Midsummer Madness Chapter 21: The Ex Fire Lord, an avatar: last airbender fanfic

Title: Midsummer Madness

Author: BurningIce

Rating: R

Summary: Katara learns that there are both advantages and drawbacks to being a female water bending master, and pays back a favor to an old friend.

…

Disclaimer: Not mine, really, would I be writing fan fiction if it was? No, I'd be writing CREATORfiction. AKA Cannon. I would be writing cannon. Scary, huh?

It should be!!

Because it's HALLOWEEN!!

Happy Halloween/Samhain!!

Chapter 21: The Ex Fire Lord

…

"Here we are!!" Sokka unrolled the complicated looking schedule with a flourish, "I coded it by color, Katara, you're blue, Zuko, you're Red, Aang orange, Toph green, Suki yellow, Ty Lee pink, and I'm purple." He spread it out on the table.

"Sokka, can we trade? Purple is my favorite color!" Toph whined.

"Okay, I guess we can trade and I'll just blot out . . . Toph!" Sokka huffed, "Hasn't that gotten old by now?"

Toph snickered, "I'll stop doing it when you stop falling for it."

"Sokka, I'm really not free to Avatar-sit mid mornings, I see petitioners at that time." Zuko pointed over his shoulder, "I have work to do, you know."

"And I think me and Katara should get morning shifts together," Suki pointed, "I want to start a regular hand to hand combat training session for her and Ty Lee."

"And I don't want to have to guard Sugar Queen tonight," Toph complained, "I had to baby sit her last night!"

"Okay Toph, I'll just trade you with . . . wait! How did you know you had tonight?"

"Woah? You mean I do?" Toph looked surprised, then pumped her fist in the air, "Oh yea, I rock, that was a total guess."

"You're really not helping, you know." Sokka informed her.

"I broke her rib, she won't be around for a while." Toph replied, flopping down in one of the chairs of the library.

"So I guess it's you and me this afternoon Katara, we should go shopping!" Ty Lee beamed, "I can show you my favorite store in the capital, they have the most beautiful pink silks!!"

"Actually, I was hoping Katara would come with me to the asylum this afternoon." Zuko said softly.

Katara's stomach sank, she was not looking forward to this.

"Oh . . ." Ty Lee looked a bit disappointed, then brightened, "Then I guess I'll go with Toph!" she latched onto the younger girl and dragged her out of earshot from the group, "You've been cranky and sarcastic lately, well, you're usually cranky and sarcastic, but your aura has turned all rosy pink too! I think you have a crush!"

"What?! I do not! Crushes are for girls!" Toph tried to pull herself out of the glomp-n-drag, her cheeks reddening, "And I only go out shopping with Sugar Queen!"

"Don't be silly! You're a girl!" matchmaker Ty Lee beamed, "And anyways nothing catches a guys attention better than a bold new look . . . maybe we should cut your bangs to show of your unusual milky eyes, or get something that shows off your midriff!!"

"That's exactly the reason I only go shopping with Sugar Queen, usually she doesn't pick out something tacky." Toph sounded dubious.

"Why would you care if it was tacky if you couldn't see it?" Ty Lee questioned as they walked down the main staircase, then waved to one of the guards watching them.

"Because other people will see it and think that I look ridiculous, or worse, incompetent."

"Alright, we'll pick out something badass . . . I'll just keep thinking, 'would Azula like this?' and if the answer is not yes, we'll put it back." Ty lee giggled and threw her arm around Toph's shoulders.

"Great, cause when I think fashion, I think the Vampire Fire Princess." Toph grumbled.

"There you go grumping again . . . and now blushing! Oh Toph, you have to tell me about this crush, I bet I can guess who it iiiiiiiiiiiis." Ty lee positively sang the last vowel.

...

Katara followed a few steps behind Zuko, her mind whirling, she mentally went over the things that Vel had told her to do and cautioned her against. It was almost distracting her from the thrumming of power through her body. Almost. Of course Zuko would ask her to try it on a power trip, it was just her luck.

Keep yourself grounded, don't forget that nothing is actually happening to your body, the pain isn't real . . . well, it is real, but the damage isn't. Don't break contact, don't lose focus. Mind your stance . . .

She was so lost in thought that she didn't notice when the Fire Lord stopped suddenly, and she bumped into him from behind. He turned, glanced down the corridor both ways, then pulled her into an alcove of the wall, into a shadow of a statue depicting a bearded, battle hardened, fire bender, his foot on a dragon head.

"Ow! Zuko? What is it?" She glanced behind her down the hallway, no guards were posted, so nobody saw him drag her out of sight. She swallowed, her heart fluttering in anticipation, goose bumps standing up on her bare arms, even in the midday heat. She rubbed them energetically, hoping that they would go away before the Fire Bender noticed.

"You're sure about this?" Zuko asked, he seemed to be having doubts himself, "It's not too difficult for you?"

