somewhere I might be able to find some work?" She didn't mention her name, not wanting to instantly raise suspicion. He raised his eyebrows and didn't say anything. He looked around, as if to see if other people were seeing what he was. A few others looked over but didn't stop, probably wondering why someone was being so loud so early.

"Uh are you okay?" Katara paused, giving him an appraising look. He didn't look threatening, but one could never be too sure. He looked more confused than anything. He looked to be a little older than her, with long brown hair pulled back with an earth kingdom headband. The hair style somewhat reminded her of Haru, but this boy was broader and his eyes were gray instead of green.

He shook his head quickly, as if waking himself from a dream. "Yes, sorry about that! I'm Gua." he said, offering her a hand and smiling at her. She took his hand, a little thrown off at the abrupt change. "We don't often see outsiders here," he explained.

This made sense, she knew the northern tribe hadn't traded with Chenbao in years and the rest of the earth kingdom would have little reason to come this far up.

"Unfortunately, we don't have the type of posting board you're talking about. Chenbao is way too small for that. When something happens we just talk to each other and word gets around."

Katara's face fell a little bit. She and Zuko might have to travel deeper into the earth kingdom for supplies. They had been hoping to get their supplies early and avoid populated areas to not get caught. But this could seriously mess up their plans.

Seeing her face fall, Gua started talking again. "You said you're a bender, right?"

She nodded and with a wave of her hand, the water flew from the pouch at her side and spun a few inches above the palm of her hand. Gua's face split into an even wider grin and he clapped his hands together. Katara, blushed not used to outbursts at simple bending.

"That was sweet! I haven't met a real waterbender before. I'm an earthbender, but that's objectively less cool. All I can do is push big rocks around quickly."

Katara laughed, "I doubt that's all you can do."

Gua shrugged sheepishly. "Well, if you're looking for work you're welcome to come with me. I work on the only ship this village has. I'm sure the captain could find some way for a waterbender to help." He said, gesturing for her to follow him.

She did, not knowing where else she would've looked.