Chapter 25: Young Noble Dragons

Moments passed while Travahar meditated on this woman's presence at the dojo. Kozue came in and walked coldly passed him. He regarded her as one regards an extremely beautiful yet deadly poisonous flower. She made his skin crawl. Travahar wondered why she was there. She went into the office to meet with Mu-Tan. Maybe she was one of the ones Mu-Tan employed in Travahar's mission. He was paying them enough. He really hoped she had news. Good or bad, at this point any news would be welcome. He poured himself into his exercises, sweating, trying to not think about what was going on in his own life.

Mu-Tan stepped into the dojo to address Travahar. "Travahar. I trust that you and Lee can practice respectfully and spar honorably while I go have a meeting?"

Travahar bowed to Mu-Tan. "Yes, of course, sifu."

Zuko arrived at the dojo to see only Travahar meditating. Travahar did not move while Zuko headed to the boys' room to change. Travahar smiled to himself. This was going to be both interesting and informative, he thought to himself, especially since Mu-Tan left the building with Kozue and there was absolutely know one left here. Yes, interesting indeed.

Zuko stepped onto the mats. Travahar noticed that Zuko had a new uniform by the reflection in the mirror. So he did finally get his own. Travahar wondered what family heirloom Zuko had to part with to do so. Zuko stretched and then did his usual walking meditation, keeping Travahar on the edge of his awareness constantly. The green dragon was too still for comfort while the fire dragon warmed up for training. Zuko wondered where Mu-Tan was. He paused as he passed the office door and looked in that direction. Travahar volunteered, "Mu-Tan is out. They all are. They are having a meeting elsewhere. We have the dojo to ourselves," and he sneered snobbishly at Zuko.

Zuko frowned his usual anti-social frown and did some more stretches. Travahar decided to volunteer a little more information, when the two mirrored each other with the Hung Gar katas. "Someone was here looking for you." Travahar noticed this caught his adversary's attention. "A woman."

Zuko ground his teeth, probably Kozue. He did not want to discuss her. Or was it the woman who had screamed in the Middle Ring house? Was he found out? Did he leave something telling behind? His mind frantically searched his memories.

Travahar stepped up and bowed to Zuko for their first sparring match. With another sneer, "It was the whore with the red…."

The back of Zuko's right hand, Leopard Paw form struck shockingly fast just under Travahar's jaw. He nearly bit his tongue in mid-sentence. Zuko's left fist in Tiger Claw form came to slam Travahar in the head and down to the ground. Travahar had no time to react before Zuko was on top of him. "She is not a whore! And don't you EVER call her that again!" The flames danced in his eyes.

Travahar saw them but for whatever reason continued his taunting. "You think she can like you? Do you know where she works? If she isn't a whore, she sure isn't in any much better standing." He flipped Zuko over his head with his powerful legs and rolled quickly to his feet. Zuko moved furiously with a low sweeping leg to knock Travahar off his feet again. Travahar sprung back. A butterfly strike slammed him in the chest throwing him back.

He was barely on his feet when Zuko leapt high and came crashing down on top of him again. "You better not have touched her," he snarled. Travahar was slowly beginning to realize that maybe he was wrong. As the blows came with greater and greater fury, Travahar concluded that Lee, the Refugee, and this woman might actually be in a long standing relationship.

They were locked like two dragons ferociously intertwined and determined to rip the other apart. Travahar spat out, "What do you think YOU will do with her? You are nothing! Just a refugee! What could you possibly offer her?!" And he threw Zuko across the floor.

Like a cat, Zuko was up and on Travahar again. The fire rising inside Zuko like lava begging a volcano to open and release it. He had Travahar pinned in a deadly lock as he looked over the edge into the flames within himself. That edge. The same edge Kozue had brought him to, but in a different way. It would be so easy, so easy to leap in and use those flames. Flames that could stir passion or kill with fury. Travahar felt the heat in the air dry the sweat off his skin. Zuko struggled internally. Travahar could not move he was pinned so well. Travahar's words echoed in Zuko's mind. You are nothing! What could you possibly offer her?! The fire beckoned. Zuko closed his eyes, knowing the feeling of that threshold. He relaxed his grip a little and internally let go. He let go of that call. "Don't move or I will kill you, kill you before I can stop myself," he spoke quietly to Travahar. Then he got up and backed off collecting his focus and letting go of the fury a little at a time.

Travahar was relieved. The pinned position was a killing one with the right small move, and apparently Zuko knew it. Zuko's words were too serious to ignore. He stayed still till Zuko was well away from him. Then he slowly and carefully stood. Where did this man get such intensity? How could he have such deep feeling for a woman? Why did he stop? "Why did you stop?"

"I was about to break a promise to our sifu. There is to be no bending and no killing in this dojo. I would like to think I am an honorable man worthy of his teachings. To kill you is cowardly and beneath my station." Zuko shook the tension out of his hands.

Travahar: "Beneath your station?! I am the noble one here. You are just a refugee!"

