A/N: I will let you know my main writing days are Saturday mornings (when I'm in class) just to give you a heads up. I hope you liked the last chapter, so now, here is Chapter 3.
Disclaimer: I don't own ATLA sadly, this is just fan fiction.
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(1 week later)
"Nephew, you will never guess what kind of news I heard today." Iroh said enthusiastically to Zuko at supper.
"Does it have anything to do with the rebel Dai-Li agents?" Zuko asked hoping it did. Lately, Dai-Li agents that were still loyal to Long Feng were giving the royal guard some trouble. Mostly, raising fake propaganda against the crown and influencing his people; it wasn't bad, but it was enough to trouble him, being the new Fire Lord and all.
"Actually, no; I received a letter from Toph Be Fong telling us she will be coming for a visit. It says she will be boarding the ship in one week from the date this was written, which is today, meaning she should be here in roughly 4 or 5 days. Isn't this great news, Nephew? You get to see your friends again!" Iroh was apparently, a bit happier than the Fire Lord.
Ever since Zuko became the new Fire Lord he had a continual look of trouble on his face. Like he was always thinking of a problem or something in the future and not looking at the present.
When Iroh was met with silence to his question, he asked, "Is everything okay, Lord Zuko?"
Zuko brought his troubled eyes up to meet his uncle's and gave a small grin. "I am happy to see Toph again, it has been too long, but I was hoping we would have gotten some news on those Dai-Li agents. They are starting to bother me. They haven't done anything drastic yet, but it's only a matter of time, Uncle."
Zuko was also a little disappointed, he liked Toph, but he wished to see the certain waterbender that normally traveled with her. Well, at least I will be able to ask after her, that's better than nothing.
"Don't worry, Zuko. Things will be taken care of. You are doing all you know to do about the situation." Iroh comforted, knowing things like hearing of rumors being spread throughout his people bothered him quite more than it had ever bothered Ozai.
"I know, Uncle. I am glad Toph is coming; it will be nice to see a familiar face around again. And maybe then, you will have a person who shares your love for tea." Zuko said with a grin as he got up. "I'll be in my room, working, if anything should come about."
"Of course, Lord Zuko." Iroh said in respect at his exit.
Iroh looked down on the parchment he had been given, it was clearly in Lady Katara's beautiful script. It said that she would also be traveling with the young earthbender; however, Iroh decided not to tell his nephew that small amount of information.
He had a plan of his own in all of this; although, not for the first time, he had a hunch that he and Toph had the same idea concerning this trip.
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"Sugar Queen, hurry up! The ship is going to leave without us. It doesn't take a long time to pack your bags; all you have to do is throw clothes in it." Toph ranted, impatiently.
"Just a minute, Toph." Katara said, heading to the bathroom to get her toiletries. She was in a daze; she kept on making a mental list of what she needed to bring, only to forget what she mentally wrote 5 minutes later. It's because of Zuko and I can't that become a reason, because it's not a reason; it's an excuse. Get with it, Katara.
She grabbed a small bag of shampoos and put it in her larger bag that was flung on the bed. She shut it and tied the multiple knots around it, which kept the contents of the bag from spilling out. She shouldered the pack and looked down at the young girl in front of her.
"Is Lady Sugar Queen ready now?" she asked in irritation. She wanted to get Katara on that boat as fast as possible; she didn't want to give her any room to back out.
"Let's go." Katara said softly and followed Toph out the door towards the docks. She found herself looking in the direction of a huge ship. It was anchored next the farthest of the three docks, and was painted in accents of red and black.
"We'll be getting on a royal Fire Nation ship, so it's probably the biggest one on the docks, if I'm right." Toph mentioned. The one thing she couldn't see through was water, so it didn't help that the ship was not touching the sand.
Katara took Toph's advice and proceeded to the large ship a few yards away.
They walked up the plank that linked the dock to the ship and was met by a burly man in Fire Nation armor. "Lady Katara and Lady Toph, I presume?"
"Yea, that's us." Toph said looking up to where she heard his voice come.
"Please allow me to take your bags." He said kindly, taking Katara's shoulder sack and reaching towards Toph.
Toph slapped his hand away, "I'm fine, just lead the way, Metal Man." Toph said referring to the man's armor.
