A/N: I know, I know.... Long overdue!!

.7.

For Blue, I Think, has Always Been my Favorite Color

“I’m afraid everything’s finally catching up with her, it’s just too much for her to handle anymore.”

I scowled... I can handle things just fine, thank you very much.

“I should have seen the sign... she’s under a ton of stress.” A loud sigh. “This is probably my fault.”

Of course it’s your fault! You wouldn’t believe me about your precious bakertrying to kill me!

“Do you think you could just talk to her? Maybe take her out of the palace for a while to get away from things...” A pause. “...you know, for a girls’ day or something.”

Right, because a girls’ day will solve all of my problems right now...

My ears felt hot and I knew this meant that my face must still be red as a fire flake. I glared at the door of my room that lead out into the hallway (the same door Aang and Mai were currently outside of, talking about me like I couldn’t hear them...). I wanted so badly to throw a water whip through that door and show Aang just how well I could handle things.

I could barely hear Mai’s muffled response, her voice too quiet to hear – unlike Aang’s, whose voice was tense and elevated from stress. Suddenly, the door opened and Mai stepped inside, her face white and perfect as always. I heard Aang’s exiting footsteps down the hall and I was glad that he’d at least had the sense to give me my space for now. I was sure I had Mai to thank for that.

She didn’t say anything, – not unusual – as she closed the door quietly and stared at me behind long black bangs. Mai wasn’t usually the easily readable type, but at that particular moment, I knew exactly what she was thinking...

“Don’t look at me like that,” I snapped. “I know what happened down there.” I turned away from her and sat down at the vanity across the room. I heard her robes shuffle behind me as I made myself busy pulling a comb through my hair.

“I’m not judging.” I saw her shrug out of the corner of my eye.

“Then why are you here?” I asked hotly. “Come to convince me to come to my senses and make up with Aang?”

“No.”

I grunted as the comb caught a tangle. “He obviously thinks I’m crazy.”

He thinks I’m crazy...

The realization didn’t surprise me. It just made me more determined to show that baker for what she really was... A liar and a fake.

Mai sighed behind me and I could almost feel the rolling of her eyes.

I spun around, scrutinizing her. “Do you think that too?”

“Not at all.”

“Hm...” I continued pulling the comb through my hair with more force than it probably required as Mai remained silent.

Finally, she spoke up, “How do you think she did it?”

I wasn’t sure if she was being cynical, so I just turned back to the mirror and for a few seconds I didn’t respond. In fact, I didn’t even know the answer. How did she do it?

She must have put something in the food, something that I wouldn’t detect right away. Maybe a seed, or a pit. What was it that I was eating when I starting choking?

I didn’t hear her move, but when I turned back around to respond, Mai was sitting on the edge of my bed across the room. I sometimes forgot that she was a skilled fighter when we first met, so at times she still startled me with her stealth.

I regained my bearings quickly, “Look, that... that... girl-“

“Keera.”

I rolled my eyes, “Yeah, whatever... Keera tried to choke me to death! I don’t know how she did it, I just know that she did!”

Mai gave me a long pensive look that almost made me uncomfortable. I straightened my shoulders and stared back with equal vigor, ready to defend myself again.

Suddenly, she shrugged and lowered her gaze casually, “I believe you.”

I stood up, gesturing with my comb emphatically. “Mai, I saw the look in her eyes! She knew exactly what she was doing. She was...” I paused, hand on my hip and comb aiming at Mai’s relaxed expression. “Wait... You... you believe me?”

Mai nodded, “Sure.”

I lowered back onto my bench and the comb in my hand fell to my lap. Possibilities ran through my mind of any type of game she might be playing to gain my trust, but then I realized that this was Mai. She was always upfront and rarely ever had ulterior motives. In short, I trusted her.

She chuckled and stood from her position. “Don’t look so surprised.” She walked over to me and pulled the comb out of my lap and set it back on the vanity. “Crazier things have happened. It’s obvious she has a thing for Aang. Why wouldn’t I believe you?”

“I...” I paused and let this information sink in. I peered up at my friend, “You think Keera wants Aang?”

“I think you need to get out of the Palace for a while,” Mai responded simply.

I sighed. It was true. Keera was trying to get rid of me so that she could get to Aang, wasn’t she? Clearly, she’d somehow already gained his trust and friendship. I scowled again and felt my face heating back up. How hadn’t I seen it before? How dare she! How dare he!

Mai’s laughter startled me.

“Don’t tell me you’re actually worried that Aang has feelings for her?”

I looked up into Mai’s humored face, “You don’t?”

Mai smirked, “Not likely.”

“Speaking of that bald menace...” I didn’t get a chance to respond before she grabbed my hand and started pulling me to the door. “I just spent 20 minutes listening to him begging for me to check on you and make sure everything was okay. I told him I’d get you out of the palace for a while.” She swallowed and tightened her grip on my wrist. “So let’s go for a girls’ day.”

Now it was my turn to laugh. Despite how upset I was, I couldn’t help it.

