A/N

This is my entry for the Oma and Shu contest brought along by the Oma and Shu fan club (deviantart).

To avoid any confusion I might cause, this will be jumping from the past to the present, back and forth until the story has been told.

xxx

Bundles of green were his children, as he towered them on the cart, his steady hand guiding the mountain taller and taller. He had customers to feed! Bread to put on the table for his family! If one small parcel of leaves should fall from his cart… Oh! What devastation!

He was a simple man. What was he to know of wars and destinies? Far-off nations, kings, queens, power-hungry generals, what was the difference? What did it matter? So long as he had his quiet corner in the market to sell off his crop, such lovely cabbages, what was he to care of such trifle things that Lords and Ladies might bicker over at the supper table?

He did know one such conflict… A feud, causing more spurn upon the common person's tongue than the taxes themselves, between his village, the peaceful and understanding, and their barbaric neighbors, who slaughtered everyone that stood in their path. The only thing that was able to stop their hatred of one other from becoming the fuel that fed their limbs to battle was a mountain.

The mountain alone held the two peoples momentarily quiet. No one dared to cross it, not for fear of a vengeful neighbor, but for fear of the mountain itself. It spoke to them, some said, of great perils that might befall the trespasser of its solid slopes. It knew time, and therefore it knew wisdom. None were foolish enough to question the mountain's authority, and if choosing to attack the other village, traveled for a week around its base.

The mountain was master of an enchanting power that daunted the citizens of the villages, but beckoned to the young, beautiful Oma.

Rarely did she grace the streets with her tranquil existence, only to curl upon the mountain side and listen to its breath. If not for her rich, esteemed father, the citizens would have had her banished to the mountain, should she be so bold and mischievous as to chance bad luck to fall on all of them! But be it as it may, they did not, and she dwelled in a lonely life.

On this quiet morning that our story begins, she had once again decided to find solace in the presence of the mountain and made her way through the awakening town to do just that.

The cabbage vendor finally nestled his last ware into its snug bed of brothers, and he turned to face the morning. His gaze settled on Oma, red hood pulled over her eyes (as was her mysterious custom), and he spun quickly away.

"Excuse me, sir," she said politely. "Might I buy a cabbage?"

The man frowned to himself and shoved a vegetable into her small hands. "Here." He muttered.

"How much do I owe you, sir?"

"Nothing. Just leave. I don't want people to see that I sell to the likes of you! Go to your mountain!"

Her expression did not shift, so accustomed as she was to this type of childish behavior. Without another attempt to be cordial, she set her money on his cart and continued her walk.

xxx

Katara could barely stumble out of the way of the passing carts, she was so exhausted. She put a palm to her forehead for a moment to steady herself before she plunged forward again.

Sokka and Aang had groggily asked her to go and get some breakfast from the town they were camped by. After inquiring why they couldn't go, she received a snore from Aang and a desperate sigh from Sokka, who claimed he was too sick to even stand, otherwise he'd go with her. Aang had offered to send Momo with her, but even the lemur could not be bothered from his slumber.

She never thought she'd be so glad to see buildings, and they beckoned to her in the distance much like candy would a child. She had no idea what to get for breakfast, and she wandered around the vendors, staring wide-eyed at various sorts of raw food that they had no way of cooking. Finally, a man tapped her shoulder and offered her a bulbous, green cabbage.

"Cabbage?" he offered proudly.

His family had been in the business of cabbage farming for as long as he knew, and their heritage was proudly kept and established; every little vegetable was loved and cherished, and it almost broke their hearts to sell them. If it wasn't what their ancestors did, they probably would never sell any cabbages but build another house in their honor.

Katara stared from the grinning man to the cabbage and couldn't find it in herself to not buy such an object of admiration. "Yes, please," she answered numbly.

At least, in this way, she might find some object of spite for her lazy companions.

"Sir," she asked as she handed him the appropriate money. "Is there some shorter way to the field from here? I traveled through the woods and down the road, but that's an awfully far way to travel."

