So! I made it to Chapter Two after all!!! YAY! Thank you to:
Turion,
Umi no Kaiso,
AriTeir,
Lonelywithoutyou,
advidartist,
Shichinintai'sGoddess,
VampireAle-Pokerchica15,
lunamirrior,
Zutarababe,
fotinaki,
-and-
Allyon Everstone
for reviewing!
And sorry it took so long to update! I've been in Florida for Spring Break and I didn't have a chance to post this before I left :( I swear it wont take that long for ch. 3... It's already in the works lol Anywho:
A day of planning and a party with a twist awaits our friends. I'll not keep you waiting any longer.
Chapter Two: Masquerade
I DO NOT OWN AVATAR THE LAST AIRBENDER OR ANYTHING IN THIS STORY!!!!!!!!
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"No... just a little longer..." Sokka mumbled. Katara lightley kicked at the sleeping bag again, but knew her efforts were in vein. Trying to get Sokka up in the morning was useless. Even if she were to dump water acoss his face he'd just grunt in disapproval and roll over, falling back asleep again.
"Toph..? Would you like to have some early morning fun with our dear friend Snoozles here?" Katara smirked. With barely enough time for Toph to get up and run at Sokka, he jumped up.
"I'm up!!" he screamed. Sokka knew there was nothing worse on the entire globe than being woken up by Toph.
Toph stopped about three inches away from him. "Damn! I was pretty close this time too..."
"Thanks Toph," Katara smiled.
"Anytime. Hey, do you know where Aang went? We're supposed to start practicing Earth Bending right about now."
"I think he went to go see appa." She answered.
"Okay, we'll be back later then." The blind girl responded. Before she left, she looked at Sokka who in return, stared at her.
"Wha..." he started, before the ground underneath his feet lifted and shot him three feet in the air. He fell, but quickly got up, and stared at the Earth Bender. "What was that for?!"
"I don't know." Katara and Toph laughed, and Toph, in turn, walked away.
"A man can't even get some shut eye around here... Stupid girls." Sokka mumbled. Another pillar of rock shot out underneath his sleeping bag and shot it to the top of the nearest tree.
"I herd that!" Toph yelled from halfway down the small path.
A loud 'ARRRRRRG!' was the last thing she herd, before she got out of hearing range.
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The day had gone by fast, and before everyone knew it, they were sleeping peacefully in their beds having dreams of the beautiful moon spirit, gallons of mud, old friends, the alluring ocean, and the hidden beauty that lies within the depths of a fire. When the morning came they all would get ready for the tasks that were to come later that night. Even if those tasks were killing a king, or making it through the night and dancing with as little girls as possible, they both seemed unbearable.
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They walked up to the palace gates in silence. Fire Nation people were everywhere, all dressed in elegant gowns. All the people were walking up to guards and handing them an invitation. Lucky for them, the day earlier Toph had brought to their attention that even though everyone was invited, they still needed invitations. So with a long sigh from Katara, Toph and Sokka went and gambled them off the poor village drunk.
"Katara," aang whispered, "Why does your dress look so different from all of theirs?" Katara narrowed her eyes at him. Sure, she didn't like him, but he was one of her best friends. Just what was he trying to say?
"What do you mean?' She asked with a bit of a bite. "I like my dress." Aangs eyes widened.
"No! I didn't mean I don't likeyour dress! I just meant that everyone elses... looks the same! You stand out." he finished. "In a good way!" he quickly added.
"Niiiiiice." Sokka whistled.
"Ummm... Thanks?" Katara said. This was going to be a long night... She could just tell.
"Guys, we should go over the plan really fast." Sokka whispered. Everyone nodded in agreement and huddled together. "So Toph and Aang are going to walk around and scope out the area looking for guards and where and when the fire lord is going to be. While you two are doing that, I'm going to be counting and assessing guards and their shift changes. Katara... It's going to be your job to distract people. You know, just dance... and ... and eat..." He looked a little sad. There was a possibility that they might die tonight and he didn't get to eat the free food? What was that about?!
