As I've said on my other fics, I'm sorry for keeping you guys waiting for so long. Things just got busy, and I just got lazy so procrastination became a part of it. In that time, I fully planned out the story since I like to do that with my works and it currently stands at 63 chapters. Anyways, here's a new chapter to satisfy your needs which takes place in between the Deserter and the Northern Air Temple.

Truth Revealed

Waiting patiently in her bed was like a nightmare for Akane, knowing that she was missing out on everything important that she needed to know. While she had been filled in for the most part, Akane still felt as though she was being purposefully left out of the loop. This was her life on the line, and Akane firmly believed that she deserved to know exactly what was going on.

Based on what Zuko had told her, he was under the assumption that someone on the crew was intentionally targeting her. Unlike Zuko, Akane refused to believe that that was the case. Only because she had spent so much time with Zuko's crew, and she couldn't fathom why anyone would want to intentionally hurt her.

After what felt like hours of waiting out of the loop, Akane was finally joined by Zuko and Iroh. Once she gave them a small smile, Akane noticed the sombre look on Iroh's face and the furious look on Zuko's. It was almost as if steam was escaping from his head, and Akane couldn't help but wonder what had caused Zuko to get so angry.

"Find anything yet?" Akane asked nervously.

"Yes, we have," Iroh sighed. "I'm sorry, Akane. But it was an inside job. Someone intentionally set out to hurt you."

"No. They wouldn't.." Akane trailed off, still refusing to believe it.

"I'm sorry, but they would. They were specifically sent to apprehend you in a way that would go unnoticeable, so that you would have no choice but to leave us," Iroh revealed.

"Who sent them?" Akane asked.

"Ozai," Iroh replied in an icy tone, almost as if the name was poison on his lips.

"He wanted them to kill me?" Akane shrieked.

"Perhaps this is something that you should hear for yourself. You have been in the dark long enough. Come with me," Iroh ushered.

Sighing, Akane slowly got out of her bed and she followed Iroh and Zuko out of the room. Their ship wasn't set that far away from where they had left Akane, and Akane figured that she was going to need that time to prepare herself for what she was about to face. Just knowing that someone who she had trusted had set out to betray her from the start was heart-wrenching for Akane.

All of this time, Akane had opened herself up to the crew and formed genuine bonds with them on her part, only for them to take advantage of them to tear her apart. For someone like Akane, who was always wiling to give people a chance and let them in, this had practically shattered whatever hope she had left in the world. Now Akane just wanted to know who was behind this, and why they had taken advantage of her.

When they arrived at the port where their boat was waiting, Akane noticed some of the crew members waiting outside the ship. As soon as they noticed her, they all gave her sombre looks which Akane simply brushed off. Akane then realised that one person in particular wasn't with the rest of the crew and Akane's heart dropped as she feared for the worst.

Once they passed the crew members, Iroh and Zuko lead her into the ship where some parts of it looked like it had been torn apart, most likely to find out what was doing this to Akane. Of course, they now knew what was threatening her life but it had still put other peoples lives in danger which made Akane feel even worse, knowing that whoever was responsible for this had indirectly affected the lives of other innocent people.

Eventually, they reached Akane's room and she had a strange feeling that she'd be coming face to face who was responsible for this. As much as Akane wanted to demand answers and find out why they had done what they did, Akane wasn't so sure if she was ready to face them. But Iroh and Zuko had insisted on having her face the perpetrator, which Akane prepared herself for as they opened the doors to her room, revealing Lieutenant Kyou sitting on her bed.

Upon their entry, Kyou looked up and he sighed as his eyes landed on Akane. Akane, on the other hand, felt like crying then and there at the sight of him. From the beginning, Kyou had been a friend to her and she had always thought he thought the same. But obviously that wasn't the case since he tried to kill her. Now, Akane wanted to know why he had broken her trust.

"We'll be waiting outside," Iroh said as he pulled a reluctant Zuko outside and shut the door.

"Lieutenant," Akane acknowledged him.

"Hello, Akane," Kyou greeted her sombrely.

"I'm not going to let you try and defend your actions because it's quite clear what you've done. I just need to know, was I ever your friend or were you always trying to kill me?" Akane began.

"I wasn't trying to kill you," Kyou replied.

Akane scoffed, "Well, you've certainly done that. Did you ever stop to think about the consequences of your actions? What it would mean for me? Or were you just doing whatever you had to do to please Ozai?"

"You don't know what you're talking about," Kyou snapped in a way that Akane had never seen him speak before. But then again, he had never outrightly tried to kill her before either.

"Then enlighten me, Kyou. Justify why you would put my life at risk just to please Ozai," Akane insisted.

Kyou sighed, "I didn't want to kill you. I just wanted to make you sick enough so that you would have no choice but to return home."

"That place was never home to begin with! Even now when I know what my life is up against I want nothing to do with that wretched man and his little palace!" Akane exclaimed.

"It wasn't going to be up to you," Kyou interrupted.

Akane glared at him, "That hardly seems fair. Neither does you killing me seem fair."

"Look, everyone knows that although he's a spoilt prince that Prince Zuko does genuinely care for you. Eventually, your sickness would become too much to bare and then he would find out the truth about you and send you back to the Fire Nation for your own good," Kyou explained.

"But why? Why would Ozai want me back anyways? What is it with that man and his obsession with me? No matter how obvious I have made it that I despise him, he still wants me back?" Akane wondered.

"Your guess on that would be as good as mine. He never told me why he wanted you back, he just sent me out to get you so that I could possibly manipulate you into returning home. But when that didn't work, he ordered me to take more drastic measures that in hindsight I never should've done. But I only did what I had to do to protect myself and my family," Kyou reasoned.

