markofthebrave | [ Action, Written ] .052

[Filtered 100 percent AWAY from: Sokka, Toph, Zuko, Yue, Suki, Shikamaru, Chouji, Ino, Shino, Naruto, Sasuke, Itachi, Trafalgar, Nami, Sanji, Luffy, Chopper, and anyone else she thinks might recognize her handwriting, despite the pains she's going to in order to disguise it, or show the journal to people she really doesn't want to see this - Raine and Temari and Iroh.

All replies will be written unless stated otherwise. The camera is obscured by a wrapped around piece of brown cloth.]

Do you think that there's such a thing as a power that is wrong, not because of how it's used, but just because of what it does?

[After staying holed up in her room with the door shut - quite an unusual break of habit for her - Katara decides to head into town. She wants to check out that night club that she'd heard about - she heard there would be music!

From there it's the usual errands, like the grocery store and the Item Shop. Dinner tonight will be Something Spicy, but she hasn't figured out what yet. Maybe it'll help get Sokka out of his funk.]

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[That's a strange question. Zuko stills, plates in hand, and stares at her for a second.]

Uh. What do I think about fire? [Uhm. Fire Nation here.]

[She nods.] Yeah.

[She has mercy on him and tries to clarify.] I mean, in the South Pole, fire was something that we valued... but it was also something we knew had incredible destructive potential.

[She will not let herself say 'fear.']

And for a long time, all I was able to associate fire or the Fire Nation with was the enemy. I know that fire and the Fire Nation aren't the same thing, but... you've got to think something about it.

[He's silent for a moment; it isn't hard to make the connections and at least know that, for her, fire comes with Bad Things. But for him... ]

Fire's life. [He shrugs.] Will. Determination. I used to think it was anger, but it's not: it's about balance.

What do you mean?

I mean that fire isn't just about anger or just passion. Not just a destroyer and not just life. Fire is balance between them all; there's no way a firebender can ever reach his or her potential without figuring that out.

Mmm. [She flips the meat in the pan and the sizzling sound makes her wince.]

I can see how that would be hard to realize.

[Why is there wincing? Did she burn the meat? Doesn't smell like it.]

Uncle nearly had to beat it into me.

You're lucky. I think that your nation would have been a lot better off if more of you had learned that.

[He shrugs.] Probably. Not everyone's like that, though. Just all the wrong people.

...well, when we get home you'll have a chance to fix that.

[She doesn't have the same problem with fire as she does with mind-control. Fire is part of the world. Mind-control... isn't.

But it's hard to see fire as anything other than a weapon sometimes.]

... Yeah. [It's a little quiet. He believes it -- he wouldn't have joined Aang otherwise -- but it's still his own family he's going against. Still the father he wanted nothing but love from.]

[She's got nothing that she wants to say to pursue this topic.]

Almost done with the table?

[Table? Zuko blinks, then looks at the stack of plates in his hands. Oh. Right. Table. Idiot.]

Yeah.

[Just... going to go do that now.]

[Removing the meat from the pan now and not quite looking at him.]

Thanks.

[ Action, Written ] .052

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