After a stomach rumble, Sokka sighed and continued. "Aang, Toph, when you're done, come and get Katara and I and let us know the scoop. When we know whats going on, Toph,' he nodded at her, "and Katara will go to opposite sides of the room, Aang will line up with wherever the Fire Lord is, and I'll be wherever the most amount of guards are. We'll get into position when the Fire Lord starts to give his speech. When he's just about done, we attack."
When he said the word 'attack', Aang flinched. He was going to have to do this... really do this.
'There's no turning back now.' He took a deep breath.
'Breath, Twinkle Toes. It'll be okay, we're here." The monk looked up to see all of his friends smiling at him.
"No matter what happens, we've got each other." Katara encouraged.
"Friends to the end." Sokka patted him on the back. "Now let's do this!"
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After much scheming the day before, her plan was finally going into motion. She watched as the four friends had stopped to talk before reaching the guards. If she didn't time this right, then all her calculations would be in vein.
Carefully, she snuck passed the group of friends that were huddled together. She managed to hear the tall one with the ponytail say something about going over 'the plan' one more time. No matter, it wouldn't make a difference by the end of the night anyway.
"Invitation, please,' The guard commanded as he interrupted her thought process. She gave the invitation and walked into the palace.
"Excuse me, guard?" She beckoned the young guard closest to the throne room. When he came close enough, she whispered "I know of a conspiracy that is in the works right now to kill the Fire Lord. I must speak with him at once."
Being young and most likely inexperienced with issues like this, he gasped, and hurried her through the throne room doors. Inside she could see the silhouette of the Fire Lord sitting high up behind a wall of fire, and more guards then she could imagine.
"What is the meaning of this?" The shadow billowed from atop his firey perch. One does not simply walk in, unnanounced, to see the Fire Lord.
"My Lord, I know of a small group that is planning to kill you tonight. I wished to come and give you a warning.' The grey haired woman spoke.
"Who are these people you speak of?" He asked.
"The Avatar and his Earth bender, sword master, and... and his consort." She didn't know why, but it felt wrong to give up the full identity of one of her own. At least the waterbending girl would have a small advantage on her side if they believed she was nothing more then a companion.
"WHAT?!? THE AVATAR IS DEAD! MY SON KILLED HIM!"
"My Lord, I speak the truth." It pained her to continue calling him her lord, but she knew she'd have to live with it if she wanted to continue living through the night.
Ozai was a little... steamed, to say the least. His son had lied to him, but more importantly, the Avatar was still alive! "I will deal with this accordingly," he hissed between clenched teeth. "There are many things that must be done. Go to the party and enjoy it while it lasts. But before you do, I need a description of what each of them is wearing so that it makes it easier for my guards to pick out and capture the Avatars... friends."
"My pleasure, my lord..." Hama bowed, spreading her cruel, deceitful smile that she had been wearing the entire time, even wider.
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Nervously, they showed the guard their invitations, and walked into what appeared to be a small, but decent sized foyer that held all the food. Upon entering they stopped and gawked.
"Sokka, stop drooling..." Katara breathed. Truth be told she was standing there, mouth open, and drooling just as bad.
"So... much...meat..." He chanted and started walking in a zombie type manor twords the food table.
Toph grabbed the sleeve of his shirt and pulled him back. "Come on Snoozles, you have a job to do. Aang and I will see you two in a bit and let you know..." She stopped. There were so many people! Who knew who was listening in on them? "...what we find."
"Okay, we'll be around. Good luck, be careful, and for god's sake don't any of you DARE take your masks off!" Katara reprimanded. If they were going to do this, they had one shot. They couldn't afford to screw it up now.
"Bu- but can't I just? Just one peice?" Sokka Whimpered.
"No! Let's go, Aang." And with that, Aang and Toph (who was dragging Sokka), left and entered the ballroom, disappearing from Katara's sight.
'Alright self... just eat food and dance with a lot of people...Find Sokka and before the speech, find a good partner, make a circle, distract everyone, and attack...' She replayed to herself over and over again as she walked into the ballroom.
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Even if Zuko didn't know what her outfit looked like, he could have easily picked her out of a crowd. Did she really think she was going to suprise his father wearing something so... obvious? She stuck out like a sore thumb. Nobody in the fire nation wore blue.
