Katara's brow was sweating with the effort of holding Zuko back. She shot a stream of water at the Prince, who blocked it with a wall of flames. The two elements burst into steam on impact. He sprouted his fire daggers and came running at her, a battle cry issuing from his chest. I sidestepped him as he came barreling past me, tripping him with my foot as he went. With a surprised, slightly unmanly yelp, he crashed to the ground, landing in a crumpled heap on the soft grass.
Unable to contain my laughter anymore, I burst into loud giggles. He looked at me furiously, getting to his feet. "What are you laughing at, peasant?" he growled.
I stopped at once, my face darkening. I dropped into another battle stance, bringing out some more water as I went. He did the same, a ball of fire bursting to life in his palm. He thrust it at me with great force. I leapt out of the way just in time. I hissed as I felt the white-hot ball grazed my neck. He smirked slightly before launching another attack. I was ready for him. Like I had at the North Pole, I brought a large wall of water at him, then froze it. He struggled for a few moments before melting the ice that surrounded him. Leaping forward, he shot fire at me out of his fingers. Anger bubbled up inside me. Who did this guy think he was? Okay, so he was a Prince. That didn't give him the right to hunt us down like animals, did it? I blocked the fire with a water whip. The fire sizzled into steam. Screaming out in fury, I swung my foot around, knocking him to the ground. Freezing his wrists and ankles to the ground, I stepped on his chest and froze a stream of water, making a sharp staff. I pointed the staff at his neck, and smirked. I had him trapped. He looked up at me, his eyes dark. The anger surfaced in me almost immediately. My face burning, I asked him, "Who do you think you are, you spoiled Fire Brat? Chasing after my friends and I like we did you a personal wrong! What did we ever do to you?" he seemed very surprised by my outburst. He gaped at me, his mouth hanging open. I hesitated before going on. "I mean, you just don't know when to quit do you?" I seethed. "Why can't you just leave us alone?" my sides heaved from my outburst. The staff shook where I held it. Zuko looked thoughtful. I stepped back, melting the ice as I went. "Just go." I whispered, turning my back to him.
Suddenly I felt a firm grasp around my wrist. Gasping, I was spun around and brought face-to-face to the Prince, my face a few inches from his. "I must capture the Avatar." He said simply, as though this would explain everything. I rolled my eyes exasperatedly.
"Is that all you can say?" I asked him impatiently. "Why do you have to capture Aang?"
He hesitated for a moment, his eyes lowered. He dropped my wrists and raised his hand, his fingers lightly tracing the angry red scar on his face. I gasped inaudibly. No…
"It happened three years ago in my Grandfather's War Chamber. I wasn't even supposed to be in there, but I begged Uncle to let me in. I heard of an outrageous plot to sacrifice a new fleet against an experienced Earth Army. I spoke out against the General. Doing so, I went against everything. I was to fight the General in an Agni Kai. A Fire Duel." He paused, his breathing ragged. We had sunk to the ground now, resting our backs against a large flat boulder. He had unconsciously held my hand the entire time he had been talking, and I made no move to take my hand away. He took a deep breath and continued. "When I turned around to face the General, I was surprised to find that I wouldn't be fighting against the General, but my own father." I gasped, and he looked at me, his eyes dark. I got a sudden urge to trail my fingers along his face, but I resisted. I shook my head to clear it, and gestured for him to continue. "When I saw my Father, I refused to fight. I begged for forgiveness, telling him I only had the Fire Nation's best interests at heart. He… he burned me and told me I had to find and capture the Avatar to regain my honor." Silence followed his tale. Then I saw it. A single tear fell from his injured eye. He quickly swiped at it his free hand, but I had seen it.
"Oh Zuko." I murmured. I brought my other hand up to his face and traced the scar lightly. He stiffened at first, but relaxed. "Your honor never left." He turned to look at me, a questioning look in his eyes. I continued. "Honor…. Does your word mean something? Does your name mean something? It's not something you can lose. You either have it, or you don't. And in my opinion, you have a great deal of honor." I finished my little speech, a small smile playing across my lips.
"What makes you say that?" he whispered softly, bringing his hand up to my shoulder.
I blinked. "Because a dishonorable person wouldn't have spoken out against that General. Because a dishonorable person wouldn't have saved Aang from Zhao. Because a dishonorable person would have taken advantage of an unarmed woman long ago." He looked at me, shocked. I smiled again and rested my hand on the back of his neck. He wrapped his arms around my waste, bringing me into his lap. I sighed and rested my head in the crook of his neck, smelling the spicy, somewhat earthy smell of him. he ran his fingers through my hair, his nose buried in it.
"Thank you." He whispered. I smiled into his shirt. Playing with the loose hair on the back of his neck, I said, "Your welcome, Zuko."
Surprisingly, this fic was inspired by something my World History teacher told me today about honor. Hope you liked it!