Author's Notes:

This chapter is VER Mature! VERY VERY mature. Not quite with lemons… but… well… mature. Zuko's in for more than he has bargained for!!

Kozue is modeled after a forum friend, Friederike/ZukoToKozu.
Kozue means Treetop on Japanese.
This web address leads to the anime art she did for this scene after she read it.

She has also done some other works of art for this fanfic.

Faelin Bathing:

Zuko & Kozue in the underground: 21: Kozue - Letting Go

Zuko felt very content with some of his decisions. He missed the forge, but it was not really a stable paying job. He hated work at the dumb Tea Shop, but that never really changed and the money was steady and secure. Ty-min was a decision he will never regret. The dojo and his secret assassin training, well, that was a decision out of personal need. He needed the challenge and wanted the skills and abilities to apply to his other goals, like finding the avatar and dealing with Azula and re-establishing his place and honor as heir to the throne. He was especially content with his decisions about Faelin. His mouth quirked into a smile. They kissed. It was all they had done that night, but that didn't matter. He did not want to rush this. He did not know what he was going to do about it all, but he knew… he knew he had to take his time. Besides, he had other things to work on. He liked that their relationship was not the stereotypical girlfriend and boyfriend thing. He felt it was distasteful and never wanted to ever be seen to be like Travahar who was either out at the red lantern houses or arrived with girlfriend(s) on his arm(s) at the dojo. Travahar sickened him. How dare he touch Faelin! Zuko was going to make him pay for that. Faelin… Zuko sighed quietly. They kissed.

Iroh gave Zuko a little shove, "Nephew! Stop daydreaming. The table by the window is waiting for you to go take their order!"

Every day that week, Zuko trained and practiced both his own martial arts and the Hung Gar he was learning. He slept, ate, worked at the Tea Shop, watched over Faelin (sometimes with her curled in his embrace), and pushed himself hard through his training some more. There would come a day when he was better than Travahar. He could equal him with his Shaolin training, but not the Hung Gar. Zuko needed to learn it and learn it well. His Shaolin was a poor choice of martial arts in the tight claustrophobic spaces of a crowded stone city.

He also thought of the Winter Solstice. It was the longest night of the year, worst time for him, where his energy was so low. It was also a time for thinking about spirits and ancestors. It was only a few weeks away. He wanted to do something with Ty-min with her family now gone. He wanted to instill in her a sense of honor and respect for one's ancestors. What does one really do? He knew that the people of the Earth Nation marked this time of year, but how? He could not find in his memory a year in his life where this day was mark by anything but a long candle vigil till the sun rose again the next morning. Fire Nation awaited the coming of the Sun Spirit. Earth Nation honored their ancestors. How should he handle this with Ty-min? What were the actual rites and rituals? Was there anything specific or special? He would have to ask Faelin. She was a priestess. The operative word being was. Would she help him? Talking about the priestess thing with her was like a taboo subject. Zuko sighed. A priest or priestess takes vows for life. How could she shun it? It is who she is. Maybe this helping Ty-min will help Faelin remember who she was. With this small plan in mind, he smiled to himself. If Iroh knew this and knew about Faelin, he would smack his brow Sokka-style and then berate Zuko for not thinking this through. But, Iroh doesn't know about Faelin or Zuko's plans.

Iroh gave Zuko another little shove, "Nephew! Stop daydreaming. The table against the wall is waiting for their tea!"

Zuko hated this job. He could barely contain his growl. He saved the growling for the dojo and for Travahar.

Mu-Tan had also now added to Zuko's training. Kozue was to teach Zuko the "delicate arts" of her craft. She was a true spy with flexibility and agility that sometimes amazed Zuko. The Hung Gar class fell into a routine lasting about two hours. Zuko was then given an hour to relax or walk with Faelin if she were around. She never met him at the dojo after that incident with Travahar. Zuko had so hoped she would one day come and sit on the bench to watch him. Even if that was "normal" girlfriend behavior, he understood her reservations.

