Disclaimer: Stuffed animals, I have many.
Books, I have many more.
Money, I have… little...
And Avatar: The Last Airbender, I have none.
Comprende?
Chapter 14- Costumes
"All that soup and tea really did wonders for you, Prince Zuko. And Katara helped, too! How wonderful to have her aboard, don't you agree?" Uncle Iroh asked.
Zuko gave a noncommittal grunt and returned his attention to the map on the wall of the helm. Although his uncle had a point, and he was massively relieved to be rid of his headaches and sneezing, he refused to give his uncle anything to work with. He knew how that crazy old man could warp and twist things so that it would seem as though he liked the waterbender! Sure, they were becoming quite chummy, but he was after the Avatar and there was nothing that would change that.
Hearing the door squeak behind him, he glanced over his shoulder to see his "nurse," as Uncle put it, enter the room. As she sat beside his uncle, he turned back to his map.
"That storm was powerful enough that it must have hit Azula's ship as well," he thought out loud. "She will most likely have been blown off course, at least a bit. Since we had Katara's waterbending on our side, we are still on her tail. News will have reached my father already about the Avatar's capture. If we reach fire nation waters, the ship must not be seen if my plan is to succeed."
"And what exactly is your plan, Prince Zuko?" Iroh questioned as he began to set up a Pai Sho game for himself and the waterbender. He also noticed the girl stiffen and narrow her eyes at the mention of her friend's arrest.
"Azula will turn the Avatar over to my father sometime before the masquerade ball. The night of the ball, we will sneak in and steal the Avatar. Before anyone notices the Avatar is missing, we will be safely back on the ship and headed out to sea. Everyone will think the Avatar merely escaped. Then after a few days, we will send word back to the palace, and I will give my father the Avatar and regain my honor and my birthright," he finished triumphantly.
"Who is 'we'?"
Zuko turned to the waterbender. "You and I."
"I feel I should accompany you as well, although I will not be following you to the dungeons," Iroh interjected.
"How will you get into the palace?" Katara asked coolly.
"Through the servants entrance." Zuko could see she was trying to find a hole in his plans.
"How will you get them out with out being heard?"
"I'll knock out the guard and steal the keys."
"The guard is sure to see you. How will you explain that?"
"He won't see me. I've done this before, girl. I know what I'm doing." Memories of a night fighting alongside the Avatar, dressed in black and masked in blue, resurfaced before his eyes.
"How will you get Aang to follow you?"
"I have you, don't I?"
"Will you take Sokka, too?"
"No," he sneered. "Why would I need to bring along that sorry excuse for a warrior? He'll just slow us down."
"Because everyone knows Aang would never leave Sokka behind. You will have to save them both to make it look convincing."
Drat, he thought. She was right. He would have to release the water nation warrior, too. This might make things more difficult.
"And," she continued confidently, "if I am to be a part of this plan, I think I should have some say in the matter since it is my life on the line as well. For one thing, if we simply got costumes, since it is a costume party and happens to be the original plan, we could easily traipse in through the front door and none would be the wiser. Secondly, how would we have snuck four people out of a palace surrounded by guards? There are too many servants and soldiers to sneak by. Aang and Sokka are going to need costumes as well if you want any chance of escaping in one piece."
Why didn't I think of that? Zuko mentally kicked himself for his stupidity and overcomplexity. So much for a brilliant plan.
"Costumes? If we're going to need costumes, then we'll need to get some fabric and such from the town while we're still here," Iroh stated, excitedly. The thought of shopping had him thrilled.
"I don't need a costume. Just find one for the girl and something simple for the coming prisoners."
"Very well, Prince Zuko. Come along Katara. We have quite an exciting day ahead of us!" So Iroh hurried the girl out the door and down into the town.
Leaving a simmering prince behind, the retired general hurried the small girl off the ship and into the port town. Stopping a local townsman for directions, Iroh led Katara to the seamstress's shop. A bright and cheery old woman greeted them as they entered the door.
"Good morning! How may I help you?" she asked.
"We are looking for fabric for a few costumes for a… party we are going to," Iroh answered. "We need something for this little one here," he gestured towards Katara, "two other little ones, and not so little me," he chuckled as he patted his belly. "Reds, golds, and blacks might be best for our um… party theme. But blues would be wonderful as well."
