Insert Disclaimer here. Anyway, in this chapter, Zuko will be my mouthpiece for a decision I made when I atarted writing this story. I won't be anything profound, just a decision regarding the plotline. I didn't get any reviews last chapter, so if this one wasn't halfway written I might have given up. Hopefully you guys can do a little better this time.

"Would you like me to take care of it?" Mai asked, watching Zuko as he made quick brush strokes on various documents.

"No," he replied. "I don't want you to look like you're a part of this. That would only make things worse."

"So who's going to do it then?" Disinterested curiosity, although an oxymoron, was the only way to describe her voice.

"I know someone."

"Is he—?"

"That's him."

"You never let me have any fun anymore," she whined.

"Well I can't have the future Fire Lady in that line of work."

"Whatever." she let out a sigh before speaking again. "What about the other one? What are you going to do with her?"

"Send her away nicely. After all, she isn't the one blackmailing me."

"They're both pretty. I mean really pretty."

"Hmmm," Zuko pretended to muse. "Well now that you mention it I guess so. I hadn't really noticed."
"Whatever."

"Mai, you're not jealous, are you?"

"No. It's just that you're spending so much time around the girls the nobles sent in and the peasant that—"

"That sounds like jealousy to me. Besides, you have nothing to worry about. Katara and I are just friends, and I hate most of those girls with a passion."

"Most of them?"

"Alright, I hate them all. Does that make you happy?"

"I guess."

"Good. Now I need to leave for another council meeting." He walked over and kissed her lightly on the lips, as he always did before he left. It was a formality, but it was probably the best way to keep her in the dark.

"Don't kill anyone while you're there." she called after him

"Don't worry," he shouted back, "I'll wait till later." As soon as he left Mai frowned a little. Lately she had been seeing less and less of Zuko, and on top of that ever since she had been confined to the palace she had never gotten to have any fun. Well she couldn't do anything about the former, but the latter was about to change.


"The so-called Traitor Generals are causing more damage than ever!" shouted an Earth Kingdom diplomat. "Yet the Fire Nation refuses to send military aid of any kind! Is this because these rebellious Fire Nation soldiers are not rebellious at all, but rather part of a complex scheme by the Fire Lord himself to hold on to some of his older conquests?"

"If you would just sit down and be civil then I could explain." Zuko said as emotionlessly as if he were Mai.

"Why should I be civil? My people are still getting slaughtered by the Fire Nation four years after this war was supposed to be over!"

"It takes time to assemble a proper army, especially since the Peace Treaty requires me to cut back on the size of the military. I have to ensure none of the commanding officers sympathize with the rebellion. What's more, I still have yet to choose an overall commander. I would go myself but I'm needed here at home."

"And what exactly is it that you're needed for so desperately? Chasing women around the palace? Romancing nobles, peasants and bounty hunters alike?"

"I would remind you that this palace is not only the seat of government for this nation, it is also my home. I will not be shown disrespect in my own home. You can bite your tongue, you can sew your lips shut, in fact you can do anything you please. As long as the end result is you and the rest of your farcical peacemaking delegation shutting the hell up and listening for a change, I could care less. Otherwise I will be forced to ask most of you to leave." Zuko had snapped. For five days now they had thrown around accusations about his ambitions, his motives, everything political; they had even called him a tyrant a few times. When they attacked his character however, well that was the straw that broke the flying bison's back. The only thing he had managed to keep control over was the tone of his voice. At least he hadn't yelled.

"How dare you yell at us for—"

"I WAS NOT YELLING!" Now even that was out the window. "GET OUT! ALL OF YOU! OUT NOW!" Zuko shot a few fireballs in no particular direction. The vast majority of diplomats, delegates, and generals fled rather quickly. There were a few that were itching for a fight, but a couple fireballs in their direction sent even them running. The only people still in the room after the Fire Lord's little outburst were Zuko, Bumi, Hakoda, Arnook, Pakku, and the Earth King, who was cowering under the table with his pet bear. Zuko looked around and smiled. Perfect.

