What'd I say to her
Why'd I say it to her
What does she think of me
That I'm not what I ought to be
That I'm what I try not to be
It's got to be somebody else's fault
I can't get caught
If what I am is what I am
Cause I does what I does
Then brother get back cause my breast gonna bust open
The rib is the shell and the heart is the yolk
And I just made a meal for us both to choke on
—Every Single Night, Fiona Apple
The knife digs into his throat. Blood trickles down his neck and dribbles onto the pillow underneath his head. Everything is fuzzy for a moment, as his brain is still half-asleep, but he hears her voice.
"Please don't." She sounds frantic and hushed. "You don't have to, please."
Katara is pleading for him.
Zuko opens his eyes.
The woman standing over him is beautiful; she has long, black hair, dark red lips, and scheming brown eyes. She spits on him and then places more pressure onto the knife.
Zuko swallows and it hurts, but that's when he spies Katara over the mystery woman's shoulder. Her scars her uncovered, like she's not concerned with them at the moment, and her blues eyes are tinged with red. She's upset, and this makes him angry.
Quick as a flash his hand darts up and he circles the woman's wrist with blazing fingers. She shrieks and yanks herself back, slamming up against the bedroom wall.
Zuko is up and out of the bed instantly. He shoves his foot into the woman's stomach and pushes, watching emotionlessly as she gasps and clutches at his boot.
He raises a hand filled with fire. She'll die. She'll die for upsetting the waterbender, she'll die for sneaking into Katara's room, and she'll die for daring to threaten his life. He's about to shove his fist forward, eyes narrowed with concentration, when nails sink into his shoulder and yank at his shirt.
He removes his attention from the mystery woman long enough to notice that Katara is practically clawing at him. She's saying something, but in his haste to defend the both of them he hadn't even heard her.
"—don't!" She shoves against his shoulder, doing everything that she can to move him.
"Back off, Katara," the woman instructs. "For all we know he'll burn you too just for speaking to him."
Zuko is offended by that. He pushes his foot even harder into the woman's stomach. "Who the fuck are you?" he growls furiously.
The woman has the audacity to smirk at him. "Wouldn't you like to know, pretty prince."
Katara, having given up on Zuko's shoulder, steps forward and slaps her palm against Zuko's extended knee, forcing him to drop his leg.
Before he can even blink the woman is across the room with her knife raised. "Come on, Katara, before he grabs you."
The waterbender glances back and forth between Zuko and the woman with indecision.
Before he can put much thought into the action, Zuko takes her elbow into his grip and forces Katara behind him. He has no idea what this crazy, strange woman might do next. "I'm going to ask you again, and this time you will answer my question. Who the fuck are you?"
The woman curls her upper lip at him.
Katara pushes against Zuko's side so that she can see around him, but doesn't attempt to step out in front of him. "Please, June. Calm down. It's not… I can explain."
The woman, June, lowers her knife a few inches and takes a couple of steps forward. Her brown eyes are fixated on the waterbender. "I found him in your bed, Katara. Who knows what he might have done to you?"
Zuko's hands curl into fists. "How dare you suggest that I'd—"
"Shut up, pretty prince, before I give you a red smile."
Zuko almost has her; he's moved across the room so quickly that the woman barely had time to react to his inflamed hands, but Katara grabs the back of his shirt and jerks him backward with enough strength to send him flying into a bed post.
"What are you doing here, June?" Katara demands. Zuko notices that she's standing in front of him now, although he's not sure if she's trying to protect him or the other woman from him.
June presses her lips together until they form a thin line. "I'm here to bust you out of this prison, Katara."
Loud, boisterous knocking causes everyone to freeze.
"Prince Zuko!" comes the muffled voice of a guard. "Is everything all right in there? Do you need our assistance?"
Zuko takes a step towards the door but then hesitates. It would be too easy to throw June out into the hallway and have the Royal Guards take care of her, but at the same time, it could potentially get Katara in trouble. And for some reason, he doesn't want that.
He walks over to the door and pulls it open, making sure to angle his body so that the guards can't peer around him. "Nothing is wrong," he snaps out gruffly. "No more disturbances." And then he slams the door right in the head guard's confused face.
