markofthebrave | [Action, Voice] .012

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[Action, Voice] .012

[Painstakingly filtered to the Straw Hats, Toph, Zuko, Sokka, Ginko, Allen Walker, Nash, Smithy Workers, and Caesar Silverberg, even though she's still a bit mad at him. 72 percent.]

If anyone knows how to make the filter higher, I'd really appreciate it.

Someone arrived from my world today who it would be a good idea to be cautious around. Her name is Azula, and she is a very powerful firebender who can also bend lighting. I don't know what she'll do without a Fire Nation here, but I can bet that it won't be anything good.

Don't trust her.

[And so after stalking Azula's entrance into Luceti and conversation with Roku, Katara decides that about now is a good time to interrupt them. So she will gingerly make her way over to where Roku is.]

Hey, Roku? Can I get your help with something?

ETA: And after about 2 minutes, that filter will have been bumped up to 100 via Ginko.

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[And because she feels exposed... and the story has served its purpose... and before she can begin to regret what she shared... Katara moves on:]

My village wasn't the only one the Fire Nation destroyed... all across the Earth Kingdom, there are orphans and villages in the grip of the Fire Nation, earthbenders who were forced to work for them... Jet was one of those, an orphan.

[And she shakes her head now.] But Roku -- he doesn't know, he doesn't understand any of this. Aang didn't either, when he first work up. The world had been without war. And it took... horrible things for him to believe us, for it to be real to him. I - don't know how to tell him...

...but with Azula here...

[Well, that tells him a little about Jet, for now. At "how to tell him", his brow furrows slightly] But...in the end. This isn't your world, no matter how many of you come here. And he belongs to a different time-- a history that has probably already been set. [ Ohh....he can't think about that for too long. ] He lived his lifetime. He can't change or be responsible for the future. Is it so important for him to know?

[he considers the little he's heard of them]

You think Azula might tell the story with her own actions?

[She pauses for a long moment and turns the situation around in her head - and then looks at Ginko.] Before I met Roku, I don't know if I would have believed that a firebender could be like he is - he's so... innocent. The way Aang was. Right down to the end, Aang would tell us stories about how he had friends in the Fire Nation...

...Azula and Zuko aren't like that. And I know he wants to ask about Zuko's scar... even if we could convince both of them to lie to him, he'd still know something was different just by how... hard they are, in comparison. And Azula...

[She shakes her head.] She really believes that she's better, that the Fire Nation is better than everyone. She doesn't just say it - she believes it. She was the one who suggested burning the Earth Kingdom to the ground. Of course, that was probably just what Ozai wanted to hear, but... still. He's not... blind. He'd have to see the difference.

Hmm. Well, that kind of belief-- in superiority-- is a strong motivator.

[then he trails back to her first statement with a smile and a slight shake of his head]

Honestly-- I'd be more surprised if there weren't a good many people like that. I doubt the entire nation is as bloodthirsty or power-hungry as it's leader. What about the farmers that raise the nation's food? Or the craftsmen and tradesmen? Even if the children's minds are shaped from a young age...they can't all be evil.

But to be raised form childhood into the kind of power that Azula and Zuko would have had? [a pause] .....what is Zuko's history with you and your brother?

[Katara shakes her head, smiling a little.] No, the whole nation isn't like that - although... well. The soldiers, they... seemed to be the same, anywhere.

And Zuko... heh. That's a long story. [And not all of it is mine to tell.]

[he raises an eyebrow] Too long to tell?

[She tilts her head to the side and considers him.] You really want to know?

[After all, she's been talking about her world for... a while now. She wouldn't be surprised if he needed to be somewhere else. ...and she wants the moment's delay to just... decide if this is something she should be talking about.]

Only if you don't mind telling.

... he's a firebender, but one of your allies. I've wondered how that came to be.

Well... [She's still not entirely sure how Zuko would feel about this, but...] I guess I can tell you my part of it.

[Where to start, where to start...] When we first found Aang, he and I went penguin sledding. While we were out there he saw a Fire Nation ship that we'd managed to beach, belonging back to some of the first raids. And he'd... never seen anything like that, so he talked me into going on it... ['If you want to be a bender, you have to let go of fear.'] but the ship was booby trapped. It shot off a signal. When we got back, Sokka was furious.

[....penguin sledding? What are penguins? How do you sled them?

these are questions he suppresses with the gravity of the situation.]

...someone saw the signal, huh?

[She nods, a bit wryly.] What were the chances that the Fire Nation prince who happened to be searching for the Avatar happened to be in the area?

We didn't know it at first, but Sokka prepared for war anyway... [And... she remembers. Her brother, standing up on the wall of ice, all alone. His face painted, his boomerang in his hand, and he just wouldn't move out of the way.]

