Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar the Last Airbender
A/N: I still feel like Zutara has a good chance, if not a better chance now. Anyway, when you picture the wolf-horse, just imagine a giant wolf like the ones from Miyazaki's Princess Mononoke.
Azula leaned against the wall waiting for him to emerge from the grand doors of the throne room. She scoffed at the thought of what had happened this time. Trust him to screw things up so badly. She had been summoned back from the city of Ba Sing Se, which her father had given her control of, after the news of yet another skirmish with rebel forces. Was it not enough that they had spent a hundred years conquering the Earth Kingdom just for these petty rebels to hold their ground against their troops?
Soon enough the person she was waiting for came walking with the slightest limp out into the ornate halls. It was easy to see he had more burns, cuts, and bruises than when she had seen him before he went before the Fire Lord. Of course, some of the ones from the last meeting like this were still somewhat visible. She had had Mai observe the previous time for her, but when she'd told her that he seemed despondent to the punishment, never letting out a single sound or tear, she felt she didn't want to watch. After all, it was only fun if Zuzu screamed and showed his pain.
She came up beside him and said conversationally, "You know, you can't keep this up, Major."
"It's captain actually." He quietly interjected.
Her eyes widened, "You got demoted again? How big of an incompetent fool of a failure can you be? You return a month and a half ago, and father made you a field commander with the rank of colonel! All you had to do was put down those blasted uprisings!"
"Which I have done." He replied.
She scowled, "Only to the point in which they either surrendered or retreated! You held your men back from pursuing them, and those you took prisoner were never tortured for information!"
"I will not harm our people!" Zuko shouted back at her. This was the only time the old light returned to his eyes, when he got riled up.
She shouted right back, "They are just filthy earthbending savages, nothing like our people!"
"When the continent became part of the empire they became our people!" He took a deep, calming breath, and continued, "The royalty's first duty is to the nation. I will not harm our people. Now, I have to get back to my ship, and my troops."
She sighed, "You do understand that you are royalty, and should tell them what to do, not be down in the filth with them."
Zuko stopped at the great doors of the palace's entrance. He turned toward her and said, "I am a field commander. My place is on the field of battle with my troops. Besides if I stay out of the midst of the battles, how will you and father get what you want?" With that he continued down the steps toward wolf-horse mount.
Azula stared after his retreating figure and thought, 'Does he really know? Then again he'd probably fail at dieing like Cousin Lu Ten anyway.' She went to speak with her father herself. She muttered to herself, "He's too much of a bleeding heart, just like uncle."
Zuko arrived at his ship, a full-fledged warship, and went to perform his twice daily routine. He retrieved a tray from the galley and proceeded to a set of quarters with a pair of guards at the door. As he stood before the door one of the guards released the locks. Inside, sitting at a meditation shrine, was Uncle Iroh. As was usual since the battle with the Avatar at Ba Sing Se the old man didn't acknowledge his entrance. The truth of the matter was that Iroh hadn't even acknowledged his existence for the first two weeks or so, and since then he'd merely splashed the tea into Zuko's face. His uncle hadn't said a word to him at all, though he spoke to the man. Zuko had never explained why he did what he did, only gave a few comments. Most of them had been to convince Iroh to drink the tea.
The only thing that had gotten any reaction was when Zuko said, "You were wrong about me back at that flower shop."
Zuko sat the tray down upon the table, and filled a cup. Before Iroh could take the cup he said, "It's ginseng."
Iroh took the cup, and instead of throwing its contents all over his nephew asked, "Why?"
Zuko looked at him with a shadow of a smile and answered, "Because it's your favorite, and you used to say that words are best shared with a nice pot of tea."
"NOW you listen to me!" Iroh exclaimed. "Why not back at Ba Sing Se?"
Zuko sighed and stood, "I figured we'd come to that. Tell me uncle, how would joining the Avatar be the path to peace?"
"The Avatar is needed to bring balance!"
Zuko walked to the door. "At what cost? You told me to look inside, and see what I truly wanted. I did that. I don't want, and will not betray my nation." He said, his last words filled with deep conviction. He calmed and quietly added, "We'll return here in just over a week, almost a week before the day of black sun. With luck, you'll be released from confinement then." He left at that.
Katara sat up in the middle of the night at the Western Air Temple, gazing out at the moon. They had arrived a few weeks ago; her, Aang, Sokka, Toph, Guru Pathik, and members of each nation. They'd found Jeong Jeong, but again he refused to teach the boy at an accelerated rate.