He looked at the small girl a moment then replied, "I'm Captain Sukai. Follow me and I will lead you to your quarters. I hope you don't mind sharing a room, ladies."
He showed them the way to the ships barracks. He came to a door that was outlined in gold metal; he unlocked it, and then opened it to reveal a gracious bedroom with a king sized bed, a desk, an armoire, and a vanity area.
"Does this suit you, my ladies?"
"It does, Captain. Thank you." Katara replied in kind. The man gave her a brass key and moved toward the door.
"If you need anything, ladies, do not hesitate in informing me. I will leave you to your unpacking, and send a servant to your cabin. Good day, ladies." The Captain bowed and closed the door behind him.
"Did that dude say 'ladies' enough times or what?" Toph said as she threw her green bag on the big bed.
"He was just being respectful." Katara said as she looked around the room and in the drawers. Everything was so neat and grandiose she wondered if she would even be able to sleep.
Toph felt the awe vibrate from Katara.
"If you think this is something, you're jaw is going to hit the floor when you see your suite at the Fire Nation Palace."
Katara gave her a nasty look and kept snooping around until a knock sounded at their door. She moved towards it and opened it to reveal a young Fire Nation Lady that looked to be about 40.
"Hello, ladies, I'm Aquai and I will be your servant for the remainder of this journey." The woman said as she entered without Katara's permission.
Aquai noticed Katara's bag a few feet from the door and lifted it to set it on the vanity area.
"I will unpack for you, my lady."
"Oh, uh, okay. My name is Katara and this is Toph. Don't worry about the formalities." Katara said, surprised at the lady's forwardness.
"I think we are about to set sail, so if you would like to go on deck you might be able to see a pretty sunset." She said as she worked swiftly.
"Uh, sure. Toph, come on."
Toph just gave an unladylike grunt and followed Katara out the door.
On deck, men were going this way and that way, getting prepared to lift the anchor. Katara seemed so enthralled watching everybody work she didn't seem to notice Captain Sukai come up to them until Toph nudged her.
"Hey, there Cap'm." Toph said in her bored tone of voice.
"Hello, ladies. Have you come to see us set sail?" Sukai looked a little more than uncomfortable around the blind earthbender. It almost made Katara giggle, but she knew that would have been rude.
"Yes, it's an awfully beautiful sun set this evening as well." Katara said conversationally.
"Ye-"
"How long is this trip supposed to take, Metal Man?" Toph said not wanting to talk about something she couldn't see.
"Uh, not too long maybe 3 days if we don't run into any weather problems. This is one of the newer Fire Nation ships so they run much faster than the older ones."
"Oh, well, that's nice." Katara said surprised at how long it would take. She was expecting something like 5 or 6 days. 3 was a very pleasant surprise.
Sukai left a few awkward minutes later and Katara was just content watching the sun touch the water.
Two elements meeting.
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"Good morning, Nephew. How are you this fine day?" Iroh asked in a jovial voice.
Zuko was normally a morning person, his firebending normally made him wake with the dawn, but this morning he was ridiculously tired. He had reawakened the Blue Spirit and went into the city to hear what his people thought about him. Or in this case who they believed: the Dai-Li or the Royal Crown.
"Just fine, Uncle." He lied as he sat down at the breakfast table.
"Well, today is a special day, is it not, Lord Zuko?" Great it's the day of Uncle's guessing games.
"Why is that?"
"Have you forgotten so soon, my Nephew? Today is the day Toph arrives!"
He had forgotten. He hadn't thought about it since his uncle had told him she would be coming.
"Is there a suite ready for her?" Zuko asked.
"Yes. I decided to put her in one of the rooms in the hall next to yours; did you have another room perhaps?"
"No, no. That's fine." Zuko said as he took a bite of fruit.
"Would you like to come with me to greet her? Her ship should be arriving in a little less than 2 hours. I believe that will give you time to do some of your paper work and be ready to go." Iroh said mentally counting up how sneaky he could be about getting the suite down the hall from Zuko's room ready for the lady Katara.
"Of course, I'll meet you in the foyer in an hour and a half." Zuko said taking another bite of his apple and then rising from his seat.
