Ahoy-hoy! Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the second installment of the Beloved Saga – Beneath the Earth. Ok, so I promised myself I wouldn't air the first chapter until I'd finished editing and reposting Behind the Lies, and at the moment I'm editing chapter 29, but I'm just too impatient! This has been sitting on my computer, waiting for some attention for about three months now… so here you go, please, please, please review and I hope you all enjoy it! ^_^
1. Arrangements
Zuko was absolutely sure he's life had just taken a new leaf. In a week's time, he was going to be marrying Katara. Everything was perfect and for once, things were going to plan… or so it seemed.
Azula felt like she could have died if she weren't already a spirit. She felt so sorry for her brother. For the past few months, he had been so excited that he was finally going to marry Katara. It was so horrible to know that something was going to go terribly wrong.
The Fire Princess, Moon Spirit and Ursa all watched as Long Feng had yet another meeting with Admiral Shang.
"The plan is perfect. All we need to do now in order to kidnap the Avatar is get someone to go in there and cause a diversion. Then, while everyone is occupied with the drama, the kidnapper will kidnap him and be gone before anyone notices," Long Feng thought out loud. "The question is; who will be the one to go in and actually kidnap the Avatar without being caught?"
"Was there anyone you had in mind?" Shang asked and Azula glared at him from over the rim of the well that showed her the mortal world.
"I don't know. I would recommend one of us does it. The trouble is, although it is a brilliant plan, both of us are already not welcome among the Avatar and his friends, so we would be spotted out before we could attack," Long Feng frowned; every other evil scheme he had come up with had been planned out perfectly and carried out flawlessly – aside from that one time he had tried to double cross the spirit woman who was secretly watching over them – so why, at the time where it was most vital for him to know what to do, did things have to get so hard?
"That is a problem indeed. But, might I suggest, that perhaps we sent someone else in to do the work for us?" Shang enquired.
"Nonsense! The Dai Li are too capable of betraying me. They've already done it once and I won't let it happen again. I'll keep them as my servants, but we need someone else to actually do this," he informed the Admiral, sceptically.
"Actually, I was thinking more along the lines of get one of the Avatar's friends to kidnap him." Shang looked intently at his hands, his expression bored, if not completely emotionless.
"What's he up to now?!" Azula spat and Yue put a hand on her shoulder to calm her, as they stared into the well.
"Nothing good," her mother told her flatly.
Long Feng stared at him curiously for a moment, but Shang would not continue until he was prompted to.
"What do you mean by that, Admiral Shang?"
Shang smirked, "We could capture one of them. But, by one of them, I simply mean someone the Avatar and his close friends know, but not someone that they have a particularly strong connection with. Your Dai Li agents could hypnotize whoever we choose and then we send him in to do the job. It will keep you and me safe and he will most likely not get caught, because they don't know them well enough to constantly be near them, but they won't be suspicious of them because they already know him a little."
Long Feng looked at the man for a moment, the plot running itself through his head a few times.
Finally he spoke, "I actually quite like that plan. The only question remaining is; who are we going to pick to go in and attack?"
Once again, Shang found himself smirking, "You see, Long Feng, a number of the members from the city of the Southern Water Tribe are heading the Imperial City as we speak to witness the wedding of Fire Lord Zuko to one of their waterbenders. She is actually a friend of the Avatar's as well, her name, I believe, is Katara. And also, her brother is getting married to a Kyoshi Warrior. Last I heard, the plan was that they were going to have a double wedding in a week's time."
Long Feng listened intently, knowing that his new friend was about to give him some valuable information to help with their plan.
"My idea is that we kidnap one of the Water Tribesmen before they can get off the ship. We'll quickly hypnotize them and then send them on their way to do our bidding. How does that sound to you?"
Yue and Azula gasped in disgust.
Long Feng smiled evilly, "Congratulations, Shang, you have come up with a perfect plan. Your knowledge has blessed us with an excellent opportunity. Now, the next phase of the plan must be decided. It would probably be wise if we told our captive how to make a diversion. What do you suggest we do?"
The Admiral smiled a replica of Long Feng's and chuckled lightly, "Why, can you not think of something for yourself?"
Long Feng laughed, "I just thought that if you had planned that far already, maybe you had planned further. It would be necessary for a change of plans if I had a better idea than you, but it would be a shame for your idea to go to waste."
"So, you do have something then?" Shang probed.
"Yes. If Fire Lord Zuko and Katara are getting married, then the main focus would be on them. The Kyoshi Warrior and the Water Tribe boy would also be considerable, but as Zuko is the Fire Lord, it would affect more people if we use his relationship," the leader of the Dai Li explained.
