Hooray I updated within a week! I are proud :)
Also, a Happy day to you all ^^
--
Chapter 10: If I Can't Love Her
On the other side of the castle, the Blue Spirit was standing nervously at the foot of the stairs that lead to the East Wing hallway where Katara's room was. In an effort to be a gentleman, the Spirit had prepared a small meal to make up for Katara's missed dinner. In his hands was a silver tray containing a bowl of soup, a slice of bread and a glass of water. It was a small tray but hopefully it would be enough.
"Okay Zuko..." the Spirit said taking in a deep breath "Remember, act like a gentlemen. Be polite...and control your temper."
As the Spirit made his way up the stairs, he heard loud voices approaching from the hallway. Ducking behind the drapes, he surprised to see Katara walk into the room while being escorted by Sokka and Suki.
"...as you can see, from all the magnificent paintwork and designs, this castle was designed during the reign of Fire Lord Sozin. A perfect depiction of the Fire Nation at it best during the Neo-classic Brook period." Suki said gesturing to the walls and ceilings. "And as I always say, if it's not 'brook' don't fix it!" Suki said laughing at her own joke.
Katara forced a smiled while Sokka merely shook his head. "Suki please, leave the jokes to the funny people."
Katara giggled a little while Suki glared back at him. "Anyway...our next display is the flying buttresses in the armory hall. Follow me this way please." Suki said walking to the next room.
"So what do you think so far?" Sokka asked Katara.
"Oh Sokka, it's all so beautiful! I had no idea." Katara said looking around the hall. "The only thing that would make it better is if 'he' weren't here..."
"Well that's kinda harsh don't you think?" Sokka frowned.
"No it's the truth." Katara said defiantly. "I'll bet even you would agree that this place would be much better off without him."
Sokka was about to respond when Suki called out from the other room "Come on you two, keep up!"
As Sokka and Katara left the room, the Spirit emerged from behind the drapes feeling as if he'd been slapped in the face. "Act like a gentlemen..." Looking down at the tray, he grimaced and threw it to the floor. "Yeah right! What was I thinking? I'm nothing but a fool..." He said as he stormed off, leaving the tray splattered all over the floor.
--
After walking through nearly a dozen rooms, they finally entered the west side of the castle where Suki continued to ramble on about various forms of Fire Nation artwork.
"...and thanks to some quick thinking on my part, a huge disaster was adverted." Suki said proudly. "That was the last time anyone ever erected a huge fire breathing statue of Fire Lord Sozin in this area again."
"Oh please Suki." Sokka said irritably. "You're so called 'quick thinking' was tattling to the master after your dress caught on fire. And even then you ran around for ten minutes screaming your head off."
"Oh shut it Sokka!" Suki snapped back. "You're just mad because you got in trouble for nearly burning the castle down with your so called 'masterpiece'."
"Hey that only happened twice!" Sokka replied. "And that statue was a masterpiece! Handcrafted from the finest spare junk parts the dump had to offer!"
"Yeah it was a 'masterpiece' alright." Suki said rolling her eyes. "A master piece of-"
"Shush up for a sec." Sokka said covering her mouth as he looked around. "Where'd Katara go?"
Realizing she wasn't following them anymore, Sokka and Suki doubled back to look for her and nearly panicked when they saw her about to walk up a large staircase. Quick as a flash, they dashed to the stairs to block her path.
"Oh hey guys. Sorry I wandered off but I was wondering...what's up there?" Katara asked curiously pointing up the stairs.
"Nothing!" Suki said holding her arms out "Nope, nothing interesting at all in the west wing. Very dusty, drafty, dull...very boring."
"Ahh so that's the west wing." Katara said smiling at this revelation.
"Nice going big mouth." Sokka muttered to Suki who covered her mouth in embarrassment.
"I wonder what he's hiding up there?" Katara wondered, looking up the stairs.
"Hiding? C'mon, the master isn't hiding anything." Sokka said casually.
"Then it wouldn't be forbidden would it?" Katara ask as she tried walking back up the stairs only to be blocked again by Suki.
"Um, perhaps you would like to see something else more interesting?" Suki suggested. "We have exquisite tapestries dating all the way back to-"
"Maybe later." Katara said stepping over her only to be blocked again by Sokka.
"Well what about the gardens? Or the library perhaps?" Sokka suggested hastily.
