Chapter Text
To most people, feeling a bit of crispy air in the wind wouldn’t mean much beyond a simple thought that fall and winter were coming or maybe a regret for not wearing more layers. However, to those in Republic City, it meant something else, especially if those people were thinking of committing a crime. It meant a certain team was around and watching them. Even if they couldn’t see them, the team could see them.
The cold wind typically came from two of the members of the hero team: Twinkle Toes and Ice Queen. In total, the team had five members. Including the previously mentioned heroes, there was the Blind Bandit, the Blue Spirit, the Kyoshi Warrior and Captain Boomerang. All of them, minus the Kyoshi Warrior and Captain Boomerang, had some form of powers that they used to protect their city.
And tonight was no different.
“You’re sure this guy has it?” Katara asked.
“My instincts are never wrong.” Sokka told her.
“It’s always wrong. That’s why we’ve been to three places this entire night.” Toph said.
“Those were all fakes to…prepare you guys.”
Katara raised an eyebrow at her brother, “Prepare us, huh?”
“Excuse me for wanting you to be ready for getting this thing.”
“It’s another fun laser.” Zuko said, “What do we have to be prepared for?”
“It’s not just a laser. It increases someone’s powers-
“So, what you’re saying is, we want to get hit with this laser. That’s what we had to be prepared for?” Aang asked.
“I-“ Sokka groaned in annoyance, “This thing is dangerous. It increases your powers to the point that-“
“Hold on.” Katara whispered, “We have a problem.”
Everyone turned to look where Katara was looking. In front of them was just a darkened warehouse that looked abandoned but the team had seen people coming in and out so they knew that wasn’t the case. However, this person who was coming in was entering in a very different way. Her blue fire that propelled her to the roof made that perfectly clear.
“Firestarter.” Katara hissed, “What is she doing here?”
“She wants to make herself more powerful no doubt.” Zuko grumbled.
“We have to stop her.” Aang lowered his mask once more, “Everyone in positions.” The team nodded in understanding before rushing off to their different areas.
Once Aang was ready, he broke through the doors of the warehouse, announcing his arrival as the doors smashed open. Inside were about twenty guys and the laser was off to the side, with wires coming out of it and attaching to different cords.
“Get the laser!” Aang yelled.
“Kill him!” Someone yelled. Aang easily created a windshield to protect himself from the incoming bullets but he also quickly noticed Firestarter crawling along the side of the building.
“Someone get her!” Aang yelled.
“I’m on it!” Katara cried, running in from the other side of the building and freezing Firestarter’s legs when she jumped into the ground behind the laser, “You need to get better at sneaking around, Princess.”
“And you need to control that arrogance, Snowflake.” Firestarter grinned, blasting her way out of Katara’s ice easily, “Now, step aside!” She sent a large fire slice straight at Katara only for Blue Spirit to step out in front of her and collect the fire in his hands then push it towards the men.
“A talent like ours and you waste it on these peasants.” Firestarter growled, “You’re a disgrace.”
“I’m not the one who will leave empty handed.”
When Firestarter and Blue Spirit got into a fight, Katara slipped past them and towards the laser. She unplugged it and started to walk out with it, hoping to escape without detection. Turns out, Firestarter wasn’t about to let that happen because she sent a fireball straight at Katara’s feet.
“That’s mine.”
“How do you figure?”
“My mistake. It will be mine when I turn you into ash!”
Katara held out her hand, freezing Firestarter’s feet to the floor, “Water beats fire.”
Without a moment's hesitation, Firestarter broke herself free and tackled Katara. Not only did she successfully pin the hero down but the laser also flew out of her hand, “And a fireball to the face beats some ice.” She grinned.
Unfortunately, when the laser was tossed to the side it landed on the shoot button and a beam emerged from it, sending a shot straight at the two girls. Katara and Firestarter were hit by the blast and knocked back. Noticing their friend in trouble, the group ended the fight, grabbed the laser and the two girls and fled as fast as they could, finding refuge on a nearby rooftop.