“You hate that kind of stuff.”

She sighed and pulled the door open, her grip still around my wrist with me in tow. “I know.”

Being “out of the palace”, as Mai had put it, was doing little to take my mind off of what had happened over lunch. However, the fresh air was nice and it felt good to be spending some alone time with Mai. We strolled through a few of the Royal markets that surrounded the Palace before heading over to the arts district.

Everywhere I looked, people milled up and down the streets carrying baskets full of assorted goods – mostly wine and food. Long blue and silver banners hung over the streets, announcing in big white letters that the Full Moon Festival was only a few days away. Stages were being set up outside of coffee shops and artistries where carpenters hammered away to get the floorboards just right. Slowly, the big fire urns that usually lined the streets were being replaced with tall gaudy fountains made of white marble and full of crystal clear water.

Mai mumbled beside me, “I didn’t think there’d be so many people out today.”

I glanced at her and nodded, “Yeah... it’s so weird that Chief Arnook is allowing Zuko to celebrate the Festival here this year....”

“Hm,” Mai acknowledged as a passerby accidentally bumped against her shoulder. “It’s a new world...” she stated simply as she adjusted the hood over her head that kept commoners from recognizing her as their Royal Fire Lady. “There’s been a lot of changes.”

I nodded absentmindedly, not really feeling the need for any further response.

It was different, and it was weird... But it was nice. Only a few years ago, I’d never even thought it possible to walk down a Fire Nation street without being ignited. The thought of the Fire Nation and the Water Tribe coexisting was absurd! I would have never dreamed I’d not only walk down a Fire Nation street unscathed, but in the company of the Nation’s Royal Fire Lady. And we’d be discussing the celebration of an age-old Water Tribe tradition being held in the Royal City of the Fire Nation Capital! I chuckled to myself at the irony, enjoying the way it felt to have a smile on my face.

Mai gave me a sideways look. “What are you so smilely about?” she asked with a playful gleam in her amber eyes. “Your mood sure has lifted.”

I shrugged my shoulders. “Things are so different from what they used to be.”

Mai nodded as she stopped by a collection of gems and jewelry being displayed outside an artist’s shop. “You could say that again,” she replied as she eyed a small red crystal in the shape of a teardrop. The gem rolled around in the palm of her hand like a bead of water as she scrutinized it.

“It’s nice...” I said at length.

“What? The crystal?” she asked as she sat it back down on the table.

I giggled and picked it back up. “No! Not the crystal. I meant the changes! The changes are nice.” I held the red crystal up to Mai’s face, under her earlobe. “You should have them make these into earrings for you.”

Mai smirked and took the crystal from my hand, “I thought the crystal wasn’t nice.” She laughed and set it back down on the table again. “And anyways, I have a million earrings already.”

“Understandably...”

Mai continued picking through random pieces of loose jewelry – though she didn’t seem to be particularly interested in any of them – and my attention wandered across the street to a tea shop, where a group of young teenagers sat in a circle around a table and a smoking pot of tea. I couldn’t hear what they were discussing, but they were all smiling and looked to be friends.

One girl in bright red clothing laughed loudly and threw a piece of bread at the boy in green that sat across from her. Beside him, another boy in a dark blue tunic laughed and shoved him jokingly into the girl in blue on the other side. I smiled. All three nations were represented in their small group.

We had fought so hard to restore balance to the world and had all sacrificed so much. Weeks – no... years – had been spent training and fighting and debating and resolving and planning and building. So much blood had been shed and tears cried to get us to harmony. And now, after so much pain and joy, hatred and love – after so much work! – something new was threatening everything we’d accomplished.

I sighed, my smile turning in a frown of frustration, and turned my eyes to a piece of blue quartz on the table.

I just had to find out who the Mangestu were. I had to find them, and I had to stop them. Which made it very difficult to be looking at jewelry...

Behind us, two guards dressed in casual street clothes kept a close watch. While I understood their necessity – it’s not like you can just let the Fire Lord’s wife parade around town unprotected with a bunch of serial killers on the loose – still, I found their presence unnerving at times.

“I’m thirsty,” Mai responded suddenly.

I glanced up from the piece of quartz I had been looking at. “Well, there’s a tea shop across the street. Go get something.”

“You don’t want to come?” she asked as she started heading in the direction of the red and orange sign reading Royal Dragon: Best Tea in the Royal City.

I thought about going to the tea shop and how nice it would be to sit on the patio with my friend and sip on a hot cup of tea and enjoy the afternoon. Then I thought about the people Mangetsu had already killed. And then I thought about how many more people they would kill if I didn’t stop them.

I knew Mai wouldn’t let me out of her sight, so I went to work on a plan.

I eyed the two burly guards, hoping they’d both go with their charge and leave me here. I shook my head casually, “No, you go ahead. I’ll just wait here.”

Mai narrowed her eyes suspiciously, “You sure?”