"You have a library here?" Katara asked, her interest peaked.
"Oh yes indeed!" Suki said happily.
"With books!" Sokka added.
"Gads of books!" Suki said escorting her back down.
"Mountains of books!" Sokka added.
"Cascades!"
"Swamps of books!"
"Books on every subject in existence!"
"With pictures and words and even pictures with words!"
"That sounds great!" Katara said excitedly. "I can't wait to see it! Where is it by the way?"
"Just three hallways down from here. I believe we passed it after exploring the conservatory." Suki explained.
"Oh yes, I remember where that is." Katara said thinking briefly. "Say...how about we have a race to see who gets there first? Bet I can beat you two."
"Fat chance!" Sokka said pompously. "I may not have legs but I can move as fast as a CheetaHorse."
"Oh please Sokka, you're so full of yourself." Suki scoffed. "Besides running in the hall in child's play-"
"What's that Suki?" Sokka called from down the hallway. "I couldn't hear you over the wind whistling in the my ears!"
"Sokka no fair!" Suki called as she took off after him. "You can't get a head start!"
As Katara watched Suki disappeared down the hall after Sokka, a small smile creped across her face. As much as she hated tricking them, her distraction had worked and she was now free to explore on her own. Turning back towards the stairs, she quickly checked around for others before proceeding up towards the West Wing.
--
After reaching the top of the stairs, a much different site awaited her then she expected. Instead of a widely lit hallway, there was a dark and dreary looking corridor lined with creepy gargoyle statues and broken pieces of marble that littered the floor. After passing a smashed mirror, she finally came to a large door with a monster shaped brass knob on the front. At first she was hesitant to enter but her curiosity to know what lay inside got the best of her.
Pulling open the door, an even darker and drearier looking site met her eyes. It was a large room that looked as if a pack of LionWolves had been unleashed inside it. Every single piece of furniture or decor was either torn down or broken beyond repair. Drapes hung from the ceiling in tattered masses while pieces of furniture lay in piles of ashes, burnt beyond recognition. Even the bed looked as if it had collapsed in upon itself.
Starting to get a little creeped out, Katara cautiously walked inside the room and tried with great difficulty to maneuver around the mess. After nearly knocking over a table, a set of slash marks on the wall caught her eye that lead up to a painting. It appeared to be a portrait of a person but the claw marks raked across its face made it unrecognizable. The only real thing she could make out was the person's eyes, which were a bright gold color.
As she looked closer at the picture, a bright glow from the balcony caught her eye. Looking towards it, she was surprised to see what appeared to be a rose, hovering atop of a wooden mantle with a glass bell jar covering it. Mesmerized by its hypnotic glow, Katara wanted a better look and slowly walked toward it. After looking it over, she then lifted up the bell jar and setting it gently on the ground. She was about to touch it when she heard a loud banging noise followed by the door bursting open.
Panic sweeping through her, Katara quickly hid behind a broken cabinet as the Spirit walked through the room, kicking aside anything in his path. He froze in terror when he saw the rose exposed on the mantle piece and quickly covered it back up with the bell jar. He then looked around the room, wondering who had the nerve to enter his chambers and uncover his rose. Katara tried quietly backing away but knocked into a coat rack, which fell over cracked in two.
Spinning around, the Spirit took out his swords and advanced toward the cabinet. "Who there? SHOW YOURSELF!" Terrified, Katara took a deep uneasy breath before coming out from behind the cabinet to face the Spirit. She could feel his hollow eyes bore into her as she stood rooted to the spot.
"You...Why are you here!?" He demanded, walking up to her with his swords still drawn.
"I'm-I'm sorry." Katara stuttered.
"I thought I told you never to come here!" The Spirit said holding a sword up to her.
"I didn't mean any harm!" Katara said backing away from him.
"No harm!?" the Spirit shouted. "Do you realize what you could have done!? GET OUT!"
"Please, I-" Katara pleaded before tripping back over a broken footstool. As she struggled to get up, the Spirit put his swords away and stood over her.
"Didn't you hear me!?" the Spirit shouted angrily grabbing her by the wrist. "I said get out!"
As he yanked her to her feet, Katara let out a terrible scream and pulled herself away from the Spirit. She then stumbled back toward the bed, holding her arm with a pained look on her face. The Spirit was surprised to see her react that way, as he didn't think he grabbed her that hard. That is, till he got a good look at her wrist.
