I find it odd that I haven't come across a single fanfiction so far where Katara actually does heal Zuko in the Crystal Catacombs! It was so close and almost happened! I extended their conversation and their stay in the caves so they might better know each other, as well. Anyway, another major change I've made here is that Aang never developed a big romantic thing for Katara, it never felt right to me in the series, I mean he's a monk and he's twelve...
Interesting, relevant note: if you can read Chinese or saw a translation of the actual Zuko/Iroh wanted posters, it says this: The Fire Lord orders the arrest of the two traitors, Iroh and Zuko. General Iroh was once known as the Dragon of the West. Zuko was once known as the Crown Prince to the Fire Lord. Both traitors refused orders to wipe out the Water Tribe as well as capturing the Avatar. Wanted Dead or Alive.
If I was Zuko and I read that I was branded a traitor and could be brought back dead... not sure I'd trust Azula anymore than I ever did.
Oh yes, there are POV changes, as denoted by -k- (Katara) and -z- (Zuko), and others.
I don't own Avatar, or things would have been hella different. There may be quotes lifted from the series.
**Much revised! I have a habit of always re-reading and editing my stories, so check back often for edits of my recently uploaded stories! I just currently expanded more of Katara's thoughts on Zuko here, and other things that hopefully makes the story run smoother. If any of you guys notice any odd mistakes, or have any suggestions, please send me a review!
The Catacombs of Destiny
Ch 1: The Crystal Catacombs
-k-
"How could I have been so stupid!" Katara screamed, her words echoing all around her. She barely registered the clusters of large crystal formations that glowed with an eerie, bluish-green light, jutting from the walls and floor around her. She only knew she was in some kind of pit. A prison. And she had just become its new occupant. Under different circumstances, she might have been struck with awe at the luminescent crystal beauty around her, but today was not that day. Katara sat down on the cold, damp floor and covered her face in her hands.
If only...
If only they had just all stayed to meet the "Kyoshi warriors" when they came to visit the Earth King... Then they might've had a fighting chance... But no, they had to all run off on their respective quests and Sokka just happened to not go nuts and demand to see Suki! Katara groaned into her hands.
Now she was alone. Utterly alone. Sokka had gone to see Dad, and Aang had gone off to perfect the Avatar state at some far away Air temple. She mentally kicked herself after some time, berating herself for thinking such selfish thoughts. It was actually a good thing, she thought, thank goodness Aang wasn't here, or he would have fallen into Azula's hands. Sokka is safe, and the only one in trouble is me. She sighed, and lifted her face out of her hands, a determined look planted on her face. No problem, I will find a way out. I am not gonna be anybody's problem.
Katara got up with a renewed vigor, and made her way around the small space, tapping random crystals and peering hard at the walls. She listened for water, but felt nothing. Upon the fourth round of inspection, a lump of emotion had risen in her throat, and she tried hard to swallow it down. Finally, she stopped, and her hands dropped to her sides. She swallowed hard again, and squeezed her eyes, trying to keep the dam of emotions in check. Sighing, she wrapped her arms around her body, finally feeling the odd, damp chill in the cave air. It felt different from the cold in the South Pole, where the air was biting but dry. This damp chill felt like it seeped into her very bones, and made her feel quite uncomfortable, like she'd never be warm again...
Suddenly, a loud rumble startled her. The ground shook. Light poured down from an opening hole above.
"We got some company for you, little girl!"
Katara dove out of the way as a body came crashing down. The earth rumbled again, and the light from the hole disappeared. She blinked at the shaggy-haired boy crumpled in a heap in front of her. He was dressed like a waiter from an upscale restaurant and had a familiar scar on his face. She gasped. "Zuko!"
Zuko's look of shock at his cellmate lasted all but a minute before his trademark scowl covered his face. "Hmph." He hurried to the far side of the cave and sat down, facing the wall.
Katara rose and placed one hand on the cap of her waterskin. "Where'd you come from?"
No answer. Then she remembered she had run off to warn the Earth King about the Fire Prince hiding away in a teashop, only to find the Prince's evil sister there as well. Azula heard her frantic warning about her brother, then must've gone to collect him... Now, Zuko certainly wasn't a friend, but based on the last time they met, she realized he wasn't on his sister's good side, either. So, if what the wanted posters said was true (...Permission is granted to kill them on sight), she had just gotten him into big trouble.
But, she wasn't about to tell him that.
"What're you doing here, Zuko? Why are you here in Ba Sing Se? Were you still following us? Trying to capture the Avatar?"
He turned his head just enough to glare at her with his bad eye. It was actually rather intimidating.
