Chapter 10:

Suspicions Rising

For the next few days, Zuko allowed Katara to wander the palace whenever she wished. He made strict rules however, on where she was allowed to go, and where she was forbidden. Katara was grateful that Zuko had finally loosened up, and was beginning to believe that maybe her plan was starting to work after all.

Zuko had been extra kind to her, more than usual. He had even woken her up one morning for a large breakfast he had especially prepared. Katara couldn't put a finger on why he had become compassionate all of a sudden. Her only theory was that the walk she had taken with him earlier in the week had possibly opened up a sympathetic side to him. One day while she was sitting outside the palace, admiring the colorful leaves of fall, she saw a carriage pull up to the front of the steps. A man wearing Fire Nation attire hopped out of the wagon and walked up to wear Katara was sitting.

"Excuse me, is this the palace of Ba Sing Se?" he asked politely.

As much as the man's ignorance annoyed her, Katara remembered her manners and replied politely as well.

"Yes. May I help you?"

"I take it you must be a servant working here," the man said looking at Katara's robes.

"I'll leave this message for you to give to Prince Zuko. It contains information on the party tomorrow evening."

Katara looked perplexed as she accepted the letter. Examining the scroll carefully, she could see that the letter had come from the Fire Nation, and was indeed addressed to Zuko.

"I wasn't aware there was a party," Katara said putting the scroll in her pocket.

"I can't imagine how you wouldn't know. I would assume that all the servants would be in charge of decorating for the event."

"It is after all a celebration of the one year victory in the war."

The man climbed into the back of his carriage, and shouted something to the driver to move along. After he was gone, Katara opened the scroll and read the letter that was meant for Zuko.

Dear Prince Zuko;

In honor of the one year victory in the war, the Fire Lord is pleased to inform you that he shall be attending the massive ballroom party tomorrow evening. We hope that everything is arranged according to plan. The Fire Lord expects this party absolutely perfect. Any of his requests that are not met, will be very disappointing. Until tomorrow, we bid you farewell.

Sincerely,

The Fire Nation council.

Katara folded the scroll back to its original form. She truly was clueless about the occasion that was to be held at the Ba Sing Se palace. The thought of the Fire Lord attending such an event, chilled her to the bone. She immediately started to head back inside the palace, carefully avoiding any of the maids she came across.

When she arrived at Zuko's bedroom, she wrapped her hand around the knob ready to burst inside and inform Zuko of the letter she received. But before she could give the knob a turn, she heard Zuko talking to someone. Katara' heart began to beat like a drum when she heard the sinister voice coming from the other side of the door.

"Zu Zu, I cannot believe you forgot about this party," Azula said sneeringly.

"Azula, I've been too busy with other things. I have no time to deal with pointless celebrations."

"Pointless celebrations? Zuko you are not yourself. It seems that ever since we arrived in Ba Sing Se two weeks ago, you've shown little to no interest in ruling this city. I'm starting to wonder if father made the right choice in appointing you leader."

"Look, I'm more of a leader than you'll ever be, Azula. I believe in honor, justice and dignity. The only thing that's on your mind is destruction. You think that killing thousands of innocents will make you the greatest leader since Sozin. Well it's not, it's just plain sick," Zuko said.

Katara felt proud of Zuko as she pressed her ear against the door, listening to the brother and sister conversation. From what he had told her, Azula sometimes intimidated Zuko to the point where he couldn't stand up for himself. Hearing him profess what he truly thought about his sister's cruel ways was very pleasing.

"Since when do you care for the lives of innocent people?" Azula asked questioningly.

"I don't think the Fire Nation should be glorifying themselves in the murder of people who aren't a threat to them," Zuko said sternly.

A moment of silence followed. Katara pressed her ear harder against the door to hear what would come next. She was fearful that Zuko might have given away too much, and Azula was now realizing that he was changing.

"Is this about that servant?" Azula asked. Katara froze in place. She couldn't move, it was as if her body was glued to the door. She was petrified now. Azula was certain to discover information about her. Zuko was willing to stand up to her no matter what, even if it meant risking her life in the process.

"What about her?" Zuko replied.

"I mean, is all this talk about innocence referring to her?"

"No. She's just a servant; she doesn't mean anything to me."

"Funny. You seemed pretty defensive that night when she spilt wine all over me."

"I wasn't defending her, I was just handling the situation," Zuko snapped back.

"Oh really? If so, please tell me what you meant by the words "She didn't mean it," Azula asked.

"I meant that she didn't mean to bring the wrong kind of wine," Zuko lied. "I noticed she was bringing over a pitcher of red wine instead of white, which is your favorite."

"I never heard what happened to her after you escorted her out of the dining room. The guards told me that there was no new prisoner in the dungeon, and it had been that way for a long time," Azula said.

"Tell me, what did you do with her?"

Katara could picture the look in Azula's eyes as she asked the curious question out of pure suspicion. There was no way Zuko could create a lie to answer it at the top of head. Katara was certain her fate was sealed.

"I sent her on a ship back to the Earth Kingdom colonies. I instructed the crew to make sure she was put to hard manual labor. Maybe after a few months of working in the mines, she'll realize the dire consequences for disrespecting the Fire Nation princess."

Azula seemed to believe Zuko's answer, as she moved on with another question.

"The Dai-Li told me that a few days ago; they saw you and a young woman on the boardwalk together. Might I ask who is this lady?"

"She's my girlfriend," Zuko replied. "She is from a wealthy Fire Nation family who came to visit Ba Sing Se. We haven't seen each other in awhile, so I thought we might take a walk together. Why do you want to know about my social life?"

"I was just curious Zu Zu. I always thought you had a thing going on with Mai."

"Mai was just a childhood crush. There was never anything special between us. This girl is someone who I truly loved for a long time," Zuko said.

"Well, if you truly do love her, why don't you bring her to the party tomorrow evening?" Azula asked.

Katara's heart started to beat faster. Azula was purposely trying to lure Zuko into a trap, so she could reveal that he was lying about everything he said.

"Fine. Just please get out of my room, Azula. I don't need you pestering me the entire afternoon with questions."

"As you wish Zuko. Just remember, the party is tomorrow evening in the ballroom. Everyone in the Fire Nation is eager to see their beloved prince and his date at this grand celebration."

Katara quickly ran from Zuko's bedroom door, and ducked behind large fichus in the middle of the hall. When Azula entered the hallway, she stood still and gazed around her. Katara sat still, her heartbeat now pounding through her chest. After looking around, Azula started to walk in the opposite direction to where she was hidden, leaving Katara alone with her thoughts.

Zuko is bound to come up with another risky plan to conceal her identity. Whatever it was, Katara was concerned that Azula had already learned enough information to raise her suspicions to the highest. Zuko had lied directly about her being his girlfriend to protect her from Azula, and in the process opened another problem. Now Katara was going to go to the Fire Nation ball in order to back up Zuko's lie. She could only imagine what the outcome would be when she stepped into the ballroom tomorrow evening, and it wasn't positive.

Now the suspense is rising, isn't it? This might be the last chapter for awhile. I go back to school on Monday, so I'm more than likely going to not going to update. Since I'm a junior this year, I'll probably have ten times more work. But I assure you, I will write another chapter as soon as I can. I have a great idea for the next one, and I've already began to write a bit of it now. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, because it's about to get more thrilling from here on out.

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