(A/N- Our hearts go out to the four innocent children who were killed in Pennsylvania by a psychotic old man who couldn't stop living in the past. Rest in peace, little ones... we're all thinking of you. -HailZuko!)

Chapter 25-Zuko's Response

Katara stared at the window above her head. It was dark... and high. "How in the world are we going to get up there?" she wondered aloud.

"Well, hurry up and figure it out," Sokka said nervously, dancing from foot to foot. "That guard I conked on the head won't be out for long."

Suddenly, Katara snapped her fingers. "Aha! Sokka, give me your boomerang and unravel your wristbands."

"But I like my wristbands!" Sokka whined, crossing his arms defensively.

Katara frowned. "Okay then, we'll just unravel the stuff that holds your loincloth in place."

Sokka pouted and rolled up the sleeves of his Fire Navy costume. "Wristbands it is."

Once the thin white strips of cloth were in Katara's hands, she tied them together and knotted them tightly. She then secured the makeshift rope around Sokka's boomerang.

"Here," she said, thrusting the tool into Sokka's hands. "Aim your boomerang just below that window up there, and bury it deep."

Sokka nodded. He stuck his tongue out in concentration, took careful aim, and whipped the boomerang. Just as expected, it hit its target.

Katara smiled. "Perfect as usual, Sokka."

Sokka studied his nails smugly. "Was there ever any doubt?" He grabbed the cloth rope. "You go first. I'll hold it steady."

Katara easily scaled the castle wall and pulled herself into the arch-shaped window. Once her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she glanced around the small room. It contained a couch, a chair, and an oil lamp. Several grotesque pictures of war scenes dotted the walls. Katara wrinkled her nose in abhorrence, but was relieved that the room was void of life. She stuck her head out of the window and waved to Sokka, who immediately began his climb. He struggled up the rope with a good deal of difficulty due to his outfit, but still managed to pull himself up.

Just as Sokka neared the top, there was a cracking sound. He froze. His boomerang was dislodging! "Katara!" he whispered squeakily, panic in his features.

Katara's eyes were wide. "Hold on, Sokka!" she hissed down to him. "I'll freeze the boomerang in place!"

She hurriedly reached for her pouch and leaned out of the window... a little too far. Katara cried out softly as she fell forward, her pouch escaping her grip.

"Gotcha!" Sokka grunted, managing to snag Katara's wrist. There was a dull thud far below, however, as Katara's pouch hit the ground.

"Oh no!" she shrieked in a whisper, clinging to the rope below Sokka. "We're really high up; we're gonna fall and break our legs!"

"It's okay," Sokka whispered. "Just ease back down and I'll pull the boomerang out and we'll try again."

"Um, I can't," Katara squeaked.

"Katara, don't be difficult, my boomerang isn't going to hold much longer!"

"It's not that, Sokka... We've been discovered!"

"H-How well do I know Bumi?" Zuko echoed, staring blankly at his father.

Ozai nodded. "You were his prisoner, were you not?"

Zuko scratched his head. "Well, yeah. But--"

"Well, what did you learn from that experience?" Ozai urged.

"W-... Er... Bumi is a very powerful King with many loyal subjects. He is wise and teeters dangerously on the fine line between genius and insanity." Zuko shrugged. "He is quite a character."

Ozai waved his hand impatiently. "Fine, fine. This is true, but I was actually speaking of... more secretive matters."

Zuko frowned. "Huh?"

Ozai stared intently at his son, hunger in his eyes. "My boy, you must have the layout of that whole castle memorized by now. And in your time there, you must've heard one or two things that may prove useful as well."

Zuko stared dumbly at his father for quite a while. Then, his eyes narrowed and comprehension dawned. "Hmm..." Zuko gave a short laugh. "Very clever, father, but no."

Ozai did not look pleased. "You learned nothing from your time in an Earth Kingdom prison within a great king's castle? Could it be that you are not as astute as I once knew you to be? Could it be that I overestimated you?"

Zuko raised a brow. "Quite the contrary on all three counts. I am only more astute due to your cruel sentence that you handed down earlier in my youth. And also, it is not that I did not learn anything in the duration of my tine in Omashu. See, you underestimated me in assuming that I would reveal such information to you."

Ozai's face twisted slowly into a vicious scowl. "Don't be foolish, boy."

Zuko's throat tightened painfully, but he managed an even tone as he said, "My mother once told me to always remember who I am. I didn't know what that meant at first, but now I understand perfectly. Father, you were just as abused and mistreated by your father as a child as I was by you. And now look at you. You allowed all that self-doubt and shame to turn you into the same person as your father was. And, believe it or not, I almost made that very same mistake. I almost allowed myself to become you.

"But that day, that blessed day when I allowed the real me to shine through and stuck up for the innocent and refused to duel out of love and respect for you, I didn't know that fate was boosting me in the right direction. My destiny is not to capture the Avatar, or to rule a warring nation, or to do whatever I can to kick and claw my way to the top. I learned a lot of important things during the three years that I was away. However, the most important thing I learned is that I'm not you... and I never really wanted to be."

Ozai shook his head slowly. "You really aren't that smart, are you Zuko?" He started pacing around the prince, who stood stalk-still, a feeling of foreboding creeping up his spine. "You had a chance to sit up on a pedestal beside me, an example to every parent of what their children should become..."

As his father went on, Zuko's foreboding gradually turned into fury. He clenched his fists and assumed his recently abandoned ugly frown.

"...could've all been forgiven, Zuko," Ozai continued, "every last bit. Unless, that is, you decide to hand your knowledge out in the next twenty-four hours. Then you may assume your previous postion of power as prince of the Fir--"

"OH, CUT THE CRAP!" Zuko screamed, every torch and flame in the room swelling in fury. "You and I both know that you're playing to what was once my weak spot, just like you once did to your own brother. Well, news flash, Ozai... I don't want to carry on in your filthy paw-prints, so give it up! Secondly, I know your intentions are not what you say they are, and that brings me to another lesson I've learned." Zuko sneered bitterly. "It's pretty sad that one of the biggest life lessons I've ever learned was not to trust my own father."

A chilling silence hung in the air after Zuko's outburst. Then, Lord Ozai reached up, gripped his robe, and tore it off with no effort at all. He tossed the article aside and took his stance, the flames at the front of the room shooting higher than ever. "Wrong response, Zuko. It is a shame that you choose to be a traitor... and it is an even bigger shame that you must die."