"And here I thought that you might've given up chasing after us! I mean, we started seeing wanted posters for you, and you hadn't shown up for so long, but no, I guess you were still following us!"
She thought she heard a frustrated sigh. "No? Then deny it!" she cried.
Zuko suddenly stood up.
Katara stepped back, ready to uncork her waterskin.
He turned around, scowling at her. "You don't know what you're talking about."
"Care to explain?"
He turned back around. "No."
Katara rolled her eyes. "Then I'm correct."
"You're not."
"Then why were you here?"
He sighed exasperatedly. "We were just happily minding our own business, okay? Now mind your own and be quiet, peasant!"
Unfortunately, that only riled the waterbender up even more. "'Minding your own business?' The Fire Nation never just minds their own business. You're all the same! Spreading death and destruction wherever you go! How dare you tell me to mind my own business when the Fire Nation won't mind their own? How dare you ruin the lives of so many people. How dare you tear families apart and do unspeakable things! How dare you t-torture and kill my mother!"
This time Zuko faced her fully, but instead of a perpetual scowl, his expression was sad. "I didn't kill her." He looked her in the eyes. "And I find torture of any kind distasteful. I am sorry about your mother. That's something we have in common."
Katara widened her eyes, her anger replaced with confusion. "The Fire Nation killed your mom, too? Wait, isn't she the Fire Lady? Why would they do that?"
He sat down and looked away. "I just meant I lost her, too. She disappeared one night, and never came back."
Katara frowned. That still didn't sound as bad as what happened to her mother. But the anguished pain she saw on his face was real, and she could tell his hurt wasn't any less than hers. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have blown up at you."
"It doesn't matter."
"It's just that, for so long now, whenever I would imagine the face of the enemy, it was your face," Katara said.
Zuko winced and raised his fingers to his scar. "My face. I see," he said, barely above a whisper.
"No no, that's not what I meant!" Katara cried, shaking her hands in front of her. "I just mean you, as in—just because you'd been following us all the time trying to capture Aang! And because you're the first Fire Nation person I've actually seen since—well, you're just the first Fire Nation person I've really met."
"I see," Zuko said, looking at her curiously. "Well it's okay. I used to think this scar marked me, the mark of the banished prince, cursed to chase the Avatar forever. But lately, I've realized I'm free to determine my own destiny, even if I'll never be free of this mark."
Banished? Cursed to chase Aang? Free to determine his destiny? Suddenly she perked up. Wait, does this mean he's given up on Aang? "And… what new destiny would that be?"
Zuko looked a bit deflated. "I don't know yet."
"Ah well..." Katara shrugged. "So... why are you here in Ba Sing Se?"
Zuko pursed his lips. "You've seen the damn posters everywhere. We're banished. We've been banished. But now my own people want us dead. We're just trying to survive here and start a new life... and surprise, surprise, my sister has come to ruin my life again!"
Katara didn't know what to think. This is just too weird, and she didn't understand. "Really? So you really weren't here to...?"
"No!" Zuko shouted, and ran a hand through his hair in frustration. 'No, I don't know! I just don't know, okay!" Katara frowned, trying to process this new Zuko, who wore a tea server's outfit, had a mop of hair, and who, for once, just looked more lost than angry. For so long, Zuko always just seemed like a generic, scary bad guy trying to capture her friend without a conscience. It was almost strange to realize that he might not just be an embodiment of pure evil.
"Why did you want to capture Aang in the first place?" Katara asked.
"The Avatar was my ticket back home... back to everything... I needed him to restore my honor. At least that's what I thought. But now I'm not so sure." He didn't seem like he was talking to her, but more to himself. Katara waited a half second. "Why not?" she finally asked.
Zuko scowled. "You wouldn't understand."
Katara rolled her eyes. "Try me."
The prince looked frustrated. "We should be looking for a way out, not wasting time here!"
"I was here before you. I've looked around this stupid place a million times already. There's nothing."
But Katara let the prince look and poke around the walls a few rounds anyway, and she watched, half hopeful he might actually find something. When Zuko finally let out a flaming huff of frustration, she sighed. "Well, what'd I tell ya."
Zuko cursed loudly, threw his hands up in the air, sat down on the floor, looking even more miserable than before. "Why do I always fail at everything? Why does she always get everything?"
Katara felt her heart drop. "You're not failing at anything, Zuko... I mean, you never give up, and that makes you one of the strongest people I know." He looked at her in surprise, and she thought saw a brief glimmer of something happy in his eyes before it dimmed again. "Your sister... she seems like a terrible person... Even if she does always get what she wants, I doubt she knows how to appreciate it, you know? And I bet when she does fail, she won't know how to handle it."
