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After sending the scroll, Katara was quickly walking through the corridors of the palace. She didn't want to see anybody on her way back to the room, where she said that she would be. Azula saw Katara walk around a corner and she followed the waterbender. The princess wasn't about to let her father down.
"Hello." Azula said and that made Katara stop walking and turn around to look at the princess.
"Hi." Katara said.
"I see that you have taken an interest in my brother." Azula told Katara and the waterbender raised an eyebrow, "I see the betrothal necklace." She informed the waterbender and Katara sighed.
"You have it mixed up." Katara told Azula and the princess didn't like being proven wrong.
"I do, do I?" The princess asked, she didn't feel the need to hide the hatred in her voice. She wanted the waterbender to know that she was hated.
"Yes, you do! Your brother likes me." Katara told Azula.
"I guess that he didn't tell you about his other fiancé." The princess said and Katara sighed.
"Someone else told me that he is being forced to marry someone." The waterbender informed the princess and Azula smirked.
"Well, it's true. He'll probably make you a concubine." Azula tried to convince the young women. Katara's eyes grew wide at the thought of pleasuring the prince.
"I won't allow him to do anything to me." Katara told Azula, but they both knew Zuko was stronger than the waterbender. Azula was maybe the only one younger then Zuko that could beat him in a bending fight, but not hand-to-hand combat.
"You wouldn't have a choice." The princess said as she continued to convince the young women. Katara looked at the floor for a second, then back Azula.
"I really just want to go back to my home, but I know that I'll probably just be brought back here." Katara said and Azula hid her smirk. The princess knew that she had convinced the waterbender. She was glad that the young women was convinced.
"Poor girl." She lied, but Katara didn't know she was lying.
"How would you feel if you were taken away from your family and home?" The waterbender asked and Azula thought for a moment. She had never thought of how she would feel. The princess wondered why she should think about it.
"I really do feel bad for you." Azula paused, "That's why I'm sorry to do this!" Katara didn't noticed that the princess had already gotten into a fighting stance. Azula shot blue flames at Katara and the waterbender was hit in the stomach. She flew back a few feet before falling to the ground. Azula saw a few servants and ordered them to take Katara to a prison cell. The servants dragged the waterbender there without complaint.
The servants put Katara in a cell. After they left, a guard closed and locked the door. Soon, Katara noticed that the world started to turn black. In a matter of moments, she lost consciousness.
Zuko walked back to his room, but didn't see Katara in it. He instantly jumped to the conclusion that something was wrong and walked through the halls and corridors. Zuko saw his sister walking through a corridor.
"Azula!" Zuko almost yelled and she stopped. Azula turned around to look at her brother.
"What, Zuzu?" She asked him and knew that the nickname highly annoyed Zuko. The princess hoped that he would just leave her alone, but knew he wouldn't.
"Where is Katara?" He asked her.
"I don't know what or who you're talking about." She lied and knew that Zuko would believe her lie, he always did.
"Have you seen her?" Her brother asked and she looked at him.
"No, I haven't." Azula paused, "Our father and Mai's father want you and her to get married soon." She finished as she examined her fingernails and Zuko sighed.
"Yeah, I know. I'm having second thoughts." Zuko informed her and she stopped looking at her fingernails. Azula blinked a few times in fake surprise.
"You can't have second thoughts on this." She thought for a moment, "You can, but you have to marry Mai.
"And if I refuse?" He asked her and knew that she would know.
"I can just see you being banished." The princess told him. Zuko got frustrated and quickly walked away to look for Katara. Azula smirked and knew that her brother was stupid enough to believe her lie of not seeing Katara. She wondered if Zuko forgot his mantra and guessed that he probably did.
Katara regained consciousness in the cell she was put in. The waterbender slowly stood up and walked to the front of the cell. She noticed that a guard was standing by the cell and that he was obviously make sure she didn't escape.
"Let me out of here!" Katara almost yelled, but the guard ignored her. She sighed and paced in her cell. The waterbender stopped pacing and stood near the back of the cell. Katara heard footsteps on the metal floor and noticed that they were nearing the guard. "Guard, where is Katara?" Zuko asked him and the guard pointed at the cell she was in. He walked over to the cell and she saw him, "What happened?" He asked her as she walked to the front of her cell. Katara had her guard up and wasn't about to let him do anything to her.
"Azula, she hit me with blue flames while were talking." Katara informed him and Zuko was mad at himself for believing his sister.
"Azula? Why would she do that?" Zuko asked her and she thought for a moment.
"Azula said something about you being forced to marry someone." She told him, but he ignored her. Katara knew at that moment that the fact was true. The waterbender knew that he normally would say something, even if it would be a lie.
"Let her out, now." Zuko told the guard and he was scared. The prince glared at the guard then the guard unlocked Katara's cell. After opening the cell, the guard walked away. Zuko opened the cell and tried to hug Katara. She backed up a little and hoped that he would get the message that she didn't want to be near him right now.
"What's wrong?" He asked her and Katara realized that he didn't get it.
"N-nothing." Katara replied, hoping that she sounded scared due to Azula's attack. The prince grabbed her hand and led her to where he last saw his uncle. Zuko saw that his uncle was still in the tea room, but was playing Pai-Sho with someone instead of drinking tea. The two saw Zuko and Katara, the person that was playing Pai-Sho with Iroh left.
"Uncle, father knows." Zuko informed his uncle and he looked at his nephew.
"How does he know?" Iroh asked, but had an idea of how his brother knew.
"Azula told him." The prince informed his uncle and the former general nodded, "What do we do?"
"Ozai won't be expecting us to attack since he knows." Iroh informed his nephew and Zuko knew that there was some logic in what his uncle had said. The prince didn't realize that he was still holding Katara's hand.
"What do we do?" Zuko repeated the question and all three of them thought.
"We need to distract him." Katara told them and the two firebenders looked at her in surprise.
"How?" He asked her.