Kozue dragged him out on rooftops and along narrow fences, irregardless of the rain. She had him stretching and straining the extensions of his limbs in sometimes the most unmanly of ways. Men should not be able to sit on the floor like that with their legs apart, thought Zuko. The insides of his thighs burned with the strain. And yet, Kozue would slide down along the fence in the most graceful splits, swing a leg down and around to hook onto a rope she tied there and be upside down. It reminded him of Azula's friend, Ty-lee. She made it look easy. She could practically dance along a tight rope strung between buildings. He wanted to be able to dash along lines like that. She made him practice on the four foot high fence. He misstepped once on that fence and dropped, the top of the fence catching him on the inside of his thigh before he fell off the side. He lay there breathing deep and mentally assessing if he was still intact. He loathed the new bruises in places men should NOT be bruised, but he reveled in the new agility he had for walking narrow ledges, hanging from difficult places, and traversing secured ropes.

She also started teaching him new ways to walk silently and to break into homes and other building. She showed him some of the secret locks that were used on doors so non-earthbenders could get into private areas. They were creeping along a dark tunnel in the underground when the sounds of light swishing were heard. Kozue turned toward Zuko and pushed him deep into a dark crevice to hide. She pressed herself right up against him. He could feel every contour of her body against his as they remained frozen still in the dark. Four Dai Li agents walked by and stopped not far from their hiding place. They made some hand signals to one another and split up.

Zuko's heart raced. Without moving his head he looked down at Kozue. She shifted her stance slightly pressing a little closer to him as another Dai Li agent walked a quick pace by them in their hiding place. He wondered how she heard them so well. He could feel her breathe. A sly smile curled her lips as she shifted her leg to be more comfortable for her. Zuko took in a quick breath as his cheeks burned. He swallowed. Kozue leaned up to whisper in his ear. Her every movement touched Zuko. He closed his eyes and tried not to think about it. "Relax," she whispered. RELAX?! Zuko could hardly believe she would say that. RELAX? Did she know what she was doing? Did she know what she was doing to him?! He had never been this close to a woman. Kozue was nearly giggling in her mind with glee at Zuko's nervous squirming. She decided that perhaps one of her next lessons would be to teach him to relax around a woman. She pulled away suddenly and dashed off a few feet down the empty tunnel. Zuko panted a bit, his knees weak. He took in a couple deep breaths and then followed her. She smiled, exceptionally pleased with herself.

Sometime well after midnight when she no longer had Lee tagging along, Kozue dropped delicately to her feet on the floor from the small rooftop opening in the dojo roof. She walked into one of the rooms. It was bare except for a table and three chairs and a lantern on one wall. There was no window. She walked to the table and sat down. On the table was a huge map. Actually several sheets of map spread open on the table and held in place by a cup of water on one side and a couple of ink stones on the corners. She lifted one of the fine tipped brushes that were loose on the top map and began to draw. After about an hour, she stood and stretched. She lifted her head as she heard the soft almost inaudible footsteps of Mu-Tan coming up the stairs. She stepped out of the room into the short corridor with a stoic look on her face and ready with a throwing dagger if she was wrong about her guess. She was not. Mu-Tan stepped from the stairway into the barely lit corridor. "Kozue," He said gently.

A giant child-like grin dimpled her cheeks and she dashed to him with a huge hug. She then stepped away and the stern neutral expression returned. "I have more information from my first mission. I have added to the maps of the underground and confirmed them as in use by the Dai Li. I will complete that map before the Winter Solstice."

Mu-Tan: "And how goes the mission with my apprentice?"

Kozue frowned a moment, "He is almost my equal in flexibility, dexterity and agility."

Mu-Tan: "That was only the small part of your mission. You were asked …"

Kozue: "Yes, I know. Teach him to trust himself. That is not an easy mission, sir. He is uncertain about walking a narrow wall. I will try him on ropes tomorrow. He doubts himself. I would like permission to push him to the edge."

Mu-Tan: "You will be playing with fire, Kozue. I do not want you burned."

She gave him a mischievous half smile, "Oh no, not that edge. I think Travahar does a fine job at that. I mean a whole other kind of edge, the one most men don't come back from. If he trusts himself, he will control himself." They walked to another room where Mu-Tan had some tea brewing. He poured a cup for each of them. They sat and discussed her ideas.