He thought for a moment. "There is a path through there," at which he pointed. "That will take you through the woods. If you lose your way, follow the mottled bird."

"I'm… sorry? Follow the bird?"

"Yes, miss. Just follow the mottled bird, and he will lead you. Take care now!"

Thinking that the man must have been daft and punch-drunk by his first sale, Katara almost disregarded his advice and traveled back on the road. As she neared it, however, a bird, his feathers blue and red (mottled, as she realized) called to her in a small, pleasant chirp.

She was never a girl to overlook such coincidences, and did as the vendor had suggested. The forest swallowed her blue visage into its oblivion.

xxx

Oma had no fondness for cabbages, but she knew of a little family that did, that would praise her with a chance to dip her fingers into their soft fur. Rabbits were her only companions on the mountain side.

At times, she would wish for nothing but such blissful solitude, but today she would have given anything to sit beside a fellow person and admire the mountain with eyes the same. Her heart seemed to sink as she realized, painfully, that she had no such likelihood.

The rabbits, as she traveled further, did not show their whiskered faces to her this morn. She sat upon her familiar stone and drank in the rising sunlight. Her chest rose in a slow, mournful rhythm. Not even her beloved mountain pets would come to comfort her. She hated pity, including the variety that she inevitably handed herself, but even so, she found herself rocking on her hands, full to the brim with a bittersweet self-sorrow. She had no one.

A sudden rustle and intake of breath to her right froze her thoughts, and she spun to face her intruder, expecting to see the fierce expression of the legend of the mountain, the badger-mole.

Instead, it was a man, sporting the notorious blue of the opposing village, with a brilliant red bloom of blood emitting from his shoulder…

xxx

Katara did not lose her way, but kept her eyes focused on the bird that flitted above her, pulling her one direction, and then the next.

"This is not a short cut…" she muttered, glancing around her.

The bird had paused its flight a few feet away and chirped once more. Katara shook her head.

"I can't follow you anymore. I have to go back… This isn't the way…"

A noise, contradicting the amiable tones of the bird, was uttered from behind a dense brush. A moan, of agony and pain, struck fear into her heart, as if it might be her own soul that was suffering. Against her best sense of judgment, she stepped forth.

"Hello?" she called. "Who's there?"

She uncorked her water pouch. The pain-filled clamor ceased, and there was a shuffle of leaves and of chains.

"Answer me." Katara demanded. "I won't come around until you do."

"Leave me be." A cold, sharp voice answered her.

Katara dropped the cabbage she had been clutching under her arm and let slip a gasp. She flew around the thicket and froze in the presence of her old foe.

Zuko, foot crushed in an animal trap, was gripping a sapling by his side and gritting his teeth from the pain.

"Go away." He said weakly. "Go now!"

xxx

Oma stood slowly, and he followed her with tortured eyes. Her own gaze was transfixed on his wound.

He was the enemy… She fell back a step.

"Please." The man said gruffly. "I know you're from the other village, but please… I need help…"

"What reason do you have to lie?" Oma wondered aloud.

The man fell to his knees. "Please, maiden. I don't know what to do…"

How ironic was it that her father was a doctor? Oma puzzled. Irony… or fate?

Her resolve finally settled, she seated him with his back against a rock.

"Be still." She ordered and opened up his blood-stained shirt.

xxx

"No," Katara answered numbly. "You're hurt."

Zuko tugged at the metal braces that pinched his leg. He failed at trying to pry them open, and yet again, an agonizing wave of pain swept through his body. Another moan escaped his lips.

Unable to watch anymore, Katara swept forth and tried to pacify Zuko. "Stop thrashing, that's the first thing."

"Get… away…" Zuko panted, but he made no move to stop her as she steadied his shoulders and carefully examined the trap.

After a few cleverly crafted flicks of various levers, Katara released the trap, and a final rush of pain overtook Zuko. He grasped her arm and held it, until her eyes welled with tears with the ferocity of his grip.

xxx

Oma finished her handiwork on the man's shoulder and began to wrap his wrists, crisscrossed with hair-thin cuts.