"She doesn't fail."
"Everybody fails, or they wouldn't be human," Katara said emphatically.
"Exactly, she's not human... she's a monster, just like my father."
Katara frowned. "Why do you even want to go back to the Fire Nation...?"
"I... It's my home! My homeland, my country, my people. Everything I know is there. Why wouldn't I want to go back to it? It's been three years!" Zuko yelled. But there was an edge of uncertainty in his voice and a tinge of sadness.
"Three years? You'd been chasing Aang for three years?" Katara asked incredulously. "I only just found him a couple months ago..."
Zuko just scowled deeper. Katara shook her head, trying to piece together just what had happened to Zuko. He was banished three years ago by his father... The Avatar had been missing for a century already... Katara sucked in her breath. Surely Zuko knew his father pretty much just condemned him never to return home? It was really a stroke of luck that she found Aang only three years into his wildgoose chase.
"Well, Zuko, I miss my home, too. But I've realized now that what really makes a home are the people you are with. With good people, anywhere can be a home. Your father sounds... unbelievably heartless, and your sister, too. Would you really want to go back to them?"
Zuko didn't reply. His hands were fisted tightly, and his scowl was back, deeper than ever. Then suddenly he unclenched them. "Uncle!"
"'Uncle?'" Katara echoed uncomprehendingly, looking around her.
"My Uncle had escaped! I'm sure he's trying to find a way to save us!"
"Oh La! Thank goodness! See! Things will work out!" Katara cried. She was not alone! There was hope! And Zuko's giddy expression was enough to make her grin wider. He absolutely looked nothing like the scowling firebender that chased her around for so long before this. Except for his scar, which never moved, regardless of what expression he wore. Katara wondered passively how compromised his vision was since his left eyelids never could open wider than a slit. She wondered if she could heal it...
"Hey Zuko... how did you get your scar?"
Zuko's expression changed instantly from happy to confused... and angry. "Why do you want to know?" he asked slowly.
Katara was slightly taken aback by Zuko's abrupt change in expression. Granted, the question was pretty random, but the murderous glare he was giving her suggested the story behind the scar was not a simple one. "Well, I was wondering how long you've had it... I was wondering if I could heal it. I mean, I don't know, but I do have healing abilities..."
His deep scowl softened considerably, and now he was just looking at her strange now, like she just turned into a rabbiroo and was flying around the room. Katara felt embarrassed all of the sudden, and mentally cursed herself for being so soft.
"It's a scar, it can't be fixed," Zuko said finally. "I've had it for about three years already."
"Oh, it has been a while, then..." Katara said. Regular water most likely won't work now... but she had the Spirit Oasis water! Part of her protested angrily, arguing the sacred water needed to be saved for much more important emergencies, and this guy is still technically the enemy. She had a gut feeling, however, and something tugged at her heart. This is the right moment. Zuko needs my help, I know it. She smiled at him as she took out a tiny pointed vial. "This is water from the Spirit Oasis at the North Pole. Regular water probably won't work on your scar anymore, but this might. I mean, I still can't guarantee if it will work, but would you like me to try?"
Zuko looked so incredulous, yet so hopeful that Katara felt her heart ache. He looked almost cute, and it was just too much to bear. He nodded almost imperceptibly, and that was cue enough. Katara opened the vial, and both of them gasped slightly as the crystal clear liquid she conjured from it gave off a soft, ethereal glow. The prince then let out a sigh and closed his eyes. Even though it was expected he'd need to close his eyes, she still felt touched that he was letting himself trust her this much. She wrapped the cool water around her fingertips and gently touched the dark, angry ridges of where his left eyebrow should have been.
-z-
A gentle, cooling sensation took root above his left eye and he involuntarily let out a sigh of relief. It reminded Zuko of when he used to jump in the cool ocean waters of Ember Island on a scorching summer day. Her fingers stayed there for a few minutes before they moved a little lower to the corner of his eye, and the cool, soothing sensation moved with them. He could make out a faint, blue glow through his left eyelid, and watched as she slowly moved her healing touch across his eye to his ear. An odd, prickly sensation took root, and he grimaced. It felt like it was mutating and growing, and he would dearly have loved to see what was happening to his ear. The first thing that came to mind was that the waterbender was sabotaging it, until he remembered there wasn't much left to sabotage anyway.
After a few more minutes, she moved on to his cheek. And then, after another feeling like he had taken a dip in the ocean waters for what felt like an hour, he felt her touch lift. He opened his eyes, surprised at how much more he could open his left eye, though a hard crust seemed to have formed on it. He saw the waterbender in front of him, looking exhausted, but smiling.