As Iroh watched his nephew walk purposefully out of the room, he could only smile to himself. He still had a few tricks up his sleeve.
***
"Uncle, where have you been?" Zuko asked. Toph's boat was due in little less than half an hour.
"I'm sorry, Zuko. I had some business to attend to." Iroh said silently, referring to his assigning maids to quickly and quietly clean Katara's room.
"Well let's get to the stables."
After Zuko finished picking out his ostrich horse and saw that his uncle only picked out one for himself, asked, "Why aren't we getting one for Toph?" After saying that he realized what a dumb question he had asked.
"She is not a fan of leading her own mount, Nephew." Iroh said knowing Zuko had already figured it out. "She will ride with either you or me." However, Iroh knew he would make Katara ride with Zuko. His sneaky plan might end up working after all.
Once on top of the mount they made their way to the docks with a number of royal guards surrounding them.
They had to go through part of the city to get to the docks on the other side. The city was pretty full for the middle of the week, Zuko thought as he looked around the market area. People were selling their wears and goods like normal, but something didn't feel quite right.
Zuko looked around mostly at the roof tops; that would be the ideal place to shoot a crossbow. No one.
Maybe you're just letting the Dai-Li conspiracy get to your head.
"Woah," he heard his uncle say softly to his mount as they reached the docks. Zuko stopped right by him and looked out across the ocean. There it was, not but half a mile from their current position.
It was one of the newer ships in his Fire Navy fleet; a black ship with red accents. What beauty.
He watched as the Fire Nation ship grow closer and closer until he saw the crewmen tying ropes to the dock and setting up the plank to walk from the boat to the dock.
Zuko and Iroh got down from their mounts ready to greet their friend. Zuko again looked around at the rooftops and the shady alleys of the city. Normally his senses were pretty good when he knew he was being watched, but it just seemed like something was amiss.
"Lady Katara seems to have accompanied our dear friend." Iroh said, keenly aware of Zuko's head jerking quickly toward the docks.
Katara. He looked straight ahead to see the face of the waterbender in his dreams standing not but a few yards away from him. He quickly recovered his lapse in reserve and moved to greet them, Iroh a few steps behind him.
"Welcome, Katara and Toph. It's been too long." Zuko said grinning at his old friends.
"Thanks, Sparky! How's life as the Fire Lord?" Toph asked, prepared to save Katara from her awkward hello, or lack thereof.
"I will share more at the palace; you must be tired from your journey. Come." He said gesturing toward the mounts, only then did he realize they should have gotten another one.
He turned back to face them only to see them talking animatedly with his uncle. While waiting for them to finish their conversation, he just looked over Katara's features. She had matured a lot since he had seen her last.
Her eyes were still the sharp blue that he remembered from his dreams and her skin a little bit darker, probably from the many days spent in the Earth Kingdom.
"Um, Uncle, we have a problem." Zuko mentioned when they were finished laughing at his uncle's poor joke.
"And what is that, Lord Zuko?" Iroh asked, oblivious to the problem.
"We only have two mounts." Zuko said lamely.
"We can double up. Toph will ride with me while lady Katara can ride with you." Iroh suggested; his plan was working perfectly.
"Oh, no, I'm fine. I'll walk. It's no big deal." Katara said, embarrassed at the thought of being so close to Zuko.
"No, Uncle is right. Ostrich horses are normally made for two people anyway." Zuko said as he lifted himself up on the mount.
Katara stood there in indecision looking at the ostrich horse and looking for help from a blind girl already being lifted onto the back of Iroh's mount.
Zuko extended his hand. "Give me your right hand and I'll help you up."
Out of pure reflex she extended her hand to meet his and felt his muscles bunch as he lifted her easily onto the back of the ostrich horse.
He kept a hold of her hand and placed it around his waist. "Hold on tight."
She put her other arm around him, but didn't dare apply any pressure on his waist. But, oh, did she want to. When she looked at him for the first time, she realized how much she had missed him.
His edginess was gone, but that was to be expected; he was Fire Lord. Being the Fire Lord brought some polished charm she had never seen in him before.
As he kicked the ostrich horse into a trot, he felt her suddenly slip. She almost let out a small yelp, but it caught in her throat. He shot his right arm behind him to catch her before she fell off the back end. His hand met the soft material of her warm back and held her close to him until she put her arms around his waist.