Mu-Tan could see how Ling was so disturbed by his daughter. She never came back quite the same from her mother's death. You were never quite sure what she was thinking or what she would do. She had no fear, none at all, and not really any compassion. She didn't really have a sense of right or wrong, there were no moral concerns. In some ways, she was a child. In others, she was very much an adult. It made her an ideal spy and a deadly assassin. No remorse. It was sometimes scary to watch her.

Later in the week, Kozue amused herself for several hours. She had strung a tight cord across the alley and about 10 inches off the ground. She was sitting on the wall like a cat at the dead end of the alley watching people near the front of the alley trip over her cord. The rain was starting to come down in slow large drops. The wall she sat upon was going to be part of this evening's training, as was the cord. This, however, amused her until it was time to meet up with Zuko at the dojo.

After bringing Zuko to the roof, she pointed to the wall. "I want to you jump from here and land on it." She walked to the edge and leapt off the roof. Not expecting her to do so, he made a grab for her to save her from death, but missed. As he looked over the roof's edge where he landed hard, he saw her gracefully rising from the crouched landing position she made on the wall's top ledge. She made it look so easy. She turned and put her hands on her hips. "Come on. It is only ten feet down to here and the wall is wide, at least one foot wide." He backed up and dashed to the edge of the roof, then came to a skidding halt. Was she mad? "Oh for… in the name of all the ancestors! Get your cowardly ASS down here!"

Zuko snarled. The wall was not like landing on wide flat ground. What if he missed? How many bones would he break? How dare she call him a coward? He jumped from the roof. In a sudden panic he kicked out his leg sideways and pushed himself from the wall's edge below to roll painfully across the wet ground. That will be too many bruises to count by morning. He stood and glared at her. She shook her head at him in disappointment, "That was terrible. You know perfectly well how to land on a wall and stay on. Get back up there and do it again." Thoughts of murdering her on the way down started to flash in his mind by his fifth attempt. Finally she went back up with him. "You know how to do this. It is no different than any other wall. Just the height is different. Stop over-thinking it and trust your body to know what to do." And again she leapt off to land on the wall. It was at least another three tries before he finally succeeded.

Then she started him on the rope. They walked and turned and did all kinds of things on the low rope. He kept slipping off and tripping. He almost got mad enough to fry the damnable rope. His feet and ankles were aching. Kozue watched him with a frown. She knew he could do this. He does fine barefoot on the rope in the dojo. Then she had an idea. She grinned with joy at her ingeniousness. She grabbed his hand and hauled him back into the dojo. There she sat him on the bench and started to pull off his shoes. He struggled against her. "Stop squirming," she ordered. When his shoes were off she pressed the bottom of each of his feet against the inside of her forearm. He looked at her like she had truly lost her mind. "Ok. All done! You can go now." Confused he pulled on his shoes again and left.

Zuko was grumpy all the way to Faelin's. He asked that she not touch him this evening as he was aching from new bruises. She wrapped a chilled wet towel around his ankles to ease the swelling from his strains. It was so easy to trust her. Why was it hard for her to trust him? Or for him to trust himself? He sighed and guarded her sleep.

His own sleep was restless in the wee hours of the morning. He was caught between dreams of Faelin bathing to dreams where he could feel Kozue pressed up against him. Then he would shift and his bruises would scream through his muscles and wake him. He alternated from hot baths to cold wet towels. He was actually not as bad off as he thought. He managed work and the dojo training fine, achy, but fine. Maybe it was his determination. Maybe he was so busy hating Travahar that he just never noticed.

He wondered what Kozue had in store for him tonight. He also wondered what the foot thing was. Did she have some kind of weird fetish? He was never quite sure what she was thinking. She always left him a bit unsettled.

She led him out to the rope again. Then she handed him leather shoes. What? He inspected them. They were soft leather shoes with a very pliable sole and a split toe. He looked at her feet and realized that she sported shoes like that, only hers were very well loved. "These will help you," she said. "Hard shoes are no good for ropes. You really need to feel everything with your feet. Feet are very sensitive."

He put on the shoes and found that it was almost like being barefoot, except not cold and wet like it was tonight. Their work on the rope went much better this evening than last. She declared him a pro and promptly brought him up to the roof and to another rope she had strung there between the buildings. She walked out as gracefully upon it as if it were as wide as a street. She turned and smiled at him in that cute and almost sexy way she sometimes did. She held out her hand. "Come on. You did fine down there, now let's do it for real."