She remembered his words, "You are still unprepared to learn! You may have learned much of the other elements quickly, but fire is completely different! The others have substance, but fire is energy! It is created by the bender, thus it is a piece of them. You still wish the quick path, but you say you'll attack during the eclipse. What good is my teaching you then?"
She couldn't deny his words. She had the same thought a couple of times after finding out about the eclipse. She had wondered if there had even been a point to him even trying to learn firebending. She almost agreed with Sokka after the fall of Ba Sing Se. The Fire Nation needed a good smashing, perhaps even to be wiped out. With the exception of Jeong Jeong and Zuko's uncle, there was no such thing as a good firebender.
'So why is it that that evil son of a wolf-bat still plagues my thoughts and dreams?" She thought. Almost every time she closed her eyes she saw his expression as Aang dragged her out of the cave, and relived that battle in her sleep.
"That's something we have in common." He had said. She was disgusted at the thought that she could have anything in common with him. Though a small part of her still felt a twinge of sympathy. She tried to drown that part out of her.
Even worse was that she had seen him a couple times since. She'd been with one of the uprisings that Zuko had put down. She remembered her blood boiling at the sight of him, as he came riding that grey wolf-horse down the ridge at the lead of his troops, riding komodo-rhinos. What was worse though was that most those of who didn't escape during the retreat were taken prisoner rather than killed. That night she had snuck in among the prisoners to find that the injured were being treated before being sent to Omashu, or rather New Ozai. While sneaking out, unable to help them break out, she had seen the young prince walk out of camp without escort. She followed, ready to strike.
He hadn't been wearing the armor he'd been earlier during the battle, only a pair of boots, red silk pants, and sleeveless, gold trimmed shirt. He'd walked to a set of springs. She waited in the shadows behind rocks and trees for the perfect moment, but was startled when he removed the shirt. She turned away, face red, as he disrobed. She refused to move until steam drifted from where he was. She glanced around her boulder to see him scrubbing waist deep in water. When she found herself beginning to stare, she decided it was time to leave, and snuck away as quickly and quietly as she could. That had been the basis of another disturbing dream she'd been having.
Of course that reminded her of the incidents she'd been having with Aang since leaving Ba Sing Se. He had just been happy around her at first, but she had to admit that it was getting to be a bit much when he practically never left her side. Sokka had made the joke that if he didn't know better he'd say they were conjoined twins. Then there had been the times she could almost swear that he'd been watching her as she bathed, or changed. She knew he had been watching her more closely recently. Even Toph had spoken to her about it, worried for her waterbending friend. Katara had simply chalked it all up to Aang entering puberty, but she had felt the need to get away for a bit. Thus how she ended up with the insurgents at the one battle.
Of course she had almost gone crazy from all of Aang's badgering about what had happened between Zuko and she in the cave. Then after he found out that Zuko had been at the battle she had been in. He was acting even more paranoid than Sokka. For now she had to get back to sleep, they were heading out the next morning.
They headed out just after dawn, their small fleet comprised of a few Earth Kingdom ships and about a dozen Water Tribe boats from both north and south. Sokka and Katara were spending as much time with their father as they could before their arrival at the Fire Nation. They hadn't seen him since Sokka's visit to him, and he and the other Southern Tribe warriors had only arrived a few days before they moved out. The fleet travelled for close to a week when they encountered the Fire Nation ships. There was only one problem; the lead ship had a man waving a large white flag.
Although a large number didn't trust the offer of truce, Aang and the gang used Appa to land on the ships main deck. While the others stood ready to fight while on the bison's back, Aang cautiously approached the red robed man moving forward.
He bowed and said, "I am Minister Gao, and here as representative of the Fire Lord. Our orders are to escort you to rendezvous with the imperial flagship, where the regent will take you the rest of the way to the imperial city, and then the palace."
Aang quirked an eyebrow, "This seems a little too convenient."
Gao suddenly drew a dagger, but rather than attacking he slid the blade along his palm. :Letting the blood drip, he gravely said, "I give you a blood oath that this is no trap."
Guardedly Aang agreed, and they flew back to their ship. There were arguments throughout the trip, obviously, but Aang had said that a blood oath was one of the most binding agreements in the Fire Nation. It took a few days, but they eventually came within view of the flagship. It outmatched even the warships that escorted them. Its bow was decorated by three large red and gold spikes, and the conn tower looked more like a building with a Fire Nation insignia at the top.
