http://polite-riceball.livejournal.com/ ([identity profile] polite-riceball.livejournal.com) wrote in [community profile] trans_92010-01-08 10:17 pm

Admiration: Tohru and Katara [Closed]

The adjusting was difficult, the knowing that she was surrounded by people she didn’t know was also difficult, but the ship began to grow on her. After briefly speaking with Katara and the two, younger, girls from the day before had helped her enormously. The questions about Kyo hit her heart hard, but she wanted to just keep going as she usually did. She did her best to overcome her own emotions and to keep smiling when and where she could. She was quiet for the most part. She didn’t want to bother anyone. They all looked so busy and hardworking; she didn’t want to be a burden. The previous day, after speaking with Katara, she agreed to meet with her again. Walking quickly, so she wouldn’t be late, to the Statuary. The room was a bit spooky. Walking through the lanes of stone faces all them with a phrase or some on them. Looking at the faces with curiosity, she wondered what they all had to do with this place.

She continued to walk, looking at the face, hardly paying attention to some but others catching her interest. They were in a bizarre stance or had a strange look to them, thought she wasn’t one to talk, but each of them was beautiful in their own way. Pausing a moment in her short journey, one catching her eye. She stood in silence and admired the statue’s face and features. She hardly noticed if there was another person around or if they came into the large room. She just stood in silent admiration.  

[identity profile] kaya-waterwave.livejournal.com 2010-01-09 03:53 am (UTC)(link)
Katara had only to hear a little bit about the girl's story and knew that she had to be there, that she wanted to talk with Tohru a bit more. There was something about the way the girl acted, the way she presented herself, that made Katara want to see a bit deeper into her. She was sure that this story was a lot more complicated than even she thought.

Making her way to the Statuary, she lingered here a little, looking at a certain statue that she knew to be the one she was missing. She opened her hand a moment and put it around the statue's hand and closed her eyes. It didn't happen often, that she lingered about the statue, but when she thought of him in times like this, her heart hurt, and she couldn't pretend anything was all right.

She sighed and moved away, hoping no one saw her, and then started to look around. "Tohru? Are you here?"

[identity profile] kaya-waterwave.livejournal.com 2010-01-09 04:32 am (UTC)(link)
Katara was a little startled, if only because, with all of Sheeana's training, she should have sensed that Tohru was near. Still, there was no point in acting all flustered about it now that she'd seen her. She already knew that with Tohru it wasn't the best way to react. She simply relaxed and looked over to the brunette.

"I'm all right," Katara said, a soft smile on her face. It wasn't a happy smile, more of one that was simply remembering times that she used to have. "I'm just remembering someone from back home. It hasn't been easy for me either. This is...a statue of him."

She looked up at the statue of Aang, the way he looked now, older but still determined, strong.

[identity profile] kaya-waterwave.livejournal.com 2010-01-09 05:25 am (UTC)(link)
Katara looked down a moment, then turned to the older girl. It was clear that Tohru had something about her, a calming presence that actually helped her a lot. Katara knew where she'd felt that feeling before: she got it every time she saw Carol, or when she talked with Captain Picard and Leon. She had actually thought it when they'd met, that this girl had a caring nature about her that was akin to a parent. It was so rare, because Tohru was a teenager like her. But maybe this was why Tohru had been sent here in the first place.

"I know him in my world," Katara said. "He's the Avatar, and his job is to protect the people of my world from war, and to preserve our ways. I was the first person to actually release him after he'd been asleep for a hundred years. He cares about me...and he's here, on this ship, protecting us now."

She turned red. "Um, sorry for talking your ear off about it. It's just...been a sensitive subject for me."

[identity profile] kaya-waterwave.livejournal.com 2010-01-09 06:34 am (UTC)(link)
"He is on the ship," Katara said gently. "It's a long story, but he's here. I have to find him, and I have to help him. Look, I'll never say our situation is the same, it isn't! We're different people, in different situations. In my world, the Avatar is the voice of our people, he is able master all four bending abilities: bending, I'll tell you about in a moment. In any case, Aang was raised by monks that taught him to be peaceful and mindful of all living things. He's the kind of person that would help anyone in need."