"New skin has formed under your scar, Zuko. I hope it's better, though I can't guarantee it will be exactly what it was before." She bent the glowing water at her fingertips back into the vial. At least half of it was gone.
He quickly looked around for a large facet of crystal to use as a mirror, and suppressed a surge of disappointment at the dark scar that was still on his face. New skin's underneath, he reminded himself. He raised his left hand to touch his scar. It had become a thick, removable crust. He quickly tugged at a corner and a part of it released. Excited, he pulled off all the dead skin and discovered that new, lighter colored skin had replaced areas of the burn. It was still darker and pinker than the rest of his skin, but it looked a hell of a lot better already. He touched his new skin lightly, amazed at the new tingling sensation that told him nerves were growing back on his cheek. Most importantly, he could open his left eye fully. The folds above his eye were new, and there was some resistance which he knew would disappear in time. His left eyebrow had grown back! Granted it was still a bit scraggly, but maybe it'll fix itself later. He turned his head and saw that his ear had grown back as well! He removed bits of old scar tissue that still clung to the folds of his ear. It was unbelievable, the joy was almost too much to handle. He blinked back tears, passively aware that he was blinking back the tears from both eyes, which meant his left tear duct had been fixed as well.
Zuko turned to the girl, who looked on the brink of passing out. He reached out his arms to grab her on the shoulders and gently laid her next to the wall. "Thank you..." He suddenly realized he had no idea what her name was. "I... I don't know how I can ever repay you."
She looked at him sleepily and smiled. "Just don't chase after us anymore, okay?"
"I already haven't been doing that!"
"Well, then remember you're no failure. You're nothing like your father and sister, and thank goodness for that... you're a good person..." Katara murmured. Not a second later, Zuko head a faint snore.
The prince smiled faintly and sighed. She was starting to sound like bit like Uncle. Or do all positive people sound like Uncle? No, she reminded him of his mother. His gentle, encouraging mother. He leaned against the wall next to her, staring at but not seeing the crystals growing out of the wall across from him. 'No matter how things may seem to change, never forget who you are.' His mother had uttered those words to him that night she disappeared. 'Everything I've done, I've done to protect you.'
He lowered his eyes to the ground. He never understood what his mother meant when she said that. He still didn't understand just what she did for him, and disappearing on him was the worst thing she could have done. The next day after she disappeared, his grandfather had died, and his father was pronounced the new Fire Lord. He narrowed his eyes. Just what happened that night? What did she do? Did she... did she do something to his grandfather? Kill his grandfather? He never knew his mother to be violent in any way...
'Everything I've done, I've done to protect you.'
How was that supposed to protect him? It helped his father become the next Fire Lord. It helped turn his life upside down. He quelled a sudden surge of bitterness at his mother, and tried to focus instead, on the riddle she had left him. Zuko closed his eyes, remembering that night Azula appeared at the door to his room, taunting him.
'Dad's gonna kill you. Really... he is.'
That night he had witnessed his grandfather berating his father. His father had wanted to become the successor to the Fire Lord after Uncle Iroh had lost his son. His grandfather had been displeased at his father's lack of sympathy and told him his punishment had barely begun. Zuko had been too frightened to hear just what that punishment was. Azula then came to taunt him, only to be led away by his mother. Later that night, his mother showed up one last time when he was half-asleep and disappeared soon after. The next day, his grandfather was dead and his father was Fire Lord.
Somehow, it never seemed odd to him. Somehow, he wondered why he never saw it.
'Everything I've done, I've done to protect you.'
Why? Why would his mother kill his grandfather to protect him? Or maybe his father was the one who killed his grandfather? Horrified by such treachery, Zuko quickly pushed that out of his mind. Somehow, his mother doing the deed didn't seem quite so horrifying. A headache was forming. He rubbed his temples with his thumbs, vaguely pleased that his left temple wasn't a hard, bumpy scar anymore.
'No matter how things may seem to change, never forget who you are.'
So was the waterbender right? That his mother wanted him to remember that he wasn't his father?
'That's who you are Zuko… someone who keeps fighting even though it's hard.'
Zuko shook his head. No..his mother just wanted him to remember that he never gave up. He sighed. It didn't seem like enough though.
'No matter how things may seem to change...'
No matter how much crap your father and sister will feel free to dish out to you once I'm gone... Zuko thought miserably. His mother had also thought there was something seriously wrong with Azula, though she never really said anything about his father. She helped his father gain the throne, and somehow that was to protect him.
