Okay, so I've got like two other stories I'm working on, but this one popped into my head and I had to write it. Its set after the war ended, Ozai's in prison and Katara comes to visit to find out where Ursa is. Sorry for the sexism but Ozai strikes me as very sexist. It's dark and while there in mention of Zutara it is not as it appears.
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He sat on the straw mat that made up his bed notching out another line along the filthy wall. According to the tally of marks, it had been just over a year since he was thrown into this Agni-damned void. Stuck in this hell after being defeated by a 13-year-old child-monk. Disgraceful! He desired death yet that weakling of a son refused to give it to him. Rotting away in this hole was all the punishment he deserved, according to the new Fire Lord. Despite his bending having been taken away he still tried. He practiced daily in hopes that one day it would come back. So far it hadn't and it pissed him off to no end.
His only form on entertainment was listening to the guards outside his door gossip like a bunch of old women. He had heard the guards talk about his son on many occasions. The one piece of information that intrigued him was that Zuko had taken a nobleman's daughter as a fiancée and they were to be married within the year. His oldest spawn was 18 now and that was typically when royalty married.
Despite his engagement, many said that he spent his nights with a waterbender who belonged to that fucking Avatar. Sometimes he would visit both women in the same night. Or so they said. He felt the smallest sense of pride of his son's philandering. Probably the only good thing that little shit ever did.
As for that daughter of his. Crazy is what they said. Stark, raving mad. Now she was practically catatonic from the medications she was given in the mental hospital. Worthless little girl. Oh well, though. That's what he got for entrusting a woman with such duties. That's why no woman would ever be Fire Lord. Can't handle the pressure.
One afternoon, he heard the guards outside his cell as well as a young woman's voice that he did not recognize. After what he assumed was a debate, the door opened slowly. He glanced up from the floor, his long black hair covering his eyes so the person entering could not see that he was observing them. Standing there was a gorgeous young water tribe girl. She had to be around 16 at best with flowing brown hair and blue eyes like he had never seen before. She had dismissed the guards before entering leaving her alone in this room with him. Brave girl, he thought.
"Hmmm. What a delicious piece of meat. Did my son send you to me? How generous of him. I've never had a water tribe girl before." He licked his lips.
"No. I am here on my own accord." Her voice was firm and sounded sweet to his ears so accustomed to the shouts of men.
"Have you come to pleasure me then?"
A water whip nearly hit him, stopping just short of his face. "I have come to find out where Ursa is. And you will tell me," the girl demanded, hands on her hips, staring down at him. He could see there was something else behind her eyes but he couldn't quite place it.
"Oh will I? And how do you expect to get such information from me when I won't even tell my own son," he looked at her closer. "I know you. You are my son's whore. And the Avatar's wife."
"I am not the Avatar's wife."
"So you admit you are my son's whore than?"
She blushed and looked away slightly. He cackled, mocking the poor girl. "And what did he promise you if you found out this information? That he would leave his fiancée? That you would become his Fire Lady? That he would love you forever?" He saw the flicker in her eyes that he had struck a nerve. He laughed. "Silly little peasant girl. No Water Tribe slut will ever become Fire Lady. You are nothing more than a pawn in his game. You may not know it but he is using you."
"He would never do that to me!" she yelled, again the whip flicked out and this time striking him in the middle of his chest throwing him back further against the wall. He laughed at her despite the sting of the assault.
"Wouldn't he? And where is he now?"
"He is busy cleaning up your mess," she spat.
"Yet he sends you to do his dirty work. Just like the little shit to depend on a woman. Can't stick up for himself. Always hiding behind a woman. Always needing a woman to defend him. Like his mother." He leaned back against the wall and let his head hang down, his hair covering his malicious smile.
"Where is she, Ozai?" she demanded again.
"Why should I tell you? What will you do for me?" He stood up to his full height which towered over the girl as he drew near the bars. He brushed his hand over his crotch. "It's been so long since I've enjoyed the pleasures only a woman can provide."
She stepped back, repulsion with a hint of alarm plastered over her face. Shaking her head, "You're disgusting. I would never do something like that."
He smirked at the girl. "And yet from what I hear, my son visits your bed." Again with the repulsion and another step back. He stared intently at the girl. This was too much fun. More fun than he had had in a long time. He lowered his voice, silkily asking, "Does he pleasure you?"
She gasped and blushed brightly at his comment. His dark smile got wider. "Are you ashamed of what you've done, little girl? Especially since you are the Avatar's woman as well? You are more scandalous than anyone imagined, I would wager."
"How dare you speak to me that way!" she was trying to sound like she was in control, but he was Ozai. He might be stuck in this cell but he was in control not some little water tribe girl. "I will be back tomorrow. And I will get my answer!"
"I look forward to it." He watched her knock on the door indicating to announce she was done and the guards should let her out. Yes, he definitely was looking forward to her return.