Katara gave her an approving smile. "I think you'll see them too. I didn't know if I'd ever see my friends, but Zuko, Mai, my brother Sokka, they all wound up here too! Tohru, I know it just sounds like a dumb excuse to you, but I believe that we're here to help each other besides just fighting. Because of that, I don't see how you would be left alone."

Katara shrugged. "Tohru, I've been in wars, I've risked life and limb many times. Strength comes from dealing with things like that, but inner strength is most important. When you're here, in a place where you have to abandon everything you know, family and friends are very important. But I'm glad I remind you of you. A lot has happened to you, and you;'re still trying to smile."

But she hoped Tohru understood she didn't have to smile with her all the time.

[identity profile] kaya-waterwave.livejournal.com 2010-01-09 12:33 pm (UTC)(link)
Katara stared at the older girl a moment. While the things she said were definitely proof that shed had a certain sheltered existence, that didn't stop her from seeing exactly how things were with her: in short, Tohru was a very emotional girl, and one that wore her heart on her sleeve. It began to dawn on her that she wanted to keep an eye for this girl at any cost. "Yes, Aang is his name," she said. "If all goes well, I should be able to see him soon. When I was pulled from my world, we'd won the wore, and he was two years older than me. Here....somehow he's a little older, and they wiped some of his memory away. He remembers me, I know that much. But I need to see him again. He's everything to me."

It was strange to say it aloud like that. She'd not even said anything like that to Carol, why would she to this girl? But that was something they'd had in common even if Tohru didn't show it: someone messed with their histories.

"This Kyo," Katara said, "You say that he ran away. Why would he do that? I thought I heard you say its because he's afraid. If that was true, I know that he would get over it and come back to you. It's just a feeling that I have. I don't think he would meet a girl like you and then run away. It's just my opinion, and I just met you, but I think if he's known you longer than I have, he wouldn't stay away. He'll find a way to find you."

Katara sighed. "War isn't something we get to escape. To the people that persecute us, anywhere, there can only be two reactions: stand and fight, or run away, and all running away does is make another day that people can come along and make you do what they want. A long time ago, I decided I would stop running. But that's inner strength too, and I don't know if I'd say you don't have any. If someone were hurting a person you'd care about, you're not the type to stand and do nothing."

Katara said that as a matter of fact. She didn't believe that of Tohru for a second. She gently took Tohru's shoulder. "Believe me, I know what it means to have to smile for other people. In my group, I had to look after my group, even if a few of them are older than me. That comes with being who I am though: I could never let people I care about stay in pain, or suffer silently. But don't do that at the expense of you being by yourself in pain. For the people who love you and care about you, that's not a price they're willing to pay."

[identity profile] kaya-waterwave.livejournal.com 2010-01-10 07:24 pm (UTC)(link)
Katara had never thought that anyone could even wipe memories of someone else until the day she met Jet again after the Dai Li had gotten a hold of him. She remembered with a grimace how angry she'd been to see him again, after he had betrayed her before, how he'd almost had her kill all those innocent people to get some Fire Nation soldiers. But that had been nothing compared to realizing that, when she met him again, the Dai Li had brainwashed him into attacking the Avatar crew, and what he'd done to break free of that mind control. Katara closed her eyes. Some memories, she thought, might be okay to be erased sometimes.

"It's a horrible thing to do," Katara said, her voice betrayed with passion. "They did it because he fought them, because he didn't want to be under their control, but they erased his memories so he would be quiet. I'll never forgive them for that." Her face, usually so full of good intentions, was a little cold now with barely contained anger.

She didn't want to ask the girl if she truly would have wanted her memories erased. She knew the answer. She could sense that whatever kind of family these Sohma were, they were a lot like how Aang and Sokka and Toph and Zuko were for her in her world.

Katara listened very carefully to what Tohru said, then looked at the girl dead in the eyes. "The problem isn't you, do you know that? The problem is him. The reason I know that is because I was in the position he was a little while ago, and Aang was you, making a difference in how he looked at things. But he was afraid, probably because of some things he still couldn't let go. He was disillusioned all right...because there are still things in him he didn't understand."

Katara listened to this part too. "Powers are things that are a part of a person, Tohru. They are wonderful abilities you should use wisely. But not everybody does that, and its because some people would rather use their abilities to take things from others, hurt them because they can. So you see, I'm not just talking about going off and punching a guy, I'm also talking about choosing to not do it and to try and help others. To do that requires inner strength, the ability to know the things that are right and the things that just make you worse. I think you have the former strength."