He leans his back against the door and scowls at June. "Now," he begins lowly, "give me one good reason why I should continue to spare your life?"
Before June can open her mouth, the waterbender steps forward. "She's the bounty hunter that I worked for; she's the friend that I came her for."
This takes Zuko by surprise, although in retrospect he should have suspected it. He narrows his eyes at the bounty hunter. "And you came here in honor of your friend?"
June's eyes narrow back at him. "No one deserves to end up like this." She wraps a protective hand around Katara's elbow.
Zuko casually shrugs one shoulder. "Oh, I don't know, I think the waterbender and I have, if anything, become friends." He's being sarcastic, and Katara rolls her eyes, although Zuko catches the way her whole posture stiffens at his words.
Zuko jerks his head toward the door. "Come on. If you surrender quietly, then I'll personally make sure that your execution is as quick and painless as possible."
"No!" Katara cries out, lunging forward in front of June. "Take one step toward her and I'll—I'll—"
"You'll what?" Zuko tilts his head to the side. "Throw ice picks at me? Katara, this woman snuck into my home and put a knife at my throat. She threatened to kill me. I cannot have that."
"You're a hypocrite," Katara accuses. Her still visible blue eyes are shinier than normal. "I stole your knife from your boot that one time, remember? I threatened you then, and you didn't punish me. I knocked you out with a vase!"
June quirks an eyebrow at this.
"That was different," Zuko insists.
Katara shakes her head. "Not really."
Seconds later Zuko is fuming. He hates being cornered like this. "Well, she can't just stay here, Katara. I have to do something about her." He turns his attention onto June. "How did you get in here, anyway?"
June gives Katara a significant look.
And suddenly his stomach drops to his feet. It had never occurred to him that the waterbender might have helped her get inside.
June smirks. "I climbed over the palace gates, scaled the wall, and then climbed in through the window." She inspects her nails. "You should probably consider improving your palace security."
"I have an idea," Katara states, gaining June and Zuko's gazes. "We had a deal."
But Zuko doesn't remember making any deal. "No, we didn't."
Katara looks like she would like nothing more than to punch him in the face. "Yes, we did. You said that if I helped you find your sister and inspect the bodies—"
"Bodies?"
Katara looks at June out of the corner of her eye. "I'll explain later. Anyway, you said that if I helped you, then you'd release Toph from the Project. That was our deal. June can't stay here, but maybe she could sneak back out with Toph? As long as she promises not to come back."
June instantly opens up her mouth to protest, but Zuko cuts her off. "I remember agreeing about Toph…" He eyes June suspiciously. "I don't trust her."
The bounty hunter rolls her eyes. "Good. You shouldn't."
"You'd probably make another assassination attempt."
"You're damn right I would."
"June." Katara's voice is soft, and the older woman turns to the waterbender with worry and affection in her eyes.
Zuko realizes that this is sort of a pseudo-reunion between the two of them. And he's interrupting.
"Please consider this," Katara continues, looking back and forth between Zuko and June before settling her unwavering gaze onto the prince. "That way, our deal is upheld and taken care of, and June would disappear. And I'd stay here, as agreed upon."
"Katara," June hisses furiously. "Don't be an idiot!"
"I'm not!" Katara snips back, her voice breaking a little bit. "I'm trying to keep everyone alive." For a brief moment, the waterbender looks so exhausted that Zuko thinks that she might collapse back into her bed. She probably wants to.
He almost feels…bad for her. "Okay," he says. "It's a plan."
Katara's face relaxes with relief, but June looks less then pleased.
"However," Zuko nods in June's direction, "if I ever see you again, then I will kill you on site. No exceptions."
Katara's expression crumbles a little, and Zuko understands that this day is the last time that they will spend together. A small part of him feels a little sad on their behalf.
He reaches forward and snags Katara's wrist. "Come on, let's go tell that annoying earthbender what's going on."
Katara attempts to tug her wrist out of his grip, but there's not a lot of effort behind the action. "You don't need me for that."
"I know that I don't. But I'm definitely not leaving you in this room alone with her."
The guards give both Katara and Zuko funny looks when they leave the room.
Zuko straightens his shoulders and sets out in a quick-paced strut toward the volunteer's dining hall. Most of them should be eating their breakfast by now.