The ship crashed through our defenses easily. Sokka was the only warrior left - and he stood his ground - but Zuko had been preparing for this moment his whole life. He thought that the Avatar he would face was one hundred twelve years old, the master of all four elements...

...he was so surprised when it was Aang. Aang agreed to go with Zuko if Zuko would spare the village. And Zuko did - and they left.

Edited 2010-05-14 21:31 (UTC)

[he pauses to think about that... Sokka all alone. There must be a reason he's such a resourceful young man-- they had to be that way. It tells him something about Zuko as well.

But more than anything-- something stirs at the thought of a war caused by old men and fought by children.]

[a little amused at the thought of him meeting Aang] I'm sure he was. [and he nods] He kept his word, then.

[Katara nods.] Yeah, he did. We didn't think much of it then... [that was before we knew...] but there are plenty of Fire Nation commanders who wouldn't have. We couldn't stop him.

[And her free hand clenches into a fist.] Even if it was just to keep us busy so we couldn't go after him - which we did, Sokka and I. Appa had recovered enough by then to fly after them, and by the time we got there, Aang had already broken out of their hold - we were just his ride out of there.

After that, we set off to the North Pole. Zuko followed us every step of the way - he caught up with us a bunch of times too. Each time... wasn't good. Most of the time we barely managed to get away.

[raises an eyebrow] Sounds like he had something driving him, to be so persistent. [he doesn't mean to pry into Zuko's business-- but he can't help noting it]

-- what caused the change, then?

[Her brows furrow, and she looks away.] I think... Zuko... saw things. On his journey through the Earth Kingdom after us. After we defeated the Fire Nation at the North Pole, Zuko's own father turned against him. He sent Azula to bring Zuko and his uncle Iroh back to the Fire Nation... so he had to wander through enemy territory, alone and with no one between him and the people there. He had to see what the Fire Nation was doing to people... and that didn't fit in with what he'd heard his whole life.

[She pauses, clearly not done, and remembers. A cave, lit by glowing crystals. Having no other recourse but to vent her fury at him - and then he apologized. He told her about his mother. And she... believed him. With all of her heart. And she remembers the words that she'd never been able to forget, for all that came after them. "I used to think this scar marked me. The mark of the banished prince, cursed to chase the Avatar forever... but lately? I've realized I'm free to determine my own destiny, even if I'll never be free of my mark." And she remembers the feel of his scar beneath her hand, and what she'd almost given up... and because of that, who she would have lost. Her brow furrows, and she is clearly distressed.]

I don't know what made him change his mind for the last time. I'm from before that happened. But I do know... that he really did change.

Hnn. [he nods. Capable of some compassion, then-- even after being raised a certain way his whole life.

Ginko can't read her mind, but all he derives from the silence is that the situation must have been complicated. Especially if he began as their enemy. He has some idea that Katara might not have been very swift to forgive, in the beginning.]

People do, sometimes.

[a pause, as a thought occurs to him] The time you were taken from-- was it after he joined you?

[She shakes her head.] No. It wasn't.

Ahh. [slight smile] So this is something you've had to learn.

[She blinks.] What? I mean - what is it I had to learn?

That he changed. Sincerely.

I imagine that wouldn't be an easy thing to just accept.

[She makes the closest she can to a 'che' sound and her smile isn't really amused at all.]

Not really. Sokka and Toph both told me, but... after what he had done...

I went to talk to him myself. And he knew things that... he couldn't have known otherwise.

...and it turned out that he'd helped me with something in my future. Me, personally. [Her hand goes up to her necklace. Sokka hadn't told her about that. Zuko had, and he'd done a terrible job explaining, but... she knew enough about herself to realize that it was true. That's the way it would have happened.

Because even with all that he'd done, she'd still drop everything to face the man who murdered her mother.]

For the most part, we agreed just to stay out of each other's way. [Read: I left him no choice.]

And then... Luceti happened. [Hey, Ginko - remember that love experiment?] And he was kidnapped and I had to spend all that time healing him... we were stuck in the house together for a month.

And you really get to know someone when you're with them every day, while they're... like that. [It had been scary. Zuko had always been strong, always been a fighter. Seeing him like that...] And it turned out that... [That his first instinct when there was trouble, even though he was in pain, was to rush out and try to help Sokka.] that everything they'd told me held up to be true. He knows that he was on the wrong side. And he worked to change it. He really has earned it.

Hmm. [a wry smile at the description of that time spent together. He knows what that's like-- as often as he tries to avoid it. It's human nature.

And he makes a quiet guess at the love experiment, actually-- but has no desire to know whether he's right or not. He smiles a little.]

I'm glad to hear it.

The difference must be real indeed if he managed to earn your trust. [...because it seems a hard thing to earn, even if for good reasons]

[And that feels unexpectedly like a slap.] What do you mean by that?

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[Action, Voice] .012

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