Did he have to word it like that?! Katara thought, trying to reign in her body. He was standing so temptingly close . . .

"I can do it." When had she developed such an ego about her bending abilities? Probably around the time everyone was telling her she couldn't bend because she was a girl.

"You're sure?"

"Yes." No.

"What's the worst case scenario?"

"I don't know . . ." Katara thought about it, "but your mother is alive. She is somewhere and you could find her, I would give anything for that. To find out Kya was alive. So, let me live vicariously through you, okay?" the corners of her mouth turned up in a small, reassuring smile.

Perhaps it was the joke, or the adorable smile, or maybe just the relief that she had not taken the out that he had given her, but whatever the reason, it compelled him to lean down and kiss her. It had been too long since they had been able to touch, and behaving well the previous night even though he knew she was right there, wanting to be touched had been tormenting. She flattened herself against him, changing the kiss from a delicate 'thank you' to an intense 'I want you'.

Her mouth strayed over his neck as one of his hands wandered upwards to caress her through the fabric of her top. Using the wall for leverage, she pressed him back into the pedestal, her hands winding their way around his neck.

"Ech!" Zuko pushed her back with a yelp, "Dragon fang, dragon fang in my ribcage." He rubbed the jabbed area with his free hand.

Katara looked sheepish, muttering an apology. She let him go, very deliberately placing her hands at her sides, as though she expected them to walk away and grab him again. They heard footsteps coming down the hallway, and he quickly tugged her out from behind the statue, unfortunately, it was too late, the two guards had already rounded the corner, and were staring at them curiously, deciding whether or not to jeer. Zuko was a lot less temperamental than Ozai was, but they decided not to risk it.

Katara tried to discreetly smooth her top back into it's proper place.

Zuko coughed.

"See, I TOLD you they carved those things all the way around," Katara tried not to sound as flustered as she felt, and when he said nothing, she elbowed him.

"Oh, yea, I could have sworn it was flat in the back." Zuko stammered catching on, "We better stop dallying though and get on the airship, long ride, and I don't know how much time this will take."

Katara glanced over her shoulder at the two guards as they walked away. One was whispering something to the other, and she cursed inwardly. By that evening every servant in the palace would know that the Fire Lord was seen lingering in the shadows with the Master Water Bender Princess of the Southern Water Tribe.

As if there weren't enough rumors flying.

...

Aang sat cross legged in the stables, Momo perched on the young Avatar's shoulders, nibbling on a leechi nut. Suki was trying her best to occupy the kid, she had never been good with entertaining children, but the Avatar seemed to be easily amused. As she spoke she swung her fan, partially reenacting her story.

"Then Azula said that any friend of the Avatars was an enemy of hers and she could take Appa over our dead bodies, so we all banded together, we outnumbered them two to one, those were good odds." Suki jumped into her fighting stance, pretending to engage an angry Fire Princess, "She shot this blue fire at Appa and we held our shields together to deflect it!" Suki held up a pretend shield and then staggered under a pretend barrage of fire.

"What happened next?!" Aang asked, enthralled, his chin in his hands.

"Then Ty Lee and Mai jump off and are coming at us, and Mai pins Kisa and Yuki to trees, like that!" Suki pantomimed first throwing daggers than getting pinned to a tree, dropping her fan, "then Gina draws her sword and comes at Ty Lee, like this. . ." Suki pretended to swing a sword at an imaginary, nimble foe, "Well, you know how Ty Lee moves."

"Yea, like the wind!" Aang agreed and Momo chattered.

"Umm . . . oh yea," Suki paused thoughtfully, then went on, "Then Ty Lee came somersaulting through the air and gets behind her and she was like jab jab jab!" Suki enunciated each jab by jabbing a different point in the air in front of her, "Ty Lee takes Gina down so quick, and then tells her that she was so not prettier than her . . . which was weird at the time, but Ty Lee had a crush on my sister, she insists from the moment she saw her, and my sister and Gina were-"

"Isn't your sister a girl?"

Suki blinked, what had Sokka been telling this kid for a year? That the Kyoshi warriors were "best friends" and used "the power of friendship" to fight their enemies?

Probably.

"Ty Lee and my sister are girls who like other girls . . . sometimes. Umm . . ." Suki sat down in front of the Avatar to explain, "Usually boys like girls, right?"

Aang nodded, "Like I like Katara, and You like Sokka, and Zuko likes Mai. Everyone knows that."

"Well, sometimes, girls like girls and boys like boys, the way you like Katara." Suki decided that she was going to have to yell at Sokka, was she the only one that answered the Avatar's questions?! Jeez, he was a monk, someone had to explain life sooner or later.

Someone, not her. She would just make an awkward mess of it.

"So, the way Zuko likes me?" Aang seemed perplexed.