He stepped out onto the rope and hesitated. He stepped off again. She crossed her arms and gave him that annoyed look like yesterday's from the wall. He tightened his lips, took in a deep breath through his nose and stepped out on the line. He edged out a third of the way when she walked over and took his hand to steady him. "Look up… not at the rope or the ground. Neither exists. Look at me." Her grip was firm and reassuring. Her eyes never left his and she guided him along slowly. "Not bad." Then she let him go. "Stay looking at me and come all the way across." He almost fell near the end. She caught his hand and pulled him to the other roof. "See? I knew you could do it. I want you to do it alone with no help." He looked across the rope with uncertainty. She frowned to herself. Time for plan B, she told herself. The only way off the current roof that they were on was across the rope. There was a walled chimney in the center of this roof. She took his hand again and led him there. He was still not sure what she was planning. He figured he would have to lean against the wall and listen to another one of her lectures. He did not expect what came next.

She stepped close to him and placed both her hands on his chest. "To walk the rope, you must trust that the rope is there." He put his hands on her shoulders with the intention of pushing her back or defending himself, as he sometimes needed to do with her. She would sometimes test his reflexes. She stepped in even closer. He swallowed. "To do anything in life, you must trust yourself." His body tensed at the feeling of hers pressed against him. She looked up at him with her dark blue eyes and slight smile. "Relax," she whispered. "Your body knows what to do. The rope is just another edge you walk along." He couldn't relax. His heart was pounding as part of his body disobeyed him rudely. She leaned into him and whispered in his ear, "Close your eyes. Stop over-thinking. Trust yourself…. Let go …" Her voice was almost hypnotizing. He closed his eyes. He could feel her chest moving as she breathed. He relaxed into that rhythm. "Let go… and trust that your body knows what to do." Her breath was warm in his face. He let go of his insecurities. His arms slid slowly down her arms and around her waist. Her lips were so close to his that he could almost feel them brush his. "You know what to do…" And he closed the distance between their lips. It was like fire coursing through his veins. It stirred him inside. He brought his arms up her back when she returned his kiss and held her tight. His body ached… hungered… for something. He turned around so she was against the wall. Trust yourself, you know what to do. He kissed her cheek and her neck as she lifted her head for him to have easier access. He breathed in her hair. He drew back to her lips and met them again with hunger. She enjoyed this fiery passion in him, but would he trust himself to really know what to do? She returned his touches and his kisses with equal lust. His breath was heavy. Sweat beaded his brow and rolled down his back inside his shirt. He pressed his cheek against hers.

He moved one hand to the wall beside her head, then the other. She waited to see what he would do. All his muscles were tensing. He was fighting for control. Or did he lose control so soon, she wondered amused. He pushed himself away from her, bracing himself against the wall. "No," he said hoarsely. "No." And he stepped away from her. His jaw clenched, then his fists. He took in a deep breath and turned his back on her. He paused at the rope off the roof and looked over his shoulder at her. "Our lessons are over," he said firmly and walked across the rope like it was not even there, like he was walking on the dojo floor.

Mu-Tan was watching from the dojo roof a few roofs over with his spyglass. He waited till Kozue came to him. "You do your job too well sometimes, Kozue."

She just smiled at him. "Well, now he trusts himself and knows he can step away from the edge. He will know that edge anywhere now and be able to step away from it or cross it when he needs to."

Mu-Tan nodded. It was not the way he wanted it to work out, but it definitely worked.

Zuko was very standoffish in Faelin's room. He was so glad she was already asleep. He was very angry with Kozue. He was very angry with himself. He felt very hurt, and confused, and yet still on fire inside. It was not until several hours of fuming and then calming that he realized that he had walked away from that situation without touching Kozue too rudely and without doing anything else with her. He came so close to a cliff's edge where beyond was either bliss or was a burning deadly fire. He now knew where that internal cliff's edge was; and, he had walked the rope steadily. Was that what she was planning? He was so confused by her.

He knelt down beside Faelin and brushed his fingers gently against her cheek. The sounds of waking people in the building signaled his time to leave. He slipped away in the predawn. It was still pitch dark and the rain came again with a chill wind. He welcomed it.