"What did you have in mind for them?" Shang asked, now his turn to be curious.
Long Feng didn't answer straight away. He smiled evilly before he revealed his plan.
Azula gasped, "This is terrible!"
"Oh, poor Zuko. Poor Katara," Yue whispered as they listened to the plan.
Ursa glared down at the two despicable men in silence.
"This isn't good…"
"Katara!" Zuko laughed as he jumped into the room as she examined herself in the mirror. "You look gorgeous!"
The waterbender laughed sweetly as her fiancé bounded to stand in front of her. She launched herself forward to fall into his embrace and she gave a small scream of delighted shock as his hands took her waist and he lifted her into the air.
"Zuko, put me down!" she laughed.
He chuckled as he lowered her back to the ground. Instead, he pulled her towards him and kissed her neck playfully. She giggled as she pushed him off her and stood back.
"You look gorgeous," he told her again.
"Thanks," she smiled, as she looked back to the mirror to take another look at herself in her wedding dress. The garment curved gently with the rest of her body and draped to the floor. It was white with a blue top half. There was a red ribbon tied around her waist and the symbol of a curved moon overlapping a sun was imprinted on the back of her white veil.
Zuko played with a lock of her loose, chocolate brown hair.
"I love you," he reminded her and she felt her heart flutter.
"I love you too," she whispered, as she drew back towards him and draped her arms over his shoulders. She gently pressed her soft lips to his and his hands took her waist. There were some footsteps from the doorway and a figure walked into the room.
"Katara, I found that mascara that you wanted to…" Mai stopped short as she looked up to see the happy couple in lip lock. They quickly broke apart and stepped back from each other. "Uh… sorry, I'll knock next time… I'll… um…" She edged towards the door again, trying to hide her mortification for interrupting.
"No, no, come in Mai. Sorry, we should have shut the door before we did that," Katara apologized.
The girl stood in the doorway bighting her bottom lip. It wasn't just the fact that she was upset for accidentally barging into the room; she still found it hard to see Zuko with another girl. Seeming to feel her pain, Zuko tried to change the subject.
"So, uh… Mai, what's this about mascara?" he asked.
Great, now I'm talking about makeup. I've definitely been hanging around girls for too long!
"Oh… uh…" she stumbled, trying to get back to her original task.
"Oh, I asked her if I could borrow some mascara, just to see what it looked like on me," Katara dismissed the question with a nervous laugh.
"Yea, here." Mai held out the bottle of mascara and Katara took it with a thank you.
She turned back to the mirror and applied some of the makeup to her top eyelashes.
"I'd only apply it to the top if I were you… unless you want to look like me," Mai laughed as she touched the skin at the corner of her eye, making sure her dark makeup hadn't trailed there. "But, then there was also the first thing I said. You look great without mascara."
Katara smiled at Mai through the mirror and examined her eyes.
"So, what did you get up to today, Mai?" Zuko asked.
"Not much. I've been looking for that mascara all morning. Katara asked me if I had any last night and I told her I'd bring her my old one in the morning and I couldn't find it. But it was in by bag. I didn't think of that till the last moment, when I'd already decided to just give her my new one. So I just swapped them and put the new one in my bag. I don't use that brand anymore," Mai told him simply.
"You know, Mai, I think you're right. I don't need the mascara. Actually, I think I prefer it without it," Katara sighed. "Thanks anyways." She handed the bottle back to Mai and the girl quickly left.
"Well, I think you're beautiful no matter what you're wearing," Zuko turned back to his future wife after his ex girlfriend had disappeared.
"Zuko, you think I look good when I'm not wearing anything!" Katara laughed.
"I know. That's when you look the best," he teased as he pulled her up to him again and stated fingering at the ties at the back of the dress that kept it together. Zuko gently kissed her neck again as he untied the back of the dress and she tilted her head back a little.
"Um… you two do know I'm here, right?" Toph asked as she leaned against the frame of the door.
"Toph! Haven't you ever heard of knocking?!" Zuko asked in exasperation.
"Oh, leave her alone," Katara nudged him in the ribs.
Toph came into the room and sat on the bed, "What's up? Talk to me, I'm bored."
"I was just trying on my new wedding dress!" Katara informed her as she twirled around in front of Zuko.
He looked at her with soft eyes as he took in her beauty. "I still think you look better when you're not wearing anything," he smirked cheekily.
"Well, I think you look great!" Toph joked.
Zuko and Katara laughed as Sokka and Suki walked in the door.
"Hey, guys!" the other bride greeted. The Kyoshi Warrior was also wearing her wedding dress. It was white with a green top and a dark blue ribbon tied around her waist. A silver moon was sewn into the breast of the dress, overlapping a golden fan.