“Yeah,” I replied as I pretended to be engrossed by the gem in my hand. “I’m going to talk to the owner about maybe making this into a pendant for Aang.”

Mai continued to give me a scrutinizing look.

“What?” I answered defensively. “I’ll be fine! I’m a big girl, remember? I can take care of myself.”

“Okay,” she answered at last before turning to her guards. “Wei, do you mind staying here with her?”

No!

“Of course, Lady,” he answered quickly.

I rolled my eyes, “Mai, I’m fine-“

Mai didn’t give me a chance to argue before she took off for the tea shop, Tweedle Dee right behind her – which of course left me with Tweedle Dum. I supposed after a while, you don’t even notice they’re there – Mai sure didn’t seem to – but I valued my privacy and space too much to have every move watched like a prisoner.

I gripped the crystal in my hand, irritated that my plan had been fouled so quickly. Wei turned his brown eyes on me, his expression so blank that I wondered if his face would crack if he tried to smile. I narrowed my eyes at him and he responded by crossing his giant lumberjack arms across his chest, his face completely unmoving. I started to question if he ever even blinked.

I sighed and turned back to my crystal. It lay in my hand, fitting perfectly in the center of my palm. The edges were smooth and worn down and I traced my finger along the fine grooves around the front of it. I wondered where this gem had been. What was its story? What had caused it to end up here?

I rolled it over in my hand a few times and then put it between my index finger and thumb so that the light shown through it. Little imperfections in the quartz caught the sunlight and threw blue specs all over the table underneath it. I put my other hand under the gem to catch these light beams, admiring how the blue specs danced in my palm.

“You should buy it.”

Startled, I dropped the gem and I cringed with closed eyes as I waited to hear the smashing of a million pieces of quartz as it shattered on the street.

When the shattering sound didn’t happen, I opened my eyes to see a tall dark man with shaggy brown hair holding the quartz up to the sun. He must have caught it before it hit the ground.

“Hm, let’s see...” he said in a smooth deep voice. He scrutinized the gem and then held it near my face. “Yes... it’s definitely the same color as your eyes.”

“Is that so?” I asked coolly.

The man nodded. “It’s a rare color, but I’d say it’s a close match.” He smiled and spun the gem around in his palm before offering it back to me.

His fingers touched my palm and they were cold and moist.

“Thanks.”

He smile widened and I tried not to notice how fiercely blue his eyes were with the sun shining on his tanned face. He offered his hand in a handshake, “I’m Kade.”

“Um, Katara.” I murmured as I accepted his handshake. My hand felt tiny in his grasp.

“Katara... Is that Southern or Northern Water Tribe?” he asked.

“Southern,” I answered as he let my hand fall from his grasp. “I’m here on business.”

“Oh, you’re not here for the Festival?”

“Officially? No.” I answered.

The man chuckled and gestured towards the busy street behind us. “Well you sure picked a great time for a business trip.”

“Yeah...” I scanned the crowded street and was caught off guard when I looked back to see him staring at me. His gaze was intense and uncomfortable. Smoldering blue eyes behind dark lashes... I shifted my feet awkwardly in my shoes.

Wei, I had noticed, had halved his distance from me since the stranger had approached. As disturbed as I was by Kade’s subtle intensity, I was intrigued by something I couldn’t quite put my finger on. My mind was telling me to leave, but for some reason my feet refused to budge. “Are you here for the Festival?”

He nodded, his gaze finally finding something other than me and I released a breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding. “You could say that.”

“I take it you’re from the Northern Tribe?” I asked.

“Technically, yes. My grandparents lived there and my father was born there. I grew up all over the world, really.” He grabbed a large necklace that had been fashioned from sealion tusks, frowned at it, and then put it back down. “I’ve only been there once.”

“Oh.”

“Recently, I’ve called this part of the world my home.” Kade grinned a devilish smile that sprouted goosebumps across the back of my neck. He turned to observe the festivities and then rested his gaze back on me. “The Festival really will be something this year,” he commented softly.

Before I could comment, Mai was clearing her throat beside me and holding a steaming cup of tea in my face. I hadn’t even noticed her approach. Startled, I took the tea and thanked her sheepishly.

“Who’s your friend?”

“Mai, this is Kade,” I answered quickly. “He’s here for the Festival.” I added on, as if this were reason enough for me to be talking to a complete stranger.

Kade smiled and I noticed it had the same effect on Mai as it did on me – though not quite as intense. She took a quick breath and accepted his handshake. “Nice to meet you, Kade.”

“Pleasure is all mine.”

Mai forced one her fake smiles she used when meeting dignitaries and then turned to me. “Katara... I think it’s time we should be getting back. Don’t you think?”

I understood her urgency, and suddenly the full awkwardness of the situation came crashing down on me. I glanced at Kade and felt guilty I had been talking with him so long, even mildly flirting. I blushed shamefully.

“Then I’ll see you ladies at the Festival?”

We nodded, giving no sure answer.

“Until then....” He smiled a killer smile and winked his left eye.

A chill ran up my spine.