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The next day she arrived at the same time. She glared at him with her arms crossed over her chest. She said nothing.
"You did come back. I so enjoyed our little game yesterday," he said trying to incite her. But she continued to glare at him. Minutes ticked by and yet they said nothing to each other. Just stared.
"Did I ruin your plans after you left here yesterday? You were supposed to come back with the answer and you didn't, hmm. And now he's not happy with you," he observed. Women are so predictable.
She said nothing, but her eyes revealed he was right. He rose from the floor and came to the bars resting his arms on the cool metal, never taking his eyes off her. "Why are you here? What purpose does it serve you to do his dirty work?"
Silence.
"You love him, don't you?" he inquired, tilting his head slightly.
He saw the flash in her eyes. He laughed. "Ha! That's just fucking wonderful."
"What would you know about love?!" she finally exploded. "All you know is hate and destruction! You can't even love your own children. Your own wife!"
His golden eyes darkened at the mention of his wife. His relaxed mood instantly gone. "How dare you say I didn't love my wife! I can hardly be blamed that she loved that fucking son of ours more than me! It's because of him that I lost her!" he roared.
The waterbender shrunk back and so did he. He looked around wildly trying to figure out if he had really just admitted what he said.
"Is that why you hate him?" she asked softly.
It was his turn to say nothing. Instead he flopped down onto the straw mat that was his bed, leaning his head against the wall. "Leave me," he ordered.
"No," she said firmly. "Where is she?"
He only snorted in disgust. Even if he did know, he wasn't telling her.
They sat there in tense silence for half an hour more until she finally left him alone in that cell. Tears pricked at the corner of his eye. He ran a hand across his eyes looking down at the drop that glistened there. Mocking him. He had never cried a day in his life. Now this...this… water whore caused this. That bitch, he thought maliciously.
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Week after week, she came seeking the answer from him. And week after week they played their game of cat and mouse. He lured her in, gained her confidence, stroked her ego when needs be, and planted the seeds of doubt in her head that Zuko would fulfill whatever he had promised this girl. He presumed she attempted the same with him, but she was not at his level of manipulation.
Weeks turned to months. Summer passed, then fall. Then finally winter. The time was right to strike. He had learned that the Avatar had left her behind after discovering her affair. Zuko's nuptials were less than a month away. He just needed something from her to initiate the plan in full.
She arrived, right on schedule, on that rainy winter day. He sensed something from her. The fire she normally carried was muted. Plopping down on the floor mere inches away from the bars that separated them, she leaned her head against the bars. This was the closest that she had ever been to him in all her visits to get the information from him. A thought crossed his mind.
"He's tired of you hasn't he?"
"No. He just has… obligations."
"Obligations that don't include a water tribe woman, I presume."
"Shut up, Ozai!" It was one of the few times she spoke his name. Coming from this young woman it sounded delicious.
"Ah, such fire," he purred to himself as he reached a hand through and rubbed the girl's cheek. "You know, you don't deserve such a pitiful fool."
She looked at him with her blue eyes rimmed with red, fresh tears at the edges ready to escape.
"What did he do to you this time?" he softened.
"Nothing." She stuck out her lower lip in a pout and narrowed her eyes. This look triggered something in him that he hadn't felt for a long time. He almost felt as if he wanted to protect this girl. The thought quickly left his mind.
"He must have hurt you for you to look so sad." He continued to stroke her cheek. She leaned into it against her will, placing her tan hand over his pale one. She was putty in his hands now but he had to time everything perfectly.
"He chose her," she confided so quietly he almost didn't hear her. The anger and hurt saturated her words like acid. He had never heard her so angry.
It was time. This girl would help him. He mentally smiled.
So Zuko chose the Fire Nation girl, as he rightfully should. Can't have peasants messing up the bloodline after all. Granted this girl was beautiful and would make a fine wife to any man. But not in their nation. In their nation, concubine would be all she could achieve despite what that bastard son of his may have promised her.
"So, you can't play with the toy any more so you come to the maker, is that it?"
She looked at him with such loathing as she flung his hand away from her face standing above him, that for a moment he almost felt bad for saying it. "I'm sorry." Ozai had never apologized to anyone let alone some peasant. But sometimes you had to sacrifice a pawn to win the game.
He suddenly felt funny. He felt as though his body was taken over. He watched her fingers move in an odd kind of dance and his body responded to her movements. Soon enough, his face was on the floor pressed against the cold metal of the bars and he couldn't move.
"What are you doing to me?" he demanded.
"Tell me where she is. Where is Ursa?"
"He's not going to change his mind Katara." He had never felt so helpless than he did at that moment. He hoped that he could reason with her.
"Maybe if you told me we'd find out, wouldn't we?" The darkness of her eyes almost frightened him.
He relented. He told her. After all these years, Ursa would be found.