"What did you do?" Oma marveled.

"I fell down a ravine." The man admitted. "And I landed on my spear," he touched his shoulder, "Luckily enough for me, I was in briars, and I had to work my way out of them as well."

Oma nodded. "The ravine isn't too far from here… Why are you on this side of the mountain… or even on the mountain at all?"

"Why would any soldier be here?" the man shrugged ruefully. "Why are you here?"

"It's peaceful." She answered.

"Lonely." He added.

She stared at him, eyes widening for a moment, and then she dropped them back to his arm.

"What will you do with me?" the man whispered.

"I will ask your name, first."

"Shu. And yours?"

"Oma… And I plan on doing nothing with you but sending you back to your village to rest. Just don't go over the ravine." She passed him a small smile.

He returned it graciously, and Oma realized, with color tingeing her cheeks, that he wasn't at all too bad looking.

A wind blew over their crowns and pushed her hood away, exposing the folds of dark hair she had hidden there. Shu smiled at her again, but this time it was out of admiration.

"You can't honestly be up here because it's 'peaceful'." Shu argued. "What's your real reasoning?"

"I don't feel compelled to tell you about my tidings any more than you are of your own." She answered calmly.

He searched her eyes, which had met his for a brief moment before returning to the bandages she was wrapping around his forearms.

"I was a spy."

She nodded slowly. "I assumed so." She paused. "I suppose you want me to tell you why I'm up here?"

"It's dangerous for you to be on the mountain alone."

She smirked. "I've taken many trips up this very incline, and yet you haven't seen me fall down any ravines."

He laughed. "You have a point, milady, but isn't your village pleasant enough to spend time in?"

"Well…" She sighed, and Shu couldn't recall a prettier sound than that single release of breath. "I'm not really welcomed there."

"Why?"

"Because I do spend time on the mountain, that's why. I'm done with your arm now."

"Oh," His face fell considerably. "Then I suppose I should leave to go 'rest'?"

"That would be best."

"Well, Lady Oma," Shu stood and bowed gracefully to her. "How can I repay you for your services?"

"Agree to me that you will do no harm to my people." Oma folded her arms spitefully.

Shu searched her face once more. "Yes, milady,"

"Please," she grabbed his hand. "Just call me Oma."

xxx

Zuko released Katara's arm and sank back against the tree, sighing with relief. Her work was far from over, however. She gingerly rolled up his pant leg to expose the wound.

"Hey!" Zuko jerked forward and knocked her away with a swipe of his arm.

She landed in the leaves behind her. "Zuko, I have to heal it. You'll bleed to death if I don't."

"So let me." He tried to hobble to his feet. "What do you care?"

Katara was strongly reminded of Sokka throwing a temper tantrum. "I value life, Zuko, and I won't have you die on my account."

"It's not your account unless it was you who set this trap." He eyed her questioningly.

She stood up as well and watched, with little amusement, as he stumbled from tree to tree, leaning against them and flailing his arms.

"You won't get very far." Katara noted dryly. "Where are you planning to get that healed?"

"I will find my own way. I don't need your help."

"Mhm. And I suppose you would have found a way out of that trap without me as well?"

"Are you expecting some kind of payment?" Zuko snapped. "How about I not kill you or use you as a hostage, how's that for payment? Now leave!" He threw his fist out, flinging a rogue flame that Katara sidestepped. He fell on his face in the process.

"You're pretty pathetic." Katara helped him to his feet. "Just let me heal you, and we can both go our ways without so much as a 'goodbye', okay? And you can keep chasing Aang and causing all kinds of stupid trouble in the process."

"You're dumb." Zuko growled.

She helped him back onto the ground, and this time he did not protest.

"Why am I dumb?" she asked, trying to keep his mind occupied.

"I could do with you what I please, but you're too dumb to see that, and you insist on healing me! What have I ever done for you?"

"Nothing."

"…And this doesn't bother you?"

"I don't always look for some token, your majesty," Katara said jeeringly.

