Zuko

Zuko was laying on his king-sized mattress staring up at the canopy. Without the weight of his wife beside him, he found the bed uncomfortable and difficult to sleep in. Now, with the weight of her kidnapping on him, it was impossible to sleep. He didn't even try. The bags under his eyes were becoming too obvious to remedy with herbal topicals or hide with the rice powder concoction. Let them see, he began to think, let them understand how miserable I am. There was no point in trying to hide it anymore. It took two days after his initial meeting with the council to secure Ozai's release, and another day to draft up the letter to the Scarlet Sodality. Zuko never understood how politics could be so complex that it took days to approve a simple task. In the past, matters had never been so pressing that they needed to be completed immediately. They could afford the days, weeks, or months of organizing and preparing. But now, with Katara's life on the line, they didn't have that kind of time. Zuko had the power to completely override the council and do whatever he wanted, but what would that mean for his rule? His reputation? His dedication to his people? Those who approved of him had an undying support for the first fair Fire Lord in a millennia, but those that disapproved wouldn't mind seeing him dead. If he managed to turn his supporters against him by acting tyrannical, he would be doomed.

Zuko's thoughts were interrupted by a short rap on the door. He didn't have time to get himself up before the door opened and Aang let himself inside. When he recognized his airbending friend, Zuko plopped back down on the mattress. Without a word, Aang joined him, lying parallel to him and mentally tracing the curves of the sheer fabric hanging above them. They sat in silence, the room lit with the orange light of sunrise.

"Have you slept at all?"

Aang felt Zuko's head shake a 'no' against the comforter and he sighed.

"You know that's not good for you."

"I know."

More silence.

"Where have you been? You're fully dressed."

"I went to the town square, to check for a response."

Zuko sat up quicker than a winged lemur. "And?"

Aang pushed up his torso by his elbows and reached into the many layers of fabric surrounding his lithe frame. He pulled out a folded-up piece of parchment. "I haven't read it yet. Figured you'd want to be the first one."

Zuko snatched the parchment from Aang's hand, standing as he did. His amber eyes scanned the page quickly as if he couldn't read the message fast enough. When he was done, he turned back to Aang, a little more energy in his eyes.

"We're meeting with them sundown tomorrow at the abandoned purple berry farm. It's about a 10 minute trip outside of Harbor City."

"Sounds good. I can help you organize the royal guards and we can all leave right after dinner."

The frown that appeared on Zuko's face gave Aang the impression that that plan wasn't going to work.

"What is it?"

Zuko hesitated, glancing back down at the parchment for a brief moment before he looked back at Aang.

"They want me to go alone."

"Absolutely not. No traps, no games, nothing. If they get even the slightest hint that we could be tricking them, they have the power to do something horrible to Katara. I will not sacrifice her safety like that," Zuko spoke firmly and authoritatively to this privy council. He had called yet another emergency privy council meeting, something that seemed to be a regular thing these days. At least it wasn't in the middle of the night. When the council members were awoken for a meeting, they were often more volatile and argumentative, which Zuko was not feeling up to dealing with.

"But Zuko, simply complying with their demands is only a short term solution. If we can capture them-"

"Do you seriously think they're going to bring their entire membership to this exchange?," Zuko interrupted Ji, "That we'll have a chance to eliminate the entire gang in one foul swoop?"

"Of course I don't. I'm just saying that, if we can get even one of them, we could get information on their other members, maybe even their leadership."

"You heard about the wedding prisoner, right? Or am I mistaken in believing my council was adequately knowledgeable? He was willing to kill himself to get-oh, fuck 'willing,' he did kill himself to get out of snitching. There's no point in imprisoning another dead man."

"Zuko," Aang said calmly, interrupting his tirade, "I know you're upset right now, but Ji may have some valid points here. This is a rare opportunity for us. We'll have access to what I'm assuming will be a large group of members of the Scarlet Sodality. I would also bet that someone in power will be there just to make sure nothing goes wrong. Once they have what they want, they'll probably go into hiding until they're ready to make another move. I don't think we should pass this up."

"Aang, I said no," Zuko snapped. "They want me alone, I'm going alone."

