Summary: My take on what I wish to all that is fanfiction will happen during the season finale of Avatar. Zutara. One-shot.
Rating: K+, because I'm paranoid.
A/N: Well, here's my contribution to the hundred or so fics that are going to get inspired by that awesome preview for "Crossroads of Destiny"!
Slight spoilers for the season finale...sort of. Really, just my take on what I want to happen, but some of it is the actual dialogue and scenes from the preview. Also, knowledge of "The Earth King" helpful.
Please do not flame about the pairing. If you don't like Zutara (Zuko/Katara) and are just planning on telling me how much I suck for liking the pairing, please go away. It's called fanfiction for a reason! So please chill; I don't bash your pairing, so you shouldn't bash mine. Besides...don't you think it's about time all us faithful Zutarians got a break?
Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar, only my crazy plots. Though, someday I hope to work for Nickelodeon in set design or production.
One last note: I'm really bad at fight scenes, so the one scene in here is really choppy and short. Sorry about that.
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"So, this is the leader of the Dai Li?"
Long Feng looked up to the bars of the small window imbedded in his cell door. Peeking through and looking at him was a girl with strange make-up and a sickly sweet sounding voice.
"Who are you and what do you want?
She chuckled at him, almost sneering at the same time.
"I am here to take over this city in the name of Fire Lord Ozai and you are going to help me."
At this, Long Feng stood up and seethed at what he could see of the young woman.
"I will do no such thing! Guards! Guards...?!"
"My associates have already taken care of all the pesky earth benders near your cell."
"...who are you?"
"The person about to release you; now will you and your pathetic little club help us or would you rather rot in this cell while the Avatar brings war to your precious kingdom?"
"You will bring war to my kingdom as well."
"That's where you're mistaken. I will claim Ba Sing Se in the name of the Fire Nation, yes, but after that the city is yours. I will instate you as the new king and you can rule however you like. You would answer only to the Fire Lord, and he generally tends to stay away from our conquests. Think about it. This entire kingdom would be yours, and the only thing distinguishing it from the place it was before would be a small fire nation flag hanging at the gates. Surely no one inside the city would notice a little change like that."
The girl smiled, her eyes daring him to refuse her. Long Feng gave her a hard look before turning his back to her.
The girl's smile instantly dropped and she snarled at the prisoner. She opened her mouth to speak on the insolence of a prisoner in his own city when he growled, "I'll help you. But don't think for a second you'll get away with double crossing me."
Azula's smile returned. Everything was falling into place.
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Katara sighed as she headed slowly through the upper ring of the city. She had met with the king and his advisors all day yesterday and couldn't stand to hear another word uttered about the upcoming war effort. Her head was throbbing from all the yelling. It seemed no one could come up with a suitable plan that would both defeat the fire nation as well as keeping Ba Sing Se safe from intruders.
The King had noticed her discomfort, and had kindly given her a little time to relax in the city before the next meeting. At first, she had wanted to go see Suki and the other Kyoshi Warriors in the city, but the King had told her that they had been taken on a tour of the city and there was no telling where they would be at that moment.
Katara decided that she would wander the city as well, and even if she never saw the Kyoshi warriors, she reassured herself that she would see them back at the palace later that day.
Through her wanderings with Aang and the others while trying to find Appa, she had become relatively familiar with the upper ring of the city. That is why she was surprised to find a new shop not far from the house they had stayed in.
"The Jade Dragon," Katara read out loud. The large shop looked full of happy patrons sipping from various tea cups. She had to admit, the name was rather catchy.
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"Uncle! Stop flirting and start making more tea! We're out of jasmine again!" Zuko yelled at his uncle for the hundredth time that day. As soon as any kind of women that looked old enough to be at least half his Uncle Iroh's age walked in, the man would whip out his cheesy lines and 'sage' advice.
Zuko was beginning to regret the whole 'metamorphosis' thing. After he had come out of his crazy self-induced sickness he had decided to help his uncle run the tea shop. That meant he was stuck with all the work while his uncle just brewed the tea...when Zuko yelled at him to anyway.
He couldn't help but smile slightly though, as he watched his uncle flirt. Iroh had been right all along, it was time to settle down and lead a peaceful life.