Suki snorted back a laugh as a mental picture popped into her head, "I don't think so, Zuko likes you like a friend, a very best friend, even a little brother, I mean, I don't think Zuko wants to kiss you. Though I have been wrong before . . ." Suki trailed off, apparently visualising the encounter.

"Oh, so it's about the kissing!" understanding dawned on the young avatar's face.

"Yea, 'the kissing' is a good place for a distinction." Suki put a finger to her lip, "Like your friend Toph, you're friends, even though she is a girl, you like her as a friend, you don't want to kiss her." Suki preened, she was getting good at this explaining thing. Toph was right, Girls rocked.

Aang hesitated, then changed the subject, "So, how did Ty Lee know that the girl was competition for your sister?" Aang pet Momo, still looking perplexed.

"I asked her that myself once, she said she saw it in the girl's aura." Suki scratched her chin, "I was relieved that she wasn't competition for Sokka anymore, so I let it go at that."

"Okay, go back to the story, what happened next?"

"Well, that just left me with Azula, I drew my sword and charged!" Suki jumped up and pretended to draw a sword, "She jumped and twisted in the air like I had never seen anyone but you do . . . Earth Kingdom style is pretty rooted to the ground, but you air and fire guys launch yourself like nobodies business . . . So she twisted and evaded the blow and knocked the sword from my hand and into a huge tree!!"

"She punched," Suki punched and grunted, "I dodged," Suki dodged, landing in a crouch on the floor, "then she did one of those fire leg swipes," Suki swiped her leg awkwardly, mimicking the fire bending that she had seen, then jumped up, starting to pant, usually she didn't have to narrate while she fought.

"Let yourself pivot on your toe as you do it, and do it faster, like you're striking a match. Fire Bending has to be fast so you get a spark." Aang explained as she caught her breath.

"Well, all of a sudden there was fire everywhere!! The trees were on fire, the grass was on fire, even the rocks were on fire! I swung my fan, using it to disperse the fire she sent at me, and then she was on me, and it was like . . . HA . . . HYAH . . .!" At this point the story became more of a pantomime as Suki reenacted the battle, swirling her recovered fan this way and that, "Then Appa came to help me, but I was scared that he would be hurt, so I swung a torch at him, trying to get him to run away."

Appa lowed at this point, and Aang crossed his arms and scowled.

"Azula would have killed him, I hardly think I was out of line," Suki defended, "so he flew away, and Azula got really angry. She started again, and . . ." Suki blocked with her imagined shield, "Yah . . .! Then Ty Lee and Mai came over, and jab, jab, jab, jabjab, then I was slammed into a tree, and I hit my head and was down!!" Suki slowly and dramatically collapsed to the floor, an arm theatrically strewn across her face in despair. In her opinion, she did a lot better job than those ember island players, maybe she should audition.

"Then what happened?" Aang asked, leaning forward.

"What do you mean what happened?" Suki asked from under her arm, still crumpled on the floor in pretend unconsciousness.

"Like, what happened to you guys? Azula didn't just leave you there, she wouldn't have." Aang asked.

"I don't know, I woke up in a cell with everyone without my cloths. Maybe Ty Lee could tell you exactly what happened next." Suki sat up, "Okay, now it's your turn, tell me a story about the air nomads. Were all nomads benders?"

"No," Aang looked thoughtful, "But all the monks were, if there were any kids that werent benders, they moved to the Fire Nation or Earth Kingdom, it was just too difficult to move from place to place if you couldnt fly."

"So what happened to the kids who didn't bend and moved to the fire nation when the war started?"

Aang shrugged.

"What if they had Air bending children?" Suki tried again.

Aang shrugged again, starting to look a little upset. He sat thoughtfully for a minute and then looked at her, "I asked Giatso that once, and he told me this rhyme:

Wind on Air, a nomad will bear
Wind on Sea, usually agree
Wind on Fire, always a flier
Wind on Earth, congratulations, you'll know at their birth.

Then told me to go think about it and figure out what it meant, I think it was a reference to different element bender's kids bending. I don't really understand it though." Aang stood, "Want to go for a ride on Appa?"

...

Katara and Zuko sat in silence as the countryside crawled past beneath them far below. The prison was not far, perhaps an hour by air, she could already see it squatting on the horizon like a huge metal bullfrog. She could feel the blood draining from her face, and the flood of fear had momentarily replaced the effects of the moon. The thought of Ozai was still something that inspired terror and dread, and what she was about to do was becoming very real. This was no splashing around in the safe and lovely swamp with a few sweet hippie priestesses, this was Fire Lord Ozai, Phoenix King, Destroyer of Nations, and Like Aang, she would be fighting him on his terms.

"We're starting our descent." One of the crew informed them, then departed. Katara stood up, finally turning her back on the window at which she had stared, transfixed for nearly an hour. She leaned against it and closed her eyes, feeling suddenly sick to her stomach.

Zuko reached out and took her hands, squeezing them reassuringly, "You'll do great."