Aang pulled back, a stone cold look on his face. It reminded Zuko of when Aang had tried to convince Katara not to search for her mother's killer. Aang found it frustrating when his friends didn't listen to him, especially when it came to making a morally ambiguous decision. As he grew older, however, he came to realize that he can't win everyone over and he had to accept their decisions, no matter if he disagreed. Of course, sometimes he had to take matters into his own hands, as the one responsible for maintaining harmony in the world, but when it came to petty matters he'd learned to move on and let things go. He had grown into the wisdom of his people, and Zuko wondered if it was out of respect or desperation to not lose what fading memories Aang had left of them.

"Fine. But I'm coming with you. That's not a request," Aang ordered. From his tone, Zuko knew that there was no point in arguing. He nodded, then turned back to his council.

"The Avatar and I will escort Ozai to the exchange. Han, organize a patrol of guards to wait outside the city limits for us. As soon as we retrieve Lady Katara and get out of range of the farm, I want as many eyes on us as possible."

"Yes, my Lord."

"Yaran, meet with the head groom. Have him alter one of the royal carriages to look more inconspicuous. I don't want anyone within the city to notice us leaving, even if it's for a short amount of time."

"As you say, my Lord."

"Now, since they have told us when and where to meet, that means their entire membership knows exactly when we will be absent from the palace. This gives them a significant amount of power. Ji, I trust that you have the records of the royal guard?"

"That I do."

"I want you to recruit the most seasoned and loyal guards and station them on every square inch of the royal grounds. We don't know if the Scarlet Sodality has anything else planned for that night, and I don't want to take any chances.

"Right away, Lord Zuko."

Zuko took a deep breath and exhaled loudly. "Now, if I didn't assign you a specific task, here it is: help out your fellow members. I don't care what you were doing before today, until we get Lady Katara back within the walls of the palace, this is your only focus. You are all dismissed."

As the council members shuffled out of the meeting hall noisily, conversing with each other as they walked, Zuko and Aang stayed seated. When all had left except for the pair, Aang turned to Zuko and squeezed his shoulder.

"It's happening, Zuko. We're getting her back."

Zuko hadn't noticed that a tear had run down from his left eye, moistening the scar tissue. Ozai's fire had burned so deep that the nerves in the area had little to no sensation, letting his weakness pour through. He turned to his friend, very obviously emotional now that he could pause his Fire Lord act.

"I'm just so worried. Agni knows what they've done to her. How could I have let this happen?"

"You didn't let this happen. You were making a huge sacrifice in order to make sure this didn't happen."

"It obviously wasn't the right choice. I should have taken her to the docks myself, made sure she got to the South Pole safely."

Aang looked upon his friend sadly. "You can't change the past, Zuko. That's something I've had to recognize, myself. It's hard, but we just have to move forward and learn from our mistakes. In your case, I don't think you could have predicted this outcome. You did what you thought was right."

Zuko stood up, shrugging Aang's hand off of his body. "I… I don't want to talk about this anymore. I'm going to help make preparations for tomorrow. I'll be in my study, alone."

Quickly, and before Aang could interject, Zuko fled the room. When he made it to his private study, he ordered the guards to ensure no one interrupted his work and immediately latched the door behind him. Finally alone, he let out his tears. He let this happen. He put Katara in danger, and now she was paying the price for his stupidity. How could she forgive him for this? How could he ever forgive himself? In a bout of anger he cleared the contents of his desk and they tumbled onto the floor, a bottle of ink shattering as it hit the wood. It would stain, but Zuko didn't care. There were scars all over the room from his outbursts. A corner of the ornate rug was signed. The highest shelf of one of the many bookcases was cracked and only holding up its contents by sheer luck. One of the crystal turtle ducklings in a flock collection had lost its head in an unfortunate crown-related accident. Zuko had always meant to get his study repaired, but as the marks accumulated his figured he would have to renovate the entire room in order to rid it of all his temper tantrums. Instead, he let them serve as a reminder of his frustrations.

Each one had a specific backstory, most of time centered around a personal mistake of his own. The only exception was the rug burn: he had been just a little too irked with his council one day when he also happened to be sick, resulting in quite the explosive sneeze. Katara had reamed him for days about the rug, since it had been a Fire Nation family heirloom and she now had to recruit the master weaver to repair it, and they charged a pretty penny for their services. Zuko had laughed at her worry, taking it upon himself to show her that the rug was still just as functional even with the singe. It backfired, because instead of reprimanding him for the damage to the rug she complained about the friction burn on her ass for the next week. The burn on the rug became a reminder how how much he loved her. Now, it stung. How dare he say he loved her when he put her in this mess. Everything that had been tormenting her as of late was due to him, due to the fact that he was the Fire Lord that married a waterbender. Had he truly loved her he would have let her go, spend her life in the Southern Water Tribe refining her bending and healing. She would have eventually found a nice water tribe man to marry her, provide her a safe and welcome home. Instead, although some of the Fire Nation people loved her, the ones that didn't were dangerous and willing to starve her to death.