Firestarter came back sooner than Katara did. She turned to the ground with her eyes hardly open, watching them fawn over Katara and make sure she was okay.
“This has been fun.” She grumbled, “But it’s time for me to leave.”
“Hang on. You have to stay. You got hit with that thing too.” Sokka argued, standing in front of her to keep her from leaving.
“I’ve survived worse. I’ll be fine.”
“But that thing is dangerous. It-“
“Makes me stronger. I know. I got what I needed and now I can leave. I suggest you get out of my way.” Firestarter said through clenched teeth.
“It doesn’t just do that!” Sokka finally screamed, “Your powers could get out of control. You could intend to create a single flame and end up making a lightning bolt. You should stay with us until-“
“I’ll take my chances.” Firestarter said, “I have my own resources if need be. Goodnight, heroes.” Without looking, she walked off the roof then used her fire jets to propel herself from roof to roof and leave.
“She’s the worst.” Suki grumbled.
“We all know it, Suki. We all know it.”
“Sokka, is what you said true? Could my powers get out of control?” Katara asked.
“It’s possible. Maybe it won’t happen. Maybe I’m wrong, but I think you should lay low for the next few days just in case. The last thing we need is you freezing the mailman while trying to wave at him.”
Katara nodded. She could do that. She could lay low for the next few days and do nothing. That wouldn’t be too hard. Everyone came over to the apartment from time to time with games and snacks. It was a lot like taking sick days without actually being sick and, best of all, Katara’s powers seemed to be fairly stable. Things were going pretty great. Until she got a text from one of her classmates.
“Hey, Sokka?”
——————————-
“How is a date laying low?” Sokka asked.
“I’m not saying no to her, Sokka.” Katara snapped, “I’ve had a crush on Azula since the first day of grad school and now she’s asked me out! I’d rather freeze her than say no.”
“Great. Great and what’s the plan for when you freeze her into a block of ice?” Sokka asked, “Get Zuko to unfreeze her?”
“I’m not revealing my powers to my sister because you turned her into a popsicle on your first date.” Zuko said.
“You won’t have to because I’m not going to freeze her.” Katara said, “I’ve managed to keep my powers under control for 24 years now. I can go a single night without issue.”
“Katara, I really think you should cancel the date.” Sokka warned.
“I’m not canceling. I’ll be fine, Sokka, I promise.”
“But-”
“No, buts. I’ll be fine.” She repeated, “Don’t wait up!” She cried, rushing out to the door.
Azula and her had been in classes all throughout grad school. What started as a rivalry for the best grade in the class slowly turned into a tense friendship which then became a flirty relationship. Katara was constantly spending more and more time in Azula’s apartment—she could afford her own because her father was rich—and learning more and more about her and vice versa. Azula learned Katara couldn’t handle spicy food and Katara learned Azula needed glasses for reading. Katara had formed a crush on her from the moment they met but really fell bad when Azula fell asleep in her arms during a movie night. Getting that text from her made the hero want to jump up and down in excitement—which she did.
Now, here she was. In a beautiful Italian restaurant, wearing a long blue dress, and looking around for Azula. Her eyes finally met Azula’s golden ones and when her date stood up, Katara got a full view of Azula’s gorgeous red dress and black heels.
“Katara!” Azula cried, “It’s so good to see you!”
“Azula, you look beautiful.” Katara whispered.
“Straight to flattery. I like your style.” Azula smiled. It was subtle, but Katara noticed a bit of nervous energy in her eyes, “I hope you don’t mind, I ordered some wine for us. It’s amazing.”
“I’ll trust your judgment.” Katara smiled, “So, how have you been? You’ve been missing a couple classes.”
“Oh. I had a personal matter to attend to. I was running a bit of a fever.”
“I’m so sorry you were sick-”
“Not sick, but…running a fever. I was very hot for a few days but I’m doing much better now.”
“You’re setting me up for a line, aren’t you?”
“Perfectly.”
“Fine.” Katara laughed, “You’re very hot every day.”
“Awww.” One of the waiters brought over the wine and poured their drinks.