He looked over at the waterbender girl, who was still fast asleep. Really, how was he going to repay her? He figured healing his scar was an obvious bribe for him to stop chasing the Avatar. In some ways, he was rather surprised at how he didn't really feel like pursuing the Avatar anymore, anyway. His uncle was right, even if he did bring the Avatar back, it probably wasn't going to make his father like him any more. His father only cared about Azula, the prodigy. Countless people had already tried to enlighten him that his father only thought of him as an abject failure...
How would he repay her... how...
Next thing he knew, he had also fallen asleep.
-k-
Katara woke up, shivering uncontrollably. She nearly cried out when she realized she had completely burrowed herself against Zuko's side. She wondered how this could have happened when she heard a faint snore. Good thing he was asleep. She slowly inched away and felt him sliding down with her. She reached out her arms to lean him back against the wall and crawled away, her cheeks red with embarrassment. Unfortunately, she realized that he really was a wonderful heat source and felt all the more chilled. But she wasn't going to go snuggle back up.
Her stomach suddenly growled. Great, she thought. Just what I need.
Wasn't anyone going to toss some food their way? They were prisoners, and prisoners should at least get a few scraps of food! How many hours had passed? There was no way of knowing since the crystals were the only constant source of light. She rubbed her arms, trying to warm them up. This cave was chilly, like all caves... and damp, which made the chill somehow even colder and unbearable. Shivering non-stop now, she inched closer to Zuko, who was radiating a fair bit of heat.
She leaned back against the wall, now struck with nothing to do. Were they really going to be stuck here forever? Is Zuko's uncle really going to be able to bust them out? She sighed and looked over at where Zuko's angry scar used to be on his face. After finally getting his face fixed, no one will see it.
Wait, what was she thinking? Of course they'll be rescued! But I'm going to die of frostbite before then...
He looked so amazingly peaceful asleep; it seemed a shame to wake him up. So she just inched closer to him and stared at her handiwork on his face. She was so tired from the effort it took to force his body to regenerate new tissue underneath the hard, fibrous scar, that she had fallen asleep before she could get a good look at his new face. The new skin still contrasted sharply with the rest of his face, as it was darker and slightly sunken in. Yes, it was still a scar, but it should no longer restrict his movements or call as much attention to himself.
Really, Zuko looked much younger than she had thought. Much younger, and much nicer to look at. Katara quickly shook her head violently at the direction her thoughts had taken. But of course he's nicer to look at! You got rid of his horrible scar! She wondered how old he really was. She'd always thought he was much older than her, though now she figured it was because of the wrinkly, contorted scar. He actually didn't look that much older than her. It was a sobering thought actually, that he could be about the same age as her and have lived through so much grief. She had thought her life was rather tragic...but while she was angry that her dad had left her and Sokka when they were young, he didn't go banish them or wish them a passive death. She had a dumb but loving brother, not a cold, psychotic sister. And while Zuko was a prince...he seemed to have adapted to serving tea in teashops quite handily. Katara smiled at the new-found knowledge of her hopefully former enemy.
Hopefully former enemy. She realized he still hadn't really given her an answer on what he was planning to do now. But what could he do anyway? He could...he could join us! And teach Aang firebending! And take down the Fire Lord...! Katara frowned. The Fire Lord may be evil, but he was still his father. Would he really want to go against his own dad? Dammit... She sighed heavily, rubbing her cold left arm, which was furthest away from the human stove that was Zuko. Her stomach growled, and she tried to suppress a violent shiver. Being a polite distance away from the boy just wasn't enough. And she refused to turn him into a nice, warm blanket.
"Zuko, I'm sorry for waking you up, but can you please make a fire? I'm going to die, I'm freezing!" The prince let out a yell and looked ready to firebend, but noticed her before anything happened. She lowered her arms that she threw up in defense. "Um, I'm sorry... but I was hoping you could bend some fire for me so I don't freeze to death..."
He looked at her uncomprehendingly. Another violent shiver shook her head to toe and he widened his eyes. "Oh, sorry, I guess I don't feel the cold at all..." In a flash, he called forth a ball of fire in his hand. Katara quickly leaned towards it and stuck out her hands at the wonderful, piping hot flames, and resisted hugging them altogether.
"Aren't you from the South Pole? Shouldn't you be used to this?"
Katara glared at him and stuck her nose up. "We wear proper furry clothing."
He snorted. "'Furry clothing.' I see."
Her stomach growled loudly again. She reddened in embarrassment. "Sorry."
Zuko frowned. "I'm pretty hungry, too. I hope my uncle hurries up and frees us."
