ZKMonth22 Day 23: PaintKo
“Sir, we have another report of a woman on one of the outer islands, going from village to village and healing the sick, providing the poor with food, and helping to settle disputes.”
“Yes?” Zuko asked, not looking up from what he was working on. What was wrong with a woman trying to help others?
“She’s only operating at night and dressing up like a spirit from one of the towns on the island. The Painted Lady.”
Zuko’s head shot up, finally looking at his manservant. He’d heard of the Painted Lady, everyone in the capital had. It was one of the most famous, if not the most famous, story from the war. A woman dressed as the Painted Lady saved a river village from the local factory ruining their river and killing them slowly with pollution, starvation, and lack of medical care. Apparently she had been a waterbender with extraordinary abilities.
When Zuko had contacted Aang to ask if he knew where Katara had disappeared to, Aang had blown up at him, demanding to know why Zuko wanted to know, if he and Katara had something going on behind his back, had had something going on all this time which caused him to lose her. Once Zuko realized the implications of Aang’s crazed ravings, he quietly forwarded the letter to his uncle, who had taken upon the mantle of the Head of the White Lotus, asking him to track Aang down and get him out of the public until he could be made to see reason.
This had caused another drought in Zuko’s search for Katara, but resurfaced rumors of a woman pretending to be the Painted Lady, who before had been a spectacular waterbender, were too much of a coincidence for him to ignore.
“Ready a ship,” Zuko said, standing. “Have someone pack my things. I’m going to visit this island at once.”
“Yes sir,” his manservant said, rolling up the report scroll and bowing before backing out of the room.
When they touched land on the island housing the mysterious legend, Zuko donned a disguise, adopting the persona of a normal traveler so he could conduct his research.
It wasn’t long before he found the village with the most recent sightings, or experiences, rather. Only glimpses had been caught of this spirit, so it wasn’t confirmed whether it was actually a spirit, the woman from the war, or someone new altogether.
Zuko spent weeks tracking the sightings from village to village, eventually coming to the last one she could possibly visit. He hadn’t slept well since he’d started his quest and felt as though he was going to be ill himself. Eventually he had to submit to his body’s needs and found a family on the edge of the village who let him sleep in their barn.
As soon as his head touched the pile of hay he’d turned into a pillow, he was out.
Something glowing bloomed beyond his eyelids, gently pulling him out of his deep slumber. His eyes opened and he saw someone bent over them, a large hat and a veil over their face, keeping it in the shadows. Though he did his best to keep the person from realizing he’d woken, they were not to be tricked. Their head swung toward him, eyes wide, and as gold met blue Zuko knew he’d been right.
He reached up and caught her by the wrist before she could run away. To his surprise, she didn’t resist, merely ceasing to leave and letting him hold her wrist.
“Katara,” he breathed.
“I should have known it was you,” was all she said.
“Would you have refused to heal me if you’d known?” he countered.
This made her look at him, her eyes wide and indignant.
“Of course not!” she snapped. “I would have simply been more careful not to wake you.”
“Katara, where have you been?” he asked, hearing the begging tone in his voice but not caring. He couldn’t believe she was here.
“Everywhere,” she whispered. “I’ve been hiding, trying to avoid everyone and keep Aang from losing his cool and destroying the world.”
“Why would he do that?”
“I told him I didn’t want to date him.”
Aang’s letter suddenly made more sense to him, and Zuko briefly wondered if he’d return to his office to find a report from his uncle about the Avatar.
“That doesn’t mean you have to hide,” Zuko said. “That’s his problem, not yours.”
She made a face at him and he sighed.
“Katara, the war is over. You don’t have to have the whole world on your shoulders anymore.”
Katara shook her head, pursing her lips, and Zuko couldn’t hide his frustration. In one quick motion he sat up and took her hat off, revealing her face completely. He also dropped her wrist.
“You are not responsible for saving the world from Aang,” he said slowly and clearly. “If Aang were to go on a rampage because you refused him, it would not be your fault.”
“It doesn’t matter,” she retorted. “If there’s even a chance–”
“There’s no more chance,” he cut her off. “I asked Aang if he knew where you were and he sent me a letter full of craziness. I asked the White Lotus to detain him. He won’t hurt anyone.”
She stared at him, and he saw her inner battle of whether to believe him play out on her face. Finally, she settled on relief.
“Thank you, Zuko,” she whispered. “I know I should have told you or Sokka what was going on, but I felt so terrible.”
“You’re more than welcome,” he said, leaning forward. “I would do anything for you.”
Her face darkened in a blush and suddenly he felt embarrassed.
Before he could try to save himself, she was kissing him, throwing herself into his arms and ending up in his lap. He froze for a moment, surprised, but just as she was about to pull away he responded, pulling her as close to him as he could get her and deepening their kiss.
In the back of his mind he was amused at how the family who was housing him would react if they were to walk in and find him kissing the Painted Lady.