"I apologize for my rash behavior," he continued calmly. "Now, where were we?"


"Fire Lord Zuko, you're actually happy after leaving a peace meeting?" Iroh asked. "Is that even possible?"

"It is when all those idiots aren't in the room." He chuckled to himself as several delegates who had been talking irately about something (probably him) stopped saying anything and just smiled weakly and tried not to look in his direction.

"Zuko, are you sure it was a good idea to frighten them like that?"

"Of course it was Uncle. Now not only will they stay out of our meetings, but the people who are actually in charge were the only ones left. We actually got more done today than we have in the other four days combined. I'm even thinking of cutting back on my bureaucracy."

"You know as well as I do the problems that this will bring up."

"Yes, but I'm in a good mood right now." Iroh Sighed. Sometimes his nephew was completely heartless, but this might be worse. As opposed to the cold, rational, borderline cruel decisions Zuko would normally make, it seemed that when he let his emotions get the better of him he would become so impulsive that there was just no talking to him. Iroh really hoped his nephew would find balance soon.

"So…" he continued, trying to keep the conversation alive, "I heard today's topic was the Traitor Generals, how did it go?"

"We found someone to lead the expedition force."

"Who?"

"You."

"Me? But Fire Lord Zuko, I'm old and tired, and there's no good tea where they are."

"I trust you more than I trust anyone else, Uncle. I'd go myself but the people at home need to get used to my rule. You're the only person I could think of that met the qualifications anyway. Besides, since the peace treaty left us with a much smaller army it'll take months to get a campaign together. You'll have plenty of time to stock up on tea and work on battle plans."

"Well that's a relief. I'll have plenty of time to be your wingman before you announce your marriage. Who knows what young beauty might fall for a rich, powerful, handsome, intelligent, and modest man like myself."

"Uncle, please…"

"What? Dirty old men need love too."


Zuko walked up to his study to see Katara there waiting for him. Mai had plans with Ty Lee, whose parents were staying in the capital for obvious reasons, so Zuko could actually have a conversation with Katara without being cut short by his girlfriend or having her audibly cough to stop them from talking at what Zuko had mistakenly thought were random times.

"So, I saw all those guys running out of the council chamber. What did you do that had them so scared?"

"Nothing," he told her with a mischievous grin. "I just told them to leave." He walked in and pulled out his inkpot and brush. Unfortunately as he set down some documents he knocked the ink over, spilling it as it elegantly rolled and trickled over his documents.

"Shit." Katara had never heard him curse before, and needless to say, she was a little shocked, but then again, he had taken up worse habits. Like killing his more violent political rivals personally.

"I can get that for you." she offered.

"Well can you leave some there?"

"Why?"

"To spell out what I want said."

"I'm offering to help you clean up, not do your paperwork for you."

"It's because you can't."

"What?!" She shot back indignantly.

"There's now way you could leave ink which said, 'Dear General, It is my regret to inform you that there is not enough money in the defense budget to make the gates of Azulon submarine proof. My deepest regrets, Fire Lord Zuko.'"

"Sure I could, I'm a master waterbender!"

"But are you a master inkbender?"

"I could be."

"Then prove it." Slowly she bent the ink entirely away and put it back in the pot, and then she pulled out the ink necessary to form the characters, setting them down gently onto the paper and letting them soak in. A satisfied smile played across her lips when she was done.

"You cheated." he told her.

"Like it matters." Katara paused for a moment before continuing. "Who was that girl Jun brought with her?"

"Someone I knew from Ba Sing Se."

"You seemed to know her very well. Did she used to be your girlfrieeeeeend?" Zuko had no idea why Katara was acting so immature, but it was the comment that bothered him, not the reason behind it.

"No. Uncle forced me to go on a date with her after she was making eyes at me in his tea shop. You know, back when I was hiding in Ba Sing Se. The date went alright, but I still didn't like her that much. I really regret even doing that. That's why I sent her away as quietly as possible. I don't think we'll hear from her anymore."

"Well that's a relief, what're you gonna do about Jun?"