"Just what happened anyway?" Katara asked, while stamping down some guilty feelings about alerting his sister to them in the first place.
"Yeah, we escaped from Azula when she was about to ambush us. She laid a trap, sending a telegram to us saying the Earth King wanted to try Uncle's tea. When we came, we got to see her instead. Well, I was sick of running from Azula all the time and stayed to fight. Uncle was already on his way out the window."
Katara laughed a bit, then sighed. "I'm really glad that at least your uncle knows you're captured somewhere. Aang's off learning from some guru...somewhere, Sokka's gone to meet Dad, and Toph's gone to meet her mom. No one has any idea where I am."
Silence fell as she turned herself to warm her arms against the nice, hot fire. She felt rather silly, like she was turning herself on a spit. She glanced at Zuko, who looked a little amused. She gritted her teeth.
"Say, uh, actually, what is your name?"
"Huh?" Katara looked at him, confused. Really? She never told him her name? No one ever told him her name? Then she realized that no one probably ever did, and why should they have? "I'm Katara. I guess no one ever told you our names, huh?"
He shook his head.
"Um, Aang is the Avatar. Sokka's my brother, and Toph is the earthbender."
"Toph? I don't remember her being in your party."
"Yeah, we first met her at this Earth Rumble tournament in Gaoling, where she hadn't lost a fight until Aang came along. Toph's tiny and blind, but she's the best earthbender in the world despite her age." Katara smiled as she thought of the little girl. "She has an attitude to match, too. You don—"
Suddenly, the wall behind them burst open, sending rocks flying their way. Katara felt Zuko smash into her, pushing her out of the way of the rocks.
"Zuko!" An old man cried happily. "Uncle!" Zuko cried as he braced his arms beside her to get up. She felt his weight lift, and was happy to breathe again. He seemed to have realized what happened, and asked if she was okay before offering a hand to help her up.
"Hey, Sugar Queen!"
"Toph!" Katara cried. She ran over and gave the girl a hug. "How'd you know I was here?"
Toph smiled her lopsided grin. "Well, my friend here came to the house and told me he was missing his nephew and needed help. I had just gotten back from bashing a couple idiots to the ground—"
"Hold on, what about your mom?"
Toph rolled her cotton eyes. "I should've known it was a trick. But I guess I wanted my mom to understand me so badly, I miscalculated. I guess my dad had paid these two idiots to capture me back, but I put them in their place. Anyway, when my friend here came to our house and told me he lost his nephew, I realized you should've been home by then, too. I could feel an uproar going on in the palace, so I figured you might've been in trouble, too!"
Katara looked over at Zuko, who was being bear-hugged by his uncle. "Hey, Uncle, have you even noticed anything different about me?"
His uncle took a step back. "Your scar! It's gone!" He stretched a hand and gingerly placed it on the side of Zuko's head. "Unbelievable" Then he looked straight at Katara. "Ahh, it must be the lovely lady over here that helped you!" Katara giggled slightly. His uncle had a huge grin on his face and he just looked so friendly and harmless that she couldn't help but like him right away. "You're the waterbender, aren't you? No wonder you could heal!"
"How d'you know that?" she asked, surprised.
"Wellll, when you get to my age, you get to know a lot of things," he replied slowly, grinning from ear to ear. "I believe some introductions are in order, Zuko."
"Uh, this is Katara... Katara, this is my Uncle Iroh." They bowed to each other courteously.
Katara put a hand on Toph's shoulder. "Here is Toph, the greatest earthbender in the world. Toph, this is Zuko, the guy that had been after our lives for the past many weeks."
"Hey!" Zuko cried, but Toph just grinned her lopsided smile even wider.
Suddenly, her grin dropped and she quickly shifted her right foot toward the hole they had come from. A stone wall suddenly shot up, and blue flames smashed against them.
-z-
"Azula..."
Zuko immediately dropped into a fighting stance and stood in front of his uncle. Azula marched purposefully toward them, dressed in the green and black garb of the Dai Li agents behind her. She had her customary smirk on her face and a hand up. The Dai Li stepped back, faces shadowed by their pointed hats.
"I expected this kind of treachery from Uncle, but Zuko, Prince Zuko...you're a lot of things, but you're not a traitor, are you?"
Zuko gritted his teeth. No...
Azula raised an eyebrow. "My, Zuko, what happened to your scar? You almost look like the noble prince you once were. Tell me, how did this happen?"
He only scowled deeper in reply.
"No matter." His sister shrugged. "I need you Zuko. I've plotted every move of this day. This glorious day in Fire Nation history, and the only way we win, is together. At the end of this day you will have your honor back, you will have Father's love, you will have anything you want."