The woman gave him a curious look but looked around her shop helpfully anyway. Business is business, no matter how queer the request, she thought. "Here, I have a lovely blue silk and, oh, over here is a gorgeous deep red! I will need to take sizes if you would like me to make the costumes for you. What are you planning on, anyhow?"
"I know their sizes. I can do it myself," Katara said quietly to her chaperone. "I just need some thread and a few needles, I could do it while we travel."
Turning to the woman, Iroh graciously declined her offer. "But we do need lots of fabric!" Glancing at Katara, he muttered, "What exactly do you have in mind?"
"Well, Aang doesn't need anything fancy, just something maneuverable. What kind of costumes will be there?"
"Hmm… there's always the obvious. Animals, kings, queens, there will be a few children there, I suppose. The boys usually dress up as fire nation warriors or dragons or something else dangerous like that. The girls wear something pretty, princesses, and the like. Why do you ask?" the old man questioned.
"I wanted to make sure the boys didn't have something that stood out too much. What if I made them a costume they both could wear, like a dragon. One could be the front, and the other would be the back. That could work. Yes, it will work!" she proclaimed confidently. Turning to the woman, she asked, "Could you find me those reds, golds, and black fabrics?"
"What about you?" Iroh asked.
"Don't worry about it. I already found a suitable costume." Zuko had silently entered the shop and was leaning casually against the wall behind them. "Keep the blue. She'll take the red and black for the boys," he told the woman. "And the gold. Now hurry up Uncle, we don't have all day. This should cover the cost of fabric, correct?" And with that he dropped a bag of money on the counter and stalked out of the store as quietly as he had come in.
The woman had never seen such generous customers and she rushed off to fetch as much fabric as she could carry.
"I'll never understand that boy," Iroh sighed to himself under his breath. "Or his mood swings…"
Katara sat comfortably on the chair in her room while she sewed, listening to Iroh rattle on about his life and stupid things that the prince had done. They threw stories back and forth as the waterbender girl worked on the costumes. With some wire and wooden dowels she had found in the small town they left a few days before, she had begun to fashion a dragon's head with a pole for each boy to hold onto to guide the creature to their safety. Hopefully, she thought. If only Zuko would change his mind…
She remembered the day on the bow, watching the storm roll in, when she asked him to join the Avatar's cause. He had refused, she remembered, but reluctantly. Maybe he'll change.
"And then another time," Iroh said as he began another story, "when Zuko was just a baby, it really hadn't been determined whether or not the little scamp was a bender or not, and I was holding him. Suddenly he sneezes and we knew for sure, he was a firebender. He nearly burned my whole beard off!" he chortled. Katara giggled in her cozy chair.
"The day we found Aang, I really hadn't learned to control my waterbending yet, and I had gotten mad at Sokka while we were out fishing. I was making wild, frustrated arm movements and I ended up demolishing an iceberg. Then of course there was the giant wave that rolled off as the pieces fell, and it sent us flying. It wasn't one of my best moments, but we did find Aang, so I guess I made up for my momentary lack of grace."
Iroh laughed and went onto a story about Zuko and a very ungraceful day, while Katara went back to her sewing. Soon she would have a costume perfect for the boys' escape. Her mind wandered to the prince's behavior in the cloth shop. He found a suitable costume? What is suitable? She thought of all the horrible costumes it could be, something like the Unagi, or maybe a slave girl, or an old hag. Katara's mind reeled with awful things he could dress her in just to spite her. Because he's a prince. And I'm just a stupid water peasant, she thought bitterly. I have no reason to be bitter. Why do I even care? It's not like I-
"Did you hear me, dear? I said Zuko once thought he was drowning in two feet of water! I had to walk out and save him!"
Katara gave a half-hearted chuckle and returned to her work.
"My dear, is there something on your mind?" the kind old man asked.
"Hmm? No, nothing."
Iroh sighed, so stubborn. Just like him…
So yeah. Finally up-freaking-dated. And I got the idea for the part about Zuko sneezing from Isaia's picture on deviantArt. It's funny! And I couldn't think of an original idea myself, so all credit for that paragraph goes to her!
Sorry it's so short. I just really wanted to update. I totally forgot how fun it was to get reviews. I hope it feels like this story is actually going somewhere. I keep thinking it is in my head, but like that's a reliable source! Please review and I will love you forever and ever!