Chapter 13

The Lightning's Hand

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"I understand the stopping of the bending blocking herbs but was it truly necessary that you stopped even the birth control herbs?"

"As I told you before, it is nearly impossible to tell the difference between the two. Because nothing had happened between us at first, I figured it wouldn't be the end of the world if I stopped. The other night was such a whirlwind, I didn't think about it till it was too late."

"Too late? Is that all you have to say about this? There is a reason for those herbs. The next heir to the Fire Nation cannot come from... from…"

This is the first time that Zuko's anger subsides since we have started this conversation. I know what direction that he was going to take our conversation."

"You can't have a whore be the mother of your first offspring. I get it. I am a prisoner here. As long as I belong to the palace, I will never be anything more. The other thing is, it was just one time, there is no telling if I even am pregnant yet."

"That is one way to think about it but still not ideal. What would happen if you were no longer a prisoner here?"

"What do you mean? I'll get paid for my work here?"

"I mean, what would happen if we were to leave?"

"Leave where?"

"Here. The Fire Nation. You said something earlier that really made me think. My views no longer match those of the current empire. I want to help make the world whole again. Not with one Nation ruling, but with all the Nations working together in peace. If we leave the palace, we will have a chance to find your friends and let Aang find a proper firebending teacher."

"Does that mean you're offering?"

"Only if you believe that we have a chance at finding your friends. If not, we'll become fugitives from the Fire Nation with nowhere to hide."

"Why would you be considered a fugitive? How could they ever be sure that I didn't kidnap you on my way out of here?"

"Azula would never let them believe that I didn't help you get out of here. I am sure that if she even imagines the sound of fighting, she will be front and center to prove that she deserves to be the next Firelord. If she manages to prove herself to my father, I think he will have no problem making her his sole heir."

"You're okay with giving up what you worked so hard to get back to?"

"As long as you are with me, I see no problem with it. The thing is, we have to plan on how we will get out of here. It will obviously need to be under the cover of night and we will both need to be at full strength but it won't be impossible. Your bending is obviously better but will it be ready by the full moon?"

"I see no issue, especially because it is the full moon, we should be unstoppable."

"Perfect. That means that we will practice tonight. We'll go to the garden that I showed you. Not even the guards go around there at night. How often have you trained against Firebenders?"

"Trained against? Never. Fought against? Every time we ran into you."

"So a few hours after dusk we shall train. Don't forget, sleep is important. Since we both have obligations to attend to tomorrow and we will be fighting for some of the night, why don't we climb into bed for some sleep now."

"Is sleep all you want from climbing in the bed?"

"Since you haven't been taking any birth control herbs yes, that would be it. When we run away, we should try and get a stash of some. I know I want to continue this liaison and I am assuming you do as well?"

"Well, of course I do. Otherwise, I would not willingly be spending so much time in your room."

I give him a little peck and we tuck ourselves into the oversized bed.

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We are awoken when a servant brings dinner into the room. I rise to greet him. I grab the tray, thank him for his serves and bring the tray to the bed. We eat in silence because we are both preparing for the fight to come.

Once we have changed into clothing more fitted to move and bend in, we slip out of the room unnoticed and hide away on our way to the Turtle-duck garden. When we get there, the first thing I do is look up at the sky. The moon is almost full and I feel myself getting stronger in its light. With no words spoken, we slip into our fighting stances with the common understanding that the goal is to trap the other on the ground.

Zuko lights short fire daggers while I make water whips from the nearby pond. I am the first to strike. I lash out with my water whip and freeze it around Zuko's wrist. With that surprise movement, I use it to pull him closer to me. Before I am able to flip him, he burns his way through the ice. Once released, Zuko aims a fire kick in my direction, but I am quick enough to roll and I snag his leg with a shot of ice. It hits along the pant leg and traps him to the ground. While he focuses on that icicle, I quickly hover three more above him and one at a time secure his appendages. When he finishes his struggle he speaks, "I thought your bending wasn't back in full strength. How is it that is was so easy for you to kick my ass?"

"I may or may not have a lot of pent up range since my capture. While I am a bit rusty with the finer arts of my bending, it is almost like penguin sledding: you don't do it for the longest time but as soon as you catch your penguin, it all comes rushing back."

"You'll have to show me one time then."

"It would be my honor if we ever manage to get out of the heat of the Fire Nation."

"The best way to do that is to train some more."

"Do you want keep practicing or do you want a chance to redeem yourself after how badly I just beat you even though I have been out of practice for so long?"

"Does it really matter? Let's just try it again."

With that, we both slip back into our fighting stances.

The fight begins the same as the other but quickly moves to be a closer fight. We stop using our bending and start to fight with our fists and feet. Zuko is much better at this type of fighting than I am. He lands a kick on my stomach and I go down. After that shot I do not move. I can not seem to catch my breath. I do not know if that is due to the scar from the lightning or something else. My period is supposed to arrive soon so hopefully this is just cramps coming early. Zuko rushes to my side.

"What's wrong? I didn't think I hit you that hard, did I?"

"No, it's not you. I do think I need to be done for the night."

With that, Zuko helps me back to his room.

"Are you sure you are okay? I have never seen you go down that hard and not get back up."

"It happens occasionally, I am guessing that it is just a combination of elements but I think that we are going to find out if we are having a child sooner rather than later."

"I see." Zuko says pensively. "I guess that means that we need to get out sooner rather than later. Honestly, our best bet of getting out of here is if we try to go over the wall here. You'll have access to the water in the pond and odds are we won't run into any of the guards on the inside of the palace. Once we're over, they will have non-benders posted so they won't alert any of the residents that there is anything amiss with blasts of fire. I'll bring my dual dao swords and if you use ice shards in the same capacity, we should have no issue fighting our way out."

"That seems like an amazing plan. When do you want to do this?"

"In a few nights it will be the full moon. Since you are so much stronger at night, it might be to our benefit to escape then."

And with that we head to Zuko's bed to tuck in for the night.