The Confrontational Approach

By Advocaat

Chapter Nineteen

Second Impressions

It wasn't a dream, but she wished it was. Somehow she was back—really back—where it—she; everything—had started. She was in the South Pole. She was home.

But everything was wrong.

Katara stood at the edge of town in front of the protective wall surrounding the Southern Water Tribe and held her hand out over the snow. With a swift series of well-practiced movements she attempted to summon the soft top layer to her hand, but just as she'd come to expect, it didn't respond. She cursed quietly under her breath and slipped her hand back into her mitten dejectedly. No matter how many times she tried—how many times she failed—she still couldn't believe it.

Her grandmother had suggested that perhaps her loss of bending ability was due to stress. She'd advised Katara to take advantage of her return to her home to rest and settle her mind. Katara could see the sense in the old woman's words, but they failed to settle the feeling of dread making dark clouds in her mind. If loss of bending could be attributed to simple stress, then why had she never heard of such a thing happening before, she thought. But without a better explanation, all she could do was follow her grandmother's advice and hope a little R&R would fix whatever was wrong with her.

She knew it wouldn't.

Following her loss of bending was the matter of how she and Zuko were going to rejoin the rest of their team now. They were in the South Pole. The South Pole. Katara didn't even understand herself how they had gotten here, and now any chance of rendezvousing with the others in Fire Fountain City was beyond impossible. Moreover, being in the South Pole meant that they were completely cut off communication-wise from their comrades. There were no messenger hawks here, after all. To make matters worse, the only method of transportation from the Poles to the rest of the world was via ship and there was no way they would be able to get away with sailing a Water Tribe vessel into Fire Nation waters—if their friends had in fact chosen to make Zuko's vacation home their hideout.

Once again, somehow, Katara and Zuko had landed themselves in a situation in which their only option was to wait.

The morning following her and Zuko's arrival to the small, southern tribe, Katara learned that her home had changed drastically in the half year since she and Sokka left. She learned that, led by Pakku, warriors from the Northern tribe had sailed south and begun to help their sister tribe rebuild. Northern benders and architects had immediately gotten to work constructing houses for the citizens who had been barely getting by in feeble animal skin tents. The tiny encampment had grown into a proper village and judging by the rate of their progress Katara thought it was only a matter of time before it evolved into a town. The tribe was healing and she couldn't be more happy for it.

Katara's return was received with a plethora of hugs and teary smiles from the members of her tribe. Everyone was beyond happy to see her back healthy and whole. It was a bittersweet reunion for Katara, though, as she couldn't be properly joyful with so many stresses hanging over her, but she was glad nonetheless to be back among her people.

Zuko was another story. His arrival was received with undisguised suspicion and anxiety from the village folk—many of whom remembered his face from his prior visit. For the whole first day, Zuko didn't leave her family's hut. He wasn't well enough to be up and about, which was proven by the fact that he lacked even the energy to complain about being cooped up. Personally, Katara was a teensy bit glad for this as it gave the village more time to adjust to the idea that a firebender was residing within their walls before they actually had to deal with him face to face. She knew that her fellow tribespeople were far from pleased about hosting evil incarnate, as they'd been quick to label him.

Of course, her and Zuko's arrival was quick to spark rumors of all sorts and Katara had her hands full that first day trying to extinguish as many of them as she could before they could take root and grow into something beyond her control. Zuko would have a hard enough time staying here without people believing that he'd captured her and was using her to satisfy his sick, carnal, Fire Nation urges or that he was using her to get a foot in the door so he could take down the tribe from the inside or any number of equally absurd notions that she'd heard floated around.

However, Katara couldn't truly blame her tribesmen for their presumptions. She'd been just the same before her adventures with Aang. It had taken a long time for her resentment toward the Fire Nation to fade and she knew it would take the people of her tribe even longer. They had no reason to think that the Fire Nation was anything but evil. They hadn't seen what she'd seen or met the people that she'd met. Her word alone wasn't going to be enough to fix a century's worth of hatred and fear.

And still, this wasn't the end of her problems. Underneath all her other concerns—her worry for Zuko and fear that she'd never regain her ability to bend and distress as to how she and Zuko were going to meet up with their companions again before the comet—there was yet one problem that had arisen as the result of her returning home in her current state that quite possibly outcompeted all of the aforementioned at being the most rankling. It was the fact that everyone insisted on treating her like a delicate flower.

