So... Its been a really... really long time -.- I'm sorry! I just got unbelievably busy, more so than I could've anticipated! (Thats a lie) So when I get my downtime I just watch tv or play video games
Anyways! I hope this chapter can make up for my slacking xP
*I don't own anything Avatar related*
Previously
"We did it!" Zuko said happily "Here are our costumes" Zuko said, throwing Tiana's dress at her "You get dressed first Zuko, I'll keep watch" Zuko nodded in agreement. Tiana looked down at the guards who were all still quite knocked out "One, two three, fo-" Tiana bent down to the three to see that one of them had gotten away "Oh gosh! Zuko we have a problem!" she said, picking up the loose rope and bringing it over to him. Zuko had just put on his jacket when she brought over the rope "This isn't good!" Tiana said, her ears perking up when she heard the sounds of footsteps coming down the steps. Thinking quickly she grabbed her costume and Zuko's stealth clothes and threw them into a fire "What'd you do that for?" Zuko asked.
She wasn't given the chance to tell him when they were joined by a dozen more guards with Azula leading the pack "Zuko! Are you alright?" She asked worriedly, stepping closer. Tiana pulled her knife out and holding it dangerously close to Zuko's neck "Tiana, what are you doing?" he thought with confusion "Move closer and he dies!" she threatened "Stay calm" Tiana looked around the room wildly. She moved close to Zuko's ear "Forgive me" she whispered before stabbing him in the stomach, simultaneously hitting a pressure point that made him lose consciousness "Tiana?" he asked, probably remaining unheard. The last thing he saw was Tiana's palms being absorbed in a swirl of water and fire.
"Zuko, can you hear me?" Azula asked with a shaky voice "Yeah, I can hear you jes' fine" he said in his head, the words he attempted to say refused to surface "Its gonna be alright Zuko, just stay with us" he could now feel Azula's grip tightening around his limp hand before he blacked out for the second time.
Waking up with a groan Zuko quickly sat upright, hissing when he felt a sharp pain in his torso "Where'd this come fro- Oh... Right.." Zuko stumbled his way over to a mirror in an attempt to fully assess the wound "Had worse..." He thought while poking at it a bit. "Prince Zuko! You're awake! I have to go alert Princess Azula of this!" A startled nurse said, immediately rushing out of the infirmary and into the halls.
"Strange..." Zuko murmered as he climbed back into the hospital bed "Zuzu!" Azula called as she rushed into the mostly white infirmary room "You're awake!" smiling bright, she moved to sit at the end of his bed, clasping his hand in hers "Awake?..." suddenly flashes of the previous night ran through Zuko's head "Right. Where's Tiana?" Azula took a moment to answer his question "Oh! You must mean the traitor. She's in the prison awaiting her execution" she answered simply "What? Why? When?" Zuko started to get back out of the bed when Azula tightened her grip on his hand, not allowing him to move "Zuzu, she tried to kill you last night! And the execution is in... about an hour." Zuko forced himself to calm down "Oh right. I seemed to have forgotten that lovely tidbit" he said sarcastically "I'd love to attend the execution" Azula looked at him, clearly stunned "You would? You never liked to attend these kinds of executions... or any for that matter" Azula said, surprised by his words "Well... My life had never been threatened by any of those commoners before" Azula nodded, satisfied by his reply "Alright, I"ll be here in forty minutes with clean clothes and such" Smiling, Azula gave Zuko's hand a reassuring squeeze before leaving the room.
Zuko stared at the ceiling with a blank mind while he awaited Azula's return. "Execution... The only executions I really hated were the burnings..."
"MY GOOD PEOPLE OF THE FIRE NATION!" the loud announcer yelled "TODAY WE RID OURSELVES OF ONE OF EVIL, ONE WHO EVEN ATTEMPTED TO BRING DEATH UPON OUR DEAR PRINCE. BUT WE'LL SHOW THIS SCUM NOT TO MESS WITH THE GREAT, THE MAJESTIC, FIRE NATION" His words were greeted by roars of cheers erupting throughout the people.