Here though, Katara didn't have any words. The look she gave Tohru was one of almost reverence, and realized what Tohru was: something she couldn't be anymore, a part of her was sad about that. Tohru was a genuinely good person, someone who's strength lay in actually changing others, in doing things to help make someone smile, and doing her best to make that happen.

"You know, you remind me of him, Aang."

[identity profile] kaya-waterwave.livejournal.com 2010-01-10 10:10 pm (UTC)(link)
Katara narrowed her eyes, and looked up at the girl. "You would do that?" Katara said, looking deep into her eyes. "You would just let Kyo go, to someone else, for the sake of him being happy? That can't be what he would want, and I don't believe you think that either. Maybe I'm young, and I don't know a lot about these things, but true love isn't something that happens everyday. And you love him, you said you did. If you know that, and its had in any world to have love come to you, would you truly want to just let him go?"

Katara wouldn't sugarcoat what she thought of love, not for a second. She had seen all kinds of people in love on the ship, even love she'd never seen before. If there was one thing she knew, it was that the feeling was precious. "I'm not saying it because I just want you to feel good Tohru. I'm saying it because I believe it. But you need to believe it too, or you may as well be wasting it. You wouldn't waste something precious like that, would you?"

Here though, she nodded. "Yes. Aang is the type of person who cares more about others than for himself. With this war, with everything at stake, he still didn't want to kill. He believed so much in preserving life and people being happy, he would do whatever it took to make that happen."

[identity profile] kaya-waterwave.livejournal.com 2010-01-11 09:24 pm (UTC)(link)
Katara shook her head. "I don't believe that, and I think you're wrong. I said Aang was like you Tohru, and I think he is. Because of that reason, I know Aang would wait for me, hoping that I would see in him everything he saw in me. Well, he was right. It took me a long time, and I was scared, but I stopped pretending my feelings for him didn't exist. I don't know what you think about destiny, but me meeting him, seeing him fora ll the good that he's done, that was destiny. Now, it doesn't matter what obstacle is in the way, or even if he wasn't on this ship: I would find him. You say that it might be better this way, but I also think you're scared he doesn't want you. But I think he does."

Katara was not one for being wishy-washy when it came to love, especially not one all too similar to her own story. "If you really believe letting him go is the best thing, that you couldn't be with him even in god circumstances, you know more than I do. I'm younger than you, what do I know? But if even a part of you doubts that, if a apart of you knows that maybe your Kyo is still trying to understand what he wants, then you should know someway he'll come back to you. Love like that is a kind of destiny no one really understands."

Katara just nodded. "I've wandered around the world a little, Tohru. I've seen many things. And though I've been wrong before, I decide certain things on instinct. I know, because I've let my emotions sometimes cloud my true thoughts, that there are things I really want, but think I don't deserve. All that thinking will do is put you in a cage. If you love Kyou as much as you say, and you're not willing to let him go, then don't. He might be waiting to tell you he was wrong."

[identity profile] kaya-waterwave.livejournal.com 2010-01-13 03:23 am (UTC)(link)
Katara was glad to see Tohru start to realize that there was hope. She also hoped that if she was wrong, that Tohru wouldn't come to hate her. She didn't think it was wrong with what she said: she could tell that Tohru really cared for Kyou, and to she needed to at least hope that she would find him here again, like Will was able to meet her Matt, and the two of them were able to be blissfully happy. If she had to even talk to this Kyou she would, and let him know he needed to conquer the fears he had and care for Tohru.

Not that seeing all these people be with the ones they loved made things easier for her. Of course she was happy for them, and glad that they found the person they cared for. But the longer she was without Aang, the worse the ache in her heart got. It kept her motivated, but it also made her lonely when she was by herself, when there was no one around to talk to and she felt like she was staring into an emptiness.

Katara was a little thrown off by the question though. "Um, I don't know about this place having an actual kitchen, but you can recreate one in the Sensoriums. If you want to get some kinds of foods, my suggestion would be going through a man named Lex Luthor. He usually has a way of getting things that are harder for other people."

She looked at the girl brightly. "I hope I was able to help you a little!"