Katara follows him slowly, dragging her feet. Occasionally Zuko will glance at her over his shoulder. She's arranged her hair so that it covers the injured side of her face again, but the part of her face that is still visible appears miserable. She looks like she would like to curl up into a ball and cry.
"Lighten up," he finally mutters to her. "At least I'm not having your friend executed. I should be doing that. But I'm not."
"Shut up, Zuko," she snarls, causing him to jerk his head back in surprise. Her misery has quickly dissolved into anger. "You will never understand. She's—she was my best friend, my only friend, for a long, long time." She swipes a finger under her eye. "And now, after tonight, I'll never see her again thanks to you."
Zuko looks away from her. "At least she'll be alive. You're so ungrateful," he says coldly. He takes a chance and briefly looks back at her. Katara's upper lip has curled at the edge, but she remains silent. Zuko realizes after a beat that she probably won't speak to him again until it's necessary.
He resists the urge to groan in frustration.
They finally reach the dining hall and Zuko shoves open the door with purpose.
The majority of the volunteers look up at him with vague surprise. It occurs to Zuko that they're not used to him being in their midst.
He's not doing a very good job at running Project Kongzhi. Granted, he's been a little distracted, but as the future Fire Lord he should get used to multitasking.
He wonders if his father even cares enough to notice how irresponsible he's been toward the Project as of late.
Someone brushes past his shoulder, and Zuko watches as Katara walks the length of the table before sitting down next to Toph at the other end of the room.
Zuko knows that he has to let them speak in private. They'll have to figure out a good excuse at getting Toph to Katara's room later that evening, and Zuko's also pretty sure that Katara is trying to ease any fears that Toph might have about escaping.
Although, considering Toph's character, Zuko doesn't think the blind earthbender is afraid of much.
He paces around the room leisurely, occasionally popping in on a conversation. All of the volunteers are earthbenders, with the exception of Katara.
Katara.
He still hasn't told her about her upcoming Interviews yet. Dread knits in his stomach. Telling her is one of the last things he wants to do. She'll hate him even more than she does now.
Twenty minutes zoom by, and finally Katara is by his side again, her head ducked low and a serious expression on her face.
"Is everything taken care of?" Zuko asks quietly. The waterbender gives him an imperceptible nod.
They leave the dining room and Zuko leads the way back down the hallway.
"Toph is going to take her dinner in my room tonight," Katara explains underneath her breath so that no passerby can hear. "And then June will take it from there."
Zuko doesn't answer, and soon Katara notices that they're not heading toward the direction of her room.
"Where are you taking me?" she asks, voice laced with suspicion.
"My room," Zuko answers with a shrug. "I don't think it's a good idea for you to be alone with that bounty hunter right now."
Katara's slim fingers wrap around his elbow and pull him back so that he's standing next to her. Her breathing is harsh, but the determined expression on her face is one of the fiercest things that he's ever seen.
"You don't have to be such a cruel person."
Her words resonate inside of him, although he wishes that they didn't.
"Yes," he says firmly. He tugs his elbow out of her grasp. "I do."
She won't look at him.
She won't speak to him.
She sits at his desk and stares at her hands, and all Zuko can think about is how his letter to Uncle is still sitting, folded up, on the corner of his desk. He still hasn't made the decision as to whether or not he'll send it.
Zuko can't help but think about what Uncle would do in this situation.
The prince immediately knows the answer. Uncle would have let her spend the rest of the day with her friend.
Even hundreds of miles away in the Earth Kingdom, Uncle Iroh still manages to have a long lasting impression on his nephew.
Sighing, Zuko gets up from where he's sitting on the edge of his bed, opens his bedroom door, and calls for a couple of guards to accompany Katara back to her room for the rest of the day.
As she glides past him and into the hallway, her face is bright.
Zuko never thought that a smile could affect him like that.
He takes his tea from the servant, and the guard, the head of security sitting across from him, is staring at him as if he's gone mad.
But the guard wouldn't dare question him.
"So, you understand what I'm telling you to do?"
The guard nods curtly. "Yes, Prince Zuko."
Zuko sips from his teacup and lets the scalding liquid slip down the back of his throat.