Nodding off to a guard who was walking a hooded person over to the stake, Zuko was nearly falling over the side of the metal railing when they'd finally revealed who it was. Zuko closed his eyes tightly when he saw long black hair flow out from beneath the hood. Wearing a short, thin white dress she allowed herself to be led up to the platform.
"Tiana Wang. You are charged with treason, impersonation, and worst of all, attempted murder of a royal. Any last words" Tiana took a deep breath, daring not to speak. "Fine then. Let the burning begin!" he announced almost cheerfully. Tiana walked towards the stake with as much bravery as she could muster "No fear, No fear, No fear" she spoke as her mantra while they binded her hands and feet together, the twine digging into her delicate skin.
Tiana's eyes flashed from the crowd directly to Zuko. Zuko saw through her mask of bravery, seeing the fear that sat deep within her. He barely had enough time to take another breath when they lit the hay beneath her. Azula suddenly hopped down from their viewing area, walking right up to Tiana. "You're going to die so you might as well admit who you were fighting alongside!" Azula snarled "Well, if I'm going to die... Isn't it better to just not tell you" she struggled to speak as the fire began to lick at her skin "Tell me! Who is your accomplice?" Azula demanded. Tiana defiantly remained silent "Fine then. This is taking way too long!" With an evil smirk Azula set blaze to all of the hay.
During this Zuko felt the adrenaline build in his system, fists clenching and unclenching. The moment Azula did the unthinkable Zuko, without a real plan in mind, leapt into action. "Zuko what are you doing?" Azula shrieked as Zuko pulled his cape tight around himself as he attempted to cut off the tight bonds around her hands and legs.
"Zuko get out of there!" Azula screeched "No!" his sister narrowed her eyes at her brother "Are you insane?" she asked . Tiana inhaled deeply "Zuko, just forget it." she nearly begged him, he looked up to her with determined eyes but didn't say a single word as he worked on the binds on her legs, he smiled to himself when he'd released her ankles and moving back up "Zuko! You've gotta go! Your clothing is catching on fire!" Zuko looked down for a moment, patting out the small fire building at the hem of his cloak "Its fine, getting you out is the important thing" he said, finally releasing her wrists. Wrapping his cloak around her he leapt out of the fire.
"Are you alright?" Tiana surprised him with a firm slap across the face "You idiot" she spoke with a shaky voice, coughing a few times from the smoke that had entered her lungs. Zuko ignored her as he examined the burns on her legs "Those are going to scar" he mumbled to himself "I guess.. no big deal though... right?" she asked, eyelids shutting close "No big deal at all" he affirmed. Azula stepped closer "Zuko... Why?" Zuko met Azula's teary gaze "Why have you done this?" Taking a deep breath he gathered Tiana up into his arms "Because I love her" he pressed his forehead against Tiana's. His head snapping up when he heard Azula sniffle "Zuko... Put her down or... or... You're an enemy to the fire nation!" shaking his head Zuko moved towards the crowd "Then thats just how its going to be... And Azula, I was the accomplice" the previously silent crowd who had been listening so intently broke out in muffled words and gasps. Azula lowered her head "Well then... Captain ... Seize the Prince.. He has betrayed our nation"
Fire-nation soldiers quickly swarmed around the prince "Even here I end up betraying my own home" he chuckled lightly as they approached him "I always knew you'd end up being a traitor. Lets go Zuko" the Captain commanded, dropping all formalities while poking a long spear in his direction "Don't do that" Zuko warned, backing up his words with an icy glare "Why what would you do?-" in a single swift motion Zuko flipped Tiana over his shoulder, pulled out his sword and effectively sliced the smug Captains spear in half. The Captain immediately fell to the ground, cowering away from Zuko who suddenly seemed much more dangerous than he usually did.