Katara nodded, blankly.

He hugged the shorter girl against him, and he felt her hands go up to grab the sides of his shirt. She was trembling. He stroked her hair, pretending not to notice.

"Is there anything I need to know?" he asked, the pressure of the airship against their feet was letting up. They were landing.

"Don't separate us suddenly, it could trap me inside his head." She whispered into his neck, "If I look like he has backed me into a corner, talk me back, remind me that nothing is real, it's easy to forget, like when you're dreaming."

"You could get trapped there?!" Zuko released her and looked at her face, "Wouldn't that have been a good thing to tell me when I asked you what the worst case scenario was?"

"You just looked so doubtful." Katara jutted out her chin stubbornly, "Is there something that I should look for in his memory? Something that might lead me to where Ursa is?"

Zuko was quiet for a long time, thinking, "When I was little, me and Azula, we snuck back into a meeting between Azulon, my grandfather, and Ozai. My father wanted to be Fire Lord, since Lu Ten had died. I got scared and ran out . . ." Zuko looked away, another stupid mistake, he probably wouldn't be in this situation if he had stayed.

"And?" Katara prompted.

"Azula told me later that my grandfather had ordered my father to kill me, so he would understand the pain that Iroh was going through." Zuko put his head in his hands, "Azula always lies though. I thought she was lying to play a prank on me. Now, I don't think she was, I think that what she said was true."

Katara gasped softly "Why would he do that?! His own grandchild . . . not to mention the only male heir in his family."

He hesitated again, "Azulon was going senile, I think, I didn't know then, I thought he was just grumpy. Azula said he thought the punishment should fit the crime." Zuko turned away, pressing his hands into the wall. The air balloon wobbled a bit, and he heard Katara sit down in one of the chairs.

"The last time I saw my mother . . ." He said, not looking at her, "Was later that night, I was asleep in my bed and she came in . . . she said 'Zuko, please, my love, listen to me. Everything I've done,I've done to protect you. Remember this Zuko. No matter how things may seem to change, never forget who you are.' And she left the room. I didn't think anything of it, not at the time, I just went back to sleep, but then that morning, I woke up, I had a nightmare, I ran for her." Zuko pressed his forehead against the wall he leaned on.

"She wasn't there . . . Azula told me . . . she told me that our grandfather had passed away during the night. Nobody knew why though. It was strange, like he had simply stopped living. The surgeons said it was a heart attack, causes unknown. He wrote a will, a note, that very night it didn't look forced, but it was not something that he would do, he just wouldn't have. It was also weird, like how would he know he was going to die of a heart attack that night? He named my father the next fire Lord."

Katara put a hand on his back, he had not heard her move, "So you think your mother may have murdered your grandfather?" The airship lurched, hitting the ground, and they both wobbled, catching their balance.

"I think . . . I think she might have." Zuko pulled away and started for the door.

"Alright, I'll look for the information." Katara followed him, slinking close enough so that their arms brushed against each other. It was reassuring to be in contact with him, but her stomach was still a tight knot of fear.

...

"So," Azula said conversationally, "Do you like my lightening bending technique? I developed it after hearing about your blood bending." One of her hands pressed the old crone to the floor, sending a current of electricity through the woman's body. The other one held a long, thin, blood drenched stiletto.

It had been much much more difficult than she expected to subdue the old woman. The Sirens lived up to their reputation. Like every other woman, this puppet master was dangerous. Luckily she had seen the Avatar's little friend do most of the moves the woman threw out, so she wasn't caught completely off guard.

"Go fuck yourself, Azula." The woman gasped, her face slick with sweat.

"You're so impolite," Azula studied her needle, "You know my name, but have yet to give me yours. That's hardly fair." She blew on the dagger's tip, heating it up until it glowed.

The woman lurched forward, fighting against the girl's grip, "If the moon were full, you'd be begging me for mercy you whore!!" Azula had to send a fresh surge of electricity through the woman, and took control of the muscles on her back, contracting them. She watched her latest victim writhe with a twinge of disappointment, she was not as much fun as the avatar had been. She was starting to suspect that nobody would be as fun as the Avatar had been, and she decided to pay him another visit when she was strong enough.

Azula clucked her tongue sadly, "Heal my rib, water savage."

"Never."

Azula picked up one of the woman's hands and clamped it between her knees, catching an old, bony, clawed finger, she jammed the red hot tip of the blade beneath the woman's nail. Her captive screamed, a horrible, primal scream of agony and loathing, which continued long after Azula had yanked out the knife.

Azula grinned, when the woman finally quieted, she informed her in a sing song voice, "You have seven fingers, ten toes, two ears, and two eyes left, and I have plenty of time. Now, will you heal my rib, tundra rat?"

"Hama, my name is Hama, Master Bender of the Southern Water Tribe!" The woman hissed, "and I would rather die than help restore the power of those who destroyed my people."