He sighed. He didn't want to do this, but if he wanted the wrath of his father to lessen for lying about the Avatar later, he should follow his orders now.
'Alright self... just go up to her, ask her to dance, and follow your fathers orders... even if you don't want to...' He encouraged himself. Why when his father assigned members of the Avatars group, did he get her?
He watched as she started walking into the room. The noise in the room didn't really change, but it seemed to get a few decibels quieter as about half the men in the room stopped their conversations to turn and look at her. She moved towards the dance floor looking a little confused. Now was his chance.
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'I have no idea what i'm doing...' She thought.
"You look like you have no idea what you're doing." Said a slightly familiar voice from behind her. She turned to see a boy, or was he a man? It was hard to tell with the mask covering his face. He was standing there with his arm extended towards her. He was hunched in a slight bow. "Would you care to dance?"
Her face got a little pink. "O-Okay." She stuttered as she took his hand. He lightly pulled her to the dance floor. It seemed like the second they stepped onto it, the slow waltzing song stopped and the band played something that neither of them recognized, but it was fast.
When he pulled her to the center of the floor, they stopped and stared at each other for a second. "Do, do I know you? You seem familiar somehow..." She asked.
"I guess you could say we know each other. Not well, but I think that that is going to change after tonight." He smirked. Mentally, he cringed... It was his job to woo her so she wouldn't have the slightest idea of who he was. He was doing what he was instructed to do, it just felt really wrong.
'Is he coming on to me?!' Katara mentally panicked. 'And that voice... Where do I know that voice?'
As she was having her little break down, Zuko took the initiative and started to dance. That seemed to snap Katara out of her zone and get her to do the same thing. She was worried though, because when she danced, she liked to use her sparring moves, so she decided, 'What the heck?', and got into a relaxed fighting stance.
The visible part of her partners face showed worry. 'Is she going to attack me?' He thought. But when she slowly moved from her starting stance and went into another stance, he knew exactly what she was doing, and went into his basic stance.
She was shocked! Was he 'fighting' her back?! She thought he'd call her a freak and run away! With a new reassurance, she started to get into more difficult moves. First, she slapped her hand about where his head would be, and he ducked, avoiding her as she continued to spin around, lifting her right leg and spinning only on her left. . What he did next was unexpected. When he ducked, he didn't just duck, he went all the way to the floor and spun around a little bit, doing some kick attack. Although it was hard to do in a dress, Katara jumped and did a little twisting flip, landing near her partners torso. He got up and she backed away. They started to circle each other.
The music was coming to its finale which was it's climax. It started to build, and as it did, Katara and Zuko ran twords each other. Right when they were about to hit, he droped to his knees and slid beside her on her left. As he was about to pass he quickly reached across her body and grabed her right hand. He pulled her hard so that both their bodies would twist and that they would be facing each other. He stopped sliding and raised one of his knees so he was kneeling, and pulled her across his knee, dipping her so that her head was centimeters from the ground. The syncopation between their dance and the music was so perfect, that it made the onlookers wonder if it was choreographed.
Cheers erupted from all around the room. Katara, who was still dipped over his knee was breathing deeply. Sure, it was a short dance, but it was one of the most exciting things she'd ever done! She had just done improv on a dance with a complete stranger, and the crowd had loved it!!
"Here," Zuko looked away and lifted her out of her position. When she was dipped and breathing hard like that, it was hard to ignore the slight curve of her breasts rising and falling so close to him. She blushed when she looked at the stranger.
"Thank you. I haven't had that much fun in a long time." Katara gave him a genuine smile. "Please, who are you?"
Suddenly Zuko felt guilty... Here she was having the time of her life, and he was going to take it all away from her. It didn't seem fair... "You'll know soon enough." But then again, life wasn't fair. Besides, he had to remember who he was talking about here. This was the Avatar's friend. Anything associated with the Avatar, he didn't care about. Therefore, he should not be feeling guilty about what was about to happen to her. Nope. He didn't feel guilty.... Not at all.
'I really am a monster...' He said. But still, he didn't let her leave. He said he'd do anything to get his throne back, and if that ment hurting this girl, then so be it.