"Don't let go now, Katara. Hold tight." He felt her hands weave together on his stomach, telling him she was a little more prepared.
He grinned to himself as he kicked the mount into a trot once more. He knew he was having too much fun with this and he shouldn't enjoy it, but he did, very much. Her flesh radiating its heat through their clothes.
"I was surprised to see you come off the ship with Toph. I had been told to only expect her." He said trying to ease her unusually quiet nature and his ever jumping mind.
"I sent the letter to Iroh saying to expect both of us." She said, curiosity nipping at her thoughts.
"Well, I guess Uncle failed to mention that part of the letter." Zuko said, knowing that was his uncle's exact plan.
"I'm sorry you weren't expecting me. I'll make sure to make that clear in the future."
"No, believe me, it was probably not your fault at all. Uncle just decided to leave certain information out, that's all." He said looking at her confused expression over his shoulder.
He led the animal towards the Royal Stables and stopped right in front of the empty stall he had chosen the bird-horse from.
He extended his arm back behind him to help her down first.
"Thank you." She barely whispered as she took it and landed without mishap on the firm ground and stepped back to give him room to dismount.
"You're welcome." He said handing the reigns over to the hostler.
"Come inside and I will show you where you'll be staying." He said, looking into her eyes and for the first time since his dream he felt them lock. As much as he wanted to, he couldn't pull away from the Déjà vu feeling that tingled down his spine.
"Lady Katara, let me show you to your room." Iroh said with a broad smile, interrupting the weird connection.
Katara turned to Iroh, smiled fondly in return and followed him into the palace with Zuko left standing behind them. Zuko at first stared in their wake, almost in a daze. What was that? It was almost like you got lost in a sea. That was just too weird.
He took a few long strides to catch up to the group, and then proceeded walking at the pace they set, head still somewhat in a haze.
Katara talked animatedly with his uncle, explaining the great things that were happening in the Earth Kingdom. Iroh was ecstatic at hearing the good news. People in other nations finally trusted the new Fire Lord and his nation again. My nephew has been more of a man than his ancestors, and that is something to behold.
Iroh turned down a great hall towards the left, Katara, Toph and Zuko following behind still deep in conversation.
He came to a red and gold accented door and opened it, revealing a simple room for a simple earthbender.
"I told the maids to take down the frilly decorations; I knew that would make you feel more comfortable than anything else." commented Iroh.
Toph, who had walked into the room inspecting it with her feet, turned back to Iroh and gave him a lopsided grin. "Thanks, Iroh. This works."
"Then we will leave you to your rest. A maid should come with your pack in no time." He said making his way out the door to show Katara her own room. One that was close to the Fire Lord's private chambers.
The group left Toph to her comfortable room and proceeded down another hall sided with rooms. Katara was so lost at the sight of the beautiful architecture she ran straight into Zuko's strong back.
Stunned, she almost lost her balance but was steadied by the Fire Lord's hand. Is it just me or is he a lot kinder than I remember him to be?
"I'm sorry." She whispered in embarrassment.
"No need to apologize." Zuko said, pausing before going on, "This is your room." He motioned towards the door in front of them. Zuko thought it quite interesting his uncle chose this room for Katara. It was nice, of course, but it was normally just for show since his own bed chambers were at the end of this specific hall. This whole corridor is normally just for show. His guests usually stay in the hall Toph had been given a room in. Hmmm.
Katara looked at it in awe. It was tall and painted black with a gold trim around it. Then her eyes fell on the dark red Fire Nation symbol in the middle of the door.
She used to despise that symbol, it was a symbol of anger and devastation, but now, she stood in awe of its grandeur. It's so funny how things and feelings can change so quickly.
Iroh opened the door and she moved her eyes from the door to the beautifully furnished room in front of her.
She let out an audible gasp. At her reaction, Zuko jerked his head trying to read her face; her eyes were aglow with surprise and her delicate hand covered her luscious lips.
She walked into the room. There was a big bed on the left wall flanked by two mahogany bed stands with beautiful, ornate oil lamps. On the right wall: a desk, a rather large armoire, a big standing mirror and an open doorway leading to her own private bathroom. And the wall facing her extended into a balcony and looked out to the most beautiful view of the Fire Nation she had ever seen.
