10

People screamed for their lives trying to escape the room that was beginning to fill with smoke rather quickly. Other capable benders prepared to fight whatever threat was coming their way. Katara scanned the room for her friends. She looked back for Zuko but he'd already vanished. Agni she knew she was upset with him but she wanted to see his face more than anything right now. Suddenly Suki grabbed her arm to get her attention.

"Katara!"

"Suki! Are you ok?" She examined her friend before gripping her shoulders. "Where are the others? Go find Sokka!"

"Katara I can't leave-"

"Now!" Suki nodded and ran off to look for her love and Katara ran back towards the exits, water already surrounding her arms. She held her breathe before quickly creating a bubble of water around herself, running through the flames and smoke. Dropping the water back around her arms she looked in the dark hallway for a sign of the intruders. She stood silently, waiting to hear any sudden movements. It paid to have a master earth bender as a best friend.

The sound of someones foot slipping above her caused her to look up at a masked figure clothed in all black up on the ceiling. They jumped down to tackle her but she rolled out of the way, quickly jumping back to her feet. The dark figure stood tall and eyed her. She looked at the mask questioningly, like she'd come across it before. Golden eyes beneath it gave her a hunch they might be Fire Nation. The fire daggers shooting from their hands confirmed it.

The dark figure charged her, attempting to swipe at her neck with their fire dagger. She slid under their arm and sent a gush of water towards their back, slamming them into the wall before she froze them there. She huffed and ran up to the intruder.

"Who are you?!" A quick sharp blow to the back of her head sent her to the ground. Another figure clothed in all black stepped over her body and touched the icy trap over their friend with a heated hand, melting it away.

"Who knew it would be this easy." One of them cackled and grabbed the unconscious girl.

~.~.~.~.~

Zuko forced his eyes open as the ringing in his ear caused his head to throb. He coughed the smoke and ash out of his lungs and looked at his surroundings. He hadn't been out for long. People were still running and screaming, trying to escape the flood of dark clothed men that were now coming in. Zuko stood up too fast, causing his vision to blur. How could he let something like this happen. He was supposed to protect his people, but he felt like he'd failed them. Stumbling over Sokka, he quickly bent down to grab his friends arm, helping him up and trying to get his attention.

"Sokka get up!" Sokka groaned and grabbed his throbbing head.

"Where's S-suki." Zuko's heart sank as a similar thought popped into his head. Where was Katara? He knew she was more than cable of taking care of herself, but he just had to know she was safe. He helped Sokka up and put his arm over his shoulders, carefully walking him out of the crowded area.

"Sokka!" Zuko squinted and saw Suki run up, grabbing the wounded solider from his arms.

"Zuko, Katara went out that way." Zuko looked up in the direction she pointed as she collected Sokka and helped him to safety. Zuko ran through the crowd before being blown back by another gust of flames. This time he parted the flames with his own, looking up to see a man in black charging towards him. He threw a punch straight for Zuko's head, which he blocked, thrusting his arm over his head and throwing a punch into the mans stomach. The intruder doubled over before Zuko grabbed his arms behind his back and shoving him to the nearest guard he could find.

"Take him and make sure he doesn't leave your sight!" Zuko had a lot of questioning to do after this was all over. He continued to make his way towards the exit Katara went through when he saw flames out the corner of his eye. He raced towards them and jumped in to help his Uncle who'd been keeping a hoard of evil men away from a few helpless non-benders. Zuko followed his Uncle's flames and spun, giving one of the men a roundhouse kick to the face. He sent two fists of fire towards the rest of the men before he winced in pain. Behind him another masked figure lunged at him with a dagger, slicing open his side. Iroh was quick to blow the man with the weapon across the room.

"Zuko go, I can handle this!" Zuko grabbed his throbbing side before making his way back towards the exit. He looked down the dark hallway for any sign of the waterbender. Right before calling her name out he heard a few voices. He hid behind a pillar in the dark to stay unseen.

"We have our mission, so stick to it. Don't stray from the path with distractions." A deep voice said. He wore a mask like the rest of them, but wore a black robe and black gloves as well. Didn't seem like the fighting type. Zuko peered further from behind the pillar to scope out how many of them there were. Three men stood a few feet away from him, standing over a body. One man crouched down over the body.