"Ladies and Gentleman, I have an announcement to make." The Fire Lord stepped out into the room. He was wearing traditional robes, but he wore a mask that resembled a pheonix. "My son has returned home!" The crowd cheered. "But, it is not with honor that he has returned."
What was he saying? He wouldn't publicly humiliate Zuko again, would he? 'Please no...'Zuko cried in his head.
Katara noticed that her dancing partner flinched when the Fire Lord talked about Zuko. 'What's going on..? Oh no! I need to find Sokka! We're supposed to have already talked about what was going on! The Fire Lord isn't supposed to give his speech for another half an hour!!' She panicked.
"I really have to get going. Thanks so much for the dance. It was... it was perfect." She whispered as she blushed.
"Wait! You can't leave yet!" Zuko almost yelled at her as he grabbed her arm. "Just- Just listen to the speech first okay?"
"I'd rather not...Please let me go."
The Fire Lord could hear the argument that went on between his son and that wench, so he sped up his speech. "Zuko may have lied to me to come back to the palace, but he is about to repent for that right now! Guards, now!" He yelled.
Katara was so confused. All of a sudden Ozai was yelling 'Now!' and she heard the distinct cry of Toph, Aang, and Sokka. Then, her dancing partner grabbed her and put the back of her body against him, holding both her wrists in one of his hands, while his other arm went around her neck, holding her in a sort of choke hold.
"Wha-! Let me go!" She screamed.
"Sorry, but I just can't do that, peasant." He spat.
"Zuko?!" Katara yelled in shock. There was no way she couldn't have known it was him!
"Surprise." He whispered into her ear. It was hard to hold her when she was thrashing so much, but he managed. Suddenly, there was a giant gust of air from her left. Guests screamed and scattered out of the room.
"Aa-mmph!" She tried to scream for help, but zuko covered her mouth with his hand.
"Look, if you behave in a civilized manor, we might consider only killing the Avatar. So i'd behave if I were you."
They'd consider ONLY killing Aang?! This was so not happening to her! She was completely useless! There had to be a way to get out of this situation! This couldn't be the end. She wasn't ready for this to be the end...
Katara let a few tears slide down her face. Nobody could see them anyway, she still had her mask on.
'NO! I won't give up!' She screamed in her head as she bit down with all her might on the inside piece of zuko's fingers.
"Ow! You bitch!" Zuko yelled as he removed his hands from her and held his now injured finger in the opposite hand. Katara had bit it so hard that it was bleeding. She took this opportunity to tare off her mask so that she could see better. Then she ran to her left and saw her friends. They were holding their ground and looked like they were about to back out of the giant hole Toph had made in the wall. She also heard them yelling for her to hurry up, so she started to run.
Zuko was not about to fail. He was already in enough shit for lying to his father about killing the Avatar. This time all he had to do was hold the waterbending peasant until the Avatar was brought down. She had gotten out of his grasp and started running to her left. She got about six feet when he jumped on her from behind.
Katara clearly wasn't expecting the attack because she fell to the ground hard. Zuko twisted her body around and got on top of her, straddling her waist. Again, with one of his hands he captured both of hers and pinned them above her head. This time, though, his free hand made a fire dagger and he placed it just close enough to her neck so she could feel the heat. It was hot enough to hurt, but it wasn't close enough to burn her.
"KATARA!" Aang yelled from across the room. He started to run at Zuko when all the guards came in and made a type of barrier between the two.
"Careful, Avatar. I hold the life of your little girlfriend here in my hands. You wouldn't want me to slip," When he said slip, Zuko's hand inched closer to Katara's neck. She took in a short but quick breath, trying to show that she wasn't in any pain, but failing miserably. ".. now would you?"
"Don't fall for it Aang! Get out of here! I've got this under control!!" Katara yelled, craining her neck as far away from Zuko's fire dagger as possible. The heat was unbearable.
"I can't leave yo-"
"JUST GO!!!" She screamed. Aang looked like he was about to cry, but he turned and ran back to Toph and Sokka. Sokka appeared almost as bad as Aang, except he looked as if he was going to kill someone instead of cry.
'We'll be back! I promise!' was the last thing she herd. About one minute after they had left, Zuko started to pull Katara to her feet along with himself, keeping the dagger at her throat the entire time. He went to grab her arm but she jerked it away.