She understood. Really, she did. To them, she was still the same Katara she'd been when she left; a normal girl, untalented at bending and unable to defend herself in a fight. She couldn't exactly prove otherwise with the current state of things, but it still irked her. She couldn't demonstrate any of the skills she'd learned and therefore it was as if the grand adventure she'd been on for the better part of a year meant nothing. Many people had come to her with questions about the Avatar's quest and there was many a proud nod when she spoke of Sokka and everything Team Avatar had accomplished together, but it was like she wasn't part of it; like she'd merely been a bystander along for the ride. It was obvious from the types of questions they asked her. What's the Avatar's favorite flavor of soup? Traveling with a bunch of rowdy boys must have been a nightmare. How did you keep them in line? Did you make sure Sokka ate well? Even when she told them about all the amazing things she'd done and how she'd mastered waterbending under Pakku, nobody seemed to really believe her. It wasn't that they thought she was lying, but they seemed to attribute her successes more to Aang and Sokka than to her. It was disheartening, to put it mildly. She wished Pakku were around to vouch for her bending, but he was currently away on some sort of business, the nature of which her grandmother declined to divulge.

When Katara wasn't out trying to make peace with the villagers, she spent her time by Zuko's side. It hurt her terribly to see him in so much pain and knowing there was nothing she could do about it only made her feel worse. She felt useless and that was a feeling she was no longer accustomed to after so many months of battling and healing and being, well, useful. It was agonizing knowing that she should be able to help him and not understanding why she suddenly couldn't. Things were swiftly spiraling out of her control and she lacked the power to set them right. That power had up and left her and she didn't know why and it was all she could do to keep her composure.

"So, Prince Zuko," Kanna spoke as she sat in the room with them that evening. She apparently wasn't fond of the idea of her granddaughter being alone with Zuko and so she interjected herself whenever Katara went to be with him. Kanna was a sensible and well-meaning woman but not a trusting one. "Just how did you come to travel with my granddaughter?" The question sounded more like the beginning of an interrogation than an inquiry.

Katara looked at Zuko, trying to convey her sympathy through her eyes. She knew this side of her grandmother well.

Zuko looked at the old woman warily from his cot. He looked like he wanted to shrink away under the weight of her judging expression. "Erm, well, that story is a bit involved..."

"We have time," the elder stated bluntly, her gaze unwavering.

"Gran-Gran..." Katara admonished, giving the old woman a look. Zuko was still freshly wounded and very much in pain and couldn't this wait a few more days, at least?

"It's okay, Katara." Zuko attempted to lift a reassuring hand to her shoulder but ended up dropping it with a pained wince. He made a frustrated expression at his failure but quickly wiped it away and looked back at Kanna. "It's not a very good story. You'll probably end up liking me even less, to be honest." His eyes darted away from the old woman's briefly in shame.

Katara frowned but said nothing. It was the truth, after all.

Zuko looked back at Kanna and steeled his expression. "I'll tell you anything you want to know. But first, I think I should really start by saying sorry. I treated you and your tribe with disrespect. That was not the way a representative from one nation should greet another. My actions were shameful and embarrassing; not only to me, but to my country as well. I truly am sorry and I beg your forgiveness."

If Kanna was impressed by his apology, she didn't show it. She started to open her mouth in answer, but Zuko stopped her.

"However," he continued, managing to hold up a hand despite the obvious agony it caused to his injury. "I've come to understand that forgiveness is earned, not freely given, and I want you to know that I'm fully prepared to make up for my transgressions by any means necessary."

Katara felt a smile tug at her lips as pride welled up in her chest. This apology was a thousand times more polished than the one he'd attempted to give Aang just weeks before. She suspected he'd been rehearsing it in his head.

Kanna's eyebrows lifted, and this time, Katara could tell that she was impressed. "'By any means necessary' is a dangerous promise, your highness," she warned, looking at him seriously. "You're handing me control without setting any boundaries. I hope you understand that."

"I trust your judgement," Zuko said simply.

"You know nothing of my judgement."

Zuko's eyes flicked briefly away from the old woman to look at Katara. "No, but Katara does. She trusts you and I trust her."

Kanna finally cracked a hint of a smile then. "Some of the time," she agreed. "But my granddaughter has been known to cast my judgement out to sea when it suits her."