"But she looked so fun to play with. I couldn't resist." The crouched man snickered as he wrapped his hands in a fist full of brown hair. Zuko's breath hitched as he realized who that hair belonged to. His legs couldn't move quick enough.

"Get the fuck away from her!" He screamed and planted his feet firmly on the ground. In one swift wave of his arm, he pointed his two fingers at the men, summoning a powerful beam of lightning straight for them. The men looked back and jumped out of the way as fast as they could, disappearing into the darkness. Zuko could smell the heavy scent of burnt flesh. He'd at least gotten one of them.

Zuko rushed over to Katara's unconscious body and kneeled down next to her. He cupped her cheek and brushed his thumb across her face, shaking her gently with his other hand.

"Katara?" Zuko whispered to her. He inspected her body to find any possible harm they might've done to her. She slowly started to come to, trying to open her eyes. He propped her head up with his hand, feeling a cool liquid at the back of her hair.

"Oh Katara." He said softly, being as gentle as he could with the wounded girl. He didn't know what was happening, he wanted to put an end to all this mayhem, but all he wanted in this moment was to protect her.

"Zuko.." She moaned as she slowly opened her eyes. "M-my head." She got up and reached for the painful spot. Zuko slowly helped her lean against the wall behind them.

"Be careful Kat." He tucked the hair in her face behind her ear, examining her for any more injuries. Katara looked up at him confused.

"What the hell is going on?" She said wincing at her sudden pounding headache.

"I don't know Kat. But I'm gonna find out. Let me take you somewhere safe." Without hesitation he lifted her into his arms and carried her into a nearby room. It was dark and away from any windows or main walkways. Hopefully no one would even think about coming in here. Zuko sat her down in a chair inside the room and grabbed a vase of flowers that sat on the desk. Removing the flowers he presented the vase to her as she bent the water from inside, coating her hand and pressing it against her wounds. Zuko set the vase down and kneeled down next to her.

"Are you feeling ok now?" He asked concerned, taking her free hand into his. She nodded in response.

"Yeah I'm fine Zuko. Please you don't have to wait here for me, go." In his head he screamed no, but he merely nodded and stood up, running back out towards the commotion.

Back in the ballroom the smoke was starting to subside but the black figures were gone. Zuko scanned the room for an explanation but got none. They'd just vanished in thin air. Who were these people and how did they even get in? Zuko made his way over to his guards who still had possession of one intruder. Zuko walked up and grabbed his mask, aggressively removing it from his head. The face of a beaten up, middle aged man stared Zuko down with a frightening smile. Zuko's eyes flickered to the X shaped scar burned into the side of his face.

"Looks like we have something in common." The man laughed a hideous laugh before Zuko rolled his eyes and looked at his guards.

"Take him to the cell. I'll have a chat with him later." The guards nodded and aggressively made him walk out of the ballroom and down the hall. Zuko looked around at the people that had been affected by this random fiasco. His heart felt heavy. Innocent people had been hurt tonight, and he did nothing to protect them.

"Zuko!" He heard his Uncle call his name. Turning around he saw him approach with a crying woman. He knew this woman, the wife of General Yan.

"What's the matter?" He asked the crying woman. She could barely speak between her sobs.

"H-He's gone! They t-took h-him!" She cried into the Fire Lords arms and he looked up at his Uncle with wide eyes.

~.~.~.~.~

Zuko's leg bounced as he sat in his throne thinking about what he should do about this situation. This was bad. This was unexpected, and now someones life was at stake. As he inhaled and exhaled, the flames surrounding him grew and grew with his frustration. The rest of the Fire Nation officials sat in silence, awaiting a word from their leader.

"Remember when I had a hunch that we should be aware of a threat?" He said, not looking at anyone in particular. Several of the generals gave Shun a sideways glance but said nothing.

"So now we're missing General Yun. We don't who these people are, we don't know what they want, we don't know where he i-

"Sire I have a search fleet out as we speak. They couldn't have gotten too far. " Shun cut him off. Zuko gave him a sideways glance but chose not to go off on the man. "Good."