He was shocked to see large claw-like scorch marks where he had grabbed had been burned directly into her sleeve. And showing underneath the charred cloth were some large and very painful looking red blisters. Realizing that he had actually hurt her, the Spirits anger disappeared and was replaced with immediate concern.
"Oh no... I didn't realize-" he tried moving towards her to help but she quickly backed off. "It was my reflexes, I didn't mean to burn you-"
"Don't touch me!" She shouted through tears as she ran back through the room.
"Wait! I want to help you!" the Spirit said as he tried following her. "Stop!"
"Stay away from me!" Katara screamed as she grabbed a wooden frame and chucked it at his head.
"Please! I'm sorry!" the Spirit said before ducking underneath the flying frame, which shattered behind him.
But despite how much he pleaded, Katara continued to force her way back through the room, throwing whatever broken items she came across at the Spirit who managed to avoid much of it. When he finally did manage to catch up with her, she responded by whacking him up side the head with the arm of a broken chair. He then fell to the ground while Katara threw open the doors and ran back into the hallway.
--
Moaning in pain, the Spirit sat back up and rubbed his sore head. It took him a bit to realize that Katara had left the room and was probably halfway across the castle by now. He stood back up, ready to go after her but didn't go past the doorway. For some reason the look on her face when he grabbed her kept sticking out his mind, as if to remind him that going after her would be pointless and cause more harm then good.
Reluctantly, he closed the door and walked back through the room. Along the way, he felt something brush his foot and looked down to see something blue stick out from under his bed. He picked it up and saw that it was a tattered blue scarf with a symbol on the end that appeared to be water tribe. He knew it must belonged to Katara, but there was no way he could return it to her now. It was then that he realized how badly he had screwed up. Not only did he lose his temper with Katara but he had also burned her as well, possibly scarring her for the rest of her life. Standing in front of the mantle, he put down her scarf and gazed at his acursed clawed hands, not noticing as yet another petal fell from the rose.
And in my twisted face
There's not the slightest trace
Of anything that even hints of kindness
And from my tortured shape
No comfort, no escape
I see, but deep within is utter blindness
Hopeless
As my dream dies
As the time flies
Love a lost illusion
Helpless
Unforgiven
Cold and driven
To this sad conclusion
No beauty could move me
No goodness improve me
No power on earth, if I can't love her
Wandering onto his balcony, he thought back to all the mistakes he made and how much of his life he had wasted. He could've used the time to help his people, do good deeds and form friendships. And Katara could've have helped him achieve that life if he gave her that chance. But now instead, he was going to spend eternity alone inside his dark dismal castle due to his selfish misdeeds. Feeling hopeless, he leaned on the rail and buried his face in his hands.
No passion could reach me
No lesson could teach me
How I could have love her and made her love me too
If I can't love her, then who?
Long ago I should have seen
All the things I could have been
Careless and unthinking, I moved onward
As he continued leaning on the rail, he heard a growling noise and looked down to see a commotion going on in the courtyard. He was shocked to see Katara there, quickly untying her bison from its rope and now sitting atop the creature snapping the reigns. With one swoop of its tail, the bison took off into the air toward the forest. Seeing she had gone back on her promise and was making a getaway, the Spirit felt a fury build up inside him. Not just at her, but also at himself for making her run away in the first place.
"Are you happy now Yue!?" the Spirit shouted up at the night sky to the half moon. "This is what you wanted right? To torture me? Give me false hope? Well congradulations, hope you're happy!"
No pain could be deeper
No life could be cheaper
No point anymore, if I can't love her
No spirit could win me
No hope left within me
Hope I could have loved her and that she'd set me free
But it's not to be
If I can't love her
Looking up at the half moon, Zuko felt a new determination suddenly build up inside him. But it wasn't just to break the spell; it was also to prove to the moon goddess wrong. To prove that HE controlled his fate and HE could change things.
Leaping onto the railing, he called up to Yue "I'll show you! I will break this spell and be free again. And if I don't, then...Let the world be done with me!" And with that he jumped back onto the balcony, ran through his room and out through the doors.
--
Poor Zuko...actually poor Katara. yikes. :/ Wouldnt wanna be around him when hes mad. Id end up with even more nasty looking scars.
Well its the halfway point and so far so good. And in the next chapter, its battle time! huzzah!