‘You’re also the only person I know who would call getting sick a personal matter.” Katara giggled.
“I told you. I wasn’t sick, I just had a fever.”
“Zula, getting sick means a fever.”
“Not the way I had it.” Azula shrugged, taking a sip of wine, “How was your week?”
“Great. I also thought I might be sick but it turns out I was not.” Katara said.
“That’s great to hear. I-” The waiter reappeared with a little book in his hands, “Oh! Could we get some potato focaccia rolls.” She said.
“Of course, ma’am! I’ll get that right away for you!”
“Potato focaccia rolls?” Katara asked.
“I promise you will love them.” Azula said, “Trust me. I used to come here all the time.”
“Oh?” Katara asked, leaning closer to show that she wanted to know more.
“My family used to live near here and we would come here pretty often for dinner. It was my mother’s favorite restaurant. They actually named a drink after her.” Azula said.
“Wait, what?” Katara laughed, “What drink?”
“That one.” Azula pointed to the menu, “The Ursa.”
“Wow!” Katara’s eyes widened when she looked at the ingredients, “That’s a strong drink.”
“I can say a lot about my mother but she and my father did know how to handle their drink.” Azula chuckled, “Enough about my parents. Let’s talk about something else.”
“Yes, let’s talk about-” Katara went to change her sitting position so that her hands were no longer resting on the table but found she couldn’t. Climbing up the side of her hands, she noticed tiny bits of frost and fear took hold of her. No, no, no, no, no. Not here. Not now.
“Is everything okay?” Azula asked, “Is there something sticky on the table? I’ll tell the waiter.”
“No! No, need to do that. I was just….unsure of how I wanted to sit. I’m perfectly comfortable now.” Katara grinned at her date nervously, using her elbow to block the sight of her hand.
“Okay?” Azula whispered, “Anyways, what do you want to talk about?”
“Do you want me to fill you in on what you missed during class? Including the stupid answers people gave?”
“Desperately.”
Thankfully, Azula didn’t seem to notice Katara’s hand getting frozen to the table. When she went to use the bathroom, the superhero managed to unfreeze her hand and used the candle to warm the tablecloth up enough so Azula wouldn’t get suspicious. In her purse, Katara could see her phone and felt her fingers start to reach for it to text Sokka.
“No. No, you’re okay. It was a one time slip up. The waiters are already bringing our food. You can’t bail now.” It would look like she was just using Azula for a free meal. She silently waited for her date to return and sit back down.
“I’m back.”
“Good. We can keep talking about how you’ve never seen Clueless.”
“It doesn’t look like a good movie!”
“It’s an amazing movie!”
“Excuse me.” The waiter said, “Your dinners.”
“Of course.”
The waiter took the two plates in his hands and handed them off, “Let me.” Azula smiled, reaching in front of Katara to grab her plate. However, the second Azula’s hand touched the plate the waiter screamed in pain. He let go of both plates as if they’d suddenly become scalding hot. The food, of course covered in sauces, fell all over both of the girls. For a second, no one moved. No one dared to say a word.
Azula looked at the waiter then Katara, “Katara, I am so, so sorry.” She said.
“Ma’am, it was completely my fault.” The waiter said, but was ignored.
“I think I need to go.” Katara said.
“Don’t!” When Azula yelled, the tablecloth suddenly caught on fire and both girls pushed themselves away. The waiter ran, yelling at someone to call the fire department or get a fire extinguisher. Other customers were up now and screaming, running from the flaming table.
Katara looked around at the customers, none of them were looking at her, so she hid her hand and used it to gently put out the flames with nearby water from the vases. To cover up her action, because she wasn’t stupid enough to control water in front of a camera, she grabbed a tablecloth and pretended to use it to get rid of the fire.
“Are you okay?” Katara asked. Hero mode had kicked in so much that she didn’t notice Azula looking at her with wide eyes, “I…I found a tablecloth.” Her voice was weak and her excuse pathetic. Azula knew. She knew she had powers, “Azula, I-”
“You’re…you have powers?” Azula whispered.