Azula chewed her lip, frowning, "Well, Hama of the Southern Water Tribe, that could be arranged."

...

Ty Lee must have been taking every damn piece of clothing off the rack, Toph decided, she figured she had at least twenty outfits bundled in her arms and slung over her shoulder and hanging down her back. As she stood she felt the girl sling another something over her head.

"Hey!" Toph protested from beneath the fabric.

"What? It's not like you need to see." Ty Lee slung something else over her, "Maybe a few more things, then you can try them on."

"None of this better be 'pink'. Suki says warrior women don't wear 'pink'." Toph grumped.

The earth bender was starting to feel more like a doll than a friend as the Kyoshi pulled the fifth top over her head. She gave her lots of complements, and told her she looked fierce, but then rejected each garment, saying it wasn't quite right. Toph smoothed her fingers over the fabric, she liked the way it felt.

"What is this stuff?" She asked as Ty Lee buttoned it.

"It's Rayon."

"What's that?"

"It's like silk, only different."

Well, THAT was informative. Toph sighed.

"So, when did you start to crush on the Avatar?" Ty Lee giggled, as she was prone to do a lot of the time.

"I don't have a crush on the Avatar." Toph had stuck to that story the whole excursion, and she wasn't about to admit it to the silly acrobat anyways.

"You know, I can tell you're lying." Ty Lee sounded amused as she combed her friend's hair out of her eyes, "Boy, you've grown since I saw you in the Jasmine Dragon!! And you look so fabulous!! Oh boy! No! Don't slouch and look sheepish, wear it!!"

Toph straightened, wondering if it would offend Ty Lee if she snuck off as they walked to the next shop. It probably wouldn't.

"How can you tell I'm lying?" It was out of Toph's mouth before she realized that it was an admission as well as a question.

"Because of your aura, silly, Ok, pull it off, try this one on next!" Ty Lee seemed to be holding something, but all the garments felt pretty much the same to her. She pulled off the top, and shimmied into the one that Ty Lee handed her.

"I think you got a size too small." Toph informed her. The upper hem seemed too low, and the lower hem was definitely too high, plus it hugged her all the way around, there was no extra fabric to belt down.

"No, it's supposed to fit this way, you show off your cute little earth bending tummy that way." The warrior gave the exposed navel skin an affectionate slap.

"You know, maybe I don't want people looking at my stomach." Toph told her, trying in vain to yank the shirt down further.

"Well, it's very fashionable in the fire nation. Even Katara and Suki wear belly shirts. Even Azula wears them to the beach." Ty Lee took a step back, "You look so cute!! You must be dying of heat in those green Earth Kingdom cloths anyways." she threw her arms around the younger girl in delight.

Toph groaned, Ty Lee would pick out the most revealing thing for her . . . It was cooler in the noontime heat than her old cloths . . .

"Jade is such a cute color on you too . . . Maybe we should go brighter though, how about a kelly green?" Ty Lee chewed on a fingernail thoughtfully.

Toph rolled her eyes, she was sure that the acrobat would make her try on every color she could, to see which one 'matched her eyes' and 'complemented her complexion'. As far as Toph could tell, some colors looked good together, and some did not, and some colors looked better on some people than others.

"I saw some pants that would go soooooo cutely with it . . . where did I put them . . ."

...

He shouldn't have let her watch them restrain his father. Hindsight was always twenty twenty. Zuko watched as Katara positively trembled, watching them chain the vehemently swearing, and violently struggling Ex Fire Lord. They were both certainly getting a vocabulary lesson. The prison guards were strapping him to manacles that stretched from either wall, and pulled his arms out to their full extension and diagonally upwards. One of them shoved him hard on his shoulder, pushing him to his knees and then strapped his calves and ankles to the floor so he could not stand back up.

There were three masked, androgynous surgeons sitting nearby, on hand in case something went terribly wrong. Katara took a step forward, trying not to let on that she was scared. If Ozai was anything like Azula, he would be able to smell her fear.

"Well if it isn't my heir, I was wondering when you would have me executed." Ozai looked up, leering, "I see you brought the courtesan I asked for. Took you long enough, but I see you had to go all the way to the Water Tribe for her, so I will forgive you."

Zuko took a step in front of Katara protectively, "Silence, father, you have no right to talk about my guest like that."

"I don't take orders from a dishonorable, scarred child." Ozai scoffed and looked away.

"Master Water Bender?" One of the surgeons held out a flask, her voice muffled by the red cloth over her face and the scarf covering her hair, "We brought you some sterilized water. Would you like us to clean and shave the area?"

Katara looked questioningly at Zuko, who shrugged, he hadn't a clue. She was the expert.

"No, no need. Thank you though, um, you will need to secure his head though, so he can't move it." she requested as the other two placed a pillow on the ground in front of the prostrate man,

The guards looked at each other and left, but came back a little later with something that looked like a cross between a scarecrow and an ostrich horse bridal, and began strapping it on the Fire Lord, who instantly began to protest. It took a few tries, but soon they had him bolted to the floor, unable to move his head in any direction.