It was his fault, and he didn't deserve her forgiveness.

Zuko and Ozai were seated in a carriage being driven by Aang, who had expertly disguised his tattoos. The carriage had all of its royal seals removed temporarily and the gold embellishments covered with cloth. The dragon moose's bridle and reins, usually a dyed leather with gold securings, was exchanged for a training one, dirty and worn down with time. The father and son were sitting across from each other, Zuko denying him any eye contact by maintaining his gaze out the window. Ozai chuckled after a long period of silence between the two. Zuko shifted his gaze and raised any eyebrow at him.

"I just think it's so sad that you don't want to enjoy our last moments together, my dear son," Ozai said with feigned sorrow, "It's almost as though you don't like me."

"I don't like you," Zuko said plainly.

"Ouch. If I weren't tied up I would be clutching my heart."

Zuko rolled his eyes and returned his gaze to the horizon. He noticed the edge of the abandoned farmland appear from around a corner and he noticeably perked up. Scanning the area, he didn't see any signs of Katara or the Scarlet Sodality. The sun was only just setting, were they waiting for complete sundown before they planned to come out of hiding?

"Aang, do you see anything?" Zuko called out of the window, hoping Aang heard him over the rattling of the carriage wheels and the rough steps of the dragon moose.

"Not yet," Aang responded. "I'm guessing they're waiting for us to get there before they come out. There's miles on miles of woods surrounding the field, I wouldn't doubt they're hidden in the trees."

Zuko sulked back into his seat, impatient to get on with the evening. He just wanted to see his wife, for Agni's sake. He knew full and well that he could be walking right into a trap, but he didn't care. If risking his own life meant saving Katara's then it would all be worth it.

"You know," Ozai commented, "You still haven't told me where I'm going."

"Quiet."

"Oh come now. You could be handing me off to group of cannibals for all I know. I think I deserve to be told to whom I'm being released."

"I said quiet," Zuko snapped back. "You don't deserve a damn thing."

"That's a bit harsh, don't you think? I was a good father. I fed you, clothed you, kept a roof over your head, and a very nice one at that."

"Are you serious?" Zuko scoffed, "You must be messing with me. I didn't know scarring your eldest son qualified you for a dad-of-the-year award."

"You know why you received that punishment." Ozai said intimidatingly.

"I know why you think I needed to be punished. But it was wrong. You were wrong. I suppose you'll never get that through your head."

Ozai glared at Zuko menacingly. "You're spoiled and arrogant. I don't know how you're still Fire Lord."

Zuko couldn't help but smirk at his father. "At least I am Fire Lord."

That seemed to shut Ozai up for the time being. When the carriage came to a sudden halt Zuko nearly lept from the carriage, almost forgetting Ozai in the process. Aang gracefully left down from the driver's in a small gust of wind, tying the dragon moose to nearby tree.

"Alright, they said to meet in the field. Let's head in that direction," Aang said, pointing to an empty clearing surrounded by a thick fence of tree on three sides. "Then, we'll wait."

Zuko nodded in agreement, then grabbed Ozai by the upper arm and drug him along. The angry prisoner mumbled his frustration under his breath but Zuko chose to ignore it. They carefully trudged through the rotted bushes of the farm's past, brittle branches snapping under their footsteps. As they reached the center of the field, the last of the sunlight disappeared beneath the tree line. Zuko would have lit a small flame in his palm if they weren't surrounded by the perfect timber for a forest fire. They stood, waiting, searching for any signs of the gang. Suddenly, the sound of crunching leaves could be heard from the far end of the field, and a small group of figures came forward from the trees. There, surrounded by burly-looking people dressed in all-black, was Katara, hands tied behind her back and wearing the same clothes as when she left the palace, only significantly dirtied. Zuko was about to run to her, burn them all to the ground and snatch her away to safety, but Aang grabbed his forearm to hold him in place. "Zuko, don't," he murmured quietly. He heeded Aang's words and stood patiently, awaiting the instruction of the menaces holding his wife captive.