"D-d-don't j-just s-s-tan-d a-a-ar-round! GET HIM!" the Captain stumbled over his words, soldiers ran past their fallen leader careful not to accidentally step on them for fear of injuring him or rather getting killed later on. " Zuko exhaled out of frustration, taking a stance he quickly created a barrier of fire around the two of them, successfully keeping the soldiers away "Shoot... If she was awake this would be a lot easier!" he stared around him as he tried to figure out the smartest possible escape, he shifted her from his shoulder to carrying her bridal style, backing up slightly before sprinting off through the fire and into the crowd.
People immediately scattered away from the determined young man as he ran to find the nearest exit, shoving people out of the way when necessary. Looking down he saw Tiana slowly waking up "Zuko?" she called out feebly "Yeah" Tiana craned her neck in an attempt to see her surroundings "Where are we going?" Zuko was having a hard time producing an answer while also trying to escape the guards "I don't know. We just have to get out of here for now" Zuko took a sharp turn into an alley cursing to himself when it turned out to be a dead end. "Damn it! That lost us a lot of time" he quickly turned around back but one of the guards already caught sight of them "Y-you! S-stop r-r-right there!" the guard said with a shaky voice.
"Zuko, put me down" Tiana whispered "D-d-don't whisper! Or else!" Zuko looked a bit unsure at first before he realized what she was trying to get him to look at. Looking up he noticed a ladder leading to the roof of a two story building. Nodding, he put her down. Tiana took a deep breath, taking a stance and doing a small series of moves and creating a smoke screen.
"H-hey! What is t-this?" The guard asked, taking wild swipes around him in fear that they were going to attack him.
Tiana and Zuko made their way onto the roof wasting no time in leaping to the next roof "Lucky for us that they build the buildings so close!" Tiana observed "Yeah, thats until we leave this area, then we have to run it on foot again" Tiana sighed "Always gotta ruin the optimism, don't you?" she asked with a glare "Pretty much" he attempted to keep a straight face but couldn't help but crack a smirk "You're such a- " Tiana began when an arrow zipped past her, leaving a long cut along her cheek, another arrow flew past her, successfully piercing Zuko's shoulder causing him to lose his footing and begin to stumble forward, falling between the crack in between roofs "Zuko!" Tiana cried out, sliding down the slight slope on the roof and grabbing Zuko's hand before he could fall, pulling him up.
"Shoot" she muttered "Hold still" in a swift motion she removed the arrow, Zuko grunted in pain "It wasn't deep, now c'mon! We've gotta get out of here before the Yu Yan archers get any closer to get better aim at us! We're just barely out of their range as is!" The two sped off, leaping from roof to roof at even greater speeds than before "The Yu Yan archers? But I thought they had disbanded!" Zuko said incredulously "What? No, they never disbanded! Maybe where you're from but not here" she reminded him.
"Well this is bad then! We need to think of something quick with them on our trail!" Zuko looked to the ground as they ran, pointing to a narrow street that led straight for an extremely crowded marketplace "There!" he pointed towards their new target "They wouldn't shoot us in there. Too many civilians! Even the archers arrows couldn't make it to us past all of those people!" Nodding in agreement to his plan the two quickly found a trail down to discreetly make their way into the marketplace without seeming too suspicious. "Don't let go of my hand. We can't afford to split up at this point" he spoke while the two waltzed into the marketplace as if nothing was going on. Like he wasn't the now traitorous prince of the successful fire nation, or like she wasn't wearing a half singed semi-sheer dress that barely reached past her thigh. "Zuko" she looked around uncomfortably, people moving out of the way to create a path for the prince "Zuko" Tiana said his name again "Zuko" she said it louder this time "What?" he sounded distant "I think we should get some new clothes" Zuko stopped his fast pace "New clothes at a time like this?" Tiana nodded "Well... Yeah... Look at us" Zuko didn't so much look at her as much as he did the approving nods she was receiving from the men and the disapproving ones from the women "Right... Lets make it quick" he mumbled.