“What?! No! I told you I found a tablecloth and I used it to put out the flame and-”
“Don’t. Lie.” Azula’s voice was shaking but still had the same authority it always possessed, “You have powers.”
“I don’t.” She lied.
“I saw you!” Azula yelled, “You can move water!”
“I used the tablecloth! I don’t have powers!”
“Yes, you do!” Azula yelled again. This time when she yelled the candles on the other table and around the restaurant went up in flames. More tables caught on fire and the flames began to spread all around.
“You have powers!” Katara yelled. She began to cough as more and more smoke surrounded them, making it hard to see and breathe, “Let’s finish this conversation outside of the burning building.”
“Good idea.”
They ran out of the backdoor which was away from the customers and staff that had evacuated the building and where the fire trucks were coming in. The two women decided to slip away from the crowd before anyone could accuse them of arson and into a nearby alley where they actually had some peace and quiet.
“We both have powers.” Azula sighed.
“I don’t have powers.”
Azula rolled her eyes, “Are you still lying? Of course you do.”
“No. I don’t, but you clearly do.”
“You have water powers!” Azula snapped, trying to keep her voice as low as possible in case anyone was listening.
“You have fire powers and I am powerless!” Katara hissed.
Azula scoffed, “Okay, water girl.” Katara froze. She recognized that tone. She’d heard it only a few days ago. No…no, it couldn’t….
“….Firestarter?” Katara asked. Azula froze. It was only for a moment, less than a second, but Katara caught it, “You’re Firestarter.”
“How do you…Ice Queen? You’re Ice Queen!?” Azula accused.
The two could only stand there in silence and shock, staring at one another in pure disbelief. Katara opened her mouth to speak and ask more questions but she found that she couldn’t. She didn’t have any strength in her to do so. Neither did Azula. She’d wanted to go on a date with Katara for so long but finding out that the girl was Ice Queen—an annoying pain in her side—was not how she thought this night would go.
“Goodbye, Azula.”
Azula didn’t even get to try and say anything before Katara walked off, disappearing into the crowd of civilians.
—-------------------------------
In the coming weeks, Katara and Azula were off. Not just in school but as Ice Queen and Firestarter. They made more mistakes, they weren’t as fast, even after their powers got fixed, they were sending fireballs and ice blasts in the wrong directions. When her team tried to ask Katara what was wrong, Katara refused to answer. After missions, she went to her room and stayed there. What seemed to be the straw that broke the camel's back was the team going on a mission without her. Katara froze her door closed when she realized they left without her.
“Katara?” Sokka called, “Can I come in?”
Katara, still dressed in her superhero outfit, glared at the door, “Oh? Now you want me around?”
“It wasn’t like that. We didn’t mean-“
“I know what you meant. You don’t want me on the team anymore.”
“No! No, that’s not-ugh!” Sokka pounded on the door, “Would you just let me in?”
“Fine.” Katara unfroze the ice and brought the water back to her, sitting up on her bed, “What do you want to say?”
With a sigh, Sokka entered the room and approached his sister, “First of all, we don’t want you off the team. We chose to go because something’s off with you, Kat. You’ve been off your game for the last few weeks now and it’s putting people in danger.”
“I know.” Katara took off her mask, holding it in her hands, “I think that laser really messed me up.”
“I don’t think it’s the laser. You were so happy when you left for your date with Azula and then you got home and went straight to your room.”
“I don’t know what you’re-“
“Katara, we heard you crying.” At the time, none of them felt like it was their place to say anything but now Sokka knew he had to speak up.
A blush covered Katara’s face and she turned away, “I didn’t cry.”
“You did. What happened? Was Azula mean to you? Did she not show up? Did she-“
“It’s not that. I loved the date. I loved spending time with her, but…something did happen and we can’t see each other anymore.”
“What? Why not?”
“I can’t say.” Katara wouldn’t reveal Azula’s superhero identity. She couldn’t do that to her.
“Okay. Well….anything I can do?”
Katara let out a soft chuckle, “No. This is a problem you can’t solve, I'm afraid.”