Katara grimaced, none too thrilled about getting near the great and terrible Ozai, even if he was bound and helpless. She knelt down on the pillow and placed the glass flask beside her on the stone floor. Ozai looked up at her fiercely, but she could see animal terror then intelligent anger in his golden eyes. His striking gold eyes, so much like Zuko's, so much like Azula's.

Maybe after the long incarceration, he was more animal than man. She reached out to touch him, but he snarled and lurched forward, and she yanked her hand back. Katara hesitated, then tried again, this time ignoring the growl and reached out to touch the side of the man's face.

She tucked his long, disheveled hair up out of the way, and then uncorked the pitcher, bending the water out, and separating it into to equal parts.

"Don't move us until I am grounded." She reminded Zuko, then placed her hands on the man's temples, activating the water and closed her eyes. It took a few deep breaths for her to quiet her own mind, and then her body, which had picked the least opportune moment to remember what phase the moon was in and start reminding her of it distractingly. Katara had a vague suspicion it had something to do with Ozai's eyes, but didn't dwell on it.

She inhaled, and on the exhale pushed forward, scanning his aura and then using it to access his mind. It was not like Zuko's or one of the swamp goers minds, theirs was organized, clear, and purposeful. Ozai's was a whirl of thoughts and feelings, like she had never experienced, filled with the fog of madness and the thirst for blood. It was pressing in on her, and she pushed back hard enough to make both their heads throb.

"I came here looking for a memory, this can be quick and painless or long and difficult and torture, it's your choice." She broadcast into his head, and she became aware of him looking at her, she could see herself through him in her mind's eye. She could see the rest of the room, the guards looking bored, as they tended to when there was nothing to hit, the surgeons looking curious. On the other side was Zuko his hands clasped together under his chin, silently praying to the gods that everything would go well.

"You shouldn't be here."

Katara disconnected herself from Ozai's vision and turned her awareness towards the voice. It was a small boy, maybe four years old, she knew the boy, she had found a picture of him in the attic of the Royal families house on Ember Island. She knelt down, looking the boy in the eye.

"I know, but I have to find something, I'm looking for a memory of Ursa, can you take me there?" She had never encountered more than one awareness in a person's head before, but the child at least seemed harmless. He walked over and began tugging on her hair, exploring as small children tended to.

"Mommy says I shouldn't play with Ursa, Mommy Ila says she is unnatural." The boy used the big word, emphasizing it to impress her, then stuck his thumb in his mouth.

"Why does she say that?"

"She says Ursa's real daddy is a fish man. She says Ursa isn't human. She says beneath her dress, Ursa has gills and scales! She says Ursa should be thrown back in the sea where she came from." The boy reached out and began poking Katara's mother's necklace curiously, as he recited what his mother had said, without really understanding it.

"Maybe you could show me Mommy Ila and Daddy Azulon? Do you remember them?" Katara asked, she would have to start somewhere, might as well start in 'childhood' and work her way through.

"I could, but . . ." The boy trailed off, looking over her shoulder.

Katara swallowed and turned around and stood. Ozai was there, his face shrouded, fire springing up from his fisted hands and the soles of his feet. He was crowned by a huge ornamental gold flame, and the fog of thought inside the man's mind began pulling into the figure, solidifying it even more. It struck her with one of it's flaming hands, and knocked her to the ground. Pain blossomed across Katara's face, and along her side, where she was thrown.

"It's not real." She said to his mind general, wiping a smear of blood from her lip, "It's all an illusion, you can't actually hurt me Ozai, it's a waste of effort trying."

The god king figure advanced on her, growing larger as he concentrated on it, he was fighting back in a way she had not planned for. She rolled to the side, evading a blow, and leapt to her feet. She bolted into the mist, away from the strange personalities.

Ozai threw something into her path, and she stumbled into the memory before she knew what it was. She was kneeling between Azulon and a young Iroh, looking at the floor, someone who she knew was mother Ila was kneeling next to her older brother, on the other side. She watched transfixed as a woman danced, long flowing skirts and veils fluttering. Katara recognized it as swamp style bending without the bending, the woman must be some sort of spy she deduced, many of the swamp women looked fire nation.

"She bores me." Azulon said suddenly, and sent a blast of fire across the room, catching the woman mid dance. She felt Ozai reel in confusion, and look at Iroh, who was nearly a decade older. Iroh grinned at him and brought his hands up to his neck, making a face as though he was choking.

If the woman was screaming, Katara couldn't hear it, all Ozai remembered was laughing at his brother's antics.

Suddenly it blinked ahead several years, Iroh's wedding, Ozai was angry. Some stupid woman was taking away his favorite big brother. The ten year old sat sullenly in the shade, throwing rocks at the turtle ducks. Someone came and sat down next to him.