Zuko pulled her into the first store he saw, grabbing the first set of clothes he saw for the both of them, including cloaks which would definitely come in handy later on "We'll take these" he tossed the light blue dress at Tiana who wasted no time in running into the dressing room to change "Would you like to try on anything else? We have these accessories on sale and they would be lovel-" Zuko raised a hand to hush the worker "No. This is all we need... Thanks" He added the 'thanks' in a bit awkwardly, giving the worker money "Do you need change?" the old man asked "No thanks. Keep it." Like Tiana, Zuko quickly changed into the other clothes and the two were out of there in under five minutes, probably setting a new record for least amount of time spent shopping for new clothes, the old man shouted his gratitude at the two as they left, still in disbelief by the hefty tip Zuko had given him.
"Pull your hood up" Zuko whispered along with a reassuring squeeze to her hand "Its not me I'm worrying they'll recognize." she met eyes with him while obeying his previous command. The two went on through the crowd, trying to seem as inconspicuous as possible, walking along with the flow of the crowds whenever possible. Tiana froze when a strong hand jetted out from the crowd, placing it firmly on her shoulder "Ma'am" Trying to regulate her breath before turning to face the stranger "Play it cool" Zuko warned with his unchanging gaze "Umm... Yes?" She steadied her shaky voice "You dropped this" the man said smiling, presenting her a small change purse "Oh... Thanks but thats not mine" the man looked at her with a embarrassed look upon his face "Oh? I could've sworn I saw you drop it... Sorry for the trouble!" Tiana smiled "It was no trouble at all" she assured him "Thats good. Well I'll let you two get goi- " The man looked past Tiana to view Zuko "P-Prince Zuko?" He immediately dropped to the ground in a bowing position. The surrounding crowds began staring, one by one recognizing him as the prince and dropping to a bowing position "No! Everyone! You have to get up" He ordered "Zuko, this isn't going to turn out well! We have to go" Tiana tugged at Zuko's arm "No point.." Tiana looked at him with disbelief "'No point'? What is that supposed to mean?" Zuko took a deep breath "It means that we're already being targeted by the Yu Yan archers. We run, we die" Zuko stood firmly with his fists balled at his sides, Tiana took a few deep breaths before working up the nerve to give him a hard slap across the face, leaving a red hand print "Listen to me Zuko. We've come this far already! We stay, we die. We run, we may die but its better than letting them have the pleasure of killing us without a chase! Now lets go!"
Zuko nodded, almost in a daze after she slapped him, the two took off for the woods, only to be stopped by about ten guards blocking their path "What do we do now?" Zuko whispered "We fight" she stated simply before summoning water to whipping three guards into trees. Zuko took on two other guards who were about to attack Tiana while she was preoccupied. Causing an explosion Zuko successfully sent the other two guards flying back, skidding against the ground.
"Stop right there Zuko" a voice warned "Mai?" He asked, not turning towards her "Yes. Now, come quietly or your new friend dies" Her icy gaze settled upon Zuko. Reluctantly, he turned to face them. Ty-lee had disabled Tiana's arms thus rendering her basically helpless, Mai had an outstretched arm holding a dagger towards Tiana's neck. "Zuko, run" Tiana mouthed to him but Zuko shook his head. "Fine. I'll come quietly... Just leave her alone" he raised his hands in a surrendering way "Ty-lee, go and take care of Zuko's bending" Ty-lee nodded, skipping towards Zuko and taking away his bending without disabling his arms or legs. "Do you feel vulnerable Zuko?" Mai asked his malice in her tone, her eyes narrowing further when he remained silent.
Mai forced Tiana onto her knees, placing a foot on her back "Now Zuko. Answer my question. Do you feel vulnerable?" Zuko was finding it harder to answer "Guards. Kill the girl" she ordered, removing her foot to allow the guards to position a sword above Tiana's neck, brushing her hair to the side as they did so. "Zuko, this is your punishment for defying me. You will watch her die." Zuko's eyes darted from Tiana, to Mai, and back "Fine! Yes! I feel vulnerable" he admitted. Mai smiled wickedly "Thats a good boy" she nodded off to a guard who lifted the sword to finish the execution "What? No!" Without thinking Zuko ran towards them, not thinking about his lack of bending. The guard switched his attention from executing Tiana to Zuko, lifting his sword and thrusting it clear through Zuko's stomach.
