Disclaimer: I do not own A: TLA

Chapter 4

(Iroh)

I couldn't sleep. It was unusual for me. I usually sleep for hours and have to be woken by one of the servants in the morning. But today for some reason I really couldn't sleep. I heard a noise outside, and realised someone was walking past my room. I opened the door a little way, and recognised my nephew's outline sneaking past. Curious, I followed him to the training arena. I made my way up to the observation platform of the arena, and peeked out over the sandy surface. My eyes widened as I spotted a girl standing in the centre of the ring. A girl! Prince- no, Lord Zuko, had found himself a girl! She bowed to him, and I heard her say "My Lord,"

"Lady Mizoku," he replied, and I watched as they began to spar. He threw a short sharp punch to her stomach, and she crumpled. I was confused; he didn't seem to have hit her that hard.

"What was that?" I heard him say, then he knelt beside her. They said something to each other, and he lay her down and pushed her shirt up her stomach. I gasped in revulsion as I saw the severe bruising there. He said something about her father, and she nodded. Her father? What kind of a man would do that to his daughter? He picked her up and helped her away, and I felt a sudden surge of pride for my nephew. I went down to the training arena, knowing Zuko would be back. Sure enough, after a little while, the door opened and he stepped inside. He leaned against the wall and sighed loudly. "Hello nephew. You're up early," He jumped up, his hands bursting into flames.

"Uncle!" He roared. "Don't do that!"

"Relax nephew. Losing your temper will get you nowhere,"

"What are you doing up so early?"

"I can ask you the same question,"

"I came to train,"

"Alone?"

"Obviously," I sighed inwardly. So he wasn't going to be honest with me.

"So you weren't here with Lady Mizoku?" His eyes widened and his hands caught fire again.

"You were spying on me?" I chuckled.

"You could call it that I suppose. So you have decided on your bride-to-be?" He shook his head.

"She doesn't want to marry me. She doesn't want to marry anyone," He said sadly. I suddenly realised who Lady Mizoku was.

"Oh! She's the girl who ran into you?" He nodded. I used a lot of self-restraint to not laugh out loud. He was in love! "You love making life difficult for yourself," I sighed. He sat down on a nearby bench, and I joined him.

"Why her, uncle? Every other girl wants to marry me- I even have groupies- but I like her!" I had never seen him quite so depressed except during his banishment.

"Nephew, it would spear that you are like a lot of men in power. You want what you can't have," He didn't reply. "Oh, and one more thing, what were you actually doing here anyway?"

"Uncle, that is between me and her. I don't think she would like me to tell you,"

"Fair enough. Can you tell me how she got those bruises?" His normally pale face turned beetroot red.

"That was her father," I was horrified. It was definitely her father who had hit her then.

"How could someone do that to their child?"

"I don't know," Zuko said, balling his hands into fists. "I really don't know," Smoke began to rise from his curled fingers, and he was clamping them so hard that his knuckles had turned white. I laid a hand on his shoulder. "Easy nephew," He calmed down a little. "Perhaps you should release some of your anger, so you don't take it out on anyone today," I had wondered if I should offer him some tea, but I decided I valued my life more. He nodded and began to train.

(Mizoku)

I stood staring at myself in the mirror. I was a mess. I was wearing only my underwear, and all my bruises were showing. A few on my arms, from where I had tried to defend myself, but most were on my stomach. A ran my fingers across them, just as Zuko had done the night before. I remembered his soft touch and an involuntary shiver ran down my spine. Stop it! I scolded myself. You shouldn't be thinking about him like that. There was a knock at the door, and I grabbed a bathrobe and put it on before shouting, "Come in!" The door opened, and Kika stood there.

"My lady, your mother is worried about your health. I am come to see to your… injuries," I nodded curtly, trying to pretend she was just another servant.

"You may come in," She stepped inside and closed the door behind her. "Oh, Kika!" I cried, giving her a hug.

"What is wrong with you? Your mother is very concerned!" Slowly I opened the bathrobe. "Oh my god! Why didn't you come to me yesterday? Here, I have something that should help you heal better," She pulled out a jar of ointment, and forced me to sit on my bed. As she rubbed it into the bruises on my arms, she ordered me to tell her everything that happened. I told her about being caught in the training arena by the Fire Lord, and being presented, and our time alone, but she interrupted me when I began to tell her about my father. "I knew it! I knew your father would have something to do with this! He is getting worse, Mizoku. I swear, one day he'll snap and kill you. Perhaps marriage is a better option,"

"Husbands beat their wives also, Kika,"

"Yes, but not Lord Zuko. From what you've said, he seems to have a soft spot for you,"

"Come off it Kika. He's the Fire Lord! Why would he be interested in me? And besides," I added hastily, seeing the look on Kika's face, "I don't want his attention. I can manage without a husband,"

"Whatever you say. Tell me what happened next," I told her about going to training, and how Zuko had seen my bruises. "Oh my god!" She squealed, as I blushed after quickly finishing my sentence. "I knew it! That's it, you're the new Fire Lady,"

"Kika!" I objected loudly. "Just because he saw my father's handiwork, does NOT mean that he is in love with me! Anyone would have wanted to see what was wrong!"