Katara flushed at this. That was exactly what she'd done right before she left with Aang, and Kanna clearly hadn't forgotten it.

"In any case," the old woman continued, "I've heard your apology and I'm grateful for it." She nodded her head to the prone boy. "If you truly wish to make it up to me, you can start by answering my original question."

Katara let out a short breath of relief. Zuko's apology had done a lot to ease the tension between them. It had chased away the white elephant-rhino in the room and now they could focus on actually building some trust. It was a positive start. She could tell from the look in Zuko's eyes that he felt the same way.

"Well," Zuko started, "like I said, it's not a very good story. I pursued the Avatar for a long time after I left the Southern Water Tribe. I'm sure Katara can fill you in on all the details if you really want to know, but suffice to say that I hounded them with persistence for several months and I did a lot of things I'm not proud of. I fought Katara and Aang many times and made a lot of bad choices both during that time and after. To me, returning to the Fire Nation with the Avatar was everything. I thought it was my destiny and I would do anything to fulfill it. It wasn't until after I'd hurt a lot of people; Katara, Aang, Sokka, my uncle...that I discovered that what I thought was my destiny was just a product of my own misguided view of the world and my father's twisted designs. I did a lot of thinking and was forced to make some difficult decisions—as well as face some harsh realities," his eyes flicked to Katara, "and in the end I chased down the Avatar one last time and begged him to let me join him."

"And now he's Aang's firebending teacher," Katara concluded. "Or, well, he was before the two of us got separated from the others."

Kanna hummed and leaned thoughtfully over her knees. "So the Avatar has already mastered waterbending and earthbending," she concluded. "And he has found a firebending instructor in a former enemy." She took a moment to consider this. Not for the first time, Katara wished her grandmother were easier to read. "That boy has really come along," she said at last. "I'll admit that I hadn't much faith when you left all those months ago, but it sounds like he's become a fine Avatar."

Katara smiled. "Yes, he has." Aang really had come a long way since she'd met him. He'd gained so much confidence and skill, Katara couldn't be more proud of him.

"And you," Kanna continued, surprising her, "You have grown too. You've become strong and beautiful; full of kindness and forgiveness." She grasped her granddaughter's hands and pulled them into her lap. "Perhaps it's time I emulated some of that." Her eyes found Zuko again. "You've done wrong, I won't deny or ignore that. But you have set yourself on the path of righteousness—and you brought my granddaughter back to me. I am willing to allow you a chance to make things right with the people here. Don't let me down."

Zuko's eyes widened and he gaped at her dumbly for about two seconds as her words sunk in, then his face split into a grin. "Really?" he said eagerly. "I mean, thank you. I promise I'll do everything I can to earn the tribe's forgiveness."

Katara smiled and touched his uninjured shoulder lightly. "We all need to work together to reestablish trust between the nations," she said, catching his eye. He nodded in agreement.

Kanna nodded as well and creakily rose to her feet. "Thank you, Prince Zuko. I have heard your story and I will discuss your position within the tribe with the representing elder from the North."

Katara stood as well. "You're going now?" she asked, unable to keep the concern from her voice. "But nobody else has even met him yet. What if your word alone isn't enough to convince everyone that he isn't a threat."

Kanna smiled slightly. "You think he won't receive fair treatment," she acknowledged. "You think the Northern elder will disregard my opinion because I am a woman." She chuckled and turned to the door. "This is my tribe, Katara. If the North disagrees with how I run things, they can sail right on back to their glorified iceberg."

With that, she sashayed out of the hut like an Earth Kingdom countess. Katara looked after her full of awe and admiration. For the first time, she thought she was seeing the woman who had turned up her nose at the Northern tribe's patriarchy and abandoned her home to sail across the world for the sake of freedom and not her tired old grandmother. A grin split her face and pride swelled up within her. She thought she could see now how she might have charmed Pakku.

"Your grandmother is a frightening person," Zuko commented from his cot, snagging her attention once more.

Katara smiled and nodded. "She's the toughest woman I know." Her smile fell, however, when she thought again about Zuko and how the tribe was going to take having him here with them. If he'd just been a normal Fire Nation soldier, his reception would've been cold and heavy with mistrust but the people would eventually come around after seeing that he meant no harm. The people of the Southern Water Tribe were hardened by war and loss, but not unfair. But Zuko was not an ordinary soldier. He was the flesh and blood of the Fire Lord and he'd shown in the past that he wasn't above using threats and violence to get what he wanted. The Southern tribe wouldn't soon forget that. Moreover, there were now Northerners living here as well, and they would remember the recent siege on their city. Zuko would find no friends here.