"Zuko!" Tiana cried out, Mai stood by with a shocked expression. Tiana suddenly got a very determined look on her face, standing to face the rest of the guards, lifting her hand and projecting a huge spiral of fire that swallowed them all up. The guards screams filled the forest but she was way to pissed off to care. Tiana's eyes flickered up to Mai and Ty-lee "Ty-lee! Take her out" Ty-lee reluctantly nodded, moving towards her and began attempting to jab at her pressure points. Tiana had probably never moved faster and with one fluid motion she managed to knock Ty-lee against a tree. Mai watched as her friend slid down the tree trunk before looking back up at Tiana.
"This is all your fault" Tiana accused, igniting a palm on fire, water forming in the other. "For that you're gonna pay" After she spoke her last word she clapped her hands together, sending a swirl of fire and water towards Mai who screamed in terror. When Tiana knew Mai wasn't going to be any trouble she immediately ran to be by Zuko's side who'd fallen to the ground after she took out the guards, the sword still sticking through him. "Its gonna be okay Zuko. Just don't worry and stay calm" she tried to figure out how exactly to remove the sword without causing unnecessary bleeding. Zuko clasped his hand over hers "Its over" he said breathily "So... this is what it feels like... To die." Tiana couldn't keep the tears from falling "Don't say things like that!" she nearly begged "You know... this situation was switched... on two occasions actually... You almost died. I almost lost you twice." he raised a hand to stroke her cheek tenderly "Zuko... You still have to go back to your own dimension! I'm waiting for you over there, don't disappoint me." Zuko sighed, smiling "You know... I know that you're not exactly my Tiana but still... If I die, I'm glad I get to see your face" he admitted "Zuko don't talk like that or I'll have to kick your butt when you get better" she gave him a small smile, he chuckled, "Okay... You know I love you, right?" his voiced dropped in volume significantly "Yes, I do" Zuko smiled again "Good..." Tiana heard the breath leave his body.
"Zuko?" she called out in a small voice, dropping her head to his chest, listening intently for a heartbeat but failed to find one "Zuko..." she said again in a broken voice. Wiping her tears away she removed the sword. She let the tears fall freely, not caring if the other guards that had been chasing them caught up with her and killed her, she almost hoped that they would. Suddenly a hand was placed on her shoulder, she turned to view who it was, barely making out his face through bleary eyes "Sai" she choked out before falling into his chest, not being able to stop crying. Sai wrapped his arms around her, gently stroking her hair "Z-Z-Zuk-ko's d-d-ead" she blubbered. Sai peered over her shoulder to see the prince, he couldn't help but notice the peaceful expression on Zuko's face "Shh..." he comforted "We should get out of here... Zuko wouldn't be happy if you got yourself killed on his account" he lifted her off the ground in a bridal position so even if she would've put up a fight he still would've rescued her away from there. Sai made a nod at the woods and in a split second Jet emerged, Sai made a reference to Zuko's body "But thats the prince..." Jet spat with disgust "He was a good man Jet... If not for him none of us would be here. He deserves a proper burial" his eyes saddened "Alright Sai" Jets voice softened as he picked up the deceased prince, holding him on his back.
"So where are we going?" Jet asked suddenly aware that they had no direction. Sai paused before replying "Away" he stated simply as the three disappeared into the woods.
Wow... So... I didn't know exactly what to do... Like I had this grand plan and like usual I sped up certain parts, specifically the battle scenes... I'm no good at those :P But anyways! Sorry for taking so long but I'm on vacation right now and so maybe I"ll be able to put out another chapter this week? I already have an idea as to what I want to do but still... Putting it all together is really hard! But at least this is a pretty long chapter! Right? :)
Review are always greatly appreciated :) They make me very happy. I love hearing what you guys have to say! :)