Of Edged Weapons and Eavesdropping
Title: Of Edged Weapons and Eavesdropping
Author: audreyii_fic
Fandom: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Rating: PG-13
Characters: Zuko, Katara, Suki (Zutara)
Genre: Romance/Angst
Warnings: None.
Summary:
Suki -- through no fault of her own, thank you -- overhears a private conversation. Sparrowkeet!verse.
A/N: Very short, semi-sweet, and totally random. This scene kept distracting me while I was TRYING to work on something bigger. Now I'm returning to the intended (much longer and far less sweet) Sokka backstory.
This takes place just before the Battle of Sozin's Comet.
Of Edged Weapons and Eavesdropping
Suki does not intend to sneak up on people. Her light footfalls are from years of intensive training; one does not become a Kyoshi Warrior by bumbling about and clattering into things. Suki can move silently at great distances, climb a tree without shaking a single branch, cross a beach without disturbing a grain of sand.
Overhearing conversations just kind of happens.
"Here." Zuko. "Take this with you tomorrow."
"...a knife?" Katara. "What am I going to do with a knife?"
"Stab people. That's what knives are for."
Suki stood in the wall-less hallway, concealed by shadows. It was too dark to see the faces of who was speaking, though their voices were instantly recognizable. Their soft words carried clearly from the other side of the courtyard -- the Fire Lord's house on Ember Island played funny tricks with noises.
She'd just meant to head for the bathroom (okay, and maybe burn off some nervous energy by climbing the rock wall), but given the givens, she decided it might be best to stay put for the time being. Suki never got caught when she wished to be silent... but she didn't want to test her skills on Zuko, who was nearly as good as her at sneaking, and could very well notice if he was being snuck up on. Suki did not wish to get roasted on the eve of the greatest battle of her life.
Also, given what they all now knew about Zuko and Katara, Suki was more than a little curious about what was going on. (She couldn't help it, being the primary audience of Sokka's hourly rants on the subject.)
So, yes, she eavesdropped. Sue her.
"Zuko, I don't know if you noticed, but I bend water. Ice blades, remember?"
"What if you run into Ty Lee?"
"This won't help. I don't know how to use a knife."
"You chop vegetables for dinner, don't you? It's not that complicated."
(Suki suppressed a groan at this. Knife fighting was extremely complicated and required years of training to master. Only idiots thought otherwise... but that could have just been Kyoshi snobbery talking.)
"But I--"
"I'm not asking you to get into a throwing competition with Mai. It's a backup. I thought you liked being prepared."
"Okay, fine." Suki heard the crisp scrape of a blade being unsheathed. "'Made in Earth Kingdom.'"
A sigh. "It's engraved on the other side, too."
"Oh. 'Never Give Up Without A Fight.' That's nice. Where did you get it?"
"From Uncle. It, uh, belongs to an Earth Kingdom kid named Lee. Kind of. If you ever run into him, tell him to take it."
"An Earth Kingdom kid named Lee." Katara's voice was dry. "I don't supposed you could tell me which Earth Kingdom kid named Lee."
"Um... he was short. And he's missing his front teeth... but they've probably grown in by now."
"...thanks. That'll help a lot."
A snort, followed by the smell of smoke.
Several minutes passed. Suki was just beginning to wonder if it was safe to move onward (she really did need to go to the bathroom) when there was a sound of feet kicking a stone step and the conversation resumed. "Are you taking your broadswords tomorrow?"
"Of course."
"How come you use them?"
A long silence, followed by a clearly reluctant, "Because I'm not a very good bender."
Katara's sputtering laugh was (luckily) louder than Suki's noise of surprise. "That's ridiculous."
"No, it's not. I didn't show any signs until I was seven. My training went terribly for years." The words were all low and embarrassed.
A pause, then: "Well... okay, so what if you weren't too good at first?" Katara's voice took on a stubborn edge, the one she got whenever someone in her family had been insulted. "It doesn't matter. You're great now."
"That's only because of Uncle. While we were in exile he taught me four or five hours a day, every day, until I finally mastered the basics. It went faster after that, at least." A dry laugh. "And I didn't really get good until you and I started fighting."
"Glad to be of service." There was a soft shuffle of weight shifting. "But I don't get what that has to do with your swords."
"Weapons... they're for non-benders and peasants. Needing them is a mark of shame. But I read the scrolls and practiced and I thought, if I could do this right, then at least... I wanted to be good at something."
Suki's curiosity had long been overwhelmed by a desire to get away. The conversation was private. But at this point you could hear a pin drop; moving was too risky.
"For what it's worth," said Katara finally, "I think knowing both bending and swordplay is amazing."
"...really?"
"Yeah. I wish I could do more than one thing. If I steal Sokka's space sword, will you teach me a few moves?"
(Suki gulped at the thought of anyone touching Sokka's space sword. Even she wasn't allowed to touch Sokka's space sword -- though he encouraged her to touch everything else.)
"Let's live through tomorrow first." In spite of the sarcastic words, Zuko's tone wasn't biting. "Then we'll see."
"Okay." Everything was quiet for a few minutes, until Katara said, "Dawn's only a few hours away. We need to go to bed."
Suki drew further back into the shadows as Zuko whispered, "We?"
A beat. "I'm going to my bed and I am going to sleep," Katara clarified pointedly. "You should go to your bed and do the same."
"Right. I knew that."
"Good. Thank you for the knife. Good night, Zuko."
"Good night, Katara."
Soft footsteps from two people headed in opposite directions, then--
"I love you," said a sad voice.
A long, long silence.
"Let's live through tomorrow first," said an equally sad voice. "Then we'll see."
After Suki heard the doors sliding shut, she exhaled with relief and padded down the hall. Her steps were completely silent, but unfortunately, that didn't make a difference.
"It's not nice to listen in on private conversations, Honey."
She paused long enough to glare at Toph's closed room. "You do it all the time," she hissed.
"Yeah, but I'm already not nice, so it's okay."
Suki shook her head, finally made it to the bathroom, then spent the remaining hours until dawn climbing the rock wall and being glad her relationship with Sokka was simple.
***
A/N: If you're curious about how the Gaang found out about Zuko and Katara... yeah, we'll get there sooner or later ;)