Chapter 10-Cry

Yoshi. It had to be Yoshi. Zuko stared for a second before frowning, squaring his shoulders, and stepping inside.

"Treat him well, Yosh. He's really a nice kid," Zuko heard Shisho advise his temporary Master.

"Sure thing," Yoshi responded. "Good day, Shisho." He bowed quickly and slammed the door. He then turned to Zuko and smiled that same creepy, eerie smile.

Zuko raised a brow. "Yes?"

Yoshi glared. "I'm waiting for you to start cleaning, slave." He produced a tattered rag. "You can begin by dusting my belongings."

Zuko rolled his eyes and snatched the rag away from him. "I'm not your slave," he seethed.

"Oh, I believe you are. And according to my Master, King Bumi, I am your Master as long as I see fit... which is until I get bored." He relaxed back on his bed as Zuko began dusting his dresser. "And I have a feeling that won't happen anytime soon."

"Lucky me," Zuko grumbled.

Yoshi narrowed his eyes. "Yes, and speaking of luck, just how is it you got that dashing beauty mark anyway?"

Zuko tensed. Through clenched teeth, he muttered, "I'm sure you know. Everybody does."

"Well I figured I must've heard wrong," Yoshi said with false innocence. "I heard that your father did that to you. On purpose. I heard that he banished you also. Is that true?"

"You heard right. No one else could've possibly injured and banished a prince and gotten away with it but my father." Idiot, he added silently.

"Hmm, okay. Here's my next question." Yoshi sat up and focused intently on Zuko. "How does it feel to know that your father hates you enough to want to duel you and then cast you out of his life when you refuse?"

Zuko stopped cleaning and turned to scowl viciously at Yoshi. "Don't go there," he whispered threateningly.

"And further more," Yoshi continued, "how does your father feel knowing that his only son, heir to his throne, is a complete failure and a miserable excuse for a bender?"

"Who knows?" Zuko snapped. "Why don't you go ask YOUR father!" Zuko whipped his rag at Yoshi and made for the door. "Dusting is done."

Yoshi jumped up quickly and blocked the door. "Not so fast, pretty boy, I never told you that you were free to go." Yoshi smiled nastily and held up what had to be the world's tiniest toothbrush. "My floors need scrubbing."

Zuko scoffed. "They're made of dirt, you idiot!"

"Then I guess you'll be here for a long time then, huh?" Yoshi snarled. "And from now on, you will refer to me as Master."

Zuko's nose wrinkled. "I will never refer to you as my Master. I don't care if my honor is lost forever; I will never be below you."

"You will do as I say, slave!"

With that last word, Yoshi swung a fist up and large chunk of earth spiked up, jabbing Zuko directly under his chin.

Zuko's head snapped back sharply and he fell onto his back hard.

"Get up!" Yoshi snarled at the dazed prince, grabbing him by his ponytail and yanking harshly. He stumbled backwards as Zuko's hair-tie unraveled into his hand.

Zuko kipped up onto his feet, his hair falling onto his shoulders and around his face. Taking advantage of the soldier's temporary surprise, he sprinted around him. Jumping onto the end of the bed, Zuko broke the top of the end-posts off and performed a smooth ariel off of the bed and onto the ground. Zuko decided these would work as well as broad-swords as he took his fighting stance.

"Aw, aren't we pretty?" Yoshi sang, tossing the silk string from Zuko's hair aside. "You'd better hope that you fight better than you look, boy."

Zuko glared. "Try me and find out, filth."

With that, Zuko dove forward, kneeled, and swung out a foot, knocking Yoshi's feet out from under him. Zuko reassumed his stance, smirking at the fallen soldier.

"Well, either I do fight well or you just suck!" he jeered.

Yoshi growled and kicked a leg up, and a piece of earth jutted up and hit Zuko sharply in his hip, sending him sprawling backwards. Yoshi stood, looking furious. Zuko clutched his left hip, hissing softly in pain.

"She's mine, you worthless piece of trash," Yoshi growled, advancing towards Zuko. "I don't know where you get off thinking you can have her, but she's mine!"

Zuko frowned for a second, confused... and then it hit him. The day before, when Yoshi had entered the nurse's quarters, Katara had been healing Zuko's hands. And when Yoshi walked in, he had found the pair looking into each other's eyes, Zuko's hands enclosed tightly around Katara's.

Zuko frowned in disbelief. "Katara?"

"DON'T SAY HER NAME!" Yoshi shouted wildly. "You're not worthy, and I won't let you take her from me!" Then, Yoshi's expression softened. "Wait a minute. What am I worried about?" Yoshi laughed and ran hand back through his long, thick hair.

Zuko sat up. This guy's one spark short of a firecracker! he realized, shaking his head.

"Imagine," Yoshi continued, "thinking it possible that she would choose you over me!" The amused look disappeared from his face, and he glared down at Zuko. "Look at you... with the face only a mother-- no, not even a mother could love. You're a dead ringer for the phantom of the opera! And not only that... you're a loser and a fugitive. You have nothing. No job, no kingdom, no talent, and no freedom. It's amazing Katara can even look upon your face without turning away in disgust!"

Zuko felt a burning, raging inferno of hate heat his entire being until he thought that his blood must be boiling. He gripped the chunks of wood in his hands so tightly that they splintered in places.