"You're worried," Zuko said, his eyes trained on her face. She was certain he could easily read her thoughts from her expression.

"Yeah," she answered simply. "I've already heard what they've been saying about you out there. It's not good." No reason to sugarcoat it. Zuko didn't need it.

Instead of looking downcast at this like Katara expected, Zuko instead looked thoughtful. "Maybe it's not all bad," he said, surprising her. He wasn't generally the optimist of the two of them. "I have a chance to prove to the people here that the Fire Nation isn't all bad. If I can just show them that I'm willing to get along with them, it might help smooth along negotiations for Aang after the war."

Katara shook her head in disbelief at what he was saying. "Well, it might, sure, but how can you be thinking about Aang and post-war negotiations at a time like this? If we can't leave here..." she swallowed, "if the tribe decides to keep you prisoner, Aang will never master firebending and then it won't matter what kind of impression you make here because Ozai and your crazy sister will take over the whole world and we'll all die a horrible fiery death while they cackle and toast marshmallows over our bodies!"

Zuko blinked at her, stunned. "Wow. You're, uh, really freaking out about this."

Katara sighed and closed her eyes, allowing herself to become calm again. Then she opened them and said, "Sorry. I'm just on edge from this..." she waved a hand around them demonstratively, "situation we're in. I'm confused and worried and you're injured and I haven't been able to bend for twenty-four hours. I don't know how we got here and I don't know how we're going to get back to the others and...we just don't have time." She sighed again. "I don't know how you are so calm about this."

"Painkillers. Probably," he answered unaffectedly. "Your grandmother gave me something to drink earlier. I can't feel my shoulder at all anymore."

Katara looked down at him uncomprehendingly for a moment as her brain processed her friend's offhand admission. Then she laughed. Zuko looked up at her with a mild expression that just made her laugh harder. Eventually she calmed down and said, "So, Gran-Gran drugged you and now you're just, like, super chill? That's refreshing."

Zuko blinked again. "I guess."

This set Katara off again and she had to hold the side of a chest of drawers to stabilize herself. Maybe it was because she was under so much stress, but the thought of Zuko being fed a chill pill was hilarious to her. "Wait, wait, wait," she said, breathing hard from laughing. "Does this mean that you won't get mad no matter what I do? Because I kind of want to test this now."

Zuko seemed to ponder this. "I don't know. Try."

Katara thought for a moment. "Firebending is dumb," she said, crossing her arms over her chest and smirking.

Zuko didn't bat an eyelash. "I already know you don't think that."

She thought again. "I bet Azula could beat you at arm-wrestling."

The firebender lifted his eyes to the ceiling in consideration. "Maybe."

Katara put her hands on her hips and huffed. This was harder than she thought. Whatever her grandmother had given him had really done the trick. She wracked her brain for anything else that might get a rise out of him. Suddenly, an idea came to her and her smirk returned. She had him for sure, this time. She leaned over his cot and in her smuggest voice, said, "I know your secret."

He looked at her, confused. "What secret?"

Katara's smirk widened. She felt like the pygmy puma that caught the hamster-shrew. "Your secret love." She leaned in closer, hovering just over his face. "The one you don't want to admit to anyone."

It was like a button was pressed. Zuko's eyes widened—even his bad one—and his body stiffened. A curious reaction, Katara thought, but maybe to him this particular facet of himself was more embarrassing than it seemed to her. "You—you know?" he stuttered. He was searching her eyes wildly with his own, trying to judge her truthfulness. He actually seemed really worked up about this.

Katara nodded.

"How long?" he asked, his face paling

She thought for a moment. "I guess I first suspected it when you made me that fruit plate back at the air temple," she answered. "But I didn't know for sure until we boarded that Fire Nation ship."

Zuko covered his face with his good hand and groaned. "All this time...You knew and you were just trying to spare my feelings. I'm such an idiot."

Katara quirked an eyebrow at him. "Hey," she said, laying a hand on his shoulder, "it's just dessert. It's not that embarrassing."

"Yes, it is! You don't know how much I—wait." Zuko uncovered his face and looked up at her with confusion written on his face. "Just dessert? What do you mean by that?"

