Sea and Sky

Chapter 8: A Crying Shame

Sea and Sky
Chapter 8: A Crying Shame

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The rain seemed to carry a message of anxiety and torment as she looked out the window, her breaths leaving smudges of fog on the thick glass. With the tip of her finger she drew the characters of his name. After a few seconds they faded from the glass. Slowly, Katara wiped the last vestiges of the smudges away with the back of her hand.

Outside, she could hear the trill of the cicadas. Humidity settled around her as she sat. A hawk had come some few hours earlier to announce the arrival of the Avatar and a royal visit from the Fire Lord. She hadn't yet betrayed her identity to Kilic and Ceren, but was instead waiting until Aang arrived.

She wasn't sure how to tell them she really wasn't Kya, a random traveler making her way southbound to the Water Tribes. Katara wanted to savor the last bits of freedom in her false identity. The knowledge that she would soon be thrust back into her old life made her uneasy and on edge. Her charade was over and she knew it.

What would Kilic and his mother say about her lie? She was sure they would be hurt. Further more, they would question why she hadn't told them her true identity from the start. Swallowing hard, Katara slowly pushed herself up from the cushioned bench near the window and made her way back inside the villa.

Passing a large mirror, she took a moment to assess herself. After she'd bathed she'd piled her long locks into a messy arrangement on the top of her head, long tendrils reaching down her back and into her face. Other than a brief comb-through, Katara had chosen not to pay to much attention to her hair. With one eye swollen shut and her busted lip, Katara looked like she'd been to hell and back. And perhaps, she had been to underworld. She felt as if she'd been dragged through a fire and then run over by a stampede of kimodo dragons.

Even with her own healing session and a bitter herbal remedy offered to her by Ceren, her burns felt like someone was peeling back her skin and exposing every nerve and muscle to pure agony. The burns ran the full length of her left side - down her torso, up her arm, over her thigh and down to her ankle. It looked like she'd literally been dragged several measures through coals and then sent aflame.

Pulling at the leather cord that held her hair secure, she shook her head a bit to loosen the still damp tendrils of her hair. A long sigh left her lips as she headed towards the dining hall. She was sure Kilic and his mother would be having a small bit to eat before Aang and the Fire Lord arrived. Now, she thought, would probably be the best time to tell them who she really was.

As she pushed the reeded partition open, Katara was met with the an uncomfortable silence. Ceren offered Katara a sad smile as she moved from her own to chair to assist Katara.

"How are you feeling, my dear?"

Katara winced as she sat a few chairs down from Kilic, every movement sending waves of pain through her body as she moved. Kilic nodded his head in silent greeting as he took a small sip of tea. Katara could tell the man was beyond exhausted, and by the looks of his own injuries, seemed worse for the wear.

"I feel like I've been cooked alive... other than that..." She trailed as she took a deep breath, searching her mind for the right words to reveal her hidden truth.

Noticing Katara's hesitation, Ceren reclaimed her seat before she spoke, a look of concern on her face. "Kya, are you okay? I know you've both been through so much. You seem especially troubled."

Drawing in a deep breath, Katara placed her palms flat on the table before she spoke, as if to steady the thrumming of her heart. She knew what she was about to say would alter any bonds she may have formed with the family.