"Why would these people choose to take Yun out of all of us?" General Ruho chimed in. "Think about it, Yun is in charge of the Fire Nation's international affairs. He's a strong asset to any enemy of our nation."

"You're all too important to loose." Zuko added. "But yes, you make a good point. I want everyone watching their backs. This is no longer just a possible threat. It's an attack on our country."

After the men left Zuko stayed behind in the throne room. He stepped down from his throne and walked up to the only wall in the palace that still had tapestries of the previous Fire Lords. These men were pure evil, even if they were his 'family'. He kept them up as a reminder of what he never wanted for his country again. He wanted to be different, a positive light for the Nation to follow, but he doubted his abilities to rule more and more each day. Suddenly he heard the door creak open but didn't move to see who it was.

"Hope you're not taking advice from your old man." Sokka asked as he approached him and put a comforting hand on his shoulder. Zuko looked back to see his friends as they walked in.

"How are you holding up?" Suki asked him, holding her arm nervously.

"Is that a trick question?" He raised his brow. He wasn't in the mood for stupid questions.

"Look we just came in here to let you know we're gonna stay as long as you need us." Sokka said firmly. Zuko hated asking for help, he wanted and needed to be a good leader and to figure this out for himself. But…they did always work best as a team.

"Yeah Sparky, you know we've got your back. You don't always have to do everything alone." Toph said in the most sincere voice she could muster up. Her brain still seemed fuzzy after all the drinking and mayhem. Fighting under the influence was proved to be her hardest task yet. "Aang's gonna stay too. Right?" She added, elbowing him to speak up. He winced and inhaled, before letting it out slowly.

"Zuko, what happened tonight was, unfortunate. But I can't leave these people without trying to get to the bottom of what happened. So I'll stay as long as I can, until I'm needed back at the colonies." Zuko looked him in the eye and nodded. They both understood they weren't on the best terms right now, but they agreed this was an important matter and their differences needed to be put aside. Zuko's eyes flicked to Katara standing behind them all, being more quiet than usual. He didn't say anything, not wanting to cause a scene.

"Thank you guys. It means a lot to me." It was funny to him how fast Team Avatar was formed after so many years. He was grateful to have friends like this, something he never thought would happen growing up.

Never thought he'd be apart of so many group hugs either.

Sokka pulled him in and Suki laughed wrapping her arms around Sokka's back. Toph wedged her way in the middle and Aang awkwardly rested his hand on Zuko's back. Zuko made eye contact with Katara before she wrapped herself around Suki. The group laughed before letting go and heading back to their rooms.

"I have guards stationed at each of your rooms tonight. You know I'm highly paranoid now." He chuckled as they walked away.

Katara was the last of the bunch to walk out. Zuko jogged up behind her and touched her arm, urging for her stay behind for a quick word. She turned and looked at him with heavy eyes.

"How's your head?" He asked her quietly. She nodded and gave him a little smile.

"It's better. Thanks…for saving my butt back there. If it wasn't for you I'd still be bleed- Zuko you're bleeding!" He gave her a small smile and looked down at his wound he had forgotten about in the heat of the moment.

"Oh.. yeah." He wish'd she didn't say anything because the pain started to come back. Katara drew water from her pouch that she now made sure was neatly tucked by her side. She coat her hand in water and pressed it against his tattered blood stained shirt. Zuko winced at the cold touch against his dirty wound and sighed as her healing affects kicked in.

"Why didn't you say anything?" She asked looking up at him. He looked into her now worrisome eyes.

'Because I was afraid you'd hate me for marrying that girl' He thought in his head, clearly the answer to a different question.

"It's ok it didn't hurt that ba-" He winced again as he felt her hand press harder against him. "And frankly I was more worried about you." He admitted. Her face turned red but she concentrated on his wound so he wouldn't see.

"Kat can I talk to you about something." She didn't respond so he mustered up the strength to continue. "Before all this…craziness. When you saw-

"Yeah?" She said cutting him off.

"Um. It…wasn't what it looked like." Katara dropped her hands and looked him in the eye. "Then what was it Zuko? Every time I fall for you you surprise me with another blow to my heart. What was it if it was nothing?" Zuko's heart was pounding at this point. He didn't know which part of her confession to focus on. She'd fell for him? And here he was hurting her and losing her trust again. He was a bad Fire Lord and even worse with girls.