He looked up, the girl smiled, it was Ursa, she had Zuko's smile, "Why are you so mad?"

"I'm not mad." Katara felt Ozai's anger flaring, how dare she!!

"Well, it's mean to throw rocks at the turtle ducks," the girl leaned in closer and whispered, there was something different about her voice, "Don't do it." It was compelling, enchanting, Ozai dropped the rocks and stared in awe at the girl. Katara felt a crush explode in his chest, and a blush spread across his face. It was almost adorable. Almost.

"Do you have scales?" Katara cringed at it even as she felt it leave her mouth. Boys could be so charismatic, couldn't he see a 'you have very pretty hair' would have worked so much better?

The child Ursa looked offended, "No!" She stud up and walked off in a huff. She felt Ozai's sudden crushing disappointment in himself. He picked up a rock to throw into the pond, but then dropped it, the appeal of it lost. She had told him not to do it after all.

The memory faded and Katara was left blinking in the dark fog of an empty mind. She shuddered, wrapping her arms around herself. Had Iroh really been that way as a kid? Unlike Ozai, he had looked fourteen or fifteen, definitely been old enough to understand what his father had done, and he simply laughed it off, like the woman's murder had meant nothing.

She frowned, putting her hands to her face, trying to block out the memory that was not her own but would be forever burned into her mind. Something stepped in front of her, it was the God King incarnation of Ozai, and it reached down and grabbed her neck, lifting her off her feet.

Katara gasped for breath, "It's not real, it's not real," she repeated, "You can breathe if you want to, you're sitting in a room full of people, full of air, nothing is around your neck . . ." It was no avail, she could say it, but it was another thing to believe it.

"Katara!!"

They both turned and looked for the voice that had cut through their minds. She recognized it as Zuko's.

"Katara, breathe! She isn't breathing, why isn't she breathing?"

Her cheeks began stinging horribly, and suddenly she was gasping and blinking in the afternoon light, one of the surgeons pinching her nose, apparently preparing to give mouth to mouth while the others held her in place so the connection wouldn't be broken.

"I'm here!!" She said hurriedly, dropping the water, panting, adrenaline pumping through her system. Feeling hot and bothered, she detangled herself from the healers and took several steps back.

Zuko grabbed her shoulder, looking pleading, "Anything?"

"Maybe." Katara steadied herself against him, her knees feeling wobbly, she wondered know long she had been kneeling, "He is fighting me though, I'm getting nowhere fast, he tried to strangle me, he kept throwing out unpleasant memories to make me lose focus."

They all quieted, thinking of how to proceed.

"We could sedate him if you like." One of the surgeons suggested suddenly from behind her mask, "It will make his mind sluggish."

"Can you still do it if he is sedated?" Zuko asked, intrigued.

"Oh, umm . . . I think so . . ." Katara twirled her hair nervously, "I'd rather not go back in without something up my sleeve."

One surgeon were rifling through a chest, one was grinding up leaves with a mortar and pestle, and another was distributing their signature facemasks.

"Fire Lord Zuko, Master Water Bender Katara, Please put these on while we sedate him." The surgeon handed them both masks like he had on, they went over nose and mouth and tied in the back of the head.

She put on her mask.

The male surgeon placed a towel over Ozai's head and bent the ground herbs on fire, blowing on them so they smoldered and began smoking, then placed the whole bowl under the Ex Fire Lord's nose. The smoke wafted up into his face, but the man held his breath, trying to avoid it. They waited almost a quarter of an hour with no apparent progress, Ozai barely breathing, and threatened the medical personnel with death.

"This may take a while," The surgeon said apologetically, holding the smoke closer and closer to the agitated man's face, "I am sorry, Master Water Bender, but he is being most uncooperative. Perhaps you would rather step outside for a breath of fresh air? You look pale."

Zuko had a sneaking suspicion they might try something to get the smoke into his father's lungs that they would rather not have him see. He reached out and took Katara's arm, desperate times called for desperate measures, he would turn a blind eye if he had to. If it meant Katara's safety they could stick needles into the man for all he cared.

"Katara, lets go take a break, let them concentrate on what they're doing."

One of the guards led them to a small lounge, overlooking the Fire Nation Bay. Katara could just see the capital on the horizon from the window, she pulled the mask off, leaned out and inhaled, letting the smell of the ocean and the cries of the gulls calm her nerves. The Earth Kingdom shores were nicer, in the Fire Nation, everything always had the faintest smell of soot from the factories.

She felt his fingertips graze her back, she knew what was coming.

"What did you see?"

"I couldn't get any leads on that night, but . . ." Katara turned around to face him and sat on the sill, her body yearning to lean into him. Who was she kidding anymore, it was not just her body on it's own accord anymore. She wanted him with all of her. "He said that Ursa wasn't human, that she was something . . . IS something unnatural." She corrected herself quickly, "He is deliberately keeping memories of her and Azulon far away from me, he keeps throwing things from his childhood at me. He knows what I want."