"What are you doing?"

"Peeling away all the shards of cloth… Your pants are pretty ripped up."

"Great. That's my only pair."

Katara glanced at him. Every time she'd heard him speak it was something to the effect of 'avatar, avatar, avatar, avatar,' but here he was talking as normally as Sokka would!

"Now what are you doing?" he demanded.

"Now I'm healing you, I thought that would be obvious. See the water? See your leg? Here comes the water…" she wriggled her fingers towards his skin. "And there it is!"

He restrained his speech as she gloved her hand in iridescent water and pressed it to his leg. He felt nothing, save the cool, soothing water rinsing away the last remnants of his pain, and when she pulled away, his skin was just as pale and unblemished as before.

He set his jaw and glared at her with grim determination. She didn't meet his gaze, however, and stood to brush the dirt from her skirt.

"Well?" He asked.

She turned on her heel and began walking away, looking up at the forest canopy for the flash of blue and red that would continue to guide her. The bird wasn't there.

"Hey! Where are you going?" Zuko pushed himself up and stumbled after her.

"This was our agreement, so I'm leaving. Just make sure you take it easy on that leg for awhile." Katara answered, still searching for her guide.

Zuko stopped. "Oh… Right."

"'Bye Zuko."

He wrinkled his brow. He hardly believed that this would be the end of their encounters. Katara glanced over her shoulder.

"What?" she finally asked.

"I just thought… Never mind. Go on your way."

She continued but paused her march again. "Why are you following me?"

"I'm… I'm surveying the land! I don't have time to follow you! I'm making note of the… trees…. And-."

"Really, stop following me. I just did you a huge favor."

"Sure, sure. Just go. I won't follow."

How fast could he go on one good leg? "Okay." Katara answered and bolted in a random direction.

Zuko froze, dumbfounded. In a few moments, he realized he was alone, for one, with no clue of his direction, and he'd just let slip a chance at finally capturing the avatar. Part of him wanted to swear and start limping off after her, but the larger, better part of him was still rooted to the ground, testing out his healed leg.

She'd saved him.

He could only promise himself that he would do the same one day for her.

xxx

Oma shied away from the mountains for days after her encounter, but once again she was drawn to it, and she found herself, once again alone. After a considerable amount of time, she was thrown into despair once more. On this occasion, however, she had an object to strive for.

She packed a lunch one morning and set off to heights of the mountain that she had not yet visited: the other side.

She'd dreamt of seeing the other village; would the other people recognize her as an outsider? Would it matter or was this war just a whisper that flitted from the peaks down to the anxious ears of the common people?

The mountain terrain was rougher than she'd anticipated, but she had one name at the front of her mind, pushing her legs up the incline, willing her lungs to breathe harder (despite the lack of oxygen), and creating such a desire to see his face that she almost tripped down, and at this she laughed, a ravine! She had met Shu's eyes, and he had looked into hers without prejudice.

Up and over the peak, she finally caught a glimpse of the neighboring village. Her premonition of the place was one of tents and filthy heathens stealing food from one another, but what she saw might as well have been her own village.

She had nothing on her personage to further her in her quest other than his name. And from there she set off, determined as ever to find him.

As she had hoped, no one screamed at her, extending their fingers at her foreign face and yelling 'stranger'. In fact, they treated her with the same suspicious disdain that her own people did.

She happened upon a group of clean-cut soldiers taking their lunch in the square. Oma approached them cautiously. Her impulsive attitude was almost at the end of its rope. What more could she do?

"I'm looking for Shu," she burst forth.

Their eyes wandered over her. These young men, who prided themselves on being at least on familiar terms with every eligible maid on their side of the mountain, had no idea who this girl was. And here she asked for Shu? Why, he barely came out of his house!

"He lives in the shanty on the corner." One man pointed.

Oma nodded, casting her attention to his house. "Thank you." She said curtly and sped off.

An older man answered the door. "Yes?"

"I'm looking for Shu?"

"Just a minute… And who, might I ask, is calling?"