"What are you guys doing?" Sokka asked.
"Zuko was just telling Katara what she looks good wearing… or in this case, what she looks good not wearing," Toph explained.
"Katara, why is the back of your dress undone?" Suki asked as she crossed her arms playfully over her chest.
Katara smiled innocently as she looked back at the Kyoshi Warrior, "I was getting undressed."
Suki, Toph and Zuko started laughing and pressed their hands over their mouths to muffle themselves.
"Ok! You can stop now! Too much information for Sokka!" the boy exclaimed as he put his hands over his ears. Toph and Suki laughed harder. "I'm just gonna go now…" he murmured as he backed away.
"Jeez, Katara, you look great!" Suki exclaimed.
"So do you," she pointed out.
"Yea, well, you know," Suki smiled.
"Come on, Suki, I think Zuko wants to make out with Katara and he probably already would be if I hadn't barged in." Toph took the Warrior and led her out of the room, turning at the door and giving Zuko a thumbs up before she shut it.
"That girl needs to get a boyfriend," Katara chuckled.
"Yes. Now, where were we?" Zuko asked as he turned back to Katara. "Ah, yes!"
He slipped her dress off and pressed his lips to hers, gently slipping his tongue into her mouth.
"Mmm…" Katara moaned as she fell backwards onto the bed and started to take his shirt off.
There was a knock at the door and they both jumped up.
"Uh… who is it?" Zuko asked, as Katara quickly put her red and blue robes on. They were still only a few days old and she thought they were perfect for a Fire Lady.
"It's just me," Iroh's voice called from the other side of the door.
Zuko quickly pulled his shirt back on and they straightened up. "Come in," Zuko called and the man pushed open the door and entered the room. He took one look at them and raised his eyebrow.
"What were you two up to?" he asked slyly.
"Oh, well… you know," Katara rolled her eyes.
"Anyway, Zuko, you're needed in a small meeting with some apartment owners. They're offering to let you use their apartment buildings to house the Water Tribe guests and the Kyoshi Warriors when they come for the wedding. Keep in mind, they'll be arriving tomorrow afternoon and you need to find them somewhere to stay."
"Uh, alright then..." Zuko made himself presentable again and put his hair up in its topknot bun and stuck his Imperial Flame in. "See you later, Katara." He kissed her on the cheek and left with his uncle.
Katara sighed. Zuko had a busy job. Every day, he barely got to see her, and the few chances that he did, he didn't have long. At night, he came back to the room tired as anything. He stayed up as long as he could to talk to her and make out with her, but fell asleep after a couple of hours.
Katara got dressed properly and gently put her wedding dress back in its special box to keep it safe.
This was going to be hard, but she knew that she and Zuko would make it.
Hakoda looked out over the ocean as they sailed closer to the Fire Nation. His mother-in-law was at his elbow, humming a quiet wedding tune that had played at his wedding when he had married his wife. He sighed as he remembered the way she had danced with him that night. She had been the most beautiful thing in the world.
He hoped desperately that Katara and Zuko would have a happy marriage like that. More to it, he hoped that Sokka would not lose Suki, like he had lost his wife. He hoped that his son would never have to feel the pain of losing someone he loved so dearly. He wanted his children to be happy. Both of them.
"Windu," he called to the young man. "Tell the others that we will be arriving tomorrow afternoon and they need to be ready."
Windu nodded and set off to alert his fellow warriors of their arrival time. He would have to send word to the other four ships in this small fleet too.
They had brought more ships than they would need for the Water Tribe men because they were going to bring the Kyoshi Warriors with them. They would all need to know to be ready to leave by tomorrow afternoon.
Windu sighed as he set to work. He was going to have to watch Katara get married. After all of the heartbreak of losing Kiki, he wasn't going to be allowed to be with the girl who had made everything all better for him. He was going to have to suffer seeing her with the Fire Lord.
The warrior mumbled under his breath, "If that guy doesn't treat her right I'll wring his neck."
Windu would not deny he was jealous. Who wouldn't be? But he would admit defeat. After all of the heartbreak, Windu promised himself that he would never fall in love again.
Alrighty then, that was the first chapter of Beneath the Earth. Sorry for all the wedding stuff to anyone reading who reckon it's really not up their alley, but don't worry, we're getting straight into the action in this story. No dilly-dally and dawdling. ;D Please leave a review if you read.
And incase you didn't get the message when you read Behind the Lies, JOIN TEAM ZUTARA! Check out my profile page or ask me directly if you'd like to find out more.