"She's lying, Zuko! Why would they put up posters wanting you dead these past few weeks!" Katara cried.
Azula narrowed her eyes. "No one asked you to speak, peasant!" she hissed, and shot a ball of blue fire at the waterbender, who quickly manipulated a stream of water to turn the fire into steam. Toph narrowed her eyes and jerked her hand up, bringing up a spike of earth below Azula, but Azula had already somersaulted out of the way. Katara drew out another snake of water and held it steady like a whip.
"It's not too late for you, Zuko. You can still redeem yourself," Azula said silkily as she avoided another jut of earth and a lash from the water whip.
"The kind of redemption she offers is not for you—!" his uncle shouted. Zuko saw Azula's face harden, and caught the slightest movement of her eyes toward the Dai Li.
Crystals suddenly jutted out from the ground, trapping Iroh securely. "No!" Zuko and Toph cried, but only the earthbender was abruptly seized by Dai Li agents, who held her off the ground, each limb secured by an agent. Katara flung her arm in an arc, her whip of water following the same motion as it smashed against three of the agents, but they still held on tight. Just then, more Dai Li agents dropped from above her, their stone hands shooting towards Katara. Zuko punched a stream of fireballs at them, stopping some, but more kept coming. Soon, Katara's hands were locked in a rock cuff, and her water whip splashed lifelessly on the ground without her pull.
"Release them immediately!" Zuko yelled.
Azula continued to walk towards him, then stopped, extending a hand. "Father misses you, Zuko. He knows the importance of family. Leave this riff-raff, and join me, brother. This is your divine right, this is your destiny. Once we take Ba Sing Se, Father will be so proud of you and you will get your honor back."
"No, Zuko!" He heard his uncle and Katara shout, and were quickly silenced by stone hands.
Redemption, his father's love, his country, and his crown. He could feel the honey-sweet words breaking down his resolve.
He squeezed his eyes shut, avoiding the pleading eyes of his uncle. His father, his nation... his honor. Yes, if he actually took the unconquerable city of Ba Sing Se, he would be a hero in the eyes of his people and his father. He wanted them so badly, it ached. He wanted to believe her so badly... but...
Azula always lies.
He opened his eyes, narrowing them into slits. He would never be a hero to his people; Azula would never let that happen. And even if by a miracle, he did become a hero to his people, he would never be able to push out the betrayed, despising faces of the Earth Kingdom citizens he had gotten to know in his travels. The herbalist's daughter, the girl who had a crush on him, the boy who lost his brother to the war, the older boy who stole from the rich to give to the poor, the friendly tea shop customers... And, he would never, ever, be able to repay Katara for the selfless kindness she showed him by healing his hateful scar.
"You're a liar, Azula! You have always been a liar; you will always be a liar!" Zuko hissed, and shot out a roundhouse kick at her head, fire arcing along his movements.
"Wrong choice, Zuzu!" Azula shrieked, dodging under his kick and returning a punch of blue fire. He countered it easily with his own red flames.
"You think I'd believe you now? You tried this trick once before already, trying to lure us in and imprison us!" Zuko yelled, sweeping the floor with his leg as she jumped. "I'm disappointed in you, sister, I thought you were perfect and would have come up with something more creative." He called forth fire in his hands and forced them into daggers of deep orange flame.
Azula's eyes narrowed into slits. He attacked her high and low with hot swipes from his daggers of fire, which she easily dodged. Suddenly, the daggers elongated and turned into whips, which she'd never seen him do before, and one sliced at her upper arm. A hole burned through her sleeve and the skin below welted red and angry. "You'll pay your life for this, Zuzu!" she screamed as she doubled over in unfamiliar pain. Undeterred, he swung out his other whip of fire like the waterbender had done, and arced it far and wide, catching the Dai Li who held the earthbender in surprise. They dropped Toph, and once her feet touched the ground, she became the epicenter of a wave of rock, knocking the Dai Li off their feet and breaking the crystal prison that kept Iroh.
Zuko smiled in spite of himself. For a little girl, the earthbender really was formidable. He had sensed it when he first met her, and since the cave was all her element, there was no stopping her as long as her feet touched the ground. In seconds, Katara was free and had called back the water she had lost.