"I'm supposed to get married soon. And the council has been trying to find a…'contender'. Ok, I have nothing to do with it. I…the people need a Fire Lady, an heir to the throne. Especially now that the throne has been threatened." He looked away from her. She was upset with him, but in this moment he sounded so lost and unsure of himself.

"Don't you want to marry for love?" She asked him, looking deep into his eyes. He looked at her and sighed.

"Yes. I do, but-"

"But what?" She cut him off. "You have to follow your heart."

He shook his head. "But I have to do my job too." It seemed he was more concerned about what his people needed these days than being concerned with his own needs. Katara understood and admired that, to an extent.

"So then, I should just leave…" Katara said glancing at the ground and turning to make her exit. Zuko couldn't stop himself from grabbing her arm and spinning her back around.

"Please. Please don't leave again. Don't." His desperate sounding voice trailed off as he brought her close and hugged her against his chest. Her eyes widened, not expecting the hug but she quickly wrapped her arms around him in comfort. He was lost. She could see it in his eyes and hear it in his voice. He was the same lost little kid she'd met all those years ago. She wanted to comfort him, tell him everything would be ok, that they were going to fight this together. Her heart was sore seeing him melt into her arms.

"Kat." Zuko whispered in her ear as he ran his fingers through her soft hair. Katara released him and pulled back. She felt his arms not wanting to let go of her but she needed to pull away. She cupped his face with her soft cold hands and he sighed peacefully, cupping her hands with his own. She leaned into him slowly and placed a warm genuine kiss on his lips. Zuko instantly melted into her arms and inhaled sharply, deepening the kiss.

In his weakest, most vulnerable moment, she made him feel completely whole. The weight of a country on his shoulders from the age of 16 clearly put a damper on his whole demeanor. Katara knew him too well not to notice. She watched him grow into a strong fit leader, but with that job came the stress, the hard decisions, fears. Zuko cared too much for everyone but himself. Moments with her like these made those feelings wash away. He could just be himself. She saw that in the way he laughed with her, the way he held her close, the way he kissed her.

Zuko wrapped his arms around her, bringing her closer and slipping his tongue past her lips. He kissed her over and over until he parted to take a breath.

"Kat I'm sorry, I'm so sorry I'm trying." And just like the the Fire Lord broke down in her arms. "I don't want to lose you again." It was clear he was trying to hold back tears that it seemed he'd been holding back for years. Katara shushed him and ran her fingers through his hair.

"It's ok Zuko. It's ok." She wanted to comfort him the best way she could and make him feel like it was ok to release all of this pent up anger and anxiety. He was hurting himself by keeping it in. She grabbed his face and kissed him deeply, holding onto his hair to keep herself balanced in the midst of the breathtaking kiss. Zuko picked her up and wrapped her legs around his waist, walking over to this throne. She couldn't help but laugh at his perverted mind and ideas. He kissed her harder as he sat on his throne, holding her tightly on his lap so she wouldn't fall. Katara snaked her arms around his neck, pulling him even closer. The two parted from a breath and looked into each others eyes.

"Kat?" Zuko said quietly.

"Yes Zuko." She replied brushing his sweaty hair out of his eyes.

"Stay with me tonight." She couldn't tell if it was a question or a demand but she nodded yes either way.

The two made their way down the dark hallway. He stood close by her, cautious of anything and everything now. Guards stood at every door, nook and cranny of the palace. He hated when things had to come to this.

They walked into his bedroom, hoping the guards would keep their mouths shut and not gossip about what they saw. The room was dark and cold, but perfect. Zuko stripped down to only his underwear and touched his side, inspecting his healed cut. She always amazed him when she used her magic on him. He thought he would be used to it now but it still astonished him. He looked up again and saw her already changed into one of his robes. She smiled nervously and reached for his hand, leading him to bed. He couldn't take his eyes off of her. His feelings inside were so strong, he didn't know what to make of it.

As they lay together in his big royal bed, Zuko pulled her close, kissing her once more before holding her close.

"Goodnight Katara." He closed his eyes and inhaled the scent of her hair. Katara smiled and nuzzled her face into his chest.

"Goodnight Zuko."