She wanted so badly to run out and smell the warm air and look upon the city, but she knew it would be rude to be so wrapped up in her surroundings that she forget her friends.
She turned to the men standing in the hall doorway.
"Does it suit you, Lady Katara?" Iroh asked with a knowing smile.
"Very much. I haven't stayed in a room so grand since I was in the Northern Water Tribe. This will do very well; thank you." She said in great gratitude.
Iroh bowed and turned to leave, abandoning his nephew with the beautiful girl.
At Iroh's absence Katara's eyes found Zuko's liquid gold ones. She looked at him expectantly, waiting for what he had to say.
Zuko cleared his throat and said, "You can rest and I will send a maid to help you settle and bathe." At the last word, Zuko's cheeks turned a pinkish tinge, betraying the thoughts running through his mind.
"No, there's no need to send a maid I can do it." Katara said not in the least bit embarrassed this time.
"Why I say you'll need help is to heat the water, unless you have firebending abilities I don't know about." Zuko said looking at her in mock question.
"Oh." She said in surprise.
"Let me show you." The words came out of his mouth before realizing what exactly he was going to show her. Normally, this would not be the situation the Fire Lord would walk right into of his own accord.
He made his way his way over to her bathroom knowing it was already too late to go back now, making sure he left the hall door open.
A huge marble bath tub lay in a corner in the far right. He turned the one crystal knob on the wall and it slowly began filling with water from a spot a few inches underneath it.
"Are there flames under the tub to heat the water?" She asked curiously, bending over to look and trying and understand.
"No, that's why you need a firebender." Zuko said watching the water raise up the level desired, trying not to look at Katara. He turned back to the wall and turned the knob so that the water stopped flowing.
"Now, here's where the firebender comes in handy." He said with a wink. Zuko put his hand in the water and curled his fingers as if he were holding an invisible flame. His hand became red and seemed to pulse with heat and pressure.
Katara gasped at the color of his hand. "Zuko, your hand!"
He turned towards her with confusion. "I know." He said with a smile as he slowly lifted it out of the warm water.
She immediately grabbed his wet hand expecting to see blisters and prepared to use her healing powers to fix it.
He gave a small chuckle as she turned his hand palm up looking for signs of burns. He loved the caressing way she handled his hand, but regretfully slipped his out of hers. "Touch the water and tell me if that feels okay."
Katara looked at him, and then cautiously broke the surface tension of the water to create little ripples. At the realization that she was not touching cold water she snatched her hand back as if it was burned.
"Too hot?"
"No, I was just surprised." She said the emotion she mentioned showing plainly in her features. "That was incredible. I've never seen anything like that. I guess, I thought it worked like boiling water over a camp fire. But I guess I was wrong."
"We firebenders have become a little more advanced than boiling water over fire. However, you have people like my uncle who just like watching water bubble and simmer before using it for tea" He said, humor glazing his eyes. "But I'm glad you enjoyed it just the same."
"I did, I thought it was really neat."
"I'm glad, just as I'm glad you're here." He whispered, now noticing how close they were; not 5 inches separated their faces.
Her eyes seemed to turn again to the sea of blue that seemed to call his name in a soft melody. He lifted his hand to touch her soft cheek, then at once, realized what he was about to do, dropped his hand and stepped back.
He cleared his dry throat. "You may want to bathe before the water gets cold. Rest and I will send someone to fetch you for dinner later on." Zuko said, quickly making his way out of her room.
He shut the door behind him and made his way to his own chambers a couple of doors down.
Why does she affect me like that? It was like she was boiling water and the water was me.
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A/N: Okay so now it's actually starting!! I'm so excited! I have the plot somewhat planned out but of course no story stays the same after you start writing it.
I'm sorry it's been roughly a week wince I've updated but maybe the fact that this chapter is long will keep you from murdering me :)
Now that I've been all nice, I'm going to blackmail you guys. I want reviews. I want to know what you think. What you want to see. What you don't want to see, etc.
That said, I want a good amount of reviews or it will be a while before I update again. So please post reviews; it's simple and takes two second, literally.