"You have no idea who I am or what I am. For both our sakes, I must not continue this fight" Zuko bowed a royal and noble bow to Travahar.

Travahar wondered suddenly who this man was before him. "I would not have actually hurt her. I… have to maintain an image." He turned his back on the dangerous fire dragon. "And you behave like you are some kind of royalty. I don't know how or why or where you learned it.

Zuko looked at Travahar oddly. "I was royalty. Now I am just an exiled prince."

Travahar's eyebrows shot up. NO! Could this man be THE exiled Fire Nation prince?! He took a slow breath and then turned around. "Then we are equals. No one knows me for a prince either." And Travahar bowed with equal royal nobility to Zuko.

Zuko was surprised. This was the son of the Earth King of Ba Sing Se?! But that man disappeared as a boy in the 600 day siege! Zuko hated this city sometimes. There were too many walls and too many secrets.

"The woman who came by," Travahar began, noting that Zuko clenched his fists, "She spoke with Mu-Tan and left. She was looking for you." Travahar picked up a towel from the bench and tossed it to Zuko and one for himself to wipe remaining sweat out of his eyes. "I was serious about what are you going to be able to offer her. In your current state, it will have to be something you seriously consider. I don't have a girlfriend or any prospective wife because I do not feel that I am ready or able to care and support one. Can you?"

Zuko sat dejected on the bench. He couldn't even truly care for Ty-Min. How on earth was he going to take care of Faelin? If he could just get back his honor and status back home…. Travahar walked past him into the back room to spill the icy water over himself. Then he changed into more respectable clothing. Zuko did the same after, though his clothing was not as respectable looking.

Fire and green dragons faced each other again on the dojo floor. They bowed to one another with their newfound respect for each other. Travahar reached out his hand, offering it to Zuko. Zuko took it. They nodded to each other and Travahar left the dojo.

Zuko pondered more on this. It was almost dizzying. Every time he thought he finally had answers to his questions, he realized the questions just got more complex and he needed more answers. What did Mu-Tan and Faelin talk about? Why did she come to the dojo? Why was the Earth Nation prince in hiding and pretending to be a disgusting and dishonorable noble? Why didn't Faelin stay?

He walked outside. It was so dark so early these days. No sun, not even stars could be seen. It was cold and cloudy and threatened more rain. He shivered and refocused to raise his body heat. Where had Mu-Tan gone that was so important? He sat up on the roof of the dojo to go over everything in his mind. If he couldn't care for Ty-min, how could he care for Faelin? What did he intend to do? Was she really his responsibility? Did he want to take care of her? She could be such a stone-headed, sometimes willful woman, yet she could be the most compassionate creature he had ever met. In some ways she was his equal and compliment. Yes. He wanted to take care of her, have her by his side. Did she even want that? But like this? As a poor refugee? Travahar was right. Not like this. He hadn't realized how much time had actually passed until the red lanterns started to wink out.

He climbed from the roof and back into the dojo. There was a room for him upstairs where he kept some of his "assassin" gear and his Blue Spirit mask. He didn't really need the mask to look in on Faelin, but the dark clothes were a must. He slipped into her room through the window. She was bundled in her blanket on the bed mat. He sat on the floor by the window after securing it closed a bit. And there, he thought some more. Mu-Tan. Mu-Tan was a secret agent or warrior, a guardian of sacred people, places and things. Mu-Tan was inviting him to be that, but that would mean turning his back on his destiny. Zuko figured that if he could fulfill his destiny, then there would be no need for secrecy. He would be able to return order and honor to the people and himself. He would be able to re-establish the temples and guarantee their safety thus guaranteeing Faelin's.

She whimpered in another night terror. She was also shivering. It was so cold in here. He noticed that her blanket was not very thick or warm. He carefully set a box of decoration supplies in from of the door so he would have ample warning of someone coming in and be able to escape. Then he rooted through the many sheets and things in the piles. He quickly decided that they were too dirty and would not touch another. Disgusted, he left them in their piles.

He knelt down beside Faelin. She was definitely shivering. He touched her brow. She was cold. She pulled away in sleepy fright. "Faelin. Faelin," he whispered. She stirred and blinked at him. She sat up suddenly and hugged him. He put his arms around her. She was cold. She was still shivering. "Enough of this. You are freezing." He stood her up wrapped in her thin blanket. Then he kicked things aside quietly and moved the bed mat into the warmest corner of the room. It meant moving the wash basins to the opposite corner. He then sat down on the bed mat and beckoned her over. She sat down between his legs and he wrapped himself around her like a blanket. "I am a human furnace," he tried to be witty. She gave him a weak smile. He tucked the blanket about her and used his breath of fire to raise his body temperature a bit. She was soon asleep and warm, no longer shivering. He needed to figure out something. This was crazy. She should not be cold, she should not be lacking for anything. He wanted to do more. He rubbed his unscarred cheek against the top of her head while these thoughts continued to plague him.

His mind was still a discontent buzz when he got home. It made for poor sleep and a grumpy morning before work.