"Come on, yucky Zucky," taunted Yoshi. "Give me some tears... I want to see you cry. You'll feel so much better when you admit to yourself that you're a loser... an utter waste of good air and space. Cry..."

Suddenly, Zuko rolled back onto his feet. Yoshi swung at him, but Zuko batted his wrist out of the way with one club, and drove the other into Yoshi's gut, knocking the air clean out of him.

"If this were a real broad-sword, you'd be a shish kabob right now," Zuko seethed, his wooden post still against the man's middle. "And if I am a talentless nothing, what does that make you?" He leaned in closer and whispered, "You lose." He withdrew the chunk of wood and tossed them both aside.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door just before it flew open and a breathless Katara entered. "Yoshi! Have you seen--"

Zuko spun around, and his heart stopped. There she was! Does she really think I'm ugly? he wondered. Should I turn away?

Oh, Zuko, Katara thought in disappointment, her lower lip trembling as she took in the doubled-over soldier and the broken bed. What have you done?

Zuko lowered his face in shame. "Don't cry, Katara," he said just above a whisper. "I didn't hurt him badly. He is still perfect... everything you want."

Katara looked puzzled and opened her mouth to respond, but hadn't the chance. Yoshi, who had silently recovered from the prince's blow, lunged beside Zuko and elbowed him directly in the temple.

Zuko saw stars as he lost his balance and fell to his knees. He then fell forward onto his hands with the sensation that the room was spinning madly. He raised his eyes faintly to see a blurry Katara rush toward him.

"Ignore him!" Yoshi commanded, grabbing Katara's wrist. "Just let him pass out, he's not important."

"He was doing so well," Katara said, struggling not to let her tears overflow. "I could've sworn that when he kissed me, he--"

"Kissed you?" Yoshi repeated. He turned to look at Zuko who was shaking his head, trying to clear it. "That scumbag forced a kiss on you?" he cracked his knuckles. "Look away, Katara, this is going to get uglier than him!"

Katara grabbed his shoulder. "No, Yoshi, it wasn't like that! I let him kiss me."

"Let him?" Yoshi stared in surprise, his expression blank. Then, as what Katara had said dawned on him, his expression twisted into an ugly scowl. "You-You have a... thing for this guy!"

Katara glanced back at Zuko, struggling to his feet... and their eyes locked. Katara felt the familiar pull in her belly and her mouth turned up in an involuntary smile. "Yes," she whispered. "I truly believe I do."

"NO!" Yoshi screamed, grabbing her shoulders roughly. "It's like I told him, he doesn't deserve you! He's hideous and worthless! YOU'RE MINE!"

"Let go, you're hurting me!" Katara whimpered.

"Never again," he said, pulling her close.

Katara reached for her hip flask, but Yoshi hadn't forgotten. He reached it first and tore it away, chucking it out of his open window. He then leaned forward, attempting to kiss Katara. Katara leaned back and smacked Yoshi so hard that his head briefly spun to the right. He roared in a fit of wrath and drew a fist back.

As he hit her, she cried out loudly, snapping Zuko out of his daze. His eyes turned a bright, deadly orange, and the room he saw before him was suddenly shrouded in redness. He blindly grabbed one of the hunks of wood from earlier and chucked it at Yoshi.

It pegged the earthbender in the forehead hard, causing his eyes to cross and his grip on Katara to slacken.

"Run," Zuko ordered Katara, crouching low and lifting his arms above his head.

Something in his tone told Katara that she must obey, and she sprinted across the room, her bruised cheek throbbing. She paused at the door, however, when she heard the sharp crackling of electricity and felt the hairs on her arm stand on end. She couldn't help but turn to watch Zuko. She gasped as she saw black storm clouds gather in the sky and sink low over the castle, casting it in shadow. Millions of tiny threads of electricity suddenly gathered and swam around Zuko's fingertips, which were still raised above his head.

Katara glanced at his ankle band, which was smoking excessively, then back up at him just as he straightened up and stepped forward, swinging one arm up behind him and the other towards a terrified Yoshi. Katara screamed as a bolt of lightening zigzagged down from the clouds into the open window, struck Zuko in one hand, and shot out of the other hand, straight at Yoshi.

Yoshi screamed in pain as the bolt of lightening hit him in the chest. He flew backwards and hit the wall behind him. His eyes rolled back in his head as he began to convulse.

"Stop!" Katara screamed in horror. "You're killing him!"

Suddenly, Zuko's arms dropped, and a loud clap of thunder sounded as Yoshi fell forward onto the ground. Zuko felt completely drained. The last thing he saw was a bewildered and mortified Katara in the doorway before his ankle-band caught fire; and he lost consciousness before he even hit the ground.

(A/N- Want to hear something wierd, people? Isn't it strange that I wrote this chapter by hand before "Bitter Work" aired, and I had Zuko call to the lightening at the end of my chapter just as he did at the end of that episode? Neat, eh? Oh, and is it just me, or is it a crock that a new episode of Avatar hasn't aired in two weeks? They had better have one next Friday, or I will form a mob and march to Nickelodeon studios, where we will proceed to take over and show nothing but Avatar aaaaaaaaalllll daaaaay loooong every day. Okay, and maybe a bit of Spongebob and Danny Phantom. I know, I'm kinda psychotic at times, but hey, life means getting a little crazy sometimes, true? Late peeps. -HailZuko!)