"Oma."

"Just a minute."

The door closed and he disappeared into the house's gloom once more.

It then struck Oma how these people, she glanced around her, would feel about her friendship with Shu. Traitors were treated full well with a death penalty in her village, she knew. Just as her nerves were beginning to fail her, Shu stepped outside.

"Oma?" he gasped. "What are you doing here?"

"You're right," she muttered. "I didn't go to the mountain because it was tranquil."

Shu had an impulse to embrace her, and he rushed forth to do so, but he checked himself. Oma, upon seeing his action, closed the gap between them and threw her arms around him.

"I won't let you be lonely anymore," Shu said softly.

xxx

"Took you long enough!" Sokka complained. "What have you got?"

Katara looked dumbly from her hands to the forest behind her. "I have…nothing."

"Nothing?" Aang asked.

"Yes, nothing."

"What? You went all the way to town and came back with nothing?" Sokka gasped.

"No… I had breakfast there." Her stomach took this time to protest loudly.

Sokka narrowed his eyes. "What will we do for breakfast then, genius?"

She shrugged. "I guess we'll just have to go into town and get something."

Aang sighed. "But that was the point of sending you… So we all didn't have to go into town! It's always a fiasco. First they see my clothes, then…" Aang continued his rant, but Katara wasn't listening.

She scanned the forest over her shoulder, half expecting to see a burst of flame. She was a fool to lead Zuko right to them as she had. She'd endangered them all! Aang finally finished off his rant, and still Katara saw no sign of Zuko.

What if he didn't follow her? What if he was being a decent person? Was he capable of such a feat? Maybe she had misjudged him. Maybe they all had…

"Right, Katara?" Aang prompted.

She nodded. "Right."

xxx

Oma and Shu agreed to meet each other on the mountain once a week but not at regular intervals. Their people would not be satisfied with such a relationship, and the couple decided to stagger their meeting dates in hopes of swaying public interest. Both of their hearts seemed to swell at the beautiful chance just laid out before them.

They could be in love. They had hope!

Oma, shy as she was, and devoted as she had always been to the mountain, found no dilemma in escaping to its slopes. On her journey up, a snag would sometimes catch her pleasant stream of thoughts, and she'd pause to consider the damage she might cause. Shu was a solider for the other army. What if he was using her to spy?

At this thought, she would toss her head into the air and continue to walk. She would not lead a half-life. She would love Shu till the end of the earth. No war would stop that.

Shu was having similar thoughts, if a little more evilly crafted, for he was at the other end of the spectrum. Here, in this woman, he found love and also a golden opportunity at becoming the most respected and honored soldier of his time. What if he was to use her, in all her honesty, as a tool in the war? Such a weight pressed onto his heart that he thought he might choke when he thought of this. A less nobler man would use the maiden to further himself in his rankings, but not Shu. His love for Oma was the beacon in his dark, sullen life, and he wanted nothing more than to love her with every last breath in his body.

Sometimes, during their meetings, Shu would come late, half-dressed in his training uniform, and Oma would nod that she understood. To his shock, she was never upset, but simply revealed to him her smile, and once more they would fall into an easy pace.

xxx

Katara led the boys back to the village, dreading the moment that Zuko would leap from the shadows and throw his hands about Aang's throat. To her relief, she saw no indication that Zuko had ever even thought about this place. She relaxed entirely once they were inside the busy market.

"Cabbage?" the man offered Sokka.

Katara smiled to herself. Why had she bought that cabbage? She certainly-.

Her gaze flew down the lane and stuck on a pale, scarred youth whose eyes bored back into hers. Her hand instinctively flew for Sokka's arm, but Zuko shook his head slowly.

She watched, filled with dread, as Zuko pushed his uncle further away from them, until the crowd swallowed them all together.

"Where's Aang?" Katara demanded.

"I'm right here, Katara." He appeared at her elbow.

She latched onto his hand and refused to let go for the rest of their outing.