"I'm gonna kill her." Katara laughed at first, but stopped when she didn't see Zuko joining in.

"You're serious, aren't you?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"Why?! Why?! Zuko you just can't solve all your problems by killing people!"

"Oh c'mon, she's a bounty hunter with no family or friends. Who's gonna miss her?"
"That's not the point."

"Then enlighten me Katara, what is?"

"The point is that a good ruler should have a conscience, to make sure he doesn't do anything that he'll regret for the rest of his life."

"Like what, killing my father? Letting my sister rot in a dungeon until she rolls over and dies? Or how about sending my uncle back to war because I think I need to stay home for a while? I have to make choices every day which will haunt me for the rest of my life! As much as I would love to have a conscience, and believe me, it would be great, I just can't afford one."

"Zuko, how could you say that?" She was almost crying, Zuko had no idea how much it hurt her to see him like this.

"How can't I, Katara? If I let those things get in my way, my people will suffer. Do you think I like having to do this? I have to do this for them. The only way I can ever be a good leader is to make cold, rational decisions."

"Then promise me one thing."

"Okay, what?"

"Promise me you'll at least look into another way to take care of this. Please." Katara finally did let a few tears roll down her cheek.

"I'll look into it," Zuko assured her. He wasn't sure whether he was lying or not, but it seemed like the right thing to say.

"T-thanks," she stammered. "I…I've gotta go." Zuko tried to stop her as she rushed out of the room, but before he could catch her she had rounded the corner. It had been a long time since he had seen her act so emotional. He could only guess at the reason.

Once she rounded the corner, Katara began to cry in earnest. Zuko was turning into a monster. He wasn't as bad as his father or sister, but he was becoming one none the less. She tried to comfort herself; at least his heart was in the right place. Well, what was left of it anyway.


Mai had finally reached her destination. She had snuck past the guards because she didn't want them to know what she was doing. After what seemed like hours of creeping, she reached the cell in question. The guard at the bottom of the dungeon was never told about what went on in the higher levels, so he was a bit surprised when she rounded a corner and turned to face them.

"I would like to see the prisoner." she demanded plainly.

"Lady Mai, of course, of course." The guard opened the door and she stepped in.

"Would you mind coming in with me?" she asked him. "My knife throwing is a little rusty, and some protection would be nice." The guard stepped in with her and watched Azula with interest. She had scratched a new fantasy for herself into the walls of her cell. Now she was sitting on the throne of the Fire Lord, around her were generals making war plans, and she just sat there, as serene as could be. Her face was molded in the expression of a wise and powerful ruler, and it was obvious she was listening intently to something. Mai threw a couple of shuriken at her, and luckily the stimulus was enough to drag her out of her fantasy. She didn't break down like when Zuko had visited, she just stared at Mai with a cruel smile playing across her lips.

"Here to visit an old friend, Mai?" she asked sweetly.

"A little more than that." In one lightning-fast motion, Mai pulled out a dagger, stabbed the guard in the jugular, twisted it, pulled it out, and then wiped it on his robes as he fell over dead.

"Why thank you, Mai." Azula kept up a sweet tone of voice. "When the world is mine, you have my word I won't kill you."

"I'm not doing this for you."

"Then why are you doing this?"

"Zuko keeps me cooped up in the palace. He won't let me have any fun. So, since Iroh has to go squash a rebellion, the Avatar's busy enough as it is, and he has to stay at the palace, that only leaves me to go after you."

"How clever of you. And here I thought our time together never paid off. However, there is something you and Zuzu should keep in mind…"

"What is it?" Azula's smile broadened at Mai's question. She pulled the shuriken from where they stuck in the wall and grabbed the scimitar off the dead guard. She twirled the sword with ease, and then used it like a bat to send the shuriken flying at Mai with pinpoint accuracy. They barely missed her neck, just as intended.

"Anything you can do, I can do better." With that she walked out of the cell, leaving Mai wondering whether she would regret this.


So another chapter ends with a bit of a cliffhanger, and not surprisingly Zuko failed miserably at controlling his emotions. Now would be a great time to submit a review