"Your family?" Akane stated, confused.

"He threatened me. He said that if I didn't do what I wanted him to do that he would make sure I never got a higher job in the Fire Nation ever again. And my family has always struggled to get by and he promised to pay me big, which he had. If I didn't do what he wanted me to do my family would've suffered," Kyou explained.

Akane glared at him, "So that made it justifiable to make me suffer?"

Kyou sighed, "Listen, Akane. I am sorry that I hurt you with my actions but I had no other choice. If I could've done things differently I would've but Ozai put me in a position where I couldn't refuse. And if I did, well you and I both know what that man is capable of when someone disobeys him."

At that comment, Akane instantly flashed back to herself a few years ago as she was terrified of Ozai and always feared what he would do next. Even now, some of that fear remained which was partly why Akane refused to go back to him. It gave her some degree of understanding for Kyou's actions, but it didn't make her feel any better.

"Kyou, I can understand why you did what you did but it still hurts. I opened myself up to you, I let you in and treated you like I treated everyone else. And you just so easily threw that trust and that bond away like it was nothing. Like I was nothing. I hope that wherever you find yourself next doesn't cause you to act as heinously as you did here. If I were you, I'd get yourself as far away as you could from here because I never want to see you again," Akane stated, with her voice cracking towards the end.

Kyou nodded in understanding, "I get it and I don't blame you for never wanting to see me again. But I just want to say that I never intended to hurt you like this. It was never my intention, believe me."

Akane sighed, "I get it."

Silence fell upon them as they avoided each other's gaze. Akane had done what she wanted to do in finding out the truth from Kyou, but it still hurt nonetheless. The saying 'the truth hurts' had never been more true than it was now. Despite knowing the truth, Akane had denied it for her own reasons but once it came to light, it hurt even more. Sighing, Akane turned around as she opened the door to see Iroh and Zuko still standing there.

"He can go now. I don't ever want to see him around here ever again, and he knows that," Akane said, sparing Kyou a short glance.

Iroh nodded, "Very well. Prince Zuko, may you take Akane to the medical room while I escort Lieutenant Kyou off the ship?"

"Of course," Zuko conceded as he lead Akane away, glaring at Kyou until he was out of sight.

Just by looking at Akane, Zuko could see how devastated she was by the situation and seeing that look on her face only made him want to destroy Kyou even more. It had taken a lot of convincing from Iroh tog et Zuko to stand down and let Akane decide what Kyou's fate would be. While Zuko was glad to have the traitor out of the way, he would've much rather used brutal force to get their point across.

But that wasn't what Akane had wanted and Zuko was always willing to do whatever Akane wanted. And although she might not want it now, there was nothing else that Zuko would do to help her in her time of need. Especially since Akane was going to need his support now more than ever.

Their short trip to the nurses room was made in silence as Akane refused to look up at him. Part of Zuko could understand why, since it was his father who had ordered Kyou to hurt Akane the way he had. But Zuko was nothing like his father, and Akane knew that. Zuko just hoped that Akane wouldn't shut him out forever, because he could see that she was hurting and he wanted to be there for her, which he couldn't do if she just ignored him.

"I'm sorry," Zuko apologised.

"What do you have to be sorry for? You're not the one who did this to me," Akane said.

"But my father… wanted this to happen. If it weren't for me, you wouldn't be like this," Zuko argued.

Akane sighed as she placed a hand on Zuko's shoulder and gave it a comforting squeeze, "Zuko, it's not your fault. Like you said, Ozai wanted this to happen, not you. And it was Kyou who made sure that it happened. This isn't your fault."

"But it feels like it is," Zuko grumbled.

"And it isn't. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't even know what was going on with me. You left no stone unturned to find out the truth and maybe if you hadn't done that, I would've just dropped dead and we never would've known what happened," Akane reasoned.

"You're still going to die," Zuko said.

"Which is why we'll have to make the most of every last minute that we have together and leave nothing to waste. At least this way we'll be able to live with no regrets," Akane pointed out.

"I don't understand how you can be so… optimistic when you're the one who's dying," Zuko sighed.

"Exactly, I'm the one who's dying. That's something you shouldn't worry about because it's not you. And I wouldn't say that I'm being optimistic, I'd say that I'm dealing with the situation as best as I can," Akane said.

"I'm still sorry that this had to happen, Akane," Zuko apologised.

Akane gave him a soft smile, "It's okay."

Despite her reassurance on the outside, Akane was anything but fine on the inside. But Akane knew that she would have to remain strong for those around her, no matter how badly she felt like falling apart now that her life had been forever changed for the worst.

Originally, the reveal was going to happen at the end of the previous chapter but I decided to save it for this one to make it more suspenseful. For now, updates should resume normally but if I do happen to miss a scheduled day, I'll just skip it and post it on the next one.

SPECIAL MENTIONS

Fallingoverstars: Sorry if it was confusing to read. I tried not to add too many OC's into the mix but I had to for the sake of the story. It was always going to be Kyou who was responsible but that would've been too obvious and I like to make things fun.

Znkp: Good to see you back in my reviews. Though I have to ask, who were you referring to when you said 'that bitch make me angry' because bitch isn't really how I'd describe Ozai. Sorry for making you wait a little while but I hope that this chapter has made up for it.

ZabuzasGirl: It's always good to see another reviewer on my stories. Let me know what your reaction was and who you thought it was and as for the updates, I'll try to stay on schedule.

GumptiousGriffin: Cliffhangers are certainly fun to write but definitely not fun to read. Though I do try to not put in too many because that would just be frustrating for both of us.