Zuko's palm still rested on her back, and she reached out and caught his shirt, pulling him a step closer.

"Unnatural?" Zuko asked, too thoughtful to notice that he was being rearranged, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I don't know, he said your grandmother lay with a fish and Ursa had gills and scales under her dress."

"She doesn't have gills and scales under her dress." Zuko said, leaning his elbows on the frame and looking out, "I would have noticed them."

All this talk of things under people's cloths was starting to turn her on against her will. Katara changed the subject, "He was really little when he told me that. I don't think he understood what he was saying, he was just parroting it back."

"What?"

Katara sighed and slid off the sill, striding across the room and away from the Fire Lord. She didn't want to think about Ozai, this was supposed to be her break from Ozai. "I'll tell you everything later, I promise, I just need to relax for a little while, It's a lot scarier than it looks bending yourself into someone else's head like that." She rubbed her own head with the heels of her hands, and closed her eyes. She began to pace back and forth, feeling as though Ozai's slimy presence was still on her. Maybe it was.

Zuko caught her as she passed and sat her down in one of the chairs, "Last time I checked, pacing agitatedly around the room was not relaxing." His voice turned husky at the end of the statement, and his hands found her shoulders, massaging them gently.

Katara swallowed, was it just her or did the room suddenly get very hot?

"Now, I can think of several other, more relaxing activities."

Very, very hot?

Katara found her voice, "Zuko, don't tease! The moon rises in a few hours."

"Mmhm, I know the drill." He had leaned down and was whispering into her ear, "I'm not teasing though, teasing implies that one has no intention of following through." He was purring like he had the night he tied her to the tree. Had he been trying to be seductive then too? Probably.

"Is that your 'interrogation' voice? Do you want me to tell you where the Avatar and my brother are too?" Katara tried unsuccessfully to sound cross.

"I'll save you from the pirates . . ." He pressed his lips to her neck, his voice baiting her, his words dripping with hidden implications.

"Go jump in the river!" she stammered, her breath coming quickly, in short, icy pants very visible in the waiting room whose temperature was feverish and climbing.

"Try to understand . . ." he pleaded into her neck, his voice wantonly persuasive, "I am trying to restore my honor . . . let me help you . . ."

Katara shivered as she baked, and leaned up to kiss him, freezing the moisture on his lips in her ardor. He adjusted, leaning over her on the chair, his hands finding her wrists and pressing them into the armrests.

"Are you going to tie me to a tree again?" Katara asked breathlessly when they finally broke apart.

"If that's how you want it, I'm flexible."

"I think it's your turn to be tied to the tree." She informed him.

He pressed a knee into the cushion and kissed her again, nibbling her lower lip coaxingly. Reaching up, she began running her hands across the silky fabric of his shirt, then around to find the clasp of his belt.

There was a knock at the door.

Katara growled and screwed her eyes shut, "Whoever they are make them go away! Make them go away Zuko!" She whined. She felt his weight leave the sofa and heard his footsteps across the room, then the door opening.

"Fire Lord Zuko, the patient is sedated, will the Master Water Bender try again now? The sedative only lasts for a few hours."

Katara kept her eyes screwed shut, "I'll try again. We'll be out in a minute." She opened her eyes and swiftly stood up. Pacing across the room, she stopped in front of the Fire Lord and pointed at his nose.

"You're saved by the surgeon now, but you're in A LOT of trouble later!"

Zuko watched her go, spirits he hoped so.

...

Mai sat on the grass, applying kohl to her eyes using the reflection of herself in one of her knives. It had been almost an hour since the screaming stopped. She was starting to get bored just sitting there.

Azula suddenly splashed though the mist of the waterfall, dragging herself out of the water. Her torso looked good as new, not a bruise or snapped rib in sight.

"What took you so long?" Mai complained.

"I'd fractured my seventh rib." Azula sounded proud, "She held out through her fingers and her toes, but she was just too attached to her eyes. Come on, we need to get out of here before she finishes healing herself."

...
...

...

Sorry! I didn't mean to like, ransom the chapter, I was just worried like 20,000 words would be too much in one sitting. I was looking out for you!!

I overdosed on Zutara once, it is not fun. I ended up waking up on the floor of my room the next morning with no memory of the previous night, surrounded by sketchbooks full of love fanart, a sharpie tattoo of the blue heart with the read flames logo, and I Want You by Savage Garden playing on a loop on my itunes.

It was weird.

Zutara: Always in Moderation.

...

Current Distractions:

- Classes

- Fan art

- Ishmael by Daniel Quinn

...

Ursa's lullaby is from the movie Little Red Riding Hood, the one that stars Isabella Rossellini. Best version ever in my opinion.

...

Read and Review!!