When they landed upon the deck that left plenty of room for Appa to move about, they were greeted by a familiar voice. They turned to see a portly, elder man walk down from the upper level. It was Iroh. He wore ornate robes, and what grey hair he had left was held in a topknot by a ring with a gold three-point flame.
He gave them a kind smile, and bowed, "Welcome to the Fire Nation, I am Regent Iroh. The Fire Lord wishes to speak with you, and I was asked to bring you before him." At their questioning looks he added, "Do not worry, we will arrive on the day of black sun. You should have nothing to worry about. While we get under way, I would be honored if you would join me for dinner."
Toph readily accepted, and after a bit of prodding so did the others. The next week was rather awkward as a growing sense dread began to fill the group. Iroh was acting the perfect gentleman, and reminded Katara rather of her grandfather before he had died. She still just couldn't understand how this jolly, kind-hearted man could be so closely related to cruel, evil serpents like Ozai and Azula, and that piece of buzzard-wasp bait, Zuko. They had asked a number of questions, only to receive enigmatic answers.
"Why let us in without a fight if it's not a trap?" Toph had asked.
"You'll have to ask the Fire Lord." Iroh smiled.
Sokka almost shouted, "What is up with all this? Has Ozai gone insane? What about that freaky niece of yours?"
He calmly replied, "You'll find out about their conditions when we arrive."
When they were leaving one day Katara lagged behind for a reason unclear to even her. She quietly asked Iroh, "Is there any chance that we'll see him there?"
He looked at her curiously with an eyebrow raised, "Do you mean my nephew?"
She could only nod, angered and confused at the thought of Zuko.
He stroked his beard, "Well, he is residing at the palace at the moment. So I'd say that it was more than likely that you encounter him."
She scowled, "I'd hoped that he would still be in the Earth Kingdom with his blasted army."
"He was made a colonel upon his return, and the lifting of his banishment, but was demoted twice since then."
"Why?"
"Because he refused to wipe out the insurgents rather than force them to stand down at the engagements, and had those taken prisoner treated rather than tortured."
She shook her head, "I don't believe it."
Iroh shrugged, "What you believe is your choice. Just remember that while facts are black and white, truth comes in shades of grey."
Finally the day had come, and they arrived at the harbor of the Fire Nation's capital city. Most of the ships of their small fleet held position out in the bay, ready to attack should anything be amiss. The imperial flagship docked while the escort vessels sailed off for other assignments. Iroh had suggested that they use Appa to travel the distance to the palace. As they flew over they saw the bustling city. People seemed to be reacting rather nervously, but it was obvious why when they saw the silhouette of the moon approach the sun. It was only a matter of minutes until the two would completely overlap.
They landed in the large courtyard of the palace as the daylight began to fade. Servants were running about lighting brazers with previously lit torches. The group, consisting of Iroh, Aang, Katara, Sokka, Toph, Hakoda, Pakku, and General Fong, was met by one of the servants.
He bowed, "Regent, the Fire Lord is awaiting you and your party in throne room."
"I should have known he'd be in there." Iroh muttered. "Stubborn fool."
He led them into the grand doors, and through a number of elaborately decorated halls. After five to ten minutes and many comments about the architecture and such, they came to the doorway. It had a gold flame shaped frame with a set of red silk drapes with a black Fire Nation emblem upon them. Two members of the royal guard stood to the sides of the door, and pulled the drapes open for the group.
They walked into a room filled with massive, towering pillars, and on the far wall was a raised area with the throne, flames splayed out before it. A figure with a five-point flame headpiece stood behind those flames, obscured by them. With a whispered signal, Aang, Katara, and Toph each launched an attack at him. They saw one arm rise, and the flames grew high, and ceased the attacks.
Iroh quickly moved in front of them. He said, "Please, he wishes to speak with you. Hear him out." He turned toward the throne as the flames died down quite a bit. "I present Avatar Aang, Waterbending Masters Pakku and Katara, Chief Hakoda and his son, Sokka, Earthbending Master Toph, and General Fong."
The figure, who stood with his back to them looking at the large gold dragon on the wall, said, "This was always one of my favorite decorations here. It was commissioned by the first Fire Lord in honor of the great dragons from which he learned his bending and with it united the people. Now though, I can only remember what it looks like."
The voice was unmistakable for some of them. There was only one person it could be.
As the figure turned Iroh said, "I present to you Fire Lord Zuko."
