CHAPTER 3

Katara speed walked with Zuko at her side and Kizan at the front. They had left the palace behind and were now walking with purpose to the high security cell where the man was being held. As Kizan opened the door for them there was a large roar and Katara felt small and insignificant.

She clung to Zuko like a frightened child holding on to their mother. The roar was heard again and she could make out words, "WHY AM I STILL WAITTING FOR THAT WATER TRIBE TRAMP!?" they said. Katara was outraged! All her fear was warped into anger. She felt Zuko's temperature rise and for once she was going to allow his anger to explode. "IF THAT WENCH ISN'T IN HERE IN 5 SECONDS I WILL STRANGLE THIS MAN TO DEATH!" Kizan bolted in front of them and Katara and Zuko ran after her.

"…1..." the man counted. "…2..." Kizan disappeared around the next corner, "…3..." Katara and Zuko veered left down the same corridor. "…4..." Kizan was in the room. "…5. THAT IS THE LAST STRW, THIS MAN DIES!"

Katara heard Kizan scream "PLEASE! NO! THEY ARE COMING! THEY ARE COMING!" Katara and Zuko crossed the door frame and saw the man holding who was obviously Kizan's husband in one hand. He was holding him by the neck above the ground.

"I'M HERE!" Katara announced and all the faces turned to look at the Fire Lord and Lady. Kizan's husband was struggling with the effort to breathe and she could see him gasping for breath. The large man did not let him go and Kizan fell to the floor in tears.

The man was not hurting Kizan's husband anymore, but refused to let him go.

"Well it is about time!" The man looked Katara up and down with a sly smile like she was something that was being sold. This bothered her, but she did not waver from her position. "I want to talk to you alone, 'My Lady'" He said the last two words mockingly with disgust and resentment.

Her anger flared she was not going to allow this kind of talk. Though Katara had never really gotten use to the 'My Lady' bit she would never allow some one to sneer at her.

"What ever you have to tell me you can say in front of my husband!" Katara growled. She spat words at him. She glanced at Zuko and he nodded in agreement with her statement.

"You might think that, but what I have to say cannot be said in front of the Fire Lord." he bowed mockingly to Zuko.

"ENOUGH! I WILL NOT ALLOW THIS KIND OF BEHAVEOR ANY MORE!" Zuko shouted and Katara nodded once to approve his words. The man did not even flinch and this bothered her.

"I, THE GREAT DAIZA, DO NOT HAVE TO TAKE ORDERS FROM THE LIKES OF YOU!" The man shouted. "YOU, THE BANISHED PRINCE! YOU, WHO BETRAYED YOUR FATHER AND YOUR OWN NATION! I DO NOT HAVE TO BOW OR LISTEN TO ANYTHING YOU SAY!!"

Katara sighed. Though she was outraged at the man's blatant disrespect for her and Zuko, she did not want to stay here longer than she absolutely had to. "What is it you wish of me, Daiza?"

"I wish for you to die." He paused briefly to let what he said, sink in. Instinctively Katara reached for her flask of water. At the same time she moved into Zuko's comforting embrace. "I wish for you to die so that 'he'" Daiza motioned toward Zuko and made a disgusted face. "Knows how it fells to lose a loved one!"

Zuko was on the verge of exploding and Katara was right there with him. The man held the Fire Lord's gaze for one more second then looked at her saying, "Now that you know about me I'll have to kill you. I tried to tell you last night that I just wanted you to come with me and that I would not hurt your family. But since you were 'so' smart I have to resort to plane 'B'." Katara and Zuko looked at each other. He did not attack her last night, but their daughter. He obviously thought it was Katara that he was talking to last night. "That is all that I am going to say. I will not answer anymore questions."

He turned deliberately away from them, dropped Kizan's husband, then walked into his cell and sat down. Katara and Zuko walked out of the room and headed for where the leaders of the different nations met to talk. The gang would be there waiting for them. As they walked she wondered what Daiza had meant about a plan 'B'. If he was not alone in this then could they expect some sort of a jail break for him?

Katara heard curtains flap open and realized that she was back in the nation's chamber. She raised her head to see the anxious eyes of all her friends. "The man's name is Daiza. He meant to attack Katara last night not Mizumi." The waterbender looked up at her husband's words and found them strangely comforting. She and Zuko took their places at the head of the table and recounted the scene that they had just witnessed.

"But, you have felt the loss of a loved one dad." Mizumi put in. "Mom told me that your mother, well my grandmother, Ursa, was banished and you thought that she was dead. You felt the loss of a loved one long ago for a long time." She finished by shaking her head as if to deny her father's pain.

"Well," This time Sokka spoke up "If that's true, which it is, this Daiza wanted more than he was leading on. So if we take in account what he told you, he's not alone in this" her brother swallowed "desire to kill you Katara." Her brother grimaced at the pain of the word. "Meaning that there are more out there. I doubt that he is high up in this 'group' though, because if he was he would not come himself, but send someone else. But all the same I think that you should have a strict watch on this guy, just in case he is valuable to them." Sokka finished and put his arm around his wife to protect her from those harmful thoughts.

"I agree and disagree with you Sokka." Zuko spoke again this time looking Katara once in the eyes then looked at her brother. "I agree with everything but the part that he is not high up." Sokka held his gaze. "He has skill. He snuck past all the guards and into Mizumi's room," Mizumi shuddered at the thought and Shiu moved a little closer. "With that kind of skill he would at least be ranked."

"That does make sense. But I am worried about how many people want to hurt you Katara." Aang said with a look of sadness. "I mean when we destroyed Ozai every one that I could see was happy and joyful that their curl leader was gone and they had more freedom. Well everyone except Azula."

They were all quite for a moment when Toph said "AZULA!" This made every one jump. "She always hated you Katara. And you to Zuko." Katara didn't know what to say to that. Azula was in the high security tower were that man was being held. When her father died she was not exactly happy to say the absolute least.

"Toph, Isn't Azula in the high security tower." Suki spoke addressing both Toph and Zuko. The firebender nodded once. "How could she get an uprising if she was combined in a high security tower all day? It has to be some one else." No one spoke for at least a minute.

"Well she does get to go out side once in a while…." Toph trailed off. She seamed intent on Azula then a smile rippled across her face. "Hey I know, take me to go talk to the guy ask him if he works for Azula and if he does I'll know!"

"That's a great idea aunt Toph!" Mei Ling finally interjected. "You can tell with the vibrations!" She was sitting forward on her hands and knees.

"What time should we do that?" Asked Shiu he liked the idea too. "Should we do it now?" He looked around the room and made eye contact with Zuko.

"I think…" Zuko was thinking hard about this. Katara could tell he did not want to go back and she did not blame him. "We should go tomorrow, after breakfast." The Fire Lord let a smile crawl across his face and the whole room cheered. Katara was very happy too, but something just didn't feel right. She felt like this would be the last time she ever saw her family happy and cheerful.