Freedom

Chapter 45: The Fire Nation Insignia

The next morning, the group woke up groggy, having stayed up far later then they should have. They walked around the camp in abundance of yawns and lazy stretches, trying to wake their bodies for the journey ahead.

Zuko was the only one wide awake, having woken up before the others to prepare for traveling. He pushed the others to get moving and helped them collect their things. He seemed eager to get moving, even though the others couldn't be sure why. Zuko pulled Sokka along, yelling over his shoulder how they were going to find some food for the trip. Sokka followed blindly, rubbing his eyes and haphazardly grabbing his spear as they passed.

Aang stifled a yawn, trying to perk up before the travels ahead. He left camp soon after, getting some hay for Appa before they left.

Katara watched as they all headed in different directions and tried to put all of their things together. She was always the one to put everything together at the last minute. If she didn't, somebody forgot something. Countless times in the beginning of their travels, they had to turn around because Sokka forgot his boomerang, or Aang forgot his sleeping bag. It wasn't until she took it upon herself to grab everything that they owned. Since then, they stopped having to turn around.

But yet, it seemed Zuko never forgot anything. In fact, most days he was right beside her, making sure their freshly washed and dried clothes got back into their bags, and that the fire was throughly snuffed out.

Katara started to grab all of their bags, Toph's being the heaviest. She lugged it along, "What have you got in here? Rocks?" Katara complained.

Toph shrugged nonchalantly, "Duh" she spoke in between picking at her toes. She waved a hand, bending the rocks inside the bag and tossing it towards the others.

"So I even want to know?" Katara asked, rubbing her eyes. Toph answered if it was the simplest answer in the world, "What if I end up somewhere with no earth? You get to carry around a water pouch and it's not weird"

Katara rolled her eyes, knowing it was best not to comment. She instead left Toph's bag where it landed and went for the next bag.

The waterbender moved to grab Zuko's bag, grabbing it by the handle. When she went to pick it up, the fabric got caught on a stick, spilling its contents onto the ground. Katara muttered an expletive to herself in annoyance before leaning down to pick up everything that fell.

Her hand landed on a small piece of paper. She went to toss it back into the bag but a familiar symbol caught her eye. The Royal Fire Nation insignia was proudly stamped in red on the paper.

She froze for a moment, staring at the paper in her hand. Katara looked around; the boys were still far off into the woods, and Toph was too engrossed at the dirt in between her toes to notice. She pulled the string and unrolled the paper.

Tell me everything about the Avatar's plans. Or our precious Uncle may not make it to see the Fire Nation's holiday.

Your Dear Sister,

Azula

Her blood ran cold. Her fingers began to shake.

She wasn't sure how long she stared at the paper, or how many times she read the words over and over. She tried to read between the lines, to see if it was a trick or a fake. But there was no faking the fire nation insignia. Even they couldn't fake that when they broke Zuko out of the jail.

The symbol stood proudly at the end of the paper. There was no hiding it, and there was no forgery.

She wanted to crumble the paper in her hands. If she were a firebender, she was sure that it would be up in flames. She could feel ice forming at her fingertips, like daggers at Azula's throat. Even the paper began to dampen, quickly freezing, with the bitter ice that formed.