Katara looked uncomprehendingly back at him. "That's your secret, isn't it? That you have a sweet tooth?"

Zuko stared back at her. He looked positively blindsided. Katara could actually see the gears in his head clinking and stuttering as they tried to turn in different directions. Finally, he said, "Sure. Yeah. That's it."

Katara frowned. That sure wasn't the reaction she'd been expecting. Clearly Zuko had thought she'd been referring to something else. Something that was apparently more embarrassing to him than liking cake. She put her hands on her hips and gave him a dubious look. "Okay, what secret were you thinking of?"

"Nothing," he said quickly. "You were right. I was just...uh...surprised that you guessed it!"

"Uh huh," she said skeptically, raising her eyebrows. She didn't believe him for a moment, but if it was something that made him that uncomfortable, she'd let it go. "Well, in any case, I did it! I managed to rile you up."

Zuko let out a breath and then gave her a small smile. "Weren't you supposed to make me mad?"

Katara shrugged dismissively. "Whatever. I got under your skin. That's good enough for me."

Just then, the two were interrupted by a hesitant voice coming from the doorway. "Katara?"

Katara spun around to find someone quite unexpected hovering timidly just inside the room. It was a friend of hers from the tribe whom she used to play with. Her name was An. She and Katara had been good friends growing up but had drifted apart somewhat when An, who was several years Katara's senior, had given birth to her son Kornok.

"An!" Katara greeted, rushing over to her friend with a grin. "It's great to see you! How've you been?"

An offered her friend a cautious smile and let Katara take her hands. "I've been well, thank you," she answered, her eyes flickering very briefly past her to Zuko before returning to Katara.

Katara gave her friend a reassuring smile. "It's okay. He's a friend." She knew it was going to be hard for An to trust her about him, but it was something she as well as the rest of the tribe were just going to have to do. Zuko wasn't going anywhere until he was better and right now Katara didn't have the means to hasten that process. They were stuck with him and they were going to have to deal.

"Um...hi?" Zuko said awkwardly, raising his good arm in a small wave.

An looked nervously between the two of them. Finally, her gaze settled on Zuko. "You're that firebender," she said. "The one who came to our village two seasons ago."

Zuko flinched. "Yeah... that's me."

An nodded but said no more to him. Instead, she turned back to Katara. "The others were wondering if you wanted to join us all for dinner in the big house," she said, her expression brightening somewhat.

Katara nodded. "Of course. I'd love to," she answered. Turning to Zuko, she smiled apologetically and said, "Sorry, Zuko. I'll only be a bit. I'll bring something back for you."

Zuko shook his head. "Thanks. Don't worry about me. I'll be fine here on my own."

Katara nodded and allowed herself to be led from the hut. She was both looking forward to and dreading sharing the evening's meal with her tribe. No doubt she would spend most of the time vouching for her unlikely companion and otherwise doing damage control on his and the Fire Nation's behalf. It was going to be a trying supper, for sure. But trust had to start somewhere, and she was going to make the transition as smooth as possible for her prone companion.

"Let's get this over with," she muttered to herself as she trekked across the snow behind her old friend.

oO0Oo

HAAAHAAAHAAAAAHHH.

Hey there, friendly, pitchfork sporting fans. It's been...a while. Yeah, sorry about that. I kept promising to update and the time just continued to stretch on longer and longer and loooonger... Well, I've returned at last. To those of you who have been patient and have continued to follow this story, I thank you from the bottom of the dark, damp pit in my chest that occasionally harbors feelings. To those of you who have long given up on waiting for my lazy self to get back to this story, I'm sorry. I never meant to leave it for this long. I hope you all have happy and fulfilling lives.

I received a great many thoughtful and encouraging reviews and PMs over these last two years (and a great many more hilarious pleas for updates that made me feel both amused and guilty) and I just want to say that I read and was touched by all of them. I'm sorry if there are any of you whom I didn't reply to. Know that I'm grateful and you kept this story in my thoughts even when I wan't working on it.

But now I'm back and I intend to finish this, so let's all have a super Zutara 2016!

Oh, and sorry this chapter was so boring. It's really just a transition chapter. I didn't actually get to a lot of the things I wanted to for this one. I think the next one will be a little more exciting.

Peace out, my bruddas!

Next chapter: Zuko meets the tribe and Katara has a freakout.