Zuko never showed his face again, however, and Katara's hackles were raised by this fact, her mind burning with an unanswerable question:

Why?

xxx

"I… I don't think I can do this." Shu muttered. "I can't meet you anymore."

Oma twisted her skirt. "Why?"

"I feel as if I'm betraying you… I'm working against your people!"

"You have no more choice about that than I have of shaping this rock," she held a small stone in her hand. "We've talked about this, Shu. I accept your fate."

"I'm worried about your fate!"

"Let me worry about my own affairs."

"I told you I wouldn't let you be alone anymore."

"Then don't leave me." She kissed his cheek.

They leaned against one another, wrapping themselves in a spare moment of bliss.

A rumble erupted from the earth that shook them from their seats and caused them to topple onto the ground. Shu threw himself on top of Oma and faced the danger. They gasped as they looked upon the face of an ancient badger-mole. It stared at them, unmoving, with all-knowing eyes, taking deep breaths that seemed to make the air quiver around them.

Shu stood up slowly, and Oma clutched his pant leg in fear.

"Don't move," she begged.

Shu stretched out his hand, full of the ignorance of a young soldier, to the badger-mole. It pushed its wet nose into his palm.

"Oma… Stand up… Do the same…"

She did as he suggested, and he handed her to the badger-mole. It complied with his wish. Oma shrank back and huddled against Shu. The badger-mole made no other attempt to make contact with them, and disappeared back into his enormous tunnel.

"Should we follow it?" Shu whispered.

Oma looked up into his eyes. "What do we have to lose?"

Shu held her tighter, his eyebrows knitting together. "I have only you."

"Then let's follow it together."

And thus, the pair descended into the tunnel, unafraid and grasping each other's hands. That night, and for two nights more they stayed in the darkness, where the kings of the mountain halls, such masterful creatures were the badger-moles, bestowed upon them the gift of earth bending.

xxx

Sleep did not grace Katara's brow that night, and she flung her body fitfully in her sleeping bag, very aware of the threat of the vengeful prince. She finally gave in to sitting up and stared at Aang until her eyes began to play tricks on her. Movement at the forest edge caught her attention, and the Zuko's from began to emerge from the dark. She blinked and shook away the memory, but when she reopened her eyes, he was still there.

Fear froze her motor ability, and her hand only knocked her water skin farther away.

Zuko, once more, slowly shook his head. A bright green cabbage was brought forth from his personage, and he set it on the ground. He flashed her a small smile, and then shrank back into the woods.

Katara, now sure of her delusion, threw herself into her sleeping bag.

The next morning, when Aang presented the same vegetable she'd seen the night before, Katara was dumbfounded. It had been no delusion…

And thus, with a simple act of trust, a pact was born between a water bender and a fire bender. No one knew of this, save the interiors of their own hearts, and no one would fully understand for some months to come, when their friendship would help shape a new millennia.

xxx

Oma, head bent over a tear-stained letter of death proclamation, felt her soul had flown away from her. She had felt, even the previous day, as if an arrow had pierced her own heart, and she'd stumbled. When questioned as to what had happened, she had said nothing, but fled immediately to the tunnels.

"Shu!" she screamed. "Shu! Please, answer me!"

Her own mournful voice echoed back to her, and she fell upon the ground in a sob. It came as no surprise to her the next day that her love was dead.

She let her tears fall unbridled.

"No one must feel this pain again…" she whispered and cast her eyes to the sky. "And if I must give my soul for this purpose, I will. Should there come again a day when war tears one love from another, I will be there, my soul residing in the body of another, to heal the broken bridge of peace with my love."

Oma stood amidst the darkness of her tunnel, not to be lit for several centuries, and gave her vow to the ears of the spirits. She threw herself out of the tunnel, never to return again, and the sunlight then greeted her. She began her strenuous work as peace maker. For her villages, which would found the great city of Omashu, and for the world, her soul would forever toil for the sake of peace.

A/N

Symbolism. Yay.

Boogie-down.

And once upon a time I had slashes, and, at one time, they made a very cool mountain... Then the server messed them up. -sob-