“I get that, but Kat, you are upset about something that happened on the date. I think you need to get some kind of closure. That’s the only way your powers will stabilize again and you’ll be back on your A game.”
“That…that makes sense.” Katara admitted. She didn’t want to talk to Azula, she didn’t want to admit that she missed her voice and her texts, admit that the thought of spending this much time away from her was killing her or that knowing she had hurt her when they fought made her stomach do flips, but Sokka was right. She had to face all of that, “Okay. I’ll call her and we’ll talk.” Out of costume.
“Great!”
“I guess you helped after all.”
“I’m not the brains of the team for nothing.”
“The brains of the team? I think that’s Suki.”
“Wha-No! It’s me!”
“It’s Suki.”
“Come on! I’m the brains of the team! Everyone knows this!”
“Whatever you say.” Katara chuckled, “You want to watch some TV?”
“Why would I watch TV with someone who-“
“I’ll make moon cake.”
“I’ll start the oven!”
——————————-
Azula was laying on her couch. Her fingers gently tracing the side of her phone as she internally debated about calling Katara or not. For the past few nights, she’d fallen asleep looking at her phone and wondering if she should do it or not. On the one hand, she missed Katara. More than anything she wanted to text the girl and check on her and tell her that she missed her so much. On the other hand, Katara was Ice Queen. Most of her bruises and scrapes had come from the annoying hero and Azula had loudly ranted about the girl multiple times.
Could she really be with Katara knowing that she and the annoying superhero were one and the same?
Suddenly, a knock was heard at the door. Azula quickly tossed her costume in a secret compartment under the floor and went to answer.
“Hello?”
“Azula, it’s me.” Katara said. She didn’t receive a reply for a moment until the door opened, “Can I come in?”
“What do you want?”
“Just to talk…as us.”
“Okay.” Azula opened the door, allowing Katara to walk in. The water hero had been there multiple times before and took a seat on the couch without being prompted.
“We need to talk about the restaurant.”
“What about it?”
“You know what. I…I miss you.” Azula’s eyes widened. In all honesty, she assumed Katara would come here to tell her to give up her actions or say she was going to expose her to her team—Azula knew she hadn’t yet because none of them had visited her in her civilian identity—but not to say she missed her, “These last few days, I’ve been off my game. I’ve been bad at fighting and it’s because…because I really like you. We don’t have to date or-or…or even be friends, but I just had to tell you that I miss you.”
Azula didn’t respond.
“Azula? Azula, please. I need some kind of answer. Anything. I-”
“43.”
“What?” Katara looked at Azula like she’d grown a second head, “43?”
“That’s how many times I grabbed my phone and wanted to call or text you.” Azula explained, “I dialed your number only once or twice but I never got the nerve to hit the call button.”
Katara felt her heart fill with hope, “I never wanted to reveal my identity during our first date. If I had my way, you wouldn’t have found out anything until months into the relationship-”
“You thought our relationship would last for months?” Azula asked, sitting down on the couch next to Katara.
“I had hoped.” Katara felt a blush cover her face as she brushed her hair behind her ear, “I might have a secret identity that I lied about, but I really like you, Azula. I never lied about that.”
“I really like you too.” Azula whispered, “I just got so caught up in the superhero thing and in thinking that we were too different and you’d never want an anti-hero as a girlfriend and-”
“But I don’t just have an anti-hero as a girlfriend. I have Azula Agni: the smartest girl in our school, the prettiest girl in our school and the only person I know who can eat 200 spicy chips in a row without issue.” Katara and Azula laughed a bit at the last one, “Although, now that I think about it…did you cheat?”
“Definitely. I cheated.” Azula nodded, “But you can’t tell Sokka!”
“Oh? And how exactly will you keep me from doing that?” Katara asked.
“I’ll withhold the second date.” Azula grinned.
“So, you want a second date?”
Azula’s eyes darted away from Katara only for a moment before returning to her, “Yeah. I do.” Her forehead gently pressed against Katara’s, “I really do.”