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He sat in the cold cell shivering. His disappointment in himself overwhelmed him. He couldn't believe he told her. Disgraceful! What kind of man was he that he relented to measly children? Then he heard the crash outside, then the shout. It was her. It had been a week since he divulged the information.
She stormed inside his cell the door slamming it shut behind her.
"Was Ursa not there?" he inquired as he mindlessly picked at a thread on his tattered prison uniform.
She growled. "She was right where you said."
"What's the problem then?" genuinely interested. Katara had provided the answer his son sought and therefore she got what she wanted: the Fire Lord.
"So did my son accept you as he promised?" he mocked her.
"Fuck you!" she screamed at him as icicles flung at him missing him by mere inches. She cried out as if in pain and sunk to the ground.
He knew exactly what happened. He heard the guards talking about it earlier. He chose his bride over his mistress, as any self-respecting Fire Lord would do. While appreciative, his son could not end the engagement especially so close to the wedding day. It would bring great dishonor to his bride. She could certainly stay in the capital but they couldn't be together any longer. He couldn't risk a bastard child as a married man.
His son, the almighty Fire Lord, had broken this poor peasant's heart.
Now was his chance.
"Help me, Katara," he crawled to the bars that separated them.
She looked up at him in questioning as she crawled over to him. He rested his forehead against hers through those frigid bars. "Why should I help you?"
"Because I can give you what that fool son of mine can't," he purred. "Not even the Avatar can give you what you want."
"And how would you know what I want?" she hissed.
"Because you and I are such similar creatures," he smirked as he looked into her deep blue eyes. He whispered, "Revenge. For everything. For your mother. For your tribe. For your heart."
That got her; he saw it in her eyes. Oh, yes, this little girl would be his. He saw the wheels turning in her head. Women were so predictable. Especially a woman scorned.
After a moment, she finally asked, "What would I have to do?"
"Help me escape, Katara."
She looked at him with shock. She looked to the door to make sure the guards weren't there then back to Ozai. "Tomorrow night. It will be the full moon." And with that she stood looking down at Ozai would carefully hid his joy and turned towards the door.
Tomorrow indeed. Together they would get their revenge.
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He sat and waited. He paced and waited. He hated waiting. Action was what he wanted. The sun had already gone down and he watched the stars slowly move across the sky from the skylight above his head. He waited for her. What a twist of events that this girl who had come seeking something from him to please her lover would be his rescuer. He could hardly believe his luck. But as the hours passed, so did his belief that she would come.
Then he heard it. There was a strangling sound outside his door. He smiled. She had come after all. The door burst open and there she stood. In total darkness, he could see the black cloak she wore over her blue tribal clothes. He saw the hatred in her eyes. Perfect!
He had the commonsense enough to push against the wall as the cell bars froze then exploded around him. He stood there. He was free. Almost. The waterbender stood there looking at him eyes filled with rage, sadness, and doubt. There was no going back for either of them.
He slowly and cautiously walked up to her never taking his eyes off her small form. As he stood in front of her, looking down at her with a sense of appreciation. "Now let's get our revenge."
She shut her eyes tight and looked down and away. She nodded.
Together they managed to escape the prison, slaying anyone that stopped them. Silently they entered the Fire Palace using a secret entrance that Ozai remembered. They snuck into Zuko's chamber where they found him sleeping content and naked next to his fiancee. The scent of their lovemaking still lingered in the air. Blind rage filled the watertribe girl and he watched her fingers dance the same way they had with him as she squeezed their hearts, first his than hers, as one would squeeze a piece of fruit. Zuko had figuratively crushed her heart and she now literally crushed his. Ozai stood by and watched the whole scene with a satisfied smile on his face.
As quickly as they came they left. Outside the Fire Nation capital to the forested area on the western edge of the main island, there was a small boat waiting for him, the boatman carelessly eating.
"You're free," she stated simply looking out at the ocean.
He came up to her, eyes narrowed in indecision, and rested a hand on her cheek. He bent down and without thinking kissed her. He expected her to pull away but instead she wrapped her arms around his neck pulling him down to her. Well this is unexpected, he thought as he roughly kissed the teen. It had been so long since he'd been with a woman and this girl's lips were heaven against his own. Her kiss had a level of rage to it that quite surprised him. He finally pulled away wiping the saliva from his edge of his lips.
"Thank you," he simply said and got in the boat, the boatman taking off soon after. He never looked back as he left his homeland as a traitor, a convict, what his son and brother had been before him. Now it was his turn to carry those titles.
He almost felt bad for using that poor broken-hearted water tribe girl. Almost. She was only a means to an end. Maybe someday he would see her again and fulfill those empty promises his son had made her. Maybe.
But first there was work to do.
He had to restore his honor.
I have no clue how I got the idea for this story, but it hit me yesterday and I had to write it. It is pure darkness and evil. mwahaha! I debated adding a "naughty" scene between Ozai and Katara but thought better of it. Please let me know what you think though.