Zuko turned to face them, holding a wooden walking stick with a carved dragon wound about its length. They looked up at his face to find most of it covered with bandages. With the stick plotting the ground in front of him he walked forward, and waved his hand to extinguish the flames separating them. As he jumped down to the main floor they noticed the slight buckling of his knees even through the red robes he wore, and his hand tighten on the walking stick. He waved off his uncle, who rushed to his side.
Katara shouted out, "Traitor!"
Zuko responded simply, "How is it that I could betray someone I was never allied with. The only person I ever betrayed was my uncle, and we have come to terms with that."
Sokka exclaimed, "Now we know this is some kind of trick! You're just a stupid jerk of a prince! I'd bet that you've got a bunch of soldiers ready to strike!"
He was stopped from saying anything else by Toph elbowing him in the gut. She said, "Will you be quiet for a bit. We're the only ones in this room, and I can't sense anyone but those guards in the hall. Besides, I can tell that they're telling the truth."
Zuko let out a deep breath and said, "Lets get to business. Simply put the war is over. Fire Nation forces have been ordered to withdraw to the western coast of the continent, which will remain under our flag. Special Envoys have been sent to both Water Tribes, Omashu, and Ba Sing Se with a proposal of an armistice. Only a special unit will remain in Ba Sing Se to arrest and confine the Dai Li until relieved by Earth Kingdom forces."
Aang questioned, "Are you serious?"
He nodded, "Now, there's only one thing left. Come here, Avatar." As Aang moved forward, Zuko removed something from his waistband, and held it palm up to the boy. It was a pearl dagger of Earth Kingdom craftsmanship. "I give you a chance to do what you came here to do. Drive this through my heart."
This was a shock to everyone, even Iroh. He rushed forward, but Zuko shouted, "Stay back! This is between the Avatar and I." At Aang's hesitation he growled out, "What's the matter? This is what you came here to do, isn't it? Did you think that you'd be able to make it all the way to this palace, let alone this city, without killing anyone? You came here to defeat the Fire Lord, but did you think you could do that without killing him. I can tell you my father would not accept defeat except in death. Heh, perhaps not even then. You've already attacked me once. Go ahead, kill the Fire Lord as you intended to!"
"You're serious." Aang realized. He took the dagger, but asked, " Just answer this, why did you join Azula?"
"You were not the only one born with a duty to perform. As a member of the royal family it is my duty to protect my people from any threat to them, and you represented the greatest threat. You were the embodiment of the death of my father, and sister, and to get to them you would leave a trail of carnage in your wake. I have just chosen the less bloody path to peace. This way only two or three would have to die."
Toph asked, "So you already took care of the other two?"
Zuko nodded, "I challenged my father to an agni kai for leadership of the nation, and won. When he fell, Azula attacked. It was only with my uncle's technique to redirect lightning that I won. Now, make your choice, Avatar."
Aang unsheathed the dagger, and looked down at it. Never give up without a fight, it had inscribed on it. His mind flashed to all the scenarios he had thought up of Zuko and Katara together, each brought on by a paranoid voice in the back of his mind after fleeing Ba Sing Se. The images filled him with a jealous fury, and the voice filled his mind with an insidious line of thought. As long as Zuko was around there was the chance that Katara might choose him. Before he really quite realised what he was doing he had lifted the dagger, ready to strike. His wrist was caught before the blade reached Zuko's the chest.
He looked up to see Katara, stopping him. She said, "This isn't you, Aang. You're not a murderer." She turned to Zuko. "How can you do this to him?"
"I put myself up for judgement, and I live. I can now move on and lead my people. You are all welcome to stay here for as long as you'd like. A servant will attend to you." He said, sounding somewhat tired, and moved off. His uncle came and led him out of the room.
That evening Katara was walking about the palace. She hated to admit it, but she was actually finding the place beautiful. That's when she stumbled upon the large gardens. She walked out onto the lush grass, and beheld the numerous plants of multiple colors, and the large pond that could actually be considered a small lake. It was not yet sunset, and everything was bathed in amber light. She stopped when she saw the young Fire Lord sitting on the stone ledge of the pond near a beautiful tree with hanging branches.
He now wore less formal clothes, more like the ones of his youth. She stared as he held out his open palm with small pieces of torn up bread in it. He was feeding the turtle-ducks. Prince, no Fire Lord Zuko, a person she had considered corrupt and bloodthirsty was peacefully feeding turtle-ducks in the pond. She walked over and sat next to him, gazing at the small creatures eating from his hand.