"Yes, but no one else would have run their hand across them, and then taken you back to your room,"

"I'm sure any gentleman would. Just because Ryka doesn't-,"

"Don't you say anything about him!" Kika squealed, blushing furiously. Ryka was another apprentice healer who worked in the infirmary, and he and Kika were very… close. "That's got nothing to do with you and Lord Zuko!"

"Look, Kika, I don't want to marry this guy. I don't want to marry anyone!"

"If he asks you, you should accept,"

"Why? Because no one dares oppose the Fire lord?"

"No, because it's the only way you'll be safe from your father and with a good man," Kika said seriously. "I can't stand seeing you like this, Mizoku. Every week you have a new injury! It's getting out of hand," I looked up, and saw the tears in her eyes. My own eyes stung and we began to cry silently. "I don't want to lose my bet friend,"

(Zuko)

I stared at my hands. Just a few hours ago these fingers had run across her stomach. I still couldn't believe that I had done that. I had never touched a woman that way before in my life, and now I felt so strange. I tried to shake these thoughts from my head. I would meet some of those girls again today. I had whittled the numbers down to five, as I was supposed to, and now I would see them again for the last time before I made my decision. Of course, Lady Mizoku was among them. This time we would spend a full hour in each other's company. I was dreading spending time with some of the girls, but had deliberately chosen the least giggly, flirty ones I could. The first two girls I spent time with were dire. I had to be as polite as possible, and pretend not to notice their shameless flirting. The third was quiet, and barely spoke a word to me. The next was Lady Mizoku. I had decided to walk with her in the garden again and as she bowed, I couldn't help but notice some pain in her expression as she straightened up. Uncle left us, and she took my arm. We began to walk in silence. "Are you feeling any better?"

"A little better, thankyou. A healer tended to my injuries this morning," I nodded.

"Good. A father shouldn't do that to his daughter,"

"Or son," She said unexpectedly.

"I beg your pardon?"

"A father shouldn't do that to any of his children, male or female,"

"I see," For a second I had thought she was referring to my father. Perhaps she had been. "Do you think you will be able to train tonight?" I asked in a low voice. She shook her head.

"I am afraid not, my Lord. It will be a few days before the bruises begin to fade,"

"There is no need for formalities," I told her, wishing she would say my name again, and treat me like a normal person. "We are alone," She smiled a little.

"My friend said something interesting to me today," She said, with a note of sadness. "She told me she thinks that I should escape my father before he kills me. Do you think Lord Zanna is capable of that?" I paused for a moment, a little taken aback.

"I admit, I did not think he was capable of injuring someone in that manner. Now I don't know what he could do," I sighed. "How do you expect to escape your father? By running away?"

"I am not sure. But if it comes down to a choice between that, and being killed, I will run. My friend actually had a different idea of how I could escape,"

"Oh? How?" I asked, truly intrigued.

"I… It is something I would rather not do. It is just as dangerous as running away in my opinion. If I made the wrong choice…" She trailed off, and I set my brain to work. As dangerous as running away? Suicide? No, I mentally slapped myself. Suddenly, it clicked. "Marriage?"

"Unfortunately. But I would rather run away than be turned into somebody's pet," She said bitterly. My heart dropped through the floor. There was no way she'd ever even consider marrying me.

"You really think it's that dangerous?"

"I am not a fool. Living with my father I have seen that some men beat their wives as well as their children,"

"I would never beat you," I said before I could stop myself. My cheeks burned with embarrassment and I quickly looked away, hoping she wouldn't notice. Idiot! I screamed at myself inside my head.

(Mizoku)

Tell me he's not serious… I thought, as Lord Zuko looked away, blushing. The great Fire Lord, blushing! I continued walking, unsure of what to say next. He looked back. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable,"

"Uh… It's okay. You didn't…" He gave me a disbelieving look.

"Sure thing. And you're blushing because…?" Automatically my hands flew up to my face. It was warm.

"Hey, I'm not the only one!" I growled as he smirked. He narrowed his eyes and tried in vain to stop his cheeks turning redder. I began to laugh.

"Stop it! It's not funny!" He said, but soon began to laugh as well. I loved his laughter. It wasn't like him to laugh, but his face seemed friendlier as he did, and his eyes sparkled. I stopped laughing and smiled. "What?" He asked, looking confused.

"You just… laughed," I said.

"Yeah… I did…" He said, looking at me oddly.

As soon as my hour with the Fire Lord was up, I practically sprinted to my room, determined not to be questioned about what happened. I shot into my room, and shut and locked the door behind me. I sat on the bed. 'I would never beat you'. What did he mean? That he wanted to marry me? Or was it he just didn't want me to think he was a wife beater? I was so confused. I heard my mother and father leave to go to a meeting. Breathing a sigh of relief, I slipped out of the door and went for a walk around the palace.

Another chapter. I would like to thank:

Breathlesslove, SketchLives09, and KaileeLovin' for their reviews. And I say unto the rest of you; Review!

Miss SJB