Fire exploded in fury as his uncle breathed a large stream of fire around him, setting Dai Li agents on fire and forcing Azula to pull up a wall of blue flame to protect herself. Not sparing a second, his uncle shot forth a bolt of lightning at a large clump of crystal right above her. She attempted to shield herself, but the crystals shattered instead, lodging into her skin and making her scream. She glared at her uncle, her eyes crazed and murderous. She held up her hand, which crackled with lighting. "I'll tell Father about your treachery, Uncle; how our great general betrayed his own nation!" Lightning suddenly barreled down on Zuko, and he barely registered the horror on his uncle's face when he realized the bolt was coming for him. In his shock, he only just remembered to lift up an arm to catch the bolt to divert it. Pure pain coursed through his arm as he struggled to control it and guide it through his body, down through his stomach and out his other arm, which was pointed toward Azula.
He didn't know if he got her, or even what direction he was really pointing. He heard a girl scream, and saw concerned faces swim around him before he finally lost consciousness.
-k-
"No!" Katara screamed as the lightning struck Zuko instead of heading toward his uncle. "Nooo!" She ran towards him and was shocked to see lightning course through him in a controlled fashion. He circled his left arm in a waterbending move, directing the lightning out of his fingertips to strike in the direction of Azula. Azula, however, had already escaped, not bothering to stay to see the aftermath of her bolt of lightning. Instead, the rock wall above the tunnel exploded from the force of the bolt and collapsed.
"No, Zuko!" Iroh cried, catching his nephew as he fell. Katara immediately rummaged for the vial of Spirit Oasis water, and uncapped it. There was barely enough water to cover her fingertips, but it had to be enough. She ran over and pushed the folds of his clothing aside to reveal where his heart was and placed her fingers on his chest. His heartbeat had stopped, and there were only precious few seconds... Immediately, the Spirit water absorbed into his body, but nothing seemed to change. Frantic, her mind searched for more water in the vicinity and discovered an underground stream somewhere. A ribbon of water came crashing through the air and wound around her hands, covering them like a glove. Iroh shifted more of Zuko's clothing aside to let her place both of her hands on his chest, which was swollen red. Steam rose from where she placed her hands, and she concentrated hard on cooling his body down. Suddenly, his heart started again with a fury and Katara tried to calm it down, regulating it and cooling down his body more so she could have time to work on repairing the damage done to his internal organs. She called forth more water from the stream and moved her hands to his head, feeling for any damage the lightning might have done to his head.
"He almost did it," she heard his uncle say in a strangled voice. "It was still too close to his heart. But he handled it well."
Katara wanted to ask, but couldn't lose her concentration as she moved to the organs where he had detoured the bolt. Instead, Toph spoke up. "What did he do? How'd it do it? I felt it go through him and mess him up, but I also felt him redirecting it. How did he do it?"
"I taught him how to do it. It is a waterbending move; I don't know if you recognized it, Katara." She nodded. Iroh turned towards Toph. "Waterbending is about redirecting energy. Using an opposing force as your own. I came up with this adaptation myself and taught the theory to Zuko."
"I'm very impressed," Katara managed to say in a strained voice. Zuko would have been able to do it if he had been able to catch the full brunt of the bolt when it first struck. It was too quick and too unexpected, however, and some of it had coursed through his body before he could control it. She could see the trail of damage that lined the path of where he was directing the lightning. He couldn't control it fully, but what he did was impressive already. The damage should have been irreversible and instantly fatal.
When Katara finished patching up his liver, she checked him over one more time before retracting all the healing water that she had soaked him in. "I patched him up as well I could for now. I think we should find him a better place to rest...and for us as well." She stood up, but a wave of dizziness overtook her and Iroh put a steady hand against her back. "Careful now, you have expended a lot of energy."
Toph sighed forcefully, and fell into a horse stance, feet spread securely apart. She easily parted the rock slide that Zuko had brought down with the lightning. Then she balled her hands into fists and pulled on the invisible strings of the earth. A platform rose beneath them like a sled. Katara and Iroh quickly sat down and held onto Zuko as Toph pushed her hands in the direction away from the tunnel. The 'sled' jolted and moved along the floor, through what felt like an interminable ride through the tunnel, and out into the night air. "Final stop: Ba Sing Se Palace entrance!" Toph announced, stopping it and pushing the earth sled back into the ground.
Katara felt incredibly tired as she stood up. It seemed they had arrived outside the entrance to the Palace, away from the eyes of the guards. Iroh held Zuko in his arms, and nodded toward Toph and Katara. The had agreed that the safest refuge was probably their Upper Tier residence. Katara trudged through the night, half-asleep, dreaming of the soft bed that awaited her.
**Thank you everyone who have reviewed my story and encourage me to continue! I'm still brainstorming up ideas at the moment and writing out some possible routes for the story to take. =) If any of you have ANY ideas, suggestions, or words of encouragement, PLEASE punch the 'review' button and let me know! =D