"Can I try?" she asked softly, somewhat uncertainly. Her old grudges against him making her kind of uncomfortable, but as he, himself, said; the war was over. It wouldn't do anyone any good to hold onto old grudges.
He nodded, and handed her the remaining loaf of bread. She tore a chunk off and separated that up into tiny pieces. He instructed, "Just hold it out, and they'll take what they will. You can also throw a few pieces out for the fish." He held out another handful after throwing a few toward the center of the pond. "My mother and I would come out to this spot and do this nearly everyday."
"I'm sorry."
"Don't be." He replied quietly. "Her death has been avenged, and she can now rest in the realm of the honored dead."
"Is that the reason for the bandages?"
He hesitated before answering, "In settling matters with my family, well, lets just say they finished the job."
"Let me see." She said resolutely.
He turned his face away from her, and said, "You shouldn't have to look upon such horridness. You're too good to be exposed to such a thing."
She softly laid a hand upon his shoulder, feeling him flinch at the touch slightly. She whispered, "Please, I want to see."
He didn't know why, but there was just something in her tone that hit something deep inside of him. It was so like the one she used before touching his scar back at the cave, but this was laced with some emotion he was unfamiliar with. The closest things he'd heard to it had come from his uncle and mother, but it was different still. He carefully unwrapped the bandages, the light breeze irritating the flesh. He slowly turned to face her, and she beheld the embodiment of Ozai and Azula's hatred. The scar had been worsened and extended to cover at least three fifths of his face. It went down the left side of his face to his jaw line, and covered both eyes, which both appeared to be practically seared shut. His black hair was slightly singed, the length of it pulled into the stubby topknot holding the headpiece.
Emotion overtook her and she wrapped her arms around him tears forming in her eyes. She quickly released him at the sound of him restraining a cry of pain. In an instant she had ripped his shirt open to expose the other injuries on his body. Before he could react she grabbed his shirt and flung the both of them into the pond.
Iroh had been standing on a veranda waiting for his nephew to head in. After they had left the throne room he'd given Zuko an earful about how foolish it had been to pull the pomp he had. The young man was supposed to stay in the infirmary for a few more days, or at least in his chambers. Iroh should have known though. The young man had hated being confined to bed and showing weakness. He watched as Katara walked over and sat with Zuko. He smiled watching them feed the small animals, together.
In the week they had spent together before returning for the agni kai Zuko had told him of the time spent in the cave, and of the thoughts he had had of the young lady. He had to admit that he'd found such amusement in the fact that Zuko did indeed suffer from hormones like a normal person. He became rather concerned when the bandages were being unwrapped. He hadn't seen the injuries revealed, even when the healers had to change the dressings. From the descriptions he'd got from observers, he didn't think he wanted to see. Though he smiled at her wrapping her arms about the boy. He would swear he could almost see the blush on Zuko's face, and he pretty much burst into a laughing fit when the girl tore his shirt open. His eyes went as wide as saucers as Katara pulled Zuko along with her into the water.
He vaulted over the railing and landed in a run. He looked on as she seemed to straddle Zuko, pinning him in the water. He was able to raise his head out of the water long enough to cough up some water and take a quick breath before being submerged again. Iroh and a few members of the royal guard, who stood ready to protect their young lord, stopped at the ledge as the entire pond began to glow. Iroh gazed in amazement. He had heard of this ability but never seen it. He quickly realised what this scene looked like, and quickly sent the guards off, explaining that no harm would befall the Fire Lord.
The water's glow soon receded, and the two came up gasping for breath. The two trudged out of the pond and collapsed against the tree next to each other. Most of the damage to Zuko's body was gone, all that remained was lighter version of his original scar. She looked at him as he slowly opened his eyes. The gold of them shined in the last rays of the setting sun. He turned to look at her.
He smiled and practically whispered, "You know, I don't think I've ever seen anything quite so lovely in my life."
When she realized he meant her, she blushed, but couldn't stop the smile that came to her face. She inched closer as she whispered back, "And this is me at my worst."
Their lips met in a kiss with the two completely oblivious to the elder man turning to walk away, a smirk plastered on his face. When he looked back the two had fallen asleep leaning against one another. He would let them sleep. After all a man and a woman both need their rest. He couldn't stop the chuckle as he thought that he had known of other relationships with stranger beginnings.