Zuko sat in the throne room of the palace, irritated beyond compare. He had been dragged away from his self-appointed post outside the avatar's cell on a summons from his father. What he had assumed was going to be urgent news or a war meeting, however, had turned out to be nothing more than a need for an audience for some dancer. Apparently there was a renowned dance troop within the city and his father had taken it upon himself to summon them to the castle to perform. The throne room was now home to a gaggle of high ranking military men all sitting patiently awaiting the arrival of the dancer. Frankly Zuko found this whole thing ridiculous, if not for his father sitting behind the high wall of flames on his throne only a few feet away, Zuko would have already made a hasty exit.
A few servants made rounds throughout the room, filling wine glasses and offering a tray of what appeared to be finger foods to the men. Zuko glanced at his father, who was silently sipping his wine with a scowl, and decided to follow suit. He heard the door to the room open and turned to watch the dancer enter, nearly choking on his wine as a result. His father glared at him harshly and spat his name at him as if it were an insult in response to Zuko's hysterical coughing. He quickly regained his self-control with one last cough and stared wide eyed at the scantily clad dancer across the room.
Uncomfortably he peered at the other men, noting they were all leering at her as if she were a piece of meat. None, however, seemed to notice that the so-called dancer the Fire Lord had summoned to the palace was in fact Katara. She'd done an excellent job concealing her identity he had to admit, but her tanned skin and ice blue eyes were permanently burned into his mind after their last encounter and regardless of what she wore he was confident he would be able to identify her.
He said nothing, made no move to approach her and no move to alert the other men. He simply watched, too intrigued by what she was plotting to give her away. Besides, his mouth seemed to not be functioning right regardless as he slowly surveyed her exposed body and toned figure. He took a swig of his wine in a desperate attempt to relieve his dry mouth and distract his mind from unwanted thoughts that were creeping up on him.
He watched as some men carrying instruments followed her into the room and the guard in the hall shut the ornate door when they were inside. A man with a mustache placed his hand protectively on Katara's back and she smiled up at him and nodded in agreement to whatever he was saying. Zuko felt his stomach churn and his temper flare at the man's intimate hold on Katara's skin, though he refused to admit it was from jealousy. After all the men were seated on the floor of the room, holding their instruments, Katara stepped forwards into the middle of the open floor. Zuko swallowed hard as her sheer skirt billowed out around her legs as she moved, captivated by the gentle chimes of her golden attire.
She leaned forwards, bowing in respect to his father and flashing a racy amount of cleavage as she did so, though he was sure she wasn't aware of it. He couldn't help but wonder where in Agni's name she had found those clothes. Were they hers? He seriously doubted she would own anything so revealing, but at the same time he also found it hard to believe she would take part in thievery.
After holding the bow for the appropriate amount of time, she stood straight and glanced at the man with the mustache. The man nodded, a frown spreading across his face. Zuko arched his brow, silently wondering how many hearts of her new male company she had unwittingly stolen. The man with the mustache was clearly unhappy with her sensual behavior in front of other men, and upon closer inspection he noted a few of the other men were surveying the Fire Nation generals with similar frowns on their faces.
He returned his gaze to Katara, who now stood with her eyes closed in the center of the room, her body wrapped in a sheer red piece of fabric that she held in place with her delicate hands. The men began to play, a steady drum beat filling the otherwise silent throne room. As the beat began Katara's closed eyes snapped open to the half lidded sultry gaze of a woman in heat. She fluidly opened her arms to the sides, the sheer fabric she held pulling away from her body to reveal her sensual figure beneath. Her movements looked effortless, her arms gently gliding the sheer strip of fabric she held around her like a living mist as she swayed to the music seductively. As the music played on she danced up to one of the generals and wrapped the sheer piece of fabric around his neck, leaning in close then pulling away just as quickly, leaving the fabric dangling around his shoulders like an effeminate scarf.
Zuko withheld an angry snarl as he saw the general blush slightly then lick his lips as she danced away. He couldn't believe his eyes. The innocent little girl he had fought so many months ago had somehow been replaced with a seductive woman who could manipulate men better than any Fire Nation woman he had met to date. What had happened in the time since their last encounter?
He was quickly snapped out of his train of thought by the wild clapping from the other men in the room. The music had stopped playing and he looked back at Katara to find her in the splits on the floor, her back arched and her arms gently bent above her head. Her chest was heaving slightly from the exercise, and her tan skin glistened with beads of sweat masked only by her long silken locks that flowed down her still arched back.
Through the loud clapping of the men cut a slow, sharp clap from behind the wall of flames. He turned to see his fathers usual downturned scowl pulling up ever so slightly at the corners, his eyes were set on Katara like a wild animal stalking its prey. Zuko had an extremely bad feeling about this. He wanted to leap up and drag her out of the room to anywhere but here. But he didn't. He knew the consequences for upsetting his father all to well, and it was not a mistake he would willingly make a second time. So he sat there in ridged silence, urging Katara with every ounce of noiseless willpower he had to turn tail and run as far from his demonic father as she possibly could. She never moved.
Katara breathed heavily, basking in the loud roar of the men as they cheered her performance. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed Zuko wasn't clapping but decided to ignore it, not wanting to draw his attention to her and reveal her identity.
The Fire Lord's slow clap cut through the noise of the other men and she relaxed her pose to watch him slowly stand behind the large wall of fire. An eerie smile was plastered on his lips that balanced somewhere between a scowl and a threat.
"Excellent." His cold, hoarse voice declared, sending unpleasant chills across the back of her neck.
He waved his hand in her direction and two females, servants she presumed, rushed up to her and ushered her off the ground and out of the room along with the men she had brought as musicians.
Katara's heart was thundering in her chest as she was wedged in between the two women and briskly lead down a long winding hall. Concerned they had been discovered she shot Haru a frantic glance. He met her gaze and patted the air with his hands as if to urge her to remain calm. She nodded and continued to walk, calming slightly from his reassurance.
"These will be your quarters." One of the women's voices rang out, soft and beautiful like a bell.
Katara's eyebrows shot up in surprise and she stepped forwards to peer into the room the women were gesturing to.
"Excuse me?" Katara prodded, not entirely sure she was grasping what was happening.
The women ushered them into the room, not acknowledging Katara's question save for an eye roll they thought she hadn't seen.
"Someone will be along soon to see to your arrangements." One of the women stated to Katara before closing the door to the room and bustling away with her companion.
Katara's mouth hung open in shock. "Well on the plus side, the plan worked." She stated to Haru and the other men.
"You have no idea what's happening, do you?" Haru sighed.
Katara frowned, raising her chin to object defiantly that she did then decided against it and meekly shook her head no.
"Getting in was easy." Haru sighed. "Now that the Fire Lord has you in his sights it's getting out that's going to be the problem."
AN: ok so in case my description of the dance was lacking, the style I envision is a kind of belly dance exotic type number. If you want to see kind of what I mean, check out this link watch?v=RkXCBB9wYfc