"I'll follow orders for now, so dont you dare touch me again!" She spat at him.
"Oh, looks like Zuzu's new girlfriend is a little feisty? That's a drastic change from Mai. Speaking of, do you think she'll approve of this?" Azula said as she slid into the room, waiving her finger between Katara and Zuko.
Zuko narrowed his eyes at her. "What are you up to, Azula?" He asked. Something big was about to happen. Azula always had this certain glint in her eyes when something big and good, for her, was about to happen.
"You'll see soon, brother. Guard, go and get the Fire Lord." She commanded.
"But... But your highness... I believe he's still busy talking with that old woman that warned us about the attack..." he said nurvously. He knew that noone pisses off Princess Azula and is still in one piece the next day.
"I DON'T REALLY CARE! GO AND GET HIM!" She hollered. "NOW!"
"Yes ma'me!" With that, the guard ran off.
Katara was silent through everything that was going on. She was trying to figure out everything that was happening, and was busy looking for an escape rout. She was so intent on figuring things out, that Ozai's booming voice almost didn't grab her attention.
"What is this? A water rat somehow snuck into the palace. I think we should dispose of it. It's never good to have pests around, they only bring other pests. Kill her." The Lord stated amusingly.
"Wait a minute Father... I think she can be of some use to us yet." Azula pipped in just as the guards had grabbed Katara away from Zuko and surrounded her.
"What do you mean, Azula? How could this Pesant be anything more than a nuisance?" That was it. Katara was sick of the name calling.
"If you let me out of here, i'll show you just how much of a nuisance I can be!!" She said in her most stern voice. They all just laughed at her.
"As I was saying, Father, in order for Zuko to have the throne, he must marry a Princess. Well, here she is, the only remaining princess besides myself."
Katara laughed. Her, a Princess, please. "I'm not a Princess, Princess."
"No, you're not. But, you are the Head Chief's only daughter. In the Southern Water Tribe, Father, the Head Cheif is the one who tells the people what to do. He makes all the important decisions and strategizes all war attacks. He has the same job as you do, just on a much smaller and uncivilized scale. Therefore, he is their Lord, making our dear little captive here, a Princess." Azula finished.
Ozai looked confused. Why was Azula helping her brother take the throne from her? He had gone through so much making sure that she'd get the throne no matter what, and now this? He knew his daughter would do anything to get the throne, and he knew that she was smart. Very smart.
"I do see, Azula. You are such a clever child." He smirked at her. Then he turned his head to Zuko and stretched his arms out like he was addressing a massive crowd. "Prince Zuko, you have much to thank your sister for! For you are now betrothed to the Princess of the Southern Water Tribe! The wedding will be on the 30th of the third month after this one."
"WHAT?! NO! YOU CAN'T JUST DO THAT! I REFUSE!" Katara screamed at the Fire Lord. She was feeling dizzy. They couldn't do that! How could they just make things happen like that? What about if her family approved or not? What about 'her' opinion?! Didn't that count for anything?! Her chest was rising and falling rapidly.
"Father, I think she's going to faint." Azula laughed.
Zuko stared at his sister all bug eyed. She did not just help him to get the throne, did she? There had to be more to this. A lot more. He looked over to where the circle of guards used to be. They had disperced around the room. One was coming back with a wet towel. Finally, he looked over at Katara just as the completion of her panic attack caused her to pass out...
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END CHAPTER TWO
So!!! That was Chapter two! lol Sorry if there is still a lot of spelling/grammar mistakes! My editor (aka my older sister haha) is slacking off, so I had to re-read this ten times to try and find all the mistakes. yeah... I bet there's still over 50 of them still in there. lol
Oh! So I said i'd have a link to the picture of Katara's dress up this chapter... well, call me a liar cause I don't have it yet ^^' But I'll try my damndest to get it up next chapter!
THANK YOU TO ALL MY REVIEWERS! YOU GUYS ROCK SO HARD! lol Please, if you want to "rock so hard" as well, just tell me what you think about my chapter :D It's that easy haha. See ya next chapter! Which, by the way, we'll get a visit from a certain 'princesses' angry father :D YAY HAKODA!