He watches the sun set from his balcony. His mind is running a mile a minute, and he finds that he can't concentrate on any one thing. He's too antsy.
He's wondering if he made the right decision. He's wondering if it makes him a traitor.
He waits until long after the sun dips down below the horizon before he walks out of his balcony and out into the hallway.
He makes the long trek to Katara's room with a queasy feeling rolling about in his stomach.
He doesn't knock when he reaches her door; he doesn't hesitate at all when he pulls on the doorknob.
Her window is open, and for a brief, horrifying moment Zuko thinks that his fears are confirmed, that Katara has escaped with June and the earthbender.
But then he notices her lean form, shrouded in darkness, perched on her windowsill, watching the night sky and letting the evening wind ruffle her hair.
Zuko doesn't speak a word. He closes the door behind him and leans against it, heart pounding.
"You did something, didn't you?" There is only a sliver of accusation in her voice.
"Yeah," he admits quietly. "I did."
She turns her head away from the sprawling view of the palace gates and stares at him in disbelief. "Why?"
He swallows thickly. "I just figured…that it was the honorable thing to do."
Tears brim in her blue eyes. She's stopped trying to constantly cover her scars in his presence. "I knew, I knew when I didn't see anyone posted underneath my window that you had done something."
Zuko nods. "I set up an escort for them. If your bounty hunter friend complies, then she and that annoying earthbender should be well out of the city by now."
Katara searches him with her blue, blue eyes for a long moment before dipping her head. Her long hair obscures her face a little bit, so he can't quite read her expression. She doesn't say thank you, and even though Zuko knows that what he did should warrant one, he still thinks that maybe he doesn't deserve one.
He clenches his fists and pushes his weight off of the door. "I'll leave you be, now. Tomorrow—"
"We start my Interviews?" she says sourly.
He blinks stupidly in surprise. "How did you—"
Katara rolls her eyes at him. "I'm not an idiot. I'm almost eighteen. I realize that that's what comes next in this…Project of yours." She lowers her eyes and rubs her palms over her knees. "It might actually be nice to get it over with."
Zuko isn't sure if he's ever heard her sound so defeated.
He shakes his head. "No. Tomorrow we're going to have another reading lesson. I forgot that I was still trying to teach you."
Katara's contempt is replaced with anxiety, and Zuko nearly smiles.
He starts to let himself out. "Thank you," he says, not looking at her.
"For what? I didn't do anything." He can hear the frown in her voice.
"For not being dishonorable and leaving when you had the opportunity to."
Katara sighs. "I would never put my friends at risk like that. Besides, you and I had a deal. I always uphold my side of bargains. I hope I can one day say the same for you."
Zuko chuckles darkly at that before leaving her room.
He takes his time making his way back to his bedroom. He walks at a laid-back pace, occasionally humming to himself. He hasn't been in such a good mood in quite some time.
Not since…
Not for quite some time.
A sly voice in the back of his head whispers that by calling off the guards he insulted himself and his father. A true Fire Lord-to-be wouldn't have allowed that bounty hunter to live. He would have taken her out of the picture for being so impudent.
Zuko shakes his hair out of his eyes and rubs at his temples. He'll think about that another time.
When he gets to his room he spots a familiar figure standing outside of his door.
"Mai?" he calls out uncertainly.
She turns around to face him and he stops abruptly.
Mai is swaying on her feet and her long hair is tangled and rumpled.
"Are you okay?" he asks, taking a cautious step forward. "You had too much to drink, didn't you? That's not like you, Mai."
She shakes her head. "Zuko," she gurgles. She coughs, and thick, ink colored fluid trickles out of her mouth and spots the front of her dress.
Her amber eyes roll into the back of her head and she collapses onto the floor.
A/N:
Okay so I hate this chapter. It's definitely a filler, and I think that's one of the reasons why I had such a difficult time starting this chapter to begin with. It's because I knew that this was going to be pretty lousy compared to what's coming up next.
So, apologies.
That being said, what's coming up next should be good. We're finally getting down to the nitty-gritty, so I'm excited.
Thank you all so much for continuing to read and support this story! I know that updates don't come as often as we all would like, but thanks once again for keeping up with it and reviewing anyway!
Leave me your thoughts. :)