Zuko heard the bell ring as yet another customer walked in the door. He sighed and delivered the tray of tea already in his arms before walking over to where the new patron had sat down by the door.
"What can I get...for...you..." Zuko's eyes widened. It was one of the Avatar's friends!
Katara stared at Zuko, her face matching his astonishment. Since when did Zuko, Prince of the Fire Nation, work in a tea shop? And what was with his hair?
"I...uh..."
Before she could utter another word a large boulder crashed through the wall of the tea shop. Katara stood up, got into fighting position, and brought a handful of water out of her pouch. Seeing this, Zuko mirrored her idea and got into his own crouch. He couldn't use his bending, but he would fight to protect his uncle.
Out of the new large hole in the building, came Long Feng.
"People of Ba Sing Se! The two men who run this tea shop are firebenders! I and your faithful soldiers in the Dai Li have come to arrest them, and save you!"
Zuko glared at the man in front of him. How did he figure them out? Did someone finally find a wanted poster?
Three young women stepped in next to Long Feng. Katara almost cried out in joy, until she looked closely at who she originally thought to be her Kyoshi Warrior friends.
"Azula..." Zuko ground out.
Katara's eyes almost watered at the name. She couldn't help but think of Sokka, and what he would do if he found out that another person he loved had died. She said a silent prayer to Yue, hoping the moon goddess would be listening. If there was anyone that wished as strongly as Katara for Sokka to be happy, it was her.
The tea shop was dead silent for a few moments before Mai threw a barrage of knives at the pair of benders, beginning the fight.
Zuko and Katara easily dodged the objects and worked unconsciously in unison to bring the fight out of the shop. Neither of them wanted to see any more people get hurt.
Using her water whip as both a shield and a weapon, her and Zuko managed to make it out the door. Unfortunately, that's exactly where their enemies had hoped they would go. Once outside, they were met by a group of Dai Li, all in fighting stances.
Zuko and Katara looked at each other before quickly turning around. The last thing they saw was Long Feng's dastardly smile before the ground beneath them turned upside down.
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Zuko slowly opened his eyes to a strange green glow. He sat up and rubbed his head. Katara sat on the other side of what seemed to be a large chamber or underground cave.
He started to move, but Katara's head suddenly snapped in his direction.
"Don't come near me!"
Zuko gave her a confused and surprised look before shooting her a glare. "I wasn't planning on it." He snapped.
They sat in silence for a while before Katara broke it again.
"What are you still doing here anyway?"
"What do you mean?"
"I'm sure they just put you down here by accident. Go ahead and use the secret exit, I'm done fighting. I'm done with everything."
"I don't know if you noticed this or not, but I was fighting them WITH you!"
"Yeah right...you expect me to believe that?! This is probably another elaborate scheme to capture Aang!"
Zuko seethed at first. How dare she think that she knew him? He was about to yell a retort, but his voice died in his throat as he heard her sobbing.
"Do you know why I'm helping Aang? Why I want this war to end?" Katara yelled between sobs. Zuko stared at the floor, and waited for her to continue.
"I can't stand to see more people die! This war has taken so many innocent lives. The Fire Nation took my mother away from me..." Katara continued to cry as she reached for her mother's necklace.
Zuko turned and looked at her, saying softly, "That's something we have in common."
He stood up and walked over to her. He sat down next to her and tentatively put his hand on her shoulder.
"My mother left when I was little. She was the only one who ever stood up to my father. She tried to protect me, and in doing so, she was either killed or fled the Fire Nation. I don't know if I'll ever see her again."
Katara's sobs subsided a little and she looked up at Zuko through teary blue eyes.
"I chased the Avatar for so long because...because it was the only way to regain my honor. My father banished me for speaking out against his war council. I got this scar from him in an Agni Kai. It wasn't suppose to be him in the arena with me...I couldn't fight my own father." Zuko didn't look at Katara as he told the girl the choppy version of his history. How could she possibly understand how he felt that day? How he felt for three years of his life? Did he want her to understand?
Feeling her eye's on him, he continued. "I'm done fighting too, Katara. I just wanted to live peacefully with my uncle, but it looks like I'll never have that. I'll always be forced to fight." Zuko took his hand of her shoulder and covered his scar. "I'll always be the failed Prince of the Fire Nation."
Katara's tears had stopped running as she listened to Zuko. There was so much she had learned about him in such a short amount of time, all she could do was stare at him in astonishment and sympathy. The Fire Nation had hurt them both.
Katara put her hand up to Zuko's face and covered the hand that was over his scar. Her other hand went to her water pouch.
"Zuko...can I try something?"
He looked at her and felt his heart beat quicken as he noticed the hand on her water pouch surround itself with water. Weren't some water benders healers?
"What are you..."
Katara pulled his hand off his scar and squeezed it as she brought a glowing blue hand up to his face. He stared at her in astonishment as he felt the cool, yet comforting water over his left eye.
She concentrated and they both held in a breath as she tried to heal him.
After a few tense moments she let her hand fall.
Zuko didn't need to see the disappointed look on her face to know that she hadn't been able to heal his scar.
His gaze fell to the cave floor once more, as he got a distant look in his eyes. Katara looked at him for a minute, wishing that there was some way for her to help him.
She suddenly jumped to her feet remembering a very special vial tucked in her robes.
Zuko jumped up as well, startled and got into his fighting stance. He straightened himself out and gave her an incredulous look as he noticed her sifting through her robes.
"Here it is!" Katara cried triumphantly waiving a strange looking vial in his face. He looked at it cross-eyed.
"Here is what?" He asked.
"This is a vial of special glacier water that the Water Bending Master Pakku gave to me! I could feel your scar tingling under my hand when I tried using regular water...this will heal it for sure!"
Zuko sighed and looked into her eyes. Katara's hand hold the vial dropped to her side as she saw the pain in his eyes.
"Zuko, you're not a failure. Someday when you're the Fire Lord, you can change things...you can stop the war. No one else will ever have to lose their mother to this war."
He closed his eyes as she brought her hand up to the scarred side of his face. She lightly cupped his cheek and said, "You can help save the world. Never forget who you are."
Zuko's eyes shot open at the same words his mother had told him before she left him.
Katara, taking that as a sign that he was ready, started to uncork the vial.
"Wait." Zuko said, grabbing the hand holding the vial and sealing it once more.
"I need the scar...I need it to remind me how evil my father is, and how cruelly this war has torn families and nations apart. I can't let it go, not yet. Not until I'm ready."
Katara smiled up at him and murmured, "You've changed more than I thought."
He smiled, and she was amazed at how beautiful a sight it was. His smile seemed to make the cave glow brighter.
Zuko's hand squeezed her own and he quickly pressed his lips to hers. Katara's eyes widened at the sudden gesture but they soon started to close as she melted into him.
Zuko had been stiff at first, but as soon as he felt her responding, he too relaxed into the kiss. She moved her hand up to the back of his neck and worked her fingers into his thick black hair. He in turn deepened the kiss and squeezed their intertwined hands holding the vial while moving his other arm to encircle her waist, pulling her closer.
They stayed like that, kissing in the green glow of their forgotten imprisonment before a quiet chuckle broke them out of their revere.
Separating from each other and blushing like mad, they stared wide-eyed at Iroh.
"How long have you been down her with us?" Zuko managed to say through his astonishment.
"Long enough, nephew," Iroh said with a mischievous grin, "How about we find a way out of here!" He then flashed the couple a wide smile.
Still blushing from their encounter, Zuko and Katara could only nod as the followed Iroh deeper into the cave.
Despite being trapped underground, Iroh couldn't help but hold his large grin. Before he had turned around, he noticed that the two had remained holding hands.
After a tormented childhood and three years of banishment, he would finally get to see his nephew happy...and with a Waterbender no less! Just think of how cute their babies would be!
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A/N: Sorry! I couldn't help putting in the Iroh grandbabies crack at the end! The plot bunny made me do it!
Also, sorry if I messed up what Ursa told Zuko before she left. I couldn't remember her exact words, but I'm sure I was close enough.
EDIT: Thank you to Amaya Akane Emi for telling me I spelled Kyoshi wrong! I fixed it!
Also, I know the kiss is farfetched...it wouldn't happen yet in the show because it would be WAY too soon. BUT that's what we have fanfiction for! Heehee.
Read and review please! ---the first time I've ever asked sheepish grin